Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: loss, disadvantage, debt, lack, need, payment, resource, want

Showing 1 to 25 of 61 results

1. An Easter Dividend: The Courage To Be and To Do

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Donald Macleod

In the year 1793 when the French armies were laying siege to the Mediterranean fortress of Toulon, Napoleon built a battery in such an exposed position that the other officers said he would never get a soldier to man it. But Napoleon set up beside it a large sign with these words, "The Battery of Men without Fear." And he was never at a loss for volunteers to man it. Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the one-time Head of State in China, was visiting America some decades ago and was invited to deliver the ...

2. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... afternoon, Clarence Evinrude had invented the outboard motor. And by the way, Clarence later married the girl who waited so long on the island. Clarence Evinrude illustrates a basic principle of Christian living: When life delivers a problem or pain, force it to pay dividends. If life gives you a thorn that you and God can't remove, make it produce a rose. The minister Bruce Larson states this principle as follows: "In every disaster, God has a gift for you. Claim it." In chapter twelve of Paul's second ...

3. Paul's Thorn In The Flesh

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... end of that afternoon, Ole Evinrude had invented the outboard motor. And by the way, Ole later married the girl who waited so long on the island. Ole Evinrude illustrates a basic principle of Christian living: When life delivers a problem or pain, force it to pay dividends. If life gives you a thorn that you and God can't remove, make it produce a rose. The minister Bruce Larson states this principle as follows: "In every disaster, God has a gift for you. Claim it." In chapter twelve of Paul's second letter ...

4. What's The Point?

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

... the stock you are buying and the company it represents. You sell it at today's price on the assumption that you can buy it at a lower price tomorrow. If the company fails, you succeed! If the company loses money, you make money! If the company cuts its dividend, you reap big dividends. That's sometimes a good way to invest in stocks, but it's never a good way to live. If I sell myself short in life that means that I'm betting against myself. The only way to be right about myself is to be less than I ...

5. Paradoxes Of The Christian Faith

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... taken the cross and turned it into a crown, taken our defeats and despair and turned them into victory and joy. Our Lord specializes in turning our pain into purpose, our doubt into decisions, and our losses into dividends. I don't know about you today, but I know a man who always pays good faith dividends; a man whose markets are bull instead of bear, who has more gold, more CD's - Christian determination - more power and joy than all the Federal Reserves put together. I know a man who turns everything he ...

6. The Deal Of A Lifetime

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... if I will tithe, some day I will be richas some TV evangelists have suggested? No. It does mean that the rewards of following Christ far exceed the costs. It does mean that you will be making investments that are eternalthat will be paying dividends long after all your material blessings have depreciated into dust. It does mean that you will be rich toward Godthat you will have treasures laid up in heaven. An ancient source says that Alexander the Great gave instructions that when he died his body should ...

7. Survivor

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... you can win friends and influence people not just on this earth, but for all eternity. Think about this. If the value of an investment is determined by its security and rate of return, investing in the lives of people who are going to live forever will bring the best dividends. Now this is the key point that I want you to hear that so many people miss when it comes to this area of stewardship and giving. God does not want us to give so that we become poorer; God wants us to give so that we might become ...

8. Invest In The Future

Jeremiah 32:1-44

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... pass on to others. For Jeremiah himself, the bad situation does not actually get better. He never gets to truly possess the land that he buys; he can only think about it and talk about it. The prophet invests in the future, but where does he personally reap the dividend? Is it perhaps even fair to say that, like the wife of the man in the back row, Jeremiah hoped for a light in the darkness, but that light was snuffed out before he had a chance to experience it? As we struggle with some of these questions ...

9. A Faith I Could No Longer Count On

Psalm 73:1-7, 13-18

Sermon

Robert G. McCreight

... that much more overwhelming. Think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. What was the faith crisis of the psalmist? It is one common to many today. He presumed that his goodness and honesty would be the premiums that would regularly pay off nicely in the form of dividends that make life comfortable. But it didn't work out that way. He built his faith upon the notion that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. But it wasn't happening. We don't know if this happened over a long ...

10. The Word Of The Lord Came To The Prophet Haggai

Haggai 1:1-15

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... arrived! It was a time of rejoicing. And there was every reason to rejoice, because to a great extent the danger of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) had passed. There was talk that a lot of the money spent on armaments would be turned into a peace dividend, as swords were bent into plowshares. We'd all be singing in the sunshine. But the world didn't stop. Nation still took up sword against nation. The Armenians and the Azerbaijanis took up arms against each other. Iraq swallowed Kuwait and was made to ...

11. Hard Questions!

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... , fear, guilt, hatred, and loss comes the God who breaks in upon us as the Divine Life-Bringer in the midst of our dying. Does it pay then to trust God? Of course it does! There is no investment in the universe which pays such remarkable dividends as obedient trust in our living Lord. I have a minister friend who has had some extraordinarily traumatic and impossibly difficult times in his life. And yet, with beautiful simplicity and faith and obedience he says, "If God never answers another prayer for me, I ...

12. The Man From Galilee IV: The Treasure Of His Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... an amazing thing. It begins to take root in us and grow. And it creates within us the very best we can become. It calls forth from us the very best we could ever be. And, like all good investments, it will provide in us and for us wonderful dividends. A man in one of my churches told me his son came home from Sunday school one Sunday and told his mother they had learned about inheriting God's kingdom. They studied what it means to inherit something. Then he said to his mother, "I'd like my inheritance ...

13. What Does Jesus Expect of Us?

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... unaware that, in spite of their caution, they are actually losing the life they have. But if they were to turn away from their protective security and let their lives, talents, and assets loose into the world of human need, they would accrue dividends of self-fulfillment, personal enrichment, and inner satisfaction nothing else can give. Today, in the world of science, space, medicine, etc., there is a galaxy of experts who take risks, work to exhaustion, and live on the edge of burnout, because they seem ...

14. Lent 2

Mk 8:31-38 · Rom 4:13-25; 8:31-39 · Gen 17:1-7, 15-16; 22:1-18 · Ps 22

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... as righteousness. The gospel offers Christian believers the promise of eternal life through Christ. When we truly trust in God's promise it is credited to our account as righteousness. Faith is a much better investment than money in the bank; it pays eternal dividends. Gospel: Mark 8:31-38 Graduate school. Just prior to this lection, we have the great confession of Peter that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus was happy that his disciples knew who he was. They had passed their bachelor's degree in Christology. Now ...

15. The S & L That Didn't Fail!

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... Sovereign Lord continues to build his kingdom. It is firm, sound, and unshakable, as solid as the Rock Christ Jesus upon which it is founded. You can put all of your primary investments in our divine S & L, it will never fail, and will continue to yield ever higher dividends. You get ever-increasing returns on all you give - and much, much more. G. K. Chesterton said of the cross: "That terrible tree which is the death of God and the life of humanity." Right! He's the S & L that didn't and never will fail!

16. The Interview

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... from Jesus. Go and serve without expecting anything in return, and without demanding payment in kind. You will be provided for over and above what you might expect. The rewards will be measured in terms of meaning and purpose and long-term investments that pay eternal dividends. May I sign you up?” With pen in hand, she stood to write her name on the bottom line. The book handed to her for her signature is filled with other names, some with ink obviously written that very day. To that list, she added her ...

17. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

... with the assurance of being rewarded with more than one had in the first place. That is a sorry motive for giving. Particularly when we misunderstand the scriptures to imply that God has promised to make a "deal" with us which always pays larger dividends than our initial "investment." Giving something away for the sole purpose of being rewarded by a greater return is counterfeit generosity. The emphasis is upon the "reward," not the gift. Paul reminds me that it is possible to "give away" all we may have ...

18. Material Wealth and Spritual Poverty

Luke 12:13-21

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... We pray through Christ, who has shared his riches with us. Amen. Prayer of Confession Father, we come weighed down with the problems of a wealthy society, and yet we complain about what we do not have. Our bank accounts have become our Bibles. Interest and dividends are the blessings we seek. But we are poor. Forgive us for our warped sense of value, distorted by our greed. Forgive us for our anxiety over wealth, while at the same time we have little concern for our spiritual welfare. Make us rich with the ...

19. Make Way For Poets Of The Heart

Sermon

James Angell

One of the dividends of the ministry is coming to know and enjoy different people - all ages and all human conditions. Often there are surprises. One came for me on a fall afternoon in the 1960s when some members of my Lexington congregation and I visited a Trappist monastery to see what life is ...

20. An Encounter With Two Old Friends

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... . He obeyed the rules. He was disciplined, his character beyond reproach, and best of all he was a tither. Think of that! What could we do if every member of this church would tithe as he did, not only on his wages, but on all possessions, even dividends and capital gains? We could reach out to the highways and the byways for the lost to bring them in, and we could touch the lives of sufferers whose pain is at our doorstep. We welcome Pharisees as members of the congregation, and might even write a ...

21. The Now-ness of Eternity

Zechariah 7:1-14

Sermon

... meaning. This is the highway that leads to eternal life. The bottom line for all of us in this consideration is whether we are willing to accept the gift of eternal life and begin the process of enjoyment, growth, and fulfillment that are the basic dividends of its reality. The Apostle Paul obviously was very here and now conscious when he enjoined the Corinthians, saying: "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2) Will you hear him, and begin now to live ...

22. Proper 11

Lk 10:38-42 · Col 1:21-29 · Gen 18:1-10 · 2 Ki 4:8-17

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... new life - v. 17 2. Kindness Gives a Reward. 4:8-17. Need: Our world is in desperate need for kindness. It is saturated with hatred, violence, and selfishness. An act of kindness is like a candle burning in a dark world. Sometimes kindness pays rich dividends. The kind person is rewarded because the recipient of the kindness was grateful. In our text we have a case of kindness being rewarded. A wealthy couple is kind enough to provide food and a room for a traveling prophet. The reward to the barren couple ...

23. Steadfast and Faithful

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

... . Nonetheless, the Judeo-Christian tradition and its Rainbow Covenant have provided an underlying intellectual climate within which the modern sciences have had room to flourish. The Rainbow Covenant was a religious breakthrough of the first order that continues to pay rich dividends for humanity, thousands of years later. That’s what the biblical writers did with the Flood story. However, in marveling at the brilliance of their insight, we must not forget that in all of this there has been a trade-off ...

24. The Yestermorrow Eclipse

John 10:1-21

Sermon

... -bound rush long enough to give the day the meaning that was there. Christ said it again another way when he indicated that he had come that we might have life and have it abundantly. His reference was not centered on future dividends. He was talking about abundant life now ... today. There’s a strong possibility that abundant life will be lost in the shadows of the Yestermorrow Eclipse. This subtle event contains two simple, harmless-looking words ... yesterday and tomorrow. As the two words slowly ...

25. "When E. F. Hutton Talks"

Jeremiah 26:1-24

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... a tool. Planning is meant to be used and not to dominate us. How easily we fall into the trap. God speaks and we are to listen. Our planning, our career path, our place and standing in the community are all important. No one would deny that they pay dividends. They do. Yet how often do we wish for more. The wish raises the question about our priorities. Here again we hear Jeremiah telling us that our priorities are people. I think we would all academically agree with Jeremiah, but we don’t do it. We would ...

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