Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 626 to 650 of 832 results

John 20:1-9

Sermon

David O. Bales

... Jake tell of the new world begun through Jesus and they committed themselves to the living Christ. God was hurrying through Jake DeShazer to put the world back together. Jake wrote a pamphlet titled “I Was a Prisoner of Japan.” Thirty million copies were printed and distributed not only in Japan, but around the world in twenty languages. A Japanese airman, Mitsuo Fuchida, was under subpoena to travel to Tokyo to testify in war crimes trials. He was terribly depressed and disillusioned. He’d believed ...

627. A Man of God

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... , and Bob Dylan arrived at Kenny Rogers’ Lion Share Recording Studio. A few months later the super-group released the hit song “We Are the World.” “We Are the World” became the fastest-selling American pop single in history. Sales exceeded twenty million copies. The project raised over $63 million in humanitarian aid. A few days before the musicians gathered in the studio, Lionel Richie posted a sign over the entrance that read: “Check your ego at the door.” (7) That is so important in all ...

628. Getting out of the Doldrums

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... celebration. On the eve of All Saint's Day, 31 October 1517, a headstrong, spirited monk named Martin Luther nailed the ninety‑five theses, which he had composed in Latin, on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, and mailed copies to his superiors. This act of “posting” was the catalyst for a religious, cultural, and ultimately political upheaval that became known as “The Reformation.” Like the tsunami that hit a beleaguered Japan, this anniversary commemorating five hundred years of one of ...

629. Jesus Tempted In Us

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David O. Bales

... to mature faith, and it showed the burden upon one who has power to be concerned for others instead of for oneself. He was posthumously awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace and his diary was printed with the title: Markings. He died carrying in his pocket a copy of Thomas á Kempis’ ancient book, The Imitation of Christ, and as a bookmark, a postcard on which was typed his oath of office as Secretary General of the United Nations. He set out not to dominate the world but to serve it. In him our Lord Jesus ...

630. A Miracle Story

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ? Austrian composer Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) is celebrated for many symphonies and masses. But one of his greatest compositions is his Te Deum in C major, which is a setting in five movements of the early Christian Te Deum hymn. On his copy of Bruckner’s score, another Austrian composer and conductor, some would say one of the greatest conductors who ever lived, the great Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), crossed out "for chorus, solos, and orchestra, organ ad libitum" and wrote these words: "for the tongues ...

631. The Path of Joy

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

King Duncan

Psalm 118 lies quite literally in the very center of the Bible. And it begins with these words: 1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.” We have often been guilty of oversimplifying the relationship between the Old Testament and the New. We say quite glibly, the Old Testament God is a God of wrath, the New Testament God is a God of Love. And, in some instances, that appears to be true. But there are many acclamations in the Hebrew ...

632. The Parable of the Careless Farmer

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

Somewhere I saw a long list of wise sayings attributed to farmers. Let me list just a few of these wise sayings for you. Maybe you will relate to one of these: 1. Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance. 2. Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads. 3. Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you. 4. Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. 5. When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. 6. And this last bit of advice: Always drink upstream from the herd. Jesus told ...

633. The Insanity of Profanity

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... deals with the nature of God. Now this commandment deals with the name of God. I. The Precious Designation Of God’s Name We don’t take names, especially God’s name, seriously as it was taken thousands of years ago. When the Hebrews were transcribing the Bible, copying the Word of God from scroll to scroll, a scribe would fast and pray before writing the name of God. He would bath himself and write the name of God with a brand new quill. After he wrote God’s name he would throw that pen away and ...

634. Ignite: Fight Fire with Fire

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

James Merritt

... rulers, these were the people who held government authorities and had tremendous political power. The elders, just like their name, were older men of tremendous influence. Then there were the scribes. These were the people who were given the responsibility of copying the scriptures on parchment. They were the religious experts in the law and highly respected. Then, they brought in the Chief Justice of the Jewish Supreme Court – the High Priest. That alone would have told all the people there how serious ...

635. All In: Calling Your Bluff

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... to others we should be “all in.” "I want to give you an easy way you can serve others. Everyone in this room can do it. [Pastor’s Note: Dr. Merritt provided a signup card for serving in the Sunday bulletin when he preached this sermon. A copy is included in your supporting materials for this message. You can use this resource or create a different opportunity more in tune with your church’s specific needs.] You say I don't know how to do it—our current leaders will show you how. It's simple ...

636. How to Hug

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... proudly out of the store. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had bought the seventh volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica, “How to Hug.” Now, let me explain to everyone under 30 what an encyclopedia is . . . Imagine Wikipedia in hard copy. That wonderful preacher and storyteller Tony Campolo tells of walking down a street in Philadelphia one day when a homeless person came toward him. He describes this man as a dirty, filthy bum who was covered with soot from head to toe. You couldn’t ...

637. Humvee Holiness and Humble Holiness

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... your ordinary signs of excess in a 2014 neighborhood. 1) Phylacteries are leather boxes with long leather straps that are bound to the forehead and around the right arm and worn during a devout Jew’s daily prayers. Inside these leather boxes are written copies of various biblical verses (Exodus 13:1-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-22). 2) The “fringes” Jesus speaks of here are traditional signs of faith attached to a garment worn by all observant Jews. These “fringes” show themselves no matter what ...

638. Full Immersion

Acts 19:1-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... into something. If it’s not Jesus, if it’s not the Holy Spirit, then what is it? Heinrich Schiemann (1822-1890), the great German archaeologist who rediscovered Troy, was so mesmerized by the myths of ancient Greece that he “baptized” his two boys by “laying a copy of the Iliad upon their heads and reading a couple hundred of Homer’s hexameters aloud.” We’re doing the same, either by what we expose our kids to, or by what we put first place in our lives. We always baptize into something The ...

639. The Condemning Heart

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Some of us are too hard on ourselves. And it stands as a barrier between ourselves and others. More than 30 years ago a Jesuit priest, John Powell wrote a book titled, Why Am I Afraid To Tell You Who I Am? The book has sold millions of copies and remains in print to this day. Powell’s simple thesis is that people hide who they really are from others because of one basic fear. He describes this basic fear in an actual conversation he had with someone. Powell said to this other person “I am writing ...

640. Show Me Your Baptismal Certificate

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... at least have the staff, or the church choir, or some key disciples in your church bring their baptismal certificates and showcase them in the narthex, fellowship hall, the back of the sanctuary, etc.). One thing that is not “in your wallet” is a copy of your baptismal certificate. Who has that? Kudos to those who brought theirs this morning, but we should all have those certificates close by us at all times — I don’t mean in parchment, but I do mean in our souls. Our truest “identity” cannot ...

641. When You Reach the Rejection Hotline

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Is there anything harder on the ego than being rejected? I suspect that is one reason many married persons are happy they are no longer playing the dating game. It hurts too much when someone rejects you. “What’s wrong with me?” is the question we inevitably ask. Charles R. Boatman tells about a strange, new twist on this ancient ritual. He notes that traditionally, the male of our species makes the first approach in the dating game. Men have developed all sorts of pick-up lines to interest the women they ...

642. When the Unthinkable Happens

Mark 13:1-8, 24-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... that face those who are “left behind.” As you have probably guessed the rapture is the premise of a series of novels appropriately titled “Left Behind” by authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. These novels have sold more than sixty million copies since they began to be published in the mid-1990s. Obviously these books have made their authors quite wealthy. All twelve in the original series have been on the New York Times bestselling fiction list. Before the “Left Behind” series, there was ...

643. God's Adopted Children

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... will follow my new diet religiously until I get below 200 pounds. 2013: I will develop a realistic attitude about my weight. 2014: I will work out 3 days a week. 2015: I will try to drive past a gym at least once a week. The reason I have a copy of his resolutions is that finally he gave up altogether and threw his record of past resolutions in the trash where his wife retrieved it. Someone has said, “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” Someone else has said ...

644. What Are You Seeking?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... Gospel According to St. Matthew. It’s interesting how Pasolini came to produce this movie. Pasolini was trapped in an enormous traffic jam during a visit by the pope to Florence, Italy. So, Pasolini checked into a hotel room where, bored, he picked up a copy of the New Testament from the bedside table and read through the Gospel of Matthew. “What he discovered in those pages so startled him that he determined to make a film using no text but the actual words from Matthew’s gospel . . .” What emerged ...

645. The Obituary Column

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A businessman had an angel come to visit him who promised to grant him one request. The man requested a copy of the stock-market quotes for one year in the future. As he was studying the future prices on the American and New York stock exchanges, he boasted of his plans and the increased riches that would be his as a result of this “insider” look into the future. He ...

646. The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Chronicles 5:2-6:11

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... should, however, not be seen as the Chronicler’s own addition, and he offers a text-critical explanation for the difference: “These two clauses . . . were only lost . . . by homoioteleuton [a scribal error which occurred when the eye of the scribe who copied the manuscript jumped from one phrase to a similar phrase later in the text, omitting what comes between the two phrases] after the time of the Chronicler. They are thus not to be regarded as his addition, indicative of his particular interests ...

647. Jotham King of Judah

2 Chronicles 27:1-9

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... Ammonites (27:5); 27:6 provides a summary of his reign, before 27:7–9 concludes the narrative with the usual summary information. 27:1–2 As usual, the Chronicler omits the coordinated dating of the kings of Judah and Israel (as in 2 Kgs. 15:32) but copies the biographical details about King Jotham from 2 Kings 15:33. The positive evaluation of the king is also taken from the source text in 2 Kings 15:34. The phrase just as his father Uzziah had done, which occurs in both versions, refers to the positive ...

648. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... in the Deuteronomistic source text, these verses are present in the introduction to the book of Ezra (in Ezra 1:1–3). Scholars debate intensely which one of these versions is the original, but a consensus has emerged that the Chronicler probably copied these verses from the earlier book of Ezra in order to establish a unity of some sort with the historiography contained in Ezra-Nehemiah (which describes the history after the exile). However, the inclusion of these verses, and particularly the figure of ...

649. The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

Acts 15:22-35

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... me and to my council …”). Because of a number of resemblances between this letter, First Peter, and First and Second Thessalonians, with all of which Silas’ name is associated, it is tempting to think that he wrote it on behalf of the apostles and elders. Copies of the letter were probably kept in Antioch and Jerusalem, to which Luke would have had access. 15:30–35 The letter was read to the assembled church in Antioch to their great joy, since it reassured them of their status (vv. 30, 31; for the ...

650. Paul and Silas In Prison

Acts 16:16-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... question arises in 22:25. Given time, the provincial records in their hometowns could have been consulted, but as itinerants (by far the exception in the ancient world; the general mass of the population stayed put), they may each have carried a copy of his professio or registration of birth, in which his Roman status would have been recorded. These were convenient in size, being small wooden diptychs (see Sherwin-White, pp. 144ff., esp. 148f.). To claim Roman citizenship falsely was punishable by death (cf ...

Showing results