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Showing 126 to 150 of 975 results

126. Song of the Vineyard

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... indifferent attitudes. Isaiah does not condemn his own people for their failure to measure up so much as for the corrupting of their God-given goodness. In far too many congregations across too many denominations, the sweet vines of grace planted by the "great gardener," have yielded "stinking grapes" — the product of our ingratitude and contempt of God's love. Material blessings inspire greed instead of generosity. Political power produces moral bullying rather than justice for the outcast, and pluralism ...

127. A Stone’s Throw From: The Harvest

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... immediately falls away. [22] As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. [23] But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." We know there are three elements to this parable the Sower, the Seed and the Soil. Usually we focus on the Sower and ...

128. Never Give Up!

Luke 13:1-9

Illustration

Brett Blair

... to the School - surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the ...

129. How Does Your Garden Grow?

Matthew 13:1-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... that person immediately falls away. [22] As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. [23] But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." Jesus tells us that the seed in this parable is the Word of God and you and our hearts are the soil. In this ...

130. Assurance: The Privilage of All Believers

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... he can. Now this doctrine does not encourage one to obey sin, but to resist it with all our might. (“Sin in the Life of the Believer,” Ibid., pages 671-672). Now here is what separates a Methodist understanding from those who believe in eternal security — whether we yield to sin in our lives to the point that we forfeit our salvation. So get the matter straight. It is not a question of whether God is able to keep us from falling; of course he is able! Whether we can or can’t fall is not as important ...

131. Barriers to Grace

Exodus 6:28--7:7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Doomsday? It may be - but if you are hearing it, it isn’t Doomsday. You’re still listening. It isn’t Doomsday. It’s your day to respond to God. The biggest issue is his call for us to yield our lives to him. There are persons here today who have heard that call over and over again and have not yet yielded - you have not yet responded in faith to Christ as Savior and Lord. The power of that call may be growing dim in your life - it may not be coming as piercingly as it came a year ago or ...

132. The Measure You Give Is the Measure You Get

Mark 4:21-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... sprang up, but since there was no depth to the soil, the sun rose and scorched it, and it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and chocked it; so that seed yielded no grain. But other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundred fold. Then Jesus interpreted his parable to his disciples - telling the sewer was sowing the word of God, and all the different seeds suggested the condition of the hearts on which ...

133. It’s Not about You; It’s All about God

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... fruit. Much that God does seems not to fruit. Yet, the Bible reports that there was a rich harvest, despite the false starts, that God the sower brings about a rich harvest, in some cases a hundredfold yield! (Matthew 13:8). And it is all God's work, for you and I are nothing but passive soil. Can we agree that soil is passive? Since when does soil actively receive seed and take actions to ensure that the seed flourishes? I mean, I have never observed a single ...

134. Accepting the Storms with Calmness

John 14:15-31

Illustration

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... water? Suddenly it dawned upon him that the shell did not panic, fight the forces of the water, and seek to forge its own path in the ocean. The shell simply yielded itself to the waters. It has accepted the storms with calmness, just as it had accepted the stillness of the depths of the water where it had its beginning. By yielding itself to the water, it survived. Suddenly the man saw himself. He had been fighting God, disobeying him, and trying to defy the spiritual forces at the heart of the universe ...

135. “Love Your Enemies” Doesn’t Mean Don’t Make Any

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... this period ‑‑ I am addressing myself to the School ‑‑ surely from this period of ten months, this is the lesson: Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never ‑‑ in nothing, great or small, large or petty ‑‑ never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Love your enemies, but don’t be afraid to make them or stand up to them.

136. Love Your Enemies Doesn’t Mean Don’t Make Any

Matthew 21:23-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

137. A Mother's Influence

Illustration

Staff

... a piece of plastic clay And idly fashioned it one day; And as my fingers pressed it still It moved and yielded at my will. I came again when days were past, The form I gave it still it bore, And as my fingers pressed it still, I could change that form no more. I took a piece of living clay, And gently formed it day by day, And molded with my power and art, A young child's soft and yielding heart. I came again when days were gone; It was a man I looked upon, He still that early impress ...

138. His Plan For Me

Illustration

Staff

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ And He shows me His plan for me; The plan of my life as it might have been Had He had His way, and I see How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there And I would not yield my will, Shall I see grief in my Savior's eyes; Grief though He loves me still? Oh, He'd have me rich, and I stand there poor, Stripped of all but His grace, While my memory runs like a hunted thing Down the paths I can't retrace. Then ...

139. Heaven Will Know

Illustration

Konosuke Matsushita

... but that is not true. Heaven will know, and you and I will know too." Wang Mi was ashamed, and backed down. Subsequently Yang Zhen's integrity won increasing recognition, and he rose to a high post in the central government. Human nature is weak, and we tend to yield to temptation when we think nobody can see us. In fact, if there was no police force, many people would not hesitate to steal. This is not to say that when we do something bad, we feel no compunction at all, just that man is weak and prone to ...

140. Born at Bethlehem — Hope

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... making. No significant gain will result from such foolish exercise. “All true Christian service begins with personal surrender to God. Call it what you want — consecration, yielding, commitment — it is a prerequisite to authentic service. One cannot know Christ personally and deeply without catching the winsome contagion of his caring Spirit for others. Yielding to his Spirit calls for the response of one’s heart in meaningful service to others. As someone said, ‘Wherever the Spirit of the Lord ...

141. Lessons From a Hurricane

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... isn't judging someone else's heart or mind but rather wants to examine his own heart! So what should be in our hearts as we encounter God? It should be a heart that is: * sensitive to God; * rejoicing in the Lord; * a living sacrifice for God, yielded on the altar of faith; * allowing God to touch and change the heart; * giving to offer self for others; and * thanking God for his grace. How is your heart? Hurricanes do come and they hit hard and sometimes persistently. I want my life to reflect what ...

142. Coincidence or Providence?

Acts 16:11-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... man named Paul, and God changed my life.” Friend, the Lydias of this world are all around us. They are waiting for you and me to reach out to them with the love of Jesus Christ. We can be a tool of God’s providence and grace if we yield ourselves to be used of God if we look at every conversation we have as potentially a God-sent opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. Then we will realize that there are actually very few real coincidences in life. Many of these so-called coincidences are ...

143. Let It Go

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . In many ways, the “Let it Go” theme of Frozen is the story of Nicodemus. Jesus is encouraging Nicodemus and the Nicodemus in all of us to “Let It Go.” We must let go of our control, let go of our fear, let go of our cold certainty and yield to God’s Spirit. First, let go of our fear. Why does Nicodemus come in the dead of night? He’s afraid. Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, a member of the great Sanhedrin, a senator, a privy-counsellor, a man of authority in Jerusalem. Yet he calls Jesus ...

144. An Invitation to a Wedding

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... witness and influence in prison convinced the state officials that he was truly a new man. (9) Such things happen to people who yield their lives to Christ. The difficult thing for you and me to see is that God wants to make dramatic changes in our ... without the proper clothes. Could that have been you? Could it have been me? We have accepted God’s grace, but have we sought to yield our lives to His direction? Have we sought to put on Christ? I like the way Marianne Williamson puts it. She compares us to a ...

145. Who's Your Master?

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , if you get the ball I’ll reward you,” but the dog would not fetch for money. Then the preacher said, “Let’s try some peer pressure, and so he had all the people stand up and join in unison, “Fetch Josh, Fetch Josh!” But the dog would not yield to the peer pressure. The pastor then had a beautiful young woman with auburn hair about the color of the dog’s hair, come on the platform. She patted Josh on the head and with a sultry voice she said, “Josh, please get the ball . . . for me.” The ...

146. Paul’s Second Visit to the Jerusalem Church

Galatians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... compelled to be circumcised take on a different meaning depending on how one reads 2:5. A number of manuscripts, including one Western text and Marcion, omit the words “to them [we] did not.” The reading of 2:5 in these texts is that Paul did yield to the “false brothers” with the result that Timothy was circumcised. Thus 2:3 would mean that Timothy was not compelled to be circumcised by the real leaders of the church in Jerusalem but only by the false ones. While there are other places where Paul ...

147. Warning Against the Adulteress

Proverbs 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... an ox, a deer (see Additional Notes), and a snared bird. The man, who is a fool, does not realize that his very life is at stake (vv. 22–23). In verses 24–27, the sage resumes his teaching mode after the harrowing description of yielding to temptation. All the students (my sons) are addressed, although the prohibition in v. 25 is expressed in the singular. In vivid language, he describes the “stranger” as a warrior who has claimed many victims, whose house (recall v. 6) leads to Sheol (rather than ...

148. Israel Punished and Restored

Hosea 2:2-23

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... the Israelites’ faith in their God is far from such communion. 2:9–15 Thus, according to verse 9, the Lord will deny Israel the goods for which she has returned to him. God will prevent the grain from ripening and the vineyards from yielding fruit. He will prevent the flocks from yielding wool and the flax from growing. Israel will be left naked and ashamed before the eyes of her former lovers (cf. Lam. 1:8; Ezek. 16:37), and the baals will be helpless to give any aid or to rescue her from Yahweh’s ...

149. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 1. Israel was the vine planted by God—a frequent figure of speech in the OT (Ps. 80:8–11, 14–15; Isa. 5:1–7; Jer. 2:21; 12:10; Ezek. 17:6; 19:10; cf. John 15:1). Under God’s care, Israel spread out luxuriantly and yielded abundant fruit and prospered—perhaps a reference to the prosperous days under Jeroboam II. But the Israelites used their abundance to build more and more altars to Baal (8:11) and to adorn their stone maṣṣēbôt or pillars for Baal more gloriously. Their heart, their love ...

150. Jesus' First Disciples

John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... who deny that the writer is following the common Jewish practice. 1:41 The first thing Andrew did. The Greek is simply prōton, “first,” used adverbially. Some ancient manuscripts read prōtos (yielding the translation, “Andrew was the first”). Others read prōi (“early next morning”). The last of these, while incorrect, yields an accurate picture of the sequence of events. 1:51 I tell you the truth: lit., “Amen, amen, I say to you.” This formula is used twenty-four times in John’s Gospel ...

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