Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2301 to 2325 of 5000 results

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... that may involve and sometimes you fall. But when you do, you discover anew the grace of God. And you pick yourself up and you continue your life journey stronger than you were before. Henry Ward Beecher, one of the most powerful preachers in American history, gave this illustration in one of his sermons: A lobster, when left high and dry among the rocks, isn’t smart enough or does not have enough initiative to make his way back to the sea. Instead, he waits for the sea to come to him. If the sea does not ...

2302. Excellence in Giving

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich . . .” In response to such love, how can you not excel in your giving? 1. Rik Danielson in Edward K. Rowell, 1001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2008, p. 376). 2. http://www.beliefnet.com/newsletter/step1.aspx. 3. Dr. Daniel Lioy, International Bible Lesson Commentary (Colorado Springs, CO:David C. Cook, 2008), p. 381.

2303. Penguins in Mission

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... as Christ loves us; it means that weekly we gather and lift our hearts in praise to God. We are chosen, not for privilege, but for purpose for serving God. 1. http://www.tellicochurch.org/Sermons/050918.html 2. http://satirewire.com/news/march02/chosen.shtml. 3. Leadership magazine, “To Illustrate,” date unknown. 4. http://bama.ua.edu/~upsa/minister/sermons/2000/sermon091000.html.

2304. Transfiguration

Exodus 34:29-35, Psalm 99:1-9, Luke 9:28-43, 2 Corinthians 3:12--4:2

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalm 99 First Lesson—The face of Moses is radiant with the glory of God from personal encounters to receive God’s word to Israel. Exodus 34:29-35 Second Lesson—Paul uses the veil over the glowing face of Moses as an illustration of failure by many to fully understand the law as leading to faith in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Gospel—On the Mount of Transfiguration the inner circle of disciples see a vision of Moses and Elijah with Jesus. Luke 9:28-36 (37-43) CALL TO WORSHIP ...

2305. Tear Down This Wall!

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... .net/JerryLocke/LockeStandAloneSeries20.htm 3. Cited by Dr. Mickey Anders, http://www.mickeyanders.com/Sermons/Sermon20030720.html. 4. Ray C. Stedman, http://www.pbc.org/files/messages/5262/3013.html. 5. Lynn McAdam in Edward K. Rowell, 1001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2008), p. 213. 6. Larry Bethune, http://ubcaustin.org/sermons/19990411.htm. 7. The Rev. Miles Brandon, http://www.utepiscopal.org/Sermons/sermon2.htm 8. The Very Rev. Sherry Crompton ...

2306. Proper 7

Matthew 10:1-42, Psalm 86:1-17, Genesis 21:8-21, Romans 6:1-14

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter - Psalms 86:1-10, 16-17 First Lesson - That human rejection does not mean divine rejection is illustrated by the story of Hagar and her son. Genesis 21:8-21 Second Lesson - Paul writes of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Romans 6:1-11 Gospel - Jesus instructs the disciples of their place in the scheme of things, the limits of their dignity but ...

2307. When You're Overwhelmed

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... Colorado Springs: Cook Communications, 2005), p. 64. 2. Bobeht Basleh, Editor, Oddly Enough (London: MO: Publications Ltd., 2004). 3. Zig Ziglar, Better Than Good (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006), p. 36. 4. Teddi’s Humor, teddi@alohabroadband.com. 5. Boston Globe, http://net.bible.org/illustration.php?topic=975. 6. David Jeremiah, Slaying The Giants In Your Life (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2001), p. 67. 7. Tim Stafford, Unhappy Secrets of the Christian Life. Cited in Ibid., pp. 101-102.

2308. God Is Like a...

John 6:35, 41-51

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

To illustrate the idea of being drawn to God, I've thought of the image of bugs being drawn to a light. However, there are some problems with that picture. That instinct can lead to the bug's death when they are drawn to a "zapper" or get too close to a ...

2309. Did You Know...That You Can Know God?

1 John 2:3-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Serving God is not the same thing as obeying God. Service is doing something for God. Obedience is doing the right thing for God. There is a difference between obedience and service. Did you know that you can serve God without obeying God? Let me give you this illustration. Suppose God has called you into the ministry, but you refuse to go into the ministry. Perhaps you agree to lead a small group. Perhaps you agree to help park cars or to work in the nursery. Maybe you even agree to go on a mission trip ...

2310. Got Milk?

1 Peter 2:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... Bible. There is no need for you to open this book. You will be like a blind man trying to read fine print in a dark house. You can be mad at your wife and read the Wall Street Journal. You can cheat on your expense account and enjoy Sports Illustrated. You can lie, gossip and play the hypocrite and be fascinated by National Geographic, but if there is sin in your life, you can not rightly read and study the Bible. Let me turn this around. When you do read the Bible, God not only tells you what to do ...

2311. What Does God Really Want?

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... offering for the needy saints in Jerusalem, and he was asking the church at Corinth to contribute. But what Paul was trying to explain to the church at Corinth really was grace, and he used a group of Christians at a place called Macedonia to illustrate what God really wants. I. God Wants Us To Know His Grace "Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:" (v.1) There was something special about these Macedonian Christians; they knew the grace of God. They ...

2312. I’m At the End of My Rope

2 Kings 4:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... the difference between trash and treasure. That woman did not realize what she had in that jar of oil. She had underrated it and overlooked it. She thought the jar was incidental, when in reality it was fundamental. I want you to remember something, and it is illustrated by a story I read about a man who was wandering lost in the desert. As he stumbled over a sand dune, trying to stagger his way back to civilization, he was greeted by a man selling ties. Well the dehydrated man begged for water, but the ...

2313. When I’m In Trouble

2 Timothy 4:16-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... rescued. Let's look deeper. The word, "delivered" literally means to "take from the presence of." There are two ways to be rescued from danger. You can either have the danger be taken away from you or you can be taken away from the danger. Let me give you an illustration. You are a Christian, but you are sick. You may even have what the doctors' call a terminal illness. We all know that God can heal. In fact, all healing comes from God. What you may not realize is that God can heal in one of two ways. He ...

2314. Any Given Sunday

Acts 2:41-47

Sermon

James Merritt

... ." 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 do you?" The little boy said, "I know I am not lost!" That story does illustrate a great truth. If you don't know where you are, then you really cannot know how to get to where you need to be. Today, I want to help you identify where you are in your own spiritual commitment and your own level of spiritual maturity. You are going ...

2315. Fish Bites

Acts 17:32-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." (Luke 8: 11-15, NASB) What Jesus taught in Luke 8, we see illustrated in Acts 17. Unchurched people - people who have no relationship with God, will hear and receive the Good News of Jesus Christ with different responses and different levels of receptivity. We are going to use what Jesus taught and what we see from what happened with ...

2316. Being a Woman of God

Acts 16:11-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... my mouth until Teresa said, "Oh, that's definitely true. Just look at us. You married me and I married you." But truly it is extremely difficult for men to understand women and relate to women, because again the tremendous differences there are between us. Let me give you this illustration: A man is a person who, if a woman says, "Never mind, I'll do it myself," lets her. A woman is a person who, if she says to a man, "Never mind, I'll do it myself," and he lets her, she gets mad. A man is a person ...

2317. Close Up - Wives: Sweet Surrender

Colossians 3:18

Sermon

James Merritt

... wives? I am going to let every husband here in on something that if you have been married over one day you already know and that is your wife is a finely-tuned, meticulously calibrated machine that needs to be handled with great care. This is illustrated by something I recently came across on the internet called, "A Bad Upgrade." Listen to this - Dear Technical Support, Last year I upgraded Girlfriend 1.0 to Wife 1.0 and noticed that the new program began unexpected child processing that took up a lot of ...

2318. What Do I Do When My Prayers Go Unanswered?

Deuteronomy 3:1-11, 23-26

Sermon

James Merritt

... is better than yours. Years ago with I was kid growing up, Ford used to have a slogan that went like this, "Ford Has A Better Idea!" When it comes to your plan for your life, trust me - God has a better idea! I can give you a personal illustration. When I got out of seminary I went to pastor in a small town in Mississippi. I had an absolutely fabulous ministry there. God blessed in a tremendous way, but my heart always wanted to come back to Georgia. I was perfectly satisfied and totally surrendered to the ...

2319. Workaholics Anonymous

Genesis 2:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... and catch his breath. Even then Adam needed a day to turn off pager, his cell phone, and not check his email. Think about this, God could have created the world in six nano-seconds, but he took six days and then rested on the seventh. He did it to illustrate the fact that we need to stop so we can be refreshed. The Sabbath is given for us to use every week. The Sabbath is not meant to be used once a month or once a quarter or once a year, but once a week. There is still one group ...

2320. Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Genesis 5:21-24, Hebrews 11:5

Sermon

James Merritt

... facts I learned early on was that the oldest man who ever lived was Methuselah, who lived 969 years. It is not a coincidence that Methuselah was given the privilege of being the oldest man who ever lived. Do you know why he lived longer than anyone? Because, he illustrated just how patient and long-suffering God is. God gave the world almost 1000 years to repent and get right with Him before He sent the flood. So often, I have to admit I wonder why doesn't Jesus go ahead and come back? Why doesn't He return ...

2321. The Last Breath – The Fear of Death

Hebrews 9:27-28

Sermon

James Merritt

... be freed from the fear of death, we must look at death totally and truthfully. I. You Have An Appointment With Death You Must Accept In a calendar you can't see, on a date you don't know, you have an appointment with death. That statement perfectly illustrates the truth of Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed for men to die once." (Hebrews 9:27, NKJV) The word "appointed" literally means "to be laid up" or "laid aside". It could be translated, "reserved". When you make a "reservation" at a hotel that means ...

2322. Is God Pleased With Me?

Hebrews 11:1-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... word substance literally means "a legal guarantee." In other words, faith is the legal guarantee that what God says is going to happen is going to happen. Faith does not say, "One day I'm going to get it." Faith says, "I already have it." Let me give you this illustration. As a Christian, I am not waiting to get into heaven to believe that heaven is there. By faith I know I am going to heaven as if I were already there. The text goes on to say that faith is, "The evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1b ...

2323. The Dark Side Confronted

Hebrews 12:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... efforts could not do what this one snake has done. I conclude that the only thing left that will do this family any good is more rattlesnakes, so God sent them bigger and better rattlesnakes in Jesus name." Quite frankly that is a little bit ludicrous, but it does illustrate a point. Whether it is a snake or a scorpion, God will use anything to discipline His true children and to bring them back to where they need to be in their spiritual walk. II. God Convicts Us As We Enter The Dark Side I have shown you ...

2324. What Child Is This?

Isaiah 9:6-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... lead us to safety. His name is Jesus. What child is this? That child is God's gift given to you by special delivery, wrapped up in love, Son of Man, Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. [1] Great Stories, January-March, 1996. [2] Illustrations from Biblical Preaching, p. 230.

2325. Are You A Satisfied Customer?

John 6:35-42

Sermon

James Merritt

... if you go to the Middle East and you are a guest of someone, whether it is a Jew or an Arab, the first thing they will serve you in their home is bread. As you are about to see in a moment, Jesus went far beyond physical bread to illustrate what He is to human life. Keep in mind the background of the story. In the first part of this chapter, Jesus had just fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread. He and the disciples have left the crowds and had gone across the Sea of Galilee ...

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