Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1101 to 1125 of 5000 results

Philippians 2:12-13

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... thing for you. So, when you have a problem, don't worry. Remember the egg and do all you can to take care of your problem; and then, when you have done all you can, you can ask for help if it is still needed. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When your child has a problem and is unwilling to even try to work at the solution. When a child says something is too hard to do. When you have seen a live baby chick.

1102. The Importance Of Giving Thanks

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... one another. Yesterday I made some cookies and I'd like to share them with you this morning. You may take one as you return to your seats. (If they all say, "Thank You," you can comment on the fact that they are quick learners.) Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When your child fails to show appreciation for what others do for him or her. When you want to explain to your child why you say grace at meals. When you want to encourage your child to say grace.

1103. A Lesson From A Bouquet

Lk 12:27 · Mt 6:28

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... our shared lives. (If you have access to a copy machine.) As a reminder of what we thought about today. I have a drawing of a bouquet that you can take home and color. Perhaps you can send it to your grandparents. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When you have a bouquet of flowers in your home, and you need to help your child understand the beauty of being different. When you have provided the flowers for your church's service of worship. When you have visited a florist or a greenhouse ...

1104. What Do You Do When You Get Hurt?

Psalm 103:3

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... give it to your mother or father who can carry it with them just in case you can get hurt sometime. They will then be prepared to do what they can to help you and then you can let God's power work in you. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When a child is hurt and needs a bandage. When a child has hurt feelings. Again, time is the great healer. When you want to help your child understand that we need to plan ahead.

1105. A Good Deed Is Like A Candle

Proverbs 22:1

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... it and buy a post card and send a note to a friend or to your grandparents. This envelope contains a dime and I want you to take it and think about doing something nice for someone, and then do what you have thought about. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When a child seems too selfish. When your child has received some money as a present and all he or she can think about is what to buy for self. When your child has found some money.

1106. Magic

James 4:8

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... we do these things, we soon discover that God is with us, even though we may not really see him when we look at just one side of the picture. A strong faith helps us to know that God is a part of our lives. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When a child questions the reality of God. When a child is drawing or coloring pictures. When your child is looking for something to do. Use this special procedure and make a magic picture. Then talk about it.

1107. Words And Actions

Matthew 7:21

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... words. But I want what I say to help me know what to do. Therefore, since I do like you all and want to be your friend, I will give you a little special treat this morning. (Pass out small bags of M & M's.) Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When your child fails to follow through on verbal statements. When you want to give your child a treat. Whenever someone in the family has experienced an action that was contrary to someone's words.

1108. Learning Obedience

Acts 5:32

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... so with your parents. And we all have to believe it is so with God. Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey my commandments" (Cf. John 14:15). Love and obedience go together. That is an important lesson to learn. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When a child does not obey. When a new puppy comes to your home. When your children think you are being unfair when you tell them they cannot do something. Scriptural Background: "And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit ...

1109. What Does It Mean To Be Independent?

Galatians 5:1

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... do just whatever we want to do. We live with other people and their freedom may affect what we can choose. Now, as you go back to your seats, feel free to take a candy bar with you, starting with the smallest child. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: Near Independence Day. When a child states, "That's not fair!" to help that child understand how conditions may influence what happens to him or her. When your child is trying to learn how to get along with other people in the house or in ...

1110. Fun With Seeds

Luke 6:32-36

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... as a good person, then you have to do good things. It is a lesson we all need to remember. This morning I have a package of seeds for each one of you. Plant them at home and see what you get from your seeds. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: In the springtime or the fall, when seeds are seen in nature. To remind your child that, as members of the family, you all have special expectations of one another. When the child produces what is expected, it shows what kind of family he or she is ...

1111. Why Remember Others

2 Timothy 1:5

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... remember them and to show that we appreciate what they have done for us. So, when you use something, in your church or school or home, and it has been provided for you by someone else, take good care of it. Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When a child has not been careful with something that belongs to someone else. When a child loans something to someone. Talk about what you expect from that other person. When the family has an occasion to remember past generations. *Use Memorial Day ...

1112. Take Time To Smell The Roses

Psalm 27:13-14

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... we get so busy in life that we do not even take time to breathe deeply, and that is a shame. Let's do that right now. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. (Ask everyone to do it.) Isn't life wonderful? Possible Times To Use This Illustration In The Home: When the weather is changing to more pleasant temperatures. When you see roses, or other fragrant flowers, blooming in a garden. When your child seems to be too busy to do important things.

1113. An Arranged Wedding, But An Intentional Marriage

Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... make a marriage work, it seldom, if ever, does. Our scripture lesson for this morning provides details of a loving marriage that began with an arranged wedding in a radically different culture. I want to use this biblical story to illustrate that even after nearly 4,000 years, the principles which lead to emotionally fulfilling marriages have not changed. Whether the marriage is between ancient goatherders or modern stoc_esermonskbrokers, whether the engagement is arranged by the parents or announced by the ...

1114. Meeting Our Needs, Not Our Greeds

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

Steve Burt

... worth of it, as much as they could collect and store up? They would have no life together. What would happen to relationships? They'd become slaves to their own greed, and is that so different from the slavery they fled in Egypt? Perhaps a closing illustration can help. It comes from one of our better television theologians, Michael Landon. In one episode of Little House On The Prairie, farming hasn't worked out, so Pa Ingalls moves the family to a new state. Gold has been discovered there, so Pa decides it ...

1115. Epiphany 5

Matthew 5:17-20, Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... the road and watch the oncoming car with peripheral vision. It is a temptation when we use truth without love to dazzle people with the display of our light. Our truth should be tempered with love so as to enlighten those coming out of darkness. Illustrative Materials 1. Living in Darkness. Not often do we experience total darkness. In the depth of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky you can experience total darkness. Fish who live in the waters in total darkness never develop eyes, so they have no sight. Persons ...

1116. The Shepherd And His Flock

John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... a barrier to others to enter. How does the church provide a place of shelter and security for its members without engendering an "us" versus "them" mentality? A good shepherd will be constantly alert to bring any who are willing into the sheepfold. Illustrative Material 1. Respond to the Voice. An ambassador from a South American country was visiting a church-related college. On the way from the airport, he began to inquire of his host what the nature of the church was that supported the college. He ...

1117. Proper 4

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... 30s and '40s. Communism was a longer lasting hope for many. Perhaps the New Age philosophy today is an expression of such a fad. People need to be aware of these shifting sands which prove eventually to be false and come tumbling down. Illustrative Materials 1. The Hurricane in Florida. Prior to the hurricane that hit the area around Homestead, some builders took shortcuts. They used shoddy materials. They did not fasten the roofs securely to the superstructures of the houses. They did not use heavy enough ...

1118. Sowers Of The Seed

Psalm 119:1-176, Romans 8:1-17, Genesis 25:19-34, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... anxious about the harvest that must come from our preaching? In some Moslem cultures, more dead missionaries are buried than live Christians are found. How long does one labor and sow in waiting for the Holy Spirit to fructify our work? Illustrative Materials 1. Strangeness of Seed Sprouting. Sometimes the word given has surprising results. Once in speaking to two young men, a person was trying to convince one of them to consider a college and seminary preparation with possibility of entering the ministry ...

1119. Thistles Among The Wheat

Genesis 28:10-22, Psalm 139:1-24, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, Romans 8:12-25

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... of heresy and dissent in clarifying truth? Have not the disagreements of the past helped the church to arrive at a better understanding of Christian doctrine? How do we deal with heresies to use them constructively for the faith and not destructively? Illustrative Material 1. The Seed of the Word. Including New Testaments, booklets and tracts, the American Bible Society (ABS) reported that it distributed 15,000 pieces to those who survived the midwestern floods of 1993. They were active from North Dakota to ...

1120. Proper 12

Mt 13:31-33, 44-52 · Rom 8:26-39 · Gen 29:15-28 · Ps 105:1-11, 45b

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... that which they have worked to create. So they become conservative. Does not every person at some point quit being a liberal and become a conservative? What is the proper balance between the old and the new that the Christian scribe should seek? ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Searching, Yet Accidental. Augustine's spiritual experience is well known. He had tried various routes to achieve fulfillment. He was for a time a Manichean. It did not leave him satisfied. He was led in his search by his pious mother Monica, who ...

1121. Proper 19

Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 14:1--15:13, Exodus 13:17--14:31, Psalm 114:1-8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... have experienced it from another and accepted it from ourselves? Jesus admonished Peter to forgive seven (or 70) times seven. Should battered wives and children continue to accept the abuse of husbands and fathers? Is the offer of forgiveness conditional on a change of behavior? Illustrative Materials 1. Getting Back What We Give · A story is told of a family moving to a new town. They stopped near the town to talk to a farmer working in a field. They asked him what the people were like in the town. He ...

1122. Service And Reward

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... is according to need and not according to merit on the basis of how much or how long someone has served? What does this parable have to say about the Christian attitude toward criminals, especially those who show repentance and respond to Christ's call? Illustrative Materials 1. Who is "Church"? A congregation was located in a college town. Most of the residents of the town were of a particular ethnic group. Many of the faculty members at the college joined the church. On one occasion all the delegates to a ...

1123. Two Sons: A Parable

Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:23-27

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... and a substitute for a dynamic religious life that permeates all of a person's actions? How do you make the rituals and ceremonies not an empty formalism but a preparation to say yes to the request of the Father to work in his kingdom? Illustrative Materials 1. Down and Outers or Up and Outers. Eugenia Price began her Christian ministry working among the alcoholics and homeless people on the south side of the Chicago loop, the so-called "Skid Row." Later she lived on the near north side of Chicago ...

1124. Wicked Tenants

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... wickedness perpetrated without taking upon oneself the destruction of the perpetrator requires a disciplined adherence to the respect for the life of every person regardless of his or her actions. It also requires a trust that God is the final vindicator of real values. Illustrative Materials 1. Given to Others. Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) had a dream in which a church was in danger of splitting in two. He saw himself called upon to hold it together. He devoted himself to try to prevent the breach ...

1125. The King's Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... they killed the messengers. The question to be posed is whether we miss the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom because of indifference and neglect or are we engaged in active rebellion against the claims of the King on our life. Illustrative Material 1. Religion a burden? An elderly Dutch couple toured American churches with a group. Toward the end of the trip as they sat resting while the other members looked at an impressive government building, the couple mused about their observations of ...

Showing results