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 4976 results

1. Of Peace and War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... ? Some people would even say that even God can’t make up His mind. Many say that the God of the Old Testament is a God of war and the God of the New Testament is a God of peace. The God of the Old Testament says, “An eye for an eye and a tooth ... with everyone.” (Romans 12:18, NIV) Do you know why it is not always possible to live in peace with other people? Do you know why war is inevitable? I will tell you in 3 words - sin and selfishness. If it depends on you try to be at peace with all men, but it ...

2. The Whip of War

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Brett Blair

... Lord and it was also to let the world know that there is a God in Israel” (2 Sam 17:45-46). Why did God use war to accomplish his will? It is because our world is a world, which is governed by the aggressive use of force. God could have, if he so ... build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son ...

3. A Christian's Duty in Time of War

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , verse 14— “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Our duty as Christians in a time of war is to pray, post the guard, and then build an America that is easy for God to bless. I want to close by quoting the final words given two days ago by Captain Ronnie Johnson of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division as his men were about to ...

4. Good Soldiers, Bad Wars

Joshua 11:1-23, Matthew 8:5-13

Sermon

Erskine White

... become more than brothers. They love each other completely, even with their lives. More so than most Christians, these soldiers have the kind of love Jesus talked about. II. Yes, we in the church ought to have more to say about good soldiers when we talk of war and peace. We ought to recognize the Christ-like values which can be found everywhere in life, even in the armed forces. But then we must ask, what happens to them? What happens to these good soldiers? The answer is: they are sent to fight in evil ...

5. Should Christians Always Oppose War?

Romans 13:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... violent overthrow of the Roman Empire. While Jesus was not a pacifist, a primary thrust of his life and ministry was against violence and war. He said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). Here is my second point: THE NEW ... Iraq has not produced any. How long can the international community wait? What is a sensible midpoint between a rush to war, on one hand, and an irresponsible flirtation with disaster, on the other? Do you really believe that Saddam is using ...

6. How Does One Follow Jesus During The Threat Of War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

George Johnson

... was said of old ... but I say to you." He showed us the power of love. You can use the Old Testament as a justification for war, but I don't think you can use Jesus. Our concern is with following Jesus because we meet in the name of Jesus. Let's look ... words to justify using violence to stop violence. I want us to be honest in our struggle. How do you follow Jesus during the threat of war? Jesus said, "If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword." We can call Jesus a crazy liberal, a lunatic, or a wimp ...

7. Going to War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... :5ff. and 21:10–14 are an exercise of neighbor love within the constraints of the grim reality of warfare. 20:1–4 Horses and chariots were the pride of the great ancient Near Eastern imperial armies, and Israel did indeed face them in the Canaanite wars. To a mere human calculation of odds they would induce a crippling inferiority complex. But the odds were not merely human, for Israel already celebrated their history in a song that is not noted for its awe of chariots (Exodus 15:1): I will sing to the ...

8. We Are At War

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... will work because he is a spiritual enemy. He is not an enemy to be trifled with. We go on to find out that our war is against "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age." I want to say on the one hand, don't underestimate ... the devil. The Bible says we are to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Jeffery C. Ward in his book, The Civil War, tells a story about a scene that took place on a battlefield during the battle of Gettysburg. He said: Right in the middle of the ...

9. What Would Jesus Say About War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... intervention into our troubled world? What if we started now? What if we really prayed for peace? What if we really asked for forgiveness? What if we really knocked on the door of God’s mercy until the lion lies down with the lamb and the people of earth study war no more? Do you believe in prayer? If you believe in prayer, will you join with me in a prayer right now. Let me direct your praying. Would you pray with me in this moment for direct intervention of God and all of His power in the presence of ...

10. Christians In A Warring World - 1941

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... long, has been so widely accepted as inevitable and thus seems so obvious, that one who doubts it and particularly one who denounces it as insane and suicidal is considered impractical, visionary, and Utopian. For the average man in the street, the necessity of resorting to war as the final method of settling disputes is as clear and as certain as that the sun goes around the earth or that the earth is flat. All of which is interesting but untrue. On the other hand the pacifist believes that we get what we ...

11. War and the Prince of Peace

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , teach peace at your house today. I know it is not easy, is it? It is Saturday morning and you are now in the yard trying to find some peace for yourself from the pressures of work when suddenly five year old Billy and three year old Susie declare World WAR III in the garage over the Big Wheel. Billy is sitting on it, saying, “I'm going to ride it," and Susie is standing at the wheel and is not going to budge an inch. The yelling disturbs your peace and you are confronted with the question. What are you ...

12. The War of Malchus’ Ear

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... to do so simply because our Lord commanded us to do it. We are supposed to be followers of Jesus. A few years back I read a novel called “the Vicar of Christ” by Walter Murphy. It is the improbable story of a man who is successively, a war hero (Korea), Dean of the Law School (at the University of Michigan,) a Supreme Court Justice, then Chief Justice. This man’s wife dies tragically...and he goes into a monastery to retreat from the world just as the College of Cardinals meets in Rome to elect a ...

13. Living By Faith In A Time of War

Judges 6:1-40

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... the nations.” (Ps. 47:08) Victory is a gift from God but it does not always go to the most powerful. The prophet Zechariah declared, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” During the dark days of the Civil War, someone said to President Abraham Lincoln, “Let us pray that God is on our side.” Lincoln replied, “Let’s pray instead that we are on God’s side.” I don’t believe that God is neutral in the battle between freedom and terrorism. The Bible says ...

14. War against Midian

Num 31:1-54

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... “the trumpets of the blast.” This refers to the silver trumpets used to direct the troops in the battle (cf. Num. 10:8–10). 31:7 they fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded. See Numbers 25:16–18. killed every man. According to the rules of war outside the promised land, only men are to be killed (Deut. 20:12–14). This is not genocide. It is limited to Midianite tribes allied with Moab. Other Midianites exist into the seventh century BC (Judg. 6:1–7; Hab. 3:7). 31:8 the five kings of ...

15. In A Time Of War

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... We cannot blame the Congress. We cannot blame the military. We can only blame ourselves. Somehow we have not shone the light of Christ's love brightly enough to convince the world's people that love is better than hate, life is better than death, peace is better than war. War is not God's will. THE SECOND THING WE ARE SURE OF IS THAT GOD'S HEART GOES OUT TO ALL WHO SUFFER. The picture we have in the beginning of this twentieth chapter of Exodus is of a God who is vitally involved in human affairs. God says ...

16. What to Wear to the War

Ephesians 6:13-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... defense against Satan, but this weapon is for our defeat of Satan. The first five are defensive, the last one is offensive. Because God does not always want us to be on the defense, He wants us to be on the offense. General George Patton once said, "You fight a war attacking from the front, not defending from the rear." We're told to take the sword of the Spirit and go on the attack. Now the Roman soldier had a short sword about 14 inches long that was sharp at the end and on both sides. It cut both ways ...

17. The God of War and Peace

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23) 32-49

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... a warrior" (Exodus 15:3). There would have been no successful exodus from Egyptian slavery for Israel without the fact that when he chooses, God can be a warrior. Having said that, let's be clear that the Bible does not describe God as a warmonger. To go to war is not his preferred activity. We have only to listen to such a verse as Psalm 86:5 to understand that: "For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you." That is hardly the description of a warmonger, and ...

18. Civil War Isn't!

2 Samuel 18:1-18, 19--19:8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... never falls too far from the tree? That Absalom's bad behavior was simply the fruit of David's own? That we should be careful about provoking our children or someday they might try a palace coup? That hard as we try, sometimes "Stuff Happens?" That "Civil War Isn't?" No. This is no morality tale. This is simply history. This is a reminder that God's purposes will always prevail, even in the midst of horrible circumstances. But there is a lesson that is as modern as tomorrow's newspaper when we notice that ...

19. War with the Philistines

1 Chronicles 20:4-8

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... (David’s sons). 19:1–20:3 A new subsection is opened with the temporal indication in the course of time (19:1). The topic of the next verses is the battle against, and the defeat of, the Ammonites, who fought in coalition with the Arameans. The war is sparked off by a misunderstanding by the Ammonite nobles of the delegation David sent to the new Ammonite king, Hanun, after the latter’s father died. David wanted to express his sympathy in order to return in this way the kindness the deceased king had ...

20. At War with Myself

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

William G. Carter

... is good, evil lies close at hand. I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my body another law at war with the law of my mind. Wretched man that I am!" A lot of people don't like the Apostle Paul. They think he ought to ... are directed toward serving God. That is true, as far as it goes. But most of chapter 7 is in the present tense. He speaks about a war continuing within himself. He tries to do the right thing, but it doesn't always work out that way. He knows he has been claimed by Jesus ...

21. Going to War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... terms of peace (20:10, 15) first of all, but those in Canaan are to be destroyed because of their accumulated wickedness and the threat of religious syncretism in Israel (Deut. 7:1–6, 25–26). Idolatry must not creep into the land via the back door. These wars are to be ecologically sensitive as well: fruit trees are not to be cut down or destroyed (20:19–20). Moreover, a captive woman is to be treated mercifully, for if she is later married to an Israelite, she must never be sold or treated as a slave ...

22. Holy War: Fighting Right the Right Fight

Ephesians 6:10-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... stand firm. They amount to the new person Paul urges the readers to “put on” (Eph. 4:24); only now he speaks of it as “putting on” the full armor of God. The same verb appears in both cases. This is a holy war, a Christlike jihad. Jesus waged this same war against evil, standing firm in truth and righteousness, in peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. It led him to crucifixion, and before he died he prayed that the Father would forgive his persecutors, for they were mere pawns. His struggle ...

23. To Ransom The Prisoners Of War

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... were citizens of a nation hostile to God. This passage reminds us of another aspect of hostilities between nations -- prisoners of war, held in dark cells or tiger cages, chained, often mistreated, waiting for some sign of hope, of deliverance. It is difficult ... good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do" (Romans 7:15, 18-19). In short, we are prisoners of war, taken captive by our own self-centeredness, our own narrow vision, our limited horizons. We are prisoners of sin. If you don't believe it, ...

24. Tug-Of-War

Ephesians 4:1-3

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

... a team. We should not pull against each other and we should not try to pull anyone down. I need a few helpers this morning. (Select several children and/or youth, and arrange them in equal teams on each end of the rope.) Have you ever seen a tug-of-war competition? There are two teams, one on each side of the rope. There is a line in the dirt or sometimes even a mud hole between the two teams. Each team pulls and pulls, just as hard as it can, using all of its strength to pull the other team ...

25. Punishment of War and Captivity

Hosea 8:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... because they have worshiped a golden calf and because they have been politically unfaithful in their covenant relationship with God. The political judgment in 8:1 may refer to the attack of their enemy Assyria, which brought an end to the Syro-Ephraimite War. The stipulations within God’s covenant describe how Israel, God’s covenant partner, is to relate to foreign nations in the political sphere, how people are to treat one another within just social relationships, and what people are to do to maintain ...

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