Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 57 results

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... the region of Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who ... then once again smiled at each other, looked in the direction of the raging inferno and squirted some more water from their pistols. In disbelief, the fire chief looked at them and said, “Get out of here! Fires like this are not for well‑meaning ...

2. The Cross We Do Not Want To See

Mark 15:21-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... of God for our sin." (2) We need to talk about the cross that nobody wants to see. Not the cross of guns and pistols and knives and bayonets and bullets and bombs and broken bottles. But the cross of pain and love and, ultimately, hope. I. Let's ... is not an abstract concept in the Christian faith. Love is a concrete act. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. . . ." John Patrick once wrote a comedy titled The Curious Savage. In the play a character named Fairy May is asked by a Mrs. Savage what is ...

3. Come and See

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... at LSU. In his autobiography Heir to a Dream, Pistol Pete wrote: “I considered basketball to be the ultimate supplier of all my needs. I was wrong. Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ brings true meaning." Eighteen-year-old Will Hinds could not find a reason for life, so the kid who could jam with the best of bands took his life without a word of explanation. Every 18 minutes somebody in this country commits suicide. Many of them are teenagers. John said, In Him was life, and that life was ...

4. A Loaded Sermon

Illustration

Staff

Most of senior pastor Jonathan Boucher's parishioners favored independence. George and Martha Washington were frequent visitors, as Martha's son John was a student at the church school. Nevertheless, Boucher not only held the Tory position, but openly preached loyalty to King George. This prompted frequent threats, so for six months, he preached with a brace of loaded pistols on the seat cushion beside him. One Sunday, matters reached a climax when 200 armed militiamen showed up under the command of ...

5. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and then chasing the flower girls. He growled and snarled as he practiced going down the aisle. He brandished the pillow like a pistol. Finally his mother pulled him aside and demanded to know why he was behaving so badly. “But Mom,” he explained, “I have to ... to testify to the light.” This “light” has already been described in vv.4-5 and is linked to activity of the Word. John’s witnessing about this light was more than a mere declaration of fact. It was a summons to spur all who heard him into ...

6. Behold The Lamb

John 1:29-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... may know the story of a young Hungarian athlete in the 1952 Olympics who won a gold medal with his ability to shoot a pistol. His right hand and eye coordination were so perfect that he simply could not miss the bull’s eye. Six months after those ... are those who are called to tell the story. Following in the footsteps of our Lord, we are not sent out to condemn the world, as John tells us in chapter 3, verse 17, but that we might tell the saving message of the great love that was poured out on Calvary’s ...

7. A Call for a Change in Lifestyle

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

... is the neglect of signing oneself with water "in remembrance of our death in baptism" as one enters the church. That’s what St. John’s John the Baptizer reminds me to do. Recently, I was in the home of a former member of a parish I served. He and his wife ... , ran up to the door, threw it open, dashed into the house right to the man with the gun held to his head, pointed his pistol at the man, and shouted, "Drop it, or I’ll blow your head off." The man was so startled that he did drop the gun, but ...

8. When Evil Wins

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... evil wins? Perhaps the answer is in the way Mark's gospel record is presented. As you Bible scholars know, Mark's first reference to John's arrest is right in the beginning of the book - chapter 1. We hear nothing more about it until we encounter it in our lesson ... just about three years ago. During a drunken party in Mexico one night in 1951, he undertook to play William Tell - he used a pistol to shoot a glass off his wife's head. He missed...and put a bullet in her brain instead.(6) How stupid. How evil. ...

9. Trying To Get The Pageant Right!

John 1:19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord.'" John helped build a sense of anticipation. His voice still echoes today. Lewis Grizzard remembers one Christmas that was very special to him. He and his mother and father only had one real Christmas together, he says. Only one Christmas when they were actually in their own house with a tree, with coffee and cake left out for Santa, with an excited five-year-old boy awakening to a pair of plastic cowboy pistols, a straw cowboy hat and an autographed picture ...

10. The Question that Will Change Your Life

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... conversation. The people were wrong in what they were saying about him, but it is evident that Jesus had captured their attention John the Baptist, they said, Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus zeroed in on the heart of his question. He ... object itself. It’s amazing! This past year there have been stories of these printers being used to print fully functioning pistols (that’s scary!), toys and even body parts. We’ve already had kidney and heart tissues printed out on these printers. ...

11. The Curriculum of God’s Kingdom

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... the speed of walking and talking and took his cues from on high. The right time for Jesus to withdraw was when he heard that John had been arrested, and when the time to begin preaching the kingdom arrived, he knew it, verse 17: from that time Jesus began to preach ... an American film icon. Who can forget Dirty Harry and the huge 45 caliber magnum weapon he carried, more a canon than a pistol, or the sneering invitation to ‘Make my day?’ But long before he was Dirty Harry, Eastwood was Rowdy Yates on the TV ...

12. Submission

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

... of the basket. His dazzling rerformances sold tickets for big bucks. Host teams could be assured of a sell-out game when "Pistol Pete" came to town. Ironically, Maravich died at the age of forty just after playing a pick-up game at a ... Universal Church. It is our hope and prayer that his life will be submitted to God's authority - that he will live out the meaning of his baptism. John Edward now lives his life as a person who has been baptized. That mark is on him. He may not choose to live by the meaning of ...

13. Lent 4

Matthew 20:20-28, Matthew 20:17-19, John 9:35-41, John 9:13-34, Romans 8:1-17, Ephesians 4:17--5:21, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, John 9:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... see without the light. In Matthew 20:17-28, the disciples are unable to see the true nature of the Kingdom of God. And in John 9:1-41, Jesus helps a man gain not only physical but spiritual vision. Old Testament: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Learning to see through ... really disturbs a lot of people about the epidemic of violence in our society is its randomness. Some punk pulls out a pistol, shoots into a crowd and kills innocent bystanders, who just happened to be there. No more orderly universe. The paradox of ...

14. A Commitment to Righteousness

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... the suspect when about three feet from the driver’s door it flew open and the driver took out a .45-caliber automatic pistol and fired a slug that went right to David’s stomach. At seven o’clock the following morning, David’s wife, Terry answered ... dollar that the lending institution had ever loaned out. In honor of that fact, his debt would never be recorded in the books. John the Baptist preached to the people around the Jordan and beyond that a redeemer was coming to cancel their debt of sin. The ...

15. Ultimate Freedom

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... the name "clay" with dirt. Thus Clay had some real attitude and selfimage problems growing up. One day he met a man named John Hartsell who explained to Clayton that clay is not just dirt, but is an important substance, a raw material that when placed in ... tells us why animal trainers carry a stool when they go into a cage of lions. They have their whip, of course, and a pistol by their side. But invariably they will also carry a stool. Hinson says that it is the most important tool of the trainer. He ...

16. LORD, I BELIEVE

John 9:35-41

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... brief, eloquent, pungent, to the point. And then, finally, came the question, "Dr. Cadman, do the dead live?" Like the crack of a pistol, Dr. Cadman retorted, "They certainly do; and if you don’t believe me, come down to my church and take a look at ... There will be glory in heaven for ME! Read the gospel! John sends his friends to Christ: "Are you the one who should come, or do we look for another?" What evidence does He send back to John? "Tell John what you have seen, that the blind receive their sight, ...

17. One in Faith and One in Service

John 17:1-11

Sermon

Lee Griess

... when most of the people had left the cantina, slipped in through the back door and managed to get the drop on Rodriguez. With pistol in hand he confronted the bandit. "Tell me where you have the money hidden or I'll fill you with lead," he said. The ... real and the message of God's love is shared with all. In the early 1800s, there was a New Englander by the name of John Chapman. One morning he appeared in Licking Spring, Ohio, and taking some seeds from a burlap bag slung across his shoulder, he began to plant ...

18. If the Shoe Fits, Wear It

Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... steps of his public ministry and authors the message he offers the people: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." When Peter, Andrew, James and John heard Jesus' proclamation, when they heard Jesus call out to them, their response was not slow or hesitant, not cautious or measured. Instead they reacted like runners hearing the starter's pistol crack at the beginning of a race. They ran to Jesus immediately. Their fishermen's sandals were transformed into track shoes. They ran to Jesus, so that ...

19. Gentle On My Mind (Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness)

Galatians 5:23

Sermon

James Merritt

... the end of town, he sent word to Henry Moorhead that if he preached that night, he was personally going to come to the church and pistol whip him, and then run him out of town. Now Ike Miller was not a man of talk, he was a man of action, and if ... that said, "You say one word, and I'm going to beat you within an inch of your life." Henry Moorhead, unruffled, simply began by reading John 3:16. Then he began to preach on the love of God, the life of Jesus, the joy of eternal life. When he finished, Ike Miller ...

20. Family Resemblance

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... in various everyday activities. The father sprayed the car with a water hose, then the son sprayed it with his water pistol. A voice-over then said, “Like father, like son.” Similar scenes followed to drive home this point. Then the final ... Now here is the good news for the day. Jesus reflected his Father- God’s character and nature. The writer of the Gospel of John is saying something very important here in reporting these words of our Master: “When you have seen me, you have seen my father.” He ...

21. A Very Special Man

Luke 2:22-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... her mother and father in a horrible drunken argument one night. They were fighting and struggling over a gun. Suddenly, the pistol fired, and before young Marie's eyes, her father fell dead! Little Marie's mind snapped. She was filled with pain ... the world has? That is why we must let the world know about Jesus. That is why we need to carry on the work of Simeon and John the Baptist and proclaim that he is the Christ. Not because of his appearance. Not even because of what he taught though he was the greatest ...

22. Preparing for Christmas

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... over here so I can dry you off. Hurry!" Then Mallory asked her father a profound question: "Why?" Why did she have to hurry? John Ortberg suddenly realized he had no answer. He had nowhere to go, nothing to do, no meetings to attend, no sermons to write. He was ... ." Stanley looked down at the struggling Viet Cong and saw the face of a 16- or 17-year-old boy. He unbuckled his pistol belt and hand grenades so the young captive could not grab them. Then, speaking gently, he moved toward him. The young man stared ...

23. Loving Like God Loves

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... losing blood fast and needs attention." Stanley looked down and saw the face of a 16 or 17 year old boy. He unbuckled his pistol and grenades so the boy couldn’t grab them. Speaking gently, he moved towards him. The young man stared fearfully, but he allowed the ... as a promise only Christ can fulfill. This is where we are headed. If we are going on with Christ, then we are, as John Wesley taught, going on to perfection in love in this life, and in the life beyond this life. As his brother Charles taught us ...

24. We've Got a Friend in High Places

1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 28, Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... --love that is unconditional and never-ending. And then he makes this audacious statement, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). That is, you don’t have to deduce God’s nature from his teachings alone. All you have to do is ... far greater than he could ever repay. And so he decided to take the coward’s way out. At midnight he would use his pistol to end his life. Before committing this act, however, he wrote out a full confession, listing all he had stolen. He ended his confession ...

25. Uncovering Cover-Ups

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... F.B.I. But recent books and articles have uncovered a variety of behaviors and improprieties which would have greatly offended my dad. John F. Kennedy lauded Thomas Jefferson when, at an assemblage of artists, actors, authors and musicians in the East Room of the White ... , represents a "defense against the inexplicable despair that torments so many American teenagers." "Today's miscreants know that a pistol says much more than long hair or a pierced nose ever could. Not just louder but forever. With a $ ...

Showing results