Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... member converted to Christ while the rest of the family did not. Jesus wanted to be sure that those who were following him knew the range of difficulties they faced. Being a modern day disciple of Jesus Christ still may cause hard feelings within families. Anne Tyler, in her novel SAINT MAYBE, tells the story of a nineteen-year-old man named Ian. Ian feels guilty about his brother's death and feels some responsibility to help raise his brother's children. At Christmas break, Ian sees how taking care of his ...

2. Pretenders

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... was overheard exclaiming: "But I want to get a tattoo just like Daddy's!" The mark on our forehead is not exactly a tattoo. It is rather a symbol of a tattoo that is upon our heart. We belong to Jesus. We are pretenders no more. 1. Ann Tyler, Morgan's Passing (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980), quoted in Working the Angles, Eugene H. Peterson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), pp. 5-6. 2. "Pumped Up" by Heather Baldwin, Selling Power, May 2000, p. 136. 3. "An Image of Appetite Appeased" by Tom Thompson What's ...

3. Will My Ship Sink or Float?

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... of the spiritual. If, however, the material were brought to serve under the direction of the spiritual, then our essential needs could be met. Then all things could work together for good! It is said of a character in the recent novel, Morgan’s Passing, by Anne Tyler, "You could say he was a man who had gone to pieces, or maybe he’d always been in pieces; maybe he’d arrived unassembled." The description continues, "parts of his life, too, lay separate from other parts."2 It’s easy to see that this ...

4. Three Ways to Know a Saint

Sermon

King Duncan

... place because he or she has been here. I love the way Frederick Beuchner once put it, “In his holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints.” Seventeen‑year‑old Ian Bedloe, the central character in Anne Tyler’s novel Saint Maybe, in a time of personal crisis, blurts out to his older brother Dan that he thinks Dan’s wife, Lucy, is having an affair. His shocked brother responds by committing suicide. Lucy then takes her own life. A ...

5. Remember...

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... to us. Remember . . . Remember God. “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lo9rd your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God . . .” Pastor Scott Hoezee tells about a character in author Anne Tyler’s book, Ladder of Years. The character’s name is Delia Grinstead. Delia is an utterly giving wife and mother who does her best to keep her household running smoothly. But as her children grow, they begin to ignore Delia and all she does for ...

6. Bitterness: How to Overcome What You Undergo

Hebrews 12:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... the wrap and turned the baby onto his stomach, switched off the light and went to bed. Normally he was the one to go in to wake Tyler up, but that Father's Day morning he asked Amy to do it because he wanted her to be the one to discover the body. Shocked, she ... causes trouble." A bitter root always brings forth bitter fruit, and this root is no different. Bitterness causes trouble for everybody. Ann Landers once said, "Bitterness is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored, as well as destroy ...

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