Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 297 results

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Thomas Long

... , in the morning or at night, when we are tired or when we are refreshed, in the singing of a hymn or in the sighing of a prayer, in the second act of a play or even ... in the middle of a sermon. The Methodist pastor and chaplain William Willimon once received an agitated telephone call on a Sunday evening from a parishioner in his church. He said that his daughter Anne had just decided to drop out of pharmacy school. Anne had been home for the weekend. In fact she had worshiped with her mother and father ...

2. "Is It Community Today?"

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... we need to receive spiritual nourishment from each other, and because we need to work together if we're going to get anything significant accomplished. It's God's blessing that we can be built together into a "spiritual house." Listen to William Willimon's words: It is only in communion, in community, in God's community that we get the support, encouragement, discipline, forgiveness, rebirth, conversion, and nurture that we need ... The grace of God is not often known by isolated individuals ... Our Creator ...

3. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... you can use this event to prune me and cause me to bear more fruit to your glory?” will find a source of strength they never dreamed possible. In one of Bishop William Willimon’s recent books he tells a sensitive and beautiful story about a young couple who understood the meaning of God’s pruning in a way that would humble all of us. Willimon says that early in his ministry he arrived at a hospital room where a woman in his church had just given birth. He had been told that “there were problems with ...

4. The Power of One Passion and One Prayer

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... that once they received the Holy Spirit, everything else in their lives would take second place to their one calling, to be God’s witnesses in the world. Rev. Eric Ritz shares a story from Dr. William Willimon, the former Chaplain at Duke University. In his book What’s Right with the Church, Dr. Willimon tells of receiving a call from the father of one of his students, Anne. Anne’s father was concerned that his daughter had dropped out of pharmacy school. This father knew of his daughter’s great ...

5. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... on the cross because he went along with the status quo! "Aw, don''t give us that Bible stuff, Pastor." THE CHRISTIAN FAITH WILL ALWAYS PRODUCE A CONFLICT IN THE PURPOSE OF LIVE FOR A CHRISTIAN. I always had a high regard for the preaching and writing ministry of Dr. William Willimon, a United Methodist minister and a Chaplain at the historic Duke Chapel. He tells the story of a young Christian woman, Anne, who just happened to hear one sermon ...

6. More Than Meets The Eye

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... slaves: we have done only what we ought to have done.'" Here is the humbling part of our text. Faith enables us to do extraordinary things ” but only those things of service to God and humanity. For that is the purpose of faith. Dr. William Willimon, Chaplain of Duke University and professor of Christian ministry at Duke Divinity School, remembers an experience he had when he was serving as a pastor. There was a young woman named Anne who after college enrolled in pharmacy school. From time to time she ...

7. Fulfilled, Or Just Full?

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... lack of pretense and his honesty about himself. He talks quite openly about his struggles in life and his struggles with faith. Like many of us, one issue William Willimon wrestles with is his weight. Willimon knows he sometimes overeats. Hence this revealing passage in one of his books: a book on Communion ironically titled Sunday Dinner. In it Willimon writes, "I am convinced that my own overeating, the binges I often lapse into, have a direct relation to periods of intense pressure or anxiety in my life ...

8. Lessons from a Fool

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... beautiful home,” he said. Then the student added these words: “Let me ask you, do you feel at all guilty being a Christian and living in such a nice house?” Willimon responded, “Now I’m remembering why it was not such a great idea to invite you people over to my house.” “Such,” says William Willimon, “are the challenges of attempting to be Christian in the midst of affluence.” (1) Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity, once noted that an increasing number of affluent people in ...

9. Christians in the Midst of Affluence

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

King Duncan

... in our homes as often as possible." "Well, few faculty think that way," said the student. "And you have a beautiful home," he said. Then the student added these words: "Let me ask you, do you feel at all guilty being a Christian and living in such a nice house?" Willimon responded, "Now I'm remembering why it was not such a great idea to invite you people over to my house." "Such," says William Willimon, "are the challenges of attempting to be Christian in the midst of affluence."

10. All That From A Little Bit Of Water?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the form of a dove descending on him, and a voice from heaven said, "You are my beloved Son; you are my Delight." (LB) This was a pivotal moment in Jesus' life and, if we understand the meaning of baptism, it should be a pivotal moment in ours. William Willimon tells about a little boy who was caught in some misdeed by his father. When the boy's father confronted him with this wrong and threatened to punish him, the lad drew himself up to his full four-foot height and said proudly, "You can't touch me, I ...

11. Elvis and the King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... gave everything away. Not everyone is called to make a sacrifice like that, but would you be willing to if Jesus asked you to? That is the question for the day. Bishop William Willimon says that he is still haunted by a long conversation he had with a man who was a member of one of his early congregations. This man told Willimon that one evening, returning from a night of poker with some of his pals, he had a stunning vision of the presence of the risen Christ. Christ appeared to him undeniably, vividly ...

12. Holy Thursday

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... shared the bread and the cup, the meal became a vivid, visible sign of God saying to them: “I am your God. You are my people.” (Cf. Jer. 31:33) And in the strength of that covenant they could face anything! Again, to quote William Willimon: “The covenant was not broken in Jesus’ death upon the cross; it was thereby ratified. Within days, his followers went forth joyfully preaching about his resurrection from the dead and how he had become ‘known to them in the breaking of the bread’ at Emmaus ...

13. Lord of All

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... exile in Babylon. There are kings who are in power, but God in his sovereignty can destabilize and dislodge them from their thrones. Before him they are helpless. The prophet pictures God as blowing upon these earthly rules, and when he does so, they are helpless. William Willimon tells the story of an acquaintance of his who visited Russia in the late '70s when the Cold War was at its peak. The man was sent as part of a delegation from the World Council of Churches to investigate and bring back a report on ...

14. Please Pass the Resurrection Biscuits

Luke 24:35-48

Sermon

King Duncan

... world that he sent his own Son to bear the burden brought about by the iniquity of us all. Can you deal with that? Can you believe that God really cares about us that much? Bishop William Willimon tells of once visiting a man with only a couple of days left to live. He asked the man whether he was fearful. To Willimon’s surprise the man replied, “Fear? No! I’m not fearful because of my faith in Jesus.” The man continued, explaining, “I look back over my life, all the mistakes I’ve made, all the ...

15. Carrying Worshipers out on Stretchers

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... early church. And I believe it can be ours if we pray more and love more and serve Christ and our community more. Then the Holy Spirit would flood this room, and who knows what might happen then. 1. “Open the Door,” by William H. Willimon, Pulpit Resource, April/May/June 1996, p. 8. 2. John C. Maxwell, Partners in Prayer (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996). 3. All-Star Bloopers from All-Star Youth Workers (Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, 2001), pp. 101-103. 4. “Sweet Harmony Chapel” told by ...

16. Face To Face With The Devil

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... ever escapes some form of temptation. Of course, some of us are tempted more than others. William Willimon tells an amusing and yet sad story about something that occurred in a Women's Thursday Morning Bible Study he was leading in his ... we ask, He will surely help us to overcome. 1. NEWSWEEK, August 30, 1993, p. 6. 2. "The Dangers of Growing," William H. Willimon, THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, July/August 1993, Vol. 24:4, p 39. 3. John Lestock, Trinity Lutheran Church, Owatonna, Minnesota. 4. Jack ...

17. The God of Second Chances

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

... s word. It is the Spirit that puts God’s law in our minds and writes it on our hearts.” And it happens to us the moment we confess of our sins, repent of those sins, and invite Christ to make a home in our hearts. Bishop William Willimon visited his mother in California and attended church with her. That Sunday the pastor was away so a guest speaker was invited to deliver the message Chuck Colson. Some of you may not be old enough to remember Colson’s involvement in the Watergate scandal and President ...

18. The Danger of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... changing you...for now and always. Amen! 1. Barbara Brown Taylor, "High-Priced Discipleship," Bread of Angels, (Cambridge, MA : Cowley Publications, 1997), pp. 46 2. ibid., p. 47 3. William Willimon, Pulpit Resource, Sept 10, 1995 4. Robert McCracken, "Commitment Unlimited," Twenty Centuries of Great Preaching, Vol. XII, Clyde Fant and William Pinson, eds., (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1971), p. 87 5. The story is also found in Craddock Stories, Mike Graves and Richard Ward, eds., (St. Louis : Chalice Press, 2001 ...

19. Finding Jesus

John 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... , "You are Simon, son of John. You are to be called Cephas." We know Simon or Cephas as Peter, leader of the early church. Peter became a disciple of Jesus thanks to the witness of his brother, Andrew. History would never again be the same. William Willimon, professor at Duke Divinity School, remembers when a friend of his visited the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Upon his return he announced that the church behind the Iron Curtain was mostly "irrelevant because the only people there are little old ladies." Dr ...

20. "yes, And..."

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

King Duncan

... ago, a small band of men and women said "Yes, and...." to Jesus' calling. But their work isn't finished. Christ is still looking for men and women who will say "Yes, and...." There is a well-known story about William Willimon, Dean of the Chapel at Duke University. Willimon once received a phone call from a very irate father. The caller told Will furiously, "I hold you personally responsible for this!" He was angry because his graduate school-bound daughter had decided to (in his words) "throw it all away ...

21. Be of One Mind

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... measure pieces of ham. The argument raged on until it was finally taken to court when each side sued the other for possession of the church property. (1) That seems unbelievable. A church divided over a piece of ham. But such things have happened before. Bishop William Willimon tells about his first parish out of seminary in a rural area in North Georgia. The first visit he made to one of the churches in the parish, he found a large chain and padlock on the front door, put there, he was told, by the local ...

22. Where Love Comes From

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the world who simply don’t know how to love. That’s because they have never really been loved themselves. Dr. William Willimon tells about a friend who spent much of his life in an orphanage. His mother took him there as a little boy. She let ... And she never, ever returned. I just can’t stand for someone I love to be late.” “He was now all grown up,” says Willimon, “on his own, functioning quite well, yes. But he still had scars.” (3) There are some people who don’t know how to love ...

23. Small Church Communion

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Steven Burt

... share together, pray together, live together, and eat and drink and give thanks together. They’re active, not passive, in their ministering as the Body of Christ. They have a sense of who they are together as the “family of God.” William Willimon and Robert Wilson don’t pull any punches in their book, Preaching and Worship in the Small Church (Nashville: Abingdon Creative Leadership Series, Lyle Schaller ed., 1980). In a section praising the latest printed Communion materials they say: Simply stated ...

24. When The Recession Reaches Your House

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... it is an untested faith. It is a tentative faith. One toe remains on the bottom! It is an enormous step for some of us to abandon our fears and trust God. Such faith may get harder for us the older we get. In an issue of THE UPPER ROOM William Willimon tells about taking his four-year-old son to the local YMCA to take swimming lessons. He had some misgivings about this. He wondered how much a four-year-old could learn about swimming. To his surprise, the boy's teacher said, "I wish we could have gotten him ...

25. When The Economy Goes South

1 Kings 17:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... it is an untested faith. It is a tentative faith. One toe remains on the bottom! It is an enormous step for some of us to abandon our fears and trust God. Such faith may get harder for us the older we get. In an issue of The Upper Room William Willimon tells about taking his four-year-old son to the local YMCA for swimming lessons. He had some misgivings about this. He wondered how much a four-year-old could learn about swimming. To his surprise, the boy's teacher said, "I wish we could have gotten him a ...

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Showing 1 to 25 of 297 results

1. A Tempting and Lonely Place

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Thomas Long

2. "Is It Community Today?"

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Alex Gondola

3. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

4. The Power of One Passion and One Prayer

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

5. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

6. More Than Meets The Eye

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

7. Fulfilled, Or Just Full?

Sermon

Alex Gondola

8. Lessons from a Fool

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

9. Christians in the Midst of Affluence

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

King Duncan

10. All That From A Little Bit Of Water?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

11. Elvis and the King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

12. Holy Thursday

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

13. Lord of All

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

14. Please Pass the Resurrection Biscuits

Luke 24:35-48

Sermon

King Duncan

15. Carrying Worshipers out on Stretchers

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

16. Face To Face With The Devil

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

17. The God of Second Chances

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

18. The Danger of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

19. Finding Jesus

John 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

20. "yes, And..."

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

King Duncan

21. Be of One Mind

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

22. Where Love Comes From

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

23. Small Church Communion

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Steven Burt

24. When The Recession Reaches Your House

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

King Duncan

25. When The Economy Goes South

1 Kings 17:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... it is an untested faith. It is a tentative faith. One toe remains on the bottom! It is an enormous step for some of us to abandon our fears and trust God. Such faith may get harder for us the older we get. In an issue of The Upper Room William Willimon tells about taking his four-year-old son to the local YMCA for swimming lessons. He had some misgivings about this. He wondered how much a four-year-old could learn about swimming. To his surprise, the boy's teacher said, "I wish we could have gotten him a ...

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