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Sermon
Thomas Slavens
In the Christian year are kept the major events surrounding the life of the Christ. For the four weeks preceding Christmas, Advent is kept to celebrate that the Word of God has become flesh. In the spring, Palm Sunday is kept to celebrate the entry of the Christ into Jerusalem. On the Thursday before Easter, Maundy Thursday is kept to celebrate the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. The foll...
Sermon
James Garrett
A wife gave her husband two ties for Christmas. He, being an obedient and peace-loving man, went immediately and put on one of the ties. He returned to the kitchen where his wife was preparing breakfast. Seeing he had one of the ties on she asked: “What’s the matter, don’t you like the other tie?” Through the Advent season we read Luke’s story of the coming of the Lord and of his birth. These week...
3. Let It Shine!
John 1:1-18
Sermon
Carlyle Fielding Stewart
The Gospel of John makes one of the most powerful observations in all scripture: "In the beginning was The Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life and that life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehen...
Sermon
Leonard Mann
The story of the birth of Jesus has been variously told. Luke has told it in relation to the appearance of angels and the visit of shepherds. Matthew has told it in the context of a brightly shining star and the coming of wise men from the East. Others may very well have associated the story with other signal happenings mentioned by neither of these; for any event of importance is attended by a va...
Sermon
Daniel G. Mueller
Three little boys were playing together one day. In the course of their play they began to speak about their fathers. Actually, they began to brag about their fathers, each trying to make his father bigger and better than any other father in the whole world. They bragged about a number of things until they came, finally, to brag about the most important thing of all (in their eyes): how much money...
Sermon
Daniel G. Mueller
It’s amazingly easy to make people feel guilty and afraid. Say to a child, "Dad wants to talk to you about something!" and immediately a worried look will come across the child’s face as he begins to comb through his memory for something he may have done wrong. The same thing happens when a student is told, "You have to go to the principal’s office." When an adult hears, "The boss wants you in his...
Sermon
John R. Brokhoff
After only a week of married life, a young husband had to leave his bride to fight in the war. Though they were a half- world apart in distance, they frequently exchanged letters and occasionally he would send her a gift to remind her of his love. Then one night there was a sudden and unexpected knock on her door. Cautiously she opened it and to her amazement there stood her soldier-husband. On hi...
Sermon
Clark D. Cowden
Once upon a time, there was a man named Jerry. Jerry was a builder. He had started off as a carpenter, and learned to build homes and construct small office buildings. He lived in a small, but growing town on the edge of a big city, so there was always a lot of work to be done. He gained a reputation as the best in his field; he was honest, hard-working, didn't rip people off, and did a high quali...
Sermon
King Duncan
I am convinced that this can be the best year of your life if you will simply accept one principle: WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU HAVE OR WHO YOU ARE. Can you accept that? The most important matter in your life is not what is happening to you, but what is happening in you. The story is told about a man on a train crew who was accidently locked in a refrigerator box car. The res...
Sermon
Paul E. Flesner
On January 1, 2001, our world marked the beginning of a new millennium in human history. In a way, it was no different than the beginning of any day. The universe continued to exist in the same way it was the day before. The sun still rose at its appointed time as night turned into day. The weather still reflected the conditions in the atmosphere above where we live. What was different about that...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
A Burden and An Ache is the title of a beautiful, heart-stirring book written by Clarence McConkey. It’s a series of word portraits of persons in the inner city, living around the church McConkey served as pastor, persons whose lives are down-beaten and ravaged even as the buildings around them.  People who are as torn apart as the shattered economic and social structures that have sustained them....
Sermon
Richard Gribble
He came softly, unobserved and yet, strange to say, everyone knew him. The time was the fifteenth century; the place was Seville in Spain. He came to announce peace and to proclaim the good news. He came to teach and to cure; he came to bring the light. As he walked by the cathedral, a funeral procession for a little seven-year-old girl was just beginning to form. He heard the sobs and pleas of th...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
We’re beginning today a series of sermons on the Gospel of John. Earl Palmer rightly calls this gospel, the intimate gospel. Because that’s what it is. It’s the personal story of John of the personal Christ. We’re going to be doing during the next few weeks, maybe more than a few weeks, we’re going to be doing what I call ‘preaching through this gospel.’ Now this will not be a verse-by-verse or a ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
Here we are. Christmas Eve, Eve. In the past month we've spent who knows how many hours shopping for just the right gift for friends, family, our Tree of Angels children. I'll bet all the crowds of shoppers are starting to make you a little nuts. As you wade through the crowds to get that one last item, does your mouth go a little dry? As you stand in the express line with your four items whi...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
What is the central fact of Christianity - the very heart of this faith which we celebrate today? What is the wonder of wonders in this all-wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ? What would you venture to suggest as the heart and soul of this faith that has changed the course of human history, the face of civilization, and the personal lives of innumerable souls? Think! Is it “the fatherhood of God” wh...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
What’s in a name? Well, in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare thought that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But in San Quentin Live, Johnny Cash sang a ballad that showed how one guy’s life was completely skewed because he was a “Boy Named Sue.” Sometimes names really do matter. “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.” “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” In the Western Church we call ...
17. A Voice Crying In The Wilderness
John 1:1-18, John 1:19-28
Sermon
John A. Stroman
The people wondered who John the Baptist was. He appeared as a rather strange person who came from the wilderness, preaching repentance, dressed in camel's hair, surviving on a diet of locust and wild honey. John the Baptist was the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ. Yet his message of good news seemed as strange as his attire. It was good news involving repentance, and repentance inv...
18. The Stranger in the Manger
John 1:1-18, John 1:19-28
Sermon
Johnny Dean
What do you do at your house to get ready for Christmas? Over the years I've noticed that family customs vary from household to household. Some like to decorate the house inside and out, while some only put up a few modest decorations in the living room. Some like to put the Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving, while others wait until Christmas Eve and make the decorating of the tree the ...
Sermon
Mark Radecke
This season, the boundaries of darkness are pushed back. A light shines in the darkness and the darkness is powerless to extinguish it. Darkness has always been a potent metaphor for those things in life that oppress and enthrall us, frighten and intimidate us, cause us worry and anxiety and leech the joy from our lives. We know darkness in our physical lives when illness is close at hand, when w...
Sermon
James L. Killen
God is trying to tell you something. God must be. Why else would John call Jesus the Word? That is what you use words for, isn't it? Actually, John borrowed some of the most sophisticated concepts from the Greek and Hebrew philosophy of his day to write an introduction to his telling of the story of the life and work of Jesus. He used those concepts to relate that story to the eternal reality of G...
Sermon
Charley Reeb
(after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting) I was finishing up my sermon on a Friday when my phone buzzed with the horrific news of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. As I watched the news unfold, I knew the message I had prepared would not be adequate. I knew a different message would need to be preached. I believe you will understand why I will be going in a different direction today. ...
22. Less Is More
John 1:(1-9) 10-18
Sermon
Charley Reeb
I want to share with you a simple biblical message about how to find contentment. So often our lives get out of control because we fall under the spell of a terrible myth. The myth is that more is better — the more we have, achieve, attain, or buy the happier we will be. This myth is no more powerful than during the Christmas season which has just come and gone. We saw all the ads promising utopia...
Sermon
Paul E. Flesner
Many people don't realize the extent of the preparations involved when the President of the United States makes a visit to a local community. A raft of Secret Service personnel check out every building along the route he will travel and near the place he will be appearing. They go over each building with a fine tooth comb from roof to basement in their efforts to prepare for his safety. We often r...
Sermon
King Duncan
It was a Christmas pageant presented by a class of four-year-olds and it was an evening to remember.  It began with the three virgin Marys marching out onto the stage. As they stood there, they, of course, were waving to their parents. It’s not every Christmas pageant that has three virgin Marys, but over the years the school had acquired three Mary costumes, and so, quite naturally the script was...
Sermon
King Duncan
Nancy Hill, in her book, Actual Factuals, tells an interesting story about a man who profited greatly because of a Christmas card. Clinton Odell heard of a chemist who had become ill and moved to Arizona for his health. The year was 1924. It was Christmastime, so Clinton sent the chemist $25 and an encouraging note. A year later, the chemist, Carl Noren, appeared at the Odell house saying, "I'm he...
Showing 1 to 25 of 180 results