Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 76 to 100 of 4884 results

76. Have a Jolly Imperfect Christmas This Year!

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it may be those Christmas’s where everything seems to go wrong that we find the most authentic of our Christmas experiences, where we discover the Christ child most firmly in our midst. The first Christmas would never make it into anyone’s family photo album of perfect holiday moments. In Luke’s gospel there are a lot of details about everything that went wrong when Jesus was born. Joseph and Mary had to hit the road for Bethlehem. There was no room at the inn. The baby was born in a barn. Some random ...

77. God’s Love and Ours

1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... final judgment could cause some to be afraid. But fear is no part of love. If we know that, like Jesus, we are loved by God (3:1; 4:9–11, 16), then there is no cause for any fear before God, even though we will be judged. In fact, perfect love throws fear away (exō ballei ton phobon). Love drives out fear; the two are completely incompatible and cannot co-exist in the same consciousness. The reason for this is that fear has to do with punishment, and, although we will be judged (4:17; Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor ...

78. Faith in the Son of God

1 John 5:1-12, 1 John 4:7-21

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

79. Being A View Master

Romans 2:9-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the wood. I'm nervous, I lack confidence, I'm stupid, I have poor taste and absolutely no sense of design." And then in the last frame he concludes, "So, all things considered, it's coming along OKAY!" (1) Nobody would ever claim that Charlie Brown was perfect. But the one thing we notice about Charlie Brown, besides the room for improvement, is that he never gives up. He always tries his best. Today is All Saints Sunday in the life of many churches. A day to celebrate those people whose life and faith have ...

80. The Big Picture

Romans 11:36, Ephesians 1:5, Colossians 3:18-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... are sitting here saying, "We don't want it to ever happen again." The rest of us, who have not experienced a family breakup, want to make sure that it never happens to us. Hopefully, that is what this series is designed to do - to show you what a picture perfect family is in the eyes of God. God has something to say both to the family as a whole and to each individual member of the family. Over the next five weeks, we are going to plant ourselves in a passage of scripture that is found in Colossians 3. It ...

81. It's All Good

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... am bringing a change of underwear.” This same Jesus that was raised from the dead is returning to restore us to a restored world. This is what it means for those of us who give our lives to this risen Jesus. I. We Are Going To Live In God’s Perfect Place “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Revelation 21:1, ESV) It is really kind of amazing. The first two chapters talk about the creation of heaven and earth ...

82. Oh That Cookie Jar Goodness!

Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the furnace. Moses knew it when he stepped in front of Pharaoh. Jesus knew it as he hung upon the cross. None of us have the answers to the world’s problems. None of us have the goodness to judge another. None of us have the ability to attain perfection in this world. None of us can live a life without sin and fault. None of us enter eternal life without putting our heart in God’s hands. Jesus’ story is one about attainment vs giving up the cookie jar. The man approaching Jesus is trying his best to ...

83. God Disciplines His Sons

Hebrews 12:1-13, Hebrews 12:14-29

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... one in which fear and the sternness of God’s commands predominate. This picture stands in very great contrast to the picture of the new covenant situation the author now presents. 12:22 The opening of this verse picks up the opening verb of verse 18. The perfect tense of this verb, you have come, indicates arrival some time in the past with continued enjoyment of the results of that arrival in the present. By the use of this tense the author clearly means to stress that what he is about to describe is in ...

84. Warning Against Refusing God

Hebrews 12:14-29, Hebrews 12:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

85. Tyre, Sidon—and Israel

Ezekiel 26:1-21, Ezekiel 27:1-36, Ezekiel 28:1-19, Ezekiel 28:20-26

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... an authentic old trade list, which Ezekiel or his editors used here to emphasize the picture of Tyre’s wealth and influence in the poetry of verses 3–11. 27:26–36 Having set forth a powerfully effective portrait of Tyre as a taut and graceful ship, “perfect in beauty” (vv. 3, 4, 11), Ezekiel now describes that ship torn apart by a storm at sea. Despite the care and fine materials that went into its construction, despite its expert crew, Tyre goes to the bottom. Its crew and all its fine cargo are ...

86. The Most Exciting Moment of Your Life

1 Cor 5:1-13, Rev 21:1-27, Rev 6:1-17, Heb 12:14-29, Rev 22:7-21, Phil 1:12-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... who would be killed as they were, was completed." (Rev. 6:9-11) Heaven is the only place in the universe where no one ever gets stressed out. There is no sweating, there is fretting, there is no hurry, there is no worry. It is a place of perfect peace, and a place of perfect rest. I read about a Christian who was about to be burned at the stake. In fact, they had already lit the embers and the flames were beginning to lick at his feet. One of his tormenters said, "What can your Christ do for you now?" This ...

87. Repentance Is Relationship!

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... God? The one who made a mistake and despairingly took his life or the one who made a mistake, found forgiveness, went on, and lived life? Which one? God has not given up on failures. God does not demand, nor does he expect, moral perfection. We are incapable of moral perfection, but we are capable of a life that is characterized by continual repentance as we live life in his presence. The book of Genesis says that God created our world and he said, "It is good! Everything about this world is good!" The best ...

88. Breaking News: A World Gone Wild

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... sin, but so does this earth. You may ask, “Why was the world also cursed?” The worst thing that could have happened to Adam and Eve and all of us who followed them would be to live as imperfect people in a perfect world. Do you know why? People without God in a perfect world would never see a need for God. To use a medical analogy, sin is like an infection where natural disasters are like a fever. Just as hurricanes and tornados and tsunamis and earthquakes tell us something is not right with this world ...

89. For a Cancer Victim

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Eulogy

James W. Robinson

... that by the time she passed away, after bravely bearing her suffering and holding fast to her faith, she showed that she was perfect in love. Faith and love shone through a conversation I had with Mary about a year before she died. She was confined to ... for Mary. It was God who gave us Mary. It was God whose grace saved her and made her the angel that she was. Strive for perfection in love toward God and man, as Mary did, so that you may hope to gain the eternal prize. Keep the faith, like Mary, "for by ...

90. Have You Heard about Grace?

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... are some who ought to hear another teaching from the Bible. But if you are a United Methodist, or if you have grown up in middle-class America where you are taught that you must work hard, and then you will be rewarded with success, and you have models of perfection that were given to you that you have to live up to, or have been told that if you do not measure up to some expectation about your life, then you are going to be considered a failure, if you are that kind of person, then the Reformation was held ...

91. Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

Hebrews 10:1-18

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... 232–38. A final point to note in the present passage is the placement of the Greek word ephapax, once for all, at the end of the sentence. This adds emphasis to the finality of Christ’s sacrifice. For ephapax, see note on 7:27. The Perfect Offering and the Fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31–34 We now come to the final, climactic section of the central argument in the epistle. Yet again the author asserts the definitive character, and hence the finality, of Christ’s sacrifice. In the early stages of this ...

92. Epiphany 7

Mt 5:38-48 · 1 Cor 3:10-11, 16-23 · Lev 19:1-2, 9-18 · Ps 119:33-40 · Ps 71 · Ps 62

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... are commanded to be holy as the Lord, their God, was holy (v. 2). They were to reject the values of the world and reflect the righteousness of their God. This is comparable to what the Lord says in the gospel lesson about being perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Children reflect the values of those who raise and care for them; the closer the relationship, the greater the similarity. We are children of the heavenly Father, so the closer we draw to God, the more we will be like him ...

93. The Place of Prayer

Acts 16:16-34

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... of a synagogue; or if he was in the loveliness of the grassy slope by the river; or if he was naked and bleeding, hands in chains and feet in stocks, in a dungeon, in the middle of the night, in a foreign city — wherever — it's another perfect place for prayer. Twenty years ago I was teaching a children's class in a vacation Bible school in Virginia. As I walked through the curriculum with the kids, I came across an exercise that I found rather disturbing. The curriculum had a prayer time built ...

94. Elihu Makes His Appearance

Job 32:1--37:24

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... God. Although Elihu presents some important truths for Job to contemplate, his tone sounds proud and arrogant. He is unduly confident that he has figured out life in general, and Job’s situation in particular. In fact, he goes so far as to say that he has perfect knowledge, an expression that he will use again in chapter 37 for God’s knowledge. Even if Elihu were accurate in his analysis of Job’s situation, it would be very hard for Job to accept counsel from one who seems so smug and sure. By failing ...

95. Jesus' Countercultural Sermon

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... any sloth, apathy or lovelessness in our hearts and souls, for that coming and that cross simply are the power of God's perfect love. When we hear the stark and startling demand Jesus makes in the closing verse of today's text, "Be perfect," we do well to remember that it is precisely God's perfect love and not our moral and spiritual striving that has the power to perfect us. God's perfect love emboldens and sustains us to swim against the currents of our culture when those currents flow counter to the ...

96. The Lion King

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!'" (vv. 11-12) Notice, this is a seven-fold doxology, because a perfect Lord deserves perfect praise; and seven is the number of perfection. I believe that each one of these qualities represents everything that Jesus did not get the first time He came to the earth, but that He will receive when He comes the second time. He came in weakness, but He ...

97. Is There Room For Shepherds?

Luke 2:8-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... , not when He says things like, "Take up your cross and follow me." I don't think he was talking about jewelry either. I'm pretty sure Jesus was talking about a lifestyle where we become more and more like Christ. That's what Wesley called going on to Perfection and a life of Sanctification. If we are seeking to become more like Christ, the we WILL take risks. And we'll look at the Shepherds of the world with different eyes. B. A number of years ago, we hosted a Missionary who was serving in New Mexico and ...

98. Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... (Genesis 1:27). “Giving back” to God what is God’s would then mean nothing less than giving back the very life given to each living person by God. Jesus’ answer “amazed” his inquisitors and they rapidly departed. His “perfect comeback” neither obviously threatened the Roman authority to make demands on its citizens, nor did it make faithfulness subservient in any way to political power. But the indefinite nature of Jesus’ proclamation has made the relationship between church and state ...

99. Be Patient

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... celebrating an infant’s birth in a manger. Christmas is about the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan of salvation. God has a plan for our world a plan that extends from creation to the cross, from the empty tomb to eternity. God is at work bringing in a perfect world a world where all people will live in harmony and dignity together as children of God a world where that which is broken will be made whole a world of peace, joy and love. Sure, the babe in the manger is an important part of that plan ...

100. Jesus Made Like His Brothers

Hebrews 2:5-18

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... as in NIV margin, “for a little while” (thus NASB, RSV, GNB). The author’s argument is not concerned with the degree to which Jesus was made lower than the angels. But if the words are taken in the sense of time, “for a little while,” they fit perfectly as a description of the temporary humbling of the Son in the incarnation (cf. the same problem in v. 9). Thus temporarily the Son was humbled to a status lower than the angels, but now he has been exalted (to the right hand of the Father), crowned ...

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