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Philippians 4:4

Sermon

King Duncan

Rev. M. L. Lindvall received a letter in a Christmas card. It was a personal letter ”not one of those which relates every event of the past year. The letter writer told how his church had held a Christmas pageant for 47 years with the same director. Perfection was her goal ”nothing less. For years the church’s pageant ran like clockwork. Perfect lines, perfect pacing, perfect everything. Then one ...

2. A Birthday Celebration

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

A mother took her three-year-old daughter to church for the first time. The church was having a special candlelight service. The church lights were lowered; then the choir came down the aisle, carrying lighted candles. All was quiet until this three-year-old started to sing in a loud voice, "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you . . ." (1) It was only a candlelight service, but it seemed li...

3. A Bridge Between Two Worlds

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

If you ever read stories or watch movies about spies and espionage, then you know that spies live in constant tension of being found out. Because spies are hiding their true identity and purpose, even the tiniest false move could blow their cover and put them in danger. That kind of premise guarantees that a spy story or movie will be filled with tension and excitement. One of the most famous tru...

4. A Call for Repentance - Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

A young man, active in his church, is talking with a friend named Andy. Andy is a fellow believer who has called him on the phone. They hadn’t spoken in some time. Suddenly the young man blurts out, “Where is God, Andy, where is the God we sing about and pray to all the time?” Then he reveals why he senses God’s absence. He is broke. He hasn’t eaten a complete meal in two weeks, his rent is behind...

5. A Cantankerous Prophet

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There are some jokes that are so bad they bear retelling. [So, if any of you remember me telling this story, keep that in mind.] (1) It seems there was once a fisherman . . . you already know it’s going to be bad, don’t you? This fisherman and his wife were blessed with twin sons. They loved the children very much, but couldn’t think of what to name them. Finally, after several days, the fisherma...

6. A Caring Woman

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

Good morning, and Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers and grandmothers and mother-figures in the congregation this morning. Parents, both mom and dads have the hardest job in the world, and this world would be in a horrible shape without their love and sacrifice and perseverance. Of course it is not easy to be a Mom. In a TikTok video, a woman named Nicole DeRoy explains one of the challenges o...

7. A Cat In a Tree

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

One night a woman named Anna Ruth was cat-sitting her daughter’s feline. Somehow the cat managed to escape outside. When it failed to return the following morning, she found the cat clinging to a branch about 30 feet up in a spindly tree. Unable to lure it down, she called the fire department and asked for help getting the cat out of the tree. “We don’t do that anymore,” the dispatcher said. When...

8. A Celebration of Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl named Jana was given a part in her church’s Christmas drama. Jana was so excited about her part that her mother thought she was going to be one of the main characters. Jana, however, would not reveal to her mother the part she was supposed to play. After much anticipation, the big night finally came. The parents were all there eagerly awaiting their children’s participation in this ...

9. A Celebration of Love

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

Mark Mail was waiting in line at his local post office. Only one clerk was working the window. The line was moving quite slowly. As Mark waited, he began to fill out a check. He was hoping to speed things up when he reached the counter. Unsure of the date, he turned and asked the woman behind him. ‘It’s the fifth,’ she replied. Before he could write in the date on the check, he heard a voice. A ...

10. A Child of the Resurrection

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to test how awake you are this morning. I’ve got a riddle for you: What question can you never answer “Yes” to? Are you ready for the answer? The answer is, “Are you asleep?” (1) It’s tough starting the morning with a riddle, isn’t it? Especially a groaner like that one. It reminds me of the story of a game show contestant, Bob, who’d made it to the final round, and he just had to answer...

11. A Child Will Be Born

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

It was a cold December afternoon. Rain mixed with snow splashed against the windshield. Overhead dark clouds hovered seemingly just above the treetops. All day long two men, a pastor named Jerry and a layman named Jim, had been delivering Christmas boxes. Many of the families who would receive these boxes would get nothing else for Christmas that year. The pickup truck had been loaded when the two...

12. A Chosen People

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

King Duncan

A major university experienced an amazing turnaround in its football program a few years ago. The next spring, at the opening of spring training, the coach gathered his players together for a team meeting. As the players found their seats, the coach announced he was going to hand out awards that many of the players had earned in the fall. As the coach called players forward and handed them their a...

13. A Christmas To Remember

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

"My most vivid childhood memory of Christmas," writes columnist Dave Barry, "that does not involve opening presents, putting batteries in presents, playing with presents, and destroying presents before sundown, is the annual Nativity Pageant at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Armonk, New York." Mrs. Elson was the director, and she would tell the children what role they would play, based on their...

14. A Church Fueled By Prayer

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Any of you who have ever tried speaking in front of people will appreciate the predicament that Dr. Ralph D. Nichols of the University of Minnesota once found himself in. He was addressing a high school commencement when suddenly a child began to cry. That was distracting, but not too much of a problem. But then another child added his loud voice. And then a couple of small boys started galloping ...

15. A Cloud of Witness

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

It was baseball season in a small Pennsylvania town. If you know anything about Little League baseball, you know it is also a time when little boys’ hearts and egos are on the line. A certain ten-year-old had ridden the bench most of the season. But in the championship game, his coach finally called him up to bat. The little boy’s whole extended family had turned out for this very special game. H...

16. A Colt Is Not A Horse

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: "A Colt Is Not a Horse” New Title: Palm “Slash” Passion Sunday The well-kno...

17. A Complicated Disciple

John 18:15-27

Sermon

King Duncan

Growing Strong in the Season of Lent Luke 22: 31-34; 54-62 (Passion Sunday) or John 18:15-27 (Good Friday) It is very difficult to think of the events of Holy Week without thinking of Simon Peter’s denial of Christ. The story is well known to us all. At the last supper Jesus tells Simon Peter that before the cock crows three times, he will deny him three times. Prior to this Simon Peter has just...

18. A Costly Cross

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

King Duncan

Colorful preacher Clarence Jordan was once taken on a tour of one of the greatest churches in America. As the tour guide brought him to the very front of the church where he could look up at the altar, the guide said: “Do you see that cross? It’s a gold cross. It was donated by one of our wealthiest members in memory of his wife. That cross, Mr. Jordan,” he continued, “which is covered with gold l...

19. A Cross In A Cradle

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Jo Carr tells about a children's Christmas program she once attended: "All the songs had been sung, and the candles lit. The shepherds had come to peek at the baby, and the wise men had brought their gifts. The angels had given their message. Then all the cast in the story of the first Christmas began to leave...wise men, shepherds, angels. Only Mary and Joseph and the child remained. Then Joseph ...

20. A Cup Of Cold Water

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Baron De Rothschild was one of the richest men who ever lived. Legend has it that the Baron once posed before an artist as a beggar. While the artist, Ary Scheffer, was painting him, the financier sat before him in rags and tatters holding a tin cup. A friend of the artist entered, and the baron was so well disguised that he was not recognized. Thinking he was really a beggar, the visitor dropped ...

21. A Cure for Complainers

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

King Duncan

A man goes to a diner every day and he orders lunch. Afterward the manager asks him how he liked his meal. The old man replies, “It was good, but you could give me a little more bread.” So, the next day the manager tells the waitress to give the man two slices of bread this time. Afterward he asks, “How was your meal today?” “It was good,” the man replies, “but you could give me a little more br...

22. A Date With Destiny

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Hamilton Whaley was a prosperous lawyer in Tampa, Florida. He was happily married, had five great kids, a big comfortable house in a pleasant community. He was active in church and making more money than he ever dreamed of. He was also a partner in one of the leading law firms in the state, a vast organization with nearly 70 lawyers. Then in September, 1976, he had a minor car accident. Fortunate...

23. A Day of Passion, Praise and Prophesying

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Let me ask you a question this morning: how many of you are bilingual—that is, you speak two languages? Or tri-lingual . . . if you want to show off? If so, were you raised speaking a language other than English, or did you learn that second language as an adult? There is a federal agency called the Foreign Service Institute that trains diplomats to operate in other countries. The folks at FSI al...

24. A Day of Singing

Zephaniah 3:14-20, Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Today we want to celebrate the gift of music. After all, what would Christmas be without music? Didn’t angels sing the night Christ was born? (Luke 2) Well, it doesn’t actually say they were singing. It says they were saying, “Glory to God in the highest . . .” but that sure sounds like singing to me. Music is such a wonderful gift. A few years ago a group of junior high school students was given...

25. A Demon Speaks Out in Church

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson for today may be quite disturbing to some of us. It takes place in Capernaum. It was the Sabbath and Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. The people who heard him “were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” Suddenly, however, there was an unexpected disturbance. A man began to cry out, “What do you want with us, Jesus o...

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