Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1226 to 1250 of 2962 results

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... along, Charlie Brown?" He replied, "Well, I’m a lousy carpenter. I can’t nail straight. I can’t saw straight and I always split the wood...I’m nervous, I lack confidence, I’m stupid, I have poor taste and absolutely no sense of design..." And then in the last frame he concluded, "So, all things considered, it’s coming along OKAY." Poor Charlie Brown. The proverbial loser, continually dissatisfied with himself. The reason Charlie Brown is so popular is that many of us can see ourselves in him ...

1227. Where Have All The Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... the creation of 3 different heroesThe Lone Ranger, the Green Hornet, and King (the dog in "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"). Station manager George W. Trendle had suggested the main ideas for the creation of each hero, and he gave the following orders for designing the character of the Lone Ranger: "The Lone Ranger always uses perfect English, no accent. Don't ever cast aspersions at any race or religious group. Be fair. Make him serious... Remember, the Lone Ranger never shoots to kill. He is a sober-minded ...

1228. A Shocking Revelation

Revelation 1:9-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... it just a little bit further. Why did you always want to be an engineer? And then they’d talk about some childhood fascination they had with bridges or buildings. Or they’d tell him about the secret dream they kept hidden in their hearts, a dream to design the perfect model city, where people could really live in safety and experience community together. Why? he’d ask them again. What’s behind it all? What’s the driving force in your life? And in the end, he found it was always the same. The Great ...

1229. A Christmas To Remember

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... her. He named the baby Jesus, just as the angel told him. The first chapter of Matthew's gospel focuses on Joseph. The beginning verses establish that Joseph was from "the royal line of David, the son of Abraham." "Jesus can legitimately be designated the Son of David," writes the scholars, "because Joseph, son of David, obeys the instruction he receives from the angel of the Lord and gives Jesus his name." (7) Joseph was an ordinary man of extraordinary faith. Such people ” both men and women ” are ...

1230. Crossing The Desert Or Protecting Our Vehicle?

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... god." That’s evangelism at its best. I have been intrigued with a recent television commercial. The ad shows a conversation taking place between a spokesperson for the Mercedes Benz Company and an interviewer. They are talking about the design of the Mercedes Benz car. The Mercedes Benz spokesperson describes a safety feature on the Mercedes ” a crash absorbing mechanism. The interviewer states that many other models have almost the same safety feature. The Mercedes Benz spokesperson indicates that ...

1231. Like A Rock

Isaiah 44:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... you have a great belief in a great God. When your feet are firmly planted on the rock of faith, you can stand and not tremble. Christopher Wren, who rebuilt St. Paul’s Cathedral and much of London after the Great Fire of 1666, was invited to design a new town hall in Windsor. When he submitted his plans, a member of the corporation, or town council, insisted that the roof required better support and wanted extra pillars to be added. In vain did Wren, the greatest architect in the realm, argue that his ...

1232. Are You Dressed For The Banquet?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... seems quite harsh to us. Why would the king throw the man out like this. Wasn't he an invited guest? Could it be that the king felt this improperly dressed man did not take this accession seriously enough? Perhaps this part of the parable is designed to reinforce the idea that God's invitation really does matter. Perhaps you have been reading about the "politics of meaning" as espoused by our first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is a phrase coined by writer Michael Lerner. The politics of meaning is based ...

1233. Gaining A Gratitude Attitude

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... lady who came to her desk one day, obviously ecstatic. "Honey, I don't need those praying hands on my checks anymore," she said. "I ordered them while I was looking for a husband after my Albert died. Well, I found one, so I don't need that design now. Just get me some butterflies or flowers." (4) How often we encounter this approach to prayer. For some people prayer is simply a means of getting favors from God. They've missed the whole point of communication with God. Authentic prayer is born out of a deep ...

1234. Unlocking The Doors

John 20:19-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... He breathed on them saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Which brings us to the second thing that happens when we meet Christ: II. He Gives a Foundation that will not Crumble. Over 100 years ago, Japan asked the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design a hotel for Tokyo that would be capable of surviving an earthquake. When Wright visited Japan to inspect the site where the Imperial Hotel was to be built, he was appalled to find that the soil there was only about eight feet deep. Beneath that ...

1235. The Unexpected Jesus

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... time expected. Even his own family was embarrassed by him. And Jesus was a very complex man ” not the kind of person you can easily define. But one thing we know. Everything he did ” every lesson he taught ” every indignity that he suffered ” was designed to bring you and me home to God. 1. Bob Morley. AEROBICS FOR THE SPIRIT. (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1990) p. 110. 2. Michael Elliot. PARTNERS IN GRACE. (Cleveland OH: The Pilgrim Press, 1992) pp. 24-25. 3. Timothy George. "Sunday Dinner or Backdoor ...

1236. What Is True And Who Can You Trust?

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... would feel to live in a society where no one could be trusted. Truth is essential ” even when it hurts. In his book THE DIFFERENT DRUM, M. Scott Peck presents an interesting theory about relationships. He says God designed us to yearn for open, honest, authentic relationships ” "communal" relationships. But because we choose peacekeeping over truth-telling, we end up in "pseudocommunal" relationships instead. These are marriages, family relationships, or friendships that are strictly surface level. No ...

1237. Our Damascus Road Experience

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

King Duncan

... stoned Stephen to death. Perhaps that is why Saul became even more fierce in his determination to stamp out this new Christian sect. That's the way we sometimes respond to warning lights. We become defensive and we become more determined than ever to pursue our own stupid designs. But God had a message for Saul. God had a ministry for St. Paul. And God has a message and a ministry for each of us. God got Saul's attention. Is God trying to get your attention? Most of us won't have the same kind of experience ...

1238. Empowered

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... stop there. THEY WERE ALSO EMPOWERED BY THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH ONE ANOTHER. They ate together, they prayed together, they sang together, they had all things in common. They built each other up in the faith. That's the way the Christian community was designed to regenerate itself. We are to build one another up, encourage one another. There is power in such encouragement. A study was done by psychologist Dr. Henry H. Goddard, on energy levels in children. He used an instrument he called the "ergograph." How ...

1239. Change Is Possible

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... used keys are in the home row, and the right hand does more of the work (56 percent) than the left. Tests show that typists can greatly increase their speeds (up to five times) with no increase in errors. (2) Still, we labor on with a keyboard designed to be inefficient. Why? We don't like to change. In fact, some people are so rigid they cannot change even when the facts are in total opposition. Philip Holzman and George Klein conducted an interesting experiment. They showed subjects a set of two-inch and ...

1240. One In Christ

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

Dr. Ronald Love

... the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Years later Rosa Parks was asked why she would not stand when ordered. She responded it was because of her mother and her Christian upbringing. Rosa Parks declared, "I was brought up to believe in freedom and equality and that God designs all His children to be free." Bring up a child believing that, my friends, and he or she will never be satisfied with being second-class citizens. It's time for us to see people as Jesus sees them. Christ sees folks as they can be ...

1241. Pax Augusta, Pax Christi

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... off to battle in Spain with Julius Caesar. Caesar is so impressed by the young man that when Caesar is killed on the Ides of March, his Will declares the young Gaius Octavius to be his successor. Caesar was a god to the Roman people. So Gaius Octavius is designated the Son of God! And he's born to be king! The throne of the world belongs to him! But peace won't come easily. Octavius will march around the countryside for several years, before peace is declared! In 29 B.C. the doors on the Temple of Janus ...

1242. The Fourth King In The Christmas Story

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... the Innocents died for Christ without understanding what was happening to them. Hence, the prayer handed down through the centuries in the Anglican Church: "Receive . . . into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims; and by your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . ." Certainly a tragic ending to the Christmas story. Not only the loss of innocent life, but Mary and Joseph and their new baby boy fleeing ...

1243. Hard Choice

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... night suicidal Mel Trotter heard that there was a hope in Christ. He became a Christian and for the next 40 years served as superintendent of a rescue mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan. From this base he started 60 other gospel missions in U.S. cities, all designed to reach down-and-outers for Christ. He counseled thousands of would-be suicides, putting them on the road to happiness and Heaven. (7) Mel Trotter chose to turn from death to life. Our situation is not apt to be as desperate as Mel Trotter's but ...

1244. A Most Unlikely Evangelist

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

A Mercedes-Benz TV commercial shows one of their cars colliding with a concrete wall during a safety test. Someone then asks a Mercedes engineer why their company does not enforce their patent on their car's energy-absorbing car body. The Mercedes' design has been copied by almost every other car maker in the world in spite of the fact that they have an exclusive patent. The engineer replies in a clipped German accent, "Because in life, some things are just too important not to share." (1) Wow! What a ...

1245. Power Praying

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... hard, young fellow," he said. "Just relax. Take it easy. Let the club do the work. That's what golf's all about, you know." This wasn't the first time Speight had heard this. It was, however, the first time he was willing to listen. The club was designed to hit the ball, the other man told him. Richard was trying to move the ball with brute force. "I had been feeling totally responsible and totally inadequate at the same time," Speight admitted. He took the man's advice and let the club do the work and what ...

1246. A Niche For Every Itch

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... on America." At one time, Merrill Lynch had a TV ad that showed a herd of bulls running. Arnold Mitchell, the researcher who developed the theory that differentiates between belongers and achievers (among others), argued that this herd image was all wrong for an ad designed to attract wealthy investors. "A herd is a belonger symbol," he said. "Rich people with money don't want to think of themselves as one of a herd. They want to think of themselves as achievers." If you have seen recent Merrill Lynch ads ...

1247. The Greatest Temptation Of All

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... cross. And, friends, that is our greatest temptation as well. God has created us in God's own image. God has placed within us dreams and abilities. God has placed us in a world where certain jobs must be done if God's world is to function as it was designed. The saddest thing we can do - indeed, the greatest sin we can commit - is to squander our lives, to ignore that God-given potential that lies within each of us. We have been called to be co-creators with God. We have been called to be agents of God's ...

1248. The Truth About Miracles

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... it with the victims of hurricanes, or volcanoes or floods, when we compare it to the trials in Bosnia, or North Korea or Northern Ireland, then even the most theologically unsophisticated of us must realize the absurdity of our request. Miracles are not designed for the trivial, the impossible, the unnecessary. HAVING SAID THAT, HOWEVER, WE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MIRACLES DO OCCUR. Jesus resisted Mary's request at first, but he was a good son and he finally did acquiesce to her wishes. There were six stone ...

1249. Peace, Blessed Peace

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... back, "Well, I just thought I'd better notify the next of kin." We can relate to his feelings of frustration. In Rome stands the lovely Fountain of Rivers which was created by the sculptor Bernini. Bernini despised another artist named Borromini, the designer of the Church of St. Agnes, which, ironically stands opposite Bernini's fountain. To deliberately insult the artist whom he despised, Bernini carved one of the statues in the fountain group with a hand covering its eyes as though it could not stand ...

1250. Freedom Song

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... "bound for the Promised Land." It was a secret code many slaves used to signal that they were planning to leave. Harriet Tubman's escape that night was successful. She traveled mostly by night and hid in fields and barns during the day. There were designated stops along her multistate trek at the homes of those sympathetic to the cause of freedom. Her destination was the Northern states, or even Canada, where many escaped slaves made their homes. Her life depended on her every step. The fact that this lone ...

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