Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1376 to 1400 of 1533 results

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever done anything really foolish? Maybe it wasn’t your fault. Maybe you were simply in a situation you didn’t understand. There is a story of a man from a third world country who came to this country. He went with a friend to a restaurant. They ordered tea. The waitress brought them a pot of boiling water and set cups and some tea bags in front of them. The third world man poured a cup of hot water. Then he picked up the tea bags and tore them open and proceeded to dump the tea into the cup of ...

1377. What If You Truly Were Born Again?

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

“It’ll be dark soon,” a character says in the 1968 western Firecreek, starring Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. Then he adds, “Things happen at night.” (1) Well, they do happen at night. Take our lesson from John for example. “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night . . .” So begins one of the best known stories in Scripture . . . and also one of the most important. Nicodemus probably came under the cover of night because he was ...

1378. A Holy Kiss (Father's Day)

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

I heard recently about a young couple at a very conservative Bible college who were very attracted to each other but they had been brought up to believe they needed some scripture verse to justify all their actions. One day the young man said to his girl, “Boy, do I want to kiss you, but I just can’t find the right Bible verse.” He said he tried the verse from Corinthians that said, “Greet each other with a holy kiss,” but he knew that applied to greeting each other at church. He was stymied. Finally, ...

1379. God Is Not Dead

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

If there is one commandment that is usually thought to be irrelevant, it is the second commandment. However, it may be second in position because it is second in importance. This commandment is one that is probably the most easily ignored and, yet, the most blatantly broken. In case you doubt that idolatry is alive and well right here in America, picture a newspaper article entitled, THE DEIFICATION OF ELVIS: Those who worship ‘the king’ practice their own form of religion. This newspaper writer thought at ...

1380. One Thing

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

James Merritt

I believe that every year that God gives us on this earth is to be a year where we are as productive as we can be for His work and as pleasing as we can be for His glory. The longer you live the more you realize just how fleeting these years are and just how important it is to maximize the potential of each year for being what we ought to be and doing what we ought to do. Every year at least half of us in this will do something that in the beginning will be very exhilarating, but in the end very ...

1381. Lost Baggage: Empty Your Suitcase

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

If I have ever done a series of messages in my life that struck home, hit a nerve, scratched an itch or met a real felt need it is the series that we are concluding today that we have called “Lost Baggage.” As we have said repeatedly, everybody has baggage. Even if you grew up in what you would consider a perfect environment, that environment itself may have loaded you with baggage. What kind of baggage do people carry? Many times it’s relationships baggage. Maybe a failed marriage in your past. Maybe you ...

1382. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

There are two topics a pastor can talk about that are guaranteed to generate emails, letters, phone calls, discussion, and debate. Those topics are money and marriage. I knew that this series we are doing on marriage would generate a lot of interest, reveal a lot of anguish, and strike a lot of nerves. There is an old joke about marriage that goes like this: “Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond. At the end you wish you had a club and a spade!” ...

1383. She Had Great Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

A few years ago author Bennett Cerf was addressing an audience of doctors in San Diego. Afterwards one of these doctors told him about an operation he had performed on an ill‑tempered lady of about eighty. The woman came through the surgery with flying colors despite all her dire prognostications. Nevertheless she became quite agitated when the doctor told her that in accordance with the rules of the hospital, she’d have to walk ten minutes the very first day after her surgery and would have to get out ...

1384. Seventy-Seven

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Most adults recognize it is their “job” to teach children right from wrong, good from bad, safe from scary, yes from no. But there are some lessons that children are better at teaching us. Think about celebrations like birthdays (especially Christmas), and Easter, and any other special days that have the possibility of “presents” attached. Kids LOVE them, anticipate and adore them. Children love and accept presents with unabashed enthusiasm. Receiving a gift is “all good.” For adults it is a bit more ...

1385. Why He Did It

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

How do you react when you anticipate that something negative is going to happen to you? Do you get nervous, do your palms get sweaty, do you have trouble falling asleep, lose your appetite, perhaps? Do you feel like your whole world is turned inside out? Well, I guess it depends on how negative the event is that you are anticipating. One young woman in the South tells about her teen years. She had a very strict Dad who was very loving, but did not mind disciplining his children with corporal punishment. ...

1386. A Family Celebration - Maundy Thursday

John 13:18-30

Sermon

King Duncan

There are many differences in the body of Christ about how the Lord’s Supper should be served, and even what it means. For example, Priscilla Larson’s brother‑in‑law serves as a pastor in a denomination that does not use wine in their service, but substitutes the “pure, unfermented juice of the vine.” And, of course, being a Protestant denomination, they do not believe that the wine and the bread actually become the body and blood in the holy sacrament. One day Priscilla Larson’s brother‑in‑law responded ...

1387. Dust in the Wind

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy Cargal

Sometimes a song gets so deep inside your head that it can never be uprooted. Maybe it is the melody or the mood evoked by its musical qualities. Maybe it is the themes and ideas that find expression in its lyrics. If it happens to be both the music and the lyrics perfectly matched to each other, then the effect is particularly strong. Such songs have the ability to become a recurring soundtrack to our lives. One such song for me is Kerry Livgren’s “Dust In The Wind.” Since I first heard this song more ...

1388. Seismic Shift

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Sermon

James Merritt

Not too long ago there was a young lady who visited our church from another church in our area. After the service, she was walking through the lobby and one of our ladies noticed her and not recognizing her walked over to ask if she was a guest. She replied that she was. She said, “Did you enjoy the service?” The lady said, “Yes, but I won’t be back.” She said, “Were we not friendly to you?” She said, “Oh no. Your people were very friendly.” She said, “Did you not enjoy the worship?” She said, “Oh no. The ...

1389. Tarzan He Was Not

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

The Week magazine often contains quirky news items collected from periodicals around the world. Back in 2005 they carried a story about a Romanian man who was recovering in the hospital after trying to escape from his wife by swinging from tree to tree on a vine like Tarzan. Stefan Trisca a 66-year old man, of all things - -had wanted to join his friends for a night of drinking, but his wife locked him in his bedroom. This did not stop Stefan. He was on a mission. He climbed through the bedroom window and ...

1390. Hamburgers Don't Grow on Trees

Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

King Duncan

A father tells of taking his four-year-old son, Josh, out to McDonald’s for dinner one evening for a “guys’ night out.” As they were eating their hamburgers, Josh asked, “Daddy, what are these little things on the hamburger buns?” Dad explained that they were tiny seeds and that they were OK to eat. Josh was quiet for a couple of minutes and his Dad could tell Josh was in deep thought. Finally, Josh looked up and said, “Dad, if we go home and plant these seeds in our backyard, we will have enough ...

1391. Second Chances

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

(Growing Strong in the Season of Lent, Lent 3) There is a hilarious story about a farmer who had three sons: Ron, Don and Little John. All had their names on the church roll but none ever attended church or had time for God. Then one day Don was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Don, but the outlook for his recovery was very dim indeed. So the pastor was called to evaluate the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray: “O wise and righteous Father, we ...

1392. Paul and Silas In Prison

Acts 16:16-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

See introduction to the previous section. 16:16–17 The missionaries appear to have gone week by week to the place of prayer for a number of weeks, and as they did so, they were followed on several occasions by a demented slave girl whose shouting made them the center of public attention. The force of the Greek of verse 17 is that she “kept on following” and “kept on shouting” about them. Luke describes her in a curious way (not apparent in NIV): She had “a spirit,” he says, “a python” (v. 16). The word “ ...

1393. Paul in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

This section and the one before it are a pair. They are both concerned with the relationship of Christianity to an imperfect form of the faith—“the baptism of John.” In this case Paul deals with the situation himself. These verses include also a brief description of his ministry in Ephesus, aspects of which are illustrated in the following section. But again we must turn to Paul’s letters to fill out our knowledge of these years. They show that his achievement in Ephesus was at the cost of much suffering ( ...

1394. Hearts

2 Corinthians 6:14--7:1

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

In 2:14ff. Paul has given a sustained defense for the legitimacy of his apostleship. He has already pointedly urged the Corinthians not to receive the grace of God in vain by rejecting his God-given apostleship (6:1). In 6:11–7:4 Paul turns once again to exhortation and, in the process, draws the whole apology to a fitting conclusion that recalls its beginning (this rhetorical device is called an inclusio). The appeal pivots on the word hearts, which Paul has used extensively in the course of his apology, ...

1395. Further Instructions

Colossians 4:2-6

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

4:2 The opening verse in this section continues the ideas on corporate worship that were developed in 3:16–18. The summons to devote yourselves to prayer is a theme that is repeated a number of times in the NT (Luke 18:1; Acts 1:14; 1:24; 6:4; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18). This idea of persistence is emphasized by the additional exhortation to be watchful (grēgoreō) and thankful. Thus it is not just the importance of prayer but the manner in which it is offered that is stressed. This exhortation may be a caution ...

1396. The Man of Lawlessness

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

We come now to the heart of the letter, where Paul attempts to put right some wrong ideas about the Parousia (see Introduction). How Paul learned about the problem we are not told. In 3:11 he speaks of having heard a report that some in the church were idle. If this report were more recent than the one brought by Timothy, it might have included the issues dealt with in this section (see Introduction on The Sequence of the Letters). This is one of the most difficult passages of the NT to interpret, largely ...

1397. Stand Firm

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

With relief, Paul turns from discussing the delusion of those who are perishing to give thanks again for those who are being saved. The structure of this thanksgiving is almost identical with that of the introductory thanksgiving of this and other letters. So much so, indeed, that some suggest that this could be the remnant of another epistle that has been incorporated into this (see Schmithals, pp. 193f.). Nothing can be proven, of course, and it is better therefore to regard these verses as simply ...

1398. The Old Testament Ritual Described

Hebrews 9:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

We are now at the beginning of a lengthy section (9:1–10:18) that many regard as the heart of the epistle’s argument. In this section the author draws out parallels and contrasts between the old levitical ritual and the priestly work of Christ in considerable detail. Much of the argumentation up to this point has had precisely this goal in view. Indeed, the argument of this major section has already been anticipated (e.g., 7:23–27). The first task the author undertakes is to describe the physical setting ...

1399. Making One's Calling and Election Sure

2 Peter 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

Greeting 1:1 The opening of 2 Peter is along the conventional lines of a NT letter, giving sender, addressees, greeting (see commentary on Jude 1 and Additional Notes on Jude 1–2). The sender identifies himself as Simon Peter. Most Greek MSS of 2 Peter transliterate the sender’s first name as Symeōn, the Hebrew form applied to Simon Peter elsewhere in the NT only in Acts 15:14, in the appropriate Jewish-Christian setting of the Council of Jerusalem. The author further calls himself a servant and apostle of ...

1400. Prophecy of Scripture

2 Peter 1:12-21

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

The Need to Remember 1:12 Peter now comes to the purpose of his letter. So, in view of all that I have outlined and because so much is at stake for your spiritual welfare, I will always remind you of these things. Here speaks the true preacher. Often a preacher is simply reminding listeners of Christian truths of faith and works they already know, as a spur to follow Christ more perfectly. But Peter is well aware, as have been all who have spoken in God’s name down through the ages, of the fallibility of ...

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