Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 151 to 175 of 307 results

151. Worriers Or Warriors?

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... AND COMFORT IN THE DIFFICULT DAYS THAT LAY AHEAD. Courage and comfort. Are these not the prerequisites for being Christian warriors? Think of the courage that followers of Christ needed to endure after he left them. Most were martyred because they would not renounce their faith. But still they persevered. How could they do it without God's spirit within? People of courage are a rare breed, but what would the world do without such people? James W. Moore, in his book Standing on the Promises or Sitting ...

152. What Are You Afraid Of?

Matthew 10:1-42

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 emperor could not do so, “because the whole world is my Father’s kingdom.” “Then,” replied the emperor ...

153. Caught Between God And Caesar

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... law of forgiveness . . . In view of all this, I laid the gold coin struck with the effigy of my father King Theodenos at the child's feet. It was my only treasure, my only proof that I was the legal heir to the throne of Palmyra. In relinquishing it, I renounced the kingdom [into which I was born] to search for the other kingdom promised me by the Savior." (5) You and I were born into one kingdom, but we belong to another. Let us never forget that they are not one and the same. And, as citizens of this land ...

154. Gathered Around The Throne

Revelation 7:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... to remember that early Christians often paid a terrible price for this faith we celebrate today. They were tortured, they were flayed, they were torn apart by wild animals, and like their Lord, many of them died on a cruel cross--all because they would not renounce the name of Jesus. As early as perhaps 300 years after our Lord's death and resurrection there was a growing consciousness that these men and women who had given their all for Christ needed to be remembered. Would it surprise you if I tell you ...

155. Jesus: The Life of the Party

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... closely? Hollow-eyed, pale-checked, flat-breasted all;they brood their lives away, unspurred by ambition; the sun shines for them but they do not see it; the earth offers them its fullness, but they desire it not; all their desire is to renounce and suffer, that they may come to die." That may describe some Christians, but it certainly does not describe Jesus Christ! Jesus would never have recognized that version of Christianity. "A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," He was, certainly; but the ...

156. Lazarus Laughed

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , that death is not the end. The grave is not a dead-end, but a through-street. Lazarus knew that death could not hold him, because it could not hold his risen Lord. When Martin Luther was hailed before kings and bishops and told to renounce his new-found faith at the beginning of the Reformation, he was asked, “Where will you be, Brother Martin, when all your friends desert you? When your enemies finally kill you? Where will you be then, Brother Martin?” And Luther confidently replied, “Then, as now ...

157. Wining and Dining with Jesus

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... of everybody but themselves. Let’s face it: there have been a good many unattractive religious people. In his book “America,” Alistair Cooke tells of a time in the early days of our country when there was a Native American king who would not renounce his traditional religion to embrace the Christianity of the conquistadors, even when they burned him at the stake for his obstinacy. As he felt the first fires lap his body, he was for the last time offered the rite of baptism. He refused, saying he ...

158. Losers Keepers

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... ....as it has had for every succeeding generation of Christians for whom martyrdom and persecution were constant dangers. The primary meaning of “whoever would save his life will lose it “ was exactly that, in a literal sense. The one who saved his life by renouncing his faith in Christ would lose it in the next world.... But the words have a profound meaning over the ages as well. I have discovered that life’s truly happy people are those who have learned the secret of giving themselves away. The ...

159. Who Is the Light of Your Life? (I am the light of the world)

John 8:12-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... from us. If our light is only connected to an external reality--rather than an inward truth--that also can be taken away. A young Christian woman was arrested for being a Christian during the dark days of the Communist regime in Poland. She would not renounce her saving faith in Jesus Christ. She was placed in a rat-infested jail cell with no windows. To make matters worse, the jailer unscrewed the one light bulb in the cell and smashed it, leaving her in the frightening darkness. The jailer lit a cigarette ...

160. The Adventure of Discipleship

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... kind of change which the gospel produces. That's what makes us different. There's no turning back, because it's a difference that won't go away. To be sure, we will always experience the power of sin in our daily lives. We may even go as far as renouncing the Christ who brought us to faith. Peter knew about that, for he was the one who denied he ever knew Jesus. But later he went out and wept bitterly. The change was there. He couldn't turn back. He was changed by the power of a gospel that left ...

161. Deliverance: The Forgotten Third of Jesus' Ministry

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... authority over the demons in Jesus's name (Mark 16:17; Luke 10:19). It is helpful to get the demon to name himself. A name is an essence and knowing it strips a demon of his darkness (Mark 5). The person must renounce the demon. And one must forgive (Matthew 6:15). Exorcism can be an unsavory ministry. Manifestations of demons leaving can include screaming, weeping, convulsions, shaking, vomiting, nausea, fainting, laughter, retching, and other unsettling behavior. Can Demons Return? Jesus spoke of a man ...

162. Bedlam or Bethleham?

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... Surely there is no bedlam in this understanding of Bethlehem. We move on to the second of our ABC's. We remove bedlam from Bethlehem when we perceive the behavior the Christmas message urges upon us. Verse 12 makes it clear, "Training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in this present age live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly." Dear Christian friend, welcome to the University of Advent Behavior! Each of us matriculated in this august institution on the day of our baptism into ...

163. The Primacy Of Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... precious treasures, and give the proceeds to the poor? Are you ready to lay your life down for the sake of the Gospel? I think of the Christian martyrs of the third and fourth centuries -- PERPETUA, the young mother whose father pled with her to renounce Christianity. She and another young mother were tossed and gored by a bull. She guided to her throat the dagger of the reluctant gladiator who had to kill her. (History of Civilization, Will & Ariel Durant, Vol. III, p. 649). Or BLANDINA, a slave girl, who ...

164. The Nuclear Truth Of Christianity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in November, 1979, the doctor pronounced Jesse Water Bishop dead in a gas chamber of the Nevada State Prison. Bishop was a career criminal who committed his first armed robbery at the age of 15, and spent 22 of his last 27 years behind bars. Bishop renounced all efforts to stay his execution for a murder he had committed in 1977. At that time he even waved his right to a jury trial, immediately pleading guilty. He could have been given an appeal of his case even minutes before entering the gas chamber ...

165. The Need To Pay Attention

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , monotonous, humdrum living. Come up higher. You're made for freedom and flight like the butterfly." In my heart of hearts I knew that my fantasy is close, very close to reality. Rainer M. Rilke cryptically stated the truth: "That which remains what it is, renounces existence." To live is to grow. We need to pay attention to life -- to have hearing ears and seeing eyes as we move through the day. I could spend the entire sermon on this alone -- paying attention to life. II. But, let's narrow the focus ...

166. To Live Is To Grow

1 Timothy 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... urged Timothy in our Scripture lesson. So we must pay attention to ourselves and give unceasing care to the fact that we are to be child-like to be open to be growing and changing. The poet Rainer Rilke was right: "That which would remain what is it is renounces existence. To live is to grow. Now, having made that case, let's be more specific. I want to make some practical suggestions about conditions for growth. I. One, if we are going to grow, most of us are going to need a change of focus. That means ...

167. All Keyed Up

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... station, we are all alike. In a mission station, we are all called to be ministers. In fact, that is the only model for the Church in the New Testament. There is no other model for the Church. In the New Testament, baptism is a recruiting exercise. You renounce the evil of this world, and you commit your life to Christ, and his Kingdom. Everybody does that. In the New Testament, the Church is called a "body." That is what we heard in the epistle lesson read to us this morning from Paul's Letter to the ...

168. When Fisherman do Strange Things

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... why to get into the Church, the society that lived as if the new age were here, you had to repent. Which means, to put off the old, and to take up the new. Which is exactly the meaning of baptism, as it was practiced in the early Church. They renounced the evil powers of this world, and pledged their allegiance to Christ and his Kingdom. The symbol of that was to take off their clothes and be immersed in the waters of baptism. When they came out of the waters they received a new garment, a white robe. Which ...

169. Traveling to the Mountain

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... and fair are God’s decisions among peoples, moreover, that they need not try to win their own advantage through the use of power, and they need not try to foist their will on others. Rather, they gladly accept God’s judicial decisions and renounce all attempts to win their own way by the use of arms. They beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (v. 4). Those weapons that had been instruments of destruction and death are transformed into tools of production and life-giving ...

170. Advice to the New Apostle

Titus 2:11-14

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship One: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, All: training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, One: while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. All: He it is who gave himself for us ...

171. The Wedding Guest

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... was the simple phrase, “Jesus is Lord." You heard that in the Epistle lesson read for us today, where Paul says to the Corinthians, "Anyone who says `Jesus is cursed!' does not have the Spirit." That was the phrase Christians were to recite when they renounced their faith. Those who said, "Jesus be cursed," and there were many of them who did it, did not have the Spirit. Those who have the Spirit are those who can say "Jesus is Lord." The Christians took that title from Caesar. Caesar had pre-empted ...

172. Proper 26

Matthew 23:1-39, Joshua 3:1-4:24, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16, Malachi 2:1-9

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... light of the historical situation. Jesus exhorts both people and disciples not to follow the Pharisees who do not practice what they preach, but to attain greatness through humility and service. In contrast to self and title-seeking, Jesus urged his followers to renounce pride and titles in favor of service to God. THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS Gospel: Matthew 23:1-12 1. Preach ... practice (v. 3). These two belong together, but often they are not. The preaching may be all right, but the practice has not the same ...

173. In Life Nothing Works but the Impossible

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the Just demonstrate this line could be crossed). Regardless of the ultimate sentence carried out, Joseph still had the right to shame her publicly as an adulteress. That he decides instead to divorce Mary without any public disgrace that came with renouncing or denouncing brings a unique note of compassion to Joseph’s character. Joseph never gets a chance to act on this decision, however. Matthew records that “an angel of the Lord” comes to Joseph in a dream with crucial information and instructions ...

174. A New Calling

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... a Christian could live out his faith in “the world.” Fortunately, Wilberforce turned to a man named John Newton for guidance. Newton, of course, was the author of the much-loved tune, “Amazing Grace.” Newton was a former slave trader who had renounced the trade after his conversion. Newton convinced Wilberforce that God had called him to remain in politics and exert a Christian influence there. It was John Newton that gave William Wilberforce the wake-up call that kept him championing the cause of ...

175. Acts 17: 22-31

Acts 17:16-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... up on a cold morning (see Dio Chrysostom, “Oration” 12:80-83). Paul’s argument here is still creation-based. As “God’s offspring” mere images fashioned out of gold are in no way “gods.” It is crucial that this pagan audience understands and renounces their past “ignorance,” Paul insists, because now God has new expectations of the men and women created in the divine image. The God who “allotted the times” of existence (v.26) has ushered in a new age. Now is the time for “all people ...

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