Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2101 to 2125 of 4963 results

2101. Positive Faith

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" This is nothing to be miserable about. Christian faith is about life; it is about hope; it is about joy. The mustard seed is the tiniest of all seeds, yet the mustard plant can grow up to twelve feet tall. It often attracts birds who nest in its branches. The finder of the fine pearl was so overjoyed by his discovery that he willingly and promptly ...

2102. A Great Love Story Gone Awry

Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon

King Duncan

... worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road . . .” “I put the ring in her nose . . .” Anybody here think that pierced body parts is something new? There is nothing new under the sun. By the way, I hope this doesn’t affect the image that some of you have of Isaac and Rebekah. The servant knew he had found the right girl for his master’s son. Now he must get the approval of Rebekah’s family. He found them to be quite cordial to his inquiry ...

2103. It Could Happen To You!

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Siegfried S. Johnson

... IS THIS SOME SORT OF CRUEL JOKE? NO. IT COULDN'T HAPPEN." Then, as Charley insists he is not joking, a tiny flicker of hope registers deep inside Yvonne. She dared just for a moment to believe Charley's good news was true. "Yes? Yes?" she asks with ... . It Could Happen. It Could Happen TO YOU. Jesus is alive. And occasionally someone desperately sensing their need, the bankruptcy of their hope, hears with wonder as if for the very first time that glorious message of God's gift of eternal life through Jesus' ...

2104. Building An Understanding Of God

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the Trinity, either. And that's all right. Why shouldn't there be mysteries too grand for our little brains to comprehend? What fish can ever adequately explain the nature of the keeper of its aquarium? How can we, who are limited by space and time, even hope to explain One who does not even fit the categories of space and time? Actually the Trinity is an attempt to make the nature of God understandable to those of us who admit our limitations. The Trinity is an attempt to grasp all the facets of what we ...

2105. It's A Terrible Thing To Be Rejected

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: THIS IS THE LORD'S DOING, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Jesus who was rejected became the Christ who reigns. And, says the Scripture, THIS WAS GOD'S DOING. This is where hope is found for all who carry around feelings of rejection, inadequacy and inferiority. It is found in the unconditional love of God. It is found in laying our self-doubts and fears on the altar of God and asking for healing for our wounded lives. One of the ...

2106. When Your Lips Are One Place But Your Heart . . .

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... LOVE WE HAVE ON OUR LIPS MATCHES THE LOVE WE HAVE IN OUR HEARTS, THE ENTIRE WORLD IS BLESSED. The year was 1970. A young hippie couple showed up on the steps of a small country church and asked the pastor to marry them. The pastor, hoping to put the young couple off, insisted that they attend church that Sunday. That Sunday, the young couple showed up. When the members of the congregation realized what was happening, they organized a wedding luncheon for the young couple. Everyone had a wonderful time. Fast ...

2107. It's All In The Blood

John 18:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... you die for?" What would you die for? Can you answer that question? Over the years, the committee has heard all kinds of interesting answers. Some ministry candidates declare that there is nothing they would die for. Others say they would die for their families. And some say they hope they would die for Christ's sake, but they're just not sure. (2) Jesus didn't hesitate. He didn't run away. He knew what he would die for. He would die for us. "I am he." Stop for a second and listen closely to Jesus' words ...

2108. Inexpressible Joy

1 Peter 1:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... called "The Smile." Whether it is based in fact or not, is not known. In this story, Saint-Exupery says that he was captured and imprisoned by the enemy. He was sure to face a prompt execution. He was horribly nervous and sad. He probed his pockets, hoping that the guards' search had not been thorough enough to deprive him of all his cigarettes. He found one, and asked his guard for a light. The guard had been studiously ignoring him up until now. As the guard lit Saint-Exupery's cigarette, their eyes met ...

2109. Building On A Firm Foundation

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... be here at this time. This is your moment." (2) This is how we should read these words from I Peter. They are words of encouragement and hope. He was saying to them and to us, "Don't get discouraged. Your life has meaning. It has purpose. God is using your life to build a ... and would spend most of their lives in prison. Yet those inmates who had found Christ in prison were full of joy and hope. Their lives now had a purpose. They were set free from pasts full of hate and fear and violence. On the other hand, ...

2110. Who's Your Daddy?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... alcoholic's family in a television interview with Barbara Walters. This one interview started a national dialogue on alcoholism and its effects on families. Sommers also wrote a book about her childhood which became a national bestseller. Her courage and honesty brought hope to thousands of people who had been in the same situation. (1) Not every Dad deserves to be recognized on Father's Day any more than every mother deserves recognition on Mother's Day. But dads are important, just as moms are important ...

2111. His Name Was Rocky Johnson

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Frank Lyman

... he has aligned himself with a winner. He doesn't quite understand what kind of kingdom the Master is setting up, but Peter knows he wants to have a leading role in its coming. Still, there are signs that things will not proceed as smoothly as Peter might hope. Jesus has warned his disciples to beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. This is risky business, Peter knew. The Pharisees not only kept the law, they interpreted the law; and as we know, it's not so much what the law says, but ...

2112. A Terrifying Darkness

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... wife Sarah was nearing 90, when God told Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, Abram believed it! Now that's faith! Such faith says a lot about the kind of man Abram was. Why is it that some people can maintain a hopeful attitude in the face of a dark situation, while others, confronted with the same situation, see only reasons for despair? At the age of 98, comedian George Burns said, "I've fallen in love with my future." At age 98! Didn't he know that he was in the ...

2113. No Plastic Easter

John 20:19-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... defeated. And we have a story to tell everyone. That is the third clear implication of the Easter story. There are still too many people here on this earth who don't know about Easter. There are too many people for whom life has no meaning and no hope. That's why it is important that we affirm our unity this day as the body of Christ. We are those people charged with the responsibility of telling the world that Christ lives. We can share the good news that life does have meaning and that even death cannot ...

2114. Worthy Is The Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... lives, don't we? Examples, heroes--people who will show us what is possible. We need people to inspire us and give us hope. Jesus is that model. He shows us how a person filled with God's spirit will live--kind, forgiving, generous, caring, strong, ... believe all kinds of idiotic things about God. Without Jesus we would have no model for abundant living. Without Jesus we would have no hope of life everlasting. And finally, without Jesus we would not be able to reach out and touch God. This is our faith. If you ...

2115. Who Should I Invite To My Party?

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... was exactly the reason his firm wouldn't handle their business--if they gave Frederick's their name it would no longer stand for a certain ethical standard. (4) Wow! I wonder if that would happen today? Are there still people with that kind of integrity in advertising? I hope so. Do you have that kind of integrity in your work? Jesus says that it's a lot more important what God thinks of you than what your friends and associates think of you. But it is also true that, in the long run, doing the right thing ...

2116. Who Am I Supposed To Hate?

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... percent of our income back to God. It's not a big issue. Of course, it is for some people. Not everyone tithes. But hopefully we are moving in that direction. It's a question of priorities. It's a question of loyalty. This is such an outrageous teaching--that ... he hate his vast possessions? No. Did he hate his own body? No. But he loved God more. How about you? It's a choice that hopefully you and I will never have to make. Usually it is the world that comes between us and those who are dear to us, not Christ ...

2117. You Will Not Leave My Soul In Hell

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... changed. Everything is in place. But when you put the watch to your ear you don't hear it ticking." There may be some of us who feel like a watch with a broken mainspring, a body in which the heart has stopped beating, an empty shell with no hope for the future and a ton of regret for the past. "You will not leave my soul in hell." Obviously the psalmist is saying that God is aware of our situation. Bruce Larson recalls seeing Jack Benny on the Johnny Carson show shortly before Benny's death. During the ...

2118. He Calms The Storms

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... with her neighbors. She became somewhat of an authority on desert plants and eventually wrote a book about them. As Robert Schuller would put it, "she turned her scars into stars." It's not nearly so important what happens to you as it is what happens in you. I hope it doesn't seem that I am minimizing the existence of life's many storms when I say that. Life can be pretty rough some times. A cartoon strip shows Dennis the Menace in bed between his mother and father, with the blanket pulled up to his chin ...

2119. The Christ Of Healing

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... diagnose it, they could cure him. So with that one word to hold on to, he battled his ailment and won. You are probably thinking that it can't be that easy. And usually isn't. But such phenomena happen often enough that we should never give up hope. In 1964, a researcher named Greenblatt described a patient suffering from advanced cancer who was admitted to the hospital on the verge of death. He had heard that the drug Krebiozen might be a wonder drug, though, and it was given to him in the hospital. His ...

2120. The Grief Of God

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... man who died in Vietnam, I told the family of the good news that there is a God behind everything who can bring good out of evil, victory out of defeat, life out of death, and Easter out of Good Friday. And that is how we can find help and hope in our faith in times of deep despair. II. THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF FAITH FOR MANY PEOPLE IS THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING IN THE WORLD. In ancient times people believed that suffering was sent by the gods to express their displeasure at the way we mortals behaved. Job ...

2121. The Coming Of The Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... , humid dungeon. Sailors would get sick. Occasionally light, baffling winds would cause excitement--but in the doldrums winds blow this way and that with no consistency. In the doldrums terrible killing storms may be generated in certain seasons. With only a sail--the only hope was a sustained breeze. Ships actually were caught for so long that the crews died. In the doldrums--I have been there, haven't you? But then there has come, as it were, the sound of a rushing wind. The church after Pentecost was ...

2122. The Competitor

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... me the bowl of stew. What good's a birthright to me." God had to wrestle with Jacob to subdue his willfulness, as we will see later, but Esau had no will to subdue. He was just there. No drive. No vision. No sense of call. There was really no hope for Esau--there was nothing that mattered enough to get him out of his rut. Lou Holtz, football coach at the University of South Carolina is one of the finest motivators in our land. He was previously coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. At the start of the ...

2123. Yes, But How?

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... children, and more patient with my spouse, but how? Yes, these are all good things, but how can we do them? If St. Paul, one of the most disciplined and dynamic men who ever lived, could not do it, then what hope is there for us? Well, I'll tell you. There is hope for you--and for me. And that hope is the same for us as it was for St. Paul. It lies in acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is in acknowledging our humanness and our inadequacy. It is in acknowledging the Good News that we can be free ...

2124. The Longest Night

Psalm 143:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Israel's hope was that nothing could separate them from God's love, and that is our hope as well. A play ran for many years on Broadway that depicted biblical stories in the language of the rural Southern black dialect. It was Marc Connelly's "Green Pastures." A stirring scene in that play depicts the end ...

2125. The Sower and the Seed

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Brett Blair

... not good soldiers of the cross. When Valley Forge comes they are never around. It will always be difficult for an in-depth gospel to penetrate a shallow individual. And the result is that the seed of the Kingdom of God never comes to fruition. IV. The Hopeful (and Joyous) Heart But then Jesus said there was some seed that fell on a fourth kind of soil: Good fertile soil. And in season a great harvest came forth and produced fruit a hundredfold. It is interesting to note that Jesus mentions this last. It is ...

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