Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 976 to 1000 of 5000 results

976. Smooth Out Your Day

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James Merritt

Do you ever feel tired? Do you ever feel weary? If you don't, you would be rather unusual. You see if you are an adult of average weight, here is what you accomplish in 24 hours. The heart beats 103, 689 times. Your blood travels 168 million miles. You breathe 23,040 times. You inhale 438 cubic feet of air. You eat 3 1/4 qtr. lbs of food. You drink 2.9 quarts of liquids. You lose 7/8 lbs of waste. You speak 25,000 words. You move 750 muscles. Your nails grow .000046th inches. Your hair grows .01714 inches ...

977. If You Really Want to Be Number One

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

The politician was sitting at his campaign headquarters when the phone rang. He listened intently, and after a moment his face brightened. When he hung up, he immediately phoned his mother to tell her the good news. “Mom,” he shouted, “the results are in. I won the election!” “Honestly?” she asked. The politician’s smiled faded. “Aw, Mom, why bring that up at a time like this?” We all like to win, don’t we? We all want to be part of the crowd chanting, “We’re number one! We’re number one.” “Winning isn’t ...

978. Ready or Not, Here I Come

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Ron Lavin

When you were a child, did you play the game, "Hide and Go Seek"? The person who is "It" closes his or her eyes, counts to ten, and then searches for the other children who are hiding. "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. Ready or not, here I come!" Something like that is going on in our text. The master is off to a wedding banquet. His servants are at the family farm. Some are alert, ready for his return; some are not ready. The countdown has begun. No one knows exactly when the master will return. At the end of our ...

979. Risky Business

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

Su Xueling (pronounced ZOO-ling) is a different breed of entrepreneur, delivering instant noodles on her bicycle to satisfy fast-food appetites in central China. She wanted to use her business acumen to spread the gospel message in a land where religion has been controlled or suppressed by the government for decades. Ms. Su's father is a communist revolution veteran, and religion has always been considered a leading threat to Communist rule. A Christian revival of sorts had already begun to sweep through ...

980. The Smell of Bread

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

One of the most popular television shows ever was M*A*S*H, which ran for eleven seasons, from 1972-1983. If you didn't see it when it was originally on network television, you've probably seen it in reruns on cable stations. The show was about life in a mobile Army surgical hospital during the Korean War, and the reoccurring characters included the surgeons. One of those surgeons, named Charles Emerson Winchester III, was a pompous, upper-class doctor from Boston who had been drafted into the medical corps ...

981. Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

Luke 1:1-4

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Everyone is on the move in Luke’s birth narratives. Immediately you think of the journey of the Holy family from Galilee to Bethlehem. But there was a lot of traipsing about before that. Closely weaving together the stories of John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ births, Luke physically brings together the two mothers-to-be: Mary and Elizabeth. This meeting necessitates Mary going on an extraordinary journey. As a young, unmarried woman it would be highly unusual for Mary to go anywhere unaccompanied. This means ...

982. A Chance To Dance

Luke 5:17-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

He was born Fredrick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899. His stage and film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one movie musical. He's generally acknowledged to have been the most influential dancer in the history of film and television. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. In 1932, a Hollywood talent agent made this note on his screen test: "Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little." The screen test was clearly ...

983. A Chance To Start Over

John 8:3-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the movie, "With Honors," Joe Pesci plays Simon Wilder a homeless man slowly dying from asbestos poisoning. Brendan Fraser portrays Montgomery 'Monty' Kessler, who is a student at Harvard who has reluctantly befriended Simon. In one of their conversations Simon pulls out a leather pouch and says, "There it is. That's it, my life." He dumps a bunch of stones out in his hand, picks up one and says, "I got this one on a beach in Bali. Best night's sleep I ever had." Monty asks, "You remember one night of ...

984. Redemption: A Wide Angle Picture

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some time ago I was in Maryland for a retreat, and we were near Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. I had never been to Gettysburg, that sight of the pivotal battle that turned the tides of the Civil War, so we rode out there one day. It was altogether too cold, and there was too much snow and ice for us to tour the battle field. But we had the opportunity of visiting the Cyclorama - the giant painting on canvas the high water mark of that awful war. Paul Philippoteaux was the artist. He came to America in 1881 ...

985. The Shared Life of the People of God

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Here again chapter divisions do not adequately communicate content and continuity. Verses 24—26 of Chapter 5 could easily be a part of this chapter because Paul is talking about how the Spirit governs our lives in our social relationships. As indicated in our commentary on Gal. 5:13—15, Paul calls us to be servants. This requires more than service when, where and to whom we choose; it is a style of life. We willfully become servants. The constraining force of Christ love replaces the binding force of law ...

986. John the Baptist: Parable and Prophet

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The other day I received a very flattering and enticing letter, offering me what was called a “highly valued” membership in a very select group. Let me share with you a part of that letter. Dear Dr. Dunnam: I believe you’ve earned this privilege. You’ve worked hard and have been recognized for your efforts. Now it’s time for you to carry the card that symbolizes your achievements - the Gold Card. Only a select group of people will ever carry the Gold Card. So it instantly identifies you as someone special ...

987. The Forgiving Christ

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Sometimes a story in the Bible has me feeling like a kid in a candy shop. There are so many goodies in front of me that it's difficult to know which one to select. Such were my feelings as I prepared this sermon on the healing of the paralytic. I was tempted to entitle this sermon, “When Jesus Is There, The House Is Full," but, I doubted that would be true on a snowy Sunday. I considered a country music theme, “We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends." Of course, we do. I don't usually remember ...

988. Heart Religion

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One day a man by the name of Kirk was having a particularly difficult time. Everything was going wrong for him and nothing was going right. And when he went to bed that night, he laid there in the dark. And he thought about all of the horrible things that had happened to him. And you know, the more he thought about it the more upset he became. He blurted out into the darkness, “Why me God? Why have you done this to me?” But there was no answer and all he heard was the silence. So he blurted out again, this ...

989. A Blessing in Disguise

Genesis 32:22-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

I wonder how many of us here are named after someone. Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history. All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else. When Isaac and Rebecca had their twin boys, they took an unusual approach to naming their babies. They ...

990. Heroes of Faith

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A father was sitting on the floor with his three boys getting ready for bedtime prayers. The two older boys were having an argument about their action figures. The issue was whether Superman was better than He-Man. One boy said that Superman could fly, the other countered that He-Man had bigger muscles. And so it went, back and forth, while the youngest boy, Nicholas age four, just watched. Dad turned to Nick and asked: "So who's your hero, Nick?" Without batting an eye, Nick tilted his head, gave Dad one ...

991. The Living Advent Wreath (Hope: Purple Candle of the Moon)

Isaiah 40:1-31

Drama

Frank Ramirez

Material Used Through Five Weeks Note Pilgrim and Guide have minimal singing parts. Attendant carries the candlelighter and lights the candles in the Advent wreath each week. Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust, representing the four candles of the Advent wreath, enter one per week, then remain through the final weeks. They have mostly singing parts. Mary, Joseph, and Infant have nonspeaking parts and are seated behind a curtain in the final week of presentation. Cast Pilgrim Guide Attendant Faith Hope Love Trust ...

992. The Living Advent Wreath (The Manger: White Candle of Peace)

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Frank Ramirez

Note: Pilgrim and Guide have minimal singing parts. Attendant carries the candlelighter and lights the candles in the Advent wreath each week. Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust, representing the four candles of the Advent wreath, enter one per week, then remain through the final weeks. They have mostly singing parts. Mary, Joseph, and Infant have nonspeaking parts and are seated behind a curtain in the final week of presentation. Cast Pilgrim Guide Attendant Faith Hope Love Trust (three people) Mary Joseph ...

993. Seeking Christ

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Sometime back Dr. Phil Berry took a picture outside a roadside convenience store. The store was on the Texas border on the highway leading to Colorado. It was one of those portable advertising signs with flashing lights along the top meant to lure in passersby. At the top of the sign it read, “Last chance Lotto Texas, clean restrooms, snacks.” Then, at the bottom of the sign, almost like an afterthought, it read, “Jesus is Lord.” “It’s like, on the way out of Texas, whatever you need, they have it,” says ...

994. There’s Still Time

Mt 6:1-2, 5-6

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Nowadays the cost of a dinner and a movie keeps going up, and a vacation can be especially expensive, but if I really want to go somewhere I just take the change out of my pocket and lay it on the desk. It's like a time machine. Each coin has a year stamped on it, and just thinking about the year helps me travel back in my memory. 1979 is the year my first son was born and the year I started in ministry. 1981 and 1983 are the years my daughter and second son were born. 1990 was when I moved to Indiana from ...

995. The Cross Burden or Blessing?

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Does a fast-food nation get the church it deserves, or demands . . . . a fast-food church? Not if Lent has anything to do with it. Have you noticed that all the big fast food chains are touting their great new fish menus in the past couple of weeks? McDonald’s Fish McBites. Wendy’s Alaskan Pollack sandwiches. Red Lobster’s LobsterFest. Popeye’s Shrimp baskets. Economically it is a “down time.” No big holidays this month and downright cold and wintery most places. The big chain restaurants are going to try ...

996. About that Salesman

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

How many of you have ever tried to sell anything? Would I be wrong if I said that, at some time or another, every one of us has tried to sell something? It may be no more complicated than trying to sell your toddler on the idea that vegetables really do taste good. O.K., you’re still trying to sell your teenager or your husband on the idea that vegetables really do taste good. But all of us have been sales people at some time or another. Selling is truly our oldest profession. Remember the serpent ...

997. The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Chronicles 5:2-6:11

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

Solomon Dedicates the Temple: At the end of the previous episode (5:1) the scene is set for the dedication of the temple. The following episode now deals with this great event, which stands at the center of the Chronicler’s reconstruction of the monarchical past. The dedication of the temple has different elements and is accompanied by speeches, prayers, sacrifices, music, and a theophany. The whole description from 5:2 to 7:22 bears a liturgical character, as if the Chronicler wanted the reader of his ...

998. Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The idyllic picture of the church presented in 4:32–37 had to be qualified. The church must soon have made the painful discovery that sin could enter into its fellowship, and because it suited his theme, and was a matter of particular interest to him, Luke chose to mention what was probably an early and notorious instance of sin in connection with the common fund. Ehrhardt sees the story of Ananias and Sapphira as a test case for the question whether a rich man could be saved—important for the church of ...

999. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The missionaries cross to Asia Minor, where Paul’s first recorded sermon is preached in Antioch. The speech is given at length, so that on other occasions Luke needed only to say that Paul “proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues” (13:5; 14:1; etc.) without feeling obliged to give the content of the preaching each time. And like the speech, the response was also a paradigm, with some Jews believing but many rejecting the gospel. It is possible to see in the pattern of ministry outlined in this ...

1000. In Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The great interest of this section lies in Paul’s speech to the council of Areopagus. It provides us with a paradigm of his preaching to pagans, where, rather than “beginning with Moses and all the prophets” (Luke 24:27), that is, with the “revealed theology,” his approach was by way of “natural theology.” An earlier example of this method was seen in 14:15–17. But Paul was here facing a very different audience from the Lystrans. With them he had spoken of God as the one who gave the seasons and the crops ...

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