Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1551 to 1575 of 5000 results

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , Donald Trump agrees. In a recent interview with Barbara Walters on 20/20, he said, "Nothing is what it's cracked up to be." Three times Muhammed Ali won the title of heavyweight boxing champion of the world. His picture appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated more times than any other athlete. But recently in an interview with a sportswriter, Ali said, "I had the world, and it wasn't nothin'. Look at me now." In Jesus' day the wealth of many prosperous farmers was in barns filled with grain. But the ...

1552. Getting Under Your Neighbor's Skin

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... 's skin." It means to wear his skin, as it were; to see life from his perspective, to stand in his shoes. It means more than sympathy; it means active empathy or merciful understanding. I find several truths here. The first is this: Merciful. Let me illustrate. A prominent minister was holding a weekend seminar at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, several years ago. He kept noticing a man in the front row nodding sleepily. This aggravated the speaker. We preachers don't like for folks to sleep on us. We don't ...

1553. Marantha: Come Lord Jesus

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... --Simeon and Anna. Our expectation is God's invitation. There are certain Christmas stories for children, suitable for adults too, that should be told every Christmas. One of them is that classic by Leo Tolstoy entitled "The Cobbler's Christmas Guest." It illustrates exactly what I have been saying about expectancy. Many years ago there lived in a small village a shoemaker by the name of Conrad. Though alone and poor, this kindly old man always had friendly and consoling words for everyone. One Christmas ...

1554. Worthy Is The Lamb

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... John Wesley expressed it: "The Methodist trusts in Christ alone for his salvation. The Methodist knows that the blood of Jesus has cleansed him from all sin. Through Christ and Christ alone the Methodist has received forgiveness for his sins." The best illustration of the cross is a story told long ago by that great British preacher, Charles Hadley Spurgeon. The radio newscaster Paul Harvey tells this story each year before Easter. Spurgeon was walking the streets of London deep in thought when he saw ...

1555. "Hands Off!"

Exodus 20:1-21, Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , and that is stealing. The politicians are so addicted to this shameful practice that they will never stop unless we express monumental outrage. And, we must be willing to see our government benefits reduced. That takes character. We must change the mentality that is illustrated by the following story. Three friends met for dinner, a purely social occasion. The bill came to around $50.00. The first man reached for the check, saying, "I'm in the 31 percent tax bracket, so this will really cost me only $34 ...

1556. One Good Word - Thanks!

Lamentations 3:1-66

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... A THIRD THANKSGIVING THEME: Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him." In other words, I have seen so many of God's mercies in the past that I know I can trust Him for the future. Some time ago Sports Illustrated magazine printed an interview with the great Pittsburgh outfielder, Andy Van Slyke. He talked about a near tragedy that happened in their home. Their three year old son Jared was discovered by his five-year-old brother floating face down in a bathtub. Somehow that 55-pounder ...

1557. Glorious Surprises

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Holy Spirit is not activated or unleashed unless we ask. Ephesians 5:18 is in the present tense in the Greek--"Be filled with the Spirit"--meaning that we must be constantly and continually filled, controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Let me illustrate. All of us have electricity in our homes, provided by the utility company. However, the rooms in our homes are dark until we flip the switches. Similarly, we Christians have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. But that Spirit is not activated or unleashed ...

1558. Here Comes Jesus

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

James Bjorge

... were proud of being sons of Abraham. Rightfully so. But they were bloated with this pride and they excluded all others from God’s favor. John the Baptist could not tolerate this narrow view and he blasted their bomb shelter of security. Looking for an apt illustration John sees the abundance of loose stones that lay everywhere in the Jordan wilderness ... and he says, "I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham" (Luke 3:8). I am reminded of the old Scottish lady who referred ...

1559. Naaman, the Leper

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Don Yocom

The Old Testament gives us many illustrations for evangelistic purposes. The story of Naaman is an excellent analogy for us. Leprosy in his day was considered incurable and we can compare it to sin. Leprosy was not confined just to the poorer class of people either. Both Naaman of the Old Testament and a man known as ...

1560. Nebuchadnezzar and the Feet of Clay

Daniel 2:24-49

Sermon

Don Yocom

... it it obvious that destruction is inevitable as deterioration sets in, even in high places of government. When will mankind look up to see God’s plan? Too often, when the test comes, we would rather be immoral than intolerant. God forbid! When you want to illustrate an idea, put it in picture language, as Daniel did here. Ephraim is the name used in the Bible story to indicate the ten tribes of Israel to the north which were dispersed by the captivity in Babylon. Yet, out of them, says Daniel, shall come ...

1561. Jeremiah and the Potter

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Don Yocom

... Paul Elmer Moore). God’s power can flow into human lives if we let it. It can also flow into the nation, if that nation accepts God’s sovereignty and lets Him hold that nation in His power. That is the parable which God showed Jeremiah. To carry the illustration further: If we are rebellious and will not let the Divine Potter mold us, He may cast us out as broken sherds. Hence, the prophet speaks the oracle of doom on Israel for not being like clay in the potter’s hand. How human that nation was! And ...

1562. Abraham and the Meaning of Consecration

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

Don Yocom

If God has done His part, and we believe that He has, what then must we do to be fully consecrated Christians? The answer to this question is in God’s Word, and an illustration of it is the experience of Abraham on Mount Moriah with his son, Isaac. In the realm of spiritual living, we progress from the beginning works of faith to a deeper experience of surrender to God. We present ourselves, but God sanctifies. He is willing to give of His Spirit ...

1563. Just Common People?

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Some years ago in the Letters to the Editor in the Saturday Evening Post, I found one letter by an artist, who was describing the illustrations on the cover of the Post. The term that he used for them was pungent - "Insignificance, U.S.A." Well, most of us, I’m sure, have, in the past, found the Post covers, especially those paintings by Norman Rockwell, delightful. Yet, on the other hand, perhaps the artist had ...

1564. Chapter VI

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

... could justify it. It has even been true in such areas as religion, perhaps especially true in religion. As has been pointed out many times, men never can do evil so completely as when they can do it in the name of God. As history illustrates in such gory detail "religious" men have slaughtered other "religious" men because they would not knuckle under to the views, even about God, that they held to be superior. Sometimes the most ruthless men have been ones whose piety had more zeal for men’s orthodoxy ...

1565. We Are All God's Children

Matthew 28:18-20

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: License plates - all from your home state. Different numbers from different years if possible, so that you can illustrate the idea of different colors of people. Good morning, boys and girls, This is a fine morning to be together and to worship God. It’s also good to know that God is here and speaking to us. That’s what he does when we hear what’s read to ...

1566. Growing Up

Judges 17:1-13

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

... every human to live without and beyond the old-fashioned restraints of the Christian faith, in the full and free expression of sex and personality. Right on. We have been duped if we have allowed the puritan and the prude to be the perfect illustration of the Christian. The Christian ethic is not equated with Victorian notions. It is based on a free, victorious, responsible relationship with Jesus, the Christ who removes us from the vicious slavery to ourselves and our own fancies, a slavery that can only ...

1567. Snoring through Sermons

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

... temple floor, in a special section reserved for "saints," but in a tomb in the world. The majority of Jesus’ teaching happened on the hillsides, in the villages, in the homes, in the particular moments and at the specific locations of need in people’s lives. The illustration is simple. God speaks his Word and proclaims his sermons. He gets his message across to us in his world, in the world where we live, in the moments and hours of our needs. Ask a Christian why he comes to the place called church and ...

1568. HERALD

Daniel 3:4

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... , and his words will still carry over the airwaves. But the herald had to have a very loud voice, and had to virtually shout his proclamation! We are, perhaps, familiar with the idea of heralds from the Christmas carol HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING, which illustrates perfectly what I have been saying. The herald angels were making a proclamation - an announcement - a message from God to man. They were proclaiming the birth of the new King. The most marvelous announcement the world has ever received!

1569. Good News For Good Parents

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

... way into his thinking process, leading him to conclude that he is ugly or incredibly stupid or that he has already proved himself to be a hopeless failure in life.” The famous Psychiatrist Dr. Alfred Adler had an experience when a young boy which illustrates just how powerful such a belief can be upon behavior and ability. He got off to a bad start in arithmetic and his teacher became convinced that he was “dumb in mathematics.” The teacher then advised the parents of this “fact” and told them ...

1570. Judgement Day Is Coming

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... rather than one because we don't like to have winners and losers. In such a society, it sounds strange to hear about a final Judgment Day and eternal punishment and weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus told two simple parables or stories to illustrate the truth about Judgment Day. These stories were designed to be familiar to people who depended on agriculture and commercial fishing for a living. A farmer planted good wheat seed in a field. But under cover of night, an enemy came in and planted ...

1571. Written On God's Hand

Isaiah 49:8-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of deserting that child? Everybody knows that it is almost impossible. The bond between mother and baby is perhaps the strongest human tie. Yet, says Isaiah, a mother could desert a child more easily than God could fail you. Then Isaiah found an image that could illustrate dramatically God's unchanging love for us. Even in the Eighth century, B.C., young men customarily did what they still do today, as an expression of endless love they tattooed the name of their true love on the arm or on some other part ...

1572. Building According To Code

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Brett Blair

... would be the fall. That’s the image drawn here in Matthew 7. It comes from the life of these people gathered around Jesus on that day he delivered this sermon. Jesus was not simply telling here what I call a preacher story. A preacher story is an illustration that may very well fit the point that is being made, but one that doesn’t sound very believable. On the contrary, Jesus was talking about a situation that was very real in the life of the people. What are some points that we may conclude from this ...

1573. Right on the Money!

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... so much that it wouldn’t be very tasty. The caller replied, “That’s what we thought. We’ll just donate it to the church.” That turkey is not what the Bible means by first-fruits, it’s more like the last survivor. Giving first fruits was illustrated beautifully one day by a boy of about 10 who lived in a village deep in the Amazon region of Brazil. One day he came running to the missionary’s hut carrying a nice fish he had just caught. “Sir,” he said to the missionary, “Here is ...

1574. The Best Way to Help Someone

Colossians 4:7-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Most of us want to be helpful to other people. But that may be as easy as it sounds. Let me illustrate. A man got on a train one Friday in London, bound for the town Rosedale. When the conductor came by and pick up his ticket, said, "Sir, this train doesn't stop in Rosedale on Fridays." ~ passenger protested, saying, "But I've got to get to Rosedale tonight." They had ...

1575. God's Design for Marriage

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of the marriage where each is strong. For example, if the wife is better with financial records, she should manage the family finances. What then does submission mean? Submission means to acknowledge the sovereignty of God and to respect his delegated authority. Let me illustrate. We have a Staff-Parish Relations Committee at our church. It is composed of ten persons. I and all other staff members report to that body. But if I said, "No laypersons are going to tell me how to run this church..." then you ...

Showing results