Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 176 to 200 of 391 results

176. The World’s Favorite Scripture

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... the consequences of his wrongdoing. Dr. William Bennett in his book, The Death of Outrage, makes this tremendous statement: Those who constantly invoke the sentiment of "Who are we to judge?" should consider the anarchy that would ensure if we adhere to this sentiment and say for example in our courtrooms: "Should Judges judge?" What would happen if those sitting on a jury decided to be "non-judgmental" about rapists, sexual harassers, embezzlers, and tax cheats? Without being "judgmental" Americans would ...

177. Finishing Strong

Nehemiah 9:38--10:39

Sermon

James Merritt

... that any organization in order to survive and achieve success must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all of its policies and actions. Next I believe that the most important single factor in the corporate success is faithful adherence to those beliefs. Beliefs must always come before policies, practices, and goals. The latter must always be altered if they are seen to violate fundamental beliefs." [[2]] The people of Jerusalem in Chapter 10 make three core commitments that would guarantee they ...

178. The Disciples Were Not Superheroes

Mark 8:27-38

Illustration

David A. Van Dyke

... is supposed to explain occupational incompetence and I wonder if it were applied to the disciples, how they'd fare. One of the things that makes the Bible and the Gospels so compelling to me, is the humanness of Christianity's first converts and adherents. They were not superheroes of faith and virtue. They were not among the most educated and enlightened—they were not scholars or very sophisticated even in that ancient culture. And the Bible is actually told in a way that exposes them in all their ...

179. Keeping His Word

John 14:23-29

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... . Some view this promise as the creation of a divine pipeline to the Father and the Son. Through this conduit, the Master will continue to walk and talk with them. Others would even go so far as to call it a dispenser of practical truth for those adhering to the salvation of Jesus Christ. However we come at it or which descriptive phrases we use, one thing is sure and definite: They in the first century and all who follow have access to the guidance of our Savior and Lord. The provision has been made. You ...

180. Standing Tall in the Lord

Philippians 3:17-4:1

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... to trust him. In today's lesson, he spoke of those who are "enemies of the cross of Christ." Most scripture scholars believe he was referring to the Judaizers, a group of very religious, orthodox, and politically conservative Jewish Christians who believed that complete adherence to the Mosaic Law was necessary for converts to the "new way" of Jesus. This adversity was primary in Paul's mind at the time. He stated that their god is their belly and their glory their shame. Like Jesus, Paul stood against the ...

181. Claiming Our New Life in Christ

Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... of being accepted by God as pure and holy. The Colossians were being told that their future salvation depended on what they did and how they lived their lives. These teachers went so far as to say that the only way one could be saved was by a strict adherence to the law. It is easy to look at the situation from our vantage point today and wonder how the Colossians could forget the fact that in Christ their sins had been forgiven and that they were a new creation. But think about it for a minute. There have ...

182. Boasting and Praying for You

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... — it matters. It matters that we prepare well and speak well and that we have good pointer fingers in our PowerPoint presentations. What matters more, though, is the ledger at the end of the day. Does the ledger show God with more points, more money, more adherents? Or is it we who grow in these ways? Both can happen simultaneously, but boasting about God is boasting about God. It is not sneaky self-promotion. There is a difference. That's why the jujitsu is so important. It is important to be agile in ...

183. Operation Omega

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , on the right and the left hand of Jesus himself. They want the honor that they think should come from following Jesus. But Jesus turns their hoped-for hierarchy on its head. It is the world, the Gentile “tyrants,” Jesus insists, that adhere to a “top-down” power structure. Jesus commands his disciples to be different: “it is not to be so among you.” Discipleship isn’t about attaining a special place of great honor. Discipleship is about embracing the identity of servant and offering service ...

184. The Undoing of Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... toward the beach. They appeared to be having some difficulty, so I waded out, grabbed hold of the raft, and helped them maneuver it to shore. They were quite appreciative and the man began speaking rapidly in Spanish, pointing to the rocks placed on the raft. Adhering to the rocks were oyster-like shells, and as the man continued to speak, he pried open a shell and pulled out the material inside. I guessed that this was abalone, and the man handed the material to me, indicating with his hands that I should ...

185. Star-spangled Justice

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... money where our mottos are, or we will cease to be. "If you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword," God said to Judah and says to us. Fancy worship that dazzles and entertains won't cut it. Neither will strict dispassionate adherence to doctrine and regulations. Worship without service is as useless as service without worship. What is required is radical trust in God's faithfulness (Love God) that finds its way into radical obedience to God's command, "Love your neighbor." "Come now, let's ...

186. Calamity and Hope

Joel 2:23-32

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... 2:32). The people of Judah had become prosperous and complacent. They were taking God for granted, they had turned to self-centeredness, idolatry, and sin. Joel warned them that this kind of lifestyle would inevitably bring down God's judgment. Of course, they, like us, fail to adhere to the warnings that tell us that we should slow down and take the time to reconnect with God. We are in so much of a hurry in our day-to-day living that we not only take God for granted, we fall into the mistaken notion that ...

187. Hebrews 9:24-28

Hebrews 9:11-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... waves of quantum mechanics. The author of Hebrews was faced with trying to communicate the new work of God to an audience that preferred the old, familiar rituals and images. The old covenant, the first testament between God and Israel might not be perfectly adhered to or enacted. But its rhetoric and its requirements gave the Hebrew people their sense of uniqueness, and carved out a particular place in the past, the present, and the future for their lives. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the author offers up ...

188. Superman: More Than A Super Hero

John 1:1-5, 9-14; John 13:31-32; John 20:30-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... of Faith pointing not to Superman who can only rescue us in our imaginations but to Christ who can Save us and set us Free. 1. "The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman." The Religion of Superman Website. http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Superman.html. Last modified: June 18, 2006. 2. SAVED BY A SUPERMAN, Timothy Merrill, Executive Editor, Homiletics, July 2, 2006 3. In Rain, Wind, and Fire: Superman Returns, By Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, June 16, 2006 4. Homiletics.com e ...

189. How Great Is Your Faith

Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 15:1-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Jesus gave His life on the cross to redeem us and reconcile us with God. That act of reconciliation makes it possible for us to live a new, fulfilled and spirit filled life with Christ and for God. We belong because Jesus says we belong, not because we've adhered to and kept some set of archaic laws we don't even understand. And we dare not go back and pick and up those old attitudes because when we do, it endangers our place in the Kingdom and our inheritance as brothers and sisters of Christ. Conclusion A ...

190. Superman: More Than A Super Hero

John 1:1-5, 9-14; John 13:31-32; John 20:30-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... in our lives, renewing our spirits, deepening our faith, strengthening our walk of faith. And all we have to do is believe. 1. "The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman." The Religion of Superman Website. http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/Superman.html. Last modified: June 18, 2006. 2. SAVED BY A SUPERMAN, Timothy Merrill, Executive Editor, Homiletics, July 2, 2006 3. In Rain, Wind, and Fire: Superman Returns, By Sr. Rose Pacatte, FSP, June 16, 2006 4. Homiletics.com ...

191. Giving Up

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... “give it up” in order that we might “get it all.” Have you ever wondered where the phrase “my hat’s in the ring” comes from? Early in the nineteenth century there were “rules” for fighting. Pugilism, or what we call boxing, adhered to certain standards governing the beginnings and endings of matches. Even though it was a dangerous, bloody sport, there were protocols to follow. Long before boxing matches took place under the bright lights of a Las Vegas auditorium, it was a street event ...

192. Love and Obey (Mother's Day)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... for how we are to live. We are to obey God. Our obedience grows out of our love for God. “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching . . .” This is not blind obedience to a heartless law. Neither is it a set of meaningless rituals that we are to adhere to. Christ did not tell us to park our brains at the door. We are not robots. Neither are we clueless children. A library aide wrote to Reader’s Digest some years ago to tell about a trip students in the elementary school where she teaches made to the ...

193. Why Jesus Didn't Perform Funerals

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... the dead in a physical sense. The death that Paul experienced was the death of the old self the self that had been self-righteously persecuting the tiny but fast growing Christian community. It was the old self of unhappiness, fear and rigid adherence to the law. The new life Paul experienced was spiritual. Paul’s experience reminds me of two sisters I heard about who enjoyed attending wild parties parties that were not consonant with Christian values. However, one day these two sisters found new life ...

194. Peter, Our Folk Hero

Mark 14:27-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... than anything which the easy-going Christians today have to resist. I hope as we look at the flight of the disciples that we will learn to place little reliance on our emotions, however genuine and deep. I hope we will learn for security in our continual adherence to Christ – not our fluctuating feelings, but in His steadfast love. We keep close to Him, not because fingers grasp which nothing can loosen. If we trust in our own love of Christ, we build on sand, but if we trust in Christ’s love for us ...

195. We Hold These Truths To Be Essential

1 Peter 3:8-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... that big man in the eye today and say, “I'm in the business of producing faithful disciples of Jesus Christ." That is why we are here. We must understand that together. You see, a disciple is a follower, a learner, a lover. A disciple is an apprentice, an adherent, a student, a supporter, a devotee. I believe in building a church on the principle of easy entry, and high expectations. I know you can do it in a variety of ways. I know you can set up lots of hoops through which people need to jump in order ...

196. Checking Out the Scene

John 1:35-42

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... look. I call this checking out the scene. There are no preconditions to this afternoon visit with Jesus. The free lunch didn’t include a sales pitch. There were no rules to subscribe to, no presuppositions to accept, no agreement to sign, no statements of faith to adhere to, no aisle to walk, no pledge to make—just a simple invitation to come over to My house and let’s get acquainted. “And they went, and saw where he was staying and spent that day with him until about 4 in the afternoon” (Verse 39 ...

197. The Gentle Healer

John 9:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... choosers. You use what you've got. When you are ill, you take what you can get. Jesus touched him. That divine touch proved to be enough. There are all kinds of movements in our day, many of them sponsored by New Age adherents promoting the power of touch. One group encouraging parents to touch their children says touch is the most important of all the senses. It stimulates all the other senses. It stimulates language and communication. It promotes bonding and attachment. Hugged children are happy children ...

198. Mulliganeers, All

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Charged with keeping the reading and reflection of the Torah on the straight and narrow, this officious official couldn’t see beyond the letter of the law, beyond the jot and tittle of his title. No “work” on the Sabbath meant strict adherence to every stated restriction. No “work” on the Sabbath meant avoiding every rabbinically-vetoed activity. In other words, the synagogue official had come to see the Sabbath as one great big “thou shalt not.” Instead of being a celebration of the divine ...

199. Burned Beef

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Tony Everett

... warm, it was so hot that Terry quickly dropped the dish onto the wooden cupboard next to the stove. Carefully, he lifted the lid, and immediately the entire kitchen was engulfed with blue smoke. A terrible, burning stench filled their nostrils. Blackened chunks of beef adhered to the bottom of the dish, securely fastened there by a glue-like paste that once was potatoes, carrots, and gravy. By now the smoke alarm was blaring, and the boys were dashing through the house opening windows and doors as they went ...

200. Set Apart at Christmas

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... irony here because Paul, who himself had been a "Pharisee of the Pharisees," uses the same term the Pharisees used to denote their own "set-apartness" from the average Jews whom they felt were deficient in their devotion to God as displayed by their lax adherence to the law and the traditions of the elders. While we tend to read "hypocrite" when we run across the word "Pharisee," such a reading is not helpful. First, because in the Old Testament it meant "set apart" for particular service to God. It is ...

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