Sermons on The Unexpected:

Unexpected And Expecting Series

Contributed by Mary Erickson on Dec 26, 2018

The Holy Spirit works quietly within us, bringing new things into being

Unexpected and Expecting Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord. I had the good fortune of attending a baby shower a week ago. Baby showers are joyous occasions. Everyone celebrates the advent of this little one soon to enter our ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:39-45

Denomination: Lutheran

Unexpected Stop Series

Contributed by Kirby Lloyd on Dec 13, 2016

This destination leaves us wondering what in the world just happened…there is often a crisis that seems to put into a spiritual tailspin

Series: Destinations on the Journey of Faith Unexpected Stop Matthew 26:69–75 Intro: Leaving for a trip getting only a few miles and having a blowout… This destination leaves us wondering what in the world just happened…there is often a crisis that seems to put into a spiritual ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 26:69-75

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ

The Unexpected Jesus

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Mar 25, 2013

What do you expect from Jesus? The people, disciples, and the religious leaders had some very specific expectations of Jesus on Palm Sunday. He shattered all of them, just as He shatters our expectations as well. And that's a good thing!

John 12:1-2, 9-19 Jesus performed an incredible miracle in raising Lazarus. It made huge waves. It wasn’t the first person Jesus raised, but it was the first who had been raised after the Jewish belief that the soul had left the body. According to the Talmud (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:1-44

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

Unexpected Jesus

Contributed by Theresa Ratliff on Mar 25, 2013

Do our expectations of who Jesus should be keep us from seeing who he really is?

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about this story that has always bothered me. How on earth could Mary Magdeline, who has been one of Jesus’s closest friends, look right at him and doesn’t recognize him? Isn’t that like…the president of the George ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-18

Denomination: *other

Resurrection Unexpected

Contributed by Tom Fuller on Apr 1, 2013

No one really expected the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today we focus on the expectations of two of those who first saw Jesus: John and Mary. What they expected, and how Jesus actually met them, can help your relationship with Jesus too.

No one saw it coming. No one. On the Sunday following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ no one really expected what happened (or at least it they didn’t fully comprehend it). They should have. Shortly after confirming to His men that He was the Messiah, Jesus said: Mark 8:31 “The Son of ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-18

Denomination: Calvary Chapel

God Of The Unexpected

Contributed by John Gaston on Sep 27, 2012

Jesus reverses people's fortunes. We're shocked that God loves us, has wonderful plans for our insignificant lives,and isn't limited by the options that limit us. In one minute, everything in this man's life changed. God wants to do it for you!

GOD OF THE UNEXPECTED John 5:1-9, 14-15 INTRODUCTION A. HUMOR 1. David, a second-grader, was bumped while getting on the school bus & suffered a two-inch cut on his cheek. 2. At recess he collided with another boy and two of his teeth were knocked loose. At noon, while sliding on ice, he fell ...read more

Scripture: John 5:1-15

Denomination: Assembly Of God

Expecting The Unexpected

Contributed by Ralph Juthman on Feb 23, 2013

The greatest miracle is to be forgiven by Jesus. The greatest ministry is to bring a friend to Jesus

EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED Mark 2:1-12 INTRODUCTION Have you ever been invited to a party or an event for the first time? Do you recall the feelings you had when you arrived? Were your expectations disappointing or were they more than what you could have imagined. This familiar New Testament story ...read more

Scripture: Mark 2:1-12

Denomination: Pentecostal

An Unexpected Gift Series

Contributed by Mark A. Barber on Sep 10, 2014

What is the real significance of the healing of the cripple at the Beautiful Gate?

An Unexpected Gift Acts 3:1-10 Another day had dawned. The man’s friends arrive early to pick him up and take him to the Temple. They brought the man to the Temple door. But he does not enter in. you see, he is a crippled man, and crippled men were not allowed in the Temple. He could come to the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 3:1-10

Denomination: Independent/Bible

An Unexpected Tapestry

Contributed by Donavon Hill on Oct 9, 2017

From the story of Joseph, God used the very same threads the enemy had used to weave defeat into Joseph's life and wove what would become an unexpected tapestry. Look a little deeper into your own story and you'll see how God is doing the same for you.

Please stand for the reading of the Word . . . Genesis 45 5 But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 45:5-8

Denomination: Pentecostal

Unexpected Grace Series

Contributed by Allan Quak on Jan 17, 2020

Our response to those who are have false motives and who scoff at Jesus is to show unexpected grace so that the ungodly may still have an opportunity to experience God’s forgiveness and love.

Message Jude 17-25 Unexpected Grace The book of Jude takes many different and, sometimes, unexpected turns. Jude wanted to write about the wonders of salvation – instead a difficult and spiritually dangerous situation compelled him to urge the recipients to “contend for the faith”. They needed to ...read more

Scripture: Jude 1:17-25

Denomination: Baptist

An Unexpected Friday Series

Contributed by Denn Guptill on Apr 1, 2018

Of all the things that were expected to happen the Friday after the triumphant entry, nobody expected these things.

An Unexpected Friday Nobody had expected this. It was only five days ago that the people of Jerusalem had welcomed Jesus as their Messiah. For three years Jesus had travelled throughout Israel. Preaching, teaching, healing the sick and feeding the hungry. He had quieted storms and cast out ...read more

Scripture: Mark 15:21-32

Denomination: Wesleyan

An Unexpected Sunday Series

Contributed by Denn Guptill on Apr 1, 2018

After Friday nobody expected what would happen on Sunday

Nobody had expected this. It was only two days ago that the people of Jerusalem had watched as Jesus had been crucified as a heretic and a traitor to Rome. For three years Jesus had travelled throughout Israel. Preaching, teaching, healing the sick and feeding the hungry. He had quieted ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:1-11

Denomination: Wesleyan

In A Way Unexpected

Contributed by William L. Vincent on Jan 5, 2013

God will often use things, people and circumstances that do not make sense to the human intellect. God will speak into our improbability and bring forth our destiny.

1 Sam 16:13 Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." 2 And Samuel said, "How can I go? If ...read more

Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Denomination: Orthodox

Responding To The Unexpected

Contributed by Barry O Johnson on May 10, 2018

Many Christians are not prepared spiritually for the attacks of the enemy. This message, taken from 2 Chronicles 20, gives six things we can do to prepare ourselves from the enemy's attacks.

Many of you are much too young to remember the 1965 title bout between the Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and the man he defeated for the title, Sonny Liston a year earlier. Ali knocked Liston out in the first round with a right cross to his left temple that he never saw coming. Ali’s punch ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Unexpected Hope Series

Contributed by Rich Mccaskill on Jul 21, 2020

In our confusing and broken world, we can still have hope because of Jesus.

My own journey of hopelessness began when I was 15. As much as I wanted to believe in God, I could not. I could relate to Tolstoy who recounts an "old Eastern fable about a traveler who was taken by surprise in the steppes by a raging wild beast. Trying to save himself from the beast, the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:24-25, Isaiah 7:14, Romans 8:18-24