Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 2151 to 2175 of 2273 results

2151. Faithful Attendance

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

A pastor was once asked to define "Faithful Attendance at Worship," and this was his reply: All that I ask is that we apply the same standards of faithfulness to our church activities that we would in other areas of our life. That doesn't seem too much to ask. The church, after all, is concerned about faithfulness. Consider these examples: If your car started one out of three times, would you consider it faithful? If the paperboy skipped Monday and Thursdays, would they be missed? If you didn't show up at ...

2152. A Pastor's Excuses

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Twelve reasons why a local clergyman stopped attending athletic events: Every time I went, they asked me for money. The people with whom I had to sit didn't seem very friendly. The seats were too hard and not comfortable. The coach never came to call on me. The referee made a decision with which I could not agree. I was sitting with some hypocrites—they came only to see what others were wearing. Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home. The band played some numbers that I had never heard ...

2153. Persistence and Presence

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

In the first part of this century, Sir Ernest Shackleford began his voyage to the Antarctic. It was his dream to cross the twenty-one hundred miles of wasteland by dogsled. He didn't make it that far, however. On the way his ship was stopped by an ice pack and sank. He and his men had to trudge over drifting ice floes trying to reach the nearest land, nearly two hundred miles away, and the nearest human outpost nearly twelve hundred miles away. They towed behind them a lifeboat weighing nearly one ton. ...

2154. Our Task in the Darkness

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

At age twelve, Robert Louis Stevenson was looking out into the dark from his upstairs window watching a man light the streetlamps. Stevenson’s governess came into the room and asked what he was doing. He replied, "I am watching a man cut holes in the darkness." This is a marvelous picture of what our task should be as sharers of God's light—people who are busy cutting holes in the spiritual darkness of our world.

2155. Betraying the Secret

Illustration

L. E. Maxwell

A group of prospectors set out from Bannock, Montana (then capital of the state), in search of gold. They went through many hardships and several of their little company died en route. Finally they were overtaken by the Indians who took their good horses, leaving them with only a few limping old ponies. Then they threatened them, telling them to get back to Bannock and stay there, for if they overcook them again, they would murder the lot of them. Defeated, discouraged, and downhearted, the prospectors ...

2156. The Story of Noah Retold

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

And the Lord said unto Noah: "Where is the ark which I commanded thee to build?" And Noah said unto the Lord: "Verily, I have had three carpenters off ill. The gopherwood supplier hath let me down-yea, even though the gopherwood hath been on order for nigh upon twelve months. What can I do, O Lord?" And the Lord said unto Noah: "I want that ark finished even after seven days and seven nights." And Noah said: "It will be so." And it was not so. And the Lord said unto Noah: "What seemeth to be the trouble ...

2157. How You Know

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

A twelve-year-old boy became a Christian during a revival. The next week at school his friends questioned him about the experience. "Did you see a vision?" asked one friend. "Did you hear God speak?" asked another. The youngster answered no to all these questions. "Well, how did you know you were saved?" they asked. The boy searched for an answer and finally he said: "It's like when you catch a fish, you can't see the fish or hear the fish; you just feel him tugging on your line. I just felt God tugging on ...

2158. Despite Blindness

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

George Matheson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1842. Before he reached the age of two, it was discovered that his eyesight was defective. He, his parents, and the specialists fought a heroic fight, but before George had finished his course at Glasgow University he was completely blind. With courage and faith he graduated with honors in philosophy, studied for the ministry, and in a few years' time became the minister of one of the largest churches in Edinburgh, where he carried on a memorable ministry. ...

2159. Father Damien

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

In 1873, a Belgian Catholic priest named Joseph Damien De Veuster was sent to minister to lepers on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai. When he arrived he immediately began to meet each one of the lepers in the colony in hopes of building a friendship. But wherever he turned, people shunned him. It seemed as though every door was closed. He poured his life into his work, erecting a chapel, beginning worship services, and pouring out his heart to the lepers. But it was to no avail! No one responded to his ...

2160. Grabbing the Bull by the Horns

Luke 9:11b-17

Sermon

King Duncan

In his book Soul Keeping, John Ortberg tells about riding a mechanical bull at a street fair. The bull operator explained that the bull had twelve levels of difficulty, and that Pastor Ortberg’s best bet for not getting bucked off was to shift his center of gravity to match the bull’s movements. Ortberg climbed up on this mechanical bull and he held on as tight as he could. The bull started to sway and buck, and Ortberg focused on moving his center of gravity with the swaying of the bull. He thought he was ...

2161. They'll Know We Are Christians by Our...

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Did you know that sometimes there is conflict in a church? It’s true. Churches are made up of people. And people, as we all know, have differing opinions about things. For example, there is evidence that the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church of Galatia because certain members of their congregation were stirring up trouble. Surely you would think that couldn’t happen in the church that early in Christian history, but it did. There was much disagreement. Here was the issue: many of the early ...

2162. Who's the Fool?

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

George Reed

This parable is often referred to as the parable of the rich fool and has been used to make any number of homiletical points. Some of them have even been relevant to the story! I have heard many a sermon preached on the “eat, drink, and make merry” portion of the scripture. We were warned about the dangers of having a good time. This was taken as a warning against what used to be called a “libertine lifestyle.” But Jesus liked to party and have a good banquet. He made wine for the wedding feast and by his ...

2163. Are You a Super-Fan?

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Kevin Greene is a former linebacker who played in the National Football League for 15 years. Greene retired after the 1999 NFL season and ranks third among all-time sack leaders, leading the NFL twice in that category. As a result, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. Maybe one reason Greene was so successful was the support of his wife, Tara. From 1992 to 1996, while Greene was with the Pittsburgh Steelers we’re told that 30 minutes before kickoff of each home game Greene would seek ...

2164. Hear the Music

Illustration

King Duncan

A graduate student, studying cello under Pablo Casals, played his number with what seemed to be technical precision. The great maestro commented, however: “You are playing the notes, but not the music.” When Blaise Pascal, one of the great mathematicians of the past, whose thought made the computer possible, died in 1662, it was found that he had stitched a piece of paper into his coat, so that it would be next to his heart. On the paper was a cross surrounded by the rays of the rising sun. Under the cross ...

2165. Open House

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

A property manager of a single-family residence was showing a unit to prospective tenants and asking the usual questions. “Professionally employed?” he asked. “We’re a military family,” the wife answered. “Children?” “Oh, yes, ages nine and twelve,” she answered proudly. “Animals?” “Oh, no,” she said earnestly. “They’re very well behaved.”

2166. Healing

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Molly F. James

When I was in fourth or fifth grade, I was helping my dad in the kitchen. I had been taught how to use a knife properly, but I wasn’t always perfect at it. I slipped and knicked my finger. It was just a small cut but it was on the knuckle, so if the cut was going to heal, we had to find a way to splint my finger. I remember being very proud that my dad simply took a piece of kindling from the pile for our wood stove, cut off two small pieces, bandaged my finger and taped it with adhesive tape. Voila! ...

2167. Saved By the Light

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 Rev. Richard Fairchild tells the harrowing story of an event that occurred on Sunday afternoon, June 1st, 1975. A man named Darrel Dore was on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Suddenly the rig wobbled, tipped to one side, and crashed into the sea. Darrel was trapped inside a room on the rig. As the rig sank deeper and deeper into the sea, the lights went out and the room began to fill with water. Thrashing about in the darkness, Darrel accidentally found a huge air ...

2168. The Art of Impersonation

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 Who would you say is your favorite celebrity? Can you imagine walking in his or her shoes for one day? It would probably be challenging. The only people who can come close to understanding what it’s like to walk in their shoes might be celebrity impersonators. Did you know there is a worldwide industry of people who pretend to be famous celebrities? These impersonators usually look like the people they are imitating. They dress like them. They take on the celebrity’s ...

2169. Same Ol’, Same Ol’

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Herod I or Herod the Great was born in 73 BCE, the son of Antipater the Idumaean, a high ranking court official. Through a series of intrigues and coups more complex than we have time to unravel, here, he was declared King of Judea by the Roman Senate in 37 BCE. He would rule as “King of the Jews” for about thirty years until his death in 4 BCE. Historically, he is remembered mostly for his building projects. In 20 BCE he undertook the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple which had fallen into disrepair from ...

2170. A Family Gives Their Home

Luke 22:7-38

Children's Sermon

Donald Neidigk

Object: front doorknob with lock Hi, boys and girls. What a nice looking group of children! Can anyone here tell me what God's house is? Yes, it's a church building where we gather for worship. It's also our bodies where God's Holy Spirit lives. I bet you never realized that something else is God's house, too. Can you guess what it is? It's the home where you live! I brought something to show you. Can you tell me what it is? Yes, it's a doorknob from the front door of a house. Who would you let into your ...

2171. Re-Gifted but not Returned

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

A few years ago the New York Times city room editor, James Barron, asked readers to recall the worst Christmas gifts they had ever received. I thought I’d share a couple with you. I’d tell you the worst Christmas gift I ever got, but I don’t, to this day, know what it was. It was a secret Santa gift from someone at a company I do consulting work for. I can’t describe it. It was something like a plastic, brown mushroom/toadstool thing, with things glued on it, in a box with clear plastic over it.... I ...

2172. I've Seen the Lord

John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

You and I come here for a variety of different reasons this Easter morning. For some, you come because of a deep abiding expectation that yearns to be reminded that our Lord died, but then out of death, God granted life. And in turn you know, therefore, that nothing is impossible with our Lord. For some you come because it is the thing you do... this Easter morning thing. Perhaps it is the response to an echo of remembrance embedded deep within from your youth that says, if nothing more, you should be here ...

2173. Precocious

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: mouth tape / songbird (if you can bring a real bird…it’s best) [Come into the aisle wearing a tape across your mouth. Pull it off before speaking.] Silence. Sometimes after a day of screaming co-workers, or busy shopping, or upset children, or loud music, you name it, all we crave is….silence. In fact, how many times have you wished your partner, or child, or friend….would just be….silent. There’s something called “noise fatigue.” In fact, studies say that emotional exhaustion can also make you ...

2174. The Balm of Gilead

Mark 8:1-13, Mark 8:14-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am the Lord, your healer.” (Exodus 15:26) “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32) We are now going into “flu” season. Already people are starting to fear the dreaded disease, wondering if the vaccine this year is going to cover the variations that pop up. Or will we find ourselves flat on our backs for over a week once more, unable to eat, work, or function. It’s a frightening experience, especially when ...

2175. 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 ...

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