Sermon and Worship Resources

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

Several years ago Life Magazine devoted an issue to God. On the front cover was one big question: "When You Think of God What Do You See?" I began to imagine if that magazine came out today, how we, here in America, might answer that question. I believe there are some people who see a God who looks like Santa Claus, and really doesn't care whether we are naughty or nice; a God who winks at sin and giggles at iniquity; a God who is "too loving to let anyone go to hell;" a God who accepts everyone just the ...

552. The Supreme Worth of the Second Birth

John 3:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

Two of the strangest bedfellows in human history, I call them the first American "odd couple," was George Whitfield and Benjamin Franklin. One was a preacher, the other a philosopher; one was a Christian, the other a deist; one loved the church, the other laughed at the church; one was a loving father and a faithful husband, the other was an adulterer who fathered a child out of wedlock. Yet, they were fast and close friends who corresponded frequently. On one occasion George Whitfield wrote this letter to ...

553. Don't Forget to Remember

Jude 1:5-7

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a young preacher who was going to preach his very first sermon, and he wanted to have a smashing introduction. So he went to an older pastor he knew, and said, "Do you know of any surefire introduction that is guaranteed to get everybody's attention?" The old preacher said, "As a matter of fact I have an illustration that works every single time." He said, "When you walk to the pulpit, make this statement: ‘Some of the greatest days of my life I spent in the arms of another man's wife.'" He said ...

554. Dad: The Head of a Godly Family

Joshua 24:15

Sermon

James Merritt

A father was getting on to his son because he was not measuring up to his expectations. After a few choice words, the father said, "Frankly, I'm just ashamed of you; you still don't have a job; when George Washington was your age he had a job as a surveyor in the wilderness." The boy quickly fired back, "That's true dad, and when he was your age he was President of the United States." I know it is true that sons do not always live up to their father's expectations, but we face a different problem in ...

555. Why You Should Trust In God

Proverbs 3:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

Have you ever wondered "Why people ask why?" Here are some "Why?" questions that I think are worth asking. Why are there Interstate highways in Hawaii? Why are there floatation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes? If a 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors? Why do they put Braille dots on the keypad of the drive-up ATM? Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways? Why is it that when you transport something by car it's called a shipment. But when ...

556. Matthew 14:22-33

Matthew 14:22-36

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Some commentaries on Matthew identify the first half of the apostle’s gospel as the “Christ book,” while calling the second half of his gospel the “Church book.” Today’s text, taken from the midst of a series of miracle stories, focuses on both “books.” In its “short-form” identified as “Jesus Walking On The Water,” our gospel reading is both about the authority and divinity of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and a penetrating look at all the disciples, and Peter in particular. At the beginning of our ...

557. Mary, Did You Know?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

That haunting song you just heard, written by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene and sung so beautifully by Cheryl Sarfas (or Amy Ford), causes me to wonder, “What did Mary know? And, conversely, what did she not understand?” Mary, the mother of Jesus, was probably about 14 years old when we meet her in Scripture. She was a simple Jewish girl born to Hannah and Joachim in the village of Nazareth, up in Galilee, the northern part of Israel. Mary’s parents were godly peasant folks whose only bragging point was that ...

558. Worship and Wonder

John 1:1-14

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

559. Lost in Wonder, Love and Praise

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

560. Gifts: Standing on the Promises

Malachi 4:10

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

561. Will The Real Saints Please Stand Up

Esther 4:1-17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

562. Gathered In, Sent Out

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

563. Growing Up

1 Corinthians 13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

564. Called to be a Christian Community: Cracked Pots and Clay Jars

2 Corinthians 4: 1-18

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

565. Grasshopper Religion

Numbers 13:25-33, 14:1-10

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

566. Praising God on an Oatmeal Box

2 Samuel 6:12-23

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Dennis buddies. It's the story of the little girl, already in bed, who berated her father when he came to read to ...

567. Precious and Privileged Children

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

The remarkable world of children has always fascinated me. Their naturalness and innocence — in particular — thrills me and serves as a reminder of the intended relationship between us and our Father. Even more, when they are pouty and sometimes destructive, there is a genuineness about them that is so winsome. Regardless of our attainments, we never seem to rise above the fact we are simply the Father's boys and girls. The great and the less than great are called to admit to this eternal verity, in time. ...

568. A New Day Is Coming

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Richard Gribble

South Africa, a nation rich in resources, people, and possibility, only recently emerged from its darkest hour. The nation traveled through a tunnel of darkness and ignorance that was generated by a social and racial system of segregation called Apartheid. The National Party of South Africa, formed in 1914 after a revolt by the Afrikaner people against the British, created the system of Apartheid in 1948. Ostensibly it was advertised as a means for "separate development" but it in essence was a system ...

569. A Clock or a Compass?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

David T. Ball

Do you all have your compasses with you? What? You don’t have compasses? Well, I guess neither do I. How about your watch? Okay! A much better response that time. I have my watch, too — but don’t get your hopes up that I’m planning to keep a closer eye on how long my sermons are taking! I really just wanted to make a point about how much we rely on our watches in comparison to our compasses. And I doubt that very many of us have a compass that we can carry around — we may have one on our car. We know our ...

570. Matthew 23:1-12

Matthew 23:1-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In today’s gospel text Jesus is still in the temple, teaching and speaking before his disciples as well as a mixed crowd of casual listeners. Certain scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees had been badgering Jesus with questions designed to make him look bad. They now have physically retreated from the scene. But these opponents are still the focus of Jesus’ words in 23:1-12, for they offer both examples of possibilities and pitfalls. As Jesus begins addressing “the crowds” and “his disciples,” he initially ...

571. The Three Stages to Truth: A Biblical Philosophy of Education

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Ours is an educated era. Yet we seem to be filled with facts while remaining ignorant of true understanding. In these texts the greatest teacher we have ever known, Jesus, demonstrates an educative scheme designed to fill our hearts as well as our heads, and destined to get our feet moving along with our minds. The texts examined this week demonstrate the biblical understanding of Truth (aletheia in Greek) as "nonconcealment," the disclosure of the "full or real state of affairs." Two days after the ...

572. LightWorks

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our children are our greatest resource, the hope of the world, the next generation. When we are "too busy" to explain a point of faith or theology, or are afraid they will find it "too boring," we are risking nothing less than the work and witness of all the saints who have gone before us. When a star explodes in a distant galaxy, we don't hear it. We don't feel it. We don't even see it for thousands and thousands of years. The great distance of the star means that even though the brilliance of the ...

573. The Crime of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Christmas is the Nativity of Consciousness. It is a time for us all, we who have lost touch with the tale, to rediscover the wondrous, the miraculous, the unspeakable; the wild, the odd, the strange; the impossible world of the child, the improbable faith of the believer. The story of Christmas is the story of the unspeakable in hot pursuit of the unimaginable, and some would say unattainable. It is the impossible made possible - and of a momentary recognition and celebration of this amazing event by both ...

574. Welcome Home, Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Joseph is probably the most misunderstood participant in the Christmas drama. Like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, Joseph might righteously complain, "I don''t get no respect!" This week we pay Joseph some of the respect he surely deserves, for without his gifts of hospitality, acceptance and love, the story of Christmas would have no beginning. And with these gifts, Joseph is a model for all who are called by God to serve in supportive roles. The women's movement has surely succeeded in making biblical ...

575. Give me a C...

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The church needs some new cheers. If we're going to boast about anything, let's boast about Christ. The boasts will sound like foolishness to the world. The Beatitudes are an example of "foolish" sounding cheers. Have you ever been swept up in a wave? No, not an ocean wave at the beach, but the kind of "wave" that sweeps through a football stadium, or the baseball stands or a hockey rink. It's an exhilarating crowd experience to see the wave created by thousands of people standing with their arms raised ...