Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 51 results

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Robert Allen

One evening I ran into the cleaners to pick up my shirts. They had told me they would be ready, but now they couldn’t find them. They began searching and I stood there thinking, "This is great. Every dress shirt I own is at the cleaners - except for the one I’m wearing." While I was waiting for them to find my shirts, a woman walked in carrying an old laundry basket. Inside the laundry basket, lyi...

2. An Empty Tomb

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Robert Allen

Perhaps you saw the story on the news about a couple who had adopted a little girl when she was only two or three weeks old. They accepted the child into the home. They grew to love the child. They watched her grow and develop. But, for some reason, the little girl didn't grow and develop normally. She is now two-and-one-half years old and the doctors have told these adoptive parents that their li...

3. Breakfast in Galilee

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Robert Allen

I do not usually eat a big breakfast. Most of the time I just have a bowl of cereal, a piece of toast and a glass of juice. A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, we were out of milk, so I just headed off toward the church. On the way, I decided to go to a restaurant, grab a bite to eat and look over my sermon notes before church services. When the waitress came to take my order, I ordered th...

4. Create Your Own Happiness

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Robert Allen

One night I was sitting up late watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. A guest on the program that evening was a 94-year-old man. He spoke of the changes that had taken place during his lifetime and he said he was against all of them. He spoke of the garden that he planted every spring. He introduced his 75-year-old girlfriend who drove him to the NBC studio for his appearance on the Tonigh...

5. Death Following Lung Surgery

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Eulogy

Robert Allen

When Death Comes Too Soon How can you summarize the life of Curtis Ryan? The words of the obituary convey nothing of the real personality that was shown through his life. They list some brief facts, but they are too fragmentary to express the full impact of his life upon yours. All of us realize that life is a gift of God and we somehow vaguely realize that death is a part of living. James, the Ap...

6. Decisive Battles With Temptation

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Allen

It happens so often that it seems almost routine in our modern world. We read or listen to certain stories with interest and then make little jokes about how public figures shoot themselves in the foot when they yield to temptation and it becomes public knowledge. In recent years, we have become privy to the temptations which have seduced several public figures. Not long ago, Gary Hart was the lea...

7. Do You Love Me?

John 21:15-25

Sermon

Robert Allen

There is a very tender and moving scene in the play, Fiddler On The Roof. Tevyev and his wife Golda are being forced to move from their home in Russia. One day Tevyev comes into the house and asks his wife, "Golda, do you love me?" "Do I what?" "Do you love me?" Golda looks at him and then responds: "Do I love you? With our daughters getting married and this trouble in the town, you're upset, y...

8. Do You Love Me?

John 21:1-19

Illustration

Robert Allen

9. Encounter with a Stranger

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Robert Allen

I had just sat down to eat with a group in the fellowship hall. There was a covered-dish dinner and everyone had brought their favorite recipes. The food looked delicious and the desserts looked even better. Just as I was about to take my first bite, someone told me there was a man in the hallway who would like to speak to the pastor. I slipped out of the fellowsihp hall to find this man who want...

10. Facing Life’s Central Tests

Mark 14:32-42

Sermon

Robert Allen

It was a beautiful spring afternoon in Eastern Oklahoma when my secretary told me that Oleatha was on the phone. Oleatha was 67 years old and she had been having problems. She often became confused. She had a tendency to forget. Once, she had gotten lost going from church out to her home on a bluff that overlooked the lake. At the insistence of her family, she had gone through a battery of medical...

11. Five Minutes After Death

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

Robert Allen

There is an old Arab parable about a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to the market one day. Before very long, the servant returned, white and trembling with fear. There was great agitation in his voice as he said: "Master, down in the market place I was jostled by someone in the crowd. When I turned around, I saw that it was Death who had jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening...

12. God Changes Us

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

Robert Allen

A mother sent her fifth grade boy up to bed. In a few minutes she went to make sure that he was getting in bed. When she stuck her head into his room, she saw that he was kneeling beside his bed in prayer. Pausing to listen to his prayers, she heard her son praying over and over again. "Let it be Tokyo! Please dear God, let it be Tokyo!" When he finished his prayers, she asked him, "What did you ...

13. God Moves In Mysterious Ways

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Robert Allen

There is a small Catholic chapel in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico, called Chapel of Our Lady of Light. It has a fascinating story attached to the early days when there was a convent school run by the Sisters of Loretto. Apparently, the only way for the sisters to get into the loft where they slept was to climb up a ladder. This was not a major problem for the younger nuns, but it was difficult...

14. How To Deal With Frustration

1 Kings 8:22-61

Sermon

Robert Allen

It had been a long day and I was ready to go home. It was almost 9 p.m. and only a few groups of people were left. They were standing in clusters and talking about various matters before getting in their cars and going to their homes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone approaching me. He was a complete stranger, but some mysterious sixth sense told me that he was looking for me. When he wa...

15. I Believe In Heaven

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Robert Allen

In 1816, Lord Byron wrote a narrative poem that has become a classic. The poem is titled, "The Prisoner of Chillon," and it is the story of a man incarcerated in the dungeon at the Castle of Chillon near Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The prisoner was in a narrow, cramped dungeon cell for such a long time that he began to think of it as home. He made friends with the spiders, insects, and mice that sh...

16. I Believe In Judgment

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Robert Allen

Recently, I heard a preacher on television preach a sermon on divine judgment. I have no doubt that he is sincere in his beliefs. He is very good at using words and manipulating the emotions of his audience. He is charming, witty, and entertaining. But his interpretation of judgment degrades God from a Heavenly Father to a heartless tyrant. He drew a picture of God which makes my heart shudder, b...

17. I Believe In Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Robert Allen

I don’t suppose that it comes as any surprise to you that a minister would stand in a pulpit and affirm, "I believe in prayer." You would expect this affirmation. But, belief in prayer came normally and naturally for me as a child. Even before I can remember, I was taught to pray. The first prayer I was taught was the bedtime payer that almost all children learn. It is a simple little prayer which...

18. I Love A Parade

Matthew 21:1-11, John 12:12-19

Sermon

Robert Allen

Several years ago, while I was pastoring the little Methodist Church in Geary, Oklahoma, a Fourth of July parade was scheduled. Well, there is nothing like a parade in a small town. The entire community gets into the activities. The high school marching band provides the music, there are a few floats, there is a riding club, and even the children are invited to participate by decorating their bicy...

19. In The Beginning

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Robert Allen

Walter de la Mare wrote a fascinating little poem titled, "The Listeners." He wrote: "Is anybody there?" asked the Traveler, Knocking on the moonlight door; And his horse in the silence chomped the grasses Of the forest’s ferny floor; And a bird flew up out of the turret, Above the traveler’s head: And he smote upon the door again a second time; "Is anybody there?" he said. But no one descended...

20. Into The Whirlwind

2 Kings 2:1-18

Sermon

Robert Allen

Certain events, no matter how long ago they happened, are forever etched in your mind. One such event that I shall always remember happened when I was in the third grade. It was late April, but it was not a beautiful spring day. Instead, it was a day marked by spring rains. It was a day that was dark and dreary. It was a day packed full of tornado warnings. Finally, late in the afternoon, the sch...

21. I’ve Peeked at the Back of the Book

John 20:1-18

Illustration

Robert Allen

A new pastor was visiting one of his church members who was in the hospital. The pastor was a young man, fresh out of seminary and still wet behind the ears as a minister. He was visiting this elderly man named Joe, and Joe was extremely ill. He wanted to talk to his pastor about his funeral service and the pastor wanted to talk about anything else – the weather, football, politics, or anything el...

22. Jesus and Germs

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Robert Allen

A little boy, growing up in a community where his father served as a Methodist minister was outside playing. He was doing all of the things that a little boy does. He was climbing trees. He was swinging on the swing set and jumping out. He was rolling and playing with his dog. His mother called him for dinner and all of the family gathered at the table. His mother looked at him and said, "Young ma...

23. Let Me See Your Hands

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Robert Allen

24. Love Does Not Compound Guilt

John 21:1-14

Illustration

Robert Allen

A few years ago I was in Washington, D.C., and I went on a tour of all the traditional sites like the White House, the Smithsonian, the halls of Congress and the Lincoln Memorial. There is something about standing in the Lincoln Memorial and reading the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address which gives you goose bumps. One line in the Second Inaugural reminds you what a caring and co...

25. One More Thing

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Robert Allen

When I was a kid growing up, I don't think I ever went anywhere without my mother saying, "Robert, there is one more thing I want to tell you." It didn't make any difference where I was going. I could have been going to camp, I could have been going to spend the night with a friend or I could have been going to a party. I don't care what it was, before I got out of the car, my mother would say, "T...

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