Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2401 to 2425 of 3852 results

John 10:22-42

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... winter.” Perhaps because of the chilly temperatures, Jesus was walking not in the open courtyard, but under the shelter of the “portico of Solomon,” a portion of the temple so-named because it was believed to be a remnant from Solomon’s original temple construction. John 10:1-18 takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles, some three months before the Dedication festival. As Jesus walks, his audience still the same, he is confronted by “the Jews.” The initial question in this encounter is not ...

2402. Will 2012 Be the End of the World?

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... those who keep looking for signs. “An evil and adulterous generation,” he said, “looks for a sign.” (Mt. 16:4) That hasn’t kept a slew of authors from cranking out novels based on this fear-inducing theme. Personally, I would rather go to the original, authentic account of the apocalypse. It is found at the end of our Bible. The book of Revelation has its own special effects. And some of it is frightening. It is written in heavy symbolism. The church was being persecuted when Revelation was being ...

2403. The Rewards of Loving

Illustration

Keith Wagner

... his actions ever brought him any negative consequences. Finally, the day came when his aged mother died. At the funeral, the same mysterious old man appeared and offered the young man one wish. The young man took him up on his offer and asked that his mother's original wish for him be changed. Rather than being loved by everyone he met, the young man asked the old wizard to give him the power to love everyone he met. And, the story goes, from that day forward he knew happiness such as no one on this earth ...

2404. Easter Heart Burn

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... encounter the Risen Christ wherever we find ourselves and in whatever situation we find ourselves. C. I saw the Risen Christ in the profound faith and depth of commitment in the lives of three couples in Ireland. All three of those couples came originally from South Africa. Their jobs brought them to Ireland. And God brought them together through the common experience of their faith, the Bray Methodist Church and the Walk to Emmaus. These three couples each had a sense that God was calling them to something ...

2405. Come To the Water

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... it's really you. The Prospector said you'd come" Jessie then says, "Holy mother of Abraham Lincoln, the Prospector will want to meet you." Jessie and the horse, whose name happens to be Bullseye, bring out the Prospector, in mint condition, still in his original box. Woody is confused by all of this but can't understand how they know his name and asks "Hey, how do you know my name?" Jessie says, "Everyone knows your name, Woody." Woody's even more confused than ever. And the Prospector says, "Why, you ...

2406. The Hopes and Dreams of God

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the value of the crown wasn't the fact that it had been handed down from St. Stephen but had been consecrated by the pope. So papal envoy Cardinal Gentils consecrated a new bejewelled crown and Charles was crowned a second time. Finally, keepers of the original crown, the crown of St. Stephen, released it and Charles was crowned a third time on August 20, 1310. Like Anjou, Jesus was actually crowned three times: First, with the crown of thorns at Golgotha. Second, while seated at the right hand of God after ...

2407. A Gratitude Adjustment

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

We've got a little girl living with us, right now. She's a foreign exchange student whose family is originally from South America but she grew up in Arlington. She lives with us now because her parents no longer want her. They brought her to Mary's class one day and when the Christmas holidays came, told Mary to keep her, they didn't want her any more. Talk about ...

2408. Revelation 21:1-6

Revelation 22:1-6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... sea was no more." Unlike the Genesis creation event, where a systematic progression of the world’s development is detailed, this new heaven and earth begin with the capstone of divine creation — "the holy city, the new Jerusalem." The new Jerusalem originates with God and descends from heaven. The city comes down bringing God’s presence permanently into the world. As John struggles to communicate the beauty and glory of this new Jerusalem he combines two familiar images, "the holy city" and the "bride ...

2409. John 5:1-9

John 5:1-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... artistic focus reflects a different vision of what is going on around us. It might not be a “pretty” picture. It might not be something we want to visually record at all. But the artist’s eye is an eye that catches truths in an original prism and reveals territories that a less-honed eye might miss. An “artist” has his or her “eye peeled” towards a different perspective. When Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee, or strolled within the courtyard of the Temple, or wandered into a small town ...

2410. The Real Thirst Quencher

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... the truth, the life . . .” according to John 14:6. Jesus is the one who offers us living water. He alone quenches our thirst for God. In the rolling hills of central Ohio there is a farmhouse built around an ever-flowing spring of pure water. The original owners, welcoming the discovery of the spring as a good omen, first enclosed it in a little spring room and then literally built the house around it. For nearly half a century now, day and night, that steady stream of clear water has been flowing out of ...

2411. Circuit Breakers

John 17:20-26

Illustration

Keith Wagner

... in Northern California. It triggered a chain reaction of events that darkened the lights for millions of people in six Western states. The blackout occurred at rush hour which caused hundreds of traffic jams in all the major cities. The trouble originated in Round Mountain, California substation, about one hundred miles south of the Oregon border. A circuit breaker tripped and circuits all over the West automatically shut down to protect themselves. One little circuit breaker, tripped in a remote rural area ...

2412. Chosen by God

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... overly impressed with all that. Now I share all this to tell you that when Jerry called my Mom and Dad to tell them of our decision to accept this call to Christ church, his response was spontaneous: “Well, I’m glad he is getting back to his original call.” No questions! No discussion about what this meant to my career, or what it meant economically, or what the children thought about it, just his expression of the heart of it all, the call of God in my life. IN I’ve gotten dozens of telephone calls ...

2413. Freedom to Set Free

Galatians 4:21-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... be tied to the yoke of slavery again” (Gal. 5:1 NEB). Though we know very little about them, it helps us to remember that Paul wrote this word to the Galatians. They were pagan tribes settled on the high table lands of Asia Minor of the same origin as the Celts of ancient Gaul. “Formerly when you did not acknowledge God,” Paul said, “you were the slaves of beings which in their nature are no gods”(Gal. 4:8 NEB). One imagines that, like many pagans of that day, the Galatians offered sacrifices to ...

2414. Dealing with Stress Creatively

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

James W. Moore

... , loneliness and other painful symptoms which are attributed mainly to stress. (2) Four out of five adult family members see a need for less stress in their daily lives. (3) Approximately half of all diseases can be linked to stress-related origins, including ulcers, colitis, bronchial asthma, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer. (4) Unmanaged stress is a leading factor in homicides, suicides, child abuse, spouse abuse and other aggravated assaults. (5) The problem of stress is taking a tremendous ...

2415. On the Road with Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

... and come down and let’s have lunch together.” Zacchaeus felt the warmth, the love, the acceptance, the forgiveness… and he was so touched in that moment that his whole life was changed. It was turned completely around. By the way… the original Hebrew word for “repent” was “Hashivenu”… and it literally meant “turn around.” It was the word they used in the military for the command “About Face!” That’s what happened to Zacchaeus that day… he welcomed Jesus into his life and he ...

2416. A Gallery of Mirrors

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... person indeed. I remember buying a Gremlin one time. Do you know what a Gremlin is? The dictionary says that a gremlin is “a mischievous, imaginary creature, jokingly said to cause mechanical trouble in airplanes; also, any similar gnome-like troublemaker.” The origin of that imaginary character is unknown. I wish I had known that definition before I bought a Gremlin. The Gremlin I bought was an American Motors economy car. Now, if we’ve got any American Motors folks here, forgive me because this is ...

2417. Dying to Live

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... for the Son of Man to be glorified.” That term, “the Son of Man”, had become a key-term in the Messianic thought of Judaism. As they looked forward to a deliverer, it was the “Son of Man” that they were looking for. The term had its origin in the Book of Daniel. In Daniel 7:1-8, the writer describes the world powers which had held sway — the Assyrians, Meads, and Persians. These powers were so cruel and savage, so sadistic and merciless that they could only be described with the imagery of wild ...

2418. The Burning Bush

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... conversion, but a conversion nonetheless. In one scene, Dr. Chumley says, “Fly-specks. I’ve been spending my life among fly-specks while miracles have been leaning on lampposts on 18th and Fairfax.” Eighteenth and Fairfax is where Elwood had originally met Harvey, the rabbit. Then later, after further talking with Elwood, the doctor bursts out in a magnificent crescendo of joy, exclaiming: “To hell with decency I’ve got to have that rabbit.” The dull-minded, unimaginative, dead-spiritual will ...

2419. Lessons from Rephidim - Being the Lord's Intercessor

Exodus 17:8-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... do…we can do what God calls us to do we can do what God has designed as a channel through which He accomplishes what he wishes in the world. We can pray. So we are talking about the work of intercession and that brings us to this: original dedication. And that brings us to the other big truth from Rephidim: Being interdependent with the Lord’s people. Isn’t it a marvelous picture? Aaron and Hur bringing a stone for Moses to sit upon as he grew weary standing there with his lifted rod interceding for ...

2420. Clear to the Better End - Parent Burnout

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... In one of his writings, he pointed out that the term we so often use, “Clear to the Bitter End,” and that’s the way we sometimes want to talk about difficult situations in our life – “Clear to the Bitter End,” Well that term was slightly different in its original form, When the captain of a sailing vessel wanted to keep his ship from being crashed against the rocks in a narrow strait in the midst of a storm, he would drop the anchor of the ship to the wind and run the cables out to the “bitter ...

2421. Lean Thine Arm on the Windowsill of Heaven (Growing Old Gracefully)

Psalm 90:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and try to remember what it is I needed? Or should I continue up and look around for something that needs bringing down? Unable to decide, I resort to sitting on the landing, only to discover that after three minutes, I’ve completely forgotten whether I was originally upstairs going down…or downstairs going up! Well, I’m not sure that’s the way I would want to define growing old, but it does make a suggestion, and that is that older people who enjoy a sense of humor get along far better than those ...

2422. For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... one another.” The Greek word, aphormi, translated here as “opportunity” is sometimes translated and literally means “a place for jumping off.” It’s interesting that Paul alone among the New Testament writers used this word and it was one of his favorites. Originally the word designated a point from which to launch an attack, hence used in military parlance to weapon a base of operation. Get Paul’s picture in mind. He knew that if freedom was interpreted merely as the removal of restraint, sin ...

2423. Characteristics of the Church

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to call us to worship — the ringing of the bell also, reminds us of the certainty of the faith, the confidence, the clarity of conviction. Whatever else Faulkner meant, one thing is certain most churches have strayed far from the dynamics of that original fellowship brought to the Spirit at Pentecost. That’s the reason we’re spending time during this month of September, as we begin our Fall ministry here at Christ Church, looking at that church that came to birth at Pentecost. We began last Sunday ...

2424. Fish or Cut Bait

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... lesson today is about some fishermen. It is the familiar story of Jesus’ call of four of his disciples – all fishermen. Mark gives the specific setting for the call of one other disciple – Matthew the tax collector. Then in Chapter 3 he names the original 12 whom Jesus calls, but gives no details about their calling. We focus today on the call of the first four disciples because there are challenging lessons for us here. I’ve titled the sermon, “Fish or Cut Bait.” Are you familiar with the ...

2425. Judas, A Person Like Us

Mark 14:43-52

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , or grandfather, but the names go beyond that, back to those disciples of Jesus. But Judas! The name is not in our repertoire of treasured names for our sons. Yet, the name was common among the Jews. There are several Judas’ in the Bible. The name originally meant “Praise to the Lord.” But not anymore. It has become an accused name, always linked with what Judas Iscariot did. It is synonymous with traitor. It’s a label of contempt. Today and the next two Sundays we are going to look at a person ...

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