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 4276 to 4300 of 4963 results

4276. The Story of Christmas

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... of human mysteries. There, waiting patiently, is the soon-to-be mother perhaps no older than sixteen years of age. Her name is Mary. An angel had appeared to her in a dream and asked her to believe the incredible that she was to be a mother and yet remain a virgin and that the son she would bear would be the Savior of the world. That would be too much for the unbelieving heart to contain, but Mary believed the angel and answered without hesitation, “I am the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be ...

4277. Praying In Jesus' Name

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David O. Bales

... That’s part of our taking communion, sharing a meal at God’s table. A New York book editor arranged a meeting between author William Faulkner and physicist Albert Einstein. Despite the editor’s efforts to get Faulkner to talk more, Faulkner remained mostly silent during the entire meeting. Later, the editor asked why Faulkner hadn’t talked with Einstein. Faulkner said something like, “What could I mention to such a brilliant man that would have any significance?” Some people feel that way about ...

4278. Nicodemus: A Young Old Man

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David O. Bales

... the congregation realizes that all the rest is the story is “commentary” on the scripture. When the last farmer from the most distant field arrived home to his family and the temple police were tromping their patrols around Jerusalem’s walls and the remaining member of the Sanhedrin set aside the last legal brief and blew out the seven candles at the entrance of the Sanhedrin’s chambers, Nicodemus left his quarters. He looked quickly left, then right, and walked out into the night. The first blast ...

4279. Where Is Jesus?

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David O. Bales

... villages, nor does God fan the flames that overtake firefighters. If God does such things, then Jesus, God’s Son, was only going around fixing what his heavenly Father broke. In the Bible we hear the apostle Paul write that he’s having a hard time choosing between remaining in this life or succumbing to death in order to be with his Lord. We take that as a very pious statement — dying to see the Lord. But it’s not a cute quip for Paul. Paul stated clearly that death is an enemy. In fact, it’s ...

4280. Expect the Unexpected

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... to get her attention, he unstrapped his artificial leg and let it drop on the floor with a loud thump. Startled, she opened her eyes and saw him for the first time. Encouraged, he began to laugh out loud and hop around the room on his one remaining leg in time to music that was playing on her radio. After a moment, she burst out laughing too. “Fella,” she said, “if you can dance, maybe I can sing.” The two became close friends and eventually became husband and wife. Sometime later this young man ...

4281. Down in the Dungeon

Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... an ass laden with bread, and a skin of wine and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul, and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, ‘Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.’ And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” I wonder how many of ...

4282. A Topsy-Turvy Gospel

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you will flower again. Your sickness will be healed. What is fading will be made fresh again. What is unsteady will be made firm and strong. And all that is weak in you will not drag you to the grave. But your wholeness will abide, binding you to God, who remains strong and abides forever.

4283. Claimed, Framed, Changed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

... could they do about it all? What can you do when your emotions are stirred up? Well, you can ignore them and push them down deep inside and pretend they just don’t exist. However, that doesn’t work for very long. Emotions aren’t imaginary. They remain in the brain. Somehow they will come out and show themselves. Like it or not. Push them down long enough and they will burst through our best efforts to keep them under control… just like a shaken up bottle of soda when the cap is removed. Sometimes ...

4284. Framed, Changed, Challenged

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Tony Everett

... . Breaking bread together also broke down barriers that separated and inhibited relationships. Giving thanks and breaking bread together also connected the community with the risen Christ within a common and holy meal. Fourth, these first Christians in Jerusalem remained faithful. They still worshiped regularly in the temple and maintained daily Jewish prayer routines (Acts 2:46). So, what is the challenge that the risen Jesus lays before his changed people… you and me… the church? Well, when ...

4285. Lesson from a Chipmunk

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Tony Everett

... got back to Jerusalem? What are we really supposed to do within the church? How does a general promise become a specific purpose? What is this gift and, how long do we have to wait before we get it? Back in the city, the apostles remained close to where they knew God’s love and encouragement were located — among God’s faithful people. Our text names them specifically, including several women in addition to Jesus’ own mother and brothers (Acts 1:13-14). While they waited, these early followers of ...

4286. Hitting the Boss Key

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... river! But the persistent tribesmen would subsequently float another pumpkin into the re-gathered ducks. Again they would scatter, only to return after the strange sphere had passed. Again, the hungry hunters would float another pumpkin. This time the ducks would remain, with a cautious eye on the pumpkin, and with each successive passing, the ducks would become more comfortable, until they finally accepted the pumpkins as a normal part of life. When the natives saw that the pumpkins no longer bothered the ...

4287. A Breath of Fresh Air

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Tony Everett

... a ho-hum line, and rapidly descending to flat line. “They have become dried up, helpless, and hopeless… just like the bones in Ezekiel’s vision” (Ezekiel 37:1-2). Do folks pass by your church building perceiving it as a coffin, holding the remains of a once vital ministry? Does the exclamation, “Look, he’s moving,” apply to you or your congregation? How would you respond if the Lord asked you the same question the Lord put to Ezekiel: “Mortal, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3). The ...

4288. Prelude to the Passion

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... God do then?” the Kahn demanded. “Did He send His thousands of legions from heaven to smite and destroy those who had so treated His Son?” When Marco Polo explained how God did respond to His Son’s crucifixion, Genghis Khan was clearly disappointed him, and remained unconverted. (4) Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he entered Jerusalem. He came to take all the evil in human hearts upon himself. That brings us to the final thing we need to see this Palm Sunday: Christ came to usher in a new ...

4289. Honk If Something Falls Off

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

King Duncan

... world, but one which is not a reasonable guide to conduct in the actual world we live in. We do not normally practice it, do not expect others to practice it, and do not teach our children to practice it. Jesus’ most distinctive teaching, therefore, remains an intriguing but basically untried suggestion.” (5) Think about that for a moment and it will break your heart. This outside observer is saying to us that the primary reason we are not turning the world upside down is that we have, for all practical ...

4290. Voice Recognition

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... instructed Mary to tell them that she had encountered the resurrected Christ, making her the “apostle to the apostles,” as she is often called. But once again static interfered. Mary’s words did not appease the fears of the Jesus’ disciples, who remained huddled in the rooms they had used for their Passover meal, doors locked in fear. The disciples who had not heard and seen Jesus for themselves could not bring themselves to believe in the miracle. Neither their hearts nor their hopes could hear ...

4291. The Lord Is (More Than) My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... during the tour his guide took a baby lamb from its pen and placed it with thousands of other sheep where the noise of their bleating and the shouting of the shearers was absolutely deafening. The animal, which had not yet been weaned, looking dazed, remained still for a moment. Then, realizing it had been separated from its familiar surroundings, it began to let out weak, distressed baas. The faint cries were answered immediately by its mother even though she was at the far end of the enclosure. As the ...

4292. Ring Those Bells

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to pick the flesh off the bones, and then the feral dogs below to gnaw on the bones and take them away. During the 7 years from 1861 to 1868, the faculty and student body of William and Mary College in Virginia went home. The school was closed. Only one remained. The college president. Every day, this one man did something that was absolutely insane. He walked from his office to the chapel and rang the bell. NO one was there to hear it. So why did he ring it? It was a defiant act of hope that the silence of ...

4293. Breaking News: The Middle East

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... Roman followed and made a vast noise and they are gone; Other peoples have sprung up, held their torch high for a time, but it burned out and they sit in twilight now or have vanished. All things are mortal, but the Jew. All other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?” I say this respectfully to my Jewish friends, but Mark Twain asked the true Jewish question, “What is the secret of the immortality of the Jew?” A nation and a people that is at the center of the entire New ...

4294. Breaking News: God and Government

Romans 13:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... that sometimes God puts good people in power to be a blessing. Sometimes God puts evil people in power to be a curse. There is one thing that all governments and all governmental rulers have in common. Their authority is given by God and God alone. They will remain in power as long as God allows it. The state is a divine institution with a divine authority. I want to make sure you understand what I am saying and what I am not saying. Paul is not saying that the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Saddam Husseins and ...

4295. Envision: The Great Commitment

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

James Merritt

... comes to Christmas. I absolutely live for the Christmas season, and I still get a charge out of seeing all of these wrapped gifts under the tree. But you know I have learned something. No matter how much you pay for a gift, if it remains unopened it is absolutely worthless. At this church, we are determined to help you discover your gift, develop your gift, and deploy your gift in the service of others. I find two reasons why church members get frustrated, irritated, and lose interest in the church. Either ...

4296. Do You Believe In Miracles?

Matthew 15:29-39

Sermon

James Merritt

... in 1980 was as close to a miracle in the sports world as you might ever get. But it really wasn’t a miracle. Anybody that knows anything about sports knows that anybody or any team at any place at any time can beat anybody else. Still, the question remains, “Do you believe in miracles?” Before we answer the question, we have to ask an even bigger question and that is, “What do we mean by miracles?” After doing a lot of study on my own, let me give you my definition. Miracle: An act of God using or ...

4297. Supernatural: Taken By Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

James Merritt

... spiritually breathless. One of the most interesting places in Israel is the Sea of Galilee. There are tourist hotels right by the water, and in the mornings, you can take a boat ride across the sea from Tiberius to Capernaum where you can see the remains of a synagogue where Jesus actually taught. The Sea of Galilee sits 628 feet below sea level. It is surrounded by mountains filled with deep ravines. Those ravines serve like huge funnels that bring cold air from those mountains into a collision with the ...

4298. The Knot: Bound

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... are talking about here is allegiance. Moses is traditionally cited as the author of Genesis. Neither before, nor after Moses was it ever the custom for a man to totally leave his parents when he took a wife. The custom of that day was for a man to marry and remain in his father’s household and the wife would join the family of her husband. God did not give to Eve a father first to take care of her or a brother first to play with or a son first to watch over. The first thing God gave to Eve ...

4299. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... and try to overlook the bad. Your attitude toward your spouse will primarily be positive-not negative. “Love hopes all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7, ESV) That means you trust that God is working and moving both in your marriage and in your mate. You remain hopeful that wherever your mate needs to be changed, God will bring about that change. Until He does, you will keep your hope and trust in God. Finally, “Love endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7, ESV) That means loves takes the long view and ...

4300. How to Hug

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... with no regret, convinced that they had made right decisions. They were glad that they had not conformed to social pressure and joined in the dancing. In their eyes, this was an act of righteousness. At the same time, they expressed no guilt over remaining silent while thousands of Jews were burned in ovens. This act of conformance to social pressure did not seem to violate their Christian conscience. (5) That is scary. This kind of legalism can be both cruel and even dangerous. Some of the greatest ...

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