Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 176 to 200 of 655 results

176. An Important Village with a Questionable Reputation

John 1:43-51

Sermon

King Duncan

According to a recent report from the BBC News, inhabitants of a village in northern Nigeria are celebrating the renaming of their village. The old name of the town was “Area of Idiots.” Wonder why they wanted to change it? “Area of Idiots.” The new name of the village is “Area of Plenty.” I believe you will agree with me that’s an improvement. The local emir announced the name change after residents complained that they had been mocked for years because of that name and were ashamed to tell people where ...

177. Daniel Interprets the Dream

Daniel 2:24-49

Understanding Series

William Nelson

Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: The stories in Daniel 2–7 probably did not all circulate together originally. As mentioned earlier, evidence for this can be seen especially in chapters 3 and 6. The original author of chapter 3 focuses on Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, seemingly unaware of Daniel, while the original author of chapter 6 highlights Daniel, seemingly oblivious to his three friends. These independent traditions have been brought together and shaped into a literary whole. (For a more ...

178. Faith To The Finish

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8, Isaiah 14:24-27

Sermon

Erskine White

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7) In our first text for this morning, Jesus asks, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether [you] have enough to complete it?" Incredibly enough, we saw this parable being acted out not too long ago right before our eyes in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by none other than Oral Roberts! You see, Oral announced one day that Jesus came to him as a vision 600 feet tall and ...

179. L. T.: The Lonely Terrestrial

Drama

Edward Long

Drama 1 Cast of Characters MRS. ROGERS: Young English teacher at Spring Hill High School who seeks to teach more than grammar to her students. LEE: Junior student who is the main character; often has felt out of place with his peers; has a crush on Susie. SUSIE: Student who shares some of Lee's values, but often is swayed by group pressure to avoid him. JAMES: Class cut-up and a playful adversary to Lee's sometimes too-serious views of things. ROD: A classmate with very materialistic interests. PAM: Girl ...

180. I Knew You’d Come

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

When the unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, one reporter wrote, "The tragedy of man is that he cannot build a boat to match his boasts." In many ways we have been able to conquer the sea. When it loomed up as a barrier to our progress across the earth we built boats to sail on it, created atomic submarines to travel through it, and designed jets to fly over it. What’s more, we can even swim in it. But we cannot become master of it. The story which forms the miracle we consider now is about a ...

181. The Little Miracle Before The Big One

Luke 22:47-53

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

If you were a Miracle-Worker, and you had one final miracle to perform before dying, what would you choose as a big, never-to-be-forgotten climax? Suppose you had already done such things as calm a storm at sea, multiply five loaves and two fishes into enough food to feed 5,000 people, walked on water, opened blind eyes, caused the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear, turned water into wine, and even raised the dead - now you are about to do one more miracle before you die - what would it ...

182. Facing the Glory Road

Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Tell me, how would you like to have life served up to you? The newest neophyte among the Madison Avenue ad men will tell you. Every word of copy that they write promises to fulfill what they consider your deepest yearnings. You want it soft, just as soft as Puff facial tissues. You want it comfortable. You want it secure. You want to live in a kind of bovine, cud-chewing complacency, comfort, and contentment. You want to be born without labor pain to your mother, to live in a computerized, automated Utopia ...

183. The Seven Year Switch

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

King Duncan

I've got two pieces of good news for you this morning. First of all, did you realize that no one in this room is the same person they were seven years ago? Approximately every seven years, we are entirely new. Every cell, every atom, in our body dies and is replaced with new ones in that period of time. There is not one atom in your body today that was there seven years ago. Someone has called this the "seven-year switch." I don't know about you, but I find that quite refreshing. The process of dying and ...

184. A Kingdom Investment Policy

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

It is by chance that Damian discovers a huge bag of money near his home. It is just days before British pounds are converted to Euros and the old money is worthless. In the scenes that follow, Damian and his brother spend money as fast as they can, with Damian giving to the poor. Their father eventually discovers their secret, and Damian learns that the money was stolen. This is the moral dilemma and plot of the movie Millions. The thief who lost the money soon figures out that Damian is the finder. They ...

185. Facing Fears, Kingdom Style

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

I had heard of the place for years, but never seen it until Tuesday in Chicago- The Pacific Garden Mission. Lori and I were on the way from a science museum to an art exhibit (I believe vacations are for learning!), and there it was on the left side of the street. I first knew it through the dramatized radio program Unshackled which tells the stories of those whose lives were turned around by faith in Christ and the help of the mission. Down-and-out to up-and-on is a story line with endless variations. ...

186. What We Want for Our Children

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Some helpful person has made a list for men--a list of “What NOT to Buy Your Wife for Mother’s Day.” I realize this is a little late, but just in case any of you men were planning on running out to [Wal-Mart] this afternoon, this list might help: 1. Don’t buy anything that plugs in. Anything that requires electricity is seen as utilitarian. 2. Don’t buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are one in 7,000 that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6999 times. “Do I ...

187. Set Life Free

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It's one of those June "mornings." It's 3:45 a.m. in the Pacific Northwest. The eastern horizon is pink and puffy with promise. Kids refuse to go to bed at 10:30 p.m. because "it's not dark yet!" In the north country, June is no the season for sleeping. It's the season for growing. Dedicated gardeners have anticipated this insomniac season (the real meaning of "Sleepless in Seattle") since December and January when the seed catalogs started to arrive...along with sky-high winter heating bills. There are ...

188. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

I read a story about an angel of the Lord who telephoned the editors of five major newspapers with this message: "God says the world will end tomorrow." The New York Times carried a front page headline which read: "The World Will End Tomorrow Reliable Source Says" A box read: "Analysis on page 11." The Wall Street Journal's front page headline read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Market Plunges" The headline in USA Today read: "We're Gone!" The Headline in the LA Times read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Bill Clinton says ...

189. Faithquakes

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Ron Lavin

A woman who went through her first earthquake in California said, as it was happening, "I think a train just hit our apartment building. I think our foundation is gone. We better pray." A faithquake is something like an earthquake. Something comes along and shakes us up. Something shakes our very foundations. Through the foundation-shaking event, we want to know more about God and faith. Something like that is going on in our gospel. The apostles cried out, "Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5). In the front ...

190. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Sometimes on our journey of faith, we let other things get between us and God. Sometimes it's not things so much as it is ideas and attitudes. Sometimes its just our emotions. The point is, we let other stuff get between us and God. Usually it's just our own selfish pride. But whatever it is, it blocks us from receiving the full extent of God's Grace. It's like going to a banquet in our honor, being told that all our favorite dishes have been prepared just the way we like them and then choosing to eat ...

191. Sleeping through the Alarm

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

I might as well get this off my chest. I have an abiding dislike for alarm clocks. Truth be told, more than a few of them have met an untimely demise as they have flown across the room after daring to interrupt my sleep. It's true. There is nothing quite so grating, so unpleasant as the electronic wheezing that emerges from the clock by my bedside every morning at 6 a.m. It doesn't matter if I'm dreaming or not. I could even be laying there half awake and thinking about getting up a little early. Sometimes ...

192. Running with Perseverance

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

United Methodist Bishop, Robert Schnase, tells of his hobby as a "serious runner." He reports that people often ask him how to get started on a running program. He recounts the usual practice of people trying to become serious about running. The typical start date is January 1, as part of a New Year's resolution. The resolution holds fast for the first week, with an early rise and an eager first few jogs. The problems pop up "during the second week when the alarm screams them awake at six, they tell ...

193. Five Ways to be "Holy" During Holy Week

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Everyone else is doing it.” Do you remember those words? Do you remember begging your Mom or Dad for permission to do something they would ordinarily not permit by insisting, “But Ma, everyone else is getting to do it!” The typical parental response to such childish logic usually went something along the lines of, “Well, if everyone else jumped off a bridge would you do it too?” (Of course now that grown men and women actually PAY to go bungee jumping off of bridges, that argument might not have as much ...

194. “The King Rejoices in Your Strength, Lord”

Psalm 21:1-13

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: God’s overpowering strength plus his overpowering love not only saves us but provides a life of joy. Understanding the Text This psalm belongs to the broad genre of royal psalms. Like Psalm 20, Craigie calls it a royal liturgy,[1] which suggests that it was used in worship. It is as if we are standing outside the temple and hearing the voices of worship, and we have a vague idea of what is going on inside the building as we try to picture the action in our mind’s eye. The question that the form ...

195. The Master's Voice

Matthew 13:53-58, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: The King’s Speech [use a clip from the movie near the conclusion in which the king is grateful to have been freed] Being “voiceless” has been the cause of many a revolution. Slavery, women’s suffrage, child abuse, human trafficking —the progress of history is the story of the voiceless finding a voice and struggling to be free. The stifled voice will find a way to be heard. Those who have difficulty “finding” their voice, after many years of not “speaking,” will be freed by the act of speaking. ...

196. Don't Stop Praying!

Luke 18:1-8, Luke 18:35-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: “job” application with pre-made questions / petition to the court for financial assistance I need some volunteers this morning! Come on up! Well, I have here an applications that I’d like you to fill out. The first one….I’ll let you do this one….is a job application. It’s for a “position” in a make-believe church…. not this one of course (smile). For those of you listening….. ____is going to read off some of the questions on the application, and maybe you can help him/her answer them. Okay? Here we ...

197. Click to Unfriend

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

John B. Jamison

Mary Magdalene stood at the edge of the road and cried. She knew this was going to happen. Jesus had told them over and over that he would be arrested and killed. She thought she had prepared herself for it but she was not at all prepared for what had actually happened. As she stood at the edge of the road, her eyes moving back and forth from the men lowering his body from that cross to his mother standing just behind them watching it happen. She thought about all that had happened since last night. After ...

198. Good Friday

John 19:28-37, Hebrews 10:1-18, Isaiah 52:13--53:12, John 18:1-11, John 19:38-42, John 19:17-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Healing and eternal life through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, God's suffering servant and our Savior. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 52:13--53:12 This is the fourth Servant Song. The usual scholarly interpretation identifies the Servant with the nation of Israel. I must straight out confess that I have real problems with this interpretation. First of all, the images are intimately personal. "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief..." (v. 3). A ...

199. Hail! Your King!

Mark 15:1-15

Drama

Setting: One platform, or chancel area, should have an ornate chair in the center for the Pilate’s throne. A bowl of water and a towel should be on a table somewhere on the stage. Near it, a sign with the words, "King Of The Jews." At the edge of the chancel, front center stage, there will be a stand for the cross. The cross should be substantial in size but not too difficult for an actor to hold it on his shoulder and carry it. The cross may be placed in one of the aisles toward the back but not so far ...

200. Last Ditch Stand

Drama

Sarah Walton Miller

This is actually a brief play. It is planned for discussion afterward, preferably in small groups so that all will share. It is a play about conviction. For more impact, let adults play the adults. The cast: Dr. John Whitney, a surgeon; Helen, his wife; Nancy, their fifteen-year-old daughter; Rod, her seventeen-year-old boyfriend. The play takes place in the living room of the Whitney home. However, all you really need is some folding chairs, two put together as a sofa. Props needed are an ashtray and a ...

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