Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1201 to 1225 of 3160 results

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... many ways many times, and I have paid no attention to him, and now I am expecting him to pay attention to me. I could have done many wonderful things for him in the world, but I haven’t done them, and now I am asking him to do all sorts of wonderful things for me. And, really, I can’t blame him if he says, "Why should I?" But there is another Person in this drama. Jesus is sitting at the Father’s right hand on the throne. And he hears me pray - in his name and for his sake ...

1202. Trumpets in Church on Easter, The Very Idea!

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... seem much else to do on a morning like this, and so you came to church. Or maybe you can’t really call yourself religious or a good member of the church, but you like to keep some connection, and a once a year visit to the church seems to sort of fill the bill in that regard. And to all of this I say: "Bunk! Rubbish! Unmitigated balderdash! I don’t believe it for a moment." Just twenty-six years ago this Easter, I had all of this nonsense debunked for me. It was Easter Sunday. Two days before, we ...

1203. When Your Sister or Brother Stumbles

2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... I know for certain that she cheats on her husband. What do you have to say about this?" Ann Landers replied, "I'd say she was a born-again Christian with birth defects." The fact of the matter is that all of us have birth defects of one sort or another. That is, none of us Christians ceases to be a sinner. We are forgiven sinners, sinners under reconstruction. Christ living in us makes us more sin-resistant, but none of us bats 1000 in terms of righteous living. We must watch ourselves closely lest we fall ...

1204. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... who along with his wife returned to his high school for his 10th year reunion? There he encountered his old high school flame. Right away he noticed that her current appearance did not compare well with his memories of her. The years had been tough on her. He sort of clutched his wife's hand a little tighter, so happy that he had ended up with her instead of the old flame. But he remembered many occasions ten years earlier when he had prayed fervently, "Lord, I ask only one thing of you...help me win the ...

1205. Laying Hold On God's Willingness

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... revealed that 75 percent of Americans pray daily and that 95 percent of them report having had prayers answered. But another Gallup poll showed that in a typical day the average American watches TV 25 times longer than he or she prays. Many people have all sorts of distorted views about prayer. One child defined prayer as "messages sent up at night and on Sunday when the rates are cheaper." The Evil One (the devil or Satan) is always at work persuading us that prayer is not effective or subtly tempting us ...

1206. Decaffeinated Christianity

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... who loves this church deeply. She leveled the indictment against us: "We are bound by the demons of money, property, and prestige. Does anyone remember Jesus' words of validation for the poor widow who gave all she had?" Some people want a church that is sort of a Sunday civic club that never makes you sell light bulbs or pancakes, one that requires no dues but looks good on your resume. But that kind of church is counterfeit. Sacrifice is an essential characteristic of Jesus' people. Christ Church has a ...

1207. Christ Shall Return

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... answers are given in scripture. First, be pure and holy. In I John 3:3 we read, "Everyone who has this hope before him purifies himself, as Christ is pure." In today's text we read, "since the whole universe is to break up in this way, think what sort of people you ought to be, what devout and dedicated lives you should live!" A second way to prepare for Christ's return is to be watchful. This means to believe in, desire, and anticipate Christ's return. Jesus said, "...you also must be ready, for the Son of ...

1208. "Almost" Is A Sad Word

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Master, he almost became a disciple. The Rich Young Ruler was so much like us. He was not opposed to God. On the contrary, he was very religious. But his real security was posited in his stocks, bonds, and real estate. God was an "add-on" for him, sort of an eternal life insurance policy, a hedge against disaster, a way of manipulating the forces that money and insurance can't cover. God was a comfort for him, but not his center; God was a mentor, but not the Master; God was a solace, but not the sovereign ...

1209. The Master at Prayer

Luke 22:39-46

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , I'd hate to be your enemy." We can say all that and more and God will not punch us out. He is big enough to take it and keep on loving us. A young man went to his pastor one day to talk about his prayer life which was sort of dry and deficient. The pastor asked him to tell a little about himself. His third or fourth sentence began this way: My dad died when I was 10." The pastor stopped him and said, "Tell me about that. What was it like to lose a father at that age ...

1210. Where Are You?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... them? Have you disobeyed me and eaten of the forbidden fruit?" Adam now has a chance to fall on his knees and confess; but no, the forbidden fruit has distorted his spiritual bearings. He says, "The woman whom you gave to me, she gave me that fruit and I just sort of had to eat it." It's the woman's fault. Everybody needs a spouse because one can't blame everything on the government. Notice also that Adam has the gall to blame God too. "Lord, you're the one who created Eve and gave her to me. So, it ...

1211. A Gospel that Fills the Glove

Sermon

James Bjorge

... go unused is the worst hunger of all..." While a man is wrestling and struggling in one of these need compartments, a slogan such as "Jesus Saves"; "Repent or Perish"; "Prepare to Meet Your God" means nothing to him. They are merely advertisements which sort of irk him. Yet oftentimes our witnessing in the church takes on this superficial strategy. We are not meeting man where he is in his conscious needs. As Jesus moved amongst men, he asked them where they hurt. Some had physical handicaps; their survival ...

1212. God Stood Up

Sermon

James Bjorge

... their preconceived description and he answers some of the questions put to him in such revolutionary fashion. They think he must surely be kidding. Maybe this Christmas season we had better take a better look at this Jesus who claimed to be God. The first thing that sort of shakes us up is that this Jesus was very human. God really became man. To some this is a take-it or leave-it kind of concept. In the early church it was very serious business. In fact, there was a group of folks who practically denied ...

1213. Solomon and the Outline for Renewal

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

Sermon

Don Yocom

... of you that don’t know anything don’t have to do anything." It is easy to observe that the next time these soldiers were lined up, they were all quite humble AND IGNORANT! Don’t misunderstand me. I do not mean humility that is a passive sort of weakness either, but rather keeping our lives in control so that the greatest power in the world can work through us. We cannot have renewal until we are humble and admit our need. "If my people shall pray." There are people who object to the word "confession ...

1214. The Way I See It

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

... Comptons from next door. Just hanging on his words! I KNOW that’s another new suit he has on! The way Father is spending money on that boy is ridiculous. Well, all those fine clothes don’t hide the lines on his face. Two years ago his face looked YOUNG. Sort of innocent. Now? Now, it looks LIVED-IN. And the living’s been bad. Has Father said anything? Asked any questions? No, not one word. And Mother acts as if he’s the most wonderful thing she’s ever seen. Never asks why he didn’t write or call ...

1215. Those Bothersome Do’s and Don’ts

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

... a pretty awful thing. It gets in every place, doesn’t it? VOICE: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, strength and mind. And love others as much as you love your own selves. MALE 4: [gives a whistle] Say, that’s pretty heavy. FEMALE 4: Sort of says it all, doesn’t it? FEMALE 2: [thinking] That means - if you love God that much, you won’t do ANYTHING against Him. FEMALE 3: And if you love people that much - then you can’t do anything against THEM. Like all those DON’TS. MALE 3: I ...

1216. Lying Makes It Easy

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

... came up. I tried to get you ... You were out? That’s why, then. What about tomorrow at seven? ... Good! I’ll not let anything interfere this time ... Sure will. ‘Bye now. [hangs up, returns to chair] That was close. Jordan isn’t the sort of man to find out you just forgot him! [Phone rings again. This time ELISE is near enough to beat her MOTHER.] ELISE: Hello ... This is Elise ... [uncomfortably] Oh - yes, Sandra got here okay ... [improvising] Well, she - she’s in the tub, Mrs. Wilkerson ...

1217. Last Ditch Stand

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

... ’t want to ride again! NANCY: [pityingly] Oh, Mother! HELEN: Would either of you care for coffee or a coke? ROD: No, thank you, Mrs. Whitney. NANCY: We stopped for a malt at the Peppermint Stick. Ginger was there with a new boy. Tall and sort of dark, dreamy eyes. ROD: Who? Ginger? NANCY: Oh, Rod! [goes to her father, sits and gives his arm an affectionate squeeze] Daddy, you’re awfully quiet. A hard day? JOHN: [he has been looking at Rod’s cigarette] Rodney! Put out that cigarette! NANCY: [surprised ...

1218. MR. CAIN

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

... friends. Little Miss Flora from New Orleans. She quakes, she shakes, she’ll set your heart on fire. JAREL I had a stretch of bad luck. CAIN So I said to the man in charge, "Look here, fella, business is business, but we’ve got folks here who figure this sort of thing is bad for the kids." JAREL They could see the same thing in a biology book. CAIN But in the books it don’t shake. JAREL I had you figured out all the time. You weren’t like the rest of them. CAIN I was a prince. JAREL ...

1219. THE JOURNEY

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

... manufacture them. GRACE But just the same, you must know something about your brother. Sometimes lately I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night, thinking I’m in love with him. Or with the dreams I’ve just had of him. At least there’s some sort of caring, even if it’s only on my side. CAIN It’s a phase, that’s what it is. (Growing softer now; cozy; speaking gently to GRACE) They’re all phases of growing up, getting maturity. And then, when you come down the home stretch, when you’ve ...

1220. SURVIVAL IN THE RAT RACE

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... all about it. Christ can look at the foibles, the follies, the contradictions, the incongruities, the conflicts of our rat race and see that they are funny. The Bible tells us: "He who sits in the heavens laughs." He LAUGHS at you! He holds you in derision for this sort of thing. Christ could laugh at the man who wanted to take the splinter out of his brother’s eye, while he had a beam sticking out of his own eye. The reason we are amused by the Exedrin commercials is that they point out how silly and ...

1221. A Time for Tears

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... and retorted: "Pastor, you don’t seem to understand. The girl that I love is dead! HOW CAN EVERYTHING BE ALL RIGHT WITH HER DEAD? She’s DEAD! Pastor, do you understand that?" He was right, you know, and I never tried to use that sort of foolishness on anyone else again. You start here, with the honest admission of the fact. Other approaches are superficial - the Cosmetic Approach that pretends that death just hasn’t occurred, the Stoic Approach that admits blatantly that death has occurred but it’s ...

1222. Perhaps Next Summer...

Acts 24:1-27

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... those sentiments on tombstones. We’re going to volunteer to do some really worthwhile work for the church - perhaps next summer. But somehow we always get past the age or the convenient season when that can be done. In our day we’re confronted by a destructive sort of illusion. In this country in 1800, life expectancy was 35 years. Indeed, as late as 1890, one could only expect to live for 43 years. But now, with the help of an easier life and modern medicine, we can expect to live well over 65 years ...

1223. Our Father Who Art on Earth

Proverbs 1:8-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... of the same thing he is doing. I knew a man who had to stand by helplessly. He could do nothing. He could say nothing while his daughter engaged in an odious sexual affair. He could say nothing because he knew that he was guilty of the same sort of thing. Fourthly, our children also hear us by the pursuit of an ideal. Many fathers are greatly disappointed when their sons show no inclination for following in their own vocation. I know that it was my father who most persuaded me to answer my calling. Never ...

1224. Chapter VI

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

... blame for what had happened. Both of them had been carried by, born to, and cared for, by her. They were hers, and she loved each of them. She had given them life and now that life was gone, and because it was, her heart was nearly broken. The same sort of ache is felt by the heart of God, only magnified many times, as he watches those to whom he gave life, take that life from one another. And it was as he watched that hellish acting out of man’s inhumanity to man, that God made a move to ...

1225. Chapter IX

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

... of the easiest ways to get at someone you want to hurt is to set him up before other people in the worst light you can. By the flick of a tongue you can make another appear to be an undesirable, untrustworthy, useless cad, who is at fault for all sorts of things, and is one for whom everyone else should watch out. The great potency of such a lie is that it rarely gives a person a chance to defend himself against it. Lies, or "information," told about people get passed on in ways that are hard to trace down ...

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