Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 826 to 850 of 4936 results

826. What Making a Difference Looks Like

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

I am told there are at least eight million cats and eleven million dogs in the Big Apple. Since New York is mainly concrete and steel, when you have a pet that dies, you can't just go out in the back yard and bury it. In response, city officials decided that for fifty dollars they would dispose of your pet for you. Now in that grand city was a certain enterprising lady. She thought to herself, “I can render a service.” So she placed an ad in the paper: "When your pet dies, I will take care of the carcass ...

827. Thank God for the Church

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

James L. Killen

Try to visualize yourself on the way to church. Not too difficult? Let's make it a little harder. Imagine that the year is 55 A.D. and that the place is the city of Corinth in Roman Greece. You are a member of the thriving church that has grown up there and you are on your way to a meeting at the house of Gaius. Lots of people will be gathering both from the church that usually meets at the house of Gaius and also from the churches that meet in the houses of several other Christians. News has been passed ...

828. Peter, Our Folk Hero

Mark 14:27-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you may know the name Roy Riegels. Many who don’t know his name will identify him as I tell his story. The year was 1929. The University of California was playing Georgia Tech in the Rose Bowl. Stumpy Thomason, Georgia Tech’s halfback, had the ball and was hit hard by Bennie Lom, so hard that he “coughed up the ball,” - that’s the way the sportswriters would say it. He fumbled and Roy Riegels picked it up, which you could do in college ball in those days. Riegels began to run. But Stumpy Thomason, ...

829. All In: Calling Your Bluff

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

Financial advisors will tell you that the wisest way to invest money is to be diversified. As the old saying goes, “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” Yet when it comes to the most important investment you will ever make which is your life—God’s strategy is just the opposite. The strategy is not diversification but concentration—taking all of your life and giving it completely to Jesus Christ. We are in a series called “All In.” Our theme verse is Luke 9:23, “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would ...

830. Everything Must Go: If I Were a Rich Man

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

James Merritt

If I had announced ahead of time that today I wanted to give a message only to people who were rich you realize that this room would be mostly, if not totally, empty. Most of you, if not all of you, wouldn’t show up for two reasons. First of all, most of you do not think of yourselves as being rich. If you heard that announcement, your first response would be, “We aren’t rich so we will sleep in.” You are actually the second reason why nobody would come, because what you would do is say, “We don’t need to ...

831. Just Grace

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

The woman’s accounting firm is having its best year since she founded it ten years ago. Taxes are due the next day and she wonders if maybe they have taken on too many projects. I majored in accounting and I know missing the tax deadline is a quick way to lose creditability with customers. She decides to bring on some extra help. A friend had mentioned a temp agency in town that was pretty reliable. She Googled the name, locates the number, and makes the call. The nervous woman breathes a sigh of relief ...

832. Caesar or God?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Let’s talk about leadership for a few moments. It is an important subject in today’s world. There is a professor from University College London who has written many books on personality and leadership. And he has some strong views concerning incompetent leaders. He says incompetent leaders create a toxic corporate culture that drags everybody in their sphere of influence down. And he claims that the number one trait that incompetent leaders possess is arrogance. According to this professor’s studies and ...

833. Heart of a Pelican

Matthew 17:24-27, Exodus 30:11-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

It’s football season! Whether or not you are a fan of the game of football, you can’t help getting swept up in some of the hype of this great American sport! We love the excitement on people’s faces, as they get ready to watch the game. We love the crowds, the food, the energy of the game. Many of you are rooting for one or the other of the teams on the ticket. Some of you will gather with friends in front of the television. Some of you may even go to the Super Bowl. Has anyone here this morning ever been ...

834. What Is Required of Us?

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

“I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.” In a message titled Seizing Your Divine Moment Erwin McManus speaks of his son Aaron: “One summer Aaron went to youth camp. He was just a little guy, and I was kind of glad it was a church camp. I figured he wasn't going to hear all those ghost stories.... But unfortunately, since it was a Christian camp and they didn't tell ghost stories, because we don't believe in ghosts, they told demon and Satan stories instead. And so when Aaron got home, he was ...

835. The Road To The Wilderness

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

I have always enjoyed that CBS News segment, "On The Road With Charles Kuralt." He takes us to out-of-the-way places like Bethlehem, Georgia; Farmington, Iowa; and Old Town, Maine. He shows us a piece of Americana, and helps us understand ourselves. So, on the Sundays between now and Easter I want us to go on the road with Jesus of Nazareth be on the roads Jesus traveled in order that we would see him more clearly and understand more nearly what it is we are to do. The first road I want us to travel is the ...

836. Pax Augusta, Pax Christi

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Have you ever gotten the wrong gift for Christmas? A woman was talking to her nephew just after Christmas. In a very apologetic way she says, "I'm sorry you don't like my Christmas gift, but I asked if you preferred a small check or a large check." With his head hung in disappointment, the nephew replies, "I know, but I didn't think you were talking about ties." I hope none of us will receive the wrong gift this Christmas. IN SOME WAYS, GOD'S GIFT TO US AT CHRISTMAS SEEMS ALL WRONG. Think, for a minute, ...

837. A Christian Style Of Being And Doing

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

This section of scripture is Paul's instructions about how we are to live together. He first gives us instructions about relationships within the family. Then he talks about the relationship between slave and master and master of slave. Then he moves on to talk about our relationship to what he calls "outsiders". In all of this, Paul is giving us instructions for a Christian way of being and doing -- especially a Christian way of relating to others. Instead of simply "trusting the Lord" -- or using that as ...

838. Don't Mess With Mr. In-between

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Harold and Maud is a fascinatingly different, but warmly convincing novel. It's by Colin Higgins, and is the story of two persons who not only affirm each other's existence, but also cherish the mutual meanings they share. A young man in his 20's and an enchanting woman in her 70's become real friends. Maud cares for Harold, not because he is useful or ornamental. He is neither. Not because of anything he does or has, but just because he is himself. Harold is thus better able, when he is with Maud, to ...

839. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Back in the early 1980's, there was a best- selling book entitled Blue Highways. The novel chronicles one man's adventures along the back roads and secondary highways of America. His journeys took him into crossroad villages and almost forgotten towns where he met all kinds of interesting people, including a few hitchhikers whom he befriended. Among the hitchhikers was a Bible-toting self styled evangelist, who passed out religious tracts and confronted everyone he met with questions about their salvation ...

840. One Step at a Time

Nehemiah 2:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

Two hundred thousand miles from home. You can't pull over to a gas station. You can't take your spaceship into the garage, but you now know that you have two hours to keep your space ship from becoming a permanent tomb floating in outer space. Jim Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise realized they were facing an elephant of a problem, but they kept their wits about them enough to realize that the way to solve their problem was the same way you eat an elephant - one bite at a time. Has it ever occurred to ...

841. Visit

2 Corinthians 13:1-10, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

The third and last section of 2 Corinthians 10–13 prepares the way for Paul’s third visit to Corinth. His first visit was to found the church (Acts 18); his second visit was to check the church (2 Cor. 2:1); and now his third visit will be to judge the church. If Paul’s ministry of the Spirit is convincing evidence for the legitimacy of his apostolic authority and ministry, a ministry that he attributes directly to God (cf. 2:14, 17; 3:5–6; 10:17), then the Corinthians’ decision to reject that ministry ...

842. Paul, Phoebe, Patronage, and Spain

Romans 16:1-27

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Phoebe, Paul’s patron, will deliver Paul’s covenant letter and have it read to the Roman Christians. Phoebe’s authority as patron and deaconess will reinforce the reading’s solemnity. The Roman Christians should respond to Paul’s letter by providing hospitality for Phoebe and joining their resources with hers to launch Paul’s mission to Spain. Understanding the Text Romans 16:1–2 continues the document clause of Paul’s covenant letter to the Roman Christians (15:14–16:27). Romans 16:1–27 divides ...

843. The Vine And The Branches

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Just outside Nazareth where Jesus grew up you can see them on both sides of the road. They grow everywhere out of that dry, rocky soil. They are the grapevines mentioned in John 15. When I stepped off the tourist bus to take pictures, I was amazed to see these short stumps of vines lying over close to the ground and propped up with a rock to keep them off the hot red soil. I had pictured in my mind all these years, grape arbors like grandpa’s that ran from the house to the garage in the backyard and which ...

844. Name Above Every Name

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Mann

The first thing about anyone is his name. A human person is born into the world, and almost immediately a word is chosen to denote him. Not a number, not a sign, not a shape - but a word. And that word becomes everyone’s way of saying who he is. For all of his lifetime that word is used to indicate him. By means of it, he says, "This is I." By means of it, others say, "That is he." In a very real sense the word equals the person, stands for him as his equivalent. This is so very true that I can say, "I am ...

845. On Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Paul’s teaching in this part of the letter is vivid and relatively straightforward. He begins by tying together what he has been saying since 1:17. The cardinal idea in these remarks is that the Corinthians are immature. Nevertheless, Paul does at least regard the Corinthians as “infants”; he does not deny they are persons of faith. The statements are insulting, as Paul repeatedly says the Corinthians are worldly (lit. “fleshly”). The Corinthians value wisdom and declare their status as mature believers or ...

846. Proper 13

Colossians 3:1-17, Hosea 11:1-11, Luke 12:13-21

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Hosea 11:1-11 Yahweh so loves his disobedient people that he cannot give them up to destruction. In one of the most moving passages in the Old Testament (Lesson 1), Israel is pictured as Yahweh's prodigal son. Hosea sees God and the nation as a loving father and his rebellious son. As a loving father Yahweh loves Israel when a child, brought him out of slavery in Egypt, and cared for him in the wilderness. He took his child in his arms, taught him to walk, and nurtured him. In ...

847. What Can I Do for You?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

Knowing James and John wanted something of him Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” The modern equivalent of this question is “What can I do for you?” We hear it on all sides; for many it is a routine way to answer the phone. “Hello, this is Frank.” “Yea, what can I do for you?” After a weekend together on retreat, a participant and I were at a dinner party. Looking at me seriously he said, “You do for a lot of people. I’m wondering if there is anything I can do for you. Just let me know, no ...

848. Achieving Peak Performance

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I have always been interested in those people who make speeches for a living, the professionals, the ones who speak at conventions, banquets and motivation seminars. They call themselves, "hired gums." I will confess to a certain degree of envy when I read or hear about them. Not because of the exorbitant fees that they charge, but because they give one speech over and over again. Preachers can't get away with that, not very often anyway. We have to write a new sermon every week to preach to the same ...

849. Witnesses of the New Covenant

Romans 12:1-8

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul challenges believers to be witnesses of the new covenant by distancing themselves from this age and by being transformed in their minds so that they can fulfill the will of God. Understanding the Text Romans 12:1–2 is, in genre, parenetic (exhortational) material. The basis of Paul’s challenge to the Roman Christians (and us as well) is the mercy of God—that is, the blessings of the new covenant delineated in 3:21–11:36: justification, sanctification, glorification, and so forth. Thus, the ...

850. God Bless Santa!

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Several years ago, when Donald Trump was running for the US Presidency, he wanted to convince evangelical voters that he was one of them, so he let it be known that he was a Christian, born and raised Presbyterian even. That was a bit of a surprise to us Presbyterians, but no matter. Reporters pressed him on that and asked which he preferred, the Old Testament or the New. He said he liked them both. They asked him what was his favorite Bible verse; he said he didn’t have a favorite, he liked them all. Uh- ...

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