Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 151 to 175 of 4884 results

151. God's Will: Don't Leave Home Without It

Romans 12:1-2

Sermon

James Merritt

... and the trans-formation comes the revelation. All of this is in order that you may "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (v.2) Now please listen very carefully to this next statement. It is the will of God to reveal His will to ... is good for you. He doesn't even want what is better for you. He wants what is best for you. He wants what is perfect and what is perfect is His plan for our life. I read recently about a young ensign who had made his first trip on a destroyer across the ...

152. From Father Failure to Divine Father

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... reaction is to agree with the critics that religion is basically illusion and that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is primarily a wish-dream, a Father-figure created out of the Jewish-Christian community to satisfy our needs and longings for a perfect father wherein meaning and strength and life and purpose ultimately can be found. As such we can claim it is as good an illusion as the world has going and that it produces some remarkable results. Think alone of the music, art, and literature this ...

153. The Acceptable Time

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... our beings, let them cleanse us of apathy and refresh us with their power and energy. We have today. Tomorrow may not be ours. This is the acceptable time. II This is the acceptable time, because if we wait for the perfect time, the perfect minister, and the perfect church, we will wait forever. Paul had a lot of critics, even in the Corinthian church, who challenged his authority as an apostle, who questioned his methods, and who disputed his teachings. The critics notwithstanding, Paul pointed out how he ...

154. Fan the Flames

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... continued presence with us acts like a bellows to the flames we tend in our hearts. If we ignore the presence of this "spirit of power," cut ourselves off from the possibility of a living spirit within us, we shut down our own air supply. 2. Love-Perfect Living: It is not enough simply to fan the flames of faithfulness within ourselves. Until we open ourselves up to others and let the warmth of this fire spread though our family, our friends, our church, our community, it is bound to gradually die out. Paul ...

155. Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... his suffering, he opened a new way of faithfulness. But as a "pioneer" Jesus did not break new ground - rather he himself was broken on the cross, opening up this new way for us. Jesus' endurance was on the cross, a once-and-for-all trial, a perfect act of love. Our endurance is tested along the marathon road of life itself. Jesus suffered the ignominious, torturous death of a criminal, but in total victory overcame death to take his seat at God's right hand. Keeping our eyes on Jesus' victory is the only ...

156. James 1:17-27

James 1:17-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... by Jesus' own ethical demands the "law" according to Jesus. This also makes the law now a "law of liberty" for as an internalized law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33), it is now freely available to believers. Only those who catch the vision of this perfect law are the ones who go on to be the "doers who act." In the final two verses, James once again returns to his focus on the acerbic, abusive tongue as the greatest detractor to true religion, religion that is "pure and undefiled." As an advocate of ...

157. Proper 24

Hebrews 4:14-5:10, Job 38:1--41:34, Mark 10:35-45

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... with the Father, for no one comes to the Father except by Jesus. (John 14:6) Above all, the high priest makes the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. 2. Sacrifices (vv. 1, 3). A priest was appointed to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people ... understand our human condition v. 2. b. One to intercede for us before God v. 1. c. One to attain salvation for us through a perfect sacrifice v. 9. 2. The model pray-er (5:7). Need: We commonly refer to the Lord's Prayer as the "model prayer." Seldom do ...

158. We Serve a Risen [and Rising] Savior

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... order to sound good. Is there any more annoying but accurate platitude that every parent preaches than this one: “practice makes perfect.” Practice isn’t much fun. If you are an athlete, practice is logging laps, running “lines,” stretches, crunches, weights. If ... for every situation, for everyone who reaches out in the darkness in search of the light. Jesus’ resurrection was perfect. But every generation of disciples have to keep practicing. And this is not “air guitar” practice. We will get ...

159. Loving Our Enemies, Christian or Crazy?

Matthew 5:43-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... prayer of earnest love for those who stand around and gaze at us with eyes aflame with hatred, and who have perhaps already raised their hands to kill us." C. Go for perfection. “Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect." I can think of no word we moderns despise more than the word perfection. We think of perfectionism as a psychological illness, complete with compulsive behavior as its first cousin and nasty niceness as its great aunt. A perfectionist is Bree on Desperate Housewives frantically ...

160. The Missing Piece

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... For the most part, it looks pretty good — can't complain, much. But it is the hole that reminds us that the picture is not perfect, it's not complete, it's not right. There is that hole. Feel it? Study after study, poll after poll tells us over and over ... , your work, your future. The only place you made room for me was a cross. But it was for that reason I came according to the perfect plan of God, to fill that hole in your picture, to erase that guilt from your sin, to remove that fear of your death with a ...

161. Love Each Other (Mother's Day)

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... riding with Mom.” (2) Smart young fellow. Actually, the situation can be summed up in the words of one mom when she said, “I’d like to be the ideal mother, but I’m too busy raising my kids.” Touché! Our lesson for the day from John’s Gospel is perfect for Mother’s Day because it is about love: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love ...

162. Galatians 2:15-21

Galatians 2:11-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... by faith through grace. Yet Paul did not artfully arrange some theological treatise to present this foundation of faith. Rather it flowed as a part of his passionate rebuke of the actions taken by Peter and other Jewish Christians. It was a perfect “zinger.” Peter, apparently under pressure from the Jerusalem church, had stopped eating with Gentiles. He was advocating the continued need for the observance of at least the laws of “kashrut” (kosher). Paul zinged Peter “to his face” (2:11), calling ...

163. It’s Complicated

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

164. The Blood of Christ

Hebrews 9:11-28

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... it for the material that follows (which really only elaborates what has now been stated) that it is worth displaying the various elements in two contrasting columns: New…Old the good things already here, v. 11 (9:23–24; 10:1)….shadows, copies, 8:5; 10:1 greater and more perfect tent, v. 11 (9:24)….man-made (“earthly”) place for worship, 9:1 entered once and for all the Most Holy Place, v. 12 (9:25–28; 10:1–3, 10–14)….every day, 7:27; once a year, 9:7 he took his own blood, v. 12 (10:4 ...

165. The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-27

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... twelve tribes of Israel. . . . The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Any noteworthy city in the ancient world had walls and gates to guard the citizens, so the heavenly Jerusalem as the perfect city has “a great, high wall with twelve gates.”7Because there will be no enemies and because the wall is composed of jasper (see 21:11, 18), its sole purpose is to reflect God’s glory. The twelve gates echo Ezekiel 48:30–35, where the new ...

166. “The Heavens Declare the Glory of God”

Psalm 19:1-14

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... theological balance of the psalm. Lewis has called it “the greatest poem in the Psalter and one of the greatest lyrics in the world.”13The theological balance brings the two concepts of the creative word (19:1–6) and the redeeming word (19:7–14) into perfect equilibrium. The heart of the sermon/lesson may be articulated in the following two points, which are the central thrust of the psalm. First, David hears the voice of the creative word, or the voice of nature, God’s creation. It is, in fact, a ...

167. Let Us Love One Another!

1 John 4:7-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... evidence of the believer’s mutual abiding in God (4:13, 16). Evidence of abiding in God is also manifested in the believer’s confessing Jesus as the Son of God (4:15), and this becomes the believer’s testimony to the world about its savior (4:14). Therefore, the perfection of God’s love in the life of the believer is a factor of boldness on the day of judgment (4:17). Is this a reference to the judgment at the end of time, or is it a reference to the trial believers face in the world as witnesses to ...

168. The Power of Appreciation

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... Jesus Christ. In Christ we also find a love worth sharing. First John 4:11-12 says, “Beloved, since God loves us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” I have found that so many people want to experience God in their lives. And many people will pay large sums of money to go to exotic places to experience God. They will go to conferences and retreats to experience God. There is nothing wrong with any ...

169. Rule Breakers

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... us were raised with a list of rules that help us to get along with others or to achieve some goal: Share your toys. Pick up after yourself. Don’t run with scissors. Kids often get frustrated because they have so many rules to follow. Because nobody is perfect. We all bend the rules occasionally. Yes, rules can keep us safe. They can help us create a civil society. But we can also go overboard in creating rigid rules that they interfere with common sense. A man named Walton had put in an application for an ...

170. Jesus Gets a Business Card

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Mary Austin

... comes right back at him. He has to understand this to get it. Jesus rebukes Peter — again, the same word for casting out a demon. If we want to follow — and Jesus is clear that we have a choice — this is the path. So, if it’s not perfect day after perfect day, what does it mean to follow Jesus in our world? That’s the mystery our faith leads us to explore, day after day, year after year. That’s the question we ask Jesus, as we live our everyday faith. Jesus is telling us here who he is — and ...

171. There's More To Thanksgiving

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... to memorize and repeat in the priest's hearing when the first fruits were offered. This creed, this statement of belief, consisted of a brief history of what God had done for them. What is happening in our text is that the writer of Deuteronomy is taking a perfectly fine ceremony of thanksgiving, and is saying to the people: "There's more!" The message to the people is that now the harvest festival is to be not only about giving thanks for material things. It is also to be a time for remembering who God is ...

172. Week Three Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... be done away with until it all comes true. What does Jesus mean? I think the answer is found in understanding what Jesus means by fulfilling the law. When we hear fulfill we think carry out, but Jesus must mean here that his mission is to bring the law to perfection. Jesus is saying that the letter of the law is only part of the law. The spirit, the intent of the law, is equally important. The spirit of the law for Jesus is submission to God's will. What we are to teach according to the Gospel, "the least ...

173. The Keys To Happiness -- Purity Of Heart

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... I guess like some dishonest antique dealers doctor furniture with fillers today.) Something sinecere, "without wax," was something without falseness, something that was just what it appeared to be, shortcomings, imperfections, and all. The pure in heart are not people who are perfect but people who are sincere. People who long to know God and sincerely try to do what's right. J. B. Phillips does well when he translates this Beatitude, "Happy are the utterly sincere, for they shall see God." King David, who ...

174. Lent 5

John 7:45--8:11, Luke 20:9-19, John 12:1-11, Philippians 3:12-4:1, Philippians 3:1-11, Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... may follow your commands and proclaim your reign of love." Hymn Of The Day: "Glory Be To Jesus" Theme Of The Day: Facing The Future Gospel Preparation for death in the future. Lesson 1 A new deliverance coming in the future. Lesson 2 Striving for perfection in the future. On this Sunday we look to the future. Passion week is one week away. The cross and empty tomb are soon to be experienced. Mary realizes this and by pouring expensive ointment on Jesus' feet, she prepares him for his upcoming death. (Gospel ...

175. Christmas Eve

Lk 2:1-20 · Isa 9:2-7 · Tit 2:11-14 · Ps 96

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... the darkness of human sin. (Give examples.) Christmas celebrates the light of Christ in our present darkness. Sermon Title: The Perfect Government. Sermon Angle: "And the government will be upon his shoulder" (v. 6). The hope of Israel's prophets focused ... 's passion is to save all (v. 11). The gospel turns our human passion upside down (v. 12). God's passion centers on perfecting a people who are passionate for goodness. Gospel: Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) Sermon Title: The Questions And Answers Of Christmas. Sermon ...

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