Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 201 to 225 of 312 results

201. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 5:7-12, James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Throughout the book James has been dealing with the root causes of disharmony within the community. In the previous section, he has dealt with their complaining, their criticizing, and their roots in worldliness (3:1–4:12). Now he turns to another theme, the test of wealth. The poor person is totally dependent and knows it. Although such a person may well be consumed with envy and ambition, Christians are more likely to turn to prayer and humble dependence upon God. The wealthier person, however, may be ...

202. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 5:13-20, James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:7-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

203. The Shepherd

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Jamison

He woke up just as the sun was peeking over the top of the mountains to the east, just as he had done every morning for the past couple of months. He took a few minutes to enjoy the beauty of it all, and then quickly got up and took a quick look in every direction to make sure everything was safe. He made one quick trip around the low, stone wall of the sheepfold, making sure the wall was still secure. Then he stopped at the gap in the wall filled with briars, at the gate. The sheep began to stir as he ...

204. What Really Counts

Mark 9:38-43

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a time-honored story about a Roman Catholic Church that was hosting a community Thanksgiving service. This was to be a first for the church and for the community. Naturally everyone was quite excited. With great dignity the priest led his three Protestant colleagues toward the chancel area when suddenly he realized that he had forgotten to put out chairs for his guests to sit in during the service. In a state of great agitation, he whispered in the ear of one of his elderly laymen, “Please get ...

205. Be Ready for the Possibility of the Resurrection

John 20:1-18

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The last couple of days have been extremely difficult for the followers of Jesus. Thursday, after they had shared a last supper together, the Lord went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. There he was arrested by the religious authorities and put on trial in the court of Caiaphas, the high priest. Jesus was charged with blasphemy: false religious teaching. Had Caiaphas heard sufficient evidence to find him guilty, he could have been sentenced to death by stoning. The high priest was not comfortable with ...

206. What Kind of Sheep Are You?

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. (Psalm 119) Animation: “What Kind of Sheep Are You” Online Test: http://selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php?client=baaa Animation: Live Lamb (you can rent a lamb at your neighborhood 4H club or a nearby farm) Animation: Shepherd’s staff (any large natural wood staff will do) We love the Christmas story for its simplicity. Simple shepherds, simple sheep, simple message, simple mission. It all seems so simple. Hence ...

207. Raison d’Etre

Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

“The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent...” Most people think that it was Don Draper, the main character in the TV series, Mad Men, who first introduced and spoke of the idea of an indifferent universe, and he did, in fact, use that phrase. But he wasn’t the first. Others believe that the first was Carl Sagan, and he did say that “the universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent.” But he was only paraphrasing another great thinker. ...

208. The First Sign of Civilization

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

I have an important question for you this morning: what is something that is essential for human life, is highly contagious, yet most of us take it for granted? Any ideas? It’s kindness. You might think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s essential for human life and highly contagious, but I believe I can back that up. A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a society. What separates an uncivilized collection of people from a true ...

209. How to Affair-Proof Your Marriage!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Country singer Gene Watson croons: Slip into something soft, And then come slip into my arms again. Strip away your conscience and Take off your wedding band. Cheating has become America's national pastime. Statistically, 65 percent of men have affairs by age forty. For women, it's 35 percent. Talking with a pastor who had demitted the ministry due to sexual misconduct, he confided, "I never thought it could happen to me. But it did. For fifteen minutes of rolling in the sheets I sacrificed everything ...

210. Persevering In The Faith

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

Many years ago, a friend of mine remarked that several years earlier he and his wife had quit attending church. I asked him why. He explained that his wife had become quite ill and, as they were occasional church attenders, they decided to pray for healing. As part of this effort, they attended worship every Sunday, became otherwise involved in their church, doubled their pledge, and in general made church and prayer a central part of their lives. However, as time went on, the wife became sicker. There was ...

211. Take Off The Grave Clothes!

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Today our lesson paints a poignant picture of one of the most famous of Jesus' acts: raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been a dear friend of Jesus and the scriptures say Jesus loved him and his entire family. When news reached Jesus of Lazarus' death, his heart was sorrowful. He wept inwardly and outwardly. Despite the bad news, he kept confidence that Lazarus would be raised. Despite the woeful lament the news caused for those who loved and knew Lazarus, Jesus quietly assured his disciples and ...

212. A Visit With An Old Friend

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Johnny Dean

This sermon written after the Columbine Shooting incident. In the first semester of seminary, I remember one of my professors saying something like this: "During your ministry, there will be weeks when your cup overflows with joy and you feel a keen awareness of the presence of God. The sermon will not be quite as difficult to prepare then. In fact, there may even be times when it just seems to write itself, and you are finished with it by midweek and you cannot wait for Sunday to arrive so you can stand ...

213. Dodging the Thrust

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

Jesus was the companion of sinners. Companion? Yes. We get our word "companion" from "com" (with) and "panis" (food). A companion is someone you eat with. Jesus was the companion of sinners. Who were these "sinners"? We’d have a difficult time pinning the label, having, as we do, Paul’s reminder to the Romans, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) The Pharisees had no such problem. For them it was simple: a sinner was any person who did not observe the details of the ...

214. The Gathering, The Scattering

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Various Authors

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean ... (v. 22a) ... Stir up one another to love and good works. (v. 24b) It’s right there, in the name itself: communion - that which makes for unity, oneness. But if this Christian sacrament of unity has been anything through twenty centuries, it has been a sacrament of division. Let’s move backward quickly through those centuries, taking snapshots as we go. Frame 1. Christians visit in the parish of a sister ...

215. The Circus and My Faith

Ps 139 · Mt 22:37

Sermon

Robert Noblett

The Bible admonishes us to love God, but it also embellishes on the point. It admonishes us to love God with all the heart that we have, all the soul that we have and all the mind that we have. Our intent in these pages is to land on the third dimension of our love for God, our willingness to love God with our minds. That may strike some as a bit unusual - loving someone with our mind (we usually love with our hearts), but then loving God is a different matter than loving our spouses or our children. ...

216. Joseph

Drama

Charles L. Koester

INTRODUCTION: [This portion is read from the lecturn by the introducer or narrator.] Of all the persons involved and related to the Advent, the coming, of Christ, there is one who is the "forgotten man" of the Nativity. Even the great artists of the world, many of whom have lavished their imagination upon the scene of the Nativity, have been content to make him part of the dark backgrounds of their paintings. Yet, this man was much more than just a piece of fleshly furniture. As his wife, Mary, was chosen ...

217. The Jamie Farr Connection

Joshua 24:1-27

Sermon

A vivid introduction marks this sermon, using a popular TV personality, local color, and the hint of grace that is in it all. The introductory material keeps surfacing throughout the sermon, giving it a unifying force. Biblical examples do their work economically, not permitting the listeners to go their own way because the instances have been needlessly stretched out in the telling. The vision and the memory and the presence of the crucified and risen Christ enkindle the desire to choose a better way. Go ...

218. Getting Ready

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

We gather on this the second Sunday of Advent with joyful expectations. We can sense that something wonderful is about to happen. The countdown to Christmas Day is well under way. We can see the excitement in the faces of children who patiently wait for Christmas Day. It's harder for them to concentrate on their school work when their heads are filled with visions of "sugar plums." Something wonderful is about to take place and we are going to be a part of it. We are getting ready for Christmas. Christmas ...

219. It Doesn't Matter What I Do

Jeremiah 17:19-27

Sermon

King Duncan

"Five Things Christians Should Never Say," #5 A would-be burglar in Pennsauken, N.J. needed to make sure the door to the company he was looting wouldn't fully close while he was burgling the place, so he stuck a piece of paper in the door. The piece of paper was a traffic ticket he'd been issued for driving with a cracked windshield. Police found the ticket, with a name and address on it, still in the door the next day, which proved helpful in their pursuit of the burglar, who was arrested at his home in ...

220. On Names That Preach

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

Siegfried S. Johnson

Perhaps no people were more prone to give names to their children that "preach" than the Puritans of 17th century New England. The names they gave their kids leave us to wonder if, after all, the Puritans were just kidding. I assure you, they were not. Dead serious was the young Puritan couple who named their new baby boy "Kill Sin." So, Mr. Kill Sin Pimple shows up in a marriage list of official county records. (It would be interesting to know whether his friends called him by his first name, Kill; or by ...

221. Life Begins at Thirty-Eight

John 5:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be made well?’” (John 5:6) It sounds like a stupid question, doesn’t it? Jesus meets this fellow at the crowded pool, this poor crippled chap who had been coming there for perhaps thirty-eight years waiting to be healed, and asks him point blank, “Do you want to be made well?” We can imagine the look the crippled man must have given Jesus. We can imagine him saying something like, “Do I want to be ...

222. The Lord's Prayer: Deliver us from Evil

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Dr. Tony Campolo is a Professor of Sociology at Eastern College and a Baptist Minister whose prophetic speaking and writing ministry is a great source of encouragement to this pastor and many others. Dr. Campolo also has a well-known mission project that works in the inner cities of Philadelphia and Camden. Last year 250 college students worked without pay to help bring the Good News to a place where days are long and full of evil and laborers are desperately needed to share the Good News. One of the ...

223. The Counter Intelligence of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This week’s epistle text is a long one: 19 verses. It faithfully follows the precise, prescribed unfolding of Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church, which in turn faithfully follows the niceities of proper letter composition in the first century Greco-Roman world. The genius of Paul is to work within formulaic frameworks while finding a way to add his own unique touches in order to preach the gospel. In his salutation (vv.1-3) Paul asserts his own apostolic identity, his “call,” and identifies the source ...

224. Jesus Wuvs Me and Dat's Dat

John 15:1-5

Sermon

James W. Moore

Rosemary Brown is a highly respected minister in Tennessee. She has been featured a number of times on The Protestant Hour National Radio Broadcast. She tells a story about a little girl in her church named Mickey. Mickey is four years old. She is a precious, adorable, out-going little girl who loves to sing. One Sunday morning, Mickey ran down to the front of the Sanctuary just before the start of the morning worship service and with great excitement, she said: “Miss Rosemary Brown, can I sing a song this ...

225. How to Keep Your Head When Others Are Losing Theirs (Fruit of the Spirit: Peace)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

What do men want most in their homes? A survey was taken a few years ago to determine what men care about most, and what they hope their wives will understand. The results were shocking. Men did not want expensive furniture, well-equipped garages, or a private study in which to work. What they wanted most was tranquility at home. In other words, they wanted peace.1 I am convinced that everyone is looking for peace. Recently I was in Jerusalem, and I took a taxi down to the Old City. The cab driver was a ...

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