Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1076 to 1100 of 4934 results

1076. Rules For A Happy Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

America's premier Protestant preacher of the early part of this century, Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, once told a story from his early days as presiding minister of the great Riverside Church in New York. It seems that Fosdick, liberal by theological standards of the time, was turned off by much contemporary preaching with its emphasis on sin and threat. He vowed he would place his emphasis on the love and forgiveness of God. One day a man who had attended Riverside for several months approached Fosdick to ...

1077. Reuben: I'm Not A Sandwich

Genesis 37:12-36

Drama

Dr. Raymond Bailey

THEME: Reuben is one of the forgotten characters of the Bible -- the one who, by normal processes, should have received the birthright as the firstborn son of Israel. He tells of the common experience of feeling like a second-class son, because Israel favored Joseph. He shares family events, as well as his inner soul. SETTING FOR THE SERMON MONOLOGUE: Most persons have heard the story of Joseph and his brothers. Many people have heard the story over and over. They have rarely, if ever, heard the ...

1078. Easter Celebration Is Just A Foretaste

Luke 18:31-34, Mark 8:31--9:1, Matthew 27:45-56, John 20:10-18, John 20:1-9

Sermon

Joann Hary

Isn't is strange that on Easter morning at the breaking of dawn, when Mary came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, she reacted the way she did? She ran to tell Peter that the tomb was empty, not that Jesus had risen, but that the tomb was empty! And Peter and John, upon hearing the news, ran to the gravesite to see for themselves. They looked into the tomb, saw the burial clothes and the napkin for Jesus' head rolled up separately, and it doesn't even seem that they remembered the words of Jesus that ...

1079. There's Blindness, and There's Blindness

John 9:13-34, John 9:1-12

Sermon

Johnny Dean

John Killinger tells the story of a man who visited one day in a classroom for visually impaired children. Troubled by what he saw, the man remarked, insensitively, "It must be terrible to go through life without eyes." One little girl quickly responded, "It’s not half as bad as having two good eyes but still not being able to see." Her point was well made. There is physical blindness, and there is another, even more tragic form of blindness that affects the spirit. Both forms of blindness are present in ...

1080. Good Friday

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The evolution of the church year - and the important place that Good Friday has in it - began with the weekly celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord; every Sunday was the occasion for celebrating the raising of Christ from the dead. When an annual celebration - Easter - of Christ's triumph over the grave came to be observed, it included Saturday and Friday; thus, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday formed the sacred Triduum, which led into the great fifty-day ...

1081. The Spiritual Fitness Demands of the New Age

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

It is possible to be overweight spiritually: groggy, sluggish. Perhaps we need to work out on the weights or to start jogging. The story goes that when a man was asked how he was feeling, he answered: "I just feel medium." "What do you mean by medium?" "Well, I feel worse than I felt yesterday; but not nearly as bad as I’m going to feel tomorrow." Or it’s like an old song I heard last night: "I’m down in the depths on the ninetieth floor." These people need some spiritual calisthenics. Even Paul admitted ...

1082. The Passing of the Peace

John 20:24-31

Sermon

George Bass

It was the evening of the day that Jesus rose from the dead. Mary Magdalene had told them that she had actually seen the Lord not far from the tomb where he was buried just three days earlier. "At first," she said, "I thought it was the gardener, but Jesus spoke to me and called me by name, and then I knew that it really was Jesus. He’s alive!" But the disciples hadn’t seen him, and now it was evening. They had to be discussing Mary’s report, as well as those other terrible and terrifying events of the ...

1083. Not Far From the Kingdom

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"You are not far from the kingdom of God." (v. 34) It was a discussion on the Great Commandment. We call it the "controversy source." An unnamed scribe, one of the straightforward individuals in the gospel narrative, came to Jesus asking a question. It was a candid inquiry, asked by a guileless person. Let us recall, first, that the man was a scribe. His business was recording the scripture. Long before the invention of printing by the Chinese, all documents were executed by hand. What a tiresome, ...

1084. A Powerful Prayer

Matt 22:15-22; John 17:20-26

Illustration

Brett Blair

Pastor Joe Wright of Kansas was asked to lead the Kansas State Senate in prayer. They were expecting the usual formal prayer to open the session but that is not what happened. The pastor used the moment as a confessional and prophetic opportunity. As he prayed there were some senators who got up and walked out. When Paul Harvey (a national known radio news and editorialist) got a hold of the prayer and read it on his program he got more requests for copies of it than any other thing he had ever done. Here' ...

1085. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

When I was a boy, our church had a summer camp. For one week every summer, we had the opportunity to get out of the heat of Baltimore, to play, to swim, to enjoy good friends, and to learn more about the Lord. After all, it was a church camp. Prior to the experience each year, all those who were registered to participate were given instructions about what to bring, what not to bring, and so on. And one of the items that was listed as absolutely to be included was a blank postcard. You see, the second ...

1086. See My Hands and Feet

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

King Duncan

Tolstoy once told a story of a Czar and Czarina who wished to honor the members of their court with a banquet. They sent out invitations and requested that the guests come with the invitations in their hands. When they arrived at the banquet the guests were surprised to discover that the guards did not look at their invitations at all. Instead they examined their hands. The guests wondered about this, but they were also curious to see who the Czar and Czarina would choose as the guest of honor to sit ...

1087. You Are A Winner!

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Some people like stories about winners. It gives them something to aspire to. Some of us prefer stories about losers. Losers help us feel better about our own lives. Like Mrs. Dora Wilson, an English housewife. On February 18, 1981, Mrs. Wilson looked out her window in Harlow, Essex, and saw a group of men loading her neighbors' priceless collection of Persian carpets into a moving van. "What are you doing?" she called, knowing her neighbors were on vacation. "We're taking them to be cleaned, madam," the ...

1088. Have You Changed Your Clock?

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Some years ago, the London Times ran a front-page story about an Englishman named Arthur Arch. He had just celebrated his 95th birthday, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. But the truly newsworthy thing about Mr. Arch was that for 42 years he had been precisely and consistently 20 minutes late for every meeting and appointment he had. According to his own time, he was always prompt. But according to everyone else's time, he was always late! You see, in 1922 in England they changed all of the ...

1089. Help For Hurting Dads

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

King Duncan

Jeffrey Zaslow is an advice columnist much like ANN LANDERS and DEAR ABBY. Zaslow says he will consider any question. His readers know that, so they send him whatever oddball questions pop into their heads. Consider this letter which one woman wrote: "My husband is a very special man, and I would love to see his face on Mt. Rushmore. I know this is a big request, but how might I go about getting this idea in motion?" Signed, "His Biggest Fan." For an answer, Zaslow called the folks in South Dakota who tend ...

1090. General Hospital

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Frank Lyman

When William Montague Dyke was ten years old, he was blinded in an accident. Despite his disability, William graduated from a university in England with high honors. While he was in school, he fell in love with the daughter of a high-ranking British naval officer, and they became engaged. Not long before the wedding, William had eye surgery in the hope that the operation would restore his sight. If it failed, he would remain blind for the rest of his life. William insisted on keeping the bandages on his ...

1091. Being Alone

Genesis 2:18

Sermon

King Duncan

I doubt that many of us would argue with that proposition. All the recent medical and psychological studies confirm the dangers of being alone. The rate for virtually every major cause of death in the United States is significantly higher for the single than for the divorced, for the widowed than for the married. And yet educators tell us that 50 percent of the children in our education system will spend at least a few years of their lives in a single parent household, which is another way of saying that ...

1092. Holy Tuesday

Mark 11:27-33

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

There is an old saying to the effect that a good rabbi always answers a question with another question. One rabbi was asked by a member of his congregation, “Why do you always answer a question with another question?” The rabbi replied, “Do I?” Jesus was called “Rabbi” by His followers. The word means, literally, “teacher.” In modern Judaism the rabbinate is an ordained office. In ancient times, however, “rabbi” was simply a title of respect, addressed to laymen learned in the Mosaic law. Although Jesus’ ...

1093. The Nuclear Truth Of Christianity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Amos Alonzo Stagg was one of the great football coaches of all time in sports history. As a coach he constantly tried to keep his substitutes prepared and ready on the bench. He had the habit of prompting alertness by suddenly popping questions at them while the game was underway. One afternoon he turned to a fourth-string player who hadn't seen a single minute of the game during all the season. Stagg barked, "You, Cartmell! What would you do if we had possession of the ball with one minute to play, the ...

1094. Oh Taste and See

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Do you have a favorite psalm – other than Psalm 23? Is there a psalm that has spoken to you in a special way? Jerry and I had a wonderful experience about three weeks ago. There is a group of students on our campus who meet together each Sunday evening – they cook a common meal – eat together – then have a time of worship, praise, and prayer. It all began because we don’t serve a meal in the Commons on Sunday night and so three or four of them decided to get together and share food and pray. They rotate, ...

1095. Where Can I Find the Church?

Acts 2:1-8; 4:32-37

Sermon

Mark Trotter

For nine months now people have been asking me how I liked my trip to Germany, and for nine months I have been telling them I haven't gone yet. Last summer you all graciously gave Jean and me a trip to Germany in commemoration of my twenty years as one of your ministers. Actually, it has taken us nine months to get packed. Anyway, we are leaving tomorrow morning and will be tourists in Germany for two weeks. Anticipating the trip I was reminded of an incident that happened several years ago when I ran into ...

1096. Who Gives You Your Grade?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I read a book with pen in hand, my eye peeled for typographical errors. The more expensive the book, the more prestigious the publisher, the greater the joy in finding an error. Most people see me reading with a pen in hand, they think I am underlining important passages. They say, "Look, Mark's a scholar." I read with a pen so I can circle the mistakes other people make. I mark them indelibly in ink. I do this for revenge. In another church, there was a man who would meet me following the service with the ...

1097. Conversion to Christ

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time there was a beautiful garden that was owned by an ugly and unfriendly Giant. This was truly a lovely spot -- the flowers bloomed in abundance, the peach trees always seemed to have their springtime blossoms, and the birds sang sweetly in the trees. Each day after school, children came and played in the Giant's garden. One day the Giant, who had been away visiting his friend the Cornish Ogre for seven years, returned to his home and garden. He grew angry when he observed the children ...

1098. Jesus' Forty Days, and Ours

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

James McCormick

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all begin their stories of the adult Jesus at the Jordan River, where he is baptized by his cousin John. In baptism, Jesus identifies with us, and with all people everywhere. And, there, at the baptism, God said, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” At the beginning of the story, the gospel writer wants to make it clear who this is he is telling about: this is Jesus, the son of God! What a powerful beginning to the story! Jesus knew, as he must have known for some ...

1099. Changed Lives: The Man Born Blind from Birth

John 9:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Author Michael Lindvall tells a delightful tale about James, an overactive seven‑year old who talks a mile a minute, who sleeps sporadically, and who is boundlessly enthusiastic about everything. James loves the company of Angus and Minnie, a retired farm couple in their 80s. For the most part, they enjoy his company as well. It’s Halloween. James bursts into Angus and Minnie’s living room. In deep anguish, he complains that his mom bought him a Teenage‑Mutant Ninja Turtle costume to wear. “No one cares ...

1100. The Lost and Found Son

Luke 15:11-24

Sermon

James W. Moore

We have a young man in our church family who is in the military. He is now on his second tour of duty in Iraq. Every now and then I drive down the street where his mom and dad live here in Houston… and I’m always touched to see that they have yellow ribbons on all of the trees in the front yard. The “yellow ribbon” is a dramatic part of our culture now. It means: - “We love you!” - “We miss you!” - “You are wanted and treasured and welcome here!” - “Please hurry home!” … The yellow ribbon is a powerful and ...

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