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 4915 results

251. Step Six - Willingness

Jn 5:2-9a · Heb 4:14-16 · Is 1:12-20

Sermon

John A. Terry

Step six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Here is Isaiah, whom we saw in last week's text being so awed by God's presence, so totally aware of his uncleanness before God. His was a majestic experience of worship. In this morning's text God speaks through Isaiah, questioning the validity of the people's worship. The local Chamber of Commerce recently came out with a listing of the best of Gwinnett. It listed the best pizza, the best athlete, the best country road. And ...

252. Salvation Through His Suffering

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

The people of his ignoble day harassed him, hunted him, and lied about him until they got him where they wanted him - on a T-shaped scaffold intended for the worst of criminals! But though it is true that Jesus thus suffered, nevertheless when we look at Calvary, we are not witnessing a murder. We are not witnessing the death of a martyr. We are not witnessing the execution of a political revolutionary who made a mistake in public relations and got himself crucified. We are not witnessing drama - an actor ...

253. Lift High The Cross

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

Last Sunday we left the people of Israel at Mount Sinai where they had received the commandments of God. They spent about a year at this holy mountain. (They arrived at Sinai in Exodus 19:1; they did not break camp until Numbers 10:11.) In our text for today, they are on the move again through the trackless wilderness. Their wilderness wanderings were the best and the worst of times for these chosen ones of God. On the one hand it was the time when God and the people were on close and intimate terms. God ...

254. Easter: The Festival Of Joy

Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

In the book of Proverbs we read: "A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." A better translation says it more plainly: "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones." The issue is also clearly stated by the preacher in Ecclesiastes: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ... A time to weep and a time to laugh." In the Gospel of Matthew this very clear reminder by our Lord: "Do not look ...

255. Sleeping Through A Tornado

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Southern Californians were awakened earlier this year by an earthquake. Last fall Midwesterners had to cope with floods. Can you imagine, though, sleeping through a tornado? Bill Bryson says his grandparents pretty much did. One night they were suddenly awakened by a roaring noise like the sound of a thousand chain saws. For a few moments the whole house shook. Pictures fell off the walls. A clock fell off the mantle in the living room. Bill's grandfather got up, plodded over to the window and peered out. ...

256. Bloody Lintels — Broken Bread

Exodus 12:1-14

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

Two Russian surgeons and an anesthetist took turns lying on an operating table beside a critically-ill patient, according to the then government newspaper, Izvestia, and saved the patient's life with direct transfusions of their own blood. Fresh blood was needed because the patient's own blood had ceased to coagulate. In such a case, conserved blood, would not be effective. The three women practitioners each gave what they could -- a half pint of blood. A television show depicts a traveler lost in the ...

257. Through His Faithful Death, Jesus as Messiah Redefined Brings Life

Matthew 27:27-31, Matthew 27:32-44, Matthew 27:45-56, Matthew 27:57-61, Matthew 27:62-66

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: In his narration of the crucifixion Matthew intertwines his affirmation of Jesus as the true king of the Jews with his use of Psalm 22 to indicate Jesus as the one who trusts God when suffering unjustly, thereby demonstrating Jesus’ death as the completion of his faithful mission, a redefinition of kingship, and a cosmic life-giving event. Understanding the Text The crucifixion narrative (27:27–50) brings together various christological threads of Matthew’s Gospel. The kingly (messianic) identity ...

258. CHEEK-TURNING POWER

Illustration

John H. Krahn

How many of us are in the process of developing ulcers? How many of us are carrying resentments? How much damage is being done internally because we will not forgive someone who hurt us deeply? How much of our daily life is being colored grey by an angry mind quarreling in fantasy bouts with an adversary, an ex-husband, an ex-wife, a relative, a neighbor, a fellow worker, or even a fellow parishioner? Who are suffering from high blood pressure or even heart problems because they have not forgiven ...

259. The Power of Testimony

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Mark R. Smith

Begin by telling the story (or reading the scripture) of the woman at the well from John chapter four. Tell it up to this point in the scripture, and then you may want to pause and say something like: [Now, what follows is the scripture I’ll be preaching from. As Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story.] John 4:39-42 39Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him ...

260. Unlocking the Power of God

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

What can faith do? It can part a raging sea and allow a nation to walk through. What can faith do? It can knock down the walls of a fortified city so that God can prove a point. What can faith do? It can single out a woman who follows God's lead and protect her from certain death. Today many people are into "reality" television shows where individuals are put to extreme tests. We watch them because we like to see others battle against great odds and come out victorious. When an underdog comes out on top, ...

261. Life Always Springs New!

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Donald Zelle

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, thou knowest." Again he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' " Ezekiel 37:1-4 (RSV) To some disappointed ...

262. Power Failures and Power Surges

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Is this a great parable, or what? All of Jesus’ parables are like depth-charges, but this one seems to give off a dazzling display of fireworks when it explodes. The power of Jesus’ parables is that even though they were all set in the first century world, they have perfect twenty-first century pitch, both in terms of resonance and relevance. Granted, today’s parable talks about strange wedding traditions, midnight processions, a late bridegroom, and nearly a dozen dozing bridesmaids, but the whole ...

263. Why Earthly Powers Need No Longer Enslave

Daniel 7:15-28, Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

This is a story written for people who had been or were about to be persecuted, if not enslaved. (The book of Daniel was probably written in the mid-second century B.C. during a period of Seleucid [Syrian] domination in Palestine.) It tells them and us how their ancestors had once faced a similar slavery under the oppression of the Babylonians centuries earlier. The implication was that if these ancestors could endure and overcome such bondage, so could they and so can we. Our lesson for this morning is ...

264. Prayer Power

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

We hear a lot in our culture today about “power.” We lament and condemn unsavory power. And we vie and vote for power in a world in which power seems to be the way to guarantee the results we want to see in our world. Still we always seem to feel utterly powerless. We also talk a lot about our own power. We see books that teach us how to regain our power, use our power, stand in our power, recognize our power, use our power instead of giving it away to someone else! In a world in which we tend to feel ...

265. Deliverance through Thanksgiving

Psalm 50:1-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One our big failures as Christian is our continual refusal to discipline ourselves in living with the word of God. We need to study the Bible. It is the source of our life, it is the food for our souls. But not only do we need to study the Bible, we need to read the Bible devotionally, and there is a difference between studying the Bible and reading the Bible devotionally. The sermon today comes out of my devotional reading of the Bible a few weeks ago. But before I get into the sermon, let me share with ...

266. The Power of the Trust Factor

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

How can we trust God when life seems to turn on us? You know what I mean, I am sure. You are going through life with ease and smoothness then all of a sudden things begin to unravel. You put your head down and try harder but it does not work. As one old saying puts it, "The harder I try the behinder I get!" No one in all human history personifies those words better than Job. Scripture speaks glowingly of this good man, describing him as "blameless and upright." It says that Job "feared God." If the ...

267. Prophets and the Powerful

1 Kings 21:1-3, 17-21

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, o my enemy?' He answered, 'I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.”' (1 Kings 21:1-3, 17-21) A few years ago, Dr. Billy Graham was asked about his friendship with then recently deposed Richard Nixon. Graham had been something of a court chaplain during the Nixon years -- a frequent guest at the White House, deliverer of state prayers, conductor of private services on Sundays in the East Room for the President, ...

268. Uzziah is Dead!

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Donald Zelle

Those who look to this well-known Old Testament lesson for some new insight on the interrelatedness of the Persons of the Godhead, look in vain. There is nothing here that especially commends this text for Trinity Sunday. However, there is much for our consideration. "In the year that King Uzziah died ..." These opening words may seem incidental to the rest of this autobiographical account, but they are not. They fix the time of this spiritual experience. In this, they give us a particular historical ...

269. Our Time Will Come!

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sermon

Donald Zelle

Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul's servants said to him, "Behold now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well." So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me." One of the young men answered, " ...

270. God's Power to Change Lives

Galatians 1:11-24

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

Call to Worship Pastor: We come together to celebrate God's power to change people's lives. People: We thank God for the many lives that he has transformed by his power and grace. Pastor: The Christ who revealed himself to St. Paul and transformed his life can do the same for us. People: We pray for Christ to visit us, and remake us to be his faithful disciples. Collect Almighty God, whose powerful love is able to change the life style of even the worst of sinners: Remold us by your love to become new ...

271. Spirit Powered Anointing

Luke 4:14-21 · Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Anointing. This is a term that means that the Holy Spirit is with you, that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. When you are “anointed,” you are not only empowered but commissioned into action. The word comes from the Greek word echrisen, to anoint from the root chrio, also related to christos, anointed one, the word we call “messiah.” Jesus has been “contracted” by God with the power of the divine Holy Spirit to impart “good news” of God’s favor and grace. And what good news it was! This inauguration of ...

272. Movin’ Around Room

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

We know that if an arm is tied down to the body for a long period of time, when the binding is removed, the arm is unusable. The muscles have begun to waste away until the arm is in a state of atrophy. A recent event in our community attracted wide news coverage. Someone had tied a young dog to a tree by a ten-inch leash. The act outraged people. With ten inches for movin’ around, the dog was doomed to death in a short period. To stay alive, the body with all its parts needs movin’ around room. Yet, there ...

273. Resisting The Power Of Temptation

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A silly story has been going around about a young man who was hitchhiking through one of our Southern states. A farmer driving an old pickup truck stopped to give him a lift. As they rode along, they got to talking about the local moonshine whiskey. The young man said he didn't drink very much. Moonshine would probably be too strong for his tastes. "Nonsense!" said the farmer. "You gotta try some." He fished around behind him and finally produced a small jug. "Here," he said, handing the jar to the lad. " ...

274. The Word Above All Earthly Powers

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. — John 8:31-32 Recently, I came across a list of the 100 most influential people of the last 1,000 years. First on the list is Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press with moveable type. Following right on his heels and coming in at number three, is one of my all-time faith heroes, a Catholic priest by the name of Martin Luther.1 According to tradition, exactly 500 years ago this ...

275. The Power of Belief

1 John 5:9-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The famous inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, discouraged his friend, Henry Ford, from pursuing his fledgling idea of a motorcar. Convinced of the worthlessness of the project, Edison invited Ford to come and work for him. Thankfully, Ford remained committed to his idea and tirelessly pursued his dream. Although his first attempt resulted in a vehicle without a reverse gear, Ford knew he could make it happen. And, eventually he did. “Forget it,” the experts advised Madame Marie Curie. They agreed that radium ...

Showing results