Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 576 to 600 of 4937 results

576. The Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Problems in the Assembling These few lines are vitally related to the verses that follow, verses 23–26 and verses 27–34, although the weighty traditional nature of the ensuing verses distinguishes verses 23–34 from verses 17–22 and suggests the separation of the discussion of the Lord’s Supper into smaller, more manageable parts. Paul’s words and his concerns are straightforward, nearly self-evident, although the energy of his argument causes the discussion to shift about in a way that might be difficult ...

577. Daniel’s Vision of a Man

Daniel 10:1--11:1

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation: Prologue: Chapters 10 through 12 form one long unit containing the last apocalypse of the book. This unit can be subdivided into three smaller sections: the prologue (10:1–11:1), the body (11:2–12:4), and the epilogue (12:5–13). The proper divisions do not line up with the chapter breaks in our modern Bibles because those chapter breaks are not original; they were inserted long after the Bible was completed and not always in the most helpful places. The prologue sets the stage for the ...

578. OUR LORD RISEN

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

For those who grieve, time is a burden. It moves through emptiness with excruciating slowness, its spiritual malaise aggravated by fleeting memories of joys that never again will be. From sundown Friday when she watched as they placed her Lord in the stone vault until sundown Saturday, the world had stood still for Mary of Magdala. These were the holy hours of the Sabbath when the faithful praised God for the goodness of life, but for Mary they were an eternity of sorrow. The widow Mary of Jerusalem and ...

579. Sermons

Sermon

John R. Bodo

Introductory Note "Thomas the Doubter" is obviously an Easter sermon. However, for Christians every Lord's Day is Easter, because ours is a Resurrection faith. Without the Resurrection, we have nothing distinctive -- for our own comfort and growth or for a world in pain. In "Thomas the Doubter" I hazard a hypothesis about Thomas' life prior to his meeting Jesus. The hypothesis seems fairly plausible. His nickname, Didymus, appears in the biblical record (John 11:16). "Thomas the Doubter" argues for the ...

580. Lost

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

Have you ever lost something of value that was really, really important that really mattered to you and you couldn’t find it? Once you realized it, what did you do? You dropped everything you were doing and immediately went looking for it. Do you remember when you found it? Do you remember the joy, the relief and the happiness that you felt? Maybe it was your car keys or your wallet or a credit card or even a wedding ring. How many of you have ever lost a kid? I can tell every one of you this. If you have ...

581. Dynamic Preaching January 2024 Sermons

Sermon

King Duncan

[Note: While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Preparing for a Royal Visit New Title: Getting Ready Mark 1:1-8 January 7, 2024 (Baptism of the Lord) A little boy attended his first symphony concert. He was excited by the ...

582. Nothing Is Impossible

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

A marvelous story is told by the synoptic gospel writers about a boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. His father was concerned sufficiently enough to seek help for the boy in a time when all help had failed. The boy was brought to the disciples of Jesus with the request for healing, but they were powerless and confused. The father did not give up hope in the quest of healing for his son. So, with an insistent spirit he saw Jesus and reported on the condition of his son with the declaration of the ...

583. The Focus of Fitness

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

"Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings." (v. 11) Prayer: Lord, you have made it plain that you care what we do with our lives. You are pleased when we seek to do your will, and you grieve for us when we ignore it. Speak to us in this time of worship and enable us to re-discover the joy and the blessing of doing it your way. Amen Has there been a more popular pastime in recent years, than that of "getting in shape"? One magazine called it "America’s Health and Fitness ...

584. When The Cheering Stopped

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

Some years ago a book was written by a noted American historian entitled “When The Cheering Stopped.” It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero, There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy. On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs. He was actually more ...

585. When The Cheering Stopped

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

586. Look Up and Live

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Snakes. Do you like snakes? Not many do. I can think of no other creature on the face of the planet that so universally brings forth a sense of revulsion and disgust. True or not, we think of snakes as icky, slimy, nasty, and as our Old Testament lesson reminds, DANGEROUS. It seems that the children of Israel, in the midst of their wilderness wandering after the escape from slavery in Egypt, had stumbled on to a location south of the Dead Sea that is infamous for its lethal snakes. "Big deal," they no ...

587. The Guiding Light for a New Year

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this first Sunday of a New Year. I trust that one of your resolutions for this year is to be in worship every week. Good for you. That's one resolution you've kept for at least one week. I heard about one poor fellow who decided to make only resolutions this year he could keep. He resolved to gain weight, to stop exercising, to read less and watch more TV, to procrastinate more, to quit giving money and time to charity, to not date any member of the cast of Baywatch, and to never make New Year's ...

588. Advent 3

Psalm 146:1-10, Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-12, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Our Old Testament lessons for the third week of Advent explore hope. Isaiah 35 proclaims the inevitability of God's salvation, even when we find ourselves at a great distance from Zion in situations that appear to be hopeless. Psalm 146:5-10 is a hymn of praise that calls us to trust in God because of God's enduring reliability. Isaiah 35:1-10 - "Hope for the Hopeless" Setting. Theophanies are biblical texts that describe the appearance of God. The oldest theophany traditions in Israel ...

589. Have You Seen the Light?

John 9:1-41

Sermon

James Merritt

I am not a country music fan per se. But to those who know country music, say that one of the all-time legendary greats was Hank Williams. He wrote a song entitled "I Saw the Light" that has lyrics that go like this: I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin; I wouldn't let my dear Savior in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night; Praise the Lord, I saw the light! Even though Hank Williams wrote those words almost a half a century ago, it could have been written and sung two millennia ago by a man ...

590. Parenting 101

Ephesians 6:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a young couple who had just purchased brand new appliances for their house, and they decided to give their old refrigerator to their parents. Since they lived many miles apart, they just shipped the refrigerator to their parents. A few days later the phone rang, her mother said, "Honey, we want to send you a check for the refrigerator." The daughter said, "No, Mom, it's a gift. We want you to have it." The mother said, "But you could have sold it and made money." The daughter said, "Look, Mom, ...

591. God Where Are You? - The Problem of Evil

Genesis 3:1-6, Judges 6:13

Sermon

James Merritt

Whether it is the Holocaust, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, a tsunami that wipes out 150,000 people in a day, or the massive starvation of millions of children around the world, you cannot deny the reality of evil. On the other hand, we saw last week how science itself has proved with certainty that the world is not eternal. The universe had a beginning. The only feasible option to explain the origin of the universe is a transcendent creator. DNA itself is a compelling ...

592. Job Considers a Legal Dispute with God

Job 9:1–10:22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Job wants God to declare him righteous, but he cannot envision how to bring this about. Understanding the Text In chapters 9 and 10, Job takes up the challenge made by Bildad in 8:5 to plead with the Almighty. As he contemplates this possibility, Job focuses on his legal status before God. In this speech he begins to work out in his mind how he might approach God with his situation, and how God might respond to him. In his soliloquy in chapter 9, Job turns over in his mind whether he should enter ...

593. In Search of Heroes

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

On one of his programs years ago, legendary broadcaster Paul Harvey told the thrilling story of a man named Ray Blankenship. It seems that one summer morning as Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window and saw something that made his heart nearly stop. A small girl had fallen into a rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his home and was rapidly being swept downstream. Blankenship knew that not far away the drainage ditch disappeared beneath the road and then emptied into the main ...

594. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop (Animation): large mouse trap with “prop” piece; stone or rock; basket of river rocks People I know are hooked to two tv shows right now. One they admit right away: “Empire.” The other is more a “guilty pleasure” they admit to only when pressed: “Scandal.” Back for its fifth season, “Scandal” is the story of a president’s mistress. A married US President, Fitzgerald Grant, has fallen in love and is having an affair with crisis management professional, Olivia Pope. While her job is usually to “handle” ...

595. Children, Just Forever

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

You are now, each one of you, and you have always been since you were baptized, one of these "little ones" who believe. Since the name of Christ was laid on you, and you were marked with his cross, he has claimed you as one of his "little ones" of which the text speaks, "these little ones who believe in me." At the time Jesus said these words there were only "little ones" for Jesus had not been around long enough to have big ones, people who had been believers in him for a lifetime, or for half a lifetime ...

596. "Can Do" Christianity

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

Those who lived through the long years of World War II remember a remarkable group of men called the Seabees. "Seabees" was their nickname, based upon their official designation as the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions. These were the men who went ashore right behind the Marines during the Pacific island battles, constructing the new facilities necessary for the support and establishment of our nation's combat forces. They referred to themselves as "can do" people, and were often quoted as saying, "The ...

597. Death Has Been Conquered

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Death Has Been Conquered New Title: Look Up, Not Down The Rev. Gary Paterson, a pastor in British Columbia, talks about the first worship service he led in his first pastoral charge. He ...

598. Israel Forsakes God

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Former Bliss (2:1-3): 2:1–3 God again commissions Jeremiah to speak an oracle to the residents of Jerusalem. The oracle reminds the Judeans of their former intimate relationship with God. Jeremiah uses the metaphor of marriage to make his point here. The beginning of the relationship between God and his people was like a honeymoon—pure devotion. The bride, Israel, followed the groom, God, through hard places like the desert, also called a land not sown. This language reminds the hearers of the wilderness ...

599. “Trust in the Lord and Do Good”

Psalm 37:1-40

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Whatever disconsolation the prosperity of the wicked may create for the righteous, they can find consolation in trusting the Lord and doing good. Understanding the Text Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm replete with wisdom terms (see the sidebar “Wisdom Psalms”).[1] The subject of the prosperity of the wicked is a typical topic of wisdom, here expressed particularly in proverbial truths (37:16, 17, 21–22, 37). The literary form is the alphabetic acrostic, using all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew ...

600. 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 ...

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