Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1926 to 1950 of 5000 results

1926. Cross Connections

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... for-a-tooth mentality is deeply ingrained, both in the child and in the highest counsels of any government on the earth. Please note that absorbency is not to be equated with being a doormat. To absorb can be a conscious and calculated decision. Let me illustrate this way. In every human grouping we encounter people who are rough around the edges. Their touch is the touch of coarse sandpaper; their behavior is chafing. When they irritate us, it is natural for us to consider responding in kind. But there are ...

1927. Time Out!

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Dave Wilkinson, Moorpark Presbyterian Church, Moorpark, CA. http://www.moorparkpres.org/sermons/2000/010200.htm 3. Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret (page 234f) by Dr. Howard Taylor. Cited by Geoffrey Thomas, AlfredPlaceBaptistChurch, Aberystwyth http://users.aber.ac.uk/emk/ap/sermons/phil22. 4. Contributed by Pastor Wayne Long. Source: Biblical Illustrator.

1928. If You Are Willing

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... he had to slip into towns unobtrusively. It was interfering with what he had primarily come to do. It was a “catch 22.” He could not help caring about people. They could not help telling about the wonderful things he had done. I wonder if this doesn’t illustrate God s greatest dilemma. Bear with me for a little outside-the-box thinking. If I were to ask you the most troubling thing about our faith, my guess is that most of you would say it is the problem of suffering. “I have a friend with cancer ...

1929. Things That Make Jesus Angry

John 2:12-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... matter, not because there is anything remarkable about us, but because there is something remarkable about God. “God so loved the world . . .” Accept nothing less. This is the heart of Lent. 1. www.PalmBeachPost.com; Cited by http://PreachingToday.com/illustration.cgi?IID=14883 2. Thomas Troeger tells this story in a sermon he preached at the Montreat Worship and Music Conference in Montreat, North Carolina, on June 25, 1998. Dr. Gregory Knox Jones ,http://chesterpres.org/osermons/s011099.htm. 3. From ...

1930. He Came by Night

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... certainly would bring people to God. I have subsequently come to believe that the "Son of Man" in whom one is to put trust is Jesus himself. And his being "lifted up" is not in "glory" and "power," but "lifted up" on a cross. Here indeed is an illustration of the unpredictable way in which God's Spirit works. We expect that when God speaks to us it will be in thunder and lightning, in expressions of power and glory. But instead, Jesus was "exalted" by first being lifted up on a cross. God speaks to us ...

1931. The Hillside and the Basket

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... loaves? Would he look at his ability to begin the work or his inability to finish the work? Jesus was testing Philip, even as he still tests you and me today. He was educating the disciples to do what they could and leave the rest to God. He was illustrating the universal law: Resources and powers are given to those who use what resources and powers they have. There Was an Offering So, Philip flunks the test. He can't see Jesus for the crowd. He considers his and the area's human inadequacy to meet the need ...

1932. Grace in the Midst of Exasperation

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... us of the right things to do, will strengthen our desires to carry them out, and will never let us forget that as God's children we are going to become what God has called us to be. Stuart Briscoe, pastor of ElmbrookChurch outside Milwaukee, illustrates the power of feeding and starving with an observation about cuckoo birds. Cuckoos aren't merely the obnoxious noisemakers heard at the top of the hour in certain clocks. They are certifiably real. Two species, in fact, nest in America. To be more accurate ...

1933. Grace in the Midst of Unanswered Prayer

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... missionary-evangelist of the early Church? "No." Paul concluded in this case that unanswered prayer meant that God had a more compelling plan for his life than the one he was requesting. The account of Augustine's early days provides a helpful illustration. A rebellious, immoral, yet brilliant teenager growing up in North Africa, Augustine drove his godly mother to her knees. She begged Augustine to come to Christ, but he rebuffed her at every turn. Ultimately he determined to skip town and sail toward ...

1934. Gifted People

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... he compared people who made commitments to the person who filled his plate with rather ordinary fare at the beginning of the line and then when his plate was full came upon all types of interesting food which he liked better. Using that example to illustrate his philosophy of life, Goodman's friend let everyone know that he was "keeping his options open." Ellen Goodman's evaluation of her friend was that he was always "coming to the end of the line with an empty plate." It is virtually impossible to ...

1935. Sweet-Smelling Fragrance

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... away every form of malice. Such "putting away" of harmful aspects in social relationships reflects the mark of ownership of the Spirit of God. If we were lost in Adam but regained in Christ as the New Adam, we must represent the character of the New Adam. An old story illustrates the effect that anger can have on the way we present ourselves to the world around us. There once was a boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a ...

1936. Don't Forget What You Look Like

James 1:19-27

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... their beliefs. Reparation, the process by which one makes amends for wrongs or injuries done to others, has been a part of the Christian tradition since the inception of the church.2 The epistle of James and other verses throughout the New Testament illustrate that one's relationship with other human beings provides an accurate measuring stick for the status of one's relationship with God. Reparation is a clear-cut, constructive method for guilt resolution. Sometimes a change in behavior can do more for our ...

1937. Lethal Weapon

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... four-letter references to sexual copulation or human waste, then those words, too, become flesh. The tongue can become a lethal weapon that can destroy us. 1. Margaret Blair Johnstone, Create Your Own Tomorrow (Garden City, New Jersey: Doubleday, 1950), pp. 163-165. I transposed some of the story. The illustration is hers. 2. Ibid., pp. 167-168. 3. Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), p. 142.

1938. Needy People Please Apply

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... cared for us when we were needy. And our task is to find other needy souls and to show them the love of Jesus Christ. This is what our founder intended for us to be. 1. 1000 Windows: A Speaker’s Sourcebook of Illustrations, edited by Robert C. Shannon, Standard Publishing Co., 1984. 2. Jonathan Cederberg, “Christian Martyrs: The Hidden Stones in Our Foundation,” The Voice of the Martyrs (Evangelical Press Association; August, 1998), p. 11 http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=1310 3. (Chicago: Moody ...

1939. A Song, A Dance, A Savior

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... s song today to counterbalance the weeping and gloom of our broken, despairing world of exile so that we, like Jeremiah's Israel, might be led into the promised joy of our Lord. Ronald Barclay Allen in his book When Song Is New describes an event which illustrates the song of Jeremiah: A year ago I was ministering in a church in southwest Minnesota. I learned that a little boy from a farm across the border in Iowa had wandered into the fields of corn that encircled his house. A massive search began that was ...

1940. Lord of All

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

A question that is often asked by parents of small children is: "How big are you?" Children are so cute, and generally they give the same answer as they stand on tiptoe and spread their little arms to illustrate how big they are. With arms outstretched and spread wide, they inform their inquiring parent that they are "soooo big!" What children are saying is: "I'm huge. Can't you see how large I am?" When parents ask their children this question, they do so because they want them ...

1941. Follow the Signs to God and Eternal Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... . Today planes, trains, and automobiles use more sophisticated methods, but they all have one purpose -- to get the traveler safely to a specific destination. Although every form of travel necessitates navigational aids, signs provided to mariners seem to be the best illustration. For centuries sailors have been using visible signs to navigate safely to far and distant lands. At sea the position of the stars and planets on any particular night helps fix a vessel's position. Closer to shore there are many ...

1942. Teammates in the Cause of the Lord

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... the sports world may remember certain members of this fabled team, and seemingly forgotten others, the players themselves knew their need for each other. Their mutual assistance was a microcosm of how people can work together toward a common goal and a good illustration of the call of the Christian community to be teammates, working together in the cause of the Lord. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, his second great book of scripture, describes the lives of the first devoted followers of Jesus Christ ...

1943. Excited!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... , people hearing and understanding in their own language, observers utterly amazed. This is what happens when the Spirit comes. Our world is shaken. Our senses come alive. We know we stand on holy ground. Over the centuries, many symbols have been used to illustrate the mystery and power of the Holy Spirit. However, Dr. Mickey Anders of Pikeville, Kentucky has discovered what may be the most unusual symbol of all, the wild goose. In a sermon published on the Internet, Dr. Anders says he made this discovery ...

1944. Replacing a Fallen Comrade

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... this requirement, that the new twelfth apostle needed to be someone who knew Jesus firsthand. That's what God is still looking for today. The question is, do you and I qualify? Is Christ alive in our hearts? 1. Michael E. Hodgin, Humorous Illustrations For Public Speaking (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004). 2. Contributed by a friend. Source unknown. 3. "Dear God, Please Don't Let Me Be a Christian Leader," Fundamentalist Journal http://www.bible.org/illus.asp?topic_id=883 4. (New York: Warner Faith, 2002).

1945. The Church: Identity And Function

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . And what is the function of a priest. It is twofold. First, we speak to the people for God. Now that’s our primary task. Everyone of us is a priest and we have the opportunity and the responsibility of speaking to the people for God. Let me illustrate. Last summer, I preached at the Ocean Grove Count meeting. That’s one of the most notable count meeting centers in America. It’s located on the beautiful New Jersey Atlantic coast, and it has been designated as God’s square mile. Now I don’t know ...

1946. Dying And Rising With Christ

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a part of this fellowship. We have forgotten, if we ever knew, that the power which raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. Now there are those who are claiming that power, I meet them all over the nation. I meet them in this church. Let me illustrate it, and with this I close. Two or three years ago, I was leading a seminar on prayer and personal wholeness in the upper room prayer and bible conference at Lake Junaluska. We had about 150 people in my seminar. And on the first day the room was crowded ...

1947. An Affirming Presence

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . It is to say that the unique thing about you is the spirit aspect of your being. The unique thing about me is the spirit aspect of my being, and that spirit aspect requires spirit affirmation, and that can come only from God. Let me illustrate. The Upper Room has launched in the United States and is providing leadership for a movement called Emmaus. At the heart of this movement and the chairperson of the Upper Room Committee for that movement is present in the congregation today. At the heart of ...

1948. A Healing Presence

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of our pain and suffering, sometimes in spite of our pain and suffering. And this is a deeper truth yet, sometimes Christ uses our suffering and pain as the source of our wholeness. So there is a lot more to health and wholeness than not being sick. Let me illustrate. Most of you know the name, Fannie Crosby. You who do not know the name, will make the connection when I tell you, she is the author of many of the marvelous gospel songs that we sing with such exhilarating joy, two of which we will be singing ...

1949. A Guiding Presence

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of his anger and put it in the place of his compassion?” Now listen to the psalmist as he climaxes that dirge. “What hurts me most is this, that God is no longer powerful.” Do you hear what I’m saying and what the psalmist so vividly illustrates? Struggle is a part of what prayer is all about. Struggle is a part of what prayer is all about. To pretend to yourself or to another that you can get to the promise land without going through the wilderness is spiritual deception. And sooner or later, that ...

1950. Living With The Nitty Gritty

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... gritty will do it. Without meaning and purpose, we find ourselves moving from day to day under constant threat and in constant fear, living on edge with nerves frayed. Every nitty gritty experience throws us off balance. I don’t know a better way to illustrate it than and to put it into perspective, than to turn to the family. That’s the headquarters for the nitty gritty, the family. And especially young parents, and more especially young mothers. Sometime ago a friend sent my wife Jeri a little book ...

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