Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 76 to 100 of 813 results

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

King Duncan

... sat down on the shore of the bay, and whittled a soaked shingle into a wooden chain. His children that evening quarreled over it. He whittled a second one to keep peace. While he was whittling the second one a neighbor came in and said, "Why don't you whittle toys and sell them? You could make money at that." "Oh," he said, "I would not know what to make." "Why don't you ask your own children what to make?" He acted upon the hint, and the next morning when Mary came down the stairway, he asked, "What do you ...

77. Running For Joy

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... instance, Erik and Ellie have an infant daughter named Emma. Emma has made life a little more complicated for Erik, because she leaves her toys all over the floor. For the man who climbed Mt. Everest, it is a challenge to walk through his living room without tripping on a toy. (4) Wouldn't it be ironic if a man who had successfully scaled the world's tallest mountain fell and hurt himself over a toy his daughter had left in the floor? That's life. So often it isn't the big things that trip us up, but the ...

78. Living With The Nitty Gritty

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the chief maladies of our time. Clifton Fadiman has described our boredom as a special kind. Not unhappiness or fatigue, he says, but that odd stunned look that comes from a circuit of toys and a deficiency of thought. Isn’t that, isn’t that characteristic, and isn’t it descriptive. That odd stunned look that comes from a circuit of toys and a deficiency of thought. Because this is true, that we see and experience life in pieces and not as a whole, the nitty gritty gets us down and drives us to seek ...

79. Purpose-Driven

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” (4) Fred Craddock was in the presence of a man who knew his purpose in life--to serve Christ by serving others. What is the purpose of your life? I can tell you this: if you are living only for yourself, you’ve missed it. And all the toys in the world won’t change a thing when the day of reckoning comes and you stare death in the face. Everyone needs a purpose for life. Success is not measured in comparison to the accomplishments of others. Success is fulfilling the purpose that God has assigned to ...

80. How to Look Foolish

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... grandsons were visiting us with their mother. Their father was away at a meeting, and they came down and spent a couple of days with us. We had a little birthday party for the oldest of the two boys, Jesse, who turned six. We gave him a set of Lego toys. I was on the floor with him, helping him to build a fort. I am not very handy with my hands, I'll admit that. The local plumber tells me he hopes I'll continue to try and fix the plumbing so he will remain employed. But Lego building is ...

81. Hoodoo McFiggin's Christmas

Luke 2:1-14

Drama

Matthew Powell

... was so pleased that you could see his face crack up with pleasure. He waited a few minutes until his intense joy subsided. Then he tried again. This time, the package was long and hard. It resisted the touch and had a sort of funnel shape. Hoodoo: It's a toy pistol! Narrator: said the boy, trembling with excitement. Hoodoo: Gee! I hope there are lots of caps with it! I'll fire some off now and wake up father. Narrator: No, my poor child, you will not wake your father with that. It is a useful thing, but it ...

82. Home For The Holidays

John 1:1-14

Drama

Matthew Powell

83. The Difference between Happiness and Joy

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... square. Every time you pay to stay you earn a few more happiness hearts. In other words, money does buy happiness. And this is what most of the world thinks about that tepid, shallow emotion we call happiness. If you have enough money, enough toys, enough things - you can be happy. Perhaps that's why Scripture never concerns itself with happiness as we know it. We once tried to make the "Be-attitudes" into "Happy-attitudes," but the state of blessedness is far different from anything remotely associated ...

84. The Ultimate Happy Meal

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... on hand a McDonald's Happy Meal for a show-and-tell.) Chicken nuggets, French-fries, something to drink, and most important of all – a schlocky piece of plastic that, at least for the next five minutes, spins, bounces, whirls, rolls, or whistles better than any other toy on earth. You know what it is: a McDonald's Happy Meal. Is there alive in North America an adult who's ever spent a lunch hour with a child without feeling compelled to buy a Happy Meal at some time or another? The "happiness" this fat ...

85. This Kiss

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... web of internet communications. To participate in child's play requires the ability to stack a library of visual images, cues and codes on top and around one another and then access the image you want by thinking your way there. It is not just that the "toys 'r us" equipment kids use is advanced and complex, although it is. It is that the games themselves are structured to exert that complexity in ways an "unwired" brain just can't fathom. Just how complex today's child's play? Sony's hot new Play Station ...

86. The Unshakable Foundation

Hebrews 7:23-28

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... the challenges of wind and wave. Six years before, John (not his real name) had left his wife of eleven years in search of something he could not define — something that would make his life complete and happy. He wanted adventure and fun; he wanted big-boy-toys. He wanted a beautiful home and a beautiful wife, and he was willing to live beyond his means to get it. He wanted his youth and strength and female attention, so he worked out at the gym, had his teeth professionally polished, and he ran daily in ...

87. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . The parable of the prodigal son offers us a different perspective on "lostness" though. While small kids may eventually forget lost toys, Jesus tells us that God has no such freedom. To the eternal God of the universe, "lost" doesn't mean the inability ... the rub it is not merely misplaced, it is hiding. It is one thing for my son to lay down his toy and forget its whereabouts. It is quite another for a toy to sneak off on its own and camouflage its location. We live in a world that has crawled away from ...

88. Did You Know...That You Can Be Perfect?

1 John 3:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on Christmas Eve, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their car. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated, and the perfect couple and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. See if you can answer this question ...

89. The Climb

Joshua 14:6-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... long as you want. We will be back after a while." In about twenty-minutes the doctor and the parents came to the room where the pessimistic boy was, and he was sitting right in the middle of the floor with his arms folded and had not touched a single toy. The psychiatrist said, "Son, why didn't you ride on that rocking horse?" "I was afraid I would fall off and break my arm." "Well, why didn't you skate on the roller skates?" "I was afraid I would fall down and skin my knees." "Why didn't you blow ...

90. The Kingdom for Which We Long

Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... hope of people of faith is that it’s going to be all right even when it seems to be all wrong. The kingdom of God is both now and not yet. Someday Kleenexes will be discontinued and funeral homes will go out of business. Caskets will be converted into toy chests. Someday the darkness will turn to dawning and night will be no more. Someday God will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Happy are those who by faith know that it is going to be all right even when it is all wrong. The kingdom of ...

91. Mulliganeers, All

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... .” Christians are “second chance” people. We are given a second chance, and a third chance, and a fourth chance, and a lifetime of chances to choose salvation and not ruination. Our infractions against God’s righteousness are not the size of some little plastic Lego toy gun. Each one of us is packing far more deadly, soul scarring weaponry than is found in any manufactured arsenal. It is fitting that in the game of golf, a game often played in defiance of the Sabbath, a truly bad shot, a whack into ...

92. Prepare: An Advent Play

Matthew 24:36-51

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... for you. (points to the audience) It’s this: It’s time to wake up! Get ready! Change your ways — the Advent of our Lord King is near. (*) I see you are already preparing for something. What the? (*At this point, Santa, carrying his bag full of toys, appears singing “Jolly Old St. Nicholas” or “Here Comes Santa Claus.”) Santa: Hi from the North Pole, folks. My name is Santa Claus. I’ve dropped by to help John B. here and all of you to prepare for Christmas. John: You’re going to what? Help ...

93. The Perfect Story

Illustration

... road when they noticed someone at the roadside in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help. There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their vehicle. Soon they were driving along delivering the toys. Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple along with their passenger had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. Who was the ...

94. Kids' Letters To Santa

Humor Illustration

... been really super good, but I don't know if I can last much longer. Please hurry. Love, Jordan Dear Santa, I lost my list of toys, so please just send me the stuff that you forgot from last year. Todd Dear Santa, What should I leave for your reindeer to eat? ... . Claus? Is your first name really Santa? Can I be an elf next year? Who is your favorite kid? How do you fit all those toys in your sleigh? I have more questions for later. Your pal, Pauline Dear Santa, My mother told me to write to you and say thanks ...

95. Red, White and Pink

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... selling to a certain segment of the economy. In short, pink is no longer a color. Pink is now a religion. Individuality and the rainbow of color possibilities are martyred to the iron law of “pink.” Unfortunately, what happens in the toy store doesn’t stay in the toy store. What happens in the “pink aisle” doesn’t stay in the “pink aisle.” The dictates of convention and conformity, of cultural expectations and day‑to‑day demands, forces all of us to “put on the pink” if we want to ...

96. Serving the King of Kings

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... the edges, made to look like a Bible. As Sydney Stem describes the doll in Toyland, The High-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry, the Jesus doll was a horrible flop. Parents were horrified at the idea of their child undressing the Jesus doll, dragging it ... with them was give each of its employees a doll and then ground up the rest and put them in landfills. (1) If the president of Ideal Toys had asked you or me, we could have told him a Jesus doll or even a Jesus action figure wouldn’t work. For one thing, you ...

97. You Are God's Child

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... gives us worth and confidence and a sense of purpose in life. We can walk through life with heads held high because of the One who calls us His own. Most of our children have probably seen the Disney Studio’s animated movie Toy Story. Two of the characters are Woody, a toy cowboy and Buzz Lightyear, a “space ranger” action figure. Early in the movie Woody confronts Buzz Lightyear with the fact that he is not really a space hero. Woody shouts, “You’re not a space ranger! You’re an action figure a ...

98. Giving Our Best

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Years ago, The Sunday School Times carried the account of a Christian school for the children of “untouchables” in India prior to World War II. Each year the children received Christmas presents from children in England. The girls got a doll, and the boys a toy. On one occasion the doctor from a nearby mission hospital was asked to distribute the gifts. In the course of his visit, he told the youngsters about a village where the boys and girls had never even heard of Jesus. He suggested that maybe they ...

99. Love to Stay Here Forever

Exodus 24:12, 15-18, Matthew 17:1-9

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... do what we want to do? Actually if we could do that, we would get bored. Maybe that is why God gave us chores that need to be done. Chores like preparing meals, and sweeping the house, and earning an income, and even chores like picking up our toys and making our bed. Jesus and three of his disciples were on a very special mountain. There the disciples had the greatest experience of their lives. In fact the disciples wanted to stay there on the mountain. But Jesus would not let them. There were people down ...

100. The Power of Appreciation

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... twin boys to a therapist. The therapist was also curious about how different they were so he put the pessimist in a room full of toys and observed him. The boy picked up a plane and said, “This one is awful. I’ve seen other planes a lot better than this ... we are what we have, what we own. We are what is in our bank account. We are the car we drive. But what happens when the toys rust and the money is gone? Does having nothing mean we are nothing? Let me tell you who you are. You are a child of God. You ...

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