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Showing 701 to 725 of 1967 results

701. Turn Right with the Right Turn

Luke 13:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

The late George Gallup, Sr. did a nationwide poll and discovered one of the most bewildering paradoxes of his career. He discovered that religious interest is growing at an unprecedented rate, but so is immoral behavior. Gallup's poll revealed: "Little difference between those who go to church and those who don't."[1] Now what Gallup discovered is what many people, both inside and outside of the church, deep down know in their hearts. There really is little difference between most people who go to church ...

702. The Spin Zone

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

James Merritt

Question - What do King David, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton have in common? They all at one time entered "THE SPIN ZONE." What is "The Spin Zone"? The "Spin Zone" is when you enter into God's "No Sin Zone" out of a lust for power, sex, influence or money which causes you to sin which you then try to cover up. In the Garden of Eden God warned Adam and Eve about His "No Sin Zone" and they refused to listen, they entered into "The Spin Zone" and you know the rest of the story. Nixon had his Watergate, ...

703. The Curriculum of God’s Kingdom

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We can do startling new things because God has drawn near enough to enable them." Matthew 4:17b It was an awful time in London. In December of 1952 a toxic mix of dense fog and thick black smoke killed four thousand in four days. Coffins ran out, as did funeral flowers. It was one of the deadliest environmental disasters in English history. Here is what happened: “As smoke pouring out of London's chimneys mixed with fog, the air turned colder. In response, ...

704. Is Sunday Just a Fun Day?

Exodus 20:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

It was an ad in Newsweek magazine that caught my attention because of the first two words: In bold print it said, SUNDAY MORNING; but listen to the ad in its entirety: "SUNDAY MORNING: Time to kick back, get comfortable, and perfect the art of doing absolutely nothing. The ideal companion? Pioneers new PD-M710, 6-disc CD player. Now you can enjoy up to six hours of your favorite music without lifting a finger...all of which means you can spend less time changing your music, and more time enjoying it, but ...

705. Do We Live in ‘Why’ or ‘Whynot’

Romans 12:3-8, 16-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

(Pursuit of Happiness Clip) If you have seen the movie Pursuit of Happiness, it is based on the true story of Chris Gardner. Chris Gardner's life is falling apart. After a business deal goes bad, he feels that the only way he can make a good life for his family is if he changes careers. So despite all the odds, Gardner enters the chase for a lucrative job as a stockbroker at Dean-Whitter. The only problem is that the competitive internship required doesn't pay anything, and there is no guarantee of ...

706. Jesus’ Love and the World’s Hatred

John 15:1-17

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

Jesus’ Love and the World’s Hatred: Just as it is possible to imagine a stage of the tradition when the only farewell discourse was 13:31–35, so it is possible to imagine a stage when the discourse extended to 14:31 but no further. There is a smooth transition from that verse’s summons to “leave” to the statement in 18:1 that Jesus “left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.” At the end of chapter 14, the reader expects the group to leave and the discourse to end. Instead, the discourse ...

707. The World Hates the Disciples

John 15:18--16:4

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

708. Eternal Echo Of Easter - Part 1

Matthew 28:1-10

Drama

Esther R. Russ

PROGRAM 1. Candlelight Ceremony Choir 2. In the Beginning Narration 3. "I, Mary, Mother of Jesus" Reading 4. Jesus’ Ministry Narration and Drama 5. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Upper Room Choir 6. The Betrayal Narration 7. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Betrayal Choir 8. The Garden of Gethsemane Narration 9. Choral Arrangement Depicting the Garden Choir 10. The Trials Narration and Drama 11. The Soldiers, Part One Dialogue Drama 12. The Processional and Crucifixion Choir, Drama 13. The Soldiers, Part ...

709. The Scarlet Letter

Exodus 20:14

Sermon

James Merritt

Probably the mother of all misprints in any book, came in the misprint of a Bible. In 1631 someone discovered a word that was missing in a newly published version of the Bible, called The King James Version. The missing word was "not" in the seventh commandment which then made the Authorized Version to read, "Thou shalt commit adultery." From then on, this 1631 addition of the Bible became known as the "Wicked Bible."[1] Well, this seems to be the Bible the world is wanting to read today. Without question ...

710. The Agony of Defeat

2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Kings 15:5

Sermon

James Merritt

He was elected on his first try as a United States Congressman. He was elected on his first try as a United States Senator. At 39, he became one of the youngest men elected as Vice President of the United States. He went on to be elected as President of the United States, and then re-elected in the third largest landslide in U. S. history. But that is not how you remember him. I can say just one word, and everyone now, and probably for centuries, will know instantly who is being spoken of. The word is ...

711. Proper 13

2 Samuel 11:26--12:13a, John 6:25-59, Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11:26--12:13a The deed was done. Uriah was killed in battle and Bathsheba with David's unborn child moves into David's palace. So what? It appeared to be a perfect crime. No one asked questions and no one protested. The catch was, "The thing that David had done displeased the Lord." (2 Samuel 11:27) Now God steps into the story by sending Nathan by use of a story to bring David to a realization of his sin: "You are the man." David confesses and hears the penalty: death of ...

712. It's All Good

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

James Merritt

It was Easter Sunday. The Children’s Bible study class was packed. The teacher had talked about Good Friday and Easter. After thinking that she had carefully explained what had happened that weekend she decided to see how much of the story the kids remembered. She said, “Would somebody like to tell me something they remember about either Good Friday or Easter? One little boy said, “The cross was very heavy and a man had to help Jesus carry it.” Another little boy said, “I remember it got dark as night and ...

713. Struggling with Sin

Romans 7:7-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

We noted in section 14 that chapters 6–7 are something of a theological entrenchment on Paul’s part designed to defend his gospel against three objections. In 6:1–14 he contended against a misunderstanding of 5:20 (“where sin increased, grace increased all the more”), which would argue that if grace increases with sin, why not sin all the more? In 6:15–7:6 he answered a second objection that freedom from the law leads to moral anarchy. Now in the present section (7:7–25) we hear his final defense, in which ...

714. Who Is The Prisoner? Who Is The Judge?

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

The Elder John Kline (1797-1864) was a doctor, a carpenter, a preacher, and an elder among the Dunkers, one of the Plain People. Kline’s home was near Linville Creek, Virginia. He, like all the Dunkers, lived peaceably with his neighbors, which is not surprising since the Dunkers believed in non-resistance to violence. For the most part his people stayed out of politics, but from their arrival in America in 1729, the group had taken an unmitigated stance against slavery. Needless to say this made them very ...

715. Count Me In!

Isaiah 56:1-8

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." He drew a circle that shut me out - Heretic, Rebel, a thing to flout! But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! The world is forever drawing circles that shut people out. In a polite way we say, "By invitation only" or "Reserved." Books are copyrighted so that no one, except by permission, may duplicate any portion of them. Trade names, such as "Coca-Cola" and "Orkin," are registered to prevent others from copying ...

716. The Glorious Interpolation

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Mark Twain once wrote a story with the descriptive title: “The Terrible Catastrophe.” Before he had finished he had worked all of his characters into such a predicament that whatever any one of them did they would all be destroyed! Contemplating his creation at this juncture, Twain concluded the story by writing, “I have these characters in such a fix I cannot get them out. Anyone who thinks he can is welcome to try!” In our Scripture we find that Jesus’ enemies thought that they had Him in just such a fix ...

717. Name Dropping

Exodus 20:7

Sermon

James Merritt

God's Name is so important to Him that it makes the "Top Ten" of the commandments He wants his family to live by. Most every one of us here very likely have some type of an alarm system in our home. We have that because we want to make sure our homes are secure. That is why we are in the middle of a series on the Ten Commandments that I have entitled "Homeland Security." Remember that the Ten Commandments are God's rules for His family. The Ten Commandments were not given to establish a relationship with ...

718. God Is Not Dead

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

If there is one commandment that is usually thought to be irrelevant, it is the second commandment. However, it may be second in position because it is second in importance. This commandment is one that is probably the most easily ignored and, yet, the most blatantly broken. In case you doubt that idolatry is alive and well right here in America, picture a newspaper article entitled, THE DEIFICATION OF ELVIS: Those who worship ‘the king’ practice their own form of religion. This newspaper writer thought at ...

719. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Now that baseball is in full swing, I thought you might enjoy a story I was reading recently concerning former Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller and Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span. It seems these two players from different eras have something rather odd in common: Both men during baseball games hit their mothers in the stands with a foul ball. Feller hit his mom in 1939 (he broke her collarbone); Span hit his during a spring training game in 2010. Fortunately, both moms made full recoveries. (1 ...

720. Paul Reinterprets the Story of Israel

Romans 2:17-29

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul reverses the role that the law played as the stipulation of the old covenant. He argues that the very attempt to obey the law is keeping Israel in bondage. This is because obsession with the Torah derailed Jews from accepting Jesus as the Messiah and from seeing that the law was fulfilled in him and finished at the cross. Understanding the Text Romans 2:17–24, together with 2:25–29, focuses on the twin themes of the law of Moses as the stipulation of the Old Testament covenant and ...

721. Faces of Failure: Judas Iscariot

Matthew 26-27 (selections)

Sermon

Don Tuttle

The story is told of a preacher whose method for selecting his Sunday scripture was, shall we say, unusual. Some pastors use what’s called a lectionary--a three-year cycle of readings that retells the story of Jesus every year using either Matthew, Mark, or Luke. Other pastors select a topic—maybe “grace” or “sacrifice”--and then biblical texts that address it. Still others preach through entire books. One church I know will spend almost all of 2017 going through 1 Peter verse by verse. But the preacher in ...

722. Secret Savior

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

"For the sake of His great name the LORD will not reject His people, because the LORD was pleased to make you His own." (1 Samuel 12:22) They call him (or her) “Benny” for the $100 bills that bear the photo of his namesake Benjamin Franklin. In Salem, Oregon, a mysterious philanthropist has been placing $100 bills (Bennys) inside of packages of diapers and cereal boxes, clothing and toilet paper. Each of the bills contains a simple signature –“Benny.” The unknown giver has been donating money well over the ...

723. Translucent Grace

Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36, Revelation 1:9-20, Revelation 2:12-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18) Prop: translucent stones or another kind of gem (or larger white stones onto which people can write the name of Jesus) He was an upstanding Christian, long-time servant in ministry, Chair of the Administrative Council, member of the Trustees, organizer of the yearly fund-raiser and the monthly Men’s Breakfast. “Carl” (as we’ll call him) was one of the “cornerstones” of ...

724. Creative Preaching

Sermon

Michael Rogness

I would urge every preacher to attempt an experimental sermon occasionally, especially if he or she is normally a very routine, conventional person.51 -- John Killinger Change attracts attention. Every preacher knows this after watching people's attention shift to a child walking up the aisle and out the door to the bathroom. I was in a church once where a bird was flying around the sanctuary. The pastor could just as well have been reading out of the phone book for all the attention the sermon retained. A ...

725. Easter 7

John 17:20-26, Psalm 47:1-9, Acts 7:54--8:1a, Acts 16:6-10, Acts 16:16-40, 1 Samuel 12:1-25, Revelation 22:7-21

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE This Sunday might very well be called "Consolidation Sunday," because it is known now as the Seventh Sunday of Easter, rather Exaudi, the Sunday after the Ascension of our Lord. Whereas, Exaudi had a mini-season of a week's duration with Pentecost as its octave, the Seventh Sunday is deliberately incorporated into the great 50 days of Easter. In effect, it "completes" the Easter season, which is brought to a dramatic closure on the festival of Pentecost. The "Christ is risen! He is risen, ...

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