Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 626 to 650 of 1044 results

626. The Joy of Sorrow?

Matthew 5:4

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

As I walked down the hall of a hospital Thursday afternoon, I noticed coming toward me a young man maneuvering himself in a wheelchair. Because there was at least a minute before we passed each other, I saw that his left leg was missing, just below the knee. It was so heavily bandaged that I surmised he had recently had surgery. If I had stopped that young man and asked him if he knew what sorrow meant, he might have told me something of his grief over the loss of his leg. The telephone rang late the other ...

627. How’s Your Appetite?

Matthew 5:6 · Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

In any home where there are small children with parents who do not sanction a complete submission to television, the most familiar request is: "Tell us a story." And those stories are remembered for the rest of their lives. There is not a single adult or child, I dare say, who could not tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood, of Goldilocks and her bears, of the three little pigs, the big, bad wolf, and countless other favorite characters. This is true of a congregation or a reader. A congregation almost ...

628. The New Covenant

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The meal which we celebrate here tonight has not simply been celebrated annually on this Maundy Thursday for the past twenty or fifty years, like many church customs. In fact, unlike even the more stable of church traditions, it has not simply been observed since the beginning of the Christian Era - but it has been celebrated far back into the distant reaches of history, back even further than Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. In a sense, the celebration of this meal, which is linked to the blood covenants ...

629. Journey To The Cross VI: Jesus And Pontius Pilate

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

James W. Moore

Jesus came riding triumphantly into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday... the picture of success. But then, just a few days later, he was nailed to a cross like a common criminal. What happened? What do we make of this? Was Jesus a success? What do you think? Well, for many years now, we in America... have been highly “success-conscious,” “success-oriented.” And most have agreed with Webster’s definition: “Success is the attainment of wealth and fame.” Think about it. Isn’t it true that when we think of success... ...

630. What Form of Church Does God Want for the Furture?

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

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

A farmer who had never been to the city was chosen by his grange to represent them at a national convention, and thus he found himself in New York. After checking in at the hotel, he approached an elevator, something he had never seen. He watched as a very large woman walked into the elevator. The door closed, what appeared to be a single hand on a large clock made a revolution, and the door opened again, this time discharging an attractive, curvaceous young lady. The astonished farmer ran to the nearest ...

631. Don't Be Afraid of the Future

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Occasionally I fly back to South Carolina for a trustee meeting at a wonderful Methodist institution called Wofford College. On a recent trip I had an extra hour or two, so I decided to take a sentimental journey back to the little town of Greer. My father was pastor there when I was a little boy. Right away I noticed so many things that had changed. Our old house has been torn down and replaced. The yard has shrunk. I saw the tree from which my little cowboy friends almost hung me, accidentally, and I ...

632. Why Did God Allow That To Happen?

John 9:1-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Tragedy can strike so quickly and capriciously. While going about our everyday lives, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, the world can be changed. As a nation we've been living with that awful reality since 9-11. Thousands killed for no reason by complete strangers, who assumed, somehow in their mind, they were doing some good for this world. Then there are natural disasters: tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes...If you have avoided tragedy at this point in your life thank God that you have been ...

633. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost VIII That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil but when the sun rose ...

634. Jesus ... Who?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." [Matthew 16:13-16] Supplementary text: Matthew 17:1-9 When Jimmy Carter first started campaigning for the presidency in 1976, the slogan in some parts of the ...

635. When Love Runs Out of Breath

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

The usher, showing me the way to the pastor’s study, wore a big, bright, round button on his lapel which read: "I love you - Is that O.K.?" I didn’t know him, he only knew that I was the visiting preacher in the pulpit that day, so, after re-reading his button, I said; "Yes, I think it’s O.K." His reaction was immediate: he ducked his head, blushed to his ears, and in a choked voice said: "Ah, oh, uh, well, that’s good." Why would anybody wear a button that said that to everybody? "Easy love" - we say we ...

636. Signs Of A Vital Church

2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A few years ago First United Methodist Church in Abilene, Texas, bought a new sign or marquee. The message on the sign could be changed each week. The purpose was to advertise the church to the thousands who passed by daily on a busy highway. A decision was made to let each Sunday School class be responsible for the message on the sign for one week. The Bible Class was first. Their message read: "The Church Visitors Never Feel Like Strangers." The following week the slogan was produced by a young couples ...

637. A Mother Who Could Let Go

1 Samuel 9:1--10:8

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In a labor room on the obstetrics wing of a hospital, a doctor found a crumpled paper on which an expectant father had done some scribbling. Obviously, during the pauses in the long labor process, he had been thinking about the child about to be born. This is what he wrote: John Peter Jones, John P. Jones, J.P. Jones, John Jones, Governor John Jones, President John P. Jones, All the Way with JPJ!" Maybe the baby turned out to be Juanita Paulene Jones! I can tell you one thing that father and mother ...

638. Honoring Parents

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 15:1-20

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A man was boarding an airplane one day. As he came on board, he noticed that the person sitting in the pilot's seat was a woman. That was no problem; it was just a new experience for him. As he found his seat, he noticed three persons sitting immediately behind him: a man, a young boy, and an elderly woman. He could not help overhearing their conversation. Soon he realized that they were the woman pilot's family. They were excited because she had just completed her training and had been promoted. This was ...

639. Christ Shall Return

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One of you told me recently about a pastor who one day visited a dear elderly member of the church. He decided to check on her salvation. He said, "Aunt Susie, do you believe in the hereafter?" She replied, "All the time, preacher, all the time. I go to the kitchen and think to myself, 'Now, what am I here after?" That little story reminds us all that we have to specify what kind of hereafter we're talking about. This morning I'm talking about the long-term future of our world. I'm not referring to where ...

640. This Adulterous Generation

Matthew 5:27-30, Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A cartoon in a national magazine showed Moses with two stone tablets under his arm coming down from Mount Sinai. He said to the Israelites, "I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that I got Him down to ten. The bad news is that adultery is still in there." The seventh commandment is very simple: "You shall not commit adultery." The word adultery means the sexual involvement of a married person with someone other than his or her spouse. In the original Hebrew it meant to add something to a ...

641. Adultery, Cure and Prevention

Proverbs 7:1-27, John 8:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Sometime ago a lady wrote to the famous advice columnist Ann Landers and asked this question, "Do all men cheat on their wives? I have been suspicious of my husband for some time. I even hired a private detective to trail him, but he couldn't come up with a thing. I went to a lawyer. He told me to grow up and accept the fact that all husbands fool around. Do they?" Ann Landers very wisely replied, "No. There are plenty of married men who never cheat, and your husband could be one of them. The only thing ...

642. Christmas Is Coming

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

James Bjorge

To an old man looking for the "consolation of Israel," Christmas would have been on that day when he stood in the temple and held the Christ-child in his arms. The old man’s name was Simeon. The good Book doesn’t tell much about him except that he was righteous and devout. But then if a man is characterized by those words, he must have lived well. As we approach the Christmas celebration, perhaps we can learn a few lessons from this old gentleman that will enhance the glow of the holidays. In fact, in a ...

643. Naaman, the Leper

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Don Yocom

The Old Testament gives us many illustrations for evangelistic purposes. The story of Naaman is an excellent analogy for us. Leprosy in his day was considered incurable and we can compare it to sin. Leprosy was not confined just to the poorer class of people either. Both Naaman of the Old Testament and a man known as Simon the Leper in the New Testament had the dread disease; and neither of them was from the poorer or lower classes of society. It was so much like sin. St. Paul said we are all in need of ...

644. THE OLD MAN IS WASTING

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

In JAREL’S apartment. There is a table in the room, with a telephone on it. JAREL is seated. SETH is standing, with a deck of cards in his hand. JAREL Look, I never invited you here, I never asked you to come in, and I absolutely do not want to go back to him. And, finally, I don’t want to play any silly game. SETH Don’t knock what you haven’t tried. JAREL I could always try calling the police. You’re not exactly a guest. SETH Go ahead. I’ve got my story ready: FAITHFUL BROTHER-IN-LAW REBUKED IN ...

645. We Are All Welcome In God's House

Luke 2:49

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: Pictures of football players, stadium; picture of Nixon and White House; boy and girl and schoolhouse or other close associations with your town or current events, such as rocketships and astronauts. Good morning to you, boys and girls. Did all of you sleep well last night on the table? Did you all eat a good breakfast in bed? How many of your brushed your teeth with a comb? Do you think that’s funny? Well, where do you sleep? In a bed? Do all of you sleep in a bed? Hummm! Do you all use a ...

646. Advertised Goodness

Matthew 6:1-2, Matthew 6:5-6

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Children and adults, listen as I tell you the legend of the proud frog. This frog wanted to visit his cousins in a pond several miles away, but that's a long journey for a slow moving frog. But in the pond where he resided, there were some Canadian geese. The observant frog noted how much they liked corn. This enterprising frog found a flat, strong stick about four feet long. He approached the geese with a proposition: "If two of you will take the two ends of this stick in your mouths, I will clamp my ...

647. Our Scheduled Appointments with God

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

That epic movie "Titanic" is breaking attendance records at the theaters, proving yet again that the awful tragedy of 1912 continues to fascinate people. 1645 passengers died that night in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Over 600 were saved. As the movie demonstrates, most of the survivors were people who stayed close together and encouraged one another. That same principle applies in our faith journey. The evil one (Satan, the devil) is angered by every profession of faith in Christ. Each person ...

648. God's Design for Marriage

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I saw a cartoon somewhere which showed a preacher crouched in the pulpit area which was arranged like a fortress. He was peering through a crack in what looked like a machine gun nest. The preacher says to the congregation, "Today my text is Ephesians 5:22, 'wives, submit to your husbands." Yes, here is another one of those texts I have run from for quite a while; it is not on the top ten list of the feminist movement of America. I heard about a missionary in the depths of the Amazon who was talking to a ...

649. The Burden Bearing Christ

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

There is a wonderful legend concerning the quiet years of Jesus, the years prior to his visible ministry. The legend claims that Jesus the carpenter was one of the master yoke-makers in the Nazareth area. People came from miles around for a yoke, hand carved and crafted by Jesus son of Joseph. When customers arrived with their team of oxen Jesus would spend considerable time measuring the team, their height, the width, the space between them, and the size of their shoulders. Within a week, the team would ...

650. The Hardest Thing That God Could Ask

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Dear mothers, today is your day! If you are a mother or step-mother or guardian, please stand and let us affirm you. The New York Times did a job analysis recently. They found that being a mother was the most demanding vocation they could find. It requires at least seventeen distinctive job skills, including that of psychologist, nutritionist, financial manager, and conflict mediator. In view of the skills required, the Times estimated that the job should pay $500,000 per year. Moms, you are underpaid! (1 ...

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