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 2801 to 2825 of 4935 results

2801. Unconditional Love

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

Have you ever stood at the side of a baby's crib, just watching the little chest go up and down, the tiny fingers curl and twitch just a bit, the tiny mouth make sucking movements? At such times, the heart just melts, doesn't it? We cannot help but love this little bundle. What has that baby done to deserve such love, such an upwelling of protective feelings? Nothing, really -- it just was lucky enough to be born your baby! Maybe just an hour ago, you were struggling to get some cereal in her mouth, ...

2802. When God Asks The Unreasonable

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

Abraham and Sarah had longed for a child. Throughout their married life they had prayed to God for a son to be their heir. Thanks be to God, those prayers were answered. They were well past the age when one might reasonably expect the birth of a child when Isaac was born. How delighted they were. God had promised that Abraham's descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and with the birth of a male heir that promise was given tangible possibility. In the scripture for today, Isaac is ...

2803. Lent 3

John 4:1-26, Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42, Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 17:1-7 (C, E); Exodus 17:3-7 (RC) The people of Israel cry out against Moses and God for bringing them out into the wilderness, where there is no water. Moses, fearing for his life, takes the problem to the Lord. God commands Moses to take the staff with which he struck the Nile, when the sea parted before them, and strike a rock. Water would flow forth. This place is called both Massah and Meribah. Massah means "test" and Meribah renders "to find fault." The disobedient ...

2804. Proper 14

Genesis 37:12-36, 1 Kings 19:9-18, Jonah 2:1-10, Matthew 14:22-36, Romans 9:1-5; 10:5-15

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: How to overcome a contrary wind. The disciples faced a fiercely opposing wind on the Sea of Galilee. So too did Elijah, after his victory on Mount Carmel. Queen Jezebel was after his life. In both instances, they felt overwhelmed. Then, God came to still the storm. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 Joseph, who was given a long robe with sleeves as a sign of his father's favor, was deeply resented by his brothers. One day, Jacob sent Joseph out in the field to find his brothers and they ...

2805. Pain And Promise In The Heart Of God

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Harold Warlick

One of the amazing claims of the Judaeo-Christian heritage is that God takes on the attributes of humans. God's essence is unknown, but the Scriptures claim that God's actions are known. God experiences what humans experience. In the Old Testament God walks in the Garden of Eden. God closes the door of the ark. God smells the fragrance of sacrificed animals. God chases Moses in the wilderness. In like manner Hosea describes God as a wronged husband who seeks to recover his wife who has gone chasing after ...

2806. Double Image

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

William G. Carter

"You know why I want to join the church?" The speaker was a father in his thirties, holding an infant on his shoulder. A red Land's End diaper bag was slung over his other shoulder. His wife stood next to him in the church narthex, holding the hand of a cranky two-year-old with a runny nose. The father said, "We began to worry about raising our children. There are too many opinions about what's right and what's wrong, too many temptations, too many possible wrong turns. We want our kids to learn some ...

2807. Fifth Sunday of Lent

John 12:20-36

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Greeting Leader: Jesus said, "Whoever serves me must follow me." Congregation: Lead me, Lord, lead me in righteousness; make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety. Leader: And Jesus said, "Where I am, there will my servant be also." Congregation: Lead me, Lord, lead me in righteousness; make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety. Leader: And Jesus said, "Whoever serves me, the Father ...

2808. Jesus, The Mad Man

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Erskine White

... they went out to seize Him, for they said, "He is beside Himself." (Mark 3:21) I'm not a big movie-goer and I hardly ever watch the same movie more than once, but there is one film I have seen five or six times, and I'd see it again if I could find it. Evidently, a lot of other people felt the same way about this film, because it ran in one big city movie theater every day for twelve years. The film is called "The King of Hearts," and it has to do with an insane asylum caught up in the middle of World ...

2809. A Voice Out Of The Cloud

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

James Garrett

Today we celebrate the Transfiguration Of Our Lord. We will soon begin the Lenten Journey. Often Lent is abused. It has in certain times and places become a period of empty abstinence from tidbits of affluence, and the enjoyment of gloom of self-denial. This is not the purpose of Lent. These 40 days should be a period of engagement with God, of repentance and prayer and a renewal of our baptismal vows. Lent looks towards God’s act in the cross and the resurrection. Lent is the opportunity to move within ...

2810. Who’s In Charge Here?

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Keith Hammer

Anyone who works in a hospital emergency room can relate many stories of persons who come in under emergency situations and have suffered what appears to be a heart attack or have stopped breathing for other reasons. They are put on a breathing machine. Some of these persons do not regain consciousness even after they are put on the breathing machine. Then after a period of days or sometimes weeks the doctor and family must make the decision to remove the machine. Often it means that the person will not ...

2811. The Glorious Company

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

Harmless fun some call it. Others suggest it is never harmless or funny to joke about evil, even if we know that the witches and gremlins, devils and werewolves who roam our streets are the little children of our neighborhood, and the glaring faces in our windows are no more than hollowed-out pumpkins whose candles will not even last the evening. While there are some October Scrooges who bemoan the knocks at the door, there are many more who pile up the fruits and candies, turn on the lights and wait by ...

2812. "On A Hill Far Away"

Eulogy

Joe Barone

Deuteronomy 26:5-11Psalm 78:12-16Hebrews 9:24-28 A Scriptural MeditationOn An Often-used Funeral Hymn Our faith is a paradoxical thing, isn't it? In Jesus, God turns our world upside down. That's one thought I always have when I hear the words to George Bennard's beautiful old song, "On a Hill Far Away." In that song, Bennard talks about clinging to the very things from which we shy away. He talks about clinging to the suffering and death of Jesus. As we come here today to share our love and our grief at ...

2813. What Reasons to Betray the Savior?

Matthew 26:17-30

Drama

Joe Barone

[Note: During this Lenten season, we're trying to look at the happenings in Jesus' passion and death as several people in the story might have seen them. What would have been Peter's reaction to the portion of the story that we have today? Here's what I think it might have been.] Dramatic Monologue: Simon Peter I don't know why I couldn't have seen it at the time, but there wasn't anything in Jesus' life that didn't matter. Everything had some kind of kingdom meaning. Take that little scripture you heard ...

2814. When Life Closes In

Matthew 26:17-30, Matthew 26:36-46

Sermon

Robert Allen

David was a young man in his early 30s and seemed to have everything going his way. He was a successful businessman. He owned a sales and service-oriented business. He owned an entertainment business and he owned an apartment complex. Besides being successful in business, he was happily married. He had a wife, two children and a big Irish setter that had its own pet chicken. Wherever that Irish setter went, you would see people stop and stare because there would be a Rhode Island Red riding on his back. ...

2815. We Are His Witnesses

Acts 5:17-42

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

Exegetical Aim: The importance of being a witness. Props: A basketball, something for a special talent that you have, and someone dressed like a clown, at least someone with a funny wig and clothes. This person should stand at the back of the church out of the sight of everyone. See that the children sit with their backs to the clown's location. Lesson: Today I want to teach you what it means to be a witness. Does anyone know what the word "witness" means? (response) Let me demonstrate it to you. Get one ...

2816. The Season of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Acts 2:4 TEV) Some of you who are over thirty may have had the pleasure, as I did, to grow up on a farm. Rural living and country life was a happy time for me. But summertime on the farm was always the big season of work. Here in the city we tend to relax a little more during summer. We try to take a vacation trip. We go out of town on weekends every chance we get. Young people spend a lot ...

2817. The Fifth Sunday in Lent

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Kendall K. McCabe

The Jesus whom we meet in John's Gospel often seems to be an intimidating sort. He strides through the pages saying things like, "I am the water of Life," "I am the Bread of the Life," "I am the light of the world," and, in today's Gospel, there occurs that climactic affirmation, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." All of that may be true enough, but we have to admit that it is not your everyday mode of conversation, and people who go around saying things like that are not easy to get close to. In John's ...

2818. When God Says "Go"

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

Several years ago Alvar Persson was elected mayor of Grove City, Minnesota. It was an unusual election, partly because of the size of the victory - Persson garnered eighty percent of the vote - partly because Persson is a Lutheran minister and not a politician, but mostly because Persson wasn't even running for office. No one was. Next to the word Mayor on the ballot was a blank space. Only write-in votes could be cast. Of the eleven people whose names were written in, Persson was the clear choice - 202 ...

2819. Chosen as Witnesses

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. By his great power we have been born anew to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ..." "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory ..." "The Lord God omnipotent reigns and he shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah!" It is a glorious day. It is a day which celebrates the pivotal experience in the Christian faith. It is the day on which we celebrate the power of the Living God, not only to give life, but to sustain it ...

2820. Bloody Hands, Troubled Soul

Mark 14:12-26

Drama

Setting: The nave should be dark, except for the dim light in the chancel area. There is an altar or table in the center of stage, on which a chalice and loaf are placed. Judas should appear out of the darkness, using a side door close to where the people are sitting, and begin his opening remarks from there. Throughout the rest of the drama he may roam freely throughout the chancel. Judas should be darkly, but not shabbily, dressed. Text: Mark 14:(10-11), 17-50 Cast: Judas Iscariot, a man, probably in his ...

2821. Song of a Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Twenty-third Psalm is quite possibly an old man who has lived the better part of a lifetime. In his day he may have been a shepherd. But now the years have siphoned his stamina. So he sits and reminisces on what used to be. And as he does so he observes another shepherd silhouetted against the sky leading a flock to a greener pasture. Instinctively, the sight turns the poet’s mind to the numberless days and nights he tended his own flocks under God’s watchful eye; and once again, as has ...

2822. Stewards of Creation

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

About the second Sunday in November each year, after mailing out a flood of brochures, putting up posters, twisting arms of the faithful to make visits, and designing a banner, there comes from this pulpit what I like to call, "The Sermon on the Amount." Members sit in the pews and squirm on their billfolds, hang onto their checkbooks and purses, fill out a pledge card reluctantly, and sing the hymn: "Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold." For biblical justification of this once-a-year ...

2823. Resurrection: From Brokenness to Wholeness

Matthew 15:29-39

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

His name was Jahmai. In the ancient lineage of his people Jahmai was one of the sons of Tola (1 Chronicles 7:2), a worthy man and father of a great tribe by the days of King David. But the Jahmai of our story lived much, much later in the Hebrew lineage and his grand namesake was long forgotten. The Jahmai of our story was a youth, and this day he walked behind the crowds that followed Jesus. His walking was slowed because of his left leg being bent, never going straight. It meant that he would step-slide ...

2824. Goodness Is Not Good Enough

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

There is something rather appealing in the way the rich young man intercepted Jesus as he journeyed to Jerusalem. He greeted the Master with the enthusiasm of a child throwing himself into the outstretched arms of a father returning home after a long day at work. And, like a child, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "Good Teacher," he exclaimed, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" In his sincerity, the young man knelt when he asked the question. Jesus was greatly impressed by the young man’s ...

2825. Confrontation in the Temple

John 2:12-25

Sermon

George Bass

Jesus laid claim to a special relationship with God the Father. He demonstrated an all-consuming love for the Temple (where formal business with God was done in worship and study) when, according to Saint Luke, he was twelve years old. Neither Matthew, Mark, nor John includes that account in their gospels. But Luke evidently considered the incident to be a true story that was important enough to be included in the gospel that bears his name; he was interested, as his Acts of the Apostles affirms, in ...

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