Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 576 to 600 of 1230 results

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... confession make the point? The worthlessness syndrome is a dreadful spiritual disease. The problem expresses itself in a variety of ways, through lack of confidence, through fear and anxiety about performance, in jealousy and envy. It grows in us because we focus on the chasm between the ideal and the real self. The vast difference between and who and what we would like to be and who and what we know ourselves to be. We know with Paul that the good we would, we do not, and the evil that we would not, that ...

577. A Guiding Presence

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and I discovered that no matter how noble my purposes, I am often without power or my power is soon depleted. I have discovered the indwelling Christ is a guiding presence, because Christ in me means something quite different from the weight of an impossible ideal. Christ in me means something far more glorious than the oppressive struggle of seeking to imitate Christ or to follow in his steps, which you have been admonished to do all your lives. Christ in me, means Christ bearing me up from within, giving ...

578. Why I Believe In Tithing

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . The Bible teaches tithing. II. Perspective The second reason I believe in and practice tithing is that it gives me perspective. Giving my tithe to the Lord, is an ongoing reminder of what money can and cannot do. Now it would be wrong to idealize poverty. Very little good can be said for being poor. And I’ve been there. And it would be equally wrong to caricature riches as though they were innately wrong. But it is crucially important to maintain perspective about the fact that there are certain ...

579. What Really Matters The Price Of The High Calling

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... that, and almost that alone, which enabled Britain to survive. And its trust of every person – at every stage of life’s journey – we must have goal. Then there is this final word. Concentrate on the path. There is no question about the power of an ideal. The energy that is produced by driving passion, and the likelihood of our achieving what we set our hearts on. How important that it is then that we choose our goals wisely. And that suggests another piece in the pattern of what really matters, as we ...

580. The Fourth Day Comes

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... or wherever we go to salvage and sort out our feelings, to summon the courage and the desire to keep going on or to try and forget. Emmaus is whatever we do and wherever we go to reclaim our sanity when our world goes to pieces. When our ideals and dreams are violated and distorted, when we discover that the world seems to hold nothing sacred. When love and goodness are rejected and profaned by selfish persons with almost demonic intent. It may happen at the betrayal of one we respect very much, or as the ...

581. The Nuclear Truth Of Christianity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and unlovely moods. His love follows them, encompasses them, in all the dark recesses of their lostness and alienation. For the great minds of Greece, the pity which such an attitude presupposed was a disease. Deity surely could not be less unruffled and imperturbable than ideal men. Hinduism has never been able to relate the love of God to the love of men. Love in Buddhism promotes an abstention from harming, but it does not engender a passion for healing. But so far as the God and Father of Jesus Christ ...

582. On The Road Again (emmaus)

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... do or wherever we go to salvage and sort out our feelings, to summon the courage and desire to keep going on, or to try and forget. Emmaus is whatever we do or wherever we go to reclaim our sanity when our world goes to pieces; when our ideals and dreams are violated and distorted; when we discover the world holds nothing sacred; when love and goodness are rejected and profaned by selfish persons with demonic intent. "It may happen at the betrayal of one we respect very much, or as the one we loved the most ...

583. What God Has Joined Together

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... years!" The man stopped smiling and said, "Don’t hope, friend . . . decide!" (8) And that’s it, isn’t it? For most of us it comes down to a decision. "Till death us do part." It doesn’t happen in every relationship, but that is still the ideal that Jesus gives us. "‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one," said Jesus. "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate ...

584. The Best Advice He Could Give

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... all to see: A HANDMADE CRUCIFIX!’ Jesus not as a gentle babe, but Jesus nailed to a cross. And the carol the maximum security prisoners sang was, “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” (2) In this instance the handmade crucifix was ideal as a symbol of the baby Jesus. These prisoners knew they needed to repent of their sins. They knew they needed to make a new beginning. The great evangelist Gypsy Lee was asked how to have a revival. He said, “Take a piece of chalk. Draw a ...

585. Servant Song

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... , and I would agree, that the speaker in the Servant Songs is Israel, but it is Israel as she is meant to be, Israel as she is called to be, Israel as God will make her. In short, the one who speaks to us here in our lesson is an ideal Israel of the future. She is called to be the Lord's special servant, who will give her life for the sake of all nations, and who, through her suffering, will draw all nations to the Lord. Thus, in our passage, Israel hears the Word of the Lord and does ...

586. Suffering Servant Song

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

This is the fourth and final Servant Song in Second Isaiah, and because of its content, it has been called the Suffering Servant Song. As with the Servant Song that we dealt with on Passion Sunday, it was originally a prophecy considering an idealized Israel. Second Isaiah set before the exiles in Babylonia the task of giving their life for the sake of the world. Israel was despised and rejected in exile, cursed by all who saw her plight. But there would come a time when God would deliver her from ...

587. The Book that Changes Lives

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

King Duncan

... run, or enjoy an intimate moment with your spouse, you experience feel-good happiness. Value-based happiness, on the other hand, comes from the sense that your life has meaning. Raising a child, contributing to a charity, standing up for high ideals--all these things inspire value-based happiness. People who experience value-based happiness can find joy in simple pleasures, and can renew those feelings of happiness every time they reflect on the things that give their life meaning. In contrast, feel-good ...

588. A Church Shaped By The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... consistently able to understand what it means to be “in the world but not of the world.” We’ve known in every period of our history that the very nature of the Church provokes some form of resistance. There’s always a sense in which Kingdom ideals are in conflict with the world in which the Kingdom is set. This expresses itself in different ways. We have to be careful about the nature and focus of our resistance—of how we live as “aliens.” We must not deceive ourselves into thinking that if ...

589. The Nature of the Church and Christian Discipleship

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... is by word, but is also in deed and sign. A Stanford University physiologist, Dr. Festinger, has a theory, which he calls “cognitive dissonance.” As strange and as new as it may sound, it is very simple. It refers to my awareness of the big gap between my ideals and my actions, what I believe and what I do, my goals and my deeds. Our big problem is that we are victims of cognitive dissonance. We know, but we don’t act. We have knowledge, but our souls are not burning with the faith that won’t let ...

590. A Church for the 21st Century: Holy, Charismatic, Apostolic - An Enclave of Resistance

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... never been able consistently to understand what it means to be “in the world but not of the world.” We’ve known at every period of our history that the very nature of the Church provoked some form of resistance. There is always the sense in which Kingdom ideals are in conflict with the world in which the Kingdom is set. This expresses itself in different ways. I don’t have time to discuss the ways of resistance – but I do want to register the fact that we are at war. Paul was certain of it – but ...

591. The Church: An Enclave of Resistance v2

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

592. The Church: An Enclave of Resistance v1

Romans 12:1-8, Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to understand what it means to be “in the world but not of the world.” We’ve known at every period of our history that the very nature of the Church provoked some form of resistance. There is always the sense in which Kingdom ideals are in conflict with the world in which the Kingdom is set. This expresses itself in different ways. Off and on throughout our history, strong movements have arisen that have emphasized denying the world -- something that hints at a monastic response to life -- that is ...

593. We Who Are Many Are One Body

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the other? Yes, we who are gathered here are many, but we’re gathered here as one body. We must not allow that to be just a slogan. Unity is a serious issue. For the Christian family, unity is both a gift given and an ideal we seek. Early in the Epistle to the Ephesians, from which our theme scripture is taken, Paul makes clear the source of our unity. He sounds the signal evangelical Protestant core doctrine of justification by grace through faith which, parenthetically, praise God, Roman Catholics and ...

594. The Curriculum of God’s Kingdom

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... my heart the first trumpet call of the new time that was to be. I had never known such a man as he, and never shall again. He overcame me. And in the hour or two we spent that day at lunch, he poured into my heart such vision, such ideals, such hopes, such a new attitude toward life and patriotism and the meaning of things, as I had never dreamed men had. After that, I was his man.”12 If that is true, can you imagine the effect Jesus had on people up close? Love that looked into your soul ...

595. The Way Up Is the Way Down

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... 6 Jesus was that visionary, that seer, the one who painted before ordinary men and women a picture of God’s future and their place in it. In the Sermon on the Mount, and particularly in the opening two panels of Beatitudes, we see not some grand ideal or massive program for social renewal. We are, instead, invited to see the world through the eyes of the one person who best understands both it and us. To enter these three chapters, Matthew 5 through 7, is to enroll in a program tougher than Parris Island ...

596. Peacemaking and Self Control

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... three levels Jesus was saying that escalating anger carries escalating penalties. So take your anger to God; ask God to sift motives at the heart level; decide whether this is a real justice issue or not. It takes proven character to fulfill the ancient philosophical ideal which echoes biblical wisdom: "Anybody can become angry- that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way- that is not within everybody's power and is ...

597. Obedience Really Matters

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... are the power of Jesus poured through us for the needs of others, whereas the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 are the character of Christ being formed in us over time for our sanctification. Spiritual gifts come and go in a moment; fruit takes time. Ideally they go together: open to the power, and full of love and wisdom. But it is not always so. Which is why the prophets Jesus rejects did not list love and the other eight virtues on their resumes. How could they since they were full of self ...

598. All Keyed Up

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... secular person is a self-sufficient person who orders his or her life as if there is no power, no influence, no authority outside of the self, an autonomous person. The icons in our culture are not religious images. They are secular images of success. The idealized person in our time, the person, I would say, we hold up to be the model of what a successful life looks like in this culture, is one who is young, affluent, unattached, and uncommitted to anything, except the pursuit of pleasure. If you believe ...

599. Stick to the Knitting

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... somebody, and someday you may get hurt. So the Greeks said, don't get involved. We have the word "stoic" in our vocabulary. It comes from Greek philosophy. A stoic in our language is a person who is detached, without feeling. That is the ideal life for the ancient Greek. Now apply the same rule to Christianity. The one word that characterizes the Christian revelation is "incarnation." The Christian God revealed to us is a God who got involved with humankind. The motivation for God's involvement with human ...

600. A Messianic King

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... is part of the larger section of Isaiah 10:5—11:16, that portrays the defeat of Assyria, the gathering of the remnant of Israel that was deported to Assyria in 721 B.C., and the defeat of Israel’s enemies. Specifically, it deals with the future ideal time, when Israel’s messianic king will rule in a blessed kingdom of peace. Our word for messiah comes from the Hebrew masiah, which means “anointed,” and it refers to the anointed Davidic king. During the reign of David in the tenth century B.C., God ...

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