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 4943 results

4276. David and Ziba

2 Samuel 16:1-4

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

Absalom’s Rebellion Begins: Within these chapters there is an interest in the concept of loyalty: loyalty moving from David to Absalom; the loyalty of Ittai, Zadok, and Abiathar to David; Ahithophel’s disloyalty and Hushai’s apparent disloyalty; Shimei’s loyalty to Saul and the ambiguity of Ziba’s position. Behind this is the conviction that although human loyalties may be unpredictable and unreliable, God’s loyalty can always be trusted. 15:13–23 Although David had had no suspicions concerning Absalom’s ...

4277. Shimei Curses David

2 Samuel 16:5-14

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

4278. Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold

2 Kings 19:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

The Assyrian Assault on Judah: The second David has arrived. He has reformed Judean worship according to Mosaic law, casting off foreign influence and domination. We wait to see what will happen when the king of Assyria tries to take the kind of vengeance on Judah that he has just inflicted upon Israel. 18:13–16 The beginning of the Assyrian assault is reported in verses 13–16, as a new king (Sennacherib) attacks all the fortified cities and captures them. This is not a very promising beginning. It seems ...

4279. Hezekiah's Prayer

2 Kings 19:14-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

4280. Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

2 Kings 19:20-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

4281. Jeremiah Buys a Field

Jeremiah 32:1-44

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

32:1–15 The narrative begins by giving the date of the event that follows. It is the tenth year of Zedekiah, the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar, clearly within months of the downfall of Jerusalem. Indeed, the siege of Jerusalem has begun. According to Jeremiah 52:4–5, the Babylonian army arrived at the gates of Jerusalem in the tenth month of Zedekiah’s ninth year. Thus we are to imagine this story taking place within the walls of Jerusalem which was encircled by the Babylonian army. Furthermore, Jeremiah ...

4282. Know Jesus--No Peace

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

George Reed

How can we understand it when Jesus, the Prince of Peace, says, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”? What do we make of Jesus proclaiming that households will be divided because of him; that parents and children will be at odds? While some of the wits around us have used the pun of Know Jesus — Know Peace; No Jesus — No Peace, it seems that Jesus would have said Know Jesus — No Peace. Jesus was aware of those around him who resisted the Roman ...

4283. Hungering for Some Time Off

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

King Duncan

How many of you have a hard time taking a vacation? We all want a vacation. We all need a vacation. But do you have trouble finding the time for one? Do you have trouble leaving work back at the office when you go on vacation? Do you feel like your vacation is re-charging you or draining you? Futurist and author Faith Popcorn claims that, compared to the rest of the world, Americans suffer from a condition called “vacation starvation.” The average employee of a large business gets about two, maybe three, ...

4284. The Inside And The Outside

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

Concept: We spend a lot of time taking care of the outside of our bodies but sometimes we forget to take care of the inside. Preparation: A shaving or cosmetic bag with deodorant, perfume or cologne, shampoo, soap, razor, comb, etc. Use as many items as desired. Lesson: Let's see what we've got in here. A bar of soap, what do we do with this? (Children respond.) Have you ever seen a man shave? We have a razor because we wouldn't want the men to have scruffy faces. How about this shampoo, what is this for ...

4285. The Courage to Be Me

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." There is a certain courage to be who we are built into the dynamics of Christian faith and grace. DONALD C. HOUTS (see biographical note preceding Smart, Wise, and Foolish) relates this courage to three common debilitating fears in his sermon The Courage to Be Me: The fears of doubt, self-disclosure, and failure. There is a sense in which vitality in human life is a product of the tension between fear and faith. If all were certain, then our concept ...

4286. What About the Weeds?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

According to Pastor Charles Yoost there is a well-known saying in rural areas in the late summer. The saying is this: “Make sure you lock your car doors when you go into church.” Now in urban areas we are often told to lock our cars even in church parking lots because something might be stolen while we are worshipping, perhaps even the car itself. But there’s an entirely different reason in rural areas. It’s just that when you come out of worship in rural areas, if you have unwittingly left your car ...

4287. Don't Look Down

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

You may have missed it in the news. A bridge is being built in the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum at the site where Jesus walked on the water 2,000 years ago. Notice that I did not say this bridge will be built OVER the Sea of Galilee. This bridge will be built IN the Sea. It will be slightly submerged so that visitors walking on the bridge will have the illusion that they are walking on water just like Jesus. The bridge will not have rails, but lifeguards and rescue boats will be stationed nearby in case of ...

4288. Here I Am To Worship

John 4:24

Sermon

James Merritt

There is nothing that I enjoy more than a good debate. I don't mean an argument or a disagreement or a quarrel. I am talking about an honest debate where give and take or given and taken in the right spirit with each person trying to learn. At the same time, I would never ever want to debate anything with anybody who knows everything. Yet, that is exactly what we continue to read in the four gospels. Sometimes it was the Pharisees and sometime it was the Disciples. Here in John 4 there is a woman who is ...

4289. “Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave”: Power Poisons the Conscience

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord’s chosen servants cannot hide their sins from him. Understanding the Text Empowered by the Lord, David has experienced great success militarily and made Israel more secure than it has ever been. He obeyed the Deuteronomic regulations pertaining to the accumulation of chariot horses and wealth, promoted justice for all, and tried to model God’s faithfulness in his relationships. But suddenly the story takes a shocking downward turn as David’s blatant violation of God’s law brings chaos ...

4290. The Paralysis of Analysis – The Fear of Failure

2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Sermon

James Merritt

I am beginning a series of messages today that I am entitling - fear factor. I would say practically all of us today will remember this picture which has been shown thousands of times and is seared into our memory. If it is true that, "A picture is worth a thousand words" you will never see a more graphic picture of fear than this one. Psychologists and sociologists agree that since 9/11, fear has been at an all time high in America. Indeed, the entire world at times is paralyzed by fear. There is a word ...

4291. Who Wants To Be a Millionaire

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

James Merritt

When it comes to millionaires, America has a monopoly. We have more millionaires than anyone else in the world; we have more people who want to be millionaires than anyone else in the world; and we have more people who can become millionaires than anyone else in the world. Recently USA Today ran a cover story entitled, "Everyone Wants a Shot at Being a Millionaire." The story begins this way: We live in a society gone millionaire mad. Our national fable used to be: Any kid can grow up to be President. Now ...

4292. Transfiguration of Our Lord

Matthew 17:1-13, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Exodus 24:1-18, Psalm 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Most Lutheran, Episcopal, and some other churches celebrate the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, rather than on the traditional date of August 6. This tends to give theological definition to the end of the Epiphany season and the entire Christmas cycle, as well. The incarnation/manifestation note is sounded again in the Gospel for the Day, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." The word God spoke at Jesus' baptism is repeated here and is ...

4293. A Glory Revealed to Faith Alone

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, saying, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water, and we’ve had it with this stupid manna."1 And the Lord sent deadly serpents among the people, and they began biting the people, and many of the sons of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said to him, "We have sinned because we spoke against the Lord and against you. So now, pray to the Lord that ...

4294. A World Without Easter

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Sermon

James Merritt

Dr. Billy Graham once told Time magazine, "If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection, because that is the heart of Christianity." Well Dr. Graham knew what he was talking about because more and more theologians, those who admit to be liberal, and even some who claim to be conservative, are taking dead aim at the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The founder of the infamous Jesus seminar, Dr. Robert Funk, told Time magazine as well, "The tales of entombment and ...

4295. Talents and Trust

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

A half-generation ago, Joseph Heller’s book Catch-22 was all but required reading on every college campus. The title of the book refers to a certain clause in military law, a clause having to do with grounding mentally unstable combat pilots. At one point Yossarian, the book’s main character, talks with Doc Daneeka about grounding an obviously unstable pilot by the name of Orr. Yossarian learns how the rule works: The doctor can ground Orr if Orr claims he’s unstable and asks to be grounded. But if Orr ...

4296. Envision: The Great Commandment

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

James Merritt

Envision. Envision a church after God’s own heart. Envision a follower of Christ hitting on all eight-cylinders, being everything that God wants him to be, doing everything that God wants him to do, living a life of such passion, such power and such purpose that the people that he or she meets, where they live, where they work, and where they play are eternally impacted. We are convinced that such a church and such a Christ follower do three simple things: Love God, Serve Others, and Share Jesus. That is ...

4297. Uncontainable Faith

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Curiosity killed the cat,” goes the old folk saying. We’ve all heard it. We all know it. Except that’s not what the proverb originally was. The true proverb read, “Care killed the cat.” So where did this new phrase come from? Why the revision? And what did the original phrase mean? On 23 December 1912, a printed reference to the new variation of the proverb was printed in The Titusville Herald newspaper in a grocery store ad: You will find greater values here. We are told: "Curiosity killed the cat, But ...

4298. Response Ability

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Responsibility. We all would say that it’s an important feature of adult life. We all would say that we as people need to take responsibility for our actions, our lives, and our engagement with the world. We all would say that it’s wrong to simply expect everyone else to do everything for us. This is what it means to graduate from childhood to adulthood. We learn and we grow, and then we take our place within our families and communities as contributors, taking responsibility for our jobs, our deeds, and ...

4299. Love to Life

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It is unexpected and agonizing. You reach over to pick up a package, bend down to tie your shoe, or put out your arms to scoop an “arms-up” child . . . and suddenly, something goes terribly wrong. You know it in an instant. A wrench. A tweak. A tear. A back muscle, or disk, or nerve…something has gone completely “off-line.” In the twitch of a muscle, but no twinkle of an eye, moving becomes misery. Even if you’ve never studied anatomy ever, you are immediately an expert in just how intimately connected ...

4300. The Proof is in the Roof

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…” (Isaiah 61) Prop: Big Box (Bigger the Better) I have here a box. If I were to step inside of it and close it up, not only can’t we see each other, but my life will become very limited and very narrow. And yet, this is the way many of us live our lives today –closed off, ...

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