Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2276 to 2300 of 4972 results

2276. What Would Jesus Say About Materialism?

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... divisive concern of the family.’ But he tells a story and he ends with a probing question: “Who will get what you meant for yourself?” (verse 20). Who will get what you meant for yourself? Think about that. This prompts two questions from me. What are we leaving for future generations? There is a bumper sticker that you see from time to time that says, “I’m spending my children’s inheritance.” If it is a matter of money then go ahead and spend it, but if it is a matter of livelihood, we are ...

2277. What Would Jesus Say About Marriage?

Matthew 19:3-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... night the wife died. We took her to the funeral home and immediately took him to the hospital. On the following Saturday I had her funeral and the Saturday after that I had his funeral. These two people, who had been together for sixty years, now happened to leave this world as one. That is not the norm or the way it usually happens. Death and divorce force people to live single lives. It is simply the circumstance of the moment. Jesus says some people are single by the call of God. What would Jesus have ...

2278. What Would Jesus Say About Modern Churches?

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... about lost rings; I know He cares about lost people. When religious persons criticized Jesus for spending too much time with tax collectors and sinners, he gave them a trilogy of parables describing God's compassion for the lost. One sheep is lost out of a hundred; the good shepherd leaves the 99 and searches for the one. A coin is misplaced and a house cleaning happens until the coin is found. A lost boy comes home and a father throws a party that is out of this world to welcome him back. When Jesus was ...

2279. The High Price of Short Cuts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the cause of peace. Alfred Nobel moved from success to significance. All of us have within our bodies a fatal disease. We have a terminal illness called death. As a current country song puts it, “It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you. It’s what you leave behind you when you go.” Who shall deliver us from our foolish ways? Who will save us from ourselves? Where is the life you have lost in living? Why not a life that really matters? The advice of Jesus is this: Don’t ...

2280. The Door of Celebration

Luke 19:36-44

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... one stone on another (Matthew 19:43). In the year 70 A.D., an army led by the Roman General Titus invaded Jerusalem, razing the city, destroying its glorious temple, brutalizing its rebellious people, leaving not one stone upon another. Jesus weeps over what is to be. When the prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of Jesus he said, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; and by his stripes we ...

2281. Finding the Courage to Believe

John 20:24-31

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to make me well. We get on jets believing pilots know how to fly the plane. Even though I was stuck on an elevator for over two hours once, I still board elevators believing they will take me up or down to my desired destination. Beliefs—you can't leave home without them. When it comes to belief in God as revealed to us through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I ask you on this Easter Sunday, where are you? According to a 2003 Harris poll: 90% of American adults believe in God 84% of ...

2282. Singing With the Saints of Glory

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... nature of birds to sing. It is just inside of them. They don’t even have to have an audience because it is their nature to sing praises to God. Come to think of it, all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres. —Trees clap their leaves in praise to God —Waves beat on the shore endlessly —Even bullfrogs chug their tunes at night. The hills are alive with the sound of music. God put a song in the heart of every creature on earth. When you think about it, it’s astounding. Here as John ...

2283. Can the Rich Be Saved?

Mark 10:17-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... their job, pack up their family, go off to seminary, strike out for Costa Rica as friends of mine did. I find myself saying something different to them. “Maybe you could volunteer to teach junior high Sunday school or do some mission work at 61st Avenue?” Radical religion leaves me reeling. “Sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me.” What is this all? Life is not a game of horse shoes. When it comes to life, ALMOST won’t work. Sometimes it just needs to be ALL. Those ...

2284. Checking Out the Scene

John 1:35-42

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... live by. It is Isaiah 28:16 “He that believes shall not make haste.” We don’t need more time; we just need more faith in eternity. 2. LOOK Pay attention; be aware of what’s happening around you. Since God does not send us e-mails or leave us detailed operating instructions for our lives, we need to learn to look for the clues that help us discern His will. We want the big revelations, the mighty miracles, - move the mountains, make the lame walk, feed the multitude with a poor boy’s lunch. - Do it ...

2285. The Greatest Story Ever Told

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... God. He held nothing back. He unloaded enough burdens to crush any three men. And when he finally finished, Nate had tears in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry’ he whispered to God. ‘Please help me.’” “As quickly as the fever had left his body, he felt the baggage leave his soul. With one gentle brush of the hand, his slate had been wiped clean. He breathed a massive sigh of relief, but his pulse was racing.” What can we do with the grace of God? We can accept it and live into it; we can experience it ...

2286. Come to the Party

Luke 14:15-23

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... so empty as I have felt these last few months. Illness takes from us every ounce of physical, spiritual, and emotional strength we possess. Empty is a frightening word. It is a hunger that gnaws at the soul. It is an estrangement that leaves us far from home. It is a tiredness that leaves us lifeless. When I have felt most lifeless, I have rolled up in blankets made by your loving hands and prayed: “Fill my cup Lord, I lift it up Lord. Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of Heaven, feed me ...

2287. The Door of Prayer

1 Timothy 2:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... is not always easy to believe. Often we pray “God help our unbelief." Pain and suffering continue to be problems near and far. Questions leave us with clinched fists. We cling to our hurts. We still haven't gotten over the girl that rejected us or parents who ... is to open our hands. It is opening our hands to God's promises. We are not alone. We live in God's world. He will not leave us nor forsake us. When you pass through the waters, he will be with you. The rivers will not sweep over you. He is the Lord ...

2288. Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-56

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... master Elisha makes to Elijah as the latter is on the way to his ascension (2 Kings 2:1-6). In all three of these encounters, Luke leaves the final outcome out of his text. The request or invitation (v.59) to follow is set forth. Whether or not the would-be disciple joins ... embrace the kingdom of God. Luke’s example makes yet another difference between Jesus and Elijah. When Elisha had begged leave to say goodbye to his family before going off with the prophet, Elijah allowed him to say his final familial ...

2289. The Power to Rise Again

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... I get where I'm going, There'll be only happy tears. I will shed the sins and struggles I've carried all these years. And I'll leave my heart wide open, I will love and have no fear. When I get where I'm going, Don't cry for me down here. So whatever ... the end He will stand upon the earth, and I will see Him with my own eyes." It's Easter. I'm going to ask that no one leave this Sanctuary now. The incredible power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is available to you. I'm going to ask you to claim it. I' ...

2290. Worship

Hebrews 10:19-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... in the end, they are all back in that little church singing, “Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!" I was doubled up in bed the other night feeling sorry for myself with a digestive track that was raw from top to bottom leaving me far too sick to even think of food essential for my recovery. In my pain, I lamented to Sandy, “This is hell." She thought for a moment and in her kind way replied, “No, this is not hell; going through this without God and friends—that would ...

2291. The Road of Peace

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... chain of interlocking dependencies that lead to violence and war." Prayer is coming to rest in God. Prayer is stripping ourselves of everything and being totally free to belong to God. Prayer is the road to peace that the world cannot give and the world cannot take away. So I leave you with these words of Jesus: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."

2292. The Forgiving Christ

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... our high calling. Are you going to live to give or live to get? People who die with the most toys don't win, they leave it all behind like everyone else. According to Jesus the questions on the final exam are going to be: I was hungry—did you feed ... suffering is not a result of sin. There is another principal that is true, all sin results in suffering. Sin beats us, defeats us, leaves us believing we are no better than we sometimes are. Sin destroys our self-worth. It dims the image of God that lives deep ...

2293. From Envy to Gratitude

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... that grace is amazing, we would say that it's unfair. As somebody said to me just the other day, “You mean I have been good all my life for nothing?" Let's be honest, the unmerited, unearned, grace of the Lord does not leave good church-going, right-living, honest folk amazed. It leaves us “green with envy." May the Lord have mercy! II. Envy runs in the workplace. I don't have to tell you envy runs rampant in the workplace. Its grumbling can be heard among the employees. I know, you try to keep salaries ...

2294. By Enduring

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... III. TO ENDURE IS TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST. Lest the more activists among us write Peter off as irrelevant and too passive about the ills of society, he trumps his argument by noting the suffering of Christ. Verse 21: “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps." Dietrich Bonhoeffer says: “We are not Christ, but if we want to be Christian, we must have some share in Christ's large-heartedness by acting with responsibility when the hour of danger comes, and ...

2295. Brightening the Corner Where We Are

1 John 1:5-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Dad, we have a problem,' I know its going to be a bad day." We have a problem. We err and stray from God's ways like lost sheep. We follow too much the devices and desires of our hearts. We do those things we ought not to do and leave undone the things that need to be done. The Bible calls that problem sin. Notice the second two-letter word in every one of these conditional statements. “If we." Most evangelists would preach this text as if you had missed the way. But not the evangelist John. He preached ...

2296. Be Silent

Luke 1:11-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to have him speak up and remove all doubt. So Zechariah “stop your babbling about how, when, why, are you sure, I don't understand." Go home and be quiet. You can't even explain it to Elizabeth. So don't even try. Sometimes silence is stunning. It leaves us speechless. It is a glorious day when we discover that some things just can't be explained. So quit trying. Sometimes we are silent because we are scared to death. Silence can be a source of fear. The sounds of silence scare us. Can you picture this ...

2297. The Joyful Provider

John 2:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... things, we eat too much, we drink too much, we drive too fast. We are uneasy. We are restless. We are empty. Empty leaves us feeling separated from God, unable to cope, confused about priorities and generally exhausted. We can’t keep going on empty. Sooner or ... the 14th chapter you'll run into a phrase that Jesus says to his troubled disciples on the eve of his departure. He says Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you, not as the world gives give I to you. Let not your hearts be troubled neither let ...

2298. Giving Our Gratitude

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... what I thought," replied the caller. “I think I'll just give it to the church. I'm sure they can use it." God is asking for our first fruits, not our leftovers. Jesus didn't give us the good commandment, he gave us the Great Commandment. Jesus didn't leave us the good commission, he left us the Great Commission. The need to make disciples of all nations is just as urgent today as it ever was. We are called to greatness. The fields are ripe for harvest. II. STRENGTH FOR OUR LABOR, THE LORD WILL PROVIDE. In ...

2299. The Prayer Life of Highly Effective Christians

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... Let me be able to get out of this iron lung just for a little while.” And this, too, came to pass. After a while he prayed again, “Heavenly Father, I’m so grateful for all Your favors. Can I ask just one more? Let me be able to leave this bed just for an hour, get into a wheelchair, and see the world that lies outside this hospital room.” This request, too, was granted. Then James McCormick asked to be given strength enough in his arms to move the wheelchair himself. And after that, he asked for the ...

2300. Ruining the Christmas Spirit

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... It takes time to feel comfortable in our own house again. Even if Jesus is trying to make a point with this scene, the image he uses leaves us with an uneasy feeling in the pit of our stomach. These stories seem like the last thing we need to hear right as we are ... . Lonely people are lonelier at Christmas. If we have had a death in the family, Christmas makes the loss stand out. All of that leaves little time for Christmas cheer. What we often try to do at Christmas is to hang on as best we can. We fill the ...

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