Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1826 to 1850 of 2962 results

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... our baptism. Through our baptism we are bathed, cleaned and polished. The physical water may dry up but the spiritual waters of our baptism still run and flow through our hearts and souls as Christ shapes and molds us into God's own unique design. IV. Etching That brings us to one last phase of the Waterford Crystal Factory. Sometimes special pieces are created or chosen to have further enhancement added through etching. The etchers are true artists of the craft. They turn beautiful pieces of crystal into ...

1827. The Inheritance

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... businessman. Howard climbs through the surrounding brush to get to Smith, who is having his dinner in front of an open campfire. Howard looks over at the damaged horse, whose leg is now wrapped up with a poultice. Smith says that it is Hawthorne root, designed to increase the blood circulation. Howard asks if the horse will get better, and Smith replies that it already has. Howard wants to know if the horse will ever race again. Smith says, "No, not that one." Howard asks, "Then why are you fixing him ...

1828. Revelation 21:1-6

Revelation 22:1-6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... people. God’s presence is not contained or confined to one geographical place, as with the temple in the old creation. Now the dwelling of God is among "the peoples" ("laoi"). Ezekiel 37:27 had described God dwelling with "my people" ("laos"), the singular designation suggesting God dwelt with God’s chosen people, that is with Israel. Now, the vision of God’s presence John describes extends to all "peoples." The new Jerusalem has no boundaries. It fills all the new heaven and new earth. There is no ...

1829. The Real Thirst Quencher

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... shocked the world by asking his jailer to join him on the inauguration platform. Can you imagine what a shock that was to the jailer? Mandela then appointed Archbishop Desmond Tutu to head the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This amazing commission was designed to defuse the pattern of revenge that so often emerges when one oppressed race or tribe takes control from another. For two‑and‑one‑half years, South Africans listened to reports of atrocities coming out of the commission’s hearings. The ...

1830. To Live in Joy

Revelation 1:1-3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... live in joy this now day of resurrection and that’s the theme of my sermon today —— that’s the Big Story too many of us are missing. I saw it emblazoned on a beautiful banner in a church sometime ago. It was portrayed there in graphic colors and vivid design. To live in joy is to live this now day of resurrection. Isn’t that great? Say it with me. To live in joy is to live this now day of resurrection. Let’s try it again — you can do better than that - To live in joy... Now there are ...

1831. Living While You Wait

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... prevent the healing we need. The opposite of this is also true. Those who fill minds with positive affirmations, who concentrate on the noble virtues that make life meaningful, set the stage for healing and make possible the, wholeness that is God’s design for all of us. Two thousand years before psychologists were teaching this truth, Paul discovered its power. “Meditate on these things,” he said - things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report. We are what we think. There is a hospital ...

1832. Where Do We Grow from Here?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... symbols and the new insights he sees fresh an alluring vistas. Grief and love lead him far beyond himself. Prophets and poets shout across the ages and call out his soul. Beauty unseals his eyes and reverence leads to him mystery and tenderness. The strange designs of circumstance and purpose, the impact of this world and all the wonders, the dark movings of the inner abyss in himself, all these are avenues of births beyond number.” (Samuel Miller, Life of the Soul, pp. 136-7). What an electric word - and ...

1833. Give Yourself

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... too much relevance to an affluent congregation like this, because we really don’t know too much; in fact we probably don’t know anything about poverty. Yet, it has everything to do with us, because it does not simply describe the generosity of those Macedonians. It designates and defines their wealth. Because wealth lies not in what a person possesses, but in how a person loves. Wealth is determined by the depth of our compassion, and I’d like to talk a lot about that but I don’t have time; but it ...

1834. Holiness of Heart and Life

Romans 2:21-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ? The ethnic, social, and religious connotations of what it means to be a Jew is scorned and fulfilled by some and respected and made holy by others. I doubt if there is a name more pronounced in history and in present day culture in designating a particular people than the word “Jew.” Circumcision was the identifying mark of the Jew. Paul addresses the failure of the Jew by challenging the meaning of circumcision and calling for a “circumcision of the heart.” Paul affirmed the call of the Jews to ...

1835. Jesus' First Miracle

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... didn’t seem right, It just wouldn’t hang together in the context of our description of need and the funds avail able. I was ready to lay the whole idea to rest. But the Spirit kept saying, “Forget money, forget available resources. Define the ministry and design the church’s response.” I thought it was useless, but I did. And when I had finished, I was prepared to report to our Staff Parish Relations Committee, and to Ed Horton that we simply couldn’t pull it off. On the very next two successive ...

1836. Who Will Cast the First Stone?

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... look at the disposition of the accusers. Here we must begin to search deeply our own souls. Who were the accusers of this adulteress? Scripture labels them “scribes and Pharisees.” Though not in John, in the other gospels, this is the frequent designation of the opponents of our Lord. It was these “Scribes and Pharisees” who were often the brunt of Jesus’ fiery condemnation. These are not official representatives of the Pharisees or the Sanhedrin, they are a group of bigots seeking to make capital ...

1837. God's Chosen People: Partners

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... service will give you the opportunity to cultivate these three helps in your life. Let me say just one other word about the privilege of friendship. There was a custom both at the Courts of the Roman Emperors and the Eastern Kings which really shedsome light on this designation of Jesus. “At these courts there was a very select group of men who were called the Friends of the King or The Friends of the Emperor At all times they had access to the King; they had even the right to come to his bed-chamber at ...

1838. There Is a Price for Everything

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... A new congregation of Methodist Christians in Cordova, another is Pskov, Russia, and another in Stankoft, the Czech Republic. We could go on and on. It is a thrilling story. The Shepherd’s School, new Bible Study program at Methodist Neighborhood centers, which is designed to reach the young people who live in the inner city, a housing ministry that will go beyond the two houses we have been building each year, to a partnership with other churches that hopefully is going to make a dramatic response to the ...

1839. Live the Questions

Exodus 5:22--6:12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.” (Exodus 6:6-8 RSV). That’s a power- packed passage. Live with it for a moment. Look at all the affirmations that are there. Some one has designated these the seven “I wills” of redemption. Look at them there in the text: “I will bring you out” “I will deliver you from bondage” “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” “I will take you for my people” “I will be your God” “I will bring ...

1840. What Is Man?

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... ; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” We occupy a unique place in God’s creation because God designed it that way. Pastor Libby Boatwright gives a wonderful example of where we gain our significance. She reminds us of the absurd, but creative TV commercials for Capital One credit cards. You’ve surely seen them. People innocently take out their credit cards to make a ...

1841. Lessons from Rephidim - Being the Lord's Intercessor

Exodus 17:8-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... working; some things never without praying” (Fosdick, The Meaning of Prayer, pp. 60-61) So mark it down. Prayer means no one of us can ever say there is nothing I can do…we can do what God calls us to do we can do what God has designed as a channel through which He accomplishes what he wishes in the world. We can pray. So we are talking about the work of intercession and that brings us to this: original dedication. And that brings us to the other big truth from Rephidim: Being interdependent with the ...

1842. Come Forward to God's Throne Where There Is Grace (Relief for Guilt)

Hebrews 4:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... like guilt situations, we find people asking themselves, “Why is God punishing me in this fashion.” The truth of the matter is that God is not punishing them. They are the victims of circumstance over which they had no control, certainly circumstances which were not designed by God. The title of our sermon is “Come Forward to God’s Throne Where There is Grace”. It is from the scripture lesson that we get the title. Listen to verse 16: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace ...

1843. When Being Christian Has Worn You Down (Compassion Fatigue)

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . Some of you will remember 15 or 20 years ago the atomic submarine, The Thresher. The Thresher disappeared in the depths of the ocean. People never knew why. They surmised that it had gone so deep that it simply went out of control. It was designed only to go to certain depths. Some years after it disappeared, because of the perfection of technology, we were able to send another submarine down, a small one with thick-plated, thick glass, highly pressurized to go much, much deeper than the Thresher had been ...

1844. Three Wise Women

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... something is wrong. The days of our lives have turned desperately dark for these and a thousand other reasons. Where do you turn? Unfortunately to a lot of sources that offer help, but only increase the darkness -God save us from that. To legitimate and wholesome places designed to provide you help, I pray. What does Mary say to us? “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Can we, in our dark, make that sort of trustful commitment? Here is a radical story. On a ...

1845. When a Person Is Called

Galatians 1:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of which they had never heard until they responded to Christ’s Commission. They lived in a tiny apartment — you and I wouldn’t even call it an apartment; none of the conveniences that that we here would take for granted; in conditions that we would designate as poverty. One of the miracles that has taken place relates to an eye problem that John had before he left. Pressure in his eye indicated a threatened detached retina that would have kept a less certain or timid soul at home. Yet they went on ...

1846. Justification and Grace

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... nagging, gnawing, deep down that keeps eating away at their souls. This especially becomes an issue when they are confronted with a dramatic, dynamic witness of another Christian. So many of what I call “main-line Christians” are intimidated by what some designate “born again Christians” because born Christians are so specific in their confession and the testimony of how they became a Christian. So our churches are full of people who need to hear the message of salvation, and nail down explicitly in ...

1847. The Geography of the Christian Experience

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . You see geography - personal geography, is important. It was important to Paul, so I want to talk about the geography of the Christian experience. The places that Paul mentioned in these verses of scripture, on his spiritual journey, I believe they designate, or at least vividly suggest, movements in our spiritual journey. He talks about Arabia, Damascus, and Jerusalem, Syria and Celicia. I believe that Arabia suggests a journey to self and a journey to God; Damascus and Jerusalem suggest a journey to ...

1848. Crucified with Christ

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... is – one who has been divinely empowered for the new life that comes through Jesus Christ. To refer to persons as Christians should never mean that such persons possess the fullest measure of the Spirit possible. Such is never the case. Nor should the designation be used to define a “higher” category of the Christian life, or to identify an elitist group that has “made it.” Had Paul used the term, “Spirit-filled Christian”, he would have used it in the fashion of Galatians 2:20. He could have ...

1849. Not a Servant, but a Son

Galatians 4:6-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... be possessed and used by the child until the age stipulated in the trust — for instance, 18 or 21 years. Until that time comes, there’s no way the child can spend what is already his. In a similar ancient setting, Paul is saying that even though a son is designated his father’s heir, so long as he is “under age”, he must be treated as fully dependent. In fact, in relation to the in heritance, he is in no better position than a servant. Do you get the picture? It’s a graphic one. Paul is emphatic ...

1850. For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... The Greek word, aphormi, translated here as “opportunity” is sometimes translated and literally means “a place for jumping off.” It’s interesting that Paul alone among the New Testament writers used this word and it was one of his favorites. Originally the word designated a point from which to launch an attack, hence used in military parlance to weapon a base of operation. Get Paul’s picture in mind. He knew that if freedom was interpreted merely as the removal of restraint, sin would seize the ...

Showing results