Sermons on Rocky Ground:

Veteran's Day

Contributed by Dean Rhine on Nov 12, 2012

Veteran's Day sermon

Veteran’s Day 2012 - 2 Samuel 23 Take your bibles this morning and turn with me to the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 23. As a boy, I loved watching war movies -- whether it was John Wayne or Battle of the Bulge or the Dirty Dozen or one of my favorites, The Great Escape. A generation before ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 23:8-12

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Preparing For The End

Contributed by Mike Rickman on Aug 30, 2013

If you believe the end is near, then what are you doing about it?

September 1, 2013 Morning Worship Text: Isaiah 44:1-8 Subject: Revival Title: Preparing for the End You can’t go anywhere today where Christians are gathered without hearing someone talk about the imminent return of Christ. I can say without any doubt that the majority of us here today ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 44:1-8

Denomination: Assembly Of God

How To Win The Battle For Your Life

Contributed by David Nuhfer on Jul 16, 2008

Three things we must do if we are to win the spiritual battles we face each day.

If you have ever watched a heavy-weight fight, you may have heard Philadelphia fight announcer Michael Buffer shout his trademark line, “Let’s get ready to rumble.” It means that the fight is about to begin. It has been used in other places for other reasons by many people, but it always means that ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-18

Denomination: Baptist

Digesting The Golden Veal - Golden Calf Series

Contributed by Peter Loughman on Jun 16, 2008

We today fool ourselves. There is sin in our lives and we may stop the sin, we may see to it that the sin is eliminated from our lives – but that is not the same as being repentant and turning away from our sin.

Mark Twain was a man who became quite hostel towards the Bible and towards the Christian faith. He was so persistent in his attacks upon Christianity, that his wife, who was a devote Christian, became so discouraged, she eventually turned her back on Jesus Christ – something Mark Twain regretted ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 32:17-35

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Learning From God's Providence

Contributed by Charles Scott on Jun 22, 2017

Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered. Similarly, St. Paul learned from the Christ that he had persecuted, the things he would suffer as He followed the Christ. Living the Christ life, we will see how suffering aids in redemption.

Trinity 2 2017 Learning from God’s Providence The Collect O LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy ...read more

Scripture: 3 John 3:13, Luke 14:6

Denomination: Anglican

Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You

Contributed by Rodney V Johnson on Aug 22, 2016

This message is about how we can get so caught up looking at and desiring something that someone else has that we fail to walk in the blessings that God has already given us.

Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You Scriptures: Psalm 1:1-3 Introduction The title of my message this morning is “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You!” Some of you are old enough to remember the song with this title. Let me read the first verse of this song to you: ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 1:1-3

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Are You Still Throwing Stones At Others?

Contributed by Jeremiah Menyongai on Mar 9, 2020

Let me talk about stones. God requires Christians to take care of each other. Not to pamper people in their wrongs, but to encourage them get back up when they do wrong or fall. We must have that Barnabas Spirit – to be willing to help each other when down.

John 8:1-12: 8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they ...read more

Scripture: John 8:1-12

Denomination: Charismatic

Prayer For The Church

Contributed by Ajai Prakash on Jan 21, 2015

The church and our nation don't seem to be in a good spot and need much prayer. The church in Ephesus was in a similar spot and Paul knew that they needed prayer desperately. Have we been focusing on praying for the church in our nation?

Opening illustration: A friend told me about a neighbor who years ago spent most of his spare time planting trees. The man seldom watered the young trees because he thought that too much watering spoiled them. (He came from the “no pain, no gain” school of plant care.) Pampered trees, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-19

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

The Two Trees

Contributed by Edward Hardee on Mar 15, 2022

Dealing with the tree of knowledge and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is the difference?

The Two Trees Theme: To show that there are two trees we chose from: 1) tree of life or 2) tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is the difference? Text: Genesis 1 - 3 Genesis 2:4-9 This is the history [3] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 2:4-9

Denomination: Church Of God

Light In Earthen Vessels

Contributed by D. Dewaine Phillips on Mar 29, 2022

God saw a lowly farmer like Gideon as a mighty warrior. When God looks at each of us, He sees a mighty warrior too. However, that warrior doesn’t appear unless we put our trust in the Lord and rely entirely on Him in faith.

Our text today will come from the New International Version. In our message we’re going to view a story about an ordinary man who had an intense struggle with trusting God, and this man’s name was Gideon. We will learn how when Gideon finally trusted the Lord, that he understood what it meant to ...read more

Scripture: Judges 6:11-40, Judges 7:16-22

Denomination: Baptist

Solitude Is Delicious

Contributed by Bala Samson on Mar 10, 2022

There are moments when loneliness thankfully becomes solitude and solitude deliciously transforms into creativity. This was the divine purpose of God for my solitude!

WILDERNESS – DAY 3 Matthew 3: “Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Ministry of John the Baptist starts in the wilderness; isolation was inevitable for John because he was going to deal ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 3:1

Denomination: Pentecostal

Stand And Strive Series

Contributed by Glenn Pease on Mar 30, 2021

Paul said to put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Without this weapon of endurance we will not stand but fall wounded from his fiery darts of affliction.

William Lloyd Garrison was born in 1805 and when he became a man he had the audacity to think he could remove a mountain and altar the flow the river of history. Slavery was that mountain, and what a mountain it was. Slavery had existed from the dawn of civilization, and it was one of the most ...read more

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:6

Anxiety Is A Downer

Contributed by Derrick Tuper on Nov 14, 2016

Last week I shared Prov. 12:25, "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." As I focused on the later part of the verse last week, today I want to focus on the beginning part of the verse. So, let's look at the subject of anxiety.

ANXIETY IS A DOWNER INTRODUCTION: Last week I shared Prov. 12:25, "An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." in regards to shining our light. Light warms and so therefore a kind word warms a person's heart. As I focused on the later part of the verse last week, today I ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 12:25

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Learning To Trust God!

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Oct 1, 2018

The story of Gideon is a great example of just an ordinary man who learned to trust God & became a man of impressive courage.

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK TEXT: Judges 6:1-40 (NLT); Judges 7:1-25 (NLT); Matthew 6:31 (NLT); ILL. Chuck Swindoll, in his book, "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity," tells about a church in the Soviet ...read more

Scripture: Judges 6:1-40, Judges 7:1-25, Matthew 6:31

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

A Candidate For An Extreme Makeover

Contributed by Otis Mcmillan on May 17, 2022

In his misguided thinking, Saul thought that he was fighting for God. We need an extreme makeover when our actions are fighting against God and innocent people, yet we think we are fighting for God.

Sermon: A Candidate For An Extreme Makeover Scripture Lesson: Acts 9:1-19 “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. 2 He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation ...read more

Scripture: Acts 9:1-19, Hosea 4:6

Denomination: Methodist