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 401 to 425 of 4963 results

401. Evangelism: Three-Phase Youth Ministry

Drama

Ken Davis

... volunteer to accomplish the vital task. At this point we chose another person from the audience to add a new dimension. This person's goal was to, at all costs, keep the volunteer from doing the vital task. While the rest of the audience was to remain in their seats, these two people were allowed to stand next to the volunteer and shout their opposing messages. They could get as close as they wished; however, they were not allowed to touch the volunteer. As the blindfolded volunteer was led back into the ...

402. Touched By the Third Phase

Drama

Ken Davis

403. Be Hatched or Go Bad

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the quotables: “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.” ... burial, and who had returned in daylight to offer their respects, are not told to go and find the eleven remaining disciples who fled, scattered, and hid during Jesus’ trial and execution. All of them together are to join up with ...

404. John 20:19 31

John 20:19-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... (16:20‑22). Flushed with joy and fleshed out with peace, the disciples are ready to receive the commission Jesus now gives them. Throughout this “locked room” scene John refers to “the disciples.” Nowhere is it made clear whether this refers to the remaining eleven of Jesus’ chosen companions, or if other “disciples” are present. In light of John 13:20 and 17:18‑20, there is no reason not to assume that a larger group is present and is receiving this first-hand commission from Jesus. The ...

405. 1 John 3:16-24

1 John 3:11-24

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... faith has faltered. Instead 1 John focuses on what those who do confess Jesus as the Christ must exemplify in their life of faith. For the Johannine author, theological precision takes a back seat to decisive action. The action he demands from those who remain within the community of faith? Nothing less than “love.” In today’s epistle text the author defines the demands of this “love” in no uncertain terms. The example of love Christians are to follow was set by Jesus himself when he “laid down ...

406. Candidates for God’s Candid Camera

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

407. God’s Two Hands

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... tells the truth. About everyone. There is no sugar-coating or rose-tinting the truth about anyone. And throughout the gospels, except for a few noteworthy moments of insight (“You are the Messiah!”), all of Jesus’ closest companions remained essentially clueless throughout his earthly ministry. They did not understand what his mission really was, or what his ministry meant. His personalized explanations, jaw-dropping revelations, and spellbinding “discourses” seemed to go in one ear and out the ...

408. The Assurance of Things Hoped For

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... . We hope that God will heal creation of its sin and pain. We hope that God will redeem our present suffering. We hope for these things because of who Christ is, as Hebrews has worked so hard to explain to us. These things are still not seen, because they remain to be fulfilled. Faith is the persistent trust that these things will come to be in God's time, even though we do not see them. Faith keeps us going when the hope is not yet realized. Our faith can be strong because the hope is so well grounded ...

409. Extreme Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... hell than the very people they despise? That could be true if love is more important than faith. You say, Pastor, you’ve gone too far. It’s not me it’s St. Paul. If you’re not convinced, look at how he ends the chapter, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Love is more important than faith? How you live is at least as important as what you believe? It’s a good thing we’re saved by grace. Neither our faith nor our works alone would do the job ...

410. The Glory of the Cross

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... to glory about. In fact, the cross was grossly offensive to the three major cultures of Paul’s day. To the Romans the cross was so despicable that Cicero, the Republican orator and statesman, who died in 43 B.C., wrote: “Even the mere word ‘cross’ must remain far not only from the lips of the citizens of Rome, but also from their thoughts, their eyes, their ears.”2 To the Jews crucifixion was the same as hanging, and the Old Testament said that “he who is hanged is accursed of God.” (Deut. 21 ...

411. Up Close & Personal: Coming Into Focus

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

James Merritt

... criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Yet, that is exactly what you have to do when you confess sin. You have to testify against yourself. You’ve got to refuse to take the Fifth. How many of you recognize these words? “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided for you.” That is what is known as the “Miranda” warning. The Supreme Court ...

412. While It Was Still Dark

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... had fled in fear, there was Nicodemas aiding Joseph of Arimathea in claiming Jesus’ body. Carefully and with much effort they removed the nails from the Master’s hands and feet and lowered him to the ground. Along with a group of women who had remained close by through it all, Joseph and Nicodemus hastily prepared Christ’s body for burial. They had to act quickly, these blessed saints who were there to minister to the mangled body of their Master. The Jewish Sabbath began on Friday evening and they ...

413. Like a Butterfly

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... .” He’s talking about you and me. Listen to him. Whoever you are or whatever you’ve done, transformation is possible. Listen to him. Quit living like a caterpillar. Allow him to turn you into a beautiful butterfly. We are not called to remain in the state that God found us, but to feed on His word and grow. Let him transform you today. 1. Melvin Newland, http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/glory-and-majesty-melvin-newland-sermon-on-transfiguration-32723.asp. 2. Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan: Stories and ...

414. The Right Connection

John 15:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... made tea you know what I am about to say. When you put a teabag in a cup of hot water the longer that tea bag remains or abides in that water the more that water will take on the color and the taste of that tea. If you want the tea to be ... stronger you just leave the bag in longer. That is what happens to us every day when we abide in Christ, just remain in Christ, we begin to take on the color of His character and the flavor of His life. Here is your assignment beginning today. You abide in ...

415. Jesus Prays for Us

John 17:6-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... ? It’s up to you and me. Christ prays for our protection, that we will be unified and hold one another up when trouble comes. He prays for our preservation, that none of us will be lost from the fellowship of his family. His family, the church, remains the world’s best hope for peace and reconciliation. And finally he prays for our perseverance that we will persevere in telling the world of Jesus and his love. 1. Watching the World Go By, W. E. Thorn. Cited in Raymond McHenry, Something to Think About ...

416. King Jesus

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... was like Christmas gifts bought early in November or December and packaged prettily for display under a tree until Christmas. One even has my name on it; all in the family know that it will bring me wonder, joy, and blessing, but its exact content remains a mystery until the wrappings are ripped away. So too with God's long-planned activity of salvation. The package was clearly set before the world in the national identity of Israel but until the specifics of the gift were revealed through the person of ...

417. The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

Acts 2:1-13

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... demonstrates that he or she has. There is no other way of entering the church. And since water baptism outwardly marks that entrance, it also becomes the outward sign of the believer’s entry into the gift of the Spirit (see further the notes on v. 38). It may still remain, however, for the believer to become “full of the Spirit” (see disc. on 6:3), for we often “resist” the Spirit (cf. 5:3, 9; 7:51; Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 4:8; 5:19; Heb. 10:29) and must learn instead to trust and obey him (cf. 5 ...

418. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 117:16 (118:16), “the right hand of the Lord has exalted me,” the same verb as in this verse. But the point remains that Jesus had been exalted to a place of power and authority, marked by his receiving from the Father the promised Holy Spirit to ... out of my Spirit” (the Hebrew is simply, “I will pour out my Spirit”): The thought of the Greek may be that God’s Spirit remains with him and we can only receive a part, not the whole. Or the intention may be to direct our attention to the diversity of ...

419. Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... give to the fund, much less to give all that they had. It was not what they gave that mattered, but the spirit in which they made the gift, and in this Ananias and Sapphira had erred. They had wanted to appear more generous than they were while remaining better off than they seemed to be (were they hoping now to draw on the fund themselves?), though they could not have held back much, else the disparity between what they offered and what they were known to have sold would have been too apparent. All things ...

420. The Choosing of the Seven

Acts 6:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... appearance in Acts as a title for Christians (cf. vv. 2, 7; 9:36; 11:26; 19:1–4). That the term disciple was still used makes it clear that the disciples of Jesus formed the nucleus of the church and that the relationship that Jesus had with them remained the pattern of his relationship with the church. A feature of the life of the early church was their readiness to meet the needs of their poor (cf. 2:44f.; 4:32ff.). Whether what was given was in service or material goods is not known, but we see here ...

421. The Church Persecuted and Scattered

Acts 8:1b-3

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... every member of the church left the city; verse 3 shows that they did not. Luke is prone to use “all” in the sense of “many” (see disc. on 9:35). But even of those who left, many may soon have returned; and of those who remained or returned, the greatest number were Hebrews (see discussion on 15:1). Meanwhile, whoever else fled the city, the apostles did not (on the tradition of Christ’s command that they stay, see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.18.14; Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 6.5 ...

422. On Cyprus

Acts 13:4-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... (hypēretein) in 20:34 and 24:23 favors the sense that he was simply their general factotum. When the Romans annexed Cyprus in 58 B.C. they transferred the seat of government from Salamis to new Paphos (see disc. on v. 6). Salamis, however, remained an important center of trade. Being only about 130 miles southwest of Seleucia, their port of departure (v. 4), it naturally presented itself to the missionaries as their first port of call. The Jewish settlement in the city was large enough to support a number ...

423. In Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-20

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... its population was Lycaonian (as was Derbe’s also), and despite its colonial status, it seems to have remained a somewhat rustic outpost. A handful of Jews may also have been found in the town (see disc. on 16:1), but no mention is made of a synagogue ... ; nor have the remains of one ever been found. Determined, nevertheless, to preach the gospel, the missionaries had to try something new. What they needed was a ...

424. In Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... of God as the one who gave the seasons and the crops, but with the Areopagites a philosophical approach was demanded and an appeal not so much to the evidence of nature as to the inner witness of God to human consciousness and conscience. But the question remains, Could (or would) Paul have made such a speech? The closest we can come to it is in Romans 1–3, but that letter has a different purpose and therefore a different emphasis (a much harder line against idolatry) to that found in this speech. And yet ...

425. Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

Acts 21:17-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... defilement and to pay their expenses as well as his own (v. 24; cf. Josephus, Antiquities 19.292–296). It is a question with many scholars, however, whether the historical Paul would ever have agreed to such a proposal. But we have seen that he appears to have remained a practicing Jew (see disc. on 15:1–21), and though he would not have admitted the efficacy of this rite (cf., e.g., 1 Cor. 1:30), it would not seem to have been such a difficult thing for him to have undertaken it in accordance with ...

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