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 2826 to 2850 of 4957 results

2826. EPISODE 4: THE FOURTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... At the casket] Oh, sin, what have you done to my Father’s world? You’ve opened the door for death, and now he walks among us, the uninvited guest, who asserts his power over us and evicts us from our homes. Nothing was made for him, and yet he claims everything for his own. Not even the holy circle of love can keep him out. Oh, sin, what have you done to my Father’s world? [He weeps.] MARTHA: We know you loved him, Lord. SECOND CLERGYMAN: [Snappishly] We’re going to be late to the cemetery. MARY: We ...

2827. EPISODE 5: THE FIFTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... . BISHOP: We are not a welfare agency. We are the appointed ministers of God. GOVERNOR: And jealous of your office. BISHOP: Rightly understood ... GOVERNOR: Allow me to continue. I suggest that you are after this man Jesus because he makes religious claims about himself which you are not willing to acknowledge; because he refuses to submit to your authority; because he has condemned as narrow your particular interpretation of the laws of God; because he has exposed ecclesiastical corruption; and because he ...

2828. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... . Let us illustrate it this way: Highway 296 is a three-hundred-mile length of typical mid-western road. It is springtime, and driving along its distance, a forty-year-old man is going west. His destination is a hospital morgue where he will identify and claim the body of his beloved wife, her life lost earlier today in a grisley auto crash. The traveler sees nothing but a blurred view of highway pavement and roadside signs. On the same day on the same road, another man is also driving west. Beside him ...

2829. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... always easy to have this kind of image. At any moment we must view the future from wherever we are; and we who are living in our day are looking into the future out of a terribly pessimistic time. Remember Jesus’ parable of the prince, going to claim his kingdom, who turned over his affairs to his associates to care for them until he should return? Remember that one who failed so miserably? And do you remember why he failed? He said it himself, "I was afraid." He had been afraid the venture of the prince ...

2830. To Bethlehem and Beyond

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... , "Joy to the world; the Lord is come; let earth receive her King," long before anybody ever sang "Frosty the Snow Man" or "Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer." The carolers singing on the street weren’t trying to take over Christmas from anybody; they were simply laying claim to what was already rightfully and properly theirs. How far are we from Bethlehem? I have the uneasy feeling that many of us have a long way to go. Peace and good will among men? On the human scene there’s a tragic lot of glaring at ...

2831. Significance in Life

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

... at a person who is unhappy. I remember one time I was walking along Times Square in New York, and I passed a little bar that had a sign hanging outside which read: "Come on in. There is never any dull lull in here." Well, that was quite a claim. I thought I ought to investigate, so I went in. What did I see? A picture of human happiness? The customers were sitting along on the bar stools staring at themselves in the bar mirror with obvious distaste. The bartenders were looking back at them with the same ...

2832. Signs Of A Vital Church

2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... not to make people more respectable or to clean up their language or to make them more tolerant of other people, though those are noble by- products. Our goal is to help people encounter Jesus Christ in a meaningful and personal way, and to claim him by faith as their Savior and Lord. Recently I read with interest an article by the syndicated columnist William Raspberry. He reported that he had just attended a national convention of social workers. There he discovered this startling truth. All of the social ...

2833. The Wonderful "T" Word

Malachi 3:6-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... off the top of my earnings. Giving off the top forces me to flex my faith muscles. I have to believe that with God's help, 90 percent of my paycheck can meet my family's needs. Tithing declares the priority of my life because it's the first claim on my paycheck, even before I pay Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Company. Tithing is an act of obedience; the Bible clearly commands that I do it. The Bible does not say that the primary purpose of tithing is to support the church. The primary beneficiary of tithing ...

2834. Please Pass The Salt

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , once wrote: "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers." (My apologies to those in the funeral home ministry). A man named John was on a cruise ship one time and met a man who claimed to be exceptionally good at guessing people's vocations. The guesser said, "You see that man over there. He is a physician." John checked and sure enough he was a physician. John asked him, "How could you tell." "Well," said the guesser, "I saw the care ...

2835. A Reason For All To Be Thankful

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... works for good..." God through his Holy Spirit is the creative mover, the powerful shaper. God, not the system he made, works for good. Please don't interpret this verse to mean that everything that happens is good or is planned by God. The Bible doesn't claim that. Some things that happen on this earth are so bad that they almost break God's heart. Please never say to some grieving person after a funeral, "Brother, God must have had some purpose in taking your loved one from you; perhaps he was needed in ...

2836. The Perfect Gift

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , a miracle made possible by the Cross, a miracle that happens each time one of us says to God sincerely, "I'm sorry, Lord. For Jesus' sake, please forgive." A second gift offered by Christ is eternal life. We who have dared to step out in faith and claim Jesus as Savior and Lord don't have to wonder where we will spend eternity. Our heavenly reservations were made that first moment when we repented of our sins and genuinely believed in Jesus as Lord. When we die and reach heaven's gates, no one will pull ...

2837. The Names of the Christ-Child

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... isn't it interesting that Matthew ends his gospel with Jesus uttering the words that mean Emmanuel: "Lo, I am with you always." Ours is the only religion on earth that declares that God became a human being and lived on this earth. Most other religions claim that God is so high and lifted up, so insulated and aloof, that he would not condescend to besmirch himself with the filth and commonness of earth. But our Bible declares that "The Word (meaning Christ) became flesh and dwelt among us." The great writer ...

2838. The Beauty of a Childlike Faith

Matthew 18:1-9

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... ego problems. Either we are genuinely big-headed and self-centered or often we are trying to cover our inferiority complexes with a layer of cockiness. The junior senator from South Carolina, Ernest F. Hollings, has such an oversized ego that he himself makes jokes about it. He claims he once failed a lie detector test when he said, "In my humble opinion..." When Jesus called us to be like little children, he meant that we should feel so secure and affirmed in God's love that we won't need to brag or put ...

2839. Do Wrinkles Hurt?

Psalm 92:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Then I asked him if he was willing to express his gratitude to Jesus Christ by allowing him to be the Lord, the boss, the commander of his life. He said, "Yes." Then we prayed together, inviting Jesus Christ to be Savior and Lord for him. Later, cancer claimed that man's body but it couldn't touch his soul. He faced that disease with calm, confident faith. I am convinced that the persistent peace of his last days here was directly related to the fact that he had already made his long-term reservations. Some ...

2840. Our Exclusive God (The First Commandment)

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . It can be sought down lots of streets: drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, or risk-taking. Some people get their fix from movies with extreme violence or bungee towers with death-defying risks. They live to get high. I heard an expert on compulsive gambling claim that many of the late night accidents which happen on Highway 61 between Tunica and Memphis are really suicide attempts. He said that when a gambling addict loses big, the depression and guilt he feels for a few hours are intense. But after about ...

2841. A Courtroom Confrontation

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... awesome question: "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" The answer to that question is the key to freedom or bondage. If anything else supersedes Jesus in my order of values, I am bound by some form of captivity. But if I claim Jesus by faith as my Savior and Lord, he frees me from lesser slaveries and enables me to become more than I could ever imagine. Pilate leaves us with this awesome question reverberating within our hearts: "What shall I do with Jesus?" In closing let me give ...

2842. Straight Talk With A Young Adult

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... ?" The trader replied, "This one is the son of an African king and he can't forget it." My word today to young adults and to the rest of us is this: never forget that you are a child of the King of kings, ransomed by the Christ of Calvary, claimed by the church for discipleship, and destined for heaven. Never forget who you are!

2843. "Almost" Is A Sad Word

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... young ruler." In terms of disciples, he was the big one that got away. He could have been the powerful establishment figure who might have won half the Jewish power structure to Jesus. One day he met Jesus and hovered on the brink of commitment. He almost claimed Jesus as the Lord of his life. But "almost" is not good enough. I call your attention to Matthew's gospel, chapter nineteen, beginning with verse 16. The story of the rich young ruler is in three of the four gospels--Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Each ...

2844. The Cross In My Pocket

Isaiah 52:13--53:12, Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , in order to forgive and reconcile you to God, then you are an eternal winner. When you die and report to the gates of eternity, you will be covered by the righteousness of Christ. You will by-pass judgment and proceed directly to your heavenly home. Therefore, claim your new identity and be an eternal winner! There is a third truth that the cross in my pocket calls to mind: THE CROSS CALLS US TO MINISTRY. In verse 23 of our text, Jesus said, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves ...

2845. Controlling Our Cravings

Luke 12:13-21, Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... within her. As she took the frame apart to repair it, a paper fell out from behind the cardboard backing. It was her former employer's will. In it he stated that all of his wealth should go to the one who loved his son enough to claim this particular portrait. The amazed governess inherited the entire estate. The one who loves God's son, our Lord Jesus Christ, more than all the glittering allurements that this world offers will receive as a gift life abundant and life eternal. In the name of the Father ...

2846. Failures Need Not Be Fatal!

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , Peter preached to a huge crowd and some three thousand persons committed their lives to Christ. So often God picks us up after a failure, changes us in vital ways, empowers us, and sends us right back to the place where we fell on our faces, to claim that battlefield for Christ, the plant the flag of victory where we had earlier run up the white flag of surrender. Our Lord even bends our failures to some good purpose. We learn from our failures. The great golfer Bobby Jones once said, "I never learned ...

2847. Glorious Surprises

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... filled with the Spirit; therefore, when we ask sincerely, we can be assured He will fill us. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit already dwells within you. The Holy Spirit took up residence in your heart the moment you confessed your sin and claimed Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. But that indwelling Holy Spirit is not activated or unleashed unless we ask. Ephesians 5:18 is in the present tense in the Greek--"Be filled with the Spirit"--meaning that we must be constantly and continually ...

2848. Put the Cross on Top

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... but disregarded his eternity? We must share with our friend who has AIDS the fact that all of us are terminal cases. All of us must die and spend eternity somewhere. We have a Savior who died for all of us sinners. If we repent and claim him by faith, our salvation is his gift to us. We must keep the cross on top. Our United Methodist General Conference was held in Denver last month. General Conference is the supreme legislative body of our denomination. It meets every four years. A Memphis newspaperman ...

2849. MR. CAIN

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

... We were just going to have a friendly conversation, the kind brothers are supposed to have. And he spoke to me about religion. Because he is ... JAREL WAS CAIN WAS a very religious man. He spoke to God as a friend. And apparently God heard him. So Abel claimed. At least he was continuously giving thanks. Continuously. Without ceasing. And I told him: "You are an offense to me, a stink!" And he prayed my forgiveness. And I told him to move away, to leave me alone. And he said it was not right that brothers ...

2850. Well, What Did You Expect?

Acts 12:1-19a

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... the northern people and the southern people. Sensitive soul that he was, for whom would he pray, for what would he pray? Among his private papers was found a little essay titled "Meditation Upon the Divine Will," and it included these words: "In great contests, each party claims to act in accordance to the will of God. Both MAY be wrong. One MUST be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present Civil War, it is quite possible that God’s will is something different ...

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