Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 201 results

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... science! Lawyers and judges have claimed that it has changed the whole mind-set of juries and what they look for before they are willing to convict. But even if you aren’t a jurist or a scientist by trade, we all still love to watch our favorite detective characters find the clues and signs everyone else will miss, and then to trace those clues back to the source. We are all semiotic bloodhounds at heart! We love to find out the “whys” of things, to seek out signs and clues that lead us to the roots ...

2. Listen!

Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

Sermon

King Duncan

... erode his spirit. Eventually, he had an affair which ended his marriage. As he said of this time, “I used to be ten feet tall and bullet proof, and now I am starting to realize that maybe I am not.” One night, while arresting a serial killer, the police detective experienced an urgent need to re-connect with God. He says, “I’ll never forget, I just prayed to the Lord, I emptied my heart to Him, that I needed help, I needed Him. And he showed up. So, in my worst rebellion, when I needed God, I asked ...

3. Milli Vanilli Religion

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... not a tree is an apple tree, all you have to do is find out one thing. Does it grow apples? That's all you have to know; the fruit discloses the root every single time. Jesus said, "Therefore by their fruits you will know them." (v.20) II. Detect False Profession "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven...." (v.21) Now the Lord Jesus moves to people both behind the pulpit and in a pew who profess Christianity. They call Jesus Lord; they do pay lip service to Jesus. Now ...

4. Men in Black

Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

Sermon

James Merritt

... on the graph. The point is, even a machine cannot always tell when a person may be saying one thing on the outside, but really is saying something else on the inside. In other words, even a lie detector cannot always detect a liar. It is very difficult for anybody to infallibly detect counterfeits. This is certainly true in the world of theology. The late Dear Abby once got a letter that said: I was riding the local transient bus today when the bus driver struck up a conversation with me. I was sitting ...

5. Redrawing The Landscape

Multiple Scriptures

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... after day they just handle the real stuff. At the end of the training they have become so familiar with the authentic that they are never fooled by the false. Essentially, that's the Bible's approach to life. How, for example, does a great singer learn to detect bad or mediocre singing? Week by week, hour by hour, and day by day, he hones his craft. He sings the good stuff, associates with the best in his profession, tackles the tough notes, and strives to expand to his fullest capacity. At the end of the ...

6. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... book Batman, can't stand the TV show. Oh, they don't loathe it, or even hate it, at best they are embarrassed and annoyed by it because it was parody of their comic book hero and not the real deal. The Bat-Man was born in issue #27 of Detective Comics, in May 1939. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, The Bat-Man, now simply Batman, was completely different than Superman or any of the imitators of Superman. (2) Batman's back story was told in just 12 frames. He and his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne were ...

7. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2; Luke 18:9-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

8. Jesus the Toxicologist

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , even garbage, away. The stench of trash and decay was so great in this “hoarded house” that not only did the husband live there for four months without noticing the smell of a decaying body. Even police rescue dogs, trained to detect the smell of a dead body, never detected her presence. It was not until the husband finally noticed Billie Jean’s feet sticking out from under a mountainous pile of trash in the room she had named her “rabbit hole” that his wife’s body was finally discovered. If ...

9. Stay the Course

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . Everyone is confronted with multiple “lies” every single day. While most are unintentional and unharmful, others can be deliberately deceptive, derisive….and divisive.Natural liars may be harmless and prevalent, but psychopathic liars are worrisome and harder to detect. Like the wolf in the infamous story of Red Riding Hood, some lies can appear to be honest, sweet, gentle, helpful, and even familiar, while hiding a wolf’s deceptive heart inside. Psychologists distinguish between natural liars and ...

10. Welcoming Christ

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... you a new dress," a friend reassured. A sympathetic security guard heard the commotion and called several stores until he found a store detective at Marshall Fields and asked if he could open the store early so a young lady could shop for a dress and get to ... her wedding. "My heart really went out to her. I wanted to do whatever I could do to help," the detective said, "Yeah. She will be in Marshall Fields shopping for a dress. Send her on up." Several Fields employees were waiting for her when ...

11. In The Nick of Time

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... for our newborn child instead of standing face to face with the Great Physician. We thank the good neighbor for being a good neighbor instead of tracing goodness back and up to him "from whom cometh every good and perfect gift." We have not developed the habit of detecting the hand of heaven in our hour-to-hour affairs. Our imagination has not been stretched this way lately, in office or suburban life, in the last book we laid down or in the first thing we did this morning when we got up. Man has also lost ...

12. The Waiting Game

Sermon

James Bjorge

... classical period used an entirely different technique. Men like Homer tell us how it will end from the very start of the literary work. Now, is the last form less adventuresome than the first? Not necessarily. It depends on your approach to the mystery. In the detective story of our day you will ask the question, "How will it end?" In the classical tragedy of old you would ask the question, "What will happen in order that the ending, which I already know, will ensue?" God appears to have written the history ...

13. Divide and Destroy

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... counterfeit money? I mean some fake money looks just like the real thing. The American Banking Association sponsors a two-week training program. The program is unique in how it helps tellers detect counterfeit bills. Not once during the two-week training does a teller ever see a single counterfeit bill. Not once do they listen to a lecture describing the characteristics of counterfeit money. All they do for two weeks is handle authentic currency. Hour after hour, and day after day they ...

14. When The Risen Christ Comes Looking For Us

John 21:15-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

... old and having a hard time growing up. One Friday night, she had an ugly fight with her parents. She ran away from home and stayed away for almost two years. Her parents searched desperately for her but no luck. Finally, they hired a detective. The detective brought back a sordid story that I couldn’t even begin to describe in the polite pulpit. Teresa had done everything a girl could do that would break her parents’ hearts – drugs, alcohol, life in a promiscuous commune, participating in all kinds of ...

15. Why Did He Do It?

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jesus announced they were taking their campaign to Jerusalem. Now he felt let down. Graham Greene once wrote a novel entitled, THE HUMAN FACTOR. It is the chilling story of the execution of an innocent man, because a detective made a premature decision without checking all the evidence. The detective was guilty of impatience. Maybe that was Judas' error. Maybe his impatience led him to try to force Jesus' hand. After all, this was the Messiah. The world was corrupt and Jesus could set it right. What was ...

16. Flies On The Ceiling Of The Sistine Chapel

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... And as they drove back down the butte, his mother knew the message indeed had been delivered. She felt what Peter, James and John must have felt as the cloud enveloped them on the Mount of Transfiguration. There is more to life than our senses can detect. There is more to living than dying. (4) There is one thing more to be said from these paintings. THERE'S MORE TO CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT THAN GOING TO THE MOUNTAINTOP. There should be a fifth painting of the Transfiguration experience. It would show Jesus and ...

17. The Voice Of The Lord

Psalm 29:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the examination, said Gardner, his partner would nudge him with his elbow. Invariably that meant that the witness was either lying at that point in the testimony, or was trying to cover up something. Gardner said his own untrained ears were never able to detect these subtle changes of voice and tempo, but his partner could spot them with a startling accuracy. (3) We should not be surprised that a person could read another person's voice. Our voice is very much a part of our personality. In fact, our ...

18. It Doesn't Matter What I Do

Jeremiah 17:19-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jim Porter. The unsuspecting caller identified himself as Wayne and said he needed a "Q-P of green," slang for a quarter-pound of green marijuana buds. Porter played along, arranging a meeting that night. When the detective met "Wayne," he arrested him for possession, delivery and conspiracy to deliver. Even then, "Wayne" refused to believe he had dialed a wrong number. It took him three hours to realize Porter wasn't the guy he had been buying drugs from for six months. "What are the odds he ...

19. What's Really Important

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... , "I guess it means we will have another nice day tomorrow." Watson paused for a moment and then asked, "What does it mean to you, Holmes?" "To me," said Holmes somberly, "it means someone has stolen our tent." No wonder Holmes was called the world's greatest detective. There are some things in life that ought to be obvious. In fact, they are obvious--but sometimes we forget. One of the things we forget is what's really important in life. For example, what's really important in life is not how we look. Oh ...

20. On Living Before You Die

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... accounting and wants to know what we''ve done with the gifts of the Gospel, many will have to say, "I took them and hid them." There is a novel with an imaginary but haunting scene in it. It''s called THE MAN WHO LOST HIMSELF. The hero, evidently a detective, is trailing a person in Paris. He wants to know if this man is staying at a certain hotel. He hatches a plan. He decides to go to the desk and ask the clerk if a fictitious guest is staying there. Then, as the clerk is searching the register for ...

21. The Preacher Was Caught by Surprise

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Rod Steiger plays sheriff Bill Gillespie, a good lawman despite his racial prejudices. When Virgil Tibbs played by Sidney Poitier, a well-dressed northern African-American, comes to town, Gillespie instinctively puts him under arrest as a murder suspect. Tibbs then reveals that he is a Philadelphia homicide detective. Tibbs offers to help in Gillespie's investigation. As the clues and suspects mount, Gillespie and his deputies develop begrudging respect for this Yankee, black officer. In one scene ...

22. At War with Myself

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

William G. Carter

... of the Holy Spirit. He knows this; yet it is one thing to know it, it is another to live it day to day. He says, "I detect another force at work in my life." Even his best efforts can be corrupted. Such is the power of sin. Walker Percy once asked: Why is it ... to say nothing of local news about acquaintances dropping dead in the streets, gossip about neighbors getting in fights or being detected in sexual scandals, embezzlements, and other disgraces?2 Paul says we are at war with ourselves. Why do we do some ...

23. Can You Smell the Perfume?

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... me!" And when even this cry is mocked by those who mistook his cry to God as a cry to Elijah – Then Jesus smelled the perfume . . . ...And he remembered this woman who gave all she had that he would remember God's love for him, and in that smell even detect odors from home that told him he was returning from whence he came. The greatest honor anyone can give anyone is to tell his or her story. Here was someone who did what she could (literally, "She used what she had"). She gave all that she had. Will you ...

24. The Prosecutor Perry Mason Can't Beat

John 16:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... known as "the man hunter" because of his uncanny ability to track down criminals. In his book he makes this observation about lie detectors. My problem with lie detectors is that they're too easy to manipulate. First of all, they don't detect lies; they detect stress, through pulse, blood pressure, and perspiration. But if the subject isn't particularly stressed out by fear of punishment, he can beat the machine. Even if he is stressed, there are ways to disguise stress. One is to coat the fingers with ...

25. Why You Should Be Afraid of Sin

Numbers 32:23

Sermon

James Merritt

... grief, sadness, loss, depression, anger, guilt, and low self worth. You see, sin just has a way of coming out. It has a way of getting out of the closet. It has a way of crawling out from under the rock. One great preacher called sin "the infallible detective." I read about four high school teenagers who once skipped their morning classes at school and went fishing. Well, they got to the school later on that day and they told their teacher they were late because their car broke down due to a flat tire. Well ...

Showing results