Sermon and Worship Resources

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Psalm 72:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... Gordon MacDonald, in his book Forging a Real World Faith, tells of a senior vice president of a New York bank who was accosted by a drunk man on a commuter train. The bank vice president tried to ignore the drunk man, which only made things worse. Finally, the drunk man forced a confrontation. The bank ... several months, these men spoke to one another often. Think how differently that encounter could have gone. The bank president had all the power on his side. He could have insulted the drunk man, or allowed ...

2. A Rainbow And A Cross

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... makes it possible for me and you to live confidently, creatively, in the knowledge that we are sons and daughters of the King. S.D. Gordon once tried to express the joy of that truth like this: He told about a time when he was out walking and met a ... Corrie ten Boom once put it: "When God forgives He forgets. He buries our sins in the sea and puts a sign on the bank saying, "˜No fishing allowed.'" Christ has already taken your guilt upon himself. You can hear his words of forgiveness and grace, "Go and ...

3. Pigs Get Slaughtered

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... a source of inspiration for countless numbers of investment bankers around the world. It has often been suggested that the movie Wall Street turned out to be a most effective recruitment tool for the investment banking industry. Thousands of young people suddenly wanted to become Gordon Gecko. “Greed is good,” says Gordon Gecko. His last name is suggestive. A gecko is, of course, a lizard--not to be confused with a certain insurance company. A lizard. A reptile. In the same family as a snake. The sort ...

4. Dealing with Cantankerous People

Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Sermon

King Duncan

... an exposé. The tragically ironic aftermath of the film, however, was that, rather than causing people to despise such people as Gordon Gekko, many young people began to identify with him. The film inspired these young men and women to go to work ... . But adults need role models, too. A story appeared in the Christian Herald several years ago. “A senior executive of one of the largest banks in New York told how he had risen to a place of prominence and influence. At first he served as an office boy, then ...

5. A Mountain Too High To Climb

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... she looked at him as if . . . well. He asked to see the manager, who also refused to stamp the ticket. Barrier went to the bank headquarters vowing to withdraw his $2 million-plus unless the manager apologized. No one called. So the next day, he withdrew over $1 million ... and Katherine Ketcham, THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION, (New York: Bantam Books, 1992), pp. 126-127. 2. Joe Gordon, SPEAKER'S LIBRARY OF BUSINESS. 3. Jamie Buckingham, LOOK OUT, WORLD, (Altamonte Springs, FL: Strang Communications Company, ...

6. It's Hard To Be Number Two

John 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... a 50-foot flagpole on their structure, making it the taller of the two structures. However, as soon as the bank was completed, the architect of the Chrysler Building revealed that their building was not yet complete. An 185-foot spire ... with anyone ” even the person who may one day be your rival. 1. A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE, pp. 32-33. 2. "Soul Search," by Gordon MacDonald, DISCIPLESHIP. 3. Pamela Pettler, THE JOY OF STRESS, (New York: Quill, 1984), pp.2-25. Cited in Doug Sherman and William Hendricks, HOW ...

7. Counterfeit Christianity

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... he is driving down Hollywood Boulevard and he is shocked when he sees the Bishop on the billboard holding a bottle of Gordon Gin with the words, "It has a divine and heavenly taste." Jesus was particularly sensitive to the problem of counterfeit clergy. That ... an outer beauty, but inwardly are rotten and shallow. Appearances can be deceptive and destructive. All that glitters is not gold. A bank put up this sign: "It is better to be short of cash than to be short of character." Jesus warned us of those ...

8. If God Is For Us

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... stared. There was the nursery, intact, scrubbed and shining in the sunlight--neat, prosperous and healthy. So was the balance in the bank passbook handed to the Japanese father. And the house was just as clean and welcoming as the nursery. And there in the ... for us in God's promises to us, in God's purposes for us, and finally, in God's power through us. 1. Arthur Gordon. Daily Guideposts, 1998 (Carmel, N.Y.: Guideposts, 1997), pp. 46-47. 2. "To US Peacekeepers, Petty Crimes Reflect a Divided Bosnia" by Brian ...

9. Daddy, I'm Afraid

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... that Mom and Dad will die someday and I’ll be all alone. “I’m scared to put my newspaper money in the bank ’cause it was held up a couple of weeks ago.” But there’s one final thing Johnny is frightened of: “You know what ... free ourselves from them. Do you remember a unique individual who came to national attention following the infamous Watergate scandal, a man named G. Gordon Liddy? He’s still around. He sometimes shows up on Fox News. Liddy is one person who confronts his fear. He says that ...

10. The Sermon on the Level

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

... can’t pretend (I wonder if you can) that I have not resisted. "Blessed are you poor." Does Jesus baptize poverty? Walking Gordon Drive, a street that parallels the Gulf coast here in Naples, as I pass palatial mansions, I ask, "Where was I when ... goods, was often touched by people for a loan. A choir member who was less than saintly (as developments affirmed) used him to cosign a bank loan. Not a dime has ever been repaid. The good saint said to me a few years later, "If someone needs some money, I prefer ...

11. Help For Troubled Hearts

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Nissan Motors once used as its motto: WE ARE DRIVEN! According to Gordon MacDonald that phrase describes many of us. We are driven. Driven to acquire-driven to achieve-driven ... people do live there, though. Late last Fall a man named Gene Berthiaume, 25, walked into an office of the Georgia State Patrol and confessed to robbing two Tennessee banks. The FBI had few clues in the robberies and had never heard of Berthiaume, a soft-spoken, bespeckled man whose only prior brushes with the law were for disorderly ...

12. Out of Doors: Nature and Supernatural

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... a better case for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as marking the spot where Jesus was crucified than for the place known as Gordon’s Calvary, which is still out-of-doors; but I felt closer to Calvary looking up at that rugged hillside than I did inside ... trees still older, you will sense the nearness of the Lord who prayed in Gethsemane. Or when you walk down to the banks of the Jordan River, you will almost see John the Baptizer and Jesus, and though you may tell yourself, logically, that nineteen ...

13. All in the Family

1 Timothy 3:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... ever get a chance to die on a deathbed, you'll find out just how important relationships are, because when you are lying on that deathbed, your stocks, bonds, bank accounts, property, diamonds and jewels won't mean anything to you, but your relationships will mean everything to you. That is why those first two purposes are so vitally ... , NLT) Today, I am going to help many of you to become a part of God's forever family. [1] Cited by Gordon Macdonald, Ordering Your Private World, pp. 125-126 (added)

14. Crossing the Jordan

Joshua 3:1-4:24

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Crossing Over the Jordan: The action of the story slows down in the crossing narrative (Josh. 3–4). Commands are repeated and events are described in laborious detail to indicate the importance of crossing the Jordan for the faith of Israel. The narrator also describes a liturgical drama that would be used for instruction of the young. The fords of the Jordan River and then Gilgal, the camp after Israel crossed the river, become the central locations for the narrative and the events to follow. The ...

15. Eastern Tribes Return Home

Joshua 22:1-34

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

An Altar Crisis on the Eastern Side of the Jordan River: Joshua closes with three chapters that form an addendum pointing out challenges for the next generation. These chapters include speeches that address concerns of Deuteronomy and use Deuteronomic language. Crises in these passages point toward the book of Judges and the rest of the so-called Deuteronomic History (Samuel and Kings). The closing chapters of Joshua parallel the final chapters of Deuteronomy with its farewell speech of Moses and story of ...

16. Song of a Prophet

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Forty-sixth Psalm is not only a student of Israel’s prophets; he stands in their ranks as one among them in his own right. What they have preached he sings, and songs have a way of lingering in the heart long after sermons are forgotten. Indeed, this one gives rise in the Sixteenth Century to Martin Luther’s marching song of the Reformation, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Political circumstances in Israel at the time of the poet’s writing are not clear. Some see the Psalm as associated ...

17. The Lord Commands Joshua

Joshua 1:1-18

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Unity: Joshua begins and ends with concerns about the unity of the tribes. The book expresses a special concern about tribes east of the Jordan River cooperating with those west of the river (1:10–18; 22:7–34). A geographical barrier such as a river often promotes jealousy, regionalism, and civil war; regional customs potentially can distort the worship of the Lord. Success in the battle for Canaan depends on fielding forces from both the east and the west. That unity depends on loyalty first to Moses and ...

18. Circumcision at Gilgal

Joshua 5:1-12

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Religious Preparation for War: 5:1 The wonders of crossing the Jordan demoralize the enemy for the tribal attacks. Enemy kings find their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites (lit. there was no spirit in them). Rahab’s analysis proves true as residents of Canaan experience the “melting of hearts” and “loss of spirit” when they hear of God’s victories east of the Jordan (2:11). Jericho and the cities become vulnerable when the God of the tribes conquers the Jordan. Joshua ...

19. Division of the Land West of the Jordan

Joshua 14:1-5

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Inheritance of Tribes West of the Jordan: 14:1–5 Joshua 14 introduces the dividing of land west of the Jordan with a summary statement on areas inherited in the land of Canaan (14:1). The phrase “land of Canaan” refers to land west of the Jordan, where the Canaanites live. The narrator repeats the instructions in a concluding summary (19:51). Eleazar, the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and clan heads (lit. heads of father’s houses) will determine the allotments by casting lots. As the Lord commanded through ...

20. Division of the Rest of the Land

Joshua 18:1-10

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Allotments at Shiloh: 18:1–10 A narrative summary shifts the scene from Gilgal (Josh. 14:6) to a tribal assembly at Shiloh (Josh. 18:1), ten miles northeast of Bethel. The narrative mentions that the assembly set up the Tent of Meeting at that place. The Tent of Meeting at this time is more important than a permanent structure, for it is the symbol of the presence of God. Only later did the tribes house the ark of the covenant in a more permanent structure at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1–4). The Bible reports that Eli ...

21. Joshua's Farewell to the Leaders

Joshua 23:1-16

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Farewell Speech of Joshua: 23:1–5 Saying goodbye is difficult for everyone, leaders and followers. In Joshua 22 the time arrives for final farewells. The narrator does not tell readers when Joshua gave his farewell, but a long time had passed. Readers can know only that Israel had rest from their enemies and Joshua was well advanced in years (lit. days). Joshua summons the local leadership of the tribes—elders, leaders, judges, and officials—to hear his final words. He begins by calling them to reflect on ...

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