Sermons on Expectations:

Reasonable Expectations

Contributed by Dr. Odell Belger on Mar 25, 2022

Life has become very frustrating for many professing Christians, primarily because their EXPECTATIONS ARE NOT REASONABLE.

Illus: Reaching the end of a job interview, the Technical Recruiter asked a young Engineer fresh out of college, "And what starting salary were you looking for?" The Engineer said, "In the neighborhood of $125,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The recruiter ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:19-20

Denomination: Baptist

Christmas Expectation

Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Dec 25, 2016

A 10-15-minute Christmas Eve devotional

Christmas Expectation A 10-15-minute Christmas Eve Devotional Chuck Sligh December 25, 2016 TEXT: Turn in your Bibles to Luke 2 Illus. – Do you remember the anticipation you had as a child when you went to bed on Christmas Eve? (ELABORATE) Clement Clarke Moore captured that sense of anticipation ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:25-32

Denomination: Baptist

Realistic Expectations Series

Contributed by Perry Greene on Feb 6, 2019

The RYR approached Jesus with some expectations. Jesus also had expectations of him. The application for us is that we have expectations from God (some realistic and some unrealistic) and He has expectations of us which he will not alter.

1. Obsession There was a preacher who was an avid golfer. Every chance he got, he could be found on the golf course swinging away. It was his obsession. One Sunday was a picture-perfect day for golf. The preacher was in a quandary as to what to do. The urge to play golf overcame him. He called his ...read more

Scripture: Mark 10:13-31

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Expecting Miracles

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Apr 8, 2023

We are not unsuspecting people who came to Jerusalem and walked into a miracle. We are already part of an ongoing miracle - and don’t want to miss a minute of it!

Three times a year, every Jewish man was supposed to come to Jerusalem to give thanks. Their Thanksgiving, like ours, was in the fall. They called it the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, though, because people built temporary shelters out in the fields to sleep in overnight, that is if they slept ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:1-21, Ezekiel 37:10

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Not What They Expected Series

Contributed by Jonathan Kruschel on Dec 30, 2019

How much do you remember about John the Baptist? Camel hair clothing, locust diet, or loaner lifestyle? While those are memorable, John is arguably one of the most significant people in Jesus’ life and ministry. See how the unexpected surrounded John's birth.

While at the children’s hospital this summer in California, my wife Nikky and I were sitting in the atrium to the main entrance one day when I noticed a man in a black suit and an ear piece walking around. He was looking all over the place and talking to people. As I watched him I leaned over to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:5-25, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:57-66, Luke 1:67-80

Denomination: Lutheran

Pray With Expectancy Series

Contributed by James Jackson on Jan 6, 2020

Prayer that Works takes work, along with persistence, risk, and righteousness before God. In this sermon, we're going to try to close the gap between what we say about prayer and what we practice.

Good morning. I invite you to turn in your copy of God’s Word to James chapter 5, but also to put a bookmark in 1 Kings chapter 18, because we are going to spend some time there as well. The story is told of the western town that had experienced a hard drought. One of the local churches announced ...read more

Scripture: James 5:13-18, 1 Kings 18:41-45

Denomination: Baptist

Exceeding Expectations Series

Contributed by D. Dewaine Phillips on Jun 16, 2023

Jesus said that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. This means that He wants us to exceed the spiritual expectations prescribed by the Law; as we are to strive for excellence in our walk with God.

I have entitled our message, “Exceeding Expectations,” and I want to begin by sharing a true story. A contractor in Mexico was hired to build a Catholic Church, but he used cheap materials in order to make more money. He reasoned that the quality of the materials did not matter, so long as the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:17-22

Denomination: Baptist

Great Expectations

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 23, 2023

John the Baptist's followers struggle with changing their allegiance to Jesus.

Zach was tired. He had been coming down to Tiberias every week for almost two months, bringing news and food to John in prison, and it looked like he’d probably be doing it for the rest of the year. Nothing had changed. After Herod arrested John for publicly accusing him of incest and adultery, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Expectations Of Jesus Series

Contributed by Troy Borst on Sep 9, 2023

We should not miss the Truth that Jesus has expectations of us as His disciples.

JUST JESUS: CHAPTER BY CHAPTER THRU LUKE Expectations of Jesus Luke 9:57-62 #JustJesus INTRODUCTION… THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO HALF-WAY (P) There are some things in life that we should never do halfway. Most things in life we should give our best effort, persevere, and see to completion. * Giving ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:57-62

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Expect The Unexpected Series

Contributed by C. Philip Green on May 6, 2023

Life is unpredictable, so expect to be surprised.

A few years ago (2017), authorities apprehended a group of Minnesota teens for attempting to steal a cake from a local grocery store. The teens were embarrassed, but even more so when they discovered the cake was fake—it was a cardboard display cake. The grocery store owner decided not to press ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 9:11-18, Ecclesiastes 10:1-20, Romans 8:28

Denomination: Evangelical Free

Asking With Expectation Series

Contributed by Christopher Benfield on Mar 9, 2022

Prayer is the greatest tool the Christian has. It is through prayer that we make our petitions known unto God. We will never be any stronger spiritually than our prayer life allows.

Asking with Expectation Matthew 7: 7-11 We have come to a very familiar and favorite portion of the Sermon on the Mount. We have considered the importance of prayer in previous studies, and yet once again, Jesus emphasizes its importance in these verses. Our Lord understood the importance of ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-11

Denomination: Baptist

Expect Persecution Series

Contributed by Brian Bill on Feb 2, 2022

God accomplishes His purposes through persecution.

Today we’ll discover how God accomplishes His purposes through persecution. When we think about persecution, we usually think of believers in closed countries or what happens to missionaries. Let me share with you a true story. In 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood went from ...read more

Scripture: Acts 21:27-40

Denomination: Baptist

Expectation: It Is Well

Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Feb 17, 2022

In the crucible of your suffering you can find new powerful dreams. God has promised his people: IT SHALL BE WELL!

EXPECTING? IT SHALL BE WELL! IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL… WHAT AM I EXPECTING? By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com ACCIDENT? IT IS WELL? HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A MAN NAMED CLIFF BARROWS? Cliff Barrows was born in 1923 and lived to be 93 years old. Barrows was born in California, his ...read more

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:1-26, Luke 18:27, Zechariah 9:12

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Christmas Expectations Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Apr 8, 2021

There is no other holiday like Christmas, where expectation is so much a part of it's celebration. We look forward to Christmas, longer, and with greater anticipation, then all other holidays combined.

Henry McCushy, of the Texas Employment Commission, said they had a hard time getting men to be department store Santa Clauses, one year. The reason was, the high percentage of children who were kicking Santa in the shins for not coming through the year before. They expected Santa to live up to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:8-32

Easter Expectations

Contributed by Loyd C. Taylor on Mar 14, 2023

This is a message I preached along with our Easter program, I wanted to build the excitement of Easter, relating how the first Easter brought this expectation.

INTRODUCTION: Happy Easter to you! We are so glad you came to worship with us today. Please turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke. As we read about the disciples and what they expected on that first Easter morning, we should ask ourselves, “What are our Easter expectations?” Text: Luke ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10

Denomination: Baptist