Sermons on Selfish Ambition:

Courageous Prayer: Words & Meditations Acceptable

Contributed by John Gaston on Sep 22, 2021

David prayed asking God to help his words and thoughts come up to God's standard of perfection. David's ambition of striving to please God even in the most difficult areas should be our goal as well.

COURAGEOUS PRAYER: WORDS & MEDITATIONS ACCEPTABLE Ps. 19:14 INTRODUCTION A. HUMOR 1. Jeannie Gibbs was trying to have her mother’s phone disconnected, but the customer-service rep told her that since the account was in her dad’s name, he’d have to be the one to put in the request. 2. The ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 19:14

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Heavenly Wisdom Not Earthly Wisdom Series

Contributed by Warner Pidgeon on Nov 25, 2012

These verses put our hearts in the dock. God wants to cast out earthly unspiritual wisdom. He wants us full of his heavenly, considerate, merciful wisdom.

(This illustration comes from Simon Coupland’s Book Spicing up your speaking): Robert Greene wrote a self-help manual for people who want to be amongst life’s winners. He called it ‘The 48 laws of Power’. Here are some of his 48 laws: Never put too much trust in friends; learn how to use enemies. ...read more

Scripture: James 3:13-18

Denomination: Anglican

The Work Of Wisdom

Contributed by Daren Mitchell on May 25, 2012

Is it a shock that the writer of Proverbs 31 used the metaphor of a wife and a mom to explain wisdom? It's not a shock to me.

The Work of Wisdom In honor of mothers day we’re going to talk about wisdom; which is appropriate considering how wisdom plays an active daily part in the life of a mom. We'll start with what the Bible says about wisdom with a Scripture you may wonder about at first. Why are we reading this ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 31:10-31

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Extend God’s Kindness

Contributed by Christian Cheong on May 30, 2012

God is the God of the second chance. Jonah got to see first-hand the remarkable grace of God, and come to a renewed understanding of His love and grace.

Jonah 1:1-3 1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." 3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that ...read more

Scripture: Jonah 1:1-3

Denomination: Independent/Bible

A Donkey's Tale Of Divine Direction

Contributed by Terry Barnhill on Jan 28, 2009

How many of you have a knowingness of God’s ways but don’t necessarily chose God’s way over your own way?

I believe it pretty much goes without saying that “God’s ways are best.” But how many of you have a knowingness of God’s ways but don’t necessarily chose God’s way over your own way? There’s a BIG difference between "saying" and "doing" – isn’t there? I believe it was Bernard Shaw who said, “The ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 22:1-35

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

How Great Is Your Love

Contributed by Paul Fritz on Jun 18, 2003

Love is an uncommon force that copes with suffering. By enduring the pain, sorrow and anger we are exhibiting God’s unconditional love. People who are mature in love endure the pain of selfish, critical and immature scoffers.

How Great is Your Love - I Cor. 13:4-7 Illustration: One evening while appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live, Jack Kemp, the honorable congressman from New York, made an insightful comment about the religious right when he said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When Faced With An Empty Tomb

Contributed by Dana Chau on Mar 31, 2002

Discover the reasons for the four different responses to the empty tomb to help you choose wisely how you will respond

Happy Easter, Everybody! I came across an imagined scenario of the two Roman soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb on that first Easter morning. Each had his cup of coffee in hand. Moments before the angel showed, one soldier said to the other, "Cheer up, it’s Sunday morning. The way I see it, we’ve ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 28:1-20

Denomination: *other

I Will Avoid The Traps Of “churchianity" Series

Contributed by Rick Burdette on Nov 16, 2015

Church Membership, The Body, Selfishness

I WILL – “I Will” Avoid the Traps of “Churchianity” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 27-28 (pg. 799-800) November 22, 2015 Introduction: I need to openly tell you I stole this title from Thom Rainer’s book “I Will.” There is no such word as ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-28

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Wise Or Otherwise? Series

Contributed by Douglas Dudley on Jul 25, 2005

IT SEEMS THE CHRISTIANS IN JAMES’ DAY WAS HAVING TROUBLE DECIDING BETWEEN TWO TYPES OF WISDOM. DO WE HAVE THAT PROBLEM TODAY?

Wise and Otherwise Text: James 3:13-17 Introduction. Sometimes late at night, it’s hard to find a good movie to watch. The other night, as I manned my remote to look at the listings, I noticed a movie called “Dumb and Dumber”. If you’ll remember back to the time when we were kids on the ...read more

Scripture: James 3:13-17

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Simplicity The Path To Contentmet Series

Contributed by David Welch on Jun 11, 2018

This message focuses on contentment a result of pursuing simplicity in our life.

Chico Alliance Church Pastor David Welch “Simplicity” The Path to Contentment Review Those who long for a deeper connection with God and an increased capacity to live life on a higher plane must engage in the things that facilitate such a life. Scripture identities particular habits, exercises, ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-2

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Leaving God Out Of Our Plans – Boasting And Being Arrogant! Series

Contributed by John Wright on Feb 2, 2010

James teaches that it is sinfull to leave God out of our plans and on our own to boast and be arrogant and negligent to His commands.

INTRODUCTION #23 1. Open your bibles to James 4:13-17. 2. In this section of scripture James gives warning about making plans that do not include God in those plans. (1)Young people, is God #1 in your planning for your summer vacation? With your free time will you read the bible and pray more? ...read more

Scripture: James 4:13-17

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

Humility, The Cure For Interpersonal Conflict Series

Contributed by Peter Toy on Mar 26, 2013

How to diffuse interpersonal conflicts through humility

Humility is the cure for interpersonal conflict. The story is told of a Christian couple who were married for a number of years but they got into terrible fights. After one particularly intense argument, the husband stormed out of the house. The wife got on her knees and prayed, “O Lord, you know ...read more

Scripture: James 4:1-12

Denomination: Baptist

Acquiring Wisdom For Dummies

Contributed by Tim Vamosi on Jan 6, 2011

What are you really relying on today? The wisdom of the world? The wisdom of your understanding? Or the Wisdom of God?

--"Acquiring Wisdom for Dummies" #4 in walking in wisdom series OPEN: So for the past several weeks now we've been talking about walking in wisdom. I've kind of camped on this concept for awhile because, well -- it seemed the wise thing to do. It flows out of Eph. 5:15 Be very careful, then, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15

Denomination: Independent/Bible

Fatal Attraction Series

Contributed by David Welch on May 12, 2015

Message 7 from 1 John dealing with refusing to love the world.

“A Dangerous Love” Pt 1 (Fatal Attraction) 1 John 2:15-17 Review/Introduction I. GOD IS LIGHT A. THE MESSAGE: God is Light 1:5 B. THE IMPLICATIONS 1:6-4:6 1. Continually walk (live) in the Light 1:6-7 2. Continually confess sin 1:8-10 3. Rely on ...read more

Scripture: 1 John 2:15-17

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance

Tale Of Two Kings

Contributed by David Welch on Jul 18, 2022

This message draws observations and principles from David's encounter with Saul in the cave were DAvid spares Saul's life.

“Tale of Two Kings” One waited on God, the other didn’t. Introduction The historical narrative style of literature comprises nearly half of the Bible. 43% God chose to reveal Himself in the context of relationships, not a theological text. We best understand relationships through story. Everyone ...read more

Denomination: Christian Missionary Alliance