Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1476 to 1500 of 1522 results

John 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... a popular prize with men. So the carnival game stalls were filled with displays of nice cigars to entice the men into forking over a few pennies for a game. However, many of the carnival games were rigged ever-so-slightly to make it nearly impossible to win. When a customer almost hit the target, carnival barkers would announce, “Close! But no cigar!” As carnivals traveled the country, this phrase became popular from East to West. It became slang for, “You almost got it right, but not quite.” (4 ...

1477. When the Way Means Staying Home

John 11:1-45

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... one another” and where we could celebrate the life-giving power of God together? Could our homes be places of hospitality and friendship, of preparation for ministry and rest for the weary? What a beautiful vision for home and family life! It also seems quite impossible, doesn’t it? Especially for those of us who may feel weary and in need of someone else to prepare an oasis of rest for us. But as Martha, Mary, and Lazarus found, the presence and prayer of Jesus made all the difference. Without Jesus ...

1478. When You’re Out Of Tune

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... and not by the denomination we belong to, but by our love for one another. I believe one of the biggest problems facing the church today is the disparity people experience when interacting with Christians who preach love but act hateful. 1 John is clear that it is impossible to love God and hate another person. If we hate another person, then we need to examine whether we understand the love of God. Yes, we must evangelize. Yes, we must be working to make disciples, but we have no right to act arrogantly or ...

1479. Why Doesn’t God Prove Himself To Doubters?

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... experiment. God is a personal being. God is not an object to be observed; God is a spiritual power to be experienced. How do I know that? Well, let me share a few reasons why I believe this: Proof Of God Doesn’t Guarantee Belief In God It’s impossible for God to prove his existence. Why? Because God gave us the freedom to think. Any so-called “proof” God might give the world would be explained away by skeptics. For example, let’s say God did send a comet in the sky to write to the world, “I ...

1480. The Power of One Passion and One Prayer

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Here’s our first cliffhanger moment. The kingdom of Israel had been destroyed more than 700 years earlier. The disciples believed Jesus would use his divine power to restore it. After witnessing his resurrection, they were sure he was the promised Messiah, and nothing was impossible for him. But Jesus said, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and ...

1481. Framed by Love

John 14:15-21

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... woman or healing a blind man. For Jesus, love was literally a matter of life and death. What’s more, Jesus said, that’s how all people will know that you are my disciples, when you love one another just as I have loved you. That’s an impossibly high standard, isn’t it? Who among the disciples could love like Jesus? Who among us can love in that surprising, self-giving, and sacrificial way? If that’s the gold standard of love, we might as well cut our losses and give up now! But in our text ...

1482. Afraid at the Thank God Ledge

1 Kings 3:5-12

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... desperately they need him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for his power.” (2) Our weakness makes room for God’s power. When Solomon admitted his inadequacy to God, God stepped in and offered His power. Solomon’s story also reminds us that it is impossible for us to reach our God-given potential without God’s guidance. In Genesis 1-2, God created humans in God’s image for the purpose of living in an intimate, trusting relationship with Him. In their relationship with God, Adam and Eve had access ...

1483. When Everything That Matters Has Been Torn Away

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Answers That Really Answer by Norman Vincent Peale [n.p.: n.d.], 3–5. Cited by Crabtree, T. T. The Zondervan 2021 Pastor's Annual (Zondervan Pastor's Annual) (p. 47). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 9. “The Profile: The man who builds impossible things & the obscure billion-dollar media giant” by Polina Marinova, December 13, 2020. 10. “After Losing an Arm and Leg in Iraq, Army Hero Inspires Millions,” By Billy Hallowell (Pureflix), Pureflix.com, https://www.christianpost.com/news/after-losing-an-arm ...

1484. The Debt of Love

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... ? In October 2016, deep-field images from the Hubble Space Telescope suggested that there are about 200 billion trillion stars in the universe. Doesn’t that blow your mind—200 billion trillion stars? And the Lord God created them every one. It is impossible to exaggerate God’s power. There is a famous story about the prominent retired professional golfer, Lee Trevino. Trevino was playing in a PGA tournament. Lightning struck a tree very near to where he was standing. Someone asked him what he thought ...

1485. The Gift of Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... that larger number for a moment. How many times should I forgive someone who does me wrong? Do the arithmetic. Seventy times seven. That’s four hundred and ninety times. Can you forgive someone who is doing you wrong 490 times? Seventy-seven times seems like an impossibility, but 490 times? In other words, Jesus is saying to us there is to be no limit to our willingness to forgive. Doesn’t Jesus realize how difficult that is? Of course, he does. Imagine how difficult it was for him as he hung on the ...

1486. Herding Cats

Matthew 9:35-10:8-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . When people are running in different directions with different motivations and different intentions, it does no good to try to command them into a common direction. It will be futile to try to control this outcome. When you try to attempt this difficult, impossible task of “herding cats,” you’ll become easily frustrated and spend more time trying to herd (and lead) people than in leading the project or mission itself.[1] As writer B. Fournet says, “Nobody ‘owns’ a cat!” So how do you engage ...

1487. Division of the House

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

William G. Carter

... I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace. I have come to bring a sword.” I confess that I have spent most of this week trying to find a way to swallow these words, but it virtually impossible without causing indigestion. For instance, Jesus spoke only of man against father, daughter against mother, and perhaps most logically, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. It is a short list, suggesting generations turning against one another. By contrast, he did not speak of husband ...

1488. Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

William G. Carter

... the way they were intended to be. We might even hear somebody come along and say, “I’m going to drain the swamp.” Well, how do you think that is going to work it? It will not work so well if the swamp is already inside of you. It is impossible to clean up the world if your own hands are dirty. And do you know why that is? Because the enticements of corruption are always greater than the purity of those who think they are good. And once in a while someone will try to start pulling the weeds. A ...

1489. The Unfettered Word

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

... desperate tone in his voice, "Preacher, don't you ever forget that some days, the only thing saving me from complete despair is whatever word of God you happen to speak in the sermon. Don't you dare take it back." It is a heavy, awesome, wellnish, impossible task to preach this word of God. Sometimes the only thing saving me from complete despair is your encouragement of me to dare to speak it. I think some congregations get the preachers they deserve. Today's epistle is from Paul's second letter to Timothy ...

1490. The New Family

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . I don't think it will ever change." We are now five Sundays after Easter, that day, that bright Sunday morning when once dead Jesus burst the bonds of death and came forth from the tomb. Life stepped over the boundary of death. The impossible, inconceivable happened and the future was cracked open with fresh potential. But five Sundays from Easter is a long time. And we get back from the cemetery, the sound of Easter trumpets fades away, and we wonder what, if anything, really changed. Eventually, the ...

1491. Dynamic Preaching January 2024 Sermons

Sermon

King Duncan

... to give him a big hug and congratulate him on his incredible achievement 2. The Nikic family’s story is a testament to the power of love and family values. Nik’s unwavering support and encouragement helped Chris achieve something that many people thought was impossible. Their story is an inspiration to people all over the world. You see your parent doing things like that - it's the greatest lesson in the world!" We are all influenced by our mother's life, our father’s life. We adopted their values ...

1492. We Need Another Miracle

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... which has been called “the lungs of the world” because of its capacity to minimize the dangers of CO2 are a looming disaster. The trapped heat exacerbates western wildfires. The alternating challenges of drought and flooding have made sustainable farming impossible in areas where self-support used to be possible, resulting in folks leaving their homes as refugees seeking simply the opportunity to create a life. As the planet’s relentlessly warming oceans expand and great glaciers and ice sheets melt ...

1493. Into The Valley Of Despair

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Ronald Love

... each it was a time for renewal and refreshment. So, the question again is, “Where is your high mountain?” Jesus went up onto the high mountain to pray. There is no disputing the fact that prayer is a central theme in the Bible. In fact, it would be near impossible to find a biblical character who did not pray. Prayer is so important it is the only thing that the disciples asked to be taught. In Luke’s gospel we read where the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his ...

1494. Is This All There Is?

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

... a new earth. In this place, even this all American City of Medicine, we have no abiding home. Robert Coles speaks of “nuclear paralysis.” Try thinking for fifteen uninterrupted minutes, about the prospect of nuclear annihilation, nuclear winter, and the seemingly overwhelming impossibility of doing anything about it and soon paralysis sets in. You can't move...if that's all there is. No one can save us except someone beyond ourselves. No place is worth having except some place more abiding than this one ...

1495. Gifts You Can’t Return

John 17:6-19

Sermon

Mary Austin

... , my parents came to visit. The baby came home from the hospital, and our world exploded with activity, uncertainty, and a distinct lack of sleep. Like many people, I found it all overwhelming. Somehow, they had let me bring this tiny baby home from the hospital …it seemed impossible to believe. I was pretty sure there was some huge mistake. I was trying to take care of the baby and the house, and I somehow felt a need to prove to my parents that I knew how to be a good parent. I would spin through the ...

1496. Faith on the Fringe

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that Jesus suggested to us as the bit of faith capable of moving mountains, faith grows first from the fields, the valleys, the ditches, and the downtrodden. Faith is cultivated when the center moves to the side and believes when things seem impossible. Fringers take risks. Big risks. Because they have nothing to lose. Jesus imagined a community not of religious institutions but of people, all people, diverse people, faithful people, people whose only goal would be to live in harmony with God, the earth ...

1497. More Than Gimmicks

John 6:24-35

Sermon

David Coffin

... in John 10? A concluding story goes like this in my youth memory: My uncle was a not a great church attendee, however, my aunt was quite meticulous in her worship habits. She prayed from her devotional books often three times a day. When her health made driving impossible for her to get to mass, my uncle felt obliged to chauffeur her. He wanted to drop her off at the church then go to the local bar or tavern. One day, he dropped her off and the church custodian motioned my uncle to come into the custodian ...

1498. But, Why?

Titus 3:4-7

Sermon

Scott Bryte & Kimberly Miller van Driel

... know that the baby in a manger is so much more than six or seven pounds of bouncing Jewish baby boy. We know that the baby was also God in the flesh. We know that the infant Jesus is somehow the Word of God. We know that strangely, inexplicably, impossibly, the very creative power that brought the whole universe into existence lay on a pile of cow feed in the outskirts of Bethlehem, wearing a diaper. It’s a mystery and a wonder that will never completely fit into our brains, but by faith we believe it to ...

1499. Beloved

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and opaque, he will deliberately lead them purposefully into gentile territory (where the supposed “common” folk dwell), where he will demonstrate a number of “teachable moments” that will challenge not only his contemporaries but us still today. It's impossible therefore to splice and dice these passages of scripture and look at them individually. This has typically resulted in huge misinterpretations. We need to read these stories whole, in context, and as Jesus’ actions unfolded. When we do ...

1500. God on the Move

Luke 3:1-6 · Isaiah 40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ragged road ahead: Are you feeling down and defeated? Do you feel you have a hole in your heart that no one has been able to fill? God will fill that gap in your life! God will complete that missing piece! Is your life a series of “too many impossible expectations”? Too many hills to climb with never a reprieve? Too much to do? Too much stress? Are you feeling exhausted like you can’t take one more step? God will make your path walkable again! Have you made mistakes in your life that you feel you can ...

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