Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 751 to 775 of 1679 results

751. Overcoming Fear

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Many years ago when I was a young preacher, I noticed one day that a new family had moved into a neighborhood not far from my church. So I dropped by late one afternoon. I noticed that one car was parked in the carport. I went to the side door, the one opening onto the carport. I had rung the door bell only once when I heard a deep, bass growl that sounded like the rolling of thunder. It was coming from the back of the carport and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up. I glanced to my ...

752. What's Your Drink?

Isaiah 43:16-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What do we thirst for? What is our drink? Jesus offers his disciples deep drinks of "living waters." Draughts of the “Living Waters" must be our signature sip, our desired drink. Civilized behavior the world over demands that a proper host or hostess offers some sort of sustenance when welcoming visitors into their homes. Who among us doesn't feel compelled to quiz their guests, even before they get a chance to sit down, about what we might be able to get them? We might ask with enthusiasm when the coffee ...

753. Soulistic Health

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Jesus calls each one of us to be whole. But what does "whole" mean? How are "whole" and "soul" related? No matter that the much touted "health-care reform" package of a few years ago never made it out of Congress. We are still living in the middle of a tremendous health-care revolution. Health insurance might still be a quagmire, Medicaid still inadequate, but the way we think about our health has changed radically in the past two decades. Most of us now realize that we cannot be truly healthy if we ...

754. Close Up - Wives: Sweet Surrender

Colossians 3:18

Sermon

James Merritt

Respect - if the coach doesn't have it, he loses control of the team. If the officer doesn't have it, he loses control of his troops. If the teacher doesn't have it, he loses control of the class. If the home doesn't have it, then the entire family is in trouble. We are in the middle of a series entitled, "Picture Perfect" and we have said over and over, "God desires for your family to reflect His glory." The way the family does that is by each member of the family fulfilling their God given roles and ...

755. A New Hope

Jeremiah 18:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

Amazingly, George Lucas, who created one of the most famous villains of all time in Darth Vader, could not resist the storyline that even with the Darth Vader there is always "A New Hope." There is always the hope that anyone who has gone over to the dark side, no matter how far or how deep, can once again reemerge to the light side and the right side. Thousands of years ago God told the Prophet Jeremiah of a land that we could call "The Land of New Hope". To illustrate that land, He told Jeremiah to go ...

756. The Dark Side Revealed

Numbers 32:23

Sermon

James Merritt

The dark side - all you have to do is to simply say those words and in this day and age an image comes to your mind of a creature in all black, who breathes heavily through a mask - called Darth Vader. Star Wars – a classic battle between good and evil, has now filled the Hollywood screens and home theatres for 30 years. Teresa and I were newlyweds when it first hit the screens in 1977, and to this day, this saga is still one of the best sellers of all times. The final movie, Revenge of the Sith, released ...

757. Characteristics of the Church

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In one of his novels, William Faulkner wrote, “That which is destroying the church is not the outward groping of those with in it, or the inward groping of those without, but the professionals who control it and have removed the bells from its steeples.” (quoted by Dr. Lovitt H. Weems, Jr., at his Inaugural Address as President of St. Paul’s School of Theology, December 11, 1985.) I don’t know everything that Faulkner meant by that. He may have been talking about the fact that the professionals within the ...

758. God as a Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Every pastor sees the damage that is done to people by too heavy an emphasis on God's judgment. The damage often begins in childhood. Because children can be rambunctious, adults too often try to frighten them into obedience. The church is no exception to this practice. Parents sometimes report that their children have come home from Sunday school or vacation Bible school in tears and trembling because some misguided adult had tried to frighten them into faith with horrifying images of the punishment that ...

759. Claimed, Framed, Changed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

What do athletic coaches, politicians, and preachers have in common? They are expected to give inspirational pep talks, speeches, or sermons that fire up powerful emotions. They are supposed to motivate their listeners to “give 110%,” overcoming all obstacles to victory no matter what the cost. Coaches know that the best pep talk can only get athletes through the first football collision, the first gymnastics tumbling pass, or the first baseball at bat. Politicians know that the most stirring speech is ...

760. Hemlock and Hyssop

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Of all the things Christians do, baptism might be the weirdest –– at least from an outsider perspective. For those born into the Christian tradition, baptism is a wonderful, beautiful moment, a joyful celebration. For those outside the Christian faith, it can seem completely strange, even macabre. Baptism is a “ritual drowning,” a symbolic death that ushers the baptized into a spiritually reborn, renewed life. However we dress this ritual up — whether with lacy baptismal gowns for infants or with lemonade ...

761. Micah’s Idols

Judges 17:1-13

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

Micah’s Idolatry: With the completion of the Samson cycle we also have completed the second major section of the book of Judges (3:7–16:31). This central core section is framed by two others, an introduction (1:1–3:6) and an epilogue (17:1–21:25); and as the introduction divides neatly into two parts (1:1–2:6; 2:7–3:6), so does the epilogue (17:1–18:31; 19:1–21:35). The epilogue does not evidence the recurring refrain that characterized the accounts of the major judges. In fact, there is no mention of ...

762. The Greatness of Mordecai

Esther 10:1-3

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

Epilogue: Mordecai’s Greatness: The final chapter of Esther, which says nothing about Esther, is a tribute to the leadership of Mordecai. It begins with an image of the vast empire under Xerxes’ control. The second in command of this imposing realm is “Mordecai the Jew.” He has proven that a Jew in the Diaspora can serve his king and his people well. The book of Esther closes with a triumphant note of public vindication for the Jews and personal exoneration for Mordecai, their representative leader. If we ...

763. I am the Man Who Has Seen Affliction

Lamentations 3:1-66

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

Man of Affliction: Chapter 3 constitutes a new and complete poem. Like the two chapters that precede it, it is marked by a complete acrostic. Unlike the previous chapters where each verse started with a successive letter of the alphabet, in chapter 3 each letter repeats at the start of three verses before going on to the next letter. Thus, there are sixty-six verses, not twenty-two verses. However, since the verses are shorter in chapter 3, the overall length of the chapters is approximately the same. The ...

764. The Glory of Zion

Isaiah 60:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Promises of Glory: In the two great central sections of chapters 56–66 (59:21–60:22 and 61:1–62:12), Yahweh addresses both the prophet and the city. In the first section, the address to the prophet comes in 59:21, while the address to the city occupies the whole of chapter 60. Admittedly Zion/Jerusalem is not named until 60:14, but the verb arise (60:1) repeats the exhortation to Jerusalem in 51:17 (NIV “rise up”) and the verbs are feminine singular, which makes it clear enough that the prophet speaks to ...

765. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Where Are Your Zeal and Your Might?: As the chiasm in chapters 56–66 treads its return path, the vision of the battling warrior (63:1–6) paired with the one in 59:15b–20. This prayer, then, pairs with the prayer in 59:9–15a. As the new vision was bloodier, the new prayer is much longer and more urgent. It has the features of a lament on the part of the community such as those that appear in the Psalms and in Lamentations, but like some of them (and like chapter 62) it unfolds as more of a stream of ...

766. The Temporary Imprisonment of Satan

Revelation 20:1-7

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: In his sovereignty, God temporarily imprisons Satan for a time to keep him from deceiving the nations. Understanding the Text Following the return of Christ in 19:11–21, we read of the imprisonment of Satan in 20:1–3 in preparation for the millennial reign in 20:4–6. Throughout Revelation, Satan appears not as a “figure of power . . . but a figure of deception, and his only triumph is to deceive the ungodly masses into opposing God and worshiping the beast and himself.”1 The judgment of Satan ...

767. Turning Up the Pressure

Job 2:1-13

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Despite increased adversity, Job reasserts his complete commitment to the sovereign Lord. Understanding the Text Job 2 completes the prologue, which sets the scene for a thorough discussion of a godly response to adversity. Much of the language of 1:6–22 is repeated and intensified in 2:1–10, as the writer uses the technique of repetition with variation to build suspense and interest. When Yahweh’s words in 2:3 are compared to his earlier description of Job in 1:8, it is evident that the first ...

768. “You Are My Son; Today I Have Become Your Father”

Psalm 2:1-12

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God’s sovereign control of the universe establishes a touchstone for understanding God’s relationship to us and ours to him. Understanding the Text The content and form of Psalm 2 is generally identified as a royal psalm, composed for and used on the occasion of some Israelite king’s elevation to the throne. We do not know which king, but given the David collection that it prefaces, it could have been composed as a literary introduction to Book 1 (Pss. 3–41). Hilber has made a case for a ...

769. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

6:1–8:39 Review · The reality of justification by faith in the life of the Christian:In the second main section of the letter, Paul explains the reality of God’s saving righteousness in the life of the Christian (6:1–8:39). Believers in Jesus Christ cannot possibly trivialize sin, since they have been freed from the slavery of sin (6:1–23). There has been a fundamental change from tolerating sin to being in the Spirit and living according to the will of God (7:1–8:17). While believers suffer in the present ...

770. Elephants in the Room: Abuse – I Have a Secret

Matthew 11:28

Sermon

Charley Reeb

True Stories #1: He was one of my best friends in elementary school. We did just about everything together – rode bikes, played cops and robbers, had slumber parties, went to the movies. You name it, we did it. He had a younger brother and an older sister. They were all adopted and came from different biological families. They seemed to be happy with their adoptive parents. They lived in a nice home and attended a very good school in suburban Atlanta. They were provided for in every way. One day one of the ...

771. David Saves Keilah

1 Samuel 23:1-6

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

Saul Seeks Out David: 23:1–6 David’s exile did not mean that he had lost his vision for Israel’s security or his concern for the well-being of his fellow Israelites. The news of particular problems at Keilah stimulated his desire to continue fighting on behalf of God’s people. The Philistines were not taking tribute from the Israelite farmers but were looting the threshing floors. They were waiting until the Israelites had done all the hard work and then depriving them of their livelihood for the next year ...

772. Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

Daniel 8:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Vision of the Ram and the Male Goat: Here in chapter 8 the language reverts back to Hebrew. When the Aramaic section began, the narrator introduced it by saying, “The astrologers answered the king in Aramaic” (2:4). There is no explanation given in chapter 8 for the change back. The author inherited the Aramaic material (2:4b–7:28) but shaped it for his purposes. He then added chapters 1 (actually, 1:1–2:4a) and 8–12 in Hebrew. Chapter 8 is linked to chapter 7 explicitly by informing the reader that ...

773. Saul Pursues David

1 Samuel 23:7-29

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

774. Heart Shaped Stone

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“The stone rejected by the builders is now the main foundation stone!” Psalm 118:22 George and Sarah had been married only a short time when their marriage hit the rocks. They had begun quarreling and picking at each other. They began to resent each other. Their anger flared at one another, as each stubbornly maintained that the other had “changed.” What had changed was that each of them realized, contrary to their hopes and expectations, that their partner was not going to change. Each had harbored secret ...

775. Desperate Times Call For...

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

This week marks the point in the year when most of us have wrapped up our summer vacation plans, and we’re getting back to our normal routines of work. Let’s all share a collective sigh as we say goodbye to summer vacation. I don’t know how much planning you put into your vacation. Some people like to go to the same places every year. Some people like to pack up and head out for a weekend, just to clear their heads. And some people spend hours, even weeks, obsessing over the perfect trip. But we all share ...

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