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Sermon
Richard A. Jensen
Peter was always doing it. He was always out in front of the other disciples. He was always putting his foot in his mouth. "Who do people say that I am?" Jesus asked his disciples one day. The disciples answered that some people thought he was John the Baptizer or Elijah or one of the prophets. "Enough of what other people think," Jesus said. "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" This time P...
Sermon
John Jamison
After Jesus was baptized by John, he went to spend time in the desert lands east of the Jordan River, to begin preparing for the work he was going to do. While he was there in the wilderness, he got word that John had been arrested and killed. It was then that he decided it was time to come back to Galilee and get to work. He traveled around Galilee, which is not a big place, and began preaching ...
3. Take Up Your Cross
Mark 8:31--9:1
Sermon
Harry N. Huxhold
Glenn Tinder, Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, has written a book titled, The Political Meaning of Christianity. While the author acknowledges that what he offers is an interpretation, he also believes that he represents a view that could be common to many Christians. He unabashedly confesses that he is beholden to a unique point of view. What he sees as...
Sermon
Thomas Peterson
A friend and I were having lunch. We enjoyed jumping from one topic to another, sharing, interrupting, countering. I did a double-take when my friend slipped in a surprise. “My marriage is in trouble.” The conversation changed at once. Another new topic had occurred to me, but I dropped it. The time had come for listening. Our conversation had changed from a freewheeling exchange to an intimate op...
Sermon
Donald Macleod
And Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." And he charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
The world invites us to climb ladders; the gospel invites us to lift crosses. What will it be? The Ladder or the Cross? There are two contemporary works of art that have rare symbolic power: the Vietnam Memorial and the AIDS Quilt. Both address the mystery of suffering that has no rhyme or reason; both restructure reality to enable us to deal creatively with the mystery of suffering. In the last...
7. Unacceptable
Mark 8:31-38
Sermon
David T. Ball
Going off to college can be an unsettling experience for Christian students. Somewhere, sometime, college students are going to encounter, and many for the first time, the notion that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Truth with a capital “T.” We may wish that the situation could be otherwise. Parents may especially wish, after all they’ve invested in trying to instill positive values in ...
Sermon
King Duncan
[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: A Pair of Ducks and Abundant Life New Title: Paradox Blocks It’s always int...
Sermon
King Duncan
During an edition of the ABC network television program, “Good Morning, America,” several years ago when rock star Madonna was really hot, co-host Charles Gibson interviewed a jewelry designer. This woman was marketing a new line of crosses designed by Madonna. The crosses were labeled “The Madonna Cross.” Among the things this designer said in the interview was that “Madonna has brought a new dim...
Sermon
King Duncan
A man from the U.S. was on his first trip to Australia. He summoned a taxi at the airport. He was shocked when the taxi driver asked him in a strong Australian accent, “Did you come here to die?” This was unexpected and disturbing a cabbie asking him, “Did you come here to die?” What kind of ride was he in for? The man wondered. He said, “Excuse me?” The cabbie elaborated, “Did you come here to...
Sermon
King Duncan
An ad once appeared in the personals column of a newsletter. It read like this: "Married, professional man, 47, with problems in home, seeks dalliance with a married/unmarried, intelligent woman." The ad had been written by some researchers. They were curious about who would respond to such an ad. Much to their astonishment, they were deluged by responses. For example, here's one: "I am a 34-year...
Sermon
King Duncan
Joan trembled as she put on her lipstick. She never dreamed she would be caught in this predicament. Forty years old, active in her church, with a fifteen year old daughter and a loving husband and she was considering having an affair ” with her boss, Jim. "Jim's such an attractive man," she thought to herself as she checked her lipstick in the mirror. "He's everything Bob is not. He takes care of...
Sermon
King Duncan
There is a ridiculous story about a group of animals in the jungle who decided to have a football game. The problem was that no one could tackle the rhinoceros. Once he got a head of steam, he was unstoppable. When he received the opening kickoff, he rambled for a touchdown. The score was seven to nothing immediately. Somehow, they managed to keep the ball away from him the remainder of the first ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Jesus would turn over in his grave, if he were in his grave -- which, of course, he is not. However, I want to suggest to you this morning that the ultimate formula for worldly success is found in a portion of his words in Mark 8:34, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." In a secular sense that text alone would guarantee any person's success in ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Go with me back to last summer's Olympics ” to one of its most memorable moments. "Before the bomb, before the bowed heads and the silent moments, before the Olympic flag billowing at half-mast, there was the heroic story of Kerri Strug. "Many of you watched the Olympics and were stunned when a 4-foot-8-inch, 18-year-old woman charged down a runway, vaulted through the air and landed on a leg so ...
Sermon
King Duncan
The story is told about a gung-ho drill sergeant who always demanded the best from his soldiers. One day he stared in pained disbelief at a sloppy squad of new recruits wearing their uniforms for the first time. For a moment the sergeant was speechless with rage. Then he screamed in frustration, "Just step out here and look at yourselves!" Now, I don't know how he expected them to do that ” "step...
Sermon
"For the man who wants to save his own life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (St. Mark 8:35 TEV) "We're only number two; we try harder!" I'm sure you've all seen the magazine ad of the car rental agency that uses this slogan. In a way the slogan strongly reflects some of our national thinking. One of the key doctrines of our American enterprise...
18. Molehills and Mountains
Matthew 6:25-34, Mark 8:31--9:1
Sermon
Louis H. Valbracht
The story is told of George Bernard Shaw that he was once seated beside a Duchess at a dinner party. In the course of their conversation, he asked: "Tell me, Duchess, would you live with a man for a million pounds?" "Well," replied the Duchess, "I suppose I would" Then Shaw asked her: "Would you live with a man for five pounds?" The Duchess was insuited: "What do you think I am?" "We’ve already es...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
My favorite definition of the cross was given by the daughter of Dr. Joseph Cotton a number of years ago. When walking into the church for the first time, and seeing the cross on the altar, this little girl said, “Daddy, what’s that plus sign doing up there?” Have you ever thought of it that way? The cross as a plus sign. Keep that image in mind as we move through the sermon this morning. I am t...
Sermon
Robert Salzgeber
When self-preservation is our central aim, we are never safe. However, when we are committed to surrender to the disturbances that Godly compassion produces we are never in danger.So Jesus said, "For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." We can be dumped into the most precarious situations but if God is with us we are ...
21. Cross-Bearing
Mark 8:31-38
Sermon
David E. Leininger
While vacationing in Mexico sometime back, my wife and I attended worship in a church that is served by one of our Mexican minister friends. Following the service, we and too many others piled into a small vehicle to go to our friend's home for some refreshments. In the front passenger seat sat one very slender fellow and on his lap sat his not-so-slender wife. With a grin he turned back to us in ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
Have you ever said something really dumb? Or said something that came out all wrong? I know I've said a lot of dumb things or just plain wrong things like the time I was preaching about the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. I clearly had Isaac written in my notes but I called him Isaiah throughout the entire sermon. But there was one Sunday morning when the opening words to my prayer made everybody l...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
This morning we're inundated with all kinds of crosses. Big crosses, little crosses, old crosses, new crosses. Obviously, the message for today has something to do with the cross. But then doesn't every message we hear? And isn't the cross central to our everyday life? Look at the cross. The Cross it is such a contradiction. It is both a thing of beauty and at the same time, the ugliest instrumen...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
We have all felt the sting and bite of unjust treatment and criticism. Sometimes it feels like no matter what we do, we can't win. So why try? What's the use! The people who are criticizing you aren't out there on the road, spending their time and money in trying to do the right thing. They're just sitting around, holding meetings, and backbeating one another. How can the Christian play fair amid ...
Sermon
King Duncan
A single lady was asked for her favorite verse of scripture. She said it was Matthew 16:24, “If any man will come after me, let him....” She was referring, of course, to the verse in Matthew’s Gospel that reads like this in the King James Version: “Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Mark records this same teac...
Showing 1 to 25 of 100 results