Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 631 results

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ." So, like Paul, Wesley knew that he'd been laid hold of by Christ, but he would make no claim to have attained the fullness of what he knew was his by gift and promise. And that must be our stance -- that's the Christian stance. To be aware of what is ...

2. Assurance: The Privilage of All Believers

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... persons in Corinth as “babes” in Christ. Now we need not get tied up with how long we may remain “babes” in Christ. To some degree, we may all always be thus designated. But Paul and Wesley would not be cavalier about this. Sin and our struggle against it must always be seen as serious business. Wesley made the point clearly by asking the question: “But can Christ be in the same heart where sin is?” He responded: “Undoubtedly he can; otherwise it never could be saved therefrom.” Where the ...

3. Holiness of Heart and Life

Romans 2:21-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the law; but it you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision.” (vs. 25 RSV). Then Paul made his case. Listen to him. “For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal. His praise is not from men but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29 RSV). John Wesley used this 29th verse as the text for his sermon by the title “Circumcision of the ...

4. Not Far From the Kingdom

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... us consider some of the questions which have been asked: 1. Does God want me? Am I of the elect? Yes, God wants you, and no matter how you define the "elect" you may be sure God has never rejected you. He did not reject the scribe, Nicodemus, Paul, Augustine, or the Wesleys. 2. Am I good enough? No, you are not good enough. Neither am I. Neither were those just named. Nobody is good enough. It is not a matter of our goodness; it depends upon God’s goodness. 3. Am I supposed to change myself? No, God will ...

5. In diem natalem

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Ron Love

... himself still questioned the validity of his own faith. While leading and inspiring others, Wesley’s was consumed with doubts regarding his own salvation. Wesley felt depressed and dejected for his seeming lack of faith. Realizing this, a few friends compelled Wesley to accompany them to a Moravian society meeting in a room on Aldersgate Street, a few blocks away from St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Wesley unwillingly attended the prayer meeting, but in doing so his life was transformed. While attending ...

6. Aiming at Perfection

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... set goals for our golf game. The President aspires to shoot under 80. Do you mean to tell me that we have goals in all phases of our lives except the most important part---our walk with Christ? Then let's change that, right away. Mr. Wesley and St. Paul call us Christians to set specific goals for Christian growth, bench marks along the way, with the long-term goal of becoming functionally perfect for the cause of Christ before it's time for us to go to heaven. This Christian perfection has three components ...

7. We're On the Move Now!

Sermon

Ronald Love

... his conversion to Wesley. To this remark he replied, “Oh no, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin!” We do not want to regret the sort of life we are living. And we certainly don’t want to live a licentious life thinking we can make a death bed confession. Even though the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the air is cool, we must remember that the days for Christ return have “grown short.” This is the since of immediacy that Paul wanted to ...

8. Power For Christian Living: Am I On My Own?

Romans 3:3-5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to Jesus, He gives His Holy Spirit to us. The Holy Spirit empowers us for obedient living, which is the dynamic of a holy life. Paul tells us, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if you put to death the deeds of the body, you will ... taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death (Nehemiah Curnock, ed., The Journal of John Wesley, Vol. 1, pp. 476-77, London, Epworth Press, 1909-16). It is important to note this was not the transformation of an irreligious ...

9. Discipline and Means of Grace

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... keep it. To put the two together in this fashion, I believe, is one of those flashes of genius that come out now and then in Wesley’s writings. “As tenacious of inward holiness as a mystic, of outward holiness as a Pharisee.” That is a picture we can live with and ... gooey mess. Legalism, on the other hand, and complacency, on the other, are twin enemies to true Christian spirituality. Paul spoke scathingly of anyone who added a milligram to grace, but he could scarcely mention the word without adding, ...

10. Genuine Imitations

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... a thief into a benefactor. Faith like that transformed Matthew from a tax man to a Christ man, changed Simon the fisherman into Peter the rock man, remade Saul the Pharisee into Paul the apostle. Faith like that made Francis become the patron saint of the poor, caused Luther to reform the church, and set the heart of John Wesley on fire and sent him blazing across England. In our own day, faith like that caused Mother Teresa to work tirelessly among the poor of India, encouraged Cardinal Wytola to stand up ...

11. The Only Fact That Really Matters

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... : "He is a man, Bill; he is a man. He’s a man like God." When the risen Jesus becomes primary in the lives of people - as he was in the lives of Paul and Wesley - then those lives become powerful witnesses of the factuality of the Resurrection. They become facts that cannot he denied. "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead ...!" So Paul proclaimed. It was a fact because he knew it to be true from the Scriptures. It was a fact because he knew it to be true from those who had seen the risen Lord ...

12. When We Don't Know God

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... questions to address in one brief message, but let’s go with them as far as we are able. First of all, what is the difference between being religious and knowing God? We ask this only because of the experience of devout believers like St. Paul and John Wesley and many, many other devoted saints down through the ages who came to a point in their lives when they realized that, in the words of Isaiah, their religion and their righteousness were like filthy garments (Isaiah 64:6). When Dr. Jack McKinney was ...

13. Living By The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... be enough cherries in the can for all three of us boys. We thought the cherries were the best part. I think the Apostle Paul must have liked fruit cocktail as well. Because he talks about the fruit of the spirit and then lists about nine different Fruits of ... ." (2) I hope you don't think I'm belittling bumper stickers and such. The point I'm trying to make and the point Wesley made was that because we are professing Christians, what we do has an impact on the life and faith of others. Therefore we have ...

14. Servants Of The Servant Who Was Lord

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... for the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life, a ransom for many. I wonder, I wonder if Paul had heard that story about Jesus responding to Peter and James in that fashion. I wonder because in verses 3 and 4 of Philippians II, he laid ... to write you and tell you that while you know Greek and Hebrew, he can do without your learning.’ Mr. Wesley responded appropriately, ‘Your letter received, and I may say in reply to your letter that it was superfluous, because I ...

15. Hidden in Plain Sight

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... himself wrote on a wide range of topics including what we would call "folk medicine." Obviously, the "man of one book" meant that his total worldview, his understanding of everything, flowed from the truths of scripture. Wesley, like Paul before him, was using hyperbole to focus on what is truly central. Robert Webber has suggested that every Christian leader, pastoral or otherwise, should reread Irenaeus' On the Apostolic Preaching annually. This slim volume recounts the basics of the faith and provides ...

16. Style: Some Distinctive Marks of a Methodist

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , page 143). Wesley also had the genius of putting an expansive, explosive truth in a single, sometimes simple sentence or, a pithy phrase. He encapsulated his vision of mission and ministry in the sentence that has been on the lips of Methodists ever since: “The World Is my parish.” He borrowed from Paul to summarize his theology succinctly: “Faith working through love.” He gave a challenging and rather complete economic theory in the crisp triplet: “Make all you can, save all you can, and give ...

17. Are You Trying to Prove Something?

Genesis 12:1-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... front of him. Then he stood up again to his full height, and he said, "Relax ma'am. That's the only way God is going to get a hold of you." That is what Paul learned. He had to go through a physical crisis. We can call it a breakdown. He had to go through a breakdown before he could let go, and let God. Wesley had to go through a failure. He had to go through some humiliating experience in his life before he could drop his guard, and let go. But when he did, when he stopped trying to ...

18. Reconciliation: Our Gift And Our Ministry

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... marvelous being in that place, and seeking to relive in memory the early groundings of our father in the faith, John Wesley, and to read some of the original correspondence between him and the founder of that community, Count Zenzendor. But the ... systems to say that we are one in Christ, and that when one person suffers, we all suffer. That we are brothers and sisters, to say with Paul that God has made of one blood, all nations to dwell upon the face of the earth. To say with him that there’s no longer any ...

19. Such As I Have

Acts 3:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the sound of others, the symphony of the gospel is lived out and shared with the world. Do you remember that word from Romans 12? Paul gives us the Christian perspective on our talents and on the use of our talents in the church. He said, “For by the grace ... their kneading troths, let his blacksmith blow more suitable coals than the coals of controversy.” Not very affirming, was it? Wesley saw, however, that such folk were the stuff true saints and ministers were made of. And it was through people such ...

20. All This and Heaven Too

Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... striving would be losing. Were not the right man on our side, The man of God’s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth is His name From age to age the same, And He must win the battle. This is what Wesley discovered on that night in 1738. As his custom was he went to Evensong at St. Paul’s cathedral and heard the choir sing the “De Profundis” (Out of the depths, I cry to Thee). That anthem from Psalm 130 echoed ...

21. Three Men Changed by God

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... the singing of his hymns throughout the Christian world, God gave him millions of tongues to sing God’s praise--and we’ve been singing them for more than 200 years. Not everyone is going to have the kind of experience that Charles Wesley had, or Isaiah, or Simon Peter or St. Paul. But each of us in our own way can have an experience of God that transforms our life into something more beautiful. First of all, we need to see ourselves as we really are--totally dependent on God. Secondly, we need to pray ...

22. The Story of Abraham versus the Story of Israel

Romans 4:1-25

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... [37:34 ET]; Prov. 11:31; 12:12–13; Ezek. 33:8–11; cf. Sir. 7:16–17; 9:11–12; 41:5–8).3And, if Paul’s audacious assertion that God justifies the ungodly by faith was not revolting enough, the apostle goes on to indicate that Abraham himself was ungodly and ... can produce the spiritual change that comes through grace. Spiritual Autobiography: The Journal of John Wesley, by John Wesley. In this journal Wesley (1703–91), who was influenced by Martin Luther, gives an account of his coming to ...

23. Men Like Trees Walking

Mark 8:22-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... sent the runaway slave Onesimus back to his master, Philemon, neither Paul nor Philemon spoke against slavery. However, Paul did something much more significant. He counseled Philemon to treat Onesimus as a brother - and this is using the spiritual vision he had.” (Ibid. 154) It is only in recent years that we have begun to catch up with that vision. When I first became a Christian, I knew only with Wesley at Aldersgate, that Jesus Christ “had taken away my sin, even mine; and delivered me from the law ...

24. Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

James McCormick

... Christians ate, as a matter of sensitivity, as a contribution to their oneness. That’s what love does. Something like that is what Paul was getting at when he wrote his letter to the Church at Corinth. He was clear about what was central in the ... thing in common: they all were loved by God, and when they allowed that love into their hearts, they were able to love one another. Wesley wrote in his journal: “Though we may not all think alike, may we not all love alike? May we not all be of one heart, even ...

25. The Science of Happiness

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with the way to “holiness.” His phrase was “holiness is happiness,” and over 70 of his sermons referenced and recommended “happiness” as the goal of the Christian life. But for Wesley “happiness” means more than “feeling good.” “Happiness” means “pleasing God.” In today’s epistle text Paul makes an important distinction. It’s a distinction many people never make their whole life long. It’s a distinction between living one’s life trying to “please people” and living ...

Showing results