Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

This morning as we begin, I want you to think about those special places in your life. Those sacred places, those holy places, those places of significance that shaped your life and your faith. It might have been at your grandmother's or mother's kitchen table where over milk and cookies questions of faith were answered or the reality of God became clear in a way it never had before. It may have ...

2. A Chance To Be Made Whole

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A young man and woman had been dating for a long time. One starlit evening, the young man called up his sweetheart to ask her to go on a ride with him. He said he had something very special to share with her. He picked her up in his much loved antique sports car and drove out to the park. There they had a lovely candle and starlight picnic. For some reason, the young man did not talk much. He see...

3. A Chance To Dance

Luke 5:17-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

He was born Fredrick Austerlitz in Omaha, Nebraska in 1899. His stage and film career spanned a total of seventy-six years, during which he made thirty-one movie musical. He's generally acknowledged to have been the most influential dancer in the history of film and television. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. In 1932, a Hollywood talent agent ...

4. A Chance To Drink

John 4:5-29

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a cartoon I saw sometime back which showed a little boy kneeling by his bed saying his bedtime prayers. He prayed: "As you know, God, Monday is the first day of school. I hope you won't lose sight of me in the crowd. Amen." Then he climbs in bed, thinks for a minute, and then crawls out again and adds to his prayer: "Oh, and by the way God, I'll be the one wearing the red shorts an...

5. A Chance To Hear

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Three retirees, each with hearing loss, were taking a walk one fine March day. One of them remarked to the other, "Windy, ain't it?" "No," the second man replied, "It's Thursday." And the third man chimed in, "So am I, let's stop and get a Coke." Hearing loss is really no laughing matter, I know. For the past couple of years my family has been making fun of the things I thought I'd heard. Well,...

6. A Chance To Help

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Paul Harvey told about a 3-year-old boy who went to the grocery store with his mother. Before they entered she had certain instructions for the little boy: "Now you're not going to get any chocolate chip cookies, today, so don't even ask." She put him in the cart and off they went up and down the aisles. He was doing just fine until they came to the cookie section. Seeing all those chocolate chip...

7. A Chance To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

An older women came home one day to find that her house had been broken into. She immediately called the police and told them. The nearest officer to her house happened to be a K-9 unit, so that officer was the one who responded to the call. The officer drove up to the house and proceeded to let the dog out of the car. The woman came running out of the house when she saw the police car, but stopp...

8. A Chance To Sing

Matthew 9:32-34

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the middle of the soloist's anthem at church one Sunday, a young boy turned to his grandmother and whispered, "She can't sing very well, can she?" Grandma knew the woman had had a deep love for God so she said, "Well, she sings from her heart. That's what makes it good." He nodded thoughtfully. Several days later they were riding together and singing along with the radio when the grandson tur...

9. A Chance To Start Over

John 8:3-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the movie, "With Honors," Joe Pesci plays Simon Wilder a homeless man slowly dying from asbestos poisoning. Brendan Fraser portrays Montgomery 'Monty' Kessler, who is a student at Harvard who has reluctantly befriended Simon. In one of their conversations Simon pulls out a leather pouch and says, "There it is. That's it, my life." He dumps a bunch of stones out in his hand, picks up one and say...

10. A Chance to Warm Up

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

In a "Peanuts" cartoon strip, good old Charlie Brown says to Linus, "Life is just too much for me. I've been confused from the day I was born. I think the whole trouble is that we're thrown into life too fast. We're not really prepared." And Linus asks, "What did you want . . . a chance to warm up first?" The Advent season is supposed to be our chance to warm up. It's that time to prepare our hea...

11. A Cloud Of Witnesses

Hebrews 12:1-3

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Last week was actually All Saints Sunday and because of our Stewardship Campaign we kind of set it aside. But, I think it is an important Sunday in the life of the Church and in our personal Journey of Faith so we're going to celebrate it today. All Saints Sunday is a day to remember those people who have been a major influence in our life of faith. If we put it in terms of our Running on Faith s...

12. A Crib, A Cross, And A Cave

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

True story. A United Methodist pastor was asked to conduct a a graveside service for a member of his church. The only problem was, the cemetery was more than an hour and a half away from the church. The pastor wasn't feeling well so he decided to ride with the Funeral Director in the Coach. By the time they arrived at the cemetery, the flu had invaded completely and he said he felt like the Chine...

13. A Deep Love for God, A Deep Love for Neighbors

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

There is an Irish legend about a king, who had no children to succeed him on the throne. So, he had his messengers post signs in every town and village of his kingdom inviting qualified young men to apply for an interview with the king. This way the king hoped to be able to choose a successor before he died. Two qualifications, especially, were stressed. The person must have a deep love for God a...

14. A Deserted Place

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A friend of mine who is in the computer business and real estate business used to have a sign hanging in his office which maybe you've seen. The sign reads: "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle awakens. It knows it must run faster than the lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion awakens. It knows it must run faster than the gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether y...

15. A Double Portion

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

At a recent church luncheon buffet line, next to the apples was a sign that read: "Apples: please only take one per person. Remember, God is watching." A little further down the line next to the cookies, someone had scrawled with a crayon: "Cookies: take all you want. God is watching the apples." (1) Or how about the guy who stopped at the bakery right at closing time and ordered a batch of sugar...

16. A Gratitude Adjustment

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

We've got a little girl living with us, right now. She's a foreign exchange student whose family is originally from South America but she grew up in Arlington. She lives with us now because her parents no longer want her. They brought her to Mary's class one day and when the Christmas holidays came, told Mary to keep her, they didn't want her any more. Talk about cruel. So, Pearl has exchanged he...

17. A Great Power Watching

John 14:21-29

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a nature show on television about a black bear that gave birth to two cubs. One cub died right away. Three weeks later the mother died and the remaining cub was left to fend for itself. An orphaned cub in that condition is like a walking buffet for predators. And of course the camera immediately showed a hungry-looking mountain lion. One day the orphan cub encountered a giant male black...

18. A Happy Meal

Mark 14:12-26

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

In a certain church one Sunday, they celebrated The Lord's Supper. During the "Children's Sermon", the pastor was talking about communion and what it is all about. He told the kids the Bible talks about Holy Communion being a "joyful feast". Then he asked: "What does that mean? Well, "joyful" means happy, right? And a feast is a meal, right?. So a "joyful feast" is a Happy, Meal. And what are the ...

19. A Higher Standard of Living

Luke 3:1-20

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a man who had been a closet slob his entire life. He just couldn't comprehend the logic of neatness. Why make up a bed if you're going to sleep in it again tonight? Why put the lid on the toothpaste tube if you're going to take it off again in the morning? He admitted to being compulsive about being messy. Then he got married. His wife was patient. She said she didn't mind his habits . ...

20. A Small Backyard

Matt 24:29

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

A Sunday School teacher was trying to emphasize the Christmas story of the Star in the East compared with other stars in the sky, so he asked his class to count the number of stars they could see at night. The next Sunday the answers varied from 149 to "too many to count." The students were pretty much agreed that there were a whole bunch of stars. All except for Bobby who said he only counted, "T...

21. A Soul Restored

Psalm 23:2-3a

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A young woman shared the story of her mother who has a fear of tunnels which isn't unusual. Anyway, one Spring this Mother had to drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike to visit her daughter at college. Knowing the mother's fear of tunnels, the daughter was a little concerned about the trip. When Mom arrived safely the daughter asked: "Did you have any trouble?" "Just the tunnels," Mom replied. "One of...

22. A Stone’s Throw From: Heaven

Matthew 16:13-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a three-year-old who had never been "trunk or treating" before but he'd seen how excited his big brother was, so he was excited, too. His big brother wanted to go as the Hulk, so he wanted to go as the Hulk. When the family got to the church, big brother went with some friends, Mom passed out candy and Dad took the three-year-old around. Dad stayed in the background, as the little boy wa...

23. A Stone’s Throw From: New Life

John 8:3-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you ever really messed up? Has there ever been a moment in your life when you needed a mulligan or do-over or second chance? Unless your name is Jesus and you were born in Bethlehem, of course you have. We all have, that's one of the things we have in common. We've all made our messes and we are looking for a chance to start over. We're looking for the kind of place described by Louise Fletch...

24. A Stone’s Throw From: Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you ever noticed how on some signs the message which was intended isn't the one that comes across? Like the one in a Department Store which announced: "Bargain Basement Is Upstairs." Or how about these signs: "Show Signs" My favorite is actually a mistranslation, at least I hope. I'm pretty sure they meant valuables but the sign in a Paris hotel read: "Please leave your values at the front ...

25. A Stone’s Throw From: The Harvest

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A long time ago, I remember hearing a story about a young boy who was helping his grandfather dig potatoes. After a while, the little boy began to get tired and bored. "Grandpa," he asked wearily, "what made you bury all these potatoes here anyway?" How many of you have ever planted anything? We all have. When we plant potatoes we expect to get potatoes right? I remember a time when Mary and I w...

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