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 3876 to 3900 of 4944 results

3876. A New Hope

Jeremiah 18:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

Amazingly, George Lucas, who created one of the most famous villains of all time in Darth Vader, could not resist the storyline that even with the Darth Vader there is always "A New Hope." There is always the hope that anyone who has gone over to the dark side, no matter how far or how deep, can once again reemerge to the light side and the right side. Thousands of years ago God told the Prophet Jeremiah of a land that we could call "The Land of New Hope". To illustrate that land, He told Jeremiah to go ...

3877. If We Do It, It Will Work

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

Characters God (offstage voice) Gabriel Michael Mary Messenger Joseph Innkeeper Innkeeper’s Wife Lead Shepherd Gabriel Shepherd 1 Shepherd 2 Shepherd 3 Shepherd 4 Angel 1 Angel 2 Angel 3 Angel 4 Angel 5 Props Paper (decree) Arrow sign saying “To Bethlehem” Notes No one really knows much about the personality of the angels Gabriel and Michael. “If We Do It, It Will Work” takes some dramatic license in assigning personalities for these characters, portraying them as something of an “odd couple.” It views ...

3878. By Right Paths

Psalm 23:3

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Rev. Dicky Love tells the story of an overworked mother of three active young boys who was playing in the yard with her boys one afternoon when her neighbor came by to borrow a cup of sugar. One of her boys aimed his play pistol at his mother and yelled, "Bang! You're dead!" Mom acted the part perfectly. She took the shot, groaned, "You got me." Then she spun and fell to the ground. When she fell to the ground, she didn't get up. Her neighbor waited for her to get up. But Mom didn't get up, so the ...

3879. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2; Luke 18:9-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Romans 5:1-11 (NRSV) [1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, [2] through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. [3] And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts ...

3880. Resurrection Power (Series: Living on the Resurrection Side of Life)

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Sing with all the Saints of Glory; Sing the resurrection song. Death and sorrow, earth’s dark story, To the former days belong. For over forty years now, I have been trying to preach that sermon and sing that song. Today I would like to try once more. I take for a text the words of Paul who said, “I want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead.” What a worthy ...

3881. Discover The Joy Of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I sure hope the next 12 days of Christmas aren't like that for you and your family. There are truly 12 days until Christmas. Can you believe it? We've still got leftover Halloween Candy and wasn't yesterday Thanksgiving? Time screams by this time of year. This is a hectic time of year. That's why paying attention to the signs of Christmas and getting our hearts and souls ready is so important. If we don't we might miss it. A few years ago I read an Ad in the Thrifty Nickel which read: "We cater to Clutter ...

3882. When The Baker Becomes the Bread!

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

A story is told of a well-to-do man of a former generation who on his brisk early morning walk would daily meet a workingman on his way to the factory. One day as they passed each other, the wealthy man added to his usual nod-of-the-head greeting these words of complaint, "I have no choice but to make this walk early each morning to get a stomach for my meat." The workingman responded, "And I must walk this early each morning to get meat for my stomach!" The reality is that neither man was truly satisfied ...

3883. The Coat Off Your Back

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

Thanksgiving — cornucopias, fall harvests, turkey and pumpkin pie, corn stalks, and scarecrows — outward signs associated with the holiday we celebrated only seventeen days ago. Even before Halloween and Thanksgiving ended, holiday colors had changed. Orange pumpkin lights were replaced by white or multicolored twinkling lights. A small town policeman looks forward every year to hanging his outside Christmas lights. His goal is to measure up to Chevy Chase's outlandish display in the movie, Christmas ...

3884. When We're Estranged from God

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

It’s an old story, but it bears repeating. An armed robber accosted a French priest on a dark, back street in Paris and demanded his wallet. As the priest opened his coat to reach for his wallet, the thief caught sight of his clerical collar, and immediately apologized. “Never mind, Father, I didn’t realize you were a priest. I’ll be on my way.” The priest was relieved, of course, and good-naturedly offered the man a cigar. “No, thank you, Father,” the robber said, “I gave up smoking for Lent.” (1) One of ...

3885. When All Is Said and Done

Acts 16:9-15

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Life has a way of presenting us with defining moments. I re- member facing a defining moment in my ministry. I went to see a man in the hospital who was dying. He was not active in the church I pastored, but I knew who he was. When I entered his hospital room, his whole family was standing in a semi-circle around his bed. They greeted me, and then the man told his family that he wanted a moment alone with me. So they left us alone. As soon as his family had left, he began to cry. I sat by his bed and began ...

3886. The Art of Impersonation

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 Who would you say is your favorite celebrity? Can you imagine walking in his or her shoes for one day? It would probably be challenging. The only people who can come close to understanding what it’s like to walk in their shoes might be celebrity impersonators. Did you know there is a worldwide industry of people who pretend to be famous celebrities? These impersonators usually look like the people they are imitating. They dress like them. They take on the celebrity’s ...

3887. Godstruck

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: Instead of the whale song suggested, you can use as your opening image a dandelion (aka “lion’s teeth” in spore stage), a horn (trumpet or actual shofar–which you can find on amazon for about $30), or a balloon (and some helium if you dare). You may also want to scroll some Hubbel space photos on the screen along with some cosmic music if you begin your sermon with “creation.” We are not the only creatures that sing. Has anyone heard the voice of an Orca whale? It sounds a lot like an erratic ...

3888. Dancing in the Wind

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Lori Wagner

We live in an embattled time. Conflicts in politics, problems with economics, and a global pandemic have put the icing on the proverbial cake of usual issues. Most of us already feel we are up to our necks in alligators. Now we have entered hurricane season to boot. How much more can we take? How much longer can we fight? Let’s face it. We are a tired, fatigued, tense, and nervous bunch right now. Just when we think we’ve ridden the final wave another rises up and heads right toward us. What shall we do? ...

3889. Now is the Day of Salvation

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Sermon

King Duncan

There was an article on the Reader’s Digest website recently that I thought was quite interesting. The column was titled “The 15 Most Bizarre Perks of the Royal Family.” It was written by someone named Morgan Cutolo. According to this article, once Queen Elizabeth II dies, the people of Britain are banned from being funny on public television. The BBC is serious about the death of their monarch. “The BBC isn’t allowed to air anything humorous for the 12 days between [the queen’s] death and her funeral,” ...

3890. R.S.V.P.

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

"At Duke," she said, ''we work hard, we play hard." A visitor here on campus, Friday noon through Sunday evening, might get the impression that we are one of those infamous "Party Schools." Late one Sunday night last winter, I was awakened in the middle of the night and asked to deliver a sad message to a Duke freshman. I got up, put on clothes, stumbled out into the night, drove through deserted Durham streets, wondering if I needed aid from Public Safety to get in the sleeping dorm. I stumbled into a ...

3891. Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Will Willimon

I had this man in my last church who frequently greeted me at the end of the service by thrusting into my hand some newspaper article, usually from the Wall Street Journal, which he thought to be of help in his never-ending battle to educate his preacher. One Sunday, he gave me an article by a national columnist, in which the columnist described how a young woman had been indicted in Chicago after her baby was found to have died from complications brought on by malnutrition and infection from rat bites. ...

3892. Put On Your Apocalypse Jacket

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

King Duncan

Let me see your hand if you are you a fan of disaster movies. [Well, somebody must be.] Disaster movies tend to do well at the box office, whether they feature frightened people battling floods or volcanos or Godzilla or zombies invading major cities. Speaking of zombies, there is a company in London called Vollebak that manufactures what they call an “Apocalypse Jacket.” The Apocalypse generally refers to the ultimate disaster drama—the complete final destruction of the world, as described in the biblical ...

3893. The Lord's Answer

Habakkuk 1:5-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

A Protest and an Answer (i): After the introduction (v. 1), Habakkuk challenges Yahweh about faithlessness and violence in Judah and Yahweh’s failure to act in deliverance (vv. 2–4), and Yahweh announces the intention to take action by means of the Babylonians (vv. 5–11). 1:5–11 Yahweh is stung into responding and implies that Habakkuk’s protest was quite proper. It is necessary to do something about the way people are treating each other in Jerusalem, and Yahweh is committed to acting. Typically Yahweh ...

3894. Out on a Limb

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Anonymity means safety to many of us. Why do people feel more comfortable speaking up online rather than face-to-face? Why do people feel more comfortable blending into a group rather than standing out? Why do people feel more brave and empowered texting rather than speaking in person or on the phone? Why do people feel safer sitting in the back of the room (or the church) rather than up front and center? Why do people feel they can open up to a psychologist or counselor who doesn’t know them rather than ...

3895. Transforming Love

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

Edwin Markham's little poem has so much to say to us about the ability of love to transform. He drew a circle that shut me out -- Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in.1 One of the most amazing stories to come out of the Bible is the account of Saul's life. Through this story we see a leading opponent of the church being transformed into the church's greatest advocate. In today's passage of scripture, we encounter the conversion experience of ...

3896. The Taught Can

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

You have heard that it has been said in old times, "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." But I say unto you this morning, "Those who are taught, can do." As one who has been taught, I say this unto you as to those who have been taught by God, "Having been taught, we can." All this is pertinent to us all because as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes wrote, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Are we aware of what time it is? There is a time to be ...

3897. The Song Of Angels--And The Son Of God

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Samuel Beckett wrote a play called Waiting For Godot, waiting for God. It is a two-act play in which two men stand on stage. The only thing there with them is a tree with no leaves. One of the men speaks to the other, trying to talk to him about two thieves on a cross and one being saved. But the other man will not talk about that. In the second act there are a few leaves on the tree. One of the men becomes excited because he thinks Godot is coming. But they never see him. At the end of the play they ...

3898. Adam And Eve And God

Genesis 1:1-2:3, Genesis 2:4-25, Genesis 3:1-24

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: Narrative depends on imagination. Imagination can be triggered by vivid words, by the conversational tone that frees it to flow naturally, by dramatic intonations lending emotion to the intellectual content being offered, and by specific directions to the listeners. The following sermon was done using the device of directing the congregation to imagine a specific setting, a stage with scenery and props described. The device was reinforced by having the people in the congregation close their eyes ...

3899. Fifth Sunday of Lent

John 12:20-36

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Greeting Leader: Jesus said, "Whoever serves me must follow me." Congregation: Lead me, Lord, lead me in righteousness; make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety. Leader: And Jesus said, "Where I am, there will my servant be also." Congregation: Lead me, Lord, lead me in righteousness; make thy way plain before my face. For it is thou, Lord, thou, Lord only, that makest me dwell in safety. Leader: And Jesus said, "Whoever serves me, the Father ...

3900. Christmas 1

Isaiah 61:10–62:3, Luke 2:21-40, Galatians 3:23–4:7, Colossians 3:12-21

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Hope for the future. Simeon and Anna viewed Jesus as the fulfillment of their people's hopes and dreams. In a similar manner we see our hopes being fulfilled in our children and youth. We can be advanced in years and still live in hope. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10--62:3 The prophet of the third portion of Isaiah (circa 530 B.C.) holds up a brilliant hope for the discouraged Israelites returning from exile to their own land. He thanks God for clothing him in the Lord's robe of ...

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