Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1001 to 1025 of 4972 results

1001. Risky Business

Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the Israelites to move on" (Exodus 14:15). What? Walk into the sea? That hardly seems like the safest or most prudent thing to do. But walking into the sea on God's command and promise turns out to be the way to freedom. Or think of Jesus as he leaves the upper room with his disciples after the Last Supper. It did not take supernatural insight at that point for Jesus to know that there were people who wanted to get rid of him and that he was in great danger. The most reasonable thing in the world would have ...

1002. Divine Dynamite

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . He concluded with a call for repentance and the offer of forgiveness of sins. The result? Three-thousand people joined the church that day. Dynamite! It was too powerful to ignore. Granted, most people would prefer that. After all, an explosion does not leave things as they were, and there are not many who are comfortable with change and particularly a change in matters of religion. After all, there are enough changes in our lives without touching the one seemingly solid foundation that we have. We would ...

1003. The Truth about Warren Buffet's Secretary

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... prosperous time in its history. Yet the average American donates only 2.5 percent of his or her income to charitable giving. That’s lower than it was during the Great Depression (2.9 percent). And 80 percent of Americans who earn at least $1 million a year leave nothing to charity in their wills. (5) We’ve talked about it before, but is an insidious thing that each of us needs to watch out for. Money is like a recreational drug the more you have, the more you crave. There is never enough, even when you ...

1004. A Baby Changes Everything

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... confronted by a larger opponent. They fall over, go stiff, and for all the world, look as dead as a doornail. The possum’s strategy is that if they look like they are dead and gone, then their enemy will give them a sniff or two and then leave them there to rot. When the danger — whether a person, a dog, a cat, or a car — has passed, the possum miraculously comes back to life and trundles off — after finishing the remainder of Fido’s food, of course. “Playing possum” is a trait human’s have ...

1005. When We Feel Lost

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... of you may know a young person who has become involved with drugs. The first thing to go is their truthfulness. Many parents today know what it is to have a young person on drugs come back home, confess their sins, vow to do better, and then not only leave again but steal money on the way back out the door. In these cases, a parent asks, “How many times am I supposed to forgive? How many times do I let him come back home?” Some prodigals repent many times, but never really come home. It’s like one ...

1006. O Holy Night

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don’t catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don’t eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet. Yours Always, Mom P.S. One more thing: You can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young . . . (1) Ah, that would be nice . . . to keep our children forever young, forever joyfully anticipating the arrival of Santa, forever believing that the world is ...

1007. A Faith that Will Bring You Alive

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then,” they asked, “at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” Now, that’s a pretty grim story in fact it could be a Grimm’s fairy tale. We could call it ...

1008. Here's Mud in Your Eye

John 9:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... happen? She wonders. Did she imagine she was going to jump out of her chair and walk? Alice feels outraged. She also decides that this is the most embarrassing scene she has ever witnessed and that she wants above all to leave. But she didn’t leave . . . She told herself that she had to leave before she started to scream in despair, but before she could move a muscle she saw the priest touch the gray bowed head of the stroke victim in her wheelchair. The voice in Alice’s head instantly cried: “Oh, let ...

1009. Soiled Faith and Watered-Down Churches

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... space to grow like God intends us to. When growth is stymied, the plant does not fulfill its true potential. It loses its essential "plantness". It loses its ability to reproduce, and to bloom, to bear fruit, to flourish. Even its identity becomes deformed. When you leave a plant in a small pot, its growth can become stunted. You need to keep allowing it depth to grow and feel its roots, room to spread, no matter how comfortable it has become in its setting. A good gardener knows that by repotting a plant ...

1010. Second Nature through Spirit Nurture

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... been given a charism, and that charism is a prism for looking at life in a way that enriches and enlivens the rest of us. You know Christ can look pretty disheveled and messy. The Son of God nailed to a cross in the most obscene form of public execution leaves a lot of leeway for seeing God’s face in lot of other bad situations. Jesus said “find me everywhere.” That is what we are called to each and every day. Welcome Jesus in whatever form or frame he appears. It can’t be done by human nature. But ...

1011. Follow the Directions

Psalm 119:9, 18, 89

Sermon

James Merritt

... the Bible. If you have ever read Gone With The Wind and you want to read it you had better read it before you leave this planet, because after you leave it Gone With The Wind will be gone with the wind. It is the only book that is literally indestructible. I remember reading ... physically satisfied, but dangerously malnourished. That is the church. We fill up on visual, mental, emotional junk food every day and leave no time for the one thing that will nourish our soul, feed our spirit and get us in the zone. ...

1012. Lost Baggage: Empty Your Suitcase

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... stake here. Before Jesus talked about a family He talked about a flock. Before he talked about siblings He talked about sheep. Look at verse 12. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” (Matthew 18:12, ESV) Jesus begins by asking the disciples a simple question, “What do you think?” Let me give you some advice. Whenever Jesus asks that question never answer it ...

1013. Supernatural: Taken By Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

James Merritt

... going to do is get the stupid brakes on that truck fixed!” Sometimes we get thrown into the fire through no fault of our own. We get thrown into the fire just for trying to do what is right! Mark adds another detail in this story that Matthew and Luke leave out that I really love. “But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” (Mark 4:38, ESV) There is only one place on a fishing boat where you could get away ...

1014. The Journey Begins

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... lived.”[1] Someone has said, “You can gauge the size of a ship that has passed out of sight by the huge wake it leaves behind.” By any measure, Jesus left the world’s largest wake behind Him. It all began with a journey that some men decided ... missing person. Jesus agreed with Peter. No argument. You are a sinful man, but as Peter is about to find out, Jesus is not going to leave Peter, but He is going to ask Peter to join Him. “And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be ...

1015. An Announcement from the Wilderness

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... But you said you were innocent of that,” says one of his comrades. “I lied,” he says, “and that’s been washed away too!!” And we do see a change in this former scoundrel. His friends steal an apple pie from a windowsill. But a hand reaches up and leaves money for the apple pie. It is this newly baptized saint of God. Baptism is more than a ceremony. It is more than a symbol. Baptism is a renewing of the mind. It is allowing the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit to come into our life and make us ...

1016. The Three Shower Gifts

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to tell the story the he heard from his cook when he was a child living in Matryona. You can find it in his masterpiece, The Brothers Karamazov: Once upon a time there was a peasant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a single good deed behind. The devils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell to God; “She once pulled up an onion in her garden,” said he, “and gave it ...

1017. A Reminder to God...and to Us

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s mother said she realized what had happened to her son after he called her from a phone belonging to a woman who lived near the spot where Willie was thrown out. His mother broke down in tears because she remembered God’s promise to her to never leave her nor forsake her. She believed God definitely lived up to His promise in bringing back her son to her unharmed. She’s a very fortunate mother. God does live up to His promises though not usually as dramatically as He did for Willie and his mother ...

1018. The God of Second Chances

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

... world in God’s behalf. In this passage from Jeremiah, God calls Himself a husband to Israel. But Israel continually wanders from the relationship. And God has to keep tugging her back. But each time He does bring her back. God loves Israel too much to leave her in her sin. A few years ago, best-selling author John Grisham wrote a book titled The Testament. The key figure in the novel is a disgraced corporate attorney named Nate O’Reilly. Nate is plagued by alcoholism and drug abuse. After two marriages ...

1019. The Loser

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

James Merritt

... to him up on the stage and she looked at him and said, “Yogi, you look really cool today.” He looked at her and said, “You don’t look so hot yourself.” Why does Jesus ask the man this question? Because if only God is good then that leaves only one of two conclusions: either Jesus is not good or Jesus is God. That is going to crucial, because of what is about to happen next. Jesus now proceeds to answer the man’s question. “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do ...

1020. What Do You See?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... blue, a little lady walks by. She bends down, speaks some kind words to the child, brings him into the shoe store, and buys him some brand new shoes and socks. She then takes him across the street and buys him some pastries and hot chocolate. As she begins to leave, he looks at the lady and said, “Are you God’s wife?” She said, “No Son, I am just one of His children.” He smiled and said, “Well, I knew you must be kin to Him somehow.” Which side are you on? If you are like Jesus, you will ...

1021. Shockproof

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

James Merritt

... they came out of the river, numerous leeches had grabbed on to this man’s torso and his legs. His first instinct was to reach down and grab them off. The guide grabbed his hand and stopped him and told him not to tear those leeches out, because they would leave tiny pieces under the skin and infection would set in. He said, “How do you get rid of them?” The guide told him that the best way to rid the body of leeches was to bathe in a warm balsam bath for several minutes. He said this calms the leeches ...

1022. Tarzan He Was Not

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... wash them off . . . Then we wrap them around the trellis or tie them up. Pretty soon they’re thriving.” (1) This is what Jesus is talking about. He is the vine, we are the branches. But sometimes we are like those low lying branches trailing along the ground. Our leaves are coated with dirt. When it rains we get coated with mud and mildew. At such times we are incapable of bearing fruit. What does the owner of the vineyard do with us? Does he cut us off and throw us in the fire? No, we are too valuable ...

1023. When the Unthinkable Happens

Mark 13:1-8, 24-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... Here’s what I want you to remember: Life is unpredictable. Terrible things will always happen in this world. I don’t say that to you so that you will be afraid. Exactly the opposite is true. I want you to know that regardless of what comes, God will never leave you nor forsake you. Even if the entire world should pass away, God will still be with you. It is said that during the making of the classic film Ben Hur, actor Charlton Heston had to learn how to drive a chariot. It was part of a race scene that ...

1024. "Gotcha" Questions from Mean-Spirited People

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... , "Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" (20:20-26). Jesus' answer about giving "to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things are God's" is masterful. The response is at the same time crystal clear, leaving no doubt as to its meaning but also open to various interpretations and even baffling. After all, what does it really mean to give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's and to God the things that are God's? Twenty centuries later and Jesus' answer ...

1025. The Good Samaritan (Revised Edition)

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... silent rage. He cursed his luck that he should have come upon that car that night. He wondered then why he hadn't gone on to leave the driver there while he got more help. He remembered the gas dripping on the hot motor, the threat of fire and explosion, and the ... lake, I had driven my motorboat across the lake at night to take some friends back to their cottage. When I was ready to leave the marina, my boat wouldn't start. One of the boaters said he knew what the problem was. He grabbed his tools and began ...

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