Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 751 to 775 of 2404 results

751. Life in the Sunbelt

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

... her brother’s death, she determined that she would reach the Aucas and translate the Scriptures into their language. With great courage, she finally contacted the tribe, and won acceptance among them. Living under primitive conditions in one of their huts, she achieved the translation and also shared the Good News through personal testimony. Among her first converts was Kimo, one of her brother’s killers. Eventually he was brought to America, where he showed the blowgun and poison darts he had used, but ...

752. Arise, O Church of God, Arise!

Sermon

... at the tremendous and rapid changes of the last few years and begin to realize that the world is now passing through the greatest transformation in history. In almost every field of human endeavor, man's greatest technological achievements before World War II can be matched or surpassed by developments since that time. Look at the list: nuclear power, nuclear weapons, jet planes, intercontinental missles, space travel, electronic computers, television, DDT, penicillin, oral contraceptives, new grains, new ...

753. The Challenge of God's Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

... " - people's hearts are "set up" as never before to hear a healing word from God. During the last several years we have gone through a phase of disillusionment, I believe. In the forties and fifties we were enamored with the prospects of scientific achievement. This love affair had its climax in our landing men on the moon. We looked to technology for pleasure and comfort, and somehow we thought we would reap the bonus premiums of personal security and inner contentment as well. The phase is over. Today ...

754. You Are Worth Much!

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

... . Perhaps the awareness of your own sins and spiritual failure is pressing on your heart this morning. If any of this is the case, then God has a cheering word for you and me. "To me," God says, "you are worth very much!" That's it! No outstanding achievements to muster. No bank roll to produce. No Playboy - or Playgirl - figure that you have to sport about. This morning our gracious and loving God lays good news on us, news that gives us a fresh start, news he wants us to share with others, news that can ...

755. Don't Try So Hard!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

... have sins and human failures that burden them. They are weighed down by guilt. They do not feel as though they have measured up in a religious, spiritual sense. Often their solution is to try harder. They focus almost exclusively upon what they must do, what they must achieve, to be acceptable in God's sight. Plainly their relationship with God is based upon what they think they are doing for God. It's the old story of trying to save ourselves by our own good works. The words of the Apostle Paul break in at ...

756. If Only We Would Be Open To The Spirit ...

Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... new beginning." The pastor answers, "That’s the spirit!" From our brief observations we can see that we use the phrase. "That’s the spirit!" in a variety of ways. This proves that it has many meanings. It can mean approval, achievement, accomplishment, or sanction, support, security. It may mean being alive, responsive, and vivacious. It often means being enthusiastic, animated, inspired. For Christians, it means the presence of God! Not limited to our age, the expression, "That’s the spirit," goes a ...

757. Prayer

Matthew 5:17-20

Bulletin Aid

... I know is false ... Do I? I try to do what's right, But Jesus lays another guilt trip on me! I can't help how I think How I feel ... Can I? Lord, forgive me for holding back For convincing myself that clean hands are enough And help me achieve a clean heart as well, So I can be fit for your Kingdom, And enter it in Jesus' name. Amen

758. Prayer

Matthew 18:15-20

Bulletin Aid

... to you!" I'm sorry, But I don't believe that! (I don't care if it is in the Bible It hasn't worked that way for me!) Oh, I could play with it - Make it come out - Rationalize - "It takes really singleminded agreement - And that's hard to achieve!" "You have to really understand what you're asking for And I don't understand that well!" "If I'm praying properly I won't ask for anything God doesn't already want to give me!" - But I still don't believe it! God needs some "discretionary powers" - Like a ...

759. Parable of the Tire

Ephesians 5:22-33

Illustration

... to face life when parents are over solicitous. We need to grow in our own faith, develop individual courage, gain justifiable self-confidence and meet the challenges of life with sound judgment. Experience is a good teacher along with helpful guidance. Our momentary defeats may be turned into long-term achievements.

760. Life Turned Upside Down

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

... . Robert Oppenheimer said, "I am a complete failure!" This man had been the director of the Los Alamos Project, a research team that produced the atomic bomb, and he had also served as the head of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Yet, in looking back, he saw his achievements as meaningless. When asked about them, he replied, "They leave on the tongue only the taste of ashes."

761. Parable of the Indian Chiefs

Matthew 7:7-12

Illustration

Staff

... children of even the most humble are quick to see the braggart in his own deception. If father says he was a great ball player, but won't play catch with the son; if mother says she was a great swimmer, but won't don a bathing suit, the achievements of the past are lost in the sounds of the wind. True merit is found in the companionship of parents with their children and first hand lessons of love and instructions. The merit of God's goodness to men is always found faithful with each person, who communes ...

762. Parable of the Wagon and the Ball

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

... Charles had taken his wagon away from the younger brother, it was again sitting idle. The problem of sharing things is a real one not only in families, but in communities and nations. Each generation tends to believe that all that has been achieved and inherited is creditable to the nation or person that is in possession. This indeed, is a basic falsehood and leads to much selfishness and the continuance of many miseries. The socialistic concept that everything belongs to the state and capitalistic concept ...

763. Religion - One Way to Get in God’s Way

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

... citizens, for a response deep enough to match the insistent signal from the fireball. "We ask that you join us in insisting on a policy for nuclear weapons that abandons two grand illusions of our times: that nuclear warfare can achieve rational military and political objectives, and that a defense of populations against nuclear attack is possible." The Eisenhower plea and the five atomic scientists’ insistent cry revitalize Zechariah’s call to genuine worship: "Thus says the Lord of Hosts, render ...

764. Beasts, Saints and Chaos

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

... does it carry the image of soft but ineffectual; pleasant but unrealistic; good humored but not tough in the clinches. The book of Daniel is not hesitant to use the term saint because it knows what saint means. "Saints" mean the holy ones of God. Holiness is not an achievement. It is the gift of God himself. Holiness is a gift, notice, not a reward or an award. It is a gift that God first gave baptized ones in our baptism. In baptism he incorporated us into himself and all that he is, all that he means. Our ...

765. Good Friday

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

... , never the embittered Christ. The life of Jesus Christ is action upon and action with the tragic. Suffering becomes the field of his force. The cross, which the world intended to destroy him, is returned to the world as a sign of the redemption which he has achieved. We need to face the fact of Christ's determination to die and be careful lest we foolishly sentimentalize this occasion. We are not being asked to shake our heads and say, "What a pity. He was so young. Think what he might have done had he ...

766. The Ladder of Success

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Paul Hegele

... the way. The feeling becomes more frequent the older we get, the shorter our future becomes. How many of you middle-aged men want an early retirement? To want to get off the ladder of success is to bow to the fact that, as the world counts achievement, most of us will not be greatly successful. We live in homes, not mansions, and we control businesses, not corporations. So we seek contentment in the limited success we do find in life. But let's be honest with ourselves. Such contentment is little more than ...

767. A Daffy, Magnificent Hope

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

... trade. We hope it doesn't rain on the church picnic, that Sunday's offering can match Monday's bills, that the plastic-faced couple sitting behind us will hold their marriage together for the children's sake. We're taught to be practical and productive - levelheaded achievers. This means setting our sights only on targets we know we can hit. How different were God's people in the Bible! Those children of God who hoped for the most were rewarded the most. Abraham set off across the desert for a Promised Land ...

768. The Cracked Crystal Ball

Jeremiah 28:1-17

Sermon

... comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet." (Jeremiah 28:9) Many prophets foretell destruction. But the real test of a prophet is whether he can see the Lord bringing about peace down the road. Peace is much more difficult to achieve than war. Neither you nor I need a crystal ball to tell us what is coming. We have the Word of God and that is sufficient. In his wisdom, the Lord has chosen not to reveal the future to satisfy our curiosity. He assures us that we do not ...

769. Let God Be God

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... defined by what we own, or that money is the source of all good. The self-serving lifestyle that grows out of these idolatries is banal, boring, and ultimately suffocating. God doesn't want our successes. He wants us. He does not demand our achievements. He calls for our obedience. Safeguards and Stretching Us Letting God be God puts safeguards on our constant tendency, as Christians and people of the church, to veer off into bypaths. One way of making this point about safeguards that the Triune God gives ...

770. A Sermon for Passion Sunday

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... known. No! Even in loneliness, lostness, and forsakeness, the cry goes up, "My God ... why have you forsaken me?" The Son of God Comes All the Way to Our Human Plight And now comes the point. God is at work through the forsakenness of his Son. The purpose he achieves means rescue for nothing less than mankind, for you and for myself and for all. This Jesus who said of himself, "I and my Father are one," and "He that has seen me has seen the Father," no longer saw the Father. In place of divine intimacy, a ...

771. Parable of the Correction Fluid

Galatians 6:1-10

Illustration

... mankind to learn the lessons of love and restoration, we have an example. Children ought early to be taught the ways of forgiveness. Real happiness in the mature years depending on the skill of restoring the rightful mind through the ways of loving fellowship. Thanksgiving and Christmas help greatly to achieve the spirit of forgiveness and love. They help to nullify the effects of jealousy and greed.

772. Parable of the Rich Man's Wife

Matthew 6:19-24

Illustration

Staff

... of living and render community service. The experiences of success and failure cemented their marriage in a commoness of understanding, which made them confident personalities and happy individuals. By worldly gain and eminent business success the first couple wrote its social achievements with a mansion and automobiles. The second couple wrote its story in service and activity. Wealth may impower us to do good or evil to ourselves and to others. When we measure the program and progress of our lives, we may ...

773. PARABLE OF MY NAME

Proverbs 22:1

Illustration

Staff

... a great reputation has an encouraging influence on the namesake. It is true that Bible names are related by the bearers of such names to their historic meanings. It is natural and it is good that we should want to make our reputations measure up to high ideals and noble achievements. Parents ought to wisely choose their children's names with consideration for what it will mean among their playmates and friends and associates in the future.

774. Easter 7

Jn 17:20-26 · Acts 7:55-60; 16:16-34 · Rev 22:12-20

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... . 24. -- By the Ascension, Jesus is now with the Father. Jesus prays that his people also may be with him in heaven. Unity is expressed in being together. c. A unity of a common cause - vv. 21, 23. -- When people have a common cause, they unite and work together to achieve the goal. The goal of the church is to be a witness to the world which is to come to know and believe in God. 2. Why Jesus Prays for Us Today (John 17:20-26). Need: If Jesus prays for us as the text says he does, there must ...

775. Proper 22

Lk 17:5-10 · 2 Tim 1:1-14 · Am 5:6-7, 10-15

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... father of the epileptic at the base of Mount Transfiguration when he said, "I believe; help my unbelief." We need to increase faith because faith has various ascending degrees: assent, trust, and action. Moreover, we cannot increase our faith, because it is not a human achievement but is a gift of the Spirit. Rightly, therefore, we need to request an increase in faith. 2. Obey (v. 6). When a command is given in faith, miracles like a tree removed from land to the sea, take place. Jesus is telling us about ...

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