Sermon and Worship Resources

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Humor Illustration

King Duncan

The difference between a hunter and a fisherman is that the hunter lies and waits and the fisherman waits and lies. Someone else asked, "What happens to lying fishermen when they die?" The answer, "They lie still."

2. 8 Signs You're Not Reading Your Bible

2 Tim 3:14-4:5

Illustration

King Duncan

A group of boys and girls was asked to sum up what they had learned from the New Testament. Here is a summation of what they had learned: "Jesus is the star of the New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that ...

3. 90% Chance of Tomorrow

Matthew 25:1-13

Humor Illustration

King Duncan

Some folks in Iowa read in the weather forecast column of their local newspaper sometime back that "there is a 90% chance of tomorrow." I personally hope that the chances are better than that. But who knows? Let's not be foolish. Let's be prepared.

4. A Better Than Perfect Christmas

Philippians 4:4

Sermon

King Duncan

Rev. M. L. Lindvall received a letter in a Christmas card. It was a personal letter ”not one of those which relates every event of the past year. The letter writer told how his church had held a Christmas pageant for 47 years with the same director. Perfection was her goal ”nothing less. For years the church’s pageant ran like clockwork. Perfect lines, perfect pacing, perfect everything. Then one ...

5. A Birthday Celebration

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

A mother took her three-year-old daughter to church for the first time. The church was having a special candlelight service. The church lights were lowered; then the choir came down the aisle, carrying lighted candles. All was quiet until this three-year-old started to sing in a loud voice, "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you . . ." (1) It was only a candlelight service, but it seemed li...

6. A Book With Answers

Ephesians 5:17b

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A Bible. Lesson: Try to find what the Lord wants you to do. Key verse 17. Boys and girls, I have Bible here today. How many of you have Bibles of your own? (Response) What is a Bible good for anyway? (Respons) You have noticed I am sure that we use the Bible every Sunday here at church. We read out of it, sometimes from three places. And almost always when we have a sermon it begins with...

7. A Bridge Between Two Worlds

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

If you ever read stories or watch movies about spies and espionage, then you know that spies live in constant tension of being found out. Because spies are hiding their true identity and purpose, even the tiniest false move could blow their cover and put them in danger. That kind of premise guarantees that a spy story or movie will be filled with tension and excitement. One of the most famous tru...

8. A Call for Repentance - Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

A young man, active in his church, is talking with a friend named Andy. Andy is a fellow believer who has called him on the phone. They hadn’t spoken in some time. Suddenly the young man blurts out, “Where is God, Andy, where is the God we sing about and pray to all the time?” Then he reveals why he senses God’s absence. He is broke. He hasn’t eaten a complete meal in two weeks, his rent is behind...

9. A Call to Improve

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

King Duncan

In a Peanut's comic strip, Lucy is walking along the road with Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown asks her: "Lucy, are you going to make any New Year's resolutions?" Lucy hollers back at him, knocking him off his feet: "What? What for? What's wrong with me now? I like myself the way I am! Why should I change? What in the world is the matter with you, Charlie Brown? I'm all right the way I am! I don't ha...

10. A Cantankerous Prophet

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

There are some jokes that are so bad they bear retelling. [So, if any of you remember me telling this story, keep that in mind.] (1) It seems there was once a fisherman . . . you already know it’s going to be bad, don’t you? This fisherman and his wife were blessed with twin sons. They loved the children very much, but couldn’t think of what to name them. Finally, after several days, the fisherma...

11. A Caring Woman

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

Good morning, and Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers and grandmothers and mother-figures in the congregation this morning. Parents, both mom and dads have the hardest job in the world, and this world would be in a horrible shape without their love and sacrifice and perseverance. Of course it is not easy to be a Mom. In a TikTok video, a woman named Nicole DeRoy explains one of the challenges o...

12. A Cat In a Tree

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

One night a woman named Anna Ruth was cat-sitting her daughter’s feline. Somehow the cat managed to escape outside. When it failed to return the following morning, she found the cat clinging to a branch about 30 feet up in a spindly tree. Unable to lure it down, she called the fire department and asked for help getting the cat out of the tree. “We don’t do that anymore,” the dispatcher said. When...

13. A Celebration of Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl named Jana was given a part in her church’s Christmas drama. Jana was so excited about her part that her mother thought she was going to be one of the main characters. Jana, however, would not reveal to her mother the part she was supposed to play. After much anticipation, the big night finally came. The parents were all there eagerly awaiting their children’s participation in this ...

14. A Celebration of Love

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

Mark Mail was waiting in line at his local post office. Only one clerk was working the window. The line was moving quite slowly. As Mark waited, he began to fill out a check. He was hoping to speed things up when he reached the counter. Unsure of the date, he turned and asked the woman behind him. ‘It’s the fifth,’ she replied. Before he could write in the date on the check, he heard a voice. A ...

15. A Certain Small Shepherd

Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12, Romans 15:4-13

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A book of carols Good morning, boys and girls. Once upon a time there was a young country boy named Jamie who could not talk. In spite of his disability, however, his father refused to allow him to be different. As a young boy he helped with the farm chores. When Jamie was old enough to go to school his father sent him to listen and write with the others. Jamie often was frustrated by hi...

16. A Change in Posture

John 1:29-42

Illustration

King Duncan

In a cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark, there is a magnificent statue of Jesus by the noted sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. When Thorvaldsen first completed the sculpture he gazed upon the finished product with great satisfaction. It was a sculpture of Christ with face looking upward and arms extended upward. It was a statue of a majestic, conquering Christ. Later that night, however, after the sculp...

17. A Child of the Resurrection

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to test how awake you are this morning. I’ve got a riddle for you: What question can you never answer “Yes” to? Are you ready for the answer? The answer is, “Are you asleep?” (1) It’s tough starting the morning with a riddle, isn’t it? Especially a groaner like that one. It reminds me of the story of a game show contestant, Bob, who’d made it to the final round, and he just had to answer...

18. A Child Will Be Born

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

It was a cold December afternoon. Rain mixed with snow splashed against the windshield. Overhead dark clouds hovered seemingly just above the treetops. All day long two men, a pastor named Jerry and a layman named Jim, had been delivering Christmas boxes. Many of the families who would receive these boxes would get nothing else for Christmas that year. The pickup truck had been loaded when the two...

19. A Chosen People

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

King Duncan

A major university experienced an amazing turnaround in its football program a few years ago. The next spring, at the opening of spring training, the coach gathered his players together for a team meeting. As the players found their seats, the coach announced he was going to hand out awards that many of the players had earned in the fall. As the coach called players forward and handed them their a...

20. A Christmas To Remember

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

"My most vivid childhood memory of Christmas," writes columnist Dave Barry, "that does not involve opening presents, putting batteries in presents, playing with presents, and destroying presents before sundown, is the annual Nativity Pageant at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Armonk, New York." Mrs. Elson was the director, and she would tell the children what role they would play, based on their...

21. A Church Fueled By Prayer

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Any of you who have ever tried speaking in front of people will appreciate the predicament that Dr. Ralph D. Nichols of the University of Minnesota once found himself in. He was addressing a high school commencement when suddenly a child began to cry. That was distracting, but not too much of a problem. But then another child added his loud voice. And then a couple of small boys started galloping ...

22. A Church Is a Family

Jn 17:6-19

Illustration

King Duncan

A hundred years ago Rev. Charles E. Jefferson described the difference between an audience and a church. He said, "An audience is a crowd. A church is a family. An audience is a gathering. A church is a fellowship. An audience is a collection. A church is an organism. An audience is a heap of stones. A church is a temple." And he concludes, "Preachers are ordained not to attract an audience, but t...

23. A Cloud of Witness

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

It was baseball season in a small Pennsylvania town. If you know anything about Little League baseball, you know it is also a time when little boys’ hearts and egos are on the line. A certain ten-year-old had ridden the bench most of the season. But in the championship game, his coach finally called him up to bat. The little boy’s whole extended family had turned out for this very special game. H...

24. A Cloud of Witness

Hebrews 12:1

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: paper hearts, enough for each child to get two Good morning, boys and girls. I’ve got a job for you this week, and it’s very important. We’re going to be Encouragers this week. Have you ever heard that word: Encouragers? What does it mean to “encourage” someone? That’s right, it means to say good things to them, to give them hope, to give them strength, to inspire them. It literally means...

25. A Colt Is Not A Horse

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: "A Colt Is Not a Horse” New Title: Palm “Slash” Passion Sunday The well-kno...

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