Sermons on Serious:

Healthy And Thriving

Contributed by Joey Nelson on Jun 9, 2003

The Scriptures show us examples to emulate and also examples to avoid. Today, we look at an example to avoid in order to be a healthy, thriving church.

INTRODUCTION Opening Statement: There has been an incredible emphasis in recent years on church health. Many believe that if a local church is healthy and functioning the way it should, natural growth will be the result. The removal of growth-restricting diseases that often plague the body of ...read more

Scripture: 3 John 1:9-11

Lord Of The Dance

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 25, 2003

There is joy in losing things because ultimately you find them! We, like the elder brother, do not even know what we are missing by not experiencing conversionsn, nor are we in touch with everyday grace. Celebrate! (Congregation invited to sing, severa

The older I get, the more I lose things. I leave a file on that ridiculous garbage heap I call my desk, and two minutes later it has buried itself three layers down. I set my keys on the table to free my hands for something else, and when I turn my back, those keys take flight. It’s amazing. I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:25-32

Denomination: Baptist

No More Night

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jun 28, 2003

We are promised "no more night": no more blind thrashing about, unable to see where our lives are going; no more mistrust; no more incompleteness. Sermon for Remembrance Day, when we celebrate members who have passed away in the previous year.

Several Saturday nights ago I just was not satisfied with my preaching preparation. Somehow the message had not quite gelled, and I knew there were many improvements I needed to make before Sunday morning. But by then it was late, after a busy weekend, and I decided, hey, so what, it’ll be all ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 22:1-6

Denomination: Baptist

Get Out Of The Boat

Contributed by Denn Guptill on Jul 10, 2003

A look at Peter’s walk on the water

The entire world just disappeared. One minute it was there and the next minute, there it was gone. Well not really but it seemed like everything else had ceased to exist, and all there was left was Peter, the sea and Christ. It had started off as another boat trip across the Sea of Galilee for ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-39

Denomination: Wesleyan

Giant Killers Or Killer Giants

Contributed by Ric Freeman on Jul 15, 2003

victorious living

Killer Giants or giant killers? December 2, 2001 PM "Killing the giant of jealosy" 1 Corinthians 3:3 The ancient Greeks told the story of a swift athlete who came in second. He stood at the finish line, huffing and puffing as the crowd cheered -- Not for him, but for the winner. The second-place ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:3

Denomination: Charismatic

The Three Parades - Palm Sunday

Contributed by John Gullick on Apr 10, 2003

The three Parades. A sermon for Palm sunday that looks at three different Parades from the Bible -each of which we can learn new lessons.

The Three great Processions. Everyone loves a procession. A few years ago all of New Zealand celebrated and the Team New Zealand members triumphantly paraded down Queen street in Auckland to a tumoltuous welcome as they bought honme the America’s cup. But the cabinet is now empty. This week the ...read more

Scripture: Mark 11:1-11, Esther 6:1-6

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Nailprints Don't Lie

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 19, 2003

Thomas dealt with his loss by postponing his choices and by absenting himself from the community. We do the same; but the nailprints of our shame and our guilt tell the truth about us.

 We respond to loss in a variety of ways. There is no predicting how people will act when they lose something they cherish. I have seen everything from screaming and wailing to solid stoicism to outright laughter. I have conducted funerals where people have wept openly, and others ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-29

Denomination: Baptist

In A Better Place

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Apr 26, 2003

For Remembrance Sunday, when we honor the memories of those who have died in the previous year: Those who suffer loss go to a better place emotionally when they cast off unproductive patterns and allow themselves time to receive unconditional love. They

There is something we say to console ourselves when someone dies. It is a phrase I have heard over and over. We say,“I know she is in a better place.” My friend, my parent, my spouse has passed away, but it feels good to think of one truth: “He is in a better place.” By that, of course, ...read more

Scripture: Acts 18:1-23

Denomination: Baptist

Carry Me Back To Old

Contributed by Joseph Smith on May 18, 2003

Nostalgia is a fatal disease, because the burdens of the past are idolatrous and wearisome, and will bring us down with them. But remember who God is and what His purpose is.

This past February I received a diagnosis, and, I’m sorry to say, it’s serious. I have a disease, commonly fatal. If it is not treated, it will destroy me, and I will gradually lose my abilities. I’m telling you about it, because, if we do not take some protective efforts, it will become ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 46:1-4, Isaiah 46:9-10

Denomination: Baptist

Moses In The Muddle

Contributed by Rodney Buchanan on Dec 31, 2000

Moses was a mortal, a mediator, a mentor and a man of God.

A cartoon showed Moses coming down from the top of Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets in his hands. He’s giving a report to the children of Israel and says, “It was hard bargaining — we get the milk and honey, but the anti-adultery clause stays in.” That is seen as bad ...read more

Scripture: Numbers 11:1-15

Denomination: Methodist

The World Is Watching

Contributed by Bill Sullivan on Jan 17, 2001

Because the world is watching us, we can be stumbling blocks or stepping stones to the Kingdom of God.

The World Is Watching TCF Sermon December 31, 2000 Let’s start this morning with a history lesson It was Summer, 1968 - time of turmoil in America, for several reasons -not the least of which was the controversy over the war in Vietnam - like this year which ends today, 1968 was an election ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:1-2, Matthew 18:6-9

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God's Protection In Times Of Danger

Contributed by Howard Harden on Jan 18, 2001

As a father would protect his children, Psalm 121 suggests three ways God protects us from danger.

When I was a boy, my family’s home was broken into three times. Valuables were stolen, memories gone. We realized how unsafe and unprotected we truly were. After the third time, my father decided that this would never happen again. He began to turn our little house into a fortress. For ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 121:1-8

Denomination: Baptist

Agenda Anxiety Series

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Jan 22, 2001

When Jesus speaks to the church, as to ancient Jerusalem, he gives us agenda anxiety, for we fear that we are not going to get done what we want to do, since his agenda is far different.

The campaigns are over. So are the celebrations and the inaugural balls. The toasts, the handshakes, the good wishes are about to fade into memory. Today, for George Walker Bush, the work begins. Today, the list of things to do takes on shape. Today, the agenda becomes different. Yesterday he ...read more

Scripture: John 7:14-46

Denomination: Baptist

So Filled We Cannot Stand

Contributed by Joseph Smith on Aug 5, 2003

What brings the glory of God to worship? Discernment of where we are in God’s plan and a willingness to grow the gifts of God’s people.

What a clattering cacophony, that day in Jerusalem! What an assault on the ears! You could hardly hear yourself think. I don’t suppose they had rock concerts three thousand years ago, but it must have been a little like a rock concert. With noise, noise, noise! Loud, boisterous, ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 5:1-14

Denomination: Baptist

What's Your Cause?

Contributed by Steve Shepherd on Sep 6, 2003

Everyone has a cause, which they promote.

INTRO.- ILL.- A small church in the hills of Tennessee struck oil on its parking lot. It was a gusher and money was coming in so fast that the finance committee didn’t know what to do with it. The committee called a special congregational meeting of the 40 church members asked them what to do ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 1:12-18

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ