Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1076 to 1100 of 4977 results

1076. Jesus, Our Rock Foundation

John 14:1-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... satisfied, even elated. His chest was huge and taut and his biceps were so large that two hands could not encircle one. His stomach rippled like waves on the ocean. As he stood in personal admiration, all of a sudden Charlie collapsed. His parents were quite concerned and rushed him to the doctor. They thought for certain that it was a case of overexertion, but the doctor, after examining Charlie, said it was much more simple. Charlie's ankles and legs were too weak, they could not support his massive bulk ...

1077. His Last Command ... Our First Concern!

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... most important thing some of us have been asked to do all week is to wash the dishes or take out the trash, this comes as quite a jolt! I know of no other statement in the Bible that can give a man more of a sense of esteem, joy, and purpose than ... him a little robe. Proudly, yet somewhat frightened, the child made his way to the river on Sunday morning. Oh, it was quite a meeting with singing masses of folk. Scripture reading, testifying, and preaching. One by one, many were baptized into Jesus Christ, the ...

1078. Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired?

Matthew 9:35-10:8

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... the mirror at the scars Two where my breasts were One where my catheter was One where my colostomy was One where a drainage tube was inserted One where my hysterectomy was, and last but not least... One that runs the length of my stomach ... that's been used twice. Quite a picture of beauty!! I didn't realize how important a woman's body is to her until now. I still avoid looking in too many mirrors because I still can't believe I'm seeing ME!!! Who is that person devoid of almost all hair on her body And ...

1079. In Our Pastor's Success, So Is Our Own!

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... try to find a fault, blow it out of proportion, and crucify with it. For the one, Jesus and the Word and their own selves are the issue. But for the other, I am the issue. The one is open. The other is closed. The one is humble. The other quite proud. The one appreciates any pearls from the Word you cast at their feet. They grab them up and treasure them. The other are swine that trample the pearls underfoot with no sense of their value. I once worked for a tough church. I couldn't do anything right. The ...

1080. Church Discipline: A Cure for What Ails the Body

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... who entered the Vatican in the 1970s, took a sledgehammer, and began to strike Michelangelo's Pieta. Sin is to deface God's will. It is to destroy the works of his creation by disobedience. Lies, slander, theft, greed, murder, and more of our behavior accomplishes this quite nicely. And we smile about it. My! My! How light an attitude we have toward sin today. Why, it is no longer betraying the wife of one's youth by breaking covenant vows of matrimony, it is but a discreet divorce. It is no longer ruinous ...

1081. Go to Heaven?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... Stephen," Christ will say, "does the name Mr. Knotts means anything to you? He's the man who came to your church for four years then quit to look around. You read in the paper how he was on cocaine, had raped a waitress, and was in jail. You visited him on ... couples. There was a one-talent pastor and his wife there laboring in a small rural parish. He was depressed and thinking of quitting. She was overweight and nervous and insecure. You sat to eat with them. You listened. You told her you could see the love ...

1082. Praying Through

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... Three times Paul went to God and asked to be healed. And there in God's presence Paul began to know the mind of Christ. He quit asking to be healed. He started asking for strength to bear the affliction for the glory of God (2 Corinthians 12). In your own prayer life ... me." Now, that is not far from a proper way to pray! In seeking prayer we are looking for Christ's mind. We are not sure quite how to word our prayer. So we ask God to take our words and fit them into the correct prayer. We ask him to edit our ...

1083. Addiction Free

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Plants: 365 More Surprising Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries [New York: John Wiley & Slons, 1998], 139). And while 80 percent of smokers want to stop, fewer than 10 percent of smokers quit per year. The three classic signs of chemical addiction are all exhibited by smokers: 1. They can't quit 2. They need larger and larger doses to reap the same amount of pleasure 3. They withdrawal produces clear symptoms--headache, constipation, insomnia, depression, anxiety, inability to concentrate. What can ...

1084. Move Life from Duty to Destiny

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , revealing to them when the end of days, the eschaton itself, would be knocking on their door and what role they would play in it? The disciples wanted to be prepared. Whether it was prepared to fight or flee, hunker-down or hide-out, isn’t quite clear. The future might be frightening, but to the disciples’ way of thinking, an unknown future was even more terrifying. Jesus’ response refuses to give his disciples the comfort of a definitive, step-by-step time-line to the final Day of the Lord. Jesus ...

1085. Eleven Plus One

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... make us feel like the little guy can still win, that the richest and the biggest don't always get their own way in the world. Even if it's a team from a school we've never heard of, or one of those new pro franchises we can't quite locate geographically, suddenly the Cinderella team becomes the team to cheer for, to hope for, to invest in. If ever there was a Cinderella team in history, it had to be the Jesus team known as The Twelve. From the moment of their selection, this awkward group showed few if ...

1086. Let Familiarity Breed Contentment

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... defaults on them? Where does your contentment rest when the next wave of "must-haves" makes your "haves" pass?? What things, what experiences, what history and heritage is facing you down this moment and you are barely aware of it? One of my favorites: My wife Elizabeth quite intentionally never takes a Bible to church. She wants to read out of the pew Bible because it connects her to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Do you know how many martyrs to the faith died so that you could have a pew ...

1087. More Power to You!

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... post-resurrection evangelism. · Thomas: a show me believer, who showed us we can get what we ask for. · Mary Magdelene: a woman of no account, counted among the most blessed, the first visited. · Paul: an argumentative, never-quit, in-your-face opponent who became the argumentative, never-quit, in-your-face proclaimer of the gospel to the world. And today: Who in this church, in our community, in your family is empowered in unique, distinctive ways by the righteousness of God, the power of the Spirit ...

1088. Someone to Watch over Me

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... keeping an eye on them. In a majority of the recent school shootings it has been a lonely kid, a kid who felt bullied, isolated, cast out, and rejected, who pulled these horrifying "watch-me" shoot-outs. Could it be that a certain ex-president couldn't quite face the impending out-of-office anonymity and so pulled some of his adolescent shenanigans on his way out of the Oval Office door? Aren't we still keeping our eye on him? Is that scruffy, rude, obnoxious, in-your-face panhandler who accosts you on your ...

1089. Straw Polls and Soul Quakes

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Spirit descended upon every one of the 120 who were there. It descended upon the young, as John Mark was probably a teenager. The Spirit descended upon the elderly, as Mary the mother of Jesus was in her late forties or early fifties, quite old for that day. The Spirit descended upon betraying cowards like Simon Peter and doubters like Thomas. It descended upon nationalistic Zealots like Simon and good ole boys' like Andrew. The Spirit visited the women who supported Jesus financially. It descended upon the ...

1090. When Self-esteem is Snake Oil

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to lead our communities towards health and wholeness. In today's epistle lesson Paul's calling on the Galatians to quit looking for ways to help themselves, pleasure themselves, prove themselves and instead to live according to the law of ... used to silence others. A person under pressure from his family may respond, "My therapist said I'm doing the best I can." Or, "I need to quit my job." Or ,"I don't have the energy to parent." Or, "My affair is a statement about my marriage." Therapy can be used as an ...

1091. Be Ready!

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

King Duncan

... our emotional and spiritual well-being. Let me tell you about a family that went on a week of vacation. They left their dog in a Pet Hotel. When they returned, they picked up their pet and took her home. However, almost immediately they noticed something quite disturbing. When they would stroke her large clumps of her hair fell out. Shocked, they called the vet who said that the small animal was stressed by the absence of human contact. If they would spend two hours with her, he said, the hair would stick ...

1092. It Is Good News!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

James McCormick

... - all done with that Sunday School stuff. But God wasn’t through with them. Through that lovely music He was reaching out to them. And it was Christmas again! That’s the good news – not that we love God, but that He loves us! It’s a love that never quits, a love that never lets us go, a love that never stops loving. And the way we know about it is through the Word made flesh at Christmas. That’s why we sing, “Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Go tell it on the mountain ...

1093. It Is Also Blessed to Receive

John 13:1-17

Sermon

James McCormick

... both/and. Clearly, in the totality of life we are to receive as well as give. I. To begin with, it is obvious that we must be willing and able to receive because we need it. Much of the time we would like to maintain the illusion that we are quite self-sufficient. We have within ourselves everything we need to live a full, happy, and successful life. So, we don’t need anyone or anything else. Much of the time we’d like to think that, wouldn’t we? But, in our more honest moments we know that is an ...

1094. Easter 7

Jn 17:1-11 · 1 Pet 4:12-14; 5:6-11 · Ps 68 · Acts 1:6-14

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... . In vv. 4-10 commentators often suggest that v. 4, vv. 5-6, and vv. 7-10 are separate units of thought. If the response is incorporated into the liturgy, one might choose a short unit of thought rather than the entire psalm. Verses 32-35 are quite doxological. Significance. The kingship of God and the Lord's assumption of kingship in Zion is the theme of this psalm, no matter what view of the structure one adopts. The God of the psalm is a mighty but compassionate king named "the Lord." The divine king ...

1095. Lent 1

Mt 4:1-11, Rom 5:12-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... creation, and Jesus embodies the perfect new creation. Romans 5:12-19 - "God's Old and New Creation" Setting. Paul's letter to the church at Rome is a rich complex of the apostle's theological reflections on a wide range of crucial topics. The body of the letter is quite extensive, running at least from 1:11 through 11:36 (some argue for 15:13 as the end of the "body" of the letter). Paul sounded the theme of this epistle in 1:16-17, and then he ruminates in relation to some of his own concerns and the ...

1096. Proper 23

Psalm 106:1-48, Philippians 4:2-9, Matthew 22:1-14, Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... cannot think of a Christian or Christians in other than profoundly christological terms. The life we live as believers is completely in and of the Lord. This life is quite personal, but it is far from private. We are held together in Christ. Faith is never merely a matter of personal piety. Notice how Paul feels quite free to call his "loyal companion," another apparently unnamed fellow Christian worker, to involvement in the difficulty faced by Euodia and Syntyche. Although he does not use such language ...

1097. Changed Lives: Lazarus

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... ministry. When pressured by the news media he fudged a bit on these claims, as well he ought. As scholar R. C. Sproul notes, it is one thing for people to be revived through CPR or other forms of resuscitation. That happens with ever-increasing frequency. It is quite another for a person to be decomposing in the grave for four days and be brought back to life as Lazarus was by the divine command of Jesus. (3) When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord ...

1098. The Prize

Philippians 3:14

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

... rules) And there are a whole lot of them. I got this trophy because Let me ask you something. Do you get the trophy if you quit after the first game? Why? (response) That’s right, you have to make it all the way through. That's the purpose of the trophy. ... to dribble, how to shoot, and how to pass. We have to work hard and practice every day being a Christian. But most importantly we cannot quite. We can’t be a Christian for just one day and expect God to give us a trophy. We have to be a Christian our ...

1099. Never Read Any of His Books

John 20:1-18; Luke 24:36-49

Illustration

James W. Moore

... , "you listen to me. If your dad could come back to life for five minutes and be right here with us… and if he knew you were worried about that, what would he say to you?" "He would tell me to quit worrying about that," Jim said. "Well, all right," the minister said, "then you quit worrying about that right now. Do you understand me?" "Yes sir," he said… and he did. That minister was saying: "You are forgiven. Accept the forgiveness… and make a new start with your life." The young boy did make a new ...

1100. The Lost and Found Celebration

Luke 15:15-24

Sermon

James W. Moore

... He said: “It’s O.K. Dad… we’ll tell Mom you did it!” - We excuse ourselves by blaming circumstances or past events. I once knew a man who couldn’t hold a job. We got him three different jobs. He would work for a day or two and quit. Finally, I asked him why. He said, “It’s all because of the food poisoning.” When did you get food poisoning?” I asked. He said, “The spring of 1947.” - We excuse ourselves by blaming evil spirits. Flip Wilson’s phrase “The devil made me do it” can ...

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