Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 726 to 750 of 975 results

726. Keys That Unlock Miracles

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

H. L. Mencken was for a long time the editor of the American Mercury magazine. One day he startled his employees by suddenly shouting, “It’s coming in the doors!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at their boss. “It’s up to the bottom of the desk!” Mencken continued, “It’s up to the seats of our chairs.” “What are you talking about?” asked one of his confused colleagues. “It’s all around us. Now, it’s to the top of our desks,” shouted Mencken as he jumped to the top of his desk. “What do you ...

727. Financial Planning

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

A woman who lost her husband several years ago developed a friendship with a man who had also lost his spouse. They seemed a perfect match. All their children agreed they should get married. So a date was set and invitations were sent out. The invitations read like this: “Phil, Richard, Karen, Allison, John, Matt and Steve request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their mother and father. Because they are combining two households, they already have at least two of everything. So please, no ...

728. Everyone Is Invited

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Every summer Kaitlin joins her youth group on mission trips. One summer the group traveled to New Orleans to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief. Their job was to clean out houses that had not been open since the hurricane. “As I entered the first untouched home,” Kaitlin remembered, “the idea of caring and reaching to others really kicked in.” Her first thought was to complain about the conditions but she said, “I knew if this were my own home that would be the last thing thought crossing my mind. I ...

729. A Faith to Move Mountains

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

A man named Adrian Plass authored what he calls his Sacred Diary. In it, he tells how he once bought a book on faith that told him that real Christians should be able to move mountains by faith. So he decided to try it. He practiced with a paper clip. He put it on his desk and willed it to move. Nothing happened. He tried commanding it in a loud voice. Still nothing happened. He tried it again the next day. The paper clip still wouldn’t budge. He even promised God he would change his life if the clip would ...

730. Be Patient

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

One Christmas season when Shirley Duncanson’s daughter was nearing her third birthday, Duncanson decided to take her along with her brothers ages 1, 4, 6, 8 out shopping. The little girl saw a doll that she wanted. Nothing Duncanson could say or do would alter her desire. She wanted that doll and she wanted it then. No reminder that Christmas was coming that she needed to be good because Santa Claus might be watching had any impact on her. With a one-year-old in the cart, and three other children to keep ...

731. Prelude to the Passion

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

It’s always fascinating to read about royalty. Recall the hoopla that surrounded the birth of an heir to the British throne last summer. The onslaught of popular interest reminded us that royalty don’t live like we live. Palaces, servants, untold wealth at their command. So has it forever been. Several years ago Queen Elisabeth II visited the United States. The newspapers reported in detail how lavishly the Queen traveled. Her four thousand pounds of luggage included two outfits for every occasion, an ...

732. 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 ...

733. Treasure Hunt

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

Back in 1905, there was baseball game played in Salt Lake City. A team called the Rhyolites were playing against a team called the Beattys and the Beattys were up to bat. The pitcher threw the ball, the batter swung and the ball rocketed toward first base. William Giffiths, the first baseman, saw the ball coming his way. Then he watched with amazement as the ball ricocheted off a small stone and landed right in his glove. He beat the runner to first easily for the out. The little stone had given Griffiths ...

734. For the Hearing Impaired

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

Of all the topics that a pastor talks about, by common consensus everybody would agree, the most sensitive topic that a pastor talks about is - money. However, the most difficult topic that a pastor deals with is the one we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks in the series we’ve entitled, “Missing Person.” We have said that a missing person is any person who is far from God - any person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The very first command that Jesus ever gave ...

735. The Three Shower Gifts

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What’s in a name? Well, in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare thought that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But in San Quentin Live, Johnny Cash sang a ballad that showed how one guy’s life was completely skewed because he was a “Boy Named Sue.” Sometimes names really do matter. “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” In the Western Church we call this Sunday the “Second Sunday After Christmas.” The day after tomorrow, January 6, will be “Epiphany,” the official ...

736. Paradise Lost

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

James Merritt

Vesna Vulovic made history on January 26, 1972 and in doing so made the Guinness World Book of Records. It is not an honor that she wanted, was looking for, or particularly enjoyed. She was a flight attendant on a DC-9 that was flying over what is now the Czech Republic when a bomb went off and blew the plane apart. She fell 33,330 feet and going 122 miles an hour landed on the side of a mountain and even though she suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, and two broken legs, and was in a coma ...

737. Hamburgers Don't Grow on Trees

Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

King Duncan

A father tells of taking his four-year-old son, Josh, out to McDonald’s for dinner one evening for a “guys’ night out.” As they were eating their hamburgers, Josh asked, “Daddy, what are these little things on the hamburger buns?” Dad explained that they were tiny seeds and that they were OK to eat. Josh was quiet for a couple of minutes and his Dad could tell Josh was in deep thought. Finally, Josh looked up and said, “Dad, if we go home and plant these seeds in our backyard, we will have enough ...

738. Poem: Adonais

Eulogy

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I. I weep for Adonais – he is dead! O, weep for Adonais! though our tears Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head! And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers, And teach them thine own sorrow, say: “With me Died Adonais; till the Future dares Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be An echo and a light unto eternity!” II. Where wert thou, mighty Mother, when he lay, When thy Son lay, pierced by the shaft which flies In darkness? where was lorn Urania ...

739. Poem: Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard

Eulogy

Thomas Gray

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds; Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, Molest her ancient solitary ...

740. A Man Named Many

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

In Ogden Nash’s poem, “The Outcome of Mr. MacLeod’s Gratitude,” he tells of a wife who was always complaining . . . and a husband who conversely managed to be grateful for everything. What a combination--one always complaining and the other always grateful. The last stanza of the poem goes like this: So she tired of her husband’s cheery note And she stuffed a tea-tray down his throat. He remarked from the floor, where they found him reclining, “I’m just a MacLeod with a silver lining!” I hope you have ...

741. How to Get the Job Done

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

And [Jesus] said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." — Luke 10:2 It's a startling fact but true — Jesus and politicians have a lot in common. This no doubt comes as a surprise to those who regard politics as a dirty business, or who think of politicians essentially as liars and who believe steadfastly that politics and religion don't mix. Nonetheless, Jesus and politicians have a lot in common. When you ...

742. Second Chances

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

(Growing Strong in the Season of Lent, Lent 3) There is a hilarious story about a farmer who had three sons: Ron, Don and Little John. All had their names on the church roll but none ever attended church or had time for God. Then one day Don was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Don, but the outlook for his recovery was very dim indeed. So the pastor was called to evaluate the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray: “O wise and righteous Father, we ...

743. Jonah Proof

Jonah 1:17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Many people find it difficult to take the Book of Jonah seriously because they find it hard to believe that a man could be swallowed by a whale and live to tell the story. The following account of a modern-day man who underwent a similar experience and did live to tell his story may be of help. The following account is taken from the Princeton Theological Review, Vol. 25, 1927, p. 636: In February 1891, the whaling ship Star of the East was in the vicinity of the Falkland Islands and the lookout sighted a ...

744. Self-pity: The Devil's Comfort

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Self-pity weeps on the devil’s shoulder, turning to Satan for comfort. His invitation is: “Come unto me all you that are grieved, peeved, misused, and disgruntled, and I will spread on the sympathy. You will find me a never-failing source of the meanest attitudes and the most selfish sort of misery. At my altar you may feel free to fail and fall, and there to sigh and fret. There I will feed your soul on fears, and indulge your ego with envy and jealousy, bitterness and spite. There I will excuse you from ...

745. Ahaz King of Judah

2 Chronicles 28:1-27

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

Ahaz: If the previous narrative about Jotham had created some hope for the reader of Chronicles that the kingship of Judah would survive, the present narrative about Ahaz (ca. 743/742–727/726 B.C.) would destroy that hope again! It marks one of the most negative portrayals of a king in Chronicles. Whereas many of the previous royal narratives (e.g., Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah) reflected some ambiguity about the virtues and vices of the kings, the present narrative provides a wholly ...

746. Accusations

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

After the thanksgiving in 1:3–11, the body of the letter begins with a lengthy section in which Paul seeks to deal with various accusations the Corinthians have made against his character and conduct (1:12–2:13). By the writing of 2 Corinthians, Paul has heard the good report from Titus that most of the Corinthians have been reconciled to Paul (cf. 7:6–7). Yet, because of the discrepancy between Paul’s written word and his actions, the Corinthians have become suspicious of Paul’s motives, accusing him of ...

747. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:1-15, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

In the last section of the letter (2 Cor. 10–13) Paul makes a frontal attack on his opponents to prepare the Corinthians for his third visit to Corinth. In chapter 10 he has already dealt with two of the opponents’ accusations against him. Now, in 11:1–12:13, the apostle condescends to boasting about himself at the provocation of the opponents and in the face of a lack of concrete support from the Corinthians. These opponents, who evidently bill themselves as “apostles,” had made a strong impression on the ...

748. The Old Testament Ritual Described

Hebrews 9:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

We are now at the beginning of a lengthy section (9:1–10:18) that many regard as the heart of the epistle’s argument. In this section the author draws out parallels and contrasts between the old levitical ritual and the priestly work of Christ in considerable detail. Much of the argumentation up to this point has had precisely this goal in view. Indeed, the argument of this major section has already been anticipated (e.g., 7:23–27). The first task the author undertakes is to describe the physical setting ...

749. Taming the Tongue

James 3:1-12, James 3:13-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Wisdom for the Tongue Like the Pauline churches, James’ church was a church of the Spirit. Though there were formal offices, such as elder (5:14), there was no ordination process or schooling needed to teach and preach. As a result it was relatively easy for people with some ability, but worldly motivation, to put themselves forward as teachers. (Our modern seminary-ordination process makes this take longer, but it is not successful in preventing it; rather, it makes such a person a more permanent fixture ...

750. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:7-12, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Throughout the book James has been dealing with the root causes of disharmony within the community. In the previous section, he has dealt with their complaining, their criticizing, and their roots in worldliness (3:1–4:12). Now he turns to another theme, the test of wealth. The poor person is totally dependent and knows it. Although such a person may well be consumed with envy and ambition, Christians are more likely to turn to prayer and humble dependence upon God. The wealthier person, however, may be ...

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