Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 701 to 725 of 3852 results

Matthew 2:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Matthew’s “magi” is never made completely clear. They are simply described as being “from the East.” Their evident interest in astrology may suggests a Babylonian connection, but the spice gifts they offer hail from Arabia or Syria. Whatever their ethnic origins and astrological skills, these magi were sorely lacking in political savvy (hence “wise men” as a true misnomer). They journey to Jerusalem and then begin asking where they may find the new “king of the Jews.” In other words, they ...

702. Prophesy Your Way Forward

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

703. Recall Notice

Humor Illustration

... defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been identified as "Subsequential Internal Non-morality," more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed. Some of the symptoms include: Loss of direction Foul vocal emissions Amnesia of origin Lack of peace and joy Selfish or violent behavior Depression or confusion Fearfulness Idolatry Rebellion The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this ...

704. Whistling Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... those of us gathered in the body of Christ, in the nurture and nourishment of “Mother Church,” we need look only one place to find our family tree. We are living out our faith as branches on the Tree of Life, growing out of the origins of divinely gifted life, the incarnation of Christ, the covenant of faith, and of God’s continued, living relationship with this world. In today’s gospel text Jesus tells his disciples that it is only by “abiding” in him, that is only in following his commandment ...

705. Bringing Home the Bacon

John 6:24-35

Illustration

J. Curtis Goforth

... he and his wife had "not wished themselves unmarried again" for a year and a day. The flitch trials as they are still called are held every four years to this day. It even gets a mention in Geoffrey Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales. However the phrase originated, bringing home the bacon is a common expression we use in reference to bringing home money for the family, not a literal side of bacon. But I think this phrase reveals a lot about our culture. We are so inextricably tied to food and to eating that ...

706. How Many of Us Does It Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... else had to match for fear of destroying their wagons and wheels. Since the chariots were made by the Roman Empire, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Thus, we have the answer to our original question. The distance of four feet, eight and one-half inches derives from the original specification for an imperial Roman war chariot. But why did the Romans use that spacing? Their chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the behinds of two war-horses. That’s the ultimate answer to the ...

707. The Most Dangerous Verse In the Bible

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... put down. That is the position Muslims take regarding the Qu'ran, and that is why they insist that it be studied in Arabic, because translations cannot accurately render the original exactly. Those who claim that this is the way we got our Bible will add that it is only exact in what are called the original "autographs." Subsequent copies and translations are possibly slightly flawed. Another way of explaining God's breathing is to say that, rather than dictating the very words of scripture, God "inspired ...

708. The Golf Shot That Destroyed an Airforce

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... to show his son what he does for a living. However, it becomes a very big deal in a hurry when the child pushes something he shouldn’t have pushed. Seventy-five people lose their lives. Sin hurts. Actions have consequences, sometimes far out of proportion to the original act. Christ came to save us from our sins. This is so important for us to understand. Christ did not come to condemn us for our sins. Christ came to save us from our sins. If there is something in your life, some wrongful behavior, some ...

709. Sing Praise

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... an ancient song of praise. Like the well-known hymn, "Fairest Lord Jesus," or a praise song like "Here I Am To Worship," this ancient hymn was meant as praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. We no longer have the original title or melody of this song. The rhythm of the words doesn't translate well from the original Greek to English, and the words don't rhyme as they do in many of our songs today. But one mark of this ancient hymn that we can still identify is its use of repetition. The most obvious example of ...

710. RSVP

Isaiah 55:1-9

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... initials in our churches, as well. We sometimes do include other initials in our churches, you know. Perhaps you've seen a stained-glass window, an altar, or a cross in your church that has "INRI" or "IHS" on it. Like our RSVP, those church initials originated in other languages. The "INRI" is borrowed from the Latin initials for the phrase that was posted on Jesus' cross: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. The "IHS," meanwhile, is an adaptation of the first three letters of the name of Jesus as it ...

711. A New Beginning

Isaiah 65:17-25

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... ever getting it done in time for Sunday — a pastor's nightmare! What I really needed was to start all over again from the foundation of the text. I needed fresh, new insights from God's word. The people to whom Isaiah chapter 65 was originally addressed were living through a long nightmare. Though God's people had been allowed to return from exile in Babylon, few had actually chosen to do so after 538 BC. Twenty or more years later the returnees still faced nearly insurmountable economic and social ob ...

712. See Something, Say Something, Do Something, Be Something

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Be known for your loving service. More accurate than “Be something” is “Be someone” — Be Jesus. Be Jesus to someone. There is a phrase that you hear only infrequently anymore: “scared the bejesus out of me.” The phrase originated in England in the 18th century, and was originally “by Jesus.” Because you could be arrested for blasphemy, you masked your profanity and said: “By God I did this” or “By God I promise that.” By saying “scared the byjesus out of me,” and eventually ...

713. Cure for an Aching Back

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... condition. There is a verse, again in the Psalms, that speaks to this. In the King James Version it reads like this: “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down . . .” (Psalm 146:8). This woman, whatever the origin of her spirit of infirmity was in worship on the Sabbath; when Jesus told her to step forward, she obeyed, and this terrible burden was lifted from her body and her soul. Says Dr. Luke, “Immediately she straightened up and praised God.” Jesus can do ...

714. Praying In Jesus' Name

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David O. Bales

... , using flowery phrases, but are those like Jesus’ prayer from the cross — screaming to God in pain. Since we’re talking with God in prayer, I suggest we speak to God in conversational language as does the original Bible, although some ancient English translations of the Bible don’t. The original Bible is in ordinary language, although the Hebrew in the book of Psalms tends to be more stilted. I’ve endured people praying in public, trying to use “thee’s” and “thou’s,” and getting them ...

715. Duuuh!

John 14:15-31

Sermon

David O. Bales

... touching my own flesh and blood.” When we allow Jesus to be born into our lives he, with the eternity of God’s longing to be with us, says, “You at last are my flesh and blood.” Without Jesus we are cosmic orphans, separated from our original source of life. Jesus, however, promises in verse 18, “I will not leave you orphans.”[1] You can think of Jesus’ family relationship with us in a couple of ways. You could consider us adopted as Jesus’ brothers and sisters, as Paul the apostle does. Or ...

716. Where Is Jesus?

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David O. Bales

... Martha, to Lazarus and to us. The gospel of John is careful to tell us that, when Jesus sees Lazarus’ sister crying, “He was greatly disturbed in spirit,” meaning in the original New Testament that he has “an intense, strong feeling of concern.”[1] Then the gospel records Jesus was “deeply moved.” In the original that expresses “an acute emotional distress or turbulence.”[2] Finally, if it’s not enough that John tells us how Jesus feels, John records that shortest verse of the Bible as ...

717. When We No Longer Recognize Ourselves

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... , a king whose relationship with God was so intimate that he danced before God with reckless abandon. But sin led him so far from God’s original purposes for him that when he was confronted with the story of his life, he did not recognize it as his own. And he wondered if ... in PreachingToday.com. 2. “Living in a Faceless World” by Joshua Davis, The Week, November 24, 2006, pp. 52-53. Originally published in Wired, November 2006. 3. Hatá, which means the failing to live up to God’s standards of ...

718. Honk If Something Falls Off

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

King Duncan

... headaches because taken just by itself, it sounds like Jesus is setting a standard we cannot possibly attain that he is telling us to be sinless as he was sinless. That is not the intent of Christ’s words. That’s clear from the original Greek. The Greek word for “perfect” in this verse is ‘teleios.’ It doesn’t mean ‘sinless perfection.’ However, there is a Greek word that does mean “sinless perfection.” It is the word ‘anamartetos.’ Jesus used it in John 8:7, “When they kept on ...

719. Waking the Giant

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... O God, do it again! Do it again!” The impact of that first Pentecost still illumines the life of Christ’s church 2000 years later. But today we have becoming a sleeping giant. How shall we waken it? By praying for our church, by focusing on our original purpose to bring the world to Christ, and to live our lives passionately being what Christ has called us to be. Then, perhaps God will give us a second Pentecost. In the meantime, let us pray with passion, “O God, do it again!” 1. Dr. Ezell Wiggins ...

720. The Runner

Romans 9:30--10:21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the point that righteousness through human attempts at good works, through the dutiful “actions” of keeping the law, will always result in failure. Humans just cannot be “good enough” do-gooders to get in good with God. To re-boot the original Eden, God’s design for paradise smudged beyond recognition by human wickedness and wretchedness, God uploaded a completely new way for human beings to be in an intimate and honest relationship with the divine. But this “new way” required the vanquishing ...

721. Changing Times

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... of the judgment dimension of the day of the Lord, but spoken in a way that serves to remind Israel that condemnation and punishment are not God’s last word to them. 2 Peter 3:8-15a It is not helpful to probe too far into theories of origins with this letter. If tradition stands, this is a communication from the apostle Peter in his last years before being executed at the hands of Nero around 64 AD. There are a number of challenges to this view (none insurmountable), and any good commentary can provide ...

722. Come Home

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... pearl of stardom embedded amidst the grit and gravel of everyday gifts. Ferreting out someone’s ability to excel at something, identifying an individual’s unique “talent,” has its roots in this week’s gospel text. In fact, you might call our text the original “talent contest.” In the first century a “talent” was actually a measure of weight for gold, silver and copper. We do know it was not a specific value of currency or wealth. We do not know exactly what the weight was that a “talent ...

723. I'm Listening

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... 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 Name: I'm Listening New Name: The Power of Listening Legend has it that President Franklin D. Roosevelt got tired of smiling that big smile and saying the usual things at all those White House receptions. So, one evening he decided to find ...

724. TGFGF - Good Friday

John 18:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... meant “mourning,” as in “to mourn someone.” So in German, it is Mourning Friday. (2) That makes much more sense to me than Good Friday. That is certainly what Christ’s disciples did on that Friday they mourned. Some sources say that originally the word “good” had a secondary meaning. It meant “pious” or “holy.” We could be celebrating Holy Friday if our language had evolved accordingly. Certainly that makes sense. It is among the holiest of days of the year to followers of Christ, for ...

725. Building a New Team

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... on another mission journey soon thereafter, and this time stop in Rome on his way to Spain and the western reaches of the empire. Paul’s design in the first part of this letter (1:19—3:20) is to give a different view of the origins of evil. God is good; creation is good; and human alienation from the good is a late introduction brought about by our sinful choices. For Paul’s audience in Rome, made up of both Jewish and Gentile Christians, the message communicated is that neither has the religious ...

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