Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1001 to 1025 of 1795 results

1001. The Lord's Prayer: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... one or two of you who were there will remember it. There was a very wealthy Texas oilman who had a gorgeous daughter, and he wanted to find her a man who was brave and courageous like himself. He decided to throw a huge Texas-style barbecue as a way of meeting some handsome young men. It was marvelous. This wealthy Texan had an olympic-size swimming pool that he stocked with alligators, crocodiles, and water moccasins. After everyone had finished their delicious meal, he gave the following challenge to all ...

1002. Where the Bread Loaf Is Not a Stone

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... eat bread. It was a basic fundamental necessity for life, a common denominator of the human condition. It still is today. Tonight, I hold in my hands one of my favorite--it was recently baked by my wife, Mary. It is an English muffin recipe baked into the style of a bread loaf. It does not last very long in our household. However, the word of God clearly teaches us that, as important and delicious as bread is, it is not enough. Jesus would not exchange the deepest human hunger and need in our souls for its ...

1003. The Tenth Commandment: How Zacchaeus Got His Groove Back

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... takes its place. Even among the 12 disciples, greed reared its ugly head. The mother of James and John wanted her boys to sit on the left and right sides of Jesus. The drive for power, status, prestige has not gone out of style. When government promotes gambling, casinos, lotteries, it also taps into this covetous spirit. It, unfortunately, creates more problems than it solves, which is why God’s standards are always far better than the world’s solutions. Jesus knew from first-hand experience the ...

1004. Up and Running

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him" (Mark 1:12-13). I am thinking of chastening in the sense of being refined and made purer in style. Again, please do not let the imagery be off-putting for you. We too have such moments, even though we might paint the experience using different colors and figures. We call these wilderness moments, these times of testing, by other names: student teaching, field work ...

1005. Only Sex? (New)

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... day, another time, the ladies were trying to rest from the meal preparation and housecleaning, and the men were wandering from the television to the scraps of turkey and boxes of chocolates. It was just a typical Christmas, first year, family reunion, 1950s style. The grandfather’s heart was weak, and so he wore a pacemaker, a small battery-powered device, that helps prolong the life of many people. Halftime had come to the football game, and the old gentlemen was left alone in front of the television ...

1006. Chosen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... comes on the heels of Jesus' description of himself as a vine and of his disciples as branches. A healthy plant has to put down roots so that the whole plant will be sustained. Most of us are acquainted with the Japanese art of raising and styling dwarf trees called bonsai. The Japanese simply cut the tap root, and as a result, the tree must live on small surface roots only. What would otherwise become a great oak or pine remains a little tree, perhaps twelve or eighteen inches high. The result may ...

1007. The Dark Didn't Catch Me!

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... And God answered my prayer. Over a period of a year the Lord began jealously to strip me of all the idols that crowded him to the corner of my life. We lost the state championship football game. Popularity proved again and again to be a fickle game. Clothing styles changed faster than I could keep up. And all I was left with that was meaningful was a girlfriend who lived 500 miles away. So, come Easter holiday, I sold my ball glove, my tennis racket, my bike, whatever, and bought a ticket to go see her. And ...

1008. Is Your Love Shy?

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... so that he didn't have room for others to get through. Such sad creatures we can be! To go through life asking questions of food and pleasure and disco and suntans and movies and sports cars is so typical of today. We think questions of hair styles are more important than questions of justice. It's more important to us to find the answer to a television mystery than to find an answer to a troublesome Bible verse. Such glandular people we've become; mindlessly we march though life absorbing food and goods ...

1009. When Nothing Is Everything

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... 10:21). And he went away grieving, because he had many possessions and couldn't part with them, even for the sake of Jesus and the life he offered. C. S. Lewis wrote that Christian charity is neither Christian nor charity unless our giving "cramps our style" and causes us to sacrifice some needs as well as luxuries. And that sort of giving, he added, was simply the starting point of Christian charitable giving, not its terminus! In his mind he could hear Jesus' words to that rich man, and his approval of ...

1010. Sweet-Smelling Fragrance

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... Ethics: An Essential Guide (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), especially pp. 74-75. This well-written work should be read by any preacher seeking to preach on the moral teachings of Christianity in general and the scriptures in particular. Lovin writes with a style that both edifies and inspires. 3. Leo Madow, Anger: How to Recognize and Cope With It (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972), p. 20. 4. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., Paul and His Theology (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1989 ...

1011. Dying And Rising With Christ

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... been crucified with Christ. Is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me. To be a Christian is to change. To be a Christian is to change. It is to become new. It is not simply a matter of choosing a new lifestyle, though there is a new style. It has to do with being a new person. Now the new person does not emerge full-blown. Conversion, passing from death to life, may be the miracle of a moment, but the making of a saint is the task of a lifetime. The dynamic process of saint making, which ...

1012. Who Are You Waiting For?

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... when you reflect on what is being said here, we realize that it would take a lot of theologians many words and many long hours of dissertation and debate to produce the weighted thoughts of that one little member of God’s kingdom. And she operated out of the style of God himself. God knew that not many would rise to the understanding of the prophet Isaiah, so when the time came, when the time was right, he sent us his son to show us who he was, to fulfill our longings, to answer our questions about who he ...

1013. Leave Your Stuff Behind

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Egypt is yours. By the time most of us get to be adults, we have accumulated a great deal of stuff. We’ve learned so many wrong things, stored up so much misinformation, learned to respond in so many destructive ways, adopted all the biting, snarling, snippy styles of relating, become secretive and cynical. We carry a lot of stuff around, and it burdens us down. We get all glued up in our limited world of habit. Now this word of Pharaoh to Joseph’s brothers is a good word for me. Regard not your stuff ...

1014. Put To Death The Old; Put On The New

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... that relates like sandpaper. You'll need patience today -- patience to abide just being with that person. But more -- patience that will enable you to get beyond the surface and touch a soul that may be hurting and has developed an aggressive grating style of relating as a defense for pain. Think about that person – and put on patience. What about the person from whom you are estranged. There's tension in the relationship. Will you be seeing or talking to that person today? Paul says as Christians ...

1015. How May We Come To God?

Psalm 24:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... announcing, "This is my favorite scripture." It doesn't matter that she has shared that on our previous four or five visits -- I'm not even sure if she remembers she has shared it. She gets joy and strength in reading it to me. In her choppy reading style -- never cultivated for public reading -- she begins, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." She will not stop until she has read at least through verses 3 and 4. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell ...

1016. Cheers (communion)

John 16:17-33

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... time. As it happened, the particular Sunday of their visit was a communion Sunday. At first, the father was hesitant to stay. But finally, he decided they would be seated for worship. This particular church served communion in what I call the "Presbyterian style": the elements were passed through the pews by the Elders of the congregation. Quietly, the father gave some hurried instructions to the small boy: "When the plate of wafers is passed, you are to take one cup of the grape juice. And your mother ...

1017. In The Beginning And The End...God

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in their scope. Their sweep is tremendous. Incomprehensible periods of time are covered in a few words. Stupendous events are described with a brevity and matter of fact-ness of a child's fairy story. Many people have been misled by that simple, naive style into treating these stories as about as relevant to modern life as the stories of the Brothers Grim: interesting, but not to be taken as containing any serious truth. "Nevertheless, when one begins to study these tales, he finds emerging the basic facts ...

1018. Walk By Faith Not By Sight

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... what we might do that would witness to our desire to be faithful. We were tithing our income to this congregation -- and we would continue to do that. Our pledge to the Building Program would have to come from somewhere else. We decided that by changing our life-style just a bit, we could find $200 extra each month. That would amount to $7,200 for the three years. But we could not be happy with that as our pledge. There was really no sacrifice there -- some stretching, but no sacrifice. We had begun to work ...

1019. He Comes As He Came

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Europeans will look at us and say, 'By gosh, you guys are moral. But we're going to see what our Middle Eastern comrades-in-arms need. We're open for business.'" (Mike Royko is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.) In his usual cynical but incisive style, Royko closed his column with this word: "So to those who might object to American companies cashing in on the next international arms race, I say this: Yes, war is hell. But business is business." To that kind of thinking, Jesus comes in judgment. Again, I ...

1020. The Whole Load

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... into us. In fact, that may be a part of our original sin, always asking, "What's in it for me?" Jesus is talking about a way of living that is clearly like himself -- always extending ourselves for the sake of others -- but when that is our style, amazingly, the blessings come back to us. It's the overflow of grace, and I hesitate to even use the word "law" in relation to it. But you understand. It's the law of extension and reciprocation. When we extend ourselves unselfishly in love, we are reciprocated ...

1021. Don't Worry Be Happy!

Luke 12:22-34

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... 't worry Be Happy. Ain't got no place to lay your head,Somebody came and took your bed. Don't worry Be Happy The landlord says "Your rent is late,”He may have to litigate. Don't worry Be Happy! Ain't got no cash, Ain't got no style, Ain't got no girl to make you smile. Don't worry Be Happy Cause when you worry Your face will frown, And that will bring Everybody down, Don't Worry Be Happy. Look at me. I'm Happy! That sounds superficial, doesn't it? But is it? Listen again ...

1022. Getting Ourselves Off Our Hands

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... 's forehead stood for. Strangely, no one could remember, but they suspected that the "ST" was an abbreviation for the word "SAINT"." Though it may be apocryphal, it's a wonderful story. It could happen to any of us -- we can act our way into a different life-style; indeed, we can act our way into wholeness. The ultimate possibility is that we can act our way into Christ-likeness. The story provides a good picture of the goal of the sermon series which we begin today. I'm going to preach eight sermons on the ...

1023. Overcoming The Destructive Dont's That Have Shaped Our Lives

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... her one bit. She replied, "Oh I don't know about that. This way, if you don't get the money, at least you have something to show for it." That woman was asserting herself, but maybe in a self-serving way. People today are groping for a new life style to fit our age. "They're encouraged to be self assertive, to stand on their own two feet, to sound their own horn, to claim their rightful place in the sun...So we have today a rash of what are called "liberation" movements and a spate of looks which summon ...

1024. To Live Is To Grow

1 Timothy 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... for all those who are seeking God's grace. The big question is how do we sound our conviction about what is right and wrong, how do we proclaim that certain conduct is incompatible with the Christian life, and not diminish persons who may be practicing such life-styles. How do we make them welcome and open our hearts to them in order that the grace of God might be conveyed to them in order that they will feel accepted by God and find the power to change. It isn't necessary that we know complete ease ...

1025. Rejected at Home

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... serve God--and he gave himself completely to the task at hand. Automobile pioneer Henry Ford once said something quite encouraging to those of us who may not feel appreciated. He was speaking of his car, the Model-T, all of which came in the same color and style. His words still ring true. He said, "All Fords are exactly alike, but no two [people] are just alike. Every new life is a new thing under the sun; there has never been anything just like it before, and never will be again. A young [person] ought to ...

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