Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 226 to 250 of 2404 results

226. Our Time Will Come!

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sermon

Donald Zelle

... understanding the value of time as it passes. Knowing our particular place in time gives meaning not only for the present moment, but for the broad picture. Knowing the right time gives perspective to our whole lives. There is value not only in achieving our goals, but in the process of achieving them. There is value not only in getting where we want to go, but in the experiences along the way. The process may be as valuable as the result! How many have not found it so in regard to preparations for that all ...

227. Are You the One?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... issue that’s being brought to a vote. Fear is a powerful motivational tool. The folks in Washington are well aware of that and make frequent use of it. As if that were not bad enough, some people who claim to speak for God also use fear to achieve their personal agendas. The most common mistake we make about fear occurs when we equate fear with things or people we don’t understand. We should be afraid of "those people over there" because they don’t believe in God and don’t even speak the same ...

228. Good News Or Bad News?

Sermon

Rolf E. Aaseng

... and Savior, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:13-14). God makes all things new. The perfection God achieves in us is not the end result of a process whereby we gradually become better and better until we finally attain the level God wants. God's purpose is not accomplished by tinkering with the old model, adding some new parts or repairing or replacing what is defective ...

229. You Can't Start a Car With a Cross

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... general, man-made religion, is often the very thing which keeps people from finding fulfillment. They don't believe that they need Christ because they have their own religion. Secondly, reconciliation with God, with self, and with other people is received as a gift of God, not achieved as a prize for human effort. We cannot lift ourselves out of our pews by the hair of our heads. No act of the self can lift the self out of the self by the self, because the problem is the self: our self-centered tendencies ...

230. Speak From Personal Experience

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

... a cartoon that I will never forget. It showed a drawing of a huge gothic cathedral with the doors closed and padlocked. On the doors hung a sign which read, "Do not disturb!" Hundreds of books line the shelves of bookstores and libraries telling people how to achieve peace of mind. But, although the presence of Jesus does, at times, bring quiet and calm, more often he brings an uproar. At one point in his early ministry our Lord said, You must not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have ...

231. Discipleship Occurs Only In Community

Illustration

Maurice A. Fetty

Very few people are expert in anything all by themselves. They need a supporting community. Do you know a good musician who was not trained, nurtured and sustained by the music community? Show me an athlete who achieves excellence all alone, apart from the athletic community. Very few wise men become so without the accumulated wisdom of the centuries as expressed in colleges and universities and libraries. Medical people are more like ensembles and symphonies than soloists. What business tycoon does it all ...

232. Seeking What Matters

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

... life and wasting it. A goal that is worthy, however, deserves and demands a commitment that is entire. An Olympic athlete must be committed to training; a great violinist must be committed to practicing; anyone who pursues a goal must be committed to the disciplines the achievement requires. After hearing a famous pianist, a lady said to him, "I would give anything to be able to play like that." He replied, "I'll bet you wouldn't give five minutes a day." Another said to a master musician, "I would give my ...

233. Full Barns and Empty Hearts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... of those of us who fail this exacting cultural credo of self-reliance. The gospel doesn’t really work like this. Yes, it does demand something on our part to receive it; but it’s more like getting ready to receive a gift, a somewhat passive action. We don’t achieve the full heart in the same way we are successful in securing our bread. The full heart is something that is given as we reach out for it. There is a very clear statement of this in Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians. He talks about the ...

234. The Sermon on the Level

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

... by small adjustments on the screws of life’s machine. In his Sermon on the Level, our Lord describes the life he gives and molds in us as he lays royal claim on us. That life is not achieved. It is a gift. It is not attained by sensitizing people to humanitarian concerns, however noble, or by legislating with another code of laws, or by turning up the pressure with sanctions against the nonconformist. The old creation has to go. The new creation has to come, but it will ...

235. Counsel for Discouraged Disciples

Habakkuk 1:1-4

Sermon

... know that he is love, that his loving purpose is to redeem his lost people in their troubled world, and that by his grace we are invited into partnership with him in pursuit of this purpose. If we are tempted to impatience in the process of achievement, let us rest assured that there is purpose in his patience. Let us trust him and not lose hope. Ours is a religion of hope, you know. Unlike the pessimism in other great religions, the message in the Christian Gospel is a positive one, affirming life, the ...

236. The Reins of Power

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... to us, but it must be tapped through faith. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who has made such an impression with his emphasis on the power of positive thinking, has a favorite sermon entitled "Imprisoned Splendor." In it he stresses the importance of letting faith enable one to achieve God-given potentialities. We are, to be sure, dependent on the power of God. But God is love, and God seeks only that we love him in return, live in harmony with his love, and be empowered by it. The keys of faith that will unlock ...

237. The Fifth Sunday of Easter

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

... misunderstandings, would all work to interfere with the unity Christ desires for his church. We knew the facts. But the woman knew the truth, the truth as it is in Christ. She recognized, in the experience shared that weekend, a new unity had been achieved, regardless of what the professional theologians and ecclesiastics might say. And she would now be living a different life in relation to Roman Catholics because of that truth. When Christ promises to be the path, he will be faithful, and will open up to ...

238. Pentecost’s Promises Judith Ann Cobb

Isaiah 44:1-5

Sermon

... to continue in the Covenant God made with us in baptism?" I respond that they can make promises because they can always seek the guidance and help of God. I remind them that this is the God who says that since their baptisms they are important no matter what they achieve. This is the God who promises to be there in bread and wine even when they think that they are totally alone. This is the God who calls them one by one to be his disciples. This is the God who will help and guide them. These are believable ...

239. Come, Learn Your Worth

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Various Authors

... youth is replaced by lines in the face and sags in the body? If our worth lies in being young, where is our worth when youth goes? Or suppose our worth seems to rest in some skill or achievement, even a very worthy one. A concert pianist or violinist may enjoy the feeling of artistic achievement, and with it, public acclaim. But if one day arthritis diminishes the dexterity of the performer’s fingers, is her worth gone, too? So often society (and we, in turn) judges our worth by measures which time can ...

240. Proper 22

Mt 21:33-46 · Php 3:4b-14 · Ex 20:1-20

Bulletin Aid

... on our own, you will supplement with the action of your sustaining Spirit. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Forgiving God, it is unfortunately true that, since we do not expect to achieve perfection in this life, we quietly reject it as a goal, and aim for mere decency toward others as our best claim to holiness and godliness. Forgive us, O God, and remind us that whatever righteousness we are unable to attain through our own efforts will be graciously supplemented by ...

241. Proper 23

Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 135:1-21

Bulletin Aid

... God is good! People: SING TO GOD'S NAME, FOR GOD IS GRACIOUS! (Based on Psalm 135) Collect Holy God, you have taught us by the example of your biblical heroes that greatness lies in godliness. Lay that lesson upon our hearts: that, abandoning all worldly standards of accomplishment and achievement, we may find true success in the doing of your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Eternal God, we confess that our human values are all wrong, and that we admire as "successful" those who have ...

242. Paul in Chains

Acts 21:27-36

Sermon Aid

CSS

... scattered, but usually at least a few of them were in Jerusalem. And when Paul reported the glorious growth of his ministry among the Gentiles, the elders who heard him "glorified God" but then immediately urged Paul to soft-pedal such achievements in order to keep the peace in Jerusalem! The elders were in a delicate position. Their only chance to work and worship unhindered in Jerusalem depended on their keeping quiet and unobtrusive. Street-corner preaching and proselytizing was impossible. According to ...

243. Anne Sullivan

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

... is not just the story of Helen Keller. It is also the story of Anne Sullivan. It is the story of a ministry. It is the story of two women who met the Master. Helen Keller’s name is synonymous with achievement despite adversity. The achievement was accomplished both because Helen was a highly intelligent, inquisitive individual, and because Anne Sullivan came to be her teacher. Because Helen’s mysterious, damaging illness left her unable to hear, or see, or speak, she became virtually uncontrollable. Her ...

244. Why Are We So Split Apart?

Matthew 5:9

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... is the man, or woman, or child who has succeeded in coming to a right relationship with himself or herself. In the Queens and Bronx sections of New York City, some time ago, detectives, parents, and young girls were anxious for one man to achieve that kind of relationship. He called himself the mysterious "Son of Sam." He shot seven times in eleven months. His specialty: young people parked in cars, mostly women with long hair. Despite an enormous investigation, there was for a long time little evidence of ...

245. DEFUSE YOUR FUSE

Illustration

John H. Krahn

... impulsive as anger might be, it can be controlled. Saint Paul says to the church at Ephesus, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." God does not command us to achieve that which is impossible to achieve. To control our anger, we must first believe that it can be controlled and then seek God’s help in controlling it. We can control anger through the powerful presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Christ can help us defuse our fuse ...

246. God and the Weather

Matthew 5:45; 16:2-3 · Psalm 18:7-11; 46:1-3, 11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... of nature, I suggest, is expressed in the built-in controls and rhythms that nature itself has. When nature is allowed to work the way God intended nature to work, it evidences a balance that achieves purpose. What’s more, in an overwhelming majority of cases, nature achieves its goals without causing human injury. When my daughter was quite young, she accidentally cut open her forehead. The cut required several stitches, and when the emergency room physician finished his task, he addressed himself ...

247. The Cunning Craftsman, God

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... of accomplishments which he took great pains in enumerating to God. Reading them over and looking at my own life, I find that I fall far short. Also, like any of us, he took delight in accentuating those areas where he excelled or felt that he had achieved perfection. It might be well to reflect on what an impressive record this is. The man is honest in his business dealings, sets fair prices, gives value for value received. He is a model husband. To top it all, he is an exemplary churchman, devout in his ...

248. Forgiving Is Forgetting

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... while a patient is taking one he puts out of his mind the unpleasantness of his feelings. His mind blocks out the imagined and lingering ailments and gains a fresh start. By getting people to quit focusing on their ills and concentrate on their recovery, the placebo achieves a great deal of good. Part and parcel of the teachings of Christ was a focusing on one’s recovery as a good neighbor. The word forgiveness as expressed in biblical Hebrew and the New Testament Greek is the verb "to send away." To send ...

249. Justification and Reconciliation

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... of God, but no man can satisfy its demands. The law demands absolute perfection and pronounces a curse upon "every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them" (Galations 3:10). Not only does man’s effort to achieve salvation by keeping the law lead him into sin, but the effort itself is sin. Paul learned this from his own painful experience. It was his zeal for the law that led him into his greatest sin, the persecution of the church of Christ. Paul concludes not only ...

250. Salvation as Personal Experience

Romans 9:30--10:21

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... the law, then Christ died to no purpose" (Galatians 2:21). "For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified" (Romans 10:4). Accepting in faith what God has done in Christ puts an end to all boasting of human achievement. "Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith" (Romans 3:27). Although Paul is firm in rejecting good works as a condition of salvation, he is just as firm in demanding them as ...

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