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Sermon
Larry Powell
It is somewhere written down that many years ago a rider on horseback approached a group of soldiers attempting unsuccessfully to move a heavy piece of timber. A corporal was observed standing nearby, hands on hips, barking the order, "Heave. Heave." Despite repeated efforts, the soldiers were unable to accomplish the task. Apparently of the mind that the situation hinged upon his determined comma...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
How many of you here this morning came from “the wrong side of the tracks?” [Draw out some stories about being from “the wrong side”] Did the “wrong side of town” have a name? [I was born on a street known as “Hungry Hill”] Guess what? Every one of us here has come from the “wrong side of the tracks” at one time or other. Whether you grew up on a swanky estate, a ritzy mansion, a standard suburba...
Sermon
Susan R. Andrews
I want to tell you three stories about three men who wrestled with the authority of Jesus. And none of them met Jesus until they had first achieved phenomenal success in the secular world. Story One Sam showed up in worship after he married Cheryl, a lifelong member of the congregation. He had been raised as a secular Jew, and when I met him he was a curious agnostic — eager to argue and debate ...
Sermon
All through the last half of the movie Reds the viewers were prepared for Jack Reed’s death. After he had lost a kidney when he was a young man, his physician had warned that an infection could be fatal to a person with one kidney; there were no "wonder drugs" in the World War I period. Toward the end of the movie, when Jack was hospitalized with a high fever in Petrograd, Russia, it was rather ob...
Sermon
David R. Cartwright
Those of us ministers actively engaged in congregational worship don't get many opportunities to visit other churches and to worship in different settings. We're pretty much committed to being in our own congregations for the better part of the year. Four or six Sundays at most is about all we have to experience how others go about it. Actually, this pattern begins for most of us even before we'r...
Sermon
James Merritt
It was known as the Roaring Twenties. It was a time very much like to the Soaring Nineties. Morals were being turned upside down. The Stock Market was rocketing to new heights. "Let the good times roll" was the national motto. Perhaps the biggest name of the decade was a man named Babe Ruth. He had single-handedly put baseball on the map and made it the national pastime. The major league owners r...
Sermon
King Duncan
Sometimes even in the secular world we encounter cases of extraordinary faith. PEOPLE magazine recently reported about such a case involving professional acrobat Henri Rechatin. When Henri was a younger man, he used to do a high-wire act across Niagara Falls. During one of his performances, he requested a volunteer from the crowd to ride piggyback across the falls with him. A young lady named Jan...
Sermon
King Duncan
It's not easy being a parent. Someone has said, "You don't really know a person until you have observed his behavior with a child, a flat tire, when the boss is away, and when he thinks no one will ever know." A home without problems of one kind or another is a fantasy. Someone has said that undoubtedly, the first man who ever tore a telephone book in two had a teenage daughter. (1) It's not easy...
Sermon
Cynthia Cowen
As the three cousins ran through the woods, jumping over fallen trees, zigzagging through knee-high ferns, and pushing branches out of their way, a chorus of laughter rose in the still air. "Don't be so pokey, Michael," teased his older cousin. "Watch out for that rock on the left," Sam warned the boys. A yelp went up as Jeremy stumbled. "Come on, come on. We're almost there," Sam hollered. "I ca...
Sermon
Arley K. Fadness
Twice in Jesus' ministry, Jesus is flabbergasted. Once, in Mark 6:6, after Jesus is rejected in Nazareth, his own hometown, he is dumbfounded — stunned — at their unbelief! To­day in Luke 7, Jesus is astonished again, this time by just the oppo­site — he is flabbergasted at a Roman centurion's amazing faith. Jesus turns to the crowd following him and says, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I f...
Sermon
King Duncan
There is a ridiculous story going around about a country church one Sunday morning, where the preacher gave an invitation to the altar. “Anyone who has a special need that you would like prayed over,” he said, “please come to the front.” With that, a young man named Leroy got in line. When it was his turn, the preacher asked, “Leroy, what do you want me to pray about for you?” Leroy replied, “Pr...
Sermon
King Duncan
H. L. Mencken was for a long time the editor of the American Mercury magazine. One day he startled his employees by suddenly shouting, “It’s coming in the doors!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at their boss. “It’s up to the bottom of the desk!” Mencken continued, “It’s up to the seats of our chairs.” “What are you talking about?” asked one of his confused colleagues. “It’s al...
Sermon
Let us pray: Gracious and eternal God, today we come to you seeking to deepen our understanding of the ways in which you are present and working in our lives to heal us of our afflictions. May we in these moments receive the gift of wisdom. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. You may be familiar with the life story of Thomas Dooley, the Christian military doctor who devoted his life to serving sick and...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
Somewhere along the way I saw a cartoon which showed a man kneeling beside his bed saying his prayers. "God," he says, "is there any way you can help me and make it look like I did it myself?" We chuckle at that. Maybe the reason we don't laugh out loud is that it strikes close home. We are always playing tug of war with ourselves, our identity and worthiness. Assessing who we are and what is imp...
Sermon
Alexander H. Wales
When I spoke with the Rabbi about this itinerant preacher, Jesus, I knew right away that he was the one I would have to go to if Gaius was going to survive. Gaius has been with me since the campaigns against the barbarians in the north. He's probably the closest servant and friend I've ever had in all my years of military service. Knowing how sick he was, knowing that our doctors had done all they...
Sermon
Maurice A. Fetty
One of the continuing delights of life is the joy of the unexpected. Highly scheduled as we are, and rigorously regimented, occasionally we are extraordinarily pleased with interruption and variation. When out-of-town friends turn up unannounced, rather than having scheduled themselves weeks in advance, we experience a certain excitement. How pleasant to have a business deal grow into undreamed pr...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.” Props: Centurion helmet or any military helmet and stick Hope pulls you forward. Faith pushes you forward. Love keeps you moving forward. A story recently made the news whereby a visitor from Israel to the US had a serious heart condition, and needed a heart transplant immediately or he would die. He was older than the recommended age for surger...
Showing 1 to 17 of 17 results