Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1451 to 1475 of 4935 results

1451. Ignite: Fire Extinguishers

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

Five words and regardless of where you are on the political spectrum you would agree they became one of the most famous political slogans of any political candidate in the last 50 years, “Change We Can Believe In.” Regardless of what you think about the slogan or even the man, one thing we all can agree on is that change is difficult. The older you get the harder change is. There are a lot of people I know who are more comfortable with putting up with old problems than they are finding new solutions. They ...

1452. Investing Our Inheritance

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

A friend once told me of an experience he had as a child. When he was eight years old he went with his family to visit an uncle who lived on a farm. He always looked forward to these visits because his uncle had horses that he let the children ride. When it was his turn to go for a ride, he rode the horse until he was out of view of the house. Then he slipped to the ground. He wanted to try mounting the horse as he had seen cowboys on television do it. So he got behind the horse and took a running start ...

1453. Peace And The Peacemakers

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

Richard Patt

There are few other speeches of Jesus in the New Testament that catch us more off-guard than this one. Nobody would deny that these are some of the most intense words of Jesus that we find in the Bible. It would follow that any reader of these words, including those who believe in Jesus, would probably want some kind of explanation. Frankly, the Lord seems to be shouting at the top of his voice here. A little later we will talk about the deeper meaning behind the words that capture our ears here, phrases ...

1454. The Good, The Bad, And The Justified

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

The famous actor Gregory Peck was once standing in line with a friend, waiting for a table in a crowded Los Angeles restaurant. They had been waiting for some time, the diners seemed to be taking their time eating and new tables weren't opening up very fast. They weren't even that close to the front of the line. Peck's friend became impatient, and he said to Gregory Peck, "Why don't you tell the maitre d' who you are?" Gregory Peck responded with great wisdom. "No," he said, "if you have to tell them who ...

1455. Overcoming Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lee Griess

This morning's Gospel reading sets the theme for us today, an appropriate theme as we begin our observance of Lent -- the theme of sin and temptation. It's an appropriate one because it is one with which we all struggle. I recently read a story about a little boy named Bobby who desperately wanted a new bicycle. His plan was to save his nickels, dimes and quarters until he finally had enough to buy a new 10-speed. Each night he asked God to help him save his money. Kneeling beside his bed, he prayed, "Dear ...

1456. Jesus Meets Buddha and Confucius

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Carl Jech

It is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations ... (Luke 24:46-47) Are you familiar with the book called "The Lost Years of Jesus"? The popularity of this book - which has also inspired a movie - indicates that many people have become fascinated with the idea that Jesus went off to India before his ministry began in Palestine. One version of the story has it that Jesus appeared in ...

1457. Embalmed Alive

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

The words are probably the most plain, the most authoritarian, the most all-inclusive of the great "I am" statements made by Jesus Christ. In Chapter 14 of the Gospel According to St. John, verse 6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." In unmistakable, explicit words, our Lord is saying that the human being cannot have life without him. I suppose that our culture can be divided into two types of persons - those who say in whatever comfortable and luxurious situations they find themselves in: "This is ...

1458. My Love Requires A Symbol

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

The other clergy on our staff and I perform lots of weddings. We enjoy it immensely. There are several reasons that we have so many weddings. We are a large congregation with an unusually large percentage of young adults. Furthermore, Cupid seems to run wild in our singles ministry. In fact, because of all those weddings, I have unintentionally memorized the wedding service. But I still keep the printed service in from on me, lest I call this Saturday’s bride by last Saturday’s name. Nothing so unnerves an ...

1459. Real Gratitude

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

I want to begin this morning by telling you about two of my most prized possessions. The first one is a simple ordinary rock. It’s a rock with some green and yellow paint splattered on it. I use it as a paper weight on my desk. I have had it for over 30 years. It’s not worth a lot, but I cherish it. If I tried to sell it, I couldn’t get much money for it, but you see, I would never even consider selling it, because I treasure it so much. Why is it so special to me? Not because of what it is. Not because of ...

1460. Struggling with God

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

In all of scripture, and even in all of literature, you would be hard pressed to find a character more interesting than Jacob. We meet him first before he is even born - his mother Rebekah is in such agony during her pregnancy carrying him and his twin brother that she wants to die. When the babies finally make their appearance, little Esau comes out first, but his brother is holding on to his heel, and, as the legend has it, that is why he was given the name Jacob - it meant "heel" or "trickster" or " ...

1461. A New Daddy

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

King Duncan

Bob Stamps was on the faculty at Oral Roberts University. Bob is a delightful man with a good sense of humor. He is also bald. One night he and his wife decided to go out to dinner and hired a babysitter to take care of their little children. While they were gone, the babysitter got interested in a television program and wasn't watching the children very carefully. Their little boy Peter Andrew, got into his father's electric shaver and shaved a big landing strip right down the middle of his head. When his ...

1462. When Jiggling Wires Is Not Good Enough

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

David McCasland tells about a woman whose car was stalled at an intersection. The hood was up, and she flagged McCasland down to help. "I can't get it started," she said. "but if you jiggle the wire on the battery, I think it will work." McCasland grabbed the positive battery cable and it came off in his hand. Definitely the cable was too loose. "The terminal needs to be tightened up," he told her. "I can fix it if you have some tools." "My husband says to just jiggle the wire," she replied. "It always ...

1463. Forgiveness: Human and Divine

Matthew 6:12-15

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

Today we are concerned about the matter of forgiveness, God''s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others. According to the Bible, the two go together and can never really be separated. James Knight is a Professor of Psychiatry, an Associate Dean of the Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Lately, he has been speaking and writing about some of the horrendous and overwhelming social and emotional problems people face today. He speaks from his own experience when he says, "I confess that ...

1464. A Broken Vessel for Jesus

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Michael Milton

It was the ancient custom to anoint the feet of the honored rabbi. Jesus was likely anointed on many occasions, but two stand out. One is recorded in Luke 7:36-50 in the house of Simon the Pharisee. There, in a scene filled with pathos, a woman tenderly wipes Jesus’ feet with her tears. The other is our text for today. As we come to Mark 14, we come to plotting and betrayal. But sandwiched between this evil is the second story of anointing. It is the story of a broken vessel by a broken woman. It just may ...

1465. The Model of Success

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Mark Trotter

Some of you know that the church is involved inevitably in matters of business. In some churches, particularly smaller churches, the ministers take a very important role in administering the business side of the church. This church decided not to do that with its minister. Its business affairs are managed by the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee. They have done a wonderful job, and I congratulate them. I am not allowed to manage the business affairs of the church, but I am still interested in ...

1466. Get Lost

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The old Hollywood westerns always followed a formula. The plots were always the same. There were good guys and bad guys. Every town had a saloon. Every saloon had swinging doors on it. And every swinging door had someone, at some point in the movie, come flying out of it. Every western had a hero with a sidekick, and a villain with a black hat. There was a beleaguered sheriff, a damsel in distress, and at the end, a gunfight. That was the plot of every western. The dialogue in westerns also followed a ...

1467. What's So Great about Going to Church

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

James W. Moore

He is a comedian… and he was very, very funny,… but in recent months he has become very, very political. And now (in my opinion) he’s not so funny anymore… because now he considers himself an authority on everything that has to do with politics. Now, he considers himself the final word on everything that has to do with life in our country and in our world. He is brash and cocky. He is rigidly opinionated, closed-minded and even insulting towards anyone who disagrees with him. Now, let me hurry to say that ...

1468. Who's Number One?

Exodus 20:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

9/11 - All of us know that date. Because of that date, another cabinet level department was created to serve the President of the United States - Department of Homeland Security. Note the keyword in that department which is home. The greatest way to protect the homeland is to protect the homes in that land. That is why I am beginning a series of messages I am entitling "Homeland Security." We are going to be dealing with the Ten Commandments, because the greatest way to protect our homes is to teach our ...

1469. Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Genesis 5:21-24, Hebrews 11:5

Sermon

James Merritt

Someone has called the fifth chapter of Genesis "a desert of death". You could almost see the caskets and the graves. You can almost hear the widows weeping in the background. You can almost smell the stench of death that arises from this chapter, because over and over we read these words, "and he died." The last words of verse 5 read, "and he died." Verse 8 says, "and he died." Verse 11 says, "and he died." Verse 14 says, "and he died." Verse 17 says, "and he died." Verse 20 says, "and he died." Yet right ...

1470. When God Gets Excited

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

What excites you the most? I don't mean just any one thing, but what are the things that come to your mind that really get you excited? I thought about this and this is just a short list for me, but it will give you some idea of the things that really get me excited. Knowing that I am going to heaven Knowing that God loves me unconditionally A romantic get away with Teresa Spending time with my sons (James, Jonathan and Joshua) Breaking ninety on the golf course Hot homemade chocolate chip cookies Anytime ...

1471. Caring for Others: The Christian Vocation in the World

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Richard Gribble

When Bobby Smith was a youngster, his family lived near Mrs. Hildebrand, a widow, who at 95 years of age, was in constant pain and crippled by arthritis, which ravaged her body. Living alone, she could only take a few steps at a time with the help of her cane. Every week when Bobby's mom went to the market, she took her son who would always deliver groceries to the old widow. The family car would pull up into Mrs. Hildebrand's driveway and the command would be heard, "Bobby, here are Mrs. Hildebrand's ...

1472. Daddy, Tell Me a Story

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

“That bass must have weighed 30 pounds,” said the old fisherman talking about a recent trip on the river. “I fought upwards of three hours to bring him into the boat.” His buddy interrupted the story and scoffed, “I saw the picture you took of that fish. You’re lucky if it even weighed 10 pounds.” The old fisherman replied, “Well, a fish can lose an awful lot of weight during three hours of fighting!” Who doesn’t like a good story even the kind that fishermen tell? I know I would hate to listen to a sermon ...

1473. Our Common Life in Christ

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It glows with light and power today as we turn to verses 1 through 4 of the second chapter of this Philippian letter. “If then our common life in Christ yields any thing to stir the heart, any loving consolation, any sharing of the Spirit, any warmth of affection or compassion, fill up my cup of happiness by thinking and feeling alike with the same love for one another, the same turn of mind, and a common care must be no room for rivalry and personal vanity among you, but you must humbly reckon others ...

1474. Updating Some Ancient Laws

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Several years ago on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post, there was a painting by Norman Rockwell showing a woman buying her Thanksgiving turkey. The turkey was lying on the scales, and the butcher was standing back of the counter, apron pulled tight over his fat stomach, a pencil tucked behind his ear. The customer, a lovely lady of about 60, stood watching the weighing in. Each of them had a pleased look as if each knew a secret joke. There’s nothing unusual about a butcher and a customer watching as ...

1475. Soaring with Christ

Matthew 28:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

What an absolute joy to worship here, to be your pastor, to celebrate this Easter Sunday. Thank you for giving me the privilege to do that. What does Easter mean to you? I posed that with a preschooler yesterday and he said, “The Easter bunny is coming to bring me some candy." I asked a teenager, “What does Easter mean to you?" With a twinkle in her eye she said, “Fun in the sun. I'm on my way to spring break." If you happen to be employed with the church, Easter week is the busiest week of the entire ...

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