Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1851 to 1875 of 3160 results

Matthew 7:24-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Everyone has a “two-kinds-of-people” analogy of some sort. Today’s gospel text, including the last portion of the Sermon on the Mount, features some of Jesus’ favorite “two-kinds-of-people” analogies. Chapter seven, verse thirteen begins the first of four different “two-kinds-of-people” stories: the broad vs. the narrow road (vv.13-14); the good ...

1852. Against All Hope

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... he would need to check her blood. Listen to her chilling words: “I was astonished. Any ignoramus with no special medical knowledge would know I had bronchitis, possibly verging on pneumonia, not hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver with symptoms entirely different from mine. What sort of ‘doctor’ was this young man? I bent down to look at him through the opening of the small window. I saw a country lad no more than twenty years of age in a soldier’s uniform. I realized he was not a trained doctor ...

1853. An Unsung Hero

2 Tim 1:16-18, 4:19

Illustration

Stephen M. Crotts

... grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day - and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus." Just listen to the action verbs: He often refreshed me. He was not ashamed. He searched for me. He found me. He rendered service. May we be that sort of person to one another, and especially to our prophets!

1854. Lighten Up!

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

M.T. Kutz

... . He told stories of a king who arranged a banquet and then got angry and disappointed when nobody came. He spoke of a father throwing a lavish party to celebrate a wayward son's return. When Jesus returned from the dead, he prepared a fish barbecue on the shore, sort of a team picnic. He came from avery happy place, and he knew he was returning to a very happy place. When he said, ‘Whenever two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them,' perhaps he saw a dance coming on. Indeed ...

1855. Planting Seeds

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Jill knew that because that is the way she had always felt herself. She and her friends had even ridiculed a girl at school who had gone to some religious camp and come home “born again,” something that sounded weird to all of them. So she knew what sort of treatment lay ahead of her as she headed home at the end of the semester. She decided to act promptly before she had a chance to get cold feet. She mailed invitations to her six closest friends inviting them to come to her house on Saturday night ...

1856. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... who doubt that this world is coming to an end, and many who wonder why it has not already come to an end. C. S. Lewis had an answer for both people. This brilliant thinker said: Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it! Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to ...

1857. How to Deal with Friends, Foes, and Fools

Proverbs 27:6

Sermon

James Merritt

... is this of relationships? When it comes to our kids (and let's be honest, us adults too) peer pressure can be just as dangerous and just as deadly. According to Solomon, along life's way your children will encounter people of every ilk and sort. Some will become friends, others will become foes (even Jesus had his enemies), and others will prove themselves to be fools. Dad, you will do your children an incredible favor, both by teaching them how to both differentiate between these groups of people, and how ...

1858. Nothing but the Blood

1 John 1:7

Sermon

James Merritt

... a bath; just despised soap and water. One day his mother, trying desperately to approach the subject from a more successful angle, said, "Son, you do want to be a nice clean little boy don't you?" Her little boy said, "Yes ma'am, but Mama can't you just sort of dust me off?" Well, our hands are dirty because of the deeds we do. Our hearts are dirty in the desires that we have. Our heads are dirty in the deliberations we consider, in the thoughts that pass through our mind. If you want God to forgive you ...

1859. Science and the Bible

John 17:17, 1 Timothy 3:16

Sermon

James Merritt

... the earth. Finally, we may have explored the universe and found no trace of life or process leading to life elsewhere. In such a case, some scientists might choose to turn to religion for an answer. Others, however, myself included, would attempt to sort out the surviving less probably scientific explanation in the hope of selecting one that was still more likely than the remainder.8 That is an incredible admission. The scientists will believe anything but the Bible because it has something to do with God ...

1860. Fatal Attraction

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

James Merritt

... wax so they could not hear the songs. He then commanded them to bind him to the mast as they passed the island so that he could not change his orders. The song of adultery can be overcome, but it never stops playing. Remember, sexual sin of any sort is a fatal attraction, but it can be overcome through Jesus Christ and His Word. 1 The Atlanta Journal, 9-10-95. 2 John Armstrong, Can Fallen Pastors Be Restored?, pp. 29-30. 3 "A Bad Start?", Newsweek, January, 1999. 4 William J. Bennett, The Broken Heart, p ...

1861. Slaying the Green-Eyed Monster

Proverbs 27:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... are. Two cows were grazing in a pasture when they saw a milk truck pass by. On the side of that truck were the words: "Pasteurized, Homogenized, Standardized, Vitamin A Milk." With jealousy, one cow looked at the other one and said, "It makes you feel sort of inadequate doesn't it?" Well, that's exactly what jealousy does. II. Consider the Poison of Jealousy Shakespeare also spoke of jealousy as "a poison more deadly than a mad dog's tooth." That is interesting because Prov. 14:30 says, "A sound heart is ...

1862. Guilt: How to Keep Your Conscience Clear

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... said. You shouldn’t feel bad when you do something “dishonest, hurtful, tacky, selfish, or rotten.” Well, my question is: “When should you feel bad?” These days it is politically correct to say that everything that is wrong with people is a result of some sort of an illness. What we used to call sin is now diagnosed as a disability. The way we now enable people to escape blame and guilt is by classifying every human failing as some kind of a disease. For example, people are no longer drunks; they ...

1863. The Near Edge of God

Jn 1:1-3, 14

Sermon

... from certain that I would have known how to get home to Detroit. Which changed quickly ... not because Albion moved, but because I did. When first I sang, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are," I really did wonder. And still do ... sort of. But an introductory course on astronomy (coupled with seven Star Trek movies) have reduced my reverence. And every time I tilt back my head and belt, "O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made," it occurs ...

1864. Living on the Edge

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Christ's kingdom always calls for the note of sacrifice, taking a chance, living on the edge. There was an man down in Florida who used to wrestle alligators for tourists. One time after one of his performances a lady noticed he wore a string of alligator teeth around his neck. She said, "Oh, that is sort of like wearing a string of pearls." He replied, "Not quite. Anyone can open an oyster."

1865. This Feels Like Where I Came In

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

... conscience consider next?" Personally, I should like to see Christians turn from a discussion of the war's validity to a discussion of the war's conduct. I am talking about moral issues that relate to objectives, weapons, targets….those sorts of things. If the only war-related question Christians debate is "yes" or "no," we forfeit the opportunity to influence anything that happens once the generals begin talking about "how." For centuries, theologians and ethicists (especially Catholic theologians and ...

1866. The Lost And Found Collection

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... had been utterly wild for the first two years of his life. He lived in the woods behind the house of his eventual owners, the Thomas family. He would not let any person get near him. Then one day the family noticed that the elusive cat was hurt. He was sort of dragging his hindquarters as he crossed the yard. Obviously he had been hit by a car or had tangled with a really big dog. But even then he would not let anyone get near him. The family had to trap him, using fish as the smelly lure. They trapped ...

1867. From Worry To Trust

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Perhaps the finest golf coach America ever produced was the late Harvey Penick of Texas. He wrote the Little Red Book which is sort of the “golfer’s Bible.” Mr. Penick said that most golfers do not think on the golf course; they just worry. “Worrying is a misuse of your mind on the golf course,” said Mr. Penick. “Whatever your obstacle, worry will only make it more difficult. Worry causes your muscles to ...

1868. Prime The Pump!

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... through the side of mountains. I’m always awed by the brilliance of the engineers who designed those tunnels. How were they carved out of the solid rock? I’m sure that dynamite was the key. Sticks of dynamite were well placed and then ignited by some sort of fuse. The fuse was necessary but it was not the source of power. The power came from the nitroglycerin in that dynamite. The fuse just ignited it. Similarly, God’s power is like that dynamite that moves mountains. Our faith is just the fuse that ...

1869. Mary, Did You Know?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of Nazareth, up in Galilee, the northern part of Israel. Mary’s parents were godly peasant folks whose only bragging point was that they were descendents of the great King David. But then, thousands of other people could claim that distinction also. It was sort of like being descendents of someone who came over on the Mayflower. Mary had just become betrothed or engaged to a young carpenter named Joseph. During this year of engagement, Mary and Joseph would never be alone or unescorted for any length of ...

1870. Is There Hope For World Peace?

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... have seen an end to war.” (1) In Matthew 24, Jesus gave us a preview of what the world will look like just before the end of time. He predicted that certain trends would be apparent as the end time draws near. He called these trends “BIRTH PANGS,” sort of like the contractions a woman feels before childbirth. As we consider these signs of the end-time, you may agree with me that all of these signs are ominously present right now. In verses 5 and 11, Jesus tells us that MANY FALSE MESSIAHS AND FALSE ...

1871. A Defiant Response to a Dangerous Theology: Does God Desire to Wipe Us Out?

Gn 6:1-8. 9:6-17

Sermon

... much water. The purpose of the flood story….or the flood stories….is to say that no matter how bad it gets (or no matter how bad we get), God will not give up. And that the renewal of life….fresh starts, new beginnings, old slates washed clean, that sort of thing….is not simply a promise that was, but a promise that is. And then follows this business about the rainbow….the rainbow as a sign of the covenant God makes to never again destroy the earth or the creatures that live upon it. For years, we ...

1872. Call Him God

Matt 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-38

Illustration

C. S. Lewis

... the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and ...

1873. Stumbling in Darkness, Looking for Light

Isaiah 9:1-7, John 1:5

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... -holding, theologically-trained clergy—even including one Episcopalian—had no idea what the word meant. Jeff went so far as to bet me five dollars that I couldn't use it in a sermon. So now he pays up! Lenticular images produce a sort of 3-D effect; different perspectives give you different ways of seeing and of understanding the message. Janet Smylie's internet web search produced an article about lenticular images which ended with this intriguing sentence: If the sight of a lenticular picture isn ...

1874. Moses: A Traveling God in a Pop-Up Camper

Exodus 13:17-22, 33:7-11

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... would perfectly meet the time of our worship and we would become a congregation. At some time out of time, in this space out of space, we would become one body in the presence of each other and of the Holy One. If I knew how to package that sort of kairos, I would write that instead of these reflections. All I know is that it just happens. We make our spaces in the hope that presence will visit us, and sometimes, even here, it comes, a sign of grace and hope. [2] The tabernacle was sacred space, holy ...

1875. Bugles in the Afternoon

Philippians 2:1-11, Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... laugh as he rattled off my ridiculously long title: "The Rev. John E. Harnish is the Associate General Secretary of the Division of Ordained Ministry, Section of Elders and Local Pastors for the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church." He sort of frowned and raised his eyebrow, then paused and said: But I want you to know, I know him as Jack, and all I know is he's a church bureaucrat who loves Jesus. Lloyd C. Douglas, well-known author and preacher, tells a story from ...

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