Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1326 to 1350 of 4884 results

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... game in all of World Series history?” “Yeah,” Anderson replied, “but uh, we lost.” He then realized that he had been so caught up in his team’s defeat that he missed out on the fact that he was a witness to a far greater event the first perfect game in World Series history. Leith Anderson writes, “I wonder how often the same thing happens to us. We get so caught up in the ‘defeats’ in our lives, the times when things don’t turn out the way we want them to. So we’re depressed because an ...

1327. You Have a Friend (Memorial Day)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... restored and the operation is over and you are recovering, you will eventually awaken in a special recovery room. “‘You will be immobile for as long as six hours. You may be unable to move, or speak, or even to open your eyes, but you will be perfectly conscious. You will hear and you will know everything that is going on around you. “‘During those six hours, I will be at your side and I will hold your hand, exactly as I am doing now. I will stay with you until you are fully recovered. Although ...

1328. Great Balls of Fire!

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... An upgraded misting system in the produce section required new de-humidifying equipment for the rest of the store. But all these various upgrades resulted in a “perfect storm” for this grocery store. The contact between the new floor and the new shopping cart’s wheels coupled with the dry, de-humidified air resulted in perfect conditions to create tremendous static electricity. Suddenly every shopper with a grocery cart was getting electrified by the lemons, zapped by the chocolate chips, zinged by a ...

1329. Hemlock and Hyssop

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... at his death. Jesus mourned the end of his time on earth, of his truly human life. Yet his death on the cross was not some stoic, serene act. It was a genuine sacrifice of love that came with blood, sweat and tears. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness, not in our super-human stoicism. We do not have a blueprint for “forever.” We do have a Savior, Jesus the Christ, who showed us how to be fully human and yet embrace the possibility of the divine. Ravensbruck Concentration Camp was a camp ...

1330. The Knot: Frayed (Part 2)

1 Peter 3:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... want and then put them together just right and came up with something really beautiful.”[1] That is exactly what God wants to do with every man and every woman that tie the knot in marriage. He wants to take two people, who are imperfect, and form a more perfect union that is beautiful and brings joy to everyone that comes into contact with them. That is why we are in a series we are calling “The Knot.” When a man and a woman come together and tie the knot of marriage, God intends for that knot to ...

1331. The Question that Will Change Your Life

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... not know by now, it is a picture that you take of yourself in order to upload it to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or any other social networking website. We have become a society of people who stand around and take pictures of ourselves. What a perfect metaphor for our narcissistic time the selfie. Some of you are becoming aware of the advent of 3-D printers. This is one of the more miraculous devices of our modern world. The 3-D printer works like the average computer printer except rather than printing ...

1332. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” Many of us prefer the King James version of this phrase, “When the fullness of the time was come . . .” Both versions are basically saying, “When the time God had chosen had arrived, God sent Christ into the world.” Christ came at the right time, the perfect time in human history. God had already been at work for thousands of years bringing about just the right conditions for his birth. The prophets had testified to the Jewish people that out of David’s line a Savior would be born and of his ...

1333. Peacemaker

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... . All around that plane were winds strong enough to knock a skyscraper over, but in the eye of that storm – complete calm. I am telling you that in every storm you face, there is an eye of perfect peace and that eye is Jesus Christ. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is this one. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3, ESV) What the world calls peace is not what God calls peace. The world thinks peace is the absence of conflict, but ...

1334. Satisfied Customer

John 6:25-59

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Then, you get up from the table and say, “I’m so stuffed I don’t care if I never eat anything again.” You are totally satisfied for about three hours and then you go back to the refrigerator looking for that turkey leg and it is a perfect picture of the way most people live this life trying to substitute that which is temporal for that which is eternal. Who is happier? The man with six children or the man with six million dollars? It is the man with six children, because the man with six million ...

1335. One-Way Street

John 14:5-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... be and did what He said He did that has to be true. Between the human race and God stands a barrier called “sin.” If we are going to be reconciled with a perfect God that sin has to be dealt with and not just to our satisfaction, but also to His satisfaction. Sin demands a payment. Jesus came specifically to make that payment. He lived a perfect life and died a sacrificial death to pay for everything we’ve ever done wrong in the past, present, and the future. At the end of the day, you can either pay ...

1336. The Desperate

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... world.” (John 1:9, ESV) You know what darkness is – it is the absence of light. If Jesus is the light of the world and Jesus is the One who lights up every one, if you don’t have Jesus you are living in spiritual darkness. You could have perfect 20/20 vision, but be spiritually blind as a bat, because you not only have eyes in your head, you also have eyes in your heart. People who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ don’t have a physical problem. They have a spiritual problem. They are not physically ...

1337. Can One Become Two?

Matthew 19:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... book on marriage put it all in perspective with this sobering thought about marriage. The most important day of your marriage is your last day. Too many couples put their best energies into the first day. The cake, flowers, clothing, and photos have to be perfect. But while a wonderful first day of marriage is important, it’s the last day that really counts. Will the last day of your marriage come prematurely through divorce? Will the last day of your marriage be filled with regrets as you stand over the ...

1338. Start at the Epicenter

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

James Merritt

... , “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”(Isaiah 43:25, ESV) That doesn’t literally mean that God forgets that we’ve done something wrong. That would be impossible. God knows everything and He has a perfect memory. When God says He forgets our sins what it means is He does not hold our sins against us anymore. He doesn’t hold a grudge. The only way He remembers our sin is as forgiven sin. In effect, God buries our sin in the grave of His ...

1339. Pride Is a Noxious Weed in the Garden of Life

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... example for the country bumpkins visiting Jerusalem. By my behavior I send a message on how to be pious and faithful. I really don't mind this extra responsibility. In fact, I rejoice in being better than others. Lord, I appreciate you making me nearly perfect. Especially, I want to thank you that I am not like that tax collector standing over there in the shadows.” Indeed, the tax collector is off by himself. He is too embarrassed by his behavior to lift his face to the heavens. With downcast eyes ...

1340. I Don't Get No Respect

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... was grand and glorious and he wasn’t willing to do a halfhearted job. And so Hammerstein realized that if Bartholdi could do his work with excellence for the concept of liberty, then he could do his music well for his audience. And so he strived for perfection and greatness in everything he did. (4) Earning the respect of others is not easy. At the first of his ministry even Jesus was disrespected by his family and the people of his hometown. But there are three simple things each of us can do to win ...

1341. What Did Jesus Do?

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... T-shirts. It’s a good motto, one that we should all consider before making decisions. However, it is not a perfect motto. The problem is that it assumes that by applying this mantra to our lives we will always make correct decisions. ... counting to continue his work. He had spent three years teaching them, correcting them, and at times simply putting up with them. They were not perfect men, but they were chosen men, chosen to be his body when he was no longer physically on earth. Even Judas had his part to ...

1342. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the Jewish doctrine of salvation, except for the role of Christ. Basic to that doctrine was the belief that righteousness was determined by obedience to the law. Conformity to the law was righteousness; disobedience was sin. But perfect obedience was not expected. The Jews had no conception of sinless perfection. They recognized that within the heart were two impulses, one good, the other evil. The righteous person was the one who nurtured the good impulse and restrained the evil so that in the end his or ...

1343. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Ephesians 1:15-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... ) and exaltation (1:21–23). 1:18 I pray should not be taken as a second request but as a continuation of the prayer that began in 1:17 (the Greek does not repeat the purpose clause): Enlightenment is the result of knowing God and his will more perfectly. Light and knowledge often are linked together in Scripture. Psalm 119:18, for example, is a form of a petition in which the author asks, “Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things in your law.” In the NT, human beings are often depicted as living in ...

1344. Made Alive in Christ

Ephesians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... (pisteuein, 1 Cor. 15:2, 11). Faith includes a willingness to surrender as well as a commitment to obey (cf. 2:10). For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith. As in 2:5, the word for “salvation” occurs in the Greek perfect passive tense, thus reaffirming to the readers that their present and continuing state of salvation is the result of some action in the past when God’s grace and their faith came together—undoubtedly when they were baptized into Christ as believers. In the framework ...

1345. Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles

Ephesians 3:1-13

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... requests include strengthening of the readers’ inner selves by God’s Spirit (3:16), the indwelling of Christ in their hearts through faith (3:17a), a strong grounding in love (3:17b), comprehending the love of Christ (3:18–19a), and being filled with the perfect fullness of God (3:19b). In some ways, these requests are not unlike his earlier mention of wisdom (1:17), knowledge (1:17), and enlightenment for the readers (1:18). There is no specific reference to the problem of the unity of the church ...

1346. Unity in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... here is a gift of the Spirit and should thus manifest itself in the human spirit. Peace is introduced as the quality or means that forges a bond holding believers together. This is different from Colossians 3:14, where love binds all things together in perfect unity. In Ephesians, peace was obtained when the hostilities that separated Jews and Gentiles were broken down and both races were united in one new man in Christ (2:14–16); here it is presented as the bond by which that unity is kept. Now that ...

1347. Freedom From Human Regulations Through Life With Christ

Colossians 2:6-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... building. The NIV rooted … in him—or any English translation for that matter—does not quite capture the significance of the Greek tenses that are employed. For rooted, Paul uses the perfect tense, which, in Greek, describes a present state that is the result of some past action. Here the meaning that the perfect passive conveys is equivalent to “having been rooted.” For the building metaphor, Paul uses the present tense, which describes continuous action. The building up of their life in Christ ...

1348. Rules for Holy Living

Colossians 3:1-17

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love. Paul still has the list of virtues in mind that the Christian is to “put on.” Love is the crown of all these virtues; it is the final outer garment which binds them all together in perfect unity (lit., “the bond of perfectness”). The idea here is similar to Ephesians 4:2–3 and 15–16, where love is the manifestation of new life in Christ and what leads to maturity and unity in his body. Such love removes all feelings of anger, hatred, or an unforgiving ...

1349. Instructions to Timothy

1 Timothy 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... , verse 8b has the epigrammatic nature of a saying, and that alone is what verse 10 will go on to elaborate. 4:10 In order to make the second part of this verse the trustworthy saying, the NIV runs rather roughshod over Paul’s own perfectly meaningful Greek, which needs no parenthesis. The verse is tied to v. 9 with a “for” (translated “and” in NIV, for which there is no known precedent), thus intending what follows to be further elaboration in terms of their ministry as to why this trustworthy ...

1350. A Workman Approved by God

2 Timothy 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... of the metaphor has been lost, and the emphasis simply lies in doing something correctly. Hence the NIV is perfectly adequate. Barrett correctly notes that a similar intent, based on a completely different metaphor, is found in 2 Corinthians ... passage is in two clear parts: Verse 20 gives the facts of the analogy itself; verse 21 makes the application. Analogies are seldom perfect; but Paul’s point seems clear enough, despite some breakdowns in the application. 2:20 The analogy itself reflects on a common ...

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