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 4001 to 4025 of 4963 results

4001. Who Put It There? (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Also, must have a highly energetic entrepreneurial spirit, because fund-raiser will be your middle name. Must have a diverse knowledge base, so as to answer questions such as "What makes the wind move?" on the fly. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility. ADVANCEMENT/PROMOTION POSSIBILITIES: Virtually none. Your job ...

4002. My Precious, My Precious

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... drink, be merry and assumes that because of his great surpluses he'll be able to keep up this self-serving behavior for many years (verse 19). But the rich man is exposed for who and whose he is by none other than God, who informs the hopeful hedonist that all his selfish plans, all his gloating over possessions are fruitless. For "this very night your life is being demanded of you" (verse 20). All the rich man's treasures will be someone else's tomorrow. Are you living a self-service, serve-yourself-first ...

4003. Go Meditate!

Revelation 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 15-year-old acts like the world revolves around him. It doesn't delight in evil (is not self-righteous) when I remind my 17-year-old that he's going 83 in a 55-mph zone, but rejoices in the truth. Love doesn't give up hope. It always protects our children's self-esteem and spirit, even while doling out discipline. It always trusts God to protect our children when we cannot. It always perseveres, through blue nail polish, burps and other bodily functions, rolled eyes and crossed arms, messy rooms and sleep ...

4004. Learning the Three Step Faith Walk

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . In December of 2002 he died at the age of 82, having just completed the last chapter of his memoirs, My God and I. In the last chapter of this, his last book, Smedes wrote under the title of "God and an Impatient Old Man:" "When I was young I hoped with all my heart that Christ would never come, that he would stay up in heaven where he belonged and leave me alone. Every Sunday morning as my family shuffled down to our pew in the Berean church, I was scared half to death by a biblical prayer, taken from ...

4005. Innercizing Your Shopping List

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Maybe you lack the confidence of the promise "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." Maybe you lack the hope of living God's dream for you and your family. Maybe you lack forgiveness for some secret sin. Maybe you lack that ... those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the ...

4006. Dip into the Well

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... extreme--a disciple must witness. At the edge of mission: where Jesus' name has never been heard, where his name is used only as a curse, in the most distant corners of the earth, in the hollowed out heart of our cities--a disciple must witness. At the edge of hope: where people are dangling, at the ends of their ropes, their heads in nooses of hopelessness and despair, where life is being lived on the edge at the edge--a disciple must witness to the gospel's unconditional love, unmerited grace, unlimited ...

4007. Are You Running?

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... attenders will swell our numbers next week as the church celebrates the spring miracle of Easter. It's exhilarating to be part of a big crowd, a great gathering of happy, expectant worshipers reaffirming our faith and refilling our spirits with the hopes and promises of the resurrection. No wonder everybody shows up. Palm Sunday reminds us that Jesus and his disciples were journeying to Jerusalem during the same kind of anticipatory days, amongst the same kind of growing crowds and excitement. In the ...

4008. All God's Children Can Dance

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... us in our tracks. Instead of a dance of joy, fear and guilt and discouragement keep us enslaved to present conditions, destroys all hopes of rescue. There's an old story about a little boy who was visiting his grandparents on their farm. "He was given a ... is all he needed. In my favorite words from Larry Crabb's vast corpus of writings, "Brokenness is realizing he is all we have. Hope is realizing he is all we need. Joy is realizing he is all we want." (Lawrence J. Crabb, The Safest Place on Earth: Where ...

4009. Orient Your "itudes"

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the living Christ? If you are, then you're becoming the REAL PRESENCE of Christ in our world. The Jesus "-itudes," the right Attitude, Aptitude, and Latitude, cast out unclean spirits, vanquished demonic powers, and banished the forces of evil and death. Our hope of escaping the evil that harasses our days and haunts our nights revolves around our willingness to put on the right "-itudes" and to release the resurrection powers of Christ in our life. Put right the world? Put on the right "-itudes." Will ...

4010. Patience

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... knew they were on to something, so they tried it again. You guessed it, one more clerk appeared. An amused customer summed up the situation like this: “I got through that line in four minutes. I’ve never seen anything like it!” (1) I hope I haven’t given any of you ideas. Lines can still seem unreasonably long at many Post Offices, particularly during the Christmas season. The writer of James gives this counsel, “Be patient . . . brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for ...

4011. Follow Me!

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

James McCormick

... about Jesus. And not a single member of that congregation was willing to say, “You’re not welcome here.” It’s not always easy. To follow Jesus - to live a life that looks and sounds like Jesus - it’s not easy. But it’s the hope of the world. And it’s the best hope of your life and mine. “If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” That’s what he said! Last spring, when some of us renewed our baptisms at the Jordan River in Israel, we ...

4012. What to Do with Yesterday - A Sermon for a New Year

Psalm 103:1-22

Sermon

James McCormick

... from the past so that we can move unhindered into a good future. That’s what our scripture promises: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our transgressions from us.” As we begin this new year, we want to begin it with hope, with enthusiasm, with the assurance that God will accompany us into the future and that He will make it good. We want to move into the new year uncluttered with all the garbage of the past. I want to suggest several steps in that process. 1. First, we take ...

4013. Nothing but Christ, and Him Crucified

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

James McCormick

... away in fear, afraid they would be next. They were hiding behind locked doors, shivering in the dark. No faith, no hope, no joy. Then God reached into history and turned the sorrow of the crucifixion into the joy of the resurrection, and ... to take that instrument of shame, of suffering, of sorrow, of death, and with His powerful hands, turn it into a source of love and hope and joy. All the pages of sacred scripture come together in dramatic focus there at the cross. There is nowhere else in all the Bible ...

4014. It's My Life, Isn't It?

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

James McCormick

... I will do what I please with it.” No, her mother’s love has placed a claim upon her, and that love is her best hope in life. Do you hear it? Every one who has ever loved you has placed a claim upon you. Especially, God’s great love made ... again the same. “You are not your own. You were bought with a price.” I thank God for that, because that is our best hope! Prayer: Father, we acknowledge the many claims upon us. Our lives have been strengthened and enlarged and enriched by the love of so many. ...

4015. Promises to Keep

Hebrews 8:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

... ! Now, I don’t fully understand love like that. But I sense in my depths that God’s kind of unconditional love is my best hope in life. I don’t know about you, but I don’t respond well to threat and punishment and coercion. Such actions are not redemptive; ... to me makes me want to answer that with some dependability of my own. I know when I am at my best that my best hope in life is precisely the dependability of God’s love - that love that keeps on loving no matter what! Every one of us has made ...

4016. Thanksgiving Is a Choice

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

James McCormick

... what life sends our way. It’s easy enough to give thanks when life is filled with blessings. And I certainly hope we will do that. But Paul suggests that we Christians have a reason to give thanks even in times of difficulty. How so? For Paul, the ... resurrection of Jesus is the keystone of our faith, and the reason for our hope and our joy. Those first century Christians had seen the strong hands of God turn a crucifixion into a resurrection, a defeat into ...

4017. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 's final word in today's text is one of faith or trust. It's perhaps Paul's most basic assertion to the communities he serves as pastor and apostle: that God is worthy of all their faith and may be entrusted with all their hopes and dreams. The foundation beneath all Paul's teachings on Christ's life, death and resurrection is this bedrock of God's faithfulness. The Thessalonians, and all Christian congregations everywhere at all times, may rely upon this most elementary but elemental article of faith. God ...

4018. The Lonesome George Church

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Galilean ministry to “all nations” (Mt. 28:19). The images of light and darkness were part of Isaiah’s message of hope in a time of hopelessness. Matthew, however, connects this “dawning of light” to a more specific, messianic-invoked event. In v.17 ... Later Jesus sent the disciples themselves out to “proclaim the good news” (Mt. 10:7) and to offer healing and hope to all who would welcome them. Jesus was absolutely unique, but totally relative and reproducible. Jesus’ mission was designed for ...

4019. A New Attitude

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... : Listen to Christ’s words. That’s what the voice said on the mountain: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” That should be the reason we come to this room each week--to listen for Christ’s voice. I hope you take worship seriously. Some of us come to this place each week simply out of a sense of duty. What a shame. You and I have the extreme privilege of taking our needs, our relationships, our fears, our attitudes and laying them upon God’s altar. Then we ...

4020. Advent 1

Matthew 24:36-51, Romans 13:8-14, Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9

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