Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 951 to 975 of 4508 results

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

The date was June 11, 1963; the place- The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Vivian Malone, a young black woman, enrolled that day as a freshman. Federal troops ensured her entrance, but the doorway was blocked by Governor George Wallace. Holding out for segregation, the governor ultimately failed, and Ms. Malone became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Alabama. Viv...

952. Anger - Eleven Ways To Blow Up, Seven Ways To Cool Off

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

What is your AQ? Not your IQ, which is your so-called intelligence quotient, but your AQ, your Anger Quota? Everyone has an AQ. Everyone has a point, a threshold, whatever you call it. If the right buttons are hit, you will get angry and start to growl, and that's your AQ, your Anger Quota. Of course, you and the people sitting around you don't look like you could be angry. As far as you and I can...

953. A Remedy For Anger

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that anger can cause us to do some dumb things? Several years ago William F. Merten of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, wrote to Reader's Digest to tell about a memorable argument he had with his wife. The argument was well under way as they left a party one evening. Once they were in the car, words were flying. The area they were driving through was not the best, so they stopped argui...

954. In the Mood for Murder

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you can remember back in the 1970s when mood rings were a big fad (sort of like the pet rock). They were especially popular with young girls. The theory behind the mood ring was that body heat fluctuates with the emotional state of the wearer . . . and the ring was attuned to the body’s temperature. None of this was ever established scientifically, of course, but, like most fads, it provid...

955. Make It Right!

Sermon

David E. Leininger

There is a church in Columbia, SC near the seminary I attended which has one of those bulletin boards out front to list service times, special events, sermon subjects, and so on. For several years there was one other thing on that bulletin board, one of those little "sentence sermons" that we see so often. It said, "The same Bible that says BELIEVE also says BEHAVE." I do not know if there were an...

956. The Embassy at 6601

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

The year was 1967. Vietnam was exploding. The Nuclear Arms Race was escalating. The Women's Movement and the Civil Rights Movement were agitating the soul of our nation. And the Presbyterian church was trying to figure out how to witness to Jesus Christ in the midst of all this cultural chaos. 1967 was also the year I turned eighteen and graduated from high school. Though vaguely aware of all the...

957. Now, It's Personal

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Thirty years ago I was serving on the staff of a large church as the minister of Christian Education and Youth Ministry. The Education Commission and the Youth Council were made up, mostly of parents who worked with me on the programs for youth and children — Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, those kinds of things. One year, for Vacation Bible School, we decided to set up a large tent — a rea...

958. Epiphany 6/ Ordinary Time 6

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Order For Confession And Forgiveness Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen. The pastor proceeds with a reading of the Decalogue, and after each commandment, the congregation may respond, All: Lord, have mercy. Silence for self-examination and confession Leader: O God of life, All: you set before us all that we need to live together in peace. Break ...

959. As Forgiving As Children

Illustration

Leo F. Buscalgia

Many people today struggle with forgiveness, and yet we cannot become the people Jesus intends us to become until we are able to forgive the wrongs of others and seek reconciliation. The goal, then, is for us to love other people in the same way that God loves us. Leo Buscalgia writes of observing two children having an argument. The children were quarreling over some insignificant things. "You'r...

960. Directing Anger

Illustration

Staff

The great Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini was legendary for his fits of rage. The librarian of one of Toscanini's orchestras was particularly vexed by the maestro's habit of throwing valuable musical scores at the musicians when angry. Watching closely, the librarian observed that Toscanini's first act when enraged was to take his baton in both hands and try to break it. If the baton snapped, T...

961. The Effect of Insult

Illustration

David E. Leininger

Angry words can wound with insult. Have you ever been hurt...REALLY hurt...by what someone said to you? It has happened to all of us. Let me tell you about an elderly lady, a shy and sensitive lady who lived to be just three weeks shy of her 100th birthday. When she was a young girl, about ten years old or so, somebody told her that she had a terrible singing voice. Now, most of us, I guess, would...

962. Truth Tellers

Illustration

Steven Molin

For generations, the Quakers refused to follow the legal system’s requirement that witnesses in court must place their hand upon a bible and “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” They were criticized, and ridiculed and in some cases, incarcerated for their refusal to take an oath. But because they gained the reputation of being honest people, they are, in some cour...

963. Kilkenny Cats

Illustration

Staff

Jesus warns us against anger, and reminds us to find a better way to resolve our conflicts. It is impossible to avoid confrontations and conflict, but we should never let anger poison our relationships or lead to damage that is impossible to undo. It reminds me of a traditional Irish poem: There once were two cats of Kilkenny, Each thought there was one cat too many; So they fought and they fit, ...

964. My Best Demons

Illustration

Kathleen Norris

Kathleen Norris writes, "When I think of the demons I need to exorcise, I have to look inward, to my heart and soul. Anger is my best demon, useful whenever I have to go into a Woman Warrior mode, harmful when I use it to gratify myself, either in self-justification, or to deny my fears. My husband, who has a much sweeter nature than I, once told me that my mean streak grieved him, not just becaus...

965. The Worst Crime

Illustration

Brett Blair

The famous British professor from a century ago Alfred Momerie says that it has often been concluded that murder is the worst crime. "But this will not do. He (the murderer) is generally executed for his crime and that is the end of him. But the sins of the temper and of speech and of thought, the sins of unkindness, or unneighborliness, are sins that we can go on committing without fear of punish...

966. If I Should Die Before I Wake

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Young Danny was praying at Mother’s knee. “If I should die before I wake … If I should die.…” “Go on, go on, Danny,” said his mother. “You know the rest of the prayer.” “Wait a minute,” interrupted the small boy. Scrambling to his feet, he hurried downstairs. In a short time, he was back. Dropping to his knees once again, he took up the petition where he had left off. Finally his mother questio...

967. Get Rid of Your Anger

Illustration

King Duncan

Don't let your anger fester and grow. Act quickly. Get rid of it. It will do you no good. Author Kent Crockett tells about Sam and Jacqueline Pritchard, a British couple, who started receiving mysterious phone calls to their home in the middle of the night. The person on the other end never said anything. After a long pause, he would hang up. The Pritchards changed their phone number to stop the...

968. A Mended Relationship

Illustration

King Duncan

There is something beautiful about the mending of a relationship once broken. It happens from time to time. Brothers who had vowed eternal enmity. Sisters who had long ago ceased to converse. Then something happens and that which was broken is restored. Perhaps it is beautiful because it reminds us of our relationship with God. Once that was broken, but because of God's great love for us, He took ...

969. I Told You Not to Bite

Illustration

King Duncan

There is an old story of a Swami at a village temple in Bengal, who claimed to have mastered anger. When his ability to control his anger was challenged, he told the story of a cobra who used to sit by the path and bite people on their way to the temple. The Swami went to visit with the snake to end the problem. Using a mantra, he called the snake to him and brought it into submission. Telling th...

970. Step Nine - Discipline

Sermon

John A. Terry

Step nine: "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others." In these passages of Scripture, we have rather specific advice. Let us look first at the Old Testament, the book of Numbers. The bulk of the Law is given in Exodus and Leviticus, and then again in Deuteronomy. This morning's passage is a law of restitution, a special case law, supp...

971. Reverence For Life

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

In one of his books, the great preacher and teacher Leslie Weatherhead tells about visiting some friends who had an old dog named Pete. Pete was in sad shape. He tottered about, had a raw spot on his back, and arthritis in his joints. Weatherhead asked his friends, "Why don't you have Pete put to sleep?" "Oh no," they said, "Pete is Mike's dog." Mike was their son who was away at the university. "...

972. Epiphany 6

Sermon Aid

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

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament lessons for this Sunday articulate the completion of God's salvation and encourage the reader to enter God's new world. Deuteronomy 30:15-20 is a call for Israel to choose life in the land over death in the wilderness, while Psalm 119:1-8 provides encouragement for the worshiper, who has left the wilderness and entered the land, to persevere in walking on God...

973. Rule Breakers

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever noticed how many rules we unconsciously follow each day? Most of us were raised with a list of rules that help us to get along with others or to achieve some goal: Share your toys. Pick up after yourself. Don’t run with scissors. Kids often get frustrated because they have so many rules to follow. Because nobody is perfect. We all bend the rules occasionally. Yes, rules can keep us s...

974. Brace Yourself!

Sermon

John Jamison

Before we look at today’s scripture, let’s take a moment to remember where we were and what was going on. After John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus moved from Nazareth to Galilee where he could do what he needed to do to prepare for his ministry. Galilee was more Roman than Jewish, so the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jerusalem would have less ability to stop him before he was ready. He traveled the...

975. The Forbidden Anger

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

It was my most embarrassing moment in the sixth grade. At recess my friend Johnny had done something I did not like. After returning to class I decided to send a message to him. As Mrs. Ferguson wrote on the blackboard I scribbled a message on a piece of paper, folded it into a type of glider that would sail, then tossed it in the direction of Johnny. That aerial production must have been flawed. ...

Showing 951 to 975 of 4508 results