Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2201 to 2225 of 4884 results

2 Cor 12:9

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... potentiality resident in reckoning with a handicap. Handicaps represent our mortality and mortality spawns religious vitality. What quiets St. Paul and allows him to accept his "sharp physical pain" is the assurance, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) God’s power active within the life places of vulnerability. No wonder St. Paul was quieted! While no one would elect a handicap, how stimulating it is to warm to the promise that God will be with ...

2202. Are You Exercising Your Faith?

Mt 4:1-11 · Phil 3:12 · Gen 32:3

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... ’s struggle, Jacob declares: "I have seen God face-to-face, and I am still alive ..." (Genesis 32:3d, GNB) We could point just as easily to St. Paul who denounces in Philippians, "I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself." (Philippians 3:12, GNB) In all three instances there is a dynamism at work, a dynamism that produces fruit. If exercising our faith is important - and I think it is ...

2203. Must We Have All the Answers?

Gn 2:9 · Deut 30:19-20 · Job 52:5

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... of the physical ills of the body and will ultimately free us from most if not all Of them. More than that, a control that will erase the normal defects of form and function to which we have grown accustomed, and help us approach the perfection that was once attributed only to machines and the gods themselves.2 Ehrenfeld points to two recent telelvision programs that give evidence of the credence we give to the concept of "inevitability of control," one being "The Six Million Dollar Man" and the other being ...

2204. Issachar

Genesis 49:1-28

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... or Hetty Green, we recognize not only their financial shrewdness and business expertise, but also their love of hard work. Webb Garrison gives a scene from British literary history. Chatting with Lord Northcliffe at dinner, a society matron babbled, "It’s perfectly wonderful how everyone is raving about that man Thackeray. Just to think, he hadn’t been heard of a fortnight ago. Why, he awoke one morning and found himself famous." "Madam," growled Lord Northcliffe, "on the morning that Thackeray woke up ...

2205. Bezaleel

Exodus 35:30--36:7

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... vessels designed to hold the blood of our Lord." We marvel that people of the Middle Ages gave themselves with such abandon to the building of tremendous churches. Laborers frequently spent an entire lifetime working on a bit of carved stone, or years perfecting a stained glass window. For the vast majority of these folk, life was frightfully colorless. There was nothing for them to see, little of the "... wine which maketh glad the heart of man." Into that routine sordidness came the transforming power of ...

2206. Manasseh

2 Kings 21:1-18

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... years in Jerusalem ... And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Here is a small hinge of truth upon which a tremendous door swings open to a profound question. Why is it that a merciful God one who is perfect goodness, absolute love, incarnate justice permits an evil man to live a long, successful life? At the same time, why do righteous individuals sometimes survive a few wretched years amid poverty and misery, finally meeting death via painful cancer or debilitating tuberculosis? MANASSEH ...

2207. Epilogue

Psalm 107:1-43

Illustration

Warren Thomas Smith

... him Burma wanted Christ. Personal grieving must end. It was time to go back to the Burmese who needed him. Brother and sister thespians, we have been called. We have a role to play. It is time to fulfill our parts in the drama, "... looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter ..." And the play goes on ...

2208. It Is Finished

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... had Jesus finished or completed when his agony on the cross was over? Three things, at least. First, the price was paid in full for the salvation of each believer. We who are rationalists struggle to comprehend how that death of God's Son, the world's only perfect life, could take the place of or atone for the sins of all believers of all generations. Was it a ransom payment? If so, to whom? Was it a sacrifice for sin? Was it a substitutionary suffering? Struggle though we may, we will never have a neat and ...

2209. Our Three-Faced God

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... is based upon God’s holiness. On traditional altars were the words, "Holy, Holy, Holy." These words reminded worshipers of the otherness of God. To be holy is to be different. God is totally different from man. God is absolute purity, absolute goodness, absolute perfection. Man is totally the opposite. This means that man is a sinner and needs to confess and repent. Because God was considered dead, man lost his sense of sin. Menninger felt it necessary to write a book for clergymen, Whatever Became of Sin ...

2210. Sinner to Saint

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... recent months he was introduced to Christ and is now a follower of him. What can cause this change? It is the power of the Word, of Jesus Christ. A missionary tells of celebrating a Communion service attended by two tribes who were seated in perfect harmony. Less than a generation ago, the warriors of both tribes dipped their spears in each other’s blood, stole each other’s wives, burned their homes, and destroyed their crops. Then Christ was brought to their villages, and now they fellowship around the ...

2211. What Do You Think You’re Worth?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... no problems ... I am a pretty, mature girl. My figure is great, my skin is like peaches and cream. I have all the dates I can handle. My grades are tops and I win everything I try for at school. Something has to be wrong with me because nobody’s perfect. What could it be?" With great wisdom and insight Ann Landers told her that her fault was that she was flawless. Haven’t you met a person who never does anything wrong? Never admits a mistake? Never says, "I am sorry"? If we are so good, then we will not ...

2212. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... . Before doing it, we called the rental office and asked about the television antenna. We were told that this was not an outside antenna but a cable antenna which we could rent by the month. When we contracted for the cable service, our television worked perfectly. Now we could understand what was being said and shown. In the parable some seed falls on good ground and brings forth fruit. What constitutes good soil? Jesus said the good soil is that which understands what is heard. When you hear something, do ...

2213. Holy Tares!

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... and holy tares! Wheat and Weeds The parable in our text tells us about the holy tares in the church. It reminds us, for one thing, that the church consists of wheat and weeds, good and bad, and saints and sinners. The church is not a museum of perfect saints but a school of sinners. While we are shocked with the sinful behavior of some church people, we must not forget that the field of the church consists primarily of wheat. In spite of special sinners, the church has the best people on earth. Compared to ...

2214. Not For Sale at Any Price

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... the steering. He slammed on the brakes but they did not work. As they headed for a ditch, he called to his brother, "Grab the baby!" When the jeep came to a stop, he found a few scratches on his sister and his brother with the bulldog in his arms perfectly safe! Is this a sample of our priorities: dogs before people? The same was brought out in the case of a woman in New Guinea who came to a mission hospital to get her finger bandaged. It is the custom there to amputate a joint of a finger to express ...

2215. Jesus ... Who?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... a deep voice they answered, "Howdy, Jim, I am here." Well, Jim dropped his hat and took off, and never again was he seen at the barn. When we confront the holiness of Jesus as Peter did, we will have a sense of awe and unworthiness before the purity and perfection of Christ. Peter fell on his knees and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." Haven’t we in the church lost something of this unworthiness in the presence of the holy Christ? It is not uncommon to hear no confession of sins in a ...

2216. This Grace In Which We Stand by Dr. Gene E. Bartlett

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... ? You know she didn’t. For there is not only law in a parent’s love. There is grace, too. For she saw not only the rumpled clothes and the dripping hair and the knotted shoestrings. She saw something else - the light on his face, and no perfect gift could have been received more graciously than the rumpled but loving offering of a small boy. For the giving was judged by his capacity, but the receiving was determined by hers. And that’s one meaning of grace. You see, in this practical world we assume ...

2217. It Is Really Something New by Dr. Frank Bateman Stanger

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... the distinguishing features of Evangelical Christianity. They wanted meanings. A denomination leader came into my office a couple of years ago, pulled a chair up close to my desk, and remarked, "I have only ten minutes. Knowing of your interest in the life of Christian Perfection, I am here to have you tell me your concept of it." He wanted a meaning. Recently I was in a church in Waxahachie, Texas, which is pastored by one of the graduates of our Seminary. During a devotional period he spoke on the subject ...

2218. In the Spirit's Tether

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... are received into the church family that we sing a koinonia hymn: "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. From sorrow, toil, and pain, and sin, we shall be free; and perfect love and friendship reign through all eternity." The church of Jesus Christ is one of God’s greatest miracles. It has an invisible but vibrant ingredient. To create fellowship is not easy. True fellowship calls for divine grace. Every man is by nature a little ...

2219. Only the Wounded Can Serve

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... mankind. Jesus Christ is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. The quality of his life showed an amazing sensitivity to human need. He endured his trials and our trials, yet without sinning. Yet, "let us with confidence draw near," meaning that despite his perfection we can still speak freely to him. We are confident and can speak freely because we know that Jesus understands us, and is one of us and with us. This is the most that God could do without destroying our freedom. We can come, voluntarily ...

2220. The Right Time

Luke 21:5-38

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... not something for you to be afraid of, but instead you should be glad. Why should you be glad that the world that you and I know will come to an end someday? I’ll tell you why. The real world, the one that God calls his own Kingdom, is perfect and there is no war, sickness, danger, but it is a place that God has made for all who love and trust in him. We want that world to come and the sooner the better. Now we can’t make it come any faster than God wants to bring it ...

2221. Little Things Affect Little Minds

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... in light conversation with him in his living room, he reflected on the churches he had served in Europe and the United States. He related to me that in many churches you can change big things but do not dare attempt to change little things. With perfect candor he declared, "I have seen churches where you could change their theology, revitalize their approach to race relations, and lead them to engage in a million dollar building program with much less trouble then if you tried to reserve a pew near the back ...

2222. It’s Not So Bad To Be A Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... a day, and this man was smart enough to be there when the people of God gathered. As beautiful as an empty church may be, it really doesn’t do you much practical good until the people of God gather. It is true that church people are far from being perfect people. but praying people never quite forget what it was like to be a beggar, too. They are people who care. This beggar found that people who go to church to pray and talk to God are also people who will talk to a beggar. He found that people on ...

2223. God Made Me Do It!

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... you say ... you can’t please everyone. Some people will not understand you, others will not like you, some will not give you the benefit of the doubt, and not everyone will think you are great. But why should we think that is strange? Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless, holy, good, and divine Son of God had people who misunderstood him too - how can we ever presume to think we can be above our Lord and live without the same problem? THE GOD-DIRECTED LIFE - DOESN’T MEAN YOU WON’T BE TEMPTED Look how ...

2224. Hooray for Humility!

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... , Queen of England, sat in her royal box, listening to Handel’s inspired music, the Messiah. One of her attendants came to her, advising her that when the great chorus was sung, the audience would rise, but since she was a queen it would be perfectly proper etiquette for her majesty to remain seated. However, as the choir reached that glorious climax with the words; "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords," the young queen suddenly stood with her head bowed, indicating to all present that she knew the real ...

2225. When Love Runs Out of Breath

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... what you can think, aren’t you surprised at your desire to hurt, to cut, and to wound? If God would just be good enough to us to let us see how bad our own sins are, how great is our own need, how far short we come of the perfect example set for us in Christ - then we would probably cry out, as did Martin Luther: "Oh, my sins, my sins, my sins!" Once Luther saw his sins - then he, with clear eye, could see the Savior. In his second article Luther wrote: "... Christ has redeemed me, a lost and ...

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