Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1501 to 1525 of 3160 results

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... to clear their heads. The soothing rocking of the boat, the briny odor of sea water, the rough feel of the nets in their calloused hands--these things were comforting to Simon Peter and the others. And they needed this time in the comfort zone to sort out their thoughts and emotions. But how tempting it is to stay in that comfort zone. As someone said, "The most tiring exercise in the world is carrying yesterday on your back." That's what the disciples were struggling with: carrying yesterday on their backs ...

1502. Pretenders

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... an ancient Greek myth, recounted in Plato's Republic, about a shepherd who finds a magic ring. A simple twist of this ring bestows on the shepherd the gift of invisibility. The shepherd takes advantage of this new power, and uses it to engage in all sorts of evil behavior. Plato's characters wrangle over the question raised by this myth: how does a person choose to live when he knows no one is watching? If we knew our actions would not have any consequences, would we live ethically or unethically? (5) Most ...

1503. One Giant Leap

John 1:1-18, Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... home for Christmas. And some of them go to church with their aging parents, and some of them don't. And yet, somehow, as they're forced to face the old home town, as they're confronted again by who they are and what they've become, there's a sort of wistfulness that sets in. You see, says Keillor, they all believe. They all believe in themselves, or in their looks, or in their skills or in their luck. They all believe. But here's the crunch of Christmas. As they see the old farm houses again, as they talk ...

1504. Who Is Your Hero?

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Senator Barbara Jordan was such a person. Jordan had a trail blazing career as the first woman and the only black person so far to represent the state of Texas in the U.S. Senate. When she first entered politics, she had to overcome all sorts of outmoded attitudes, but her fairness and her commitment to justice won her respect from both political parties. Senator Jordan may have never known how her example inspired others. A little black girl used to pass Barbara Jordan's childhood home each day and think ...

1505. Passing The Test!

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7, Matthew 4:1-11

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a few test papers, with the letter grade in bright red ink Good morning, boys and girls. Are any of you in kindergarten or preschool? It's fun, isn't it? You learn all sorts of new things. And once you get to kindergarten or preschool, you have to start taking tests to see if you're learning everything you should. If you do well on the test, if you answer all the questions right, you get an "A." That's the best grade you ...

1506. Hey, You Can Only Be Young Twice!

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... to yield our lives to the divine. Some unknown author put it thoughtfully and beautifully: At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really didn't know Him. But later on when I met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in ...

1507. Hey, You Can Only Be Young Twice!

John 3:1-21

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... came to Jesus and asked about His teachings. Jesus told Nicodemus that people must be born again, born a second time, in order to be saved. Nicodemus didn't understand that at all. How can someone be born a second time? Well, you know how a baby gets all sorts of new things when it's first born? When you accept Jesus into your heart, you get a new heart. Brand new. It doesn't look any different, or work any different than your old heart. But you feel different inside. You have more love, more peace, more ...

1508. Who Are Your Gentiles?

Acts 10:23b-48

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... do you think of this one? What color is that? That's right, it's (name of color). And here's another one. What color is it? You're right. Oh, and then I colored this last picture. What color is this one? That's right, it's got all sorts of color in it. Can you name some of the colors? Which picture do you like the best? This last one? Why is that? It's prettier, isn't it? It's more interesting than the other two. Because instead of using just one color, I used all kinds of ...

1509. The Heart Of The Matter

Matthew 5:1-12

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... of soap. It's almost completely pure. Most soaps have lots of different ingredients and extra stuff in them. But not Ivory soap. It's just pure soap and air. That's all. Actually, Ivory soap was made by accident. You see, soap is made by mixing all sorts of ingredients together, and then putting the mixture into a giant machine that stirs and stirs and stirs it all up. One day, the man at a certain soap factory forgot to turn off the stirring machine. It just kept stirring and stirring the soap for a much ...

1510. Trouble Brewing In The Kitchen

Luke 10:38-42

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... as they need to go to find more trees. And if they can't drag the trees to the dam, they will build a canal to float the trees to the location where they need them. It is an amazing story what a beaver can do. Beavers work very hard--sort of like Jesus' friend, Martha, in our Scripture for today. And Jesus admires people who work hard. But there is something even more important than hard work. It is to be like Martha's sister, Mary, who sat at Jesus' feet and listened to him. There is a time to ...

1511. Positive Faith

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... the journey these Africans mutiny, kill most of their captors, take over the ship, and try to return home. Eventually caught and brought to trial, they watch in wonder and confusion as a group of local Christians gather to pray for them. "It's some sort of entertainment," one of the Africans suggests as the religious folk get down on their knees. "It can't be," his friend responds. "They look too miserable." From that point on, the abolitionist Christians who come to lend their support are referred to, from ...

1512. How Many Times Should We Forgive?

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... Morris and ask for his forgiveness. He went to the Coach's house and introduced himself, then apologized for the prank he and his friends had pulled years ago. Coach Morris began to cry. That day, the coach gave his life to Christ. (11) That sort of thing can happen when we forgive. Families are healed, marriages saved, friendships restored, and even, every once in a while, someone finds Christ. How many times shall we forgive? If we are pagans, ilunga is enough. If we are followers of Jesus, we forgive ...

1513. On "supersizing" Our Vision

Mark 12:42-43

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... container, also a "supersize" soft drink cup and "supersize" french fry container. Good morning, boys and girls. Do you like going out to eat? What do you like to order? Maybe a hamburger, and some french fries, and a soft drink sounds pretty good, doesn't it? There are all sorts of sizes you can get, too. You can get a small fry and drink, a medium, a large size, and now you can even get a supersize soft drink and fries. Wow! That's huge, isn't it? Do you think you could eat or drink that much? I think ...

1514. The Difference Between God And Santa

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... was seated importantly behind a giant's desk. "Well?" said his father, "Y-e-s . . ." he said slowly, as he inched forward toward the desk. "Uh . . . I , I . . . Well, you know those 6000-watt light bulbs at the rink?" Walter said slowly. "Well, I guess I sort of broke one . . ." And then the story rolled out. And when it was finished, with Walter hanging his head next to the floor, his father slowly rose from his chair. And he stepped with dignity around the desk. And the world grew small and silent: only ...

1515. The Problem With Keeping All The Rules

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... . There was a fan on the table. The twin beds each had a thin mattress and a pillow. There was a toilet and a sink. No, it wasn't too bad, unless, of course, you had to stay there! Anibal (pronounced “uh-nee-ball") did. He was a striking sort of man. The tattooed anchor on his forearm symbolized the character of the man. He was cast iron. His broad chest stretched his shirt. The slightest movement of his arm bulged his biceps. His face was as leathery in texture as it was in color. His glare could blister ...

1516. Insincere Religion

Matthew 22:34-40

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... works just fine now. All it needed was to be sharpened up. Before the pencil was sharpened, it was useless. But after it was sharpened, it could be used to write all kinds of things. You know, sometimes our faith can be like an unsharpened pencil. We can have all sorts of faith in God, but it's not worth anything unless we have love in our hearts too. Faith without love is like an unsharpened pencil. It doesn't work right. Faith is no good without love. God wants us to have love for Him and for other people ...

1517. How Many Times?

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... toward me, I try to forget him. I used to follow a practice--somewhat contrived, I admit--to write the man's name on a piece of scrap paper, drop it into the lowest drawer of my desk. That drawer became over the years a sort of private wastebasket for crumpled-up spite and discarded personalities. Besides, it seemed to be effective, and helped me avoid harboring useless black feelings." Resentment and hatred are "useless, black feelings." Usually they do more harm to us than the person we resent. That's ...

1518. Why The British Coast Guard Doesn't Like Eric, But God Does

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... of us--memories of letting go of mom's hand in the grocery store, of driving down the wrong side street and ending up in the "bad" part of town. Or memories of wandering into drugs, alcohol, unhealthy relationships, unethical business deals, family feuds. There are all sorts of ways to get yourself lost. And yet, the focus of today's scripture lesson is not our lostness; the focus is God's love. The lesson is about a sheep that has gone astray. It's also about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine other sheep ...

1519. Come Home To God

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Angela Akers

... the police. At his trial, he admitted fully his guilt and apologized for his past actions. The judge was so impressed by Ron's attitude and actions that he set him free with only probation. As Ron would later remark, "What that judge did was show me grace--sort of like Jesus did." (7) The season of Lent is a time of self-examination. Soul-searching. It is a time to confront the central message of the Gospel: Jesus died to save us from our sins. His death was ugly, vile, shocking, painful. Read through the ...

1520. Schadenfreude

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks

... Fraud," "Clergy Absconds With Mission Offering." And we devour this information. We can't get enough. Why else is the media so fixated on this form of exploitation? The market is growing by leaps and bounds. Christians don't like to talk about this sort of thing. It makes us uncomfortable to admit that we harbor such vile feelings. We bristle at the suggestion that there is a sick joy that bubbles within us when others stumble. We couch our satisfaction in condescending clichÃ©s: "They are reaping what ...

1521. "Why Don't We Just Tell Them Our Names?"

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Siegfried S. Johnson

... American place-names. In 1868 the town's first postmaster proposed names that Washington, D.C. kept rejecting. Exasperated, he wrote the Postmaster General asking him to take over the job: "We don't care what name you give us so long as it is sort of peculiar." And so it was. Some places got their names by accident or error. Correct, Indiana, for example, is incorrect; its residents wanted their town to be named Comet, but someone misread the "m" as two "r"s. (1) Names. Everyone has one. Dale Carnegie ...

1522. His Name Was Rocky Johnson

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Frank Lyman

... prelude to the arrival of the Messiah but he was not the Messiah himself. "Some say you're Jeremiah." Jeremiah was one of the finest prophets Israel ever produced, but he was not God incarnate. People still are all over the map when it comes to Jesus. We do all sorts of good and evil in the name of Jesus, and what ought to shake us up is that we tend to mold Jesus into our image, instead of molding ourselves into his! Honestly, how many of us open our Bibles, see what Jesus might say on a particular subject ...

1523. Finding Something Amazing To Live For

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... in Britain's famous Epsom Downs Steeplechase. Just before the race began, he slipped his horse a white pellet. The Duke of Marlboro, who was serving as steward, caught the owner in the act and objected. "I say, old man, really you can't do that sort of thing over here!" "Just a harmless sugar lump," the American assured him. He gulped one down himself. "Here, try one," he said. The Duke took a pill, swallowed it, and seemed satisfied. As the jockey mounted the American horse, its owner whispered in his ear ...

1524. Are You Ready For Your Inheritance?

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... song from the prison road crew has earned Carter thousands of dollars. (2) Do you think that unexpected blessing changed Mr. Carter's life in any way? Would it change yours, if you were in his place? The apostle Paul was known for a sort of single-minded enthusiasm. He was extraordinarily enthusiastic when he wrote the passage from Ephesians which we read a few moments ago. In our Bibles, this passage is broken down into nice, neat paragraphs with proper punctuation. In the original Greek version, however ...

1525. Missing The Real Miracle

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... of being daily wracked by pain, she carried on her work for the Lord and composed thirteen books. In 1948, as she neared the end of her life, Amy wrote this note: "Not relief from pain, not relief from the weariness that follows, not anything of that sort at all, is my chief need. Thou, O Lord my God, are my need--Thy courage, Thy patience, Thy fortitude. And very much I need a quickened gratitude for the countless helps given every day." (2) Our deepest need is not for the things God provides; our deepest ...

Showing results