Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 626 to 650 of 1858 results

626. Put the Cross on Top

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... fundamentally flawed in ways I could not fix by myself. He told me about a savior who loved me so much that he died on a cross for all my sins. I was invited that night to receive that Savior into my life and to follow him as my Lord. Wild horses could not have kept me away from that altar. I have lived 42 years since that night, but that was the most significant decision of my life. That night I put the cross on top. It has transformed my life and saved my soul. If you need to put ...

627. MR. CAIN

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

... in his eyes. That’s the league for us, Sweetheart. Nothing but home runs, Pow! Right out of the old ball park. (He pauses, recollecting) Hey, how’d you like that tonight, how they all clapped when I said that about responsibility? JAREL (Without enthusiasm) It was wild. CAIN (He is on the speaker’s platform, with all the answers at his fingertips) Someday that old Timekeeper in the sky is going to punch my clock, and I guess I’ll have to take another job. Well, I don’t worry about that, because I ...

628. SALLY JANE

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

... got loose, we never chased them, because we knew that sooner or later they’d be in the orchard eating the apples. JAREL (Breaking in) Frankly, I don’t think you’re going to find any will. I don’t think there is any will. It’s all been a wild goose chase. CAIN On Saturday nights we’d all get together here on the porch - sometimes we’d have to chase away the bats with a broom. And the old man would ask us to find the North Star. First one with the answer got a nickel. JAREL That’d ...

629. ATHLETE

1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 2:5

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... where he learned to wrestle, run, jump, and throw the discus and the javelin. The most outstanding athletes competed in the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean games. Winners won great honor not only for themselves but for their cities. Crowns of the wild olive were the only prizes awarded at the national games, but the cities rewarded their athletes generously. Athletic games were introduced into Rome from Greece, and in the sixth century A.D. they supplanted the contests of the gladiators, professional ...

630. GARDENER

John 20:15

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... that hath no water" (Isaiah 1:30) expresses spiritual, national and individual barrenness and misery. Large estates outside of the city walls also hired men to keep watch over their grounds, to prevent vandals from destroying the gardens and orchards, or to prevent infiltration of wild animals. In this instance, we can compare the caretaker or grounds keeper of today with his counterpart of yesterday. Both have specific guardian duties, and, perhaps, also are involved in the tilling of the soil as well.

631. HERDSMAN

Genesis 13:7; Luke 8:34

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... ’s herdsmen were among his chief officers of state. In general, however, the herdsman was seldom the owner of the flock or herd which he tended. The rich owners of herds placed them in charge of herdsmen, whose duty it was to protect them from wild beasts, to keep them from straying and to lead them to suitable pasture. They provided the animals with hay and other forage when pasturage was low and made salt licks available for the herds. For protection for his animals, the herdsmen carried a sharpened or ...

632. HUNTER

Genesis 25:27; Proverbs 6:5

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... the Bible: 1. shooting with the bow and arrows; 2. snaring by the spring net and cage, especially for birds, such as quail, duck, and partridge; and 3. pits covered with a net and brushwood to catch deer, foxes, wolves, bears, lions, etc. In hunting wild animals for protection or to destroy a scavenger, the spear, sword and club were used. Eventually, hunting came to be regarded as a sport, although the people in general were strongly opposed to this. It was a sport reserved for royalty, and Josephus tells ...

633. SINGER

2 Chron. 29:28; Neh. 13:10

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... they were entrusted with the sacred music. The Jews have always considered themselves to be a highly musical people, although, being Oriental in concept and origin, it would clash on our ears. It was often atonal, shrill, and harsh, alternately hauntingly beautiful and wildly raucous. But, then again, perhaps our ears have been assualted so badly by much of our modern music that we could have appreciated the ancient melodies. Of course, there was no harmony as we know it. That was a very late development ...

634. SANTA CLAUS OR CHRIST?

Drama

G. William Genszler

... come in and dance around "tree" once or twice and then on knees try to peek at packages under "tree.") Reader: Yes, Mother was baking a thousand delights While father on ladder was stringing the lights; The kids pranced around in noisy dismay Like a herd of wild reindeer let loose in the hay. The whole household quivered with tense anxious joy As little hands itched, To unwrap the first toy. Kids: (rise and speak to audience) We are the kiddies who hardly can wait We plan to trap Santa with cookies as bait ...

635. The Forbidden Anger

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... we grow toward the ideal of the Sermon on the Mount. Now, let me close with a true story about anger and God's transforming power. There was a pastor who had a chronic problem with anger. His wife and young son had often been subjected to his wild outbursts of temper. The little boy would often hide in a closet and tremble during his father's explosions of anger. The pastor sought and received counseling. He asked a group of friends in a prayer fellowship to pray for him, that he might gain control of this ...

636. A Thanksgiving Question

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... was doing you a favor. If you sat in his chair, he could fix you with such a look of utter disdain that you would just feel ashamed and change chairs. Gris Gato spent his first two years living in the woods behind the home of his current family, utterly wild. He would not let anybody get near him. One day the family noted that he was hurt, sort of dragging his hind quarters. Obviously, the cat had been caught by a dog or hit by a car. The only way they could get near the cat was to trap him ...

637. Overcoming Fear

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... panic they screamed at Jesus, "Don't you care whether we die or not?" As we consider this story we see right away the cause of excessive fear in any situation. Anytime your source of security is not strong enough to sustain you, then fear runs wild. The disciples were still tenderfoots in their experience with Jesus; therefore, they weren't yet sure who he was or how much they could trust him. Therefore their main protection against the storm was the little boat, and it was clearly not strong enough or big ...

638. The Snake: A Slick Salesman

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... child as he comes home from school. In order to better understand our enemy, the Evil One, let's go back to the entrance of sin into our world. Look with me at the third chapter of Genesis. Note verse one: "NOW THE SERPENT WAS MORE SUBTLE THAN ANY OTHER WILD CREATURE THAT THE LORD GOD HAD MADE. HE SAID TO THE WOMAN, 'DID GOD SAY, YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF ANY TREE OF THE GARDEN'?" I wonder what the snake looked like in the Garden of Eden. This was before it started slithering around on its belly. The snake could ...

639. My Love Requires A Symbol

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... The other clergy on our staff and I perform lots of weddings. We enjoy it immensely. There are several reasons that we have so many weddings. We are a large congregation with an unusually large percentage of young adults. Furthermore, Cupid seems to run wild in our singles ministry. In fact, because of all those weddings, I have unintentionally memorized the wedding service. But I still keep the printed service in from on me, lest I call this Saturday’s bride by last Saturday’s name. Nothing so unnerves ...

640. Living With the Pain

Matthew 10:1-42

Illustration

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... in his wrist. Two years later, he had a sore left knee, a strained left calf muscle, and a severe left wrist sprain. In 1983, he was out for knee surgery, and in 1985 he required 17 stitches after getting hit in the mouth with a wild pitch. In addition, he bruised a hamstring muscle, injured his right heel, and suffered a sore left ankle. His worst injury involved severe ligament damage to his ankle in 1986, a year predicted to be his best. When asked about pain, Gibson was quoted as saying, "There ...

641. A Time to Dance

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... chaf finch has a peculiar characteristic--it can forget how to sing. If it does not learn how to sing again, it becomes depressed and dies. There is only one way for it to relearn. The bird must be taken back into the woods where the wild birds sing. Christians sometime forget how to sing and dance. Then we need to gather with other Christians whose hearts still ring with God's melody. Sometimes during Holy Communion, God mysteriously re- teaches us chaf finches how to sing and dance. Verse nine of Psalm ...

642. Our Lord's Abundant Table

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

Charles Swindol tells a funny story about a nine-year-old named Danny who came bursting out of Sunday school like a wild stallion. His eyes were darting in every direction as he tried to locate either mom or dad. Finally, after a quick search, he grabbed his Daddy by the leg and yelled, "Man, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!" His father looked down, ...

643. Great Is Your Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Brett Blair

... to the dogs." That sounds like a contemptuous insult. Even today the term dog is used for something particularly despicable. It has been pointed out that the actual word that Jesus used was not dog but puppy. He was referring to a household pet and not the kind of wild dogs that roamed the streets at that time. Some say that he was not insulting her but teasing her and that he probably had a smile on his face when he spoke these words. I don’t think so. I think he is drawing the lines here. His ministry ...

644. The Voices Of Christmas

Drama

Jerry Nordstrom

... that at our office party! HOMEMAKER: I baked a coffee ring. It turned out so pretty I wanted to hang it on the door for a wreath. CORPORATION MAN: You shoulda seen the boss chasin’ her around the desks. Knocked over the Christmas tree and two plastic palms. Wild! SPORTSMAN: Next Christmas I’m going to Switzerland! CHILD: And I want a pair of skis. SPORTSMAN: Yeah, it makes my folks sore, ya know, when I’m gone at Christmas time, but, man! When I’ve got a week off, I mean, I’ve got to ski! PATIENT ...

645. Song of the Vineyard

Isaiah 5:1-7

Illustration

Larry Powell

... was the basis for Jesus’ Parable of the Vineyard. Compare Isaiah’s song of the vineyard with Mark 12:1-12. For both accounts, Jeremiah 2:21 provides a fitting epilogue: "I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?"

646. Faith and Power

Mark 4:35-41

Illustration

Larry Powell

... day and night, inflicting injury upon himself and striking fear into the hearts of all who chance to see him. Frequently, he had been subdued and bound with chains, but such was his deranged agony that he tore away the fetters and ran about the tombs as a wild man. In a great display of power, Jesus freed the man from his torment (5:13) and "all marveled. Then, crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus encountered a certain Janus, a ruler of the synagogue, who prevailed upon him to accompany him to his ...

647. Clean and Unclean

Acts 11:1-18

Illustration

Larry Powell

... considered by Jews to be unclean, insofar as it involved handling dead things (Leviticus 11:39-40). 2. The vision. While on the rooftop of Simon’s house (11:5) Peter saw a great sheet being let down from heaven containing animals, beasts of prey, and wild birds. A voice instructed him to "rise, kill and eat," but refusing, he said, "No Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth." But the voice answered, "What God has cleansed you must not call common" (11:9). Notice that Peter did not ...

648. Song of a Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... cliffs cast deep shadows into the narrow ravines below them. As a consequence, the tortuous paths twisting through the gorges virtually plunge from day into sudden night. The unwary traveler, passing from dazzling light into thick darkness, thus becomes easy prey to wild beasts or marauding brigands lying in ambush beneath the crags. But the psalmist’s shepherd was no unwary traveler. He knew only too well what dangers might lurk in the inky passages, as David attests when he tells Saul of slaying lions ...

649. Song of a Pilgrim

Psalm 122:1-9

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... cf. Psalm 147:2). Here, indeed, is a choice rendezvous for all Israelites regardless of their tribal backgrounds. For be they descendants of Benjamin or Judah, Ephraim or Issachar, here they are one in commitment and single in purpose. Nor is the singer dreaming any wild dream, he assures himself. Did not the twelve tribes of old gather in the Temple at Israel’s three great feasts? (Psalm 122:4). So he sees himself as one with all Israelites, both past and present. The sense of unity which the Temple thus ...

650. The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Robert Allen

... the sheep are very calm and content when the shepherd is present. They know the shepherd is there and that he is interested in them. The shepherd is one who cares for them ... The shepherd provides them with food and water ... The shepherd protects them from wild animals in the field ... The shepherd nurses and cares for them when they are sick ... They know the shepherd is watching over them and they are calm and content. The shepherd is one who cares for his sheep because they are valuable to him. From ...

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