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 326 to 350 of 1185 results

326. Death of a Blacksnake

Luke 17:11-19, Genesis 1:1-2:3

Illustration

Staff

... which has been passed on by a parent, teacher, or preacher. That particular blacksnake is dead - killed by ignorance, perhaps, rather than by a particular cruelty - but dead nonetheless. His very valuable contribution to the balance of nature has ceased simply because someone thoughtlessly reacted to the stimulus of traditional fear or prejudice. And, as blacksnakes are killed, so are humans. They are slaughtered because human beings have not yet learned to rise above traditional fears and prejudices and ...

327. Steadfast Love

Lamentations 3:1-66

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship I am one who has seen affliction. . . My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, "Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the Lord. . My soul is bowed down within me. But this thought comes to mind, and therefore, I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases his mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; great is his faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "there fore, I will hope in him."

328. Christian Values

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Bulletin Aid

... my beliefs, without love I gain nothing. Women: "Love is patient and kind. It does not boast or act proudly. It is not rude, self-seeking or easily angered. It holds no grudges and doesn’t rejoice at misfortune. Men: "Love never fails, but prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled and knowledge will pass away. We know in part, prophecy in part, but when perfection comes the imperfect disappears. Youth: "When I was a child, I talked, thought and reasoned like a child. As I grow up, I will put childish ...

329. The Christian Life Taming the Tongue

James 3:1-12

Bulletin Aid

... rudder which can turn a whole ship, the tongue is a rudder which turns not only its own body but can sharply change the course of others. Women: Tell a person often enough that he is selfish, and he will act selfishly. Tell him he is stupid and he will cease to use his reasoning. Tell him he is a failure and he will fail. Men: But tell him, repeatedly, that he is of value and he will do valuable things. Tell him he is thoughtful and considerate and he will become more so. Leader: The tongue is a mighty tool ...

330. The Christian Life Remember

Ecclesiastes 11:7--12:8

Bulletin Aid

... no pleasure in them." Women: Remember him before the sun and light grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; then despite dim sight, he will give you visions of his glory. Men: Remember him before the keepers of the house tremble and the grinders cease because they are few; then despite your weakness, he will give you strength to serve him. Youth: Remember him before the doors to the street are closad and the sound of grinding fades and the songs of birds grow faint; then despite your deafness, he ...

331. When God's Mind is Spoken

Judges 1:1-36

Sermon

... -manifestation in Jesus Christ. The presence of God in Jesus does not involve God's absence from the rest of the universe. The grace of God that filled Jesus was not, as a consequence, used up. Let the church understand that God did not cease to speak after he spoke in Jesus Christ. Throughout history, there have been other people and events through which God disclosed himself to humanity. John says, "We beheld his glory" in Jesus Christ. "Glory" is the manifestation of essential being. "The heavens declare ...

332. Getting Back To Work

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Brett Blair

... it is our faith in God that reminds us on a daily bases that we are servants in this world. It is easy in times of plenty to forget. When all is right with the world, the law of averages predicts that all will be wrong with us. When we cease to feel anything less than AWE at the wonder of creation… and when we feel that GOD the Father has human instead of divine attributes…when we think of God framed by the perspective of our puny experiences… then we forget that we are God’s creatures. What do we ...

333. April Showers

1 Samuel 20:1-42

Sermon

... of thousands of flowers raised their pastel colored heads upward toward the blue Italian skies. Spring was once observed as the new year. In many lands April first was New Year’s Day. Not until Pope Gregory I decreed January first to be New Year’s Day did April cease to be viewed as the beginning of a new year. April may be cruel but it can also be a clarion call to a new creation. A month of crucifixion can be a month of empty tombs and reports of resurrection. April, like any month, can be what we ...

334. Advent 1

Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9

Bulletin Aid

... city and all your houses throughout the world as havens of divine instruction and safe harbors of peace. Enable us to ease all tensions and strife, especially between nations and races and creeds: that your divine and universal love may triumph and war and hatred may cease. In the name of the coming Prince of Peace we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession God of Peace, we confess with deep sadness that we do not always operate as coworkers with you in the enterprise of world peace, but instead sow the seeds of ...

335. Proper 12

Romans 8:1-17

Bulletin Aid

... require the kind of profound intercession before God that only God's Spirit itself can provide, and that in unspeakable sighs! Call to Worship (based on Psalm 105) Leader: Seek God and God's strength! People: SEEK GOD'S PRESENCE WITHOUT CEASING! Leader: Remember God's wonderful works! People: REMEMBER GOD'S EVERLASTING WORDS! Collect Most benevolent God, you have provided your Spirit as an able spokesperson for a humanity dumbfounded by sin. Continue to stand by us: that, despite our guilt at failing ...

336. Limitless Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Bulletin Aid

Exegetical note The saying of Jesus about forgiveness and the loosely connected parable of the unforgiving, forgiven servant work together in this setting to suggest that forgiveness should be both limitless and contagious. Not only should one forgive without ceasing, but one who is forgiven should multiply the mercy by forgiving as well. Call to Worship Leader: Let us bless the God of mercy! People: Let us praise the God of grace! Leader: For to do wrong is human! People: But to forgive is the way of God ...

337. Proper 12

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon Aid

... did this: After welcoming the people in the name of God, the Holy and Loving One, in whose Presence we live and move and have our existence, he quoted George Buttrick. "People do not live without worship - they die. They sink below themselves when they cease to worship One above themselves." (source unknown) We are here today because we have chosen life. You may want to follow with this litany between pastor and ministers: Pastor: Who are you? Ministers: We are the people of God, called by God's love in ...

338. Proper 15

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

... of the Word Consider these ideas: 1. Marilyn Monroe once said, "I believe in everything - a little bit." 2. "Faith is like calories; we can't see them, but we can see their results." (source unknown) 3. Archbishop William Temple said, "When people cease to believe in God, they do not believe in nothing. They believe in everything." (source unknown) Stewardship Challenge Suggestion: In the Sojourners, June 1987, one author tells of a mother in Nicaragua shortly after a Contra attack on her village. "Both of ...

339. Death: Commonality Explored

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

... the scene in a physical sense and a replacement, whom he had blessed was now the leader. One of the most thrilling characteristics about the universal church is that transition upon transition occurs across the decades, generations, and centuries, but never does she cease to exist! We have read and heard those who were sure the universal church was going through death rattles, and it was only a question of time. Such persons have died and the Body goes on, renewing and being renewed. The current disarray ...

340. Loyalty: Imperative Ingredient

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

... World Council of Churches, have been bombarded with rhetoric, and much worse, which insists this expression of a world organization is anti-nationalistic and, in fact, communistic. What many such diatribes never seem to consider is an adequate substitute, should it cease to exist. A common sense approach to our global village makes necessary some such organization to communicate among Christ’s flock. The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of "churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and ...

341. TWO CAN BECOME ONE

Drama

... may not be 2: Complete without the other. 1: But when we can come together, 2: By whatever forces compel us, 1: When we can add our wisdom, each to each, 2: Filling the other’s empty spaces, 1: Our words may become wisdom many can hear, [Flowing motion ceases for the next two lines] 2: And understand, 1: And use. 2: Apart, we are alone with our limited vision - 1: Joined, we join our limits, 2: Expand our boundaries, 1: And the wisdom of both can become 2: Wiser than the wisdom of one! 3 now separates ...

342. The Touch of the Master's Hand

Luke 5:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... ; going for three---‘ But no, from the room far back, a gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; then wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody pure and sweet as a caroling angel sings. "The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said, ‘What am I bid for the old violin?’ and he held it up with the bow. ‘A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two? Two thousand! And who’ll make it three? Three thousand, once ...

343. Misleading Questions

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

... and thereby trap Jesus in his thoughts: A woman is married seven times to a series of brothers who father no children and she survives them all. In the resurrection whose wife is she? Jesus reveals that the question is built on a false premise since the institution of marriage ceases to exist with the advent of the age of resurrection. Score now: Jesus -- 3 Religious leaders -- 0.

344. Life Shrinks

Illustration

John Killinger

... on me. Suddenly I knew, with my whole being, what all the great philosophers from Plato to McLuhan have tried to say to us: that our views of life and the world are shaped by what we are taught and accept, and that once we have accepted these views and ceased to challenge them, life shrinks to their proportions. It was a horrifying realization! Had my life diminished to the size of my rational conception of the world? I hope not, but I feared the worst.

345. One Little Rose

Illustration

I would rather have one little rose from the garden of a friend Than have the choicest flowers when my stay on earth must end. I would rather have a pleasant word in kindness said to me Than flattery when my heart is still and life has ceased to be. I would rather have a loving smile from friends I know are true Than tears shed around my casket when the world I bid adieu. Bring me all your flowers today whether pink or white or red, I’d rather have one blossom now than a truckload when I’m dead.

346. Democracy in Action

Illustration

Adali E. Stevenson

... old principles in the light of new facts by deliberation, debate, and dialogue. For democracy’s need for wisdom will remain as perennial as its need for liberty. Not only external vigilance but unending self-examination must be the perennial price of liberty, because the work of self-government never ceases.

347. The Stiller of Storms

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." Storms do arise. Life tends to be tempestuous! Tumults appear. We thought that the invention of printing would hasten the spread of the Gospel, but it has also hastened the spread of ...

348. We Know Exactly How You Feel, Jesus

Matthew 8:3, Luke 7:14, Luke 8:44

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... And sitting up, the dead man began to speak (Luke 7:11-15). Likewise a woman who for a dozen years searched for healing from a flow of blood came up behind Christ, and she touched him, touching his garment's fringe, and immediately the flow of blood ceased (Luke 8:43, 44). He touched the one who could not hear and could not speak. He touched the one born blind and he touched the children and blessed them. But study these Bible stories and we learn that "touched" would more correctly be translated "held or ...

349. Claim Your Ministry

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... your company? Or to society? What is the basis for your choice? Last year our men’s study group spent some time trying to relate Christianity to very specific instances of business decisionmaking. How necessary that is, and yet how frustrating it can be when we cease to content ourselves with glib generalities and get down to hard specifics. But while the work of lay ministry is not very easy, it is vital and necessary if the Gospel is to permeate the world. James Gilliom reminds us of a rule in the early ...

350. The Grace of Disillusionment

Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... him. "Why do you call me good?" he demanded. "Only the Father who is in heaven is good." "If we say we have no sin," writes St. John, "we deceive ourselves." This is who we are, and until we recognize our need of God’s mercy, until we cease to speak of "those" sinners and speak instead of "us" sinners, well then we are in the position of the Pharisee. A prospective church member once told a deacon that he would not be joining the church because he had discovered it was full of hypocrites. "That’s ...

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