Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1451 to 1475 of 2332 results

1451. If I Only Had One Wish

2 Chronicles 1:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... and making certain wishes. So let me ask you a fun question: If you found such a lamp, and you could have one wish, what would you wish for? A humorous story I read illustrates that this requires a great deal of thought. There were three men marooned on a desert island. They had no hope of rescue. They were walking around the island and one of them kicked up a lamp. He rubbed the lamp and a genie appeared and offered each man one wish. The first man excitedly said, "I wish I was back in my office in Boston ...

1452. Stand Up and Be Counted

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... three men. II. A Daring Courage A devilish commandment was met by a daring courage. Here on a flat plain thousands of people had bowed down before this golden image; and sticking out like a sore thumb, like three tall Virginia pines in the Sahara desert, were these three Hebrew men. Verses 8-12 record that the news spread like wildfire that three Jewish young men were standing ramrod straight for the God that they worshipped. What courage it took for these three men to stand when nobody else would. It ...

1453. God Knows Exactly How You Feel

John 19:28

Sermon

James Merritt

... , and cleaves to his jaw. His lips are distended and burn like fire. All of the breath he can get into his lungs, and all of the strength he could muster in his vocal cords, he cries out in agony, "I thirst!" Jesus began his ministry in the desert with a gnawing hunger, and ended his ministry on a cross with agonizing thirst. Jesus had had nothing to drink for at least eighteen hours. He was crucified naked with only a covering for his loins. The hot broiling Palestinian sun, like a gigantic leach, had been ...

1454. I Love My Church

1 Chronicles 29:3

Sermon

James Merritt

... not neglect the house of our God." The word "neglect" literally means "to let go" or "to let loose." It is a word that describes how a man, after twenty-five years of faithful marriage, would leave his wife for a younger woman. It literally means to forsake or desert. Now just as it is unconscionable for a man to forsake his wife, I believe it is inexcusable for a Christian to forsake his church. It is easier to do that than you might think. I want to give you several ways you can neglect your church. There ...

1455. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... a single Greek word which literally means "with a hissing and crackling sound," or "with the rushing sound as of roaring flames." Originally, it referred to the whizzing of an arrow rushing to its target. When the atomic bomb was first tested in the Nevada desert, more than one reporter said that it gave forth "a whirring sound," or "a crackling sound." Finally, we are told "the elements will melt with fervent heat." Fervent heat is a translation of a Greek word which was a medical word denoting a fever. So ...

1456. The Truth about Trouble

2 Timothy 4:16-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... defendant could not only employ an advocate, he could also call witnesses. In all of Rome not one person was willing to stand up or speak up for the Apostle Paul. Nobody was singing, "Stand by your man" in this trial. Paul's former friends had deserted him like rats jumping off of a sinking ship. It is incredible that even a Timothy McVeigh, guilty of perhaps the most heinous, hateful, horrible crime in the history of the United States, could get a lawyer. That even a Timothy McVeigh had some friends and ...

1457. The Power of Partnership

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... Eccl. 4:9) There is an unbelievable power in partnership that goes beyond addition to multiplication. You know, not even the Lone Ranger faced life alone—he had Tonto! You may have heard the old story about the Lone Ranger and Tonto riding across the desert. As they came over a hill they were surrounded by a thousand Indians on the warpath. The Lone Ranger looked at Tonto and said, "Tonto, what are we going to do?" To which Tonto replied, "What do you mean, we, white man?" This principle of partnership ...

1458. Doing Right When You Have Been Done Wrong

Ephesians 4:31-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... people might think it strange to speak on a topic of bitterness to a bunch of Baptists. But bitterness is certainly no stranger to Baptist churches. I heard about a Baptist businessman that was taking a business trip on an airplane when the plane crashed on a desert island, and he was the only survivor. He spent the next eight years of his life alone on that island, simply trying to survive. After eight years he was finally discovered and rescued. As he was being led off of the island, one of his rescuers ...

1459. Winners Never Quit and Quitters Never Win (Fruit of the Spirit: Patience)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... , think about what Job faced. First of all, he faced destitution. He lost everything that he owned. Then he faced death. His children and grandchildren were wiped out. Then he faced disease. He was covered with terrible sores and boils. Then he faced desertion. Even his own wife basically turned her back on him. Just like Job, everyone of us are going to face demanding problems. Just as you cannot hide from difficult people, you cannot run from demanding problems. Now understand that problems are not meant ...

1460. Nobody's Perfect--Except Jesus

Hebrews 4:15-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are." (v.15) I am sure the author of Hebrews had in his mind, when he wrote this sentence, the time when Jesus, the eternal Son of God, met Satan, the infernal foe of God, in the desert. Jesus was tempted in every way that Satan can tempt us. Because, you see, Satan only has three ways he can tempt anybody. These are described in I John 2:16, "For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the ...

1461. A Trip to God's Woodshed

Hebrews 12: 5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... that resenting it is not going to remove it. b. You Can Reject It "Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him." (v.5b) That is, you can just quit, you can just give up. When God disciplines you and life gets a little tough, you can just totally desert God's army and drop out of God's school. You can say: "Well God, if this is the way you are going to treat me, I'm just not going to serve you any more." But I want to remind you of something that the great Nazarene preacher, "Uncle ...

1462. The Thrill of Victory Beats the Agony of Defeat

Judges 7:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... fearful, or afraid to face the enemy, or you have a headache, or you are just not in the mood to fight, you are free to go home." Well, by the time Gideon picked himself up off the ground and the dust had cleared, two-thirds of his army had deserted. Most soldiers just did not want to fight. I am convinced that most soldiers in God's army today want to sing "Hold the Fort!" instead of "Onward Christian Soldiers." I believe the church is under a curse, not a satanic curse, but I call it the curse of cowardly ...

1463. Away In a Manger

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... The setting is the Roman Empire. At its zenith it stretched from its western boundary of the Atlantic Ocean, to its eastern boundary of the Euphrates River. It reached as far north as the Danube and the Rhine, and as far south as the Sahara Desert. There was one name that was prominent, paramount, and preeminent over this empire, The Caesar, his name was Augustus. Caesar Augustus decreed that all of the world should be registered. Now the purpose of this census, or registration, was so that people might be ...

1464. No Excuses

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

James Merritt

... fight to win the prize I'm not so hard to please. Well, the Lord Jesus made it plain, and if you follow Him you may have to do without. You may have to suffer hardship. You may have to sail stormy seas. You may have to walk through the desert of life. Now Jesus was not saying he did not want us to have comfort, nice things, or "the good life." But He does not want comfort, nice things, or "the good life" to have us. I want to say a word to every one of you who is not ...

1465. How to Deal with Friends, Foes, and Fools

Proverbs 27:6

Sermon

James Merritt

... moment of silence and then a thunderous standing ovation. The reason? Even hostile students could appreciate loyalty to a friend. If you ever want to find out who your friends really are just make a mistake. Many of those people you thought were your "friends" will desert you like rats on a sinking ship. So Solomon admonishes in Prov. 27:10, "Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend." II. Be Compassionate With Foes In life, your children need to know that they will make foes as well as friends ...

1466. The Lion King

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... :21, "Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." The world, as it is now, is not the way God created it; nor is it the way God intends for it to be. One day the desert will blossom with the rose; one day the rose will have no thorns; one day the lion will lie down with the lamb; one day it will be all honey and no bees. But today, we are living in "paradise lost." It was lost by the first Adam; it's ...

1467. Castaway

2 Corinthians 5:18-21

Sermon

James Merritt

One of my favorite actors is Tom Hanks. He recently starred in a movie that I have yet to see called Castaway. It is the story of a man who survives a plane crash over the ocean and lands ashore on a deserted island. He spends years there not only trying to survive physically, but primarily emotionally and mentally, as he is totally separated from the outside world. Every person on earth is born a "castaway." We have all crashed landed on an island called sin. Because of our sin we, too, have ...

1468. Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... basically gone the way of the world. The reason why you and the devil get along so well is because you're traveling in the same direction. Well, I want to tell every one of you if you are a Christian you're in the war. You may be a deserter, you may be AWOL, but you're in the war. You cannot straddle the fence in this war. You cannot be like Switzerland; you cannot be neutral. You're either on one side or the other. C. S. Lewis once said, "There is no neutral ground in the universe: every ...

1469. Repeat After Me

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... . But let me tell you the other side. He did say that "he gained Christ." So that tells me he gained a better family. Paul had gained a Father who would never disown him, a Savior who would never deny him, and the Holy Spirit who would never desert him. He had entered into a circle that will forever be unbroken. But he also gained a better fortune. When he gave his heart to Jesus he became a joint heir with Christ. That means that everything that belongs to Jesus now belonged to him. Furthermore, he gained ...

1470. Slaying the Green-Eyed Monster

Proverbs 27:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... does kill. It kills marriages, it kills friendships, and it kills families. One of Satan's biggest weapons to turn blessing into bitterness is the curse of jealousy. There is an ancient fable that Satan's emissaries were trying to tempt a holy man who lived in the Libyan Desert to sin. But try as they might, they could not get him to do it. Nothing would take away the joy in his heart. Angered by their failure, Satan stepped forward and said, "Let me show you how to do it." He whispered in the holy man's ...

1471. His Way is the Right Way

Psalm 23:3

Sermon

James Merritt

... why they tend to wander. You remember Isaiah 53:6 which says, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” When sheep don’t follow the shepherd, they always get off on the wrong path. Now the Palestinian shepherd was a master at reading tracks. In the Palestinian desert there were many marks and paths that crisscross the land. Some were made by wild beasts, others were made by robbers lying in wait. But to a sheep every path looks the same. Sheep do not realize that this path could lead to a wild animal, or ...

1472. Guilt: How to Keep Your Conscience Clear

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... on to say, “My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.” (v.4b) When there is dirt in your heart, there will be drought in your soul. The heavens had turned to brass; God had shut off the showers of blessing and David’s life had become a literal desert. That is exactly what guilt does to a person. You see, there are two kinds of wounds that can come to the human spirit. There is the wound of sorrow, and there is the wound of guilt. Sorrow is a clean wound; it will heal with time. But guilt is ...

1473. Stop Fuming, Start Forgiving!

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... I am today at the age of 12, on a frigid overcast day.” On that day Khaled witnessed something terrible being done to his best friend, but Khaled was afraid to intervene, so he ran away. For the rest of his life he bore the guilt of having deserted his friend. Finally he confessed his guilt to a religious leader in Afghanistan. The leader told Khaled that he could shed his guilt by doing lots of good things to make up for his sin. But it didn’t work. Khaled discovered that guilt is not something you ...

1474. Yet Alive....Are We?

Romans 12:1-13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... they also believed that it is unlikely "even by the year 2000 to develop a sense of identity and direction needed to move with vigor toward fulfilling its mission." [2] Al said then that many United Methodists are like the old Beduoin caught in his tent in a desert sandstorm with nothing to eat but a bag of dates. He lit his candle, pulled out a date and found it covered with worms. He threw it away and pulled out another, also infested with worms. Third date, still filled with worms. So…he blew out the ...

1475. When Religion Becomes a Laughing Matter

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... of the pants." But if the topic is Sarah and Abraham, it makes perfect sense. I can't do better than to share Frederick Buechner's description of the scene: The place to start is with a woman laughing. She is an old woman, and after a lifetime in the desert, her face is cracked and rutted like a six-month drought. She hunches her shoulders around her ears and starts to shake. She squinnies her eyes shut, and her laughter is all China teeth and wheeze and tears running down as she rocks back and forth in her ...

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