Sermons on hardness of heart:

Hard Work And Providence Series

Contributed by Christopher Lanham on Jun 18, 2011

It is funny how we think God should work. For some reason we seem to think that since God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present Creator of the universe – and anything else in existence – that he should do everything on a grand scale.

Hard Work and Providence Ecclesiastes 11:1-8 Cascades Fellowship CRC, JX MI June 5, 2005 I am going to tell you one of my favorite stories this morning because it illustrates perfectly how many of us think about the relationship between what we do and what God does. Many of you have probably ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 11:1-8

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Handles For The Hard Times Series

Contributed by Rich Young on Jan 18, 2001

First in a series of sermons for dealing with difficult times.

“Handles for the Hard Times” (Sermon #1) TEXT: I Thess 2 :17 - 3:5 INTRODUCTION · Army Chaplain had a sign on his door that said, “If you have troubles, come in & tell me all about them. If you don’t have troubles, come in & tell me how you do it.” · Regardless of who you ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Why Is This So Hard? Series

Contributed by Jake Kircher on Dec 28, 2005

Why is following Gopd so difficult sometimes?

***Tug-o’-war illustration*** • Start off with big kid and a small kid and tell them to pull the rope as far as he can • Slowly, continue to add people to oppose the big kid until he gives up As we continue to look at God’s call in our lives to go and change the world around us, I think this ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:16-25

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Hope In The Hard Times Series

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Oct 7, 2007

Do you go through difficult trials that don’t seem to have any way out? So did Naomi, but God showed his love and an alternative she hadn’t thought of, like he does with us.

Ruth was written in perhaps the 2nd half of the 12th century, making it contemporary with Jephthah and Samson of Judges 11 and following. This is important because if you didn’t know that you’d think there’s no way the events could take place concurrently with Judges. Judges is filled with ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 1:1-22

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

It's Hard To Be A Believer

Contributed by Ian Biss on Jun 29, 2007

Proper attitude can make or break you.

It’s Hard to be a Believer. 01/01/06 One of the most interesting things about being a Christian is how easy it is to become one yet how hard it is to be a believer. When you make the decision to follow Christ, you soon find out that being a believer is tough. God shows you all the sin in your ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-30

Denomination: Grace Brethren

Unity Is Hard To Come By Series

Contributed by Davon Huss on Sep 6, 2014

A sermon on barriers to unity (adapted from Daniel Overdorf's book, Rediscovering Community, chapter 10 Graciously United, pages 308-314)

HoHum: Daniel Overdorf- A few years ago I visited a couple in their home. Both husband and wife had lived most of their lives apart from Christ and His church. Their marriage- a second marriage for both- had grown rocky. The 50 year old husband faced a frightening battle with cancer, and neither ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Hard Message Of Change

Contributed by John Bright on Jan 2, 2021

Sermon for the first Sunday of 2021

“A Hard Message of Change” Luke 3:7-9 A sermon for 1/3/21 Pastor John Bright Luke 3 “7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 3:7-9, 2 Corinthians 6:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Denomination: Methodist

It's Time To Face Hard Reality, Not Fantasy PRO Sermon

Contributed by Sermon Research Assistant on Sep 26, 2023

God desires genuine worship from our hearts, not just rituals, and we must align ourselves with His divine will and justice.

Good morning, beloved family. Today, we're going to dive deep into a passage from the book of Amos that's as challenging as it is enlightening. We're going to take a good, hard look at the hard reality of God's justice, the fantasy of false worship, and the mighty hand of God. Now, before we read ...read more

Scripture: Amos 5:18-27

Topics: Justice, Supreme

The Hard Work Of Trust

Contributed by Reuben Bredenhof on Mar 16, 2021

God teaches us to trust in him and in his Son our Saviour. God tells us that anxious care and bitter sighing won’t help. Discontentment will get us nowhere, but only humble trust and steadfast faith.

Have you ever felt like complaining against the LORD? Maybe you’ve prayed and prayed, but the answer that you wanted hasn’t come. Or you don’t like what God has brought into your life: lots of disappointment, lots of frustration. Or maybe you look at all the wickedness in the world, and you fear ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 10:26-39, Habakkuk 2:2-4

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Stubbornness Is As Iniquity And Idolatry

Contributed by Steve Klein on May 18, 2015

While no serious Christian would overtly condone idolatry, we do something just as bad by allowing stubbornness to rule our hearts or the hearts of others.

Intro: Would you condone idolatry? Have you ever known anyone to casually admit to idolatry? What if you were talking to a friend who is a Christian one day about character flaws and he said something like, “Well, I know I’ve got a problem with idolatry” or “I’ve ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:1-26

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Intents Of The Heart Series

Contributed by Patrick Ziegler on Oct 17, 2015

The intents of the heart leads to actions. This passage reveals the intents of Jesus and the Pharisees. The hearer is challenged to do good and save life like Jesus taught.

Mark Series Intents of the Heart Mark 3:1-6 October 18, 2015 AM Introduction: Once again we find Jesus teaching to the people with the Pharisees standing by listening for an opportunity to find something wrong with His teaching. In this instance it is on the Sabbath day. Jesus is going to heal a ...read more

Scripture: Mark 3:1-6

Denomination: *other

Fasting The Hard Way

Contributed by Cameron Horsburgh on Nov 5, 2001

God isn’t as impressed with our pious religiosity as he is about the way we live our lives.

Now the Israelites had a problem. They practiced their religion faithfully, and they did everything that was expected, but God didn’t seem to be listening to them. What was the problem? This is a good question. And it’s an important question to ask ourselves as well. God, through his prophet, ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-9, Isaiah 58:9-14

Denomination: Holiness

It's Hard To Be Humble

Contributed by Eric Ledermann on Jul 23, 2002

Know the gifts which God has given you, these being three (purpose, prayer, and love) from a list of thousands, and go, do the work of God in your life, whatever God is calling you to do, always remaining humble in the presence of such extravagence.

HUMILITY: A pastor was asked to speak for a certain charitable organization. After the meeting the program chairperson handed the pastor a check. “Oh, I couldn’t take this,” the pastor said with some embarrassment. “I appreciate the honor of being asked to speak. You have better use for this ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:1-20

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

"Hard To Learn Lessons"

Contributed by Dennis Deese on Aug 10, 2002

There are many hard to learn lessons in the Christian life.

"HARD TO LEARN LESSONS" Dr. Dennis Deese - Fan The Flame Ministries, Inc. EZEKIEL 24:15-27 ETS: Ezekiel and the Jews had to learn some hard to learn lessons ESS: There are many hard to learn lessons in the Christian life. Introduction: The August 1992 Hurricane Andrew left more than 50,000 ...read more

The School Of Hard "Nots"

Contributed by Ryan Davis on Sep 27, 2005

You may have heard of people coming through the school of hard Knocks, but as I look through the word of God, I find some “NOT’s” that are hard for some people to swallow.

THE SCHOOL OF HARD "NOTS" TITUS 3:3-8 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of ...read more

Scripture: Titus 3:3-8

Denomination: Baptist