Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 176 to 200 of 4943 results

176. The Wholeness Question: Do You Want To Be Made Well?

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... -- even our faith." Go back to our Scriptural story. Notice the movement that Jesus orchestrated in the life of that man. He asked him first if he wanted to be made whole. He wanted to stir up the man's will. Next He called on the man's faith: "Rise, take up your bed, and walk." It's significant that He didn't give the man's faith any outward assistance. He simply called it forth. He didn't take him by the hand and lift him up; He told him to get up. When the man obeyed -- when he acted in ...

177. Scandalous News

Luke 4:16-30

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... of his compassion. He healed them with his comfortable words. There were thousands of those people, I imagine. In the New Testament those people are called, "the crowd." But there were other people in the New Testament whom he healed and set free by his command, "Take up your cross and follow me." There were fewer of them, but those people in the New Testament are called, "disciples." During the II World War there was a young woman who lost her husband in India to some tropical disease. He was there as a ...

178. The Problem Is Not Faith

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... to serve today--when it is convenient for them, when it is within their area of expertise, when they can receive recognition and appreciation. Servanthood is really an alien concept for many of us. If I were to ask you what it would really mean for you to take up a cross and carry it, many of you would look at me like I was from Mars. The disciples thought their problem was that they lacked faith. Jesus’ told them that was not the problem. The problem was a lack of commitment. That is our problem, too ...

179. Make Me a Sheep

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , this lamb stands before him as if it had been slaughtered, a position of complete innocence and vulnerability. How could such a helpless, defenseless creature possibly be equated with the Lion of Judah, with the Root of David? How could a Lamb be the one destined to take up the scroll and direct the events it depicted? The Scriptures leave no room for doubt about Jesus' identity. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) who became the Lamb of God (John 1:29) who takes away the sins of the ...

180. Body Building at Its Best

1 Corinthians 12:13-27, Ephesians 4:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Where love is the proof of maturity in the body, likeness is the purpose of maturity in the body. The ultimate test of my ministry is not how many people we have in Sunday School, not how much money we take up on a given Sunday, not how many buildings we build, not how many parking spaces we pave, not how many acres of land we own. The ultimate test of my ministry is how much you are becoming like the Lord Jesus Christ. When you become like Jesus you want ...

181. Whose Side Are You On?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... the first order. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said to his disciples something quite stark, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” What did he mean? Does it have anything to do with a teen-aged girl offering her life to save her friends? “Shoot me ...

182. Unexpected Invasions

Isaiah 64:1-9

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... come make a home in this humble dwelling of mine? Isn't that what advent anticipation is all about? That the Lord would take up his abode in a place like this. At a December dinner party, a minister was admiring an exquisite crèche lovingly displayed in ... stars in space. But when he saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, It took a miracle of love and grace. O God, would you take up a dwelling in this weary life of mine? III. O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL, MOLD US INTO ONE OF YOUR OWN (Verse 8). Yet, O Lord, ...

183. Food Sacrificed to Idols

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... Paul overtly addresses the matter of idol meat, whereas in chapter 9 he indirectly focuses on the issue and is more generally concerned with the closely related and foundational matter of Christian rights and responsibilities. In 10:1–11:1 Paul clearly takes up both the question of the believers’ involvement in the cultic aspects of sacrifice and consumption of sacrificial foods in the temple (10:1–22) and the contention that Christians may partake of food/meat that was originally from the temple but ...

184. Can a Rich Person Go to Heaven?

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... moment, Clarence felt fully alive for the first time all day! (5) And no wonder. Even though it was inadvertent, for the first time in a long time, he had put God first. Sometimes we forget where really abundant living lies. Not with things that take up space and will be long forgotten some day, but with those things that are eternal. Take charge of your finances. Take charge of your desires. Put God first in your life. Find out what it means to be fully alive. 1. Rev. Stephen Schuette, Salem Evangelical ...

185. The Cost of Discipleship

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... own empire. They hoped that if they followed him they would share in his power and glory. What they did not realize was that when Jesus said these words he was on his way to Jerusalem — to the cross, and to follow him meant you were also willing to take up a cross. The Bible does not mention it one way or the other but I imagine that after Jesus spoke these words most people in the crowd fell back from Jesus, disappointed and dejected. I suspect that most of us are like that crowd. Most of-ten we follow ...

186. Everlasting Salvation for Zion

Isaiah 51:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... God has done so before—we are not asking for something beyond God’s capacity. It says to the congregation, “God could do it” and to God, “You could do it.” Here there is a similar recollection. It begins with the slaughter of Rahab, taking up motifs from Middle Eastern creation stories. The Babylonian version of that story, called “When On High” (Enuma Elish; see ANET, pp. 60–72, 501–4) involves Marduk, the same person as Bel in 46:1, killing a rebel goddess called Tiamat and cutting up ...

187. Cross Purposes

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... pew: cushions, soft lights, sweet music, and pleasing sermons. As a result we have had half-filled churches with full court dockets and overcrowded jails. In contrast, the cross calls for self-denial and sacrifice. "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." The command to follow is the call to die with him. The world is interested in finding personal identity, but the cross calls for losing one's identity in the service of the cross. If you take the "I" and ...

188. The Glory of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... just exactly how climactic, how fully, how thoroughly this act expresses God’s good will toward humankind. What began as an angel song at the beginning of God’s Epiphany in Christ takes on the full fleshly acting out in Jesus’ submission to the wages of sin, the taking up into the innocence of the sinless one the full penalty of all sin. How do you say that? "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) That is an ...

189. The CatWalk Church and the CrossLove Church

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or circumstance. Love as God intends defies convention and safety – giving us the courage even to lay down our life for those we love. This sacrificial love is what we may call crosslove. Crosslove is love that bears a cross, love that takes up another's cross, love that is strengthened by the weight of a cross upon its shoulders. Compare this crosslove that Jesus offers with the latest twisted cultural interpretation of this sacrificial symbol. Glance through any catalog or flip through the pages of ...

190. All In: Skin In the Game

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... that you are “all in”? We are in a series of messages we are calling, “All-In” because a whole-hearted Savior is not interested in half-hearted followers. Our theme verse is, “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” (Luke 9:23, ESV) You really shouldn’t expect God to expect anything less. When God sent Jesus Christ He went all-in. When Jesus died on the cross He went all-in. Jesus gave all of His life for us and ...

191. The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... through Christ (2:15). In this verse, the emphasis seems to be on the immediacy of the spiritual battle that all believers face and their readiness to proclaim the gospel that Christ has defeated these evil forces of darkness. 6:16 Fourth, take up the shield of faith. According to ancient historians, the large door-shaped protective shield was composed of two layers of wood covered with a flame-resistant hide. The flaming arrows that the enemy shot would strike the shield and burn out without penetrating ...

192. Tomorrow Doesn't Always Come

James 4:1-12

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... who can transform their lives and give them supreme joy and purpose in living. Yet we are just too lazy. We do what pleases our human nature and not what God wants us to do. Another sin of omission is self-centeredness. Instead of forgetting self, denying self, taking up our cross daily as Christ says, we get focused on our desires and our pleasures and our wants. We just forget what the Lord wants. And then there is the sin of silence. We could reach out to others with that message of the Savior who saves ...

193. Maybe Today

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... instead, the truth is not contingent on the actual, literal fact. The truth is in the teaching of being constantly wary, always alert to whatever leads you down that path of temptation — and then do all that you can to avoid it. Same thing when Jesus says, "Take up your cross and follow me." He is not telling all Christians to be literally nailed to a cross and hung up to die. The truth of that phrase is found in the teaching of commitment and self-sacrifice, not in one being crucified. Got it? The Bible ...

194. The Big "W"

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... every week and seek out God’s transforming presence in our lives. God sent Jesus to be a Messiah-in-our-midst because God always wants to be near to us. When we act as Jesus’ disciples, when we follow his way of laying down the self and taking up the cross, the way that so unsettled Peter, we open ourselves to God’s living presence in our lives. When we truly “worship” God we draw near to the divine and are genuinely available to hear what God wants to share with each and every one us. We become ...

195. The Rights of an Apostle

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... metaphors are inexact and should not, despite past practices in the life of the church, be allegorized or pressed beyond reasonable limits. In the context of this letter, Paul’s images and instructions form a pointed polemic. In brief, Paul takes up a set of athletic images as metaphors, explaining and advocating discipline. The problem elements of the Corinthian congregation assumed they “had arrived” and that they were correct in their thinking, but to these people Paul writes using athletic images ...

196. Transfiguration

Luke 9:28-36 · Matthew 17:1-8 · Mark 9:2-8

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... face the cross. As a result of this transfiguration experience, Jesus announced that he would be rejected by the religious leaders and suffer, die and rise on the third day. The die was cast. He set his face to go to Jerusalem and challenged his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. 2. Parallel Passages. There are three accounts of the transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36. Luke adds the following details that are not in the other passages: A. The transfiguration was a prayer ...

197. Losers Keepers

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... ). You see, the Bible knows nothing of “souls” flitting around, with bodies temporarily attached to them. “Soul” is a synonym for “self.” The New English Bible translates these words of our Lord: “Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must leave self behind; he must take up his cross, and come with me. Whoever cares for his own safety is lost; but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake and for the Gospel, that man is safe. What does a man gain by winning the whole world at the cost ...

198. Lighten Up

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... candles, much the way the Civil Rights demonstrators left the churches after prayer and singing, and went out into the streets. The police tried to break up those prayer meetings. But the people kept coming. The police would sit in the nave of the church to take up the seats. The people would come, stand around the walls and in the balconies. Finally on an October night, 70,000 people in Leipzig filled the streets of that city, filled the main square, each one carrying a candle. They expected to be met with ...

199. Don't Make Me Come Down There

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... Africa, became the answer to his own question. That’s a good lesson for you and me. While we are waiting for God to bring in a perfect and just society, you and I are God’s answer to the injustice in our world. That’s what it means to take up a cross and follow Jesus. It’s not a comfortable position to be in. It’s not popular. But it is Christ’s way. Bible teacher Fred Craddock tells about a young pastor who delivered a spiritual talk on the Bible verse, “Knock and it shall be opened unto you ...

200. Screaming at the Television

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

... in Spain a few years ago that was making major renovations. Rather than getting a professional demolition company to do the job, however, they offered 30 “highly stressed out people” a group selected by a team of psychologists the chance to take up sledge hammers and battering rams and smash through the hotel’s rooms. Wearing protective dust masks, goggles, white overalls, helmets and gloves the amateur demolition crew swung hammers into television sets and bedroom walls and tossed beds and desks like ...

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