Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1226 to 1250 of 4508 results

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A well behaved pet such as a dog or parakeet and his owner, or the use of an imaginary pet. Children love to use their imaginations and the lesson might be done better this way because of the problems of having a pet in the chancel. The story is written with the use of the imagination Good morning, boys and girls, and good morning to you, Sport. I forgot to tell you, boys and girls, that ...

1227. Having Or Doing?

Children's Sermon

Marti Kramer Suddarth

Object: Card stock printed with scripture reference and verses, with the words, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” underlined Have you ever asked someone who is the age of your grandparents or great-grandparents what life was like when he or she was a child? If you have, then maybe you noticed that the person talked more about the things he did or the people he spent time...

1228. The Treasure Principles

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

The story is told of a man who, while walking on a beach, found a used magic lamp. He rubbed the lamp and the genie appeared, inviting him to make a wish. The man pondered for a moment and then had a great idea. He requested a copy of the stock page from the local newspaper, dated exactly one year into the future. With a puff of smoke, the genie disappeared and in his place was a copy of the stock...

1229. A Kingdom Investment Policy

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

It is by chance that Damian discovers a huge bag of money near his home. It is just days before British pounds are converted to Euros and the old money is worthless. In the scenes that follow, Damian and his brother spend money as fast as they can, with Damian giving to the poor. Their father eventually discovers their secret, and Damian learns that the money was stolen. This is the moral dilemma ...

1230. Regis and Jesus

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Have you been caught up in the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" frenzy? For one-million dollars, what insect got into the works of the world's first computer causing it to short out and in the process started use of the phrase "computer bug?" A) Moth, B) Roach, C) Fly, D) Japanese Beetle. Dee-doo-dee-doo, dee-doo-dee-doo. A 25-year-old California man sat in the "hot seat" on Thursday night and agon...

1231. Who Wants To Be a Millionaire

Sermon

James Merritt

When it comes to millionaires, America has a monopoly. We have more millionaires than anyone else in the world; we have more people who want to be millionaires than anyone else in the world; and we have more people who can become millionaires than anyone else in the world. Recently USA Today ran a cover story entitled, "Everyone Wants a Shot at Being a Millionaire." The story begins this way: We ...

1232. What Is Truly Important

Sermon

David E. Leininger

What is truly important? That is a question we all have to deal with at some point or points in our lives. Over these past several weeks, more than a few folks in this part of the country have confronted it. In the face of the oncoming fury of one hurricane after another, evacuations from coastal communities, decisions come. On TV the other night, there was an interview with a husband and wife who...

1233. Epiphany 8, Ordinary Time 8

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

Gathering Litany Leader: Light in the darkness; All: song in the silence; Leader: come, reign among us, All: and feed us with your love. Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen. Prayer Of The Day Leader: Almighty and ever-living God, your compassion brings comfort to the suffering and hope to the weary. Shine your light upon our darkness, that we wil...

1234. Parable of the Rich Man's Wife

Illustration

Staff

Two couples stood at the altar in a double wedding ceremony. Capable, hopeful, ambitious young people they entered the ways of wedded bliss with faith and confidence. As time wrote its story the one young man was exceedingly successful in business and year by year his income grew larger. The other young man was successful, but his work of service never made him rich in income. Strangely as the ...

1235. With God’s Help

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

A pastor was visiting with a church member one day. They sat together on the front porch of the man's home on a hot July afternoon. He was a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for over five years. That day he talked of his past of spending more adult years drunk than sober, of times when but for the grace of God he should have been killed in a fight or automobile accident, of the patience of ...

1236. The Helpful Blacksmith

Illustration

Mike Ripski

Once upon a time there was a blacksmith who worked very hard at his trade. It came time for him to die and go to heaven. God sent an angel to get him. But he refused to go. He said, "My neighbors are now planting and sowing their crops, and I'm the only blacksmith in town. If something happens to their equipment, it'll need to be fixed, and if I'm not here to do it, they won't be able to get their...

1237. I’ll Go with You

Illustration

Mark Daniels

During the Holocaust, when the Nazis put people in concentration camps, they would work the imprisoned until they could no longer do anything. Then, they would execute them. One family was composed of a father, a mother, and their two children, one of whom suffered from a physical disability. Every day, the mother and two children were taken to one work site and the father was shipped to another. ...

1238. God’s Days

Illustration

Robert Burdette

Robert Burdette wrote this piece called God's Days: There are two days in the week upon which and about which I never worry; two carefree days kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday. Yesterday, with its cares and frets and pains and aches, all its faults, its mistakes and blunders, has passed forever beyond my recall. It was mine; it is God's. The other day...

1239. Where Your Heart Lies

Illustration

Staff

The body of David Livingstone was buried in England where he was born, but his heart was buried in the Africa he loved. At the foot of a tall tree in a small African village, the natives dug a hole and placed into it the heart of this man whom they loved and respected. If your heart were to be buried in the place you loved most during life, where would it be? In your pocketbook? Down at the office...

1240. Something Which Time Cannot Efface

Illustration

Brett Blair

Life is a matter of building. Each of us has the opportunity to build something: a secure family, a good reputation, a career, a relationship to God. But some of those things can disappear almost overnight due to financial losses, natural disasters and other unforeseen difficulties. What are we to do? Daniel Webster offered excellent advice, saying, "If we work on marble it will perish. If we wor...

1241. Sending It on Ahead

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Sigmund Freud's favorite story was about the sailor shipwrecked on one of the South Sea islands. He was seized by the natives, hoisted to their shoulders, carried to the village, and set on a rude throne. Little by little, he learned that it was their custom once each year to make some man a king, king for a year. He liked it until he began to wonder what happened to all the former kings. Soon he ...

1242. The Materials You Send Up

Illustration

Michael P. Green

There is a story of a wealthy woman who, when she reached heaven, was conducted to a very plain house. She objected. “Well,” she was told, “that is the dwelling-place prepared for you.” “Whose is that fine mansion across the way?” she asked. Her guide replied, “It belongs to your gardener.” “How is it that he has a house so much better than mine?” “The houses here are prepared from the materia...

1243. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

Illustration

King Duncan

A few years back psychologist Richard Carlson wrote a best-selling book titled, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. Carlson, who died ironically of a heart attack at age 45, got the idea for his book one day while driving his six-year-old daughter home from school. They got caught in rush hour traffic. They spent 40 minutes or so creeping along the freeway. As they sat in their car, Carlson's daughter lo...

1244. Hidden Treasure

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

Purpose: True life with God is like a great treasure. Materials: A small chest or fancy box, and a bag of coins or play jewelry. Lesson: Most boys and girls have imaginary adventures. Perhaps you have imagined that you were an explorer hunting for a lost treasure. How exciting it would be to dig up a container like this and open it and find a bag of money or jewels in it. Jesus said that the Ki...

1245. Don't Just Stand There! - Get Involved!

Sermon

Dr. John Thompson Peters

G.K. Chesterton one time said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. Rather it has been found difficult and not tried." It would seem strange that after almost two thousand years of history there should still be confusion about the real nature of the Christian religion, and yet there can be no question but that it is widely misunderstood and hence misinterpreted. Some men reduce Chri...

1246. Is The Social Gospel Out Of Date?

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

Is the social gospel out of date? That, obviously, is a loaded question. In fact, it is double-barreled. First, it is charged with combustible emotionalism that is liable to explode whenever the trigger-term "social" is used. To the fear-conditioned conservative, "social" smacks of socialism. And what could be more dangerous than communism which, they’ve carefully taught, is nothing but socialism ...

1247. Matthew 6: 25-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week’s gospel reading includes texts from the third major section of the Sermon on the Mount. The organization of this entire unit (6:19-7:12) has been likened to that of the wisdom books (Proverbs, Sirach) wherein various short units are put together according to like subjects. Thus while this third unit combines forms (such as commands and illustrations) and a coherent summary (7:12), there...

1248. Blessed Assurance

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Have you heard me tell this story? A church was conducting its annual pledge drive with an every-member-canvas. Members visited other members to ask for their financial commitments. A visitor went to the home of one of the church’s wealthiest members. The member said to the visitor, “I guess you think that I ought to be able to give $50,000 to the church, because I’m a successful businessman. You...

1249. Matthew 6:25-33

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Jesus’ audience for these words was not any well-heeled, well-educated, specialized groups of listeners. Jesus was a simple, open-air preacher, speaking to a simple gathering of small town working people. Actually a lot of his listeners probably were not currently working — making them truly “the poor,” those who had not been picked to work as day laborers on that day. It is easy to preach to a we...

1250. Opening and Closing Doors

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Many years ago, Dr. James Fisher, a practicing psychiatrist, wrote a very entertaining little book entitled A FEW BUTTONS MISSING . It was a light treatment of some of his experiences in psychiatric practice. However, near the end of the book, Dr. Fisher became very serious. This is what he said. “What was needed, I felt sure, was some new and enlightened recipe for living a sane and satisfying li...

Showing 1226 to 1250 of 4508 results