Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 876 to 900 of 2665 results

876. In The Lion's Den

Daniel 6:1-28

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... attacks. What has been the key? Prayer. Prayer has allowed God to mainline grace and power into our midst. I am thrilled by the fact that over 1500 of you are in a specific prayer ministry. Also, on a typical weekday morning forty or fifty of us drop by Wilson Chapel to pray for a few minutes on the way to work. Nobody sends these people a reminder card or even a thank-you. Those moments in prayer have become part of their lifestyle. They are discovering that prayer changes things. Daniel’s example ...

877. Do You Believe In Easter?

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... curiosity got the best of her. She said, "Edith, why have you never asked me if I believe in Easter?" Edith smiled and replied, "I asked God to cause you to ask me about the Easter question, and you just did." Phyllis was caught off guard. Her defenses dropped. Edith shared Christ with her. This tough old Army nurse invited Jesus into her heart as Savior and Lord. A few days later Phyllis walked into Edith’s room and said, "Hey Edith, today is Good Friday." "No," said Edith, "It’s Easter. In the life of ...

878. I ... Oh ... U

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

It all started with Ol’ Zeke in some prehistoric dinosaur patch, foraging for food, having things pretty much his own way, and feeling a bit superior when his ape family relatives dropped in to visit on weekends. Then we are told mythically that the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him." And by whatever early beginning story you subscribe, the end-product was very much the same. ...

879. "I appeal to Caesar!"

Acts 24:1-27, Acts 25:1-12

Sermon Aid

CSS

... a while. In this way they bought some peace for themselves. They also knew that Felix was not their friend and that he regarded them as nitpicking and intolerant, so they were willing to take what they could get from him. Yet they were not ready to drop the case. It remained high on their list, for they craved vengeance against Paul and were not willing to forget this setback, so they watched and waited for a new chance to attack. Felix displayed unusual concern for his prisoner. When the Jews had gone, he ...

880. Shipwrecked on Malta

Acts 27:1-12, Acts 27:13-26, Acts 27:27-44

Sermon Aid

CSS

... the island and arrived "with difficulty" at a place called Fair Havens. While the northern coast of Crete is mountainous and forbidding, the south side has gently sloping hills and fine sandy beaches. The sailors must have breathed a sigh of relief when they were able to drop anchor and rest for a while. Here Luke gives us a clue about the calendar. The voyage was more dangerous now because "the fast had already gone by." The fast to which he refers is the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar, the Day of ...

881. Rome at Last

Acts 28:11-16

Sermon Aid

CSS

... from this period. Luke’s account ends with uncharacteristic abruptness, as though some editor had chopped off the summary paragraphs because of lack of space. What happened after those two years? How could Luke bring this narrative along over a thirty-year span and then drop it just before the climax? Did he plan a third volume addressed to "Most Excellent Theophilus?" Or, as so often happened to ancient manuscripts, did the end of the scroll become frayed and torn? We do not know, just as we do not know ...

882. This God’s For Real!

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

... with it - will lead to total world embrace and total risk for Jesus. Once Peter has rejected - and absorbed his Lord’s rebuke for it - the thought that God-in-Christ might suffer and be bloodied in the process of embracing his creation, Jesus drops the other shoe: Disciples of the Living God will suffer similarly. Suddenly the lifeless sort of god seems preferable again. Clearly Peter didn’t know exactly what he was confessing when affirming that the Master was the Christ of God. Even when the promise ...

883. Which Way?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

... to them, share themselves with them. Sometimes the first reception given the outsiders has been filled with anger, scorn, hostility, or stony silence. But as time goes by and as the volunteers persist, the quiet miracles begin to happen. Barriers begin to drop. Acquaintances are made. New friendships form. Forgivenesses are asked. Hope springs to life again. A future is embraced, and healing starts. The lunacy of cruciform existence can do miracles. Is all of this to say that being Christian, taking up a ...

884. God's Best Gift In The Worst Times (Sermon Series No. 2)

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... ’t live abundantly until we are in relationship with him. I talk with young adults often who tell me such similar stories that I sometimes refer to it as “yuppie syndrome.” It goes something like this: When I went away to college I dropped out of church and left my faith behind. Over the next ten years I tried everything that I thought could really make life good: unrestricted sex, a convertible, making money, traveling, drugs, booze, bungee jumping, mountain-climbing, yoga... But always in the deeper ...

885. Midnight Turned Into High Noon

Isaiah 42:10-17, Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... his own did not even recognize nor accept him. He endured the darkness of prejudice, intolerance, selfishness and hatred. It was night in the upper room when the disciples met for the Last Supper. It was black night in the Garden of Gethsemane when he sweat great drops of blood. It was night when one of his own betrayed him. It was during the night that he was shuffled all night from one unjust trial to another. And when they finally crucified the Light of the World, the sun refused to shine, and it was ...

886. God Can’t Keep a Good Secret!

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... it happened just as God said and as Ezekiel prophesied! It is now just two weeks from Easter - and God is giving more than subtle hints as to the outcome. In this text, the time is about 587 B.C. - nearly 600 years before Christ - and God is already dropping clues to the Resurrection of his Son. The vision in the valley teaches us that - Death Is a Fact! You don’t have to live very long to realize that literal, physical death is a fact of life. About fifty million people die each year. That figures out to ...

887. Bitter-Sweet Recollections

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... in us. There are many horrible ways to die, but crucifixion has to be among the very worst. It is ignominious, tortuous, and shameful. In our recalling it, we remember that when his body was stretched prone, then nailed to the cross, the gibbet was then picked up and dropped with a careless thud into the rock of Golgotha’s hill. Did the flesh tear a bit more as the weight of his body found a more secure hold around the nails? No wonder the sun refused to shine and darkness fell at noon. It was midnight in ...

888. Religion at a Minimum

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... -seven percent of the citizens in the United States claim a belief in God, and approximately sixty-four percent of the population claim church affiliation somewhere. However, when you get down to the performance level of religion, the figure drops, percentage-wise, into the thirties. Apparently there are many who are religiously concerned but not spiritually committed - a great many whose consciences are stunted and quieted by an occasional contact with religion. The only real solution to their problem ...

889. Is God Still God?

Isaiah 44:6-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... . Had all of this great history of God’s dealings with his people come to nought? In this horrible predicament, they had to re-think God. Their chief problem was God. It came down to the basic question, "Is God still God?" And still today when the bottom of life drops out, we ask the same question. God the Ruler At a time when the world and the devil seem to be in control of our lives and world, God’s Word in our text assures us that God is our king. Our text begins, "Thus says the Lord, the King ...

890. Does God Give A Damn?

Exodus 5:22--6:12

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... was dedicated in Washington. Families of the bereaved and old buddies of the fallen soldiers came for a reunion. It was a pathetic and heart-touching experience as loved ones hunted for the name of a loved one on the walls. Roses and carnations were dropped before many panels. Lipstick told of a name that was kissed. Notes on scraps of paper were squeezed between the panels, saying, "Johnny, we love you." Many just stood quietly touching the name with the tips of their fingers. Was God concerned enough to ...

891. Doctor Thomas Dooley

Matthew 9:1-8

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

... return to Southeast Asia. That return was marked by a two-fold frustration brought about first because Dooley did not have access to naval supplies, and secondly, because he saw that whatever he was able to do was comparable to the proverbial "drop in a bucket." Thomas Dooley - resilient, innovative, independent, dedicated - realized that he could not meet the needs of suffering people alone. He needed help. Out of his frustration came MEDICO, a person-to-person, heart-to-heart program characterized by one ...

892. "At Beneficial You’re Good for More"

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... people of that day felt very much like many people today. They had their dreams. This would be the year they would make it. This would be the year when they would be overloaded with presents. Then came the stark reality of a destroyed city. The bottom had dropped out. There would be no presents. How those people 2500 years ago must have wanted to call out, "How long must we wait until we are fulfilled? How long must we wait until we have the things that make life rich? How long? Isn’t there a Beneficial ...

893. A Tale of Two Cemeteries

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

George Bass

... fifty years old, six feet four inches tall and weighed 250 pounds, while Pat says he was "five feet six inches tall and 127 pounds wringing wet." The garbage man was to be his teacher; he was "large of heart, but small of brain" - a fourth grade drop-out who could barely read or write. He lived out a fantasy - to make his life as a garbage man bearable; as he drove the garbage truck along the prescribed route, he would pretend that he was piloting an airplane. He carried on a conversation with an imaginary ...

894. Lift High the Christ!

John 12:20-36

Sermon

George Bass

... easier to buy one." And Charlie replies, "You couldn’t buy one like this anyplace, ever." And it was different - "a good twelve feet long, with a transparent top, and it was five feet thick." In two weeks, Charlie had finished the coffin and dropped dead. Richard called the mortuary and asked them to send around "a wicker" for brother Charlie. He gave instructions when they arrived: "Ordinary casket. No funeral service. Put him in a pine coffin. He would have preferred it that way - simple. Good-by." Then ...

895. Call Him a Story Teller

Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

George Bass

... to deep concern so that he began to speak about the munitions makers and especially about Pantex, the corporation that assembles all nuclear weapons in the United States just outside the city of Amarillo. He said, "I really paid little attention when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. I was grateful only that the war would soon be over and that my brother could come home. I did not realize at the time what the guns over Hiroshima and Nagaski were loaded with." He could say with ...

896. Do We Want to See?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... the wall several feet in front of us are lines of letters which vary in size from one large letter at the top to a row of tiny ones at the bottom. We start at the top and read down as far as we can. Then the doctor begins to drop lenses of different strengths into the instrument through which we are looking. After a few changes, when he gets to what seems the proper strength, he will ask, "Can you see the bottom line clearly?" That is physical sight, eyes of the body. Then there is mental vision. The eyes ...

897. Children of the Eighth Day

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... if Peter had said: "No, it’s too late," and had turned back? What if Paul had said on the road to Damascus: "No, Lord, I have persecuted you. It’s too late." What if we should say in our moment of crisis: "No, Lord, it’s too late," and drop into outer darkness? Listen to Thomas Wolfe. As I write this, I am looking from our mountaintop home over the city of Asheville. I can see the old home where Tom struggled as a child. Don’t let his pessimism get you down. He paints despair with magic colors ...

898. Life - The Womb of the Eternal

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... . But poor Martha (and some of us) is sadly described by Charlotte Perkins’ little verse: A new fledged butterfly, A-sitting on a thorn, A black and crimson butterfly all doleful and forlorn. I do not want to fly, said he, I only want to squirm! And he dropped his wings dejectedly, But still his voice was firm, I do not want to be a butterfly! I want to be a worm. The last I saw was this, The creature madly climbing back into his chrysalis.5 Martha, stubbornly holding on to her cocoon, resents it when ...

899. The Surprise of Absolute Victory

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... If you do, you are more steady in the midst of the collapse all around you. A great pessimism has to be conquered by a great faith. Edith Lovejoy Pierce uncovers a challenging insight: Even though we escape now We shall not escape Turning a key in a lock, Dropping a well-placed bomb, Signing a paper: Nothing so simple. No flip of the coin Or toss of the dice: it goes deeper than that. Even though we escape now We shall not escape. Too long have we blasphemed the name, Lifted to our lips the chalice of empty ...

900. The Importance of Unity

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... a nature that it is actually destructive of the cause it proposes to promote. At other times, I must admit, I want to laugh when I hear this "excuse," for I know very well it is only one of many excuses that can be given at the drop of a hat for nonaffiliation with a church by many people. It is, in itself, a form of "self-righteousness." I recognize many valid reasons people may give for not being Christian, and they are not mere "excuses." This particular kind of alibi, however, hardly holds water, for ...

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