Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 2451 to 2475 of 4933 results

2451. Who's the Boss?

1 John 4:18

Children's Sermon

Object: a badge that reads "The Boss." Boys and girls, if you're like me there are probably some things that frighten you sometimes. Can we think of some of these things? Let me tell you some things that sometimes frighten me. (Tell them a few things on your list. Then invite them to share some they can think of.) It's only natural to be afraid sometimes. God gave us the ability to be afraid sometimes so that we can protect ourselves. If we were not afraid of things we learn can hurt us, we would keep ...

2452. How Many Times?

Matthew 18:21-35

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: There is no limit to forgiveness Props-Suggested: A portable marker board (or writing pad), a marker, and eraser. Lesson: Good morning. Hold up the board. I want to do a little math this morning but first let me ask you a question. What does “I forgive you” mean? (response) What does it mean when I say, “I forgive you?” (response) I’ve been wondering this week how many times I am so suppose to forgive someone. As you count up to seven write each number along the top of the board. The ...

2453. Having a Life in His Name

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Ed Jansen

In Florence, Italy, a young artist labored long and hard over a marble statue of an angel. When finished, he was so proud of what he had done, he asked Michelangelo to examine it. The young artist stood along side as Michelangelo examined his work. No master looked over the work more carefully - it was perfect in every detail. The young artist waited, but his heart broke when Michelangelo said, "It lacks only one thing," and then walked away. For days the artist could neither eat nor sleep. He decided to ...

2454. The Christian Life The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Leader: Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Congregation: Father, may we put on the full armor which is more than just reading Scripture, more than praying occassionally. The full armor of God is a way of life that changes even our attitudes and actions. Leader: Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. Congregation: Let the truth about your ...

2455. Courage And Hope

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: I will proclaim your greatness, O God; I will thank you forever and ever. People: Every day I will thank you. Leader: What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next. People: They will proclaim your mighty acts. Leader: They will speak of your glory and majesty, People: and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds. Collect Lord God Almighty, we come together to give you thanks and praise as well as to hear your Word that we might gain a better understanding of your ...

2456. Filtered Lives

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

Exegetical Aim: Christians are to live holy lives and to love one another. Props: A cup of water with several small clean pebbles, a coffee filter, and an empty cup. Lesson: How many of you get thirsty? (response) What do you like to drink when you get thirsty? (response) When I get thirsty, I like to drink a cup of water, but I've got a problem. My is dirty. Show the dirty water. I guess I can't drink it, can I? (response) Do you want to drink it? (response) No? Maybe there is something I can do to make ...

2457. No Judgment

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Stephen Brown

It was F.B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.

2458. I Had No Idea

Acts 3:12-19

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship One: You who are gathered, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have done anything? All: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus. Collect Who is that? Lord of life, is that you? The misshapen stone, beaten and battered, holding up your church from your cornerstone place. That's a lot of weight, Lord. Can I help you, can I carry the cross, can I bear the weight ...

2459. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Psalm 118:19-20, Isaiah 50:4-9a

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship One: Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. All: This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. (Psalm 118:19-20) Collect Lord, you knew. If you knew, how could you do? Yet you did. The disciples hid. Hear our prayer. Had we been there, what would we have done? Our prayer as one, that we should bide, stay at your side, from the waving of the palms, past our fears and our qualms, to the nailing of your palms. ...

2460. Tranquility in the Midst of Turmoil

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

William L. Self

Two artists were commissioned to paint their conception of peace. A panel of distinguished judges would determine which artist had best captured the idea. The winner would get a rich commission. And after they had been painting for a long time, the judges assembled to view their work. The first artist unveiled his painting, and there was a beautiful, magnificent pastoral scene, with a farmer coming in after a hard day in the fields. His wife was cooking, his children were playing around the hearth, and all ...

2461. 2 Kings 5:1-14

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's Hebrew text parades a fascinating cast of characters through a moving and fast-moving tale of miraculous healing and transformation. The story is one of many "Elisha stories" which collectively demonstrate just how different the prophetic ministry of Elisha was from that of his better-known predecessor Elijah. Despite the power this healing story demonstrates, nowhere in this tale does Elisha behave as a traditional Israelite prophet. There is no great prophetic speech, no formulaic discourse; ...

2462. Being Christian

Mark 1:29-34

Illustration

King Duncan

Gorman Williams spent most of his life as a missionary to India. In 1945 he purchased tickets for a long-awaited vacation back to the United States. He had counted down the months and days until he would be home. A few days before he was to leave he heard about some Jews who had escaped the wrath of the Nazis. They had traveled by boat to India seeking refuge. Since it was a time of global war, the Indian government denied their request to immigrate. They were granted permission to stay for a short time in ...

2463. The Work of the Students

Lk 24:36-49

Illustration

King Duncan

The painter Rubens is recognized even today as a genius. His work has been so influential that we sometimes talk about the "Rubinesque" figure. Rubens was also quite a businessman. Unlike many other immortal artists, Rubens was fortunate enough to taste the fruits of success while he was still alive. He was highly commissioned for his work. In fact he was so highly compensated that he opened what one writer called a painting factory. He hired a school of pupils, and started an assembly line! He made the ...

2464. The Wayward Bus

Lk 3:7-18; Mt 3:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

In John Steinbeck's story "The Wayward Bus" a dilapidated old bus takes a cross country shortcut on its journey to Los Angeles, and gets stuck in the mud. While the drivers go for assistance, the passengers take refuge in a cave. It is acurious company of people and it is obvious that the author is attempting to get across the point that these people are lost spiritually as well as literally. As they enter into this cave, the author calls the reader's attention to the fact that as they enter they must pass ...

2465. Comfort in Our Distress

Luke 7:11-17

Illustration

King Duncan

In one of his books writer and philosopher Loren Eiseley tells about the time when he was only a young lad and his father died. His father died a slow death in great bodily torture. Eisley's mother was deaf. Young Loren alone heard the sounds of his father's agony. This was before the wide application of painkilling drugs. Eiseley said a curious thing happened to him during that very stress filled time. He became so tense that he could no longer bear the ticking of the alarm clock in his own bedroom. He ...

2466. The Call to Confession

Luke 23:33-43

Illustration

King Duncan

My goal today isn't to make you feel guilty. Some pastors do that. They flog their congregations with guilt and then present the Gospel as a form of catharsis. It's like the story of a Roman Catholic priest who had been at his church for years and was beloved by his parishioners except for what most of them considered one failing. He was a great believer in the sacrament of confession, and he never passed up an opportunity to remind his flock of that fact. No matter what Sunday it was, Christmas, Easter or ...

We have learned to soar through the air like birds, to swim through the seas like fish, to soar through space like comets. Now it is high time we learned to walk the earth as the children of our God.

William Sloane Coffin

2468. Get Credit For Trying

Illustration

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt gave this speech before the Hamilton Club in Chicago, 1899: It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the ...

2469. Who Knocked Down Jericho's Walls

Illustration

Staff

The new minister was asked to teach a boys' class in the absence of the regular teacher. He decided to see what they knew, so he asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho. All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled by their ignorance. At the next deacons' meeting he told about the experience. "Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho," he lamented. The group was silent until finally one seasoned veteran of disputes spoke up. "Preacher, this appears to be ...

2470. Joy Trumps Pain

John 16:21

Illustration

Let us suppose that God's resources are so much beyond what we can imagine that he can produce a situation in which we can honestly say, "I see now that even the butchery of six million Jews doesn't matter. This is why he didn't do what I would have done if I had had the power to strike dead every Nazi in order to prevent it." This line of thought does not solve the problem of evil. But it points in the direction of a solution. The idea goes back to Jesus. "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because ...

2471. Where Is It Found?

Illustration

In answer to the question, "Where is happiness?" Clarence Macartney said: It's not found in pleasure. Lord Byron lived such a life if anyone did. He wrote, "The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone." Happiness is not found in money. Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said, "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth." It's not found in position and fame. Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote, "Youth is a mistake, manhood a ...

2472. Taking the Penalty

Illustration

As professional golfer Ray Floyd was getting ready to tap in a routine 9-inch putt, he saw the ball move ever so slightly. According to the rule book, if the ball moves in this way the golfer must take a penalty stroke. Yet consider the situation. Floyd was among the leaders in a tournament offering a top prize of $108,000. To acknowledge that the ball had moved could mean he would lose his chance for big money. Writer David Holahan describes as follows what others might have done: "The athlete ducks his ...

2473. Never Enough

Illustration

Charles Sell

In his men's seminar, David Simmons, a former cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, tells about his childhood home. His father, a military man, was extremely demanding, rarely saying a kind word, always pushing him with harsh criticism to do better. The father had decided that he would never permit his son to feel any satisfaction from his accomplishments, reminding him there were always new goals ahead. When Dave was a little boy, his dad gave him a bicycle, unassembled, with the command that he put it ...

2474. Record Endurance

Illustration

Staff

When she was young, Florence Chadwick wanted desperately to be a great speed swimmer. At the age of six she persuaded her parents to enter her in a 50-yard race. She came in last, so she practiced every day for the new year. Again she entered and lost. When she was an 11-year old, Florence won attention and praise for completing the San Diego Bay endurance swim 6 miles in all. But she still wanted to be a speed swimmer. At 14 she tried for the national backstroke championship but came in second to the ...

2475. Hate the Sin - Love the Man

Illustration

C.S. Lewis

For a long time I used to think this a silly, straw-splitting distinction: how could you hate what a man did and not hate the man? But years later it occurred to me that there was one man to whom I had been doing this all my life namely myself. . . In fact, the very reason why I hated the things was that I loved the man. Just because I loved myself, I was sorry to find that I was the sort of man who did those things. Consequently Christianity does not want us to reduce by one atom the hatred we feel for ...

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Showing 2451 to 2475 of 4933 results

2451. Who's the Boss?

1 John 4:18

Children's Sermon

2452. How Many Times?

Matthew 18:21-35

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

2453. Having a Life in His Name

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Ed Jansen

2454. The Christian Life The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Bulletin Aid

2455. Courage And Hope

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

2456. Filtered Lives

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

2457. No Judgment

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Stephen Brown

2458. I Had No Idea

Acts 3:12-19

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

2459. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Psalm 118:19-20, Isaiah 50:4-9a

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

2460. Tranquility in the Midst of Turmoil

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

William L. Self

2461. 2 Kings 5:1-14

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

2462. Being Christian

Mark 1:29-34

Illustration

King Duncan

2463. The Work of the Students

Lk 24:36-49

Illustration

King Duncan

2464. The Wayward Bus

Lk 3:7-18; Mt 3:1-12

Illustration

Brett Blair

2465. Comfort in Our Distress

Luke 7:11-17

Illustration

King Duncan

2466. The Call to Confession

Luke 23:33-43

Illustration

King Duncan

We have learned to soar through the air like birds, to swim through the seas like fish, to soar through space like comets. Now it is high time we learned to walk the earth as the children of our God.

William Sloane Coffin

2468. Get Credit For Trying

Illustration

Theodore Roosevelt

2469. Who Knocked Down Jericho's Walls

Illustration

Staff

2470. Joy Trumps Pain

John 16:21

Illustration

2471. Where Is It Found?

Illustration

2472. Taking the Penalty

Illustration

2473. Never Enough

Illustration

Charles Sell

2474. Record Endurance

Illustration

Staff

2475. Hate the Sin - Love the Man

Illustration

C.S. Lewis

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