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 2951 to 2975 of 4957 results

2951. Proper 18

Proverbs 2:1-22, Mark 7:31-37, James 1:19-27

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... to be hearers of your Word and only reluctantly doers. Forgive us our lethargy and hypocrisy. Sow in us a deep discontent with a rhetorical faith that is all talk and no action. Fill us with your Spirit, empowering us to put our efforts where our claims are, after the model and message of Christ. In his name we pray. Amen Gospel: Mark 7:31-37 Theme: Proclaiming the incredible Exegetical Note This is one of two miracle stories unique to Mark, both of which describe healings by means of physical touch rather ...

2952. Proper 29

Jeremiah 23:1-8, Revelation 1:4-8, John 18:28-40

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... dominion. People: HIS IS A KINGDOM OF TRUTH: HIS IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD! Collect Almighty God, who established in Christ a Kingdom like no other, attune our hearts to the truth it brings; that, no longer devoted to earthly powers with political claims, we may owe our full allegiance to your holy spiritual realm. In Christ’s royal name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Compassionate God, we confess that we tend to be more outspoken about our earthly patriotisms than about our citizenship in your spiritual ...

2953. Faithful Servants Until the Lord's Return

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... are each one different and each one blessed with gifts for service. Leader: Then let us serve the Lord with joy until that day Christ returns. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, You alone have redeemed us and called us clean. You alone have claim to our lives, and we ask Your guidance and blessing as we seek to serve You faithfully until Your return. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession O Lord, so many times we have allowed the noises of the world to distract us from Your tasks we ...

2954. The Return of the Lord Is Coming

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... we gather in this house of God! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect Almighty and loving God, in Your mercy You sent us the Christ for whom we prayed, and we were slow to receive or believe in Him. Hear us again, Lord, and come now to claim Your Holy Church. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, too often we have been so like those who pleaded for a Savior and yet would not accept You when You came and walked among us. So often today we again pray for You to come and deliver ...

2955. "The Sawdust and the Circus"

Numbers 27:12-23

Sermon

... where so many things happen at the same time that it’s impossible to keep up with them all. If ever an age was pulled hither and yon, it is our age. There seems to be too much to do, too many places to go, too many things seeking to claim our loyalty. And beneath it all, there seems to be too little purpose to much of what we do - and to many of our activities - even those within the church. For you see, evangelism - or the proclamation of the good news - becomes a confusing thing like our world. We ...

2956. "Why Belong to Church?"

John 14:15-31

Sermon

... imperfect ones." We Christians especially talk about this: the fact that we are sinners and we are not doing God a favor or the congregation when we join. We are very imperfect as individuals and as an institution. We are open to criticism, and that includes the Pastor! We never claim to be perfect in the first place. If someone asks you what the chief trouble with the church is - you tell them it is you and me. We are in it and we are sinners. And we need to do better and be better and this is where we can ...

2957. Which Self Are You?

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... But very often life is ruined. The self is distorted and twisted and mangled and other selves take over, and they become the pretentious usurpers of the throne of our personality. Living as a son of God depends upon our seeing through the spurious claims of these other selves and keeping the true self in place in our lives. This truth of the Word of God touches two kinds of persons. First, there is the discouraged, disappointed, depressed person who is constantly dissatisfied with himself and his Christian ...

2958. LORD, I BELIEVE

John 9:35-41

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... preached to them." He didn’t say He was running around making "born again" Christians. Their being born again meant something! It produced results! A poll of the religious life of our nation revealed that 95% of the people believe in God, that 66% of them claim church membership, that 86% of them believe that they are living a Christian life. That’s proof NOT that we have a lot of Christianity in this country, but that we have TOO LITTLE. If this were true, if these statistics lived, the United States ...

2959. The Racial Gap

Psalm 53:1-6

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... John Williams’ THE MAN WHO CRIED, "I AM." I would recommend the latter. It’s not a nice book and I don’t buy the author’s thesis that there is an international conspiracy against the Negro with concentration camps now in readiness (although a number of blacks claim to believe just that). If you read it you get a feeling for the black search for identity. The black man wants to be himself on his own terms. Hence "Black Power" and the search for heritage. The black man wants to say, "I am!" Only when ...

2960. A WALL OF ROCK AND THE EVERYBODY GAP

Drama

William McKee Aber

... - and you’d think that within a close relationship like marriage each individual would get that support! Unfortunately, Wormwood, you and I know that all relationships have both some love and some hate in them. When one side is hurt - let’s say the wife claims the husband isn’t a good provider - his ego is shattered and he sees his wife (who supposedly loves him) not as that loving person but as an extension of all those people who hinted at his inadequacy - maybe his parents, his teachers, his boss ...

2961. His Risen Hand Holds Ours

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all." It was always so from the very beginning. When God said, "Let there be light. And God saw that the light was good." Jesus made the claim of himself, "I am the light of the world." He pointed to his followers saying, "You are the light of the world ... let your light so shine." Why all this symbolism of "light" language? Perhaps because darkness is symbolic of sightlessness, of stumbling, of groping, the inability ...

2962. Who Needs a Shepherd These Days?

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... an atonement for sin. John the Baptist proclaimed Christ, "the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Peter in his epistle said we "were ransomed ... with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." He who claimed himself "the good shepherd" literally became God’s sacrificial lamb slain for our sins. Sheep are not part of the everyday life of most of us today, but the imagery from biblical times is far more than simply a story from the past. Gathering from what ...

2963. THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH

Drama

Norman D. Dow

... text - announcing that you are back in Bethlehem on that Night. As you act out the directions, you will capture your listeners’ attention and add a great deal of impact to the words. What strange news has greeted me this night! Shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem claim that in the night watches an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them as the angel said: Do not be afraid; for behold, I am bringing you joyous tidings which are being revealed to all peoples; for ...

2964. A Chance Meeting

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... be one, also. He had preached too much, had acted rashly in the face of honored priests, and now would pay for his crime. Roman guards and governors sought to stifle revolt they wanted a hard peace to rest upon the Palestinian countryside. This rabbi was claiming to be a King. Bruised, he was brought into the prison. His trial was completed in the hours of darkness, and Pilate had turned him over to the executioners. That morning was filled with coarse good-times as the guards mocked and tortured the rabbi ...

2965. Commanded By Example

John 13:31-38

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... truly brought the redeeming power of Christ into the lives of their fellow men, are those whose hearts overflowed with love. One of the things which has disturbed me through the years is that there are people who are members of certain denominations who claim to be so holy and righteous and yet show so little love and understanding and simple kindness for other people. There are groups of people who call themselves Christians, but unless you believe as they believe, do as they do, feel as they feel, and ...

2966. In Christ the Gospel Is Made Known

Romans 16:1-27

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... Your mercy and grace. Forgive us, Lord, and as we come to the close of Advent, touch our hearts again with a genuine awareness of the areas in our lives where we failed to be the people You would have us be. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "Ye Who Claim The Faith Of Jesus" "God Has Spoken By His Prophets" "I Want A Principle Within"

2967. Commitment Before the Lord

Mark 1:1-8

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... faced with danger, from His baptism to the cross, Jesus never strayed from Your will. Help us to be faithful, Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, when we first placed ourselves into Your loving care we knew Your Spirit's power to remake us and claim us for Your own. We promised then to love and follow You, but we have found the way hard. We have often been slow to take our stand for You and at times slow even to accept Your help. Forgive us, Lord, and remake our hearts with love. In ...

2968. Something Good Can Come From Nazareth

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the beginning of Christian history and you'll always find him. He is behind almost every Christian convert...that unnamed man or woman with two umbrellas...that person with a winsome faith who builds a bridge of friendship with another person. And across that bridge walks the living Christ and claims another eternal soul. You can be that person with two umbrellas. You can be like Phillip. Come and see that's all I ask, just come and see, and you will learn that something good can come from Nazareth!! Amen.

2969. Stand Up for Jesus

John 2:12-25

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... is you're singing about. Let me tell you something. He's not as great as you say. Not at all. He's a bigoted Nazarene -- that's what he is. I'm a Levite, and I know for a fact that this Jesus of Nazareth is a phony. He claims to be the Messiah. He could get killed for that. Let me tell you what he did to me. I lost my job on account of this guy Jesus. He caused me to lose all the money I had tied up in livestock. I sell animals in the Temple. I ...

2970. The Call of the Trumpet

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

George Bass

... time, we need to pray earnestly that God will enrich our lives through the Holy Spirit so that we may "grow in grace" and make the most we can of the lives given us by the Lord. Misuse of the gifts of God may endanger our lives and jeopardize our claim to his gift in Christ. In "The Enduring Chill," Flannery O’Connor tells the story of the return of Asbury Fox to his mother’s home to die. He is a young man, a frustrated artist and intellectual, who is "above" the sort of life lived in rural America ...

2971. The Man Who Asked For Dinner

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

George Bass

... Lutheran missionaries. We first heard the good news about Jesus because you sent (them). Your missionaries lifted high the cross. They proclaimed the love of Christ. Now, we too can join with you to adore his sacred name." That’s Easter again, isn’t it! And the claims of the resurrected Christ are not only spelled out for the people, but they also offer evidence of the power of Christ that works in the lives of those called by Christ - and in the power of their words and lives. That’s the way it ought ...

2972. In Quest of Fire

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Sermon

Larry Powell

... little blaze, slowly creeping to take hold of the wood heap. When the fire has grown into a crackling flame, they all thank God that no careless hand had quenched the fire upon which their lives depended. Against this graphic illustration, Cuyler lays down the claim that Paul’s statement, "Quench not the Spirit," is the equivalent of his saying, "Put not out the fire which God’s Spirit is kindling in your heart." We are well within the mark to suggest that the Holy Spirit is analogous to the "one match ...

2973. A Thimble Full Of Ocean

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Larry Powell

... and underscored the truth that there is indeed an eternally self-purifying, all-forgiving presence which transports our transgressions into a higher dimension. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. What a magnificent thought! Think on it. Reach for it. Then confess, and claim it.

2974. House-Building Time

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... been somebody living who was an heir to the throne. But it really made no difference, seeing how Rome was so firmly entrenched. That is a sad thing. We run into it when we read in the paper about an old lady living in an apartment somewhere in Los Angeles, claiming to be a Russian princess. That is a sad thing too. But this is not a sad day. For the promise holds. It stands intact for us, for this son born to Mary reigns. God has not taken away that steadfast love. The throne that was established but vacant ...

2975. When God Almighty Speaks ... Listen!

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... drawn rather clearly. The choice becomes one of saying "yes" or "no" to the future that holds promise of who you are meant to be. And what had been a multiple-choice vocational question is now a forced-choice situation. We have to respond - to claim the call for ourselves, or to reject it. And so we hear people constantly exclaim how fine our voice is, how professional its quality; but we hear ourselves answering that we are going to enter nursing school - or medical school - in the fall. The top management ...

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