Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1351 to 1375 of 5000 results

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... were true there. This year I have paid a whole lot of money to the County Recorder. Do you see what the secular world does to time? It makes it a thing that can fit into a machine. But in the old world, time was not marked by numbers. Time was marked by holy days, feasts, celebrations, communions, commemorations. Each day had a name, and the months had names. That tied us to our history, to our ancestors in the past, in northern Europe and in Rome and Greece. And every year was "the year of our Lord." Time ...

1352. Who Gives You Your Grade?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... more expensive the book, the more prestigious the publisher, the greater the joy in finding an error. Most people see me reading with a pen in hand, they think I am underlining important passages. They say, "Look, Mark's a scholar." I read with a pen so I can circle the mistakes other people make. I mark them indelibly in ink. I do this for revenge. In another church, there was a man who would meet me following the service with the bulletin in hand, or the church newsletter, with the typos and misspelled ...

1353. Proper 18

Exodus 12:1-30, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20, Ezekiel 33:1-20

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... For the Passover, it was the blood of a lamb or goat. For Christians, it is the blood of Jesus that saves us from death. 3. Passover (v. 11). This ancient meal still celebrated by Jews today is called the "Passover." It commemorates the passing over the Hebrew homes marked by blood by the angel of death. Because of this pass-over, the Israelites passed over the Red Sea on dry ground to life and to an eventual land of liberty. The Lord's supper is the new Passover meal. Because of our sins, we deserve to be ...

1354. Conversion to Christ

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... awoke and looked out his window. There was the little boy. He hurried downstairs as fast as he was able and walked to the boy who stood in the garden. But when the Giant came close to the boy he grew angry. The boy's palms were red with nail marks in them, and so too were his feet. "Who has done this?" asked the Giant. "I will slay him." "No," said the boy, "these are wounds of love." "Who are you?" asked the Giant. The child only responded, "Years ago you allowed me to play in your garden. Today I ...

1355. Don't Forget the Mustard

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of mustard adds zest and flavor to anything to which this condiment comes into contact. Mustard makes the juices flow and our mouth water. Mustard is alive, bursting with flavor and color. Mustard is never neutral or lukewarm like Laodicea. The Biblical Illustrator for Mark 4:32 recounts that Darius sent Alexander the Great a bag of sesame seed to symbolize the vast number of his army. In return, Alexander sent back a sack of mustard seed, showing not only the number but the fiery energy of his soldiers ...

1356. WaterFire Disciples

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and rain (Deuteronomy 5:22): So Christians are baptized by water and baptized by fire. What did John say? "I have baptized you with water, but he who is to come will baptize you with fire." From the moment we throw water on a baby's head, water marks us and fire molds us. God's grace is a cleansing stream; God's grace is a consuming fire. Jesus calls us to a waterfire discipleship. We're more familiar with the water component of waterfire than the fire component. We're more comfortable talking about a soul ...

1357. Are You Living the Three Advents?

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Christ in each one of us on earth. The Third Advent is the final return of Christ to earth. The liturgical calendar that marks this Sunday as the First Sunday of Advent announces the “First Advent”—-the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. It is really quite fitting ... Jewelry with a Story.” On an ancient evening long ago in Bethlehem . . . A friend of mine from New Zealand, Mark Pierson, conducts each year an “Advent in Art” series. Each week someone from the congregation introduce the congregation to a ...

1358. The Twelfth Man

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... been his childhood home, Jesus was still at home in that synagogue. It was his chosen home base, his home field. Mark doesn't relate what it was Jesus actually taught. Just that his words astounded the locals. They were impressed not just ... where the people looked at him as some kind of freak show, where the crowds were filled with the sentiment "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Mark 6:5 says "And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them." Do ...

1359. John 1:43-51

John 1:43-51

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , the city of Andrew and Peter" (verse 44). Although this clarification solidifies the unity of these first disciples, it also appears to contradict the details given in Mark 1:21, 29 that locate Peter's home in Capernaum. However, it could be that John knows that these three disciples shared a common birthplace (Bethsaida) while Mark knows where the adult Peter lived and worked (Capernaum). Likewise Jesus himself, who's described as being from Nazareth (not from his Synoptic gospel birthplace of Bethlehem ...

1360. Want to Be Happy?

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Western culture as we understand it. There is a lack of spirituality and no fear of God. We are afraid of it coming to Indian and becoming so strong that it turns us into consumers, full of greed and with no generosity in us towards others. Mark Tully, India’s Unending Journey: Finding Balance in a Time of Change (Rider, 2008). Here is a powerful metaphor you might want to develop. In fact, you might use the current Hyundai “Duh!” media blitz as an example of the “DAH” disorder. From the Civil War ...

1361. Epiphany 5

Psalm 112:1-10, Isaiah 58:1-14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... of this age" did not recognize Christ because God's Spirit did not reveal God's ways to them. Matthew 5:13-20 - "Christians as Salt and Light" Setting. In the wake of the Beatitudes, Matthew offers a collection of the sayings of Jesus to explicate the meaning of discipleship. Mark contains similar statements (salt [9:49-50] and light [4:21]) in widely separated contexts, but the sayings are made as riddle-parables, not pronouncements, to guide the disciples in understanding their call. As in ...

1362. Lent 4

Jn 9:1-41 · Eph 5:8-14 · Ps 23 · 1 Sam 16:1-13

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... in the larger account of Saul and David and how David's anointing puts him on a risk-filled journey. In I Samuel 8, Saul is anointed to be the first leader of Israel, and for eight chapters, the reader follows his rise in power until I Samuel 15, which marks his downfall. I Samuel 16 begins with a motif of mourning when God asks Samuel how long he will lament the fall of Saul. The implied answer to the question is that he should not be mourning Saul at all, because there is a new king who must be anointed ...

1363. Transfiguration

Psalm 2:1-12, Matthew 17:1-13, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... a passive verb, "he was transfigured." And while Matthew points to the glory of Jesus and the respect of the disciples, he heightens the divine elements of the story (the cloud itself is "bright") as he plays down the human limitations. Unlike Mark, Matthew does not say Peter spoke in ignorance. Thus we see a strong theological bent in this narrative, as well as a rich Christology and ecclesiology, through focusing on the disciples' reverence. Matthew emphasizes other of his major concerns in this passage ...

1364. Roll out the Green Carpet

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... For God so loved the cosmos.” When Jesus died on the cross, he died for the cosmos. Yes, he died for you and for me. But he also died for every living creature, and for the restoration of relationships among all creatures and their Creator. In fact, Mark 16:15 says to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature.” Or in the NIV version: "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Our ancestors rolled out the green carpet when they identified a creature ...

1365. A Mother's Love

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

James W. Moore

... Jesus, we see three of the most important ways to express love. I. FIRST, WITH WORDS. Love can be expressed with words. The Greek woman came to Jesus that day to express in words her love for her sick child. Also, don't miss this… in the whole Gospel of Mark, she is the only person who lovingly calls Jesus "Lord." It seems like it would be so easy to express our love with words, but the truth is that precious few people do that well. Why is that? Why do we have trouble speaking the words of love? If we ...

1366. When God's Rule is Taken Out of the School

Job 21:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... said, "I want to tell you two things: 1) My son is not going to read this book; and 2) he's not going to be marked down in his grade for not reading it." The principal started to say, "...But-...but...but." Dr. Hyles said, "No, there is no but about it. It is ... settled. I'm telling you now he's not going to read it, and he's not going to be marked down." So they brought some egghead in, and this guy looked at Dr. Hyles and said, "Now Mr. Hyles, your son is not going to read anything ...

1367. Better To Be a Loner than a Loser

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... . He was told, "Sign your name and you will live," but he refused. He closed his eyes, grimaced, and prepared to die. They pulled the trigger. When he heard the click he thought he was dead. The gun, however, had not been loaded.6 Mark Helprin's friend was eventually released. He discovered afterward that every other prisoner who had confessed was later hanged in the public square; only he survived. Now listen carefully. Compromise represents a far greater risk than courage. When you stand alone, you never ...

1368. Try a Little Kindness (Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... old man. Before long the old man mopped his brow, pulled off his coat, and strolled on his way. The sun knew the secret: warmth, friendliness, and a gentle touch are always stronger than force and fury. I believe with all of my heart that one of the greatest marks of leadership is kindness. It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice. One time Abraham Lincoln was sitting at dinner in the White House with some very elegant people. But there was one man there who was not so elegant and he ...

1369. Who's In Charge Here

Judges 21:24-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... gets tired of a yardstick being 36 inches long, and decides to create a new yardstick 15 inches long. He breaks it at the 15 inch mark, and then boasts to all of his neighbors that a yard is no longer what it used to be; and says as far as he is ... results in our society today. a. Politically, There Will Be Anarchy When authority breaks down, and the consequences of breaking authority cease to exist, mark it down, you are on your way to chaos. We used to say, "crime doesn't pay." But the truth of the matter is ...

1370. Don't Forget to Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... ." Thomas Fuller once said: "He that cannot forgive others burns the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has the need to be forgiven."3 If you have an unforgiving spirit, you have an unforgiven spirit, and therefore an unforgivable spirit. For the mark of a forgiven spirit is a forgiving spirit. Rusty Woomer was executed in the electric chair in South Carolina in 1991. He had been placed on death row, for the brutal rape and murder of a sweet young woman by the name of Della Sellers, drunk ...

1371. Manual Labor Is Not the President of Mexico

Proverbs 6:6-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... Adam the job of tending the Garden of Eden before sin came on the scene. (Gen. 2:15) God's own Son was a carpenter. (Mark 6:3) Paul, the greatest Christian in history, was a tentmaker. (Acts 18:1-3) President Theodore Roosevelt was right when he said: Extend pity ... never starts a job, and if you give him one he either won't finish it, or he will do it half way. A third mark of the sluggard is this: When he says later, he means never. The sluggard is the master procrastinator. He never does today what he can ...

1372. The Empire Strikes Back

Jude 1:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matt. 24:37-39) Enoch was not only a prophet for his day, he was a prophet for our day. Because there were basically three characteristics that marked his day, and they mark ours as well. His day was marked by disobedience. Genesis 6:11 says, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Violence is a hallmark of the day in which we live. The police are out-manned and out-gunned. Just this past ...

1373. Measuring Up to Jesus

Matthew 16:13-20

Illustration

King Duncan

... soldiers told him their problem, "We don't know how tall one meter, eighty-six centimeters is." So he translated the meter and centimeters into feet and inches and made a mark on the mess hall wall. Some of the men looked at that mark and turned away, knowing they could not measure up to it. Others stood up against the wall, but they fell short of the mark by an inch or more. Finally Slim stretched himself as tall as possible, but he fell one-quarter of an inch short. Not one of them came to the six feet ...

1374. Ministry By Faith: Does She or Doesn't She?

I Corinthians 16:14, James 2:14-26

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... work in and through us. Do we or don't we? If we say we "Have Faith," can it be seen in us? 1. The first distinguishing mark of faith at work in our lives is the coloring of love. When Jesus was asked to sum it all up—all the law and the prophets ... say sums up all the law and the prophets: "Let everything you do be done in love" (I Cor. 16:14). That's the first distinguishing mark…the color, the shade of Christ's presence in our lives. It's the color of love. And the bombshell question…does she or doesn' ...

1375. Engage Mind before Putting Mouth in Gear

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... -42). Jesus used words to console the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17) and to bring hope to the centurion whose servant was sick (Mark 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) and to the blind man at Jericho (Luke 18:35-43). Jesus used words to forgive the penitent thief ... who they considered their neighbor. He used strong language, even to the point of losing a part of our body (Matthew 5:29-30; Mark 9:43-48), to suggest that nothing must interfere with our relationship with God. Jesus even used rather harsh words to speak of the ...

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