Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 2325 results

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... is a "crisis affair." However, there is much to be said about the fact that God is not one to be remembered only in misfortune, but every day of our lives. The remarkable thing is: regardless of how or when we come -- God is there! The Need to Withdraw The demand of the crowd upon Jesus' life was great. So much so that "in the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35). Jesus realized he could not give out to others anymore. He went ...

2. The Demanding Word

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

... a call to some harmless religion. No "now I lay me down to sleep" variety of religion here. Much more than "doing a kind deed each day." This is a total uprooting of one's life so that everything in our lives serves God and his purposes. What is the demanding Word of God saying to you and me right now? It's saying that you can't look at the cross of Christ casually. It's not browsing time. It's not a matter of deciding to listen today because the preacher happens to be "interesting" or "inspiring." The Word ...

3. Love Without Demand

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Sims Robert

... your perception of yourself, of life, of love and of God will change. Every time you give you will grow closer to the you that you were meant to be. To our amazement, a young widow named Ruth, many centuries ago, reflected the grace of God by expressing love without demand. “Where you go I will go; and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die and there will I be buried. May the Lord deal with me severely if anything but death separates you and ...

4. The Spiritual Fitness Demands of the New Age

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... that the Bible makes sense. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." The astronauts had to be "holy, acceptable" in the terms of technology - and they were - or else! Paul calls us to be "holy, acceptable" before God, and the demands of great living say, "or else!" It is more than squaring with law; it is squaring with truth, a squaring with God. Paul Scherer once said: "It is not so bad being good for one hour when (Aunt Matilda) comes to tea - the problem is being good all ...

5. Chaos and Solitude

Mark 6:30-44, 53-56

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... can be that kind of break away from work. Prayer is the proper balance for work. Retreat can lead to a more meaningful re-entry. When that retreat is more than just a rest, when it is intentionally centered in God, it is called solitude. To meet life's chaotic demands, we need some kind of retreat, a time of solitude with God. A retreat leader put it this way to a group of church leaders: "We are here to retreat by being with God so that we can re-enter the ministry of really being with God's people." Then ...

6. A Burden or a Song

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

James McCormick

... our faith that we are able to experience God as friend - One who is not against us, but for us. He doesn’t just make demands of us – even more, He wants to give to us. Just listen to the encouraging words of scripture: “I have come that you may have ... first have received His gifts! Look again at our scripture in that light. What if we heard these words of Jesus not so much as demands to be obeyed, as gifts to be received? What if God is saying to us, not “These are things you must do”, but “this ...

7. Lesson from a Prosthetic Toe

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... and resurrection, he will send the Holy Spirit to live in them and guide them into all truth and comfort and faith. And yes, they will be able to do amazing miracles. But not yet. For now, Jesus doesn’t give them what they ask for. We may demand the gift of faith; Jesus wants to give us the gift of himself. The final insight we get from this scripture lesson is that our faith is increased in our obedient service to God. After Jesus shares this exciting image of commanding trees to be uprooted and planted ...

8. The Honor Of A Limp

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

... Never, never, never, never, never. Do not give up. Do not ever give up. Never give up." And then he sat down, and that was it. But people remembered what he said. Why did it strike such a note in the minds of the people? Because that's what life demands, that's the way life has to be lived, and we know that God approves this kind of determination, honors it, and blesses it.7 Fred Craddock, a professor of preaching at Emory University, tells how he went to preach at a rural church when he was in seminary. He ...

9. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... We pray for God to come and give us young people to fill the pews, and God comes, not bringing more people but a new and demanding mission. We pray for God to give us inner peace, and God comes to us bringing another struggle. We pray for God to come and ... of God, like all of God's comings, both met human need and defied human expectation, that it would bring both salvation and demand, great hope and great cost. As soon as he had said, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation," he added the warning, "This child ...

10. Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... Word creates; the Word does not allow the darkness of evil and chaos to overcome its light (John 1:1-5). Consequently, God could not remedy the situation of darkness and evil by destroying the creation's structures. His only option, then, was to satisfy the law's demands by the sacrifice of his Son. This is what the cross is all about. This is why Jesus had to die. In some cases, Jesus' sacarifice was paid to God, to his word of law in creation. (In this sense, this understanding of Christ's death embraces ...

11. No Snap Courses

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... , is a loving father, an understanding, forgiving Lord, a suffering servant whose followers shall not walk in darkness, but who have the light of life. (John 8:12) Here he declares that God is not only loving, he is expectant. He is not only patient, he is demanding. One who sets his hand to the plow and hesitantly looks back is not worthy of the Kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62) God is easy to please, but hard to satisfy. Serving our Lord is a relentless and unending task. In our choosing of, and our discussion ...

12. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... We pray for God to come and give us young people to fill the pews, and God comes, not bringing more people but a new and demanding mission. We pray for God to give us inner peace, and God comes to us bringing another struggle. We pray for God to come and ... of God, like all of God’s comings, both met human need and defied human expectation, that it would bring both salvation and demand, great hope and great cost. As soon as he had said, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation," he added the warning, "This child ...

13. Everyone Is Searching For You

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Brett Blair

... young Wright discovered at the tender age of 9, and what some don’t learn until 59: The objective in life is not the goal but the journey on the way to the goal. The whole city had gathered around the door, pressing in to see Jesus. The demands on him were already piling up. He cured many, cast out demons, and taught constantly. And his disciples didn’t help matters. When he left in the morning early to pray, they went searching for him. And when they found him they said, “What are you doing, everyone ...

14. The Dirt on Jesus

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus to issue a decision. Since inheritance laws are spelled out in Deuteronomy 21:15-17, Numbers 27:1-11 and Numbers 36:7-9, this man is asking Jesus as a “Teacher” to give a rabbinical ruling according to those laws. His very public demand for this ruling suggests that this man felt he stood on the right side of those laws, and that his brother’s stance was legally if not morally wrong. While the NRSV translates Jesus’ first response as “friend,” the adder “anthrope” (“man”) is hardly ...

15. The Most Important Thing

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... brings me to the first lesson I learn from today’s Bible story: In this life, our time is limited, but our demands are endless. Most of us live in a permanent state of distraction and anxiety because we have a limited amount of time ... on her years of work in palliative care, and the book’s message is vitally important for those of us who are dragged down by the demands on our lives. She wrote that in all her years of working with persons who were dying, she discovered the five most common regrets were ...

16. Mother's Day Gifts

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... bet that very few men would trade jobs with you. Mothers, we know that you have a twenty-four-hour-a-day job, one which demands not only all your time, but also all of your attention and energy. Because of that realization, we salute you today, in the fashion ... The second thing you must give your child is your time! Each one of us knows how hectic life is these days. There are more demands on us and our time than ever before. And the sad result of all the time-consuming activity in our society is that we ...

17. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

... then beheaded Matthew was slain by the sword Peter was crucified upside down Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows Philip was hanged Only John made it through alive but he was exiled to a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The demands that Jesus makes upon those who would follow him are extreme. Christianity is not a Sunday morning religion. It is a hungering after God to the point of death if need be. It shakes our foundations, topples our priorities, pits us against friend and family ...

18. I Knew You’d Come

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... own limitations by trying and failing. You can tell them that the stove is hot, but they simply have to touch it to find out for themselves. It isn’t that they are stupid, or don’t believe the sincerity of the warning; it’s just that their nature demands they experience for themselves the lessons of life. It’s the only way they learn. So Peter stepped out of the boat. To the amazement of all, he started to walk on the water. Then he noticed the wind. He was afraid and started to sink. "Save me, Lord ...

19. All Dressed Up and No Place To Go

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... could hear the angels, see the star, bow and adore. We strive to be all dressed up in the wonder of it. Perhaps if we could - if only - then something great and unforeseen would change our lives. And it does, but in a way curiously different from what we would demand and better than we would, in our wildest moments, expect for ourselves. Now, let’s look at our text and allow it to open its riches in a new and exciting way. All dressed up: my soul exults in my God. He has clothed me with the garments of ...

20. Comfortable Christianity Is a Big, Fat Lie

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... ?”5 Comfortable Christianity as we have come to experience it and expect it from our preachers, is a big, fat lie. If it’s not a battle, it’s not the real thing. If it’s not hard, then it’s hollow. Easy, wide, comfortable, attractive, smooth, low demand and popular are the wrong set of adjectives if you are looking for the way to the life Jesus offers. That is precisely the way he warned us to avoid, and when a pastor speaks against the easy way, there will be resistance. The pressure on clergy to ...

21. Those Who Doubt

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... . Don't count on it! It seems to me about the only thing we can understand and accept is his insistence on complete accuracy by physically touching two places on the Master's body. He was unmovable and the history books remember him as someone who not only demanded proof but one who would become a prototype for all of us. Is there anyone you know who hasn't heard of "doubting Thomas"? Thomas kept his end of the bargain and did not argue. We may not accept this in glowingly positive terms. In fact, this may ...

22. Political Pardon

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... more important to my parents than money, so they thought they would make a concession. It didn't work. The landlord refused the offer. He had an even higher price in mind, and nothing short of that would be acceptable. He became more and more obnoxious in his demands and dealings. Sometimes he would wait until Dad had gone out into the fields before he would come in his pickup truck and park on the middle of the yard, blowing his horn until Mom went out to talk. Then he would berate her until she was in ...

23. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... rehearsal he was unusually unruly. He kept leaping out at people, baring his teeth at and then chasing the flower girls. He growled and snarled as he practiced going down the aisle. He brandished the pillow like a pistol. Finally his mother pulled him aside and demanded to know why he was behaving so badly. “But Mom,” he explained, “I have to act fierce — I’m the ‘Ring Bear.’” Like so many of us that little boy misunderstood just what role he was supposed to play. He thought he was called to ...

24. What Can I Get By With?

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... two debilitating sins—the sins of self-pity and self-righteousness. If we don’t have a good perspective on duty, it’s easy to fall into self-pity and/or self-righteousness. Isn’t it easy, mothers, to slip into a slew of self-pity because of all the demands that are made of you by your children and keeping the home going. You don’t use the same words, but you affirm the thought: “A man’s work is from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.” And fathers don’t escape either. We’re ...

25. Patience

Matthew 11:2-11 · James 5:7-10

Sermon

Will Willimon

... from a conviction, deep within us, that it is better to wait on another, than to force the other to be that which we demand because, if we did that, then the person our spouse eventually became would be no more than a limp projection of ourselves. And what ... arises from a conviction, deep within us, that it is better to wait on God than to force God to be that which we demand, because if we did that, then the god who came to us would be no more than an idolatrous projection of all our selfish wants and ...

Showing results

Showing 1 to 25 of 2325 results

1. The Demanding Crowd

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

John A. Stroman

2. The Demanding Word

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

3. Love Without Demand

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Sims Robert

4. The Spiritual Fitness Demands of the New Age

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

5. Chaos and Solitude

Mark 6:30-44, 53-56

Sermon

Ron Lavin

6. A Burden or a Song

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

James McCormick

7. Lesson from a Prosthetic Toe

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

8. The Honor Of A Limp

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

9. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

10. Why Did Jesus Have To Die?

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

11. No Snap Courses

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

12. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... We pray for God to come and give us young people to fill the pews, and God comes, not bringing more people but a new and demanding mission. We pray for God to give us inner peace, and God comes to us bringing another struggle. We pray for God to come and ... of God, like all of God’s comings, both met human need and defied human expectation, that it would bring both salvation and demand, great hope and great cost. As soon as he had said, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation," he added the warning, "This child ...

13. Everyone Is Searching For You

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Brett Blair

14. The Dirt on Jesus

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

15. The Most Important Thing

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan