Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2126 to 2150 of 4943 results

2126. Am I a Real Christian?

Acts 11:26

Sermon

James Merritt

I'm reminded of the story of a local businessman who was a fourth grade Sunday School teacher. He was really trying to impress the class because his son was a member of the class. So he asked the class this question, "Why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?" Well, there was dead silence. Nobody spoke up. He asked the question again: "Now kids, why do you suppose that people call me a Christian?" Still no response. Finally, the man with an exasperated look said, "Now come on, think about it, ...

2127. Forgive Us

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

I'm ashamed to say that too often I behave like the guy laying in bed with his family refusing to get up to give loaves of bread to his friend. I wish it were otherwise, but the truth is the truth. And where better to tell the truth but in church? My life, much of the time, is all tucked in nice and warm. My doors are bolted shut. My children are sound asleep. The worries and cares of the day are well behind me. Each of my children has already been up for the obligatory glass of water and trip to the ...

2128. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to make my annual public service announcement to the men in our congregation. Guys, it’s time to do your Christmas shopping. I hope our men have this task already out of the way. But just in case, please heed my announcement. I understand that a [certain couple in our church] slipped off to [a nearby city] to do their Christmas shopping and somehow they got separated for several hours. Fortunately they had their cell phones with them. “Honey, where are you!?” [the woman] asked. “Darling,” [he] says ...

2129. Are You a Lemming or a Lassie?

Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:22-34, Luke 12:35-48, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:54-59

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: red scarves or pieces of red material to pass out during the altar call Some stories just tug at our hearts and warm our toes. Stories about animals seem to do that a bit more than not. In a particular story written in 1859 by Elizabeth Gaskell, two brothers venture out together along with their loyal and beautiful collie dog. Soon, they are lost as a vicious snowstorm whips up around them. Cold and dying, they struggle to survive. Knowing all is lost and desperate to save his younger brother, the ...

2130. Lazarus Rising

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44, John 11:45-57, John 12:1-11, John 12:12-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Come out of the ark!” (Genesis 8:16) I saw a movie awhile back, “The Nice Guys.” Anyone see it? It stuck with me, because it was so disturbing. The plot went like this. A young girl is trying to assist in making a secret film that will uncover a criminal plot to allow an auto industry to sell an illegal converter that will damage and desecrate the environment. The girl is located by detectives, who were hired by her mother to find her missing daughter. While the detectives assume it’s a mere missing ...

2131. Christmas Is a God-Thing

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a story years ago in the Canadian version of the Reader’s Digest of a large moose that wandered into a residential area in Calgary, Canada. The moose ended up on the lawn of a lady named Lorna Cade. A Fish and Wildlife officer was dispatched to try to coax the magnificent animal back into the wild. After two hours of absolutely no progress, the officer finally shot the moose with a tranquilizer dart. The moose bolted down a lane and eventually collapsed on another nearby lawn. The reporters who ...

2132. Super Christian IV

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme\n Your ministry at home is more important than your ministry \nat church. \nSummary\n Super Christian is a proud doer of good, but what is his \nhome life like? \nPlaying Time 3 minutes\nSetting Super Christian's home\nProps Ironing board, iron, curtains, garbage bag\nCostumes Super Christian -- cape and pajamas with "SC" on \n front \nTime The present\nCast ANNOUNCER\n SUPER CHRISTIAN\n WIFE\nANNOUNCER: And now, the adventures of Super Christian. Faster \nthan a speeding bullet, mightier than a ...

2133. The Nearest Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Two women were sitting in church. One woman said to the other, "I’ve always wished that God would touch me, but I suppose that’s too much to ask." The other woman replied, "That sounds like a reasonable desire. Have you prayed about it?" "Well, no. Of course not." "Why not? There’s certainly nothing wrong with a prayer like that. You should pray about it." "All right. Maybe I will sometime." "Not sometime. Now. What better place to pray than here in the Lord’s house?" Thus persuaded, the woman reluctantly ...

2134. Real Strength

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Harold Warlick

In our fast-paced and advertisement-oriented world, it is easy to get trapped. In fact, there are people who specialize in trapping the public. The invitation comes in the mail. You are invited to visit a new condominium complex at some beach or lake or mountain setting. They'll give you gas money to drive there. They'll give you free lodging and free meals. Why, you even have guaranteed prizes waiting on you, perhaps a new Oldsmobile Cutlass or a color television. Of course, you could also wind up with a ...

2135. The Nearest Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

2136. A Samaritan Took Care of Him

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

The situation was this: A young Jewish lawyer wanted to reassure himself that he was doing the right thing. To help him, Jesus took the opportunity to tell him a story. The story was designed to set the young man straight. The story begins the way a lot of stories begin. "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho" (Luke 10:30). At this point, we aren't told anything about the man. Not his nationality or even his name is revealed to us. He was simply a man traveling down the road. The road the man was ...

2137. Fido’s Dilemma

Romans 6:1-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Fido is in the dirt gnawing on a bone. It is dry, brittle, depleted of marrow and moisture. It is dead and useless except for stimulating the gums of Fido and giving his jaws some exercise. You approach Fido with your hands behind your back. Fido eyes you and is suspicious. You speak kindly to your canine friend. He wags his tail. He smiles his doggy smile keeping his paw firmly planted on the bone. Fido continues to sniff and chew on his bone. You slowly bring a hand out from behind your back revealing a ...

2138. The Agony And The Ecstasy Of The Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Jesus experienced conflict in his family. In today's text we hear that his family was so upset by what they saw he was doing and heard he was saying, that they decided to "take charge of him" because they thought "he was out of his mind" (Mark 3:21). Later in our story we hear that Jesus' family arrived while he was debating with the religious leaders about Satan, the prince of demons. Someone told him that his mother and brothers were there. Jesus responded, "My true family members are those who do the ...

2139. The Man From Galilee IV: The Treasure Of His Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Some time ago we had a man speak at one of our suppers who is a shareholder in Mel Fisher's enterprise. Mel Fisher is the man who discovered a Spanish ship which had gone down in a hurricane off the Florida Keys centuries ago. Fisher became fascinated with hunting for lost treasure. Through his research he was able to determine about where the ship went down. He thought it would take him at least twelve weeks to find it. Twelve weeks turned into twelve years, and still there was no treasure. Finally, after ...

2140. Called To Freedom

Galatians 5:1-15

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: Several times over the years, I preached a series of sermons out of the letter to the Galatians. Having tried a number of other dramatic techniques, I decided to have a phone conversation between Paul and Barnabas. I prepared a script and got two phones, one for me (Barnabas is one of the great saints of the New Testament and I played him) and one for a church member who played Paul. In succeeding weeks, I went further, having a four-way phone consultation including a representative of the ...

2141. The Pageant

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Jerry Eckert

[Comment: Emmanuel Church in Horicon was nothing like Faith Church, Milwaukee. There was talent galore, except, it appeared, in theatrical skills. Only one person in the church was active in a community theater and no one seemed to think it should be part of church life. There was no stage in the fellowship hall and the sanctuary was not particularly conducive to plays because there was no lighting except the normal room lights, which gave little flexibility for variations. There was a resistance to ...

2142. Advent 1

Luke 21:5-38, Jeremiah 33:1-26, Zechariah 14:1-21, 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The powerful impetus toward eschatological awareness and preparedness, which comes from the theological framework of the Christian year, as well as the particular lections as-signed to this day, makes the preacher conscious of how the future affects the present age. The result is a "get your house, and the world, in order" kind of theology emanating from a reading of the propers for this day. Advent makes Christians realize that "the best is yet to come, "in the promised return of Jesus ...

2143. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Our "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude concerning God is evidence that we do not always fully appreciate who he is. You may have watched Marlin Perkins of TV's "Wild Kingdom." This wonderful animal lover and trainer has been trying to get people on a first-name basis with animals for most of his seventy-seven years. His wife, Carol, gave this account: "When Marlin and I were dating, I wanted him so badly that I never let him know how little I knew about animals. Soon after our marriage we went to the Belgian ...

2144. Let Yes Be Yes!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

A popular folk song among Christian youth in the 60s went like this: And God said Yes! Yes! Yes! Said Yes to the world once more! Said Yes with a cosmic roar! Said, Open that Other Door! Said Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! In one word, that’s God’s message for this planet. It’s the gospel. It’s the hope we need, the doorway to the future. Each of us has asked ourselves and one another and the silent stars at night: "Must there not be a better world than this? Must our lives not have been meant to be put right, ...

2145. Party in Room 210 ... Everyone Invited

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Thomas Long

William Muehl has a bone to pick with ministers. Muehl is on the faculty of Yale Divinity School, and he has spent many years teaching people who are about to become ministers and those who are already ministers. William Muehl is well acquainted with ministers, and he has a complaint. What bothers Professor Muehl is what he sees as a widespread tendency among ministers to do some romantic editorial work on the nature of Christian calling. To hear most ministers talk, claims Muehl, God calls people only in ...

2146. Which Self Are You?

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

You no doubt have heard the old story of the three inmates of a mental hospital who were having a discussion. The first insisted that he was Napoleon Bonaparte. The second asked how he knew he was Napoleon Bonaparte. The first replied, "God told me!" And the third chimed in, "I did not!" And then there was the patient who appeared unexpectedly at his psychiatrist’s office, and asked what was wrong by the doctor, he replied, "I just HAD to come today, Doctor. For some reason, I just feel myself." Well, ...

2147. David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11:1-27, 12:1-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Sexy story, eh? We get lots of them these days. Parental Discretion Advised. In the comics Blondie and Dagwood are watching television. Dagwood remarks, "Boy, there sure is a lot of nudity on TV lately!" "I'll say," Blondie replies. They continue to stare at the TV, eyes wide open. Says Dagwood, "Darnedest tire commercial I've ever seen."(1) Uh-huh. If it is any consolation, as our lessons this morning indicate, a preoccupation with sex is nothing new, especially in high places. And if you were either ...

2148. Equipping the Whole People of God: Penultimate Questions

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you have known me long enough to know that one of my favorite theologians is Charles Schultz, the artist who gave us the wonderful Peanuts cartoons. In one of my favorite cartoons, Lucy comes storming into the room and demands that Linus change TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a ...

2149. Baptism - FAQ's

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

James Merritt

Today I begin a series of messages that I am entitling "Building Blocks." No institution, no individual is stronger than its foundation. I want to share with you over the next several weeks the "building blocks" that will be the foundation of Cross Pointe. This is a Kodak moment. This is the first official service in the history of Cross Pointe. I want to take you back 2,000 years to another Kodak moment. I want to show you the earliest picture of the very first church in history. It is found in the book ...

2150. Changing Dysfunction Into Function: Isaac, Jacob and Esau

Genesis 27:15-24, 30-34

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I'll never forget the time my little brother Scott got into major trouble. He was down in our basement shooting pool when dad called down and said, "Scott, supper's ready." Scott didn't answer. Again Dad called again. And finally Dad was mad, stood at the top of the stairs and hollered, "Scott, get up here, NOW, supper's ready." That last time got Scott's attention and just as he came up the basement steps, Dad yelled, "Where have you been?!" Everything would have been OK if Scott hadn't said, "I didn't ...

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