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 1551 to 1575 of 2273 results

1551. The Power of Remembrance (Part III)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

All Saints'' Day Message A few years ago, Dr. Fred Craddock went back to the little town in Tennessee where he grew up. His brother was ill, so he wanted to visit him. Late one Sunday afternoon, Craddock decided to drop by the small Disciples Church where he had worshipped as a child. He went in, saw a friend, and they walked around together. Dr. Craddock noticed the church had installed some new stained glass windows in the Sanctuary. He examined them carefully; they were beautiful. But he did not ...

1552. Titles, Credentials, or Resurrection Power

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

The distinguished preacher, Phillip Brooks, once shared, "There are two things to be aware of in life: A timid surgeon and a timid preacher of the gospel. Neither of them will do you much good in life''s journey." As we open our scripture lesson for today, we see that the Apostle Paul is hardly a timid preacher and he certainly performs major surgery on the religious thinking that under-girded the setting of life of this passage. Paul begins in verse one with an exhortation to rejoice in our relationship ...

1553. Saintly Citizenship - Earthly Responsibilities

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

I have shared with some of you in this congregation and some of my closest friends in the ministry that the writings of Dr. R. Maurice Boyd and C. S. Lewis have been a tremendous source of insight and inspiration for me these past years in my spiritual journey. Those insights are especially helpful in reaching an understanding of what Paul was sharing in this passage of scripture we are looking at today from the Philippian Letter. Dr. Boyd writes in a printed sermon, "Permit Me Voyage:" "Walking through ...

1554. Tackling Troubles Triumphantly

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Today, we start a journey through one of the most misunderstood--but most marvelous and meaningful--books in the New Testament, the Epistle of James. James is called a general Epistle, which means it is not written to a specific church community, but rather to the Christian Community at large. While it was designed to appeal to Christians in Jerusalem in 52 A.D., its message still speaks to us today with penetrating power and purpose. It offers wonderful words of wisdom for the Christian’s walk and witness ...

1555. The Temptation to Talk Transformation

James 2:14-26

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. Charles Allen, the now retired United Methodist preacher from Houston, Texas, shared, tongue in cheek, a survey he once made in his church: 10% of the members cannot be found 20% -- never attend 25% -- never pray 35% -- never read the Bible 40% -- never give financially to the church 70% -- never attend Sunday Evening Service 75% -- never assume any church task 85% -- never invite anyone to church 95% -- never win a soul to Jesus 100% -- expect to go to Heaven! It reminds me of the old black spiritual ...

1556. Depression: When the Spirit Is Faint

Psalm 142:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

A disturbed and deeply troubled individual went to a psychiatrist to relieve his anxiety. He awoke melancholy every morning, and he went to bed in the evening deeply depressed. His day was marked by darkness and clouds. He could not find relief from this anxiety. In his desperate condition, he decided to seek the help of a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist listened to him for almost an hour. Finally, he leaned toward his patient and said to him, "You know, there is a local show at the theater. I understand a ...

1557. Maundy Thursday: Two Memorials

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Recently, my distinguished colleague, Dr. Rodney E. Wilmoth of Omaha, Nebraska, shared in a printed sermon some information about what I believe to be a sad legacy and memorial left by a man, John Jacob Astor. When he died in the 1800s, he was considered to be the richest man in America. However, the memory that many people had of him was anything but rich and honoring. He was born in the village of Waldorf in West Germany. He left home at age sixteen and eventually found his way to America by ship. The ...

1558. A Higher Calling

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you football fans will remember when Bo Schembechler was the coach of the Michigan Wolverines. It’s said that Schembechler used to work his players especially hard during spring practice to see what kind of young men he had, winners or quitters. He made a sign with a slogan on it and hung it above the locker room door. The sign read like this: “Those Who Stay Will Be Champions.” Of course, not everyone stayed. One morning Schembechler came to the office and looked at the sign. Underneath the words ...

1559. What Gets Into People?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

A man in Maryville, TN, called 911 sometime back to report someone was chasing him down the highway. As it turned out, it was the sheriff that was chasing him. It all started when a deputy noticed the man driving erratically and signaled for him to stop. The man pulled over at first, then spun his pickup truck around and fled down the highway. Soon three patrol cars were in pursuit. At that point the man dialed 911 and reported he was being chased. The dispatcher advised him to stop, but the man would not ...

1560. Listen to Him

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

There aren’t very many heroes nowadays, are there? Even in sports. Steroids. Drugs. Violence. Many of today’s best-known athletes reflect some of the worst values in our culture. There was a time, however, when sports stars were a steady source of positive inspiration. Take Lou Gehrig, for example. Even today, the name stirs positive emotions among baseball fans in spite of the fact that it has been 68 years since Gehrig last played the game, long before many of us were born. For those who don’t know his ...

1561. Bearing the Cross

Mark 8:31--9:1

Drama

Angela Akers

(4 readers spread out across the stage. Each person steps forward to deliver her lines, then steps back. Must be delivered forcefully and with conviction.) Reader One: “Four hundred and fifty: the estimated number of Christians killed daily around the world for their faith.”1 Reader Two: “Thirty-nine: the age of German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer when he was executed by the Nazis during World War II. He once wrote, ‘Cheap grace is a grace without discipleship, grace without the cross.’” 2 Reader Three: “ ...

1562. Chosen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

David G. Rogne

It is a difficult thing not to be chosen. I can still remember what a relief it was to be appointed by the teacher as one of the two captains who would choose team members when our class would be divided for softball. It meant that I would be, in effect, the first one to be chosen. What agony it was, however, when others were doing the choosing. As an uncoordinated youngster, with very little to offer toward the team's success, I was likely to be chosen last, and the humiliation was keenly felt. Perhaps ...

1563. The Healing Touch

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David G. Rogne

Recently, when I renewed my driver's license, I was presented with the opportunity to renew the accompanying organ donor card. I decided to renew, but I subsequently asked a doctor what organs were likely to be harvested. He mentioned many that I was aware of through stories of successful transplants. Then he pointed out that there is a continuing need for the largest, oldest, most sensitive, most protective organ of the body. When I asked what that was, he replied, "Your skin." I never had thought of it ...

1564. The Dangers of Being Religious

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Jeff Foxworthy has made a career of telling "redneck" jokes. For instance, "You might be a redneck if someone asks you for some identification and you show them your belt buckle." The South doesn't have a lock on rednecks. The North has them also. For instance, "You might be a northern redneck if you've ever burned a tire on the hood of your car in winter to help get it started." Here in the church I'd like to poke fun at some of the straight-laced, self-righteousness that passes for Christianity. So, ...

1565. Everybody Loves a Parade!

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

This is the season for parades. Not long ago we watched the Rose Bowl parade on television; on Thanksgiving Day, Macys of New York entertained us with its Turkey Day extravaganza. Our text for today calls attention to another, and more sobering, parade: the parade of life, the pageant of this world. "For the present form of this world is passing away" (v. 31). The words "passing away" are a translation of a Greek word meaning "to lead by." It suggests the picture of a parade of soldiers being led past a ...

1566. Grace in the Midst of the Crush of Time

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

In the year 2000 Forbes Magazine featured a special edition on a single topic that it called "the biggest issue of our age -- time." The editors wrote, "We've beaten, or at least stymied, most of humanity's monsters: disease, climate, geography, and memory. But time still defeats us. Lately its victories seem more complete than ever. Those timesaving inventions of the last half-century have somehow turned on us. We now hold cell phone meetings in traffic jams, and 24-7 has become the most terrifying phrase ...

1567. Don't Forget What You Look Like

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Harold Warlick

A young college graduate embarked on what he hoped would be a promising career in sales. He was outgoing, witty, and enthusiastic. His company assigned him his territory. It was a rural area in the Midwest. His responsibility was to sell the latest in farm equipment to the farmers in the area. With great fervor he memorized the strategy sales pitch and left his office to spread his message of "better farming through better equipment." His first two visits had not resulted in a sale. But he could sense that ...

1568. The Reality of the Resurrection

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Brett Blair

Many years ago a teacher was asking the kids in her fourth grade class to name the person whom they considered the greatest human being alive in the world today and the responses were quick in forthcoming and also quite varied too. A little boy spoke up and said, "I think it's Tiger Woods. He’s the greatest golfer in the world, ever" A little girl said, "I think it's the Pope because he cares for people and doesn't get paid for it at all." Another little girl said, "I think it's President Bush because he's ...

1569. Servants Without Portfolio

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Our second scripture lesson and the text for our message this morning is from Paul’s letter to the Philippian church. I’m going to be reading from the Revised Standard Version. I’m reading the 5th-11th verses of the 2nd chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippian church. This is the word of the Lord. Hear it. “How this mind among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a ...

1570. A Fragrant Offering

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A teacher sent home a report card with this notation to the parents, "Alvin excels in initiative, group integration, responsiveness, and activity participation. Now if he would only learn to read and write!" We chuckle, but there's a serious point here. We have excelled in almost everyway imaginable as human beings, except in the one way that matters most. We have not learned to love. So we come to the close of this series of sermons on "The Christian Walk". We talk about the ultimate call -- the most ...

1571. On Level Ground

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A Sunday School teacher was checking with her students one day to see if they knew the people with whom Jesus lived. "How many of you know who Matthew was?", she asked. Not one kid raised a hand. "Well, then," she said, "what about Luke? How many of you know who Luke was?", she asked. And again, the class just sat there and no one said a thing. She tried again. "How about John? Do you know who St. John was?" And still the children just sat there in dead silence. Finally the teacher said, "Well, what about ...

1572. Growing In Self-esteem

Psalm 81:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Listen! Don't miss even the first sentence of this sermon, because it sets the stage for everything I'll be saying today. One of the greatest tragedies is to die without knowing who you are. Or, you can put it this way: One of the greatest tragedies is to live denying who you are. Let me say that again. One of the greatest tragedies is to die without knowing who you are. Or, you can put it this way: One of the greatest tragedies is to live denying who you are. This is our third sermon in the series ...

1573. The Wholeness Question: Do You Want To Be Made Well?

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One day a cowboy out in Arizona was riding down a trail. All of a sudden as he rounded a bend, he saw an Indian lying down in the middle of the trail. He had his ear pressed close to the ground. As he got closer the Indian began to speak "Wagon," he said, "drawn by two horses. Horses both dapple gray. Passengers in wagon. Two passengers. One man, one woman. Man driving." The cowboy was amazed. He just couldn't believe it. "That's incredible, I can't believe it! You can tell all of that just by listening ...

1574. How To Fail Successfully

Mark 6:7-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It's amazing what we do with funny stories. We apply them to whomever we wish. For instance, you might hear one funny story with the legendary coach Bear Bryant as the primary actor. When you hear it again, the primary actor may be Johnny Majors. I heard a marvelous story sometime ago about Thomas Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer for the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company -- in fact, he told the story on himself. Lately I've been hearing it about President Clinton. So the story goes with the new ...

1575. When the Doctors Can't Help You

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

A father was talking with his rather rebellious son one day and said, "Every person who lives in the United States is a privileged person." The boy answered, "I disagree." And the father replied, "That’s the privilege." Tuesday we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is a day we celebrate our freedom. But there is a different kind of freedom that we need to talk about today. Freedom that only Christ can bring. Jesus had attained celebrity status. People were coming from all around ...

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