Sermons on Open Heart:

To Receive Freely Or Fairly

Contributed by Michael Semon on Nov 8, 2002

God’s relationship with you is the template for how you are to have relationships with others.

A successful relationship begins with several characteristics that when placed together form a beautiful tapestry of growth, strength and health. These characteristics include: self-regulation, "going in the other direction," facing your anxiety, receiving freely, relationship continuum, ...read more

Scripture: Romans 7:6

Denomination: Baptist

1st Things 1st: The Church Belongs To God Series

Contributed by Jim Black on Jul 20, 2005

The church was planned, built and purchased by God and therefore belongs to Him... not you or I.

Have I ever told you about a church I read about one time? Man they had their problems! • They had had a succession of different preachers who had come through and worked with them… each one with pretty different and very strong personalities. One was pretty well known and respected across the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Training A Healthy Conscience

Contributed by Clarence Peters on Jul 23, 2005

Conscience is a gift of God to keep us morally safe, at peace, and connected to Him.

Text: topical Function: The listener will pay heightened attention to conscience, confessing where needed. You may know the feeling. You tell your parents you’re going one place, when really you’re going to another. You take cash to avoid taxes. You spread a story about someone. You break a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 24:16

Denomination: Mennonite

Is Jesus Christ The Lord Of This Church? Series

Contributed by Douglas Bryan on Aug 1, 2005

I once saw a package of plastic shark teeth that were labled as "genuine imitation shark teeth." I wonder if we aren’t guilty of being genuine imitation Christians at times. As Paul begins his letter he points out that the Colossians were 3D Christians-

SERIES: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD...SERIOUSLY! SERMON: IS JESUS CHRIST LORD OF THIS CHURCH? Colossians 1:1-8 INTRODUCTION: This church will be what it ought to be when our members become what they should be. I am beginning a new series of messages this morning from Paul’s letter to the church in ...read more

Scripture: Colossians 1:1-8

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

1st Things 1st: "Salvation Is Found In Jesus Alone" Series

Contributed by Jim Black on Aug 23, 2005

Do Christians really believe that salvation is found ONLY through Jesus Christ?

There were a lot of things one could believe in in the ancient world… • There were all manner of Greek or Roman ‘gods’ one could worship… just take your pick! Epicureanism was a common philosophy. So was Stoicism. There were all kinds of mystery religions and pagan worship ideas. • There were ...read more

Scripture: Acts 4:8-12

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Even God's Greatest Made Excuses

Contributed by Ryan Akers on Sep 22, 2005

One of God’s servants, Moses, was called by God but Moses response was, "Who Me?" He fought and made 4 major excuses as to why he couldn’t serve before he accepted his call. We too always make excuses before we finally realize we should be serving God.

Even God’s Greatest Servant’s Made Excuses Exodus 3: 1-12, 4:1,10-12 I love basketball! I love everything about the game. The excitement of hitting the three-point winning shot at the buzzer. The scream of the crowd as they cheer you on to victory. The adrenaline rush as you dunk for the first ...read more

Denomination: Wesleyan

The Move Of The Spirit Series

Contributed by David Jenkins on Oct 23, 2005

The Move of the Spirit

Acts 6:1, “1 Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists,[a] because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.” The congregation was growing in numbers but problems lay ahead for the congregation. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 6:1-7

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Laziness Series

Contributed by Joseph Rodgers on Nov 3, 2005

The first message in a series onthe seven deadly sins.

VIRUS: Hidden Infections of the Spiritual Life Laziness – Sitting Pretty on Your La-Z-boy Throne Intro: We live in a world of germs and viruses. In many ways we live in fear of the next mutation. Whether it’s the flu or the threat of germ warfare, we live in a time in which the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 24:14-30

Denomination: Baptist

Avoiding Dead-End Shortcuts Series

Contributed by David Asch on Nov 21, 2005

In our text today we see a family that took a shortcut, and it led to a dead-end - literally. Looking at their story, we discover how we can keep from taking shortcuts that lead to dead-ends.

AVOIDING DEAD-END SHORTCUTS Ruth 1:1-5 INTRO: Shortcuts that don’t turn out so well: The shortcut to Lake Success Some shortcuts aren’t just inconvenient, they are deadly. Shortcuts that lead to dead-ends: Jim Madsen on Yosemite’s El Capitan in 1968. A veteran and skilled climber, he rappelled ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 1:1-5

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

7. The Hidden Power Of Prayer And Fasting Series

Contributed by Don Jaques on Nov 22, 2005

All believers can multiply their effectiveness in prayer by utilizing the discipline of fasting.

BIG IDEA: All believers can multiply their effectiveness in prayer by utilizing the discipline of fasting. Key scripture: Matthew 6:16-18 Why should we fast? 1. We fast in obedience to Jesus’ teaching. (Matt. 6:16-18) 2. We fast to demonstrate our dependence upon God. (James 4:10, 1Cor ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18, Acts 14:21-28

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

How Not To Be A Religious Leader

Contributed by William Mouser on Nov 28, 2005

In training his disciples to be leaders, Jesus pointed to the religious leaders of his day as examples to avoid.

Psalm 43, Micah 3:5-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13,17-20, Matthew 23:1-12 How Not to be a Religious Leader There’s an old story about three boys who are bragging about rich their dads are. The first boy said, "My dad is so rich. He writes a few paragraphs on a piece of paper. Calls it a poem. And he ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Life Is Like A Motorcycle

Contributed by Denn Guptill on Aug 10, 2008

Wrote this message for a "Bring Your Bike to Church Day" friend event

Life is a Bike (This was written for our annual Bring Your Bike to Church Day) As you can tell from the video and from some of the rides out front there are all kinds of motorcycles. Some are really nice and cost a lot of money and some are just basic transportation. But they are all ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 20:1-9

Denomination: Wesleyan

Growing Through Weakness Series

Contributed by Mark Nichols on Apr 28, 2008

Samson’s life was characterized NOT by his weakness, but by his strength. Why is that? Because he grew through his weakness. He turned to God in his time of weakness and God turned that moment when Samson was weak, into something great! God can and wi

TEXT: Judges 16:19-31 TITLE: Growing Pain #4: Growing through weakness! (Lessons from Samson) TOPIC: Spiritual Maturity SERIES: The Growing Church (part one) OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, April 27, 2008 PROP.: In our times of weakness, we will grow because we will have NO choice BUT ...read more

Scripture: Judges 16:19-31

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Who Killed Jesus?

Contributed by Jason Cole on May 9, 2008

Whois to blame for the death of Jesus? Was it the Jews, the Romans or Pilate? The answer may shock you.

Who Killed Jesus Introduction: In the early hours of the morning in Chicago, Illinois, way back in 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hiller were lying in bed when Mrs. Hiller sensed something was wrong. She awoke to see that the gas light outside their bedroom door was out. She woke her husband and asked ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

What If There Was No Resurrection?

Contributed by Jason Cole on May 9, 2008

What are the implications of denying the resurrection? That will be examined in this message.

What If There Was No Resurrection? Introduction: To most fair historians there is little question as to the existence of Jesus. In fact many historians will even admit that he was put to death on a Roman cross, however the most disputed point of all is the resurrection of Jesus. The reason why is ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-55

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ