Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 201 to 225 of 1858 results

201. But God...

Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?" Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw ...

202. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the sun worshipers pursued their devotions. The only conclusion which the Martian felt could be legitimately drawn was that this poor group was obviously not happy. And so ended one extra-terrestrial student's adventure. One is forced to wonder: was the Martian wildly wrong or wildly right? We would have to admit that his descriptions of Sunday activities are easily recognized. To be sure, Americans do think of Sunday as a special day, a holiday, a "holy" day, a day set apart from the rest of the week. But ...

203. Super Sunday

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... with which the sun worshipers pursued their devotions. The only conclusion which the Martian felt could be legitimately drawn was that this poor group was NOT happy. And so ended one extra-terrestrial student's adventure. One is forced to wonder: was the Martian wildly wrong or wildly right? We would have to admit that his descriptions of Sunday activities are easily recognized. To be sure, Americans do think of Sunday as a special day, a holiday, a "holy" day, a day set apart from the rest of the week. But ...

204. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... God choose HIM? Think through the centuries of church history to a time not quite 500 years after Christ, to the young man in the north of Africa who led such a wild, riotous life, that even after he decided to become a Christian he refused baptism because there was still some sinning he planned to do, and he wanted to go wild with at least a relatively clear conscience. He made a prayer once in reference to his raucous womanizing; he said, "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet." His name was Augustine, and ...

205. Tough Love

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... us a much longer rope; God allows us much greater freedom. But if that were all there were to God's love, it would not be love at all. Because if God really cares about us, if God really loves us, God would no more allow us to run completely wild than any good earthly parent would. As both Old and New Testament attest, "the Lord disciplines those whom he loves." ( Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6). Tough Love! If you would like to see a brief summary of how God's tough love is worked out in human history, consider ...

206. Are You the One?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... him. He had powerful words for the rapt audiences of the need for repentance from sin and right living. He certainly refused to mince words - he was abrasive, insulting, almost mean at times. And that is not to mention the wild hair and weird clothes. And what is with the diet of locusts and wild honey? Still, all sorts of people had come to hear his preaching - rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief. His celebrity had become such that even the hoity-toity religious types made their way out to the desert to ...

207. Stay in the Boat!

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... my daughter's track meet. On the fourth and final lap of the boys' mile run everyone was clumped together except for the two front-runners who were leading the pack by a few yards. As the runners came toward the finish line, the crowd began to cheer wildly. Just then I happened to look about three quarters of a lap back, and there, hopelessly last, was a short portly kid who never should have WALKED a mile, let alone run one. His entire body was wobbling towards the finish line and his bright red face was ...

208. The Ultimate Question

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... 's portrayal, the press responds, "A vibrant multi-dimensional Messiah: a man haunted by visions of atrocities still to come (the Crusades, the burning of Joan of Arc, the world wars), yet one who loves to laugh, eat, drink, and dance in the streets with wild abandon."(9) Then the question is asked of you, the ultimate question. "Who do YOU say that I am?" Proleptic? Salvific? Eschatological? Or anything like that? I doubt it. No, my prayer is that, with Simon Peter, you would simply say with every fibre of ...

209. When Evil Wins

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord." And he was. Unusual, to say the least. A man of the wilderness, dressed in homespun - camels' hair with a wide leather belt around his waist. A diet of locusts and wild honey. Hair and beard uncut, somewhat unkempt. Fierce, burning eyes. His message was a call to repentance and righteous living before God. His was the voice that the prophet Isaiah said would be crying in the wilderness, saying "Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight ...

210. Surprise!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ever known. Surprise! Think through the centuries of church history to a time not quite 500 years after Christ, to the young man in the north of Africa who led such a wild, riotous life, that even after he decided to become a Christian he refused baptism because there was still some sinning he planned to do, and he wanted to go wild with at least a relatively clear conscience. He made a prayer once in reference to his raucous womanizing; he said, "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet." His name was Augustine ...

211. Ready or Not, Here He Comes!

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... if, riding atop the last float of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, there was not jolly old Saint Nick, but a wild-eyed John the Baptist dressed in a glorified burlap sack? Even the perpetually perky Katie Couric would wince as she offers parade commentary ... the doors are open - John is not talking to me." Maybe. Maybe not. The truth is that more folks than we care to admit sow their wild oats for six days a week then on the seventh day come in to church to pray for a crop failure. John's message is that ...

212. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... even more, my prayer is that the church will be in YOU every day. Too many Christians are perceived by the world as sowing their wild oats for six days of the week, then coming in on the seventh to pray for a crop failure. Not here, I trust. I ... a lady-killer. He once prayed, "Lord, make me chaste...but not yet." Augustine was a Jacob. John Newton was a Jacob. Newton was so wild in his youth that England was not big enough to contain him. He became a slave trader, and eventually dipped so low that he became ...

213. Pentecostal Power

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... passed by the cup, it would simply roll to the opposite side without moving from the center. When another car from the other direction came by, the force of the wind would blow the cup to the other side. When two cars passed at the same time the cup went wild. It did not know which way to go. (1) Many of us are like that paper cup--we are blown by each prevailing wind. Wouldn’t it be great to be so focused, so determined, that you made each moment of every day focused, meaningful, powerful? I want to show ...

214. Building a World

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... time, dogsleds were the only form of transportation that could carry people the many miles between towns. But even the best dogsled team would require at least two weeks to make the delivery. In two weeks, much of the town of Nome, Alaska, could be dead. Wild Bill Shannon, a trapper from the city of Nenana, suggested a better way to get the medicine there. One dogsled team couldn’t make the whole trip without having to stop and rest. But if each town between Nenana and Nome would prepare a fresh dogsled ...

215. Lips And Hearts

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... is the bench quite attractive, but it bears a passage from Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel ORLANDO. The inscription chiseled atop the 4-foot surface of the bench comes from Chapter 5 of this novel. It reads like this: "There are wild birds' feathers - the owls, the nightjars. I shall dream wild dreams. I should lie at peace here with only the sky above." "Someone who liked to think put this here," said one woman, who read the inscription aloud to her husband. It is estimated that the bench weighs 600 pounds and ...

216. How Shall We Prepare Ourselves For Christmas

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... here is that God's word often comes from the balcony! It surprises us . . . disturbs us . . . embarrasses us . . . coming from places we least expect it. How like our God." (1) John the Baptist was one of those balcony kind of people. Dressed in wild animal skins, eating locusts and wild honey, John the Baptist would stand out in any congregation. Yet this was the man God chose to announce the coming of the Messiah. "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ˜Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths ...

217. The Greatness Of John The Baptist

John 1:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Probably you or I would not have been drawn to the preaching of John the Baptist. A man clothed in camel's hair and wild animal's skins and subsisting on a diet of locusts and wild honey out in the wilderness would not seem to have much to say about the way we live our lives. His appearance was eccentric. His preaching was dreadfully morbid "all about sin and repentance" calling people snakes and warning them of the wrath that was to come. We like our ...

218. Save The Tokens For Uncle Sam

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... , the master wit, once protested about the taxes on his house. He was told that by living there he used the protection and services of the government even while he slept. Wilde is supposed to have answered, "But I sleep so badly." A prominent citizen of Washington, D. C. once invited President John F. Kennedy to play golf when Kennedy was President. On the first hole Kennedy floated a nice shot about three feet from the pin. He walked up to the ...

219. True Love

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... beast. The workers at the institution had written her off as hopeless. An elderly nurse believed there was hope for the child, however. She felt she could communicate love and hope to this wild little creature. The nurse daily visited the child whom they called Little Annie, but for a long time Little Annie gave no indication she was aware of her presence. The elderly nurse persisted and repeatedly brought some cookies and left them in her room. Soon the doctors in the institution ...

220. In Defense Of Ceremony

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... you know God means for you to be, then you stand in need of this means of grace. Charles L. Allen once told about a wild duck. This duck could fly high and far, but one day he landed in a barnyard. There life was less exciting but easier. The duck ... live with the tame ducks and gradually he forgot how to fly. He became fat and lazy. In the spring and fall, however, as the wild ducks flew overhead, something stirred inside him, but he could not rise to join them. A poem about this duck ends with these lines: He ...

221. Roll Call

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... life trusting nothing other than God. SAINTS ARE ALSO PERSONS WHO SUBMIT THEIR WILL TO THE WILL OF GOD. "Blessed are the meek," said Jesus, "for they will inherit the earth." In the original Greek "meek" meant literally the "tamed" or the "broken" (as a wild horse is broken). A wild horse is of no use to anyone, but a "meek" or "gentled" horse can carry children. Meekness is a matter of submission to God's will. Submission is something some of us are not very good at. You may be familiar with the amusing ...

222. May Christ Be Born In You

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... are greeted by an unlikely figure, John the Baptist. Something just doesn't seem right. It seems that we are in the wrong place. Or at the very least John the Baptist has picked the wrong Sunday to be our guest speaker. His hair is wild and unkempt. His clothes smell of wild animals. His diet consists of honey-covered bugs. And his message reflects a fire burning in his soul, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Somehow John the Baptist doesn't fit the Christmas we've come to know and to ...

223. Aren't You Glad?

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Anne-Rose Reeves

... year, but I've got 15 new lambs in my herd as of last night. You want me to bring one out on Sunday for the parade? Oh, and while I've got you on the phone..." But Pastor Jones wasn't listening. A wild and crazy idea had just taken hold of him ” a really wild and crazy idea. No, it was just too much! But then again maybe not... And without telling Bill that the Sunday school was not having their parade through the parking lot Pastor Jones told him to bring a lamb to the church office before the ...

224. Standing On Your Head For God

2 Samuel 6:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... . David began to dance around the Ark. He simply could not contain himself. Like Lyman Woodard standing on his head in that New England belfrey, David burst loose with a display of reckless exhuberance. It was truly a time of celebration. David's dancing was so wild and exuberant that he embarrassed his wife. But he was dancing for the Lord, and he was dancing because he had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem according to his vision and according to God's will. This brings us to an intrinsic value ...

225. The Three-fold Journey

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

... . So the duck broke formation and joined the tame ducks in the barnyard. He ate the corn, liked it, and decided to stay a few days. The corn was free and life was easy, so he stayed longer. Spring eventually came. And one day, high overhead, the duck heard his wild mates calling as they flew by on their way back north. Their call reminded him of his true life, but when he tried to rejoin them, he could no longer fly. He had settled for ease and comfort. He had given in to a life of collecting corn off of ...

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