Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 4508 results

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Perhaps the finest golf coach America ever produced was the late Harvey Penick of Texas. He wrote the Little Red Book which is sort of the “golfer’s Bible.” Mr. Penick said that most golfers do not think on the golf course; they just worry. “Worrying is a misuse of your mind on the golf course,” said Mr. Penick. “Whatever your obstacle, worry will only make it more difficult. Worry causes your mus...

1302. Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff

Sermon

James Merritt

I wonder if anybody here can relate to what the great theologian and philosopher, Irma Bombeck, once said: I've always worried a lot, and frankly I'm good at it. I worry about introducing people and going blank when I get to my mother. I worry about a shortage of ball bearings, a snake coming up through the kitchen drain. I worry about the world ending at midnight and getting stuck with three hou...

1303. Don't Worry! Be Happy!

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a familiar story of a man who was a worrier. It showed in his face and his posture. He seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. However, one day this man changed. He had a bounce to his step. It was as if he had not a care in the world. A friend asked what had happened. “Well,” he confided, “as you know I have always been one to worry. I have decided that this is both u...

1304. Are You a Leg-Grabbing Christian?

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

On Thursday you will join millions of families and gather around a heavily-laden table to celebrate Thanksgiving. The centerpiece of that table, in most cases, will be a large, golden-roasted turkey. Although it takes the skills of a gifted surgeon to dissect most of the big bird, there is one easily accessible portion (and the one that is often grabbed up first): the leg. Those big, juicy, easy-...

1305. A Radical Faith

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Some of you may know that Jean and I have just returned from a two-week trip to Germany, where we rented a car and visited the so-called Luther sites, the towns and cities where Martin Luther lived four hundred years ago, and where the Reformation began. It was a wonderful time and we are very grateful to your generosity in making it possible. We want to show you our slides, so we have decided we ...

1306. Facing Fears, Kingdom Style

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

I had heard of the place for years, but never seen it until Tuesday in Chicago- The Pacific Garden Mission. Lori and I were on the way from a science museum to an art exhibit (I believe vacations are for learning!), and there it was on the left side of the street. I first knew it through the dramatized radio program Unshackled which tells the stories of those whose lives were turned around by fait...

1307. Worry Wart or Winning Warrior

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I like the story about the two mountain boys who spotted a bobcat up a tree and decided to have some fun. One said, "I''ll shinny up that tree and chase him down, and you put him in a cage." The other agreed, and the first fellow climbed up the tree. When he reached the right limb, he started shaking, and the cat came tumbling down. The other fellow grabbed the varmint by the back of the neck and...

1308. Eye Exercises

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I was stunned by the Old Testament lesson for this morning, where it says the Lord changed his mind about the disaster he planned to bring upon his people. I have read that passage before, and there are many others just like it in the Old Testament. But I guess I never paid much attention to them. I thought that they were simply vestiges of a more primitive stage of religion, and something that we...

1309. This Is the Day

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Because this is Thanksgiving Sunday, the Sunday before the national holiday, I thought it would be appropriate that we examine that familiar phrase, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it," from the 118th psalm, which we recited this morning. Let me begin by suggesting a thesis. And that is, that we have something to do with determining the quality of the day. Now I ...

1310. Honestly, Are You Worried about Tomorrow?

Sermon

Eric Ritz

An ancient Chinese parable tells of Old Tan Chang who had a small farm overshadowed by a towering mountain. One day he got the notion to get rid of the mountain. With the help of his wife and sons, he began to hack at the rock around its base. A neighbor walked by and scoffed, "You''ll never finish the job, old man! There are not enough days in the year for you to do this." But Tan replied confid...

1311. Worry and Wonder

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Well, the orange alert has finally been lowered to yellow. The purported organizer of the 9/11 attacks is now under arrest. And this week, rather than protecting us from biological or chemical poison, it seems that duct tape is being promoted as the perfect cure for warts! Perhaps, just a bit of our terror has subsided. And yet unsettling news is still around us. Tens of thousands of our troops a...

1312. Ask Jacob!

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Steady as she goes” the ship’s helmsman cries, hoping to keep the ship on its current course. The nautical term urges the helmsman to first observe where the ship lies and its current direction, and then to maintain that course steadily going forward. What lies out there? No one knows. Sometimes in a storm, a sailor cannot see in front of him or her, let alone further ahead. That’s why the compa...

1313. Thanksgiving Day

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

Call to Worship You have eaten in plenty and been satisfied. Praise the name of God our creator and provider, who has dealt wondrously with us. Prayer of Confession Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all life, we often complain about the weather wishing we were somewhere else where the weather was more to our liking. We fuss about food not entirely to our taste however nutritious. We are annoyed...

1314. Parable of the Record

Illustration

"Put your dime in the machine and punch A-3," said the girl. "That's my favorite record." "Mary, you don't want to hear that again!" said Bill. "They've just played it three times." "That's all right," said Mary, "on pay day I'm buying that record and I'm going to play it over and over." "Don't forget you are going to church with me Sunday," said Bill. "I don't know whether I'm going or not," ...

1315. Keeping the Christian Faith

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

A French prince in the Middle Ages was asked if he were faithful to his wife. He answered: "Yes ...frequently." The line is humorous but the point of the story is anything but. Sometimes in life it is all too difficult to find someone to trust, someone to believe in. Even spouses, parents and dearest of friends can let us down. But the Christian faith teaches that when all the others have come and...

1316. What Should We Do Today?

Illustration

Tony Campolo

At Eastern University, where I taught for so many years, I would constantly encounter students who would ask a simple question: How can I know what God wants me to do with my life? What a question! But I could never answer the question because I'm not sure that Jesus wants us to look that far ahead. I'm convinced that what Jesus calls us to do is to solve this problem: What should I be doing today...

1317. Looking for Security

Illustration

Charles Schultz

I wish it was that easy for some of us to get rid of our worries, don't you? In a Peanuts cartoon, Linus tells Charlie Brown, "When I hear those coyotes howling at night, it totally depresses me. I start to feel lonely. . . Then I get scared." Charlie Brown says, "I thought holding onto that blanket made you secure." Linus replies, "I think the warranty has run out." That's the problem with mo...

1318. What Does Faith Mean for You?

Illustration

Mark Trotter

Arie Brouer was a Reformed pastor, part of the Reformed Church in America. At one time he was the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. As a Reformed pastor, he was part of the Calvinist tradition, and the tradition that has the strongest emphasis on God's sovereign rule over the whole creation. It was the Calvinists after all who invented predestination to affirm that God is in c...

1319. Tomorrow Will Be Anxious for Itself

Illustration

Eric Ritz

An ancient Chinese parable tells of Old Tan Chang who had a small farm overshadowed by a towering mountain. One day he got the notion to get rid of the mountain. With the help of his wife and sons, he began to hack at the rock around its base. A neighbor walked by and scoffed, "You will never finish the job, old man! There are not enough days in the year for you to do this." But Tan replied confi...

1320. Have You Taken Inventory Lately?

Illustration

The renown teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock. On one particular Saturday, he recalled, he heard the owner say to one of the clerks "I...

1321. Seven Things to Be Thankful For

Illustration

Seven things to be grateful for: For automatic dishwashers. They make it possible to get out of the kitchen before the family come in for their after-dinner snacks. For husbands who attack small repair jobs around the house. They usually make them big enough to call in professionals. For the bathtub the one place the family allows Mom some time to herself. For children who put away their thing...

1322. Better Not Bitter

Illustration

If we are not thankful then we can become bitter. If we are not thankful, then it becomes too easy to sit around and ponder the question: why me? Dr. Jim Moore, pastor of St. Luke's UMC in Houston wrote a book entitled "You Can Grow Bitter or You Can Grow Better." He writes that he got the idea for the title from a young woman who once came to him in a most tragic moment in her life. She had tear...

1323. Taking Our Blessings for Granted

Illustration

A story is told of Abraham Lincoln. One day the President summoned to the White House a surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland from the state of Ohio. The major assumed that he was to be commended for some exceptional work. During the conversation Mr. Lincoln asked the major about his widowed mother. She is doing fine, he responded. How do you know asked Lincoln. You haven't written her. And then L...

1324. The Real Meaning of Life

Illustration

Perhaps in the end it is the poet who comes closer to the real meaning of life than any of us could. Wrote poet Courtland Sayers: 5,000 breathless dawns all new; 5,000 flowers fresh in dew. 5,000 sunsets wrapped in gold; 1 million snowflakes served ice cold. 5 quiet friends, 1 baby's love; 1 white sea with clouds above. 1 June night in a fragrant wood, 1 heart that loved and understood. I wonde...

1325. The Highest Priority

Illustration

Arthur E. Dean Windhorn

Have you ever been in a hurry and buttoned up a long overcoat with lots of buttons and when you were done, found out that the coat was uneven? What went wrong? I'll tell you what went wrong. When you don't get the first button in the right hole, all the rest are out of sequence too, right?! That's a parable about life. Jesus said it this way in the Sermon on the Mount: "Seek first God's kingdom an...

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 4508 results

1301. From Worry To Trust

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

1302. Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff

Sermon

James Merritt

1303. Don't Worry! Be Happy!

Sermon

King Duncan

1304. Are You a Leg-Grabbing Christian?

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

1305. A Radical Faith

Sermon

Mark Trotter

1306. Facing Fears, Kingdom Style

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

1307. Worry Wart or Winning Warrior

Sermon

Eric Ritz

1308. Eye Exercises

Sermon

Mark Trotter

1309. This Is the Day

Sermon

Mark Trotter

1310. Honestly, Are You Worried about Tomorrow?

Sermon

Eric Ritz

1311. Worry and Wonder

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

1312. Ask Jacob!

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1313. Thanksgiving Day

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

1314. Parable of the Record

Illustration

1315. Keeping the Christian Faith

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

1316. What Should We Do Today?

Illustration

Tony Campolo

1317. Looking for Security

Illustration

Charles Schultz

1318. What Does Faith Mean for You?

Illustration

Mark Trotter

1319. Tomorrow Will Be Anxious for Itself

Illustration

Eric Ritz

An ancient Chinese parable tells of Old Tan Chang who had a small farm overshadowed by a towering mountain. One day he got the notion to get rid of the mountain. With the help of his wife and sons, he began to hack at the rock around its base. A neighbor walked by and scoffed, "You will never finish the job, old man! There are not enough days in the year for you to do this." But Tan replied confi...

1320. Have You Taken Inventory Lately?

Illustration

1321. Seven Things to Be Thankful For

Illustration

1322. Better Not Bitter

Illustration

1323. Taking Our Blessings for Granted

Illustration

1324. The Real Meaning of Life

Illustration

1325. The Highest Priority

Illustration

Arthur E. Dean Windhorn

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 4508 results