Sermon and Worship Resources

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Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... faith, not works, requires a faith that is vital, alive and "full of promise." True heirs to the promise of abundant life must be promise makers, promise keepers and promise trusters. 1. Promise Makers: Promise-making can put you on the spot. Ever promise your child some longed-for toy, only to find out that it is so popular that there is none to be had within a three state radius? What can you say to that sad little face "I'm sorry," "I tried," "It's not my fault"? None of those changes the fact that the ...

577. Fan the Flames

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... beginner. Watch the antics of a young kitten or puppy rolling and rollicking around its stretched-out parent. The one just beginning in life can't wait to explore every nook and cranny, investigate every piece of lint or tussle with every squeaky toy. The one who has already "seen it all" would rather take a nap. New converts are notoriously enthusiastic. Whether converted to a new exercise regime, vegetarianism, fly fishing or a living faith with Jesus Christ, there is a rampant exuberance that can exhaust ...

578. Out of the Box Gifts

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of “What else can we get for Christmas?” but one of “What can we give back?” When the Magi (the “Three Kings”) visited the infant Jesus, they brought gifts that were far from “child friendly.” No blankets or booties, no trinkets or toys. The Magi brought extraordinarily expensive, lavish gifts — gifts fit for a king. Gold, anyone? Gold we still know about. Who knows the price of gold this morning? But the other two gifts, myrrh and frankincense, are not part of our usual daily experience ...

579. Making Christmas Last - Sermon Starter

Luke 2:21-40

Illustration

Brett Blair

... still sitting there. The caption on the cartoon reads simply: The morning after. Well, perhaps we feel a little that way. Perhaps we fell somewhat let down. If you feel that way it is quite understandable. Over the past weeks our emotions have been wound tighter than a toy doll. Our festivities have led up to near fever pitch. And then, suddenly, it is all over. Is it any wonder that it is somewhat of a let down. Psychiatrist even have a word for it. They call it Christmas-slump. A number of years ago, when ...

580. 1 Samuel 16:14-23

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... understanding of God? It would be a mistake to assume the author of 1 Samuel deemed God to be capricious or evil. It would also be an error to denigrate this understanding of God to some sadistic cosmic game of cat and mouse - God cruelly toying with Saul, tormenting him before dealing the final death blow. What the writer does assert here is that there is only one all-powerful force which can actively intervene in our lives, and that force is God. Jeffrey Burton Russell's investigation into Lucifer: The ...

581. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... face" visit with the faithful comes as somewhat of a surprise - to "restore whatever is lacking in your faith" (v.10). Having come through recent persecutions with apparently unscathed integrity, Paul's admonition here sounds oddly out of place. Translators have toyed with various versions of this statement, suggesting that Paul is offering to "supply what is lacking" or "supply what is needed." In fact the NRSV's switch from "supply" to "restore" is a rather peculiar choice, seemingly indicating that the ...

582. The Most Stubborn Man in the Bible

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... the voice that calls us to God’s service. There is no place that God isn’t, but Jonah still tried to flee, just as we do. But what happened? The ship that he was on encountered a vicious storm, and was tossed about on the waves like a toy. The wind and the waves were so fierce that seasoned sailors begged to their gods for mercy. Finally these sailors cast lots in order to determine with whom the gods were angry. The lot, of course, fell upon Jonah. “What is it that you have done,” the sailors asked ...

583. Etched in Stone

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... any of the other Ten Commandments. Luke remembered two others: “You shall not murder,” and “Honor your father and mother.” But the boys couldn’t think of any other commandments, until little Patrick piped up, “I know one: “Pick up your toys!” Well, that commandment ought to be in there if it is not. The Ten Commandments have traditionally been difficult to translate into the language of children. A third grade Sunday school teacher was particularly uneasy about the lesson, “Thou shalt not ...

584. Tested, for God’s Sake

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... tests be our tests too? 1. Turn stones into bread. This is the temptation to reduce life to survival, to securing our lives, to allowing the world of stuff to seduce us into believing that, if we buy whatever is being sold, we’ll be happy. If we have enough toys, we’ll be satisfied. It’s the lie that no matter what the trauma or tragedy, the remedy is to go shopping. 2. Jump from the pinnacle of the temple. I wonder if this is the temptation to believe the delusion that we are so special, that we are ...

585. A Mother's Love

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... And sometimes children pick up on messages we never intended to send. Chuck Swindoll tells about a great big Mother’s Day card that looked like a third grader had printed it. On it was a little boy with a dirty face and torn pants pulling a wagon load of toys. On the front it read: “Mom, I remember the little prayer you used to say for me every day.” Inside the card was the prayer, “God help you if you ever do that again!” (2) One woman tells about a friend of hers who has three boys. The youngest ...

586. Afraid No More

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... of truly understanding. “God in three persons, blessed Trinity . . .” I believe it, but do I understand it? Not really. Pastor Keith Krell tells of spending time with his oldest child Joshua several years ago. While Krell was sitting in his glider, Joshua went over to his toy bag and grabbed a tennis ball and brought it to him. Joshua then went back to the bag and got a small nerf ball and returned to his father with it as well. Lastly, Joshua went and picked up a mini basketball and did the same thing ...

587. Stilling Storms

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... charge of her and her brother who was four years older. She says that she had just recovered from an accident in which she had received some injuries. Someone had given her a little ‘tea set’ as a get-well gift and it was one of her favorite toys. Her Dad was in the living room one evening engrossed in the evening news and her brother was playing nearby in the living room when the little girl brought her Dad a little cup of make-believe ‘tea,’ which was just plain water. After several cups of this ...

588. Peace in the Face of the Tempes

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

... hardly have been called a faint-hearted stay-at-home. But there were times when even he lost his nerve. During one of Wesley's several Atlantic crossings, a frighteningly fierce storm broke out, pitching and tossing the ship about like a bathtub toy. While Wesley and others clung to their bunks and hid their heads, a community of Moravians, traveling to their new homeland, calmly gathered to hold their daily worship service and sing praises to God. Watching these Moravians, so apparently unperturbed by the ...

589. Easter 6

Psalm 98:1-9, John 15:9-17, Acts 10:23b-48, 1 John 5:1-12

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... and without racial and political name-calling and hostility. May international sports teach fair play and high performance without cheating and violence. Send us universal mothers who know how to pacify squabbling children, teaching them to play fairly and to share their toys, to forgive and forget, patiently producing another generation that will refuse to make war and will invent new games, that will play exotic music to dance with the bounding beauty of the deer in the forests. Teach us to sing in new ...

590. John the Baptist, Sanctified Indifference, & the King of Pop

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... liars. Both create alternative realities. The second kind of person we cannot bear are those who DO tell the truth. We can’t tolerate them because they see right through our daily disguises, our fake facades. They are not impressed by all our flamboyant “toys,” or our flush bank accounts, or the degrees we hold, or the opinions of others. We don’t like them because the truth they reveal can be uncomfortable, awkward, harsh and unyielding. It’s hard to know which of these two kinds of people ...

591. The Insurance Will Cover It

Illustration

Keith Wagner

... Jean had to handle the move by herself. After the moving van came and left, Jean found herself standing in the living room surrounded by boxes to be unpacked, appliances to be hooked up, a screaming baby and a five-year-old who decided to throw a metal toy truck through the picture window. Fortunately nobody was hurt, but jagged glass fell everywhere and a gale-force wind blew through the house. Jean felt that she had to call Joe and tell him what had happened. Joe's secretary informed her that he was in a ...

592. In Search of Jesus

John 6:16-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... place. People who are on the verge of losing hope need Jesus. People who have no purpose for living need Jesus. This is probably a larger group than those without hope. There are many people today bored out of their minds with life. They buy nicer and nicer toys, and they enjoy them less and less. They are sated with things, but bereft of any driving purpose for their lives. I read an amusing story about a teenager we’ll call Tyler. Tyler was walking on a street one day when he realized that two young ...

593. Got Milk?

1 Peter 2:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... because he lost his appetite. He lost his appetite because he was sick. If you have ever been around a newborn baby you know that when that baby wakes up crying, it wants something wet called milk. You also know that nothing else will satisfy that baby- rattles, toys, dolls, or music. He wants milk. There are certain times in life that nothing else but milk will do. Quite frankly, life is no better than dry cake apart from the milk of God's word. You must do everything you can to stimulate your hunger for ...

594. God's Christmas List

John 3:16

Sermon

James Merritt

... you on your good days and God loves you on your bad days. God doesn't love you more today than He did yesterday and He doesn't love you any less today than He will tomorrow. Most every child knows about Buzz Lightyear, one of the heroes, in the Toy Story movies. He had a trademark phrase, if you remember in the movie, that was used in a preschool Sunday School class, when a teacher was teaching some four year olds about God's love. She asked the children, "How much does God love us?" A little four year old ...

595. Jesus: The Promise Received

Luke 2:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... wonderful that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, purchased it. After several hours of shopping at the mall, a grandmother rewarded her grandson's good behavior by taking him to see Santa Claus. The boy gave Santa Claus about a fifteen15minute list of all the toys he wanted, then hopped off his lap. Santa gave the boy some candy and the boy just wandered away without saying a word. His grandmother said, "What do you say to Santa?" The little boy looked back and said, "Charge it." That is exactly what God ...

596. Never Give Up On God

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... , you think our kids gave up? You know what they did? They knocked. If we didn't say anything guess what they did? They kept knocking. There was a dad who had four children and he would get so tired sometimes of the endless noise, the dirty diapers, the toys scattered everywhere, the fussing and fighting. In order to be alone for a few minutes he would go into his bathroom and take a shower. One day he was in the shower and he had the bathroom door shut and his little girl came banging on the door calling ...

597. Smooth Out Your Day

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... church and youth group activities. I've noticed something for the last several years that has really bothered me. Has it occurred to you that you rarely ever see kids outside playing anymore? I know there is more than one reason for that including all of these technological toys that keep them inside, but a big part of the problem is many children have no down time. They don't have any time to play. They don't have time to read, draw, build stuff with legos and very little time to enjoy their family. Why ...

598. Can't We All Just Get Along?

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... God that there is no room for hatred and resentment of others. Robert A. Schuller, young Robert, tells of getting into an argument with his older sister when he was eight. “You’re a pig!” he screamed when she refused to give him one of his own toys. Their dad, television preacher Robert H. Schuller, heard what was going on. He came into the room and said to young Bob, “Robert, don’t you ever call your sister a pig again.” “But, Dad, she is!” he objected. “If you call her a pig, Robert, you ...

599. When You Insult Your Neighbor, You Are Insulting God

Mark 9:38-41

Illustration

King Duncan

... of God that there is no room for hatred and resentment of others. Robert A. Schuller, young Robert, tells of getting into an argument with his older sister when he was eight. "You're a pig!" he screamed when she refused to give him one of his own toys. Their dad, television preacher Robert H. Schuller, heard what was going on. He came into the room and said to young Bob, "Robert, don't you ever call your sister a pig again." "But, Dad, she is!" he objected. "If you call her a pig, Robert, you're calling ...

600. What Price Must We Pay?

Luke 6:20-31

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... things in our lives and in the world around us has been switched. Jesus wants us to understand that values are what shape us, mold us, drive us, and define us. Today we live in a society that tells us on bumper stickers that, "He who dies with the most toys wins," and that is a problem. The choice is, "Am I going to be a giver or a taker, am I going to be a consumer thinking of number one first and foremost, or others?" Jesus wants us to be sure that we know that it has nothing to do ...

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