Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: contest, tournament, match, game, round, heat, fixture, event, meet, encounter, rivalry, competitiveness, vying, contesting, opposition, contention, conflict, feuding, battling, fighting, struggling, strife, war, opposing side, other side, other team, field, enemy, foe

Showing 1 to 25 of 135 results

1. The Primacy of Human Relationships

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Joe Pennel

... to say to his father for creating all of the embarrassing notoriety: "Thanks." "I didn't talk to him for a day after the incident," says Matt, who has continued to play the school-boy circuit. "We did not ride home together after he pulled me out of the state tournament. He left right away, and I stayed and rode home with my coach. But, the next night at home, my dad called me in and we sat down together and talked about what had happened, why he did what he did. He explained that he did it for my own ...

2. It's Happening!

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... people in South Africa had always supported whoever was playing against the Springboks. "But regardless of the past," he said, "these are our boys now. They may all be white, but they're our boys, and we must get behind them and support them in this tournament." The next day, instead of holding a practice, the Springbok's coach took his team out to Robben Island, to the prison where Nelson Mandela had spent nearly three decades of his life behind bars. The coach and every player on the team walked into ...

3. Staying Alive All Your Ministry Life: Will You Finish Well?

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the Masters,” Woods said during an exclusive interview last week. “But my timing was great, so I got away with it. And I made almost every putt. You can have a wonderful week like that even when your swing isn’t sound. But can you still contend in tournaments with that swing when your timing isn’t as good? Will it hold up over a long period of time? The answer to those questions, with the swing I had, was no. And I wanted to change that.” In other words, Woods, already considered the best by many ...

4. Legacies of Power

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... was playing against the Springboks. But regardless of the past, he said, "This is a new day and this is our team now. Our team. They may all be white, but they're ours, and it's time to get behind them, to support them in this world cup tournament." The next day, the Springboks' coach sent word for his players to show up in their suits and ties rather than their practice gear. He took them to Robben Island, to the prison where Nelson Mandela had spent nearly three decades of his life behind bars. The coach ...

5. The Problem With The Big Ten

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Love's answer was simple: "How would I feel if I won the Masters and wondered for the rest of my life if I cheated to get in?" The story has a happy ending. The week before the 1995 Masters, Love qualified by winning a tournament in New Orleans. Then in the Masters he finished second, earning $237,600. (4) It is refreshing to read accounts of persons with that kind of moral rectitude. They are becoming increasingly hard to find. The Ten Commandments are the foundation of a civilized society. Keeping ...

6. How Did You Do On The Test?

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... move you know, but it also may be the only move you'll ever need," the judo master replied. The boy didn't quite understand, but trusted and believed in his teacher, so he kept training. Several months later, the judo master took the boy to his first tournament. He easily won the first two matches. The third match was more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged: the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. He was amazed by his success and was now in the finals. This ...

7. Listen to Him

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... wins over his bed so that he would see it morning and night. As he pondered Nicklaus’ triumphs, Woods visualized himself playing in and winning each of his hero’s tournaments, breaking Nicklaus’ records. By the time Tiger actually competed in his first tournament, this mental rehearsing gave him the confidence he needed to compete on a level no other golfer, even his hero, has attained. (2) Some of us may have paintings of Christ in our homes. They probably look nothing like the historical Jesus ...

8. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... club in his son's hands the moment the child could be classified as a toddler. From the age of 3, he has been constantly nurtured and schooled in the sport of golf. He played every day. He practiced for hours on end. He competed in every tournament that came along usually as the youngest player on the course. Despite his youth, he has been the dominant force and figure in amateur golf circles for years. Because of this history, there is virtually no way to tell how much "natural" talent for golf Tiger Woods ...

9. A Collapse of Concentration

Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

David Humpal

... the game with some other Fresno chess players. Their attitude was: you only won because our player made a mistake. They didn't realize that fatal mistake was preceded by a series of pressure-creating moves that finally resulted in a collapse of concentration. All tournament chess players face that – they have to try to not emotionally respond to a tense situation on the chessboard and allow their game to fall apart. This is why God allows testing to come our way. He wants us to learn how to not respond ...

10. Love in Action

1 John 3:16-24

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

... make some good days for the baby. The next week as De Vincenzo was out having lunch a Professional Golf Association official stopped by his table. "Some of the boys in the parking lot last week told me you met a young woman there after you won that tournament." De Vincenzo nodded. The official felt he should know the truth and reported, "I have news for you. She's a phony. She has no sick baby. She's not even married. She fleeced you, my friend." "You mean there is no baby who is dying?" asked De Vincenzo ...

11. Accept His Peace

John 4:1-26, Romans 5:1-11, Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... and finally it curved, and then Ker plunk! into the hole it went. Some called it the shot of the year. Bolstered by this magnificent putt, Larry Nelson went on to win the tournament, his first victory following a two-year slump. One of the reporters who flocked to get his comments after the tournament asked him if he had been praying during the match, especially before that fateful putt. “Yes,” Larry Nelson answered. “Were you praying you’d make the shot?” the reporter asked. “No,” Nelson said ...

12. Elephants in the Room: Anxiety

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... in a couple of years ago. It was at Mangrove Bay and it was my first real competitive tournament. It turned out to be a memorable day but not in the way you might think. I arrived ... foursome’s first hole was on the back nine. My partner and I rode out to the hole. We spoke about what a beautiful day it was and how excited were about the tournament. Then we turned a corner and there basking in the sun on the cart path was the biggest rattlesnake I had ever seen! It was coiled up ready to strike. My partner ...

13. The Art of Following

Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... think golf, eat golf, and sleep golf. And then, if you have talent, you get to play on your college team. If you do well in college and on the amateur tour and the minor tour maybe you’ll make it to the PGA, where you can drive yourself to tournaments, sleep in the back of your car, eat at McDonalds and hope to pick up a caddy at each location. And then, when you’ve paid your dues, maybe you get good enough to be one of the ranked players so you can wake up early and go out and ...

14. OK, God You Win!

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... us. Job did not really lose the battle for truth, for he was a victor. Once I was a winner because I associated with winners. One day a friend invited me to play golf with him. When we arrived at the clubhouse, we learned that we had to join a tournament being held that morning. We were divided into teams of four. My friend was in one foursome and I in another. It was decided that the game would be played according to who hit the ball the farthest and that the next drive would be from that point. Since I ...

15. ATHLETE

1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 2:5

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... the death. But most of the champions were Greeks. However, professional athletes do not seem to have been known in early times, although 2 Samuel 2:14, "Let the young men arise and play before us" implies the existence of tournaments on the amateur level. We do know that a large tournament of various events was held every five years at Tyre. But it is in the intertestamental and New Testament times that we find the most explicit references to them. Herod the Great awarded valuable prizes to the winners of ...

16. My Colors Will Be Clear

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... be held on a Sunday morning, he went to his coach and said, "Coach, I can't play if it's going to be on Sunday morning. That's when I got to church and Sunday School." He was willing to fly the colors up high. Incidentally, the soccer tournament was rescheduled. That little boy flew the colors for Christ. Our scripture lesson for the morning, Matthew 14:25-33, is about a man who was willing to fly the colors for Christ almost anytime. His name was Simon Peter. Let me set the scene for you. The disciples ...

17. Good News for Good Living

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... the minister and his wife felt as if they were sitting beside their replacements in life, those who would stand in their spots after they were gone. For a brief moment amid the shouts and sounds, life was frozen by a stark revelation. The minister forgot the golf tournament and focused for a moment in his mind on the message of the resurrection of Jesus and its claims. No longer was it fodder for a message for those who had lost loved ones so they could apply hope to their skeptical doubts. No longer was it ...

18. Connections In High Place

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... into the hole. At that time, I assumed I had tied for the lead and would be in a playoff. An official then informed me that I had incurred a two-stroke penalty for impeding the flight of the ball because it had struck me. I lost the tournament." I have days like that, don't you? Sam Goldwyn once accompanied a producer to a preview of a blood and thunder epic. After the film, the producer demanded, "Now, isn't that a real swashbuckler?' "Yes," Goldwyn said, "but the trouble is, it buckles where it should ...

19. Sinner Or Saint?

Hebrews 7:11-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... an eye. And he's still the same guy who was just itching to get close to beautiful Susie. But his perception of himself has changed. He no longer sees himself primarily as a bundle of physical urges, but as a disciplined runner. He came to the tournament to run a race. That was his purpose, and Susie's suggestion was at cross-purposes with why he was there and how he perceived himself." (4) All the psychology books are in basic agreement with Anderson's insight here. What you do doesn't determine who ...

20. Sitting At God's Table

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... stole the spotlight that night. That someone else was Dondre Green, the honored guest at the banquet and a member of the golf team at St. Frederick High School in Louisiana. On April 17, 1991, Dondre and his team were scheduled to play a tournament at the Caldwell Parish Country Club in Columbia, Louisiana. As the young men warmed up on the putting green, a member of the country club's staff approached St. Frederick's athletic director, James Murphy. There had been a terrible mistake; Caldwell Parish didn ...

21. God Is Not Fair (Grumbling in the Vineyard)

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... in Knoxville, Tennessee that had a fascinating ending. It was a hole-in-one tournament. The rules said that whoever came closest to getting a hole-in-one on the 90-yard hole was the winner. You didn't have to actually make a hole-in-one to win. Just come close. One man hit a terrible shot. It was so bad that it ricocheted ...

22. Drinking From His Cup

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... GREATNESS HAS ITS PRICE. It doesn't come free. Many of you are familiar with golfer Gary Player. Player is a man for whom both faith and accomplishment are important. He won more international golf tournaments in his day than anyone else. Today, he's still winning on the senior tour. When Player was competing in a tournament, people constantly came up to him and made the same remark: "I'd give anything if I could hit a golf ball like you." One particularly tough day, a tired and frustrated Player once again ...

23. Why Cheerful Givers are Cheerful

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... that was required, he raged. Daniel Ludwig could not be called a cheerful giver. (2) Jack Benny was a generous man say his friends. But be made millions making us believe he was a miser. He once appeared at a charity golf tournament. After entertaining the gallery at the first tee, the tournament executives insisted that Jack begin play. He turned to his caddie and said, "Are you any good at finding lost golf balls?" The kid said, "Yes, Mr. Benny, I am." Jack said, "Well, find me one and let''s get started ...

24. The Lord's Prayer: Hallowed be Thy Name

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Southern Baptist pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, who shared an incident that demonstrated to him that we don''t have a sense of the "Holy" in our culture towards God and the church anymore. Living in Atlanta, Georgia, he had the chance to go to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Self says: "Outside the gate the crowd was like that at any athletic event--jubilant and noisy. But when the fans walked onto the course, it was as if they had walked onto holy ground. Many of them felt that they were ...

25. Almost Persuaded

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... more Americans go to hell because of love of money than all other sins put together. Jesus was really saying to the rich young ruler: “You are carrying a security blanket which you rely on more than God. God will not agree to be co-champion in your tournament of favorites. That false god must be de-throned in order for you to experience the glory of God.” Verse 22 is one of the saddest statements in all of Scripture: “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” The ...

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