Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1176 to 1200 of 1533 results

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

There is an old saying that “To the victor belongs the spoils.” Nowhere is that more evident than the period following a presidential election. That is the time when the new president-elect begins to divvy up the various cabinet positions and political plums and reward those who helped him get to that exalted position. I.SOMETHING LIKE THAT FORMS THE BACKGROUND FOR TODAY’S SCRIPTURE LESSON. Jesus had just told the twelve that the road they are traveling will ultimately end in his trial, torture, and death ...

1177. The Lord's Prayer: Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Have you ever noticed that the great documents like this perfect pattern prayer, the Apostles'' Creed, the Nicene Creed, doctrinal statements of various church traditions, all affirm our need for forgiveness and God providing the means and methods by which we are forgiven? As we continue in our series on The Lord''s Prayer, I want to share with you why I believe this is the hardest petition for any of us to fulfill. To put it simply, it is difficult. To demonstrate how difficult it is to forgive, as soon ...

1178. Love: The Greatest Commandment and the Greatest Challenge

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I believe we would all agree that Christianity is about the gift of God''s love and of God''s expectation of us to be loving. The key word in Christianity is love. Christianity is founded on the interconnectedness of God''s love and our response to the gift of God''s love, and how we then share what we have experienced with others. Perhaps some of us remember the scene in the marvelous movie, "Alice in Wonderland," when Alice states, "A word means what I want it to mean." This is exactly the great ...

1179. The Power of a God-Shaped Attitude

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I have a potential gift for you this morning. There are two marvelous readings shared from the sacred scriptures, and the truth they both profess is the POWER OF A GOD-SHAPED ATTITUDE! Do you remember the lyrics we learned as children which went like this: "Pussycat, Pussycat, where have you been? I''ve been to London to see the queen. Pussycat, Pussycat, what saw you there? I saw a wee mouse under her chair." Now London is a splendid and enchanting place to visit. Imagine a city which includes places like ...

1180. The Measure of Love

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

The historian, Will Durant, in his landmark series titled, THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION, has a volume called, "Caesar and Christ." Although Will Durant was not a Christian believer, he writes with great insight this about our Lord''s Ministry: "The revolution he sought was a far deeper one, without which reforms could only be superficial and transitory. If he could cleanse the human heart of selfish desires, cruelty, and lust, utopia would come of itself, and all those institutions that rise out of human ...

1181. A Friend in High Places

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Noblett

What we want to talk about is not, I am extremely sure, a theme that dominated your breakfast conversation this morning. It is not, I am equally confident, a theme that came up in any church conversation around here in the last little while. It is not even, I am still confident, something that you have ever thought much about at all. And I am sure it is not something you have heard homiletically addressed more than once, if at all. I am talking about the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. If by chance ...

1182. Bearing the Cross

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to pose a situation for you. It is a situation that the esteemed writer Frederick Buechner had to confront. He writes about it in his book, The Sacred Journey. Ask yourself how you would have handled the same situation. Buechner had been looking forward to an evening with his mother. They didn’t get to see each other as much as they wanted, so when she invited him over for a nice meal, he gladly accepted. As he and his mother sat down to eat, he received an urgent call. A colleague needed Buechner’s ...

1183. Easy to Say, Hard to Do

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

"Love is a many splendored thing...." Or so we heard Don Cornwall and the Four Aces sing time and again. Of course you or I might have other words to describe love, depending on our situation. Love. "I love you." "I love to play golf." "I just love pistachio lush!" "It's tough to love some people." "Jesus loves me, this I know." Love. What can be said about love that has not already been said? The writer of the first letter of John obviously thought deeply about love and did his best to write about it. ...

1184. Grace in the Midst of Suffering

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

For several years an earnest and energetic woman has been attempting to make August 8 a national holiday in the United States. She'd like to call it, "National Admit You're Happy Day." She has canvassed the governors of all fifty states, personally requesting their support. At least fifteen governors have responded positively. A good many others have been less happy with the idea -- including George Pataki, the governor of New York, who has said, "The state of New York has no official position on happiness ...

1185. Grace in the Midst of Unanswered Prayer

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

No one ever really prepares you for your first theological bull session. Usually it arrives without fanfare or advance warning. Usually it happens long before you enter the relative clear-headedness of your adult years, or before you take that philosophy course in college. Usually it happens when you're a junior high school student, up late with friends at a sleepover, or camping out in somebody's backyard. There's just something about a smoky fire and charred food and stars out overhead that turns twelve- ...

1186. Going, Going, Gone

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

Recently, a friend of mine went to Wrigley Field in Chicago to watch an afternoon baseball game. For my friend, an afternoon at Wrigley Field is the ultimate in baseball. Those who attend an afternoon game at Wrigley Field still sing enthusiastically during the seventh inning stretch, "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." When a player drives a ball deep into left field towards the bleachers, and it looks as if the ball will make it into the bleachers, you will hear a familiar cry from the faithful at Wrigley, " ...

1187. Replacing a Fallen Comrade

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

A pastor was shaking hands with people as they left the church. A couple greeted him and said, "We listened carefully to every word you said." The pastor thanked the couple and said that he looked forward to seeing them next week. "Oh, we won't be here next week," the couple responded. "We're going to another church next week to get a second opinion." (1) It's not easy being a pastor. It's not easy being the church. The first Christian church had challenges right from its birth. In today's lesson Jesus had ...

1188. Pentecost: The Neglected Factor

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The book of the Bible most closed to modern Christians, I believe, is the book of Acts. It is actually the record of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of those who were left to carry on that first century after Jesus’ departure from the earthly scene. It is the account of the dynamic released in the world through men and women of prayer. Jesus promised, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you. And he told those scared followers to wait in Jerusalem for the promise. For John ...

1189. Don't Mess With Mr. In-between

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Harold and Maud is a fascinatingly different, but warmly convincing novel. It's by Colin Higgins, and is the story of two persons who not only affirm each other's existence, but also cherish the mutual meanings they share. A young man in his 20's and an enchanting woman in her 70's become real friends. Maud cares for Harold, not because he is useful or ornamental. He is neither. Not because of anything he does or has, but just because he is himself. Harold is thus better able, when he is with Maud, to ...

1190. Fair Weather Friends

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I'm not a music buff -- in fact, I take too little time to listen to music. But I like the Blues and I am fascinated with country music. One of my favorites in Blues is Mose Allison. He's a Mississippian who went to Ole Miss and is now singing all over the nation -- and I understand is becoming very popular abroad. In one of his songs he says, "I fooled around and got to feeling good, messed around and got humanized. You may think I'm ill advised, but I've gotten humanized." In another he says, "Well, I'm ...

1191. Clean Hands

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

A father opens the door to greet his daughter's date. There stands a young man, cap on backwards, jeans that sag practically to his knees, a diamond stud in his lower lip, and wearing a set of earphones. The young man grunts hello and comes in. The father is more than a little taken back. He goes upstairs where his daughter is putting the finishing touches to her make-up. "I don't think you should go out with this boy," says Dad. "He doesn't look like a nice person." The daughter is shocked. "Daddy," she ...

1192. Making Your Days Count

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

In Psalm 90:12, we are counseled to "number our days." If you were to do that, number your days, you would come up with a number somewhere around 27,375. That's assuming you reach 75 years of age--which census statistics tell us is about the average life span now for both men and women--then you will live for 27,375 days. That sounds like a lot, but how quickly they pass. Our basic interest this day is not in counting our days, but in making our days count. And the way we make our days count is to ...

1193. Your Dreams Are Too Small

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

A very short boy wanted desperately to play basketball. He even told his Dad that he wanted to become a pro when he was older. Knowing that his son would never be able to play the game, the Dad asked the local coach if there was anything that he could recommend to make the boy taller. “You might take him down to the museum and put him on that old torture stretch rack,” the coach said. Several weeks later the coach asked the father if putting the boy on the stretch rack had helped. “Well, it didn’t make him ...

1194. Christmas and the New Family

John 1:1-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

When Wilbur and Orville Wright completed their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903, they sent home a succinct telegram. In minimum words it reported that their venture had succeeded, and concluded, "Home for Christmas." Whether they knew it or not, their achievement had ushered in a new age. Along with that, their "coming home" announcement might seem very mundane. But any of us who have longed to go home for Christmas will understand that the two subjects of the telegram ...

1195. The Privilege and the Price

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

From time to time Chris Rock is noted in the Georgetown Times because his mother lives nearby. In 1999 the sometimes funny and always foul-mouthed comedian was interviewed in Vibe magazine. As usual, what he said was intended to shock, but not the way you might expect. When asked, "Were you raised Christian?" Rock answered: “I wasn't raised anything, to tell you the truth. My grandfather was a preacher. He was the funniest guy. He used to curse a lot, run around, whatever. A bunch of deacons from his ...

1196. Get off the Throne and Learn Wisdom

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

A check-out clerk once wrote columnist Ann Landers a letter of complaint: she had seen shoppers with food stamps buy luxury items like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp. The angry woman went on to say that people on welfare who treat themselves to non-necessities were “lazy and wasteful." A few weeks later Lander's column was devoted entirely to people who responded to the grocery clerk with letters of their own. One woman wrote: “I didn't buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So ...

1197. The God Who Must Be Pursued

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Arnold Palmer once played a series of exhibition matches in Saudi Arabia. The king was so impressed that he proposed, in good Middle Eastern fashion, to honor his guest with a gift. Palmer resisted, "It really isn't necessary, Your Highness. I'm honored to have been invited." And, in good Middle Eastern fashion, his highness persisted, "I would be deeply upset," replied the king, "if you would not allow me to give you a gift." Palmer thought for a moment, "All right. How about a golf club? That would be a ...

1198. The New Covenant

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: The law of the Lord is perfect; it gives new strength. People: The commands of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it. Leader: The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy. People: The commands of the Lord are just and give understanding to the mind. All: Reverence for the Lord is good; it will continue forever. Collect Lord God Almighty, we are your people and your law is written on our hearts. You have forgiven our sins, and we come with ...

1199. A Place of Honor

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Edward Bowen tells about a minister in Scotland who was concerned that so many stray dogs were being put to sleep. So she invented a new breed of dog, complete with registration papers. She didn’t want any dogs tospend their lives being called mongrels. She determined that her puppies would be the first in a new breed, a breed she called the Newtonmore Haggishound. She now offers membership in that breed to other dogs. Apparently the only qualification to be a Newtonmore Haggishound is that you must be a ...

1200. Financial Freedom

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may have read a remarkable short story sometime during your school years by D. H. Lawrence titled, “The Rocking‑Horse Winner.” I wonder if you remember how the story begins? It is a haunting tale about a family living above its means. The mother is considered by friends and neighbors to be the perfect mother, in spite of the fact that deep down she knows she has difficulty loving her three children. It’s important to the husband to keep up the pretense of success--the large house, staffed with ...

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