Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2101 to 2125 of 2962 results

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... the nature of faith. Author Nelson Searcy tells of visiting Disney World with his son some years ago. It was a magical time for them. What they did not realize until it was time to leave the theme park is that the people who first designed the Disney theme parks did something quite creative. They hid discreet images of Mickey Mouse throughout all of the Disney parks and various attractions. The images are simple three connected, intersecting circles that look like the outline of Mickey’s head and ears but ...

2102. Don't Roll It Back

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... unsurpassed in beauty and vibrancy. They are languages that speak about our greatest desires for spiritual connections too. But these ancient languages have not been spoken for millennia. And they do not have any special words for new designations like the internet, or robots, or string theory, or sushi. English has always been “on the move.” What is most familiar to you today? Words like “Facebook,” “Twitter,” “iPad,” “Face Time,” “Fandango,” “Snap Chat,” “Apps.” These would ...

2103. Ring Those Bells

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... twenty-first century’s “white whales.” But before the commercial cruise lines ruled the deep, there were other big white ships that traveled the seas, ships that purposefully put themselves and their crews in harm’s way. Naval hospital ships, appropriately designated as “haven class” ships, often offered the closest, most accessible care to wounded troops during World War II and the Korean War. One of those ships was aptly named the “U.S.S. Consolation,” a floating hospital capable of caring ...

2104. Great Balls of Fire!

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , our computer systems have built-in or higher-end “firewalls” — system checks that deter hackers and other information thieves. But firewalls can pertain to our souls as much as our cyberlife. We construct “firewalls” around our personal lives — “safety nets” designed to keep us from catching fire too brightly, dampening down the flames of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Here are a few firewalls you might develop in your sermon. They are meant to be suggestive and pump-priming. 1) Control ...

2105. The Nano-Punch of Pentecost

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... different lengths. Advent is only four Sundays long. Lent is observed for six Sundays. Epiphany and Eastertide both extend over seven Sundays. The week of Holy Week gets its own “season.” But by far the majority of the church calendar year is designated as the “Sundays after Pentecost” — depending on what church calendar you are using, up to twenty-seven Sundays in all, with this week being the first of those many “Pentecost Sundays.” The reason for such a lop-sided division of the “seasons ...

2106. Daddy, I'm Afraid

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... introduced an entirely new factor in man’s approach to God.” (5) Humanity has always had its fears. Faith helps us deal with these fears. But in many of the world’s religions, the fear of God was an additional burden. Many ancient rituals and rites were designed with one objective: to appease an angry and remote god or gods. Jesus turned such faith upside down. He revealed a God who was approachable and caring not a God to be appeased, but a God to be loved, and who loved in return. He was Abba, Daddy ...

2107. Family Re:Union - (PG) Parental Guidance Required

Psalm 127:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... are far more than what some people call a “nuisance.” If you understand what children are and what children can do they literally are God’s loving reward. To put it into perspective, it took God six days to create the world. It takes nine months to design a child. Then, Solomon makes a very interesting comparison in verse 4. “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.” (Psalm 127:4, NIV) Solomon compares children to arrows. I am not an archer and I have never really shot ...

2108. The Insanity of Profanity

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... verbally respects God, tells you a lot about how he personally relates to God. The first commandment deals with the necessity of God, the second commandment deals with the nature of God. Now this commandment deals with the name of God. I. The Precious Designation Of God’s Name We don’t take names, especially God’s name, seriously as it was taken thousands of years ago. When the Hebrews were transcribing the Bible, copying the Word of God from scroll to scroll, a scribe would fast and pray before ...

2109. Envision: The Great Commitment

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

James Merritt

... a servant. Everything created by God was created for a purpose. Birds were created to sing, bees were created to give honey, cows were created to give milk, fish were created to swim, dogs were created to win championships, and you were created for ministry. God designed you to make a difference. God made you the way you are so you could do what He wants you to do. Every Christian has been called to serve, and every Christian has been called to service. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean obviously that ...

2110. Up Close & Personal: Seeing Clearly

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... economic prosperity. God had favored the land with peace, prosperity, and security, but then Uzziah died. In this culture when the king died your country was at its most vulnerable. This is when enemies would attack and a vicious enemy named Assyria was on the horizon with designs to conquer Judah and take the people into captivity. A giant cloud of fear had blocked out the sunshine of joy and the people didn’t know where to turn or who to turn to and that is when this happened. “I saw the Lord sitting ...

2111. Get Off Your

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... given to us." In other words, the moment we come to Christ in faith, that is the moment we get especially chosen by God for a singular mission. Our moment of acceptance is our moment of exception. We are accepted, we are chosen, we are designated, we are destined, all in the same instant. Repentance, forgiveness, grace, redemption, and a uniquely gifted mission are all a part of the "Jesus package." The "Jesus package" is not just about accepting Jesus as the Messiah, and trusting in Him alone. The "Jesus ...

2112. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... had to call out “Unclean, unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45). The concern, of course, was to maintain the health of the community at large. The lepers, while perhaps many in that time and place, were still a tiny minority of the community, and the laws were designed to keep the disease from spreading as much as possible. But see how the prophet has painted a dramatic picture: “We have all become like one who is unclean.” There is not, then, a community of clean and whole people with a few unclean ones ...

2113. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

... ancestors gathered in hope that the light would shine in the darkness and that the darkness would not overcome it. My father-in-law is an electrical engineer. He understands the might as well as much of the mystery of electricity. He spent his career designing high-energy towers that carried electricity across America. Though he is certainly not the light, he probably brought as much light to so many people as any other person I know. One thing he understood about electricity is how dangerous it can be if ...

2114. Dust Off The Throne

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, Luke 1:26-38, Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... it. “Are you the one to build me a house to live in?” the Lord asked David. God had not asked David — or any of his predecessors among Israel’s leadership since the days when Moses first constructed the tabernacle according to God’s design — to build him “a house of cedar.” So David’s proposal did not match God’s purpose. Instead, however, God graciously turned the tables and revealed that his purpose was to build a house for David. The Hebrew word (bayith) for “house” is, not ...

2115. Jesus Is Baptized

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... as three persons but is one being. Those little girls were right in one respect we do use this time-honored formula when we baptize people. The Trinity is an essential part of our faith. We even have a Sunday on the church calendar the Sunday after Pentecost designated as Trinity Sunday. I will say it is not a Sunday that many of us look forward to with any sense of heightened anticipation. The doctrine is a snoozer for most of us. Yes, we believe, but we can’t get too excited about a doctrine that is ...

2116. Traveling Tables

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... especially true if we have put on a few pounds in the past two months. But the real message of Paul to the Corinthians is that “we matter.” Physically, “we matter.” What we DO in this world with our bodies . . . matters. It matters because God designed our physical bodies. It matters because God sent us “God-With-Us” Jesus in a physical body to rescue and redeem us. It matters because Jesus was actually born, lived, and died so that our bodies and souls could be rejoined and evermore rejoice in ...

2117. The Condemning Heart

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... not feel that they are good enough. You may have talked with a friend about church and you’ve heard them say something like, “I would be embarrassed to come to church; I’ve got too much baggage.” Friend, that’s the kind of person church was designed for. Evangelical Pastor Lee Strobel tells about doing a baptism service. He told people before they came up to the platform to be baptized to take a piece of paper, write down a few of the sins they’ve committed, and fold the paper. Then he pointed ...

2118. The God of Second Chances

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

A national magazine for pastors once carried a rating system for sermons similar to the rating system we’re all familiar with for movies. It went something like this. The person who designed it was a little bit cynical. Here is the rating he gave to various kinds of sermons: “G” - Generally acceptable to everyone. Full of inoffensive, childlike platitudes; usually described as “wonderful” or “marvelous” by those who leave church to shake the hands of the pastor. “MC” - For more mature ...

2119. A Personal History

John 18:1—19:42

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... the mocking crown and purple robe with which the suffering Christ was adorned: dramatic irony, as the scoffers did not recognize at all that he was, indeed, a king. King of kings and Lord of lords, no less. Third, what happened to Jesus was the design and purpose of God. While the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday in the gospels appear to be entirely the orchestration of the jealous, conspiring Jewish leaders, Isaiah sees a different hand behind it all: “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of ...

2120. Personal History

John 18:1-11

Sermon

David J. Kalas

2121. Joy Giver

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... It turns out the average office worker only spends seven hours a day at work and actual working time in that seven hours is only about 4½. It turns out they did have a lot of time to spend in central perk. We are beginning a series today designed to help you maximize making this Christmas season work for you and not against you. That is why we are calling this series “Re-gifted.” Have you ever re-gifted something? Be honest. Have you ever taken something somebody gave you that you didn’t like and you ...

2122. "Gotcha" Questions from Mean-Spirited People

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... you by what authority I am doing these things." The score in this little contest: Jesus — one; assorted mean-spirited religious leaders — zero. Our Lord then continues preaching. He tells the parable of the wicked tenants (20:9-19). This story is designed to caste the scribes and chief priests in a bad light. Even the religious leaders recognize themselves as the wicked tenants in the parable. This infuriates them. They consider the possibility of grabbing Jesus immediately and doing away with him, but ...

2123. A Dance in the Desert

Philippians 4:4-7

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... third Sunday of Advent, it is not Santa Claus we are looking for, and John knew it. Jesus once slipped into our world by the backdoor. It won't happen the same way next time. There is much to hope for, to be sure, but it's a fire walk designed to scare the hell out of everyone that marks the path into the eternal kingdom. Listen to John. Amen.

2124. Mary and Martha: Nine to Five and Five to Nine

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... long after this excellent dinner is digested and forgotten." I would imagine Jesus might note with sociologist Lyle Schaller that the primary place for socialization now is not the home, but the workplace. I imagine he might point out how our homes are designed to eat and sleep and watch television, but not to converse and share and nurture. Some of the homes of the past looked as though people really lived together there, knew each other, shared a lifestyle and value system, rather than just nodding ...

2125. Are You Giving Up Chocolate for Valentine's Day?

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... and finer and purer from the ordeal. Temptation is not the penalty of being a [human being], temptation is the glory of being [human]. It is the test which comes to a [person] whom God wishes to use . . .” In other words, the temptations Jesus faced weren’t designed to see if Christ would sin, but to prove that he wouldn’t. In this test, the Holy Spirit may have been showing us that Jesus was both human and, at the same time, able to resist sin. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and ...

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