Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2351 to 2375 of 4945 results

2351. The Old and the New

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

"CLEANSE OUT THE OLD LEAVEN THAT YOU MAYBE A NEW LUMP" I suppose that the oldest controversy in history is the struggle between the old and the new. Even our Lord got into it one day when he said to the religious leaders: "No one puts a new patch on an old garment" ... and ... "neither is new wine put into old wine skins." So the conflict goes on between the past and the future. In age after age, there are patchers and there are creators - some who try to patch up the thread-bare garment, and some who are ...

2352. Stewards and the Hungry

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

So God called into existence his creation and then, according to Genesis 1:28, he said to us humans, "I’m putting you in charge." That makes us caretakers of all which God has given to us. That includes the Earth and all its natural resources. In the days ahead, we’ll discover that being a caretaker and steward involves a lot more than whether we tithe or not and what we put in the church offering plate. It involves our caring for our bodies, how we use our skills, how we apportion our time, and what we do ...

2353. Jesus' Object Lesson

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago, this bit of gossip was printed in a London newspaper about a famous painter and an equally famous writer: "James McNeil Whistler and Oscar Wilde were seen yesterday at Brighton talking, as usual, about themselves." When Whistler saw that little tidbit of gossip in the newspaper, he clipped it out and sent it to Oscar Wilde with a note that said, "I wish these reporters would be more accurate. If you remember, Oscar, we were talking about me." Oscar Wilde replied in a telegram that said, "It ...

2354. What About the Weeds?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

According to Pastor Charles Yoost there is a well-known saying in rural areas in the late summer. The saying is this: “Make sure you lock your car doors when you go into church.” Now in urban areas we are often told to lock our cars even in church parking lots because something might be stolen while we are worshipping, perhaps even the car itself. But there’s an entirely different reason in rural areas. It’s just that when you come out of worship in rural areas, if you have unwittingly left your car ...

2355. Stranglers Or Wranglers?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago at the University of Wisconsin, there was an undergraduate literary club. The club consisted of male students who had demonstrated outstanding talent in writing. At each meeting one of the students would read aloud a story or essay he had written, and then submit it to the others for criticism. The criticism was brutal. Nothing was held back. The students showed no mercy in dissecting the material line by line. So hateful were the sessions that the members called themselves "The Stranglers ...

2356. He Is Who He Says He Is

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Hubert Humphrey loved meeting people. That made him a much-loved politician. On a fishing trip in northern Minnesota, Hubert and federal judge Miles Lord were in a sporting-goods store. Lord noticed that a tour bus from California had broken down outside. Lord sneaked out to the bus and introduced himself as the mayor. "Folks, I'm sorry to see you're having trouble," he said. "If there's anything we can do for you, just stop by my office. And by the way, there's something you can do for us. We have a ...

2357. A New You or a New Year

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Most of us will not have the unique opportunity of Alfred Nobel who read his own obituary. It happened because of a mistaken identity. Alfred''s brother died, but the news media had confused the name and thought Alfred had died. As he read his own obituary, he was horrified to find that he was referred to as the "dynamite king." He was pictured as someone who had spent his life gathering a great fortune from the manufacture of weapons of destruction. When he invented dynamite, he thought it would be an ...

2358. Things That Make Jesus Angry

John 2:12-25

Sermon

King Duncan

Jesus was a very gentle man. Right? We sing “Fairest Lord Jesus . . .” Or “Gentle Savior Meek and Mild . . .” Jesus was Mr. Nice Guy, the prototype sensitive male. Respectful of women. Loved little children. Kind to his mother. What is he doing, then, in the temple courts during the holiest season of the Jewish year, overturning tables and scattering coins and using a whip, of all things, to drive both people and cattle out of the courtyard? Imagine if someone came into our church and disturbed our service ...

2359. Making Your Days Count

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

In Psalm 90:12, we are counseled to "number our days." If you were to do that, number your days, you would come up with a number somewhere around 27,375. That's assuming you reach 75 years of age--which census statistics tell us is about the average life span now for both men and women--then you will live for 27,375 days. That sounds like a lot, but how quickly they pass. Our basic interest this day is not in counting our days, but in making our days count. And the way we make our days count is to ...

2360. The Best Advice He Could Give

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Humorous newspaper columnist Dave Barry once made an interesting observation: “If there really is a God, who created the entire universe with all its glories,” wrote Barry, “and He decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will not use, as his messenger, a person on cable TV with a bad hairstyle. Barry’s probably right. I certainly would not look to a TV preacher--even one with a good hairstyle--to bring me an accurate depiction of God. But I have to ask what would Dave Barry do with John the Baptist? ...

2361. All This and Heaven Too

Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I saw a Gary Larson “Far Side” cartoon recently which I understood. It was set in a cave-like place—dark, dingy—you could feel the chill of the damp air, just looking at it. A row of people are marching into the cave—all sorts of people—well-dressed, shabbily dressed—men, women. Over against the wall of the cave, the devil stands. You know it’s the devil. He has horns, a tail, and a pitchfork. He is surveying his patrons as they enter, a look of glee on his face. On the wall behind him is a poster. It’s ...

2362. Christmas Every Day

John 1:1-14

Drama

Matthew Powell

Cast Storyteller 1 Storyteller 2 Little Girl Everybody - plays the Christmas fairy, the other children, Mother, Father, the police, and so on. (If the director wants to use more actors, he or she can divide this into two or three roles. However, it works very well if one actor does all the roles and changes voices.) (The actors are standing or seated from stage right to stage left: Storyteller 1, Little Girl, Everybody, and Storyteller 2) Storyteller 1: Once there was a little girl who liked Christmas so ...

2363. Are You Living the Three Advents?

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: The Christian tradition invites us to celebrate 3 advents the 4 weeks of advent. It would help your sermon if you wore some kind of “garment” that signified your ordination or calling. The Word-Made-Flesh . . . Exegesis of Romans 13:11-14 It seems strange that as the church’s calendar enters into its most hopeful, anticipatory season, the first of our four Advent readings turns once again towards that final Day of Judgment and end-time scenarios. Yet the eschatological words from Paul to the Roman ...

2364. Sent to the Lost Sheep

Matthew 10:24-39

Illustration

Samuel Zumwalt

Many years ago there was a country preacher who asked his new little rural congregation to obey the call of Christ Jesus. He gave them all index cards in worship and asked them to write down the names of every family member, every neighbor, and every co-worker they knew that didn't go to church anywhere. He stopped long enough for them to do just that in worship. When they got through writing, they had identified 1200 names. Then the preacher asked them to begin to pray for all the people on their card – ...

2365. Accepting the Unconventional in Life

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time there was a great teacher, a guru, who had many followers. People came from far and wide to listen, learn, and be enlightened by this man. There were one-on-one classes and apprenticeships for those who came to learn. When the students had finished with their lessons, the guru sent them into the world to share their knowledge with others as masters in their own right. Just before each student left, the guru would give each a special gift -- the teacher taught each student the mantra of ...

2366. The Five Habits of Highly Spiritual Leaders

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are five habits of highly spiritual people: They dream, scheme, team, lean and beam. Business leadership guru Steven Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990) has been on the New York Times bestsellers list for over 220 weeks. It has sold more than four million copies. Corporate America has snapped up Covey's books and tapes and lined up to attend his seminars as though he were offering them secret insider-trading information. So what is Covey selling? The ...

2367. John 14:23-29

John 14:23-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As noted in last week's exegesis, John 13:31-14:31 is considered by a majority of scholars to make up the first unit of Jesus' farewell discourse. This lengthy discourse continuing through 16:33 or even 17:26 offers a unique body of material that has no parallel in the synoptic gospels. While last week's exegesis examined the opening statements of this crucial dialogue, this week's text focuses on what most scholars identify as the third and closing section of the first unit of discourse. If John 13:31-38 ...

2368. The Word that Changed the World

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this first Sunday of the New Year. I won’t ask you to raise your hand if you are still keeping the resolutions you made 2 days ago. Andy Simmons, the Senior Editor for Readers Digest says that he keeps all of his New Year’s resolutions, every single one. How does he do it? Quite simple, really. After years of introspection he says he has developed a healthy understanding of what he can and cannot do. Therefore, he keeps his resolutions realistic. For example, a few years ago he resolved to gain ...

2369. Altar Your Gifts

Malachi 3:10, Luke 6:27-42

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Years ago I read a story told about Abe Lincoln and his boys. The boys were both crying and a neighbor asked Abe what the problem was. And Abe answered, "The same problem that is wrong with the whole world. I have three walnuts, and each of my boys wants two." That sort of hits the nail on the head doesn't it? And it kind of makes us all want to squirm. We all want more than we've got. We all want the larger share. No sooner do we get something than we find someone who has one bigger or better or with a ...

2370. A Chance To Dance

Luke 5:17-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

He was born Fredrick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899. His stage and film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one movie musical. He's generally acknowledged to have been the most influential dancer in the history of film and television. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. In 1932, a Hollywood talent agent made this note on his screen test: "Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a little." The screen test was clearly ...

2371. Embracing an Endless Line of Servants

1 Corinthians 3:5-23

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

All the world’s a stage and all men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances. And one man in his time plays many parts, said William Shakespeare. The Apostle Paul put it this way: I planted a seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. On this All Saints Sunday, let us consider this stage of life where many have played their parts upon our lives and have made a dramatic difference. What I want to say to you is really contained in two simple statements. We are recipients; we ...

2372. The Fundamentals of Family Ties

1 Corinthians 13:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

At the tender age of 18, I preached my first sermon on marriage and family. It was entitled “When Home is Heaven.” A few months later I got married and reality struck. After a few courses in psychology and shortly before our first son was born, I preached a sermon on the “Twelve Essential Elements of Effective Parenting.” Our children were normal preacher’s kids so I stopped giving advice on raising children. Now that my sons are grown and my wife is out of town, I thought I would end this series of ...

2373. Rich In His Poverty

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

One of my favorite memories is the summer of the treasure hunt. A number of years ago, when my wife's nephews, Chris and Matt, and our son Joshua were around seven or eight, we decided that the two families needed to take vacation at the same time so the boys could get to know each other. So we all met at the farm where my wife's parents live. It's a great place for kids. Well, there were no video games or cable TV to keep them entertained and the boys were starting to get bored. I was out in great- ...

2374. Fighting Back Against Falling Back

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

You’ve had a couple of weeks to adjust. How you doing . . . fighting back against falling back? Spring forward; fall back. These past couple of weeks your bio-rhythms have been batty, fighting back after “falling back” or maybe even “falling flat.” Retreating one hour in order to get back to “Standard Time” is supposed to make our mid-winter mornings less dark and dismal. Unfortunately, as anyone who lives above the 45th parallel knows, those brighter “a.m.’s” come attached to distinctly darker and longer ...

2375. Wrong!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the church. The symbols of the Pentecost gift are wind and fire. Every birthday is accompanied by a cake over which there is the ritual of wind and fire. But in the course of blowing out candles in your lifetime, have you ever missed one? Ever miscalculate the amount of wind needed to get it 100% right? [To make your sermon more EPIC, you might want to showcase a birthday cake, and blow out some candles. You could even have some fun and include some gag (magic re- ...

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