Sermons on Marys:

Who Cares?

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 10, 2001

Real Christians display real love to those who need it most.

Introduction Kitty Genovese Story At about 3:20 a.m. on March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old manager of a bar in Queens, New York, returned to her quiet residential neighborhood, parked her car in a lot adjacent to her apartment building, and began to walk the 30 yards through the lot to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:25-37

Denomination: Baptist

Four Dimensional Love Series

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 11, 2001

God is crazy about you

Introduction A group of four-through eight-year-olds were asked: “What does love mean?” Their answers vary from the amusing to the profound. Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other. Love is when you go out to eat and ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19, Ephesians 3:19

Denomination: Baptist

Imagine That!

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 11, 2001

God wants to do things in and among us that we cannot possibly do ourselves.

Introduction – Mr. Holland One of my all-time favorite movies is “Mr. Holland’s Opus.” It’s the story of a musician who really just wants to be a composer. Rather grudgingly, he takes a job teaching music at the local high school, supposing it will give him time to write music while providing an ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:20-21

Denomination: Baptist

Playing Defense In The Game Of Love Series

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 11, 2001

If God loves us so much, why don’t we always live in that love?

Introduction I’ve taken several long road trips in the last year. I’ve discovered that the best way for me to maintain my alertness and my sanity is to listen to audio books. I’ve become a fan of Tom Bodett, the guy who does the Motel 6 ads, whose most famous line was “We’ll leave the light on for ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:34

Denomination: Baptist

The Day The Aliens Came

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 11, 2001

Christmas Sermon on the Magi: God reveals Himself to all kinds of people – and the least likely are often the most open.

Intro I haven’t seen them for a long time, but about this time of year when I was a kid, we would see ads on TV that informed immigrants that they had to fill out certain forms to register with the government. Which wouldn’t have been that memorable, except that they didn’t call them immigrants. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Altar Series

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 29, 2001

Zechariah’s experience in the Temple: Religion can turn us away from God. (Preached during Advent, but not really seasonal)

Introduction In the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye, a man devoted to tradition, finds his thinking challenged when his oldest daughter wants to marry for love, instead of having her marriage arranged by her parents. It had never occurred to him that one would marry for love, and one night he ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:5-20

Denomination: Baptist

Don't Get Hijacked

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Feb 11, 2001

Don’t be taken in by the world’s philosophy

1) Introduction Imagine you are comfortably asleep in your bed. You are awakened by a crash as a window is broken. Your heart begins pounding as adrenaline pumps through your veins, preparing your body for fight or flight. You pick up the phone. The line is dead. The door bursts open. Four heavily ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 2:6-15

Denomination: Baptist

Playing By New Rules

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Feb 12, 2001

JESUS’ PEOPLE ARE IDENTIFIED BY JESUS’ LOVE

Playing by New Rules Introduction – How do you tell a Christian? Before I went into full-time ministry, I was an electronics technician at a major corporation for several years. One of the guys I worked with was one of the kindest people I had ever met. In a place where people were usually ...read more

Scripture: John 13:34-35

Denomination: Baptist

A Love To Die For

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Feb 12, 2001

Jesus thinks you are "to die for"

A Love to Die For Intro Have you ever noticed how we Americans love slang? I didn’t, until I spent some time helping Russian immigrants with their English. I was constantly catching myself using slang phrases which of course were not in any of their English books. One time my friend Lynn (who is ...read more

Scripture: Romans 5:6-8

Denomination: Baptist

Prime Directive

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Feb 18, 2001

The greatest commandment: to love God with all our heart, mind, soul & strength

Prime Directive Introduction I came across an article recently that was a response to a letter written by someone who was in anguish over trying to figure out how to live the Christian life. This is part of that letter: "He made us a perfect world that works according to physical laws that we can ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 22:34-40

Denomination: Baptist

Day Of The Living Dead

Contributed by Mary Lewis on Feb 26, 2001

Worship is an act of total commitmentresulting in a life which is continually transformed

Day of the Living Dead Introduction Soren Kierkegaard described Christian worship as a performance in which God is the audience, the congregation is the performer, and those who stand up before the congregation (preachers, readers, choir, soloists) are the prompters. Someone has suggested that ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-2

Denomination: Baptist

One Is Bigger Than Many Series

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 7, 2009

Idea: THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD’S GOAL IS TO REACH IT TOGETHER

[INTRODUCTION] The Olympic contestants line up in the starting blocks for the hundred-meter dash. Anticipation has the crowd suspended on the edge of their seats. The starter raises his gun and fires. The athletes spring out of the starting blocks. As they do, it becomes obvious this is no ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Descending Into Greatness Series

Contributed by Mary Lewis on May 7, 2009

Jesus example of humility

Introduction What does it take to be a success? When Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator of Italy for over 20 years, was asked that question by a New York journalist, his reply was, “Above all, keep your heart a desert!” According to Mussolini, having a heart which cared for no one was the key ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11

Denomination: Baptist

The Meal, The Message, And The Miracle

Contributed by Mari Larson on Jul 28, 2014

The Feeding of the 5,000 is a great miracle story, but it wasn't the only miracle that happened that day.

The Meal, the Message, and the Miracle Proper 13A – Matthew 14:13-21 -- August 3, 2014 Food! Be it blessed or tempting, it is filled with meaning that may not have anything to do with the food itself. Kringla, with its subtle hint of nutmeg, reminds me of grandma, who not only made these ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21

Denomination: Lutheran

Handing Over The Keys

Contributed by Mari Larson on Sep 7, 2014

The authority to forgive (The Office of the Keys) has been given to us, but we don't use it.

Church life on the prairies of the Midwest is often quite different from church life here (in Arizona). Small congregations of Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and German origins are slowly dying out, and since we no longer preach in the languages of our mother-lands (Thank God!), and because ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:15-20

Denomination: Lutheran