Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1451 to 1475 of 3852 results

1451. Journey To The Cross VII (Easter): Jesus And The Women At The Tomb

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... That Things Can Be Redeemed. Think of that. God can even redeem material things. For example, I’m thinking of John Wesley’s study desk on display in his home in London. It’s a prime example. That same desk once belonged to a bookie. Designed originally for taking gambling bets, it was redeemed to be a place of spiritual power where John Wesley thought through and wrote down his greatest sermons. I’m thinking also of a little church in the Fiji Islands. They have there an unusual baptismal font. It ...

1452. The Call to Obedience

Luke 22:42 · Romans 1:17 · John 15:10

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... to God in our inner nature and lifestyle that comes from and grows out of the experience of faith. The problem of disobedience began with the dawn of time and has been repeated in every generation. It is known to me in my own acts of rebellion against God. The original sin is probably my own natural bent to put myself at the center of the universe and to push God to one side. Until I have faced up to this, have pushed my own will to one side and have let God be at the center of his own universe ...

1453. The Excitement of Meaningful Living

John 10:10 · Matthew 6:33 · Ephesians 3:20

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... to him, and who knows how to receive that help. There is one thing to guard against: Do not let the negative thing possess your heart. So much sickness, so much nervous breakdown, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart condition, cancer have their origin in frustration, tension and bitterness. These conditions can be set up within us before we know it, because our faith is not adequate, because negative thoughts of fear, worry, surrender to illness, dominate our subconscious minds and take over control of the ...

1454. What Are You Going to Do About Death?

Mt 10:28 · Lk 12:4

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... of the service of mankind. To the contrary, when we begin to glimpse the goodness, the love, the sharing of God, then our whole life is caught up in his spirit of serving others. This is where the power comes from - this is where the quality of serving originates. It is the spirit of heaven. It is the spirit of Christ. It is the spirit of Christians! We prepare for heaven by loving others; we make ready for hell by living only for ourselves. I cannot forget the old doctor in "Our Town": "Everybody knows in ...

1455. A Daughter of Jacob

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... the state of a person’s purity before God. The Greek word used here is kardia, which means more than the physical organ we commonly think of when we hear the word "heart." Kardia means the core and center of a person. It is the place of origin for all our feelings, thinking and acting. So that what Jesus is saying here is that it is not the hands - the outward state - that should first concern us, but our hearts - the inner state of our being. The Pharisees were demanding the correct practice and ...

1456. A SERMON-DRAMA FOR EPIPHANY

Drama

Tom Eberle

... or observing the Eastern Orthodox practice of celebrating Epiphany as the manifestation of God in Christ to the world. The differing emphases were a result of a complex historical development. The festival of Epiphany predated the observance of Christmas. It was originally not a festival of the birth of Christ, but a celebration of the "shining forth" (Epiphany) of God in Christ. The Eastern Orthodox churches adopted the Western Christmas observance as a festival of the birth of Christ in addition to their ...

1457. Holy Handicap?

2 Cor 12:9

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... in my six years as a Christian, I have come 360 degrees and am again faithful to the gospel I first received.6 Both Joni Eareckson and Thaniel Armistead have demonstrated that a handicap can be a "holy handicap," not certainly with respect to its origin, but so certainly with respect to God’s willingness to be active in the handicap, sustaining and rendering infinitely productive the one handicapped. I summon us, then, as the people of God to be sensitive to handicaps, our own and those of other people ...

1458. Are You Exercising Your Faith?

Mt 4:1-11 · Phil 3:12 · Gen 32:3

Sermon

Robert Noblett

There was once a woman who had faith. When asked the origins of that faith, she supposed they were many. For one thing her mother and father were, in the best sense of the term, religious people. Prayers in their home were regular and natural, and this woman, together with her siblings, were involved as children in this prayer life. What’s ...

1459. Must We Have All the Answers?

Gn 2:9 · Deut 30:19-20 · Job 52:5

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... for Adam and Eve, so it is devastating often for you and for me. There is, of course, no question about the fact that human technologies have greatly improved the quality of life for us all. Certainly we can have no argument with the originator of the wheelchair or with the medical personnel who have done so much to eradicate the lethalness of tuberculosis. One wonders, though, whether our various technologies have moved from being our servants and are now instead our masters. That is to say, they have ...

1460. Dessert in the Desert

Deut 32:10-12 · Ez 37

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... upon our hearts. Earlier I was mentioning how some people are severed from life-giving depths, and this is also true of our rituals. Often in our time we perpetuate rituals, but we are not sure why. Fasting is a good case in point. Fasting was originally a way in which people willingly placed themselves in a position of want so that they could experience the filling of an empty cup - both physically and spiritually. Our daughter Heather has grown up a lot the last couple of years, and the frequency with ...

1461. Mary of Nazareth

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... at the hands of the church? Rome has elevated her to goddess - Mariolatry. It really was late in being officially established, not until December, 1854 when Pious IX promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (immunity from stain of original sin). This was followed in 1950 by the Assumption (bodily transplanted to heaven). A cultus developed with multiplication of festivals in her honor. In reaction, Protestants have ostracized her, deprived her of personality and identity - almost afraid to mention ...

1462. Herod Antipas

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... station and with him, a new kingdom, and a new system of values. Our world has largely judged people and institutions by appearance. As long as a king wore a diadem or bore the title, people assumed he was a king; king by virtue of appearance. The origin of king was that he represented his nation at its best, the handsome Prince Charming. A king was supposed to have been good looking; also kind, brave, just, wise, and the incarnation of honor. A king could do no wrong because he was a king. STANDARDS During ...

1463. Onesimus

Isaiah 43:1-13

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... brothers, or we will all die in a holocaust. Human dignity, basic justice, equal opportunity, belong to each human being. Slave-master mentality must go, and with it, exploitation of groups, races, nationalities, and individuals. Color of skin, language background, national origin, economic standing, or sex, cannot be basis for discrimination. If a seventy-year-old black woman is best qualified to be governor of the state, president of the university, or head of a corporation, she should not be denied the ...

1464. An Unidentified King

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I have always sensed there was something strange about the original Palm Sunday celebration in Jerusalem. A huge question mark looms in the background. There is a glaring discontinuity about the whole event. Think about it...A crowd estimated to be between 100,000 and 200,000 lines the roadsides to cheer an itinerant preacher from Nazareth named Jesus; yet they ...

1465. What Do You Think You’re Worth?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... and turned to gods who were no gods at all. Man has clothed himself with filthy rags, and he, like the Prodigal, went to a far country of sin to live it up and waste God’s resources. It is similar to a child who lost his teddy bear. It originally cost only $10, but a reward of $100 was offered for its return. What made this teddy bear so valuable to the child? By now the teddy bear was old, worn, and ragged. It was the child’s love for the teddy bear that made it so valuable and important ...

1466. Nag, Nag, Nag!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... , there is something more important than a person’s sex. Paul put it this way: "In Christ there is neither male or female...." The woman had no right to nag Jesus, because she was not only a woman but she was a Canaanite. The Canaanites were the original settlers when the Israelites came to claim the Promised Land under Joshua. For centuries the Canaanites were the hated enemies of the Jews. Because she was of the wrong race, she had no right to nag Jesus, nor to ask him for any favor. She had no claim ...

1467. It Is Really Something New by Dr. Frank Bateman Stanger

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... against the background of the actual context in which it was first asked. That is the reason why I requested that the entire story be read as a Scripture lesson tonight. When we look at something in its context we ask, "What did it mean originally?" then we proceed to apply the meaning to today’s life. When we study this "Athens episode" in the life of the Apostle Paul, we find some significant insights. For one thing, human scheduling can be divinely seized and utilized as an extraordinary opportunity ...

1468. At the Door of the Church

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. I once heard a young mother say that her child was using that simple little prayer now but she hoped that when he grew older he would discard it for something better, more original, more exciting. "Something more exciting!" I retorted! Then I told her the story of John Rogers, the author of that simple prayer. The prayer grew out of a life deeply dedicated to Christ. Because of his preaching of Protestant doctrine in England, John Rogers was burned ...

1469. Hooray for Humility!

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... with one cadet pulling on his bridle and the other pushing from behind. The mule was a sorry contrast to the wonderful stallion - a vivid picture of the contrast between pride and humility. The early church named seven deadly sins, but said they all originate in pride. Pride is the source of all evil, the opposite of true humility. Note the humility in the story of the time a Mr. William Allen White, one-time dean of all newspapermen in America, was awarded an honorary degree by Columbia University. At ...

1470. On Being a Tenant

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... parable ends with a picture of the stone. Jesus said that the stone which the builders had discarded became the most important stone of all. The picture comes from Psalms 118:22: "The stone which the builders rejected is become the headstone of the corner." Originally the Psalmist was talking about the nation of Israel; and in this parable certainly Jesus meant that even though we tried to reject Christ, refuse him, even tried to eliminate him, we sooner or later find that the Christ we rejected is the most ...

1471. When We Mourn

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... are those who ..." or "Blessed is the person ..." For this All Saints’ Day, let’s look at the second of these summaries of the Christian life: "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!" (Matthew 5:4). I have no doubt that this promise originally meant that the person who was sorry for his sins, and thus knew his need for forgiveness, is happy. It also meant that happy or blessed is the person who identifies with the sorrows of the world. "Blessed are they that voluntarily share their neighbor ...

1472. While We Watch for the Coming

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... seeking indulgence, and love of money, but the America that loves fair play, honest dealing, straight talk, real freedom, and faith in God. Make us to see that it cannot be done as long as we are content to be coupon-clippers from the original investment made by our forefathers. Give us faith in God and love for our fellow men, that we may have something to deposit on which the young people today can draw interest tomorrow" (The Congressional Record, Washington). About the persecution of his followers Jesus ...

1473. Embalmed With Cardiac Arrest

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... answers. And if you forget what the Q.E.D. stands for, you remember it is "quod erat deinonstrandum" - "it has been demonstrated," that we put at the end of a geometric formula. But when they get to philosophy, when we discuss the origin, the meaning. and the purpose of life, it often sounds like guessing - intelligent guessing, but still ending up in speculation, surmise and conjecture, rather than any kind of provable certainty. The student wants to know whether in religious faith, in Christianity, there ...

1474. Grace, Salvation, and Redemption

Romans 8:18-27, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Romans 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... the Lord Jesus Christ with his grace is the key to this doctrine. Paul gave the word charis its distinctive Christian meaning, something quite different from its connotation in classical Greek or in its use by Paul’s contemporaries. In its original sense charis meant beauty, attractiveness or loveliness, that which delights or charms. Homer uses it to describe the beauty of a person or the winsomeness of speech. By an interiorizing process charis came to signify that which is attractive in disposition ...

1475. Salvation as Hope

Romans 13:8-14, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... the oppressed and disadvantaged. But its failure to establish any positive link between the present and the future makes it necessary to supplement the gospel from other sources such as Marxism. Before the rise of the "hope" theology, an interpretation of the original Christian message in terms of futuristic eschatology had already been given to Albert Schweitzer. To Schweitzer Jesus was an apocalyptist who expected the end of the world to occur during his own generation. He was the herald of a new kingdom ...

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