Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 901 to 925 of 1354 results

901. First and Only Kiss

Illustration

Staff

Hauled before a Melbourne court in 1907 for hugging and kissing spinster Hazel Moore when she entered his shop, young Michael O'Connor defended himself by claiming it had been a lovely spring day and he was in high spirits. O'Connor had to serve a few months for breach of peace. So imagine his amazement ten years later when an attorney representing Miss Moore's estate gave him her bequest of 20,000 ...

902. Were You There?

John 19:17-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Judas also went and hanged himself. That’s not surprising. Can there be any sin more grievous than betraying a friend? Judas was there when they crucified my Lord. Simon Peter was there as well. When the soldiers came to take Jesus, Peter tried to defend him with his sword. He struck the high priest’s servant, a man named Malchus, cutting off his right ear. Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” When Jesus was arrested, Peter followed the ...

903. Toss Your Cap Over the Wall

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... NBA statistic. Even in his prime, Jordan was not the fastest or most accurate shooter; he certainly was not a rebounder or brilliant at defense. (1) Yet Jordan is considered the greatest player of his era, and maybe the best ever. How did a poor defender and average shooter get to be a five time NBA MVP not to mention earn the reputation as the best hoops player on the planet? Passion? Confidence? Determination? All of these were involved, of course. Michael Jordan, who famously was cut from his middle ...

904. The Power of Prayer

Humor Illustration

... the church ... "was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, through direct actions or indirect means." Of course, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise. The judge read carefully through the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's reply. He then opened the hearing by saying: "I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but it appears from the paperwork that what we have here is a bar owner who now believes in the power of prayer, and an ...

905. You Are Here

John 18:1—19:42

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... she chased him. A crowd was running alongside them. She chased the man around the building before the police came out and caught hold of her. They took her knife away and pushed her to the ground, where they started kicking her with their boots. She didn't try to defend herself. She just lay there and took it. I was at the road then, getting into my Suzuki jeep. When I saw the policemen start to kick her, I got out of the jeep. I flinched each time they landed a kick on her defenseless body. But I didn't ...

906. Trick Questions, Big Answers

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Scott Bryte

... of the scripture, from the "In the beginning" of Genesis to the final "Amen" of Revelation is that God is in control — if you belong to God, you have nothing to fear. Jesus says improvise ("Make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves" [Luke 21:14]), trust ("for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict" [Luke 21:15]) and, to borrow from Winston Churchill, never, never, never, never give up ("By standing firm you will ...

907. The Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... running back tells the offensive line, "I don't need you; I can do it on my own," the veteran linemen will just smile to themselves and let the idiot try. They will provide what the incomparable John Madden calls the "Look Out Block" — as the defenders rush by, the lineman will watch as they pass then yell, "Look out!" Every part is necessary; every part is valuable; every part must do its job ... whether on a football team, in the human body, or that mystical body of Christ, the church. There must be ...

908. Our Family Inheritance

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , others pour water over the head, still others want to say that the only valid mode of baptism is immersion, having someone placed completely under water as a symbol of our solidarity with Christ's death and resurrection. All of those methods can be defended with scripture — the Greek and Hebrew words that are translated in English as "baptize" can each be legitimately rendered as either "immerse, dip, sprinkle, or pour." If the Lord had a particular method of baptism in mind, I am sure that would have ...

909. Greed

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... one of them. Over the years, some have tried to take Jesus' instruction to one very specific young man about selling what he had and giving it to the poor and make it the rule for every Christian, and that's wrong. It is just as wrong as when people defend their drinking habits on the basis of what Paul told Timothy: "Take a little wine for your stomach's sake" (1 Timothy 5:23 cf). But I guarantee you this - more people have taken a little wine for the sake of Timothy's stomach than ever sold what they had ...

910. Religion and Politics

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... a crop failure. Your walk should match your talk. Fortunately, those harsh words are not the last words. "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." - Isaiah 1:16-17 These are more than general instructions - the admonitions about seeking justice mean to care for the powerless members of the society: the oppressed, the orphan, and the widow ...

911. Pax Christi Or Pox Christi?

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Several years ago, at our Presbyterian General Assembly meeting, the subject of debate was the place of gays and lesbians in the life of the church. The verbal sparring was vigorous and rancorous, as is often the case when two sides passionately defend diametrically opposite positions, and especially when each side is positive that their position is the one that reflects the mind of Christ. Finally, one of the youngest delegates in attendance spoke up and said, "You folks can keep fighting about this issue ...

912. Prayers For the President

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... will not listen." Why? "Your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:15). Your walk should match your talk. Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. — Isaiah 1:16-17 Bingo! These are more than general instructions — the admonitions about seeking justice mean to care for the powerless members of the society: the oppressed, the orphan, and the ...

913. The Most Dangerous Verse In the Bible

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... to do, do quickly" (John 13). Get the point? Most people are not quite so ridiculous with their proof texting, but it goes on all the time. Think of any of the major social issues that we face — abortion, gender equality, sexuality, war. People defend their positions in all of them by appealing to this or that scripture text — scripture becomes a club with which to bash opponents. But that is generally done without reference to surrounding material, and as we have seen, you can prove virtually anything ...

914. A Religion That Shows

Haggai 1:15, 2:9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... credit, they got right to work in repairing their place of worship. They prepared the great stone foundations for reconstruction. They repaired the altar. But along the way, they got side-tracked: Their enemies were giving them anxious moments, so they had to defend themselves; they had to eat, so crops had to be planted and tended; they had to survive the elements, so houses had to be constructed - all perfectly legitimate undertakings, but they kept the people from finishing their work on God's house. Not ...

915. Rubble and Trouble

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

916. Proper 28

Psalm 98:1-9, Isaiah 12:1-6; 65:17-25, Luke 21:5-19, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... had the disciples in conversation with Jesus about the temple (in Jerusalem). Jesus talked about the beauty being destroyed and about hard times to come. He went on to say that they should decide to trust his Spirit for wisdom to defend themselves. The sermon might explore the current global political situation with the intent of being grateful for the beauty of autumn and winter, for dependable food supplies, for the opportunities to communicate long distance with family and friends, for adequate water ...

917. The Jury

Humor Illustration

In a criminal justice system based on 12 individuals not smart enough to get out of jury duty, here is a jury to be proud of: A defendant was on trial for murder. There was strong evidence indicating guilt, but there was no corpse. In the defense's closing statement, the lawyer, knowing that his client would probably be convicted, resorted to a trick. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all," the ...

918. A Bloody Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

919. But When God ...

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... Paul's defense of his authority as an apostle. There were some in Galatia who questioned Paul's authority, who opposed his teaching, who were very critical. In these verses, Paul takes great pains to show that his authority and teaching come from God. But in defending his apostolic authority, Paul also provides a thumbnail sketch of his own personal testimony. Galatians 1:11-24 takes just over a minute to read out loud. So we might think of it as Paul's one-minute testimony. It wasn't delivered from what we ...

920. Freedom Calling

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... him with it. When some of the disciples and others saw what had happened, they became very critical. How could Jesus accept such an expensive anointing? Why wasn't this expensive perfume sold and the money given to the poor instead? In response to these criticisms, Jesus defended the woman and her actions. He replied, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me.... She has done what she could" (Mark 14:6-8). In the same way, as we exercise our freedom in Christ to love ...

921. Living in Chains

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... temple guards or the essence of the messianic prophecies with the council? Who would you have put your money on? Who would have "won"? But he didn't. He had the power but he chose patience. He also had the power to call down legions of angels to defend him, restore him, and punish those false accusers. But he didn't. He had the power. He chose patience. Where is that line drawn between patience and becoming a doormat that is walked upon, taken advantage of, and abused? I don't know. It's there, somewhere, I ...

922. Anatomy Of A Testimony

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... that lies ahead, to reduce all of the challenges ahead of them to a mere dependent clause in a sentence. Casually say to the graduate student, "When you have completed all of your course work, finished your research, written your dissertation, and successfully defended it, then here is what you should say on the occasion of your graduation." Blithely say to the pregnant young woman, "When you have given birth to your baby, weaned him, and raised him through all the years of childhood and adolescence, then ...

923. Look Who's Talking

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... talking in this episode are the critics. Then comes Peter's chance to talk. What follows is commendably charitable. Peter's tone is not defensive, and his purpose is not self-justification. It seems to be our natural human instinct, when we are attacked, to defend ourselves and even attack back. While natural, though, it is not consistent with either the teachings of Jesus or the example of Jesus. We sense here that this close follower of Jesus had learned well from his master. Peter does not seek to ...

924. At Points of Dispair

1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a

Sermon

Stephen P. McCutchan

... of the faith. When Elijah returned to the source, God asked that terrifying question, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (v. 9). Why have you come back to the source if you are ready to crawl in a cave and feel sorry for yourself? Elijah began to defend himself. "I have been the faithful one while everyone around me has been desecrating your commandments." I have been faithful while the church has been ignoring the clear commands of scripture. I've done my work, Lord; it's the others who have let you down ...

925. What God Expects From Worship

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. — Isaiah 1:15-17 God is so appalled by the actions of his people that when they raise their hands in prayer to him, God will not respond. God will not listen. Why? Because his people have hands bloodied by ...

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