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 4914 results

3251. Hey! I Want To Believe!

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

David McKechnie tells a great story about a rather unlikely speaker who came to Bob Jones University sometime back. Bob Jones is a stronghold of fundamentalism. According to the story the speaker told the young people, "You are naive. You cannot continue to take the Bible and apply literalism to it. For example," he said, "take the Old Testament. The Hebrew for `red' and `reed' is the same word. When it talks about Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in pursuit, ...

3252. Victory Over Darkness

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

This is an exciting time ” particularly for the younger members of our congregation. As they grow in their understanding of the true meaning of Christmas, I hope they do not lose the pure, unadulterated joy that Christmas brings them. A grandmother was reading the Christmas story to her granddaughter. The little girl was just a toddler and grandmother was reading from the King James version of the Bible. The granddaughter was baffled by the phrase, "Mary was great with child." Grandmother did her best to ...

3253. Where Is My Guest Room?

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

In Dostoevski’s masterpiece THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV there is a scene in a courtroom after Dmitri has been sentenced to imprisonment in Siberia. He is so exhausted that he falls asleep on a bench. When he awakens, he finds that someone has placed a pillow under his head. He doesn’t know who has done the kind deed, but he is overjoyed. It is a sign of the goodness of life. He will go to prison, he says, and keep God’s name alive there, because he knows that God is alive in the world. The nameless, anonymous, ...

3254. Tackling Troubles Triumphantly

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Today, we start a journey through one of the most misunderstood--but most marvelous and meaningful--books in the New Testament, the Epistle of James. James is called a general Epistle, which means it is not written to a specific church community, but rather to the Christian Community at large. While it was designed to appeal to Christians in Jerusalem in 52 A.D., its message still speaks to us today with penetrating power and purpose. It offers wonderful words of wisdom for the Christian’s walk and witness ...

3255. We Are Christ's - That Is Enough

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

In today's Gospel, Mark tells us more about Jesus by showing his power over unclean spirits. The ironic twist is that it was the demons who recognized Jesus as the Son of God, while the people who were "in the crowd" had no idea who he was. This reversal raises an interesting question: If we met Jesus "on the street" today, would we recognize him as the Holy One of God? Being able to "recognize" him is related to what we expect from him. Do we need a leader with a charismatic personality to inspire us? Do ...

3256. Together, But Not Enmeshed

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Jesus describes the community gathered in his name -- and that would be all of us -- using the imagery of the vine. We, individually, are the various branches of the vine. Jesus is, as John describes him, "the true vine." And God is the vinegrower. Jesus is shaped and empowered by God, and we -- as branches -- are shaped, empowered, and nourished by the presence of the risen Christ. We are strongly impacted by images; no surprise here. Early in the Bush administration when Vice President Cheney left the ...

3257. No Angels, No Shepherds, No Star

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

It was a Christmas pageant presented by a class of four-year-olds and it was an evening to remember. It began with the three virgin Marys marching out onto the stage. As they stood there, they, of course, were waving to their parents. It’s not every Christmas pageant that has three virgin Marys, but over the years the school had acquired three Mary costumes, and so, quite naturally the script was revised. This gave a chance for more children to be involved and kept down the squabbling over who got the ...

3258. Chosen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

David G. Rogne

It is a difficult thing not to be chosen. I can still remember what a relief it was to be appointed by the teacher as one of the two captains who would choose team members when our class would be divided for softball. It meant that I would be, in effect, the first one to be chosen. What agony it was, however, when others were doing the choosing. As an uncoordinated youngster, with very little to offer toward the team's success, I was likely to be chosen last, and the humiliation was keenly felt. Perhaps ...

3259. Building A House

Luke 6:46-49

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

As most of you know, I don't always preach a thematic sermon for special secular holidays such as the Fourth of July Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother's or Father's Day. It's also rare that I preach a sermon on a single theme, such as racism, war, abortion, pornography, poverty. But, hopefully, my sermons address all these pressing issues in the context of Scripture, as that scripture presents itself in the order of my preaching. For you who wonder about that approach to preaching and the fact that we don't ...

3260. Adopted! (New)

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Ian Lewis, 43, of Standish, Lancashire, England, was interested in finding out about his family. He spent thirty years tracing his family tree back to the seventeenth century. Thirty years. He traveled all over Britain talking to 2,000 relatives about the family tree. He even planned to write a book about how his great-grandfather left to seek his fortune in Russia and how his grandfather was expelled after the Revolution. Then, after doing all that research, Ian Lewis made a discovery that stopped him in ...

3261. Concerning Miracles

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

A mother and her three-year-old son were playing in the front yard. There were squeals and giggles galore. Dad came to the door and asked them to play a bit more quietly so he could get his work done. The three-year-old put his hands on his hips and said indignantly, "Daddy, I don't do quiet!" That is true of a lot of three-year-olds. They don't do quiet. A cartoon shows a large van. On the side are the warnings, "Danger! Explosives!" Inside are two men. The driver of the van turns to his buddy and says ...

3262. The Baby Leaped

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. Jerry Schmallengberger, former president of Pacific Lutheran Seminary in Berkeley, CA, tells a hilarious story about a Christmas program that went awry. The story concerned a Pastor Paul Dahlrimple who had a great scheme to illustrate baby Jesus coming down from heaven. Pastor Dahlrimple asked Elder Fred to help. In preparation, he carefully rigged a baby doll to an invisible fishing line, stringing it through hooks in the ceiling and across to Elder Fred’s fishing pole in the wings. This baby doll was ...

3263. The Seven Delightful Blessings of the Word of God in the Believer's Life

Psalm 119:169-176

Sermon

Michael Milton

On the Fourth of July we went to Washington, D.C., and while there, we watched the fireworks. I love fireworks anywhere, but I especially loved these because the finale was spectacular! This section of Psalm 119 is the finale! It is a veritable fireworks of blessings that come to us through the Word of God, the Bible. Taw Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word! Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word. My lips will pour forth praise, for you ...

3264. Victory at Sea

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The lesson for this morning is from the Book of Exodus, perhaps one of the best known incidents in that book, the crossing of the Red Sea. Even if you haven't been to Sunday School, or read the Bible, if you have been to Universal Studios in Hollywood, then you have seen this miracle reenacted every day, several times a day. Probably more people know about the crossing of the Red Sea from Universal Studios than the Bible. It is particularly appropriate that this be the lesson on a baptism Sunday, because ...

3265. Advent 4

Isaiah 7:1-25, Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Isaiah 7:10-16 (C); Isaiah 7:10-14 (RC); Isaiah 7:10-17 (E) Yahweh gave King Ahaz the sign of a child as deliverance. The historical situation behind this Lesson needs to be known for an understanding of the passage. It was the time of the Syro-Ephramite war (736-734 B.C.). Israel and Syria joined in an attack on Judah and King Ahaz. He planned to get help from Assyria, but Yahweh through Isaiah urged him not to do it, but to rely on Yahweh for deliverance. With a practical and ...

3266. Jesus, Our Rock Foundation

John 14:1-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

When Charlie Atlas was a teenager his parents bought him a dresser mirror that he placed in his bedroom. Before this time, whenever Charlie needed to use a mirror he went to the bathroom, but there he was only able to see his head and possibly his shoulders. When he got dressed up he used his parents' full length mirror in their bedroom. Charlie was happy with his new mirror; he spent many hours in front of it. One day when he was standing in front of the mirror, Charlie decided to take off his shirt. He ...

3267. Don't Forget the Mustard

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Not so very long ago the pharmacy and the pantry were one and the same. Curatives and restoratives were cooked up at home, not picked up at the drug store. It is hard for us to realize that 1914 was really the first year when a trip to the doctor made you better. Long before scientific discoveries revealed the inner workings of penicillin, digitalis, or even aspirin, old wives and herbologists prescribed moldy bread for coughs, supplied foxglove for the faint-hearted, and urged headache sufferers to chew ...

3268. God Loves a Cheerful Giver

II Corinthians 9:6-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

One of the things I love most about St. Luke’s is the way our church members give of themselves so quickly, so graciously, so willingly, so sacrificially, so generously… always, but especially, when there is a problem. Let me show you what I mean with a four-minute video that beautifully and powerfully summarizes the work of St. Luke’s as we reached out to help the evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. (The video was shown.) (Members of our church rushed to the Astrodome to help and we ...

3269. When Mountains Are Not Moved

Mark 11:20-25 (26)

Sermon

James McCormick

I read the story in the newspaper. Over a period of two years, a young man wrote over 700 love letters to his sweetheart, each one proposing marriage. His persistence finally brought results. She married the mailman who delivered all the letters! Life is often like that, isn’t it? We want something so badly we can taste it. We dream about it, we pray for it, we work to get it, but it doesn’t come. We all know the disappointment of that, don’t we? The disappointment of dreams unfulfilled…of prayers ...

3270. Nothing but the Blood

1 John 1:7

Sermon

James Merritt

The greatest evangelist of the Twentieth Century, without question, was Billy Graham. The greatest evangelist before him of the Nineteenth Century undoubtedly was Dwight L. Moody. Both shared a common trait. They were criticized because of a particular subject they preached about. When Billy Graham was getting started, a professor from Cornell University wrote him a letter and said, "Mr. Graham, you have great talent, and you have what it takes to be a successful minister. But if you want to continue to be ...

3271. Why You Should Study the Bible

Psalm 119:105

Sermon

James Merritt

The Bible is the book that is owned by more people in America than any other single book. But what do Bible owners really know about the Bible? 82% say the idea that “God helps those who help themselves” is taken directly from the pages of the Bible. 66% say there is no absolute truth. 63% cannot name the four gospels. 58% cannot name half or more of the Ten Commandments. 58% do not know Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. 52% do not know the book of Jonah is in the Bible. 48% do not know the book of ...

3272. The Song of an Awe-Filled Life

Psalm 138:1-8

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Free Press writer Julie Hinds coined a phrase in trying to answer the question: "Why is reality TV so popular?" Why do civilized human beings enjoy watching other supposedly-civilized human beings: eat worms writhe in a bed of dead fish swap moms throw themselves at a self-centered bachelor or bachelorette and in a hundred and one ways, make fools of themselves? Hinds says the answer lies in what she calls the "ick factor…the strange yet effective tool that lures audiences to the maggot-eating competitions ...

3273. From the Tomb

John 20:1-18

Sermon

John E. Harnish

None other than my good friend David Crumm reported on the front page of Friday's Free Press: "Christians Reach Beyond Easter Uproar to Find Hope." He writes: "Easter, Christianity's cornerstone, is at hand and nearly 200 million Americans say they plan to go to church. But the central meaning of the holiday is more hotly debated than at any other time in American history." David refers to The Da Vinci Code (and by the way, he will be with us the night of our Da Vinci Code theater party), the buzz about ...

3274. Out of Solitude

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

"HELP!!! I'VE LOST MY FOCUS!" That's the title of an article in the January Time Magazine with the subtitle: "E-mail and cell phones help us multitask, but they also drive us to distraction." The authors begin: "Spend a few hours with Hollywood producer Jennifer Klein and you might want to pop a valium. Or slip her one. From the moment she rises at 7:00 a.m., she's a fidgety, demanding, chattering whirling dervish of a task juggler. Motto: never do just two things at once if you can possibly do four or ...

3275. God Our Protector and Shield

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

James Gillis, a priest and writer in the mid-twentieth century, became well known as a commentator on American life. He saw himself as a champion for the cause of moral righteousness and absolutism against the forces of darkness that manifested themselves in various ways. This "war" continued throughout his life with battles waged on numerous fronts, all prosecuted to protect the American Christian way of life that was instilled in him from childhood. Gillis believed that truth should enwrap all decisions ...

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