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 4251 to 4275 of 4957 results

4251. Luke 23:33-43

Luke 23:26-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... same term that had been used by Luke to describe the Pharisees’ actions in 16:14, it is reasonable to assume that some of those same religious leaders are present at this moment. The taunt of these leaders is theological. They claim Jesus cannot even “save himself” so how could he possibly be “the Messiah of God, his chosen one?” Ironically these religious leaders reject Jesus’ spiritual identity because he does not rescue himself physically. Every act of “saving” Jesus performed during his ...

4252. Lay Down Your Entitlements

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Timothy Owings

... what we are capable of doing. Truth be told, all of us some of the time and some of us all of the time are in radical denial about the situation of our planet, our nation, and our lives. For example, like the people who heard John, we can claim an entitlement that keeps us from becoming the prepared and faithful people God calls us to be. The folks in John's crowd were tempted to say, "We have Abraham as our father." Meaning what? Meaning we can coast through life as the entitled ones refusing to face the ...

4253. Our Children Watch Us Closely

John 6:8-9

Illustration

James W. Moore

... many others. Through trickery, conniving, and scheming, the minister stole a man's dog. That's bad enough, but to make matters worse, he included his two little boys in the deception. The two boys helped their dad disguise the dog so the rightful owner could not claim him. The boys enjoyed the trickery and plotting. The boys thought it was great fun to take away the man's dog. Some years later, the minister realized that in that one deceitful act, he had taught his sons how to steal and turned them away ...

4254. The Parrot Won’t Talk

Illustration

... who went to a pet store to purchase a parrot to keep her company. She picked out a beautiful bird that was supposed to be the smartest type of parrot alive. This parrot was guaranteed to be easy to train to talk. She bought a book on training parrots that claimed the technique taught would have her parrot talking within a week. She took the book and her new pet home. A week went by and she returned to the pet store and complained, "I've followed the book explicitly but that parrot you sold me hasn't said a ...

4255. Carbon Pure and Perfect

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it is now the presence of inclusions or blemishes that prove its natural state. Nobody gets it all right. No one is without blemish or inclusion — except one, the Flawless Diamond “without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19). Not one of us can claim 20-20 perception, or immaculate perceptions. Paul reminded the Corinthians that acknowledging the power of God in the cross put them on the path to “being saved” (v.18). Salvation is a lifelong process, a lifetime of growing in prevenient grace, a lifetime ...

4256. The Case of the Dancing Men

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... the questions being debated was the uniqueness of the Christian faith. One expert said that what makes Christianity unique is the incarnation: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) But someone pointed out that other religions also claim that their gods visited earth in human form. Another expert said the resurrection made Christianity unique. But again, other great religious figures are said to have returned from the dead. The debate was raging on when the great Christian writer C. S ...

4257. Leaving Home

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s no place like home.” Author Max Lucado tells about a parakeet in Green Bay, Wisconsin named Pootsie that evidently suffered from homesickness. Pootsie escaped from her owner and came into the keeping of the humane society of Green Bay. When no one else claimed Pootsie, a woman named Sue Gleason did. Sue and Pootsie hit it off. They talked and even bathed together, becoming fast friends. But one day the little bird did something incredible. It flew over to Mrs. Gleason, put its beak in Sue’s ear ...

4258. The Evangelist Has a Shady Past

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... who are cohabitating without the benefit of wedlock. Does it surprise you that they did so in Jesus’ time as well? The woman was impressed. “Sir,” she said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we ...

4259. Daring Thomas

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... the Sunday after Easter pastors who follow the lectionary tell the story of Doubting Thomas. Three weeks from now, we will do so ourselves. But this poor disciple’s reputation extends beyond the church. Even in our secular culture, if someone is dubious about claims of any kind, they are apt to be called a Doubting Thomas. Has anyone in scripture been so universally and in my mind, so unjustly maligned than Thomas? Oh, we think of Judas the betrayer and Pilate washing his hands of his responsibility for ...

4260. What about the Truth?

Matthew 5:13-16

Illustration

James Merritt

... if nobody has the truth why should I waste my time listening to other people and their opinions? What would be the point? Only if somebody has the truth does it make sense to be open-minded, don't you agree?" The teacher said, "No, I don't. Are you claiming to know the truth? Isn't that a little bit arrogant and dogmatic?" Elizabeth said, "Not at all. I think it is dogmatic and arrogant to assert that there is not one person on earth who knows the truth. After all, have you met every person in the world and ...

4261. You Are God's Temple

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... individual members of Christ’s body and as a church body, we are God’s dwelling place. Do you remember when Jesus had his encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well? Remember how she said to him, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” How did Jesus answer this woman’s statement? He said, “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of ...

4262. Say Gracias!

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Mike Ripski

... was certain, nothing was secure, MAYBE there would be food tomorrow. MAYBE there would be no sickness tomorrow. Maybe…maybe not. But whatever came to these people, they still greeted life with joy and with "Gracias!" What I presumed from God as my rightful claim, my friends in Peru and Bolivia received as a precious gift. What I treated as common place was for them a joyful surprise. What I trivialized as ordinary, they celebrated with reverence and said, "Gracias!"And slowly I realized what I had all but ...

4263. Rock Solid

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

King Duncan

... my father made to imprint indelibly upon my mind the meaning of integrity.” Emery remembers his dad as a man who valued honesty in all the affairs of life. He says that once his father lost a pair of fine German binoculars. He filed a claim with his insurer and collected a sum of money as settlement. A year later he found the binoculars. Immediately he sent a check to the company. The insurance people wrote him and said this seldom occurred, that people returned funds, and that they were encouraged by ...

4264. “Not Responsible for…”

Matthew 4:1-11

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... him lose weight. A couple of days after his operation, he raided the hospital refrigerator and stuffed himself with everything he could find. This tore open the staples and forced another surgery. He was suing the hospital for having a refrigerator near his room. He claimed the temptation was too great. Thus, his complications were not his own fault but the hospital's fault! It's like the little girl was sent to her room for misbehaving. Sometime later her mother happened to pass by her door and heard her ...

4265. The Conversion of Chuck Colson

John 20:1-18; 21:15-25

Illustration

Ray Pritchard

... right hand of God. What does it mean to believe in that Jesus? Lewis says: I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a great moral teacher and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says ...

4266. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

... to both liberal and conservative political philosophies. We have all kinds of differing interpretations of Scripture. But one thing we cannot remove from the Christian community and still call ourselves followers of Christ is love deep, persistent, sacrificial love. We are a people who claim that God is love and we are a people who are called to model love in the world. This is not to say that love does not exist in the secular world. It does. Dr. Thomas Lane Butts tells a wonderful story about Larry ...

4267. Do You Know the Way to Emmaus?

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... many references to Emmaus in ancient sources, none of them give us any specific directions. Because of this, the unlikely village of Amwas (20 miles from Jerusalem) is currently a popularly recognized site for pilgrimage, even though other towns have stronger claims to be the historical town. Ironically, the seemingly superficial mystery regarding the actual location of Emmaus fits in nicely with the deepest meaning of this passage. Do you know the way to Emmaus? Emmaus may be here, or there, or anywhere ...

4268. From Temple to Table

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a few years ago was “Tool Time,” featuring the comedy home grown humor of “Tim, the Tool Man, Taylor.” The funny was so familiar because we all have home‑grown, half‑baked, “handy‑men” in our lives. Well‑meaning, yet witless, “helper‑people” who claim they can “Fix” anything, but really do not have a clue. Jesus may seem to come across as a “Tool‑Time” kind of guy at times. But although Jesus may have been raised as a stone carver and mason, he also had deep roots in ...

4269. Family Resemblance

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... Singapore the young man bought a stool and a mirror and seated himself at a street corner. That was the only way to know if his father came by. He would look for someone who looked like the face he saw in the mirror. One day a man came by claiming to be his father. The young man didn’t believe this man. He said, “My mother told me to look for someone who looked exactly like me. This mirror is the only way I can compare faces. You don’t look at all like me.” However, he accepted this man ...

4270. The Peacemakers

John 14:27; Matt. 5:9

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... children just around the corner in the kitchen as they rummaged through the refrigerator and cupboards for something to eat. At some point they discovered half of a toaster pastry on the counter from the night before. They all began screaming and fighting; each claiming the half-eaten Pop Tart. As Dawne made a couple of futile attempts to quiet them down, she finished typing the verse in Matthew 5:9 that says, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God." Taking her cue from scripture ...

4271. Looking at Footprints

John 17:1-11

Illustration

Barbara Lundblad

... is pressing us with the old question, "Why do you stand looking up into heaven? Look at these footprints here on the earth." Jesus' muddy footprints are all over the pages of the gospels. Can you see Jesus' footprints in the wilderness? Each time he was tempted to claim earthly power and glory, he reached up and touched the words of Torah. One does not live by bread alone. Worship the Lord your God and serve only God. Can you see Jesus walking on the wrong side of the street with the wrong people? Can you ...

4272. Wrong!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to talk about the “erratum” he had made, or the numbers of errata he had committed. He believed that while truth was “uniform” and “constantly exists,” truth also did not seem to “require so much active energy” as did error. Franklin claimed that error, as “the pure and simple creation of the mind that invents it,” is often more interesting than correctness. It is in our apparently limitless ability to err, Franklin contended, that “the soul has room enough to expand herself, to ...

4273. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . So much so that many scholars now assert that the document is actually a compilation of several letter fragments. The most common argument for a fragmented 2 Corinthians finds two separate “letters” — chapter 1-9 and chapters 10-13. Some scholars even claim that as many as six fragments have been woven together to create this “second” letter. Scholars are unlikely ever to come to consensus over the intact or fragmentary nature of 2 Corinthians. But it does appear that by the time Paul penned his ...

4274. The Bristlecone Pine

Matt 10:40-42; Heb 12:11

Illustration

Carlyle Fielding Stewart (adapted)

... making them strong and sturdy. With grace accept the hardships that come into your life. Dare we say that rich conditions produce poor Christians. In Hebrews we read that chastening produces "the peaceable fruit of righteousness" (KJV). For those not rooted in Christ, suffering can be decimating. As Christians we claim glory out of suffering.

4275. A Community of Practice, Not a Community of Perfection

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... as the chosen Twelve — were out-of-tune oafs while they were in the presents of God’s Son. The gospels admit as much. The gospels show Jesus’ disciples as fractured, fragmented, folk — wanting to be better, to do more, but unable to meet the challenge, to claim the truth, to accept the consequences. That’s why they hid while he was on the cross. Do you get it? The disciples are us. Every person in the pew makes up the church, the body of Christ. But we are crippled and compromised by our very ...

Showing results

Showing 4251 to 4275 of 4957 results

4251. Luke 23:33-43

Luke 23:26-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

4252. Lay Down Your Entitlements

Matthew 3:1-12

Illustration

Timothy Owings

4253. Our Children Watch Us Closely

John 6:8-9

Illustration

James W. Moore

4254. The Parrot Won’t Talk

Illustration

4255. Carbon Pure and Perfect

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4256. The Case of the Dancing Men

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

4257. Leaving Home

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

4258. The Evangelist Has a Shady Past

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

4259. Daring Thomas

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

4260. What about the Truth?

Matthew 5:13-16

Illustration

James Merritt

4261. You Are God's Temple

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

4262. Say Gracias!

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Mike Ripski

4263. Rock Solid

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

King Duncan

4264. “Not Responsible for…”

Matthew 4:1-11

Illustration

David E. Leininger

4265. The Conversion of Chuck Colson

John 20:1-18; 21:15-25

Illustration

Ray Pritchard

4266. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

4267. Do You Know the Way to Emmaus?

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

David E. Leininger

4268. From Temple to Table

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4269. Family Resemblance

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

4270. The Peacemakers

John 14:27; Matt. 5:9

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

4271. Looking at Footprints

John 17:1-11

Illustration

Barbara Lundblad

4272. Wrong!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

4273. 2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

4274. The Bristlecone Pine

Matt 10:40-42; Heb 12:11

Illustration

Carlyle Fielding Stewart (adapted)

4275. A Community of Practice, Not a Community of Perfection

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

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