Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2226 to 2250 of 2561 results

2226. Where Does God Start?

1 Chronicles 29:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

It is without question the most famous house in all of the world, and the most recognized. It is known as the White House. It serves as the official residence for the President of the United States. It stands on 18 acres along Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC. The interesting thing about the White House is every President in the history of this country has lived there except one, and the one who didn't was George Washington. Here's the interesting fact. It was George Washington who chose the site where ...

2227. Eternity 101: The Final Exam

1 Corinthians 3:5-15

Sermon

James Merritt

Everyone who has ever gone to school, be it high school, college or graduate school knows that there are two words that can turn your stomach into a pretzel, make your mouth as dry as cotton, shoot your blood pressure through the roof and send your sweat glands into apoplexy. Those two words are the words – "final exam". I will never forget the final- final I ever took. It was my oral examination in front of my three supervisory professors in my doctorial program. I've never felt such pressure in my life, ...

2228. What If It Happens To Me? The Fear of Suffering

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

I want to talk to you today about perhaps the most thorny issue confronting the Christian faith. In fact, it is the single biggest obstacle for non-Christians to overcome in order to become believers in Christ. George Barna, who is the George Gallup of the Christian world, conducted a national survey in which he asked this question, "If you could ask God only one question and you knew He would give you an answer, what would you ask?" By far and away the number one response was this one - "Why is there pain ...

2229. Any Given Sunday

Acts 2:41-47

Sermon

James Merritt

A little boy was standing on the side of the road when a man drove by who was lost. He stopped and rolled down his window and said, "Son, how do you get to town?" The little boy said, "I don't know." He said, "Where is Route 20?" The little boy said, "I don't know." He said, "Where does this road go?" The little boy said, "I don't know." The man, now exasperated said, "What is the name of this street that I am on?" The little boy said, "I don't know." The man sighed and said, "Boy, you don't know anything ...

2230. Is God Pleased With Me?

Hebrews 11:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

One of the most exciting events in track and field is the relay races. It takes a combination of speed, timing, precision, and teamwork in order for a relay team to be victorious. Now the suspense is much greater than an individual race because in an individual race the fastest person always wins. In a relay race the fastest team can lose if one thing happens - they fail to pass the baton. Any track coach will tell you that relay races are won or lost not in the sheer speed of the team, but in the transfer ...

2231. Heaven: One Way And One Way Only

John 14:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

There are so many songs about heaven; so many thoughts about heaven. One song just asked the question, "How far is heaven?" The answer is that heaven can be as close as your heart or it can be an eternity away. Contrary to one world view that says that the only heaven there is, is the happiness that we experience here on earth, Jesus Christ definitely believed in a place called heaven. In the very passage that we are looking at today, He told his disciples - "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; ...

2232. Jesus: The Promise Received

Luke 2:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

Jessica was four years old and she had had a perfect Christmas. She got all the presents she wanted. Her cousins were with her to share the holidays. She had eaten her favorite food all day long and as her mother tucked her in for bed she looked up at her at smiled and said, "Mom, I sure hope Mary and Joseph have another baby next year." After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph did go on to have several other babies. However, the first baby born to Mary was not one that they had. It was one that Mary had by ...

2233. The Masterpiece

Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-28

Sermon

James Merritt

From the time God created the first man, God began speaking to all men. For over one thousand years, God had been speaking and revealing Himself to different people at different times and different places. He spoke to Moses as he wrote the first five books of the Bible. He gave psalms to David, proverbs to Solomon and prophecy to the prophets. For over one millennia God had spoken practically nonstop. Then, when the last prophet named, Malachi wrote his last words and put his pen down, God for the first ...

2234. Never Give Up On God

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

James Merritt

A little five-year-old girl was watching her mother in fascination as she was rubbing cold cream on her face. She said, "Mother, why do you do that?" The mother replied, "To make myself beautiful." Well, to the little girl's amazement, in just a minute the mother began removing the cream with a tissue she had just put on. The girl said, "What's the matter, giving up already?" I sometimes believe that God looks at our puny prayer lives and asks the question: "Are you giving up already?" Believe it or not, ...

2235. Stewards of Power

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Most days, the news carries stories that, in some way or other, involve the abuse of power. In recent years it has included financial abuses committed by top executives of major companies and abuse of Iraq detainees by U.S. prison guards, but there's almost always some sort of power abuse in the news. So here's a question for each of you: Do you think of yourself as a powerful person? Before you answer, let me be clear that I am not necessarily talking about having power on the scale of corporate CEOs or ...

2236. Building a Victorious Life

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

J. Wallace Hamilton in his book, What About Tomorrow? tells the story of a wealthy builder who called his top assistant and said, "I am going away for ten months. While I am gone, I want you to oversee the building of my home. I am going to be retiring in a few years. I have these wonderful plans and an excellent lot by the lake and I want you to oversee the building of our home." As he left, the assistant said to himself, "He lives in luxury and has done very little for me. When he retires, what will I ...

2237. The Two Prodigals

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

The relationship between and among siblings is a study both intriguing and challenging. Many of us know the truth here firsthand from the experience of growing up in families. Even if one happens to be an only child, we are brought in touch with brothers and sisters in other families. A great deal is made of the birth order in a family. For example, the oldest son has traditionally been known as the child who is to make his mark in the world and, in some cases, look after parents and those siblings who are ...

2238. Triumphing over Obstacles

2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Rabbi Moshe took a trip to a strange land. He took with him a donkey, a rooster, and a lamp. Since he was a Jew he was refused hospitality in the village inns, so he decided to sleep in the woods. One night he lit his lamp to study the holy books before going to sleep, but a fierce wind came up, knocking over the lamp and breaking it. The rabbi decided to go to sleep saying, "All that God does, he does well." During the night some wild animals came and drove away the rooster and thieves stole the donkey. ...

2239. Be Reconciled — To Christ and Others

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The train clanked and rattled down the tracks one lazy summer afternoon as I traveled from Kyoto to Tokyo. My car was relatively empty — a few housewives with children in tow and a few older folks going to or returning from shopping. At one station the doors opened and suddenly the quiet of the afternoon was shattered by a man who began to bellow violence and incomprehensible curses. The man was big, drunk, and filthy. As he yelled, he swung at a woman carrying a baby. The blow sent the woman into the lap ...

2240. Carrying the Burdens of Others

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

There was a man named Sundar, a convert to Christianity who decided to go to India to be a missionary and bear witness to others about Jesus. One day, late in the afternoon, Sundar was traveling on foot high in the Himalaya Mountains with a Buddhist monk. It was bitterly cold and darkness was rapidly starting to fall. The monk told Sundar they would be in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before nightfall. As they crossed a narrow path above a steep cliff, a cry for help was ...

2241. Sowing and Reaping

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

John Jamison

These words certainly sound like a threat, don't they? You will reap what you sow! So you'd better watch out! Don't think you can mock God and get away with it. God is watching with this big club, and if you get out of line, Whap! It may be sooner or it may be later, but you won't get away with it, that's for sure. One of these days ... Pow! Sorry. I kind of got carried away there. But is sure sounds like that is just what Paul is saying to the Galatians. You will reap what you sow. These were not new ...

2242. Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

I want to talk about heroes today. We all have them. Our heroes are men and women that we look up to. Our heroes are those individuals that inspire us and help us to strive to be our very best. There is a cute story about a Texan who was trying to impress on a Bostonian, the valor of the heroes of the Alamo. After finishing his story about Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and countless others, he says "I'll bet you never had anyone so brave around Boston." "Did you ever hear of Paul Revere?" asked the Bostonian ...

2243. Developing a Glad Attitude

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

It always amazes me when I read about a sports figure who decides to hold out for more money. With salaries that are often in the millions, they feel underpaid unless they are at the next level. I heard one player say to a reporter on SportsCenter, "It's not about the money. It is about respect." A few moments later, the host of the show made the comment, "When they say it isn't about the money, it's always about the money." This attitude of grabbing all you can get is not limited to the world of sports. ...

2244. Humor: We're Getting a Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

Morris calls his son in NY and says, "Benny, I have something to tell you. However, I don't want to discuss it. I'm merely telling you because you're my oldest child, and I thought you ought to know. I've made up my mind, I'm divorcing Mama." The son is shocked, and asks his father to tell him what happened. "I don't want to get into it. My mind is made up." "But Dad, you just can't decide to divorce Mama just like that after 54 years together. What happened?" "It's too painful to talk about it. I only ...

2245. Jumping through Hoops

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a place where the old ways matter. The Amish still ride their buggies up and down the green hills. Most churches have spires, and they frame the landscape with the proclaimed piety of their people. Change comes slowly. Sometimes that's good, especially when we're talking about the basics of the faith. Sometimes that's bad. Like when people refuse to change the little things. A lot of the churches, especially the Plain People like the Amish, Brethren, and Mennonite, ...

2246. The Undoing of Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Several years ago, my wife and I took a vacation where we drove to Mexico City in an old Volkswagen van. Neither of us speak Spanish, but along the primary route down and in Mexico City itself, we had no trouble communicating because many people there spoke English. After spending a few days in that city, we decided to make our exit from Mexico by driving up a highway along the west coast of the country. That route provided us many attractive views of the Pacific Ocean and, as we got farther north, the ...

2247. Song Sung Blue

Lamentations 1:1-6

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

Some records are made to be broken — like Olympic speed skating; Cal Ripkin, Jr.'s, most consecutive baseball game appearances; and North Dakota's longest cow chip toss. Other records we'd prefer to let stand — the world's deadliest disaster, or the most active hurricane season, for instance. Years 2004 and 2005 will probably make the books as among the most dramatic in weather history. Hurricanes pounded the southern coast of the USA. Floods and blizzards battered the Midwest. Earthquakes devastated parts ...

2248. Thanks for Receiving Thanksgiving

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

This wonderful chapter of Deuteronomy speaks to us on this Thanksgiving Day of the forms for the presentation of the abundance of a good harvest. The verses suggest that only those who are in communion with the giver can present the gift with a clean heart. It was the custom at the time of the telling of this story that each year, a basket containing firstfruits of the soil was to be brought to the central sanctuary and presented to God. The Bible tells us that firstfruits for the people described in ...

2249. In the Waiting Room

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed how uncomfortable people are when nothing is going on? The great pianist Rachmaninoff tells of giving a piano recital when he was very young. He began with a Beethoven sonata that had several long rests in it. During one of those long rests, a motherly lady leaned forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said kindly: “Honey, play us something you know.” There is an awkwardness in silence, in waiting. Do you remember your first date? Do you remember those long, painful periods of ...

2250. Good News for Widows

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

King Duncan

I have some good news today for widows. [How many of you fall into that category?] Some of you have been widowed and remarried. Some of you still grieve the loss of your life’s partner. If you are a widow, you can probably use some good news. It’s not easy losing a spouse. Some of you have a void in life that nothing will ever fill. But here’s the good news. Jesus is aware of your situation, and Jesus is aware of your faithfulness to the church. Pastor James Love tells about a friend of his, a young ...

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