Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2151 to 2175 of 5000 results

2151. What Really Matters The Price Of The High Calling

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . She was under some time pressure, so she told the carpet layer that if he would finish the job in a day, she would pay him double - but she was a perfectionist and it had to be done right. The craftsman worked diligently, but with great care, dollar marks in his eyes – taking only a cigarette break now and then, working hard. About 3:00 in the afternoon he was moving to the finish, happy with his work, but then as he surveyed the expansive space of carpet – out in the very middle of the room, there ...

2152. Recovering The Essence

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... existence. We’re not only citizens of the United States, but we’re citizens of the world. If we don’t want to look at it theologically, we certainly might be challenged to see the simple economic expediency of it, not to mention the Christian ethics. Senator Mark Hatfield has reminded us that 13, listen to this, 13 of the basic raw materials that are necessary for the economy of this country – that’s how many there are, 13. In 1950, we imported one-half of four of these 13 raw materials. In 1960 ...

2153. The Power Of Purpose

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... over the mountains, through blinding blizzard and blistering sun, traveling in peril of his own life, shipwrecked, beaten by the Romans, stoned by the Jew. Yet, throwing back his great cloak to show the scars of his beatings there saying, ‘I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ.’ It matters. It matters that it’s a man like Paul who says this, ‘I have fought the good fight. I have kept the faith, I have finished the course.’ The truth is obvious. There is power in purpose. There is power in ...

2154. Gethsemane: Prelude To The Cross

Mark 14:32-42

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... now to center stage of the drama. Even if we give it only our slight attention, we can’t make it less than it is. Jesus is wrestling with God. There’s no other place in scripture where the emotion of Jesus is so clearly pictured. Mark uses these words to describe Jesus: “greatly distressed and troubled.” And listen to the word that Jesus speaks. “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” Can there be any other conclusion than this: Jesus desperately wanted to be spared the ordeal before him the ...

2155. This Is Eternal Life (Easter Message)

John 17:1-5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , and worse things happened, they were convinced that it is love that is the strongest power in this world, and death is not the victor. As Paul wrote, "Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God which we saw in Christ Jesus" (Mark Trotter, "In the Beginning"). I could tell you in detail, story after story, of people in this congregation who are living that kind of faith. A mother rearing two children alone, but in her loneliness and frustration is sustained by a presence and power not her ...

2156. The Secret: Christ In You

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... about another phenomenon. I'm gravely concerned about the numerous clergy I see -- how shall I put it -- who have lost the appetite for ministry. They still function in the system, and many of them are "successful" -- and I put successful in quotation marks. They are carried along by the momentum of their profession in our connectional system, but they've replaced a zestful interest in ministry with cynicism. If I were to put it biblically, they've lost their first love. To continue the biblical imagery ...

2157. The Dayspring From On High

Luke 1:5-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to be preaching from Luke's gospel. This gospel is arranged in two great movements: "First, the Coming of the Lord from Heaven to Earth; and then his Going from Earth to Heaven. The turning point between them stands at Chapter 9, verse 51. "An unforgettable scene marks the beginning of the Coming: When Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem to have their names registered in the census-list of the then world-empire, there is no room in the inn for the world's Savior to be born. Nonetheless the Coming ends in ...

2158. In The Beginning And The End...God

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , when after a 12-year, $4.4 billion mile journey, Voyager II streaked with astonishing accuracy toward its planned rendezvous with Neptune. We learned that the spacecraft's aim for the first close encounter with Neptune is a mere 21 miles wide of the mark, as mission navigation experts had calculated it more than 4 years ago. And do you remember this little fact it arrived four minutes earlier than it was predicted to arrive. With a kind of tongue in cheek stance, flight controllers said the early arrival ...

2159. East Of Eden

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of all law. He compromised the basis of moral order." (D. R. Davies, Down Peacock's Feathers, p. 49, New York: The McMillan Company, 1944; quoted by Logan, page 40). So sin, at its root, is treason, not crime. The New Testament talks about sin in terms of "missing the mark". That's a correct translation of the Greek word used for sin in the New Testament. And that's not a bad way to think of it -- but there is a danger in thinking of it in that way, also. If we emphasize too much, the notion of missing the ...

2160. God's Hello People

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... We don't want to be bugged by machines or people. We have grown wary with the goodbye people. What the world needs is "Hello People." And that's what I want to talk about today -- God's Hello People. I'm talking about hospitality, which is one of the marks of the Christian walk...relating to strangers who may be angels unawares, walking in fellowship. As Christians we are God's Hello People. So, let's pursue the notion. I. Let's begin by saying that the sign of God's people is always a welcome. The sign of ...

2161. A Fragrant Offering

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... verse 11: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." And then there's that remarkable word in verse 12: "No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us." My friend, Mark Trotter, out in San Diego, tells of a reporter visiting in a small community of Roman Catholic lay workers in a community in Northern California. This community takes in and cares for babies who are dying of aids. The reporter talked with a woman who was holding a ...

2162. Hanging On To Every Word

Luke 19:45-48

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the city. Do you think that was one of the reasons the people hung onto his words? He cared so much that He cried. So, mark this down: Words mean little unless they come from someone who cares. Get that! Words mean little unless they come someone who cares. A little ... you think that it was this and other honest expressions that made the people hang on to what Jesus said. So, again, mark it down. Words don't mean anything unless they come from someone who is honest. For what had happened to Jerusalem, Jesus ...

2163. A Long Obedience In The Same Direction

Luke 22:39-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... 's the reason He was able to come to that place in Gethsemane to which He came -- "Not my will but Thine be done." If you know who you are, and if you have a clear sense about mission, you can sustain a long obedience in the same direction. Mark Trotter tells a story about a college professor who taught English to freshman students. "At the beginning of the term, he assigned the class a 500 word paper on why they had come to college. And he asked them to write it as candidly as they could, expressing their ...

2164. Turn in an Account of Your Stewardship

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... death no longer holds a claim. And in her sometimes lonely battle for life, she knew that salvation is nothing if it does not deliver us from death.” And then he said this, “This is the victory of the victim which we celebrate.” The victory of the victim. (Mark Trotter, “Jesus and the Trickster”) Now that’s the big point of the parable - - that we children of light ought to be at least as wise as children of the world. That we don’t have to cringe from life, that we don’t have to back away ...

2165. Gratitude Takes Practice

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... appreciation for poetry. She would come ask me to listen as she would read aloud verses which had special meaning for her, but I was always too busy. How I wish I would have listened," he chokingly said. So, Don read some of Virginia's favorite lines which he had marked and which he had missed hearing her read because he was in a hurry. We can fail to be grateful, and we can miss much of the richness of life, because we forget too soon. But there's another lesson we need to learn. When we assume too much ...

2166. Reflections On A Calling (ten-year Anniversary Sermon)

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... fire burning inside feel we're doing what we were created to do when in one way or another we're sharing God's news of salvation. And for some of us the ultimate expression of that in terms of our vocation is preaching. Today marks ten years of ministry with you. This June will mark 39 years that I've been a pastor under appointment of the Church. I answered the call to preach when I was seventeen. Seems as though I've been preaching all my life. I had my first appointment when I was eighteen, a three point ...

2167. What God Has Joined Together

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... couples to get lost in a forest for a while so that they could really get to know each other. How well do you know your spouse? Are you sensitive to one another’s needs? That’s question one on our test. Here’s question two: Is your marriage marked by positive comments and words of encouragement? Now here things get a little stickier. How easy it is for marriage partners to aim barbs toward one another. A little poem on the Internet says it best: He didn’t like the casserole And he didn’t like my ...

2168. From Hurting to Helping

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... distress and help them get the care they need. [A portion of every dollar you give to this church, by the way, goes to help people in need around the world.] I wonder if that is not the significance of the closing words to this story. Mark writes, "Immediately, Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus along the road." After Bartimaeus received his sight, he became a follower of Jesus. No longer was he a beggar sitting beside the road. Now he followed Jesus. That says to me that Bartimaeus went from ...

2169. The Hinge of History

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... on history, however small it may be. I dare to venture that this is some of the motivation in the youngster who etches his initials in fresh concrete. He might not verbalize it in such philosophical terms, but he's wanting to leave his mark behind. He hopes someday -- maybe only a week from now, but we measure differently when we're young -- to show somebody his Kilroy evidence. We Christians are part of a faith which has respect for history. As the New Testament writer puts it, "We did not follow cleverly ...

2170. Songs of the Season

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

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... Then Elizabeth spoke. Most Bible translators do not set up her words in the structure of poetry, but they have the same rhythm and grandeur of expression as the words of Mary which follow. Elizabeth's words are the simplest kind of testimony. They are marked by gratitude and excitement, and they are unashamedly personal. She makes no attempt at formal theology; all she wants is to tell Mary the joy she feels. She sees herself as a privileged woman, and she wonders why such favors should come to her. Perhaps ...

2171. On Defeating the Devil

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Frank G. Honeycutt

... the devil, as far as I can tell. Maybe you've picked these out already. First, Jesus encounters the devil in the strength of forty days of fasting. And I use the word "strength" in a way that has surprised me this Lenten season. "I have always thought," writes Mark Buchanan, "that the devil was coming to Jesus at his weakest moment: Jesus gaunt, raw-boned, wild-eyed, ready to scavenge any moldy crust of bread or scrape any meat shreds off a lamb's bone ... But I'm not so sure anymore. The more I learn from ...

2172. God's Messenger

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... Thessalonians 5:24), and Jesus repeatedly told us to "Watch!" and to be prepared, for we do not know when that hour will come (Mark 13; Matthew 24; Luke 21). Our passage in Malachi states that God will send his messenger before the Day, and Malachi 4:5 ... we will have time to prepare ourselves before the last judgment. But, warns Jesus in the Gospels (Matthew 11:14; 17:11-12; Mark 9:13), Elijah has already come in the person of John the Baptist. The warning has been given. The preparing messenger has been ...

2173. Suffering Servant Song

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... but describe his life and death and resurrection in terms of this Suffering Servant song. Everywhere throughout the New Testament, the words of this song sound forth. Jesus is the one who gives his life as a ransom for many, says Mark (10:45) and who is silent before his oppressors at his trial (Mark 14:61). Jesus is reckoned with the transgressors, writes Luke (22:37), condemned as a criminal and hung on a cross between two thieves. He is like Second Isaiah's lamb that is led to the slaughter, in the Book ...

2174. God Shows No Partiality

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... Jesus had been buried, in order to anoint his dead body, they found the tomb empty. To the amazement of the disciples, then, Jesus appeared alive first to Mary Magdalene, but then to his disciples, who saw the wounds of the nails in his hands and the mark where the spear had been thrust in his side. After that, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus appeared alive to more than 500 people and to Paul himself. What is more, the risen Christ commissioned his disciples to go throughout all the world, and to tell ...

2175. The Sufficiency of Christ

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... there was a particular building for the church at any time during her history, not one stone stood upon another. No monument was there to mark the church which stood foremost as the witness of faith and love in that apostolic age. But the river, the river continues to flow ... had been built out on the spot near the river, where supposedly Lydia was converted. A memorial to the event which marked the beginning of that Christian church. I was please with that, but it was not necessary for the witness. Acts 16, ...

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