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 3976 to 4000 of 4977 results

3976. Discover the Promise of Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... busyness, the two of them quietly received God's gift. That's how Christmas enters our lives. Not in great leaps but in quiet moments that we can miss if we're not prepared. In Mark Jesus tells us "Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come...And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake." In other words, Jesus calls us be ready, to be prepared so that we don't miss the glorious Good News and Promise of this season. Conclusion Larry King, wasn't hosting his talk show this time, he ...

3977. LOST? Finding Meaning

Genesis 1:1-5, John 1:1-5

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... on her appearance. When he goes out to wait in the car, he thinks about his life. In a voiceover, he says: "Sitting there at that moment, I thought of something else that Shakespeare said, he said 'Hey, life is pretty stupid, with lots of hubbub to keep you busy, but not amounting to much.' Of course, I'm paraphrasing. 'Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.'" (2) A lot of people feel and believe and even experienced life that way. II. Christian Meaning A. But from ...

3978. Close Enough For Comfort

Psalm 23:4, John 14:15-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... was actually nice to be around. Somebody asked him what happened to cause such a change. He said he read in the Bible that "He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" and all of a suddenly it dawned on him "If God's going to be awake there's no point ... plainly. Listen to what He says to the Disciples at the Last Supper. John 14:15-18 (NRSV) [15] "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. [17] This is the ...

3979. Shadrach, Meschach, Abeddnego: Unexpected

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. Consumers liked the marshmallow's unique texture and taste so much that candy makers couldn't keep up with the high demand. The candy makers needed a way to make marshmallows faster. They came up with "starch ... in, we are not alone, God is with us. The issue isn't whether we'll spared the flames and fires of life or whether God will keep us from suffering. That's not really suggested at all. Jesus even said that we can expect to feel the heat. "In this world you will have ...

3980. Rahab: Seven Minutes To Midnight

Joshua 6:15-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers we sent. [18] As for you, keep away from the things devoted to destruction, so as not to covet and take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel ... what kind of past they may have had or how insignificant they seem to be. God can use them. Rahab didn't allow her past to keep her from the new role God had for her. She recognized that our God isn't any old ordinary god. Our God is all powerful, the ...

3981. A Chance To See

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... . To me, that seems pretty obvious but it's not for some people. Some people find it hard to Open Their Eyes. I think some people don't Open Their Eyes because they are afraid. They're afraid they'll never be able to see. So they just keep their eyes closed. Two psychiatrists were talking and one asked the other, "What was your most difficult case?" His colleague answered, "Once I had a patient who lived in a pure fantasy world. He believed that a wildly rich uncle in South America was going to leave him ...

3982. A Chance To Be Made Whole

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... his sweater pinned together with that safety pin. To him it was the only thing holding things together. But that night he walked into a mission to keep warm, and it was there Christ found him. It was there that he was given a Chance To Be Made Whole and he took it. After ... . It's the same today. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the only one who can hold our lives together. He's the one who keeps us from going "back to zero." He's the one who offers each of us a Chance To Be Made Whole. He is the Gold Pin ...

3983. You Can't Fool God: Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 4:33 - 5:11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; [2] with his wife's knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles' feet. [3] "Ananias," Peter asked, "why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land? [4] While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal? How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You did not lie to us but ...

3984. Spiderman: Saved To Serve

Colossians 3:1-4, 12-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... that, saving old girls like me. Lord knows, kids like Henry need a hero. Courageous, self-sacrificing people, setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero." She explains how the public applauds the heroic. "I believe there's a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, who finally allows us to die with pride. Even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the things we want the most even our dreams. Spiderman did that for Henry. He wonders where he's gone ...

3985. Cross Eyed: Promise

John 3:14-21

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the page for her." And the all of a sudden the piano begins again, with a new song. The doctor says, "I guess they flipped that page." Noah smiles and says, "No, THAT she's playing by memory." (3) Hope, even a glimmer of hope, can keep us going in the even worst situations. Gilbert Beenken, pastor of DoorCreekChurch in Madison, Wisconsin said, "Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope." That hope is born of the Promise we hear in this passage: "Just as Moses lifted ...

3986. Cross Eyed: Anger

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... have to remember or have to dial, just make it consistent. Especially in the Metroplex where there are 12 dozen area codes, 1,000 prefixes and they keep adding new ones every day. Just don't play that annoying beep and tell me I'm an idiot because I don't know your secret ... in paste form, makes up dynamite. However, nitroglycerine in very small amounts is what is given to heart patients to keep their hearts beating. Anger only becomes sin when we let it boil over and explode uncontrollably over all those ...

3987. Put It In A Sack, Swing it Over Your Head and Scream Like A Chicken

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... something to get even. And in the end, Buddy is so busy expecting something from Rob, that he gets caught by another friend. It seems a Mr. Handlebuck from the IRS comes to talk to Buddy about his return. Buddy thinks it's all a set up by Rob. Rob keeps telling him that he doesn't know anything about it. Buddy insults the IRS agent, confesses to all kinds of tax fraud and even goes so far as to tear up the return. The whole time Rob and Sally are trying to convince Buddy that Handlebuck is the real deal ...

3988. Don't Give Me that Bible Stuff

Luke 4:14-21

Illustration

William G. Carter

... out to Jordan's farm and said, "You can't come with somebody like that. It causes disunity in our church." Jordan tried to explain, but the pastor wasn't listening. Sometime later, a group of church leaders went out to the farm to plead with Clarence to keep undesirable people out of their church. As the story goes, Clarence promised to apologize before the congregation if somebody could prove he had done something wrong. Then he handed a Bible to a man in the group and said Can you tell me what sin I have ...

3989. Harmony and Humor: The Ties That Bind Christianity’s Many Christianities

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , Christian Reserves Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following Just As I Pretend to Be When the Saints Go Sneaking In Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus A Comfy Mattress Is Our God Oh, for a Couple of Tongues to Sing Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound Lord, Keep Us Loosely Connected to Your Word Praise God from whom All Affirmations Flow My Hope Is Built on Nothing Much O, God, Our Enabler in Ages Past Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me All Hail the Influence of Jesus' Name! When Peace, Like a Trickle I'm Fairly ...

3990. Facetime and Facebook

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of social status. The face God revealed in Jesus revealed was the face of love. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:9-10) And what were these “commandments” that would keep us in Jesus’ love, in the Father’s love? Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all ...

3991. In Success is the Seed of Failure

Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:9-13; Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... . God, the ultimate Source of success, would like for us to succeed and to learn from each success. But that calls for sensitive students, who never feel that they are above correction and reproof. In other words, the greatest lesson success can teach us is the humility that makes us keep on learning.

3992. Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the Torah a vital part of everyday life that enabled Judaism to survive the final destruction of the temple later in the first century. Even among the high standards of Pharisaic observance Paul notes that he was outstanding. Paul did not just “keep the faith.” He acted vigorously to protect the purity of Torah observance by becoming a zealous “persecutor of the church” (v.6). Paul’s personal observance of the law, and practice of the Torah, meant that according to the prescriptions of Judaism ...

3993. Resurrected Place (Series: Living on the Resurrection Side of Life)

John 14:1-4

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . The Church is a community of faith. It is a safe place where people can love and be loved and form a vital life-long relationship with God. Parents of confirmands, let me say thank you. It has not always been easy to keep the vows you made at their baptism. Keeping sons and daughters under the ministry and guidance of the Church requires determination and dedication. So many things pull for our attention. But you have hung in there. You have kept the vows and your children today fly on new wings of faith ...

3994. Valley of Rejection (Series: Peace in the Valley)

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the past need not be a predictor of rejection in the future. Don’t allow rejection to derail your dreams. Keep coming back. In The Tale of Peter Rabbit, the author was rejected by seven publishers. Richard Bach got twenty rejection ... before The Cat in the Hat made it to print. Learn from your rejections. We are not perfect and we do not always get it right, but keep coming back until you do get it right. Every rejection can be a lesson if we stay open to new possibilities and new opportunities. What can I ...

3995. Discover the Meaning of Christmas

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... it never was. Dad suggested that they just put the extra Jesus back in the box and forget about it. Well, that was the wrong thing to say. "Put Baby Jesus back in the box?! What a horrible thing to do," Mom said. "Surely someone will call. We'll just keep the two Babies together in the manger until someone does." When no call had come by 5:00 on Christmas Eve, Mom insisted that Dad "just run down to the store" to see if there were any of the Nativity Sets left. "You can see them right through the window ...

3996. Discover the Perfect Gift of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?" And Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me." So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him, for always." As little Misha finished his story, his ...

3997. Do You Have Beautiful Feet?

Romans 10:5-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... found you had "Feet of clay" and "Got cold feet" and been "Knocked off your feet" so you had to "Get back on your feet" while keeping "Both feet on the ground." But I'll bet no one has ever asked you. "Do You Have Beautiful Feet?" I'm not going to ... A Poem glorifying the pedal extremities. You need feet to stand up straight with, You need feet to kick your friends, You need feet to keep your socks on, And stop your legs from fraying at the ends. You need feet to stand on tippy-toe, Or to dance the hootchie- ...

3998. Getting Real

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... 's the Jesus chair?" Now the chair is just a chair, but because of the significance we have placed upon it, it has become a sacred object. A sacred reminder that Jesus sometimes gets in our way and that's a good thing. For in getting in our way He keeps us from falling away. But even more importantly this chair is a sacred reminder of the presence of Christ in our lives. God did the same thing for Abraham. He was an ordinary human but God used him as a sacred reminder. God sanctified him just as we've ...

3999. Getting It Right

Romans 5:1-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... what we think is the most tragic event that could ever happen to us, leads to some later triumph. B. But even if it doesn't, there's still Good News. Paul tells us that even when we see no beneficial results, at least with God's help we can keep growing. Nothing that happens in this world is in vain if we entrust it to God. Most of us will say that some of the most valuable lessons we learned in life were learned through adversity. Sometimes, just hanging on, not giving up, not giving in is all it takes ...

4000. If Everybody’s Okay, What’s the Problem? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... in the top ten. So is lying to get out of trouble, cheating to appear better than we are, stealing to keep up with the Joneses, and coveting what belongs to other people. However, proponents of civil religion want to deny it— the ... God even more than marital unfaithfulness was spiritual unfaithfulness. “You shall have no other gods before me.” “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Do we who profess the faith, practice the faith we profess? Sin destroys dreams. The word most used in the ...

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