Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 34 results

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... like?\nDR. REILUF: Whoever you vant to look like. Pick zomeone. I do \nzem all. \nPATIENT: How about Tom Cruise? \nDR. REILUF: Goot. I can do zat. Go into zee other room and lie \ndown. \nPATIENT: Tom Cruise, eh? That's great. My troubles are over. \nThis is easier than trusting in Jesus. I'm going to look like \nTom Cruise. (PATIENT EXITS) \nDR. REILUF: Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise. Let me zee. Oh, ya. I \nknow Tom Cruise. He is the actor that did Nightmare On Elm \nStreet. Yes. That will look nice. (EXITS)\n"\n ...

2. You Can Be Beautiful

Hosea 14:1-9

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... -- beauty that comes from the inside where God and people get together. We all remember in 1993 when Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat joined hands and hopes that a region too long at war might at last find peace. Admittedly Prime Minister Rabin is not exactly a Tom Cruise look-alike. And Mr. Arafat? He looks strangely like Mel Blanc with a dish towel on his head. There is no inherent physical loveliness in either of those men, but when they joined hands and pledged to work for peace it was a thing of pure ...

3. Mission Impossible

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 1960s "Mission: Impossible" show, something was not quite right. That jazzy theme music was back, but something else was missing. Actually, the fatal mistake of the movie was that something, some one, was there: a big name, a big star, a superhero named Tom Cruise. The strength of the old "Mission: Impossible" was that every story, every mission, was a team effort. No one was the run-away "star" of the show. The complex schemes they cooked up to fulfill their "impossible missions" were utterly dependent on ...

4. Paul, Phoebe, Patronage, and Spain

Romans 16:1-27

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... imprisoned in 67 and martyred in 67/68, before which he wrote 2 Timothy. Luke may have helped Paul to write 2 Timothy (see 2 Tim. 4:11), since the apostle was confined in prison. Illustrating the Text The gospel was and is cross-cultural. Quote: Tom Cruise. Film star Tom Cruise discussed human unity in what he learned while filming The Last Samurai, an ode to Japan’s ancient class of warriors. He said, One of the great things about being an actor and what I do is that I get to travel to all these places ...

5. Show Me The Fish!

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... done something to personally affect our lives. If any of you have seen the movie JERRY MAGUIRE, you can appreciate this. In the movie, Tom Cruise is starting a business as an agent for sports stars. He is trying to snag one big client, a young football star played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. Cuba likes Tom, he trusts Tom, he respects Tom. But he won't sign with Tom's agency until Tom can guarantee him a hefty advertising contract. His catchphrase is, "Show me the money! Show me the money!" Then we've got a deal ...

6. Shockwaves of Joy

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... alone. It is said that the great actor Marlon Brando taped cue cards all over the set of his films, and even asked his fellow actors to hold cue cards for him. In more recent times, when Tom Cruise was filming the film Days of Thunder, the scriptwriter changed the script on an almost-daily basis. So Cruise taped pages of the script to the dashboard of his race car. Unfortunately he was so busy reading while driving that he crashed the car. (2) Smart move. Angels may have a fairly hard job, but memorizing ...

7. Gunda

John 6:60-71

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

In the movie, Days of Thunder, Cole Thunder (Tom Cruise) when asked by his girlfriend why he races 200 miles per hour NASCAR stock cars, haughtily answers, "I want to be able to control that which is out of control." Our text for today raises the question: Are we unable to control anything? "What gives life is God's Spirit; ...

8. Wade In The Water

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... . How we’d like to be like them. We could really enjoy having their money, or their influence, or the adulation of the people who crowd around them. How nice it would be to have the athletic prowess of Michael Jordan, or the good looks and acting talent of a Tom Cruise or Geena Davis, the voice of Luciano Pavarotti or Natalie Cole. Is there any one of us who would not like to be cast in the limelight of fame and fortune, at least for a while? And living in a posh house with the choice of a luxury car or ...

9. The Greatest Show on Earth

Matthew 24:36-51, Mark 13:1-31, Mark 13:32-37, Luke 21:5-38

Drama

Dave Marsh

... the idea of meeting or knowing a celebrity (actor, musician, writer, etc.) something that we as people find so compelling? While they may have talents or money that we may not possess, they are still just like us, human beings. If I were to tell you that Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts were going to come visit you for a month, declare their undying friendship to you, shower you with gifts and always love you, chances are you might just faint or die of a heart attack, overcome by joy. Have we forgotten that God ...

10. The Whole Family Survival Kit

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game? In the mid-90s this silly party game challenged players to find a way to link the actor Kevin Bacon with any other actor using no more than six connections. (For instance, Val Kilmer was in “Top Gun” with Tom Cruise who was in “A Few Good Men,” which also featured Kevin Bacon.) Eventually what was really just a movie trivia game became a way for us to see ourselves as somehow related to anyone else on the planet with just six simple steps. Poking fun at ...

11. From Hunger to Satisfaction

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... problem. The weight loss industry promises we can lose weight while still eating all we want; we can even melt the fat away while we sleep. If only the advertisements were true. Hollywood sets the standard for appearance to be that of Sandra Bullock or Tom Cruise, leaving the leanest and most fit person in this Sanctuary feeling overweight and out of shape. Have Americans made gluttony an unpardonable sin? Is that where we have come to in this world? There is in this story a COMMENT that I think is as ...

12. Heroes of Faith

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... ! (1) We all have heroes, don't we? And I'm not talking Superman, Batman, Buck Rogers, Power Puff Girls or any of the other superheros of the comic books or cartoons. I'm not talking about the characters portrayed by John Wayne, Randolf Scott, Vin Diesel, Tom Cruise or any other Hollywood heroes. I'm about real people who have influenced us. Those people whose live and accomplishments have impacted us in such a way as to give us hope. One of my young heroes died recently. I saw her one morning on the Today ...

13. Palm Sunday – Who Is That?

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... the hubbub. And inevitably people begin to ask, "Who is that?" In reply the branch-waving, coat-tossing folks excitedly answer, "Who is this, you ask! Why, it's Joshua Jones, a preacher from North Platte in Nebraska!" "Oh. So it's not Donald Trump? Not Tom Cruise or Katie Couric, not Bill Clinton? Joshua Jones from Nebraska? Oh. That's nice." But then eyes roll, eyebrows rise, and smirks are repressed as the big city folks go back to their big city business. Granted that Jerusalem circa 30 A.D. was not New ...

14. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... Hubbard’s self-help book Dianetics in 1952. Its beliefs, which include spiritual beings caught in human bodies with past lives from extraterrestrial cultures, have grown more popular partially due to endorsement from prominent actor and producer Tom Cruise. In particular, the financial resources required as “fixed donations” for participation in Scientology practices make it an attraction for those with greater power and influence. The false philosophies of this group, as well as others like it, are ...

15. The Blind See!

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... life in a wheelchair, only able to communicate through a computer program. Yet Stephen Hawking is today known world-wide for his great intellect. But there are many well-known people who have had to deal with being disadvantaged. Actor Tom Cruise, movie producer Steven Spielberg, and the founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, all had dyslexia. Actress Emma Watson, one of the stars of the Harry Potter movie series, singer Justin Timberlake, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity ...

16. You Can't Handle It!

John 16:12-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

One of the most famous lines in film history comes from Rob Reiner’s 1992 film based on Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 play, entitled “A Few Good Men.” In the movie, a military court scene plays out in which Navy lawyer Tom Cruise (Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee) pushes Colonel Nathan Jessup on the stand (played by Jack Nicholson) to admit that he ordered a “code red,” a hazing, violent disciplinary measure that allowed two marines, Dawson and Downey, ultimately to kill fellow peer, Private First Class William ...

17. When God Is Like a Mother

John 14:15-31

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to lie in it.” On I went with my well-rehearsed speech trying to rescue these parents. When I finally ran down a bit, Tom’s mother spoke up and said, “You know, if Tom were your boy I’d let him go too. But he’s not your boy. He’s my boy and I will love him all ... came, she dined in her room on crackers and other snacks, hoping to save money. On the last night of the cruise, she finally decided to join the rest of the passengers in the dining room. There she was delightfully served a delicious meal ...

18. Something is About to Happen!

John 1:1-14

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Tom Long tells of the time when he visited a Sunday school class and heard something he had never heard in church before. The topic for the ... desires for you to be whole by experiencing a love relationship with him. A Christian Cruise? There is a great old story about a group of Christians on a cruise together. On this cruise just about every Christian denomination was represented. Clearly, it was not a Carnival Cruise! Well, about midway through the ship’s voyage one of the passengers fell overboard, and ...

19. Did You Come Here to Die?

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... went to the Holy Land together. While there they took a cruise on a ship following the journeys of the Apostle Paul. One of the passengers on that cruise was Richard Wurmbrand. One night Markquart and his wife found themselves ... to stare into the face of Jesus so that we might see the kind of person we can yet become. Most of you probably remember Tom Landry, the longtime head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Landry spent three decades in professional football. Before that he flew 30 combat missions for the ...

20. Choosing Sides

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Do you remember those old cartoons (especially Tom and Jerry) that showed the characters considering a plan of action, being counseled by a devil on one ... and rule ourselves. "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." It's like having cruise control for your life. You know how this works: we can either be on cruise control or drive the car ourselves. As soon as we touch either the accelerator or brake, the cruise control cuts out, and we're on our own again. In the same way, Paul says, ...

21. Please Pass The Salt

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... had not looked and acted so much like undertakers." (My apologies to those in the funeral home ministry). A man named John was on a cruise ship one time and met a man who claimed to be exceptionally good at guessing people's vocations. The guesser said, "You see that man ... and has sung on stage allover the world. Years ago he was in a Town Theater production of "A Man for All Seasons." Tom played the leading role of sir Thomas More. Just a few days after the play, he received a letter from a woman he did ...

22. Reconciliation Day

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be fans of “Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers,” the mechanics on NPR’s Car Talk. Click and Clack are the radio names for the hosts of Car Talk, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. Someone wrote Tom and Ray a letter sometime back. Dear Tom and Ray: Today I was involved in an accident. I was happily cruising along at the speed limit . . . in the right lane, when someone came up behind me. He was clearly very upset that I was doing just the speed limit, and he could not stand being unable to get ...

23. L. T.: The Lonely Terrestrial

Drama

Edward Long

... kitchen sink are off in the Turner home. The street lights all have a pointed cap of the snow over them. A patrol car cruises down Grant St. A semi backs up to the large grocery with fresh produce for tomorrow. The town of Spring Hill is quiet. ... have talked honestly before all the resentment and hurt built up. I know our love can grow with some help from the pastor and others ... MRS. T.: Tom ... (Dabs at her eyes.) I know so, too, and I can't wait to share our new and real hope with Lee; he's been so upset ...

24. Born at Bethlehem — Hope

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... In The Strength Of The Lord (Micah 5:4) His strength comes from surrender, service, and sacrifice. Hope is born to that end. Tom Barnard wrote, “In the spiritual life, there are things that belong together, like perfectly matched oars. Two of the more important ones are ... is hollow piety. Service without surrender is sterile duty. Try activating one without the other, and the spiritual cruise will result in circle making. No significant gain will result from such foolish exercise. “All true Christian ...

25. Gambling On God

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... restricted to such tourist destinations as Las Vegas and Atlantic City, its presence is becoming commonplace on cruise ships, Indian reservations and even in local convenience-type stores in many communities through fast-spreading state ... they asked for you, personally? This one I got the day you said you wanted to share an apartment with three responsible roommates ” Tom, Dick, and Harry. And this . . . " By this time Marylou, totally stunned, walks out of the house, bumps into her friend, and observes, "I ...

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