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 3251 to 3275 of 4490 results

3251. Emancipation Proclamation

John 8:31-41

Sermon

These are slippery words that Jesus used when, fifteen centuries ahead of Martin Luther, nineteen centuries ahead of Abraham Lincoln, he issued the emancipation proclamation: "If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Slippery words, I said, for when we think we have these concepts, truth and freedom, neatly boxed and wrapped with pretty ribbons, they begin to slip away. The usual baggage we have stuffed inside of them is ...

3252. The Sermon on the Level

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

The word that Christ our Lord would like to have us hear this All Saints’ Sunday is a firm word, gently spoken, lovingly applied. Faintly we recall that he said something similar to this before, in a sermon everyone applauds, but few apply, The Sermon on the Mount. "Blessed are the poor in spirit," we remember, and we like that. It doesn’t touch our assets. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," and we could use a little righteousness like ours around the nation and the church today ...

3253. Of Preachers and Preaching

Micah 1:8-16

Sermon

Of the several significant themes which may be identified in the Scripture lessons read today, I choose the one about preachers and preaching. Perhaps this is because I tune in most easily on this wave length. The prophet Micah came out of the village of Moresheth with a message concerning Samaria and Jerusalem which he was sure the Lord wanted him to deliver. It was a social Gospel message condemning the prominent and powerful of those societies for their many sins. "Have you no sense of justice?" he ...

3254. The Season of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. (Acts 2:4 TEV) Some of you who are over thirty may have had the pleasure, as I did, to grow up on a farm. Rural living and country life was a happy time for me. But summertime on the farm was always the big season of work. Here in the city we tend to relax a little more during summer. We try to take a vacation trip. We go out of town on weekends every chance we get. Young people spend a lot ...

3255. Don't Try So Hard!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

"For the man who wants to save his own life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." (St. Mark 8:35 TEV) "We're only number two; we try harder!" I'm sure you've all seen the magazine ad of the car rental agency that uses this slogan. In a way the slogan strongly reflects some of our national thinking. One of the key doctrines of our American enterprise is hard work. If a person's going to succeed in life, we say, he will have to exert himself. It is often ...

3256. BALLOONS!

1 John 5:1-12

Children's Sermon

Object: balloons, enough for each child and something to pump them up (or have them pre-filled). Have you ever seen a light bulb that was burned out, or tried to use a pencil that didn't have any lead or a ballpoint pen without ink? If you have ever seen or tried to use any one of these items, you know how disappointing it really is. You don't know that the light bulb is burned out until you try to use it, and the same thing is true with the others. How many times I have tried to make an old ballpoint pen ...

3257. Dear Mrs. Day

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Thomas C. Short

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors ...

3258. The Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Kendall K. McCabe

The Protestant probably thinks of a dimly-lit church with rows of curtain-draped boxes along the side or at the rear. The lone individual slips into one, kneels, and begins to whisper to an unknown hearer on the other side of the partition, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned." Then, thinks the Protestant, after mumbling through a catalog of misdemeanors, the Catholic penitent is assigned some token duty, such as saying a few prayers, and then is free to go and do those same things all over again. And, ...

3259. The Third Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

Visiting Mrs. Campbell was always great fun for a child in southern Maryland. Mrs. Campbell was from Scotland, and talked as no one else the child had ever heard. Besides that, she had had marvelous adventures and been to lands the child had only read about and seen pictures of. She had danced in the Vienna of Franz Joseph and crossed the Atlantic in the days of the great ocean liners. Her eyes would sparkle as she entertained the child with her reminiscences, and it was plain, as she talked, she was ...

3260. Proper 6

Lk 7:36--8:3 · Gal 2:11-21 · 1 Ki 19:1-8

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: 1 Kings 19:1-8 Threatened by Jezebel, Elijah flees for his life and is fed by an angel on his way to Mount Horeb. To understand this pericope, we need to get the background in chapter 18. On Mount Carmel, Elijah calls down fire from heaven to prove that Yahweh is the only true God. This is followed by his slaughter of the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal supported by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who sends a messenger to Elijah to tell him that within twenty-four hours she will ...

3261. Communion Is Relief

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I'm worried about education in America. My concern right now is different from the usual ones about drug abuse, sexual immorality and secularistic ideas. I'm worried about the way some Americans have learned to spell. There are people who cannot spell even the simplest words ...

3262. Compassion

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Harold Warlick

One of the pivotal questions in life is this one: "What does it mean to grow up?" How do you know when someone is mature? When is someone real? Most of the time it doesn't have anything to do with age. I've known some 20-year-old girls who live like they're 75-year-old old maids. And occasionally friends will even ask me what I'm going to do when I grow up. What does it mean to grow old? When buying a ticket to a movie theatre, you're an adult when you reach 13 years of age. The state says you're old ...

3263. Right Way, Wrong Way

Mark 2:27

Children's Sermon

Object: Some makeup (if you would like, you may have two girls made up ahead of time. One of them would have on the right amount of makeup and the other would abuse herself with overuse of it.) Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to do something that I know all the girls know something about and may have even tried once or twice. How many of you know what I mean when I talk about makeup? (Let them answer.) Almost all of you know what it is. What are some of the things girls use when they put ...

3264. The Primacy of Human Relationships

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Joe Pennel

People being properly related to one another was important to Jesus. He spoke with great clarity about the primacy of human relationships. He wanted good relationships to be maintained. The re-establishment of broken relationships was a central concern. According to his teaching a person who was not properly related to others could not be properly related to God. People loving God by loving each other was of ultimate significance. We are living in a society which does not stress the primary importance of ...

3265. Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon Aid

Liturgical Color: Purple/Red Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11; Matthew 26:14-27, 66 Theme: Jesus' triumphal entry - Jesus' betrayal and sharing of the communion. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration One pastor did this: "Here he comes! Let's make him welcome! Enter into the Mardi Gras spirit! Laugh and dance and sing and rejoice! Our King is coming! Then, as the choir and children enter during the singing of the hymn of triumphal entry, have them wave palm branches and intermingle with the congregation. At the ...

3266. Bloody Hands, Troubled Soul

Mark 14:12-26

Drama

Setting: The nave should be dark, except for the dim light in the chancel area. There is an altar or table in the center of stage, on which a chalice and loaf are placed. Judas should appear out of the darkness, using a side door close to where the people are sitting, and begin his opening remarks from there. Throughout the rest of the drama he may roam freely throughout the chancel. Judas should be darkly, but not shabbily, dressed. Text: Mark 14:(10-11), 17-50 Cast: Judas Iscariot, a man, probably in his ...

3267. Mugwumps

Luke 6:1-11

Sermon

Mugwumps ... elusive ... unforgettable. An experience everyone should have at least once. As a TV ad might say, it’s something you’ll return to many times in your mind. But how do we know Mugwumps? What do they look like? Where do they live? How do they spend their leisure time? These are questions we could expect from someone like Sherlock Holmes if we asked him and friend Watson to track them down for us, so let’s work up a description. Mugwumps come in several shapes and sizes. They seem to thrive in ...

3268. Shipwrecked on Malta

Acts 27:1-12, Acts 27:13-26, Acts 27:27-44

Sermon Aid

CSS

Festus was a good administrator. Once the decision had been made to send Paul to Rome, he acted quickly. Yet it was a peculiar transferral. Agrippa and Festus are reported to have concluded that Paul had done nothing that was likely to undermine the security of the Roman Empire or otherwise be of interest to the high courts at Rome. They must have attached some bill of complaint to the military orders under which Paul was transported, but its contents are not known. The official charges against Paul never ...

3269. Returning: Real or Ruse?

Hosea 5:1-15

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"I will return again to my place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face, and in their distress they see me, saying, ‘Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.’ " A woman was filling out an employment application. When she came to the line marked "age," she hesitated a long time. Finally, the personnel manager leaned across his desk and whispered to her, "The longer you wait, the worse it gets!" That’s true of repentance and ...

3270. Who Are God’s People?

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

And they set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my possession among all ...

3271. No Sooner Said Than Done!

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"For the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Words! Words! Words! Today we are bombarded on every side and saturated throughout with words coming to us through press, radio, and TV. There are 490,000 ...

3272. The Danger of Being Religious

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord'; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Two young boys were close friends ...

3273. Sowing to the Flesh

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

Some years ago a well-to-do man, caught in a scandal, was serving a prison term when a friend paid him a visit. The well-to-do man was sitting cross-legged, and with an enormous needle and a ball of twine was sewing burlap bags. "Hello," said the friend, "Sewing, eh?" "No," replied the prisoner with a sober-looking smile, "I’m reaping." With the arrival of spring upon us, and soon to be followed by growing plants and a subsequent harvest, we who live in North America are reminded of the rhythmical pattern ...

3274. The Excitement of Meaningful Living

John 10:10 · Matthew 6:33 · Ephesians 3:20

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

When Jesus said, "My yoke is easy," he was telling it like it is. This caring, this moral commitment, this faith and obedience we have been talking about are really not a burden upon the life of the individual. All these dimensions of life, when inspired by the Holy Spirit, are generators of strength and purpose. In this way personal life finds its wholeness and completeness, and this is what Jesus meant by saying, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly." It is a joyful thing. This is ...

3275. "I Don’t Want to Be Perfect - Or Do I?"

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

"I don’t want to be perfect" - but I do want to be better than am. I do want to be as good as I can be. I will never be mathematically perfect, everything just right, fixed. But as long as I live, I am going to be yearning after something that I have not yet achieved, and I am going to be responding to a pull that ever tugs me to a higher level of life. I don’t want to be a semi-Christian. I don’t want to be a "born again" Christian whose "conversion turns him around ninety degrees instead of one hundred ...

Showing results