Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. The Thrill of Victory Beats the Agony of Defeat

Judges 7:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

The United States is known around the world as a "Christian nation." There are several reasons why one might think that is true. In America there are: 1,485 Christian radio stations 300 Christian television programs 96% of all Americans are "believers in God" 70 million born-again believers 148 million professing Christians 62% of all Americans say they have "made a commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today." Now if America is indeed a Christian nation, you would think that God ...

2. Kids' Letters To Santa

Humor Illustration

Kids Letters to Santa: Dear Santa, Please give me a doll this year. I would like her to eat, walk, do my homework, and help me clean my room. Thank you, Jenny Dear Santa, Thanks for the race car last year. Can I have another one, only this time one that is faster than my best friend's race car? Ricky Dear Santa, I wish you could leave a puzzle under the tree for me. And a toy for my sister. Then she won't want to play with mine and I can have it to myself. Merry Christmas, Cassie Dear Santa, You can send ...

3. The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

It is always sad when nations go to war. In recent years the sadness has been magnified because just a little more than a decade ago, we seemed so close to a lasting peace. The wall had gone down in Berlin. Eastern Europe had opened up. The cold war with Russia had thawed… and at that time in the early 1990s, we thought, “Finally! At long last, we can have a peaceful world. But then suddenly on August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait launching a crescendo of tension-packed events that led to the Persian Gulf ...

4. How Far Can You Go?

Illustration

Milton Moskowitz

From a moped to Saturn V this is how far the following traveling devices will go on a gallon of fuel: Moped (motorized bicycle), 120 miles. Harley-Davidson 1200 (motorcycle), 50 miles. Small Diesel automobile, 42 miles. Model A Ford (automobile), 25 miles. Piper Cherokee (light plane), 15 miles (at 144 miles an hour). Maserati Quattroporte (automobile), 8 miles. GMC tractor-semi trailer combination, 5.4 miles. GM (diesel locomotive), 632 yards (at 70 miles an hour, pulling 40 to 50 fully loaded freight ...

5. Office Inspirations

Humor Illustration

Sayings we'd like to see on office inspirational posters: Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings . . . they did it by killing all those who opposed them. If you can stay calm, while all around you is chaos . . . then you probably haven't completely understood the seriousness of the situation. Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job WRONG 14 times gives you job security. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. Artificial Intelligence is no ...

6. Worriers Or Warriors?

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

A commercial airline pilot on one occasion made a particularly bad landing. The wheels of the big jet hit the runway with a jarring thud. Afterward, the airline had a policy, which required that the pilot stand at the door while the passengers exited. He was to give each of them a smile and say, "Thanks for flying with us today." In light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment, but no one seemed annoyed. Finally everyone ...

7. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

Since today is Mother’s Day, I thought I would begin with a list someone has made which they have called “Murphy’s Laws of Parenting.” See if you can identify with any of these: The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up the next morning. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the carpet. The longer it takes you to make a meal, the less your child will like it. A sure way to get something done is to tell a child not to do it. For a child to become clean, something else must ...

8. Here Comes the Bridegroom

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

As you well know you certainly cannot always believe everything you read in the papers. Some of the headlines in papers are absolutely astounding. These are actual headlines that actually ran in American newspapers. Experts say jet crashed because something went wrong. Police begin campaign to run down jay walkers. Crash probe decides plane was too close to ground Minors refuse to work after death Cold wave linked to temperatures Couple slain: police suspect homicide New study of obesity looks for larger ...

9. Bacon Grease And Abounding Grace

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

A certain young woman was nervous about meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time. As she checked out her appearance one last time, she noticed that her shoes looked dingy. So she gave them a fast swipe with the paper towel she had used to blot the bacon she had for breakfast. Arriving at the impressive home, she was greeted by the parents and their much-beloved, but rotten-tempered, poodle. The dog got a whiff of the bacon grease on the young woman's shoes and followed her around all evening. At ...

10. Winners and Losers

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

Brett Blair tells a story about a man who had been driving all night and when morning came, he still had far to go. He decided he had to get some sleep. So he stopped at the next city he came to, found a city park, and pulled into a parking spot in the park so he could get an hour or two of sleep. It just so happened he had chosen a quiet place on a very popular jogging route. So just as he laid back and was starting to doze off, there was a knock on his window. He woke up. “Yes,” he said. “Excuse me, sir ...

11. Blue Highway Blessings

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

One of our nation's unsung heroes died recently at age 84 in Edmonds, Washington. His memorial service was conducted not at a church, but at a store: REI, the flagship outdoors store in Seattle, Washington. Ira Spring made his life's work being on the road. Whatever his destination may have been each day, he was working. His real goal was to pay attention and fully participate in every step along the way. Spring was a hiker, which he called the cheap man's sport. Spring was responsible for finding, ...

12. A Kingdom that Cannot Be Shaken

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Most of us probably think of the state of Tennessee as part of the “Bible Belt” an area of the southern United States known for its religious fervor. But it has not always been so. According to author and historian Jack Neely, at the turn of the 19th century, Tennesseans were a largely heathen people. Traveling evangelists and missionaries made little impression on either the cotton growers on the west end of the state or the hillbillies on the eastern end. Then, on December 16th, 1811, a massive ...

13. Work (Labor Day)

Genesis 1:1 - 2:25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A Christian Understanding of Work...an appropriate topic for a Labor Day weekend. If most Christians were asked for their understanding of work, they probably would say WE OUGHTA. Those words we just read from Genesis are clear in saying that, from the very beginning, God planned for us to work: work was a part of God's good creation. Martin Luther said, "God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest." Our society can buy that. Kennan Wilson, the founder of the Holiday Inn chain ...

14. The Door Is Always Open

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James Merritt

He was a rebel, a college drop-out, a carouser, and a partier. He smoked, he drank Johnnie-Walker, he was a brawler, and had more run-ins with the law than you would care to count. By his own admission, he was the quintessential prodigal son. But now he stands to succeed the most respected, admired, and perhaps famous American of the Twentieth Century Billy Graham. His name is Franklin Graham. Today Franklin Graham not only has a tremendous benevolent ministry called The Samaritan Purse, and has met needs ...

15. The Danger of American Express

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

We have all heard that famous American Express slogan, "Don't leave home without it." The problem is, if some people don't leave home without it, they are going to be without a home. The 80s and 90s are when the "Jet set" became the "Debt set." The new slogan seemingly has become "Buy now, pay maybe." Now a days people can be divided into three classes: The Haves, The Have-Nots, and The Have-Not-Paid-for-What-They Haves In 1994 Americans whipped out their plastic to the tune of $701 billion.[i] Consumers ...

16. Finding the Courage to Believe

John 20:24-31

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

As I surfed the Internet preparing this sermon, I ran across a web site entitled Belief-o-matic. It enticed me to answer twenty questions about my concept of God, the afterlife, and human nature and they in turn would tell me what religion, if any, I ought to practice. I took the challenge. Within a few minutes it was clearly determined that I was meant to be an Orthodox Quaker. Since Quakers have neither pastors nor sermons, I decided to wait until after Easter to make the switch. Beliefs—In some form or ...

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