Sermons on Pencils:

Valentines 2009 An Enduring Love.

Contributed by Aubrey Vaughan on Feb 9, 2009

This sermon encourages and guides married couples and those thinking of marriage into keeping their love for one another enduring a lifetime.

VALENTINES 2009 AN ENDURING LOVE. 1JHN 4:7-12 JOHN BLANCHARD STOOD UP FROM THE BENCH, WHERE HE WAS SITTING, STRAIGHTENED HIS ARMY UNIFORM, AND STUDIED THE CROWD OF PEOPLE MAKING THEIR WAY THROUGH GRAND CENTRAL STATION. HE LOOKED FOR THE GIRL WHOSE HEART HE KNEW, BUT WHOSE FACE HE DIDN’T, THE ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 4:7-12

Denomination: Baptist

This Is A Hard Saying

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Aug 20, 2009

The Word of God can be understood when we let the Holy Spirit speak to us through faith.

Text: “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’” (John 6:60). Has anyone ever told you something that was really hard to believe? When we were very young, we usually believed whatever people told us because we didn’t think they ...read more

Scripture: John 6:56-69

Denomination: Christian Church

Turtle Top Theology Series

Contributed by Jeff Strite on Aug 23, 2009

Is there anything wrong with wanting to be great?

OPEN: One of Dr. Seuss’s more famous poem is called “Yertle the Turtle” “ On a far away island of Salamasond, Yertle the turtle was king of the pond. A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat. The water was warm, there was plenty to eat. Until - one day - the king of them all decided the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:46-50

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Witnessing Done God's Way Series

Contributed by Stephen Collins on Jan 6, 2009

Part 5 of "Being the Church," focusing on the importance of sharing your faith in a relational manner.

Being the Church Part 5: Witnessing Done God’s Way Scripture: Acts 8:25-40 Icebreaker: When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:25-40

Denomination: Church Of God

Striving To Be A Church Of Christ

Contributed by David Owens on Sep 8, 2009

Principles to insure that we are indeed a church that belongs to Jesus.

Introduction: A. I love the old story told of the man who was shipwrecked on a beautiful, deserted South Pacific island. 1. Years later, he was discovered by a passing a navy ship. 2. Upon their arrival at the shore they were met by the shipwreck survivor. He said, “I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve ...read more

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Stand Still And See

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Sep 12, 2008

We will not have to fight our own battles if God is in control of our life.

Text: “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you” (2 Chronicles 20:17). If you stop and think for a moment, you and I have faced many enemies in our life time. As a child there were other children who thought they ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 14:5-14

Denomination: Christian Church

The Message Of Jesus

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Nov 16, 2009

1. Salvation is more than just me being forgiven for my sins. 2. The goal of the Christian life is not just salvation, but transformation. 3. We are transformed in order to be God’s transforming agents in the world.

Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called “The 2013 Year Old Man”. In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman who has lived for over 2000 years. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, “Did you always believe in the Lord?” Brooks replied: “No. ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:14-21

Denomination: Methodist

To Be Missional Is To Be On Mission By ‘bearing One's Cross'

Contributed by Jim Kane on May 18, 2009

Third and final sermon in the second part of an initial 2009 series, ‘2 Things 2 B in 09’

Language is an interesting thing. It changes with new words added each year to our lexicon and old ones falling out of favor. It also means that the meanings of words change and some are used as either as a verb or a noun. (Slide 1) For example, we when say ‘ADdress’ we mean a specific location ...read more

Scripture: Mark 8:34-37

Denomination: Church Of God

Greater Love

Contributed by Jim Heidebrecht on Jun 21, 2007

Delivered at Hopewell on Memorial Day weekend. It is important to remember the Service, Sacrifice, and Love of our Heroes, the greatest of which is Jesus Christ!

GREATER LOVE (John 15:13) Intro: Memorial day – about remembering Sometimes, we are not so good at remembering things: 3 sisters, getting up in age: All in the living room in the evening. Gerty got up to go to bed, halfway upstairs she stopped and asked, was I going up, or going down? Mabel ...read more

Scripture: John 15:13

Denomination: Baptist

One Heart And Mind

Contributed by Steve Shepherd on Jul 9, 2007

Let’s think about what contributed to their unity of heart and mind. 1- They were unselfish 2- They were witnesses 3- They were gracious

INTRO.- ILL.- Rotterdam, New York—A young bride who got into an argument with her husband of a few hours ran him down with a car and killed him on the way home from the wedding reception, authorities said. The county district attorney said 21-year-old Joan Kenison drove over her 23-year-old ...read more

Scripture: Acts 4:32-35

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Values Of The Person God Prospers Series

Contributed by Jason Pettibone on May 14, 2007

Observations of the kind of values that Jesus outlines in the Beatitudes. (Heavily in debt to Dallas Willard for seminal thoughts!)

Last week, I talked about the need for a transformed heart, made alive by God’s Spirit. If our desire is to please God and enjoy His blessings, our heart must be renewed daily, and we must discipline our hearts so they are undivided! We need not be ‘miserable Christians’ frustrated by the gap ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:3-12

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Shift Family

Contributed by Tim Hedberg on Dec 10, 2007

God is with us always.

It doesn’t take long for us to learn of God’s desire of the first couple in the Bible. In the first chapter of Genesis, v. 27, the text tells us that God created "male and female." And in the following verse, v. 28 we read “God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 78:1-72

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

What Do You See When You Pray? Series

Contributed by Chuck Debardeleben on Dec 18, 2007

What if you didn’t have to force yourself to pray because you were convinced that prayer unleashes the power of God?

WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU PRAY? 1 KINGS 18:38-46 Let me as you a question that might seem contradictory, “What do you see when you pray?” As a camp counselor for a summer I was given supervision of the youngest campers for the week. Ever experienced living with six and seven year olds in a cabin ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 18:38-46

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

It Is Well With My Soul Series

Contributed by Victor Yap on Dec 20, 2007

Judges, Pt. 5

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL (RUTH 1:14-18) The hymn “It is Well with My Soul” was written by Horatio Spafford after a series of disasters struck his family. Spafford, a successful businessman and a close friend of the evangelist D.L. Moody, lost his only son at about the same time the Chicago fire in ...read more

Scripture: Ruth 1:14-18

Denomination: Independent/Bible

What Were You Expecting?

Contributed by Michael Hollinger on Feb 22, 2007

We Need to Expect God everywhere

Title: What were you expecting? Text: Luke 1.5-25 MP: We need to expect God everywhere. Intro: Sadly, I just couldn’t find this story on the Internet, but I remember one of those “human interest” news stories from a few years back. It seems that a tourist from somewhere in Eastern Europe had ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:5-25

Denomination: Baptist