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 301 to 325 of 517 results

301. A Precious Gift

Matthew 13:44-46

Illustration

Brett Blair

... a precious stone, a precious jewel. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the traveler the stone. The traveler departed quickly overjoyed with his new possession. However, a few days later, he came back, searching for the monk. He returned the stone to the monk and made a ...

302. Healed By The Great Physician

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . Faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior and Lord. Then obedience to his commands. The rivers of healing are still flowing! Let me close with a story from the prominent teacher and writer, Tony Campolo. Some years ago he was preaching at a church in Oregon. On impulse, as he ended the service he said to the congregation that if anyone wanted to remain behind for healing, that he would be glad to pray for them. He told them that he was not a TV miracle worker but that he would be willing to pray for ...

303. Not Bad, Just Too Busy

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... find a safe place for my baby to be born, I’m going to cry.” Jimmy paused for a moment, and then said, “I know what I’m supposed to say…but you can have my room.” Jimmy was willing to violate a script in order to follow the higher impulse of love. We Christians must be willing to violate the cultural script about Christmas if we want to truly glorify the Savior. Dr. Bill Bouknight, Christ UMC, 4488 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN, 38117 Copyright in progress. www.cumcmemphis.org

304. Engage Mind before Putting Mouth in Gear

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... day of class placed in huge block letters above the blackboard (so it would not be erased): "Engage mind before putting mouth in gear." In other words, we must think before we speak. These words of wisdom should be heeded by all. All of us have a tendency to be impulsive. We use words to get our way and to get it now, not in a few days or even a few minutes. When things don't happen as we think or the schedule we have set, we lash out, often at others who have absolutely nothing to do with things ...

305. When Life Isn't Fair

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... of achievement. It leaves it blank, a waste of spilled years. A man had better return, he said, while time remains to write a life worth scanning. And since no man knows his death day, the time to get a grip on his life is the first hour when the impulse strikes him. It’s a fascinating question, and, on the surface, it can be troubling. Why turn to God now? Why not wait? Rabbi Eliezer said, “Turn to God one day before your death.” His disciples said, “How can a man know the day of his death?” He ...

306. The Blessing Complex

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... world. Thorough your “blessing complex,” the presence and power of Christ is to be extended to everyone you meet every day of your life. You are blessed to bless. What if this week you came down with a “blessing complex?” What if you leave this church today with this irrational impulse to bless in some way every person you meet this week?

307. Would You Be a Saint?

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... gave us the opportunity to register ourselves as “saints.” But is that all there is to being a “saint?” Would all of us be real “saints” if all we had to do was run helpful errands? Isn’t there some deeper commitment, some greater impulse required of a “saint?” We all know there are true saints in our midst this morning. Can’t you feel their presence? We have but to recognize and celebrate them. And this is our problem. The problem with real “saints” is that they are slippery ...

308. A Small Act of Kindness

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

King Duncan

... He picked cherries in the orchard next to their home that day and slept under the trees that gave him his livelihood. Early the next morning Floyd returned to the couple who had shown him kindness. While he finished one last project in the orchard, Nancy, on an impulse, wrote him a letter telling of God's love. Then she tucked it with a little cash into a New Testament. She found his backpack in the yard, and stuck the packet inside. She imagined him traveling that day looking for work and at the end of the ...

309. When Too Much Can Be Too Little

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of junky, funky, consumer gunk into the narrow gauntlet we must run to get to the checkout counter. Things we would never intentionally have gone in search of now languish under our fingertips inviting, no insisting, that we grab them. Although impulsively buying a pack of gum or a candy bar hardly seems earth-shattering or soul-threatening, the truth is that the increasingly voracious appetites of this consumer culture are being methodically nurtured and stimulated by a crass and crushing consumerism. The ...

310. The Five Habits of Highly Spiritual Leaders

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are all that startling. They include: 1. Be proactive take initiative, be responsible. 2. Begin with the end in mind envision the outcome you want, while maintaining your values. 3. Put first things first allow your values to discipline your feelings and impulses. 4. Think win/win keep a "no-losers" attitude. 5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood focus on listening, not on replying. 6. Synergize enable more energy to be released than was put in. 7. Sharpen the saw cultivate yourself physically ...

311. The Resolution to End All Resolutions

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we can use in our everyday lives. Without a transformer, there could be no light in the darkness, no safety in the storm. At Bethlehem, God came to us and gave us Jesus the Christ, who transforms in his life the love and power of God into the impulses of grace and salvation that the world desperately needs. So what does the Christian who resolves to be a part of God's transforming work on January 1 do on Monday, January 2? There are two essential requirements: First, we must go deeply into the Word. Second ...

312. Digging Mankind Out of his Snug Burrows

Luke 2:22-40

Illustration

Staff

... except love. Is it any wonder that men were dazzled and blinded and cried out against him? Even his disciples cried out when he would not spare them the light. For to take him seriously was to enter a strange and alarming life, to abandon habits, to control instincts and impulses, to seek an incredible happiness."

313. Acts 9:1-20

Acts 9:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of eagerness and enthusiasm. Peter had denied Jesus three times in the garden, and now, even after receiving the Holy Spirit, he is caught red-handed practicing his old trade as if his three years with Jesus had never happened. Panicked into foolish and impulsive behavior - a typical Petrine response - Simon Peter can only think of getting out of there before Jesus sees him and forces a confrontation. He hastily pulls on some clothing so that he won't be stranded naked on the shore and plunges into the ...

314. Acts 9:1-20

Acts 9:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

315. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in fact divine characteristics, activities gained by divine right, not signs of human weakness. In Genesis, as well as in a number of other creation myths from neighboring Near Eastern cultures, the all-powerful Creator-God acknowledges the completion of the creative impulse by resting (see Genesis 2:2). Resting is clearly a divine prerogative. Indeed, in Genesis, God's gift of the Sabbath to created men and women indicates the elevated status of these human beings. Like God, they are called to observe a ...

316. Remember Your Baptism

Acts 19:1-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s Will Daylight Come? (25-27). Here’s the story: A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. He went back to Grandma’s back yard, where he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit. The duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma ...

317. Pleasing Our Family

Mk 1:9-15

Illustration

King Duncan

... each one was telling what he wanted to be when grown up, and Lowell said when his turn came, 'I want to grow up and be a man like my daddy.' Few things in my life have ever touched me as those words did, or have given me a greater impulse to dedication. What kind of a man was I going to be, if I was to be the pattern for my boy?" Rufus Jones became a great man partially because his son was proud of him. What a powerful bond there is between parent and child. How we love to ...

318. Too Good Not to Be True

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

King Duncan

... , hoping to find the best flower of the lot. The department manager saw her, and hurrying over to the counter she asked, “Are you going to buy some flowers?” When Carol Noren said yes, the manager continued, “How many do you plan to buy?” On impulse maybe to assure the manager and even herself that she was a serious customer Noren said, “Two,” even though that was double what she’d intended to spend. “That’d be fifty cents, wouldn’t it?” the manager said as she looked around. “I tell ...

319. We Cannot Not Be Sinners

Mark 6:14-29

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... from our better nature, which is at bottom "pretty good." How foreign is the notion articulated by theologian Emil Brunner. Brunner once noted that we can, in principle, avoid any particular sin. And we often do. Few if any people give in to every dark impulse. The average person, whether or not he is particularly religious, resists many temptations that come his way on the average day. He does not slip the Snickers bar into his coat instead of paying for it, does not exceed the speed limit, does not shove ...

320. When the Bills Come Due

1 Timothy 6:6-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... of us need to learn to be satisfied with more of what we have and with less of what we want. Ecclesiastes 6:9 says, "Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have." (Ecclesiastes 6:9, NLT) The average person spends money quickly, impulsively, and foolishly. We finance things that are immediately worth 10-20% less the minute we exit the store. We have become slaves to financial institutions, who don't even know our name. Yogi Beara once said, "Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you ...

321. Jesus, The One And Only

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... raided a chicken-roost and killed fifty hens. His master, Weeden Scott, who had grown to love this animal, scolded him and took him into the chicken yard. When White Fang saw his favorite food walking around right in front of him he obeyed his natural impulse and lunged for a chicken. Immediately, his master would say: "White Fang, stop!" Immediately but reluctantly this wolf-dog would stop. They stayed in the chicken yard for quite a while and every time White Fang made a move toward a chicken his master's ...

322. Pro-Choice is No-Choice

Proverbs 24:11-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... not murder." It violates the Golden Rule which says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I am reminded of something Abraham Lincoln said about people who argued for slavery. He said, "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally." I wonder how these abortionists would like to be aborted? I wonder how they would like for someone to come into their house and take a knife and cut them up into small bits and pieces? I wonder how many ...

323. Jealousy: Cancer of the Heart

Proverbs 27:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... you listen to the praises of other men of your own standing. Until you can listen to the praises of someone else without any desire to indulge in detraction, or any attempt to belittle his work, you may be sure there is an un-mortified prairie of egotistic impulse in your nature yet to be brought under the grace of God. [2] I am convinced that the antidote to jealousy is contentment; to be satisfied with what you have, who you are, and where you are. There is a story of a rich industrialist who would drive ...

324. Good for the Soul

Proverbs 28:13

Sermon

James Merritt

... given a sling-shot to play with out in the woods. He began to practice, but he really wasn't very good with it and was getting a little discouraged with it. As he was heading back to eat dinner, he saw his grandmother's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let fly with that sling-shot and hit that duck squarely in the head and killed it. Well, first he was shocked and then he panicked. He hid the dead duck in the wood pile, covering it up. As he turned around to go back to the house, there ...

325. A Hearing Heart

1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... stayed with him; they did not dissipate. He wrote that this difference in how his initial feelings played out helped to open his spiritual eyes a little. He had taken a small step toward a lifetime of distinguishing between what was a God-inspired impulse and what was not.1 The second example comes from Thomas Coke, one of the early Methodist preachers John Wesley sent from England to evangelize on the American frontier. Coke came here in 1784 and became the first bishop in American Methodism. He tells ...

Showing results