Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2301 to 2325 of 3852 results

John 8:12

Sermon

James Merritt

... which are bigger than Carlsbad Caverns. They are north of YellowstoneNational Park. You go down the stairs and when you get to the bottom, the guide will turn the lights off and it becomes totally pitch black. He will then tell you the story of one of the original explorers of those caverns who was walking along the top of that mountain when he fell down through a hole, deep down several hundred feet into this cavern and was stuck in total darkness for over a week. Every day he cried out, "Help Me!" He kept ...

2302. The Climb

Joshua 14:6-15

Sermon

James Merritt

A Ph.D. - a Doctor of Philosophy degree is the highest degree awarded in academics. Three to four years of seminars, literacy required in three to five different languages, and three years of continuous research on a dissertation that must be totally original in its subject, meaning that no one has ever written on it before. This dissertation must then be presented in written form and passed by three professors with three different fields of expertise all of which you must study and include in your ...

2303. God Where Are You? - The Problem of Evil

Genesis 3:1-6, Judges 6:13

Sermon

James Merritt

... of children around the world, you cannot deny the reality of evil. On the other hand, we saw last week how science itself has proved with certainty that the world is not eternal. The universe had a beginning. The only feasible option to explain the origin of the universe is a transcendent creator. DNA itself is a compelling example of the incredible design that permeates all of life and tells us that behind all of this there is a God. But that, in turn, raises even more questions. Vincent Bugliosi, spent ...

2304. Jesus: The Promise Received

Luke 2:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... viewed the whole business as a lot of very enthralling hocus-pocus. There is a guy...nailed to a cross and dripping blood and everyone is blaming themselves for that man's torment, but I said to myself, ‘Forget it. I had no hands in that evil. I had no originals in. There is no blood of any sacred martyr on my hands. I pass on all of this.'" [2] If you pass on God, God will pass on you. You can never be saved until you admit you need salvation. Until you admit you need salvation and until you receive ...

2305. The Masterpiece

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

Sermon

James Merritt

... all the vacation time you could to bone up on who you are and who came before you. Genealogies aren't boring – boring is somebody else's genealogy. I spent some money to study my genealogy and believe it or not, my name is an English name, whose original spelling was Marriott. That is right – just like the hotel chain! But, do you know what? They still won't let me stay for free. You can learn a lot about yourself by studying genealogy. Do you know that genealogy can help determine whether or not you ...

2306. Broken Pieces

Matthew 1:3, 5, 6

Sermon

James Merritt

... of the Son of God, but these women? Have you ever heard of the phrase "black sheep?" Black sheep is a derogatory term that refers to someone in a family that either doesn't live up to family expectations or in someway has shamed the family. The term originated from the fact that the occasional black sheep will be born into a herd of white sheep and black sheep were considered undesirable because their wool cannot be dyed. White is the preferred color for wool because it can be dyed and it is easier to sell ...

2307. RSVP—By Invitation Only

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... going on in church on Sunday morning around this country than in any other time of the week. There's a reason for that. Galatians 2:9 talks about "the right hand of fellowship." You might be interested to know that the custom of handshaking originated thousands of years ago. Most men carried their weapons in their right hands, and when a man extended his empty right hand to clasp another man's hand, it meant he was coming in peace. Over the centuries the act of clasping right hands, which prevents ...

2308. How to Make Heaven Happy

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... that he might see. We not only need the convicting power of the Spirit, we need the cleansing power of the Spirit. When the Spirit of God convicts us and brings us to Jesus Christ, dirt is swept away so that the coin can be restore to its original purpose and condition. That is exactly why the Lord Jesus is looking for us, so He can bring us out of darkness into light, and out of dirtiness into love. But the important point to remember is this: Both the sheep and the silver were found. Verse 5 says ...

2309. Praising Our Lord and Spreading the News

Illustration

Harold H. Lentz

... who was responsible for his ability. The pages of his musical compositions could well have been used to satisfy a personal pride as his name appeared on them. But he was determined to give glory to God for his accomplishments. So he always concluded his original compositions with the three letters INS. They stood for the Latin words meaning "In the name of Christ." At other times Bach began his score with the letters JJ, meaning "Jesus help," and then ended his composition with the letters SDG for the Latin ...

2310. The Dark Side Revealed

Numbers 32:23

Sermon

James Merritt

... when it first hit the screens in 1977, and to this day, this saga is still one of the best sellers of all times. The final movie, Revenge of the Sith, released two weeks ago to a new all-time box office record of $158M over 5 days. Yet, the original movie would have scored over $1.8B if it had released in this day and time. Let's face it, nothing will draw people to the movies quicker than a great good vs. evil flick. In Episode III, we find out exactly how Anakin Skywalker succumbs to temptations of evil ...

2311. In God We Trust

Proverbs 3:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

... your bicycle and you can ask God for another one?" I could give you many reasons why you ought to trust God, but let me just give this one to think about. When we trust God, God guides us. God doesn't make Xerox copies or clones. He only makes originals. Whether you are a plumber or a preacher, an electrician or an evangelist, a mechanic or a missionary, God has a plan for you. God wants to guide every step of your life. The passage we are going to look at today is one of the greatest passages and one ...

2312. Experiencing God

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... for our present. It illumines our understanding of God and creation and motivates us to make sensitive moral judgments. It "confirms the biblical message for our present." That's the purpose of religious experience. Not to sustain emotion, but to connect us to faith. Even the original Pentecost disciples had to find the faith for the long haul. What we are saying is that when the feelings fade, we still need to be glad for the experience, for it was that, which for many of us, first opened the door of faith ...

2313. When Nothing Is Sacred

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... denote that the concept or thing in question is separated from common use and dedicated for the worship of God. The sacred thing is secured against violation by reverence and a sense of right. The opposite word from sacred is "profane," which, in its original sense, meant not something vulgar, but "common" or "for every day use." It was a synonym for "secular." Profane is from the Latin word profanus, which means "in front of the temple" or "outside the holy place." Thus, to profane something was to use ...

2314. The God of War and Peace

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... by a "just war," and that the committee's deletion of the hymn implied a dishonoring "of the memories of those who died for God and country."1 In recalling the battle over this hymn, I found myself wondering if the committee would have made the original decision to drop it if they had been working in the immediate years following the events of 9/11 rather than a few years before. I say that because those events caused many people to rethink their position on warfare. And events after 9/11 in Afghanistan ...

2315. A Hearing Heart

1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... that request to say simply that he asked for wisdom, and the expression "the wisdom of Solomon" has become a catch phrase in our common speech. That's a fair way to shorthand Solomon's request, but it doesn't quite capture all that the original Hebrew of this passage conveys. What's been translated in English as "an understanding mind" is, in Hebrew, literally "a hearing heart," which implies not so much the cleverness of clear thought as the empathy of deeper understanding. And the other part of what ...

2316. April Love

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... each other's attributes, including physical characteristics. What's more, the book does not talk about God at all. The book is not difficult reading, but it can be puzzling because we cannot always tell which person is speaking when. In the original Hebrew, the gender of certain pronouns helps, but in moving the words to English, not everything transfers. Nonetheless, it is almost unimportant to identify the speakers because no matter which one is talking, the words are the language of passionate love. (If ...

2317. Are We Askew, Too?

Mark 9:38-41

Illustration

King Duncan

... the pencil mark. Each rafter was one pencil mark wider than the one before. After a while, this can add up to quite a difference. By lunch time they looked at the barn and discovered it was going up at a very strange angle because they had deviated from the original standard. Do you not sense that our barn is a little askew today, too?

2318. Tolerance on the Bridge

Mark 9:38-41

Illustration

... I. Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "I'm Protestant," "Well so am I. Are you Episcopal or Baptist?" "I'm Baptist." "Wow... I am too. Are you Southern Baptist or American Baptist?" I'm Southern Baptist." "Me too, that's amazing! Are you original Southern Baptist or Southern Baptist reformed?" "I'm Southern Baptist reformed." "I can't believe it, so am I. But tell me are you Reformed Southern Baptist of the reformation of 1879, or reformed Southern Baptist of the Reformation of 1915?" He answered, "Reformed ...

2319. First Things First

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... say anything about loving Christ more than all the others. He simply whispered gently: "Lord, you know that I love you." And three times, Jesus said to Simon: "Feed my sheep ... tend my lambs ... feed my sheep." It was a reissuing of the original invitation to follow Christ and it climaxed the reconciliation of these two. However, right after this high moment of "getting back together," Simon looked over at John, "the beloved disciple," and proceeded to indulge in speculation about what the future held for ...

2320. Bethlehem: Where Extremes Meet

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... ? He simply does not have the capacity to comprehend that which is so utterly different from himself. Yet, the gap between human beings and God is even wider and more uncrossable than that between an ant and a man, for God is the uncreated one, the ultimate originator of all things, unlike us not only in complexity but also as a painter is unlike a painting. How, then, could a human being ever know that unutterable otherness called God? The truth is, on our own, we never could; we do not have the capacities ...

2321. Building a Victorious Life

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... have to live for a long time in the houses we have built for ourselves. That is part of what Jesus is saying. Jesus is also saying that the durability of our houses will depend upon their foundations. The Tower of Pisa was begun in 1173. Its original constructor worked twelve and one-half years, completed three and one-half stories and then it began to lean — so much so, that he deserted the project, and eighty years later another builder came. He thought he could correct the defect and he built the tiers ...

2322. Testing Time

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... world — as the Jewish Messiah — the kingdoms all belong to him because he is God's Son? One could certainly make a case for that. Does he need to do something spectacular, especially of a physical nature, to illustrate control over the laws the Father had originally set in place? Well, that would help his case in the eyes of a lot of searching human beings. Regardless of the persistent poignancy of our Lord's time of rough and tough testing, the experience comes down to you and me. What have we learned ...

2323. History Hangs in the Balance

Luke 23:1-49

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... of essential ministry. As usual with them, plus you and me, salvation history is being made and we refuse to recognize it. How true of our spiritual pilgrimages today! The blessed Lord works in us and through us but we find fault with what is transpiring. Original sins just never seem to go away. His detractors and enemies jeered but he called for forgiveness. Not only did they shout "crucify him," they sought to hurt and embarrass him at every opportunity. Just to take him out and kill him was not nearly ...

2324. A Good-bye Topping All Others

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... say. The only perfection you and I can claim is most certainly found in our willingness to repent and receive forgiveness. There is cause to pause and give thanks. Deeply ingrained in the fall of humankind is the penetrating reality that we are not what we were originally intended to be. However we tell the story or create the narrative, the fact of our being much less than our Creator intended is omnipresent. In his undying love, Christ preaches and teaches this to all of us. He gives us a peek at what we ...

2325. Call to Oneness

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... be happy! Rule out the heavenly existence thoroughly imbued with love and what do you have? The key to our blissfulness is found in love, isn't it? This eternal virtue brings with it a solidarity. Every thing and every one becomes as they were intended. We were originally made for heavenly perfection and we are not to back away in stubborn resignation. When we tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love, we are also telling the story of the Father's love. It will be our theme in glory. We will be living ...

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