Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1501 to 1525 of 1858 results

1501. A Different View

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... sandbar and the boat grounded. Both men jumped overboard and began to push and shove with all their strength, trying to get the boat into deeper water. With his feet almost knee-deep in mud, and the waves bouncing him against the side of the boat, and his hair blowing wildly in the wind, one of the men said with a knowing grin, "It sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn't it?"

1502. Courage to Take a Stand

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... Honorius was emperor of Rome, about the year A.D. 400, the great Coliseum of Rome was often filled to overflowing with spectators. These had come from far and near to view the state games. Part of the sport consisted in watching as human beings battled with wild beasts or against one another until one or the other was killed. The assembled multitude made Roman holiday of such sport and found its highest delight in the death of a human being. It was on such a day when the vast crowd was watching the contest ...

1503. The Masada Mentality

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Archibald Rutledge tells the story that as a young boy he was always catching and caging wild things. He particularly loved the sound of the mockingbird, so he decided to catch one and keep it so he could hear it sing any time. He found a very young mockingbird and placed it in a cage outside his home. On the second day he saw a mother bird ...

1504. Consider the Possibilities

Illustration

Don Emmittee

... he was still alive—not drowned, as his ship's company was. He was apart from human society, but he was not starving. He had no clothes, but he was in a hot climate where he did not need them. He was without means of defense, but he saw no wild beasts such as he had seen on the coast of Africa. He had no one to whom he could speak, but God had sent the ship so near to the shore that he could get out of it all the things necessary for his basic wants. So he concluded that ...

1505. A Fable on Peace

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will." But the world has seen very few years of peace since Christ our Prince of Peace came. I discovered this fable on peace which challenges me. "Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a sparrow asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing," was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the sparrow said. "I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow—not heavily, not in a raging blizzard—no, just like in ...

1506. A Loving Parent

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Thrown into gladiator pits, torn apart by wild animals, burned alive, the Apostle John, the author of Revelation, in exile on the isle of Patmos, had friends and fellow believers who suffered greatly under Roman rule. He couldn’t be present to comfort them in their sufferings. He could only pray and ...

1507. In Search of a New Life

Revelation 21:1-5a

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you like stories of buried treasure? Here’s one that you may not have heard. According to a legend from the Wild West, back in the 1870s, notorious outlaw Jesse James and his gang stole millions of dollars worth of gold bullion from a Mexican general. The men proceeded to bury their treasure somewhere in the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma. Rumor had it that Jesse had scratched a secretly-coded map on ...

1508. Grabbing the Bull by the Horns

Luke 9:11b-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... could. The bull started to sway and buck, and Ortberg focused on moving his center of gravity with the swaying of the bull. He thought he was doing pretty well until the bull started moving faster. Soon, he was hanging on for dear life, his arms flailing wildly, his body sliding helplessly from one side to the other. The illusion of control was gone. Just when he thought he was losing his grip entirely, the bull slowed down and came to a stop. But here was what was amazing. Pastor Ortberg was still on the ...

1509. Setting His Face Toward Jerusalem

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... and a professor of sociology at Eastern College in Pennsylvania. He preaches all over the country. A few years ago a middle-aged couple came to thank Campolo for his preaching. A few years earlier, their daughter had been caught up in a life of wild rebellion. She had become estranged from her parents. After hearing Campolo preach, this young woman gave her life to Christ. She went back to her dorm room and wrote them a long letter of reconciliation. Unfortunately, on her way back from mailing that letter ...

1510. Monkey Business

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

A wild monkey ran amuck in the “posh” Azabu district in Tokyo, Japan, for months, eluding authorities who tried to catch it. News coverage showed police trying to throw a net over it, and warned people that the monkey could bite. But the macaque met its match when it invaded the American ...

1511. Get the Garbage Out!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... through the prophet Isaiah: ‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River . . . .” What was the first thing that people did when they heard John’s message? They ...

1512. I Choose You

Illustration

Victoria Brooks

... . Finally, Lincoln won, paid the money, and had her brought to him. She came, rigid with resistance, arms tied behind her back, leg chains dragging. “Untie her,” Lincoln said. “Oh no, sir!” her auctioneer responded, pulling her forward with a jerk. “She be a wild one! Ain’t no end o’ trouble in her. Ya best git her home afore ya be takin’ her chains off.” With that, he secured her to the horse rail, turned, and left. Lincoln stood quietly for a moment, looking at the young woman. “What ...

1513. In Need of a "Rally Monkey"

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... screen—a video clip from the movie “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.” It featured a few seconds of Ace's monkey, jumping up and down and screeching and acting, well . . . like a monkey. Superimposed over the clip were the words, “Rally Monkey.” The fans went wild for the rally monkey. They cheered and shouted and acted like monkeys themselves and got their energy back up. And guess what? The Los Angeles Angels came from behind to win the game. And ever since then, the Angels have been famous for their ...

1514. The Matchmaker

Illustration

King Duncan

... Becky.” “And who is this young man?” Benjamin asked. The matchmaker replied: “The Queen’s grandson, Prince Harry.” Benjamin thought for a moment, and then said, “Prince Harry is not a Jew.” “He’ll convert.” “Prince Harry is a wild young man.” “That was then. Now, he wants a wife and family.” “And the children?” ‘‘Naturally, they’ll be raised in the Faith.” “Anything else?” asked Benjamin. “Yes, I think the Queen wants to offer you an apartment in Buckingham ...

1515. Whose Hands?

John 6:1-15

Illustration

Source Unknown

... ’s hands is worth $30 million. It depends whose hands it’s in. A golf club might be worth $50 in my hands. In Phil Michelson’s hands it’s worth 100s of millions. It depends whose hands it’s in. A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea. It depends whose hands it’s in. A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it’s in. Two fish and ...

1516. From Bad to Worse

Illustration

Staff

Have you ever have one of those days when, no matter how hard you try, things just seem to go from bad to worse? The story is told of two cowboys who were working cattle one day. One of them discovered he was in trouble when a wild bull, with his head down and nostrils flaring, came charging toward him. The cowboy saw a deep hole in the ground and quickly jumped in it. As soon as the bull passed over him, he jumped out of the hole. The bull, madder than ever, came charging back again, and ...

1517. Jesus Destroys the Power of Sin

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... accepting of our own actions and those of others that we are not being good Christians or Americans. However, we must be wary that we are not deluding ourselves, seeing an always bright and rosy picture when darkness is clearly evident. We should remember Oscar Wilde's novelette, The Picture of Dorian Gray, written in the early part of the twentieth century, which describes the life of a tortured man who is unable to honestly look at his life. He refuses to look inside and accept who he truly is -- namely ...

1518. Speaking with Prophetic Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... proclaimed impending doom to the southern kingdom of Judah unless the nation once again turned to the Lord. Many of us recall Isaiah's famous "Song of the Unfaithful Vineyard" (5:1-7), where God asks what more could have been done for Judah yet the nation yielded "wild grapes." God's justice will be complete as the prophet predicts, "I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down the wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it ...

1519. How Would You Introduce Jesus?

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... would say, “No, we’ve got plenty of teachers right now.” But he didn’t. Turns out that there was a need for a teacher in the 3rd and 4th grade class. Whose child was in that class? Rev. Nuckolls’ son. Rev. Nuckolls reports that Rose, the former wild-living, rehabilitated drug addict, taught his son about the grace and love of Jesus Christ. (5) The grace of God changed Rose’s life. And now Rose is sharing the grace of God with a group of 3rd and 4th graders, and God only knows how many lives ...

1520. The Law of Unintended Consequences

Matthew 5:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” What’s going on here? On some occasions Jesus seems like a wild-eyed radical welcoming prostitutes and tax-collectors and all kind of riff-raff into the kingdom and saying things like, “You have heard it said . . . but I say to you . . .” But on this occasion he sounds like the most dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist ...

1521. No Longer Home Alone

John 15:13-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... was painfully lonely. The first time was when I was a child. I was literally home alone. I was not abandoned, but my parents just took a little longer to get home from town one night. Fourteen miles out in the country alone with a child's imagination running wild can be quite an experience. The second time was my second year at college. I was in a new state and a new college, with no friends, and loneliness gripped me and tried to smother me until my brother came along and got me reconnected. The third time ...

1522. Learning to Walk in the Dark

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... sinister stuff into the dark part, identifying God with the sunny part and leaving you to deal with the rest on your own time.” So Taylor set about exploring the dark — in her backyard and on the crest of her land’s mountain, in a “wild” cave’s total darkness with experienced cavers, in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Underground far below the sanctuary floor of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, and within herself. In the closing pages of her book she writes, “Whether you decide to explore ...

1523. The Sign of the Dove

Matthew 3:1-17 · John 1:1-34 · Mark 1:1-8 · Luke 3:1-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... based in part on Stefan Zweig's parable “The Legend of the Third Dove.” In “The Lost Dove” there is so much death and destruction that the doves of the world leave their abodes, where they were painted, inked, sculpted, woven into tapestries, or alive in the wild, and hold a summit conference at the Mount of Olives. Their gathering is named The Great Council of the Doves. From the Mount of Olives the doves are sent on a mission: to find the lost dove of peace from Noah’s ark. The dove elder that ...

1524. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , clean, clear water that would taste so good and sustain their life in the desert environments. This “living water” was truly a life source and a life force. Our kids may think that drinking water comes out of bottles, but if you are ever in the wild or in the mountains and have the opportunity to drink from a natural spring, you know that there is nothing like it. It’s mouth-watering fresh and thirst-quenching pure. It’s water untouched by humanity. Its sources are mysterious to us, its nature and ...

1525. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever, but you, O Lord, are on high forever. For your enemies, O Lord, for your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me[a] fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the ...

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