Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 4:4-20; 30-32

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... . A farmer was admiring the beautiful field of his neighbor, remembering that the field used to be nothing but rocks and weeds. "George," he said, "look at how God has turned this field into a thing of beauty." "Yes," said George, "but you should have seen it when God had it alone." God has dignified his creatures by giving them the potential for cooperation with him. Faithful cooperation and hard work make productive, good Christians as well as good farms. The parable of the sower and the seed reminds us ...

2. It's Not How You Start But How You Finish That Counts

Ephesians 4:1, 11-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... you are a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, you never want to escape for it is only then that you are truly free. As George Matheson expressed it: Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free; Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conqueror ... to do. We have been saved that we might serve. The Hanging Tree was a classic Gary Cooper western film. In that film a young man had been shot and he was dying. Cooper takes out a knife, digs into this young man and pulls out the bullet, stops the bleeding, ...

3. What Are Spiritual Gifts For?

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... Carolina pastor, has called attention to one of the most interesting developments of our time — Velcro. In the early 1940s, Swiss inventor George de Mestral went on a walk with his dog. Upon his return home, he noticed that his dog’s coat and ... We have never seen Jesus and have never known anyone who has. But we have seen Jesus in the lives of people. We cooperate too little over our boundaries and “isms.” Getting together people who possess different spiritual gifts is still not easy. The next step, ...

4. Celebrating the Marvel of Growth

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

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... conclude that their mission to the world was a failure. Someone said, “We blew it!” But God, caricatured by the imperishable George Burns, quickly responded, “Oh, I don’t think so. You never know; a seed here, a seed there, something will catch ... to mold and shape our lives in love, peace and hope. But it happens at God’s own pace and as you are able to cooperate with him. James A. Garfield, prior to serving as President of the United States, was president of Hiram College in Ohio. One day a father ...

5. Out of Doors: Nature and Supernatural

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... those seeds offensive, so some bright person discovered another law which allowed him to replace the seeds with a navel. George Washington Carver illustrates the point. The son of slaves, who never knew his parents or his real name, nor even ... to see it as Jesus did. He drew a sermon, a story, an insight into God and life from these objects of the common way. And he cooperated with them, in ways we do not yet understand, to bring the will of God to pass. Walk today where Jesus walked; not by Galilee or ...

6. In The Lion's Den

Daniel 6:1-28

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... room with windows opened toward Jerusalem. Do you think Daniel changed his habit because of the king’s decree? Did Gary Cooper run away when his sworn enemies were due to hit town at high noon? Of course not. Daniel’s enemies ... man named George Bolt was managing a small downtown hotel in Chicago. On a rainy evening an elderly couple walked in and asked for a room. "I’m sorry," said George. "We’re filled. There are three conventions meeting near us." The couple turned to leave. Then George said, "Wait ...

7. Share Your Unique Story

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... years old he and three other Jewish kids from the neighborhood organized a singing group and called themselves "The PeeWee Quartet." In those days growing up in New York City a large department store, Siegel and Cooper, used to hold an annual picnic. The highlight of the festivity was an amateur contest involving churches throughout the city. Near where George lived was a small Presbyterian church. This particular year the congregation had no one to represent them in the amateur contest. The minister asked ...

8. Going Hard against the Grain

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... and not Maybe; and their No means No and not Perhaps. Lying and deception, spin and evasion and the misuse of language is out because they no longer wish to cooperate with evil or with the Evil One who majors in deception and evasion. Truth-telling is their sword and shield. Over time they gain a reputation for courage and integrity ... on the Mount (Columbia, SC: USC Press, 2004), 88-93. 11. For a critique of GroupThink, see George Hunger III, Christian, Evangelical & Democrat (Nashville, TN: Abington, 2006).

9. The Life You've Always Wanted

Acts 5:27-32

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... to receive your unconditional love, but I don’t want to share it with others.” During the Revolutionary War, George Washington had many soldiers volunteer to fight during the summer months. Yet as winter approached, with rations in short supply ... Messages Of Hope for Those Who Haven’t Heard (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Company, 2001), p. 11. 2. Quoted in David C. Cooper, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (Atlanta: Discover Life Ministries, 2000), p. 19. Exact author and source of poem unknown. 3. Ibid ...

10. What God Has Joined Together

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... survival. Trapped in the forest, fighting frostbite, hunger, and various injuries, Jim and Suzanne stopped arguing and began cooperating. Back home, their conversations were filled with insults and discouraging comments. But out in the woods, they focused ... two, but one," said Jesus. "Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Amen. 1. From the Internet. Source unknown. 2. George Burns, Gracie, A Love Story (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1988), pp. 70-71. 3. "The twist of fate that saved ...

11. What Kind of King Is This?

John 18:28-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... political tool among the royal houses of Europe. So George was a grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the first cousin of both Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. And yet George was far less pretentious than many of history’s ... /sermons/new%20testament/pages/gods_elect_servant.html. 2. http://day1.org/2868-young_leaders_series_ii_breaking_open. 3. Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary (Kindle Edition). 4. Ibid. 5. Ray Pritchard, http://www.keepbelieving.com/ ...

12. An Unforgettable Baptism

Luke 3:21-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... that baptism is to live in obedience to the will of God as best as we are able to understand it. Pastors Eddie Fox and George Morris once visited Bau Island, a small subset of the Fiji Islands. While there, the chief of Bau Island showed them a small Christian ... .com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-davon-huss-humor-baptism-6468.asp. 2. John Michael Talbot. Cited in Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary, Mark: 2 (Kindle Edition). 3. Anthony T. Evans, Tony Evans’ Book Of Illustrations (Chicago: ...

13. Made New By Interior Design

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... symbols for "crisis" and "opportunity" are the same symbol. Jesus knew that same anxiety. I like John Cooper, the Ohio State University football coach, for many reasons, but especially for this one. As he was being interviewed once about a player ... the one who trusted God still. He read the words, "I know that my redeemer liveth." He read the words "rejoice" and "hallelujah." That night George Frederic Handel was blessed by a "gentle cosmic light." He was led slowly out of darkness by a desire to write music at a ...

14. Proper 9

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10, Mark 6:1-13, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... 3. The people wanted to be led like a mighty army strong hierarchical leadership. 4. Military leadership is effective in crisis. 5. To wage the peace takes a different kind of leadership cooperation rather than combat. The United States has several times decided to enlist military heroes as Presidents. Our first President, George Washington, gained fame first as a victorious general. He proved to be an effective leader. However, Ulysses S. Grant, a great general in the Civil War and a man of action, proved ...

15. Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian

Drama

Thomas A. Renquist

... , it may immediately rise with its own strength and lift the finger up with it. The strength of the keys cooperate with the will! With the tracker even the mediocre organist cannot smear. With pneumatics there is no such cooperation on the part of the keys. It makes the playing worse instead of better, and brings to light the slightest ... .” Bibliography James Brabazon, Albert Schweitzer, New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975. Albert Schweitzer, My Life and Thought, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1933.

16. Future Tense

Luke 12:54-59

Sermon

King Duncan

... of Jerry received a "lukewarm reaction," and was considered by the test audiences to be "dense and naive." The character of George was labeled a "wimp." The whole thing was rated as "average in humor." (1) How many times through history have ... for investment in the radio in the 1920s. "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper." Gary Cooper said this about his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind." "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is ...

17. The Heart -- Our Mirror

Proverbs 25:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... know. What we're talking about here is that everything depends upon what we think. Right thinking is illusive for most of us. George Bernard Shaw once said, "Few people think more than two or three times a year, and I've made an international reputation ... the big league on onion farming when you are spending chunks of every day caring for a wife who has polio. John and Margie Cooper had a 40th wedding anniversary and someone who did not know John very well asked him to explain his long devotion to Margie. "I ...

18. Characteristics of the Church

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... If at first this seems a wild statement, we may well consider in how many ways God’s will depends on man’s cooperation. God himself cannot do some things unless men think. He never blazons his truth on the sky that men may find it without ... made a needle or a locomotive. Only when men work can some things be done. Recall the words of Stradivarius, maker of violins, as George Eliot interprets him: When any master holds ‘twixt chin and hand a violin of mine, he will be glad that Stradivari lived, made ...

19. Hosanna! Please Save Us!

Matthew 21:1-11, Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... what Facebook, Instagram and TikTok want us to believe. But being the center of attention can be exhausting and isolating too. Actor George Clooney said in a recent interview, “There are restrictions to this kind of fame. I haven’t walked in Central Park for ... In a war, it’s easy to tell who is on our side and who is not. But peace requires humility and communication and cooperation. It requires putting others’ needs before our own. The end goal in war is to conquer your enemy. The end goal in peace ...

20. Which King Do We Worship?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... for advocating for the end of apartheid. South African Bishop Desmond Tutu planned to hold a political rally at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, but it had to be called off. So, Bishop Tutu held a worship ... job. Most of us would have cut way back on our charitable giving at this point so we could look out for our own needs. But not Carolyn Cooper. She cut her budget to the bone so she could continue to sponsor her overseas children. And members of her church who were aware of her sacrifice ...

21. Is It Too Late? ... Continued

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

George Johnson

... on my seeds, tools and fences. Behind my reason for wanting to do vegetable gardening is to connect more with the earth. After all, my name George means "tiller of soil." I don't care if my carrots never make it to the state fair. I like the feeling of being connected to ... the choice of occupation. In praying for the earth, we should include a prayer for forgiveness for our neglect, our abuse, our cooperate guilt in the abuse going on. As we come to the altar this morning, let us come asking God to forgive us ...

22. Religion and Politics

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... never have been a factor - Muslim-Americans, some 7-million of them. In the election of 2000, Muslim Americans overwhelmingly supported George W. Bush, but polls now indicate that this year they are likely to vote in large numbers for John Kerry and ... sorry about that. The atmosphere is toxic, and the result has been a mean-spiritedness and reluctance to compromise or cooperate on even the most inconsequential issues. The temptation is to just find some comfortable cocoon somewhere and hide for awhile. ...

23. When Jiggling Wires Is Not Good Enough

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... term solution to the pressing needs in our lives requires a complete surrender to God and a willingness to proceed on His terms. We must cooperate with Him in whatever it takes for as long as it takes. As the lady drove away with her tightened terminal, McCasland stopped for a ... her back to the well to meet Jesus. This gives us a model of evangelism. "Authentic evangelism," writes George G. Hunter, "flows from a mindset that acknowledges the ultimate value of people ” forgotten people, lost people, wandering ...

24. The Way Up Is the Way Down

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... cruel and mean society we have created. We worship gods of convenience and take innocent life. We turn off our feelings and go numb in order to cooperate with evil. Is this not worth at least feeling sad about? If we cannot name and grieve and mourn what is wrong with us and our world ... Mount (New York: Herder & Herder, 1999); David Dockery & David Garland, Seeking the Kingdom (Wheaton, ILL: Shaw, 1992); Georg Strecker, The Sermon On The Mount (Nashville, TN: Abington, 1988); Jan Lambrecht, S.J., The Sermon On ...

25. Walking in the Way of Love

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

King Duncan

... a verb, not a noun. It was an action, not an emotion. Almost 100 years ago, there was a Scottish pastor by the name of George Morrison who preached a sermon on the subject of “unconscious ministries.” He said that other people watch what we do more than what we say ... walking-holidays/5-of-the-toughest-walks-in-the-world/. 3. (Barclay, Mark, pp. 73–74). Cited in Rodney L. Cooper, Holman New Testament Commentary - Mark: 2 (Kindle Edition). 4. “The Power of the Midnight Song!” by Maynard H. Belt, ...

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