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 4977 results

251. Proper 26

Psalm 65:1-13, Psalm 145:1-21, Psalm 32:1-11, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12, Haggai 2:1-9, Exodus 34:1-28, Isaiah 1:1-31, Luke 19:1-10

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... of periscope. By looking up at their mirrors, moving them around from person to person as the liturgical actions develop, they are able to see quite well what is happening in St. Peter's. But Zaccheus had to climb a tree in order to see Jesus. I have two memories ... convicts us of our sins, but it also frees us from them and enables us to live a new life in Jesus Christ. And that makes God quite happy. Wisdom 11:22--12:1 - "God Is An Old 'Softy.' " 1. He is aware of our sin, but he does not destroy us or mete ...

252. Jesus Said: “Try Again”

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

James Garrett

... At the outset Simon is reluctant -- “We toiled all night and took nothing!” The words of a person who has already made the effort and failed. Why should he want to put himself in the position of failing again? How useless this all seemed. Many times quitting is the easiest thing to do once the challenge has lost its glamor in tedious endurance. But to his credit, Simon was willing to take the risk. “… at your word I will let down the nets,” he replied. To their utter amazement, there was churning ...

253. A Farewell Gift

John 14:15-31

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... see it as a command. If you are a Christian you will have peace! I recall the story of a little girl who, when trains were popular transportation, was taking her first train ride with her parents. As night descended, the mother took the girl, who was clearly quite anxious, and placed her on the upper bunk of the sleeper. She told her little one that up there she would be nearer to God and that God would watch over her. As silence enveloped the young lady she became afraid and called softly, "Mommy, are you ...

254. The Story Of The Scandalized Neighbors

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... . He would rob me of figs, scare my sheep - you know, all the nasty little things young boys do to aggravate people. Quite a contrast from his brother Amos. Now he is a decent fellow; works hard, goes to the synagogue regularly, respects his parents ... even better. The tales which came back to our little town whenever anyone went to the big city were staggering. It seems Judah made quite a name for himself as a big spender. BMWs, wild parties, lots of women, booze and drugs. Some of the more religious people ...

255. Soul Food

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... bread is the sermon today! Having heard the scripture read, and now seen this picture, do you get the point? Just in case it is not quite clear, allow me to say a word about it. (Surely you did not think I had frittered away an entire week of sermon preparation time, ... of a sacred covenant, nor of fellowship in such consumption. Let’s try one more picture on our imaginary screen. This one is quite faded and you may have to provide your own details. But if you look closely and study hard you can make out a ...

256. A Road Map to the Kingdom

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... this well when reading on the subject of adult education. Adults are more sensitive to correction than children. A child, when he says he cannot do it, is told quite firmly “Oh, yes, you can.” Pressure is applied to make the child keep trying. An adult, when spoken to this way, may reply, “I’ll show you. I quit.” Consequently, the child learns new things and the adult does not. Adults have built-in signals to tell them when they are losing face. Shame prevents further experimentation. Children ...

257. Where Have All The Visible Miracles Gone?

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... miracles. He does not want to be known as a healer, but rather as the Son of God - the man who rose from the dead. The only reason for the other miracles was to keep faith alive among his followers, to point them to the resurrection. It is now quite evident why we do not need any more transfigurations, why we do not require many visible miracles today. Why not? We are not in dire need of them because the greatest miracle, the one to which they all point (the miracle of Easter), has already happened. We have ...

258. The Bottom Line

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... love with a strong element of loyalty, such as that between two dear friends. This is a kind of love that never quits. It is something radically different from the sentimental stuff of television soap operas. This is nothing less than a call to love ... own strength can show that sort of loving kindness, but with the help of God's Spirit, incredible things can happen! A love that never quits is the second aspect in bottom line religion. 3. To Walk With God The third aspect in the sort of life God wants from us ...

259. The Rights of an Apostle

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... simple ways of witnessing for Christ. Let me tell you a true story about a friend of mine. My friend was raised in the church but quit going when he was a teenager. He and his brother wore jeans and tennis shoes to church one day and one of the deacons told ... were to try and witness to an alcoholic who does not see any value in their life and has given up, we shouldn't say "just quit drinking and come with me to church". That's part of the end goal - but it is not the starting line. Instead we need to figure ...

260. The Innkeeper Speaks

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Edward G. Hunter

... him. He was wise beyond his years. He captivated you with his kindness and his words of wisdom. I had never heard anyone speak quite like he spoke. I heard the religious authorities in Jerusalem thought him to be a rabble-rouser. But I really think they were ... I wish I could believe him. For me it is too good to be true. I say I wish I could believe him. But that is not quite accurate. In my heart of hearts - somehow - I do believe him. My head says, "No, it cannot be," but my heart says, "Do not be so sure ...

261. Melchior Reminisces

Matthew 2:1-12

Drama

Edward G. Hunter

... that the special star was somewhere over the city of Bethlehem. After many days and nights (I don't think any of us made count) we arrived in Jerusalem and sought an audience with King Herod. We inquired of him where the young King may be, and he seemed quite surprised that a King had been born! He questioned us for some time and said that we should tell him when we found him, for he, too, wanted to come and pay homage to him. He appeared somewhat suspicious and uneasy. We said that we would tell him when ...

262. Love Is Down to Earth

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... said that it seemed somewhat presumptious to reduce God's purview to concern over a mere eight million dollars! God does have ways of calling us back to simple piety, of calling us back down to earth! In the upcoming series of Easter sermons we will meet quite a number of times the theme of Jesus' words in this text: "you do not always have me." The church and the Scriptures have developed a number of ways of describing how Jesus remains present with us here on earth even though physically he obviously is ...

263. Talk! Talk! Talk!

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... to me one day thoroughly frustrated. He told me that his witness to an associate down at work had failed miserably. He said, 'I told him everything I knew about the Lord. I gave him both barrels - the whole works - and all he did was freeze up!' Well, quite by accident, I met the person who had received 'both barrels,' and he volunteered a report of the witnessing incident. 'All that guy from your church did was throw words at me. I knew that some of them were from the Bible, and he seemed to enjoy showing ...

264. Why I Believe In The Resurrection

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Brett Blair

... tell the story to others. They were resurrection people. The Apostle Paul wrote: I have died to sin and have been raised with him. This is what I am talking about. The resurrection is an historical event, but it must become more than that to us. It is quite apart from the Battle of Waterloo and man's landing on the moon. The resurrection is an ongoing event, an event shared by every generation. More than that it is an event we are invited to participate in. We are to become resurrection people. It will be ...

265. On Staying Awake

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... devising ways to anaesthesize us against God. On the whole, the record of the church is good. We would do well to take the church seriously if we are trying to stay awake before God. Luke says that Jesus went up to the synagogue, "as was his custom." Quite likely Jesus knew all the failings of the synagogue. He knew how it could be a barrier rather than a pathway to God. Yet he continued to attend the house of worship faithfully. Perhaps he knew the odds were in favor of this being a meeting place with ...

266. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

... frighten one another. Even if you don’t have outright enemies, it is possible to feel very much alone. There may have been times in your life when you have felt no one cares. A woman in a large office was trying to do her job, but finally quit the job because she couldn’t stand the constant criticism from her boss. There are many subtle and effective ways for people to mistreat each other. Jeremiah doesn’t need to fear his enemies, because the Lord is with him as a "dread warrior." Like a strong, big ...

267. God's Push

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... which sat around the family table - dogs like her and her daughter. Oh, my! To be treated in such a way! But the woman doesn't quit. I can imagine she might have thought, "Jesus is my daughter's only hope. I've got to do all I can no matter what they ... s not. God is always pushing us by the presence of other people whose needs cry for our attention. God's push disturbs us enough to quit asking, "What's in it for me?" and begin asking, "What can I give? How can I serve? Who needs my help?" God needs more people ...

268. No Weedless Garden

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

... brief visit. I had the chance to be alone with him for a short time. "How is your essay holding up?" I asked. "I'm not quite sure I know what you mean," he replied. "Well," I said, "I'm curious to hear about your experience of the Church. Is it matching your ... Often, I suspect, our attitude is much the same. We expect other sections of the yield to be weed free and we get quite upset when they are not. Sometimes this upset breaks out in verdicts and judgments. Backbiters, Luther says, are not content just to ...

269. A Day For All the Saints

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

... "wash his robes in the blood of the Lamb" - there is no other way that we shall be able to gain heaven and eternity than by the goodness and grace of God in our Lord. God’s process for proclaiming, or making, saints, is quite different than that of the church on earth. A newspaper headline read: "Beatification process of missionary moving swiftly after 200-year delay." The story concerned the efforts of the Reverend Noel F. Moholy and others of the faithful to promote the canonization of Father Junipero ...

270. Power

2 Corinthians 6:7

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... pile umpteen quarters and dimes into the phone and converse with her in a loud voice. Most everyone would pour into the hallway, yelling at me to make Dan get off the phone and give them a chance to sleep. Each time Dan would look up at me and say, quite boldly, "You don't have the power to tell me when to use the phone. Only the telephone company has the power to tell me not to use their phone." One night while Dan was chattering away with his girlfriend and laying that "You don't have the power" speech ...

271. The Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... that I needed some dental work. I had a rather persistent toothache when I moved my tongue around the inside of my mouth, the spaces seemed like the Grand Canyon. Although I was aware that I needed dental help, I was very reluctant to go for help. I was not quite ready to accept it, much less, move on it. I was with a rather modest parish at that time. In order to save some money, I decided that I would go to the University of Tennessee Dental School to let them look at my mouth and help me decide what ...

272. Proper 18 & Pentecost 16

Ezekiel 33:1-20, Psalm 119:1-176, Psalm 95:1-11, Psalm 115:1-18, Exodus 19:1-25, Romans 13:1-7, Romans 13:8-14, Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 18:15-20

Bulletin Aid

... , L); or, 119:33-48 (E) This extremely long psalm is used on several Sundays of the church year; it fits into the themes of many Sundays. The section selected for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost accommodates the theme in the first reading and the Prayer of the Day quite well, praying, "Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding and I shall keep your law; I shall keep it with all my heart." It is the prayer of an individual that is meant, in worship ...

273. "The Return"

Drama

... feeding the poor - why she never did any of that. Woman That’s a lie. I’ve fed lots of hungry. Liberal Lady Sure you have, chicky, with what was left after you bought the fancy clothes, cars and mansions, a summer home. Woman Lies, lies! I’ve lived quite modestly, and done all I could. Liberal Lady Yeah, sure. Here, ask him how much she helped him. (She grabs a skinny man in beggar’s clothes and pushes him up the aisle.) Ask him. Jesus Did she help you, friend? Beggar Some. She gave me some soy-bean ...

274. A Fool’s Tools

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

... here it was ... a bit musty from the dark storage corner, but (he hoped) acceptable to his boss. The boss’ response wasn’t quite what he had hoped for. In red-faced fury the talent was grabbed and given to the servant with ten. With sobering finality ... are eager to get at the tools you ignore. And there are a number of reasons why tools may be ignored. It is quite possible that an individual doesn’t know he has the tool. An occasion permitting its discovery just has not occurred. Walter Johnson could ...

275. "I appeal to Caesar!"

Acts 24:1-27, Acts 25:1-12

Sermon Aid

CSS

... had persecuted the Christians, killed James, arrested Peter and who finally came to a miserable death (12:23). Young Agrippa was a teenager when his father died, so he had been called to Rome by the Emperor Claudius for training and indoctrination and had become quite popular at the imperial court. In about A.D. 48 Claudius made him King of Chalcis, a small principality west of Damascus in Syria. Later he was also given rule over the territories of Arca and Abilene in Syria and finally of all northern Judea ...

Showing results