Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1701 to 1725 of 2665 results

1701. Dead Man Walking

John 11:38-44, John 11:17-37, John 11:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... away, dirt and rock is removed, a body is placed in the hollowed out tomb and a large stone is then used to close off the opening to protect the remains from animals and grave robbers. When Jesus uttered those words, you could have heard a pin drop. Everybody was staring in amazement. Why would Jesus want to look into a graveside, simply to see a mummified body? In that culture, they didn't have the embalming elements we have today. When a person died, they would wrap the body in spices and then tape him ...

1702. Heaven: One Way And One Way Only

John 14:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... for them, so they could spend eternity with Him as well. One of the disciples, Thomas, replied to Jesus in verse 5, "Lord, we do not where you are going, how can we know the way?" (John 14:5, NASB) Jesus did not just give an answer; He dropped a bomb. He gave the "Nuclear Option." He gave the mother of all politically incorrect statements. He made a claim that if true, means that every other religion in the world is flat dead wrong. Jesus often shocked people with teachings that cut across the grain of ...

1703. My Mission from God

John 17:18

Sermon

James Merritt

... how to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. The traditional alter call was replaced by giving everyone a little card that contained choices whereby they could check an appropriate box if they wanted to receive Jesus as their Lord, get baptized, join the church, etc. They just dropped it in the offering and it was done. Encouragers were off to the side and available to answer questions, but no one had to walk down in front of anybody to do anything. I told my son that it just doesn't seem right to not have ...

1704. Your New Home

Joshua 24:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... things more vital to the race than these: what man shall marry what woman and what shall be the first things taught to their first child?" [[1]] May I tell you why that question is so vitally important in the 21st century?: Every eight seconds a child drops out of school Every twenty-six seconds a child runs away from home Every forty-seven seconds a child is abused Every sixty-seven seconds a teenage has a baby Every seven minutes a child is arrested for drug abuse Every thirty minutes a child is arrested ...

1705. When God Gets Excited

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... like tile. It was relatively easy to tear the roof off and that is exactly what they did. The owner of that house now had a sun roof. Think about the faith it took to do this. They could have fallen and hurt themselves. They could have dropped their friend to the floor. Furthermore, what they did certainly wasn't kosher. I mean after all de-roofing someone's house could be construed as anti-social. Furthermore, they were going to interrupt Jesus right in the middle of His sermon, but none of these things ...

1706. Lasting Impression

Luke 3:34-38, Matthew 1:5, 16

Sermon

James Merritt

... of Mary and the activity of the Holy Spirit were necessary so that God could become a part of the race of the human family. There were other ways that God could have done this. God could have created Jesus as a complete human being in heaven, dropped Him on the doorstep of planet Earth without the benefit of any human parent. Then, nobody would have believed that He was fully human. On the other hand, God could have had Jesus come into the world with two human parents and somehow miraculously preserved His ...

1707. When I Am Tempted

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" (Matthew 4:5-6, NASB) The devil takes Jesus to the highest point in the city, to the southeast corner of the temple, overlooking the KidronValley. It was the part of the roof known as the royal portico and beneath it was a 450 foot drop. Satan says to Jesus, "Why don't you do a double back flip and a swan drive down below, because after all you know you are the Son of God and you know God will protect you and you know God will not let anything happen to you. There are ...

1708. Like a Good Neighbor – Jesus Is There

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... had just taken off from Washington bound for Florida. It had developed ice on its wings, and it brought the plane down as it tried to clear Washington's 14th Street bridge. In the next moment several passengers were thrown into the icy river. A helicopter soon came by dropping down ropes, but it could only save one person at a time. There was one lady in the water who was struggling to grab the ladder. But she was so cold and so frozen she could not lift her arms out of the water, and it looked like she ...

1709. The Paint Bucket

Mark 7:18

Illustration

Staff

... third day he only painted less than one mile of lines. The supervisor went from being impressed to being concerned. The new employee's performance was now not acceptable. He called him into him into his office and said, "I'm going to have to let you go." The employee dropped his head and got up to leave. As he was going out the door he turned and said, "It's not my fault. I've never worked so hard in all my life. It is just that the paint bucket keeps getting further and further away."

1710. The Kingdom Is Not K-Mart

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... ." (v.28) The Christian life is like a strong tower. It is to be a tower of work, a tower of worship, a tower of witness and a tower of warfare, but there is a tremendous cost in building this tower. Do you know why so many so called "Christians" drop out of church? Do you know why so many so called "Christians" fall by the wayside and disappear? It is because they were not willing to pay the price. They didn't count the cost. The number one problem we have with a lot of our church members on the ...

1711. How to Make Heaven Happy

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... of a little girl named Jessica McClure. We all learned all over again just how valuable the life of one person can be, as we watched the monumental rescue efforts that were focused on this eighteen-month-old little girl who had dropped twenty-two feet through an eight-inch opening in an oil pipeline at a daycare center. For fifty-eight solid hours over two and a half days, drilling experts, highway construction equipment, pneumatic drills, special air vents, high pressure hydraulic drills, an unbelievable ...

1712. Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... decision as to whether or not to have cosmetic surgery. She was thinking about having a facelift, but it was very expensive and she didn't know whether she ought to do it or not. While she was discussing it with her husband she said, "But what if I drop dead three months after I have this surgery? Then what would you do?" He thought for a moment and said, "Well, I guess we'd have an open casket." Then there are people who are worried about fashion. "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of ...

1713. Decisions, Decisions

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... with maps, diagrams, and compass points. There was only one problem in the article. The magazine had inadvertently erased the first of two crucial compass bearings to get off the summit, so following the directions and the maps as they gave them, climbers would go to a sheer drop known as, "Gardyloo Gully" and walk right over a 1,200 foot cliff.[3] You see what most of this world thinks is the right gate is actually the wrong gate. That is why Jesus goes on to say, "The gate to life is small and the road ...

1714. Milli Vanilli Religion

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... a Christian. Let me tell you a true story that happened in California. There was an elderly lady in her 70s who went to the grocery store to shop. When she walked outside she found four unknown males in her car. Well, this was a pretty tough old grandma. She dropped her shopping bags, reached into her purse, pulled out a 38 Smith & Wesson, ran up to the door, got in a policeman's pose, pointing that gun at them and screamed at the top of her voice, "I know how to use this gun and I'll use it if ...

1715. WeatherProofing Your Home

Matthew 7:24-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... never having their family in church - which would you choose? I think I know the answer. Listen to this. The likelihood of a child staying in church once he reaches adulthood is 80% if the father has modeled faithful participation in church. That percentage drops to just 15% if only the mother models regular attendance. [[4]] The message about weatherproofing your home is really about securing the foundation. The Supreme Court of the United States told us why over a 100 years ago. In 1885, the court stated ...

1716. Smooth Out Your Day

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... the way back to San Juan Capistrano, California? Now how do they do it? They can't swim and they certainly can't fly 6000 miles without stopping. How do they do it? Each swallow carries a large twig in its mouth. When the birds get tired, they drop their twigs into the water, land on them and rest until they are ready to resume their flight. Life is a journey over water. Sometimes the water is still, sometimes the water is choppy. Sometimes the water is smooth, sometimes the waves are rough. Some days it is ...

1717. Minority Report

Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... heart. Bill Jones was so elated! What an impact this famous gangster could have for Christ; not only because he was Jewish, but also because of the influence he could have on the underworld. It wasn't long after his so-called profession of faith, he dropped Bill Jones and began hanging around with his underworld mobster buddies again. Well, this very much upset Jones who went to see him one day, and said, "Mickey, you're a Christian, and as a new Christian you don't need to be hanging around these mobsters ...

1718. Everyone's Talking about Him

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... pattern. Perhaps he would not be able to free himself even this little bit. With an effort Max raised his eyes, his voice still choked but no longer inaudible. "I want to live," he said evenly. They stared at each other for a few moments but he did not drop his eyes. Dr. Remen smiled at him. "I want you to live too," she said. And he did. Max went on to live eight more years. (5) Imagine if a conversation with Dr. Remen could have such an effect on a person, what contact with Jesus of Nazareth could ...

1719. He Wasn't Listening

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

... . Returning from a trip, the Father did something that was very unusual for him. As he entered into the room he presented his daughter with a necklace that he had bought her. Completely overcome with joy by this unexpected act of giving, the young girl inadvertently dropped the necklace and went running from the room with tears in her eyes. She returned shortly only to find as she walked into the room that her new necklace was now around the neck of her infant baby sister. "Oh," said the father. "I went on ...

1720. The Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumblebee

Mark 7:34

Illustration

Staff

... . If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash. A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until ...

1721. The Passion of the Christ – The Rest of the Story

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

James Merritt

... ribbons of bleeding flesh. Almost every victim would go into what was called, "hypovolemic shock." Hypovolemic shock occurs when a person has suffered the loss of a large amount of blood. The heart tries to pump blood that isn't there. The blood pressure drops. The kidneys stop producing urine to maintain what volume of blood is left and a person becomes very thirsty, craving fluids to make up for the lost blood volume, all of which you see clearly happening to Jesus before He was even crucified. In ...

1722. Houston We Have a Problem

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... he trusted more than anyone else in the kingdom to be the cupbearer. Now it was his job to taste wine before the king would drink it and eat food before the king would eat it to make sure it wasn't poisoned. If the cupbearer drank some wine and dropped dead, the king would say, "I guess that was a bad year", but long live the king! In other words, Nehemiah was a man of unbelievable influence and power. He was the most trusted adviser to the king, the second most powerful man in the kingdom. He didn't know ...

1723. I’m Movin’ On

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... have been raised to view success as something easy, and our generation doesn't know a whole lot about determination, perseverance and endurance. Our generation has the attitude that when the boss gets unreasonable you quit; when the subjects get too difficult, you just drop out of the class; when the marriage gets unbearable, you simply get a divorce. Well, if you're going to move on, you can't quit. Historians now concede that Abraham Lincoln was one of the two or three greatest presidents in our history ...

1724. In God We Trust

Proverbs 3:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... tiny landing strip that is not only sailing away from him, but might also be bobbing 6 - 15 feet up and down, as well as rolling side to side. Landing on the deck was just part of it, cables were strung across the carrier decks, the landing plane had to drop its tail-hook and snag a cable to arrest its forward progress. As one World War II pilot put it, "You crash-land on the deck and hope you catch a wire." In fact, they have put heart monitors on pilots and found that their heart rate is faster landing ...

1725. The Driver’s Seat

Proverbs 16:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... 11.4% Every year more than 2.7 million members fall into inactivity. Every year about 4000 churches close their doors while only 1100 are started to replace them. In 1900, there were 27 churches for every 10,000 people while at the beginning of the millennium that number dropped to 11. [[1]] If we do not fulfill God's purposes for our lives and God's purposes for His church, we not only fail ourselves and not only fail God, we fail a world that is desperately in need of Jesus Christ. The bottom line of all ...

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