Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1126 to 1150 of 2404 results

1126. The Lord Has Need

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... God’s will. Sooner or later God’s will “will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God would prefer sooner rather than later, but God has given us free will. We can frustrate God’s purposes, if we wish. We are God’s primary obstacle in achieving God’s purposes. But eventually God’s will is going to get done - with us or without us. God would prefer with us...but God will not force us into obedience. That must be freely given. And so, while we may slow down the coming of God’s kingdom, we ...

1127. Sine Qua Non

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... God is love. In Luke, immediately following Jesus’ words is the Parable of the Good Samaritan. That is the best example of what Jesus is talking about. Intelligent love of one’s neighbor in a highly complex society is a high moral, intellectual, and spiritual achievement. It takes “smarts” to love our neighbor, as well as our God. We are to love with our minds here, as well. Christians ought not to be “sitting ducks” for every con artist who comes down the pike. In every situation, we must use ...

1128. Please, Don't Let me Jabez Anyone Else (Part 5)

1 Chronicles 4:1-23

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... would go to the mountains and fast and pray. It was a test to see what they had learned from the elders of the tribe. One such youth battled the elements of nature and reached the top of the great mountain. His head and heart swelled with pride with this achievement. Suddenly, he heard a rustle at his moccasins. He looked down; it was a rattlesnake. Before he could move the snake spoke: "I am about to die," said the snake. "It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving ...

1129. Bread for Everyone (I am the bread of life)

John 6:1-15, John 6:25-59

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... he called a hierarchy of needs. What he said in essence was that the physical needs of our bodies are among our most powerful drives. Unless these needs are satisfied, we probably will not search in earnest for satisfaction of our higher needs--like love and achievement. Jesus realized this. People must have their physical needs met. However, he knew that there is a deeper hunger in life which also must be met and satisfied. There is bread (with a small b)--and then there is Bread (with a capital B). It is ...

1130. The Ultimate Thirst Quencher (Alternate Addition to the "I Am" series: Living water)

John 7:25-44

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is a call and claim upon our lives which was placed in us before our birth. I have from time to time mentioned the spiritual writings of the late Roman Catholic priest Henri J. M. Nouwen. Nouwen, in the eyes of the world, had achieved great fame serving at prestigious universities where he taught about the spiritual life. However, from time to time, he would leave these places of comfort and prestige behind and serve God in the most barren and difficult of circumstances. He realized that human recognition ...

1131. The Lord's Pryaer: Our Daily Bread

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... called upon him to complain about his sermons by saying, "Your sermons are too short. We wish you would talk longer because you have so much to give us." Now, I''ve never heard of this happening to anybody else, certainly not me. This man had achieved this greatness, but something was lacking in his life. He was searching and empty. After reading the article he said, "This is it." He resigned his church, left all, went to medical school and then buried himself in the heart of the Congo at Lambarene for ...

1132. The Fifth Commandment: The Value of Family

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... human network. They feed and support each other. The reason that family is so important is that it provides continuity from generation to generation. Only in this environment can roots be developed. When roots are established, only then can true commitment be achieved. From commitment grows the deeper bonds of communion and intimacy. This is the promise which comes from our Epistle reading in Ephesians 6:1-4. One of the controversial words in this passage of Scripture is the word "submission." This word is ...

1133. Your Faith: Winning or Whining?

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , but this we know--that all things work for the good of those who are called by God and His purposes. Nothing can defeat or frustrate God''s plans for any part of our journey if our eyes are on Him. We know the certainty which faith in Christ can achieve. But I hope you know that faith is derived, not from anything in itself, but from its object. This is a source of great confusion among many Christians. People are always saying to me, "If I only had enough faith, I could do so and so, and such and such ...

1134. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... much Anne likes you. We thought that maybe you could call her up and talk some sense into her." Dr. Willimon told the distraught father that he would be glad to do whatever he could. He called Anne, reminding her of all her hard work and her achievements. He urged her to think carefully before throwing all this away. "How in the world did you come to this decision?" he asked. "Well," she said, "it was your sermon yesterday that started me thinking. You said that God has something important for each of us to ...

1135. Tackling Troubles Triumphantly

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... must first be broken and then cultivated. Every athlete knows the reality of no pain--no gain. Without pain, our performance level never reaches beyond the mundane. We experience victory only by the constant discipline of denying ourselves comfort and pleasure to achieve something greater. A few decades ago, one of the greatest preachers of Methodism, Dr. Ralph Sockman, said, "In life there are three types of troubles: a. The troubles we can avoid. b. The troubles we cannot avoid. c. The troubles we must ...

1136. Tackling the Tough Tasks

James 2:1-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... remember that the next time you encounter a waitress. We know our society is hooked on outward appearances. Ask the teenagers of this congregation how their looks and dress affect how people respond to them. If they do not look like a model or achieve the status of sports heroes, they are made to feel like inferior people. We label and stereotype people in the stadium and unfortunately in the sanctuary as well. We try to switch the price tags. Recently, Miami Dolphins football coach, Don Shula, took his ...

1137. The Tenacity of Trouble

James 4:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . Here we see the results of a community of faith that uses its tongue and wisdom for the wrong reasons and motives. Dr. James of Jerusalem once again identifies the symptoms and offers his diagnosis--and then writes his prescription to achieve the goal of a healthy body of believers. His message is timely. In the recently published book, Communication and Conflict Management in Churches and Christian Organizations (The Broadman Press, 1992), the thesis is that in the 1990s one of the greatest threats ...

1138. A Cup Overflowing

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... times than any other athlete. His name was known throughout the world, and everywhere he traveled he was accompanied by an entourage of supporters. That was then, but what about now? A sportswriter visited Ali and found the photos and posters recounting Ali''s achievements lined up on the floor of his barn, leaning against the walls. On the pictures were white streaks--bird droppings from the pigeons who roosted in the rafters. Ali walked to the door of the barn, stared at the countryside, and said, "I had ...

1139. What a Difference a Day Makes

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... there was a great deal of circumstantial evidence that at first clouded the landscape for the disciples. It seemed that the Roman authorities had taken their fondest hopes and greatest dreams from them on Good Friday. They were living as victims--when God had achieved for them the victory. How tragic it is for Christian believers to continue to fight the Good Friday battle and always remain a victim when we could claim the resurrection power of Christ and be a victor. However, I understand that it does take ...

1140. Thanksgiving - The Biblical Version

1 Chronicles 16:7-43

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... the Ark home. Well, let me tell you, it looked like a Hollywood production. It was extravagant. Kind of like a Don King fight promotion. However, the extravagance is okay because it is all offered to God and His honor and glory and not to human achievement. A great procession and a great parade take place. What a picture! David, in a white linen robe, singing and dancing before the Lord, and all the people rejoicing! So the Ark came home. Notice that the worship of God here is joyful and festive. I don ...

1141. Dealing with the Hard Moments of the Journey

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . As he saw the enemy approaching, he used a unique strategy. He ordered the protective dikes to be smashed. As a result, Amsterdam became an island, at which the powerful French army could only look in frustration, for they had no boats with which to achieve the victory that was almost within reach. William did not win the battle, but he saved Amsterdam, and he lived to fight another day. He was struck down--but he did not strike-out. Years ago, Reinhold Niebuhr wrote an oral prayer that hangs today ...

1142. Singing in the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... who was sent to drain a swampy area that was becoming infested with alligators. After two weeks, he returned to the home office to report to his superior. He returned bruised, scratched, and looking like rigor mortis had set in. When asked how he had achieved the objective of his mission, he replied, "When you are up to your armpits in alligators, it is difficult to remember that the original objective was to drain the swamp." Like that young man, often we are bitten, scratched and bruised by the forces of ...

1143. Life: From the Inside Out

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... , it would return. Clearly there was no intentional way through which you could get rid of it. But then you got involved in some other undertaking and later suddenly realized the tune was no longer going off in your ear. Paradoxically, what you wanted to achieve came when you gave up your ardent effort to make it happen. Jesus follows up then with this question: "For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?" (v. 36). What Jesus is asking reminds us of that question that ...

1144. Cross Connections

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... , Jesus is addressing people whom the culture deems inferior -- slaves, wives, children, women, and Jews. Why, then, does Jesus counsel these folks, already humiliated, to turn the other cheek? Wink indicates this action would say in effect: Try again. Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am a human being just like you. Your money, gender, race, age, or status does not alter that fact. You cannot demean me.5 What's more, such a response places the ...

1145. Follow That Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... it to the peak of Mt. Everest. Nightingale comments: “Yes, I will--three of the most potent words in our language. Whether spoken quietly, loudly, or silently, those three words have propelled more people to success and have been responsible for more human achievement than all other words in the English language combined.” (5) The Magi were men of action, men of determination. They were “Yes, I will” people. But more than anything else, the three Magi were men of faith. As they told King Herod, they ...

1146. Only Sex? (New)

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... wedlock. Sex is intended not only to bring children into the world, but to build intimacy, playfulness and joy into the marriage relationship. It is to be used to bond a man and a woman together in a loving marriage. And it achieves this purpose most effectively when it is kept exclusively within the marriage relationship. Dr. Richard Dobbins in his talks with teens used an interesting analogy. He compared the bonding capacity of the body through a sexual relationship to adhesive tape. Yes, adhesive tape ...

1147. He Came by Night

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... given me a set of rules to keep, but all that did was to show me where I was going wrong. Now, I heard Jesus saying that there is a birth from above. It is the birth of a spiritual outlook generated by God's grace, not by our own achievements. I heard Jesus saying that no matter what we have made of life, no matter how entrenched our habits, no matter how old we are, God can change our point of view. I wanted some formula which could be used to make this happen -- to capture the Spirit -- but Jesus ...

1148. Everybody Loves a Parade!

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... Max Baer was a heavyweight boxer in the 1930s. His name was familiar to all who lived in that era. Max fought Max Schmelling from Germany, Primo Canerra of Italy, and the great Joe Louis. For a short time he was heavyweight champion of the world. Quite an achievement! After retiring from the ring, he had a series of heart attacks and lived his life apart from the spotlight. On the day that he died, he was sitting on the side of his bed when he was suddenly gripped with severe chest pains. He put his hand ...

1149. Congratulations, You've Made the Team

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... , hope is stronger than fear, life is stronger than death, and Christ embodies them all." Woodrow Wilson, past president of Princeton University, the twenty-eighth president of the United States, led his nation through the horrors of World War I. His shining achievement, his consuming passion, was to establish a League of Nations whose purpose was to see that another world war would never occur in his or any future generation. It is difficult to imagine Wilson's heartache when his own nation, the United ...

1150. The Face that Launched a Thousand Lives

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... had come; he had a task to complete; it could only be done outside Jerusalem on a hill called Calvary. So the determined face of Jesus turned toward the City of Peace to accomplish on a Roman cross what no other had the right -- or the ability -- to achieve: forgiveness for the accumulated guilt of the human race. The old hymn put it well: There was no other good enough, to pay the price of sin, He only could unlock the door of heav'n and let us in. Mark Twain wrote a short story bearing the interesting ...

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