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 3576 to 3600 of 5000 results

3576. TANNER

Acts 9:43

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Acts 9:43 - "And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner." Tanning, which is the conversion of the hides of goats, sheep, camels, and calves into leather, is a very ancient art. As far back as the Exodus, we find that "tanned rams’ skins" were used as coverings for the tabernacle. And ancient man also found that leather was valuable as a material for receptacles. Well-preserved leather articles, dating from as early as 2000 B.C., have been found by archealogists, In fact, the mummies of ...

3577. SANTA CLAUS OR CHRIST?

Drama

G. William Genszler

This little drama can be presented effectively in chancel or on stage with just one short rehearsal. The parts are so short that they can be read or memorized in a flash. This play is well-suited for a group of people numbering anywhere from fifteen to thirty persons. ***** Reader: (at lectern or at mike on side of stage) Good evening, dear friends, we’ll endeavor to show The meaning of Christmas through contrasts you know. Some parts of this play are funny, yet sad When Christ is forgotten, the results ...

3578. The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Let us gather together all who are committed to serving the Lord! People: Let us seek the will of the Lord as we share God's love around us. Leader: Let us call on the Holy Spirit to be our strength and our courage. People: And let us proclaim with joy God's mercy and grace through the Cross. Leader: Let the world hear our praises and songs for God's wonderful Love! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, although all power and glory in all of Creation are Yours, You ...

3579. A Kudzu-Kind of Kingdom

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

I want you to use your imagination this morning. Let me take you back in history 2000 years, to the country of Palestine, present-day Israel. You are sitting around a campfire near the Sea of Galilee with Jesus and his disciples. They have lived together, traveled together, preached and healed together for over two years. On this particular evening they have had a simple meal of perch and bread. There is a lull in the conversation and then I can imagine the disciple Thomas speaking: "Master, you and the ...

3580. The Kingdom of God Is a Party

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A few years ago that wonderfully creative Christian sociologist, Tony Campolo, traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, for a speaking engagement. He flew all the way from Pennsylvania to Hawaii and had an awful case of jet lag. Therefore, at 3:00 AM, he was wide awake. Tony found a donut shop near his hotel. As he sat there sipping coffee and glancing at a newspaper, the door to the diner swung open and in marched eight or nine provocative and boisterous prostitutes. Their talk was loud and crude. Tony was just ...

3581. A Thanksgiving Question

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

There is an old story told about a farmer who received a visit from his pastor. The farmer had purchased the farm just three years earlier. Together they walked around and admired the healthy corn, rising as high as a basketball goal. The soybean crop was coming on strongly. The pastureland was knee-deep in good grazing for the cows. The pastor said, "My friend, God has certainly blessed you richly." The farmer nodded and replied, "Maybe so, but you should have seen this place when God had it all by ...

3582. The Snake: A Slick Salesman

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Some years ago a relative of mine adopted a baby raccoon. Herbie was its name. Herbie was the cutest, most cuddly little creature imaginable. He was hooked on oreo cookies. Because Herbie was fed an ample, high calorie diet, he grew rapidly into a rolly-poley prankster. We had been warned that raccoons go through a glandular change at about two years of age and often attack their owners. A 30- pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap. But our response was: "It will be different with Herbie ...

3583. The Seeds of Social Conflict

Genesis 4:1-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One day a little boy just got out of bed on the wrong side. He was having a very bad day. He disobeyed his mother several times, and then had a violent argument with his playmate. So, his mother told him he would have to have some time alone. She turned on the light in her large clothes closest, put a little chair in it, and told her son to sit there for thirty minutes. Thirty minutes later, she returned to find the closet was a real mess. All her clothes were in a pile. “What have you been doing?” She ...

3584. Building According To Code

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Brett Blair

It is significant that Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount with the parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Throughout the long day Jesus had been preaching to the vast multitude. They listened to him with amazement and awe. But Jesus warned them that that was not enough. It is never enough simply to listen to the words of Jesus, even though we may listen with reverent approval. If His words are to have any genuine effect in our lives we must not only hear them but also act upon them. We must incorporate ...

3585. Right on the Money!

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

One day a mother was having a deep discussion with her 12- old daughter about values. She said, "Honey, What you need in order to survive in this world is faith in God and a good sense of humor." The daughter thought about that and then, with a twinkle her eye, said, "It also helps to have a credit card." How thoroughly American is that 12-year-old. We are a credit culture. Partly because of the credit cards, many of us have le irresponsible and undisciplined in our finances. If the average 65-year-old ...

3586. Our Scheduled Appointments with God

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

That epic movie "Titanic" is breaking attendance records at the theaters, proving yet again that the awful tragedy of 1912 continues to fascinate people. 1645 passengers died that night in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Over 600 were saved. As the movie demonstrates, most of the survivors were people who stayed close together and encouraged one another. That same principle applies in our faith journey. The evil one (Satan, the devil) is angered by every profession of faith in Christ. Each person ...

3587. Running a Marathon

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Almost 20,000 runners competed in the 1986 New York Marathon. I don't know who won, but I do know who finished last. His name is Bob Wieland. While the winner completed the race in just over 2 hours, Bob Wieland finished in four days, two hours, forty-eight minutes, and seventeen seconds. Why is that remarkable? Because Bob ran with his arms. Seventeen years earlier while serving in Vietnam, Bob's legs were blown off in battle. So, when Bob competes, he sits on a 15 pound saddle, covers his fists with pads ...

3588. The Forgiving Father (Father's Day)

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Brett Blair

I heard a minister say one time that in his younger days, when his children were small, he would have family meetings. These meetings were to discuss chores, and family matters, trips, etc. Yet, he admitted, when he would call these meetings, the expression on his children’s faces would usually be: “what have we done wrong, now.” Finally, he said, my wife pointed out to me that the tone in my voice when I called these meetings was very serious, the same tone that he used when he disciplined his children. ...

3589. Mr. Eternity

Matthew 10:1-42

Illustration

Dennis Kastens

Perhaps you have heard of the man known as Mr. Eternity who lived in Australia a few years ago. Early in life he was an alcoholic derelict who before reaching middle age was converted through a rescue mission and later himself became a street-corner evangelist, Shortly after his conversion, he heard a sermon entitled "Echoes of Eternity." He was so captivated by the importance of the word "eternity" that he began using his free time to spread the one-word message across Sidney. "Eternity went ringing ...

3590. Living With the Pain

Matthew 10:1-42

Illustration

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Suffering and pain are integral to life's experience but they need not humiliate, defeat, and destroy us! A Detroit News article some years ago carried the story of Kirk Gibson during his glory days with the Tigers. Few really knew the price of pain and agony paid by Gibson for that glory. According to the article, Kirk Gibson is a baseball player who knows how to live with pain. In 1980, he tore the cartilage in his wrist. Two years later, he had a sore left knee, a strained left calf muscle, and a severe ...

3591. My Colors Will Be Clear

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Because I am an American history buff, I pick up lots of historical data that may never help me unless I'm caught in a tight game of trivial pursuits. For example, what would you think was the most dangerous position on a Civil War battlefield? No, it was not the company or brigade commander. It was the regimental flag-bearer, the one who carried the colors. After all, he had no weapon and his flag attracted lots of enemy attention. The casualty rate for flag-bearers was horrendous. But note this. There ...

3592. How to Fix the Past

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

They were sitting in my office recently, a couple preparing to be married. This will be the second marriage for both of them. I asked, “When did your relationship with God become very personal and real?” The bride’s answer so touched me that I asked for permission to share it, and she graciously agreed. She said, “It was following my divorce, during a low period in my life. I was running with the wrong crowd. One morning at 3 am I found myself in the parking lot of a place I did not want to be. I said, “ ...

3593. What Is Heaven Like?

Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

I believe we human beings have a perception problem. We often think we have the proper perspective on an issue when in fact we are way off. There's a charming story that Thomas Wheeler, one time CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (a.k.a. MassMutual), tells on himself: He and his wife were driving along an interstate highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler got off the highway at the next exit and soon found a rundown gas station with just one gas pump. He asked the ...

3594. Fear

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Brett Blair

In the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, we read where Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, something which had been specifically denied them. Knowing that God is searching for them, they attempt to hide. It is a scene perhaps reminiscent of many of our childhoods when we had done something that we were not supposed to and we literally hid from our searching parents. Finally God finds them, as we know that He will, for, after all, where can we go to hide from God? God asks them ...

3595. Forgiveness

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:32-34a The Brothers Karamazov is a novel written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a Russian author, at the close of the nineteenth century (1880). It is a story about a father and his sons as they struggled to ...

3596. Anguish

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" That is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." Matthew 27:45-47 A strange uneasiness settled over those who were lingering around the cross. Around the noon hour on that Friday, the blackest of all darkness had engulfed the land. It was dark as night. An ...

3597. Suffering

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty." A jar of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. John 19:28-29 Late Thursday evening, after sharing the Passover meal together, Jesus took several of the disciples with him to the Mount of Olives, commonly called "Gethsemane." Jesus said to the disciples with him, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and ...

3598. The Voices Of Christmas

Drama

Jerry Nordstrom

Cast PATIENT - Resident of a nursing home (male) HOMEMAKER - Food-happy matron (female) SHOPPER - Wealthy, materialistic socialite (female) SPORTSMAN - Young ski enthusiast (male) MERCHANT - Toy store owner (male) TRADITIONALIST - Sentimental Swedish-American grandma (female) CORPORATION MAN - Heavy-drinking party-goer (male) *CHILD - Greedy little girl (female) WORKING WIFE - Frazzled victim of the Christmas rush (female) *May be read, in character, by an adult. Presentation time: about half an hour Using ...

3599. God’s Chosen Country

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Susan Hedahl

You may have heard the words, "You have been promoted," or "You have been elected president." You may recall opening a letter for which you had waited and reading the words, "We would like to offer you the position...." Anyone chosen for a special honor learns quickly that it has both its delightful and burdensome aspects. Just ask someone who has taken on a new and more responsible position, and you will hear more than rejoicing about higher salaries or benefits. Sleepless nights and new decisions await ...

3600. Christmas I

Luke 2:22-40

Children's Sermon

Susan Hedahl

Theme: The Promises Of God Today is the last time until next year that we will gather under the Christmas tree (or around the creche scene) to think about many things. The time before and after Christmas is a time when we think about promises. Do you know what a promise is? That’s right. It is something another person tells you that you will receive at a later time. They are so important that people use different words for promise. Sometimes they say vow or oath or contract or pledge. We spend our entire ...

Showing results