Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 126 to 150 of 193 results

126. Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... should be asking is not "Who" but "How should I love my neighbor?" The parable of the Good Samaritan confronts the lawyer, and all those listening, with the challenge to go beyond a quest for simple obedience and instead, spontaneously, even recklessly, to care. All the images and players Jesus uses in his story of the unfortunate traveler are familiar and deliberately obvious. The road between Jerusalem and Jericho, about 20 miles, was a known haven for highway robbers. Bands of outlaws took advantage ...

127. Exodus 17:1-7

Exodus 17:1-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... tantamount to blaspheming the name of the Lord. The divine name represented by the Tetragrammaton YHWH (Exodus 3:12-15; 6:2-8) essentially translates as "the Lord who will be there." Little wonder, Moses became so distraught and frightened in the face of a crowd mentality so ruthless and reckless it was willing to desecrate the name of God in order to slack its thirst.

128. Proper 20

Psalm 1:1-6, Proverbs 31:10-31, Mark 9:30-37, James 3:13-18

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... for ourselves and one another, not overworking some and leaving other idle and unemployed. Grant wisdom and self-control to all who pilot planes, drive buses or trains, and pilot ships. Grant a change of heart to those who operate cars and trucks with reckless abandon to the harm of others and themselves. Help us find more cooperative ways of educating our children so that none are neglected: schools and agencies and families working as teams for the nurture and love of all children. Save us from the ...

129. Proper 5

1 Samuel 8:1-22, Psalm 138:1-8, Mark 3:20-35, 2 Corinthians 4:13--5:1

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... are numbered find places of shelter where they can rest and do what they can and find help in what they can no longer do for themselves. Save us from the hazards to the spirit that are a part of every season of our lives, from recklessness, from confusion, from doubt and despair. Give us opportunities to share what we have learned with others and receive in turn the exchange of their experience. Divine Governor, rule in the affairs of nations that injustice may be rebuked and the just given strength. Temper ...

130. When I Grow Up

Ephesians 4:15

Sermon

James Merritt

... When you are tempted, don't resist it. We are told nowhere in the Bible to "resist temptation." In fact, we are not told to fight it, we are told to flee it. Proverbs 14:16 says, "The wise watch their steps and avoid evil; fools are headstrong and reckless." (Proverbs 14:16, MSG) II Timothy 2:22 says, "Run from temptations…" (II Timothy 2:22, CEV) I want you to remember this next statement the next time you get into a situation of temptation. There is always a way out. One of the greatest verses in all of ...

131. American Idol

Exodus 20:4-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things." (Philippians 3:19, NASB) Some people love fun more than anything else. II Timothy 3:4 speaks of those who are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." "Treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." (II Timothy 3:4, NASB) Some people love finances more than they love anything else. Job said in Job 31: 24 and 28, "If I have put my confidence in gold, and called fine gold my trust ...

132. Cross Eyed: Glory

John 12:20-33

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. [25] In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal. [26] "If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me. [27] "Right ...

133. Extravagance

Luke 7:36-8:3; Matthew 26:6

Illustration

Larry Powell

... in flagrant, wasteful, unnecessary spending. Senator Proximire gets our attention because he illuminates a subject of interest to us all: how money is spent. We do not like to spend more than we have to and have little tolerance for irresponsible, reckless spending wherever it occurs. "Throwing money out in the yard" and "pouring sand down a rat hole" are expressions which we hope to successfully avoid having applied to ourselves. It really doesn't matter whether we speak of it as stewardship, frugality ...

134. The Beginning of the Story

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... we turn around and seek an entirely new personal orientation. The other requirement is positive - that we believe the good news which Jesus comes to offer. To repent is to reverse the direction in which we are going; to believe is to move with full speed and reckless abandon in the new direction.” (David L. Mckenna, The Communicator’s Commentary, Mark, p. 47) “To believe the good news is simply to take Jesus at his word - to believe that God is the kind of God that Jesus told us He was. To believe is ...

135. How Can Jesus Save Me?

John 3:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... unique. God is personal. God reaches for His very own to save us. He is involved with us. Not once does the Qur'an apply the word “love" to Allah. Aristotle once said it would be eccentric for anyone to assume that Zeus loved them. The Bible reveals God's reckless desire to get His family back. So, the Cross stands as a symbol of how far God will go to claim His own; that somehow God, Himself, is dying there for you and me. Paul put it this way in Romans 5:8, God demonstrated His love for us in ...

136. Encountering Incomparable Riches

Ephesians 2:4-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... mirror. Christina took the picture and found written on the back these words: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn't matter. Come home." God is like Maria. He loves us with an everlasting love and searches for us with reckless abandon. Prevenient grace is love that is unanticipated, unexpected, surprising. What some people call coincidences, I call God-incidences. I was preaching last Sunday among the ruins of Ancient Corinth where Paul spent a good deal of time. As we searched for ...

137. Holy Waste

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and good. We need to order our lives and we need to be responsible. Sometimes it is inappropriate to be sensible. In Mary we’re challenged by extravagant love. (She teaches us that sometimes it is inappropriate to be sensible). Do you see it? There is a recklessness in love which refuses to count the cost. Love doesn’t calculate the less or the more. It’s not concerned to see how little it can decently give. I hope you remember that as you make your pledge to “Because We Care”. You’re not going ...

138. Responding with Humor

Luke 10:38-42

Illustration

Richard Patt

... Martha. Sometimes our priorities, or frustrations, are so far off the beam that they are laughable. And along with this was Martha's own lack of humor, which might have finally saved her. "The Lord's coming to my house? You mean he did accept my reckless invitation?" Martha might have asked. "Well, then, he's going to have to settle for potluck!" Such an attitude could have made Martha a relaxed, delightful hostess. A friend of mine likes to tell stories about how his teenage children would call him at home ...

139. Can These Bones Live?

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... or intimate relationship that has been harshly ended? Does memory find a quarrel unresolved? Do the bones of a once-tender love lay bleaching in the sun? Is there a failure that restlessly sits in the memory? A failure of integrity? A lapse of judgment? A reckless indiscretion? A stupid mistake? What must the piles of bones look like in the wastelands of our lives? Each of us knows. Each of us can feel the brittle dryness that comes when life departs; when spirit withers and blows away. It is vast. It is ...

140. Legacies of Power

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... the lost. Only the message about the love of God visible in Christ can set the guilty free. Apart from proclaiming the magnificent power of God, there is no hope for keeping human arrogance and folly within bounds to save the foolish world or reckless individuals from self-destruction.1 The gospel of Christ embodies the greatest power on earth. Jesus' power is not the kind of power to which we are accustomed. Jesus' power is not the power of politics and military might that we understand. By the standards ...

141. The Tongue Is Mightier than the Sword

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

... use of our speech against other people. Verbal violence can do as much harm as physical violence. And often we save our own most abusive language for those who are nearest and dearest to us. Unleashing sarcasm can cause deep wounds. "Reckless words pierce like a sword ..." (Proverbs 12:18a). Constant criticism will wear a person down and inhibit self-confidence. Parents are often quick to correct and punish misbehavior and forget to affirm positive behavior. Some bosses communicate with employees only when ...

142. Hope Lifted Up

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... 's punishment. Perhaps the story implies that they were heading in a hopeless journey of abandonment of the God who had delivered them from slavery. God hit them with a two-by-four. The fiery snakes were only a foretaste of their future fueled by reckless apostasy. Only more "fiery snakes" awaited them in a future of godless destitution given over to self-indulgence and pride. Recourse to the faith of Sinai drove the people to cast their eyes upon the bronze snake of healing. Hope was restored and the road ...

143. The Firm Foundation of Despair

Illustration

... truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built...Brief and powerless is Man's life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way; for Man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow himself to pass through the gate of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere yet the blow falls, the lofty thoughts that ennoble his little ...

144. Practical Joker

Humor Illustration

... . He was a writer and director of movies. McDermott's favorite gag was to take his guests for a ride in his Model-T Ford. Taking them into the mountains, he would careen around curves at perilous speeds. When a guest would complain about his recklessness, he would yank the steering wheel from its post and toss it over the mountainside. His panic-stricken rider didn't know that he had installed foot controls for steering. McDermott also had a house replete with secret tunnels and sliding panels. It was best ...

145. Liberating the Possessed

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... narrowly missing the sharp corner of the platform. Monsieur André Poultré, our Church World Service guide, reached for the baby to save it. The mother and André struggled momentarily as we watched, stunned and helpless. The mother won the tussle and continued her reckless dance with her baby. We learned later, that the child was ill, and that the mother was going to cure it or kill it. After several other strange, weird, and scary happenings, we left the compound and returned to our lodging to engage ...

146. What If Joseph Were the Patron Saint of 2014?

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... back to his home, but hiding out at his wife’s backwater village where everyone there would be his inlaws. In three days it will be a new year — a time when we celebrate the promise of new beginnings, a time when taking new chances seems reasonable, not reckless. “Love and Joy come to you And to your wassail too, And God bless you and send you A Happy new year. And God send you a Happy New Year.” As the New Year of 2014 approaches and we continue on our Christmas journeys, consider the choices ...

147. Pastor, Don't Talk About That!

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... us grew up in a time when guilt was the primary motivator in Christian behavior. Legalism was rampant and much damage was done to many undeserving people. None of us wants to go back to that. On the other hand, we see many lives today being destroyed by reckless behavior, and no one, even the church, seems to care. So what is a conscientious pastor to do? Then we come to St. Paul’s teachings about sin and grace. In Romans 6:2 he describes followers of Christ as “those who have died to sin.” That may ...

148. When the Dragon Wins

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... . The caption on the picture reads: "Sometimes the dragon wins." The message is painful, but true. Good does not always win over evil. The righteous are not always vindicated. The guilty are not always convicted. Innocent people can die as a result of the reckless behavior of terrorists and street criminals. Sickness and death do not always bypass the houses of the just. Nice people are not always appreciated. Every story does not have a happy ending. Sometimes the dragon wins. That is the point made by the ...

149. Taming the Tongue

James 3:1-12, James 3:13-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... and Hebrew cultures: It was a maxim that James hardly needed to prove. Did not his readers have dozens of things they wished they could “unsay” or many words they had spoken in error? Had they not learned dozens of proverbs to try to help them: “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Prov. 12:18); “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin” (Prov. 13:3). Surely James’ words are self-evident to every honest person ...

150. Living for God

1 Peter 4:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... lives of the Christians have been so turned around by their conversion to Jesus Christ that pagan neighbors are thoroughly bewildered. They cannot understand how it is that their former boon companions are no longer wanting to join them in the old reckless rush into a flood of dissipation, a way of life abandoned to debauchery. And since they cannot comprehend what has happened, their resentful response is to heap abuse on you. Vilification was an aspect of suffering evidently all too common an experience ...

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