Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 1526 to 1550 of 2273 results

1526. Where are Your Chickens?

Matthew 14:13-21

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: You will need a small bag of Goldfish crackers for each child. Say: One day Jesus was teaching the people –about 5,000 men –out on a hillside far from any villages. They had been there all day and now it was evening and the people were hungry. His disciples asked Jesus to send the people away so they could go to their villages and buy some food. Jesus said, "No, you feed them!" They said they couldn't do that because the only food they could find was two fish and five loaves that a little boy had ...

1527. One Life To Live

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

In the movie The Truman Show, Truman Burbank believes his life is no different from anyone else's. He has one life to live, just like the rest of us. But one day he begins to notice peculiar things happening. For example he notices things that happen exactly the same way every day. This causes him to get suspicious that something strange is going on. What he doesn't realize is that every second of his life from the day he was born has been telecast live to the entire planet. He is the star of The Truman ...

1528. A Mother And Her Son (Mother's Day)

Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

King Duncan

A woman had quit work to stay home and take care of her new baby daughter. Countless hours of peekaboo and other games slowly took their toll. One evening she smacked her bare toes on the corner of a dresser and, grabbing her foot, sank to the floor. Her husband rushed to her side and asked where it hurt. She looked at her husband through her tear-filled eyes and managed to moan, "It's the piggy that ate the roast beef." (1) Another harried mother had three very active boys. One summer evening she was ...

1529. A Tale Of Two Brothers

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

King Duncan

Americans are amazingly law-abiding folk. We obey the rules. If you don't think so, travel to other countries. Watch people in countries we normally think of as civilized push in front of one another while waiting in line. Try driving in many of the great cities of the world. Those who travel greatly have horror stories to report. People drive through stop signs as if they were not there. And traffic lights receive not much more respect. Meanwhile, in the home of the free and the brave, we passively do ...

1530. There's Something About A Mystery

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Do you remember a unique cultural phenomenon from years ago called "elephant jokes"? These were jokes that were totally nonsensical. They were funny because they were absurd. For example, here is an elephant joke: An elephant was thoroughly enjoying himself as he splashed about in the river. A mouse was perched on the sandy shore. It was obvious that he was disturbed about something. The mouse yelled at the elephant, "Come out of the water at once." The elephant laughed and said, "Why should I come out?" ...

1531. A Green Couch For God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

Former boxer Muhammad Ali has charmed the world with his swaggering self-confidence. But he is quick to admit that he wasn't always so sure of himself. In the book The Entertainers by Timothy White, Ali recalls a particularly humbling moment from his teen years. He had a crush on a girl named Areatha Swint. Seventeen-year-old Ali sometimes walked Areatha home from school. One day, as they reached the top stair of her apartment house, Ali worked up the courage to turn around and kiss her. And then he ...

1532. Faith-based Living

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

One of these days, at the end of a message, I am going to give you a pop quiz--just to see how many of you were really listening. That would be cruel, wouldn't it? Don't worry. I'm afraid of the results myself. Few people enjoy taking pop quizzes--or any kind of test for that matter. Some of our young people would give an "Amen" to that. Tests elevate our anxiety level, so people will do some crazy things to prepare themselves for tests. For the benefit of our high school and college students, I want to ...

1533. Beautiful Words Of Life

John 6:60-71

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: None or bring a party hat or party favor for each child How many of you like parties? What is the best part of a party? Have you ever been to a party and someone got upset and went home? How did that make you feel? Jesus had this kind of a situation. He wasn't having a party but he did have a lot of friends around him. He was trying to teach them about who he was. He was telling them that he was the bread of life and that he came from heaven. Many of the followers couldn't understand how this could ...

1534. Aging Is Mandatory; Maturity Is Optional

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that grown men can act like little children at times? Every woman in the house is nodding her head. Notice our lesson from the Gospel for today. It begins with some words with which we have become familiar: "They went on from there and passed through Galilee. [Jesus] did not want anyone to know it . . ." There it is again. The stealth Messiah, quietly going about his business, trying to stay out of the public eye. This time Mark provides us with an explanation: ". . . for he was ...

1535. Did He Dance?

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

Mary Hollingsworth in her book, Fireside Stories, tells a wonderful story about a devoted follower of Christ in Romania named Richard Rumbren. Rumbren was arrested by the Communists many years ago for believing in Jesus. For fourteen years, he and some other Christians were kept in one little room some thirty feet below the ground. And in all those years all they had was one little light bulb. It was a horrible life. When he was finally released, Richard wrote a book titled Tortured for Christ to relate ...

1536. Children Of Dust Or Children Of God?

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

It's good to have you in worship on this first Sunday of the New Year. One of the controversial issues of this past year was whether airline pilots should carry weapons on planes. It reminded me of a story about a pilot who was seated in the cockpit of a passenger jet. Much to the surprise of his navigator the pilot pulled out a .38 revolver. He placed it on top of the instrument panel, then asked the navigator, "Do you know what I use this for?" The navigator replied timidly, "No, what's it for?" The ...

1537. Twelve Inches From God

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

Success has always been measured in inches. A few short inches can be the difference between a home run and a putout in a baseball game. In the Olympics, the difference between winning the gold medal and finishing in the back of the pack is often measured in fractions. If you hold your thumb and forefinger about 2-1/2 inches apart, you get an idea of what one-hundredth of a second translates to in a 100-meter race. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona a runner from Jamaica finished six one-hundredths of a ...

1538. Lord, What A Bountiful God!

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

An old prospector came into a saloon in frontier California and ordered a glass of milk with a shot of whiskey in it. While the bartender was fixing his drink, the old prospector wandered over to speak to some of his friends. Before he came back, a man came in wearing a black threadbare coat. He walked up to the bartender and timidly said, "Sir, I'm a poor traveling Methodist circuit rider. I've just made it across the desert. I'm bone dry. Could you let me have that foamy glass of milk I see you've just ...

1539. Standing Outside Graceland

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Dennis Wise idolized the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. He still does to this day. Wise's love for Elvis has driven him to bizarre lengths. He even had his face lifted and his hairline contoured by a plastic surgeon to make himself look like Presley. Wise once explained his passion to reporters. Presley, he said, had been his idol ever since Wise was five years old. "I have every record he ever made," said Wise, "and pictures in the thousands. I even have a couple of books in Japanese and Chinese ...

1540. Bearing The Right Fruit

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There was an absurd newspaper item quite some time ago from Iowa City, Iowa. It concerned a woman whose palms suddenly started bleeding. A researcher who examined her said that the wounds resembled a certain stigmata that often appears on very religious people. Some of you may have heard of the stigmata. It refers to a condition where people bleed from the palms, especially around Good Friday, resembling the bleeding hands of Jesus on the cross. And this lady in Iowa City had these same kind of wounds on ...

1541. Taking Time To Love

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Billy Rose once told a story about a young man and his father who had a small farm. Several times a year they would make a trip to market with their oxcart loaded with vegetables. The son was an impatient sort. He would always prod the ox with a stick to hurry it along. His father, however, believed in following a more leisurely gait. The son wanted to get to market first thing the next morning in order to beat the other vendors to the best spot. The father, however, had other priorities. At one point ...

1542. A Father Pleased With His Son

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Is there any son or daughter in this world who is not thrilled by this little declaration of praise from a parent, "I'm proud of you?" When baseball great Henry Aaron hit his 715th home run breaking Babe Ruth's remarkable record, that is what he said: "I don't' remember the noise, or the two kids that ran on the field. My teammates at home plate, I remember seeing them. I remember my mother out there and she hugging me. that's what I'll remember more than anything about that home run when I think back on ...

1543. Three Promises

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Several men were dressing in the locker room of an exclusive health club. A cell phone sitting on one of the benches began to ring. A man picked it up and the following conversation ensued: "Hello?" "Honey, it's me." "Sugar!" "Are you at the club?" "Yes." "Great! I am at the mall two blocks from where you are. I saw a beautiful mink coat . . . It is absolutely gorgeous!! Can I buy it?" "What's the price?" "Only $1,500.00." "Well, OK, go ahead and get it, if you like it that much . . ." "Ahhh, and I also ...

1544. Formula For A Glowing Face

Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

King Duncan

In The Winter's Tale, Act 1, Scene 2, the King of Bohemia is told that his suspicious host is plotting against him. He believes it because he recalls the look of enmity on his host's face. The king puts it like this: "I saw his heart in his face." Gilbert Stuart took one look at Talleyrand, the French ambassador, and said, "If that man isn't a scoundrel, God doesn't write a legible hand." A selfish prince once had a magician create a mask that would make him look kind so that he might win the heart of the ...

1545. The Sower and the Seed

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Brett Blair

The Kingdom of God was the main emphasis of Jesus’ ministry and this is accepted by most. But defining precisely what the Kingdom was is a bit more difficult. Indeed, even Jesus himself was often elusive about it. He did not speak in absolutes; rather, he spoke in parables. Such is our scripture text for this morning. Jesus compared the Kingdom to a sower going out and spreading seed. Some of it falls upon hard ground and is unable to take root. Some of it falls on shallow ground, and although it initially ...

1546. On Panicking Close to Shore

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Will Rogers once said that “a lot of what everybody knows ain’t so!” Nowhere is that more true than in the realm of Biblical scholarship. From my research in the gospel of John and many visits to the holy land I have discovered that a lot of what biblical scholars and commentators appear to know for sure seems doubtful at best, and downright wrong in some places. For instance, not too many years ago it was an accepted axiom among Biblical scholars that the author of the Fourth Gospel always tended to “ ...

1547. Secretary to Saint Peter

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

MARK’S GOSPEL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE WORLD! So says Prof. William Barclay of Scotland, the dean of New Testament Biblical commentators. Why? Because, says he, It is agreed by nearly everyone that Mark is the earliest of all the gospels, and is therefore the first life of Jesus that has come down to us. (Daily Study Bible, Phila: The Westminster Pres, 1956. P. xiii.) In other words, if there had been no Gospel of St. Mark there would have been no Gospels. Period. It is an intriguing thought. And ...

1548. What Kind of Vote Would Jesus Get?

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

All four Gospels make reference to Barabbas, the man who got more votes than Jesus did on that fateful Good Friday so long ago. In his book PERSONALITIES OF THE PASSION, Leslie Weatherhead says: “Matthew and Mark tell us that the priests incited the multitude to choose Barabbas as the one who should be released by the act of clemency with which the government marked the day of Jewish festival. It seems a strange choice.” (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1953, p. 87) I. NOT TO ME IT DOESN’T. It ...

1549. Where the Bread Loaf Is Not a Stone

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

It was always a pleasant experience when we lived in the Easton area, motoring down Northampton Street past Maier''s Bakery in the early spring with the car windows open, being able to smell the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread lingering in the air. There are few things in life so inviting and delicious as freshly baked bread. My mouth is watering from just thinking about it. During my 5 days of retreat recently, I had the joyful experience of eating many kinds of delicious bread products: Italian bread ...

1550. The Fifth Commandment: The Value of Family

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

So far in our series on the Ten Commandments we have completed the first four commandments--those dealing primarily with our relationship to God. This is the vertical dimension. Today we begin the section which deals with our relationships to family and the enlarged family which include our neighbors and the world. This is the horizontal dimension. These next commandments reveal God''s plan for our relationships with other people. The first four commandments deeply impact and influence this dimension as ...

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