Sermons on Lift Up Your Heads O Gates:

The Greatness Of The Liturgy Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 14, 2011

Is great worship spontaneous or not. The answer may surprise you.

Monday of 4th Week of Easter The Spirit of the Liturgy When someone wants to insult a group of people because of their slavish following of some ideology or ideologue, he can hardly do worse than to call them a “herd of sheep.” Sheep are stupid animals who need to be guided all the ...read more

Scripture: John 10:1-10

Denomination: Catholic

Revivals For Philip And Bartholomew Series

Contributed by I. Grant Spong on Sep 21, 2021

How did Philip instantly recognize Jesus and what kind of revival did blunt Bartholomew experience?

How did Philip instantly recognize Jesus and what kind of revival did blunt Bartholomew experience? 1) Philip the Apostle’s Revival Can someone who knows the Bible well instantly recognize Jesus? Called with similar words to other disciples, “Follow Me” (John 1:43 NASB), Philip instantly ...read more

Scripture: John 1:43

Denomination: Baptist

The Truest Freedom

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jun 23, 2019

We are set free - to the truest kind of liberty.

THE TRUEST FREEDOM. Galatians 5:1; Galatians 5:13-25. Paul established the contrast between bondage and freedom by the use of an allegory concerning Hagar and Sarah, and their respective sons (Galatians 4:22). When we are born into this world, we are born into bondage to the corruption of ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13-25

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Are You The One?

Contributed by The Rev Deniray Mueller on Dec 4, 2019

when John the Baptist hears of Jesus' ministry, he begins to doubt that he is the 'real' Messiah

Matthew 11:2-11 Today we enter the third week of Advent – with it the anticipation of the Birth of Christ. In just a little over one week we will be sitting in this sanctuary celebrating Jesus’ birth. . . the Advent of the Messiah. But today’s scripture is not foretelling the birth of Christ. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11

Denomination: Episcopal

The Great Shepherd And Those Who Rule

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jan 18, 2020

Under-shepherds and the Chief Shepherd, that Great Shepherd of the Sheep, Jesus.

THE GREAT SHEPHERD AND THOSE WHO RULE. Hebrews 13:17-25. 1. Those Who Rule Over You. The earlier exhortation to ‘Remember’ our leaders probably implies showing respect to those who are still with us, and honouring those who have since died, by following their example. Scan their lives and ...read more

Scripture: Hebrews 13:17-25

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

He Who Comes From Above

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jul 4, 2020

He must increase, but I must decrease.

HE WHO COMES FROM ABOVE. John 3:31-36. John’s disciples came to him with the observation, ‘The One of whom you testified is baptising, and all men come to Him’ (cf. John 3:26). ‘All men’ might have been an exaggeration, but Jesus was making more disciples than His forerunner (cf. John ...read more

Scripture: John 3:31-36

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Reflection B.7 / Does God Have A Purpose In Coronavirus? / Isaiah’s Oracles Or ‘burdens’, An Environmental Dimension

Contributed by Simon Bartlett on May 11, 2020

What might lead us to conclude that God is in some way behind coronavirus? We need to see if present-day events fit the picture Scripture gives us of how God judges and 'End Times'. Isaiah's oracles clearly indicate that God judges by means of acts in the environment.

We’re looking at three questions. Is coronavirus a judgement from God? Are we living in end times? And, what does the Bible say about COVID-19? In order to answer them I’m looking at prophecies that were made maybe 2700 years ago. Why? In order to understand an event, we almost always draw on ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Jesus And Our Judge! Series

Contributed by Larry Vollink on Feb 8, 2021

Another "J" in the series, this is the best sermon on Jesus as our Judge. Listen!

Jesus is our Lord, our King, our Savior, our Healer, Advocate, our Preacher and He is to have first place in everything that we do! In the Church, in our Homes, and and in our communities. He is the theme of these messages. The Bible says we are complete in Him. (Col. 2:10) Without Him, we are ...read more

Scripture: John 5:27

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

God Is Beautiful! Series

Contributed by Larry Vollink on Nov 18, 2020

The Bible says "God made everything beautiful in His own time" (Ecc.3:11) and that means HE IS BEAUTIFUL and we can live everyday experiencing His Beauty.

David speaks of the Beauty of the Lord in the Psalms (27:4; 48:2; 90:17) and it exists in the mountains, his nature, in heaven and in His Temple. But greater still in His Son coming to earth as Jesus explains to us what "beauty' means in act of serving Him. (Mark 14:6) Isaiah ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 61:3

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Persecution--Coming To A Church Near You? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 14, 2021

We have two challenges: to make faith in Our Lord known and to so act that Americans turn back to Christ and the Church and repent and are healed. And at the foundation of that effort, we must pray, pray, pray.

Feast of St Agnes 2021 Saint Agnes was martyred in the persecution of Diocletian, right about the year of our Lord 303. Now we in the United States tend to think in terms of four to eight years, the length of a presidential administration. But just imagine what life was like in the last half of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 3:7-12, Hebrews 7:25-28, Hebrews 8:1-6, Psalm 40:7-17

Denomination: Catholic

Uniting The Body

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Apr 7, 2021

We need to stop the dividing of the Body for carnal reasons. You cannot believe that Jesus is pleased with our dissecting His Body for our selfish agendas.

For those who follow me, you know every morning I listen to the pastor of Times Square Church in NYC. The congregation of over 8K are from 100+ nationalities. That is deemed impossible by common consensus of church people who say we need seeker churches adapted to various subcultures and ...read more

Scripture: Acts 2:44-47, Romans 15:20-21

Denomination: Baptist

Standing Tall When It Counts Series

Contributed by Curtis E. Nester on May 30, 2016

Stephen stood alone when it counted and became the first martyr, giving his life as a testimony.

SERIES: Adventures in Acts 007 TITLE: Standing Tall When it Counts TEXT: Acts 6:8-15 INTRO: In the eighth chapter of Acts, we are introduced to a man named Stephen, which means "crown." He was a Greek speaking Jew and a deacon who became the first gospel preacher. He was full of faith and power & ...read more

Scripture: Acts 6:8-15

Denomination: Baptist

You Can't Outsmart Jesus

Contributed by Curtis E. Nester on Jul 6, 2016

When a lawyer tries to entrap Jesus, he falls into his own trap.

TITLE: You Can't Outsmart Jesus TEXT: Luke 10:25-37 INTRO: Again, we look at another passage contained only in Luke. Remember, this incident took place on the other side of the cross, before coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. So it was during the Dispensation of the Law, not of Grace. The ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Denomination: Baptist

Healing Our Sick Hearts

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 24, 2018

There is, in fact, something in our nature that yearns for the divine, that longs for goodness and beauty and truth. Original sin has wounded us, but only our own deliberate actions can spiritually kill us.

Thursday of 2nd Week in Lent 2018 Reformation/Revolution “More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond remedy; who can understand it?” If any Scripture verse summarizes the view of the Protestant reformers about the nature of humans, this one from Jeremiah must be it. The RSV renders it ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Psalm 1:1-6

Denomination: Catholic

May The Circle Be Unbroken

Contributed by Kevin Ruffcorn on May 6, 2018

Paul is imprisoned, yet he is thankful. He doesn’t glory in his circumstances, but he does celebrate the relationship that he has with the Christians in Philippi and their partnership in the gospel with him. We too can celebrate this partnership.

Philippians 1:1-18a. “May the Circle be Unbroken” INTRODUCTION The focus of our attention changes this week from the Book of Acts to Paul’s letter to the Philippians. With that change of focus comes a change of topics. In the Book of Acts we were focused on the work of the Holy Spirit in and ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:1-18

Denomination: Lutheran