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 3401 to 3425 of 4944 results

3401. The Bread That Endures

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

Perhaps you did something this morning that many others do each morning as well -- you had a piece of toast or a bagel for breakfast. Perhaps you put strawberry jam or honey on your toast and spread some cream cheese on your bagel. Around the world, this simple human ritual is repeated in a variety of ways. In Malaysia, that same piece of toast might be smeared with kaya, a thick jam made from coconut milk. In Taiwan or in Beijing, instead of toast, it may be a steamed bun filled with bits of roast pork ...

3402. Only the Birth Pangs

Mark 13:1-31

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Greeting Leader 1: Brothers and sisters, have you heard the prophecies? Many who come in the name of Christ are saying the end is near! Congregation: "Beware that no one leads you astray." Leader 2: But I have heard that we are going to be pulled into war! And there are already so many wars between the nations! Congregation: "Do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come." Leader 1: But what about the earthquakes? There seem to be more than usual! Leader 2: And there are people ...

3403. The Most Important Person

John 1:35, 43-51

Children's Sermon

Object: a wallet-sized picture of Jesus Good morning, boys and girls. Do any of you like to carry around pictures of your good friends? Many people do that. They will put a little book of pictures in their purse, or maybe keep some in their billfold. We don't keep just anybody's picture in there, only people who are special to us. Then when we want to think about them, we can take out their picture and look at it and remember how special they are to us. Here's a picture some people carry around in their ...

3404. God's Everlasting Promises

Mark 13:31

Children's Sermon

Object: a Bible. Good morning, boys and girls. Do you know that we are only one Sunday away from the end of the church year? That's right. Next Sunday is the end of the church year. Then we will start all over again. Of course, the end of the calendar year will be the last day of December, but the church year ends first. The year is not the only thing that comes to an end, is it? We can think of lots of things that end. Television programs end. Stories end. Daylight ends when the sun goes down. Songs end ...

3405. Doors to God

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

Sunday • Christian Education Sunday • Christian One door in the church school class room opens to God. That door, the most important, is the teacher. Whatever else they teach, church school teachers should teach the central message of the Christian faith. What is that message? Albert Schweitzer, after making a life study of the message of Jesus, has concluded that: The essential element in Christianity as it was preached by Jesus, and as it is comprehended by thought, is this, that it is only through love ...

3406. Singing Along The Way

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Ron Lavin

In the time of John the Baptist, most of the people were not getting the point. There was political corruption with Herod, religious corruption with Annas and Caiaphas, the high priests, and confusion among the general populace. It was the time right before the Messiah would appear, so John the Baptist and a small remnant of followers echoed prophetic words at the Jordan River. To the superficially interested who heard his preaching, John warned, "You brood of vipers (Luke 3:7, J B Phillips)." "You snakes ...

3407. The Sign in the Subway

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

On a subway platform in one of our Eastern states there was a large printed sign that said "God Answers Prayer." Some experienced person had scrawled across the bottom underneath the printed letters these words: "Sometimes the answer is NO!" This is what we have to deal with in any discussion of prayer. Someone says, "I felt the need of God. I prayed for something to happen, and it didn’t. Prayer failed." No, Sir. I suggest that you did not want God - you wanted God to do something, and that’s different. ...

3408. It’s not what you know, but who you know!

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

In a dark room, pitch black except for the glaring light from the naked bulb of a small lamp set on a table, there are three men. One, bedraggled and covered with sweat, sits at the table, his face exposed to the light. Standing next to him are the two other men who move in and out of the light, sometimes shoving their faces right into the face of the man who is seated. No doubt you have watched enough television dramas to know what’s happening in that room. The man seated is being interrogated. "Where ...

3409. How Many Times?

Matthew 18:21-35

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: You will need a small bag of M&M's for each child as well as a very large bag of M&M's – enough to count out 490 – for your demonstration. Pour your M&M's into a large bowl. Say: Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, asked him how many times he should forgive someone. He wondered if seven times would be enough. What do you think? Should you forgive someone 7 times? What if your brother or sister keeps coming into your room and messing it up. What if they did it every day for a whole week? Do you think ...

3410. Dare To Dream

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

The past several years a lot of books have been written on what it is that makes churches grow. The key seems to be that growing churches have congregations with great dreams. Their philosophy is that it is better to attempt something great and fail than to seek to achieve nothing and succeed. On this Pentecost Sunday, as we remember how God's Spirit swept into the lives of those earlier disciples and transformed them into dynamic ambassadors of the Good News of Jesus Christ, let us ask ourselves whether ...

3411. Night Crawler

John 3:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship One: I lift up my eyes to the hills- from where will my help come? All: My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Women: He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Men: He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Right Side: The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. Left Side: The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. One: The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. All: The Lord ...

3412. Lent 1

Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12-21, Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 (C); Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 (RC); Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25-3:7 (E) The account of humanity's fall into sin. Today's Lesson is taken from the second Genesis account of creation by the Yahwist (J) school of authors. The first part of the pericope gives the setting for the Fall: creation of Adam from dust and spirit, the garden with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In preparation for the Fall we need to know that Adam and Eve were ...

3413. Soren's Heart

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How many of you are wearing or have in your pocket or purse some sort of talisman - a small something that reminds you of something much bigger? We often call these things we carry around with us keepsakes or mementos or jewelry. But they're really talismans. According to the dictionary, a talisman is a trinket or piece of jewelry thought to afford some protection against danger and evil. Maybe you wear a locket that holds inside it photos of loves ones. Maybe you keep a worry stone (or a rosary?) in your ...

3414. The Woods Are Lovely, Dark, and Deep

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The first poem I really related to in a personal way in junior high English class was Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." When I read "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." I knew exactly what the poet was saying, because I knew the powerful pull of the woods. I also knew that I couldn't go play there to play until I had done homework and chores. To my siblings, friends and me, the woods behind ...

3415. How to Turn the Ballot into a Blessing Box

Proverbs 29:2

Sermon

James Merritt

William Paterson, one of the signers of the United States Constitution, and a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, said that juries should always be reminded of the text I'm preaching on today: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan." (v.2) I would go on to add that not only should juries be reminded of it, but also judges, lawyers, doctors, ministers, teachers; in fact, the entire nation should remember it. There is a crisis in America, I ...

3416. The Wisdom of the Wise Men

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I heard a story recently about this negative barber that had a customer in his chair and he said to him, “I hear you’re going to Europe; you shouldn’t do that. The weather is going to be bad in Rome, there is bombing and there’s strife and strikes in London. You think you’re going to get to see the Pope, but he won’t give you an audience, you just shouldn’t go.” About a month later, the same man was in the chair, and the barber said to him, “You didn’t take my advice; you went to Europe after all. And I ...

3417. Every Day God Enables

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I remember reading a book of letters from children to their pastor. One of them read: "Dear Preacher, I'd like to bring my dog to church on Sunday. She is only a mutt, but she is a good Christian. Love, Sissy. PS I'm sorry I can't leave more money in the offering plate on Sunday, but my Daddy won't give me a raise in my allowance. Maybe you could give a sermon about a raise in my allowance. It would help the church get more money." I like that little girl. I'll bet she's going someplace in her life. Not ...

3418. Justification and Grace

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One of the snares into which we preachers fall, rather often I think, is to assume that the people to whom we preach are already Christians. That’s true, generally. But I would be kidding myself if I preached from Sunday to Sunday to this congregation assuming that everyone here had already made an explicit commitment to Christ. But there’s another issue at stake, as well, a very common experience in congregations every where. There are people in worship every Sunday who are Christian, yet they’re not very ...

3419. The Constant God in a Changing World

Psalm 48:1, 9-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In Berlin, Germany, after World War II, there stood a church in the center of the city with nothing left but the Gothic arch which framed the main door. Over the arch were these words from Luke 21: “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words remain forever true." I would like to talk about that today. The author of Psalm 48 was enthralled with the strength and beauty of Jerusalem. Her towers seemed immovable; her citadels appeared immutable; her temple looked like nothing less than something immortal. ...

3420. Manna and Quail

Exodus 16:1-36

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

Leadership, Learning, Manna, Meat, and the First Sabbath Rest: In Exodus 16, Israel begins learning to walk in the Lord’s way (vv. 4b, 28b). The survival of the people depended on the transformation of their culture. The text presents a jumble of themes around this purpose, some for the first time in Exodus: the grumbling and lessons of the newly redeemed slaves; the status of Moses and Aaron’s leadership; the Lord’s visible presence with the people; and the Lord’s provision of bread, quail, and rest. The ...

3421. Sermon on the Mount: Giving, Prayer, and Fasting

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus expects his disciples to practice a covenantal piety that centers on a longing for God’s kingdom to arrive and strives to please God, not humans. Understanding the Text Following on the heels of Matthew’s instructions about keeping the law, this passage indicates right ways of enacting religious practices of giving, prayer, and fasting. In each case, believers ought to act “in secret” to receive divine rather than human approval. Their behavior is to contrast with “hypocrites” who care ...

3422. A History Lesson: From Ephraim to Judah, from the Exodus to Zion

Psalm 78:1-72

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

A History Lesson: From Ephraim to Judah, from the Exodus to Zion Like most psalms, Psalm 78 is explicitly meant for public performance (“O my people, hear,” and “things we have heard . . . we will tell,” vv. 1–4), but unlike most, which are either prayers (Hb. tepillâ) or praises (Hb. tehillâ), this one is explicitly teaching (Hb. tôrâ; only here in the Pss. does this term not denote God’s “teaching/law”). Like Psalm 49 (v. 4, cf. Prov. 1:6), it designates itself as a parable (or “comparison,” Hb. māšāl) ...

3423. Sim Lev!

Mark 13:1-31, Mark 13:32-37, Matthew 24:1-35, Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23) “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5) Prop: ruby slippers (you may use these as an example of an “anchoring” metaphor/sign) OR bud of a fig tree // recommended: Holy Communion elements One of the most mesmerizing tales of the 20th century was The Wizard of Oz starring a young Judy Garland. It was first and foremost a foray into the ...

3424. The Politics of Love

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Themes: Atonement / washing away/ dreams and visions/ the politics of love Today, when we hear the word “politics” most likely we cringe. The word has taken on severe connotations --a thirst for prestige, a thirst for revenge, a thirst for power, a tangled system of government, taxes, corruption, agendas, and ladders to climb on and people to step on and over to get there. But if you look at the very “first” dictionary definition of “politics,” you’ll find it means, “social relations” involving authority ...

3425. Fear of Flying

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Jerry Angstrom had a fierce fear of flying. It’s not as though he had flown in a plane before. He hadn’t. Nothing bad had happened to him in the air or on the ground to make him fear the 747 that could take him on his vacation trip to Key West. He simply couldn’t bring himself to do it. Every time he thought about stepping onto the plane, his mind would race with thoughts of doom and gloom. “What if the plane crashed?” “What if the engine failed?” “What if it ran out of gas.” “What if I die?” The very ...

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