Sermons on Ministry Struggles:

Your Struggle With Religion Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

God cares about how his name is used, both in words and in what we do and what we fail to do.

By Rev Bill Stewart Back in the late 1990s everyone was talking about Y2K and wondering if their computer would still work on the 01/01/ 2000. The new millennium was all over the media. The Australian magazine even ran an article called "10 Commandments for the next Millennium" (7-8 March 1999). No ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 52:4-10

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle With Authority Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

God puts us in this world with a small subset of the human race to begin relating to. Our parents are the first representatives of fallen humanity that we meet and our first model for authority figures that we’ll meet later in life.

Introduction Jesus said that the commandments are summed up in the dual command, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and your neighbour as yourself." Well today we come to the fifth commandment. This seems to be about loving your neighbour, but it’s one of the ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 2:1-11

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Peace Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

The commandment not to kill is also a commandment to make peace.

By Rev Bill Stewart 1 Chris said last week that the first five focus on Loving God while the final five Commandments deal with Loving our neighbour. The Sixth Commandment says very simply: "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Our translation "murder" makes it clear that ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:21-26

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Purity Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

God calls us to committed faithfulness to one another as part of our commitment to him. He calls us to purity of mind and action, to help us maintain the purity of our relationship with our spouse. He calls us to keep our promises just as he keeps his.

Introduction There’s a phenomenon that I’ve noticed over the past few years. That’s the phenomenon of ’the better offer’. It comes in two forms: the first is where you don’t reply to an invitation until the last minute because you might get a better offer; but the second is worse. That’s where ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Integrity Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 7, 2008

the caommandment not to stealis a commandment to maintain one’s integrity in everything we do.

1 What images come to mind when you hear the eighth Commandment "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19)? You shall not take what doesn’t belong to you. If you are like me you might have an image of a masked thief in a stripped shirt climbing over a wall with a bag of loot over his ...read more

Scripture: Amos 8:1-8

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle With Truth Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 8, 2008

How do you decide when is the right time to tell the truth and when is the right time to keep silent?

I sometimes wonder whether God has structured these ten commandments with the most obvious sins first and the least obvious or most subtle at the end. Or is it just that our age has become blind to the last couple of commandments? Truth is a difficult concept in this day and age isn’t it? ...read more

Scripture: John 8:31-47

Denomination: Anglican

Your Struggle For Contentment Series

Contributed by Chris Appleby on Aug 8, 2008

The commandment against coveting is about contentment. God wants us to be godly with contentment

Blind Spots I recently discovered that I have a blind spot. In fact I have two. I had my eyes checked for new glasses a few weeks ago and while I was there they said I should have a field vision test. This is a test that checks whether there are parts of your retina that aren’t functioning ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:2-11

Denomination: Anglican

Encouragement To A Struggling Church Series

Contributed by Guy Glass on Aug 23, 2006

This section deals with the appropriateness of expressing our gifts within the church service. Now, one thing needs to be noted at the onset, the Corinthian church was operating before a completed revelation and as such, the church is operating in a peri

ENCOURAGEMENT TO A STRUGGLING CHURCH 1 CORINTHIANS 14:26-40 INTRODUCTION: our passage this morning brings us to the end of Paul’s teaching concerning spiritual gifts in general, and tongues in specifics. This last section deals with the appropriateness of expressing our gifts within the church ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

Denomination: Baptist

Pilate's Moral Struggle Series

Contributed by Richard Tow on Sep 22, 2005

Expository sermon dealing with Pilate’s decision. Movie clip from the "Patriot" illustrates the importance of making courageous decisions.

Pilate’s Moral Struggle Fortifying the Foundations # 41 John 19:1-16[1] 7-18-04 In our text this morning we encounter a tremendous moral struggle. The man experiencing this struggle is the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. His struggle begins when providence brings him face to face with the ...read more

Scripture: John 19:1-16

Denomination: Charismatic

Struggling To Work For Peace Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 19, 2009

August 1989, Day of Prayer for World Peace: Making peace in the world begins with making peace with God. It does not mean making peace WITH the world.

Just a few weeks ago they re-enacted, not very far from here, a small but crucial Civil War battle. The Battle of Fort Stevens did not get into a lot of the history books, but it was important in that it turned back the Confederate armies on the very edge of the capital city. Had the South taken ...read more

Scripture: Hosea 10:12-15

Denomination: Baptist

Struggling With The Pain Of Faithlessness Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Sep 20, 2009

July 1989. Our sexual behavior matters to God, and He has expressed His will. When we go our own ways, it hurts Him as well as others and ourselves. He can and will redeem even from this most painful sin.

A number of years ago a friend of mine was teaching a group of children the Ten Commandments in Vacation Bible School. In order to teach the Ten Commandments, she says, she was given a set of pictures. Each of the pictures illustrated the bad behavior forbidden by the Commandment; each picture ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Abraham's Struggle To Be Faithful Series

Contributed by Scott Carmer on Feb 19, 2008

Abraham is not really a "bad boy" but he did have some occasions when he had trouble making good decisions. What can he teach us when he did obey God and was ready to sacrifice his son?

Abraham’s Struggle to Be Faithful Genesis 22:1-19 February 17, 2008 One of the greatest privileges I have had in my adult life is to visit the Holy Land. It was a relatively short trip, but we traveled from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea and the desert fortress of Masada, up along the Jordan ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 22:1-14

Denomination: Methodist

Lot - The Struggle Of Righteousness

Contributed by Timothy Darling on Mar 19, 2009

The stories in Genesis present Lot in a very negative light, but Peter and Abraham thought he was righteous. It is a time for adjusting our interpretation.

Lot – The struggle of righteousness Genesis 18:16-33 This is a classic passage because it depicts something that we somehow know we should not do, bargaining with God. Abraham, out of concern for his nephew Lot, in an episode that sounds like an auction, begs God to be merciful. Five times, ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 18:16-33

Denomination: Mennonite

Grace And Our Struggle Series

Contributed by Martin Wiles on May 3, 2011

The Christian life is a constant struggle to make the right choices.

Romans 7:14-25 Introduction: A. Do you ever struggle with the doing the right thing or making the right decision? B. Do you ever feel as if you are losing the battle in obedience to God? C. Do you ever feel guilty because you are still waging this war even though you have been a Christian for a ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:14-25

Denomination: Baptist

The End Of Suffering And Struggle Series

Contributed by David Flowers on Aug 14, 2007

Part 3 in the series Power for Living. This message looks at God’s promise to one day deliver all of creation from suffering and struggle.

The End of Suffering and Struggle Power for Living, part 3 Wildwind Community Church David K. Flowers August 12, 2007 I have often preached at Wildwind that what brings people together is weakness, not strength. Tales of strength create competition. Tales of weakness create companionship. I ...read more

Scripture: Romans 8:18-27

Denomination: Free Methodist