Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 201 to 225 of 655 results

201. Coping with Fear, Worry, and Anxiety

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

If you do not worry, if you have never worried, if you do not plan to worry, do not read this chapter; it will be a waste of time. But if a dark cloud of worry overshadows your life, read this chapter carefully; the shadow can be dispelled. We live in an age of anxiety. The image is the image of fear - not the image of faith. We respond to the old Scotch litany: "From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties. And things that go bump in the night, Good Lord, deliver us!" It seems that we expect the ...

202. Hugging The Coastline

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

It was a muggy evening in August 1934. The congregation of the Cullowhee Mountain Church of God was listening intently to a sermon delivered by their minister, Albert Teaster. A man walked in and placed a box in front of Teaster. It was not a gift; rather, it was a challenge. Two weeks earlier, Albert Teaster had preached on Mark 16: 15-18. This is the passage that says that believers are able to take up poisonous snakes and not be hurt. This man, in the hopes of mocking Rev. Teaster, had brought a five- ...

203. Did You Know?

1 Timothy 1:15

Sermon

James Merritt

I don't watch a lot of television, but there is one program that I try to watch every day. I would encourage you to watch it. First of all, it is clean, family oriented, and something that all of the family can watch. Secondly, it is extremely educational, and will teach you a lot of things that you otherwise would never know. Thirdly, it is very inspirational. It has great story lines, real live heroes and heroines, and builds character. It is exciting, never boring, has non-stop action, and, at times, is ...

204. Jesus and the Ferris Wheels

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

A four-year-old girl named Jenny was telling her mother about the Bible story she had just heard in her Sunday school class. It concerned the healing of the blind man, one of the times the Pharisees tried to find something they could use against Jesus. When she got to the part where the Pharisees questioned the man who was healed, Jenny gave her take on the story. She said, “Oh boy, those Ferris wheels sure were jealous of Jesus!” (1) Well, Jenny, they weren’t Ferris wheels. They were Pharisees. And yes, ...

205. A Mother's Love

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this Mother’s Day. For Mother’s Day I ran across a list of suggestions for improving communication in the family that I thought you might enjoy: 1. If you have tiny children who won’t give you their attention, simply place a long‑distance telephone call to somebody important, preferably their grandmother. Your toddlers will immediately climb up on your lap and become all ears. 2. If you have older children who avoid you like the plague, buy yourself some expensive bath salts, run a hot tub and ...

206. Peter, Our Folk Hero

Mark 14:27-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some of you may know the name Roy Riegels. Many who don’t know his name will identify him as I tell his story. The year was 1929. The University of California was playing Georgia Tech in the Rose Bowl. Stumpy Thomason, Georgia Tech’s halfback, had the ball and was hit hard by Bennie Lom, so hard that he “coughed up the ball,” - that’s the way the sportswriters would say it. He fumbled and Roy Riegels picked it up, which you could do in college ball in those days. Riegels began to run. But Stumpy Thomason, ...

207. Breaking News: The Middle East

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

We are in a series called “Breaking News.” Pick up your newspaper, go on-line, turn on the TV or the radio, hit a website on the internet and you are likely to hear one of these items talked about frequently if not regularly. There is one region of the world that is guaranteed to be in the news practically every single day. This region is very important to you, and to your family, and to our nation, and to our world primarily for one reason. This region is the number one reason why there will never be a ...

208. Job Considers a Legal Dispute with God

Job 9:1–10:22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Job wants God to declare him righteous, but he cannot envision how to bring this about. Understanding the Text In chapters 9 and 10, Job takes up the challenge made by Bildad in 8:5 to plead with the Almighty. As he contemplates this possibility, Job focuses on his legal status before God. In this speech he begins to work out in his mind how he might approach God with his situation, and how God might respond to him. In his soliloquy in chapter 9, Job turns over in his mind whether he should enter ...

209. The King Who Exalts Himself

Daniel 11:36-45

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation--The Body: We enter now into the body of the last main revelation of the book of Daniel. There has been some progression in the visions of the book from a more general scope, encompassing larger blocks of history, to a more narrow focus on shorter periods of time. So, for example, Daniel 2 spans four and a half centuries by outlining the four human empires of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece, which are swept away by the fifth—the eternal kingdom of God. Aside from the fact that the ...

210. How To Treat Your Enemies

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Did you hear about the man who went into the preaching ministry, worked for seven years, then resigned to go back to medical school and become a doctor? "People," he explained, "don't want spiritual health. They just want to feel good." But after working as a physician for seven years, he again resigned, this time to go back to school. "I'm going to become a lawyer," he explained, "because, in the end, people don't want spiritual health. They don't even want physical health. They just want to get even." I ...

211. Just What The Doctor Ordered

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

A wealthy entrepreneur was consternated to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. "Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. "Why not catch more than you need?" the rich man asked. "What would I do with them?" "You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a bigger boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of ...

212. Passion Sunday

Isaiah 50:1-11, Luke 22:14--23:56, Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 50:4-9a Yahweh's servant faces suffering confident of his help. This pericope constitutes the third of the four Servant Songs in Isaiah. Yahweh's servant hears his voice and is therefore fortified with determination to suffer mental agony in terms of ridicule, false accusations, humiliation, and shame. He suffers confidently because he believes Yahweh will vindicate, help, and pronounce him innocent. Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11 Jesus' humiliation and God's exaltation of him ...

213. The Reins of Power

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

In keeping with the directives of our church calendar, we celebrate Christ the King today. As we do so, two great events are in the background of our thinking. One has to do with the occasion when the Israelites came to David at Hebron and petitioned him to take on the additional responsibility of being their king as well as the king of Judah. The other is the remembrance of Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem, and being acclaimed a king by the excited multitude that had gathered, because they had heard ...

214. God Makes The First Move

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

As I was walking the beautiful Augusta National Golf Course several weeks ago; I noticed .the famous German golfer, Bernard Langer, practicing for the Masters. He is a two-time winner of that prestigious tournament. As I watched him, I thought about his personal testimony which he offers far and wide. Langer says that when he won the Masters in 1985, his priorities were golf, golf, and more golf, then himself, then a little time with his wife, and occasionally a nod toward God. He says that if his golf was ...

215. One Word Changed Everything

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

It is amazing that one word could change all eternity. One word. One simple word. What was that word? We'll come to that in a moment. First we must go to Caesarea Philippi where Jesus is asking his disciples one of the most familiar questions in all the Bible, "Who do people say that the Son of man is?" I doubt that Jesus was really all that interested in what the crowd thought about him. He knew the masses of people are quite fickle and easily led astray. There was a glaring example of this not too long ...

216. Are You Dressed For The Banquet?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Television journalist Hugh Downs and his wife once attended a function in Washington. When the time came to return to New York, they discovered that their flight had been cancelled due to bad weather. Downs immediately called the front desk and was informed that they could catch a five o'clock train, which was leaving in 45 minutes. Mrs. Downs was showering, and to save time, Hugh hurriedly packed all their belongings, called the bell captain and asked that the bags be rushed right over to the station and ...

217. Sleeping Through A Tornado

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Southern Californians were awakened earlier this year by an earthquake. Last fall Midwesterners had to cope with floods. Can you imagine, though, sleeping through a tornado? Bill Bryson says his grandparents pretty much did. One night they were suddenly awakened by a roaring noise like the sound of a thousand chain saws. For a few moments the whole house shook. Pictures fell off the walls. A clock fell off the mantle in the living room. Bill's grandfather got up, plodded over to the window and peered out. ...

218. Waiting for God

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

A little boy had been staying at his grandparents’ house for several days. Now he was waiting for his mom and dad to pick him up. The homesick boy sat in the old swivel rocker all morning, staring and staring out the picture window. From that window, he could see down the long, gravel road. He was watching for that telltale cloud of dust that would signal the approach of the family car. After a couple of hours of this, his grandfather came by and said in mock exasperation, “Doggone it, Bill, you’re gonna ...

219. The Vocation of Leadership: A Prophet Among Them

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The original invitation to deliver this Johannaber Lecture included the general instruction that the lecture theme have something to do with spirituality and/or spiritual formation. The more I thought of that in the context of a “ministers week,” the more certain I was that I wanted to focus on leadership – the vocation of leadership. Pastors are leaders, but they are specifically Christian leaders. So that’s my focus: leadership from a Christian perspective. I begin with three pictures. The first is out ...

220. Don't Sweat the Sin Debt

John 19:30

Sermon

James Merritt

It was a crisp May morning in a small pastorium of a small rural community called Buck Grove, Kentucky. I had been living, eating, sleeping, and breathing with a document called a dissertation. I had read from hundreds of books, articles, and journals in English, French, and German. Hardly a day went by for three years that I did not work on this thesis. It was midnight on that May morning, and I wasn't just tired, I was, as they used to say in the country, "all tuckered out." I started to put my pen down ...

221. Just Know Him In His Visible Return

Revelation 1:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to share with you some headlines that actually ran on the front page of American newspapers. Again, as Rush Limbaugh would say I am not making these up: "Something went wrong in Jet crash, expert says" "Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers" "Plane too close to ground crash probe told" "Minors refuse to work after death" "If strike isn't settled quickly, it may last a while" "Cold wave linked to temperatures" "Couple slain: Police suspect Homicide" "New study of obesity looks for larger test ...

222. The Lion King

Revelation 5:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a Gypsy in England who stopped a preacher one day; not knowing he was a preacher, she said she would tell his future for $500. The preacher said, "You mean you can tell me what I will be doing a year from now if I give you $500?" The fortune-telling Gypsy said, "I can tell you exactly what you will be doing a year from now." The preacher then asked, "You mean you can tell me what I'll be doing this time tomorrow?" The Gypsy said, "Absolutely." The pastor then said, "If you will tell me what I was ...

223. A Puzzling Parable with a Sharp Point

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

A young boy used to describe foods like spinach by saying, "I hate it." His wise mother responded, "Don't say you hate it. Just say, ‘I'm not very fond of it.' " She also taught her son that when he really liked some food to say, "I'm really fond of this." The boy said, he was "really fond" of cookies, candy, and cake. His mother told him, "Too many cookies, too much candy, and cake can be bad for you. You can be very fond of the wrong things." Something like that is going on underneath the story of the ...

224. The Hopes and Dreams of God

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A little boy in a church Christmas program, only had one line to remember. He was the Angel of the Lord and his line was: "Behold, I bring you good tidings." After the rehearsal, he asked his mother what "tidings" meant. She told him that it meant "news". When the program was put on, the boy got a case of stage fright and couldn't remember his line. then all of a sudden the idea came back and he blurted out. "Hey! Boy, have I got news for you!" Let me read you a portion of that "Good News," a portion of ...

225. Aroma of Christ Church

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Have you ever been assaulted by a smell? Walking down the street, creeping out of a vent in the sidewalk; strolling along the mid-way of a carnival or fair, wafting its way from a kiosk — sometimes an odor will “hit you” and almost send you reeling. Sometimes that odor will even thrust your psyche back into another time and place. Maybe it’s the sweet smell of caramel apples. Maybe it’s the pungent punch of garlic and onion. Maybe it’s moldy and murky smell of a basement. Maybe it’s the seaweedy smell of ...

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