Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Let me tell you what all of this means. If the word of God is not bearing fruit in your life, you're not studying the word of God; you're not hearing the word of God; you're not receiving the word of God. I called this sermon "Minority Report" because it is shocking to realize that three-fourths of the seed did not bear fruit. This is so important to understand. The problem in the parable is not with the sower, and the problem is not with the seed, the problem was with the soil. Whenever someone says to ...

2. God’s Weather Report

Matthew 5:38-48

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... show the world what it means to love, to forgive, to resist our feelings and our anger. We show the world that even with all of the brokenness, because of God, we can be whole. Amen. 1. Bob Smietana, "Woman Challenged to Forgive Massacre of Family in Rwanda," United Methodist Reporter, 152.51, April 28, 2006, p. 3A.

3. Report of a Secret Meeting

John 3:1-21

Sermon

George Bass

Nicodemus should have stayed home and gone to bed early that night long ago, but instead he secretly made his way to where Jesus was staying in Jerusalem and became a part of whatever was happening there. Something prompted him to address Jesus as "Teacher" a divinely appointed teacher who worked miracles in the name of God. Only one sent by God could do the things that Jesus did, according to Nicodemus. And he was right, of course. But what he said immediately prompted a retort from Jesus: "Unless a man ...

4. You Can Be Happy

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... me wrong, I don't ” but if I existed the way I should, then people would be moved to ask more, to see my life as an example." And Brother William added, "In that sense, I am reaching out." With a genuine sadness Brother William informed the reporter that the beautiful abbey is experiencing financial difficulties. They have had to rent out some of their buildings, and put the rest up for sale. "That is sad," the old monk said, "the intense interest in learning to be a monk isn't there anymore." Many people ...

5. Love without Limits

John 13:31-38

Sermon

John K. Bergland

... to drive him to the hospital. Without hesitating, they loaded her into the back seat and took off for medical help. After a minute or two, the man said urgently, "Please hurry; she is dying!" The reporter drove faster. A few minutes later, the man in the back seat said, "Hurry, please, my little girl is still breathing!" The reporter sped on. A minute or two later the man said, "Hurry, please, my little girl is still warm." Soon they pulled up to the hospital, but it was too late. The girl had died in the ...

6. Can You Be Popular and Serve Jesus?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... road for a rest room, brown‑bag it from restaurants that would not serve blacks, and her husband would have to sleep in the backseat of the car and she in the front seat below the steering wheel because they could not get into a hotel. Johnson told reporters of her plight many times, and when it came time to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which he had proposed, he gave one of the first pens after the signing to Zephyr Wright. “You deserve this more than anyone else,” Johnson told Wright. (5) Do ...

7. Love without Limits

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... drive him to the hospital. Without hesitating, they loaded her into the back seat and took off for medical help. After a minute or two, the man said urgently, “Please hurry; she is dying!” The reporter drove faster. A few minutes later, the man in the back seat said, “Hurry, please, my little girl is still breathing!” The reporter sped on. A minute or two later the man said, “Hurry, please, my little girl is still warm.” Soon they pulled up to the hospital, but it was too late. The girl had died ...

8. Elephants in the Room: Abuse – I Have a Secret

Matthew 11:28

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... percent of violent juvenile and adult prisoners were raised in violent homes. Each day in the U.S. more than 3 children die as a result of child abuse in the home. Child abuse is reported on average every 10 seconds. Approximately 3 MILLION child abuse reports are made each year. Only two-thirds of the reported cases were investigated. 85-95% of all domestic violence victims are female. Over 500,00 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year. 5.3 million women are abused each year. Domestic violence ...

9. The Unexpected Jesus

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... hour people came and asked Will to perform the functions of a minister. And each time Will responded. At one o'clock the restaurant was empty again as all the workers went back out to their jobs. Will silently finished his sandwich, "Well," he said to the reporter, "church is over for today. Let's go home." (2) Will might not fit many people's expectations for a minister. He would certainly not fit the job description of most congregations. He had a different kind of ministry. But then, so did Jesus. IT'S ...

10. When Extravagance Is Beautiful, and When It Is Not

John 12:1-8

Sermon

James W. Moore

... answered the door and was somewhat stunned to see the Speaker of the House standing there. “I just came by to see what I could do to help you. I’m so sorry about your daughter’s loss… and I want to help you any way I can.” The reporter obviously touched, said: “Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, but I don’t think there’s anything you can do. We’re handling all the arrangements.” “Well, let me ask you something,” said Sam Rayburn. “Have you had your coffee this morning?” When the ...

11. When God's Rule is Taken Out of the School

Job 21:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... , students age 7 to 12 were asked to name as many presidents, and as many alcoholic beverages as they could. On average, they knew 4.8 presidents, and 5.2 kinds of booze.14 Rather than make any other comment, I am simply going to quote a report entitled, A Nation at Risk, released by the U. S. Department of Education in the 1980s. It said: "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war ...

12. Lean on Me

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... is that when you are making plans, especially plans for God's kingdom, you need to set realistic goals. I like a story that is told about Henry Kissinger. One of his aides came with a report that Kissinger had requested on a conflict in Africa. He laid the report on Kissinger's desk. Kissinger didn't pick up the report, but instead, looked up at his aide and asked, "Is this your best effort?" The man answered, "Well, sir, there are some other things that I wanted to check out, but there wasn't enough time ...

13. Joshua People Always Look Forward With Hope

Joshua 1:1-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... least 1 over next 10 years. We were called upon to encourage, support, assist these young people both spiritually and financially. The point being, the church is aging and we need fresh blood. We need fresh faith. We need Joshuas who will come back to us with the minority report which says: "With God on our side we can do anything. We may have to do it different. We may have to open our hearts, minds and doors to others not like us. We may have to stretch our comfort zones. We may have to change. But with ...

14. A Cat In a Tree

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... this story should probably be relabeled, “the feeding of the 10,000”--since the original number did not count women and children among those fed. Any way you count the number of people fed, however, it was an enormous group. You know the story. A report came to Jesus that John the Baptist had been brutally murdered by King Herod. When Jesus heard this, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Probably the Master wanted to grieve for John. After all, they were cousins. If you have ever grieved ...

15. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of the local bank were answered when the Archangel Michael came down and pancaked the place. She even included a Polaroid of her winged warrior and urged that someone from the paper come to visit and do a story. OK. "This is too good to pass up," thinks reporter Frank Quinlan - a page-one scoop. True or not, it becomes his job to track down this alleged angel and bring him back to Chicago in time for Christmas. But his feisty boss - a Rupert Murdock knock-off - will not let him go it alone. He sends Quinlan ...

16. Needed: Peacemakers

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... a place of honor next to Abraham. Jesus proclaimed the blessedness of the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. And in Matthew 11, when John the Baptist asked if Jesus is the long-awaited Deliverer, Jesus replied with these words: "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." Jesus came to free people from the social oppressions ...

17. On Getting Out Of The Way

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The real baptism, conversion, salvation, hope is not in me; it is in Jesus." Shortly thereafter John disappears from the scene. He bows out so Jesus can bow in. Our text goes on to report that when Jesus came to John and was baptized, God confirmed Jesus' Messiahship as the heavens opened up, a dove descended and a voice was heard, "Thou art my beloved Son." The importance of this text for the modern church cannot be overstated. It is a thin ...

18. Life on the Roller Coaster

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... there’s not enough money in the world to get me on another one! And if you are like me, when you heard these news reports last week you probably turned to someone who IS fond of roller coasters and said something like, "See! I told you those things are dangerous ... then they came back and said, "Well, maybe… Let’s run a few more tests." And then after the tests, the doctor’s report is "We were right the first time. There’s no hope for recovery." Roller coaster, up one minute, down the next, but that ...

19. Is It Well With Your Family? (Mother's Day)

2 Kings 4:8-26

Sermon

Brett Blair

... came to Plains, Georgia, to interview his mother in relation to an article about Mr. Carter and his family. His mother really didn't want to be interviewed, but was being gracious. So when the reporter knocked at her door, Mrs. Carter invited her in. The reporter asked some hard questions and actually was rather aggressive and rude. "I want to ask you a question," she said. "Your son ran for the presidency on the premise that he would always tell the truth. Has he ever lied?" Mrs. Carter said, "I think ...

20. Food for Faith

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... news to say that we are in a crisis of world hunger. It is said that we breathe twenty times in one minute. That is exactly how many people in the world die from hunger in a minute. One dies each time we take a breath! It is reported that four hundred sixty million people are hungry. Because of the population explosion, two hundred thousand new mouths must be fed each day. It seems as though a greater miracle than the feeding of the five thousand is needed if today’s people are going to have sufficient ...

21. God Bless the Child

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... to watch for signs. One day a teacher noticed that Ruby was talking to the people who greeted her so angrily at the door of the school. The teacher asked Ruby about what she was saying but Ruby denied talking with them. So the teacher called Dr. Coles to report what might be the first signs of cracking. And when Coles met we Ruby what he discovered was that each morning and each evening as she passed the crowds, she was not speaking to them but praying for them. "Why Ruby," he asked. "Why would you pray for ...

22. "A Friend Indeed"

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... taught so well that they are even worse than us old folks. "Never before has so much meant so little to so many." The hour offered some interesting insights. Our Gross Domestic Product is now twice as large as it was in the 1950's, yet many Americans report that their quality of life is not as high as it was in that era. In 1948, 4% of Americans owned dishwashers, 1% owned color TV's, there were no microwave ovens, VCR's or personal computers. Today, 50% of us own dishwashers, 97% own color TV's; Microwaves ...

23. "Say It Ain't So"

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... the basics right now. If it's worth $10,000 for a pro quarterback, think how much more it is worth for you and me who are God's quarterbacks on the most important team playing in the most important game in town! (2) It is reported that once during the Vince Lombardi years in Green Bay, the Packers were resoundingly "whipped" by an opponent. They did everything wrong. The next day at practice, Coach Lombardi said, "Gentlemen, I have seen enough. We must start at the beginning ” the object I am holding ...

24. It's A Miracle

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... supernatural. Christian faith is an ongoing relationship with the living Christ that perseveres even when God seems to be silent. A few years ago, Elaine St. Johns and a friend were riding down a twisting canyon road and somehow left the road. I would like to report to you that a hand came out of the clouds and caught their car and somehow miraculously placed it back on the road. Unfortunately that is not what happened. Their car ended up upside down in some bushes. Elaine's friend was thrown clear of the ...

25. Why Shepherds?

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... cold.” When they reached the hospital, the little girl had died. As the two men were in the lavatory, washing the blood off their hands and their clothes, the man turned to the reporter and said, “This is a terrible task for me. I must go and tell her father that his child is dead . . . he will be heartbroken.” The reporter was amazed. He looked at the grieving man and said, “I thought she was your child.” The man looked back and said, “No, but aren’t they all our children?” (4) I can ...

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