Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 5000 results

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... Two boys, ages 8 and 4, were discussing Adam and Eve. The 8-year-old asked: "How did Adam and Eve die?" And the 4-year-old said: "They ate bad fruit." Well, he's not far off the mark. Our first parents ate the forbidden fruit and every human being, save one, who has ever lived has made the same mistake. Mark Twain once said that Adam was only human--this explains it all. He did not want the fruit for the fruit's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent ...

1302. One Life To Live

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... One of those words would have to go. Dr. Scroggie handed her the piece of paper and told her to pray over her decision, then mark out one of those words. Either the "No" or the "Lord." Then, he stepped away and began praying for the young woman. Behind him, ... he heard her whispered prayer: "Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord." He turned and looked at the paper in her lap. She had marked out the word "No." (6) Dr. Scroggie's method may seem a little heavy-handed to many of us, but it points to a very ...

1303. God, The Promise Keeper

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... came bringing grace and hope. John's preaching was based on the law, and by those standards everyone was a failure. Christ's teachings were based on God's love and on love's standards, teaching that we are all accepted by God. The coming of the Christ child marked a new beginning for humankind. That is why we call the book that describes this new approach to life the New Testament. It was a new beginning for people, and it is a new beginning for each person who opens his heart or her heart to the love of ...

1304. Where Heaven And Earth Meet

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... have ever imagined. He was scared and grateful and awe-struck all at once, and he did the only thing he knew to do for such a momentous occasion: he built a pillar to mark the spot. This dream marked a turning point for Jacob the striver, the supplanter. Though he still is a deal-maker--even with God--this vision marked a new understanding for Jacob of who he was and what was expected of him. Until now, he had used aggression and deception to steal away his brother's blessings. But God was showing Jacob ...

1305. What’s the Good Word?

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... it the author usually tries to set forth the point of view from which the book is written. What is said in those opening words colors what is said in the rest of the book. Each of the four Gospels begins the story of Jesus in a different way. Mark, which we believe to be the earliest to have been written, identifies the beginning of the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ with the prophetic preaching of John the Baptizer. As for Matthew and Luke, each tells his own version of the Nativity story in a ...

1306. The Glorious Interpolation

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , immoral behavior. What a fix they had Him in! If He said one thing He would lose the devotion of the common people and become a criminal in the eyes of the government. If he said the other, He would be put in the position of condoning immorality. As in Mark Twain’s story, the Gospel record has Jesus in such a fix that it seems that there is simply no way out. How on earth was Jesus to extricate Himself from such a dilemma? Then it was that Jesus stooped down, and began to write with His finger on the ...

1307. Is Conscience the Best Guide?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... fact of the matter is that majorities are rarely moral, and moral issues cannot be settled by a show of hands. As Mark Twain once said to a young people's society in a Presbyterian Church: "Always do right. This will gratify some people, and ... all the rest of a person's insides, and yet it ain't no good, nohow. Tom Sawyer he says the same." (The Complete Works of Mark Twain, ed. by Charles Neider; Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964, Vol. I, p. 921) Huck had to learn one of the most difficult lessons of life: ...

1308. A Terrorist among the Twelve

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... when you fight fire with fire, then everybody gets burned. The presence of Simon the Zealot among the disciples of Jesus raises the question of just who was the unnamed individual who drew a sword and struck at the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. (Mark 14:47) The sword wielder is not identified in the first three Gospels as a disciple, but simply as “one of those who stood by.” Obviously, Simon the Zealot was the man most likely to have a dagger at hand, and have the impulse to use it ...

1309. On Getting the Gospel Out

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Jewish law, two witnesses were needed to pronounce a truth. They didn’t have much, but look what they did with it: “They went out, and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.” (Mark 6:13) Wow! We could certainly use a few more folk like that today! There are all sorts of demons and sicknesses all around us that cry out for cure. “HE SENT THEM FORTH TWO BY TWO” Some of us can remember when we Methodists took that ...

1310. On Being the Greatest

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... leadership, and not just more “me-too-ism.” II. WE READ: “AND JESUS SAT DOWN AND CALLED THE TWELVE, AND HE SAID.....”(Mark 9:35) We might miss the significance of this, if we do not know that in every synagogue there was a stone bench ... reenacted down through the ages, but I am sure that he intended that the same spirit of service toward others was to be the mark of His disciples down through the ages. We Christians, above all, are supposed to be people who notice the stains when other people get ...

1311. On Claiming One’s Inheritance

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... wonderful legacy. Because of Him, the doors of heaven are open to us; all we need do is to claim our inheritance. Let me give you a concrete example: Next Sunday, November 20, is the fiftieth anniversary of the breaking of ground for this building. We will be marking that memorable event next week, but this morning I invite you to claim your inheritance as a part of this church. This building was here when we arrived. Like God’s grace, it is a gift. The question is: what are we going to do with it? Are ...

1312. Only the Abba Knows

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . Hal Lindsey, author of THE LATE, GREAT PLANET EARTH, predicted 1988. II. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THESE FOLKS NEED TO PONDER OUR TEXT FOR THE MORNING. “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32) In his excellent book “Jesus Against the Rapture,” Professor Robert Jewett says: “The most shocking and unexpected thing Jesus ever said about the end times is reported in the so-called ‘Little Apocalypse’ of ...

1313. Sleeping through a Revolution

Mark 14:32-42

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... on the side of the suffering, dispossessed, and sorrowing of the world. One does not have to “buy” all of Liberation Theology to admit they have a Biblical point here. III. “ABBA, FATHER, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THEE; REMOVE THIS CUP FROM ME...” (Mark 14:36) Here was a real human being, not a phantom, struggling with a real human crisis. Later centuries would have problems with the humanity of Jesus, and a whole heretical theology would be built up by a group called the “Gnostics” who wanted ...

1314. What Kind of Vote Would Jesus Get?

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... a common name in the day, the same name as “Joshua” in the Old Testament. It means “Deliverer.” One can imagine why the writers of the four Gospels dropped the name Jesus from Barabbas’ name out of reverence for the Jesus who is the Christ. Mark omits the first name, giving only the surname: “Barabbas.” So there are “two Jesuses.” Our world seems to have two Jesuses. The Jesus I hear a lot of folks preach about sounds more like the Ayatollah Khomeini than the Christ of the Gospels. I note ...

1315. What Is Your Response to the Resurrection?

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... God''s word in this way almost seems out of place. However, it is not God''s response to the resurrection that Mark is being honest about; it is the human response. The resurrection was God''s response, but the first human response to God''s response was that of ... fear. Yes, we are almost shocked as we read the Word of God from Mark''s gospel today and discover that it tells that the first response of the women and the disciples was that of silence and fear. ...

1316. A Vision and a Voice

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... or "death insurance" policy that we take out on little children. Baptism is about life, because baptism is an entrance into the life of Jesus Christ and into the life of Christ's Church. Whether we are baptized as an infant or as an adult, in baptism we are marked as belonging to God. We baptize young children, not because we are afraid a child will die. We baptize them because we want them to live in the company of God's people where they grow in faith, love, and obedience to the will of God. This morning ...

1317. The Adventure of Discipleship

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... to keep reading. And what we discover is that being a disciple was not glamorous. In fact, it was downright dangerous. Later in Mark we hear Jesus say, "Whoever loses his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will find it." Matthew includes another ... and wept bitterly. The change was there. He couldn't turn back. He was changed by the power of a gospel that left an indelible mark upon his soul. Being a disciple is a real blessing, despite the gospel's two edges. We know that God has promised to be with ...

1318. Missing the Point

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... rough-hewn grave. There's the true glory of God. But there must be a mistake somewhere. Glory is supposed to be "glorious." Glory is supposed to be "spectacular." Glory is supposed to be "magnificent." The cross and tomb are none of these. Rather, they are the marks of a suffering servant who gave his life as a ransom for humankind. Let me make a long story short. It wasn't until Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit that Peter and the disciples finally "got the point." But when they did, the purpose ...

1319. Up and Running

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... of this. Jesus' experience is such that he sees the opening of the heavens and out of those heavens comes the Spirit "descending like a dove on him." Jesus' baptism even has an auditory dimension. "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased" (Mark 1:9-11). If you juxtapose his baptism to yours, yours probably pales in comparison. It's unlikely that it packed the kind of drama his does. But don't be so quick to underplay your experience, nor assume that nothing like this has ever happened to ...

1320. The Dangers of Being Religious

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... . If the twin results of the fall are fear and pride, you see it focused here. Fear -- of health, looks, weight, money matters. Pride -- I'll fix it! Just give me a few weeks! I can measure up! 14. Do you bring division or lasting works? Mark 2:16 tells of Christ's meal with the ignorant, harlots, tax gatherers, outcasts, misfits, and lawbreakers. The Pharisees wouldn't join him; they dismissed the entire group as foolish and waved others away. Still today we can use our influence to tear everything apart ...

1321. Congratulations, You've Made the Team

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... who watch him are those who have already won the race. What an inspiration they are to each of us, and what a mark they have left on our lives. Emerson once wrote of Seneca, the Roman philosopher and statesman, "His thoughts are excellent if only he ... what life or lives may lie before me. But this I know, that to the end of the last of them, I shall bear your salutary mark upon me." I'm quite certain it did. Perhaps this is also what Rudyard Kipling meant when he wrote of the inspiration he found whenever he ...

1322. Sweet-Smelling Fragrance

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... , this shape, is God's grand presentation. As such, belonging to God's church is not a mere walking down to become a member of an institution; not placing a signature on a commitment card.1 It is becoming part of a special arrangement which bears the mark of its designer. Like many today, the members of the early church had a genuine desire to be part of an institution that would help them be recognized by their neighbors as good people. Yet morals are difficult to learn and adopt. As Robin Lovin, Dean of ...

1323. Who Needs a Doctor?

Mark 2:13-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... His distance from the leper -- He didn't even draw back a little. In fact, He moved to the leper, laid His hands upon him, and said, "I will -- I will heal you -- be clean". And immediately the fellow was made well. The second story that is told begins in Mark chapter 2. It is the story of the lame man who was lowered through the ceiling into the presence of Jesus in order that he might be healed. That story is told in verses 1-12 and it's an exciting story. A lame man had some friends. Those friends ...

1324. Teammates in the Cause of the Lord

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... who they were and thus became a source of the witness that was necessary for the community to recruit new members and to be visible in the midst of a non-believing society. The community life which the apostles and other disciples of Jesus led was marked by four basic elements. First, Luke tells us that the members were in unity of mind and heart. This element was most basic; it was the ideal from which all the others flowed. Next, the community members shared all their possessions. This does not mean that ...

1325. A Converting Presence

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... indwelling Christ is a converting presence, restoring and renewing the distorted and defaced image of God within us. We can rightfully speak about being born again if we understand what we’re talking about. If we understand that the fact that to be a Christian marks a discontinuity between what was and what now is. For to be a Christian is to change. To be different, to be continually converted. And if you have some friends who are fond of calling themselves born again Christians, you can test the reality ...

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