Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1326 to 1350 of 4508 results

1326. Say Gracias!

Illustration

Mike Ripski

The late Roman Catholic priest and prolific writer on the spiritual life, Henri Nouwen, felt God call him from his faculty position at an Ivy League University to live with the poor in South America. In his book, "Gracias!" he writes: In many of the families I visited, nothing was certain, nothing was secure, MAYBE there would be food tomorrow. MAYBE there would be no sickness tomorrow. Maybe…may...

1327. My Pastor Will Find Me

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

There were two men shipwrecked on an island. The minute they got to the island, one of them started screaming and yelling, ‘We're going to die! We're going to die! There's no food! NO water! We're going to die!" The second man, in a quite relaxed manner, propped himself up against a palm tree. He was acting so calmly, it drove the first man crazy. He began to shout, ‘Don't you understand? We're g...

1328. He Has Never Forsaken Me

Illustration

Eric Ritz

Phillips Brooks, the distinguished Congregational Preacher from Boston, said that he began keeping a diary when he was a 13 year old boy. He was one of 11 children, and what spurred him to keep that diary was that he was sitting at the dinner table one night with his parents and his mother expressed concern about how they were going to pay their bills and how they were going to live. In fact, she ...

1329. Worry: Hard to Let Loose

Illustration

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 ...

1330. The Laws of the Garbage Truck

Illustration

Barbara Turpish

One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean,...

1331. A Review of Resources

Illustration

Eric Ritz

The value of a proper perspective on life can never be overstated. I once heard the story of an old Navajo Indian in Arizona who became a very wealthy man when oil was discovered on his land. But wealth did not change him. He went on living just as he had before while the money piled up in the bank. Every now and then, however, the old man would visit the bank and say to the banker, "Crops all dri...

1332. Don’t Worry, God Has Enough!

Illustration

Eric Ritz

On one occasion the famous English preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon, was greatly worried about his ministry in the city of London and if there were necessary resources to maintain this ministry. He became greatly depressed and filled with anxiety. Then God filled his mind with an image that made his anxieties and worries so insignificant. God gave him the image of a mouse in the large grain bins of E...

1333. Trouble, but No Sleepless Nights

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

The late Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald used to tell about a man he knew years ago who lived in one of the isolated corners of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Life was hard, and every day his little hillside farm was at the mercy of drought, wind, or cold. Yet he was about the most serene and deeply contented man Bishop Fitzgerald had ever known. So he asked the old mountaineer one day if he had ever had any ...

1334. For That I Am Especially Thankful

Illustration

During a harvest festival in India, an old widow arrived at her church with an extraordinarily large offering of rice - far more than the poor woman could be expected to afford. The itinerant pastor of the church did not know the widow well. But he did know that she was very poor and so he asked her if she were making the offering in gratitude for some unusual blessing. "Yes," replied the woman. "...

1335. The Gratitude Attitude

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonniere for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special. As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first the preacher didn...

1336. Thankfulness Can Be a Matter of Perspective

Illustration

How many of us have been jostled and crammed into a tiny airplane seat recently, only to lament delays caused by weather, extra fees demanded by the airlines for overweight bags, or the tiny bag of pretzels that have replaced meals on so many flights? It seems like the collective mood on airplanes is pretty grumpy these days. But imagine what our ancestors just a few generations ago would have s...

1337. First National Thanksgiving Proclamation

Illustration

George Washington

Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with gratef...

1338. The Breakdown of Worries

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

I read the following in a business magazine: Stress management experts say that only two percent of our "worrying time" is spent on things that might actually be helped by worrying. The figures below illustrate how the other 98 percent of this time is spent: 40% on things that never happen 35% on things that can't be changed 15% on things that turn out better than expected 8% on useless, petty wo...

1339. My Childhood Promise

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

I recall, as a little barefoot boy with a cowlick of snow-white hair on my forehead, standing erect in my classroom and repeating the "Pledge of Allegiance" one Thanksgiving season. Our nation was at war and times were hard. My teacher had lost her husband on the blood washed shores of Normandy. As we later bowed our heads for prayer she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. She stumbled...

1340. She Was Talking to the Doctor

Illustration

David Beckett

A man was seen fleeing down the hall of the hospital just before his operation. A security guard stopped him before he could leave the hospital and asked, "What's the matter?" The man said, "I heard the nurse say, ‘It's a very simple operation, don't worry, I'm sure it will be all right.'" "She was just trying to comfort you," said the security guard. "What's so frightening about that?" "She wa...

1341. Empty Nest

Illustration

Staff

A construction crew was building a new road through a rural area, knocking down trees as it progressed. A superintendent noticed that one tree had a nest of birds who couldn't yet fly and he marked the tree so that it would not be cut down. Several weeks later the superintendent came back to the tree. He got into a bucket truck and was lifted up so that he could peer into the nest. The fledglings ...

1342. Manna from Heaven

Illustration

Norman Vincent Peale

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once met a Dutch gentleman who told him a story of God's great providence during a time of suffering. He was just a child when World War II wreaked havoc on his country of Holland. Food was scarce, and the people of his town were in danger of starving. They were so hungry that they dug up tulip bulbs for food. The pastor of the local church announced a prayer meeting to...

1343. Try Christianity

Illustration

Donald Macleod

The famous American editor, Horace Greeley, told of receiving a letter from a woman who wrote: "Our church is in dire financial straits. We've tried everything to keep it going: a strawberry festival, an oyster supper, a donkey party, a turkey dinner, and, finally, a box social. Will you please tells us, Dr. Greeley, how to keep a struggling church from disbanding?" Dr. Greeley wrote back to her a...

1344. All Shall Be Well

Illustration

Daniel B. Clendenin

The English mystic and Benedictine nun Juliana of Norwich (1342–1414) had reasons enough to worry. She lived during the Black Death that killed 75 million people in medieval Europe. Many people interpreted the bubonic plague as divine punishment, but not Juliana. In her unapologetically optimistic view of life, she believed that God loved every person and that he would redeem every tear. In her bo...

1345. Bright and Loud: What Do You Miss?

Illustration

John Killinger

A panel of students at one university was discussing what it's like to be a young person today. They talked of many things - their work, their fears, their ambitions. And then the moderator asked them: "What does it take to get your attention?" One young man was very direct: "Bright and loud," he said. "It's the kind of world we live in, and in that kind of world, that's what it takes." Bright an...

1346. Jesus, Out of Doors

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

Jesus lived with nature, and he taught from it. If I want an object lesson, I have to carry it into the pulpit or trust that you and I can blend our imaginations to envision a scene. Jesus had his illustrations at first hand; the people could often reach out and touch them. "Consider the lilies of the field," Jesus said, and the people looked at a hillside just to their right. "A certain man went ...

1347. Getting Rid of the Rodent

Illustration

Clovis G. Chappell

Years ago, in the pioneer days of aviation, a pilot was making a flight around the world. After he had been gone for some two hours from his last landing field, he heard a noise in his plane, which he recognized as the gnawing of a rat. He realized that while his plane had been on the ground a rat had gotten in. For all he knew the rat could be gnawing through a vital cable or control of the plane...

1348. God Will Provide

Illustration

Eric Ritz

1349. God in the Ordinary

Illustration

Once upon a time, there was a far-away land that was ruled by a vicious king. His iron hand reached into every corner of his subjects' lives. Every corner - except one. Try as he might, he couldn't destroy their belief in God. In his frustration, he finally summoned his advisors and asked them: "Where can I hide God so the people will end up forgetting about him?" One suggested hiding God on the...

1350. The Source of Thanksgiving

Illustration

Brett Blair

Remember that wonderful Children's holiday classic "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." You'll recall in the story how the Grinch enters all the homes by way of their chimneys disguised as Santa Clause. He takes all the presents and ornaments, the trees and stockings, and even their food down to the last morsel. He drags his loot up to his mountain and then looks down upon Whoville with a sinister gr...

Showing 1326 to 1350 of 4508 results

1326. Say Gracias!

Illustration

Mike Ripski

1327. My Pastor Will Find Me

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

1328. He Has Never Forsaken Me

Illustration

Eric Ritz

1329. Worry: Hard to Let Loose

Illustration

Eric Ritz

1330. The Laws of the Garbage Truck

Illustration

Barbara Turpish

1331. A Review of Resources

Illustration

Eric Ritz

1332. Don’t Worry, God Has Enough!

Illustration

Eric Ritz

1333. Trouble, but No Sleepless Nights

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

1334. For That I Am Especially Thankful

Illustration

1335. The Gratitude Attitude

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

1336. Thankfulness Can Be a Matter of Perspective

Illustration

1337. First National Thanksgiving Proclamation

Illustration

George Washington

1338. The Breakdown of Worries

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

1339. My Childhood Promise

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

1340. She Was Talking to the Doctor

Illustration

David Beckett

1341. Empty Nest

Illustration

Staff

1342. Manna from Heaven

Illustration

Norman Vincent Peale

1343. Try Christianity

Illustration

Donald Macleod

1344. All Shall Be Well

Illustration

Daniel B. Clendenin

1345. Bright and Loud: What Do You Miss?

Illustration

John Killinger

1346. Jesus, Out of Doors

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

1347. Getting Rid of the Rodent

Illustration

Clovis G. Chappell

1348. God Will Provide

Illustration

Eric Ritz

1349. God in the Ordinary

Illustration

1350. The Source of Thanksgiving

Illustration

Brett Blair

Showing 1326 to 1350 of 4508 results