Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 11:37-54

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A few years ago, a barber's supply association had a convention in Chicago. As a publicity stunt they went out to skid row and found a man living in the gutter, filthy dirty and filthy drunk. They brought him back to the convention center and cleaned him up. They shampooed and shaved him. They washed him with a new kind of soap they were trying to sell. They put cologne on him, bought him a new suit, shirt, tie and shoes - - and then they proclaimed to all the world: "This is what our barber supplies can ...

2. Converting the Converted

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lest sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ " [Matthew 10:5-7] Have you ever wondered why, with a church on almost every corner in America, so much evil abounds? In a country with approximately 120 million church members, 98 million gamble, costing $5.1 billion per year. In a land where seventy-one percent of the ...

3. Partners In the Gospel

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Connections are important. Nobody understands the word connection as do United Methodists. When we talk about the larger church we refer to it as “the connection.” Connections are important. I remember visiting with a young man in Nashville 25 years ago -- I was the editor of the Upper Room and this young man was a student at Vanderbilt University. His parents were friends of mine but I had known him only in passing. This was one of those encounters that we have now and then that we sense are charged with ...

4. Hope for Hurting Hearts

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Sure does sound like Christmas, doesn't it? I wish everyone could feel it. But the war in Afghanistan goes on. Families that lost loved ones on September 11th are preparing for a holiday that, a year ago, they could have never imagined. There is a certain dissonance to the season. Trips to malls and stores with the sacred Muzak in the air singing of "Joy to the World" or "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" mock the harsh realities ...

5. Delivery

Sermon

Michael Rogness

I once visited a church in which the minister delivered what seemed at the time to be an interesting sermon, but I couldn't quite grasp the real thrust of the message, because it was delivered in a monotone, most of it read with little warmth or enthusiasm. [The church secretary] agreed to mail me a copy of the sermon I'd just heard. When the sermon arrived in the mail and I read it, I realized that the structure of the message was coherent and sound and the points well made. I could hardly believe I was ...

6. Acres of Diamonds

1 Timothy 6:10

Sermon

Russell Conwell

I am astonished that so many people should care to hear this story over again. Indeed, this lecture has become a study in psychology; it often breaks all rules of oratory, departs from the precepts of rhetoric, and yet remains the most popular of any lecture I have delivered in the fifty-seven years of my public life. I have sometimes studied for a year upon a lecture and made careful research, and then presented the lecture just once -- never delivered it again. I put too much work on it. But this had no ...

7. Peacemaking and Self Control

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

The date was June 11, 1963; the place- The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Vivian Malone, a young black woman, enrolled that day as a freshman. Federal troops ensured her entrance, but the doorway was blocked by Governor George Wallace. Holding out for segregation, the governor ultimately failed, and Ms. Malone became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Alabama. Vivian wasn't the only newcomer that day. James Hood was at her side and needed encouragement. So she slipped him a ...

8. The Privilege and the Price

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

From time to time Chris Rock is noted in the Georgetown Times because his mother lives nearby. In 1999 the sometimes funny and always foul-mouthed comedian was interviewed in Vibe magazine. As usual, what he said was intended to shock, but not the way you might expect. When asked, "Were you raised Christian?" Rock answered: “I wasn't raised anything, to tell you the truth. My grandfather was a preacher. He was the funniest guy. He used to curse a lot, run around, whatever. A bunch of deacons from his ...

9. Stealth Christians

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Since this is the beginning of football season I thought you might enjoy Harry N. Hollis, Jr.'s report on a most unusual game: A funny thing happened at the football stadium. After taking the opening kick- off, the home team went into a huddle as usual to get the formation from the quarterback and to encourage one another. Then came the unusual. The team did not break out of the huddle to move into action! Soon the red flag was dropped, and the referee stepped off a five-yard penalty for delay of game. ...

10. Timing Is Everything

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There was a joke that came out of the Soviet Union many years ago about a Russian who stood on the street corner in Moscow, and shouted, "Down with Khrushchev!" He was arrested and sent to prison camp for ten years. While he was in prison he had a change of heart, and came to see that Khrushchev was a great leader after all. The only problem was, while he was in prison the times changed, and Khrushchev was deposed from office and publicly denounced. When the man was released, he went back to that same ...

11. Authenticity vs. Showmanship

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

Maybe both the best and the worst of us in humanity are far better preachers than we are doers and deliverers of what we preach and teach. And maybe maturity has everything to do with our genuine willingness to bring a greater congruity between our esteemed words and those actions compatible with, not contradictory of, those words. Jesus, fully divine and fully human, loved and valued not just the right deeds, but also the right motives and attitudes. We, being fully human and ever spiritually in need of ...

12. What Making a Difference Looks Like

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

I am told there are at least eight million cats and eleven million dogs in the Big Apple. Since New York is mainly concrete and steel, when you have a pet that dies, you can't just go out in the back yard and bury it. In response, city officials decided that for fifty dollars they would dispose of your pet for you. Now in that grand city was a certain enterprising lady. She thought to herself, “I can render a service.” So she placed an ad in the paper: "When your pet dies, I will take care of the carcass ...

13. Concerning Miracles

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

A mother and her three-year-old son were playing in the front yard. There were squeals and giggles galore. Dad came to the door and asked them to play a bit more quietly so he could get his work done. The three-year-old put his hands on his hips and said indignantly, "Daddy, I don't do quiet!" That is true of a lot of three-year-olds. They don't do quiet. A cartoon shows a large van. On the side are the warnings, "Danger! Explosives!" Inside are two men. The driver of the van turns to his buddy and says ...

14. The Transforming Power of Grace

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

A minister friend told of exercising outside on a particularly warm summer morning. "It was a magnificent day," he said. "I was running on the sidewalks of tree-lined streets. I chose the route because of the beauty of the neighborhood and the abundance of shade to shield me from the sun. "As often happens when exercising, I was lost in thought. When I run, my legs get more oxygen than my brain. Often that causes me to fantasize on my personal possibilities. I don't remember exactly what I was thinking, ...

15. You Don't Have to Yell

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

What is the loudest event you’ve been to lately? Was it a ballgame, a concert, a family dinner, a party? I ask because I read an article this week about the incredibly strange way that the employees at Yahoo Inc., the Internet service provider company, chose to celebrate their 20-year business anniversary. They had a group yodel. And not just any group yodel. They gathered 3,432 employees at their California headquarters and had everyone participate in a 1-minute yodel. I don’t know about you, but for ...

16. Hotline to Heaven

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a minister in a certain church who would call the children down to the front of the church every Sunday and tell them a story. One time he brought a telephone to illustrate the idea of prayer. He said, "Now kids, you know how you talk to people on the telephone and you don't see them on the end of the other line, but you know they are there?" The children nodded their head yes. He said, "Well talking to God is like talking on the telephone. He's on the other end of the line even though you can't ...

17. The Word And Words

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I wish I had discovered Eugene Patterson long ago. He's a Presbyterian Pastor, and also an outstanding writer. He's the pastor of Christ Our King United Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. He has been there for 27 years; (maybe I'll make it that long here). This is one of Patterson's simple, matter-of-fact, powerful expressions of truth: "There is no such thing as successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered week after week by the Holy Spirit, in towns and villages all ...

18. Playing to the Right Audience

Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

It was an incredible military breakthrough. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Commander Joe Rochefort broke the Japanese codes. From an intelligence base on Oahu, he predicted an attack on Midway Island for June 3, 1942. Because of Rochefort's skill, the United States surprised the Japanese Navy with its first defeat in 350 years. Four carriers were lost, one cruiser, 2500 men, 322 aircraft, and the best of their pilots. The tide turned in the Pacific; Japan never recovered momentum. Commander ...

19. Family Survival

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

Stephen DeFur

This morning I want to spend a few moments talking about families. And to do that, I want us to look at a family in the Bible. It is the family of the Old Testament character, Joseph. Joseph's family was an imperfect one much like yours and mine. So we start with Genesis, Chapter 37, verse 1. "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bihah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph had brought a bad report of them to their father." ...

20. Welcome, Rich and Poor

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Can you name some disillusioned people you've met in life? How about a woman who is so badly hurt by her husband committing adultery with a younger woman and then divorcing her, that she wants nothing to do with men? How about a child who believes in Mom and Dad, only to discover that they have frequently lied to him? How about the students of a beloved teacher who find out that their teacher is a pedophile who is going to prison for his sexual molestation of children? How about parishioners who love their ...

21. Just Follow The Signs

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

"God so loved the world ..." begins one of our best-known scripture verses. God loved the world! He didn’t love only one small corner of the world. He didn’t love only one little race, one tiny tribe in the world. God loved the world! He loved Jews and Gentiles alike. He loved a man and a woman named Joseph and Mary. He loved some shepherds. He loved some Wise Men living way off in the East someplace, nobody knows exactly where. God loved the world, even nasty, murderous, old King Herod, who tried to kill ...

22. The Jericho Road: Where the Action Is

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

I begin this sermon with a prejudice, a positive one: I love the Jericho Road. This love began when I was a boy of fifteen, singing bass in a male quartet. We had a song about the Jericho Road, with a rollicking bass part. I should tell you that most of the time we basses have to be content with drudgery assignments, going along on the same note interminably while the other voices dance happily about on the foundation we lay. But in this old male quartet song, the bass had a chance to shine. I loved the ...

23. Political Pardon

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

My parents were married in the wave of weddings that followed World War II. Dad came home from military operations in Europe to start a new life on the farm, and Mom became his partner in the enterprise. There was only one problem — Dad had an older brother who was destined to take over the family agricultural enterprise, and there was not enough work or income to support two families. So Dad began to look for other opportunities. For a while he drove a cattle truck, bringing fattened animals to the sales ...

24. Fools For The Sake Of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

John N. Brittain

April 9, 1996, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia delivered an address in Mississippi on religion and public life, a topic which has gotten a lot of attention the past few years, particularly since the publication of Stephen L. Carter's book The Culture of Disbelief. In the course of that speech Justice Scalia quoted from the apostle Paul's letter to the Corinthians where he says that we Christians are sometimes called to be "fools for Christ's sake" or, in the NRSV, "fools for the sake of Christ." ...

25. Praise God! Selah!

Luke 1:67-80, Luke 1:57-66, Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:5-25, Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: Music: To God Be the Glory [You can have it playing just before the sermon. There are a lot of good versions, both old and new. You can also play a YouTube for your people.] To God be the glory! Say it with me: To God be the glory! Now I want you to repeat that phrase after me, like a refrain. Each time I speak a line, I want you to respond with: To God be the glory! Ok? Let’s try it! “The weather is beautiful today!” [To God be the glory!] The beginning of the season of advent has come upon us ...

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