Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1276 to 1300 of 1967 results

1276. The Devil's Sermon

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When all about us is change, there are still some things that remain the same. In Indiana, a frustrated taxpayer recently noticed the following sign on a bureaucrat's desk in the county office building: "We Don't Make Change." We sure don't. We resist change or making changes, and the more set our routines of life become, the more we don't make change. I am finding in my own life, as I get older, that it is easier to get in the habit of defending positions rather than making discoveries. Sigmund Freud ...

1277. The Guest List

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I remember an old Family Circus cartoon, Dolly was sitting with her baby brother on her lap and was telling him the story of Christmas. It was something like this: "Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by 8 tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary. Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes. The 3 wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree. In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman ...

1278. Who Do You Put On?

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A little young girl walked into the bathroom one day while Mom was putting on make-up and announced, "I'm going to look just like you mommy!" "Maybe, when you grow up," Mom told her. "No mommy, tomorrow. I just put on that 'Oil of Old Lady' you always use." (1) It's pretty obvious that we all get up in the morning, get cleaned up and put on clothes. On Sundays, out of reverence for God, we try to dress in our best. When we go tot work, we dress for success. If we're single going out on a date or even ...

1279. A Gallery of Mirrors

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Somewhere I read of an art show that featured a unique introduction. The entry area of the gallery featured what appeared at first to be four paintings. Actually the paintings were on mirrors and as you looked at each of them, it was your mirrored image that became dominant. It was an imaginative statement about the nature of art. It was an invitation to enter the paintings —— not to remain aloof to an indifferent viewer, but to identify. I want us to look at our scripture lesson today as a gallery of ...

1280. Crucified with Christ

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some verses in the Bible are like beacons in the sea of scripture – buoys that mark the channel of God’s activity in history, God’s intervention in our lives, God’s relationship to persons. Genesis 1: 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Psalm 8: 4-5: “When I look at the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of Man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him a little less than ...

1281. When It's Time For Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

A Gallup Poll asked Americans what they try to do when they are wronged? Forty-eight percent said they try to forgive; eight percent said they try to get even. In our minds at least, forgiveness outdoes revenge six to one. Forgiveness—what a wonderful idea! Forgiveness is the oil that lubricates the human machine. Without it, all of life becomes hot and squeaky. Or as my favorite author on the subject Lewis Smedes says, “God has invented forgiveness as a remedy to the past that even He could not change.” ...

1282. Finding Answers to Family Feuds

Genesis 25: 21-34

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

To live above with those we love, Well, that will be glory. To live below with those we know, Well, that’s another story. Family feuds. I would like to chat with you a few moments about that today. According to a survey done by Randy Carlson about eight years ago, 91% of American adults long to improve their relationships with their adult siblings. The pains of family life continue to haunt us, often for an entire lifetime. One of the most compelling stories of the Bible is the struggle between two ...

1283. Jesus’ 10 Commandments

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

From Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” to The Nightmare on Elm Street’s “Freddy;” from Friday the Thirteenth’s “Jason” to Stephanie Meier’s vampire “Voltaire”, we are always creating new monsters. Why are we constantly on the lookout for bigger, scarier “bumps in the night?” Why do we keep making up monsters that are so elaborate and extraordinary, so super-powered and immortal? Maybe we need our monsters to be as unlike ourselves as possible so that we can ignore the presence of the real monsters that possess ...

1284. When God Speaks

Psalm 29:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

It was a young adult Sunday school party back in the days when I could still be considered a young adult. It was supposed to be a pool party, but as people gathered, it started to rain. As a pastor, I don't like it to rain on people's parties. I always get the blame. “Howard,” people say, “Can't you do something about the weather?" Normally I reply, “I am in sales not management." That day my explanation gave no satisfaction. So in an act of desperation I stepped up on a picnic table, stretched my hands to ...

1285. Something to Brag About

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this Independence Day, 2010. Today we celebrate the birth of our democracy. I believe it was comedian Johnny Carson who defined democracy like this: “Unlike communism, democracy does not mean having just one ineffective political party; it means having two ineffective political parties. Democracy is welcoming people from other lands, and giving them something to hold onto usually a mop or a leaf blower. And, democracy means that with proper timing and scrupulous bookkeeping, anyone can die owing ...

1286. Greed or the Gospel?

Acts 8:9-13, 18-24

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

How do you spell success? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Success is to laugh often and much, to win the respect of people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, and to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is success." Simon the Magician thought success was to get people’s attention, win their admiration, and ...

1287. Marketing or Disciplemaking?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

I don't remember my first experience at worship. I was carried there as an infant in my mother's arms. I can almost count on one hand the number of weeks in my 59 years of life that I have not been somewhere in a worship service to praise and thank God. Worship is a part of my DNA. It's just deep within my soul. It was the Westminster Catechism that stated years ago, the chief purpose of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We were not created to please ourselves. We were made to please God. I ...

1288. I Don't Do Windows

Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28

Sermon

Tony Everett

For months, members of the parish property team had been having difficulty finding volunteers to clean the many windows of the new education building. No one signed up to do this when the annual "time and talent" sheets were distributed the previous fall. No one responded to the requests for volunteers placed in bulletins and newsletters. No one answered their "fuss and beg" pleas for help during Sunday morning announcements. Finally, committee members decided to make individual and personal pleas to ...

1289. How, Then, Shall We Live?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

I saw on America's Funniest Videos recently a little girl, about five or six years old, in a soft, sweet voice telling her mother how pretty she is. With childlike innocence, she follows the compliment in the same soothing voice by adding, "but you're fat." The mother looks a little surprised and hurt at that remark. The little girl reads her mother's body language and quickly qualifies the remark by saying, "But you're not too fat." Our children in their honesty do have a way of setting us straight, don't ...

1290. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

John Smylie

Mark doesn't waste any time getting us involved in the beginning of our Lord's ministry. In these few verses, we experience Jesus baptized by John in the River Jordan, followed by the Holy Spirit descending upon him. Immediately after, a voice from heaven proclaimed pleasure in Jesus. Moments later, Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness where we learn he is to be tempted by Satan. And by verse 14 we discover that Jesus is back in the Galilee region preaching, "The kingdom of God has come near ...

1291. Speaking Peace

John 20:19-31

Sermon

John Smylie

On the evening of that day, that first Easter Day, the disciples were gathered together, but as yet none of them had seen their risen Lord. There they were behind locked doors. We can begin to imagine the thoughts they held within their minds, we can almost sense and feel the depth of their fears, and we can listen for their quiet conversation among themselves as they questioned everything. There in the middle of the room were the deepest feelings of guilt because they had scattered and abandoned their ...

1292. Doing Your Own Thing

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever had the urge to simply do your own thing without any regard to how the world may view your actions? If you have ever had that urge, you would not be the first to feel that longing . . . or to act on it. In the late 1960s, a group of hippies remember them? living in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco decided that personal hygiene taking baths and showers and washing your hair, etc. was a middle class hang up they could do without. So, they quit indulging in these bourgeois activities ...

1293. The Ashes of Our Lives

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

When she was a teenager, Cindy worked for her father. She and her sister and three other girls were hookers. Don't get excited now. They were paid to put a fishing hook and red flipper on a split ring, then attach it to fishing lure. She was often teased about her after school job, as well as about the job her father had. It wasn't until she was a freshman in college that she learned to say that her father was a fishing lure manufacturer instead of saying, "My dad makes the Swedish Pimple." Cindy was proud ...

1294. The Golf Shot That Destroyed an Airforce

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl had been naughty, so she was sent to her room for a quiet time. Afterward, all smiles, she returned to her family, saying, “I prayed to God.” “That’s good,” said her mother. “Did you pray that God would help you be a good girl?” “No,” she replied. “I prayed that God would help you put up with me.” Many of us are like that little girl. We do wrong, but rather than repenting of our sins, we pray that God will put up with us. And why not? It’s our nature to sin; it’s God’s nature to forgive. ...

1295. John 12:1-8

John 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Police investigators know that sometimes there is such a thing as too many witnesses. If a dozen different people witness an incident, chances are there are going to be a dozen different versions of just what happened. Some basic tenants might remain constant. But the details, discerned by a dozen separate pairs of eyes, will be perceived differently. This week’s gospel text tells of Jesus being anointed. It is a scene that is described in all four gospels, yet each rendition has a separate set of details ...

1296. Why He Did It

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

How do you react when you anticipate that something negative is going to happen to you? Do you get nervous, do your palms get sweaty, do you have trouble falling asleep, lose your appetite, perhaps? Do you feel like your whole world is turned inside out? Well, I guess it depends on how negative the event is that you are anticipating. One young woman in the South tells about her teen years. She had a very strict Dad who was very loving, but did not mind disciplining his children with corporal punishment. ...

1297. I'll Never Forget That Night

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Years ago, a band called Lobo sang about an international memorable event. Describing the impoverished plights of a boy from Chicago’s racial ghetto and a girl living among India’s “Untouchables,” the singers went on to shake their heads in wonder that both, on a “July afternoon,” along with the entire population of planet earth, heard and saw Neil Armstrong “walk upon the moon.” Some incidents are so unusual or catastrophic or fraught with meaning that they cannot be forgotten, and all who were alive ...

1298. When You Drop the Ball, What Next?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are two things we absolutely crave in our lives: predictability and spontaneity. We crave the comfort of predictability. We work long and hard to grow life in a steady job, a certain career, a consistent source of income. We earn degrees, save money, buy insurance, invest for retirement. We have a home, a family, a schedule, which gives structure and meaning to our days and nights. We build our lives on the secure foundation of predictability. But conversely, we also crave spontaneity. We hunger for ...

1299. No Turning Back

John 6:60-71

Sermon

King Duncan

Former heavyweight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma. Tillis fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. A deeply religious man, Tillis is remembered as the first boxer ever to make Mike Tyson go the distance in the heavyweight division. Tillis had his disappointments as a boxer, but evidently they didn’t rob him of his sense of humor. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. “I got off the bus,” he says, “with two cardboard suitcases under my arms ...

1300. An Extraordinary Wedding Gift

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

During a wedding rehearsal, the groom approached the priest with an unusual offer. “Look, I’ll give you $100 if you’ll change the wedding vows. When you get to the part where I’m to promise to ‘love, honor, and obey’ and ‘forsaking all others, be faithful to her forever,’ I’d appreciate it if you’d just leave that part out.” He slipped the priest the cash and walked away. The wedding day arrived. When it came time for the groom’s vows, the priest looked the young man in the eye and said, “Will you promise ...

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