Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1101 to 1125 of 4999 results

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... attitude that came into perfect focus with the statement, "The Lord will not do good nor will he do harm"... nothing. (1:12b) To Zephaniah, it was clear that what a person or a nation believes about God will largely determine their conduct. If God is seen as a kindly old grandfather in the sky who will simply wink at things done wrong, then there is no reason for anyone to make any change. If God is seen as impotent in the face of the all the other gods that can be worshiped, there is no reason to make any ...

1102. The Jump to Judgment

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... thrown out. Melanie Wilkes would never judge another person, even when it appeared she had every right and opportunity, even when her whole town would have cheered her if she had. When she died at the end of the movie, Rhett said simply, "She was the only truly kind person I have ever known." What a wonderful epitaph! The jump to judgment. Jesus says be careful. "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you ...

1103. Been There, Done That, No Thanks!

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... say, this is it. This is far as I can go. For Paul there was no turning back, no winding down, no giving up. He had discovered freedom, yes, and unconditional love. But just as important, he had found a reason to live. How about you? Do you have the kind of excitement about your life that St. Paul had? Some people don't want to change. Others want to go back to the way things used to be. But there is a small, select company of people who have discovered freedom, and unconditional love, and they've caught a ...

1104. Created For Freedom

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... [behind the iron curtain] have very little hope of getting things. . . So often things are what come between God and His people . . . When you have Jesus and nothing else ” and you know Jesus is all you need ” then you~re free indeed!" (8) That is the kind of freedom you and I need. Freedom is relative. Freedom is responsibility. Even more importantly, freedom is rooted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let us give thanks to God this day for this free land in which we live. And let us lay ...

1105. Last Words

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

King Duncan

... of life. But that was not the message he centered on in his last instructions to the church. And this is critical. If we preach only the love of Christ, people might think that the Gospel is a touchy-feely "everybody have a warm feeling about everybody else" kind of message with no real power to transform lives. No, love is at the center of our message, but it is not the complete message. There is something more. Jesus said, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from ...

1106. Friends

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... it. So Hoke says, "Let me help you with this," and he cuts a small piece of pie with the fork and feeds it to her. She smiles and nods her thanks. It is a touching scene. Slowly Daisy enjoys a simple piece of pie because of Hoke's kindness. Hoke cuts another piece for her. There's no dialogue. The lights fade and the play is over. (3) There are many societal factors that separate Hoke and Miss Daisy but there is also a bond that unites them ” the bond of friendship and mutual respect. Every human being ...

1107. Peace

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... look more hopeful than in generations. Let’s hope and pray they will continue that way. But don’t get your hopes up too much. There is still a wide gulf that separates nations. The stakes are certainly higher than ever. Someone asked Albert Einstein one day what kind of weapons would be used in the third world war. "Well," he answered, "I don’t know . . . but I can tell you what they’ll use in the fourth world war. They’ll use rocks." We would rather not even think about it at Christmas time, but ...

1108. Preparing For A Royal Visit

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... King? Chances are that you HAVE transmitted to them your values. That almost always happens in families. The question is, will they feel uncomfortable in the presence of the King with the values that you have given them? Will those values be appropriate for the kind of King we are awaiting? If we were on the committee we would want to prepare our communities. We would want to prepare our families. FINALLY, WE WOULD WANT TO PREPARE OURSELVES. Now, let me tell you: It’s importance to being ready in life ...

1109. How Shall We Prepare Ourselves For Christmas

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... have a word from the Lord!" Immediately alert and ready, ushers sprang like gazelles up the balcony stairs and escorted the man out the front doors of the church and into the street. Thomas Long of Princeton Seminary, commenting on this event, says, "There's a kind of irony here. Week after week, those of us who preach stand in the pulpit and announce implicitly or explicitly, ˜I have a word from the Lord. 'No one complains (not usually anyway). No alarmed ushers bound into the pulpit to drag us away. But ...

1110. The Greatness Of John The Baptist

John 1:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... six-month younger cousin Jesus spent a great deal of time together? Perhaps they played together and fished together and did all the things young boys and young men like to do. Might this not explain the kind of man John the Baptist became? He was in intimate contact with Jesus. Cousins can certainly have that kind of influence on each other. Might this also not explain John the Baptist's reaction when he saw Jesus come out with the others to be baptized? Matthew tells us that John was reluctant to baptize ...

1111. Love

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... put it most memorably, "Love came down at Christmas, Love so lovely, so divine. Love came down at Christmas, Star and angel gave the sign." LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS. That is the message for the morning. Love was born in the manger in Bethlehem. What kind of love? All kinds. LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER MARKS CHRISTMAS. That is why many of us are weary from shopping this time of year. We are trying to find just the right gift to say, "I love you." A cartoon pictured three little boys coming to the manger scene ...

1112. Watch!

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

King Duncan

... just often enough to make life either disturbing or delightful." But the improbable does happen. Sometimes. Therefore the Lord's word to us is, "Watch!" There is a little booklet put out by Dr. Albert Day called, "The Healing Ministry." In that book, he says there is a kind of poverty today about which we need to be concerned, and that is the poverty of expectation on the part of so many Christians. They just don't expect God to do much in and through their lives. But if we had faith, he says, and if we ...

1113. Flight To Egypt

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... students in China. The basic thesis of communism ignores the reality of the human condition. There is darkness in a corner of every human heart. That is why, even into the beautiful story of Christmas, there intrudes a tyrant who slaughters little babies. That's the kind of world we live in. But listen. CHRISTMAS IS GOD'S ETERNAL SIGN THAT THE FORCES OF EVIL WILL NOT WIN. It will never happen. Evil may sit for awhile on the throne but not forever! Predicting the future is always risky. Change can come so ...

1114. Written In Our Hearts

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

... trust God, He will take care of me. Mama, thank you." (5) Do you have that kind of trust? Is your life undergirded with that kind of support? Do you have that kind of peace within? That's the mark of maturity in the Christian faith. I was reading a humorous account about a ... young couple who were trying to decide what kind of child birth method to use. Like most couples having children, nowadays, they were investigating the benefits and shortcomings ...

1115. Walk Wisely

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

... "Miss Fannie" is driving her car. What a tragedy if she had quit on her 103rd effort. When the great running back Herschel Walker of the Dallas Cowboys was in junior high school, hoping to play football, he was told by a kindly coach: "Herschel, you're too small. Go try out for track." Walker's response was to undertake a training programcalisthenics, running, stretching, eating carefullyto build himself into an All American football player and Heisman Trophy winner. He said of his success: "My Godgiven ...

1116. Walk Together

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

... None of us is the king or queen of our own households. In love, we submit ourselves to one another. Archie Bunker says to Gloria: "Me and your mother think the same. And I know, ˜cause I do her thinking for her." Heaven help the home that has that kind of foundation. It has no place in the Christian faith! Marriage is intended by God to be equally rewarding. As Paul says in Galatians 3: 28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one ...

1117. Leadership Styles For A New Millennium

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... a God whose disapproval is deadly and whose punishment is swift and without mercy. Some religious groups paint a picture of this kind of God. How sad. There is another style of leadership, however. Many people say it is the only style that will ... approach God like a loving parent in confidence and joy and in the assurance that God will never turn us away. Do you believe in that kind of God? Some people have a really messedup picture of God in their minds and hearts. Some of us who have been in the church all ...

1118. A Most Successful Sermon

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... have been permitting him in the past? Repent of your sins. Reaffirm your faith. Finally, Peter says to the new believers, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. There was a young lady who worked in an enormous factory, one of the largest factories of its kind in the world. One day she confided to her pastor that she would have to quit. “What’s the matter?” he asked her. “Doesn’t the factory have enough orders to keep you going?” “No,” she replied, “It’s not that. They have more orders than ...

1119. Save The Tokens For Uncle Sam

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... , the images and vocabulary, we feed it. What if our young people have been fed a steady diet from the gutter? What kind of meaning will they be able to fashion from all those symbols - the images of sex, violence, obscenities which they have been ... yours. I trust you enough that I am willing to share with you everything I have, everything I am, and everything I hope to be." That kind of commitment is what God asks as well. For truly it's all His in the first place. Render unto Caesar the things that are ...

1120. What Gets Into People?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... murder his former boss and several coworkers before killing himself as we've read about in recent days? What gets into a young person that causes him or her to experiment with dangerous drugs and run around with the wrong kind of people? What is it that causes a woman to make one wrong choice after another in the kind of man she marries? What gets into a man who abuses his wife and his children? How do you explain it? What gets into us? Some would say, "The devil made me do it." That reminds me of a story ...

1121. The Awesome Power Of Love

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... unlimited love. The elderly woman rocked all day in a rocking chair. So one day the nurse pulled up a rocking chair beside the lady and just rocked along with her and loved her. On the third day, the patient opened her eyes and said, "You're so kind." Two weeks later the lady was well enough to leave the home. It doesn't always work like that, of course, but studies are accumulating. Love heals! The poet Elizabeth Barrett was an invalid for many years, unable even to lift her head from her pillow. One day ...

1122. Thankful For The Right Things

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... . It is much farther, however, from the throne of God to a stable in Bethlehem. Yet Christ made that journey in our behalf. (2) When Robert Louis Stevenson retired to the Samoan Islands for his health he became to the natives of that island a kind and generous friend. Stevenson was concerned that there was only a path leading from the harbor of his island over which his new friends must walk in order to bring provisions to the interior. With his own money and personal efforts, Stevenson had a good road ...

1123. Are You the One Who Is to Come?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... to those who pass it ” and a message. It is the Christmas message: that there is life and hope even in a rough world." (3) Isaiah wrote, "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom." But see, those aren't the kinds of signs that impress people. We want greatness writ large. That's not God's way. God chooses to work in the little insignificant places of life ” like a manger, a carpenter's shop and a cross. The Third Reason John Was Disappointed Was That He Didn't ...

1124. Transforming Moment

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... to see exactly then," Buechner wrote. "The word was TRUST." Sitting in his car along side the highway, God’s message was revealed on the license plate of a passing car. It’s certainly difficult to describe such an experience. "Was the experience something to laugh off as the kind of joke life plays on us every once in a while?" Or was it the word of God? "I am willing to believe that maybe it was something or both," Buechner wrote, "but for me it was an epiphany." The owner of the car turned out to be a ...

1125. Crossing The Desert Or Protecting Our Vehicle?

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... of steps backward, he called out, "Englishmen! You want to kill me because I am a Frenchman? Am I not punished enough already in not being an Englishman?" The crowd not only applauded; they saw to it that Voltaire got home safely. Paul used that same kind of strategy with the people of Athens. WHEN WE START WHERE PEOPLE ARE WE HAVE THE GREATEST CHANCE OF WINNING THEM OVER TO CHRIST. In a Peanuts comic strip, Linus listens attentively as his little sister tells him about her potential as an evangelist. She ...

Showing results