Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 851 to 875 of 1182 results

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Hallows/All Saints holiday all wrong too. We’ve been convinced that “monsters” are easily identifiable. We think “monsters” are weird, warped, obviously wicked, bent on murder, mayhem and mischief. Alas, outside Hollywood “monsters” are not so easily identifiable. A classic “monster” is a creature that takes the best of its qualities and uses them in a horribly wrong way. The amazing ability of bats to negotiate the darkness of night by using sonic signals to hunt swiftly and silently, is ...

852. Avoid Shattered Glass

Illustration

In his classic work on the Beatitudes titled The Heavenly Octave, F.W. Boreham included this passage: "The ideal peacemaker is the man who prevents the peace from being broken. To prevent a battle is the best way of winning a battle. I once said to a Jewish rabbi, 'I have heard that ...

853. Til You Get It Right

Illustration

Staff

... rose at 4:00 am every day in order to have enough hours for his Paradise Lost. Gibbon spent 26 years on his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Bryant rewrote one of his poetic masterpieces 99 times before publication, and it became a classic. It is said that Thomas Edison performed 50,000 (sic) experiments before he succeeded in producing a storage battery. We might assume the famous inventor would have had some serious doubts along the way. But when asked if he ever became discouraged working so long ...

854. Cowboy Poetry

Illustration

Wallace McRae

Rancher Wallace McRae is known throughout the West as an activist for agricultural concerns. Though just written in 1980, this poem called Reincarnation is already considered to be a classic. "What does reincarnation mean?" A cowpoke asked his friend. His pal replied, "It happens when yer life has reached its end. They comb yer hair, and warsh yer neck, And clean yer fingernails, And lay you in a padded box Away from life's travails. "The box and you goes ...

855. Simple Courage to Raise a Family

Illustration

Charles Colson

Consider Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who wrote in 1762 the classic treatise on freedom, The Social Contract, with its familiar opening line: "Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains." But the liberty Rousseau envisioned wasn't freedom from state tyranny; it was freedom from personal obligations. In his mind, the threat of tyranny came from smaller social groupings ...

856. Suffering for Independence

Illustration

Brett Blair

... cross. And that's what they did: Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia. Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece. John was put in a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos. Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward. James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem. James, the Less ...

857. Wait on the Lord

Illustration

James Packer

... us, we would thankfully lean on him. And God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing, so that we may learn to lean on him thankfully. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out of self-confidence to trust in himself, to in the classic scriptural phrase for the secret of the godly man's life "wait on the Lord."

858. A Letter to Donatus

Mark 8:36-38; 2 Cor 11:16-33

Illustration

Saint Cyprian

... of Berber descent, many of whose Latin works are extant. He is also recognised as a saint in the Christian churches. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education. Soon after converting to Christianity, he became a bishop in 249. A controversial figure during his lifetime, his strong pastoral skills, firm conduct during the Novatianist heresy and outbreak of the Plague of Cyprian (named after him due to his description ...

859. Just Too Busy

Humor Illustration

Now here is a classic story of a boy, a boss, and a bind: The head of a telegraph company took a nice long trip in the dead of winter. Waiting at his bus station one freezing day, he entered the station's telegraph office in hopes of finding some warmth. Unfortunately, the young telegrapher ...

860. I'll Make the Pictures

Humor Illustration

... fine cinematographers film my movies, but I was never lucky enough to do a picture with James Wong Howe. He was one of the best cameramen in Hollywood, and this Chinese-American was acclaimed for his work on scores of films, including the classic "Casablanca." He won several Academy Awards, including one for the Paul Newman picture "Hud." While he was under contract to Warner Brothers, he decided to open a Chinese restaurant on Ventura Boulevard, near the studio. He was always interested in Chinese cooking ...

861. Last Day of Your Life

Humor Illustration

It's a classic Peanuts cartoon. Charlie Brown says to Lucy, "Someone has said that we should live each day as if it were the last day of our life." "Aaugh!" cries Lucy. "This is the last day! This is it!" She dashes away screaming, "I only have 24 hours left! Help me! Help me! This is the last day! Aaugh!" "Some philosophies," says Charlie Brown, "aren't for all people."

862. Living In Paradise

Illustration

Steve Zeitlin

Once, in a classic Jewish tale, a restless, unhappy man from Warsaw wakes up one morning determined to find the legendary town of Paradise. He travels deep into the night until he finds himself on the side of a mountain where he decides to get some rest. To be sure that he remembers which ...

863. Prophesy Your Way Forward

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... had come but they did not know where he was. So without knowing where they were going, or who they were looking for, the Magi left their homes “in the East” and traveled west to Jerusalem. They prophesized their way forward. The classic cognate tale of this kind is that of the Westward pioneers. People who believed that there was something better, something greater, waiting for them if they could leave behind the safety of their established, ensconced lives, and journey westward towards a new beginning ...

864. The Changes a Baby Can Bring

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Illustration

Eric Ritz

Bret Harte, in his classic short story "The Luck of Roaring Camp," tells of the birth of a baby on the American frontier; a baby that made a radical change in a rough-and-tumble mining camp. The only woman in the camp, Cherokee Sal, a disreputable woman at best, died in childbirth, leaving a ...

865. Living in Trust

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Mark Trotter

Years ago Alan Paton, a great South African novelist, wrote about his country in a number of stories about living under the tyranny of apartheid society. The article became something of a classic. It had the title, "The Challenge of Fear." He talked about how our lives were determined not so much by forces or powers outside of us, but by the fears that are inside of us. That is what controls our lives. Fears, in the case of South Africa, that are ...

866. Better Angels of Our Nature

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that idol food. He declared, “We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.” Paul knows there is no difference between angel food cake and devil’s food cake, between “Heavenly Hash” or “Chocolate Decadence.” In classic terms, “Food will not bring us close to God.” (Except maybe for . . . fill in your own favorite or regionally renowned treat, like southern fried chicken!) What brings disciples close to God, into a new relationship with the God, is not any earthly meal ...

867. Will You Be an April Fool for Christ?

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... by 2000 people. Whether contrived or natural, to be an “April Fool” is to embrace the surprises and new experiences of Spring. There is no better day for Palm Sunday to fall upon than April Fool’s Day. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is a classic “April Fool” experience. First, the two disciples Jesus chose to go “borrow” that colt in Bethphage must have been waiting for Jesus to say “April Fool.” But he doesn’t. Instead Jesus seriously instructs his disciples to go and commit the first ...

868. Be Hatched or Go Bad

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to the Captives. If you’re a fan of convict literature, then you’re a fan of Cervantes, Voltaire, Thomas More, John Donne, Daniel Defoe, Oscar Wilde, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn, Diderot, Jack London. But maybe the greatest prison literature of all time is John Bunyan’s classic Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Here is a letter Bunyan wrote to a friend while in prison: For though men keep my outward man Within their bolts and bars, Yet, by faith of Christ, I can Mount higher than the stars. We are in danger ...

869. Candidates for God’s Candid Camera

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... secretly film the good, bad, or indifferent behavior of those individuals. People were asked to hold bags of money, tend fussy babies, stay put while a sprinkler system doused them, listen to terrible concerts. The situations the “candid camera” came up with were classic and comic. For the most part, people seemed to cope graciously with whatever they were asked to do. But almost everyone ended up at some point with that “what-have-I-got-myself-into” look of desperation on their face. Flash forward ...

870. Whistling Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... reading to our little ones from dull and dreary tales of “Dick and Jane” to the lyrical fun of “The Cat in the Hat.” Adding to this new literary library was a protégé of the Dr. Seuss style, the books of P.D. Eastman. His “classics” in this new children’s literature include “Go, Dog, Go,” “One Fish, Two fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” and especially, my favorite, “Are You My Mother?” Just in case you did not get the chance to read “Are You My Mother?” aloud six hundred times over ...

871. Let the Gospel Run Its Course

Mark 4:26-29

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

For me, one of the classic interpretations of this Biblical passage about the seed growing automatically (Mark 4:26) was written by Martin Luther when he said about this text: "After I preach my sermon on Sunday, when I return home, I drink my little glass of Wittenberg beer and I just let the gospel run ...

872. Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that creates a singular community of redemption. Or are we to dwell in a zombie-land of idols, living for the moment, and dying adrift from any sense of connection to or community with God, each other, ourselves, the earth itself? David Meece is a classically trained musician (Peabody Conservatory) who made it big in the Christian music world and was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame in 2008. He composed much of the soundtrack for the Christian world in the 80s and 90s. “We are the Reason ...

873. That We May All Be One!

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... who put their hands in the air put them down by their side, nor did it mean that the ones who like to sit very still had to get up and move around. Church unity had nothing to do with whether you sang in four-part harmony, loved classical music, or sang about nothing but the blood. Church unity had nothing to do with whether you dunked three times forward or once backward, poured, sprinkled, or hosed them down. Christian unity wasn't about grape juice or wine, thin wafers of cookie-like shortbread, or a ...

874. Be a Night Light

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... was fully published in 1958, and it became “The Message” Bible of his day. A couple of years later (1961) he published the book for which he was most famous: Your God Is Too Small, which became a best-seller and still today is widely celebrated as a classic. But my favorite thing that J. B. Phillips ever wrote was a short story called “The Baby Angel.” Once upon a time a very young angel was being shown round the splendours and glories of the universes by a senior and experienced angel. To tell the ...

875. Epiphany 5

Psalm 138:1-8, Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13), Luke 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... , your neighbor, your enemy, and the stranger. Technological games and sports often consume time and energy we might otherwise use for meditation or service activities. If resurrection is to be among our experiences, we must be open to non-traditional, non-classical options of inviting God to make us new. Contemporary Affirmation God was in the beginning. God is still present — present for us 21st century people! We will learn to recognize God’s creating, inspiring, and empowering in post-modern images ...

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Antonyms: deficient, imperfect

Showing 851 to 875 of 1182 results

851. Monster Rehab

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

852. Avoid Shattered Glass

Illustration

853. Til You Get It Right

Illustration

Staff

854. Cowboy Poetry

Illustration

Wallace McRae

855. Simple Courage to Raise a Family

Illustration

Charles Colson

856. Suffering for Independence

Illustration

Brett Blair

857. Wait on the Lord

Illustration

James Packer

858. A Letter to Donatus

Mark 8:36-38; 2 Cor 11:16-33

Illustration

Saint Cyprian

859. Just Too Busy

Humor Illustration

860. I'll Make the Pictures

Humor Illustration

861. Last Day of Your Life

Humor Illustration

862. Living In Paradise

Illustration

Steve Zeitlin

863. Prophesy Your Way Forward

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

864. The Changes a Baby Can Bring

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Illustration

Eric Ritz

865. Living in Trust

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Mark Trotter

866. Better Angels of Our Nature

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

867. Will You Be an April Fool for Christ?

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

868. Be Hatched or Go Bad

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

869. Candidates for God’s Candid Camera

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

870. Whistling Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

871. Let the Gospel Run Its Course

Mark 4:26-29

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

872. Zombie Zone or Beulah Land?

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

873. That We May All Be One!

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

874. Be a Night Light

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

875. Epiphany 5

Psalm 138:1-8, Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13), Luke 5:1-11, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

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