Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 1795 results

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... ? Why do good things happen to ordinary people? If I didn't know better, it would make me believe in predestination. So much of life is a given. We have been blessed. The sin of suburbanites is the illusion that our fine houses, our fancy cars, our elite life style, is a product of our own ingenuity and imagination. We did it our way. We worked for it, paid for it, earned it, deserved it, and now all we have to do is protect it from individuals or institutions who might dare to alter the wonderful life we ...

1302. Seinfeld's Last Episode

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Brett Blair

... 's characters used, ridiculed, and made fun of everyone they met. The four of them were the Priest and the Levites of our modern world. We climb the ladder of success and FedEx gives you the world on time. This is our attitude. Stopping to help someone crimps our style and requires too much of our time. Looking back on it I can't help but wonder if the script for that final episode was taken right out of Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan. George says that he never heard of that one. Truth is, the law isn ...

1303. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

There is disagreement among scholars over the authorship of Colossians. Was it was written by Paul or composed by Timothy for Paul. Maybe it was authored by some other close companion of Paul’s who wrote in the apostle’s name and style? The current debate over authorship was not a concern for first century Christians, nor for the subsequent generations of Christ followers. Whether the author was Paul or one of his companions, the letter to the Colossians was presented under the authority of “Paul, an ...

1304. Dancing with the Saints

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . It’s more like a topographical rendering of the world. Beyond the step-by-step progression of movement, there must be something more to make movement a dance. What transforms a “one-two-three-kick” into something more is each dancer’s technique—-their personal style and substance that forever makes a dance THEIR dance. No one will ever dance in the rain like Gene Kelly. No one will ever dance with a hat rack like Donald O. Conner. No one will ever dance with himself like Fred Astaire. No saint ...

1305. Being Open to the Impossible

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ? Jesus was always slipping away to some quiet place to stay in communion with the Father. He even spent six weeks in the silence of the Judean desert before He launched his public ministry. Daily quietness and arid prayer were at the heart of his ministry style. If it was essential for Jesus, how essential for us — to stay in close communion with the Lord. No man can work without rest; and no man can live the Christian life unless he gives himself times with God, It may well be that the whole trouble ...

1306. The Prayer Life of Highly Effective Christians

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... desperate cry for help, God would have been ashamed not to save the man’s life.” And so, says Tom Long, it happened. The man was healed. (1) That janitor took Jesus seriously when he said to pray boldly. Whether God was really moved by his particular style of praying is above my pay grade to answer. But I do know this the person who refuses to pray, for whatever reason, is missing out on life’s most powerful resource. Some of us may feel we’re too sophisticated to pray. Others may feel they’ve ...

1307. Hard Words to Hear at Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... long way to hear him. His sermons must have been so genuine, so compelling, and so prophet-like that people made the effort to get there before the pews filled up. Would we even tolerate John's preaching today? John certainly had an interesting preaching style. Most preachers warm up the crowd with a joke. Most preaching professors tell their students to say "we" instead of "you," as in "we need to repent," not "you need to repent." John ignored such niceties. He looked right at the religious leaders of the ...

1308. Choosing a Master

Matthew 6:16-24

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... them. Clothes are a necessity, but look at how they end up controlling us. Not only do we crave the latest fashions, but we even wear clothes that are uncomfortable just to be popular. We wear shoes that pinch or limit our mobility if that's what's in style. Men complain about having to wear neckties. Ties add color and beauty to a man's ensemble, but have you even noticed how much a tie looks like a leash? More seriously, we judge people by the clothes they wear. We do this even in church. People often ...

1309. Eat and Run

Exodus 12:1-14

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... Testament times, the earliest Christians had already begun to identify Jesus as "our paschal lamb" (1 Corinthians 5:7). While the occasion of the Passover meal reminds us of Jesus' Last Supper, and the symbolism of the Passover event reminds us of our salvation, the style of the Passover meal should prompt us to think of something else. Something future, not past. You and I do not await our deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Neither do we need to wait for the salvation that is offered in Christ. Yet we do ...

1310. Forward March

Joshua 3:1-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... church and each person's role in that plan. This was a break from the past where the pastor dictated whatever direction for the church she or he thought was right. This new approach would involve all the members in every aspect of ministry. This style was different and surprised some in her new church. She continued to model that each member was of equal importance in the body. Together they forged on ahead. There were roadblocks along the way involving traditional expectations of the pastor as well as some ...

1311. Caught in the Middle

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... is an indigenized form of our denominations which might startle us. Some of the church-growth models that have been accepted as divine truth by many American churches (things like a variety of services for every age group and niche marketing of worship styles) either amuse or befuddle many third-world Christians where they all get together for worship and do it all, all day long. And the pseudo-gospel of success, the "name it and claim it" gospel of prosperity, simply mystifies Christians in parts of ...

1312. The Way Things Are

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... the letters with Christians feeling comfortable about eating food that had been offered to idols, for instance, or adopting sexual practices that may have been culturally acceptable but were incompatible with the gospel. So the wisdom Paul talks about may not be exactly the academic style of wisdom that first comes to our minds. How about the "signs" Paul said the Jews wanted? The Jewish people, many of them at least, were hoping that the same God who had saved them in the past would do it again. There had ...

1313. Spiritual Judo

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

David O. Bales

... wasted our pain. Christians across the ages have learned that being persecuted for their faith at least makes them take their faith more seriously. Chaos and problems can be the very crack through which God's grace gushes into our world. We can think of the style of Christian suffering as spiritual Judo. In Judo, you turn your opponent's force to your advantage. You don't clobber someone directly. You allow the force of your opponent to defeat him. That's how Jesus lived and taught. He'd use little stories ...

1314. Reasons for Rejoicing

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... trouble, the Mother Superior puts her in charge of the convent's choir, an uninspiring lot of off-key singers. Whoopi is dismayed at the miniscule numbers who attend worship, but she quickly finds a cure for that by completely changing the musical style. Soon, even the dourest of nuns is singing wholeheartedly and enjoying it. By attracting worshipers from the streets, Whoopi and the choir brings new life to the church. There is such a remarkable change in the convent and church that even the Pope travels ...

1315. A Spiritual “Re-formation”

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Christianity's most basic faith practices are relevant to every person and every era. Marjorie Thompson reminds us that "Prayer, scriptural mediation, self-examination, and hospitality never go out of style."3 These practices serve to move us from guilt, shame, and anger toward forgiveness and reconciliation. There is a movement underway to revive, understand, experience, and embody the great practices of our faith. Our lives can be strengthened and reshaped ...

1316. Come On In The Water's Fine

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... well pleased." I've always thought it curious that we call this container with water for Baptism a Baptismal Font. Especially, now, in this high tech world in which we live. Anyone with a computer and word processor knows what fonts are. They are the style of the characters in our word processors. Times New Roman, Helvetica, Courier, Signboard, Storybook and the like. Our Baptismal Font really comes from the word fount. Short for fountain. But I got to thinking about the use of the word Font. Baptism is God ...

1317. Neighbors Who Never Met - Sermon Starter

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Brett Blair

... -ees': it's Latin for "Rich Man" as he has been called for centuries] Dives would have felt very comfortable living in our present time. He was a progressive kind of a guy. He was self-indulgent and this is the age of self-indulgency. The contrasting life-styles of these two men is so obvious that you can't miss it. Dives was a connoisseur, a lover of the arts, one who knows and appreciates fine living, four star restaurants. We are told in vs. 19 that he habitually dressed in purple. Purple was known as ...

1318. The Parable of the Five Brothers

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Joachim Jeremias

... he relates the parable to warn men who resemble the brothers of the rich man of the impending danger. Hence the poor Lazarus is only a secondary figure, introduced by way of contrast. The parable is about the five brothers, and it should not be styled the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, but the parable of the Six Brothers. The surviving brothers, who have their counterpart in the men of the Flood generation [Jeremias' reference to Noah's generation], living a careless life, heedless of the rumble of ...

1319. Dress For Faithfulness

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... of their mansion. The preacher was getting excited, if these people, just you're ordinary every day kind of Christians got those kind of mansions. Imagine what he was going to get. As they ended their trek through the neighborhood, they came upon a large Texas style ranch house. It was gorgeous but wasn't huge. It had everything you could imagine but it was nowhere near what he was expecting. So he asked why? St. Peter sort of grinned and said: "Oh, we appreciate everything you did. You're a great preacher ...

1320. I Doubt It

John 20:19-31, Act 4:32-37

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... which are not written in this book. [31] But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. For whatever reason, whether it was because of his learning style or what not. Thomas had a moment of doubt. But if you stop and think about it, it's not surprising because every one of the disciples reacted differently. When the women got there, they were afraid. When Peter and John ran to the tomb and saw it was ...

1321. There Will Be Singing

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... comes there will be singing.” I think most of us love the music of Christmas. Of course, I realize that not all of us are musicians. A man and his wife were browsing in a crafts store one day when the man noticed a display of country-style musical instruments. After looking over the flutes, dulcimers and recorders, he picked up a shiny, one-stringed instrument he took to be a mouth harp. He put it to his lips and, much to the amusement of other shoppers, twanged a few notes on it. After watching from ...

1322. We Don’t Play the Full Scale

Luke 19:1-10

Illustration

James W. Moore

... way we so often treat God. We play around with some of the notes of faith, but we don't play the full scale… We forgive, but not completely. We love, but not completely. We serve, but not completely. We accept Christ, but not completely. We live the Christian life-style but not completely. We commit our lives to God, but not completely. But then, even when we treat God shabbily, in his infinite patience and amazing grace, he continues to reach out and play the last note and love us.

1323. Counting Our Spiritual Blessings

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

... closer or I’ll jump!” The minister took a step backward and called out to her, “I’m sorry you believe no one loves you!” This got her attention, and also the attention of the suicide squad because it was such an unorthodox style. The pastor went on to say, “Your grandchildren must never have given you any attention.” At this statement the woman took a step toward the pastor and emphatically replied, “My family loves me and my grandchildren are wonderful. I have eight grandchildren.” The ...

1324. Repent Your Way to a Merry Christmas - Sermon Starter

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

... who he was but his message to their ears was clear: Repent. There comes a moment when the preacher longs for his hearers to lose sight of everything except his message. "Don't listen to my accent. Don't look at my clothes. Don't comment on my style. Don't search my biographical details for my University pedigree. Just listen to what I am saying. Repent!" I would like to suggest this morning that Repent was the first component of his message. There are two others. Let's take a look at the first. 1. John ...

1325. An Introduction to John the Baptist

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Thomas Long

As the door to a new era swings open, John the Baptist is the ideal hinge. He is dressed like the old age, but he points to the new. His preaching style is vintage Old Israel; his message paves the way for New Israel. He appears to have wandered out of some retirement home for old prophets, but he announces the arrival of one who is even greater than the prophets. He baptizes with the water of the ancient Jordan River; he ...

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