Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1126 to 1150 of 4490 results

1126. And On the Third Day...

John 2:1-11

Sermon

William G. Carter

The story of the wedding at Cana is one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It has been the basis of many sermons and numerous misinterpretations. In fact, there are so many good misinterpretations of the text, I am not sure which misinterpretation I like the best. I recall hearing a sermon based on this text. The preacher said, “In Cana, everybody was having a good time at the wedding banquet. There was a lot of music and dancing. It was a hot day. People got thirsty. They ran out of wine. Everybody ...

1127. A Note to Fearful Hearts

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Sermon

Harold Warlick

The frail, tired woman had experienced a sleepless night in her hospital bed. Aged wrinkles marked her face as she prepared to greet another day of tests, medications, and well-meaning visitors. It was early. The little rays of sunshine had just begun to dance through the cracks in the window blinds. She heard him next door. Every morning he practiced the same routine. He was a preacher. His clerical collar and oversized cross hanging from the big chain around his neck informed everyone of his status. He ...

1128. It's O.K. To Be Extravagant

John 12:1-11

Sermon

James W. Moore

A few years ago Mark Trotter told a true story about a man in New York City who was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $100,000 ransom. She talked them down to $30,000. The story had a happy ending: the man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. But, don’t you wonder what happened when the man got home and found that his wife got him back for a discount? Calvin Trillin wrote about this incident. He imagined out loud what the ...

1129. Remember!

Deuteronomy 31:30--32:47

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Oft in the stilly night, Ere slumber's chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light Of other days around me.(1) Memories...we like them...and we need them. And as those words of Thomas Moore remind us, we are comforted and instructed by them. That is why a day such as this is a GOOD day. I have WONDERFUL memories of Oakdale. I remember our first night together - a covered dish dinner, our Erin just one week old (and now a sophomore in high school), and Emily Beamguard insisting that I sing. I remember ...

1130. Rushing And Realizing

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

Advent was one week away, so Michelle Hardie and her husband thought they'd see what their children remembered from their family devotions the year before. "Who can tell me what the four candles in the Advent wreath represent?" Michelle asked. Luke jumped in with seven-year-old wisdom and exuberance. "There's love, joy, peace, and . . . and . . ." "I know!" six-year-old Elise interrupted to finish her brother's sentence: "Peace and quiet!" (1) I don't know about you, but peace and quiet would get my vote. ...

1131. For Laughing Out Loud!

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

There are all kinds of reasons to laugh. Sometimes we laugh out of embarrassment. Other times we laugh because something is witty. There are times we laugh to cover our despair. I was reading recently about a man who awoke one morning to find a puddle of water in the middle of his king-size water bed. In order to fix the puncture, he rolled the heavy mattress outdoors and filled it with more water so he could locate the leak more easily. The enormous bag of water was impossible to control and began rolling ...

1132. A Place Of Honor

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

A Sunday school teacher had been telling a class of little boys about crowns of glory and heavenly rewards for good people. "Now tell me," the teacher said at the close of the lesson, "in heaven, who will get the biggest crown?" There was silence for a while then Johnny replied, "Him what's got the biggest head!" Pretty good answer! James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus with a request. "Teacher," they say somewhat presumptuously, "we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You." Jesus ...

1133. Come Home To God

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Angela Akers

A patient, while recovering in the hospital from a heart attack, met this over zealous evangelist. For half an hour, the preacher lectured the man on being thankful for God's mercy and repenting immediately of his sins. "Tell the truth, brother," the pastor remarked. "During your heart attack, didn't all your sins flash before your eyes?" With a mischievous grin, the patient responded, "Don't be ridiculous, the attack only lasted six hours!" (1) None of us likes to hear the word "repent," do we? At best, ...

1134. Loving From The Heart

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

In a Peanuts cartoon, Charlie Brown goes into his wind up on the pitcher's mound. In order to fortify his confidence he quotes scripture, "Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the pestilence that walketh in darkness . . ." In the next frame, WHAM! the ball comes zooming back from the batter, catapulting Charlie head over heels. Then in the last frame we see him lying face down on the ground with stars dancing around his head. He concludes, "But those line drives will kill you!" This is ...

1135. Choices

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Choosing Christ at The Crossroads, #1 (First Sunday in Lent) In August of 2002, the Associated Press carried a story from Los Angeles about a would-be carjacker who made some seriously bad choices. Tyron Jermaine Hogan had already stolen the car of an elderly couple earlier that August morning, and had gotten away scot-free. So Hogan was probably feeling a little cocky when he reached inside an occupied van and tried to steal the driver's keys. Bad decision. The van belonged to the Florida International ...

1136. Faith-based Living

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

One of these days, at the end of a message, I am going to give you a pop quiz--just to see how many of you were really listening. That would be cruel, wouldn't it? Don't worry. I'm afraid of the results myself. Few people enjoy taking pop quizzes--or any kind of test for that matter. Some of our young people would give an "Amen" to that. Tests elevate our anxiety level, so people will do some crazy things to prepare themselves for tests. For the benefit of our high school and college students, I want to ...

1137. Bearing Fruit

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

The Associated Press carried a story from New York sometime back that I thought was interesting. Let me read part of it. "The author of the best-selling book How to Make Love to a Woman pleaded guilty to punching his former girlfriend in the face. `We had a heated argument and for one second I lost control,' Michael Morgenstern said of the incident in which he hit his former girlfriend, 22-year-old fashion model Ethel Marie Parks. The guilty plea was entered after Morgenstern agreed to settle a civil ...

1138. It’s Hard to Eat While Lying

John 13:18-30

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Judas Iscariot has always been an enigma to us. One preacher, writing many years ago said, “No minister, at the time of his ordination, ever entertained more pleasing prospects for a brilliant career than had Judas Iscariot.” For one thing, Judas was given a good name. The names Judas means “praise of God.” One of the eleven sons of Jacob bore that name. So did one of the brothers of Jesus; the one who, by tradition, wrote the book of Jude in the New Testament. He was probably named after one of the most ...

1139. God Doesn’t Take Vacations

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

No matter what you do, there will always be somebody who won’t like it. Even Jesus had His critics. In our Scripture lesson we read that Jesus had just performed a miraculous cure on a man who had been ill for 38 years. You would think that such an event would be the occasion for universal rejoicing! But some took it as an occasion to criticize. The man was walking through the streets of Jerusalem carrying his bed, when the hyper-orthodox religious leaders stopped him and reminded him that he was breaking ...

1140. God’s Strange Arithmetic

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

An interesting article appeared awhile back in the Clinton SC Chronicle titled “When The Editor Left Town.” It said: “Mr. Jim Galeway and Miss Georgianne Bentlow were married Monday at the home of the bride’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Alex Bentlow, the Rev. A.A. Deckett officiating. The groom is a popular young bum who hasn’t done a lick of work since he got expelled his junior year in college. He manages to dress well and keeps a supply of spending money because his dad is a soft-hearted old fool who takes up ...

1141. What Kind of Vote Would Jesus Get?

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

All four Gospels make reference to Barabbas, the man who got more votes than Jesus did on that fateful Good Friday so long ago. In his book PERSONALITIES OF THE PASSION, Leslie Weatherhead says: “Matthew and Mark tell us that the priests incited the multitude to choose Barabbas as the one who should be released by the act of clemency with which the government marked the day of Jewish festival. It seems a strange choice.” (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1953, p. 87) I. NOT TO ME IT DOESN’T. It ...

1142. The Hillside and the Basket

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

There is a certain rock known as a geode. From the outside it is but a dull-looking stone. Yet crack it open and one discovers a breathtaking array of crystals in a hollow core. I feel like I'm holding an uncracked geode in my hands when I look at a Bible text. I know there is a powerful blessing in the passage. It must simply be opened to the light by preaching. So to the text, the story of the feeding of the multitudes, we now turn. There Was a Need! Our text begins with a human need. Jesus had been ...

1143. Compassion Fatigue

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I’m excited about being here – I’m excited about what Hope Foundation is doing. As much as anything else we need to pay attention and honor those who are seeking to make a difference for the cause of Christ. I just came from South Africa – Nelson Mandella – In Jail for 26 years – He talked about his Christian faith and the role the church played in dismantling apartheid. Imagine that – in prison for 26 years – often tortured, poorly fed, manual labor all day, sleeping on a straw mat. Coming away from that ...

1144. In Our Pastor's Success, So Is Our Own!

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Did you hear about the farm boy who always wondered what would happen if he twisted the tail on the mule? One day he tried it. And now they say about him, he's not as pretty as he used to be, but he's a whole lot wiser. When I was a young man, I wondered what my life would be like if I became a pastor in answer to God's call. Now, thirty years later, I'm not as pretty as I used to be, but I am a lot wiser. Ministry is not for cowards, the lazy, the easily discouraged, the thin-skinned, or those without ...

1145. Attics, Basements, Closets

Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

[An inventory of things accumulating in one of your closets or a drawer stuffed with all sorts of interesting items . . . these visuals would greatly enhance your preaching of this sermon.] Grace to you and peace, sisters and brothers. From the one who is . . . the one who was . . . and the one who is to come. Good morning, saints. [Wait for a good morning.] Good morning, sinners. [Wait for a LOUDER good morning.] We're all here. And all we are is here. And I'm delighted YOU'RE here. Icons are not having ...

1146. Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The gospel text for this week, Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand, is told in such a way by Matthew that it both recalls Israel’s past and anticipates many faith practices of Christians. The location of this miracle, in a “deserted place,” an “eremos,” harkens images of Israel’s own wanderings through the deserted wilderness, cut off from civilization, and dependent upon God’s protections and care for all their basic needs. As today’s text unfolds, it also echoes the miraculous feeding accomplished by ...

1147. What Part of “You Shall Not” Don’t You Understand?

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Ethical relativists have moved into our lives like a horde of invading barbarians threatening to conquer the land. Increasingly, people seem to be succumbing to the enemy. Many today say, "Nothing is absolute, not God, not the Bible, not the Ten Commandments." The only absolute for many people today seems to be the statement, "There are no absolutes." Guess again. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) are biblical correctives for a society that too easily has been overcome by the ethical relativists who ...

1148. Stepping Out on Faith

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

We are, for the most part, a nation of cautious people. You can see it in our politics, in our finances, and in most cases in how we live our lives. On July 7, 1993, a package was delivered to the claims office of the California State Automobile Association. The package consisted of a used Fruit Loops cereal box. Workers quickly became suspicious. Suppose it contained explosives? Security guards called the police, and about 400 office workers were evacuated from the building. The bomb squad soon arrived on ...

1149. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Jesus is pictured in today's text as wanting a break. Nonstop teaching and preaching before huge, pressing crowds had left him drained and exhausted. Note the abruptness about verses 35-36. Jesus offers no dismissal to the crowd. He extends no final blessing over them. Instead, he turns to his disciples and announces, "We're out of here;" or in more traditional verbiage, "Let us go across to the other side." Their movement is immediate. The disciples "leave" the crowd but the Greek used here, aphiemi, ...

1150. Acts 2:42-47

Acts 2:42-47

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Explosive, dramatic events occur throughout Acts 2 - tongues of fire, wafts of wind, dazzling displays of language and discernment, Peter's vivid testimony, the conversion of thousands, etc. These stunning occurrences leave us breathless - for where there had been only a handful of halting believers before, there is suddenly a whole new community of enthusiastic, faithful Christians. If we had never before read Acts, if we knew nothing of the early history of the Christian church, we might expect one of ...

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