Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 126 to 150 of 1185 results

126. The Secret Of A Great New Year

Luke 3:1-20, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... . But think of the humility it required for Jesus to be baptized at John's hand. John recognized it. “Why, I'm not even worthy to unlatch his sandals," John explained. May I suggest that if you have a dream in your heart that God is calling you to pursue, that you begin as Jesus began--with humility. It's a standing joke, of course, that men won't ask for directions. I wonder how many men not only get lost, but also fail to achieve their dreams, because they will not turn to someone wiser, someone who has ...

127. When The World Goes Crazy!

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Sermon

King Duncan

... picture of hell on earth. The people who were created in God's image had rejected God's ways. They wanted what they wanted, and they wanted it now. Some say that we live in that kind of world today--a world in which each person pursues happiness without regard for the welfare of society as a whole. Some people find happiness in using drugs. Drug use is a major factor in domestic violence, child abuse, poverty, poor health, and rising crime rates. Some people find happiness in shopping. And this is a great ...

128. Nightline

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , is a terrible story to read during the Christmas season, and it would be much easier just to continue to the more soothing parts of the Christmas narrative. However, I think, as Dan Rather would say, this also is part of our world. We know that truth must be pursued and stories told even if they are ugly and make us feel downright uncomfortable. If I had to retell the story of Mary and Joseph''s fleeing to Egypt I would do it in the format of Ted Koppel''s Nightline. Here is one way the story could be ...

129. Grace in the Midst of Guilt and Shame

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... Jesus. But in truth the vast majority of us have extended periods of time when we don't want to be anything like that at all. Maybe we sit in church and daydream about punching out our boss, or wishing that an annoying relative would just die, or pursuing forbidden sexual adventures, or running away from the people who are depending on us right now, or simply wishing that we could get all this over with, and simply be dead ourselves. Then when it's time to pray we think, "As if ... as if God would reach ...

130. The Medicine Of A Cheerful Heart

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... for our minds, our emotions, our spirits, our relationships. It is medicine for the whole self. And I want us to pursue the theme from that perspective of wholeness -- all of who we are, and all that life, especially the Christian life, is ... I can be unhappy.(2) I'm happy that I can be happy about myself. I'm happy that my happiness does not depend on circumstances. Let's pursue these thoughts. II. I'm happy that I can be unhappy. Do you think it strange that I would begin at that point? I do so because ...

131. The Book that Changes Lives

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

King Duncan

... experience value-based happiness can find joy in simple pleasures, and can renew those feelings of happiness every time they reflect on the things that give their life meaning. In contrast, feel-good happiness fades as soon as the physical sensations fade. People who pursue feel-good happiness soon find that they need larger and larger doses of sensation in order to experience the same level of happiness, just like an addict needs larger doses of a drug in order to get high. Too much feel-good happiness and ...

132. Facing Fears, Kingdom Style

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... is called Despair, the sin that believes in nothing, cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, and remains alive because there is nothing for which it will die.” Don’t become that kind of person. Pursue the kingdom and the king. Let it be the burning center around which all other activities are organized. Larry Crabb put it this way, “Whenever we place a higher priority on solving our problems than on ...

133. Joy in the Journey

119:129-136

Sermon

Michael Milton

... what the Bible would call just plain old sin, a sinful lifestyle. The columnist’s response seemed to chastise the wife! In the advice of the columnist, the wife needed to allow her husband to pursue his own identity and get on with her life. Is there not a right and a wrong anymore? Or have we really come to a postmodern place in life where all truth is personal, and if my truth, maybe an outdated moral system, gets in your way, I just need ...

134. The Model of Success

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... are two kinds of people in this world, according to this text. There are those who worship wealth and will do whatever is necessary in order to gain it, and those who worship God, who ought to be as committed and dedicated in pursuing what they know is important, as those who pursue their own selfish interests. The suggestion is that it is by that standard that we are going to be judged. Jesus suggests that when he says that we should be as shrewd in insuring our future, as those in the world insuring their ...

135. Proper 18

Psalm 149:1-9, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20, Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon Aid

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

... such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Yet, if we ponder the words for a moment, we will recall two things: (1) Gentiles and tax collectors were recognizably outside the Church, but (2) they were the very ones whom God pursued in order to bring them into the Church. The offending member is not being simply dismissed, but rather the matter has run its human course and is now being given completely to God. Offenders are dealt with, but ultimately in love and for the purposes of reconciliation ...

136. Why Every Christian Should Be an Optimist

Psalm 121:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... your enemy be disease, disappointment, or discouragement, you just remember who your God is, and what your God can do. There was a Christian in Africa by the name of Frederick Nolan. He was being pursued by some people of another religion because of his stand on the gospel. He was fleeing from his enemies, and they pursued over hill and valley. He could find no place to hide, and soon fell exhausted into a cave expecting his enemies to find him at any moment. Lying there awaiting his certain death, he saw ...

137. Final Destination

Psalm 23:6

Sermon

James Merritt

... 60:10 says in The New Living Translation, “I will have mercy on you through My grace.” Now I want you to notice that both goodness and mercy, we are told, “follow us.” The Hebrew word follow literally means “to pursue.” What this really says is, God’s goodness and God’s mercy pursues us, runs after us, and stays right on our heels all the days of our lives. Remember this is a shepherd’s song. Shepherds do not drive sheep, they lead sheep. Sheep are led from the front, so the shepherd would ...

138. Catching the Kingdom

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Illustration

Russ M. Locke

... dog would put on the brakes and act as if the whole thing were only a joke. Evidently the cat was to be chased but not to be caught, and if the cat insisted on being caught, then the dog was most embarrassed. "Too often," says Dale Oldham, "we have pursued the Kingdom of God in this same spirit. We have cried out in a burst of enthusiasm so long as we have been ...

139. Strong in Faith: A Little Dab'll Do Ya

1 Corinthians 16:13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... Men Beware! Use one dab of Brylcreem. Just a little dab makes your hair look excitingly clean, disturbingly healthy. (Show man pursued by a group of females.) This man dared to use two dabs, now he's in trouble. We refuse to ... be responsible. Jingle: Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya. Brylcreem, you'll look so debonair. Brylcreem, the gals will all pursue ya. They love to get their fingers in your hair. Today, Brylcreem is back (thankfully, without the jingle!). Even soccer star David Beckhem signed ...

140. Precious and Privileged Children

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... privilege we have. One thing God is not: He is not a liar. We ought to see clearly that God will do whatever he decides to do and with whomever he has chosen. There is a great and undeniable life lesson in all of this. While we are pursued in loving understanding, this does not imply we are with God as one buddy to another. To carry that concept very far leads to perversions and prevarications. God's patience is a virtue of such profundity we can understand it only darkly. Nevertheless, we do have a glimpse ...

141. Setting All the Idols Down

Hosea 2:14-20

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... lives over to entities and processes that are not of God? If so, what are the details? What are the idols? What are the idols that we worship today? What foreign gods do we follow? Perhaps the biggest one is money, wealth, and comfort. Could it be that we pursue material well-being and comfort at the expense of our relationship with God? What does it mean to worship an idol? What does it mean to offer our allegiance to some entity other than the God who came to us in Jesus Christ? How does that happen? What ...

142. Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... .We cannot live fully without heroes, for they are the stars to guide us upward. They are the peaks on our human mountains. Not only do they personify what we can be, but they also urge us to be. Heroes are who we can become if we diligently pursue our ideas in the furnace of our opportunities. Heroes are those who have changed history for the better. They are not always the men and women of highest potential, but those who have exploited their potential in society's behalf. Their deeds are done not for the ...

143. In the Waiting Room

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... Let no one mislead you. Be patient. The second admonition is to be faithful. Some of you remember the ancient epic poem by Homer called the Odyssey. It is the story of Odysseus who traveled the world pursuing many adventures. Meanwhile back home his beautiful wife Penelope was being pursued by various suitors trying to take advantage of Odysseus’ twenty-year absence. In order to keep these suitors at bay, Penelope announced that when she finished weaving a particular garment, she would choose among these ...

144. Radical Love is Truthful (Series: Radical Love in a Risky World)

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... for some means what I have decided you need to know. Truth for others is self-centered. I’ve got my truth and you’ve got your truth. So be it! It’s all relative anyway since there’s no such thing as absolute truth. So, you just pursue your truth and I’ll pursue my truth and we don’t have to worry about it. Of course, we don’t in many ways until we run into something that is just absolutely wrong no matter how you feel about it, like abuse, or like the exploitation of children, or like racism ...

145. He Breaks the Power of Cancelled Sin

John 8:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... .” This is a core truth for dynamic discipleship. We are free, not partially, but completely free. In Christ we have the Light of Life. So, let’s hone in on the truth in this image of Brother Charles Wesley: “He breaks the power of cancelled sin.” We’ll pursue a variation on the theme next Sunday. For now, underscore this big point: CHRIST FREES US FROM SOMETHING. What is it from which we are freed? What is the darkness from which we are delivered as we are given the Light of Life? One of the most ...

146. Discipline and Means of Grace

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , or works of mercy. Apart from attending upon all the ordinances of God, Wesley listed two: One, doing no harm; two, doing well.” Now, isn’t that simple? Yet, how profound in implication doing no harm, and doing well. It was clearly underscored in Hebrews: “Pursue peace with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it the many become defiled” (Heb ...

147. In the Lions' Den (Dealing with Stress)

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... as we move in and out of the lions’ den. These suggestions all begin with an “A”; so maybe you c n remember them if you’re not taking notes. 1. Acknowledge stress; 2. Admit limitations; 3. Assert your will; and 4. Allow God to be God. Let’s pursue this path of suggestions. A part of the acknowledging process is to keep in mind the common causes of stress. Let’s look at some of those. First of all, change or crises. Some years ago, T.H. Holmes and K.H. Rahe developed what they called the social ...

148. The Christ Connection

Colossians 1:9-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... You as Lord, acknowledge you to be the greatest moral leader who ever walked the face of the earth. You have touched our world, inspiring human kind with a dignity that is often denied, a community that is often compromised, and a purpose for being that is seldom pursued. At our best we become like You because You were the model of the way life ought to be. CHRIST IS THE ANSWER to the riddle of life. Paul, trying to help us understand the unique nature and power of the risen Christ says, “In Christ, all ...

149. An Invitation to Christian Discipleship

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , and they left their nets and followed him.” Come. Follow. Was there ever an invitation more profoundly simple and simply profound? Come. Follow. To follow is to go, to move, to come after, to comprehend, to conform, to comply, to pattern, to penetrate, to pursue that calling that is bigger than I. Immediately they follow. I would have asked, “How far? How long? How much? What is the salary? What are the benefits?” They just start walking. If somebody came and asked you today, “Are you a Christian ...

150. The Church As Family

Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... come to get him to say go on back home and be quiet, Jesus says to those around him, “Wait a minute. Who are my kinfolk? Who really is my kin? Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. The kinship ties of those who pursue the will of God are stronger than those of race and clan. In Christ there is no east nor west, In him no north or south But one great fellowship of love Throughout the whole wide earth. I know that right is right, that givers shall increase, That duty lights ...

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