Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 776 to 800 of 4508 results

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Prayer Of Dedication/Gathering Leader: Our Lord Jesus calls each of us to a life of justice, kindness, and humility. We pray that in this hour before us our defenses would fall and your love would be set free within us. Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, your mercy knows no end. All: Amen. Intercessory Prayers Use the hymn “Blest Are They” as the basis for intercessory prayer on this morning. Have a...

777. All Saints

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Gathering The Revelation text may be used as a Gathering/Call to Worship. Have the Pastor/Leader speak verses 9, 10a, 11, 13a, and 14a and b. The congregation would speak 10b. The choir may sing 12b. (The opening phrase of “Blessing And Honor” would work well.) A second reader, who is among the elders of your congregation, would speak 14c-17. The hymn “Blessing And Honor” may be played softly duri...

778. Parable of the Quarrelsome Child

Illustration

Staff

"Jimmy, why are you sitting there all alone?" "Nobody wants to play with me. They always fight with me." "Why don't you go over and see Billy?" "No, he always wants his own way." "You could play with Dick," said the mother. "No, we had a fight this morning. I punched him in the nose and his mother sent me home." "How about Jack?" "We had a fight in the school yard." "If everyone fights wit...

779. Happiness

Illustration

Staff

A London newspaper asked its readers this question: "Who are the happiest people in the world?" Here are four of the answers that summarize most of the answers given: A craftsman or artist whistling over a job well done. A little child building a sand castle. A mother, after a busy day, bathing her baby. A doctor who has successfully finished a difficult operation. No playboys. No millionaires. ...

780. Healthy Are the Poor In Spirit

Illustration

Some years ago a panel of doctors was appointed by the Federal government to meet together and draw up eight laws off public health that could be printed in pamphlet form and distributed to the public. After twelve days off exhaustive meetings, the doctors were unable to come to a consensus. It seems that their areas off concern were so diverse: one was a cancer specialist, one a cardiologist, one...

781. God's Kind of Happiness, Today

Illustration

The Best Gift

George Matheson was a great preacher and hymn writer who lost his sight at an early age. He thought of that infirmity as his thorn in the flesh, as his personal cross. For several years, he prayed that his blindness would be removed. Like most of us, I suppose, he believed that personal happiness would come to him only after the handicap was gone. But then, one day God sent him a new insight: The ...

782. You Can’t Make It “By The Book”

Illustration

Gary Roth

A small parable: Once upon a time, there was a company who had two junior executives. One did everything by the book, was diligent and trustworthy, always made sure he was covered and, since he always went by the book, rarely made mistakes. The other also was a hard and diligent worker, but he often tested the rules, sometimes received some criticism, and sometimes made mistakes. One day an openin...

783. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

In her novel Come and Go, Molly Snow, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall gives an account of Carrie attempting to come to grips with the loss of her eight-year-old daughter, Molly Snow. Carrie is a fiddler, but in the wake of this tragic loss she says, "The music doesn't rise up in me right now." In the months that followed, Carrie listens to homespun wisdom and begins the first steps of coming to grips with th...

784. The Peacemakers

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

Dawne Olson, a South Dakota mother of four, was preparing to give a talk on unity at her women's Bible study. She woke up early to type out the scripture verses. She wasn't quite finished when her four children began coming downstairs asking for breakfast. She could hear the children just around the corner in the kitchen as they rummaged through the refrigerator and cupboards for something to eat....

785. Getting Under Someone's Skin

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

In the original Aramaic which Jesus spoke, the word "merciful" means literally "to get under someone's skin." It means to wear his skin, as it were; to see life from his perspective, to stand in his shoes. It means more than sympathy; it means active empathy or merciful understanding. Let me illustrate. A prominent minister was holding a weekend seminar at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, several ...

786. Bless the Hungry

Illustration

Staff

In the Antarctic summer of 1908-9, Sir Ernest Shackleton and three companions attempted to travel to the South Pole from their winter quarters. They set off with four ponies to help carry the load. Weeks later, their ponies dead, rations all but exhausted, they turned back toward their base, their goal not accomplished. Altogether, they trekked 127 days. On the return journey, as Shackleton recor...

787. Commitment

Illustration

Donald Deffner

J. Upton Dickson, who brands himself as a Christian humorist, joked after writing a pamphlet called “Cower Power,” that he was thinking about founding a society called D.O.O.R.M.A.T.S. It is an acronym for “Dependent Order of Really Meek and Timid Souls.” Their logo would be a yellow caution light. And their motto would be “The meek shall inherit the earth…if that’s okay with everybody.” Of course...

788. God’s Kind of Happiness

Illustration

John Thomas Randolph

God’s kind of happiness, as defined in the Beatitudes of our Lord, represents a radical reversal of almost everything we have ever been taught about the meaning of happiness! Look at the Beatitudes again and contrast them with what we have been taught. "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." We have always been taught to define happiness in terms of wealth. "Happy are those who mou...

789. God Means Everything

Illustration

Mickey Anders

William Barclay says the verse "blessed are the poor in spirit" means, "Blessed is the man who has realized his own utter helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God. If a man has realized his own utter helplessness, and has put his whole trust in God, there will enter into his life two things. He will become completely detached from things, for he will know that things have not got it in...

790. Having Lost All, All Is Found

Illustration

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Having reached the end of the Beatitudes, we naturally ask if there is any place on this earth for the community which they describe. Clearly, there is one place, and only one, and that is where the Poorest, Meekest, and most sorely Tried of all men is to be found—on the cross at Golgotha. The community which is the subject of the Beatitudes is the community of the crucified. With Him it has lost ...

791. Balance: The Law of Love

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

Plato once imagined the spiritual journey as a chariot moving through the wilderness of life, with the soul as the charioteer trying to rein in two powerful horses: the horse of anger or passion, and the horse of reason or order. Plato understood that both passion and reason can be life-giving, but only when they are held in dynamic tension, only when each power neutralizes the potential destructi...

792. The Transforming Power of Mercy

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

Victor Hugo begins Les Miserables with the story of Jean Valjean. He is an ex-convict who has just been released from nineteen years in prison for stealing bread to feed his sister's children. As he reenters society, no one will house him or give him work because of his criminal record – that is until he stumbles into the bishop's house. Much to Valjean's bewilderment, the bishop treats him with k...

793. The Key to the Beatitudes

Illustration

Owen Stepp

The idea of being poor in spirit is the key to all that is to follow in the Beatitudes. I like the note in the Life Application Bible: You cannot mourn without appreciating how insufficient you are to handle life in your own strength. You cannot be meek unless you know you have needed gentleness yourself. You cannot hunger and thirst for righteousness if you proudly think of yourself as already r...

794. Forgiven and Pardoned

Illustration

Don Mallough

A young employee secretly misappropriated several hundred dollars of his business firm's money. When this action was discovered the young man was told to report to the office of the senior partner of the firm. As he walked up the stairs toward the administrative office the young employee was heavy-hearted. He knew without a doubt he would lose his position with the firm. He also feared the possibi...

795. God Shows Through

Illustration

Jerry Shirley

One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there's something about the preacher's message this morning that I don't understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the whole world in His hand. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, ...

796. Better than Average Beatitudes

Illustration

Tim Pauls

A while back, I read that 85% of all drivers in America consider themselves "above-average" drivers. Of course, this cannot be true: By definition, I believe only 49% of drivers are above average. However, the survey gives us an insight into human nature: People generally view themselves as better than others. And if they are better than others, then they are doing a good enough job. This transfe...

797. What Would Jesus Say About War?

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Once more we Americans gather for worship amidst the imminent danger of war. This week our government officials told us to gather supplies of food and water, make emergency communication plans with our families, and buy duct tape. Many of our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters have been deployed to military alert positions. Today we wait for yet another United Nations resolution. In...

798. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 2

Sermon

Mike Ripski

A pop-quiz from last Sunday: What is the mission of the United Methodist Church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. And so the church, Belle Meade United Methodist Church, exists for you and me to be made into disciples of Jesus. A disciple is a learner, a follower, of a teacher. We are students. Better, we are apprentices. We learn by doing what the Master Te...

799. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 3

Sermon

Mike Ripski

What is the mission of the United Methodist Church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Jesus is the Master teacher. We are his apprentices. We do what he shows us. Then we practice it with others who are his disciples, his apprentices, too. It’s called “Church.” So, what has Jesus taught you lately? What are you practicing with other apprentices? We are sittin...

800. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 1

Sermon

Mike Ripski

To be a disciple of Jesus is to learn how to live a life that invites those in this world into a new one. It is to let him teach us about the way, truth, and life of this new world that he embodied. He called it the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, eternal life. Since we’re not familiar with kings and kingdoms, and since we think of eternal life as something after this one, let’s call it “Go...

Showing 776 to 800 of 4508 results

776. Epiphany 4, Ordinary Time 4

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

777. All Saints

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

778. Parable of the Quarrelsome Child

Illustration

Staff

779. Happiness

Illustration

Staff

780. Healthy Are the Poor In Spirit

Illustration

781. God's Kind of Happiness, Today

Illustration

The Best Gift

782. You Can’t Make It “By The Book”

Illustration

Gary Roth

783. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

784. The Peacemakers

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

785. Getting Under Someone's Skin

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

786. Bless the Hungry

Illustration

Staff

787. Commitment

Illustration

Donald Deffner

788. God’s Kind of Happiness

Illustration

John Thomas Randolph

789. God Means Everything

Illustration

Mickey Anders

790. Having Lost All, All Is Found

Illustration

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

791. Balance: The Law of Love

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

792. The Transforming Power of Mercy

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

793. The Key to the Beatitudes

Illustration

Owen Stepp

794. Forgiven and Pardoned

Illustration

Don Mallough

795. God Shows Through

Illustration

Jerry Shirley

796. Better than Average Beatitudes

Illustration

Tim Pauls

797. What Would Jesus Say About War?

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

798. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 2

Sermon

Mike Ripski

799. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 3

Sermon

Mike Ripski

800. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 1

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Showing 776 to 800 of 4508 results