Sermons on Contrasting Ideas:

Tripping On Jesus (Luke 7:17-35) Series

Contributed by Garrett Tyson on Mar 7, 2024

In one key way, Jesus isn't the Messiah people (including John) expected. Are we ok that this piece is missing, or does it make us trip on the idea that Jesus is Messiah, and thus trip on God? A narrative/literary approach to Luke.

Today, I'm going to try to tackle a few interconnected episodes. It's kind of a lot, but this whole section teaches one main thing, and if we want to hear that one thing, we need to grab it all at once. The simplest onramp to today's verses is to begin, simply, by rereading last ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 61:1-2, Luke 7:11-35

Ascension (And Decension)

Contributed by Paul Andrew on May 7, 2022

I would like to talk about Ascending with Christ in our bodies by the Cross, which helps our minds and ideas. John Chrysostom said that the Cross establishes my thoughts, so that I may sing and glorify Thy saving Ascension.”

Christ descended to the lowest depths of humiliation, then raised up to the height of exaltation, Ephesians 4:8 says. The ascension life. “We can ascend with him in our hearts,” Saint Augustine said, “set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, … not on the things that are on ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:46-53

Denomination: Catholic

Core 52 Week 23 - The Cross Before Me Series

Contributed by Lanny Smith on Jun 7, 2020

Jesus turns our cultural ideas of "the good life" upside down by affirming a radical shift in our thinking and actions away from our own agenda and living for Him will bring us true happiness and contentment.

You can listen to the audio of the sermon at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/697261/4078034 Intro: • Yale course on happiness. Taken by over 2 million people. • Professor Laurie Santos - demand is a “bit surreal but understandable given that people are looking for evidenced-based ways of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:24-25, Matthew 5:3-10

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Joy In Abandonment

Contributed by Todd Spires on Feb 3, 2021

To some Christianity can often feel like a list of do's and don'ts. And the idea of abandoning everything to follow Jesus doesn't exactly sound fun. There is, however, tremendous and lasting joy in abandonment

Introduction: • General Welcome • Today we will be in Mark 10:17-31 looking at the Rich Young Ruler • The title of the message is, “Joy in Abandonment” o Christianity often feels like a list of dos and don’ts o The idea of abandoning things doesn’t always sound “fun” o There is, ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:17-31

Denomination: Baptist

Choices: A Teenage Dream Or A Greater Purpose Series

Contributed by Jack Perkins, D.min., Ladc, Csac, Cclc on Nov 25, 2020

The Star and Stars of Christmas is a series of messages for Advent. Using the idea of a play on a stage. Each message will look at different characters in the Christmas story. The introduction takes a critical look at how many in our society are portrayed as celebrities—bigger than life.

Many Americans are star struck, enamored with stardom. It is like we idolize celebrities, to include animated and fictional characters. Hollywood stars are put ahead of the heroes of faith, as mentioned in the book of Hebrews. Sport celebrities are stronger figures in our mind than people of the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-24

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Creativity: Maintaining A Sensitivity To Transcendence Series

Contributed by Jack Perkins, D.min., Ladc, Csac, Cclc on Nov 25, 2020

The Star and Stars of Christmas is a series of messages for Advent. Using the idea of a play on a stage. Each message will look at different characters in the Christmas story. The introduction takes a critical look at how many in our society are portrayed as celebrities—bigger than life.

Often people are attracted to performances based upon the popularity of the performers, or the authors. (My wife’s father enjoyed David Baldacci, James Patterson, Danielle Steele, etc.). A good writer wants to remove his/her personality and have us to focus on the story. The Gospel according to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Scrooges: Man’s Personal Power To Thwart God’s Plan Series

Contributed by Jack Perkins, D.min., Ladc, Csac, Cclc on Nov 25, 2020

The Star and Stars of Christmas is a series of messages for Advent. Using the idea of a play on a stage. Each message will look at different characters in the Christmas story. The introduction takes a critical look at how many in our society are portrayed as celebrities—bigger than life.

It is amazing how understanding a person and a historical event gives a different way of looking at history. I enjoy reality fiction, especially in movies. For example, “The Man Who Invented Christmas” appears to be a fantasy movie. It is reality fiction. The story tells how Charles Dickens ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-16

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Inspiration: Seeing Life Through God’s Eyes Series

Contributed by Jack Perkins, D.min., Ladc, Csac, Cclc on Nov 25, 2020

The Star and Stars of Christmas is a series of messages for Advent. Using the idea of a play on a stage. Each message will look at different characters in the Christmas story. The introduction takes a critical look at how many in our society are portrayed as celebrities—bigger than life.

Cut! Cut! This story is missing something! The script is not going the way it was written. First, it was written with a God-given ability for all players in the script to always love the Lord, follow his precepts for godly living. Let’s review, the original script looked like this: • At first, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-18, Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Reaping And Sowing In The Ruins Series

Contributed by Nickolas Kooi on Jul 9, 2020

This sermon looks at the hope and promise of sowing God's Word. It deals with the failures, but also the joys that we can experience with this! It goes through Jesus' parable of the sower. A special thanks to Rev. Bob Holst for the inspiration and idea

Are you an optimist, or are you a pessimist? Are you a glass half-empty person, or are you a glass half-full person? Do you complain that rose bushes have thorns, or do you rejoice because thorns have roses? Do you see the storm clouds, or do you see the silver lining? There are various ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:10-13, Matthew 13:1-9, Matthew 13:18-23, Galatians 5:21-22

Denomination: Lutheran

Playing Favorites Youth Sermon

Contributed by Youth Sermons on Sep 8, 2024

Main Idea: Favoritism goes against God's heart for His creation. We are challenged to see people as God sees them and to live out our faith through acts of love and service, especially towards those society often overlooks.

Hey guys, today we're going to talk about something we all see around us - favoritism. You know, when someone gets special treatment because of how they look, what they wear, or who they know. It's not cool, right? Well, guess what? God thinks so too. Let's dive into James 2:1-17. James, who was ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-17

Topics: Divine Love, God's Favor, Spiritual Favoritism, Unconditional Love

Sermon # 2 - Don't Miss Out On God's Presence Series

Contributed by Andrew Dixon on Aug 22, 2024

As Jonah fled from the presence of God, he had no idea as to the consequences he would face. We as a church too must be cautious in many ways so that we do no lose out on the awesome presence of God and His Holy Spirit.

We read in Jonah 1:3, “But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. And he went down to Joppa. And he found a ship going to Tarshish. And he paid its fare, and went down into it, in order to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.” (AFV) As we continue ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:3, Jonah 1:1, John 10:35, Exodus 7:1, Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 3:5, Genesis 9:1, Genesis 11:4, John 1:12, Matthew 28:19-20, John 3:30, Exodus 23:8, James 4:11, Genesis 3:8, Genesis 11:8, Genesis 4:16  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Other

Brought To Life; Brought Together Spirit Filled Living: A Husband’ S Love Ephesians 5:25-27 Series

Contributed by David Taylor on Jan 21, 2025

Today we see that God calls husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (5:25-27). My big idea is pretty simple, Christ’s love for his church is the pattern for a husband’s love for his wife.

We are continuing our series in Ephesians, Brought to Life; Brought Together. We are in chapter five, where Paul discusses marriage. So far, we have looked at God’s vision for marriage to display Christ’s relationship with his church (5:31-32). Then we saw that God calls wives to respect and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:25-27, Matthew 16:24

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

"If You Had Been Here..." Series

Contributed by Bumble Ho on Jan 18, 2005

Big idea: Even though we might not understand the pain we are in, we can trust in God, in His love, and in His ultimate delivery. This is a verse-by-verse exposition through John 11 three weeks after the Asian Tsunami to help people wrestle with the issue

1) {Introduction} If you have seen the news, you would recognize this man and his family [show picture]. A couple of days ago, Jimmie Wallet went out for ice cream, and when he got back, his wife and three of his four daughters were gone. They were killed in a mudslide. You also have seen the ...read more

Scripture: John 11:1-53

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Crafty Clergyman Challenges Compassionate Creator Series

Contributed by Mack Armstrong on Feb 15, 2008

Jonah 1:3 and 4 present quite a contrast. In Verse three it is all "man" man flees from God, man sails the ship, man has no place for God. In verse four, the table is turned and it is all God. God seeks man; He sends the storm; and, in the end-God wins.

JONAH 1:4 CRAFTY CLERGYMAN CHALLENGES COMPASSIONATE CREATOR I. CRAFT: A. Course. B. Confidence. C. Credibility. II. CONTRAST: A. Creator. B. Concern. C. Control. III. CONSEQUENCES: A. Caldron. B. Consternation. C. Carrier. Jonah is safely on board the ship and he feels enough ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:3-4

Denomination: Methodist

"faith Vs Distractions" Part Ii

Contributed by Clarence Eisberg on Aug 14, 2020

This sermon is about the contrast between Peter's faith when he was distracted when walking on the water. He took his eyes off Jesus. The Canaanite woman faced many distractions but refused to take her eyes off Jesus. some comments from Ray Pritchard Matthew 15

In Jesus Holy Name August 16, 2020 Text: Matthew 15:28 Pentecost XI - Redeemer “Faith vs. Distractions” Part II Matthew has another great story for us this morning. Matthew tells us about the faith of a Gentile woman. It is a lesson for us about over coming ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 14:22-36

Denomination: Lutheran