Sermons on Serving Poor:

What God Taught Me About Himself Through Rudolph

Contributed by Jerry Owen on Dec 21, 2017

Christmas sermon looking at the song "Rudolph" and applying his experiences to our lives and understanding how God loves us, how He invites us to join His work, and how He desires to bless us.

WHAT God Taught Me about Himself through Rudolph It seems I had heard the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer a dozen times one day at work this past week. If you listen to the song, you can see that we have a lot in common with Rudolph. Sometimes we feel unloved, sometimes left out, and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:21-22

Denomination: Baptist

Created To Do Good Works

Contributed by Christian Cheong on Nov 9, 2006

We are made with a purpose, to serve God by serving people.

You are made with a purpose. You are made to serve God by serving people. You don’t exist for yourself. The Bible says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph 2:10 Just like a potter makes a clay pot to hold water, ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 2:10

Denomination: Independent/Bible

The Unveiling Of The Kingdom Of God In The Beatitudes (1) Series

Contributed by Ron Tuit on Feb 5, 2013

The Beatitudes proclaimed on the Jesus' famous "Sermon on the Mount" are often misunderstood. This message examines the first four "happy sayings" as well as the explosion of miracles which preceded this meg- meeting on the mount.

The Unveiling of the Kingdom of God in the Beatitudes (1) Matthew 4:23- 5:1-6 Matthew 4:23 “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. 24 The ...read more

Denomination: Baptist

Open The Doors Of The Church Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 29, 2014

Jesus enjoins us to do the will of the Father, but learning how to do God's will is a lifelong journey.

Thursday of the 1st Week in Advent Joy of the Gospel When I read this passage from the great prophet of Advent, the Hebrew priest Isaiah, my memory goes back almost ten years to our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Both the Old and New Testaments contain a recurring theme, one we see most perfectly ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-27

Denomination: Catholic

Happy Are The Needy

Contributed by George Yates on Apr 10, 2012

It is when we truly realize how needy we are for God that we find happiness

I. It is interesting how some people who went through the Great Depression can brag about how poor they were. A. "We were so poor when I was growing up that the mice that lived in our house always ate out." 1. "You've heard of powdered milk--we were so poor when I was growing up, we had powdered ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:3

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Everything She Had: A Life That Matters Series

Contributed by Amiri Hooker on Nov 6, 2021

The first attribute of a life that matters that we will examine in this series of sermons this month is generosity. Generosity, as reflected in our gospel text this week, is about how we hold the stuff of this life lightly, even as we hold people and Christ tightly.

A well-known hymn that captures this idea of generosity is “Take My Life, and Let It Be,” 399 in The United Methodist Hymnal. The middle verse often catches us singing with our fingers crossed: “Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.” In this text of the widow’s mite, we need to ...read more

Scripture: Mark 12:38-44

Denomination: United Methodist

Do Not Fear; Only Believe

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 27, 2024

God made man and woman in His image, with the plan that they would act and become more and more good, more and more like Himself. That was the divine order.

Thirteenth Sunday in Course 2024 In his great Summa Theologiae, St Thomas Aquinas wrote “the order of the Divine government is wholly directed to good. . .no one acts intending evil.” (ST I Q 104 Art 1) Those words are an appropriate commentary on the words from the post-exile writing Book of ...read more

Scripture: Mark 5:21-43, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, Exodus 16:18, Psalm 30:2-12

Denomination: Catholic

Show Love, Not Favoritism (James 2:1-13) Series

Contributed by Garrett Tyson on May 27, 2022

Favoritism is a tricky thing. But we need to copy God's example, in honoring the poor. Also, my first crack at unpacking "kingdom" in light of Scot McKnight's book Kingdom Conspiracy.

Let's start today by reading James 2:1-4: (1) My brothers, don't, with partiality, hold the faith of our glorious Lord, Jesus Christ. ["w/partiality" =focused] (2) For suppose someone should enter your assembly with a gold ring on his finger, with fine clothing. Now, also a ...read more

Scripture: James 2:1-13

Paul's Resume

Contributed by Dr. Ronald Shultz on Feb 9, 2024

If they are rolling in the dough to their church or program do not go.

Paul's resume dispels the whole Prosperity Gospel. When these false apostles and prophets have a resume like Paul's I might want to hear what they have to say as that experience will prove they are wrong. Apostles and prophets that brag about their wealth and live the life of a rock ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:5-10, Matthew 7:21-23, Proverbs 19:17, 2 Corinthians 11:1-33

Denomination: Baptist

Choices

Contributed by Charles Salmon on Dec 10, 2002

Choose between thanksgiving and ingratitude, obedience and rebellion, worship and disrespect, serving self and serving others.

Choices Isa. 1:18-20 INTRO.: The prophet Isaiah wrote about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, yet he is extremely contemporary. You might think he wrote just yesterday the way he describes things in Judah: All over the world, political conditions were unstable and violent. Power was gained by ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:1-3, Isaiah 1:18-20

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Mighty Mite Series

Contributed by Todd Stiles on Nov 16, 2006

See what a poor widow can teach us about what it means to give everything.

“The Mighty Mite” (Luke 21:1-4) Let’s take our Bibles and open them to Luke 21. We’ll be looking at verses 1-4, and I see this passage much like the PIP on many of the newer televisions out today. How many of you have seen the “picture-in-a-picture” technology? It lets you view two things on the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 21:1-4

Denomination: Baptist

Giving To God Wholeheartedly

Contributed by Joel Santos on Sep 14, 2004

JESUS PUT HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL ON THE POOR WIDOW’S WHOLEHEARTED GIVING TO GOD

JESUS PUT HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL ON THE POOR WIDOW’S WHOLEHEARTED GIVING TO GOD I. THE POOR WIDOW SHOWS HER COMMITMENT TO GOD (V.42) A.She was not hindered to come to God by her present situation (v.42a) “And the poor widow came” a. Willingly b. Boldly B. She was not ashamed to give her few ...read more

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

God Sent His Love

Contributed by Bill Butsko on Dec 18, 2009

God delivered His love to mankind through a poor young virgin named Mary.

Text: “….God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:9). There are some people who do not realize how important they are to Almighty God. They do not seem to understand that they are not here by accident, but that God the Father has a definite plan ...read more

Scripture: Luke 2:1-20

Denomination: Christian Church

It's Time To Get Serious About Mercy

Contributed by Theresa Ratliff on Mar 26, 2013

We are poor witnesses when we fail to model God's love, mercy, and grace.

In the book of John, Jesus often uses words and phrases that have more than one meaning to make a point. For example, when he discusses being “born again” with Nicodemus, he uses a word which means both “again” and “from above”. In today’s scripture lesson, ...read more

Scripture: John 8:2-11

Denomination: *other

To What End? Series

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Nov 24, 2022

Both the arrogant rich and the suffering poor get the same message: “today is not all there is.”

Almost every commentator and preacher I looked at while preparing this sermon splits this passage of James into two parts. The first part, v. 1-6, is a discussion of the danger of depending on wealth. The second part, v. 7-11, typically focus on patience. Well, I’m going to buck the trend. Because ...read more

Scripture: James 5:1-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed