Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1451 to 1475 of 4935 results

1451. Singing In The Rain

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A cartoon pictured a man in a doctor's office receiving a physical examination. The doctor came out of his private office with a series of papers and a chart to give the patient the results of all the tests. These were the doctor's words: "Well, I see no reason why you can't live a perfectly normal life as long as you don't try to enjoy it." Then there's the story of a teenager who was overheard to say to a donkey out in the country, "Why, you must be a Christian. You have a long face like Grandpa." All of ...

1452. The Church: An Enclave of Resistance v2

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In September of 1997 there was a groundbreaking service for a Catholic cathedral that is going to be constructed in Los Angeles. The Diocese of Los Angeles commissioned the famous Spanish architect Jose Rafael Moneo to design the building. Their hope is that the cathedral will be completed by the beginning of the millennium. It’s to be a peculiar witness to the glory of God. There were models of the cathedral at the groundbreaking service and on the basis of the models a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote a ...

1453. Stay in the City

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The Church's holy days were established to teach the faith. A special day, especially if it is marked with decoration and celebration, a festival, is a wonderful way to learn. Christmas and Easter, of course, are the best examples. Those two holy days teach the major doctrines of our faith: the Incarnation, and the Crucifixion-Resurrection. But there are others, such as Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity, which come in rapid succession this time of year, one right after another. Each one celebrates an ...

1454. Obstacles as Popsicles

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Lake Junaluska is a conference center for United Methodists in the mountains of North Carolina. The first thing any visitor notices is the giant cross on top of a hill. When it's illuminated at night, it shines for miles, a beacon that draws Christians from the southeast and from all over North America every summer. A few years ago, I went to bed one night at Lake Junaluska with the resolve to climb the hill early the next morning as both physical exercise and spiritual pilgrimage. When I got on my jogging ...

1455. Easter 4

Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23:1-6, 1 Peter 2:13-25, John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

TEXTS FROM ACTS AND PSALMS In the lesson from Acts, we are told of the early Christians' generosity toward one another and of the steady work of God in the life and growth of the Church. Psalm 23 celebrates God's securing care and bountiful provision for humanity. Acts 2:42-47 - "Life in "the Last Days" Setting. Again, readers should turn to the materials for the second Sunday of Easter for a discussion of the setting of this lesson in the context of Acts 2. In brief, vv. 42-47 summarize the situation in ...

1456. Proper 16

Exodus 1:1-22, Matthew 16:13-20, Romans 12:1-8, Psalm 124:1-8

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Exodus 1:8-2:10 contains three stories that explore the power of salvation, while Psalm 124 turns the insights gained from the introductory stories in Exodus into the language of praise. Exodus 1:8--2:10 - "The Salvation of the Savior" Setting. Moses is the central human character in the book of Exodus and, indeed, in the remainder of the Pentateuch. He is the one called by God to be the savior. With this knowledge as background, it is easy to conclude that the central event in the Old ...

1457. This Feels Like Where I Came In

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

While waiting for a first appointment in the reception room of a new physician, I noticed the framed certificate which bore his full name. Convinced that I had heard it before, I racked my brain until I remembered that a tall, gawky kid with a similar-sounding name had been in my high school class, some 45 years ago. But upon being ushered into his office, I knew….just knew….I was wrong. I mean, this balding, graying man with the double chin and a face the quality of old shoe leather was far too old to ...

1458. This Little Light of Mine

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

We’re getting closer to Christmas. Our boys and girls are excited about the presents they will be receiving. Maybe some of us adults are excited, too. I don’t know if you heard about a mother and daughter who were shopping at the mall. The mother spied an expensive fur coat. “This year,” she said, “I think that I will buy my own present instead of making you and dad shop for me.” Her daughter nodded in agreement. “And I think this fur coat would be perfect,” the mother concluded. The daughter began to ...

1459. Growing Up Is More Than Showing Up

1 John 2:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

Warren Wiersbe is one of the most popular and well known Bible teachers in all of the world. He once made this incredible statement: "After over forty years of ministry, I am convinced that spiritual immaturity is the number one problem in our churches." [1] I heard a story of a little boy who fell out of bed in the middle of the night. When his mother rushed to his room to ask him what happened, he said, "I don't know. I guess I stayed too close to where I got in." So many Christians do that with their ...

1460. Your New Home

Joshua 24:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

For almost two months now, we have been together in an extreme home makeover. You are looking at pretty much the finished product. It does look much different from what we had when we first started. The process has taken us from nails, boards, screws, nuts and bolts to our new house. What you see behind me, represents what we want every family to experience - an extreme home makeover. That is why we spent the last eight weeks on it. A great Christian who lived over a century ago, named G. K. Chesterton, ...

1461. Good for the Soul

Proverbs 28:13

Sermon

James Merritt

Two very famous sports figures hit the news this past week and both of them have a direct influence on the message that I am preaching today. Joe Gibbs, the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, who took them to the Super Bowl four times and who also owned a Winston Cup winning NASCAR team is leaving the sport of car racing to go back to coach the Washington Redskins. Hearing that reminded me of a true story that Coach Gibbs told about a friend of his who owned a beautiful Labrador retriever. The ...

1462. Come Forward to God's Throne Where There Is Grace (Relief for Guilt)

Hebrews 4:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I met him in a restaurant. We were both leaving, so we both stopped on the sidewalk outside for a visit. What began as a casual exchange flowed into the sharing of deep feeling. A question about his family triggered a brief convulsion of distress and pain. He was estranged from his son. He’s done everything he could, so he thought, to bring about reconciliation, but there was still the tension, the strain, the cold, formal relating without genuine warmth. The fellow told me he dreamed about his son, and ...

1463. The Heifer that Will Change the World!

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Sermon

Larry Lange

The Reverend Clyde Lott is a national champion cattle judge and livestock showman. He's also a preacher recognized by the National Pentecostal Assemblies of Jesus Christ. Reverend Lott is uniquely qualified, therefore, to breed "the heifer that will change the world," the heifer that will fulfill God's apocalyptic promise of purity for his people. We're talking holy cow, here. Reverend Lott is anxiously waiting for the rapture of the church, because he doesn't want to be left behind. He believes the ...

1464. Agony and Ecstasy

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven Molin

Mary and Martha; remember them? They are the sisters who were hosting Jesus for dinner one evening, except that Martha did all the work, and Mary sat at Jesus' feet for the Bible study. And when Martha complains to Jesus about it, Jesus corrects her! "Martha, Martha, you worry about so many things, but just one thing is necessary ... and Mary chose it." Ouch! Today's gospel lesson offers us another glimpse of the same sisters, and proof that the sisters were not so different from one another. Four days ...

1465. Reconciliation Day

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be fans of “Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers,” the mechanics on NPR’s Car Talk. Click and Clack are the radio names for the hosts of Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Someone wrote Tom and Ray a letter sometime back. Dear Tom and Ray: Today I was involved in an accident. I was happily cruising along at the speed limit . . . in the right lane, when someone came up behind me. He was clearly very upset that I was doing just the speed limit, and he could not stand being unable to get around ...

1466. The Golf Shot That Destroyed an Airforce

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl had been naughty, so she was sent to her room for a quiet time. Afterward, all smiles, she returned to her family, saying, “I prayed to God.” “That’s good,” said her mother. “Did you pray that God would help you be a good girl?” “No,” she replied. “I prayed that God would help you put up with me.” Many of us are like that little girl. We do wrong, but rather than repenting of our sins, we pray that God will put up with us. And why not? It’s our nature to sin; it’s God’s nature to forgive. ...

1467. A Faith that Will Bring You Alive

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Brian Rice of Maple Grove, Minnesota writes that recently his wife asked the question men most dread: “Honey, do you think I look fat in my new dress?” Brian was up to the test. Pointing to what he was wearing, he replied, “Do I look stupid in this shirt?” (1) It’s not easy to be married. Comedian Wendy Liebman says she went through a messy divorce. She says, “My divorce was messy because there was a child involved. My husband.” I expected to hear an “Amen” from some of the women. One of the surprise off- ...

1468. I'll Never Forget That Night

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Years ago, a band called Lobo sang about an international memorable event. Describing the impoverished plights of a boy from Chicago’s racial ghetto and a girl living among India’s “Untouchables,” the singers went on to shake their heads in wonder that both, on a “July afternoon,” along with the entire population of planet earth, heard and saw Neil Armstrong “walk upon the moon.” Some incidents are so unusual or catastrophic or fraught with meaning that they cannot be forgotten, and all who were alive ...

1469. Two Kinds of People

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Some wag has said that there are basically two kinds of people in the world: those who divide people into two kinds of people and those who do not. Jeremiah says in our text for the day that there are indeed two kinds of people. One kind he calls cursed; the other he calls blessed. The life of the cursed he compares to a low bush in the desert, inhabiting a parched and desolate wilderness. The life of the blessed, on the other hand, he compares to a tree planted by the waters--that spreads her roots out by ...

1470. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 21:1-32, Ezekiel 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

In the Hebrew Bible, a new chapter starts at 20:45—appropriately, as 20:45–49 is less in continuity with the preceding judgment God pronounced on the leaders of the exilic community than with the following oracles God directed against Jerusalem (21:1–17, 18–24; 21:1–16; 22:1–16) and its leadership (21:25–27; 22:23–31; see the discussion below of the curiously-placed oracle against Ammon, 21:28–32). While it is difficult to find unity in this section, there are clear signs of intentional arrangement here: ...

1471. Egypt

Ezekiel 29:1-21, Ezekiel 30:1-26, Ezekiel 31:1-18, Ezekiel 32:1-32

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The last four chapters of Ezekiel’s oracles against the nations consist of a loose collection of seven prophecies, all concerned with Egypt: an allegorical oracle depicting Pharaoh as a dragon in the Nile (29:1–16); a late appendix to the book promising Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar (29:17–21); a lament over Egypt (30:1–19); a second oracle against the Pharaoh (30:20–26); an allegory depicting Egypt as the World Tree (31:1–18); a lament over Pharaoh, recapitulating the dragon allegory (32:1–16); and a funeral ...

1472. “Come and See What God Has Done”

Psalm 66:1-20

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God’s redeeming work in our lives is the extension of his great redeeming acts in history. Understanding the Text This psalm appears to be a hybrid of a hymn, a community psalm of thanksgiving, and an individual psalm of thanksgiving.1It only hints at the adversity that has prompted the psalmist to make and pay his vows of thanksgiving to God in the temple (“when I was in trouble,” 66:14). This hint, though nothing more than that, takes its place parallel to Israel’s trial in Egypt, which he ...

1473. Noah and the Robots

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

King Duncan

It sounds like a rock group, doesn’t it--“Noah and the Robots?” Some of you probably think the title of my message is a bit frivolous. It may be, but the subject matter we are going to discuss today is not frivolous at all. I read something interesting about the famous novelist Charles Dickens. It seems that Dickens wrote all his great stories in installments. Week after week, Dickens would spin out his tales and the English public would breathlessly wait to see what was going to happen next to such ...

1474. A GPS for Your Life

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

If I were to ask you your philosophy of life, could you tell it to me? Most of us don’t think about our life philosophy, the operating set of beliefs that drives our worldview. Our philosophy of life comes out of us in subtle ways: the attitude we wake up with in the morning, how we treat other people, how we approach a new situation, the things we spend our time, energy and money on. It’s worth taking a moment to examine our life philosophy because, in many ways, it creates our legacy. It’s like a GPS for ...

1475. New Tendons for Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

What would be your dream job? Can you imagine having a job working for the Queen of England? In February 2018, Britain’s royal family posted a job ad for a Digital communications officer to manage the social media account for Queen Elizabeth II. For £30,000 per year—about $38,000 U.S.—the Digital communications officer will post articles, videos and photos about the Queen’s state visits and royal business on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. (1) The Queen has a worldwide following on social media. ...

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