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Showing 1176 to 1200 of 2332 results

1176. The Lord's Prayer: "Lead Us Not Into Temptation"

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Sniper's Tale,"(4) the story of a Bosnian Serb named Pipo. From his perch overlooking Sarajevo's downtown he watches people strolling the streets. He prefers to think of the streets the way they were two weeks ago just before the cease-fire: fearful, deserted. "Everyone likes peace except me," he says. "I like the war." Pipo claims his bullets have felled 325 people. He has become comfortable in war, and knows that peace will bring him uncertainty - or worse. "I don't think we snipers will survive the peace ...

1177. Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... serpent and Eve in the Garden of Eden). As the lesson has it, Jesus is "led by the Spirit" into the wilderness where he encounters the devil. Immediately, modern readers have a problem. We try to picture the scene - no problem with the rocks and shrubs of the desert, no problem with Jesus (we see him more or less as portrayed in the pictures on Sunday School folders), but what to do with the devil? That little guy in the red outfit with horns and a pitchfork tail that we see on Halloween? Scary? Not really ...

1178. The Church Should Go to Hell!

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... period in the church year that calls us to a time of rigorous self-examination and introspection as we prepare ourselves for our encounter with Calvary. The gospel lesson for the first Sunday in Lent each year tells the story of Christ's temptation in the desert. As we read a moment ago, three are highlighted. They are each strong, and everyone of them is based on truth (which is a wonderful reminder about how the truth can be used for evil purposes). And they are each one a metaphor for the temptations ...

1179. Head's Up!

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Christmas plans."(1) The AP dispatch reads, Bethlehem's city fathers have called off ambitious plans for Christmas 2000, saying a time of Palestinian-Israeli conflict is no time for merrymaking. The town of Jesus' birth will be dark and deserted this Christmas - without festive street lights, craft fairs and choirs in Manger Square. In the past two months seven Palestinians from the Bethlehem area have been killed in rock-throwing clashes and gun battles with Israeli soldiers... Indeed, "peace on earth ...

1180. No Time for a Knapsack Faith

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... with depression and fear. Here is the reason. Somehow the Holy Spirit has slipped out of their lives. It is the Holy Spirit that gives a lift to our lives and helps us stand on higher ground. Without that Spirit our lives are like a barren desert. A mother and child once stood looking at the beautiful picture of Christ standing at the door knocking. After a moment of thought, the mother said, “I wonder why they don’t let him in?” The child considered this and then replied, “The reason they don ...

1181. Different From A Camel's Hair Sport Coat

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Frank Lyman

... begins with the words, "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," and that good news begins not with Jesus, but with John. He really was "the one who got the whole thing started." To understand that John was not a wide-eyed desert crazy; we read the story of his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and we read how God's hand was on John even before he was born. Zechariah and Elizabeth were an elderly couple who had been unable to have children. Zechariah was a priest who regularly took ...

1182. Mary's Song

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... was no leisurely stroll along a country road. Given the difficulties and dangers that the landscape posed, her support network ” Elizabeth and family ” must have been especially valuable to her. . . the hill country was rather bleak. The eastern slopes were mostly impassable desert, stretching 10 to 15 miles from their highest point, 3000 feet near Hebron, down to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth at 1,300 feet below sea level. The vast wasteland was broken only by imposing cliffs and canyons and ...

1183. True Excellence

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... with dignity, this little nun left the security of the convent with only a coin in her pocket, and went into the streets of Calcutta looking for dying people. She dragged their dying bodies into a temple that had been offered to her by the city ” a deserted and dirty place, which she cleaned up and put to use. There she loved and cared for the dying people until they passed away. "Everybody at least deserves to have somebody love them while they are dying," she said. But then an amazing thing began to ...

1184. On Being Mistaken For A Mannequin

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan

... reach out. Certainly businesses reach out. At the end of World War II, Robert Woodruff, president of Coca Cola declared, "In my generation it is my desire that everyone in the world have a taste of Coca Cola." Today Coca Cola is sold from the deserts of Africa to the interior of China. Why? Because Woodruff motivated his colleagues to reach their generation around the world for Coke. Any healthy organization reaches out. If it did not, it would die. Why are we in the church satisfied to outdo Bill Fuqua ...

1185. Who Says A Good Man Is Hard To Find?

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... are inflexible and opinionated. Not all males want to keep women in their place. As far as I can tell there is only one male stereotype that is accurate. That is the aversion to ask for directions. Someone has said that the Israelites wouldn't have wandered the desert for 40 years if Mrs. Moses had been in charge. (3) I am thankful that there is a new generation of men who are not angry. There are many men today who are supportive of their wives, men who respect the opinions of others, men who listen and ...

1186. Sons And Daughters Of God

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

King Duncan

... the Master, we are really quite beautiful. Antonio Sanchez was only five years old when he was sent to a Mexican prison for juveniles after allegedly murdering his baby brother. Tony's parents, who had beaten him with chains and tortured him with fire, deserted him and disappeared after telling police he was the killer. In prison other inmates taunted him with the word "murderer" and sometimes abused him. He had to fight for food. No one seemed to care what happened to Tony, until Carolyn Koons, an American ...

1187. Comfort My People

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sins have been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins." The first word is forgiveness. THIS BRINGS US TO OUR SECOND WORD PRESENCE. Isaiah continues, "In the desert, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God . . . ." God has come into our world, says the prophet. God has come to enter into our story and to offer us hope. An Army chaplain in World War II finally made ...

1188. Be Joyful

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... the trains on Sunday. Thus, after he finished up his business late Saturday night, he had to stay over in St. Louis until the following Monday morning. On Sunday morning, he left the hotel looking for a place to worship. The streets were quite deserted, but finally he saw a policeman and asked him for directions to the nearest Protestant church. The stranger thanked the policeman for the information and was about to walk off when he turned and asked the policeman: "Why have you recommended that particular ...

1189. I, Caiaphas

John 18:12-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... assigned several spies to keep their eyes on this suspicious character. As far as the stories about healing and miracles, like feeding the 5,000 with some fish and a few loaves, well, we had heard that kind of nonsense before. Our ancestors in the desert during the time of the Exodus were supposed to have eaten quail and manna mysteriously provided by God. But sophisticated people take such reports with a grain of salt. We are not women or half-breed Samaritans who fall easily for such supposed miracles ...

1190. Centering On God

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

... one of the most remarkable collection of hymns the world has ever known. His name was Isaac Watts. In a few weeks we will be singing one of his most famous hymns, "Joy to the World!" Isaac Watts discovered joy in his life because he knew that God would never desert him. He was able to live his life with all sorts of health problems feeling close to God and Jesus. He had joy deep in his heart. THE FIRST STEP IN REDISCOVERING THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS IS TO CENTER ON GOD, realizing that God is still in control of ...

1191. The Greatness Of John The Baptist

John 1:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... John the Baptist was in his own time. The other is his prominence in the drama of the first Christmas. As to his popularity, Mark tells us, "all the people of the Judaean countryside and everyone in Jerusalem went out to him in the desert and received his baptism in the river Jordan, publicly confessing their sins." (1) That was some revival! Can you imagine every single person in a large metropolitan area and in all the surrounding counties repenting of their sins and being baptized in a river? Among ...

1192. "Catch-able" But Not "Fetch-able"

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... Legends. One of the most beautiful of these is called "The Wise Men's Well." In this legend the three Wise Men are drawn together by their common vision of a beautiful star that bids them seek a new-born King. They follow this star across desert and plain until it stands over a grotto in Bethlehem. But when they look into the grotto they see only a young peasant woman and her husband with a newborn child. They turn away in disappointment. After they have gone some distance, however, they discover they ...

1193. From Tears To Triumph

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... the relationship between God and man. "By his stripes were we healed." But even the cross is not enough. Peter was still a reed, not a rock after the crucifixion. Judas had walked with Jesus and talked with him daily, but still he betrayed him. The others fled and deserted Jesus in the face of impending danger. There are those who want to see Jesus only as a great teacher, but it is not enough. Others want to elavate him as the perfect role model. He was, but that is not enough. Others want us to see Jesus ...

1194. A House Divided

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... in 1789. After three peaceful months on idyllic Tahiti, the crew seized the ship and set the captain and officers afloat in a raft. The mutineers went back to Tahiti, grabbed a small group of Tahitian men and women and sailed off to live on a deserted island. When an American whaling vessel found the crew and their "friends" 18 years later, only one of the original crew was left. Friction and fighting for the women had quickly led to murder and suicidethey had no purpose to rally around other than their ...

1195. God Of Compassion

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... healing and now he is tired. He suggests to the disciples that they come apart for some rest. Jesus knew that this is a need in everyone's life. Either we come apart from time to time or sooner or later we will come apart! They departed to a desert place. But the crowds found them. People came by the thousands to see and hear this man who had such an impact on their community. When Jesus saw them, the Scriptures say, "He was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd ...

1196. He Has Done All Things Well

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... if 15 per cent of my material is spoiled. When you work quickly, you must work more skillfully." Giving what others give and then some. William Barclay once told about a monk named Telemachus. Barclay tells us that this monk wanted a holy life so he went into the desert to pray, to fast, and to save his soul. In that lonely life, he sought nothing but God, but it finally dawned on him that that was not selfless but selfish. So he made a long pilgrimage to Rome where he could serve people. When he got there ...

1197. Fans or Followers

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the church today. We need to move beyond caring for ourselves to caring for others. One of the most monumental works in all the world is the Great Wall of China. The mammoth man-made structure stretches eighteen hundred miles over mountains, plains and deserts. The Chinese built it to keep out barbarians, but for the Chinese themselves it became a barrier to progress. Isolated behind that wall from others they quit progressing as a people. That can happen to us as individuals or as a church. Great things ...

1198. What In The World Are We Doing Here?

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... employed in the heyday of the great western cattle ranches to help tame strong and rambunctious steers. It worked like this. The steer, bucking and convulsing like a raging sailor, was haltered to the little burro, and the two were turned loose together onto the desert range. Like a scene from an old Laurel and Hardy comedy, the giant steer and the little burro would be seen disappearing over the horizon, the great steer tossing the poor burro about like a streamer in the wind. They would sometimes be gone ...

1199. Response To The Resurrection: Christian People In A Pluralistic Society

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... it and shares it with everyone he meets. He asks people to guess what the drawing represents, but nobody answers correctly. He is put down for his drawing and chooses a lonely, solitary life as a test pilot. As the story develops the test pilot crashes in the desert one day and finds a little boy. The little lad asks the pilot to draw a sheep. But the man sketches out instead his original drawing. The little prince says, "I didn't ask you to draw and elephant in boa constrictor." The man's eyes light up ...

1200. The Day God Repented

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... quit and she replied, "I ain't been doing nothing and I am goin' to quit that too." (4) Repentance might mean getting rid of some bad habits. Certainly it would be in our best interest to do so. It is interesting that John Mahaffey, who won the Bob Hope Desert Classic in January, 1984, decided three years earlier to get rid of some of his bad habits in order to be a better golfer. He says that he quit drinking, smoking, and carousing and at thirty-five years of age began to feel better than he did at twenty ...

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