Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 76 to 100 of 1182 results

76. Paying Attention to Your Mission

Matthew 28:16-20

Illustration

Phil Roughton

... too long before two things begin to happen: they start becoming self-serving and self-protective. And when that happens, their own self-preservation becomes more important to them than their mission or their reason for existence. Pretty amazing, huh? A classic example from business is IBM. They used to rule the world, with a business machine dominance nobody, anywhere, could match. But then a subtle shift started occurring. Niebuhr would say they became more fixated on their preservation and self-interest ...

77. A Not So Simple Story of Demons and Pigs

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

... The Exorcist. I was both fascinated and repulsed by it (what with all that green slime spewing out of that little girl's mouth). Critics tell me the movie was highly sensationalized ... having little in common with classical exorcism. But how would I know that, given that I know nothing about classical exorcism? But Scott Peck does. Or so he claims. Scott Peck is greatly esteemed in both the Christian and psychotherapeutic worlds. He is the author of The Road Less Traveled and its sequel, Further Along the ...

78. Turning Doubt Inside Out

Luke 23:39-43

Sermon

James Merritt

... good works, because he didn't have any. All he had was a Savior's grace, and a sinner's faith. This thief is the classic illustration of two of the greatest verses in the Bible: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it ... assurance anyone has, or anyone needs that they are going to heaven, is the Word of God. One of the all-time Christian classics is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Every Christian should read that great novel. If you've read it, you remember that ...

79. 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 ...

80. This Feels Like Where I Came In

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

... have been impacted by the writings of the late Reinhold Niebuhr, especially as found in his Gifford Lectures entitled "The Nature and Destiny of Man." As concerns the Doctrine of the Just War, I find myself returning again and again to Paul Ramsey's classic work, "War and the Christian Conscience: How Shall Modern War Be Conducted Justly?" I do acknowledge that both Niebuhr and Ramsey wrote in an age that was pre-nuclear (albeit well after World War II), but their treatments of human sin and military ethics ...

81. The Revelation Code V: Cruisin' Toward the Dream

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... who desire and take the water of life without price. Just come…or better yet, as my Tennessean friends would say, "Y'all come." "All of you…everyone…come to the wedding feast." Come, Chevy drivers and Ford owners and maybe even Dr. Z. Come, "Chicks with Classics" and "Crazy Car Guys." It doesn't matter if you drive gas-guzzlers or Smart cars, muscle cars or minivans. If you are thirsty, just come to the waters of life and drink. Come, east-siders and west-siders, young and old, rich and poor, male and ...

82. Bart and Homer, Father and Sons

1 Samuel 20:24-42

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... both of us have sworn in the name of the Lord, saying ‘The Lord shall be between me and you forever.'" (I Samuel 20:41-42) Several years ago, my brother wrote a book on male spirituality called Passion, Power and Praise. In it he quotes Sam Keen's classic book on men, Fire in the Belly, where Keen says one of our most basic problems is not "..our lust for power, our insatiable hunger for gadgets, or our habit of repressing women and the poor." Rather, he said, it is our lack of joy. He writes: "Most of ...

83. Ephesians 3:14-21

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... last returns to the prayer he began back in 1:16-17, thus definitively closing the first praise and proclamation portion of this epistle before the exhortative remainder of the letter (chapters 4-6). This portion of Ephesians could easily be compared to a classic Cecil B. DeMille movie an earthquake, followed by a flood, capped off by a volcanic eruption and a tornado. The writer begins a litany of prayer requests: that we be "strengthened with might through his Spirit" (v.16), that we know Christ dwelling ...

84. The Comforts of "Thy Rod and Thy Staff": Rulership or Relationship

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... song: “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony . .” It’s known as one of the best commercials in television history. The word “harmony” came into English from Latin, via French, but its origins are Greek. In classical Greek, “harmonia” was used for ideas of agreement, but its literal meaning, according to Liddell’s and Scott’s Lexicon, was this: “a fastening to keep ship-planks together or a “joint.” In other words, “harmony” literally means “to fit together ...

85. On-Beyond-Zebra Living

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in ourselves, but outside ourselves in relationship with God and others. Are you ready to take your life on-beyond-zebra? Are you ready to live the on-beyond-zebra life Jesus is calling us to live as his final words to us? In Dr. Seuss’ little classic, my favorite entry, my favorite “letter” is ITCH. Here is Dr. Seuss’ definition of this on-beyond-zebra letter: And way, way past Z is a letter called ITCH. And the ITCH is for It ch-a-pods, animals which Race around back and forth, forth and back ...

86. What Do I Do When The Load Is Too Heavy?

Exodus 18:13-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... burning the candle at both ends and his load was just too heavy. Moses was the first "stressed out" person in the Bible. He was a classic case of burnout. He was trying to do more than God wanted him to do. He was trying to do it all by himself and through ... before sunup and not leaving until sundown. He was working six days a week with no vacations and no time off. He was the classic workaholic. His fuel tank was empty. He had not only reached his limits; he had exceeded his limits. Now he had to see his ...

87. More Time

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... did we not speak and write about it? The Old Testament (Hebrew Scripture) has numerous references to our topic. In that classic verse of Micah, he reminds us "to do justice." Our civilization has been much influenced by the Judeo-Christian viewpoints. Our ... Mind you, these are not three gods but one perfectly united and working in total harmony. Grant we would never be confused in this classic understanding of who and what God is. So, how is it in our relationship with God? It is an inquiry always on the table ...

88. A Day of Singing

Zephaniah 3:14-20, Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... pieces, 1097 people passed by. Almost all of them on their way to work in mid-level Government jobs. No one knew that the violinist was one of the world’s leading classical musicians, Joshua Bell. Bell is an acclaimed virtuoso, who fills concert halls. One composer said of him: ‘He plays like a god.’” On this Friday morning Bell played on one of the most valuable violins ever made a Stradivari valued at $3.5 million. The train station provided good acoustics ...

89. Who Is This Jesus?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the question, “Who do you say that I am?” It was Peter who answered, “You are the Christ.” Some accounts add, “the Son of the Living God.” — “You are Christ, the Son of the Living God.” This is the hinge question of the ages. Albert Schweitzer closed his classic study, The Quest of the Historical Jesus with this moving word. “He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake side, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: “Follow thou me ...

90. Captive Free!

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... such great mercy by forgiving him a huge debt. He orders the servant thrown into prison. Then Jesus wraps up the story by warning his hearers that this is what God will do to them if they do not forgive as God has forgiven them. This is a classic story with the prototypical good guy versus bad guy story line, a plot filled with tension and a resolution of the tension with a happy ending. The bad guy, the unforgiving servant, gets what he deserves. And we, the listeners, utter a sigh of relief. All is well ...

91. Peace and Quiet

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... rollers. The rockers hated disco. Disco despised heavy metal. Metal heads hated grunge. Grunge hated rap. Rap hated High School Musical. Every new entry was deemed worthless “noise” without soul, without heart, without depth. Yet within two generations, noise becomes “classic.” Annoying noise. Did you know that noise has now become a weapon in our military’s armory? In 1993 when the FBI was trying to break into the Branch Davidian enclave, the residents were bombarded with the recorded shrieks of ...

92. Caddy Disasters

Humor Illustration

... that everything goes well for the golfer. A negligent or inattentive caddy can spell disaster for the golfer out on the course. Arnold Palmer will never forget the Westchester Classic when, in the middle of the match, his caddie fell into the lake with all his clubs. Of course, that snafu doesn't compare with the Anheuser-Busch Classic in which Bill Kratzert had to drop out early because his caddie had forgotten to bring more than three balls. Gary Hallberg, playing in the Greater Milwaukee Open, had more ...

93. The Lost Five Commandments

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . We happily “pile in” and go along for the ride, wherever the wave of public opinion is heading. We humans can be such lemmings. Just look at the power of fashion in our lives. Or remember Candid Camera. Anyone remember Candid Camera? There is a classic Candid Camera episode. In one a man walks into a doctor’s waiting. He has an appointment. What he sees surprises him. All the other patients in the waiting room are in their underwear. After a brief time of surveying he strange situation, the man ...

94. Be Shrewd

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... who made mistakes and got some things wrong, pastor Mark Cain counters “Quote whom you wish ‑‑ bees make honey from weeds as well as orchids.” Or as the founder of Methodism John Wesley put it about Egyptian gold, “plunder the Egyptians.” In his classic devotional text Imitations of Christ (chapter 5), Thomas à Kempis says "Let not the authority of the writer offend you, whether he be of great or small learning; but let the Love of pure truth draw you to read. Search not who spoke this or that ...

95. Digging Deeper

Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... in this style of Greek. This is what we call a prologue. Luke’s gospel actually begins in verse 5, but whenever a philosopher, an educator, or historian in the Ancient World that was high quality wanted his work to stand on the shelf with the classics and be given the greatest respect he would always start his writing with a prologue. All of the great Greek and Roman historians did this. Luke is laying down a challenge. He is claiming a place for the gospel as a serious literary and historical volume ...

96. When the Unthinkable Happens

Mark 13:1-8, 24-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... wrong. If you run into somebody determined to announce how soon the end will come, ask him if he thinks he is smarter than Jesus, for Jesus said even he didn’t know when it would be. How much more definitive can you be than that? In a classic Peanuts cartoon Linus and Lucy are standing at a window watching it rain. Lucy says to Linus, “Look at it rain! What if the whole earth floods?” Linus answers: “It won’t! God promised Noah in Genesis Chapter 9 He would never flood the world again; the sign ...

97. Paul Sails for Rome

Acts 27:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... recent examination of the area suggests that there has been a change in the coastline since Luke wrote Acts. The western bay was once better protected, but earthquake disturbance has altered the topography, covering an inlet that faced northwest in classical times. A southwesterly facing inlet still remains and, given that the winter winds are from the northeast and the east, either of these inlets would have offered reasonable shelter for the ship. However, the very wind from which they sought protection ...

98. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' Faith

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 2 Thess. 2:11). See further Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956); R. V. G. Tasker, “Wrath,” NBD, p. 1341, and H. C. Hahn, “Anger, Wrath,” NIDNTT, vol. 1, pp. 105–13. Additional Notes 1:5 Our gospel (euangelion): In classical literature this word designated the reward given for good news. Its later transference to the good news itself belongs to the NT and early Christian literature. Even in the LXX its only definite occurrence (2 Sam. 4:10) carries the ...

99. Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... that it had already manifested itself, in the strict sense of the verb, in anticipation of the eschatological judgment? Or was he speaking prophetically of the wrath that was yet to be revealed from heaven (Rom. 1:18)? And if the former, what had happened? The classic case (as we suppose) of a historical anticipation of the judgment is the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (see Mark 13), and assuming that this is in view here, some have held these verses to be a later interpolation (1 Thessalonians was written ...

100. Living to Please God

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... i.e., “walking”). But there was no room for complacency. The urgency of the appeal is verified by the doubling of the verbs (cf. 3:2, “to strengthen and encourage”): We ask you and urge you … to do this more and more (cf. 4:10). Erōtaō, used in classical Greek only of asking a question, acquired by this time the additional sense of making a request (cf. 5:12; 2 Thess. 2:1). But “request” is too weak a term, and so the other is added parakaleō, see disc. on 3:2). Added also is the phrase, in ...

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