Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 176 to 200 of 517 results

176. Embalmed Leaders

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... it. No program in the history of mankind has more paid lobbyists than the Foreign Aid Program. Again, leaders pretending to lead have built for themselves an empire. And so, we become frightened at the big government that surrounds us, and rightfully so. Our next impulse, then, is to turn to State power, State’s rights, close at home, where we can keep, we think, more control. And if we take a close look at that, certainly, there is nothing to inspire confidence in our leadership, simply because it is ...

177. Minute Accounting

Matthew 12:22-37

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... about ourselves. One of them is to examine the words we speak when conventional restraints are removed. What do we say when our speech is unpremeditated? What do we say when anger loosens the controls we ordinarily hold over our tongues? What about our impulsive speech, the words we utter before we stop to think? What about our words spoken in confidence? It is ourselves which we are uttering with these words, our spirits which we are making audible. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the King is writhing in guilt ...

178. The First Murder - 1940

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... selves. In the second place, he was a tiller of the soil and that is a major value. The Bible gives us the suggestion that he was the original tiller of the soil. We do not need to take this too literally to get the spiritual importance. This impulsive creature, because of his inventive genius, was the same one who started the business of farming. The major turning point in the history of the world and in the history of the progress of civilization was when a man took a seed and put it in the ground and ...

179. A Teddy Bear and Christmas

John 3:1-21

Illustration

Bill Bouknight

... and said, "'Listen, I own stock in you. I expect to get letters from you regularly. Do you understand?" Then Tony did something totally unexpected. He said to his surgeon friend, "I want you to have this," and handed him his teddy bear. The surgeon’s first impulse was to say, "Oh no, I can’t separate you two good friends." But something stopped him. With a flash of sensitive genius, the surgeon understood what Tony was trying to do. He wanted to give his dear surgeon-friend the most precious gift at his ...

180. Is Someone Knocking?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... place for him to be born." Then she began to cry. Bob paused for a few moments and then said, "I know what I'm supposed to say, but you can have my room." Thank God for people who dare to violate scripts so that they can follow a higher impulse of love. Are there any knocks on your door this Christmas? You can't fix everything for another person, but like the innkeeper, you can do something. And when you do, you will hear Jesus whisper, "Inasmuch as you did it for one of the least of these, you did ...

181. God Is a Giver

Sermon

James Bjorge

... all admit that often we have used gifts selfishly. There have been strings attached to the gift and not only on the package. But during the Christmas season I think gifts have a better chance of just being true gifts as we are caught up in sudden impulses and splendid sentiments. Harold Kohn in his little book, TINSEL AND HAY, says, "We offer gifts to those near and dear to us with a holy kind of carelessness: we do not give according to the merits and worthiness of our families, nor do we receive according ...

182. TRYING IT WITHOUT GOD

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... are standing on air, that you are an alien to the greatest art and the most profound experiences of history, that you have adopted a cause which, having no past, can have no future. That you must ignore or suppress the deepest and most prophetic impulses of your inner life. That you must accept as the fundamental tone and rhythm of your existence a tragic kind of pathos that can never rise up to victorious confidence or pure joy, and that you regard the whole universe as a paradoxical imposter, a homeless ...

183. Chapter VII

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

... short. We are taking a person and a desire, both of which are holy, and using them in a way that God never intended either should be used when he created them. That kind of misuse eventually leads to the warping of both the person and the sexual impulse. Yet, for all of this, I am aware of how strong the pull is to use our sexuality in such destructive ways. All around us we hear voices in society growing louder than ever saying that God and this Commandment are archaic in trying to keep sexual relations ...

184. DANCER

Judges 21:23; Psalm 87:7

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... occasions, since the recorded history of man. It grew out of three basic human reactions: 1. the desire to imitate the movements of beasts, birds, even the sun and moon; 2. the desire to express emotions by gestures; 3. gregarious impulses. Throughout past ages dancing has been associated with worship. Closely related to religious praises was the sacramental dance in which worshipers sought to express through bodily movements praise or penitence, worship or prayer. Out of the primitive dances the esthetic ...

185. The Trinity

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Brett Blair

... realization of the presence of the Living God. Intimacy with God. That’s what the Holy Spirit brings to our lives. And herein lies a danger. We must be careful lest we identify the work of the Holy Spirit with our own deep feelings and impulses. Virtually every conceivable error of judgment or breakdown in intelligence within the church can, and has been, attributed to the work of the Holy Spirit. Whether it’s the capital punishment of heretics as was done in the middle ages or the moving of pedophile ...

186. What Is Heaven Like?

Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

... a precious stone, a precious jewel. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the traveler the stone. The traveler departed quickly overjoyed with his new possession. However, a few days later, he came back, searching for the monk. He returned the stone to the monk and made a ...

187. Song of an Exile

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... to him in the cool of the evening when the author’s tormentors are asleep in their houses and the hostile sounds of alien streets have fallen silent. In fact, so real to him are the inner voice and the inner light that he constantly experiences new impulses of faith progressively strengthening his ties to his Creator. I keep the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved. (Psalm 16:8) Significant here is the fact it is not peace of mind for which the psalmist is grateful ...

188. Song of a Philosopher

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... be avenged. So he petitions the Almighty to "slay the wicked ... who lift themselves up against thee" (Psalm 139:19a, 20b). Yet even as the poet’s prayer falls from his lips what he hears himself saying startles him. For he suddenly realizes that evil impulses can invade a person’s heart - his own included - as stealthily as weeds creep through a garden. Can it be, he asks himself, that this is happening to him? The thought profoundly shakes him, and he cannot rise from his knees until he beseeches the ...

189. The Jericho Road: Where the Action Is

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... if their irresponsibility were part of their charm. But Zacchaeus, ancient or modern, needs more than an invitation into society, or unthinking acceptance. His greatest rejection, ultimately, does not come from society but from his own soul. When we violate our best inner impulses, we become afflicted with a sense of self-disappointment. We are oppressed, not so much by what others think of us as by what we, in the pit of our beings, think of ourselves. Zacchaeus needed (to put it directly and clearly) to ...

190. A Shepherd Who Became a Sovereign

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... that David was ever at ease, was ever comfortable, knowing he had done these wicked and evil deeds. There is a terrible injury inflicted on the human soul when we turn our backs on God, when we do something we know is wrong. Yet how easy it is, under the impulse and passion of the moment, to say, "Oh, just this one time. I can get away with it." This story reveals again that even the best of men - even those who love God and worship him, who praise God and serve him - even they can yield to temptation and ...

191. A Man Who Wanted to Burn a City

Luke 9:46-50

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... said something like this to himself: "How much Jesus loved me, to put up with such attitudes, habits, characteristics! How patient he was with me! What a wonderful Savior!" Audacity John’s "Son of Thunder" nature was also displayed in some of his hasty, impulsive, risky actions (and again, we don’t think of John in these terms). For example, when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples deserted and fled (Matthew 26:56). But John turned and came back. He was the disciple who entered ...

192. Goodness Is Not Good Enough

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... off her back. That is where she and the rich young man part company. He would have drawn the line at that. II. That is why the young man’s goodness was not good enough. His "gold" stood in the way of his goal. It blocked any unselfish impulses which might have moved him to generosity. "Go," Jesus said, "sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." The young man’s face fell. He had not expected such a difficult and uncompromising challenge. The ...

193. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... unswervingly, the cross of sacrifice and service for Jesus’ sake. "James was rewarded for his faithfulness by being beheaded by Herod Agrippa (Acts 2:2) and while John was spared from making the supreme sacrifice, he too suffered much for his Lord."2 Impulsive, impatient, and impertinent they may have been, but they were able! "Are ye able? Still the Master whispers down eternity, and heroic spirits answer, To the death we follow thee." So runs the familiar old hymn, and so responded pastor Stanley Scott ...

194. Waiting With Anticipation

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

David M. Oliver

... . We live in an "instant" society. We are used to things such as instant potatoes, instant hot cereal, instant coffee, instant global communication, and overnight package delivery anywhere in the world. We are aware of the dangers of instant gratification and impulse buying but, nevertheless, we are sometimes torn between resisting these things and embracing them. We are often quick to rationalize our actions and slow to assess carefully the implications of our actions. Many pitfalls await us on the road to ...

195. It Might Have Been ...

Luke 22:1-6, Matthew 26:14-16, Matthew 27:1-10, Matthew 26:47-56

Sermon

... what it was that finally pushed him over the line; who know what little thing is the last straw for any of us? When he walked out into the night to betray Jesus, did he hope Jesus would call him back? Haven’t we done that? On impulse, we begin to make some gesture - one perhaps we didn’t even really want to carry through - but having committed ourselves, we move on. And nobody stops us. So our pride sends us on almost against our will. To his credit, Judas confessed. "I have betrayed innocent blood ...

196. Why Christmas?

Isaiah 8:11-22

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... ! For where there is truly Christmas there is quite another state of mind that takes over. Every person and every part of life takes on new perspective and new meaning. Persons who for most of the year have lived by something less than their best impulses and have tended to repress their best sentiments suddenly give way to the highest and the best within them. Those who have lived very closed and selfish lives are often seen to undergo a very dramatic change in the light of Christmas. Generosity and giving ...

197. OUR LORD RISEN

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... to them, panting and breathless, she said it again, over and over, "I have seen the Lord! I have seen the Lord!" The men looked at each other in wonder, then they left her and strode to the tomb, pausing first to survey the rolled-back stone. When Peter impulsively entered the tomb, Mary followed, and in the dim light she watched as he stared at the linen cloths in which Jesus had been wrapped, lying in a heap on the burial stone. Peter moved to the side of the vault, stooped down and picked up the neatly ...

198. Celebration As Worship

2 Samuel 6:1-23

Sermon

Roger Prescott

... can be worship. 1. The Ark As creatures of time and space, we seem to need some sort of center for our faith. The local church serves this purpose for many, and our grand cathedrals attest to this as well. For David and the Israelites the centering impulse was focused on the Ark of the Covenant. One of David’s shrewdest acts was to rescue the Ark from the place of oblivion in which it had rested since the fall of the confederate sanctuary of Shiloh, and to bring it to Jerusalem. The contents of ...

199. Christ and Time

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... him is the very stuff of reality. It bites into things and changes things. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Waste not time, for time is the stuff that life is made of." And so Bergson found in time - or duration, as he called it - the elan vital, the vital impulse that courses through everything and thus affords us the best clue that we have to the being of God. What does the Bible say about time? The Old Testament prophets looked upon time as God’s servant. Events in time do not happen by chance. Through the ...

200. The Choice Is Always Ours

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... . When the picture is clear in your view, cease your nervous and feverish efforts to do more than you can or need to do. When you thus summon your good senses, there comes an end to anxious concerns and nervous efforts. When impulsive - or compulsive - actions can be turned off, God delivers us from the disorganizing effects of overwhelming pressures. Usually hurt, anger, or wounded pride try to take over our beings and attempt to speak or initiate action in our behalf. But Ecclesiastes calls this ...

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