Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2001 to 2025 of 2404 results

2001. Fake News? No! Fake Religion

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... it best. He writes, “It is easy to give God 95 percent of our lives, but it’s the last 5 percent that is the most difficult. And 95 percent commitment to Christ is 5 percent short.” (7) That’s what’s keeping us from achieving God’s dream for our lives--that critical 5 percent. Fake news? No, we’ve been talking about fake religion today. Pride of position was more important to the Pharisees than service to people. Appearances were more important to them than authenticity. Jesus was the very ...

2002. Everyone Is Looking for You

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... than any murder mystery, more intriguing than any adventure story. He had to know what was in that unfinished manuscript. Later, of course, he found out that the name of this scientist was Albert Einstein and the unfinished manuscript was to be his crowning achievement. This was to be Einstein’s attempt to create a “theory of everything,” an equation that would unlock the secrets of the universe and perhaps allow him to “read the mind of God.” (4) But he never finished his search. He was never ...

2003. A Time to Get Angry

John 2:13-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... them an idiot. Seriously, think how often real damage has been done because someone could not control his or her anger. One of the biggest hits of recent Broadway history, according to the press, has been the musical Hamilton. The show has achieved both critical acclaim and box office success. In 2016, Hamilton received a record-setting 16 Tony nominations, winning 11, including Best Musical, and was also the recipient of the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize ...

2004. Extreme Humility

John 13:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... one-half, expected to become one of the ten leading sociologists of their time. Obviously this is a mathematical impossibility for 100 of them to be among the top ten sociologists. The survey also found that more than half of them hoped to achieve immortality via their sociological research: they thought their writings would still be read after they died. (1) Of course these were sociologists. One could expect a little misplaced ego out of them. Just kidding, of course. But naturally you and I could never ...

2005. Simple Faith?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

John Jamison

... heading to the wilderness was not just an escape, or some kind of a test or time of temptation. The city was the place that tested and tempted faith, not the wilderness. God speaks in the wilderness, reminding us that God does not use our human achievements for any form of salvation, and our real “new beginnings” happen when we are away from those city influences. Jesus made the decision to accept the call to his ministry. He was heading off to seminary to spend time coming face-to-face with the faith ...

2006. Why Am I Afraid?

Romans 8:14-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... pastor Charles L. Allen once called “the magic of believing.” Claude M. Bristol asks: “Is there a something, a force, a factor, a power, a science --call it what you will--which a few people understand and use to overcome their difficulties and achieve outstanding success?” As a newspaper reporter, Bristol studied the religions of the world and watched them operate. In hospitals he saw people die while others who were just as sick get well. He watched football teams win while others teams who had ...

2007. Some Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... hardships and hard knocks of life often teach us some things we can never learn in school. One of the things I've learned since my sophomore year in college when I thought I knew it all is that small, quiet beginnings can often lead to great achievements. Small, quiet beginnings and consistent faith in God with selfless service to others -- that's what my father was all about. That's what I want to be about. About a year ago I began a turnaround in my life that centers on God. I joined Alcoholics Anonymous ...

2008. Speaking Truth to Power and Hope to the Powerless

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... the humiliation. I don't think I was then, or now much different from a lot of people. Look at the preponderance of TV shows where people of great talent as well as those of dubious talent and sound mental health, strive to be the greatest, and achieve the fame and fortune they've been dreaming about all their lives. Or the countless so-called reality shows, which do not show anything that resembles the reality I live in, where people will do anything, anything, to win, to show that they are the best, the ...

2009. Filling the Emptiness Within

John 6:24-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... Higgens, author of such successful novels as The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: ‘That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.’” (3) That’s been the experience of many high achievers. “When you get to the top, there’s nothing there.” Dr. James E. Rimmer tells about singer Andy Gibb, the British singer, songwriter, performer, and teen idol. Gibb was barely 19 and fresh from Australia when his first single record, I Just Want to be ...

2010. Searching for Happiness

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... up in these plaintive words: “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them: I kept my heart from no pleasure . . . My heart took delight in all my labor . . . Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done . . . and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” He even reached the point where he wrote later in this same chapter: “So I hated life . . . All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things ...

2011. A Word to the Wealthy

Mark 10:17-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... Duerksen and Ray Dabrowski, editors (AdvenTalk Media, 1996), p. 8. 4. Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook (Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition). 5. When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box (Kindle Edition). 6. Steve Bivans, The End of Fear Itself: How to Crush Your Limitations, Manifest Success, Achieve Health, Happiness, & Save the World (Shireness Publishing, Kindle Edition).

2012. Playing Golf at Midnight

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... between his wealth and Jesus. Neither was Bartimaeus like the man beside the pool of Bethesda, who, when Jesus asked him if he really wanted to be healed, made excuses for his situation. Bartimaeus wanted to see, and he was willing to pay any price to achieve this goal. He would not be defeated. What a difference such an attitude makes in life. Thank God for the Bartimaeuses of this world who will not be denied by their circumstances. I read recently about the building of the famed Brooklyn Bridge in New ...

2013. Of Mice and Men

Hebrews 10:11-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... you have done wrong and to pray for strength of character so that sin never gains hold of you again. Martin Luther’s great discovery that did so much to initiate the Protestant reformation was this. He discovered that righteousness is a gift from God and not a human achievement. God is the only one who can cleanse us of our sins. God has promised us that, because of what Christ has done in our behalf, He will write His law upon our hearts and He will remember our sins and iniquities no more. “There is a ...

2014. A Difficult but Joyous Journey

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

King Duncan

... of growth when life is challenging. People who cope successfully with life are those who understand the importance of discipline and self-denial, who realize that life is a training school, that happiness is not a permanent state but an elusive quality best achieved in search of something higher. Life has some strange twists and turns. I have no doubt that some of our difficult times are designed to strengthen us spiritually. Consider the rash of suicides and drug-related deaths among the children of some ...

2015. The Future Present

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... images of mouthy, scary, black street kids that most of us suburbanites have created in our minds and hearts. Anna has learned that, indeed, urban teens are mouthy, but in a delightfully creative and energetic way. She has learned that the lack of discipline or achievement in many of their lives is a burden for them, as well as for the larger culture. Like Mary, some of Anna’s fourteen-year-old girls are poor and pregnant outside of wedlock. As a result, they are stigmatized and rejected by the “proper ...

2016. How Intelligent Is God’s Design?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... than design, more unintelligent than intelligent, more question than answer... And deep spiritual questions should be the foundation of faith in the public square... Mystery suggests a call to public action in search of God’s ways... science, with all its majesty and achievement, has only one thing in common with religion: When it reaches its most profound questions, it, too, yields to mystery.[2] I have come to believe in my own journey of faith that God lives in the questions. I believe that seeking ...

2017. Trusting Authority

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

I want to tell you three stories about three men who wrestled with the authority of Jesus. And none of them met Jesus until they had first achieved phenomenal success in the secular world. Story One Sam showed up in worship after he married Cheryl, a lifelong member of the congregation. He had been raised as a secular Jew, and when I met him he was a curious agnostic — eager to argue and debate the fine points of ...

2018. In the Light of His Glory

Isaiah 60:1-6, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... we see Jesus in all his glory. Epiphany is not only a season of the church year; it has also crept into secular usage. When we say that someone has had an epiphany, we usually mean that that person has had a moment in which they have achieved a realization, an awareness or a knowledge of something, after which events are thrown into a new light. Such epiphanies may be life-changing. Let me give you an example of such an epiphany. An African-American woman named Bessie Pender one day admitted to herself that ...

2019. Three Men Changed by God

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... people were former hippies who came out of that world of drugs and free sex to become dedicated believers in Christ. One of these Jesus people in Los Angeles gave her testimony over the radio sometime back. She was a pretty girl who had gone to Hollywood hoping to achieve a career in films. She met a man who assured her that he was a producer who would soon get her a major part in one of his productions. You can imagine what happened: she slept with him in exchange for the promised part. But it got worse ...

2020. Blago and Radnan, Two Lost Sons

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... hours and worked midnight to morning at a local bodega. It took several years, but Yakob saved a down payment and secured a loan to buy a gas station and convenience store on a freeway exit. Even as the family ascended the ladder of financial achievement and community respect, Yakob preached to his sons the importance of being honest in business, of never doing anything to bring shame to the family, of working hard, and of playing by the rules. By the time Blago and Radnan were young adults, the family ...

2021. Daring to Act

Illustration

Theodore Roosevelt

... arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the devotions, and spends himself or herself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his or her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

2022. Reject Rejection

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Many of those who have risen from failure to real achievement have rejected the rejection of this world. In 1902, the poetry editor of The Atlantic Monthly returned a sheaf of poems to a twenty-eight-year-old poet with this cure note: "Our magazine has no room for your vigorous verse." The poet was Robert Frost, who rejected the rejection. ...

2023. Prescription for Unhappiness

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... just let them, make them! 2. Lose your perspective of things, and keep it lost. Don't put first things first. 3. Get yourself a good worry—one about which you cannot do anything but worry. 4. Be a perfectionist: condemn yourself and others for not achieving perfection. 5. Be right, always right, perfectly right all the time. Be the only one who is right and be rigid about your rightness. 6. Don't trust or believe people or accept them at anything but their worst and weakest. Be suspicious. Impute ulterior ...

2024. Sacrificial Love and Hedonism

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... must deny himself for others."The playboy cult holds that every man ought to love himself preeminently and pursue his own pleasure constantly. Nowhere is the clash between popular playboyism and the ethical realism of Jesus any sharper than over how the good life is to be achieved. Hugh Hefner tells us to get all we can. Jesus tells us to give all we can. Because the clash is total, there is no way to gloss over it. The popular philosophy teaches that to gee life you must grab it; Jesus taught that to win ...

2025. The Rag Doll

Illustration

Randy Spencer

... , talent, education, speech, or mannerisms when what they want is someone just being themselves. Within every man lies the innate desire to be loved and accepted. Don't try to be something or someone that you are not. Just be yourself. Love is not won—a reward for performance or achievement. You don't have to sing, teach, preach, or pray well to be loved. People will not love us for what we do but rather for what we are.

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