Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 249 results

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Brett Blair

... all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was ...

2. The Placebo Effect

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... THE REAL THING, THEY KEEP US FROM ACHIEVING THAT WHICH REALLY WILL MAKE LIFE WORK. Let's consider for a few moments some of these placebos. Twenty years ago there was a Greek tycoon whose name was a household word in this country. You have already guessed--Aristotle Onassis. Onassis once said, "All that really counts these days is money. It's the people with money that are the royalty now." By that maxim, Onassis lived like a king. He had every plaything that you and I can imagine. He personified on a grand ...

3. Astonishing! - Sermon Starter

Mark 1:21-28

Illustration

Brett Blair

4. The Speed of Descent

Illustration

Staff

... all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. In 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten- pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however ...

5. A Good Name

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9

Sermon

William H. Willimon

... woman, who faked a heart attack when the Nazis came to search her house later said, "Pastor always taught us that there comes a time in every life when a person is asked to do something for Jesus. When our time came, we knew what to do." "Aristotle was right," says Hallie. "Good people are mostly the people of good habits." Many of us have been neglecting our habits. Having convinced ourselves that our world is so new and demanding, that we are faced with problems our parents never knew, that there are no ...

6. Chosen For Good News

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... s the normal response to having a loving friend like that. No longer fear and dread; but, rather, joy-filled friendship. What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!What a privilege to carry, Everything to God in Prayer! (Joseph Scriven, 1820-86) Aristotle says among the marks of a true friend are, “He guards you when you are off your guard and does not forsake you in trouble; he even lays down his life for your sake; he restrains you from doing wrong; he enjoins you to do right… he ...

7. Bartolome’ de Las Casas Protector Of The Indians

Drama

Thomas A. Renquist

... was called back to Spain to appear once again before the Emperor to answer these charges. It was arranged as a debate between him and Sepulveda, a well-known scholar who supported the right of Spaniards to enslave the Indians. Sepulveda appealed to Aristotle’s doctrine of natural slavery, that one part of humanity is designated by nature to be slaves for the other part. He also quoted scriptures, especially Jesus’ Parable of the Great Banquet where the banquet host “compelled the people to come in ...

8. The Inner Galaxy

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... all people." And it is the news of a love that never gives up, news of a love that transforms inner galaxies and causes a generous outpouring of money and talent and helpfulness to all in need. This love which sets everything in motion, as Aristotle said, is the same love that moves the sun and stars along, said Dante, and is the same love however discounted in our time, which, says scientist and naturalist Eiseley, "moved the dying Christ on Golgotha with a power that has reached across two thousand weary ...

9. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... for himself. When he received his first Most Valuable Player award, Shaq gave himself a new nickname. He said, “From this day on I want to be known as “The Big Apostle” because Aristotle once said that excellence is not a singular act; it is a habit – you are what you repeatedly do.” Shaq was right… and Aristotle was right. Excellence is not one single act. It is found in what we repeatedly do well… and here is where we see the excellence of Andrew. He repeatedly introduced people to Jesus ...

10. How Can I Know The Truth?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... your neighbor as yourself? Is it true? What do you THINK? Trust your experiences and your ability to reasonup to a point. We are all aware that our brains and our experiences can mislead us. Few thinkers have ever surpassed the immortal Greek philosopher Aristotle, and yet Aristotle made mistakes. For example, he taught that if a onepound ball and a fivepound ball of the same size were dropped at the same time from the same height, the fivepound ball would fall five times as fast as the onepound ball. That ...

11. The Battle of the Wisdoms

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... (Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes) and the Apocrypha, to the circulated letters of Paul, wisdom as a gift of God's spirit was held before them. In like manner, they were familiar with the teachings of Aristotle. The initial readers of James' words were familiar with the law of logic called the Law of the Excluded Middle. Aristotle had invented it and students of logic had memorized it for centuries before James took up his pen. It said, "A cannot be both A and B at the same time." The early Christians knew ...

12. What If He Shows Up?

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... There is another law. It's not as well known as Murphy's Law. It's a law of logic, called the Law of the Excluded Middle. Aristotle invented it, and students of logic have memorized it for thousands of years. It says, "A cannot be both A and B at the same time." ... mind. Which are you going to be? Are you going to be God, or are you going to be man? Because you can't be both. Even Aristotle said you can't be both. You can't take on our flesh, live our life, die our death, and still be God. It's logically ...

13. The Incomparable Christ

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... on every continent, has more followers than ever before, sixteen times has his picture been on the cover of Time magazine, and his sayings have been translated into more than 200 languages. Consider: Socrates taught for forty years, Plato for fifty, and Aristotle, forty. Jesus Christ only taught for three years. Yet which has influenced the world more? One hundred thirty years of classical thought or three years of Christ's? In the Library of Congress there are 1,172 reference books on William Shakespeare ...

14. Hands On

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... TOY! When we put something in our hands it is transformed from a noun to a verb, a thing to an action. Our hands move and shape, create and destroy, stroke and strike. Aristotle called the hand the "instrument of instruments," and he credited the hand as the body-part, which, along with the brain, separated humans from beasts. Aristotle recognized that the two, hand and brain, go together as agent and intention: what is done and what is meant to be done. The union is impetus behind all advances. In Hebrew ...

15. The Superhero Miracle of Humor

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ‑‑ a work on "Comedy." The ancient monk Jorge ends up killing half a dozen other monks and sets the fire to burn down the priceless library, and actually EATS the book by Aristotle to destroy this philosophers treatise on the GOOD of humor, of comedy because Jorge believed that if humor was incorporated into Christianity it would destroy the gravitas of salvation. Actually, the opposite is the case. Second, the humor in the feeding of the 5000 is not easy to find because ...

16. Extreme Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... received wide public acclaim. Remember the legendary orator Demosthenes who is said to have filled his mouth with pebbles to improve his diction. The Greeks prized the gift of oratory. Four hundred years before Paul a man named Aristotle wrote a work which he called Rhetoric. Aristotle’s Rhetoric spelled out rules for public speaking that are still being studied by students of public speaking today. The Corinthians valued eloquence of speech highly. And so Paul begins by saying it is wonderful to be a ...

17. Paul Opposes Peter

Galatians 2:11-21

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... evangelists had in the Galatians was that their way—the way of works of law—resonated both with the Jewish tradition to which Paul’s converts were attracted and with the Greek philosophical tradition that thought virtue was achieved through human agency (e.g., Aristotle, Eth. nic. 3.3.13). The final phrase of verse 16 reads literally “by works of law all flesh (sarx) will not be justified.” Flesh for Paul has several different meanings. It refers to bodily existence, in which case it has a neutral ...

18. Freedom In Christ

Galatians 5:1-15

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... us, the ancient world sought freedom within the law rather than freedom as the opposite of law. Judaism thought of law abiding as the road to freedom, as did Jewish Christianity (cf. Jas. 1:25; 2:8–13). This was also true of non-Jewish ancients. Aristotle wrote: “it is preferable for the law to rule than any one of the citizens” (Pol. 3.11.2 [Rackham, LCL]); and “the law is wisdom without desire” (Pol. 3.11.5; ibid.). Freedom was to be found in the context of law. Dio Chrysostom defined freedom ...

19. False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 Peter 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... ), but off to one side of it; consequently, his mind and thinking were of the same order, para, off to the side of, phrēn, the mind; i.e., he was “out of his mind,” “mad.” 2:17 Mists: The rare Greek word homichlai is used by Aristotle (On Meteorology 1.346b) for the haze heralding dry weather. The term occurs in the NT only here. Some MSS have altered it to nephalai (clouds), as in the corresponding passage, Jude 12. Peter may have chosen mists also to suggest the confusing haziness of thought and ...

20. Exhortations

Philippians 4:2-9

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... only the peace that he gives (cf. Rom 5:1) but the serenity in which he lives: God is not subject to anxiety. Additional Notes 4:5 Gentleness: Gk. epieikes, neuter adjective; cf. the abstract noun epieikeia, “gentleness,” in 2 Cor. 10:1. Aristotle describes epieikeia as that which is not only just but even better than justice (Nicomachean Ethics 5.10.6). There are occasions when strict insistence on the letter of the law (as with Shylock’s pound of flesh) would lead to injustice; epieikeia recognizes ...

21. Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (2:6). God continued to test their character and motives. In 2:5 Paul invokes two witnesses, the Thessalonians and God himself, to attest to the apostles’ character (see also 2:10; Deut. 17:6; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28). Aristotle, distinguishing between flatterers, who want something out of you, and true friends, said: “The man who always joins in the pleasures of his companions . . . [and] does so for the sake of getting something by it in the shape of money or money’s worth . . . is a ...

22. Paul’s Charge to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... taught, “Hidden wealth kept buried” does you no good; rather, you should use it to gain friends and to attain honor. Benefactors gave so they might receive “liquid IOUs” and concrete things like (summarizing a list in Aristotle’s Rhetoric 1361a39–43) sacrifices in their honor, memorials in verse and prose, privileges, grants of land, front seats, public burial, state maintenance, “and among the barbarians, prostration and giving place, and all gifts which are prized in each country.” Instead ...

23. Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... of v. 16 to a liberated prisoner who sheds one authority (prison) for another (society). Failure to obey the new authority (society) will of course return one to the old (prison) (Romans, pp. 109–10). A Jewish rabbi some fifty years after Paul echoed Aristotle. “Hasten to fulfill an easy commandment and flee a transgression; for one commandment obeyed leads to another, just as one transgression brings another after it” (’Abot 4.2 [my translation]; see Str-B, vol. 3, p. 233). 6:17–18 For a vigorous ...

24. Next Man Up

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... , a project whose aim is to create the perfect team. What mix of personal character traits or habits, Google set out to determine, leads to the most productive, most unified team? Project Aristotle involved measuring nearly every aspect of Google employees’ lives. The company’s executives interviewed hundreds of employees over several years, and analyzed all sorts of data on the productivity and innovation of almost every team in the company. All this in-depth research yielded one result. Listen ...

25. The Oil For Squeaking People

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... , we abuse this gift. We should not, however, lose sight of laughter as a marvelous gift which strengthens and eases us through tough times. For centuries people have recognized that, more than a pleasant pastime, laughter is good for us. Aristotle called it "bodily exercise precious to health." Carl Sandburg said, "Laughter is medicine for the soul." In keeping with the Reader's Digest feature, "Laughter Is The Best Medicine," scientific evidence has been added to the claims of psychology and philosophy ...

Showing 1 to 25 of 249 results

1. Astonishing!

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Brett Blair

2. The Placebo Effect

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

3. Astonishing! - Sermon Starter

Mark 1:21-28

Illustration

Brett Blair

4. The Speed of Descent

Illustration

Staff

... all time, and surely he would not be wrong. Anyone, of course, could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. In 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten- pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however ...

5. A Good Name

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9

Sermon

William H. Willimon

6. Chosen For Good News

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

7. Bartolome’ de Las Casas Protector Of The Indians

Drama

Thomas A. Renquist

8. The Inner Galaxy