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 4026 to 4050 of 4977 results

4026. Come Forward to God's Throne Where There Is Grace (Relief for Guilt)

Hebrews 4:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... could suffer because of his son. You know the story. The father, of course, either learns about or suspects the kind of life his son is living. His heart is broken. But he doesn’t close the door of his house - in fact he keeps it wide open. No, more than that Not only does he keep the door wide open. Everyday, he wanders down the lane and looks as far as he can, hoping and praying that his son will come to himself and return home. And that happens. The father sees him at a distance - runs down to greet ...

4027. When Being Christian Has Worn You Down (Compassion Fatigue)

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... time to leave to God and to others what we cannot do. Now this is not a lesson we lea and for all. We have to keep reminding ourselves of it and on it over and over again. I confess that this is a big problem in my life. Hardly a week passes ... bushels, rather than pints, of spiritual guidance and support to pass around. I confess I don’t handle it well, but I know the answer, and I keep reminding myself - that I can relax a bit if I can believe that the time comes to leave to God and others what I can not ...

4028. Opening and Closing Doors

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ’s the A.A. prayer, adapted from St. Francis: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” That’s the way it must be when we look at ourselves. We need to keep a healthy understanding of what we have become in terms of what we have the potential of becoming. To be the best that we can be, to be all that God created us to be, to use that tried but really challenging word - “To bloom where we are planted ...

4029. Three Wise Women

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Mrs. Campbell. “I could do no less,” he said. “Over 60 years ago, I vowed that I would love sickness and in health, til death do us part.” Then with a look of joy, as well as strength, on his face he said with resolute commitment “I’m going to keep those vows.” How we need that kind of fidelity in marriage. But we need fidelity in all of life. Fidelity to God, to friends, to our work, to the trust and talent God has given us, to Jesus in whom we have professed our faith and trust. We can learn ...

4030. Exit and Entrance

Galatians 4:21-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... next word, the next dimension of freedom as entrance. Alistar MacLean tells of a lady in the West Highlands who lived a hard life, yet a life of perpetual serenity. When she was asked the secret of it, she answered: “My secret is to stay awake and always to keep my heart in port.” That’s the secret of Christian serenity and freedom, to stay aware of the fact that wherever we are, whatever circumstance, we belong to Christ. In our sea of life, we have a home port which is God’s love. And, because we ...

4031. The Shared Life of the People of God

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these try to compel you to be circumcised, only lest they suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross Of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus ...

4032. Joy Comes in the Morning

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... hide thy face, I was dismayed.” (verse 7) The bottom fell out. A heart attack reminded us of the stress were under keeping up with the good life. Cancer wrapped its terrible clutches around our spouse, and we became aware of how fragile is life, ... wrong place, and the sin of presumption – presuming on God’s grace, that God will always be blessing us, failing to keep close scrutiny upon our loyalties and our commitments; failing to recognize our self-sufficiency and self-centeredness. II That’s the ...

4033. Characteristics of the Church, Part 2

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... church — fellow strugglers, arms around each other, committed to the same Lord and to the same purpose in life. I hope you’ll keep that image in mind as we continue our look at the characteristics of the church brought to birth by the Spirit at ... church becomes that kind of church when that sort of Spirit permeates everything that we are - people will be drawn to us. We’ll keep praising God and having favor with the people who need us, who are looking for a fellowship in which they can find their life ...

4034. John the Baptist: Parable and Prophet

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... ’t wear glasses, buy some clear lens ones, he counsels, in order that you can use them. Pay attention to telephones - that’s important too; the right kind, the right color, but the most important part of the telephone is the “hold” button. The more people you can keep on hold, the more successful you will appear. He even has a diagram in one of his books on where to sit at an office staff meeting. If the meeting is held in the boss’s office with chairs arranged around the desk, you can assume that ...

4035. Jesus' Baptism: Affirmed by God

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... had come not to do his own will, but to do the will of his Father. Isn’t that a leading for us? We have to keep reminding ourselves of who we are and what we’re about. It was so with Jesus…even to the last. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he ... to the level of blood-letting. He was in so much anguish so intense in His struggle, that drops of blood burst out as sweat to keep his whole being from exploding. “Let this cup pass - Let it pass, O God, if it is possible. But Father, as frightened as I am, as ...

4036. Led by the Spirit, Tempted by the Devil

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in the fundamental verb, to be. Being not wanting, having and doing. Being is the essence of the spiritual life.” (Quoted in, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, Reuben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck, The Upper Room, 1933, p. 320). We need to keep this perspective when we are tempted. A Marine in Korea was pushed to acknowledge the perspective in desperation. It was in the war on New Year’s Eve, and it was 42 degrees below zero on the battle lines. 18,000 American Marines were facing 100 ...

4037. Audacious Faith

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . White knew the power of sin in human life, how subtle it is and how it can play havoc in our lives unless we keep vigilance against it. A close look at Jesus’ perception of sin is very revealing to those who have almost eliminated the word from their ... it? The kind of faith demonstrated by the four friends of the paralytic never says, “We cannot,” or “Impossible.” Will you keep that in mind as we move into our stewardship program to raise $6 million for the desperately needed funding to carry on ...

4038. My Name Is Legion

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in desperate search for inner peace. He hadn’t found it in people or things. Nothing he could do or be would suffice. His hungers drove him until he became the unacceptable sociopath that he was, unfit for self or anyone else.” (Ogilvie, Ibid., p. 99). I keep warning you. Don’t think only of the extreme condition of Legion. Think of the path that led him there, and see if his condition is not a warning. We need to give attention to guilt - or any other turmoil or need that drives us to restlessness ...

4039. Peter, Our Folk Hero

Mark 14:27-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... into the courtyard. Then came that moment of denial which Jesus had predicted, and upon which we’re focusing this morning. Try to get into the feeling of Peter’s experience. No doubt he was thinking to himself, “The others may have fled, but I’m going to keep my word. I’m going to stick with Jesus.” And then the queer mixture of human nature emerged. “He was sitting by the fire for the night was cold. No doubt he was huddled in his cloak. Maybe someone poked the fire or flung a fresh log upon ...

4040. Simon

Mark 15:21-32

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a load we haven’t chosen, and don’t deserve. Yet, is there anything more beautiful than the person who bears willingly the burden that was not his or her choice? Isn’t that what makes the difference in life. We say it all the time, but we must keep it fresh in our minds. “It is not what life does to us that really matters, it is our reaction to what life does.’ By a wrong reaction, we can change our wealth to want, we can change our strength into weakness, and our blessings into that which brings ...

4041. Sons of God

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” It is very important to some people that our language reflect our inclusiveness. For others, it is very important that we keep the traditional language of the Scripture. Most of us are able to see both sides of the issue and honor the views ... Him. Rather than rules we have a relationship one designed to help us grow into the likeness of Christ. Even if it were possible to keep the Law perfectly, the Law could not help us grow into Christ’s likeness. We are not robots, and we were never meant to live ...

4042. When It's Time to Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... and my task in life is not to get God to fit our agenda, but to make our agenda God's agenda. For in God's time all things become beautiful. As Deitrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Everything has its time, and the main thing is that we keep step with God and do not keep pressing on a few steps ahead or lag a few behind." Old Simeon has waited for a lifetime. In God's moment, in that Kairos time, when the time is “just right," there comes a little peasant girl and a carpenter to the temple to fulfill the ...

4043. The Christ Connection

Colossians 1:9-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the 21st century if it rediscovered its Christology. It is a great need of our denomination today to understand how Christ pulls us together. But, Paul went beyond that. He says Christ holds the whole universe together. He is the creative force of all creation. He keeps it united one with another. That is why we do not dare, as Christians, go off in some corner to nurse our own theology and be our own persons. We have to stay in community together. Instead of separating ourselves, we need to join hands with ...

4044. We Hold These Truths To Be Essential

1 Peter 3:8-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... be in you, which was in Christ Jesus, our Lord." It was the Church who said, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart even as I have loved you. So, learn to love one another." It is here in the text that we read together today, “Let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit. Let them turn away from evil and do good. Let them seek peace and pursue it, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer." Easy entry. High expectations. We are ...

4045. Knowing When To Run

Genesis 39:1-2, 6b-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... this lust for more in our materialistic world?" Then, I picked up Friday's paper to see the pictures of the former WorldCom CFO and chief controller being carried off to jail, accused of hiding billions in expenses and lying to investors and regulators in a desperate bid to keep the company afloat. Let us not be fooled in this place or any place. Temptations are real. They knock on your door and they knock on mine. They come in varied forms and they cut at the very core of who we are. Not a day goes by but ...

4046. The Difference Disciples Make

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... home. I love lighthouses. I like to visit them along the ocean. Every time I stop by one, I find myself humming that old song that I learned as a child. Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From His lighthouse evermore; But to us he gives the keeping Of the lights along the shore. Let the lower lights be burning. Send a gleam across the wave. Some poor fainting struggling seaman, You may rescue, you may save. When our boys were teenagers and couldn’t wait to get out on the town, we wanted to communicate ...

4047. Climbing the Right Ladder

Genesis 28:10-19a

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... not Jacob’s ladder; it was the Lord’s ladder stretching from Heaven to earth. It was a ladder that moved Jacob from achieving to receiving. It was a ladder that took Jacob from power to presence. The Lord says to Jacob, “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place— and I did not know it!” And he ...

4048. Soaring with Christ

Matthew 28:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... forget." We do forget. Do you remember when it was easy to pray? Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. There was a time when God could do anything. There was a ... lived. Are you living a life of mediocrity or a life of meaning? Are you getting by or are you soaring high? Are you just keeping up with the routine or are you embracing God's possibilities? An adventure is possible for you today. One of my favorite stories is ...

4049. Praising God All Day Long

Psalm 100:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... that becomes a child. Life is a matter of genetics. Is that all there is? If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing. Let's live loose, party hard, gamble big, stay busy—for tomorrow we die, if that's all there is. The writer of this old ... be, you owe it all to Me.' It is a powerful experience to know that you are God made. Alex Haley, author of Roots, used to keep a portrait of a turtle sitting on a fence post in his office. When asked why it was there, he would say, “Every time I write ...

4050. The Fellowship of Kindred Minds

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... have helped us along the road of life? Among our greatest blessings are people who saw in our sorry lives gold worth refining. People who gave us tools to start digging for that which makes life worth living. They have names; there was Porter whose favorite saying was “keep looking up,” and Annie Laurie, who in one of my early churches, thought I was worth trying to help. Every Sunday she would make a list on the bulletin of all the grammatical errors I made in my sermon and give them to me on her way ...

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