Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 851 to 875 of 1409 results

851. Seeing the End from the Beginning

Numbers 13:1-2, 17-33

Sermon

James Merritt

Disney World. It is the most popular tourist attraction on the planet. The four theme parks, The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney MGM, and Animal Kingdom individually rank among the top ten theme parks in all of the world. In 1998, forty-two million people went through the turnstiles at Disney World alone. It sits on forty-three square miles of some of the most prime property in the entire state of Florida. It is twice the size of Manhattan Island. Originally, it took seven years to plan, and four and one-half ...

852. The Battle of New Orleans

2 Timothy 3:1-4:8

Sermon

James Merritt

Being President of the SBC for one year has been both one of the greatest blessings, and one of the greatest burdens of my life. On the one hand, it has reminded me of just how blessed I am to be a Southern Baptist. Southern Baptists are not a perfect people, but they are a precious people. I don't believe there is a group of Bible believers anywhere in the world that love Jesus more than Southern Baptists. I sometimes feel like a lady who lived up in the mountains of North Carolina. She was a Baptist ...

853. Science and the Bible

John 17:17, 1 Timothy 3:16

Sermon

James Merritt

Many of you saw the blockbuster movie Independence Day.1 If you are a little bit older, you may have felt like you had seen the film before, and essentially you had because it was a remake of the 1953 science fiction classic War of the Worlds, but it had one very great difference. While both versions feature aliens invading Earth, in the 1953 movie scientists came up with a weapon that is eventually destroyed. The population, in great panic, is forced to turn to God, and churches are jammed with people ...

854. What to Wear to the War

Ephesians 6:13-17

Sermon

James Merritt

Just a few years ago I had the privilege of taking my youngest son, Joshua, to Boston, Massachusetts to spend a couple of days there to see the Boston Red Sox play and to tour the city. It was a beautiful time with my son as we saw the USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," we walked the campus of Harvard University. But then we went on an historical walk through the city and came to the old North Church. It was there my imagination took me back to the year 1775, when a man by the name of Paul Revere ...

855. The Prosecutor Perry Mason Can't Beat

John 16:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Perry Mason. A name that can strike the fear of God into the heart of any prosecutor. For any defendant accused of murder, he was the supreme "ace in the hole." From September of 1957 to October of 1966, Perry Mason tried 270 murder cases on television. How many cases did he lose? Believe it or not, he appears to have lost two. In "the case of the Terrified Typist" a jury returns a guilty verdict against Perry's client, and the prosecutor, Hamilton Burger, gets goose bumps thinking he had finally beaten ...

856. Pour the Salt and Turn on the Light

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

James Merritt

I am beginning a brand new series of messages today on the Sermon on the Mount that I have entitled, "The Only Way to Live." The reason I have given it that title is because that is exactly what Jesus tells us in the greatest sermon ever preached in the history of the world—the Sermon on the Mount. A Chinese Christian came to a missionary one time and said, "I have learned to quote the entire Sermon on the Mount by memory." He stood before the missionary and perfectly quoted the sermon word-for-word. The ...

857. Fatal Attraction

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

James Merritt

A teacher was working with a grammar lesson and she said to one of her students, "Willie, what is it when I say ‘I love you, you love me, he loves me?'" Willie replied, "That's one of those triangles where somebody gets shot." Well, it used to be a situation where somebody would get shot—with a gun. Today it's a situation that gets shot with a television camera. Television refers to adultery, to sex outside of marriages, 13 times more frequently than it mentions intimacy between a husband and a wife. There ...

858. Repeat After Me

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

One thing a good teacher knows is that repetition is one of the best ways to teach, as well as one of the best ways to learn. If you think about it, we learn the alphabet by repetition, by saying the letters over and over. We learn how to count the same way. We learn the multiplication tables by repeating them over and over again until we could do them in our sleep. Paul begins this chapter by saying, "For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." (3:1) Paul is about to ...

859. No Fear

Psalm 23:4

Sermon

James Merritt

Fear—we all know what it is. It is one of the most debilitating emotions known to the human race. As a matter of fact, it is fascinating to see just what it is that people fear most. Here are the three greatest fears people have in America: Fear number one: Going to a party where they will be surrounded by strangers. Fear number two: Having to speak before a crowd. Fear number three: Being asked a personal question in public.1 Fear is unbelievably powerful. It penetrates the heart, it poisons the spirit, ...

860. Why You Should Manage Your Time

Psalm 118:24

Sermon

James Merritt

The subject I am going to talk about today was described by the following: Sometimes it flies, sometimes it crawls, but it always passes in inexorably. We mark it, save it, waste it, bide it, race against it. We measure it incessantly with a passion for precision that borders on the obsessive.1 We are obsessed with it; we never seem to have enough of it; and yet scientists don’t even know how to explain it. When St. Augustine was asked to describe it, he said: “If no one asks me, I know what it is; but if ...

861. Why You Should Come Clean With God

Psalm 139:23-24

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to begin by asking you a question. Who is sitting in your seat? Now I know you think I’ve lost my mind because you just said “I am.” Well, let me ask you a follow-up question: Which “you” is sitting in your seat? You say, “What do you mean?” Well, there are actually three people in your seat. There is the person that you think you are, there is the person others think you are, and there is the person God knows you are. When I was a boy one of my heroes was someone very familiar to all of you. I’m ...

862. Do You See the Light?

Romans 1:16-20

Sermon

James Merritt

From the time you get up in the morning until you go to sleep at night you see many things. You see computer graphics, sunrises and sunsets, a blue sky with white clouds, sparkling stars, maybe even a rainbow or two. You look into the mirror to make sure you are presentable. You see a beautiful diamond ring on the finger of some lady. But did you ever stop to think that when you look at any of those things what you are really seeing is light. Light that somehow has left those objects and reached your eye. ...

863. Won't You Come Home, George Bailey?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

This being the MotorCity, let's start with a pair of transportation tidbits. Several years ago, I told you that since the gospel makes nary a mention of camels, I was willing to speculate that the three kings drove to Bethlehem in a Honda. For tradition has it that "they were of one accord." But now I am able to offer an eyewitness report that Santa Claus (or his brother who dresses like him) drives an Audi ... a beige Audi ... a beige Audi wagon ... complete with a cell phone. For I followed Santa south ...

864. A Time for Penance and a Time for Partridge

Ps 100, Col 2:1-7

Sermon

Coming home from the Royal Oak's Farmers' Market along about 9:30 yesterday morning, the lovely lady I live with was overheard to say: "Let's see, we've got brussels sprouts, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans for the casserole, shrimp for the appetizer….Becky said she would bring the dessert….I've got everything but the turkey. Unless, that is, you want me to get a ham." Which I don't. Although I'll concede that a ham might be easier than a turkey. I don't really think Kris wants a ham. And I know ...

865. A Strong-willed Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that some women are equal to any occasion? And they can be as tough as NFL linebackers. I heard about one woman in a farming community years ago who went to a meeting usually dominated by men. They were discussing some important issues critical to farmers. About midway through the meeting this woman stood up and spoke her piece. One of the old farmers didn’t like her intrusion. He jumped to his feet and said, “What does she know about anything. I would like to ask her if she knows how ...

866. For Better, For Worse

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I have probably performed over 500 weddings in my pastoral career. On each occasion, bride and groom have repeated certain very important promises, word for word. I recall one very nervous groom who said, “With this wing I thee wed.” Afterward I was never able to really regain control of that service. The heart of the marital commitment is expressed in this promise: “I take you to be my wedded spouse, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and ...

867. Prime The Pump!

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I love an old story called “The Legend of Desert Pete.” According to the story, a man was walking across a desert in the summer of 1933. He was dying of thirst and desperately needed water. Imagine his relief and delight when he came upon a pump, right out in the middle of the desert. There was a baking-soda can tied to the handle of the pump, and inside the can was a note. The note read: “This pump is all right as of June 1932. I put a new sucker-washer into it, and it ought to last five years. But the ...

868. I Believe In God The Father Almighty

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

The most radical words in the Apostles Creed are the first four- “I believe in God.” But you might respond, “Wait a minute, brother Bill. I thought that all cultures, past and present, have believed in some kind of god. So, what’s so radical about that?” Well, that’s true. But in those first four words of the Creed, we are saying much more than just that we believe God exists. We are declaring that he is the central truth around which our lives revolve. He is our Sovereign, our supreme commander. Notice ...

869. Moses: A Traveling God in a Pop-Up Camper

Exodus 13:17-22, 33:7-11

Sermon

John E. Harnish

So Joseph died in Egypt. Having saved the family from famine, this great-grandson of Abraham dies in hope of the day when they will return to the Promised Land, the land of Abraham's sojourn and God's covenant. And as he requested, the people pack his bones in a coffin, promising to carry them along when the time comes. Decades pass; the people of Israel grow in influence and power. Like many immigrant groups which establish themselves in a new land, they become a threat to the powers that be. (There are ...

870. God Knows....Me!

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

John E. Harnish

I found it….the quotation I used in Steeple Notes about the faith that sings. It comes from a 1949 sermon preached by James T. Cleland, Professor of Preaching at Duke. The sermon is entitled "A Religion That Sings." "There are times and occasions when a religious person has to shout hallelujah or stand the risk of an inner explosion." He reminds us that the birth narratives of Jesus are filled with the songs of angels and shepherds, Mary and Elizabeth, Zachariah and Simeon. Like a Rogers and Hammerstein ...

871. Bugles in the Afternoon

Philippians 2:1-11, Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

John E. Harnish

I borrow my title from the outstanding British Methodist preacher and world Christian, Colin Morris. He titles his volume of sermons Bugles in the Afternoon. He says his title is based on the legend that Satan was a fallen angel who rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven. Sometime later, the tradition goes, Satan was asked if there was anything he missed from heaven. Satan responded: "I miss the sound of trumpets in the morning." Glorious image, isn't it? "Trumpets in the morning." It brings to ...

872. Whose Side Are You On?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

“Shoot Me First.” That’s what a courageous 13-year-old Amish girl said to the crazed man who broke into her school on Monday, October 2, 2006. “Shoot Me First.” He did shoot her, killing her along with five of her schoolmates, aged seven to thirteen. Then he killed himself. The shooter, Charles Carl Roberts, a 32-year-old milkman entered the humble one-room schoolhouse with the intent of killing as many students as possible. But one student, Marian Fisher, the oldest of the five Amish girls shot dead that ...

873. Our Logo the Cross

Matt 16:21-28, 27:32-44; Mar 15:21-32; Lu 23:26-43; Jo 19:17-27

Illustration

Brett Blair

Marketing experts are always quick to tell start-up businesses how important it is to develop a corporate logo. "Brand identity" they call it. Think about it. One symbol can readily identity a billion dollar organization. The ultimate goal of any designer when creating a logo is to develop a mark that identifies the company but also persuade viewers to respond in a specified manner. Logos. So what makes a good logo? Here are the five things that most marketing agencies agree makes a good logo: Simplicity. ...

874. Taking the Long View

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

So much seems to press upon us in our daily living that "taking the long view" may not only be remote but considered impractical and therefore shelved. A thousand years equals one day and one day equals 1,000 years. It all sounds so mystical and unscientific! Do you mean we have to rethink being captains of our own ships? That is so basic to the American way and you are suggesting we give it up? After all, we can accomplish anything we set out to do — that is if we just try hard enough. Planning is done ...

875. Gift of Positive Thinking

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

For generations the "power of positive thinking" has been touted throughout our land. It is among the most popular and utilized thoughts and themes we have ever known. Cutting across all strata of social and economic patterns it is generally a principle espoused. While the influence generated is obvious, secular and less than desirable ways of life have utilized it. It is frequently taken from a Christian basis and becomes a means to achieve ends that at a minimum are questionable. Of course, there are ...

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