Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1701 to 1725 of 4508 results

1701. Better Than a Million Dollar Policy

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A life insurance policy. Lesson: And preach as you go, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Good morning, boys and girls. Today I brought something that I know almost all of you have heard about, but something you probably have not seen. (Hold up an insurance policy.) This is a valuable piece of paper. We call it an insurance policy, a life insurance policy. It is worth a lot of m...

1702. Cook Food. Serve Love.

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A lot of families are being forced to come to terms with two competing philosophies of life living under one roof. A battle is always waging over who has access to the power. The competing family members demand their own special place in the house. Parents struggle to keep the lines of communication open, but it is tough to understand all the different messages being sent. The two camps each have ...

1703. Make Disciples

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What would it mean if we were to become disciple-making churches? A tourist collected a few of the signs in English that monolingual Americans traveling abroad must contend with. In an airline ticket office in Copenhagen, there is this promise: "We take your bags and send them in all directions." A Swiss restaurant announces to its customers that "Our wines leave you with nothing to hope for." A ...

1704. What's Your Hospitality Quotient?

Sermon

King Duncan

A certain county agent had to go to a farm in his jurisdiction to talk with the farmer about a matter of county business. Walking up the dirt road leading to the farm, he encountered signs that read things like: “Trespassers will be shot,” “Beware of Dog,” “Keep Out . . . This Means You!” Finally arriving at the door, he was greeted by a smiling, congenial farmer. When the county agent was ready ...

1705. For Those Who Have Received Much (Father's Day)

Sermon

King Duncan

Before we begin, I want to wish all the Dads in the room, “Happy Father’s Day.” Fathers don’t get much respect anymore. Bill Cosby observed once that boys grow up spending hours and hours throwing footballs and going to games with their Dads. And when they make it big on the college scene, before the big bowl game they get interviewed, and the first thing they say is, “Hi Mom!!” No, fathers don’...

1706. Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired?

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

"Heal the sick," Jesus commanded (Matthew 10:8). His orders leave our knees knocking and us feeling inadequate. In Edward Albee's play, The Death of Bessie Smith, a character rages, "I'm sick! Sick of everything in this fly-ridden world! I am sick of waking up, I am tired of the truth, I am tired of lying about the truth, tired of my skin! I want out, I want off this world!" Now, that, my friend,...

1707. You Can't Win them All

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The title of this sermon, "You Can't Win Them All," sounds like what Bruce Bochy might say in the locker room after each game the Padres play. At least the Padres aren't as bad as the 1962 Mets, who managed to lose 120 games that season. The last game of the season in 1962, Joe Pignatano hit a triple play to end the game. It was a wonderful ending for an infamous season of the Mets. Casey Stengel...

1708. God, the Enemy

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Do you remember when Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, was executed? As the time of his execution drew near, McVeigh gave a handwritten statement to the warden, intending it to take the place of any verbal comment. In that statement, McVeigh quoted a section of the poem "Invictus," which is Latin for "unconquered." That poem, by nineteen...

1709. In Our Pastor's Success, So Is Our Own!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Did you hear about the farm boy who always wondered what would happen if he twisted the tail on the mule? One day he tried it. And now they say about him, he's not as pretty as he used to be, but he's a whole lot wiser. When I was a young man, I wondered what my life would be like if I became a pastor in answer to God's call. Now, thirty years later, I'm not as pretty as I used to be, but I am a l...

1710. Onward Christian Hell-busters

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The church is called to offer the world a "cup of cold water" to douse the flames of hell with the waters of eternity. Have you ever been to hell? William Booth discovered hell one night when he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, then he decided to get up and go for a walk. He journeyed into a part of London he had never walked through the poor section. He spent the rest of the night seeing s...

1711. Good News about Sparrows

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Don Friesen tells a fascinating story about a sparrow that somehow got into the rafters of St. Helen’s Parish Church in the English town of Brant Broughton. At the time of the intrusion, they were recording a guitar recital for later broadcast on the radio. The chirping bird didn’t exactly chirp with the beat. So the pastor, Rev. Robin Clark (how’s that for the real name of the offending pa...

1712. How Much Are You Worth?

Sermon

King Duncan

A large train pulled by two engines was making its way across America. While crossing the Western mountains, one of the engines broke down. “No problem, we can make it to Denver and get a replacement engine there,” the engineer thought, and carried on at half power. Farther on down the line, the other engine broke down, and the train came to a standstill in the middle of nowhere. The engineer n...

1713. How Jesus’ Friendship Makes Your Burdens Light

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Jesus was teaching about the kind of authority he has. We need authority in our context, because to Jesus' mind we are a very confused, wayward generation. There was nothing to compare the people of his time to, nothing to compare us to.1 They and we are wayward, hardened, confused people. Inappropriate behavior seemed to be the order of the day in Jesus' view. The people of Israel were like child...

1714. The Rewards Program for Christians

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We’ve all seen the big, hairy Viking oaf who is the spokesman for the CapitalOne Visa card: ”What’s in your wallet?” He demands to know, because if it’s not the credit card he is hawking, you are missing out on all the rewards you could be getting. Every credit card company out there is trying to convince us that running up even more debt is a “rewarding” thing to do. We will be the recipients of...

1715. Facing Our Fears with Faith

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

“Americans will never taste security and safety unless we feel security and safety in our land," said Osama bin Laden a few weeks ago in a video shown around the world. It is the purpose of terrorists to terrorize and it appears these criminals have succeeded in making Americans more fearful than ever before. Never again will we board a plane, open a letter, or enter a stadium with the kind of inn...

1716. Getting It, Together

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

It is not easy being a father. One cynic, speaking from his own experience, noted that children go through four fascinating stages. First they call you DaDa. Then they call you Daddy. As they mature they call you Dad. Finally they call you collect to borrow money. I saw a Father's Day Card that read: "Being a father can be expensive, time-consuming, frustrating, confusing and emotionally draining...

1717. Wonderful Opportunities for Mission

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Jesus' ministry and mission was shifting into high gear. Matthew reports that Jesus had gone about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues. But he had not just been preaching the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 9:35a). It seems that Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). Matthew reports that Jesus cur...

1718. When You’re Free (In Christ), Sacrifice Is No Burden!

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

It takes a lot to be a Christian; you have to make your share of sacrifices. That is the popular version of Christianity. Megachurch pastor, Rick Warren, teaches, on the basis of our gospel lesson for today, that "each of us will have to give a personal account to God." Eternal rewards are at stake if we have served others with our lives.1 That is only part of the story. Those concerned with purp...

1719. If Your Sense of Purpose Ever Becomes a Burden, Remember Your Value

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Do you ever wish you counted for something, that you had value? All the talk about purpose in church circles these days tries to respond to the natural human desire to count for something, to be somebody. But I worry about that way of thinking. If your value is all about your purpose in life, what if you fail? Are you then without any value? Today's gospel lesson is Jesus' final words of instruct...

1720. What Are You Afraid Of?

Sermon

King Duncan

Fear. It can manifest itself in many forms. Chrysostom was the church leader of Constantinople in the fourth century when Rome was persecuting the Church. The Roman emperor had him arrested and charged with being a Christian. If Chrysostom did not renounce Christ, then the emperor would have this Christian leader banished from the kingdom. Chrysostom responded to the threat by saying that the empe...

1721. Studying under the Greatest Teacher

Sermon

Gary W. Houston

Robert Frost’s first assignment for a class of teachers was to read "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." This was Mark Twain’s famous story about a frog that lost a jumping contest because he had been pumped full of quail shot. When the class next assembled they were mystified because they did not understand what this story had to do with a course in education. Frost patiently expla...

1722. Searching for Peace

Sermon

The motto of the Apollo II flight was "We came in peace for all mankind." This phrase was upon the plaque deposited on the surface of the moon. The flight had landed on what is known as the "Sea of Tranquility." Armstrong and Aldrin found a tranquil and peaceful scene on the moon because there had never been any humans there prior to them. No one before them had had a chance to disturb the moon. ...

1723. How’s That Again, Jesus?

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

A misguided bird gets loose in the sanctuary and every eye in the congregation drifts toward the ceiling. Never mind that the choir is continuing to sing the anthem they have been working on for weeks just for this special occasion. The lost bird has totally interrupted the proceedings and besides, most would have to admit, its flight was much more entertaining. “I was so afraid that bird was goin...

1724. Paradoxes Of The Christian Faith

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

There is something strange and paradoxical about the faith of Christians, and many people struggle to understand how we can celebrate the life of someone who died on a cross; someone who didn't fit the conventional criteria of success; someone who brought good and joy to the world, yet was executed by the very people to whom he brought goodness. How could God take someone who was penniless and mak...

1725. Fear Of Flying

Sermon

King Duncan

I wonder if there is anyone here this morning who gets nervous flying? Maybe you agree with George S. Kaufman who once said, "I like terra firma ” the more firma, the less terra." The premier science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury of Los Angeles won a top award in 1968 from the Aviation/Space Writers Association for a Life magazine article he wrote in praise of space exploration. But Bradbury didn't...

Showing 1701 to 1725 of 4508 results