Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... for us. The leper knew, but do we? Have you ever considered the possibility that the very misery of our deepest misery is that we do not know our condition. (pp. 40-41) We’re not aware of what may even be a sickness unto death. The classic example of it is the alcoholic or addict who is not aware of the seriousness of their affliction. Jerry and I were in Edinburgh, Scotland, the first part of December – there for three days of vacation following my work in London with the Evangelism Committee of the ...

777. On Being Faithful and Focused

Hebrews 11:1, 32 – 12:2

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of those who marched before us and with the generations that are to come after our brief moments here. Mr. Holland's Opus is a touching movie about a high school band teacher in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Holland really wants to achieve critical acclaim as a classical musician. But, the pressure to make a living, raise a family, deal with a deaf son, and with students who really do not want to learn music, denies him the opportunity of fulfilling his dream. For a lifetime Mr. Holland pushes on, doing the duties ...

778. Knowing When To Run

Genesis 39:1-2, 6b-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." Of course that is absolutely true, but there are times in my life when I wish God did not trust me so much. While temptations come in all shapes and sizes, Richard Foster, in his classic book, The Challenge of the Disciplined Life, says there are three particular temptations that are present especially for modern Americans. They are sex, power, and money. All three are vividly present in this Old Testament episode from the life of Joseph. Sex — When God ...

779. Unusual Joy

Psalm 126:1-6

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. When our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy (verses 1-2a). When our minds are full of dreams let God's people say, “Amen." In the classic movie, Miracle on 34th Street, Santa Claus is put on trial in New York City for spreading cheer and good will among people. His principles of consideration and cooperation seem threatening in a world of competition. As the charges are leveled and the trial begins ...

780. Impossible Possibilities

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the kindness you've shown?" Do you ever have those feelings? The feelings of awe, amazement, and wonder that God has a purpose, a place and a mission for you. At least once during the holidays I like to sit down and watch Frank Capra's classic movie, It's a Wonderful Life. You know the story. Jimmy Stewart, in the person of George Bailey, envisions a life of adventure and travel, building highways and designing modern cities. Instead he spends his life trying to keep the Bailey Building and Loan afloat in ...

781. Embracing an Endless Line of Servants

1 Corinthians 3:5-23

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... seen us through the toils and troubles of our days and has empowered us to keep on keeping on. Mr. Holland’s Opus is a touching movie about a high school teacher in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Holland really wants to achieve critical fame as a classical musician, but the pressure of making a living, raising a family, dealing with a deaf son, resisting the temptations of a seductive student, and handling the music program cut-backs of the school board, denies him the opportunity of pursuing his dream. So for a ...

782. Jesus’ 10 Commandments

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... real monsters that possess us . . . from the inside out. Demonology isn’t something we talk about much less study anymore. But we can’t escape talking about demon possession after reading a text like today’s gospel lesson. The “Geresene demoniac” is a classic “monster.” He is nothing like the “normal” people in his community. He runs around naked. He is “out of his mind.” He is strong enough to break out of any chains and shackles. He can escape from any prison that his neighbors build ...

783. How Can We Stand on Holy Ground?

Psalm 24:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the heavens? Do we curse God and die, or praise God and live? O soul near despair in the lowlands of strife. Hold your head up high. The Lord of glory is coming into your life. IV. THE KING OF GLORY IS COMING. In his classic novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Columbian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells of a village plagued with forgetfulness, a kind of contagious amnesia. Starting with the oldest of the population and working toward the youngest, people started forgetting the names of the most common ...

784. The Holy Spirit and You

John 14:15-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... wise Counselor. The Paraclete is a present Advocate. The Paraclete is a genuine regular Helper in the midst of life. Peter Marshall was Chaplain of the U.S. Senate a half a century ago and died an untimely death. His wife, Catherine Marshall, writes in her classic book The Helper, “In the early morning hours Peter awakened with alarming pain in his chest and down both arms. The doctor came; the ambulance arrived and Peter was rushed to the hospital. I had no way of handling this crisis, but to drop to my ...

785. Just Drifting

Luke 9:51-62

Illustration

Brett Blair

Back in the 1960's a movie came out called "The Graduate," which became an American classic. It starred a then very young Dustin Hoffman as a college student trying to decide what to do with his life. There is a scene early in the movie where Dustin Hoffman is floating on a rubber raft in a swimming pool. His father comes out and asks: "What are ...

786. 400 Advisers

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

... reply was just as immediate. "Oh, no, I don't want to get involved. With my club work and the hours that I put on some other things, I just don't have the time. But I will be glad to advise you any time." The preacher's answer was classic and well put: "Good, gracious, lady, that's the problem now. I already have 400 advisers. I need someone who will work." Almost everyone in a congregation says that they want it to grow. (Some put a limit on the growth, "I'd like to see us have about 500 ...

787. Hot Air or the Holy Spirit?

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the need for all of us to repent and believe the gospel. That's what's important in life, that's what's really important. My friend Tom Rainer who is the Billy Graham professor of evangelism at Southern Baptist Seminary, did a recent survey on the classical question that Billy Graham asks — “If you died today, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven?" This is what people answered: 65% of the Builder generation, age 60 and up said, ‘Yes' 35% of the Boomer generation, ages 40-59 said, ‘Yes ...

788. Mary, Martha, and the Martha Stewart Church

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In the classic Billy Crystal movie “City Slickers,” three long time friends face middle age. In their middle-age crisis they find themselves losing their focus and in danger of losing their families. To reignite the fire in their lives the guys sign up as “cowboys,” helping a dude ranch move its herd ...

789. Luke 10:38-42

Luke 10:38-42

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... folk tale was made into a children’s book in 1947 by Marcia Brown, popularized by Bob Keeshan, aka “Mr. Kangaroo,” in the 50s, 60s and 70s, and somehow still makes the rounds today first among pre-schoolers or early elementary kids. Stone Soup is a classic story that demonstrates how if people come together and share what they have, no one has to go hungry, no one has to be left out in the cold. But “Stone Soup” also demonstrates the practice of another gift. The lone traveler who has nothing to ...

790. Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... I’m not going to sing. Perhaps I should say, I want to begin with a song title. I’m not going to ask you how many of you remember the song. It might say something about your age. The song is titled simply, “Sisters.” It’s a classic Irving Berlin tune much beloved by previous generations. It begins by describing how devoted two sisters are to one another. But its famous refrain goes like this: “Lord, help the mister who comes between me and my sister and Lord help the sister who comes between me ...

791. Our Father...

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

If you’ve listened to fairy tales, or if you’ve watched early classic Disney cartoons, one thing becomes unsettlingly clear: a lot of “poor little” princes and princesses shared a common family tragedy. In an overwhelming number of these stories the mothers were gone, dying long before the child in question could be influenced by them or even remember them. The single dads ...

792. Hebrews 11:1-2; 8-16

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... exhausted, wearied and worn down by pagan and parochial opposition. The author/preacher of Hebrews is determined to reinvigorate his audience’s flagging faith with the depth, simplicity, and joyfulness of his vision. Chapter 11 begins with the Bible’s classic definition of “faith.” This is not, of course, an all-encompassing definition. That is found only by declaring Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21. But for the purposes of this author’s “sermon,” faith is “the assurance of things ...

793. Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... those? Instead of reading some enormous literary masterpiece, you could buy an oh-so-slender Cliff Notes version. So instead of actually reading such heavy-weight tomes as Moby Dick, Oliver Twist, War and Peace, or Lord of the Flies (naming that classic is making my confession), a quick perusal of a twenty-page Cliff Notes compression gave you the plot, characters, themes and influences. Now you could at least sound like you had read the whole book . . . for 3 minutes. Unfortunately, relying on Cliff ...

794. A Way of Seeing

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... the world and life. That above all, is why I remain a Christian, for Christianity helps me to interpret life with a sense that it is good and that despite the pain and hurt of our world, it will come out right in the end. In his classic book, The Varieties of Religious Experience, William James, writes of "once-born" and "twice-born" people. This is not the same as what we mean when we say "born again." The once-born people are those who move through live without ever experiencing anything that seriously ...

795. God’s Providence: The Long and Short of It

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... are naturally fond of happy endings. We have an innate sense of the way things ought to be, and that part of us is profoundly satisfied when things turn out that way. The episode that we read today from the story of Joseph is a classic happy ending. It's a beautiful scene. The nearly blameless hero of the story, Joseph, has been finally rewarded for his wisdom and faithfulness, exalted to a high position of authority and prestige. After years of unjust suffering, he is comfortably situated. After almost ...

796. The Proof Is in the Pudding

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... into it. Now that they were out of Egypt, it was God who was setting the itinerary — leading with cloudy and fiery pillars — as well as setting the menu. But Moses was the one who had to take the heat when the people were discontented. Moses is the classic middleman. Like the waiter or waitress who gets an earful when it's actually the folks in the kitchen who made a mistake, or like the ticket counter agent who has to put up with the moaning when a flight is delayed; Moses mans the complaint department ...

797. Set Apart at Christmas

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... there was widespread criticism that those particular churches, mainly megachurches, were capitulating to our culture's undue influence and thereby showing their true (and presumably unchristian) colors. Others, including as respected a figure as Richard J. Foster, author of the modern classic, Celebration of Discipline, saw that criticism as cheap shots at large congregations. But what does it mean? Paul says he is set apart not for the sake of being different but for the gospel of God. He is no doubt using ...

798. A Little Theology at Christmas

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... one mentions past, present, and future on Christmas Eve, the first thing that will flash into many people's minds is not the theological trajectory of the Advent season, but the Ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future in Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol. It is conventional for preachers to point out that while he attended the Anglican Church, Dickens' personal beliefs seemed more of the Unitarian variety and that one should not expect too much real theology in this work, often dismissed ...

799. A Disconcerting Sight

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... of our children, they soon learned a second word: "No." By calling some babes and indicating that their behavior hampered his communication, Paul is clearly implying that there are others who are more mature who he is able to address with a fuller Christian vocabulary. His classic statement of the process of Christian growth is spelled out in Philippians 3:12-15: Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own ...

800. So, Explain It to Me

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can't talk about a God who loves us like this without using Trinitarian language. It is because God loves us like he does, that we must speak of God as three in one, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A classic example of basing the doctrine of the Trinity in the experience of the gospel of Christ is in today's reading from 2 Corinthians. With this benediction, Paul brings to a conclusion this letter. In the four previous chapters Paul has had to defend the authority of his ...

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