Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 151 to 175 of 4915 results

151. What Super Power Would You Choose?

Luke 10:1-11, 7-20

Sermon

King Duncan

When you were a kid what superpower did you want to have? Flying like Superman? Scaling tall buildings like Spiderman? What superpower did you want to have and how did you want to use it? I thought about that recently when I saw a question which was posted on the website forum Reddit. The question was, “If you could have a useless superpower, what would it be?” Did you catch that--a useless superpower? Here’s one response that came in to that question: “The ability to win at rock- paper-scissors every ...

152. Harnessed Power

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

John's story of Pentecost seems better suited for a time other than our own. It is so quiet in the telling that it hardly slows us up. No need for camera crews here, nor even a newspaper reporter. No need for police to hold the crowds back, nor attendants to help us find parking spaces. There is no massive display of unleashed energy. There are no sounds as of rushing wind and no tongues as of fire. No sermon, no baptisms, no "wonders and signs." It is like the slightest ripple of water rather than a tidal ...

153. Freedom from the Law through Christ, Enslavement to the Law through Adam

Romans 7:7-25, Romans 7:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul focuses on the Mosaic law’s relationship to new dominion in Christ. A stark contrast emerges: freedom from the law because of union with Christ versus enslavement to the law because of union with Adam. This relationship is paradoxical: union with Christ and with Adam both pertain to the Christian (7:13–25 will expound on this). Understanding the Text Romans 6:23 pronounces that the Christian is in union with Christ and therefore free from the law. This is illustrated in 7:1–6. But things are ...

154. Everybody a Cinderella

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Cinderella was a very misused young girl. Her father had died and she lived with a stepmother and two half sisters. The stepmother proved to be extremely mean and the half sisters demanding as well as vain and haughty. Very quickly Cinderella became their maid, and in due time their slave. Cinderella became a slave for two reasons. For one she was a prisoner of the household. She had no other place to go and was helpless before the power of the others. Secondly, she felt herself to be inferior. When the ...

155. Cloak of Power

Psalm 5:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings. Malachi 4:2 Props: Prayer Shawl or Tallit (with Tzizit) or Cloak/Diver’s helmet Have you ever had the opportunity to take or watch a scuba diving lesson? What happens is this: a group of students, young and old, listen as the instructor has them practice fitting on the scuba helmet. Of course the helmet is part of the breathing tank apparatus, which supplies them with oxygen down below the surface of the water. You can’t watch this without ...

156. Death, Risk, and Confidence

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Tom Garrison

I shall never forget a most vivid pastoral encounter that I had. There was a fine older member of the church who was terminally ill with cancer, and since he would never be able to come and meet me, I went by his home to meet him. Although we had never met before, I suppose my role prompted him to get right to the central issue of his concern at that moment, which was with the whole experience of death. He wanted to know what I believed lay beyond the experience of dying. He was concerned about guilt and ...

157. From Foolishness To Power

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

Jonathan Rauch once wrote an article titled, "Why Is Japanese Baseball So Dull?" The article is not about baseball at all. It is about business. In it he discusses some differences between the Japanese and American ways of doing business. He tells of interviewing a well-known Japanese political scientist who became very excited when he discussed American meetings. The source of his enthusiasm was the fact that in American meetings he could jump up and down and call out, "I disagree! I disagree!" In Japan, ...

158. The Power of Story

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How do you teach compassion? How do you instill empathy in those who seem to have a barricade of hate surrounding them? Jesus told a story. Why? Because stories change our lives. According to narratologists and psychologists, stories have the power to transport us into the lives of others, to resonate with the characters, to imagine their lives and feel their feelings, and to place themselves within the embodiments of those outside of our own perspectives.[1] Stories allow us not only to understand what ...

159. The Gospel Through the Person

Galatians 4:8-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Here is one of Paul’s most tender passages. Yet, there is in it a harshness to it. Paul is firm in his confrontation, and calls a spade a spade. Listen to him again in verse 16: “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” But despite that tough confrontation, Paul pulls back the curtain of his own inner soul, revealing his anguish and pain, his personal limitations, his feelings of failure, his overwhelming sense of appreciation. Can’t you just feel the deep emotion and tenderness in ...

160. The Power Of Purpose

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The power of the purpose. Paul had laid down the flail of the persecutor and took up the torch of the evangel on the Damascus Road. There he began the course of a great adventure, an adventure that sent him trudging through the then-known world – through the deserts and over the mountains, through blinding blizzard and blistering sun, traveling in peril of his own life, shipwrecked, beaten by the Romans, stoned by the Jew. Yet, throwing back his great cloak to show the scars of his beatings there saying, ‘ ...

161. The Power of Purpose

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Paul had laid down the flail of the persecutor and took up the torch of the evangel on the Damascus Road. There he began the course of a great adventure, an adventure that sent him trudging through the then-known world – through the deserts and over the mountains, through blinding blizzard and blistering sun, traveling in peril of his own life, shipwrecked, beaten by the Romans, stoned by the Jew. Yet, throwing back his great cloak to show the scars of his beatings there saying, I bear in my body the marks ...

162. The Authority of Jesus over Nature and the Cosmic Powers

Mark 5:1-20, Mark 4:35-41

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus shows himself to be Lord of the storms, completely sovereign over the powers of nature and of the cosmic world of darkness. In contrast, the disciples are unable to think of anything but their own vulnerability. Understanding the Text Mark moves from a collection of Jesus’s parables to a collection of Jesus’s miracles. The emphasis is on his authority, and the order moves through every type of miracle that Jesus did, demonstrating first his power over nature (4:35–41), then his power over ...

163. The Word Of The Cross Is The Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Mark J. Molldrem

When Neil Armstrong was on the moon, an American flag was planted to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established in 1960 to set a man on the moon before the end of the decade. In 1969, that goal was achieved in a most dramatic way. When Jesus was on the earth, he planted a cross to signify the accomplishment of his journey. The goal had been established from the foundation of the world that God would love the world, no matter what it took. On a place called The Skull during the ...

164. Deliverance through adversity

Sermon

Willie Soler

INTRODUCTION Throughout biblical history, both Old and New Testament times, adversity has been prevalent in many of the stories that we have come to recognize. Stories that depict the trials and tribulations that God’s chosen people, the Israelites, and the adopted Gentiles, have had to endure. However, since the beginning of time, God’s plan and purposes have always been to provide deliverance in some form or fashion. God’s unconditional love desires that we live free. Today, we can see adversity taking ...

165. Saved (Again)!

Exodus 14:19-31

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

Lawrence Henry was 88 years of age when he shared with his family the only sermon he ever preached. Lawrence was a farmer born in 1900 in the Coteau Hills of South Dakota. He received an eighth grade education, raised four children, and died in 1996. The sermon is titled, "Saved." Here are two key stories in Lawrence's own words: "Today I will use the word ˜saved' as the key word in some of the experiences I have encountered in my past 88 years. The word ˜saved' is a small word consisting of only five ...

166. Peter’s Second Sermon

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

It has been pointed out - many times! - that no aspect of worship has been so generally and ecumenically roasted as preaching!1 The many jokes about preachers and sermons rank next to, maybe slightly ahead of, jokes about mothers-in-law. Being a preacher and teacher of preachers, I have heard my share of funny stories about bad sermons. Like the one where the student preacher, who just finished preaching his masterpiece, piously asked the professor, "With what prayer should I begin my sermon?" The ...

167. Praying Through

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

No doubt you have heard about the postal service's "Dead Letter Department." That's the place where mail goes when it is not clearly addressed or has insufficient postage and the sender's identity cannot be determined. There the letter is opened and its contents examined for clues to the sender's identity. If the return address cannot be determined the letter is destroyed. It never reaches its destination, and any requests made by the writer remain unanswered. How about you? Do you feel like your prayers ...

168. The Power of the Unseen

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Do you ever wish you were invisible? Ever wish you could be that “fly on the proverbial wall” listening to what others say about you? Ever imagine what it would be like to be able to attend your own funeral? What would people say about you? How would your friends react? Would they be sad? Would they reveal things about you that you didn’t know they knew? What would it be like to hear how people really feel about you? Or hear them say the wonderful and meaningful things about you that most of us never work ...

169. Where the Church Gets Its Power

John 17:6-19

Sermon

King Duncan

It’s an exciting thing to be part of the church of Jesus Christ. We’ve got a good thing here, and we need to let the rest of the world know just how exciting it is. There’s an old story about a young high school football star who was being recruited by a coach from a major college. The coach had never seen the young man play, so he asked him some direct questions. “Son,” he said, “I understand that you do the passing for your team. Are you a pretty good passer?” “Am I a good passer?” the boy answered. “Why ...

170. Justification By Grace Through Faith

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Now I’m aware of the fact that it is Mother’s day. But I’m not going to preach a traditional Mother’s Day sermon. In the early days of the Methodist Church, as a part of worship, the preacher not only preached a sermon, he usually exhorted the congregation. An exhortation is different from preaching, so just to let you know I know it is Mother’s Day before I preach I want to exhort you for a moment. There’s a marvelous verse of scripture in II Timothy, the 1st chapter, the 5th verse. Paul is writing to ...

171. Jesus’s Entry as the Messiah Who Triumphs through Suffering

Mark 11:1-11

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus begins passion week with a deliberate prophetic symbolic action, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. In so doing, he reverses the messianic secret, yet at the same time shows himself as the humble Messiah. Understanding the Text The journey to Jerusalem has been the focus for some time (8:27–10:52), and Jesus now enters the final week of his life on earth. Passion week begins to unfold, and every event progressively uncovers his true messianic nature and the ...

172. God Powered Impact

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Frisch weht der Wind.” [Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, quoted by Tristan, as he escorts the newly captured Isolde via sailing ship to his home in Cornwall] Wind is the most powerful force on the earth. The wind moves everything that exists, and anything combined with the power of wind can be a beautiful or equally destructive force! Think of tornadoes, hurricanes, forest fires –all of them dynamically fueled by the power of wind. Is it any wonder then that the ancients equated the wind with the ...

173. Walking Through A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

Simon was in control of the boat. He was the oldest, and besides it was his boat. He had sailed the waters so often, and usually at night because that is when most of the fishing took place. The disciples pushed away from the shore, a shore still crowded with the village people. The sun had set but still cast a warm, red glow over the hillside, over the men, women and children who had come to hear Jesus and to be healed. The sun's glow worked out upon the gently moving sea. It may have been John, the ...

174. Power Sharing

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

David O. Bales

Modern people are fascinated with power. We fiddle with a switch on the wall and it delivers the results from dynamos in dams and atomic reactors. We domesticate nature's powers in order to light the den, vacuum the carpet, and brew the coffee. Power is at our fingertips. Technology has opened endless possibilities, chugging along from wood and coal fired steam, converting to petroleum, accelerating to internal combustion engines, and expanding to jets and rockets. We, this living generation, have most ...

175. Righteousness Through Faith

Romans 3:21-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:21–5:21 Review · God’s saving righteousness for Gentiles and Jews:Paul describes how God “now”—at the time when Jesus the Messiah came—declares sinners justified as a result of Jesus’s atoning death (3:21–31). Faith in Jesus Christ creates the universal people of God, consisting of Jews, the ethnic descendants of Abraham, and of Gentiles, the families of the earth whom God wanted to bless through Abraham (4:1–25). Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ have peace with God, the hope of sharing the ...

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