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 251 to 275 of 517 results

251. The War of Malchus’ Ear

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Jesus says, “No more of this!” (Luke 22:51) and He touches the unfortunate man’s ear and heals it! (Remember: St. Luke was a physician, so he ought to know.) But it is only in John’s Gospel that the wielder of the sword is identified as the impulsive Simon Peter, and the slave is identified as a man named Malchus. In the Fourth Gospel Peter is rebuked by Jesus’ words, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (Jn. 18:11) This strange event ...

252. Son of Thunder, Son of God

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... came into the world to change our characters! The very point of the Gospel is that Christ can take a “Son of thunder” and make him a “Son of God”...or “daughter of God.” Christ can take us and recycle us! He can take all of these natural impulses and reactions which cause so much trouble in human life—the desire to be out front, to get ahead of others, to put others down—change them, and turn us around. Again and again in the history of the Church, Christ has taken men and women who seem to ...

253. A Terrorist among the Twelve

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , cutting off his ear. (Mark 14:47) The sword wielder is not identified in the first three Gospels as a disciple, but simply as “one of those who stood by.” Obviously, Simon the Zealot was the man most likely to have a dagger at hand, and have the impulse to use it in such a situation. The fourth Gospel says that it was Simon Peter who did the violent deed that night in the Garden, but whoever it was, it gave occasion for some of Jesus’ most familiar words. “Put your sword back into its place; for ...

254. The Ninth Commandment: Liar, Liar

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself as well as for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal, in satisfying his vices. And it all comes from lying, lying to others and to yourself." Remember, the nation of Israel had just been delivered from the harsh life they had experienced ...

255. The Tender Touch (Part 2)

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... , tells the story of the day he was driving to some destination when he came across three men trying to push their disabled car off the road. It was raining and muddy. Trueblood tried to decide whether to stop and get disheveled or to press on. Finally, his more generous impulses won out and he did stop. The older man got in the car and his two sons plus Trueblood pushed the car and eventually got it off to the side of the road. When the father got out of the car, he took Dr. Trueblood''s hand and said, "I ...

256. Biblical Insights for Being a Christian Father

Deuteronomy 1:1-8

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... men who had dropped out of Harvard for psychiatric reasons. Three predominant items were consistently observed." 1. Marked isolation from their parents--especially the father. 2. An overwhelming apathy and lack of motivation. 3. An inability to control sexual drive and impulses. Then Dr. Nicholi adds this very significant statement. "People in my field relate this lack of self-control to the declining influence of the Father in the home." The home is without question the single most important influence in a ...

257. Follow That Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... at the waste in our supermarkets. (2) Nothing happens in this world until someone sees a star and follows it. These three Magi were obviously men of action. Of course, not every star is worthy of being followed. There are many people who are by nature impulsive. They may jump at any star--only to regret it later. Some of you are old enough to recognize the name Carl Perkins. Perkins was a popular rockabilly singer from the 50s and the author of the classic song “Blue Suede Shoes” which was one of ...

258. Deliverance: The Forgotten Third of Jesus' Ministry

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... division. She left for college in the USA nursing deep wounds. Afraid to bond with other Christians for fear she'd be hurt afresh, she hopped from church to church, developed a fascination with angels, took in a lot of misinformation, and began to get crazy impulses like driving her car full of fellow Christians head on into a truck. Satan can also enter a person by invitation. The desire for power leads some to ask for the devil's presence in their lives. Dabbling in the occult such as séances, tarot ...

259. Will the Real Blind Beggar Please Stand Up?

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... forgiveness and salvation, just like the able-bodied? Wouldn't we squirm uncomfortably if odd-looking people wandered into our worship services or interrupted the sermon or prayers with some question or plea that was overwhelmingly important to them? Our first -- and very human -- impulse is often to shush them, hustle them off to the side, and make sure they're "under control." It's a struggle to push past our fear and discomfort enough to remember that our Savior stops to hear and respond to their cries ...

260. Don't Fence Me In!

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... who knew the meaning of life. Instead of getting such help, he probably came under the influence of the sort of persons who write some of our modern novels and plays. The advice offered by one of these writers is: "Let a man give rein to his impulses as they come." It is that kind of heresy that has helped produce the moral anarchy we see about us so frequently. Dr. Paul Scherer somewhere remarked that one of the definitions of freedom in his dictionary was, "The state of being without physical -- or moral ...

261. Living Lightly

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... who is really alive, they’re vibrant in spirit, they’re spontaneous, and we think it is all so natural, so easy, so effortless, and it is. But ,oh, the discipline behind the spontaneity! William Blake insists that Jesus was all virtue and acted from impulse, not from rules. He did not ponder. Now that may be a bit too strong a description of Jesus, but the truth is there. Even a casual reading of the New Testament confirms this spontaneous quality of Jesus’ life. Note how he dealt with the Samaritan ...

262. What Really Matters The Price Of The High Calling

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... meaning and that his life in self-surrender had a goal. He concluded that witness by saying, from that moment, I have known what it means to leave the past behind, not to look back, and to have thought of tomorrow. The Christian – drawn by the powerful impulsion of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is uniquely equipped to leave the past behind. Yet, how many of us really do it? The dimensions of the past that continue to drag us back, weigh us down and make our movements stumble at best, is our ...

263. The Rest Of The Story

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in prayer. Then he took a candle, lit it, and gave it to the child. She held it for a moment, then placed it on the altar. The old man picked her up again and carried her out of the church. Cronin couldn't help it. He felt an irresistible impulse to follow them out onto the church porch. It was an awkward moment -- he tried to engage them in conversation. "It's very cold," he said. The old man answered politely, "Less cold than it has been this winter." Cronin couldn't keep his eyes off the child and her ...

264. Don't Mess With Mr. In-between

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of James, we said that this Epistle may have begun as a sermon, or sermons. I believe it was more than one sermon. There is too much here. For sure, the letter is not integrated in a structural sense. It is as though the writer is responding out of impulse and emotion, rather than by establishing a logical train of thought. In verses 2, 3, and 4, at which we looked last Sunday, he talked about suffering and how we are to be joyful in suffering. Now in verse 5, he talks about wisdom. In talking about wisdom ...

265. Gratitude Takes Practice

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... -red path which the rising sun paves to our very door over the waters of the lake and never hear God's invitation, "Arise, and follow me." "We can witness reconciliation and recovery in others or experience love and victory in ourselves without the slightest impulse to give thanks." (Donald Shelby, ibid.) We can become like that husband who asked Donald Shelby to read poetry over his wife's grave. We can become so busy, forgetting the gifts, but also assuming too much assuming that we're going to have our ...

266. At the Corner of Church and Main

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... word may be "now." Our human instinct is to live for "now." And even the "laters" -- college, marriage, vacation, retirement, and so on -- that the most prudent of us might save and prepare for is still "now" in spiritual terms. Whether we are by nature impulsive or deliberate, whether impetuous or foresighted, for as long as we are preoccupied with this life and this world, we are living for "now." And the kingdom teachings of Jesus invite us to live for "later" -- to see this world's sorry little treats ...

267. The Privilege and the Price

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... of millions have been lifted from illiteracy and ignorance and have been placed upon the road of growing intellectual freedom and control over the physical environment. It has done more to allay the physical ills of disease and famine than any other impulse, and it has emancipated millions from chattel slavery and millions of others from thralldom to vice. It has protected tens of millions from exploitation by their fellows, and it has been the most fruitful source of movements to lessen the horrors of ...

268. The Heart of an Intimate Matter

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... , I will help you find someone. This is not a battle you will win alone. Repent of prideful isolation. Finally, remember that you are worth saving and that not much will happen without your heartfelt surrender. Letting your convictions run your life instead of your feelings and impulses is the only path to maturity. Jesus Christ is waiting for you to take him seriously. He has more good for you than you can imagine. Only he can make us the kind of men and women we have dreamed about. And, I tell you from ...

269. Going Hard against the Grain

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... different. It was an opening to a bright, new world. It was grace enough to make a racist, murderer faint. How you respond to little hurts determines how you will respond to big ones. You would agree with me that nothing is this world is more natural than the impulses of vengeance and retaliation. You hurt me; I want to hurt you back. You insult me; I insult you back. Justice must be done and balance restored. But no one is freed in that world. The law of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth ...

270. Getting Your Politics Right

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... a mini-moral renaissance here in America. We could again be a good people and show the nations the way forward. How naive I was, how misguided, how uneducated about the seriousness of sin and evil and how it infects all we touch, even our noblest impulses. My theory of history is now much chastened and more modest. We are moving towards an ultimate collision with the kingdom of God, but we are not progressing towards it. It is not onward and upward till God rewards us by topping off our labors with the ...

271. Facing Fears, Kingdom Style

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... an easy way out, building the most elaborate fantasies in which to live, sometimes to the total exclusion of reality.”3 Jesus was under no illusion about mental and spiritual health of his first followers. Thomas was a born skeptic, Peter greatly impulsive and blind to his considerable frailties; James and John used their mother to triangle Jesus and beg favors; Matthew had a history of greed and disloyalty; Judas was dishonest with money and vulnerable to Satan’s whisperings; Mary Magdalene had been ...

272. Stick to the Knitting

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... and looked under "retina," and it cross-referenced me to "eye," and I read in the encyclopedia the most fascinating article about the eye, about the cones and the rods, and about the retina, and about the chemical action that takes place and sends an electrical impulse to the brain so that we can see. It was just fascinating. But what was particularly interesting to me was the number of times the author said about a certain action in this process, we don't know how this works. We don't understand it ...

273. Prayer

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ’t eaten today, the chances are you have had a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of water or milk. Drinking is natural and necessary. Like eating and drinking, prayer is not something foreign to our human nature. Prayer is perhaps the deepest impulse of the human soul. Samuel Johnson was once asked what was the strongest argument for prayer. He replied, “There is no argument for prayer.” He did not mean that prayer is irrational or that there are not convincing arguments for the practice of it, but ...

274. Healing the Pain from the Past

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them" (34:4). When we have been betrayed, one of our first impulses is rage at what has been done to us. Ezekiel's rebuke indicates that God notices the abuse and neglect. Surely, to hear that God was angry with Judah's leaders was a catharsis for the people. When we have been hurt, we have to walk a fine line ...

275. A Gift for You

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

James L. Killen

... who are represented in statues in some churches. It also conjures up some images that are totally unattractive and also totally inaccurate. A saint is not someone who is perfect. Read the stories of the biblical saints. They were very human. Even Paul himself was headstrong, impulsive, and inclined to be a little arrogant - and he had a temper. But God accepted them as they were and worked with them and used them in the service of God's high purpose. A saint is not some super-human being who lives up to ...

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