Sermon and Worship Resources

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James 5:7-12

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... in outward actions and responses. The way we treat each other speaks volumes about our own understanding of faith. If we do nothing to help a sister or brother who is going through a difficult time, then we need to seriously re-examine our faith. James bluntly declares, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” There might very well have been some tension in the early church between believers, which resulted in some grumbling. Some might have grown impatient waiting for the Lord Jesus to return ...

2. The Christian and the World

James 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... rule about the negative comment appears innocent, but underneath it lies a spirit that is proud enough to believe that in some cases it can correct God’s rules. 4:12 James underlines his point by stating bluntly, There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. Jesus taught that God alone had authority to judge (John 5:22–23, 30), and every Jew knew that God gave the law. James adds, the one who is able to save and destroy, that is, “No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is ...

3. When in Joy, Enjoy (Fruit of the Spirit: Joy)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... you get paid in the logging camp if you will simply take the blunt end of this ax and just pound this log all day. You never have to cut one piece of wood. Just take the end that is blunt and hit it as hard as you can, just as you would if ... find this was the common experience of every disciple. Paul said in II Cor. 7:4, "I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation." James said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." Joy can swim in the stormy waves of suffering long after ...

4. Family Re:Union - (PG) Parental Guidance Required

Psalm 127:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... an arrow won’t fly and those feathers have to be straightened or the arrow won’t fly straight. Sometimes the blunt at the tip becomes dull and has to be sharpened. The same thing is true for children. Sometimes their feathers have ... every son He receives.” (Proverbs 3:11-12, NLB) Discipline applied lovingly is one of the greatest ways you can love a child. Dr. James Dobson put it this way: The parent must convince himself that punishment… is not something he does to the child; it is something he does ...

5. Draw Nigh To God

James 4:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... us to want things that others have, and be willing even to fight and wage war to get them. That's the reason James puts it so bluntly; "Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." It's also why he has told us to ... the same time. III. And that brings me to the major point of the sermon; Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James gives us rather clear directions for drawing near to God. Let’s read verses 7 and 8 again. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the ...

6. The God Who Must Be Pursued

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... good things (plural) to those who ask him?” Five times in this passage Jesus uses the word ask, which in our day would be labeled as assertiveness. Not silence but speaking, not waiting but asking, knowing what you want and asking for it. Jesus’ brother James was blunt about the matter, “You have not,” he said, “because you ask not.”6 God delights in our asking. All six sentences of the Lord’s Prayer are petitions asking for God to do something; Jesus gave us a word track to practice the art ...

7. Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... :3; Luke 1:68; 2:25, 30–31; 3:4–6; John 1:23; 10:11; 11:40; Acts 17:29; 28:28; Rom. 11:34; 1 Cor. 2:16; James 1:10–11; Rev. 1:5; 18:6; 22:12). See C. H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures (London: Nisbet, 1952), p. 84. 1:25 Word is rhēma in ... the same Greek word is used. New Life Must Grow 2:1 As a realist, Peter is well aware of the human condition. So he speaks bluntly. The believer’s new life in Christ has no place for any sort of misconduct, such as all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and ...

8. Proper 8

2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 2 Samuel 1:17-27, Mark 5:21-43

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Jesus continues to the house of Jairus, word comes that the girl has died. Jesus assures the father, and continues on with Peter, James and John. When they arrive, the crowd is in mourning. Jesus announces that she is not dead but sleeping. They laugh at him ... Neither was Jonathan anything other than a loyal son, who fought and died at his father's side. Jonathan did not let personal ambition blunt his love for his father or his friend. The wonder of being loved. In David's lament he extols Jonathan's love as ...

9. Peter’s Second Sermon

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... that my friend be healed. But I asked for healing, both of body and spirit. So did the deacons. I anointed him as the letter of James tells us. But unlike the crippled beggar in our text, or the paralyzed man in the gospels, my friend did not jump from his bed ... ask for glory, not even for a contribution. The good preacher points people to Jesus Christ and to their own sickness. Now the blunt message of the second half of his sermon: "... I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this ...

10. Only a Carpenter

Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... good question. “Where did this man get all this?” they asked. “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.” (6:3) A ... we find ourselves engaged. II. “HE COULD DO NO MIGHTY WORK THERE,” Mark says about Jesus in His own hometown. Those are blunt words. Too blunt for Matthew, who softens them into “he did not do many mighty works there.” (Matt. 13:58) But Mark is probably right ...

11. From Russia With Love

Acts 3:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... less a coat. She feels betrayed. She is without hope. Her soul has been sucked from her. Creativity has been killed, at least blunted. Do you wonder why they are fatalistic? Without joy? Now the danger is that the west will seek to substitute a capitalistic ... , with other churches, must form a consortium who will one, support persons like Chris Hena, our missionary. I wish you knew her. James and some of our folks do know her. She's been having Bible studies in her little apartment three and four times ...

12. The Supreme Worth of the Second Birth

John 3:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

... Jn. 3:5, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." James summed it up perfectly when he said in Chapter 1, verse 18, "Of His own will (God's will) He brought us forth (God's ... the Supreme Court of the Jewish people, and it only had 70 members. He was one of those 70 Chief Justice's. To put it bluntly, he was "a big cog in a synagogue." Even the name Nicodemus means "superior." But Nicodemus represents both the best of us and the worst ...

13. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... house. Although Peter is making use of OT “stone” symbolism, was he prompted by recollecting some words of the Baptist? John had bluntly warned the Pharisees and Sadducees that salvation was not a matter of having the right family tree: “I tell you that out ... (lit. to carry up) is commonly used in the LXX for the offering of sacrifice, as in Gen. 22:2, 13, of the sacrifice of Isaac (James 2:21); see also Heb. 7:27; 9:28; 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:24. Spiritual sacrifices were by no means unknown in the OT (Ps. ...

14. A New Command

Sermon

Lee Griess

... one another. What a model for successful living! When the play Peter Pan first premiered on the London stage in 1904, author Sir James Barrie began to hear complaints from parents who were upset with his play. They even got together and petitioned him to make a ... at school that his father had been hurt at the mill where he worked. As Roy ran down Main Street of Nickerson, Kansas, a blunt man cried out to him, "No use runnin', kid. He's already gone." Roy's father was a skilled mechanic and flour miller and ...

15. A New Command

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Lee Griess

16. Healing And Forgiveness

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

... can be cured, then there can be no healing. Furthermore, by combining the forgiveness of sin with healing, Jesus very skillfully blunted the criticism of the Scribes and Pharisees. These religious leaders were the ones who propagated the notion that if a person ... copy retained. When God extends the blessing of forgiveness to us, we are freed to completely let go of the past.3 James Wagner, in his book titled Blessed to Be a Blessing, asks this question: "How many people ... look upon forgiveness as a crucial ...

17. The Friends of Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

... had their friendship, not always perfect, but friendship nonetheless. III That brings us to the third question. What did these friends find in Jesus. He did not offer them patronage. James and John tried it but it didn’t work. He did not offer them success. Indeed, when Simple Peter reminds Jesus that they have left everything to follow him, he offers this blunt and ridiculous question: Now what is in it for us? Jesus answer? He tells them a cross. That’s what’s in it for you Peter. I think what Jesus ...

18. Three Small Steps in Our Journey of Faith

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Brett Blair

... , eat the cream out of the middle of an Oreo cookie, or serve some Stove Top, remember a boy, his pony named Paddy, and the promise little James L. Kraft made to serve God and work as He directed. You see we have it all wrong when we say, “Well, I don’t have that ... mustard seeds worth if it’s genuine. III The third step that is a small one is serving is a duty. Let me be blunt: God owes us nothing. And if it is true that God owes us nothing, then we understand why self-righteousness is such a loathsome ...

19. Role Models

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... . (1) Do you mean a mere play could have such influence on children? Maybe Hollywood needs to be reminded of Sir James Barrie's example. Maybe Charles Barkley, the NBA basketball great might do well to remember Barrie's example as well. Barkley ... school that his father had been hurt at the mill where he worked. While Roy was running down Main Street in Nickerson, Kansas, a blunt man called out, "No use runnin', kid. He's gone." Smith's father was a skilled mechanic and flour miller, and was highly respected ...

20. Who Is He?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... was talking to, he might have accorded him more respect. But he shouldn't feel too bad about not recognizing James Lovell. People failed to recognize Jesus. Even those closest to him missed the whole point of his ministry until ... , Satan!" Jesus said to his friend, Peter. "For you are setting your mind on the world, and not on the divine." Christ was telling Peter, rather bluntly, that he needed to get back in line, for he was trying to put himself above God. Each of us must decide for himself or herself ...

21. I Am Unworthy

Jeremiah 1:1-19, Jeremiah 6:1-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... t want to burst your bubble, but all most of us deserve is a good kick in the pants. That's a little blunt, but think about it. The truth of the matter is that, in terms of our potential, most of us are underachievers. Considering ... they had taken . . ." In our lesson from I Corinthians, Paul is telling about the appearances of the risen Christ, and he says, "Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, ...

22. The Privilege and the Price

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... so. It is the devil’s delight since he is the chief accuser, but God uses it. As a tool it is a blunt instrument. Before God exposes his church to public shame and ridicule, there are many warnings, often over years. And if there is ... 5:45am, I’m going to make myself answer a question, Will I let the light shine today? In his book Led by the Carpenter, D. James Kennedy writes: “A man walked into a little mom-and-pop grocery store and asked, ‘Do you sell salt?’ ‘Ha!’ said Pop the proprietor. ‘ ...

23. Looking Up: Looking Out

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... and his false prophets. In their company stands Jesus, in garments that glowed so brightly it was — to put it bluntly — unearthly. Jesus, in his person, the fulfillment of the law and the prophets. And in case anyone missed the point, ... ones, the weaker ones. On the high mountain, apart from the present world that crowded in around them, those three disciples — Peter, James, and John — knew something of the future, that death would not be the end, no matter how final it seemed. They glimpsed the ...

24. The Reversal of the Deuteronomic Curses and Blessings: Replacing Law with Faith

Romans 9:30--10:21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... a reading of 9:30–10:4 to the effect that Paul portrays the law negatively, however, does not sit well with some modern scholars. Interpreters such as James Dunn view this passage as refuting only Jewish nationalism (circumcision, Sabbath, and dietary legalism), not the law per se.2In other words, they allow for a more ... and their daughter. A fellow journalist heard that Peter Hitchens had returned to church and, with “a look of mingled pity and horror,” bluntly asked, “How can you do that?”6

25. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... who you know that counts; Paul would have said that it is not what you know but what you do that counts. He says bluntly, you who pass judgment … do the same things. Such a statement rankles those who consider themselves “good people,” for they, like the Pharisee ... are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. This verse, which recalls James 1:22, 25, asserts that it is not knowledge of the law (for all know it, at least in part, either by revelation or ...

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