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 4176 to 4200 of 4986 results

4176. Mistaken Identity

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... s friend, Baruch, added to the mystique by including biographical information into the record that contained Jeremiah's prophetic tirades. Moreover, Jeremiah did not disappear from the scene easily. At the end of his prophecies he urged the remnant remaining in Jerusalem to stay there and rebuild. But they were fearful of a return visit from the Babylonian armies, so they kidnapped Jeremiah and forced him to march with them to Egypt. It was at that point that Jeremiah slipped into the hazes of history. Many ...

4177. Personal Politics

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... . One time they were requested to make a curtain call together. Although they normally refused such things because of their ongoing animosity, this time it was a benefit honoring their joint work, and they couldn't get out of it with grace. So they stayed at opposite sides back stage, entered from the far edges of the curtain, ensured that there were props in between them so that they could not see one another on the platform, and waved in isolation to opposite portions of the gathered audience. Gilbert ...

4178. Why Is God Unfair?

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... in a similar way. There, if you recall, the older brother to the young man who left and squandered his inheritance was irate at the party given when the shiftless fellow returned home. He brazenly reminded their father that he, the more responsible son, had stayed home all these years and had slaved in the fields. Surely he deserved a bigger party and a better piece of the pie than he appeared to be getting. But his self-centeredness and mercenary spirit were clearly at odds with the character of the Father ...

4179. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... , 15) appear to be "Royal Grants." Each time a gift is proffered — land (twice) and a biological heir who will help establish a great Abram-family nation. Strikingly, after each Royal Grant is spoken, Abram seems to lose confidence in the gift. Rather than stay in the land of promise, he runs to Egypt to find better grazing for his crops and food sources for his crew. Similarly, instead of mating again with wife Sarai to realize a biological heir, Abram and the younger Hagar bond to produce Ishmael. Three ...

4180. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

4181. Unwanted Freedom

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... with — your spouse. It's not easy. God does not change, but the world in which we meet God does, and so there is a constant need to question yesterday's truths and revise yesterday's practices. It is frankly much easier to find a good rut and stay there. And in church we often do just that, mistaking our rut for a viable relationship. "If you continue in my word," Jesus said to those who had been nodding agreement to his teaching, "you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth ...

4182. No Room for Gloom

Isaiah 9:1-4

Sermon

Tony Everett

... much pressure at work or in school that we are ready to explode. We are torn apart by the pangs of shame and guilt. We are humiliated by the hurtful words we have spoken in anger. We are devastated by the helpful things we have left undone. We stay awake at night awash in the pain of grief. We listen to absurd chirping and muttering of anyone and anything that promises an easy way out of our bondage. On the one hand, we, like God's people in our text, are surrounded by thick, pessimistic, faithless darkness ...

4183. What Did The Turkey Say? (Or Contentious Communities)

Isaiah 58:3-9a (9b-12)

Sermon

Tony Everett

... the parrot. Pastor Alice did not even sit down before the parrot began spewing forth foul language. With a loud sigh, Jenny grabbed the parrot and tossed it into the freezer beside the frozen turkey she was saving for Thanksgiving dinner. Meanwhile, Pastor Alice stayed much longer than Jenny expected. When the pastor finally left, Jenny rushed to the freezer to free the parrot. When she grasped the parrot, Jenny asked, "Have you learned your lesson now?" The shivering parrot stuttered, "Y-y-yess. B-b-but I ...

4184. Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle…

Genesis 2:15-17, Genesis 3:1-7

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... 't require any encouragement. Furthermore, it didn't occur to either their mother or myself that we needed to lay down the law about tearing the leg off the piano. Nonetheless, there they were, in the Garden of Eden, reaching for the fruit. Another time we had stayed up with the children watching the ice skating championships. It was fun seeing the artistry and beauty of the skating, and a nice evening was had by all. The next day, though, my wife and I were upstairs cleaning when we became aware of a kind ...

4185. Can These Bones Live?

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... too often we stuff it all down and hope that life will skip on to the next chapter as we learn how to walk around our piles of bones. But no matter how we try to move on, no matter what kind of denial we try to practice, the wasteland stays with us, and with Ezekiel we are called to take an unscheduled tour. Take a moment now —?@a silent second or two —?@to comprehend that place that William Butler Yeats referred to in the "Circus Animals Desertion," as the "foul rag and bone shop of the heart." As we ...

4186. Being a Witness

Acts 2:14, 22-32

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... to on the other side of town. Just as I was leaving, though, the police arrived. One officer asked if anyone had "witnessed" the accident. Several people standing there turned and pointed to me. I smiled, turned to leave, and the police officer said, "Could you please stay a moment? We need to hear from you as a witness." So much for my meeting. This experience, though, gave me pause as I was pouring over this scripture in preparation for today's sermon. My word was important, but not because I was a pastor ...

4187. God, What Are You Up To?

Genesis 12:1-9

Sermon

Stan Purdum

One of the better programs on television from 2003 to 2005 was a series on CBS called Joan of Arcadia. Like many thoughtful shows, this one did not score high enough to stay on the air for long, but it did last two seasons. The title alludes to Joan of Arc, the fifteenth-century teenager who believed she heard the voice of God urging her to save France from England during the Hundred Years War. That Joan led an army into battle, successfully ...

4188. Eat and Run

Exodus 12:1-14

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... knows what it's like. But even though everyone says he hates to eat and run, the truth is that not everyone does hate it. Some folks rather like it. As a little boy, I liked to eat and run in the summertime. When the weather is warm and it stays light later, dinner is just an interruption for a young boy. And so I'd be reluctant to come in from playing when my mother would call me for dinner; and as soon as I was finished, I would look for the first opportunity to be excused so that I ...

4189. Living on the Edge

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... task at a time when they are most needed. God calls Moses, Joshua, and each one of us along with millions of other people around the world. God continues to call people, away from self-centered concerns and more toward God. Ruby Jones decided to stay as Hurricane Katrina churned menacingly toward New Orleans in late August 2005. Her children urged her to leave, begging her not to report for her Sunday nursing shift at Lindy Boggs Medical Center. Ruby Jones, then 67, chose to ride out the storm with her ...

4190. Hearts on Fire

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... issues, we simply take a seat questioning whether the church should involve itself in such matters. From time to time, God places a fire in someone's heart. The fire burns so brightly that they are compelled to act and are not able to stay quiet any longer. Martin Luther was one such individual. Luther challenged the church with what he believed was wrong. In a moving scene from the movie, Martin Luther, someone exclaims, "You are tearing the world apart!" Luther replies, "Did you really think there wouldn ...

4191. Forward March

Joshua 3:1-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... then are thrust into the workforce where the expectations are quite different. The first day on a new job can bring about that same sense of foreboding, not knowing what is required of them. During those first days some might even feel that they should have stayed where they were and not have accepted the new position. The people of old might have felt that way as they prepared to step over the threshold to a new beginning. The Israelites were about to occupy the land after a long, hard journey filled with ...

4192. Not All of This Is Me

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... line of helpers. The gentleman in charge of the volunteers told her that they had far too many volunteers and did not need her. It never happened before, he explained, but with an ad on the radio, over 200 people volunteered. The gentleman invited Linda to stay for the meal. Linda, by her own admission, had very little contact with homeless people and truthfully had no desire to eat with them. She got in line to eat, still feeling that she did not belong. "Happy Thanksgiving, and God bless you, darling," a ...

4193. A Little Theology at Christmas

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... that the gift of God's grace carries with it positive and negative aspects, and when we are honest with ourselves we may acknowledge that some aspects are more wanted than others. The positive aspect is that we are enabled — if we stay with the training regimen — to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, characteristics that even the greatest reprobate would admire. But arriving at these characteristics (like arriving at my ideal weight) takes some effort, and this could be considered ...

4194. A Disconcerting Sight

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... was so delayed that it was decided to let the passengers back off the plane to wait in the terminal. When the student's dad was exiting, he noticed this visually impaired fellow and his dog and asked if there was anything he could do. "I think I'll just stay here," the man said, "but it would be great if you could give Buster a little exercise." So her dad did. He never forgot the stares of folks in the terminal as he took a walk in his pilot's uniform, wearing his pilot's sunglasses, apparently being led ...

4195. Will It Last?

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... but God gave the growth" (1 Corinthians 2:6). Now another metaphor: that of a building. Paul says that he laid the foundation. Indeed, according to Acts 18:11, he labored at this great seaport city for eighteen months before moving on, an unusually long stay for this itinerant apostle, so to claim the title of "foundation-layer" was not at all unreasonable. And, he felt sure, the foundation he laid was that of Jesus Christ. But he knew, as do we, that in the catastrophic scenarios we have considered, often ...

4196. For Example

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

David O. Bales

... himself as the head of the church. I doubt that anything I said helped, but I suggested that if they wanted to consider the Bible as a mere rule book for marriage, they should at least read Ephesians chapter 5 very carefully. I asked if they'd stay in touch with me, which they didn't. Probably for the best, because my motives were selfish. If they could settle their marriage problems by ordering their wives, I wanted to know so I could submit their marriage for validation in the next edition of The Guinness ...

4197. Oddballs for God

1 Peter 1:17-23

Sermon

David O. Bales

... ll live in. Peter reminds them who they are in order to renew their wonder and reverence because of God's love shown through Jesus and to encourage them not merely to remain in the faith but to progress in the Christian life. God is never going to let us stay as we are. God is always in the process of changing us. There's that dirty word, "change." God doesn't confirm us in what we've always trusted, or the way we've always lived. God constantly stretches us. Peter says in verse 22, they've already purified ...

4198. Pentecost ... Again!

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... . The context of the problem addressed in today's reading is worship. It seems that the Corinthian congregation was caught up in the ancient equivalent of what we call today "the worship wars." It is amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. The "worship wars" today swirl around such issues as praise songs, contemporary music, and the use of media and guitars and drums. In Corinth, the issues were speaking in tongues, prophecy, and behavior at the holy communion table. The issues were ...

4199. How Beautiful the Feet

Romans 10:5-15

Sermon

Larry Lange

... that were keeping her alive. There was very little anyone could do for several weeks, except wait - wait for the medications to work. Judy's husband's job kept him away from her bedside, except for a few hours each day. Judy's daughter was only able to stay while her children were in school. The new pastor visited every other day and read Judy the word of God and prayed. He kept in touch with Judy's husband as best as he could, and Judy's husband appreciated the calls, the prayers, and the friendly words ...

4200. It Was Only Fair

Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Larry Lange

... accident. He asked us what we were doing, and we told him we were making a snow fort. He said if he made a snow fort on the other side of the driveway, we could have a giant snowball fight, and the only rule would be that we each had stay in our snow fort, and whoever blew up the other snow fort would win. We thought this was a cool idea. Having a limit, a rule was always somehow appealing to us. It added a challenge to whatever we happened to be doing. When there was a rule, we had ...

Showing results