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Sermon
J. Will Ormond
There are only two characters in this short parable which Jesus told to his disciples. One is a man; the other, a woman. But what an odd pair they are. It is difficult to imagine a more striking contrast between two people than that between the judge and the widow. Neither is named, but their very titles suggest the contrast. "Judge" calls to mind authority, power, representative of the law, dis...
Sermon
Larry R. Kalajainen
Two qualities which we Americans value highly and in which we take pride are speed and efficiency. Think of how many products or services which all of us use that are built principally around one or both of these qualities. Hundreds of thousands of microwave ovens have been sold, not because they make food taste better, but because it's possible to cook much faster in them. Since so many people le...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Anyone here this morning trying to housebreak a new puppy? If you've ever tried to housebreak a new puppy, you know that the key to success is consistency. You must always take the puppy out the moment it wakes. You must never let it whine and look like it needs to go without whisking the little creature outside. And if you let the puppy get away with any indoor accidents, you can bet that it will...
Sermon
R. Robert Cueni
The newspaper cartoon is a favorite. It concerns the daily adventures of a family with attentive parents and small children. The scene shows the little boy and his mother walking out the front door of the church at the close of the Sunday morning service. There is snow on the church's front lawn. The child revels in wonder. He says, “Yes! My prayin’ worked.” The reader is left to imagine the prev...
5. Lean on Me
Luke 18:1-8
Sermon
John Wayne Clarke
One of the tangible benefits of reading the Bible is that we discover that God calls people to service in areas they may not have thought possible. People often discover that with God's help they are able to reach deep within themselves and find strength they did not know existed. Back in the '60s, Bill Withers sang, "Lean on me when you're not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry...
Sermon
Molly F. James
I don’t usually give titles to my sermons but today’s is “Keeping the Faith.” Our Collect, our lessons — particularly the gospel and the epistle — are about being faithful, about being steadfast in our faith. In the gospel, “Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and to not lose heart.” Jesus went on to tell the parable of the unjust judge and the widow who was faithful...
Sermon
King Duncan
Jess Moody, pastor of the First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, needed a secluded place to study one night. He decided on the sound booth of the church. He was engrossed in his studies when suddenly he heard two boys talking loudly, laughing, cursing in the sanctuary. “Why don’t you go up into the pulpit where that blankety blankety preacher gives his sermon,” one of them said loudly, ...
Sermon
King Duncan
If you ever read stories or watch movies about spies and espionage, then you know that spies live in constant tension of being found out. Because spies are hiding their true identity and purpose, even the tiniest false move could blow their cover and put them in danger. That kind of premise guarantees that a spy story or movie will be filled with tension and excitement. One of the most famous tru...
Sermon
King Duncan
On August 3, 1970, sixty‑two‑year‑old Miriam Hargrave of Yorkshire, England, finally passed her driving test. It was her fortieth attempt. After so much struggle and perseverance, one would assume she started driving right away. But unfortunately, after spending so much money on driving lessons $720 she couldn’t afford to buy a car. (1) Maybe it’s just as well. How comfortable would you be knowin...
Sermon
King Duncan
For many years men dominated the world of humor. But today, as in most fields, women are making their mark. Here are some oneliners from various famous women. The first one is from singer Dolly Parton. "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes," says Dolly, "because I know I'm not dumb . . . and I also know that I'm not blonde." Here's one from Erma Bombeck.: "Never lend your car to anyone ...
Sermon
In his ministry of teaching, Jesus was a master at the art of storytelling. Many of his stories, known as parables, have been our favorites through the years since first we heard them. They can be repeated many times, and we will never tire of them - the story of the Good Samaritan, the prodigal, the two men praying in the temple, the sower in the field. And the lessons that the Master taught in p...
Sermon
And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man, and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.' For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because ...
Sermon
I’ve heard marvelous stories of people who’ve prayed and found their prayers answered. I’ve heard testimonies like that from some of you. I’ve heard reports from hospital chaplains. One that sticks in my mind is of a young man hopelessly sick. The physicians didn’t think surgery would help but they didn’t know what else to do. So they tried it. The young man was up and around and out of the hospit...
Sermon
King Duncan
Two women met unexpectedly one day in the parking lot of a local bookstore. One had a great bundle of books in her arms. "What in the world are you doing," her friend asked, "opening your own bookstore?" "No," said the woman, "these are all books about prayer. All my life I have been hearing about the importance of prayer, so I finally decided to learn how to pray. I have bought fourteen books on ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Some of you will remember when Clyde Beatty was the most famous lion tamer in the world. While Beatty was performing with THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH he also operated a small circus that played during the off-season. This circus was stationed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and because of the very favorable climate from December through March, performed in the open air, without a big top. One day ther...
Sermon
King Duncan
I believe you will agree with me that this is one election season that all of us will be happy to see come to an end. One of the candidates for president . . . I won’t say which one . . . was campaigning in West Virginia recently. Some of the coal miners were not real happy about it when the candidate asked for their vote. “Vote for you?” one of them jeered. “Why, I’d sooner vote for the Devil!” ...
Sermon
King Duncan
According to Victor Borge, the composer Bizet was the original hard-luck man. He stayed up nights to finish an opera by the deadline, only to find out afterwards that the production had been postponed for a year. He wrote a symphony and misplaced the manuscript before anybody could play it. He entered a composing contest with only one other entrant, and ended up with second prize. Once he went to ...
18. The Power of Persistence
Luke 11:1-13, Luke 18:1-8
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
A hesitant driver, waiting for a traffic jam to clear, came to a stop on the expressway ramp. The traffic thinned, but the timid driver still waited. Finally, an infuriated voice came from behind shouting: “The sign says Yield, not give up.” The primary actors in today’s parables neither yielded nor gave up. In fact, that really is the lesson of these parables: The Power of Persistence. Jesus to...
Sermon
Scott Bryte
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, ...
Sermon
Frank Lyman
Two twelve-year-old boys, Bob and Mike, broke a window while playing baseball. They looked around to see if anyone had seen them. No one was in sight, except for Mike's little brother. They went over and offered him a piece of candy not to tell. He refused it. "I'll give you my baseball," Mike said. "No," said his little brother. "Then what about my new glove?" Bob added. "No!" said the little bro...
Sermon
James Merritt
I don't have to tell you that families are falling apart, and that is born out by the following statistics: There has been a 200% growth in single parent households since 1970 - from four million to eight million homes. The number of married moms leaving home for work each morning rose 65% from 10.2 million in 1970, to 16.8 million in 1990. Married couples with children now make up only 26% of US...
Sermon
Stephen M. Crotts
No doubt you have heard about the postal service's "Dead Letter Department." That's the place where mail goes when it is not clearly addressed or has insufficient postage and the sender's identity cannot be determined. There the letter is opened and its contents examined for clues to the sender's identity. If the return address cannot be determined the letter is destroyed. It never reaches its des...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
We all do it. The door of heaven’s House of Bread, the ultimate pastry palace, is standing open. But we keep trying to break in the back door of the local bakery. A parable by a well-known rabbi tells the story of a moth and a fly. One day a moth and a fly were together near a window. The moth sat comfortably on the side peering out, watching as the fly relentlessly flew up and around and straigh...
Sermon
Theodore F. Schneider
Every pastor has been touched and troubled when there have been those in the congregation who suddenly have faced unemployment. Like an ambush from two sides, unemployment attacks us with the fear of financial insecurity on the one side and the loss of self-esteem on the other. Job searching can deepen both. In just such a moment I encountered Brian. He is a competent and creative person whose ski...
Sermon
Theodore F. Schneider
In Paul’s great letter to the Corinthians he addresses many issues: conflicts, divisions and hardships abound on every side. The crowning achievement of that letter is the 13th chapter. The chapter on love. At the end of that chapter Paul says that of all the qualities of our faith there are three most important: Faith, hope and love. I would like to spend our time this morning on hope. In diffic...
Showing 1 to 25 of 30 results