Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 601 to 625 of 4939 results

601. Public Piety

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . Jesus warned about public piety: "Beware of practicing your piety before others..." I am going to humbly suggest that, this year, you be very public with your piety and, with Madeleine L'Engle, think about what you can take on rather than what you can give up. Take on the challenge of letting folks know that your relationship with the Lord and the church is important to you. Let folks know that you take the name “disciple” seriously. Let folks know you think it is important to them as well, and be ...

602. Childish or Child-like?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... for war.” Goodman concludes that this so-called realism of adults may be the true “junk food” of our time. “We instill ideals in our children, resent it when our children challenge us for not living up to them, and then feel reassured when our kids give up their ideals like sleds or cartoons.” (Quoted in a sermon by David W. Schreuder in Master Sermon Series, Cathedral Publishers, 9/83, pp. 467-468) Can this be what Jesus had in mind when he asked His disciples not to lose the child-like spirit ...

603. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part I)

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Most High and declare anew God''s victory over the powers of sin, death, and evil. The whole purpose of fasting from something is to discipline our lives in such a way that Jesus Christ can be a deeper reality in our spiritual journey. Now, you don''t give up something which doesn''t mean much to you. If you do give something up, it should create a void, something else should fill it. It is no good to give something up unless you replace it with something else better. This is where the concept of feasting ...

604. Oh Taste and See

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... teenager and very much aware of what was going on, something unfortunate – and she did not describe it – some unfortunate thing happened in the ministry of which her parents were a part and they were deeply, deeply wounded by the experience. They had to give up that mission work and the parents are now serving a tiny little church in the mountains of North Carolina. Kristen shared the pain that her family went through. She talked about being angry at the church – about being angry with God – how she ...

605. Obedience Really Matters

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... what Jesus is after is that we learn to do what he says, and what he expects is not hard to find. The Sermon on the Mount is peppered with commands. Love your neighbor as yourself, turn the other cheek, seek first the kingdom of God, give up judging, first take the log out of our own eye, lay up treasures in heaven, hunger and thirst for righteousness, become pure in heart and a peacemakers, be the salt and light he intended, seek reconciliation, avoid the lustful look, praying and fasting and giving for ...

606. Through the Lens of God

John 4:5-42

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , or influence, then they are on the inside. Those without these credentials are left out. We set up barriers against ourselves. We perceive that we do not possess the requisite credentials, that we don't measure up to the task and we short change ourselves or give up. We set up barriers between ourselves and God. Sometimes the barrier takes the form of lack of attention. We ignore God, placing him in a bottle on the shelf that becomes as dusty as the family Bible. When we need the Lord, only then do we ...

607. Shoots of Tomorrow

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... the world. Advent is the time of year when many trees have lost their leaves. Our deciduous trees can certainly pass for dead at this time of year. Metaphorically speaking, we also "lose our leaves" in the autumn of our lives, and it might be easy to give up hope. In a Peanuts comic strip, Lucy looks up to see one solitary leaf clinging to a tree branch. "Stay up there, you fool!" she orders. A gentle breeze lifts the lone leaf from its branch and Lucy watches as it spirals downward toward the ground. "Oh ...

608. A Voice in the Wilderness

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... 7) This Advent season we need to reflect on the entire Christ event. Christ came into the world to save us from the power of sin. The Messiah is coming. Repent and be baptized. Then you will surely see God’s salvation. 1. Don Hawkins, Never Give Up (San Bernardino: Here’s Life Publishers, 1992). 2. Cited by The Rev. Melissa Skelton, http://www.stpaulseattle.org/sermons/122508.html. 3. Rev. Dr. Bill Self (http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=528). 4. Contributed to “All In a Day’s Work ...

609. He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... the snake up with a hoe and put it over on a fence. Every once in a while he’d look over at the fence, and, sure enough, he would see the tail of that snake moving . . . until sundown. He learned for the first time that it’s hard to give up life, to just turn it loose. But that’s exactly what Jesus did, said Craddock. He turned his life loose. It was not a decision that was determined by his friends they tried to oppose it and it was not a decision determined by his enemies. He looked at them ...

610. When the Winds Are Against Us

Mark 6:45-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... is as though they are living in two separate worlds. They wake up one day and find that they’ve lost touch with each other. They don’t know whether it is easier to go through the struggle of working their way back together again, or just to give up. They seem to run out of resources and they already feel defeated. The winds are against them. Do these illustrations strike a familiar cord? Would you like to add your own situation to the list? Most of us could, couldn’t we? We know about rowing the sea ...

611. Many Ways To a Good Grade

Illustration

Tim Hansel

... agreed, but I was surprised that the student did. I gave the student six minutes to answer the question, with the warning that his answer should show some knowledge of physics. At the end of five minutes, he had not written anything. I asked if he wished to give up, but he said no. He had many answers to this problem; he was just thinking of the best one. I excused myself for interrupting and asked him to please go on. In the next minute, he dashed off his answer which read: "Take the barometer to the top ...

612. Crying at the Tomb

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... . She can’t remember who she is. Neither can she remember that she is of royal blood. And because she can’t remember and there is no one to remind her, Helen of Troy becomes a prostitute. Meanwhile, back in her homeland Helen’s friends didn’t give up hope of finding her. One old friend in particular goes looking for her. One day he finds himself wandering through the streets of a strange city. He comes across a wretched woman in tattered clothes. It is Helen. Time has not been kind to her. Her face ...

613. Real Heros

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... the writer describes them. Who are those witnesses? It is that list of heroes contained in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and it is also those of every age who have given their all for God. We draw our strength and our inspiration from them. They did not give up and neither shall we. In every generation there are people from all walks of life who deserved to have their lives captured on a HERO cam. Some of them are in this congregation. What does it take to be a hero? It means whatever your background or ...

614. God’s Love for Israel

Hosea 11:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... as God. And because he is holy he is inexhaustible love (cf. 1 John 4:8, 16). That is the nature, the divinity of God, which he cannot set aside, even in the face of Israel’s total faithlessness and refusal to return his love. God will not give up his people Israel, whom he has adopted as a beloved son, precisely because he is a God who is love. As love, God is sovereign. Israel’s sinfulness cannot overcome or change this. Israel will not and does not repent, but Israel’s attitude and action cannot ...

615. Possessions and Choice in the New Kingdom Community

Mark 10:17-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... his material goods to help those who have nothing, the poor, can he find true life. “Come follow” is possible only when one renounces earthly ties. 10:22 He went away sad. “Great wealth” has priority over eternal life, so he knowingly and willingly gives up his future for present treasure. There are two descriptions of his sorrow for emphasis, the first describing a gloomy countenance (at times it can refer to anger), the second, deep sorrow and grief. But he has no idea that the human sadness he ...

616. Setting His Face Toward Jerusalem

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... that their daughter made that decision to give her life to Jesus. When she chose Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, she died to her old life and discovered eternal life through him. Setting your face toward Jerusalem isn’t easy. It means giving up your own agenda and comfort to follow God’s will. For Jesus, Jerusalem meant humiliation, and defeat and death. But for the human race, for you and me, Jerusalem meant reconciliation with God and eternal life. “For God so loved the world. . . ” Do you ...

617. Use Your Head as Well as Your Heart

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

King Duncan

... his real concern was not architecture or construction. He was advising potential followers about what it meant to be his disciple. He concluded this teaching with these words: “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” Wow! That will clear the room in a hurry. Give up everything? How many of us really want to take this religion business that far? Yet that is the demand Christ makes of every one of us if we would be his disciple. There is a line that we ...

618. The Power of the Staff

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... when we feel alone and powerless, most of all when we are frightened to move forward, we do one of three things: we fight (devolve into self-critique or critique/mistrust of the world around us), we flee the danger (we abandon ourselves altogether and give up on life), or we freeze (we get stuck ruminating over our plight unable to move backwards or forwards). Usually, we react with some form of all of these. Anyone here ever feel “stuck”? In a life-draining job? In a harmful relationship? In mundanity ...

619. Defining Justice with Jesus

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

... get something for nothing? Christians have the burden of believing that our God did not stay aloof, blindfolded to human misery, sword and scales in hand. Our God came back to us, even when we tried, convicted, and executed him, he came back to us. Though we would love to give up on certain people, we can't, because we have stories about a God who doesn't, who keeps burning the pavement back and forth downtown, relentlessly determined not to knock off work until everyone is done right.

620. The Proof is in the Roof

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... people say.] Well, you can either define “intercessory prayer” with words, or you can tell this story of the four friends who cared enough about their friend that they dug through a roof. Intercessory prayer breaks through barriers. It never gives up and it perseveres valiantly, even in the face of doubt and discouragement. Intercessory prayer gives hope for change, new opportunities, new life. Intercessory prayer intrudes upon our doubts and disrupts our lives, because it’s a “digger’s prayer ...

621. God And The Irs

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... ? IS IT TRULY THE KINGDOM WE SEEK FIRST? IS CHRIST LORD OF OUR LIVES? Once that essential decision has been made, the question of the use of our resourcesour time, our talents, our money becomes an easy one. This is not to say that we have to give up the notion of prosperity. There is an interesting note in the writings of John Wesley, patron saint of the Methodists. Wesley had a most enviable problem. He was committed to a life of relative austerity. Christ was indeed first in his life. He saw how material ...

622. The Deeper Meanings of The Christian Faith by Dr. Bryant M. Kirkland

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... of him, but they look at us and they are disappointed. It is time for us to show to them the healthy moral life style of those who believe in Christ. It is God’s world, and he can touch us now. He can change us, and he won’t give up on us until he does. That is the message of the meaning of the cross. So choose the way you are going to go, even if you have to carve a way through the forest of doubt. Choose God over man’s way, because man’s way is only one ...

623. Faking It or Making It?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross . . .” We’ve heard that command all our lives, but what does it mean “take up your cross”? One thing it will mean for many of us is that we will have to give up our addiction to a life of comfort. There is nothing comfortable about a cross. Thank heavens we do not have to take this command of our Lord literally. We’re told that the average cross in ancient times may have weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds ...

624. Playing By A Different Set Of Rules

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... God could do with such faithful people. And in the end, the fruits of their labors have stood the test of time. Again, Harry Emerson Fosdick has suggested our method of ministry: “save us from weak resignation to the evils we deplore.” We are not to give up, and we are to be very much aware of what the evils are, recognizing them when they appear. But, rather “let the search for thy salvation be our glory evermore.” Engage in the work of planting the seeds, living under the eternal reign of God and ...

625. A Kudzu-Kind of Kingdom

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of God is like kudzu. It often has humble beginnings, but then prodigious growth, and a transforming influence. St. Paul knew all this and declared, "So, let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9) Let me close with a story from the life of a friend of mine, Dr. Bill Hinson, a former pastor of the largest united Methodist church in the world--First Church, Houston, Texas. When Bill was a college student, he was invited to preach ...

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