Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 76 to 100 of 900 results

76. A Commitment to "Words of Life"

John 6:56-69

Illustration

Brett Blair

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families. Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardship...

77. A Crippling Spirit

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

I want to encourage you to do something. If you have never read Victor Hugo’s memorable novel the “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” pick up a copy and read it. Hugo uses an interesting literary technique in the story. The reader is allowed to see the basic decency and humanity of Quasimodo, the hunchback, while the crowd sees him only as a monstrous freak. The story, in its essence, is part tragedy, and ...

78. A Crippling Spirit - Sermon Starter

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

Brett Blair

I want to encourage you to do something. If you have never read Victor Hugo's memorable novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, pick up a copy and read it. Hugo uses an interesting literary technique in the story. The reader is allowed to see the basic decency and humanity of Quasimodo, the hunchback, while the crowd sees him only as a monstrous freak. The story, in its essence, is part tragedy, and p...

79. A Defeated Babe Ruth

John 21:15-25

Illustration

Brett Blair

Babe Ruth had hit 714 home runs during his baseball career and was playing one of his last full major league games. It was the Braves versus the Reds in Cincinnati. But the great Ruth was no longer as agile as he had once been. He fumbled the ball and threw badly, and in one inning alone his errors were responsible for most of the five runs scored by Cincinnati. As the Babe walked off the field af...

80. A Devastating Storm, An Incredible Promise

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Brett Blair

Announcing itself with shrieking, 130-mph winds, Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast, dumping more than 40 inches of rain over a four-day period, submerging entire neighborhoods up to their roofs. In the days before expected landfall, the Governor or Texas warned that the monster system would be “a very major disaster,” and the forecasts drew fearful comparisons to Hurricane Katrina, one ...

81. A Different View

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Brett Blair

It is entirely possible, and even more probable, that people see you in several different ways. Some may see you as a patient man while others may see you as hot headed. Only you really know the truth. Why do we tend not to not recognize the nature of other people? Perhaps, most of the time, it is a simple case of forgetting. Mary, Jesus' mother, was upset with her son for leaving the caravan and ...

82. A Faithful Witness

Luke 23:26-49

Illustration

Brett Blair

The Alexamenos graffito is a piece of Roman graffiti scratched in plaster on the wall of a room near the Palatine Hill in Rome, which has now been removed and is in the Palatine Hill Museum. It may be meant to depict Jesus; if so, it competes with an engraved gem as the earliest known pictorial representation of the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is hard to date, but has been estimated to have been made...

83. A Family Heirloom: More than Meets the Eye

Mark 6:1-6

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To teach that the value of things or people are sometimes hidden from our eyes. Props: A family heirloom of some kind. Lesson: Good morning! (response) I have something here in my hands. Can someone tell me what this is? (a watch) What kind of watch? (a pocket watch) It looks like a pocket watch doesn't it? It is round like a watch. How many hands does it have? (two) What kind of h...

84. A Famous Atheist Believes In God - Sermon Starter

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Brett Blair

A British philosophy professor who had been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century changed his mind. He now believes in God. His name is Antony Flew. You don’t know him but you have heard of the people he hung around with in 1950. In that year Professor Flew presented a paper called Theology and Falsification to a gathering of religious men called the Socratic Club at Oxford Un...

85. A Father To Many

Illustration

Brett Blair

According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation's website, National Kids Count, approximately 35 percent of children under 18 live in a single-parent home as of 2019. As many as 25-percent of children in the U.S. live in households with a mother alone. That is over 18 million children who do not live with a father figure. Perhaps the most relevant missionary challenge for our society was penned by the...

86. A Father's Desire

Luke 13:31-35

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To communicate our Father's desire to gather and save his children. Props: One of the newborn infants of the congregation or a baby doll. Lesson: [Hold the baby in your arms.] What do I have in my arms? (response) Yes, and babies are very special. Can you tell me something that a baby needs? (response) The children may need a little prompting here. When a baby cries, what does the ...

87. A Glass Full of Worry

Illustration

Brett Blair

Note this is another prominent illustration on the internet that is false. The measurements are not even close to accurate. The amount of water described is way below the amount required to produce the described amount of fog. We include this illustrations as an example to be careful when using illustrations sites: I have been told that a dense fog that covers a seven-city-block area one hundred ...

88. A God Smothered in Tradition

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

We try to make God like us and thus limit him. We smother him in tradition. We think: God can be present only in the mass. The Word of God can be found only in the King James version of the Bible. Church music can be played only on an organ. When traditions become dogma they lose their power and their meaning. A young girl watching her mother getting ready to bake a ham, noticed that she cut off b...

89. A Great Flashlight

Matthew 4:12-17

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To convey the images of darkness (sin) and light (Gospel of Christ) and that the church has been given the source of that great light. Props: A long flashlight that holds many batteries. Pass out the batteries among the congregation. Lesson: What do I have in my hand? (response) Have you ever seen a flashlight this long before? (response) Hand the flashlight to several kids so th...

90. A Great Light (Sermon for Candlelight Service)

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

The Christmas story begins in darkness. There was the darkness of oppression, for God's people were a conquered people. They were a beaten and a defeated people. There was the darkness of persecution. Indeed, it was a despised universal taxation that brought the participants in the story together on that fateful night. There was the darkness of disillusionment. There was an ever-increasing number ...

91. A Great Party

John 12:1-8

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Honoring Jesus. Props: A bottle of fine perfume and a piece of 8.5 x 11 paper. Lesson: How many of you have ever been to a party? (response) What kind of a party was it? (response) What did you do at the party? (response) Parties are a lot of fun, aren't they? (response) Have you ever been to a party where someone was being honored? (response) Maybe it was their party because the...

92. A Happy Ending

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Brett Blair

He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” This is what we recite weekly in the Apostles’ Creed. But what do we really know about the Ascension. In the church we spend surprisingly little time on the events of Jesus life following the resurrection, particularly the Ascension. The ascension was that time when Jesus visibly departed from his disciples and cam...

93. A Haven For Troubled Hearts

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Brett Blair

Eric Clapton, arguably the greatest living rock guitarist, wrote a heart wrenching song about the death of his four-year-old son (March 20, 1991). He fell from a 53rd-story window. Clapton took nine months off and when he returned his music had changed. The hardship had made his music softer, more powerful, and more reflective. You have perhaps heard the song he wrote about his son's death. It is ...

94. A Haven for Troubled Hearts - Sermon Starter

John 14:1-4

Illustration

Brett Blair

Eric Clapton, arguably the greatest living rock guitarist, wrote a heart wrenching song about the death of his four year old son (March 20, 1991). He fell from a 53rd-story window. Clapton took nine months off and when he returned his music had changed. The hardship had made his music softer, more powerful, and more reflective. You have perhaps heard the song he wrote about his son's death. It is ...

95. A Hearing Problem

Luke 9:37-45

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: To teach the children the importance of listening. Props: Your ears and fingers. Lesson: [While the children are getting into their position, stick your index fingers in your ears. Give them a moment to wonder what you're doing. After five seconds or so a child may say something to you but even if they don't, take away your fingers and look at one of the children who did not spea...

96. A Higher Priority

John 6:56-69

Illustration

Brett Blair

At the Olympic games in Paris in 1924 the sport of canoe racing was added to the list of international competitions. The favorite team in the four-man canoe race was the United States team. One member of that team was a young man by the name of Bill Havens. As the time for the Olympics neared, it became clear that Bill's wife would give birth to her first child about the time that Bill would be c...

97. A Home to Call Your Own

John 14:1-4

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: The comfort in knowing that Christ is building a room for us in his Father’s house. Props: Hammer and long nails to hold two 2-by-4's together. Your 2-by-4’s should form the shape of the cross once they are put together. But you will not be verbally drawing attention to this. Allow the shape of the cross at the end of the sermon to have only a subtle visual effect. Lesson: Good m...

98. A Key Change

Illustration

Brett Blair

In the window of a locksmith's shop was a sign: "Keys Made While You Wait." Business was slow and the locksmith tried to figure out what the problem was. He finally decided that people just don't like to wait. So, he changed the sign to read: "Keys Made While You Watch." A change of perspective can make all the difference in our success.

99. A Life of Despair

Mt 5:1-12; 22:36-40; Deut 30:11-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

Two of his daughters and a son-in-law committed suicide. Three of his children died of malnutrition. Marx felt no obligation to earn a living, but instead lived by begging from Engels. He fathered an illegitimate child by his maidservant. He drank heavily. He was a paid informer of the Austrian police, spying on revolutionaries. Though Marx and his wife were poor, he kept investing in the stock ma...

100. A Little Effort

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

Brett Blair

Apathy is the opposite of Faith: Some years ago in South America, a crew of Peruvian Sailors, headed up the Amazon river came upon a strange sight. It was like a scene from "The Twilight Zone." A Spanish ship was anchored off the coast and all the sailors were stretched out weakly on the deck of the ship. As the Peruvians drew closer, they saw that the Spaniards were in terrible physical condition...

Showing results

Showing 76 to 100 of 900 results

76. A Commitment to "Words of Life"

John 6:56-69

Illustration

Brett Blair

77. A Crippling Spirit

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

78. A Crippling Spirit - Sermon Starter

Luke 13:10-17

Illustration

Brett Blair

79. A Defeated Babe Ruth

John 21:15-25

Illustration

Brett Blair

80. A Devastating Storm, An Incredible Promise

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Brett Blair

81. A Different View

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Brett Blair

82. A Faithful Witness

Luke 23:26-49

Illustration

Brett Blair

83. A Family Heirloom: More than Meets the Eye

Mark 6:1-6

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

84. A Famous Atheist Believes In God - Sermon Starter

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Brett Blair

85. A Father To Many

Illustration

Brett Blair

86. A Father's Desire

Luke 13:31-35

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

87. A Glass Full of Worry

Illustration

Brett Blair

88. A God Smothered in Tradition

Matthew 22:15-22

Illustration

Brett Blair

89. A Great Flashlight

Matthew 4:12-17

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

90. A Great Light (Sermon for Candlelight Service)

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

91. A Great Party

John 12:1-8

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

92. A Happy Ending

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Brett Blair

93. A Haven For Troubled Hearts

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Brett Blair

94. A Haven for Troubled Hearts - Sermon Starter

John 14:1-4

Illustration

Brett Blair

95. A Hearing Problem

Luke 9:37-45

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

96. A Higher Priority

John 6:56-69

Illustration

Brett Blair

97. A Home to Call Your Own

John 14:1-4

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

98. A Key Change

Illustration

Brett Blair

99. A Life of Despair

Mt 5:1-12; 22:36-40; Deut 30:11-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

100. A Little Effort

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

Brett Blair

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