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 2526 to 2550 of 4963 results

2526. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... tapped his cane on the vaulted ceiling of the old and decaying synagogue in New York’s lower east side. Morris Weiser was among the few Jews who survived the Janowska concentration camp in Poland, and now, a retired butcher in his seventies, his one remaining passion is to keep alive the Chasam Sopher synagogue. The synagogue has few Sabbath worshipers now, but Morris has put all of his savings into this place, sustains it by his constant effort, keeps it barely alive by the sheer force of his will. "When ...

2527. When Nothing Can Be Done

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Thomas Long

... pain, but there is always hope. Even when a struggle is mounted against overwhelming odds, there is at least the dignity of doing something, anything, about one’s circumstances. But "nothing can be done" ends the meaningfulness of the struggle and destroys what remains of dignity. "All hope abandon, ye who enter here," were the words Dante imagined over the final portals of Hell. "Nothing can be done." To be a leper in New Testament times was to live constantly under the motto, "Nothing can be done." The ...

2528. What’s In It For Me?

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... temptation was: "Fall down and worship me and all the kingdoms of the world and their glory shall be yours." In other words, Satan kept saying to Jesus: "Look what’s in it for you." Jesus resisted that temptation. "Begone, Satan," Jesus said. Jesus remained obedient to God. Through Peter’s words, however, that old voice of temptation came to Jesus again. "You don’t have to suffer," Peter told Jesus. "Messiahs don’t suffer! You can have it all, Jesus." "Get behind me, Satan!" Jesus replied. "For you ...

2529. The Glory and the Cross

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... They did not know what to say. Peter (naturally it would be Peter) thought they should say something. "Master," he said, "it is well that we are here." We have had our own experiences of glory. We know something of what Peter experienced. We always want to remain in that glory. Peter continued. "... let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Mark 9:5b). The last words we had heard from Peter were words of rebuke. He rebuked Jesus for his announcement that he must suffer and ...

2530. We Wish To See Jesus

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... hour had come. "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified," Jesus says. And Jesus says more. He tells us how it is that he will be glorified. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." That is how Jesus is to be glorified. His death on the cross is his glorification! "... I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself," Jesus says. John adds these words: "He said this to ...

2531. Doubting Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... . Jonah living in the belly of a whale? Jesus turning water into wine and performing one miracle after another? The resurrection? The more Arnie thought of it the more he was convinced that these stories just could not be true. Arnie could not bring himself to remain committed to a religion with all of these superstitions, with all of these so-called miracles. Serious doubts had come to fill his head and he just could not bring himself to darken the door of a church any longer. And Gert. Gert had spent some ...

2532. I Am The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... hairs of your head are numbered," Jesus once said. (See Matthew 10:30.) It is great good news to be known and loved by the God who created the universe. And when God knows and loves us, God never leaves us alone. That old word from the book of Genesis remains true for us today. "It is not good that we should be alone ..." (Genesis 2:18). It is not good to be unknown people. It is not good to be merely a number in someone else’s counting process. "I have other sheep," Jesus tells us. "Those sheep are not ...

2533. Happiness Is ... the Kingship of Jesus

John 18:28-40

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... the pastor indicated that he was having huge success: inmates were responding by accepting the kingship of Jesus for themselves. That gladdened the heart of the pastor. He felt that he was blanketed by blessing. He was actually sorry that only two years remained until his sentence expired! Rongong’s audience smiled and chuckled when he spoke of the prisoner’s reluctance to be freed. But that pastor had something all Christians once had, or longed for if they did not, something that in the early church ...

2534. Where Do Sins Go?

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... been sitting on the steps of a bank, the shadow of a soldier unbuttoning his shirt, the shadow of a painter caught in the act of dipping his brush. There are other shadows, too, which have an enduring quality. Shadows of personal influence remain permanently etched on human lives long after the persons themselves have gone. When Marc Antony climbed that pulpit in Rome to deliver Caesar’s eulogy, he spoke eloquently of those lingering shadows of consequences: "The evil that men do lives after them" (Julius ...

2535. What Is God Like?

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... of the first Adam are gathered around that tree to challenge God’s authority. When we think of Absalom’s rebellion, we understand the personal nature of sin more clearly. We see what God has to deal with. When sin is described as "transgression," it remains impersonal. It is the stepping over the line drawn by the law. But, to think of sin as "rebellion" involves thinking of sin as a revolt against a person. In his autobiography Treasure in Clay, the late Roman Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote: "No ...

2536. Will Names Never Hurt Us?

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... his name. Instead, he became the president of Washington College at Lexington, Virginia. This small college had been badly damaged by the war. Reflecting on his life, General Robert E. Lee said, "I have led the young men of the South in battle; I intend to give the remaining years of my life in training them to do their duty in the time of peace." Nearly 3,000 years ago the author of Proverbs wrote: "A good name is more to be desired than great riches; esteem is better than silver or gold." Between 1605 and ...

2537. How Can We Live Wisely?

Job 26:1--31:40

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... Max Gunther an unusual assignment. Gunther was to find two men born about the same year with similar family backgrounds and economic conditions. Then he was to research and write an article to show how these two men lived in such a way that one remained in poverty and obscurity, while the other went on to wealth and fame. Max Gunther began his research in New York City’s Bowery district, the "skid row" of men who were drunken, jobless, and hopeless. In the Majestic Bar, he talked with many men. After ...

2538. Is Your Religion Second-Hand?

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... inhospitality that they wanted to call fire down from heaven to destroy that place. Maybe that is why Christ nicknamed those two men "the Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). This Samaritan village did not welcome Christ. Because of that refusal, their knowledge of Christ remained a second-hand thing. There were other Samaritans, however, who did welcome Christ. They had heard about him from an infamous woman of their village. That woman had gone to the well in Sychar at noon to draw water. For her to go to the ...

2539. God’s Dwelling Place

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... , the Tabernacle, the Temple - the once for all meeting place of God with his creation. Long years of waiting resulted in the world’s deepest love story; the waiting faithful are rewarded with life-giving empowerment through him. The House of Jesus remains as an extension of the House of David. Because of the incarnation the conviction has spread throughout the world that no tent, house, tabernacle, or temple can hold God. Though we invest our houses of worship with special meaning and practice the ...

2540. What Do We Do Now That We’re Happy?

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... to do with their lives seeing that they are happy, rich, and beautiful. Having arrived at a peak of eminence and ready to pick the plum, the rewards elude them, and their lives slip away into futility. Like skiers on a slope they cannot remain in place, but slide irrevocably ever beyond the happy moment. Something quite special was supposed to happen to shift life forever from the ordinary and boring. But, nothing automatic took place. The magical moment came and went, and life slipped out from under them ...

2541. Who Knows?

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... at the mercy of what? Who knows? Then new currents of destiny beyond his wildest imagination take over. Jonah finds himself cast up ashore, helpless and bewildered with the trauma still at work in him, yet, nevertheless, in a new place. Through it all the Word remains. This time the Word is willingly received, and Jonah obeys. On his own resources he cannot manage his reassigned task any more than he could before. But, this time he knows it. He moves out with the high currents that have taken him in tow ...

2542. A Streak of Common Sense

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... which enable us to get the most with the least. It calls for being sharp, clever, and able to manipulate circumstances; but, on reflection, it demands that we at least ponder what might result from different choices. What are the costs of a safe house and remaining free when it’s all over? Is this the consequence a person wishes to receive at the end of great efforts, or might it to be play with abandon? To be in control after one’s project is over demands deep reflection, careful planning, and keeping ...

2543. Movin’ Around Room

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... hearted person. What a bland offer compared to that of the self-assured person we have been! But, is it actually a risk? We know that if we stay the same we will only go deeper into despair. The handwriting is on the wall. The only real risk is to remain as we are, without any prospect of movin’ around room. Christ moves in on our ten-inch space and does a new thing. He opens our eyes that we might see. His gift is an option, that, in surrender, we gain the possibility, just the possibility, that there is ...

2544. The Two Most Important Questions A Christian Can Answer

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

... on its side in the Aramaic language reads, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” The ossuary has been thoroughly reviewed by scientist and archaeological experts and they have concluded it is “very probable” that this is the actual burial crypt for the remains of Jesus’ brother James. In the book of Acts, James was the first leader of the early church. What is so breath taking about this artifact is it’s the only reference to Jesus from the first Century. Prior to this there was nothing ...

2545. Advent 1

1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Mark 13:32-37, Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... your Kingdom wherever and whenever it may break into our lives. This we pray in the name of your Son, who taught us, among so many other things, watchfulness. Amen Prayer of Confession Most gracious God, we admit with sorrow that we do not always remain attuned to your presence in the world, and that when we think about your coming at all, it is often with abstract and remote speculations about clouds and catastrophes, which cause us to overlook your "little advents" in the least of our brothers and sisters ...

2546. Epiphany 3

Jonah 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 7:1-40, Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:14-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... leave behind our old occupations in favor of our new profession of faith in you, your Kingdom, and your Son. In his name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Ever loving God, we are sorry to have to admit that, more often than not, we remain attached to old allegiances and preoccupations that have nothing to do with our profession of faith in the Gospel, except perhaps to detract from it. Forgive our insecurities and our unwillingness to let go of the comfortable past. Teach us to reorient our minds, hearts ...

2547. Easter 2

Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:5--2:14, John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... God, we confess our tendency to deny our honest doubts, and to cover them with denials and self-deceptions, which leave our faith shallow and uninformed. Forgive us, we pray. Teach us to use the inquiring minds that you gave us in pursuit of the truth, and help us to remain open to the kind of evidence that will satisfy us that your Word is real and alive. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

2548. Easter 6

Acts 10:23b-48, 1 John 5:1-12, John 15:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... how often we place limits of time and place and credentials on your presence among us and gracious love for us. Forgive us, we pray. Teach us that we should not, and indeed cannot, confine your divine activity to our schedules and prejudices; and help us to remain open in all of our religious busy-ness to being preempted by your Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen Second Lesson: 1 John 5:1-6 Theme: The victorious quality of faith Exegetical note The author of this epistle conveys here what he takes to be ...

2549. Proper 4

1 Samuel 16:1-13, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, Mark 2:23-3:6

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Most loving God, we confess our habit of turning our religious activities into requirements rather than responses to your grace, and of making of Christianity a system of good works and rules. Forgive us, we pray. Help us by your grace to become and remain spontaneous and sensitive in our righteousness, which comes finally from you. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen

2550. Proper 5

1 Samuel 16:14-23, Mark 3:20-30, Mark 3:31-35, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... ), tied together by the fact that both Jesus’ friends and the scribes believed Jesus to be crazy (or possessed). The point here is that to those who stand outside the circle of faith - even family members and the very religious - who Jesus is and what he does remain a mystery. Call to Worship Leader: Sisters and brothers of Christ, we follow a man who to the world appears mad. People: WE FOLLOW A MAN WHOSE WAYS SEEM MYSTERIOUS. Leader: But the eyes of faith see in him the Christ. People: AND THE HEARTS OF ...

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