Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1076 to 1100 of 1858 results

1076. Kill Them with Kindness

Proverbs 3:3, 19:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... , who was standing nearby. He went over to Reagan, gave him the request and Governor Reagan said to Deaver that he would do it, but he did not want any photographers. Here was a man in the middle of a presidential campaign and the press would have gone wild for a photo of him with a group of blind kids, but Governor Reagan wanted this to be between him and the kids. Reagan waited around until all the reports and photographers got back on the bus to leave and when they had cleared out, Reagan went to the ...

1077. Public Notions of Jesus' Identity

Mt 16:13-20; Mk 8:27-30

Illustration

Brett Blair

... ," in walks Lucy. She immediately goes into a panic and starts running around and yelling to the other children: "The world is coming to an end. They just announced it on television." Her panic quickly spreads as we see all the peanuts kids as they go wildly screaming about. Finally in the last square we see all of the children huddled on top of Snoopy's doghouse waiting for the end of the world. And Charlie Brown finally speaks up with a puzzled voice: I thought that Elijah was supposed to come back ...

1078. Guided by the Spirit

John 16:12-15

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... , allowing us to go beyond what he had to say when he was here on earth. In due time, the Spirit will unfold for us what it all means. Equally important, the Spirit will prevent us from going off the deep end, and coming up with all kinds of wild things that might capture our fancy. This is the test. Wherever the Spirit leads, it is always consistent with what Jesus taught about God the Father when he was here on this earth. That's the standard and the measuring stick. "All that the Father has is mine. For ...

1079. Wearing the King’s Clothes

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... of the Bulls. He could see they were pulling for him. Calhoun stepped to the line and let it fly. As soon as the basketball left his hand, coach Phil Jackson said, "It's good." Indeed, the ball went through the basket with a swish. The stadium crowd went wild. Calhoun rushed into the arms of Michael Jordan and the rest of the Bulls' players crowded around slapping him on the back. When Don Calhoun went home that night, he had only two dollars in his wallet, but he would receive $50,000 a year for the next ...

1080. Whose Inheritance Is It?

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... chemistry in our brains; others get a propensity for depression. Some of us get good genes; others get early cancer. There are degrees and layers of awesome chance in the very physical make up that we have. Each is created and developed, made and given, determined and wildly open and free. There is an old saying that every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts that stood their ground. Often we interpret a quote like this as saying that we make ourselves by our decisions. It could be that the real trick ...

1081. When Christ Is King

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... that Jesus is with us. We take risks as secure and secured people. We do things that we really can't do on our own, like be good to those who hurt us. We do it because Christ is king, not because we are great or strong people. We are wildly secure, even when the trouble is our own. Jim Crawford, the senior pastor at OldSouthChurch in Boston for three decades, was visiting a man in the hospital. The man was very angry that he had cancer and was not being healed of it. Very angry. "Why me?" he kept asking ...

1082. Responses to Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

William G. Carter

Jesus' teaching about divorce provokes a variety of responses. Some people hear the text snarl at them like a wild animal. Others grow angry when they simply hear the words, and vow to cross their fingers the next time they encounter that piece of scripture. Still others wish their preacher would stand up and swing this text like a club; family life is spinning out of control, they claim, and ...

1083. Becoming as a Child - Sermon Opener

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

... not child friendly. I well remember a congregation where a group of people bitterly fought opening up the annual children's Easter party to the community. Their reasoning went something like this: We don't know who these kids are, they will run wild through the building, they will damage the building. Now, doubtless they thought they were doing the right thing. The disciples thought they were doing the right thing. Yet, Jesus took a very different position. Suffer the little children to come unto me, for ...

1084. Walking in the Light

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... of unwanted darkness. We can't remember where the flashlight is, and have to feel our way through drawer after drawer, searching for candles and matches. Darkness robs us of our sight and leaves us vulnerable to attack. Our imaginations can run wild amid frightening thoughts of what lurks in the darkness of our surroundings. Then, relief and thankfulness flood over us when power is finally restored. Children are sometimes afraid of the dark and lose their sense of security when it's time for lights ...

1085. Home at Last

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

One of the more colorful eras of our country's past is the old Wild West. We can visualize cowboys chasing stagecoaches over rough, barren terrain, and sheriffs swaggering down dusty main streets. Towns sprang up virtually overnight around regions rich in natural resources such as lumber, borax, silver, and especially gold, the glitter that inflamed a continent. These thriving little communities "out west" revolved ...

1086. Gateway to Grace

Joshua 5:9-12

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... the darkness might be. It's probably a raccoon, or a smaller animal, as frightened of you as you are pretending that you're not frightened of it. But it could be a bear. It's an unnerving experience to see a bear close up. Bears in the wild are the epitome of untamed nature. They don't fit into neat categories. They're certainly not sympathetic to humans, like dogs, or tolerant, like cats. People are not safe around bears. Bears have their own agenda. They act according to their own reason, with their own ...

1087. Priceless

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... is a symbol of terror, despair, horror, degradation, agony, and humiliation. It was a form of execution reserved for the lowest of the low, for those outside the pale of humanity, whose bodies would be dumped in the garbage heaps afterward to be torn apart by wild dogs. Indeed, Paul's listeners must have cringed every time he used the word "cross." It was obscene. So shameful was the image of the cross to our ancestors in the faith, so obscene the method of execution, that for over four centuries the church ...

1088. God's Eminent Domain

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... were forced to sell their homesteads for the cause of flood control. Whole towns were demolished as dams were constructed. Later, the Interstate Highway System would claim even more homes and farms, all in the name of progress. In 1960, the movie, Wild River, starred Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick. It depicted the plight of similar folks in the Tennessee River Valley. The tension focused on a sensitive and compassionate TVA agent (played by Clift), called in to remove an elderly matriarch who stubbornly ...

1089. Family Matters

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... the bully’s hand just withered up and fell off! Another story tells us about Jesus and a friend playing on the roof of a house. The friend fell off and was killed. Jesus jumped off the roof and brought his friend back to life. All kinds of wild and exaggerated stories were told about the boy Jesus. But the church fathers were suspicious of them. They worked hard to separate fact from fiction. So, many stories were left out. The story that did make it into scripture is the one that occurred when Jesus was ...

1090. The Greatest News Of All

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... ve got people staying there tonight. Let me get the mistress. (Innkeeper’s Wife enters from left. She is instantly suspicious of the Reporter.) Innkeeper’s Wife: Who are you? And why are you asking about the baby? Ace: I’m a reporter. I’ve heard a lot of wild stories tonight and I’m just trying to get the lowdown on this so-called miracle baby. Maid: You’re with the press? Oh, dear. With my hair such a mess and in these clothes. Ace: Don’t worry. I didn’t bring my camera. Innkeeper’s Wife ...

1091. Miracles? No Problem!

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... : I’m not taking chances. I’m very healthy and so is this baby. The only thing that worries me is that with the way he’s kicking, he’s going to be a handful when he grows up. With my luck, he’s going to end up as some wild man who eats locusts. Mary: Elizabeth, you’re my favorite cousin and I love you, but you think really strange thoughts sometimes. Elizabeth: It comes with my condition ... or maybe my age. Anyway, I have my own dinner to fix. I’ll probably see you tomorrow. Mary: Walk slowly ...

1092. Chipmunks Aren’t All Alike

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Brett Blair

... one of her friends who had graduated in gardening was now catching beetles for minimum wage and another was digging tunnels for rabbits, which was exactly what he did before he learned gardening. The son chipmunk said nothing at all and just went off to gather wild berries, which he ate or gave away. Then one day the old chipmunk's wife gave him some seedlings to plant. The old chipmunk was amused and later irritated because they grew so slowly. Sometimes he would pull on them so that they would get the ...

1093. Better Than a Spanking

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... close to his father. “His mother had recently died, which made the two men even closer. And the cameras would show [Jim] in action, and his dad cheering. “When the US team won the game, the celebration was unbelievable. Players embraced, fans were going wild, but Jim Craig wasn’t celebrating. He was near the stands, looking like a lost little kid . . . and then we read his lips: ‘Where’s my dad?’ he asked. ‘Where’s my dad?’ “Craig finally found his dad, and the celebration was complete ...

1094. WaterFire Faith

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... WaterFire could have made Jesus’ dozen dense disciples into the apostolic beachhead of a mission to the whole world. During our darkest, coldest winter months, there almost always seems to be a news story about devastating wildfires sweeping over the dry, sun-baked wilds of Australia. Right now it is the height of summer heat in the Southern hemisphere. The most dangerous combination, the conditions that spread flames far and wide, is when fire and wind meet. Fire and wind is Luke’s best description of ...

1095. A Stone’s Throw From: The Harvest

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... friend walked away with the soldier, and as they walked, the wind blew the soldier's raincoat open to reveal the shoulder badges of a brigadier general. The general said, "You're probably wondering what I am doing here. Years ago Thomas was my Sunday School teacher; I was a wild lad and a sore trial to him. He never knew what he did for me, but I owe everything I am or will be to old Thomas, and today I had to come to salute him at the end." Old Thomas did not know what he was doing, he was ...

1096. First Class Freedom

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... past and stuck in his house which he has been ordered to vacate by the city to make way for high rise office buildings. Carl thwarts them by tying thousands of balloon to his home and sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, Carl learns he isn't alone on his journey. Russell, an eight-year-old Wilderness Explorer in Tribe 54, Sweat Lodge 12, has inadvertently become a stowaway on his fantastic voyage. Russell is simply trying to earn this ...

1097. A Word to Prodigals

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... to some experts, when the younger son demanded his share of the estate, he was saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.” “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his ...

1098. Discover the Promise of Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" [4] Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. [5] Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, [6] and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. [7] But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for ...

1099. Monday: The Way Of The Cross: Figs & Fig Trees

Matthew 21:18-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Palm Sunday. I. Figs and Fig Trees Let's look at the figs and fig trees first. The Old Testament prophets used figs and fig trees to symbolize both God's blessing and God's judgment. Figs were so plentiful in Israel and they grew so many places that wild fig trees grew alongside the roads all over the place. Not only that, but if someone had an orchard, according to the law, travelers were allowed to pick figs from any trees that lined the road. They were sort of the Road Food of the day. The prophets used ...

1100. Easter: Seeing Is Believing

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... thrust immediately and painfully into the shocked numbness of deep grief. Strangely, one of his very first feelings were those of guilt. He had remembered how some months before at a family picnic he was showing off with a baseball. At one point he got careless and threw wildly; it hit his dad in the hand and broke his thumb. This boy felt horrible. He said to himself, "What a terrible son I am! I have caused my dad great pain." It seemed like that was all he could remember after his fathers death, the pain ...

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