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 376 to 400 of 438 results

376. The Waters of Your Baptism

Colossians 2:6-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A few weeks ago I told you about a Baptist preacher in Georgia named Anonymous McBride. He got his name in a strange way. His mother was trying to honor a poet whose work she liked. When Anonymous grew up and became a Baptist preacher, he had a specialty. It had to do with baptism. Because my subject today is baptism, let me tell you the story. Anonymous was very skillful at making Methodists and Presbyterians uneasy about their baptism. He persuaded lots of them that unless they went altogether underneath ...

377. Kingdoms in Conflict

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

Perhaps you have heard this story. It's a great story: Many years ago, when Hitler's forces occupied Denmark, the order came that all Jews in Denmark were to identify themselves by wearing armbands with yellow stars of David. The Danes had seen the extermination of Jews in other countries and guessed that this was the first step in that process in their countries. The King did not defy the orders. He had every Jew wear the star and he himself wore the Star of David. He told his people that he expected ...

378. Worry and Wonder

Matthew 6:24-34

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Well, the orange alert has finally been lowered to yellow. The purported organizer of the 9/11 attacks is now under arrest. And this week, rather than protecting us from biological or chemical poison, it seems that duct tape is being promoted as the perfect cure for warts! Perhaps, just a bit of our terror has subsided. And yet unsettling news is still around us. Tens of thousands of our troops are still in Iraq. Contrary to the wisdom of most religious leaders, including the Stated Clerk and Moderator of ...

379. Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Jesus was unrelenting in his forward thinking. Consider how much time he spent teaching about the kingdom of God, which was both now and not-yet. What pleasures from God are being poisoned in our lives because we cannot escape a life of constant regret - the "if onlys," "wrong turns," "yes-buts," and "sour notes" of woulda/coulda/shoulda thinking? We've all done it: enraged or insulted, frightened or confused at someone or some situation, we have stood there sputtering and fuming or have fled in tears and ...

380. FaithRace

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There is no excuse for not running the race of life. Christians need no longer fear that their lives are going nowhere - like some kind of hamster-wheel marathon. Christians are called to join the faithrace, where the "finish" line is just the beginning of our life in Christ. Paul chose his words carefully when he proclaimed to his long-time companion Timothy that he had fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith. But today, one is reluctant to reinforce the athletic imagery. In medieval ...

381. Yielding to Spiritual Maturity

Matthew 7:15-23, James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

Peter Drucker has conducted management seminars for both businesses and churches. He says, "Leadership is not magnetic personality. That can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not making friends and influencing people; that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations." James is delivering a similar message. A person may profess to be a devout believer and may ...

382. All Is Restored?

Job 42:1-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Our text brings us to the climax of the book of Job. Last week, the denouement began in chapter 38, with the ominous voice of God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me" (Job 38:2-3). Then, for two chapters, God thunders at Job, hammering away at his ignorance, his insignificance, his mere creatureliness. The sum of it is, "Shall a faultfinder contend with the ...

383. The People's Confession of Sin

Ezra 10:1-17

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The Message Hits Home: The story continues so smoothly from chapter 9 that, although it switches to third-person references to Ezra, this must be an editorial change made to the Ezra memoirs. He is labeled Ezra the priest in verses 10 and 16, for he was engaging in priestly work as he instructed the people about their uncleanness and pointed to the remedy, along the lines of Leviticus 10:10–11. In this way he discharged the second half of his mission, teaching the Torah and making it the basis of communal ...

384. “I Will Not Fear Though Tens of Thousands Assail Me”

Psalm 3:1-8

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Sadly, life’s conflicts become the baseline of our existence, when it ought to be our trust in the Lord. Understanding the Text The essential elements of lament, according to our definition, are the lament itself and the reason for lamenting. Further, the lament of the individual will generally include one or a combination of three complaints: against one’s enemies, against God, or against oneself. In Psalm 3, which is an individual lament, the complaint is against David’s enemies (3:1–2). ...

385. Smother Love

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

I loved my father very much. He was my security, my hero, my knight in shining armor. But he wasn't perfect. My dad had "a plan" for each of us three kids. We were supposed to go off to college, and then come back home to teach school, preferably in the same school where my dad taught. My older brother functioned pretty much according to plan. I didn't. After college I made plans to go to graduate school in New York City. All summer I was telling my parents how excited I was about going to New York. On the ...

386. Those Guilty of Intermarriage

Ezra 10:18-44

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

387. Jeremiah Buys a Field

Jeremiah 32:1-44

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

32:1–15 The narrative begins by giving the date of the event that follows. It is the tenth year of Zedekiah, the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, clearly within months of the downfall of Jerusalem. Indeed, the siege of Jerusalem has begun. According to Jeremiah 52:4–5, the Babylonian army arrived at the gates of Jerusalem in the tenth month of Zedekiah’s ninth year. Thus we are to imagine this story taking place within the walls of Jerusalem which was encircled by the Babylonian army. Furthermore, Jeremiah ...

388. Free From What? For What?

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

Today’s readings give us a chance to talk about freedom quietly a week before advertisers and politicians can fill the airwaves with patriotic rhetoric designed to sell us everything from washers to “wisdom” from Washington. We call the Fourth of July “Independence Day” and have good reason to celebrate. We say this is the day we gained our freedom from British rule. But are the words “freedom” and “independence” really synonyms? I would maintain that, though we did gain our independence from England in ...

389. The King On A Cross

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

Have you ever looked into the face of a real king? You may have seen phony kings, such as the king of the homecoming parade or the king of the Mardi Gras. Doubtless these make-believe kings were dressed in elaborate, elegant robes and wore gilded crowns on their heads. If we ever think of kings we picture them sitting on golden thrones, dressed in ermine and velvet and jewel-encrusted crowns. They are surrounded by high-ranking courtiers and cheered by an adoring people. Therefore, it can come as something ...

390. Advent 3

John 1:19-28, John 1:1-18

Sermon Aid

Wayne H. Keller

Liturgical Color: Purple/Blue Theme: Witnessing and Previewing. John the Baptist announces the light of the world. THE COMMUNITY PREPARES Choral Invitation Today, have the chancel choir move two-thirds of the way to the rear of the sanctuary, while the second choir moves two-thirds of the way to the front. Deliberately, have the two choirs pass each other in the aisles, even though the choir members may bump into each other. (Symbolically, the church and the world are constantly bumping into each other.) ...

391. Rules For A Happy Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

America's premier Protestant preacher of the early part of this century, Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, once told a story from his early days as presiding minister of the great Riverside Church in New York. It seems that Fosdick, liberal by theological standards of the time, was turned off by much contemporary preaching with its emphasis on sin and threat. He vowed he would place his emphasis on the love and forgiveness of God. One day a man who had attended Riverside for several months approached Fosdick to ...

392. Walking the Valley of the Lost

2 Samuel 1:17-27

Sermon

Donald Zelle

After the death of Saul, when David had returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag; And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar. He said: "Thy glory, O Israel, is slain uponthy high places!How are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath,publish it not in the streets ofAshkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistinesrejoice, lest the daughters ...

393. Proper 8

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

Liturgical Color: Green Gospel: Matthew 10:34-42 Theme: The cost of discipleship. Review Bonhoeffer's book by the same name. Ask the congregation to read it also. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration One pastor began this way: "Welcome to worship, in the name of God the Creator, Liberator, Sustainer, in the name of God who is Love and who is Holy. Now, let's understand the reason we don't sell tickets to worship is because we don't want spectators. The terms 'worshiper' and 'spectator' do not belong ...

394. Cheering Stones

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

It was an excited crowd that lined the road and followed Jesus into Jerusalem on his "triumphal entry." The cheers were loud and enthusiastic. Generally Jesus had sought to discourage such acclaim, but this time he voiced no opposition to it. There were others who did, however. The Pharisees in the crowd considered the conduct of his disciples to be totally inappropriate, and they called upon him to rebuke them. But he replied, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out." There is no ...

395. Readying the Twelve for Mission

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Donald Macleod

After two such unprecedented events as Resurrection and Ascension, certainly this question is in order: what can God do for an encore? Or, one might simply exclaim: what a hard act to follow! The eleven disciples left Mt. Olivet and returned to Jerusalem, as Jesus had commanded them. Naturally, they sought out the Upper Room, a place filled with memories that were now sacred. Other faithful persons joined them until they numbered about a hundred and twenty, (v. 15) including a number of women with Mary and ...

396. Song of a Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

The author of the Twenty-third Psalm is quite possibly an old man who has lived the better part of a lifetime. In his day he may have been a shepherd. But now the years have siphoned his stamina. So he sits and reminisces on what used to be. And as he does so he observes another shepherd silhouetted against the sky leading a flock to a greener pasture. Instinctively, the sight turns the poet’s mind to the numberless days and nights he tended his own flocks under God’s watchful eye; and once again, as has ...

397. God Writes Straight with Crooked Lines

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Even if you are not a “senior” whether you’re in prepubescence, adolescence, middlescence, elderescence, or senescence all of us experience “senior moments.” You intentionally set out on a mission to get something — forgotten car keys, replacement printer paper, a fresh cup of coffee — and suddenly you get waylaid by some wayward distraction. You encounter a co-worker with a sudden crisis. A kid has a meltdown. (These two “crises” can be eerily similar). Someone texts you, while another someone arrives at ...

398. Jehoshaphat King of Judah

2 Chronicles 17:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

Jehoshaphat: Judged by the length of text that he dedicates to King Jehoshaphat of Judah (17:1–21:1), the Chronicler certainly considered this king of great importance for his historiographical reconstruction. Not only is this one of the longest royal accounts in Chronicles (together with those of Hezekiah and Josiah), but it also contains the most substantial portion of the Chronicler’s own material. Apart from 18:1–34 and 20:31–21:1, which make use of source materials in 1 Kings 22:1–35 and 22:41–50, ...

399. Eastern Tribes Return Home

Joshua 22:1-34

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

An Altar Crisis on the Eastern Side of the Jordan River: Joshua closes with three chapters that form an addendum pointing out challenges for the next generation. These chapters include speeches that address concerns of Deuteronomy and use Deuteronomic language. Crises in these passages point toward the book of Judges and the rest of the so-called Deuteronomic History (Samuel and Kings). The closing chapters of Joshua parallel the final chapters of Deuteronomy with its farewell speech of Moses and story of ...

400. False Religions Worthless

Jeremiah 7:1-29

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon (7:1-15): Jeremiah’s temple sermon is one of his most famous speeches. The core of its message attacks those who appear religious by participating in religious ceremonies, while not backing up their apparent beliefs with ethical lives. In other words, this sermon is an attack on the hypocrites of his day. We do not know the exact time before the destruction of the temple when this sermon was delivered. However, its strong conditional tone holds out hope that God’s judgment might be ...

Showing results