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 2926 to 2950 of 4972 results

2926. No Appeal

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

... , we need to hear that God is continually calling workers. In our parable the owner keeps employing people throughout the day. It's a matter of urgency. The grapes need harvesting right now, not tomorrow. Everyone who hears gets a chance to work. If the owner had stopped hiring with the early morning crew, the fruit would have rotted. So he persisted in adding to the work force. Even today God continues to work in the same amazing way. There are people who have heard God's call very early in life and spend ...

2927. Beyond Good Intentions

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

... Maybe you, fathers, promised to make more family time in your schedule, but it's gone back to the same old grind. Perhaps you were determined to be more generous and giving, but you seemed to forget so quickly. If this is you or me, today is the day to stop trusting our good intentions, as if they can save us! They won't! Today is the day to confess that we have had this quiet rebellion inside of us, and the devil is often winning it against God. We have given God the sincere words but not the solid action ...

2928. Living Water

John 4:1-26

Children's Sermon

... into a lot of trouble. She had already been married five times, and now she was living with another man who she pretended to be married to, but was not. Her life was not beautiful, but ugly, although she pretended to be happy. Jesus told her that, if she would stop living in sin and believe in him, she would have a beautiful life. The woman thought it was too late. God would not forget all the wrong she had done. But Jesus said this was not true. God always gives us a chance to start over. Our lives can be ...

2929. Harnessed Power

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

... works than Jesus did (14:12). This is the One that will prophetically encounter and convince a non-believing world (16:8-11). Nothing here, however, looks or sounds like power. Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." But when he stopped speaking, there was only silence. No words and no movement followed. Not even a "thank you" from the recipients. No jumping up and down, or falling to the floor. It all seems a little drab, and maybe we cannot be blamed for feeling somewhat ...

2930. Parking Lots and Traffic Jams

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

... or laughter, others advertise, and still others attempt to persuade. I don't need to share my favorites with you. No doubt you have yours just as I have mine. The other day I saw a bumper sticker that I could not remember having seen before. I had stopped my car at a red light just behind a pickup truck. The sticker was on the back of the truck. Its background was chartreuse in color and the message was printed in bright yellow letters. It said: "REACH UP FOR JESUS." I was surprised by my sudden feeling ...

2931. Victory and Protest

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

... , for understanding or God."6 In the name of the risen Christ who now lives beyond wounds, we can demand that the making of wounds cease. In the name of the risen Christ who now lives beyond suffering, we can insist that all unnecessary suffering stop. In the name of the risen Christ who now lives beyond rejection, we can demand that rejection cease. The celebration of Corpus Christi is not a part of my liturgical tradition. I have experienced it only through reading. I am most intrigued, I suppose, with ...

2932. Walking the Streets

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

... do. You have your head in the clouds. You're out of touch with real people." "If I did walk the streets," I ask, "what would I see? If I actually got in touch with people, what is it that I would feel?" With this question the conversation either stops or accelerates. Sometimes my accoster simply grumbles and walks away with: "That's just a stupid professor's question. Just go out in the real world and find out for yourself." In my most recent exchange, however, my assailant told me what it is that I'd find ...

2933. Invincible Harvest

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

... still to trust and to announce its coming. We are to be patient also. The field is what we have to work with; its conditions are given. We can do nothing to rush the harvest. It will come, but it will come in its own time. Nothing can either stop its coming nor hurry it. This is because it is the rule of God that comes. Pastors and people worry about loss in church membership. At times this worry is expressed by criticism aimed in one direction or another. "If only our pastor preached the gospel," a church ...

2934. The Promise of Light

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

... praise God and bring gifts for the presence of God in our midst. Jesus is the light of the presence of God and the light of the salvation of God that pierces the veil of darkness which covers our world and lives. The darkness of Good Friday could not stop the Easter's dawn from bursting forth to shine radiantly into every drab and dark nook and cranny of our lives and world. There are people and structures in our cities at work to provide food and shelter for the poor and the homeless. There are people hard ...

2935. And You Thought God Didn't Care!

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

... , and claim it as your own. Call if You Need Help A man, passing the same house every day, noticed a man working in his garden, and he was always whistling. Cold or hot, wet or dry, no matter what time of day, he still whistled. Out of curiosity, he stopped at the house to ask him why. As he came up on the porch, he saw a woman in a wheel chair, the man out in the garden at the side of the house, still whistling. He walked out to him, and the man explained, "My wife is an invalid ...

2936. Dog: Man's Best Friend?

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

... the Lamb is clothing and covering and warmth. The skin of the Lamb is parchment. The Lamb is not for sacred days only. He is fully a part of our secular lives as well. He befriends us in all of life. His benefits begin at Calvary, but they don't stop there, they go to all generations. Christ is the Lamb for life - for all days and for eternity, for now and forever after. Around the throne in heaven we will still be singing the song of "Moses and the Lamb." Henry H. M. Nouwen, in his book, The Way of ...

2937. God of the Ordinary

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

... hear of someone who was dying; God gave him another chance, and gloriously saved him. Or, we know of someone on death row - for murder, robbery, or rape - and God reached down and rescued him and gave him a fantastic conversion. We read of St. Paul who was stopped on the Damascus road at noon, thrown from his horse, saw a light and heard a Voice, and became one of the greatest Christians the world has ever known. What hope is there for everyday persons like you and me? We can't witness to hearing voices, or ...

2938. So Soon We Forget!

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

... water, a spin-dry machine, and a dryer to do the whole job remarkably easily, before you complain about how tough it is (like breaking a fingernail opening the package of new, blue, all-temperature Cheer or having to fold the clothes as they come out of the dryer), stop and remember it was not always so simple. Here is a "receipt" of an old grandmother in Kentucky for washing clothes: 1. Build a fire in the backyard to heat a kettle of rain water. 2. Set the tubs so that the smoke won't blow in the eyes ...

2939. Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

... I wanted was to go to bed. So I undressed, crawled into bed, and reached for my pillow, and out from underneath it crawled a huge lizard that ran up my chest and down my arm. It was the last straw. I started to scream and realized I couldn't stop screaming. I was hysterical, tired of being brave, and terrified. When Marlin heard my screams he came running and, after he saw that I wasn't hurt, he put his arms around me and said, "Honey, just think of how lucky you were to see him up close!" The Hebrews ...

2940. Communion Is Reunion

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

... , the further we drift apart. Why can't we just enjoy the fact that we are a family and overlook our differences?" I suspect we are all saddened when our families are torn asunder by those who want to bicker, argue and constantly complain. Did you ever stop to wonder how it must sadden our Lord when he sees the same thing going on in his family - the Christian Church - when one group won't commune with another because of some minor point of doctrine? Jesus sacrificed more than long hours - he sacrificed his ...

2941. Communion Is Realizing Forgiveness

Matthew 26:17-30

Sermon

... the next person ... to always have the last word or a cutting comeback. But one of the best stories of revenge I've seen is one I read not long ago: There was a quiet truck driver hauling a load across country. Late one evening, he stopped at a roadside diner for supper. As he was eating, three rather rough-looking motorcyclists roared-up to the diner's entrance. All eyes were upon them as they strolled into the dining room wearing dirty leather jackets. For some reason, they selected the quiet truck driver ...

2942. Communion Is Repentance

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

... . The father pointed up at the figure of Jesus and said, "Son, tell him you don't care!" The boy looked up at the cross and said, "Jesus, I don't ..." The words seemed to stick in his throat. Again he started, "Jesus, I really don't ..." and again he stopped. Breaking into tears he said, "Jesus I'm sorry for what I've become. Please forgive me and help me become who you want me to be." As that young man examined his sinful life in light of the love Christ had for him, the sacrifice Christ made for him ...

2943. R.S.V.P.

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

... years I’ve come to expect (without being cynical or self-righteous, I hope) that in every place some church folks will be highly committed, others marginally committed and others apparently uncommitted to doing ministry in Christ’s name. What I have learned is to stop playing God. For one thing, I have always to remember and be humbled by the fact that my own record of commitment is not exactly stellar. There have been times when I was turned off by what I perceived to be a cowardly church, a sleeping ...

2944. Talents and Trust

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

... try things previously untried, to develop nascent skills and incipient talents. When that happens, we trade joy for contentment, serendipity for stodginess, stewardship for escrow funds and endowments, the certainty of faith for the security of a "sure thing". Nor does it stop there. Such anxiety and inaction produce a sense that one is a victim. Other people become responsible for life’s trials. The one talent man accuses the master of being a hard man and tries thereby to make the master responsible for ...

2945. The Gift That Claims Our Response

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

... king begins to mingle among the guests and extend his greetings as any good host should do. As he shakes first this hand and that one, he comes upon a fellow who hasn’t bothered to put on clean clothes and dress appropriately for the occasion. The king stops in front of this fellow and demands, "Friend, how did you get in here without the proper attire?" A hush hurries through the hall as though E. F. Hutton had spoken. But the poor fellow has no answer, so without hesitation the king has the man tossed ...

2946. Who is Greatest Among You ...

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

... a word, the professor stood up, walked over to the server who was frantically scraping up the mess on the floor, stooped down to his knees and began to help collect the broken glass and scraps of food and put them back on the tray. The clapping stopped. And the dining hall fell silent as a morgue. For a few seconds we watched in disbelief and felt, ourselves, ashamed. The dining hall tradition of mock applause died a well-deserved death that day, and we were taught more about true greatness in that one ...

2947. An Intimate Conversation and an Exclusive Covenant

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

... Unexpected Universe). The man had lifted up a pitchfork from which dangled, not a dead infant as Eiseley first thought, but the remains of an old radio, its insides dangling toward the ground. "What has happened to all of the messages, all the communications? Have they been stopped permanently?" This much we know: The voice of God will go out to the ends of the earth, and people will know that he is God of all, the God of the covenant with Israel and the God of the new covenant in Christ. Listen, hear, and ...

2948. The End is a New Beginning

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

... call came in; once again she was called on to try to save a person’s life. This time she collapsed, had an almost fatal heart attack herself. She had known she was in danger of suffering a heart attack if she exerted herself too much, but that did not stop her from attempting to help others. Her concern almost cost her her life, but she was willing to pay such a high price to do what she thought she ought to be doing. Not many of us would risk a heart attack to help other people, let alone jeopardize our ...

2949. The Beginning of a New Life

Ruth 2:1-23

Sermon

... of the harvest on Boaz’ property to glean in the fields. Subsequently, when Boaz arrived from town and saw a strange young woman gleaning in the field, he inquired about her and learned her identity. The foreman told him how hard she was working, not even stopping to rest, and Boaz, who had heard of her love for Naomi that motivated her to leave home, was impressed by her diligence. That’s what is so interesting about this part of the story. What Ruth did next was in keeping with her character and ...

2950. Judgment and Justice

Amos 5:18-27

Sermon

... solemn assemblies ... I will not accept [your burnt offerings and cereal offerings] ... I will not look upon [your peace offerings of your fatted beasts] ... Take away from me the noise of your sons; to the melody of your harps I will not listen." That ought to stop us in our liturgical tracks and make us reflect upon the nature of our worship and its expression in our daily lives. Worship was important to the Israelites, even Amos admits that; that was not their problem, but it may be ours. In most of the ...

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