Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1401 to 1425 of 4977 results

1401. The Insanity of Profanity

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... a year by the high priest in the holy of holies. The Hebrews were so afraid of misusing the name, that they quit using the name. You see, in biblical times parents chose names from ordinary nouns and verbs of everyday language; because then names ... take the name of God out of his holy temple, and drag it through the muck and the mire of this world. There is no other sin quite like this sin. It is a revealing sin. The Bible says a man’s mouth reveals a man’s mind. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of ...

1402. One Thing

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

James Merritt

... to USA.gov the top ten resolutions that Americans make every New Year’s Day are the following: Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions 1. Lose Weight 2. Manage Debt/Save Money 3. Get Physically Fit 4. Eat Healthy 5. Learn Something New 6. Drink Less Alcohol 7. Quit Smoking 8. Reduce Stress 9. Take A Trip Somewhere 10. Volunteer To Help Others Those are all very good resolutions. The problem is 4-out-of-5 people who make them will break them. One-third of people who make resolutions won’t get past the end of ...

1403. God Will Provide the Resources

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... up the cause of the poor. She had very little in the way of finances. However, a friend of hers named Pete Maurin convinced Dorothy Day that God had sent him to help her in this work, and that whatever she had would be sufficient. This was quite a remarkable promise because of Day’s extreme generosity. Her newspaper staff was often upset because Dorothy Day would take money set aside for rent or for paper and supplies and spend that money for food for the homeless. Several times, when it looked as if they ...

1404. Do You Have Any Leftovers?

John 6:1-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... multiple it and divide it so it can be a blessing to so many others you’ve got to give Him everything. Do you want to experience life to the fullest? You want to know what it is like to benefit from the law of the leftovers? Then quit hiding your lunch or quit acting like your lunch is too small. The only thing that gives life meaning and purpose is what we give to Jesus. Think about how many men were on that hillside – 5000. Can you name even one of those men? No. Here we are 2000 years later and ...

1405. The Question that Will Change Your Life

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... , a minister, brought home a 12-year-old boy named Roger. Roger’s parents had died from a drug overdose. There was no one to care for Roger, so Craig Barnes’ parents decided to just raise him as if he were one of their own sons. At first it was quite difficult for Roger to adjust to his new home. For the first time he was in an environment free of heroin-addicted adults! Every day, several times a day, Barnes heard his parents saying to Roger such things as: “No, no. That’s not how we behave in this ...

1406. For Those Who Are Auditing the Class

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... to go the hospital together today, because I want to give you my good heart!” Obviously John was stunned. He hugged his dad tightly. Together they cried. That special moment touched John so powerfully that for the first time, his hope was restored. He decided to quit feeling sorry for himself and to find another solution to his dilemma. A short time later, John was able to have a bypass surgery and he was healed. Today he is a successful physician. He didn’t have to have a transplant. He didn’t have ...

1407. Leave Your Calculator Home

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... our taxes. We render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. We can do so happily or not, but still it must be done. There was a man a few years ago who gave quite happily to our government. His name was Stanley Newberg. Newberg came to the United States as a small child, the son of poor Austrian immigrants. He became quite wealthy and at his death in 1986, his estate included $5.6 million in cash, which he bequeathed in its entirety to the United State Government in “deep gratitude for the privilege of residing ...

1408. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

... Things do not get any more doubtful or hesitant. Yet chapter 61 of Isaiah proclaims that this is the time to “bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, release to prisoners and the year of the Lord’s favor.” The message seems quite problematic at the holiday season when we wait for the news that the latest fad plaything is in the local toy store; when our children are evermore captivated by the toys our society has to offer; and when in many settings the oppressed must settle for ...

1409. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... Yet every day the last entry that he would write in his log was: “Today we moved westward!” I hope you were able to write in your journal each day this past year, “I moved forward.” Though it hasn’t been an easy year, and some of us have had quite a difficult year, we can still move forward, if not physically or financially, at least mentally and spiritually. And with God’s help, 2015 will be our best year yet. That is my prayer for each of you. With the changing of the year, let’s talk for a ...

1410. Life and Light to All He Brings

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ?' Then, through the insight which comes with returning faith, I realize that instead of making me undo it all or letting my life's purpose be ruined, God puts more in….it isn't what it might have been; but, because God is such a great artist, I haven't quite spoiled everything. So at the end, when God calls me down off my plank and takes me round to the other side, I shall see that just because God is such a great artist, no mistakes of mine can utterly spoil the pattern. Nothing can divert God's purpose ...

1411. Jesus Is Baptized

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’t want it Himself.’” “After me comes the one more powerful than I,” John said, “the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” This is to say, quite obviously, that we need to be baptized by water but we also need to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. There was an article in the Chicago Tribune by a writer named Jim Yardley. It concerns a great bridge that spans the Yangtze River in China. The bridge ...

1412. A Family Celebration - Maundy Thursday

John 13:18-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... all the sick people?” His mother replied, “He’s giving blood.” The little boy thought for a moment and said, “But we know it’s really grape juice, don’t we, Mom?” (1) His confusion is both charming and quite natural. The Lord’s Supper is an event quite unique to the Christian community. As such, it is poorly understood by many people. “This is my body, this is my blood.” No wonder the early Christians were viewed with suspicion by their neighbors. They eat their founder’s flesh ...

1413. The Kingdom Is at Hand

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... a baby.” To which Ricky Bobby replies, “Look, I like the Christmas Jesus best, and I’m sayin’ grace. When you say grace, you can say it to Grownup Jesus or Teenage Jesus or Bearded Jesus or whoever you want.” (1) It’s a bizarre sequence, but also quite revealing. I suspect that many of us would prefer to keep Jesus as a baby. Many of us would agree with Ricky Bobby that the Christmas Jesus is best. The Christmas Jesus is no threat to our adolescent views of the universe or our self-serving views ...

1414. The Law of Unintended Consequences

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... New York City alone goes through more than 5 billion plastic bags each year, which pollute the seas and highways, and endanger fish and wildlife. The law of unintended consequences people start out with an idea that sounds quite sensible save the trees but something unexpected and quite undesirable results. We’ve seen it happen in the medical field. The advent of antibiotics saved millions of lives, so doctors began freely prescribing antibiotics at the sign of a sniffle. But germs are now building up a ...

1415. Love Sender

John 3:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... doesn’t love you today more than He did yesterday and He doesn’t love you today less than He will love you tomorrow. Christmas tells us that God’s love is final. You cannot go where God does not love you. You cannot do anything that will make God quit loving you. You can’t reach the limit of His love, because His love is unlimited. You can’t stop His love, because His love is unconditional. That is not just talk. You see that in a cradle and you see that on a cross. The motive behind Christmas is ...

1416. Satisfied Customer

John 6:25-59

Sermon

James Merritt

... every garage and meet every material and physical need that they had. The problem was they were so obsessed with the material that they couldn’t see the spiritual. Jesus challenges them to quit working for the stuff that won’t last and start focusing on the things that will last. Start working for the right things and quit working for the wrong things. Then someone asked a great question, “Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the ...

1417. What Are You Waiting On?

John 11:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... don’t know if you’ve had that experience, but I can tell you I have on more than one occasion. It’s hard not to quit praying. It’s hard not to get angry. It’s hard not to be disappointed even in God because it’s one thing to wait ... like it. So the Pharisees put out a contract on Lazarus. They probably sent word to him and said, “If you don't shut up and quit telling people about Jesus, you’re going to die.” Let me ask you a question. Do you think that scared Lazarus? He said, “Been there, ...

1418. Welcome Home

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... gone. One of the younger son’s friends’ lived across town, and he decided to stay with him. His friend was quite the partier, and every night, they went out buying food, drinks, drugs, whatever their whims required. Days turned into weeks, weeks ... the streets, but he’s returned to the store. He had lost his way, but now he’s found it again.” Though it may not sound quite like you’ve heard it in the past, it’s still the famous “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. But that’s not a very good name ...

1419. Lost

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... why, you’ve probably never had one! For all of you young parents and parents-to-be out there here is a tip. Before your kid quits being a kid, you are going to lose that kid! I don’t care if you have a full-time bodyguard and three FBI agents on ... budget. The Bible never says God throws a party when we pay off our debt. The Bible never says God throws a party when the preacher quits at twelve o’clock, but the Bible says that God throws a party when lost people are found. God is not happy when we try to ...

1420. A Few Remaining Tremors

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... we are talking about is difficult for many of you. I realize that I have probably not experienced to anywhere near the same degree the kind of hurt that perhaps you have, but you have never been hurt by others the way you have hurt God. Forgiving others is to quit focusing on what they have done to you and start focusing on what you have done to God and what God has done for you. Here is what this ending illustrates. If you refuse to forgive, if you decide to sleep in the bed of bitterness the rest of your ...

1421. It's Not Rocket Science

John 8:31-41

Sermon

James Merritt

... and brings forth the wind from His storehouses [precipitation]. Now you know why if you ask any honest weatherman, “What is it going to do tomorrow?” If he is truthful he will say, “Only God knows.” I’ve given you just a few examples and there are quite a few others of scientific tidbits of truth you find throughout all of scripture, but I have not shared this information with you today and we have not been in this series today just to give you interesting factoids. The purpose of all that we have ...

1422. Tarzan He Was Not

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... in me.” Our task is to bear fruit, but how? We can only be what Christ has called us to be by remaining in constant fellowship with him. “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.” That is to say that, if we quit bearing fruit, it is because we have allowed ourselves to become detached from him. Let’s use a different kind of analogy, one we’re more familiar with. An Anglican missionary in Africa depended on a small generator to supply current for his small church and rectory ...

1423. She Looked Great, But...

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

... found a way to convince him to add her to his will and then she would poison him. She continued to poison him even as she pretended to be nursing him back to health. The men would die, leaving her their estate. As a consequence she became quite wealthy. She was known as the “white witch” because of her alluring appearance of virtue on the outside, but her thoroughly evil nature on the inside. Perhaps you have known someone like that. In our lesson for the day, the Pharisees and some of the teachers of ...

1424. She Looked Great, But...

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

1425. Shall We Take the Escalator?

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... and cause the gun to jam--even, upon occasion, to explode. At the beginning two simple solutions were arrived at to overcome this problem. You could either change the barrels--or you could stop firing for a while. Some of us are like that machine gun--we need to quit firing for a while. We need to get away and let our barrels cool. Even Jesus needed to get away from time to time. We read in Mark 6: “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many ...

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