Sermon and Worship Resources

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1. A Man of One Book

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

John Wesley wrote in 1730: "I began to be 'homo unius libri' (a man of one book). I began to study (comparatively) no book but the Bible." In his preface to Sermons On Several Occasions (1746), he proclaimed again his intention to be "a man of just one book." This, of course, does not mean Wesley decided to become illiterate or uninformed where other writings were concerned. His personal records i...

2. First Hand

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

When Leslie Weatherhead pastored City Temple Church in London, he maintained a particularly effective ministry to the entire community (both those within and beyond his church alone). Everyone knew (and loved) Dr. Weatherhead. Often in mid-morning he would walk to The Commons where (as he put it) "the old chaps would sit discussing their ailments." There he would listen as they speculated on what ...

3. Intelligent Planning

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

Intelligent planning is, of course, the key. It is never wise to answer questions people are not asking nor to offer food for which they are not hungry. About 20 miles outside a bustling southern city was a small, rural, white frame church with a new pastor fresh out of seminary. He was enthusiastic, if not altogether realistic. In short order, dreaming loftily, he convinced his church members tha...

4. Keeping the Christian Faith

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

A French prince in the Middle Ages was asked if he were faithful to his wife. He answered: "Yes ...frequently." The line is humorous but the point of the story is anything but. Sometimes in life it is all too difficult to find someone to trust, someone to believe in. Even spouses, parents and dearest of friends can let us down. But the Christian faith teaches that when all the others have come and...

5. Let The Children Come In!

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

The author of this poem is unknown, but whoever the author may have been obviously comprehended the Christ-likeness of children. The author obviously understood that to be like Jesus we must somehow become like children again. Let The Children Come In! There's something quite nice about children. Every family should have one or two They're such a fine race When they're kept in their place: Say, ...

6. Persistent Attention

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

In Keeping Pace, Ernest Fitzgerald relayed the true story of a magazine company which several years ago purchased a new computer. Its function was to compile data and send out subscription notices to customers whose subscriptions had lapsed. One day something went wrong with the machine, and before the error was discovered (about a month later), a certain rancher in Colorado had received 9,374 not...

7. Prayer Power, Bible Power And Small Group Dynamics

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

Paula D'Arcy, author of Song For Sarah, tells of belonging to a small church in New England. There were approximately 200 members on roll, with about 50 in church on any given Sunday. Usually there were about four in the choir. All was dull and dead: no new faces, no children, no laughter, no spirit to speak of. In time she and a friend began discussing the merits of looking for a new church home....

8. She Could Not Speak Because She Could Not Hear

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

There is a beautiful hearing-impaired actress named Marlee Matlin who won an Oscar for the poignant movie Children of a Lesser God. In the movie she consistently communicated via sign language, though her leading man knew she could speak. In a riveting scene near the film's conclusion, she finally verbalized in his presence. Her words were intelligible but not articulate, slowly formed just well e...

9. The Bishop Gave it to Him

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

Three young boys were talking one afternoon on the school grounds. They were engaged in a heated argument over whose dad was the richest. The children were respectively sons of the local physician, the local banker and the local minister. The doctor's son argued: "My dad is by far the richest. He owns the hospital. Whenever anyone in town gets sick, they go there and he gets their money!" The bank...

10. The Most Effective Communication

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

I heard a Christian recording artist on the radio recently talking about the most important influences in his life. He knows and has worked with all the most prominent Christian preachers, lecturers, authors and performers in the nation. But he said above and beyond them all, the single most profound influence in his life (in fact, he said, the single force that won him to Christ) was his mother. ...

11. With God’s Help

Matthew 6:24-34

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

A pastor was visiting with a church member one day. They sat together on the front porch of the man's home on a hot July afternoon. He was a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for over five years. That day he talked of his past of spending more adult years drunk than sober, of times when but for the grace of God he should have been killed in a fight or automobile accident, of the patience of ...

12. You Can Be A Livesaver

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Perhaps any who ever watched William Shatner's television show Rescue 911 share my feelings of inadequacy. Viewing makes you think that some guy hanging by his ankles off a 40-story building to rescue a stranded window washer is everyday stuff. One episode dealt with a three-year-old who saved his mother from a seizure. Someone told me of a dog who saved his entire family from a burning house. Me?...

13. You Can Be Articulate

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

A quick look at any medical journal reveals thousands of phobias that afflict people ... not discomforts or unpleasantries, but full-blown, pulse-raising, sweat-inducing, emotionally debilitating phobias. They come in all shapes and sizes. We find arachnaphobia (the fear of spiders) and musophobia (the fear of mice). There are claustrophobia (the fear of confined spaces with no visible exit) and ...

14. You Can Be Beautiful

Hosea 14:1-9

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Following a morning as guest preacher at a large suburban church, I was approached by a member whom I had spotted during the second morning service. He had been sitting on the very front pew. A large man, he left hardly any room for other persons on the short pew near the chancel. He was not poorly dressed but did present a generally disheveled look, as if appearance were at the bottom of his list...

15. You Can Be Eternal

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

There are lots of things I don't know. I am quick to admit I have a lot more questions than answers. For example: I do not comprehend the difference between good cholesterol and bad cholesterol nor why nature has decreed that good cholesterol is never found in things like coconut cream pie. I do not understand why every moveable part on an automobile automatically malfunctions two months after the...

16. You Can Be Forever Young

Genesis 25:1-11

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

About age 41, I noticed that the quality of print in newspapers and phone books had diminished significantly. The ink they were using seemed of a poorer quality, because the print had begun to blur. The type was much smaller than it previously had been. Prior to complaining to our local publisher, my wife prevailed upon me to consult a nearby ophthalmologist. Following my exam, the man gave me a p...

17. You Can Be Happy

1 Chronicles 13:1-14

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Jesus said, "I have come that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Jesus came that we might be, in a word, happy. Paul, history's greatest interpreter of the teachings of Jesus, identified three sure-fire ways to find the joy Christ was talking about, three indispensables for happiness. They are: 1 -- Find someone to believe in. This is the spiritual dimension of happiness. Paul ...

18. You Can Be In Heaven Or Hell

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Heaven and hell are real. Anyone who has ever been married is aware of that because in marriage one experiences a little bit of both. On the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary, Billy and Ruth Graham were interviewed from their home in Montreat, North Carolina. The interviewer was Joan Lunden of the television show Good Morning, America. Ms. Lunden asked Mrs. Graham: "In all your 50 years t...

19. You Can Be Intelligent

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

When I say "You Can Be Intelligent," I am not talking about I.Q. There are all kinds of smart people around. Many have very high I.Q.s whereas some are barely more than border-line on the test scales. Intelligence cannot be confined to I.Q. tests. Some people are street smart. I know a man who is clothes smart. He can sniff out bargains on men's wear the way hunting dogs find a fox. He also knows ...

20. You Can Be Less Worried

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

It occurred to me to title this segment of the series "You Can Be Worry Free," but I realized no one would believe it. The truth is, I don't believe it, either. To desire a life that is "worry free" is in all likelihood to dream the impossible dream. Between 20 and 30 percent of all Americans will live today under significant stress. Thirteen million will worry intensely for at least 90 minutes. I...

21. You Can Be Like Children

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

A friend who is a surgeon stopped by a clothing store in a local mall. He had just returned from a hunting trip and was still attired in cap, plaid jacket and muddy boots. Looking through the showroom for a Christmas gift for this wife, he noticed that each available clerk was obviously ignoring him. None asked if they could help. None even acknowledged his presence. Soon he left, went home, showe...

22. You Can Be Real

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Several years ago our family spent a week as guests at a motel deep in the Appalachian Mountains. The motel manager was a nice enough sort of guy, forty-ish and very talkative. He was an intriguing fellow. The first day there he told my wife of having previously lived in Florida where he worked as a scuba diver. "I only left because I was attacked by a killer shark," he said. "It almost got me. Ot...

23. You Can Be Well Fed

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

I used to serve as pastor to a delightful young woman who was a physiologist. A committed health nut, she probably weighed all of 90 pounds soaking wet. She ran about five miles per day and actually seemed to enjoy counting fat grams. Though a truly charming young lady, she was not much of a realist. I note that because one of her goals was to make me as skinny as she was. Following a trip to a ch...

Showing 1 to 23 of 23all results

Showing all results

1. A Man of One Book

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

2. First Hand

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

3. Intelligent Planning

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

4. Keeping the Christian Faith

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

5. Let The Children Come In!

Mark 10:1-12

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

6. Persistent Attention

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

7. Prayer Power, Bible Power And Small Group Dynamics

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

8. She Could Not Speak Because She Could Not Hear

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

9. The Bishop Gave it to Him

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

10. The Most Effective Communication

Mark 7:31-37

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

11. With God’s Help

Matthew 6:24-34

Illustration

Michael B. Brown

12. You Can Be A Livesaver

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

13. You Can Be Articulate

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

14. You Can Be Beautiful

Hosea 14:1-9

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

15. You Can Be Eternal

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

16. You Can Be Forever Young

Genesis 25:1-11

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

17. You Can Be Happy

1 Chronicles 13:1-14

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

18. You Can Be In Heaven Or Hell

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

19. You Can Be Intelligent

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

20. You Can Be Less Worried

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

21. You Can Be Like Children

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

22. You Can Be Real

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

23. You Can Be Well Fed

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

Showing 1 to 23 of 23all results