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Showing 1976 to 2000 of 2844 results

1976. Good News For Good Parents

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

Bad parents get a lot of press. We hear so much about mothers and father who made poor choices. We hear about absentee fathers and abusive mothers, about mothers and fathers who fight and drink too much. It is depressing and I will be the first to admit it. I, along with all of you, grow weary of the time-honored cop out: “well, I ain’t ever been a parent before,” as if that should somehow exonerate them from the criticism they so richly deserve. There are bad parents out there today and I am not in denial ...

1977. The Kingdom of God Is a Party

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A few years ago that wonderfully creative Christian sociologist, Tony Campolo, traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a speaking engagement. He flew all the way from Pennsylvania to Hawaii and had an awful case of jet lag. Therefore, at 3:00 AM, he was wide awake. Tony found a donut shop near his hotel. As he sat there sipping coffee and glancing at a newspaper, the door to the diner swung open and in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. Their talk was loud and crude. Tony was just ...

1978. Marriage is Forever

Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 19:1-12

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

On this past Wednesday, an old-fashioned fairy tale ended. Princess Diana and Prince Charles were officially divorced. What a sad ending to what began so gloriously fifteen years ago. Charles, then a somewhat awkward 32-year-old bachelor, announced that he planned to marry the shy, beautiful 20-year-old Diana. Do you recall that glorious cathedral wedding seen by millions on television? Nothing so romantic had happened since King Edward gave up his throne for the woman he loved. It resembled the conclusion ...

1979. Getting on the Active List

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Popular talkshow hostess Oprah Winfrey has lots of influence. She has 15 to 20 million daily viewers. Evidently, she has the power to create a best-seller. Since she has started recommending books on her show, sales of the titles chosen have skyrocketed. For example, the first book she recommended, a novel entitled "The Deep End of the Ocean," had only sold about 100,000 copies. Since being featured on her program, 850,000 copies have been snapped up, propelling it to the top of the New York Times best- ...

1980. The Snake: A Slick Salesman

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Some years ago a relative of mine adopted a baby raccoon. Herbie was its name. Herbie was the cutest, most cuddly little creature imaginable. He was hooked on oreo cookies. Because Herbie was fed an ample, high calorie diet, he grew rapidly into a rolly-poley prankster. We had been warned that raccoons go through a glandular change at about two years of age and often attack their owners. A 30- pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap. But our response was: "It will be different with Herbie ...

1981. The Burden Bearing Christ

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

There is a wonderful legend concerning the quiet years of Jesus, the years prior to his visible ministry. The legend claims that Jesus the carpenter was one of the master yoke-makers in the Nazareth area. People came from miles around for a yoke, hand carved and crafted by Jesus son of Joseph. When customers arrived with their team of oxen Jesus would spend considerable time measuring the team, their height, the width, the space between them, and the size of their shoulders. Within a week, the team would ...

1982. An Easter Dividend: The Courage To Be and To Do

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Donald Macleod

In the year 1793 when the French armies were laying siege to the Mediterranean fortress of Toulon, Napoleon built a battery in such an exposed position that the other officers said he would never get a soldier to man it. But Napoleon set up beside it a large sign with these words, "The Battery of Men without Fear." And he was never at a loss for volunteers to man it. Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the one-time Head of State in China, was visiting America some decades ago and was invited to deliver the ...

1983. Song of the Vineyard

Isaiah 5:1-7

Illustration

Larry Powell

Three observations about Isaiah’s "Song of the Vineyard": 1. It was a song. That is to say, it was a marked variation in the prophet’s manner of proclamation. Isaiah was an eloquent, forthright orator, not a balladeer. It has been suggested that the reason for this temporary departure in style may have been the circumstances at that particular time. Deuteronomy 16:13-16 describes the carnival-like atmosphere which occurred in the ancient Feast of Booths. Some commentators have surmised that Isaiah rendered ...

1984. Daring Words

Mark 1:9-13

Illustration

Larry Powell

The Gospel according to Mark, commonly accepted to be the earliest of the synoptics, relates that Jesus began his Galilean ministry by 1. making an announcement, 2. extending an invitation, and 3. issuing a command. It would be pressing the matter entirely too far to even remotely suggest that the sequence of events was intentional, yet there is a certain familiarity about the sequence itself. As a matter of fact, the three ingredients, broadly categorized above, probably bear a striking resemblance to the ...

1985. Hector’s Case Against Christmas

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Erskine White

"In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee named Nazareth." (v. 26) I am going to begin the Advent season this year by telling you a part of the Christmas story which is unknown to most people because it was left out of the modern Bible. Of course, ministers have known about this for many years, but we have kept it secret because we didn’t want to shake anyone’s faith. But in this age of full and complete disclosure, I have finally decided to break with my fellow clergy’s ...

1986. Give Us A New Name!

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

What’s in a name? Apparently more than we sometimes realize. Our names are important to us. They carry the message of who we are. Parents think carefully of what to name a new child. How is it going to sound when that child grows to adulthood? Will it be dignified? Distinctive? Pleasant? We want names that will not be embarrassing or cause people to make jokes of them. Probably all of us have been amused by someone’s unfortunate name; one probably chosen by a parent who failed to think of the long term ...

1987. You Can Go Home Again!

Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

In 1939, just as the world was teetering on the brink of a war, a world fair was being held in New York. In a sense it tried to push away for a time the threat of impending conflict with lightness and brightness and visions of a beautiful world to come. Nations from all over the world came - the large ones and the small ones. The tiny eastern European nation of Lithuania had an impressive pavillion at the fair where one could see the typical life and culture of that beautiful country. Americans of ...

1988. Simon of Cyrene - Reluctant Reliever or Submissive Servant?

Mark 15:21-32

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

Was I there? Yes, and I’m so glad that I was. Yes, I was there on that day when they crucified my Lord. My name is Simon of Cyrene, and what happened on that day marked a new beginning in my life. Oh, I wasn’t very happy about it at first, that’s for sure. The way things happened, I resented it deeply when I was compelled to pick up the cross-beam and carry it for Jesus. After all, I had just arrived at the holy city and was about to enter Jerusalem. Then, all of a sudden, everything seemed to go wrong. At ...

1989. The Escape

Drama

Douglas W. Orbaker

The story takes place in a Roman prison in Jerusalem during the Jewish Passover festival. The time is early in the first century, around 33 AD. As the play opens, a small cell appears with a barred window to the center rear, and containing two cots, one on either side. There is a prisoner on each cot, staring at the ceiling. (As the lights go on, the roar of a crowd is heard off-stage.) Theudas (He gets up from cot and goes to the window.) Well, I see the natives are restless. I wonder what all the ...

1990. The Suffering Servant

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Characters: Caiaphas - High Priest in Jerusalem; an able person, perhaps a bit weak; not always sure that everything he is doing is correct. Annas - the ex-High Priest in Jerusalem; father-in-law of Caiaphas; seen as the real power "behind the throne." Temple Guard - very formal in his approach. Judas - he waivers between very sure of what he is doing and rather unsure. The play opens with Caiaphas, working alone at his desk in his office. After several moments he is joined by his father-in-law. Guard: ( ...

1991. Knowing the Secret

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas Long

One of the decisions every good storyteller has to make is when to tell the story’s secret to people. Every story has a secret, and the spinner of tales has to decide whether to let them know about the secret early in the story or to surprise them with it at the end. Mystery writers often hold back the secret until the last chapter, keeping us eagerly turning the pages to discover who really poisoned the heiress or pushed Colonel Whitington down the elevator shaft. The same is true of soap operas. "Will ...

1992. Living in the Future Present

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Thomas Long

Back to the Future is a highly imaginative motion picture which prospered at the box office several years ago. The film features a madcap scientist who perfects a machine capable of achieving the human dream of traveling through time. A teenaged boy uses the machine to journey to his hometown as it was in the 1950s, before the boy was born. What happens in the movie from that point on is, of course, ludicrously good fun. The boy meets his parents and discovers what they were like in their awkward teenage ...

1993. Repentance and Forgiveness

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

"Daddy. When you came home last Saturday night and stumbled up the stairs and hollered at Mom I was scared to death. I get really scared and upset when you drink too much." Tracy Hayes was the speaker. She was eleven years old. She spoke these words to her father during what is called an "intervention." Mrs. Hayes and her children, Tracy and Kevin, along with their pastor, a few friends, and Mr. Hayes’ boss made the very difficult decision to "intervene" in the life of Wendall Hayes. It was their ...

1994. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." It was with that abrupt request that disciples James and John one day approached Jesus. I don’t know how that strikes you, but, to me, it smacks of impertinence. How would you have responded? In kind, I suspect, with "Oh, you do, do you!" But Jesus, always the gentleperson, made patient reply: "What do you want me to do for you?" Perhaps he smiled indulgently as he spoke. "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left, in your ...

1995. When Things Don’t Work Out, What Then?

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Edward Chinn

When things don’t work out, what then? An old man looked back over his life and said, "I have had a great many disappointments, but the greatest of them is the disappointment I had as a boy. When I was a boy, I crawled under a tent to see a circus and discovered that I was in a revival meeting!" There are many instances in our life of this matter of disappointment. A bride and groom walk out of a church after a beautiful wedding ceremony with great dreams and high hopes of their future life together, but ...

1996. What Do We Do Now That We’re Happy?

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

There are a few times in our lives when long periods of planning and expectation are fulfilled. We cram months upon months with preparation. At last the coveted day arrives and our cup runs over. Weddings are such days. Long periods of activity go into getting ready. Each activity and emotion is carefully choreographed. When the day finally comes, the anticipation is so intense and the emotions so high that we expect life to go into overdrive. We will be lifted out of ourselves. A mysterious ingredient ...

1997. The Remnant Year

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

With this Sunday we leave the Christmas Season and enter into a New Year. We all go through a peculiar sadness as we put up the ornaments, eat up the leftovers, and silence the sounds. Perhaps we have already put away the openness and ready affection that marked us during these weeks. If the house looks bleak and sterile, maybe we do a bit ourselves. We are in the process of shaking our heads and getting back to regular living as we meet the year ahead. How nice it would be if we could take some of the ...

1998. "But, Lord, I Didn’t Want To Be Saved in That Way"

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

The encounter between Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria and a leper, and the prophet Elisha is quite a treat. The story opens with Naaman bringing a fortune in gifts which the king had provided him to buy the healing powers of Elisha. It concludes with Naaman asking for "two mules’ burdens of earth" so that he may sacrifice to the true God when he returns home. Two stories from my own life came to me when I began to unpack this text. When I was in seminary there was a young professor whom ...

1999. Transfiguration

Mark 9:2-13, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Kings 2:1-18

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: 2 Kings 2:1-12a Theme: Dedicated devotion and spiritual succession Exegetical Note This story entails a twofold journey: of the prophet Elijah toward his reward (ascension); and of his successor Elisha toward an inheritance of his master’s authority and power. The connecting thread is Elisha’s persistence in his vow to accompany Elijah to the end (despite discouragement from both his older colleague and other prophets encountered along the way) and his receiving a "double measure" of Elijah’s ...

2000. "The Sawdust and the Circus"

Numbers 27:12-23

Sermon

This being Evangelism Sunday in our church, I made the flip remark to someone last week that I was going to preach about the "sawdust trail." And the answer I received really stopped me. "Oh," this person said, "going to talk about the circus, huh? What’s so theological about that?" I had thought that the "sawdust trail" was an expression that was so much of a cliche that everyone knew just what it meant - but apparently that was not the case. The sawdust trail, of course, got its name from the old tent ...

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