Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2201 to 2225 of 3099 results

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

King Duncan

The world has changed so much that even certain jokes don’t work anymore. For example, there is a time-honored story of a man who was in love with love that is, romantic love. He bought every book he could find on the subject. One day he was in a book store when he spied a book titled How to Hug. He didn’t have time to thumb through it and find out what it was about, but from its title, he knew he had to have it. He paid for it quickly and ...

2202. Running over the Cat

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

King Duncan

... possible to avoid even the mention of death. Probably some of you think I’m being morbid today addressing the problem of grief. But, if we’re not going to talk about it here in God’s house, where will we talk about it? It is the one subject that affects us all. Some Christians miss out on the benefits of a normal grieving process by a misreading of our text today from Thessalonians. That is sad. The reading goes like this: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who ...

2203. An Announcement about Our Future

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... write books describing in great detail elements of what they call “the Rapture.” But since Christ warned us that no one knows when that day will be, and since Christians have been waiting for 2,000 years, we look at those who are obsessed with this subject as a bit eccentric. And yet, biblically, it is impossible for us to ignore this teaching. History has a direction, and one day Christ will return to reign over all. It is an amazing and wonderful promise about our future. We are in God’s hands. We ...

2204. An Announcement to a Virgin

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... , it is our daughter. Mary’s predicament was entirely different in a closely knit Jewish community in the first century. The news that Gabriel delivered could not have been entirely welcome. The law regarded a betrothed woman who became pregnant as an adulteress, subject to death by stoning. (5) Did Mary know what she was getting herself into? Maybe not entirely. But that did not change her answer. She said “Yes” to God and the world has never since been the same. The American Standard Version of ...

2205. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... answering their questions and addressing their problems, and 2 Corinthians reveals a genuinely painful struggle that Paul and the Corinthians have experienced in their relationship. Yet, still, he is always thankful for them. This introductory passage includes allusions to subjects that will be recurring themes in the letter. “Speech” and “knowledge” are recognized here as goods, but later qualified as not the greatest goods (see, for example, 8:1, 11; 13:1-2; 14:9-19). Paul also references here ...

2206. Odd Ducks in a Rubber-Ducky World

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... stayed. Within the Christian community care for plague victims was intense and intentional. While everyone else kept their distance, Christians moved in closer. These “rara avis” followers of Jesus offered care and comfort to those who were in need, subjecting themselves to the plague in the process. What enabled these Christian caregivers to swim against the stream of a frightened, fleeing citizenry? What made Christians such a “rara avis?” Or as we would call them today, not “rare birds ...

2207. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... the other actors were sitting around waiting for him, one of the actors looked at his watch and quipped: “Does the man have no concept of time?” (2) Well, obviously he does have a concept of time. Quite literally he wrote the book on the subject. For most of us, however, the passage of time is a mysterious affair which we will never fully comprehend. Has anyone ever attended a time management seminar? The title suggests that we can manage time. These workshops on time management are generally known by a ...

2208. Life and Light to All He Brings

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Christians, you might have to reach your hand out to the person next to you, or send a message of love to an online companion. But one touch is enough. Great photographers know that a great photo has nothing to do with the beauty of the subject. Everything—and a photographer will tell you that means EVERYTHING—is about lighting. It is not skill, or timing, or beauty that makes a great photo. It is all about the light. The right light is every photographer’s “secret weapon.” If you want to be ...

2209. Traveling Tables

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in front of the television. Not good. And yet . . . Coming together does need to be a “moveable feast.” The traditional, established church calendar always had “feast days” — like Christmas and Epiphany and Easter. But there were also those “feast days” that were subject to the yearly calendar. The days of celebration changed according to the days of the week, and so they were called “moveable feasts.” As bad as “TV trays” were for family identity in the 1960s and 70s, the idea of a ...

2210. A Watery Grave

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... attention. Instead, Noah is relegated to the ranks of one of the standard Bible stories for children, probably because of the appeal of all those animals. What is presented in scripture as an unprecedented and unparalleled act of divine judgment becomes, instead, the subject of children’s puzzles and plush toys. While we wouldn’t think of depicting the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in nursery wallpaper, the story of Noah has been tamed into a kind of ancient Dr. Doolittle with his boatful of happy ...

2211. Prescription on a Pole

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... of a science experiment. A student in a lab will add a chemical to a solution and measure the change and reaction of that solution. Some chemical reactions are diagnostic in nature: That is, the application of a chemical reveals what the subject substance contains. And so it is here with light. The light suddenly shines into the world, and it elicits different reactions: some are drawn to it, while others resist and hide from it. Therein lies the judgment. Jesus’ observation here that “people loved ...

2212. A Personal History

John 18:1—19:42

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... the sabbath is on the horizon. But then it would open again, early in the morning, on the first day of the week.... Application We imagined a student, in both junior and senior high school, studying history in school. It may or may not be a subject of interest to him. In either case, though, he finds that there is a great distance between the people he is studying and himself — between those events and his own life. That student then arrives at church, and he is presented with still more history. On this ...

2213. Personal History

John 18:1-11

Sermon

David J. Kalas

2214. Jesus Casts Out Impure Spirits

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Today we’re going to talk about casting out demons or, as Mark calls them in today’s lesson, impure spirits. It’s not a subject that we talk about very much in church anymore, even though it figures prominently in the New Testament. Maybe at the end of today’s service I will perform an exorcism and cast out a demon . . . or not. Perhaps you have someone in mind that you think could profit from ...

2215. Show Me Your Baptismal Certificate

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a target. If you’re looking for a safety-first, risk-free life, then don’t follow Jesus. As the pews in our churches are emptying out, and the “nones” and the “dones” constitute the fastest growing religious segment of the population, the subject of “evangelism” is making somewhat of a comeback. And a favorite way of teaching “evangelism” is to show how we can “lead” people back to church and to Christ. But wait a minute! Oops! This “lead people to Christ” mentality is what is ...

2216. Spiritual Marines

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... Have you ever tried fasting? Have you ever tried going without any solid food for just twenty-four hours? If you want to see just how much you pamper your flesh and pamper yourself, you try it. You know Paul said, “I buffet my body and keep it under subjection.” Too many of us need to say, “I buffet my body and keep it over the table.” Do you know what keeps most Christians from getting up early in the morning and having a quiet time with the Lord?—Self. Oh, our intentions are good, but the alarm ...

2217. The Messed Up

John 4:1-26

Sermon

James Merritt

... , “Well, now here it comes – the taunts, the putdowns, the “what-kind-of-mess-have-you-made-of-your-life lecture? She had heard it many times before and she braces herself. Instead, what ensues is a conversation about worshipping God. She changes the subject and Jesus lets her. “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me ...

2218. The Reject

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... one of the greatest movies ever made was Ben Hur. The story behind the man who wrote that novel is fascinating. Many years ago there was an atheist by the name of Bob Ingersoll. He was talking to another atheistic friend of his and they got on the subject of Jesus. The man said to Ingersoll, “Jesus is a very fascinating man and I believe that someone could write a novel about Him that would be a best seller.” Ingersoll thought about that for a moment and said, “I believe you are right and I believe ...

2219. Can One Become Two?

Matthew 19:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... minds of many if not most couples who get married is this thought, “If it doesn’t work out we can always get a divorce and if we want to we can do it all over again with somebody else.” As Jesus continues His discourse on this subject you can summarize everything He said in our key take away. Key Take Away: One and done. [Turn to Matthew 19] This whole conversation came about because of a sting operation by the Pharisees against Jesus. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, they had already heard Jesus ...

2220. Shockproof

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

James Merritt

... discovered. She had been raped and strangulated, but the nightmare was far from over. The killer continued to telephone the Smith family numerous times over almost a month cruelly describing the gruesome details of how he had murdered Sherrie. He became the subject of the largest manhunt in South Carolina history. He was apprehended shortly thereafter and was sentenced to die in the electric chair. The story became a television feature film, Nightmare in Columbia County, which was aired back in the 90’s ...

2221. Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

James Merritt

... from the Old Testament nearly 40 times from 13 different books. He accepted without question that its history was reliable. It was the only body of teaching, which He ever gave His approval. He acknowledged it alone had complete and total authority on every subject it addressed, even saying, “The scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35, ESV) In short, He made it crystal clear that He accepted the entire Old Testament as being the Word of God. What do we know for sure about the Old Testament? First ...

2222. Moving On Up

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... he said, “comes not by favoritism, but by fitness . . . That’s your new definition of greatness, and by this definition everyone can be great. Because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You ...

2223. How God Looks at Marriage

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Do you see how this all fits together? Because husband and wife are one flesh, no one should ever try to separate them. Later when Jesus’ disciples questioned him privately about the subject of divorce, Jesus amplified his views on the topic. He added, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” This seemed to those ...

2224. God's Pattern for Sainthood

Psalm 24:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... . “And where is your kingdom?” asked the theologian. “In my soul,” answered the beggar, “for I know so well how to rule my faculties, both interior and exterior, that all the powers, inclinations, and affections of my soul are completely subject to me.” “Tell me, how did you learn such great perfection?” asked the theologian with great admiration. “By recollection, meditation, and union with God,” replied the beggar. “I was never able to find peace in anything less than God before ...

2225. The Peaceable Kingdom

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... be. It is precisely because we and our world have lost our integrity that the great prophet of God must come and set things right. There is a powerful scene in Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons. The story is that of Sir Thomas More, loyal subject of the English crown. King Henry VIII wants to change things to suit his own devious plans, so he requires all his nobles to swear an oath of allegiance that violates the conscience of Sir Thomas More before his God. Since he will not swear the oath, More is ...

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