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Sermon
Gregory J. Johanson
JARED RARDIN is a local pastor with an extensive background in pastoral care and counseling. He serves on the staff of the well-known First United Methodist Church of Germantown, Pennsylvania, ministering to that particularly talented and dynamic congregation with duties in both care and counseling as well as social concerns and community involvement. The particular sermon in this volume was preac...
Sermon
David R. Cartwright
If there was anything Jesus despised, it was stinginess, especially the holding back of oneself. If there was anything he admired, it was extravagance, especially the extravagance of love. There are really only two ways to live. You can live as if this is the last drop, and there won't be anymore; or you can live as if there is more where this came from. We can live out of scarcity, or we can liv...
Sermon
Maurice A. Fetty
Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little. — Luke 7:47 It is a dramatic scene out of America's mythical past — a Western scene of cowboys, saloons, and gunslingers; a scene of wide-open spaces conquered by fierce individualists, liquor, and true grit. It is a scene, however, a little different from the cowboy hero...
Sermon
Larry Powell
Senator William Proximire (D-Wisconsin) regularly delights the general public by awarding his now-famous "Golden Fleece Award" to some government committee or agency which, because of some redundant high-dollar project, has achieved recognition for excelling in flagrant, wasteful, unnecessary spending. Senator Proximire gets our attention because he illuminates a subject of interest to us all: how...
Sermon
John R. Brokhoff
Are you one of those who thinks that a true Christian is always happy? A drummer in a Salvation Army band hit his bass drum with all his might - BOOM, BOOM! The band leader suggested that it might be better if he did not hit the drum so hard. "Bless ya, sir!" explained the drummer. "Ever since I was converted, I am so happy that I could just bust this bloomin' drum!" The truth is that a Christian...
6. The Footwashing
Luke 7:36-50
Sermon
It was an audacious act on her part, wasn’t it? Imagine an uninvited guest crashing a dinner party, throwing herself at the feet of the guest of honor, and washing his feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, and anointing them with precious ointment. Not only that, she was a woman with a reputation; everybody knew that she was a "sinner." But that knowledge didn’t stop her from entering Si...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
There was a certain young woman who was nervous about meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time. As she checked out her appearance one last time, she noticed that her shoes looked dingy. So she gave them a fast swipe with the paper towel she had used to blot the bacon she had for breakfast. Arriving at the impressive home of her potential in-laws, she was greeted by the parents and their...
8. Liberated Women
Luke 7:36-50
Sermon
King Duncan
Barbara Walters, of Television’s 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the current Afghan war. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Ms. Walters’ vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women n...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
It's a wonderful story. At least, it is to me. Others might not like it so well. It is certainly astonishing. Put it in the context of a dinner party at your own home or even a supper in the church's fellowship hall. By this time in Jesus' ministry, he had garnered quite a bit of public notice. All sorts of people had been attracted to him — rich, poor, educated, illiterate, from the highly respe...
Sermon
King Duncan
Years ago a religious talk show hostess was interviewing a new believer. The new believer had come from the wrong side of the tracks--economically, socially, morally, and spiritually. As he gave his testimony, this man, who had seen it all and done it all continually thanked God for the change God had made in his life. “I can’t express,” he said, “the gratitude I feel that God has changed my life....
Sermon
Maurice A. Fetty
Religious leaders have had varying attitudes regarding dinner parties. Take John the Baptist, for instance. It is unlikely you would ever have gotten him inside a fine house around a beautiful table of exquisite crystal and china and gourmet food. That rustic, ascetic outdoorsman probably would have thought it a waste of time and money, an unnecessary frill to the essentials of life. Many men tod...
12. Two Sinners
Luke 7:36-50
Sermon
King Duncan
To learn how Americans feel about prayer, Life magazine once interviewed dozens of people. One person they talked to was a prostitute, age twenty-four, in White Pine County, Nevada. “I don’t think about my feelings a lot,” she said. “Instead I lie in my bed and think [about God]. I meditate because some­times my words don’t come out right. But he can find me. He can find what’s inside of me just ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Those of us who live in the United States have no experience with royalty or with “kingdoms” ruled by kings or queens. We have no royal family, so we have to invent our royalty. We had the “King of Rock’n’Roll,” Elvis Presley. We had the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson. We had a “King of Soul,” James Brown. We have a Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. We have a “King of all Media,” Howard Stern. We h...
14. Simply Simon
Luke 7:36-50
Sermon
Alexander H. Wales
I just don't understand the man! I invited him into my home and what do I get? INSULTS! He was a guest in my house. I don't think he understands who he's dealing with! Some people just can't be satisfied with what they've received. Let me explain ... "You see, a few weeks back, I heard that Jesus of Nazareth was going to be in our area. You know, he's that roving preacher who's so popular with th...
Sermon
Arley K. Fadness
It's a wonderful story. At least, it is to me. Others might not like it so well. It is certainly astonishing. Put it in the context of a dinner party at your own home or even a supper in the church's fellowship hall. By this time in Jesus' ministry, he had garnered quite a bit of public notice. All sorts of people had been attracted to him — rich, poor, educated, illiterate, from the highly respe...
Sermon
King Duncan
William Miller, in THE JOY OF FEELING GOOD, relates the story of a woman who went to a psychiatrist because she was severely depressed. As her therapist began to probe her emotions, he discovered she had never worked through the death of her husband many years before. Her husband had died one week after President Kennedy was assassinated. This woman watched with admiration how well Mrs. Kennedy ha...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
Wonderful story. At least, it is to me. Others might not like it so well. It is certainly astonishing. Put it in the context of a dinner party at your own home or even a supper downstairs in Fellowship Hall. By this time in Jesus' ministry, he had garnered quite a bit of public notice. All sorts of people had been attracted to him - rich, poor, educated, illiterate, from the highly respectable to...
Sermon
Brett Blair
At the University of Notre Dame in 1981 a rather prophetic lecture was given that predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union. The lecturer called Communism “a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written." A year later the same speaker told the British House of Commons that the march of freedom and democracy "will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of histo...
Sermon
Harold Warlick
I speak to you tonight about forgiveness. We all need to forgive more. People who do not learn how to forgive do not enjoy life. The world hands us many irritating people. Some of them frustrate us to no end. If we embrace resentment instead of forgiveness, our relationships and our careers don't get very far. If you want to be a success in the world - major in forgiveness. A newspaper carried th...
Sermon
King Duncan
There is an ancient verse by an unknown poet that goes something like this: I eat peas with honey, Been doin' it all my life; It tastes kind of funny, But it keeps the peas on my knife. Most of us have never known anyone who eats peas with a knife. It sounds like quite a feat. I suspect I would scatter those little green varmints all around the dining room if I tried it. And yet I understand tha...
Sermon
King Duncan
A certain young woman was nervous about meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time. As she checked out her appearance one last time, she noticed that her shoes looked dingy. So she gave them a fast swipe with the paper towel she had used to blot the bacon she had for breakfast. Arriving at the impressive home, she was greeted by the parents and their much-beloved, but rotten-tempered, poo...
Sermon
James W. Moore
A man was driving home from work one day when he saw a group of young children selling lemonade on a corner near his home. The kids had posted the typical Magic Marker sign over their lemonade stand: “Lemonade – 10 cents” The man was impressed with the enterprising young children, so he pulled over to the curb to buy a cup of lemonade… and to give his support to the children’s financial effort. ...
23. Hands On
Luke 7:36-50
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Our five-year-old Soren was looking at an over-sized art book. It has lots of glossy full-page reproductions of artwork that made it a fascinating "read" for a five-year old. But on a two-page layout in a series of Renaissance paintings depicting Jesus' life, Soren found a mystifying addition. "Daddy," she asked, "why does Jesus always have a plate on his head?" Her stubby purple-painted fingern...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
A friend tells about how when he was a small boy his father’s birthday rolled around, and he did not realize it until it was too late to get his father a birthday present. So, he went through all his resources and came up with 17 cents. He put the dime, the nickel, and the two pennies in an envelope and gave it to his father with a note: “I love you, Dad. Happy Birthday. Thanks for being the best ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Alexander Pope said “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Lewis Smedes says, “God invented forgiveness as a remedy for a past that not even he could change nor forget.” Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven. Those who are forgiven much, love much.” Come, let us take a closer look. Jesus is invited to join Simon the Pharisee for dinner. Why Simon invited Jesus is anybody’s guess. Maybe Simon sinc...
Showing 1 to 25 of 32 results