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 4151 to 4175 of 4972 results

4151. The Choice for God or the World

John 10:1-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... and strife. Thus, he ordered the royal archers to locate the majestic bird and slay it. The archers found the bird and their arrows were sent straight and true, but they had no effect on the bird which simply flew away. If the bird could not be stopped then the people must be, thought the king. Thus, he ordered the people to remove all the colors and return to gray. But the people, who were enamored with the new colors in their lives, refused to obey the king's order. Dissension, strife, and conflict ensued ...

4152. God Never Gives Up on Anyone

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... obedience. God does not place us in straitjackets and demand compliance. God does not come where God is not invited. Thus, we must first bid welcome to God. Then we can begin to pursue God as God pursues us. We must pursue God in prayer each day and stop making excuses for our failures. We must respond to God in service with the understanding that a life of service is required of all the baptized. The Spirit of God gives us life; the Spirit will never abandon us. As God pursues us and never relents in his ...

4153. Completing The Master's Work

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , Turandot, was performed for the first time, appropriately enough, at Milan's La Scala Opera House with Arturo Toscanni, the most famous conductor of the day, at the podium. When the opera reached the middle of the third and final act, the music abruptly stopped. Toscanni paused, set down his baton, and said, "Thus far the master wrote, but he died." After a moment of silence, the great conductor again picked up his baton, turned to the audience, and with tears in his eyes said, "But his disciples finished ...

4154. Try This on For Size!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... firm itself and say, "Send us your master repairman. Our organ needs fixing." Many of you have gold watches that have great sentimental value for you and your family. Your great-grandfather brought it from Ireland perhaps. It is a priceless heirloom. When it stops ticking for some reason, you wouldn't even touch it, even though you yourself have tinkered with old clocks and watches. In fact, you wouldn't even take the back off. You want an expert craftsman to examine this watch and fix it professionally ...

4155. History: His Story

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... was sawn in two. Jeremiah was stoned. Amos was murdered with a club. John the Baptizer was beheaded. And the Son sent from God? He was Jesus, and him we impaled upon a cross outside the city near a garbage dump. It still has not stopped. Which of the original apostles escaped persecution and death? Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. James was put to the sword. Stephen was stoned to death. History goes on down through the twenty centuries of Christendom. Huss was burned at the stake. Wycliff ...

4156. Supper's Ready!

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... an invitation. It is thinkable to do the unthinkable, to excuse yourself from a fabulous opportunity. According to the text the Lord God, creator, ruler, sustainer, and heir of the universe gives an open invitation to all people to come and feast with him at a banquet table. Now, just stop and think about this for a moment! What kind of God do we have in this cosmos? He is a God who wants to get to know you. He is a lord who offers to sit down and eat with you at table. He is a creator who calls your ...

4157. Go to Heaven?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... Jesus and receiving what he offers. This is hard for so many. Just go into a bookstore. Check out the topical sections. The biggest one is called the "self-help" section. There you'll find books on feeling good about yourself, how to fix your marriage, on stopping worry, on becoming a dynamic leader, and more. You see, we humans do not want to admit we're spiritually bankrupt and must throw ourselves on God's mercy and provision. We're convinced we can fix things. All we need is a little more time. But ...

4158. Praying Through

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... watched me quietly as I turned into a tyrant through worry. Finally she simply said, "Stephen, why don't we pray about it?" Well, I agreed, and together we told God all about it and asked for his help. Things began to happen! That very afternoon the landlady stopped me while I was emptying the trash. She said, "Stephen, for some time now I've been wanting to ask you to be the groundskeeper for this apartment complex. You can do the work between your studies. It'll be good exercise for you. And we'll pay ...

4159. A Life Well Lived

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

King Duncan

... knit, Crochet, tat, and baby sit. When the kids were in a jam, They could always call on Gram. But today she’s in the gym Exercising to keep slim. She’s checking the web or surfing the net, Sending e‑mails, now she’s really set. Nothing seems to stop or block her, Now that Grandma’s off her rocker. I don’t know if that little poem describes your grandmother or not. Let’s talk for a few moments about aging. That’s a subject of particular interest to some of us. All of us are aging, of course ...

4160. The Process of Love

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... meddle in their hurts. Conclusion I delight in the Peanuts comic strips, especially Lucy who is in love with piano-playing Schroeder. In one strip, Schroeder is playing a concerto while Lucy looks at him doe-eyed, asking, "Do you know what love is?" Schroeder stops the music and says, "Love is a strong bond or attachment toward another, a decision to act in their best interest." Then he resumes his concert. Lucy looks at the audience and laments, "Gee, on paper Schroeder is just great!" And our challenge in ...

4161. Predictable Surprises

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... followers to claim. Instead Jesus insists that no one, not one human being, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son, is privy to the divine timetable for the coming eschaton. Only the one who determined when the clock would start knows when the clock will stop. Only the Father knows the moment when the days of this world will cease. Jesus knew that if the budding faith community bound itself to some fixed timetable, it was doomed to failure - a failure in fact, a failure in faith. It was to faith in the ...

4162. Gross Personality Disorder

Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in the distant corners, out in the back forty, or even leave the car at home and car pool it in order to keep the prime parking places open and welcoming to visitors, to strangers who may come by. Coming up behind a car at a stop sign the other day its one bumper sticker caught my eye. Instead of touting some political agenda or declaring some constitutional right, this plain little sticker read simply: "I hope that you reach your destination safely." At first I though, "How nice!" What an other-focused ...

4163. Confused as Pigeons

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... confused, utterly flummoxed Costello, not aware of these odd names, is absolutely lost - baffled beyond belief, by the seemingly non sequitur script given to him by his partner. Who's on first. What's on second. Where's on third. I don't know is playing short stop. But poor Costello doesn't know what in the world is going on. This twenty-first century world is a confusing place. But perhaps no more confusing than was the southern slope at the base of Mount Hermon in 30 CE. There, in a sacred place, steeped ...

4164. I Like Brussels Sprouts, but...

Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ), the laws of commerce, and the laws of purity - all established a very high fence around the "acceptable" and the "unacceptable," between those who could proclaim themselves righteous and those who were clearly sinners. We want the to break free from our Christian bubble. We want to stop sucking on our own balloon juice. We want to reach out to those who don't know who Jesus is. We want to have friends who aren't Christians. But not enough to actually do something about it. We don't want to do what Isaiah ...

4165. The Insight of Eyesight

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... completed, 7500 gates or frames were erected. This creation took 15,000 steel bases (to hold the frames steady); 315,491 linear feet of saffron colored vinyl tubing (to construct the 7500 16 feet high archways); 1,092,200 square feet of saffron colored rip-stop nylon to flutter down from those tubing archways (sewn into 8 ? foot long fabric panels); and 165,000 matching bolts and self-locking nuts to hold them all together. So, all that work, all these materials, all the labor hours . . . what did all that ...

4166. Humans, Inc.

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , it was Zacchaeus' willingness to treat others honorably and responsibly that made him humane and ultimately a humanitarian. Jesus wants us to be more than human. But if Christians need to learn to do human before they can do Christian, we need to stop being such Neanderthals. We need to join Humans, Inc. That means, like Zacchaeus, we need to get incorporated into humanity, into Humans, Inc. That means we need to be incorporated in humility, we need to be incorporated in humor, we need to be incorporated ...

4167. But Wait! There's More!

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... to keep his new vocation a secret, writing this important word on the sidewalks and public buildings of Sydney each night. He believed that God was calling him to remind others to consider their spiritual state. The citizens of Sydney couldn’t stop talking about the mysterious man who wrote the word “Eternity” on every public place he could reach. They soon nicknamed him Mr. Eternity. In 1956, a local pastor discovered the identity of Mr. Eternity, and interviewed him for a local newspaper. Arthur ...

4168. Addiction Free

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... B. 25 percent C. 50 percent And the answer is . . . C. 50 percent. (See Sharon Bertsch McGrayne, Blue Genes and Polyester Plants: 365 More Surprising Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries [New York: John Wiley & Slons, 1998], 139). And while 80 percent of smokers want to stop, fewer than 10 percent of smokers quit per year. The three classic signs of chemical addiction are all exhibited by smokers: 1. They can't quit 2. They need larger and larger doses to reap the same amount of pleasure 3. They withdrawal ...

4169. An Uncomfortable Comforter

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... mind tying the points of his thesis together. When the writing was finished, he spent time memorizing the words. After his release in May 1997, he put his cell-wall composition on paper. The result was a 50,000 word book! "My cell was the last stop for prisoners sentenced to die,"Yonghai said. "At times there were as many as three other prisoners in the tiny, damp room, awaiting their date with the executioner." What a chance to witness! What an opportunity to introduce these men into God's kingdom! Yonghai ...

4170. Dead Man Walking

Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to get through each day at work until you can get out the door? Are you longing for the weekend by Monday afternoon? Do you count it a good day when no one asks anything of you or makes any demands upon your time? Have you stopped risking meeting new people, going new places, taking new roads, reading new books, listening to new music? Are you afraid to attempt love because you might be disappointed or rejected or your safe mundane existence upset? Have you shutdown your spirit in order to safeguard your ...

4171. Deep Faith

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with God. What would it take to move into the deeper premises, deeper promises of a biblical faith? What would it really mean if we truly "lived and moved and had our being" in the one true God? Melissa Riddle encourages Christians to stop splashing around at the shallow end of Christianity and dive deeper. ("Diving Deep," Christian Singles, 23, March 2001) For Riddle, the diving deep entails five things. 1.) First, stick your feet in. Every journey begins with a first step. Do you have the courage ...

4172. The Ultimate Thanksgiving Feast

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... with Pastor Huber, reading over the Scriptures. Every story, every lesson was fresh and exciting to him. In the last few days of Gary’s life, Pastor Huber brought Holy Communion to Gary and his family. He remembers how joyfully Gary received the Communion elements. He couldn’t stop talking about how thankful he was. He said, “I begin to see all the things God has done for me and how he has carried me through this time. When I begin to praise and thank God here, I find joy.” (5) I don’t know about ...

4173. Don't Be a Turkey (Thanksgiving)

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... seems to know what’s going to happen before it occurs. But in this case, even Jesus registers surprise. "Were not ten healed?" he asks incredulously. "Where are the other nine?" Jesus was astonished by their ingratitude. Ten received God’s blessing, but only one in ten stopped to say thanks. What about us? Thanksgiving Day is approaching, and among which group will we be found? Among the nine who forget? Or with the one who came back to thank God? No one wants to be a turkey. If we want to avoid being ...

4174. For All the Saints

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is to "come down." When Jesus first spied Simon Peter and Andrew, and then James and John as they were fiddling with fishing nets, he called out to them, "Follow me!" All it took to transform these simple fishermen from saint to sinner was for them to stop their business-as-usual lives and begin in fumbling, fallible ways to follow Jesus. Even when it seemed too late, when Jesus' best friend had been in his tomb three full days, Jesus cried "Lazarus, come out." All it took to transform Lazarus from death to ...

4175. From Ha-Ha's to Ah-ha's

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the fields and hedge-rows of busy village-to-village paths, it became popular to construct what were then known as "ha-ha's". A seemingly straightforward path would suddenly disappear behind a camouflaged hedge-way. The walker would have to stop and carefully look around to find where the path re-emerged. Sunken fences were also used to startle walkers out of mindlessness and into mindfulness. Eventually boundary ditches, unexpected stiles with benches for resting and reflecting, and other gently startling ...

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