Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 31 results

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Robert Allen

The 1988 Winter Olympics were marked by controversy for the U.S. team. The controversy centered around the fact that we had not won as many medals as expected. In fact, the last time we had done so poorly was in 1936. We won a few medals, and those winners have become household names. Debi Thomas went head to head with the East German, Katerina Witt, and came away with only a bronze medal, Bonnie ...

2. A Lovehope Faith

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A nuclear explosion is the result of a high-speed collision between atomic particles. The resulting blast can erase the landscape. But these technologically orchestrated smash-ups are a pale imitation of what happens when God brings together the most powerful entities that exist and allows them to explode within our lives. This sermon arranges and argues for a collision between your people and the...

3. The Greatest Of These

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

In the midwest the summer of 1993 was the summer of the "great flood." The rains, it seemed, would never cease. Rivers all across the central section of our land broke from their banks, broke through retaining walls and laid waste to ten thousands of acres of farmland and many cities besides. It was a summer of horror for great numbers of our citizenry. Many of them lost just about everything they...

4. From Lust to Love

1 Corinthians 13: 1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

How can a person express their love of basketball, chocolate, their children, God, and their spouse with a single four-letter word - love? That's what I would like us to consider today. In the early part of the 20th century a Jewish philosopher by the name of Martin Buber tried to distinguish between human connections that are mainly "I-It" relationships and those interactions which are primarily...

5. Love - The Basic Christian Call

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

During the 56 years of his life, Adolf Hitler did incredible harm and was responsible for the death of millions of people. Yet in all of the horror that he unleashed, there were pinpoints of light and nobility. One German soldier, Private Joseph Schultz, was one of those pinpoints. Schultz was sent to Yugoslavia shortly after the Germans invaded that country. He was a loyal, young, German soldier...

6. Outgrowing the Truth Fairy

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When we were children, the Scriptures tell us, we thought, spoke, and felt as a child. But when we grow up in our faith, we must "put an end to childish ways." What are the childish ways of thinking, feeling and speaking that we must put away today? This is a chance for you as preacher to be a "scop." Pronounced "shop," scop is the medieval term for the spy-poet, the person who crosses boundaries...

7. Faith, Hope, and Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul gives us his amazing analysis of love. He suggests that it is a progression. It is preceded by faith and hope. Without these two essential ingredients, you cannot have the zenith expression of love. There is no place that we cannot go and escape the love of God. No matter how deep our shortcomings, frustrating our defeats, or difficult our failures, love is capable of ca...

8. Extreme Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson today is on love. Now, obviously we’re not talking about romantic love, though sometime we might talk about romantic love. After all, it’s an important part of our lives. I read something funny recently. It was an announcement that was made in the chapel of a very conservative church college some years back. It went something like this: “On this campus there is to be absolutely no physi...

9. True Excellence

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

One day at a particularly quiet moment in the normally noisy newsroom where he worked, young H. L. Mencken shouted at the top of his lungs, "It's coming in the doors!" Needless to say, everyone stopped and looked in his direction. "It's up to the bottom of the desks!" said Mencken as he rose to his feet. "It's up to the seats of our chairs!" he shouted as he jumped onto his chair. "What are you ...

10. Growing Up

1 Corinthians 13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

It seems my little jaunt into English grammar, and especially the proper placement of prepositions, produced more response than almost anything I have written in Steeple Notes. I suppose that, in itself, is amazing. Several of you sent me Winston Churchill's famous quotation: "This is a situation with which I will not put up." But the best one came from a couple of my Wednesday morning Arbon Denn...

11. For Better, For Worse

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I have probably performed over 500 weddings in my pastoral career. On each occasion, bride and groom have repeated certain very important promises, word for word. I recall one very nervous groom who said, “With this wing I thee wed.” Afterward I was never able to really regain control of that service. The heart of the marital commitment is expressed in this promise: “I take you to be my wedded sp...

12. Love: The Happiness of a Godly Family

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Sermon

James Merritt

Thomas Jefferson could truly say, "Been there, done that, now what?" He was Ambassador to France, the first Secretary of State, a Vice President, the President of the United States, founder of a major university, author of the greatest political document in history, a multi-faceted inventor, architect, author, farmer, and scholar. He was perhaps the most brilliant man ever to occupy the White Hous...

13. If I Have Not Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There was a time when Indians communicated by drums and smoke signals. There may be places in the world where that sort of thing still goes on. Years ago when the atomic bomb was being tested out on the desert flats of Nevada, a cartoon pictured two Indians. They were looking across the barren wastes – the spacious flats – when on the horizon the mushroom smoke cloud of an atomic explosion rose dr...

14. Pursue the Life That Really Is Life

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 1 Timothy 6:6-19

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Somebody once said that people will accept what you have to say much more readily if you tell them Benjamin Franklin said it first. (1) With that in mind Benjamin Franklin was famous for his wit and he thoroughly enjoyed trimming hecklers down to size. During the early days of the American Republic, he spoke many times on that great document, the Constitution of the United States. After one such s...

15. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

There are two topics a pastor can talk about that are guaranteed to generate emails, letters, phone calls, discussion, and debate. Those topics are money and marriage. I knew that this series we are doing on marriage would generate a lot of interest, reveal a lot of anguish, and strike a lot of nerves. There is an old joke about marriage that goes like this: “Marriage is like a deck of cards. In ...

16. The Fundamentals of Family Ties

1 Corinthians 13:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

At the tender age of 18, I preached my first sermon on marriage and family. It was entitled “When Home is Heaven.” A few months later I got married and reality struck. After a few courses in psychology and shortly before our first son was born, I preached a sermon on the “Twelve Essential Elements of Effective Parenting.” Our children were normal preacher’s kids so I stopped giving advice on raisi...

17. A Love For All Seasons (ii) (communion Meditation)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Picture this scene. "It is dusk, and a couple is sitting on an ocean beach. The sand is warm to the touch. The sun is just about to set, kissing the surface of the ocean. A spirit of romance comes over the young woman. Without taking her eyes off of the ocean and sun she says, "Isn't that sunset gorgeous?" The fellow replies, "Well, strictly speaking, the sun is not setting. Nor for that matter, ...

18. A Love For All Seasons (i)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

"You know what I don't understand?" asked Lucy of Charlie Brown in my favorite comic strip -- "PEANUTS" by Charles Schultz. "I don't understand love!" Charlie Brown replies, "Who does!" Lucy says, "Explain love to me, Charlie Brown", Charlie says. "You can't explain love. I can recommend a book or a poem or a painting, but I can't explain love." Lucy comes back, "Well, try, Charlie Brown, try." ...

19. Old Favorite

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Harold Warlick

Most of us play favorites, whether we admit it or not. All parents try to love their children with equal devotion. That’s hard to do. My own parents had a favorite: it was my sister, I’m convinced. Yet from her incorrect perspective, I was the favorite. Favoritism seems to be a part of our biblical perspective. Abraham and Sarah favored Isaac over Ishmael. Then old Isaac favored Esau the country b...

20. Anne Sullivan

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

The name of Helen Keller is a familiar name; her story is a familiar story. Helen’s family was living in Tuscumbia, Alabama, when she was born on June 27, 1880. She was born to a distinguished family Swiss ancestry on her father’s side, and cousin to the revered General Robert E. Lee on her mother’s side. The family’s ancestry was enhanced by the birth of a beautiful daughter. At the age of ei...

21. Things That Cannot be Taken Away

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

Most days give us a measure of security. And then suddenly tragedy shatters the familiar. Sorrow comes with its almost unbearable pain. Most people in their anguish almost instinctively turn their thoughts to God for help. If we are Christians, we do so with the assurance that He who has been faithful in the past will now be faithful in our great need. We believe He can be trusted who said, "I wil...

22. The Primacy Of Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There was a time when Indians communicated by drums and smoke signals. Maybe there are places where they still do this. I know the drum is still used as a communication instrument in many areas of Africa. Years ago, when the atomic bomb was being tested, out on the flats of Nevada, a cartoon pictured some Indians. They were looking across the barren wastes -- the spacious flats, when on the horiz...

23. Loving The Jesus Way

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A tramp, one day, knocked at the door of a Catholic Rectory. "Father," he said to the priest, "I've been floating around for a long time, and I was wondering if I could join your church and settle down?" "Why, yes," said the priest, "I'd be happy for you to do that, but first let's find out what you know about faith." With Christmas coming, he decided to ask the tramp a simple and seasonal quest...

24. In A Mirror Dimly

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It was All Saints Day, and the Sunday School teacher was talking about saints. She asked, "What is a saint?" Quick as a flash one little boy said, "A dead Christian." Well -- maybe! There are living saints, though the supply may be limited. And, yes, there are dead saints -- those who have passed from the church militant to the church triumphant. This is All Saints Sunday -- and on this day we c...

25. Loving Close-up

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I was with Bishop Bevel Jones recently, and he told me about a funny experience that happened to him recently. He was preaching at a camp meeting down in South Georgia. The tabernacle was packed with people and Bev was really getting with it. He had preached longer than normal – but still had about 10 minutes to go. He was in the midst of a dramatic point of sharing, when out of the corner of his ...

Showing 1 to 25 of 31 results