Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 176 to 200 of 1533 results

James 5:7-12, James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Throughout the book James has been dealing with the root causes of disharmony within the community. In the previous section, he has dealt with their complaining, their criticizing, and their roots in worldliness (3:1–4:12). Now he turns to another theme, the test of wealth. The poor person is totally dependent and knows it. Although such a person may well be consumed with envy and ambition, Christians are more likely to turn to prayer and humble dependence upon God. The wealthier person, however, may be ...

177. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 5:13-20, James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:7-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

178. Obedience Is An Ugly Word!

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

A man, bragging on his dog, said, "He's a fine dog. He's so smart, and obedient, too. Why, all I have to do is tell him what to do and he either does it, or he doesn't!" The gospel's success or failure all hinges upon our acceptance or rejection of the word "Obedience." If we truly have faith, we will obey God. Obedience implies that we are not independent, that we are accountable to another, that we do have someone over us, that there is higher authority than ourselves. In a world where we are taught that ...

179. Preparing for the Unexpected

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

King Duncan

Joe Claro tells a great story about the making of one of Cecil B. DeMille's epic films. The film was a biblical extravaganza with a cast of thousands. Normally, movies are filmed in tiny pieces, but this day's scene was going to be shot live, with all six hundred or so actors and extras going into action at once. DeMille had stationed eleven cameras at various points to pick up the action. They had started work at six in the morning and the complete scene had been rehearsed four times. After each rehearsal ...

180. Bragging Rights

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

A mouse was once riding on the back of an elephant, and the pair went across a rickety bridge. As might be expected, the bridge shook and rattled. When the duo had successfully navigated the bridge, the mouse exclaimed, "My, oh my, we certainly made that bridge shake, didn't we?" It is all too common an experience to meet people who sound as if they are somehow related to that mouse. People who brag loudly about their successes, their skills, the ways they are crucial to the history of the world, or at ...

181. The Good News about Marriage

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

A man laid his purchases on the check-out counter. Among those purchases was a large birthday card. On it was printed, “To my wonderful wife.” The clerk said, “You’ve chosen our biggest and prettiest card.” The man nodded sadly and replied, “Yep, but one day late.” Oops, somebody’s in trouble. But every married person knows that a good marriage takes work. “Marriages don’t last,” comedian Rita Rudner once said. “When I meet a guy, the first question I ask myself is: Is this the man I want my children to ...

182. Doing Your Own Thing

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever had the urge to simply do your own thing without any regard to how the world may view your actions? If you have ever had that urge, you would not be the first to feel that longing . . . or to act on it. In the late 1960s, a group of hippies remember them? living in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco decided that personal hygiene taking baths and showers and washing your hair, etc. was a middle class hang up they could do without. So, they quit indulging in these bourgeois activities ...

183. Big Men in Little Planes

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

There is an interesting story that comes out of the Second World War. England and Germany both had state-of-the-art fighter planes. Germany had the Messerschmitt, which was considered to be the world’s fastest fighter plane. The British had the Supermarine Spitfire. The Spitfire was slower than the Messerschmitt. Nevertheless, German pilots were envious of their British counterparts. You see, the Messerschmitt had been designed to hold the perfect German. Who was the perfect German? Who else but Der Fuhrer ...

184. Why Are Christians So Judgmental?

Matthew 6:2, 5, 16, Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Charley Reeb

“I love your Jesus. I just don’t see many Christians who look like him.” Ghandi said that to E. Stanley Jones, a famous Methodist Missionary, many years ago. It was a prophetic statement because a large percentage of people in our world today feel just like Ghandi. United Methodist minister Martin Thielen writes about a good friend who stopped going to church. He was going through a bitter divorce and just stopped attending worship. He didn’t want to answer all the questions from others and was just going ...

185. Visit

2 Corinthians 13:1-10, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

The third and last section of 2 Corinthians 10–13 prepares the way for Paul’s third visit to Corinth. His first visit was to found the church (Acts 18); his second visit was to check the church (2 Cor. 2:1); and now his third visit will be to judge the church. If Paul’s ministry of the Spirit is convincing evidence for the legitimacy of his apostolic authority and ministry, a ministry that he attributes directly to God (cf. 2:14, 17; 3:5–6; 10:17), then the Corinthians’ decision to reject that ministry ...

186. The Mechanics Of Prayer

Matthew 6:5-15, Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Note: This isn't a sermon but it's a good primer if you are preaching on the subject. Our goal is to pray like Jesus. We want to improve the effectiveness of our prayers. That is our objective, but what are the means of reaching the goal? We have come to the time when we need to consider the nuts and bolts of Christlike prayer. What do we say? When do we say it? Where do we say it? How long should we pray? How often? These are some of the mechanics of prayer. They are important as means to the end. The ...

187. The Cross Burden or Blessing?

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Does a fast-food nation get the church it deserves, or demands . . . . a fast-food church? Not if Lent has anything to do with it. Have you noticed that all the big fast food chains are touting their great new fish menus in the past couple of weeks? McDonald’s Fish McBites. Wendy’s Alaskan Pollack sandwiches. Red Lobster’s LobsterFest. Popeye’s Shrimp baskets. Economically it is a “down time.” No big holidays this month and downright cold and wintery most places. The big chain restaurants are going to try ...

188. The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

Leviticus 8:1-36

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Ordination to ministry conveys dignity to a vital profession. Understanding the Text The description of the various kinds of sacrifices in Leviticus 1–7 assumes the existence of the Aaronic priesthood as anticipated in Exodus 29. But these sacrifices cannot be performed until the priesthood is actually established. Leviticus 8–10 concerns the establishing of the Aaronic priesthood. Leviticus 8 describes the ordination of the Aaronic priests, as God commanded Moses in Exodus 29 and 40. Leviticus 9 ...

189. Rules for Holy Living

Colossians 3:1-17

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

The Ethical Dimensions of the Christian Life Chapter three begins what normally is called the “ethical section” of the epistle. This follows a general trend in Paul’s epistles in which he first deals with the theological issues and then builds his ethics upon that foundation (cf. Rom. 12:1ff.; Gal. 5:1ff.; Eph. 4:1ff.; Phil. 4:1ff.). It is quite common to discuss this characteristic as the indicative and the imperative of Paul’s theology. Basically, it is the “you are” and the “you ought” of the Christian ...

190. Wisdom and Foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: Christians cannot use the commonly accepted wisdom that guides the surrounding culture as the standard for their thinking and living. Understanding the Text In the ancient world, “wisdom” was not an abstract concept unrelated to daily living. To the contrary, it was a way of living based on a given understanding of life’s purpose and of what actions reasonably would accomplish such purpose. Various philosophers (lit., “lovers of wisdom”) competed to gain a following for their particular brand of ...

191. Epiphany 7

Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:33-37, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23, Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 Yahweh commands the people to be holy and to love one's neighbor. Leviticus emphasized the holiness of God. What he is by nature, his followers are to be the same. To have God is to be godly. What is God like? He is holy, generous, honest, truthful, and above all, is love. Accordingly, a godly person loves his neighbor as one loves himself. Epistle: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23 The only foundation for God's temple is Christ. Previously Paul used agriculture ...

192. Oh That Cookie Jar Goodness!

Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) Prop: If you can find one, a “lie detector” device could also serve as an interesting opening (in reference to the movie, “Meet the Parents”) Has anyone had one of those mothers or grandmothers….or maybe a father or grandfather who just seems to know your next move? You’re going for the cookie jar when you hear a voice clear from the other ...

193. The Narrowness Of The Christian Way - 1950 (date estimated)

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

It is perfectly possible to tell a lie without saying anything untrue. As a matter of fact, the most effective liars are those who never deliberately say anything that is not so; they simply tell a piece of the truth and refuse to tell all of it. Let me illustrate the lying power of partial truth. I know a man who, with two other men, deliberately planned to get a fourth man in a particular situation where he would be utterly at the mercy of the three men. It would then be possible for them to kill their ...

194. How Free Are We?

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Mark Twain once remarked that Americans of the nineteenth century were fortunate to have “freedom of conscience, freedom of speech, and the prudence never to practice either of them!” I have a hunch that his wry comment is not limited to folks of the nineteenth century. Freedom is not really freedom unless it is exercised. Still, most of us believe ourselves to be free beings, freely able to make choices and to decide our own destinies. There is an old story of a Methodist preacher and a Calvinist preacher ...

195. When Fisherman do Strange Things

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

If I were to name the year 1989, I wonder if you would know the significance of it. I imagine most people would think back to something that happened personally to them that year, something that touched their life in a dramatic way, like a birth or death in the family. We wouldn't forget that. But in 1989, during the season of Advent, you will remember, the Communist empire crumbled, the Cold War ended, and the Berlin wall came down. I have a piece of that wall. Our children gave it to us after a trip to ...

196. Life in the Living Stone Age

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Canaan Valley, West Virginia is a high mountain valley. It is, in fact, the largest high mountain valley east of the Rockies. The valley nestles in the bottom of a bowl, surrounded by barren, windblown tundra on the tops of the mountains. As you walk across the strangely spongy surface of the mosses and lichens that cling to the earth high up on the mountain ridge, suddenly there rears up a row of teeth in front of you, stone stalagmites pushing up from the earth. Chiseled and chipped by decades of wind ...

197. Plea for Discipline

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

In a way, Christians are all in the Olympics! We are running the race that determines our eternal abode. We run to win and the prize is the most valuable we will ever seek. No money or property will purchase it. Only self-control under the banner of Christ grants a chance for winning. The apostle is very clear and speaks to all who would enter the race that leads to everlasting life with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is an old/new teaching to whom all Christians for twenty centuries can relate. It ...

198. “Your Honor:” Jesus’ Honor Code of Turning the Other Cheek

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Honor Bound. Those words “honor bound” have deep resonance. *Cub Scouts declare, “On my honor as a Scout...” *Soldiers pledge themselves to “Duty. Honor. Country.” *The fifth commandment (depending on how you count) says “Honor thy father and thy mother.” *Husbands and wives promise to “Love. Honor. Cherish.” A point of honor is a good thing. Honor points us beyond ourselves and our little orbits. Honor connects us to others. A shared sense of honor creates a common culture. But when the wrong things ...

199. Your Honor: Jesus' Honor Code of Turning the Other Cheek

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

200. The Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

The Writer’s Purpose Restated 3:1 After his lengthy tirade against the false teachers and their perverted life-style so dangerous to the well being of his readers, Peter turns—one senses, with warm relief—to address his dear friends directly. He now reverts to his opening exhortation to them to foster their spiritual life (1:5–8). This is now my second letter to you, he declares, although whether he means 1 Peter or some other letter, now lost, is uncertain. Since Peter is evidently not able to visit his ...

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