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 3551 to 3575 of 4963 results

3551. Make Room for God

Luke 5:1-11

Illustration

James Garrett

... come, but do not expect him only in a certain way. At any moment he may break in. Always be in a state of expectancy, and leave room for God to come as he likes. Life is anything but predictable! Human nature is not fixed and settled. We live under hope. That hope is rested in God, not the situation.

3552. Neighbors Who Never Met

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

... names allowed. That is indicative of how we view the poor. Let me tell you friends, in heaven that will all be reversed. God will know the name of every poor suffering person who ever walked this earth. There is a special place in his heart for the poor. I hope he knows my name when I get there, but I know he will know their name. You can be poor in the eyes of the world, but fabulously wealthy in the eyes of God. That is what Jesus is suggesting here. In heaven everything will be reversed. Maybe that is ...

3553. Under the Rainbow

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... " this and "nigger" that. But they had something we need to recover right now. I can't turn loose this story of Noah and the Flood because after all of the devastation...there's a rainbow...I'm not going to live without that kind of hope..." The Peanuts characters Linus and Lucy are standing at the window watching the rain. Lucy says, "If it doesn't stop raining everything will be washed away." "Oh no!" says Linus. "Genesis chapter 9 says that never again will God wash everything away." "Thank you." says ...

3554. The Grief Grinch

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Yes, the separation for a time is an occasion for grief; we have every right to FEEL the loss. Jesus affirmed that as He stood crying at Lazarus' tomb. But as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, "Go ahead and grieve...but don't do it as those who have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13). Grief...how will you deal with it? Some time ago a heart-rending story was reported by the press in Chicago, telling of a young father who had shot himself to death in a tavern telephone booth during the holidays. James Lee had called a ...

3555. The Common People Heard Him Gladly

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

James W. Moore

... Jesus came to deliver. We can be forgiven. We can make a new start. We can have a new life. We can, with the help of Christ, make a new beginning. And this is why the common people in New Testament times heard Jesus Gladly. He gave them hope. He told them that they were special to God. He treated them with love and respect. He valued them, prized them, treasured the, included them in the circle of acceptance. I have a minister friend named Tom Tewell. He is the senior minister of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian ...

3556. God's Not Done With Us Yet!

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... meat, but Abram shooed them off. Finally, our hero falls asleep and, as he does, God speaks to him promising that his descendants would be given this land. As a guarantee, we have the account of an ancient ritual which would be an equivalent of "cross my heart and hope to die" - a flaming pot and a lighted torch (God is often depicted as fire) make their way between these dead animals which have been laid out and lined up. The symbolism apparently is, "May I be cut in two like all this if I fail to keep my ...

3557. The Prod of the Past

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... youth, our youngsters are a vital part of the congregation. Folks say they are our future. Not so! They are our PRESENT. As such, our youth deserve to be consulted on affairs of the church and ought to have a voice on the session. I would hope that, this year, our session brings a proposal to you to establish the position of Youth Elder who would serve a one-year term on session following election at the annual congregational meeting which elects our officers. The Youth Elder would have full voice and vote ...

3558. Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . Intriguing. So, who's gonna win? Packers? Broncos? Green Bay is heavily favored to repeat as champion. Sentiment is with Denver though, a team that has been there four previous times and come away empty. Folks (including me) look at the super-star career of John Elway and hope, for his sake, that he gets the chance to include a Super Bowl ring in his memorabilia. As we say, the Super Bowl is a BIG deal. In the mint, a one dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill become friends. They get split up and go into ...

3559. A Mother's Gift

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... must I be continually afflicted with Peninnah's tongue? Do you care at all about me? Please, Lord, please, please, please. If you will only give me a child, I will give him back to you for his whole life." Over and over she repeated her prayer, hoping against hope that the God who had shut his ears to her through all these years would finally grant her request. She was pitiful. In her pain, Hannah did not notice that someone besides her God was listening. Eli, the High Priest, had been near the doorway all ...

3560. David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11:1-27, 12:1-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Sunday after my birth, word of my arrival was announced to the congregation of the Chelsea Presbyterian Church in Atlantic City, NJ, the congregation to which my father had been called as pastor less than a year before. My parents told the church they had named me David, in the hope that I would grow up, like the David of old, to be a man after God's own heart. In the years since, my sins may not have been as egregious or public as those of David the king, but to say that I am equally flawed frankly goes ...

3561. Our Magnificent, Mysterious, Mischievous God

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . Naaman could not imagine God working in any way other than what HE had envisioned. He came close to missing out. Is that a danger for you and me? You know it is. Naaman's attitude challenges our own response to circumstances in our lives. We all have hurts and hopes, and, like Naaman, we all have our ideas as to how God will handle them. The problem might be physical, or it could be something in our home or family or job or church. As I said at the beginning of this, the healing of Naaman is a fun story ...

3562. Do I Matter?

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Anan, the birth of little Adnan Nevic "should light a path of tolerance and understanding for all people." We can certainly hope. UN demographers had determined that the population would hit the six-billion number this past Tuesday, which means that we have ... were healed and given new life. A woman, too shy and full of shame to approach Jesus face to face, grabbed his robe, hoping he would not notice. He noticed. She learned, like so many other "nobodies," that you cannot easily escape Jesus' gaze. Why? They ...

3563. Hungry People

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... person, anyway? When accompanied by Jesus, one person can be a majority. Christ says to all: "Bring them to me" - your hopes, your dreams, your convictions. "Bring them to me" - your burdens, your challenges, your responsibilities. For he who took a paltry ... five loaves and two fish!" Hear the Psalmist sing once again: "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God" (42:5-6a). What I have, what the Psalmist had, and what ...

3564. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of anything is the DOWNside. Instead of seeing progress on a problem, the cynic sees only that the problem is still there. Instead of giving a pat on the back for a step forward, the cynic proclaims it was really one forward but two BACK. There is no hope in the cynic's soul. And they probably cannot make decent lemonade either. Sometime back, someone wrote that some folks "walk into a room and their ill-humor sucks the air out of it. Their presence weighs down on everyone. They have not a kind word for ...

3565. I'm Thankful for...

Psalm 100:1-5

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Thanksgiving? Be thankful even in the midst of adversity? As the Pilgrims did, look at the glass as half full rather than half empty? Get real. If I were one of them, I doubt that I would be hearing much of anything. What I would hope is that, somehow, someone, something could cut through the fog of my grief and touch my "faith nerve." Perhaps there is something providential in this Sunday occurring as it does. On our national calendar, this is Thanksgiving Sunday. Other nations have Thanksgiving Days at ...

3566. Salvation

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ? The angel told Joseph, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall SAVE his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). In fact, there were all sorts of little boys being born around the time of Christ whose Jewish Moms and Dads named them Jesus in the hope that their son would be the promised Messiah, the Deliverer, the salvation of Israel from the bondage of Rome...the one who would restore God's good order. Here and now. "In the sky, when I die" was still no issue. As Jesus began his ministry, something new ...

3567. Grace and Golf

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... from I Corinthians 9. It is found in the middle of some instruction concerning self-control and notes that athletes, if they hope to be successful, will be disciplined. A bit of background here. A question had arisen in the church regarding whether or not it ... church, and we can rely on the love and support of the one who sticks even closer than a brother, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Golf. Bob Hope once said, "If you watch a game, it's fun. If you play it, it's recreation. If you work at it, it's golf."(4 ...

3568. Thank God, We're Not Alone!

Psalm 133:1-3

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , you know. As important as it is to us, we do not often celebrate togetherness. We gather at Thanksgiving time and express our gratitude for so many things...for food, for clothing, for shelter, for health, for sheer survival. We might even give thanks for our families - I hope we do - but rarely do we ever specifically give thanks for the fact that God has seen to it that we are not alone, that we are more than individuals, that we are a part of a group, a community. What makes our silence strange is that ...

3569. Now That School's Out...

Proverbs 8:1-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... such a young age. So he approached the venerable Chairman of the Board and said, "You know, I have just been appointed President. I was wondering if you could give me some advice." The old man came back with just two words: "Right decisions!" The young man had hoped for a bit more than this, so he said, "That's really helpful, and I appreciate it, but can you be more specific? How do I make right decisions?" The wise old man simply responded, "Experience." The young man said, "Well, that's just the point of ...

3570. When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough

Ecc 2:1-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... his thoroughly unimpressive life. He has nothing better to do, so he sets out for Colorado in the Winnebago in hope of bridging the gulf between himself and his daughter by arriving early to help with her wedding preparations. Unfortunately, he ... .(3) If you recall the story you remember that Dr. Faust, the hero, is a middle-aged scholar and scientist who has just about given up hope that he will ever learn the true meaning of life. He has begun to fear that he will come to the end of his span on ...

3571. Trouble in the Manse

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... realized the parallels between his own home life and the relationship between God and God's people - it would not be complete without that same step: the step of redeeming love. Hosea must have realized it because the closing verses of his prophecy are full of hope. "I will love them freely...They shall live again beneath my shadow; they shall flourish as a garden."(2) That became the prophet's message. No doubt the tongues did wag again when Hosea brought Gomer back home. That had to be big news over tea ...

3572. I'm On a Mission from God!

Jonah 1:1-17

Sermon

... look like? It will be different for each one of us. For some, it means helping youngsters with their school work in our Hope Tutoring Center; for others, serving food in the Sharing Place or growing it for sale at the Farmers' Market; for others teaching ... envying is stilled, That the post to which God sent me is the post He wanted filled. So I plod along and struggle, in the hope when day is through, That I am really necessary to the things God wants to do; And there isn’t any service which I should ...

3573. The Healing Touch

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , they were too engrossed in him to notice her. As she came near, her plan took shape. She knew that her condition would make it impossible to approach the healer directly - no one would allow her to get near. She would simply come up from behind (hoping against hope that she would go unnoticed), and touch one of the four tassels on Jesus' outer robe. Something deep inside told her that if she would just do this...just TOUCH...she would be healed. And she was. True, she did not get away unobserved as she ...

3574. The View from the Mountaintop

Mark 9:14-32, Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Sherman after his devastation of South Carolina and Georgia. War (then and now) is never as clean as might be hoped. Innocent people suffer! Lincoln suffered too. He had his own private war with depression which he battled with a widely- ... will of God. Both may be, and one must be WRONG. God cannot be for, and against, the same thing at the same time." He also wrote, "I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say, that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to OTHERS on a point so connected with ...

3575. God Bless the Child

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... for them even if you don't feel like praying for them." "And what do you pray?" "Forgive them. They know not what they do." Folks, Ruby caught that kind of faith from her parents and from her church. There will be no real progress, no genuine hope for America's children to ALL be looked upon as GOD'S children until some sense of urgency forces us to reconsider our values. That Congress and the administration could give business a $136-billion tax break this week while so many millions of American youngsters ...

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