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 3051 to 3075 of 4490 results

3051. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Why is it . . . You’re on vacation in a brand new place . . . You go out to dinner at a brand new restaurant . . . You’re facing a brand new set of dining options . . . Yet you already know how the plates will look when they come to your table. Dad will have some kind of steak. Mom always goes for something with salsa. The kids cruise the menu for the latest incarnation of chicken strips or burgers. Faced with a completely new situation, we instinctively try to make it as familiar as possible. That’s why ...

3052. Mulliganeers, All

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Way back in cold old February, fourth grader Patrick Timoney came face-to-face with what “zero degrees” really mean. Not “zero degrees” Fahrenheit, but “zero degrees” of tolerance. It seems Patrick had taken some of his favorite Lego toys to school to show off to his buddies. Any parent of young children can tell you those little, tiny Lego guys are natural born killers. They hide in the couch to poke you when you sit down. They stab you in the foot as you cross the floor. They can single-handedly destroy ...

3053. Is It Time Yet?

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Tony Everett

A popular skit at church camps involves about a dozen folks lined up side-by-side, looking anxious and frustrated facing the audience. Each person rests a left elbow on the right shoulder of their neighbor. Then, from left to right, each member asks, "Is it time yet?" When the question arrives at the end of the line, the last person looks at his/her wristwatch and responds, "No." This reply is passed, one-by-one each with bored sighs, back to the first questioner. After a few moments, the same question is ...

3054. Can These Bones Live?

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

I remember, not too long ago, I was reading some history about our nation and its westward expansion. This particular book had to do with the disappearance of the buffalo on the plains. Before white settlers happened upon the scene, buffalo were so numerous that vast herds stretched literally as far as the eye could see. There were millions of buffalo. So great were there numbers that it didn’t really occur to people that they could ever vanish. Well, we all know how this story went. In an astonishingly ...

3055. True Blood

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The most famous journalist saying of all time is arguably “if it bleeds, it leads.” Rolling Stone magazine decided to take that adage literally. The 18 August 2010 cover of Rolling Stone magazine featured a bloody mess and it was a huge hit, creating a big stir, selling lots of copies. Wearing nothing but dripping, smeared, puddling blood, the three young stars of "True Blood" posed in way meant to sell magazines rather than report on the series. "True Blood" is an American television drama series. It ...

3056. Reconciliation and Communication

2 Cor 5:18-19; Matt 3:1-12

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

A husband and wife were having some problems at home. They had argued and now they were giving each other the silent treatment. It lasted all weekend long, it was miserable. On Monday, the husband had an important appointment and had to be at the airport on time to catch a flight. However, he didn't want to be the first to break the silence. He was just too stubborn to do that. But he needed his wife's help. So, he finally wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me up at 5.00 a.m." The next morning the man ...

3057. The Triumph and the Tragedy

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

On Palm Sunday April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army, at the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. This surrender ended the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. State against state, brother against brother; it was a conflict that literally tore our nation apart. Five days later Good Friday, April 14, 1865 America’s most revered president, Abraham Lincoln, was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre ...

3058. God’s Most Troubling Promise

Romans 8:28

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that life is full of challenges? Have you noticed that, sooner or later, all of us are going to have some pretty steep mountains to climb? I heard about a woman named Jill whose car was unreliable. She called her friend John for a ride every time her car broke down. One day John got yet another one of those calls. “What happened this time?” he asked. “My brakes went out,” Jill said. “Can you come and get me?” “Where are you?” John asked. “I’m in the drugstore,” Jill responded. “And ...

3059. Simeon

Luke 2:22-40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I am old and ready to die. To be truthful, I have been ready to die for years, but right now, I feel ready as I have never been before. You see, earlier today, in the temple in Jerusalem, I met a young couple who had come with their young son for the ritual of purification, and I knew when I saw them that a promise that God had made to me had been fulfilled. Now I am ready to die. I suppose I should explain. Perhaps you know me; perhaps you don't. My name is Simeon. I am a rabbi, a member of the Sanhedrin ...

3060. Weed and Feed

Sermon

John Smylie

I think some people are natural-born gardeners. Our Lord grew up in a society that was familiar with agriculture. The images that he used to explain the ways of his Father in heaven are familiar to his audience. Growing up, my closest experience to agriculture was living in, "the Garden State." Most people, when they pass through New Jersey, are surprised to see that expression on the license plates of vehicles registered in New Jersey. Most folks traveling through New Jersey experience the megalopolis, ...

3061. The Eyes of Faith

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

When you come face to face with some huge obstacle, some daunting problem, something frightening in which the odds are stacked against you, what is your first step? Do you go around it? We learned that as a kid walking home, didn't we? If there were a big, mean dog on the route, we would walk blocks around it to get home safely. How about now? Do you still walk around those big, mean dogs? Some people go over them. That is, you know the problem is there but you just scratch the surface, gloss over the ...

3062. Gummy Old Men

Matthew 3:1-12

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Theme: Reflection, remorse, repentance, renewal Characters: Norb (older man) Earl (older man) Tone: Humorous, serious, sad, hopeful Setting/Props: Bench in a city park near the retirement home Approximate time: 5-7 minutes (Musical introduction) Norb: Well, for goodness sake, if it isn’t me ole friend, Earl. When did they let you out? Earl: Hiya, Norb. They always let us out — right after coffee. “Feed the monkeys, chase ’em out.” You know how retirement homes work. Haven’t seen ya fer a while Norb — where ...

3063. Fill In the Gaps

Illustration

Staff

I stood on a grassy sward, and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space. I looked, but saw no bottom; only cloud shapes, black and furiously coiled, and great shadow-shrouded hollows, and unfathomable depths. Back I drew, dizzy at the depth. Then I saw forms of people moving single file along the grass. They were making for the edge. There was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress. She was on the very verge. Then I saw that she was blind. She ...

3064. Celebrate the Small Stuff

Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Every book on change says the same thing. Change has changed. Change is no longer incremental. Change is exponential. Here is what no one will tell you: change is not just incremental, or exponential. Change is infinitesimal. So you gained a pound or two this year. It happens. Then it happens again next year. And the next year. Suddenly a decade has passed and you realize that “a pound or two” has compounded into two sacks of flour sitting on your hips! Infinitesimal change has caught up with you. In the ...

3065. Pax Christi Or Pox Christi?

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

David E. Leininger

This is not a favorite passage for preaching. "Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth?" (Luke 12:51). Well, now that you ask, Jesus, yes. I mean, we call you the Prince of Peace, and I remember the angels at your nativity and their anthem about "Peace on earth." What's going on? From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother ...

3066. All Is Different Now

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Before and After. Ante and Post. Each of us has moments, choices, circumstances in our lives that act as a watershed — experiences dividing our life into everything “before” and everything “after.” The event doesn’t have to be devastating or dramatic. Sometimes it is joyful and exhilarating. Sometimes it is a quiet realization. Sometimes it takes decades for us to even determine just when that moment occurred. You have a parent or a sibling die. You are the first in your family to go away to college. You ...

3067. Christmas Eve

Psalm 96:1-13, Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-7, Titus 2:11-14

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

If there are children in the congregation and adults who enjoy “performing,” invite them ahead of time to pantomime the Luke 2 story. (Everyone can wear slacks and a turtleneck shirt.) Designate the lead adult angel (Gabriel), lead adult shepherd, adult Mary, and adult Joseph several weeks prior to Christmas Eve. Since there is no rehearsal, ask the lead characters to arrive fifteen minutes early in costume and go over space, props, and costumes for other participants. Masking tape on the floor, labeled ...

3068. Killing What Is Already Dead

Colossians 3:1-11

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Every pastor has had this experience. It doesn't have to be the husband in a marriage, but let's just say that it's the husband. The man comes to the pastor's study clutching the report from the physician's office: high blood pressure, overweight, danger of heart disease. The physician has ordered the man to lose weight and to stop smoking. Sitting in the pastor's office, the man swears he is going to take better care of himself. He's said it before, but this time he really means it. He wants to be around ...

3069. God as a Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Every pastor sees the damage that is done to people by too heavy an emphasis on God's judgment. The damage often begins in childhood. Because children can be rambunctious, adults too often try to frighten them into obedience. The church is no exception to this practice. Parents sometimes report that their children have come home from Sunday school or vacation Bible school in tears and trembling because some misguided adult had tried to frighten them into faith with horrifying images of the punishment that ...

3070. Endurance

2 Corinthians 11:24-27, 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

When my daughter, Hannah, was five years old we lived in Minnesota. Before she entered kindergarten, she had to take an entrance exam. Being the non-competitive but responsible parent that I am, I decided to help Hannah prepare for this test. I taught her how to count to ten — in four languages. I taught her the colors by buying a box of crayons — 64 count, including turquoise, magenta, and chartreuse. We worked on a puzzle of the United States with each individual state cut out so we could learn the names ...

3071. Garden Gone Bad

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

This summer I decided to take up some simple vegetable gardening. I knew it would happen someday. It's in my blood. My dad has planted and tended summer gardens of various sizes my whole life. For several years, our family's garden filled the whole half acre second lot behind our home. We had strawberries, melons, tomatoes, sweet corn, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, acorn squash, and even pumpkins. I don't remember much about Dad planting the garden each spring, but I suppose that is because ...

3072. The Healing Fountain of Tears

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Life can go from normal to nightmare in a nanosecond. Take hurricane Katrina. In two days there was no “normal” left for hundreds of thousands of Gulf coast residents. The well-housed went to homeless overnight, and people were left struggling just to find shelter, find food, and find clean water. The bare basics of life became the most all-important “finds.” But not long after — once two days became a week — another need became pungently apparent. People needed clean clothes. Babies continued to trash ...

3073. A Matter of Trust

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

King Duncan

One of the questions that is becoming more a matter of concern all the time is this one who can I trust? We live in a strange world. Did you know that you can now buy trust in a bottle? All of you aspiring politicians listen up . . . all you guys who want to win over a member of the fairer sex . . . all of you who have a questionable product to sell to an unsuspecting public. A New York City lab claims to have put trust in a bottle. According to their ads, “After showering in the morning simply spray a ...

3074. The ME and the WE

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The gospel is not a tablet of ink, but a table of food around which everyone is invited to sit down together and eat, drink and dream for tomorrow we act. A few weeks ago we marked the fiftieth anniversary (1963-2013) of Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have A Dream” speech. The power of that proclamation, the timely words of one man spoken at the one right moment before the enormous crowd gathered before the Lincoln Memorial, provided the “tipping point” for the civil rights movement and for decades of ...

3075. Be Patient

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

One Christmas season when Shirley Duncanson’s daughter was nearing her third birthday, Duncanson decided to take her along with her brothers ages 1, 4, 6, 8 out shopping. The little girl saw a doll that she wanted. Nothing Duncanson could say or do would alter her desire. She wanted that doll and she wanted it then. No reminder that Christmas was coming that she needed to be good because Santa Claus might be watching had any impact on her. With a one-year-old in the cart, and three other children to keep ...

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