Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1851 to 1875 of 1967 results

1851. My Childhood Promise

Matt 6:25-34; Luke 17:11-19; Eph 5:4

Illustration

Charles Swindoll

I recall, as a little barefoot boy with a cowlick of snow-white hair on my forehead, standing erect in my classroom and repeating the "Pledge of Allegiance" one Thanksgiving season. Our nation was at war and times were hard. My teacher had lost her husband on the blood washed shores of Normandy. As we later bowed our heads for prayer she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. She stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude and praise that ever emerged from a soul plunged in ...

1852. The Work of the Church

Luke 3:1-6

Illustration

Sharon Rhodes-Wickett

At the Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, West Africa, meetings were held in the large sanctuary in the capital city, Freetown. Each day as we entered the large doors into the sanctuary there was a young girl, maybe about the age of 8, who begged at the door. She looked ragged, dirty, her hair was matted and knotty, and she had on tattered clothes. No one seemed to know her, and people brushed her aside upon entering. Some of the pastors tried to tell her to go away. We were busy ...

1853. Joyous All the Time

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

King Duncan

We can learn from our children sometimes. The wife of an Adventist minister was writing about their family life. She said that their family lives in apartments most of the year, because they move from city to city holding evangelistic meetings. One evening, after a meeting, she and her daughter took all of the dirty clothes out of their temporary apartment home to a Laundromat. They closed the door on a naked apartment: the beds were stripped, the towels were taken down, their clothes supply was exhausted ...

1854. What Matters In the Light of Eternity: “Church Matters”

Acts 20:13-38

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

I love thy kingdom Lord, The house of Thine abode, The church our blest Redeemer saved With his own precious blood. My heart resonates with those words penned by Timothy Dwight more than two hundred years ago. I love the church. A thousand sermons finely tuned could not express my gratitude, for all that I am, all that I have, all that I hope to become, I owe to the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church is of God and shall be preserved to the end of time and I would like to offer some reasons why. I. The ...

1855. If Everybody’s Okay, What’s the Problem? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses, And all the king’s men, Couldn’t put Humpty together again! Like Humpty Dumpty, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. The Bible calls that problem sin. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves” (I John 1:8). Forty years ago, Dr. Tom Harris wrote a best seller entitled I’m OK, You’re OK. As a tool for analyzing interpersonal transactions, the book was immensely helpful. As a philosophical statement of the human condition, the book ...

1856. Life In a New Gear

Illustration

Staff

Man is like an automobile. As it gets older, the differential starts slipping, and the u-joints get worn, causing the drive shaft to go bad. The transmission won't go into high gear and sometimes has difficulty getting out of low. The cylinders get worn and lose compression, making it hard to climb the slightest incline. When it is climbing, the tappets clatter and ping to the point where one wonders if the old bus will make it to the top. The carburetor gets fouled with pollutants and other matter, making ...

1857. A Servant Helping a World in Need

Mark 1:4-11

Illustration

Charles Hoffacker

In one of German writer Herman Hesse's books, Journey to the East, the central figure is man named Leo. Leo accompanies a party of travelers as their servant doing menial chores, but he also sustains them with his spirit and his song. He is a person of extraordinary presence. All goes well for the travelers until Leo disappears. Then the group falls into disarray; they abandon their journey. Without Leo they cannot make it. The story's narrator, who is one of the travelers, wanders for years until he is ...

1858. Fractured Christmas Carols

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Illustration

No one can fracture a Christmas carol better than a kid. Sing along with these new takes on old favorites: Deck the Halls with Buddy Holly We three kings of porridge and tar On the first day of Christmas my tulip gave to me Later on we'll perspire, as we dream by the fire. He's makin a list, chicken and rice. Noel. Noel, Barney's the king of Israel. With the jelly toast proclaim . . . Olive, the other reindeer. Frosty the Snowman is a ferret elf, I say . . . Sleep in heavenly peas . . . In the meadow we ...

1859. Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

All across the US there are signs popping up in windows and outside homes: “99%.” It’s one of the oddest slogans to “catch on,” this proud proclamation that one is among the “99%.” What was meant as an isolation of the uber-wealthy, the “1%,” essentially has everyone else claiming “we’re all alike.” For a culture that has spent the last twenty years ultra-personalizing and customizing every facet of life (ring tones, web-sites, school curriculums, insurance plans), the boast to be “just like everyone else ...

1860. How Firm a Foundation

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

Every night after work and on weekends, Eric worked on building his cabin. It was not on his lot in Waterford Township, but in his own backyard. It was sort of prefab — constructed with cedar, a section at a time. On Sunday afternoons, accompanied by his family, he loaded up his trailer with completed sections and hauled them up to his property. The camp became known as Shaky Cedars. As each wall was placed side by side, the sections soon became a whole. When we buy a house, we carefully look at the ...

1861. Eyes Up!

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A bit of a contrast, isn't it? The sweet strains of "Away In A Manger" followed by "... nations will be in anguish ... the roaring and tossing of the sea ... People will faint from terror ... the heavenly bodies will be shaken." Ho, ho, ho! Where is Santa when we need him? Why in the world would the church choose a gospel lesson such as this to begin Advent and our preparation for the coming of the Christ Child? Good reason. The sad truth that all of us who are old enough knows is we do not live in a " ...

1862. John 13:31-35

John 13:31-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As Judas slinks out the door and into the night, Jesus’ first act is to turn that treachery into triumph. The disciples who heard Jesus tell Judas to “Do quickly what you are going to do” (v.27) do not attach any particular significance to Judas’s departure. But Jesus recognizes that as the door closes behind his betrayer, the way to the cross has now finally been fully opened. Judas’ act of betrayal is not a death knell to Jesus’ mission and ministry. Rather, it is the first chord of a final triumphal ...

1863. Twice Mine

Illustration

Michael P. Green

There was a young boy who lived in a New England seaport and loved to watch the boats come in from their daily catch. One day he decided to build a little sailboat all of his own. He worked for weeks, making sure each detail was just right. Finally the big day arrived. He went down to the wharf and proudly put his boat into the water. As he triumphantly observed his new sailboat, he noticed that the wind had suddenly changed, and the tiny boat was being swept out of sight. The little boy was heartbroken. ...

1864. The Smoke Signal

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Long ago, in the days of sailing ships, a terrible storm arose and a ship was lost in a deserted area. Only one crewman survived, washed up on a small uninhabited island. In his desperation, the castaway daily prayed to God for help and deliverance from his lonely existence. Each day he looked for a passing ship and saw nothing. Eventually he managed to build a crude hut, in which he stored the few things he had recovered from the wreck and those things he had made to help him. One day, as the sailor was ...

1865. The Three Visitors

Genesis 18:1-15

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

Abraham Entertains Three Messengers from Heaven: It is important to interpret this account in tandem with the story of the destruction of Sodom. Abraham’s position with God contrasts with the fate of his nephew Lot. Abraham is about to realize God’s promise for an heir through Sarah. Conversely, Lot’s dream of becoming a citizen of Sodom is about to be shattered. Having separated from Abraham to pursue wealth and pleasure, Lot will lose all his possessions. By contrast, Abraham is increasing in wealth and ...

1866. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In chapter 9 Jesus brings light to a blind man. Cast in the form of so many Synoptic conflict stories, this narrative is closely connected with the previous chapter. We are still at the Feast of Tabernacles setting, and Jesus is still affirming that he is “the light of the world” (9:5; cf. 8:12). Here the light of Jesus is parabolically viewed in the service of a blind man who gains his vision. But those who live in darkness without this light (the Jewish opponents) cannot see. In the end, the Pharisees ...

1867. The Great Multitude in White Robes

Revelation 7:9-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

When the 144,000 appear again, they stand as a countless multitude whose diversity is evident, since individual persons can still be distinguished by nation, tribe, culture, and language and yet all are perfectly united in their litany to the Lord (7:9–10). This picture of the church triumphant provides hope for today’s divided congregation. Here the people of God are one voice, dressed in white priestly robes (Rev. 6:11), holding palm branches (a symbol of homage to a king during his coronation; cf. Mark ...

1868. Jesus Questioned about Fasting

Matthew 9:14-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

9:14–17 Jesus is still at table with tax collectors and “sinners” (v. 10) when a group of followers of John the Baptist come and ask him why his disciples do not fast. Pharisees apparently fasted twice a week (cf. Luke 18:12; Didache 8), and John’s disciples fasted as well. In the previous paragraph the question was whether Jesus should be eating with outcasts; now the question is whether he should be eating at all! (Hill, p. 175). His failure to satisfy the religious scruples of sectarians would become a ...

1869. The Wise and Foolish Builders

Luke 6:46-49

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

Instruction for the Disciples: Luke’s account of the choosing of the Twelve (6:12–16) is based on Mark 3:13–19, while his summarizing account of Jesus’ healings on the “level place” (6:17–19) is based loosely on Mark 3:7–12. Luke reversed the order of these Marcan units to accommodate the sermon that follows (6:20–49). As it now stands in Luke, Jesus goes up on a mountain (v. 12) to appoint the Twelve, then he descends to a plateau to teach and heal crowds (vv. 17–18), which leads quite naturally into the ...

1870. The Great Multitude in White Robes

Revelation 7:9-17

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

7:9–12 The second group of believers, who also receive the salvation of God, should be distinguished from the first in two critical ways. In the interlude’s first scene of the 144,000, John addresses a particular concern of his readers about the status of martyred believers (cf. 1 Thess. 4:13–18). In his subsequent vision of a great multitude, John shifts his pastoral concern to the situation of the unbelieving world, which seeks to know how to survive the eschatological wrath of God. In responding to ...

1871. Listen to the Angels

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A layperson wrote on the Internet that he attends a small village church in rural Pennsylvania. On any given Sunday, he says, they may have six or seven faithful children who come with their parents. The pastor has a white bag which is passed from child to child, making sure they get equal turns to put something in for him to talk about. Each Sunday, the pastor calls all the children up and he opens the bag to find a “surprise” on which he bases his children’s sermon. Easter week, the bag went home with a ...

1872. Holy Name

Illustration

Staff

Singer and songwriter Gloria Gaither describes Christ’s authority: The Bible tells us that there is power in the mere mention of Jesus’ holy name. . . . Jesus. The mere mention of His name can calm the storm, heal the broken, raise the dead. At the name of Jesus, I’ve seen sin-hardened men melted, derelicts transformed, the lights of hope put back into the eyes of a hopeless child . . . Emperors have tried to destroy it; philosophers have tried to stamp it out. Tyrants have tried to wash it from the face ...

1873. Patches

Luke 5:36

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: patches (enough for each child), a smaller patch of the same material. Have you ever had anything shrink? Do you know what I mean when I tell you that my socks shrank? (Wait for answers.) That's right, it means that they got smaller. A lot of times when you put some clothes into the wash for the first time they shrink. The material pulls closer together so that it is not the same size that it was. Jesus told a very interesting story about how you should be very careful with the kind of material ...

1874. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-47, 52

Sermon

Will Willimon

I suspect that many of you are anxious for me to get off my chest quickly whatever it is that I want to say, to get out of the pulpit, so you can get on with the beautiful music of Christmas. We have restrained ourselves throughout the Sundays of Advent, confined ourselves to slow-moving, somewhat somber hymns of hope, anticipation, expectancy. "Come, O Come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel." Anticipation has become fulfillment. Now, we are at last ready to sing of Christmas. There are Sundays when ...

1875. Christ’s Call to Discipleship

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

Throughout my academic career I struggled. Nothing came easily, but I determined to be the best pupil possible. The Greek culture considered a disciple a philosopher’s follower or sometimes an apprentice learning a trade. The New Testament writers used the term in different facets. Don Campbell shared the uses of the word disciple in The Theological Wordbook as: First, describing the twelve. Radical demands were placed on these men as Jesus was always on the move. He constantly challenged, motivated, ...

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