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Showing 951 to 975 of 1967 results

951. Through the Eyes of an Eagle (Introduction)

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I suppose that if a vote were taken as to which of the Four Gospels is the most popular, among those who know that there are four Gospels, the vote would be overwhelmingly in favor of the Fourth gospel: the Gospel According to St. John. This is somewhat strange, in light of the fact that the Fourth Gospel is by far the most difficult of them all. Indeed, it even had a hard time getting into the canon of the New Testament in the first place. It was considered suspect by the conservatives of the early Church ...

952. The Power of a God-Shaped Attitude

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I have a potential gift for you this morning. There are two marvelous readings shared from the sacred scriptures, and the truth they both profess is the POWER OF A GOD-SHAPED ATTITUDE! Do you remember the lyrics we learned as children which went like this: "Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been? I''ve been to London to see the queen. Pussycat, Pussycat, what saw you there? I saw a wee mouse under her chair." Now London is a splendid and enchanting place to visit. Imagine a city which includes places like ...

953. God Help the Fish

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Sam Houston was the first president of the Republic of Texas. It’s said he was a rather nasty fellow with a checkered past. Later in life Houston made a commitment to Christ and was baptized in a river. The preacher said to him, “Sam, your sins are washed away.” Houston replied, “God help the fish.” It’s fortunate that you and I were not baptized as adults in a river. Somebody would probably be saying, “God help the fish.” A man named Ray says that at one point in his life he considered joining the Baptist ...

954. The Fourth Day Comes

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The Emmaus walk is one of the most significant, spiritual renewal experiences in which I have ever participated. You may have heard something about this experience, perhaps you read about it in The Courier a few weeks ago. Almost 100 membership of Christ Church have shared in it, and at the end of April, members of our church and other churches in Memphis will lead the first Memphis Emmaus for men. And then toward the end of May, we will have an Emmaus experience for women. The pivotal event in this ...

955. The Art Of Borrowing And Lending A Donkey

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Imagine it. You've just bought a brand new BMW. You have had it a week. It only has 200 miles on it. You are coming to church on Sunday morning and you stop by the bank to get a little bit of cash from the automatic teller. While you are there, two men walk up and tell you that their leader has told them to borrow your car because their master is going to ride in it down Poplar Avenue to the center of the city to demonstrate who he is. They tell you that they will have the car back to you in about three ...

956. The Wholeness Question: Do You Want To Be Made Well?

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One day a cowboy out in Arizona was riding down a trail. All of a sudden as he rounded a bend, he saw an Indian lying down in the middle of the trail. He had his ear pressed close to the ground. As he got closer the Indian began to speak "Wagon," he said, "drawn by two horses. Horses both dapple gray. Passengers in wagon. Two passengers. One man, one woman. Man driving." The cowboy was amazed. He just couldn't believe it. "That's incredible, I can't believe it! You can tell all of that just by listening ...

957. His Last Command ... Our First Concern!

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

In the fall of 1971, I visited Leo Tolstoy's home in Moscow. There, tied in bundles and stacked against the wall, were his handwritten manuscripts for all of his great novels - War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and Resurrection. For an hour I leafed through the mountain of paper, observing the man's handwriting, his strikeovers, and even the doodles he made in the margins. An elderly Russian woman, the curator of the museum, noticed my deep interest in Tolstoy and began to talk to me. "He was a friend of the ...

958. Christianity's First Sermon

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: On this Christ the King Sunday, we remember how Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” wants to be Jesus, “the King of hearts” in each of our lives. The Word-Made-Flesh . .. Exegesis of Luke 23:33-43 Today is “Christ the King Sunday.” The Sunday before Advent begins its four week count-down to the crib of the infant Jesus. In the church’s liturgical calendar this is the Sunday we celebrate Christ’s divine kingship, his ruling authority over all of creation. Then we try not to get whiplash as we turn the ...

959. Advent 4

Psalm 80:1-19, Isaiah 7:1-25, Romans 1:1-17, Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS At the very heart of Advent is the anticipation and celebration of the incarnation—of God's being present with us. Our Old Testament lessons for the fourth week of Advent turn directly on this central theme. Isaiah 7:10-16 is a prophecy that anticipates Immanuel ("with us is God"), and Psalm 80 is a communal petition for God to be present. Isaiah 7:10-16 - "The Sign of Immanuel" Setting. Isaiah 7:10-16 is a central Old Testament text for Christians. It was already given a central place ...

960. Anyone Feeling Tired?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson for today contains a verse that many of us need to take to heart. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is describing many of us. He knows our situation. Tired. Stressed out. Battling fatigue. Our nerves on edge. We’re like an old Peanuts comic strip. It shows Linus holding on to his familiar blanket. The caption reads, “Only one yard of flannel stands between me and a nervous breakdown.” Some of you know what Linus is talking about. A ...

961. Just Know Him In His Visible Return

Revelation 1:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to share with you some headlines that actually ran on the front page of American newspapers. Again, as Rush Limbaugh would say I am not making these up: "Something went wrong in Jet crash, expert says" "Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers" "Plane too close to ground crash probe told" "Minors refuse to work after death" "If strike isn't settled quickly, it may last a while" "Cold wave linked to temperatures" "Couple slain: Police suspect Homicide" "New study of obesity looks for larger test ...

962. Close the Loopholes

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is through life's cracks and loopholes that evil dynamics gain entrance. The church must close these loopholes. Today's epistle reading warns the Ephesian Christians against allowing "room for the devil." A more accessible translation of this text warns against allowing a "loophole for the Devil" (NEB). After all: To worm his way into our lives and minds, the Devil doesn't need much "room" at all a little slit of a loophole will work just fine. Washingtonstate's Puget Sound is a wet, rain-drenched area ...

963. Wednesday: The Way Of The Cross: Oooh, That Smell

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A little girl hugged her grandmother and said, "Mmmmm! You smell so wonderful, Grandmother! Is that Oil of Old Lady?" (1) Have you ever noticed how a particular smell or aroma can bring back memories. You smell something and before you know it your mind has taken you back to when you were a child. There's one aroma that immediately brings me back to boyhood and that's the aroma of chicken frying. I'm not talking about KFC or Chicken Express. I'm talking about hand battered skillet fried chicken. Because we ...

964. Winning the War Over Stuff (Series: Winning The War Over Daily Life)

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Have you noticed how almost everything you buy these days has a warning label on it? Welcome to the world of protection from litigation. Some of the wackiest ones include: A bottle of sleeping pills with the warning: “Caution, may cause drowsiness” A fishing lure with the warning: “Harmful if swallowed” Washing machine with the instructions: “Don’t put people inside.” It causes me to start thinking about appropriate warning labels for worship to be printed in the bulletin: “Sleep at your own risk” “Caution ...

965. Just When We Think We're Safest, There's a Sunset Touch

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Today we’re beginning a series of sermons on coping - coping as a Christian. To cope is to “contend or struggle successfully.” Now I had some hesitancy about the use of the word cope in the title of this series. A lot of people are talking about coping. Being who I am, a Christian minister seeking to proclaim the word of God, I was not interested just in a series of self-help, psychological messages. So I thought for awhile that I would talk about conquering as Christians. Paul said we Christians are to be ...

966. The Three Dimensions of Life

Genesis 6:1-22

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Today's reading starts in the ancient world before the great flood. It was an era when, according to the Bible, many people lived really long lives. Take Methuselah for example. Genesis 5:27 tells us that he lived to be 969 years old. As far as we know, he lived longer than anyone else anywhere. Yet for all his years, we know remarkably little about him. We know that his father's name was Enoch and that he had some brothers and sisters. Methuselah had a son named Lamech and had some other sons and ...

967. Come

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A garden full of flowers in bloom. A stroll through the park. A trip to the museum. Holding your grandchild. A long conversation with your best friend. A new book. An afternoon nap. A cold drink of water. A dip in the pool. A few minutes in prayer. What is it that refreshes you? What is it that quenches your thirst? Years ago, in the very first church in which I was able to serve the Lord's Supper, a little girl from the neighborhood, maybe eight or nine, visited the church. After Worship she was talking ...

968. Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief

James 2:1-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There's an old story about two crows sitting on the handles of an old plow, on the edge of the field next to a country road. An old pick up comes bouncing down the road. The pick is just coming back from town and the bed of the truck is filled with a months worth of groceries. As it gets alongside the two crows sitting on the handles of the plow, something bounces out of the back of the truck. Crows being crows, the both fly down to see what it is. After some discussion and some tasting they decide that it ...

969. Waiting for a Savior

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Margaret was all ready for her date. She was wearing her best outfit, her hair was fixed, her makeup was perfect. Imagine her disappointment when her date didn’t show up! After an hour of waiting, Margaret decided that he wasn’t going to come. She changed into her pajamas, washed off her makeup, gathered up a bunch of junk food, and parked herself in front of the television for the evening. As soon as she got involved in her favorite show, there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find her handsome ...

970. Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Over the centuries the gospel of Mark often has been considered a kind of pale imitation of the other “more substantial” gospels. Not as historically detailed as Matthew, not as narratively elegant as Luke, not as theologically articulate as John, at first glance Mark appears almost a derivative of the other texts. But over the last century Mark has been re-examined by biblical scholars to the point and place where most now consider this shorter more focused work to be the earliest of the four gospels. As ...

971. The Four Scents of Adventing

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A traditional accounting of the number of “senses” the human body registers is five: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. We now know there are between 9 and 21 actual senses, depending on who’s counting. But still there are five main ones, and two biggies in the five: sight and sound. Even those of us with poor vision and tin ears still rely heavily on sight and sound to get around. Taste and touch are less obviously used, but absolutely necessary. Our sense of touch keeps us from absent-mindedly leaning ...

972. Running with Perseverance

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

United Methodist Bishop, Robert Schnase, tells of his hobby as a "serious runner." He reports that people often ask him how to get started on a running program. He recounts the usual practice of people trying to become serious about running. The typical start date is January 1, as part of a New Year's resolution. The resolution holds fast for the first week, with an early rise and an eager first few jogs. The problems pop up "during the second week when the alarm screams them awake at six, they tell ...

973. In the Potter's Hands

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

I am not a potter, and I do not play one on television! However, as a student of the scriptures and the life and times of the people in the biblical narrative, I can say with some certainty that crafting pottery is one of the world's oldest professions. Alongside bone and bricks, fragments of earthenware or pottery have long been gathered and studied by archeologists to understand something of the ancient inhabitants of the Middle East and nearly every other ancient culture throughout the world. Few of ...

974. Jesus’ Four Surprising Road Rules for the Missional Highway

Luke 9:57-62, Luke 9:51-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Road Trip! It’s more than a bad coming-of-age movie comedy (2000). For late teens and twenty-somethings, it is a coming of age rite of passage, even an initiatory pilgrimage into adulthood. Whether it is a short trip from a small town to a big city for the weekend, a coast-to-coast marathon to see the USA in a small over-packed car, or a backpacking Euro-rail adventure, a road trip is a first step in finding our own unique life path. Even for adults and the aged, there is nothing like a road trip to get us ...

975. Can You Hear the Music?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who doesn’t like an “attaboy!” when they do something good? It’s why we have “honor society” in school. It is the reason we have scholarship awards as we head into college. “Attaboy!” stands behind all those accolades high achievers get throughout life — Rhode’s scholarships, purple hearts, Silver stars, gold statues, merit raises for school teachers, making partner in a big firm, getting re-elected (in any organization, at any level). “Attaboys!” reward the gracious, good, above-and-beyond behaviors we ...

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