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 4451 to 4475 of 4489 results

It's OK if you mess up. You should give yourself a break.

Billy Joel

Create your own method. Don't depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But keep breaking traditions, I beg you.

Constantin Stanislavski

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.

Earl Wilson

When I'm home on a break, I lock myself in my room and play guitar. After two or three hours, I start getting into this total meditation. It's a feeling few people experience, and that's usually when I come up with weird stuff. It just flows. I can't force myself. I don't sit down and say I've got to practice.

Eddie Van Halen

We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience.

Edward de Bono

Who ever is adequate? We all create situations which others can't live up to, then break our hearts at them because they don't.

Elizabeth Bowen

Opportunity knocks at every man's door once. On some men's door it hammers till it breaks down the door and then it goes in and wakes him up if he's asleep, and ever afterward it works for him as a night watchman.

Finley Peter Dunne

Through the dark and stormy night Faith beholds a feeble light Up the blackness streaking; Knowing God's own time is best, In a patient hope I rest For the full day-breaking!

John Greenleaf Whittier

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

Matthew

The sea heaves up, hangs loaded o'er the land, Breaks there, and buries its tumultuous strength.

Robert Browning

4461. The Stop-and-Think Chair

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Roy Howard

Schools opened here last week, and I remembered something from one of the teachers. Like all good teachers, she has certain expectations — norms of behavior — for her students. The students agree to these community norms for the classroom that are posted in the room. That’s not new. What I find intriguing in her classroom is the consequence if someone breaks the norm. When a community rule is broken, the offending student is assigned to the clearly labeled stop-and-think chair. There the child sits ...

4462. Wife's Ransom

Humor

I'm not saying that he was addicted to golf. However, when a gang of goons kidnapped his wife, he was ordered to bring the ransom to the 9th hole of the country club precisely at midnight. He showed up two hours late. "You were supposed to be here at midnight!" the kidnappers sneered. "Give me a break," said the golfer, "have you ever tried to play 8 holes in the dark?"

4463. Sword of Truth

Luke 2:22-40 · Hebrews 4:12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) All of you probably know the story in one form or another of King Arthur and his mysterious sword Excalibur. Infused with divine power, the mighty sword could only be used by the “rightful King” of England and would thwart those who tried to use it for unworthy purposes. Powerful, the double- ...

4464. The Sign of Noah

Mark 1:4-11 · Song of Songs 6:9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“My dove, my perfect one, is unique.” Song of Songs 6:9 If you’ve ever spent time in any large city, no doubt, you’ll at some point find yourself amidst a bevy of pigeons. In our city culture, we often see pigeons as an annoyance, somewhat dirty birds that leave droppings all over our sidewalks and strut leisurely across our path. And yet, we honor the “dove” as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, a sign of peace, restoration, and love. These birds, all species of the Columbidae[1] family, are one and the same. ...

4465. The Transformative Power of God

1 John 1:1--2:2

Sermon

Richard Gribble

The resident bishop at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, who was known to be a great evangelist, reaching out to cynics, unbelievers and scoffers, told the following story. It seems that years ago there was a young man who would daily stand outside the cathedral and shout terrible words and derogatory slogans against God, the church, and anyone who entered the cathedral. He would call these people fools and all sorts of other names. People tried to ignore the man, but it was rather difficult. One day ...

4466. Jesus' Vacation

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Will Willimon

I know that many of you are here on vacation. I admire you for your faithfulness. Even though you are on vacation, you have come to church. Vacations are wonderful opportunities to, as we say, "get away from it all." A period of time, set aside from life's daily difficulties, when we unburden. Where there are usually alarm clocks, there is sleeping in until ten. Where there were bran flakes at breakfast, now jelly filled doughnuts. The daily office grind is replaced with the arduous task of unfolding the ...

4467. Deliverance through adversity

Sermon

Willie Soler

INTRODUCTION Throughout biblical history, both Old and New Testament times, adversity has been prevalent in many of the stories that we have come to recognize. Stories that depict the trials and tribulations that God’s chosen people, the Israelites, and the adopted Gentiles, have had to endure. However, since the beginning of time, God’s plan and purposes have always been to provide deliverance in some form or fashion. God’s unconditional love desires that we live free. Today, we can see adversity taking ...

4468. The Holy Spirit Brings Everyone To The Party

Acts 8:14-17

Sermon

Mary Austin

On this Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to him that day. The reading for today looks at the same gift — the coming of the Holy Spirit — to a community of believers. Listen for God speaking: Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had ...

4469. Your Ordination

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Will Willimon

My colleague, John Westerhoff, used to say, ''If you are a pastor who is spending more than fifteen hours a week working in projects outside the congregation, you are probably wasting your time. We need you in the congregation equipping the saints for their demanding ministry in the world.'' On the other hand Westerhoff said to the laity, ''If you are a layperson who is spending more than fifteen hours a week working in projects within the church, you are probably wasting your time. Your ministry consists ...

4470. The Sweet Scent of Death

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

What does death smell like? I’m guessing that many of you might say flowers. But not just any flowers. Heavily fragrant flowers. Dozens and dozens of them. Huge floral arrangements freshly plucked and designed to impress ooze that honeysuckle smell that masks the decomposition of the body. These aren’t light, wisps of perfume but a pungent, aromatic, overwhelmingly oppressive scent that chokes our senses, even as it chokes us up emotionally. Why? Because for us, this is the scent of funerals and memorial ...

4471. The Unlocked Brain

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Look at the image. Tell me what you see. Our brains are amazing vehicles for informing us of the world around us, but they can also limit us and impede us when we believe that what we see defines everything that’s real and true or that what we see defines the entirety of the universe. Can we truly know based on only our sensory experience? Or is there something more, another kind of knowing, that lies outside of our empirical knowledge? Christians believe there is. In fact, most people believe there is, ...

4472. The Howling

Acts 2:1-21 · John 14:8-17, 25-27

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This isn’t a story about wolves, although it sounds like it could be. It isn’t even a tale about noises in the night or a peculiarly powerful storm. It’s a ghost story. A true story. A relaying of unexpected events within a room full, no a town full, of people with a boatload of witnesses, an experience that defied all reality, a recorded testimony about an unexplained, uncanny manifestation of a Spirit that not only spooked those present but changed their lives completely thereafter. A phenomenon so weird ...

4473. Seeing A Familiar Friend All Over Again For The First Time

John 13:1-17 · Philippians 2:5-11 · 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

An Examination And Preparation For The Love Feast I'm a native Californian and I'm living in Indiana. I've lived in many different places in the country and one thing I'm impressed by is how each place can become home. There are so many different places to live, with their own customs, foods, and speeds. And they're all good. Recently I went to visit my folks in Silver City. That's a small town about a mile in altitude in the mountains of southwest New Mexico. The pace is slow in this very old part of the ...

4474. Beware! Jesus Is Coming to Church!

John 2:13-22

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: a lightbulb Good morning, boys and girls. Guess what I brought to show you this morning? A lightbulb. Not very exciting, I suppose. But I learned an interesting fact about light bulbs this week. Did you know that when light bulbs are made in the factory, they have to be kept completely clean inside? I mean completely clean. If any dirt gets inside a lightbulb, then it could cause the lightbulb to break. And broken light bulbs are useless, worthless. Broken light bulbs don't give off any light. So ...

4475. How Are the Neighbors?

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

I like the story of the family who moved into a new community. As the moving van was being unloaded, the husband went over to speak to the man next door who was mowing his lawn. After introducing himself, the new resident asked, “How are the neighbors around here?” The man did not bat an eye as he replied, “How were they where you came from?” That makes the point, doesn’t it? Our expectations determine our perceptions -- we get what we seek. Assume that most persons are weak, mean, and conniving, and they ...

Showing results

Showing 4451 to 4475 of 4489 results

It's OK if you mess up. You should give yourself a break.

Billy Joel

Create your own method. Don't depend slavishly on mine. Make up something that will work for you! But keep breaking traditions, I beg you.

Constantin Stanislavski

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.

Earl Wilson

Eddie Van Halen

We need creativity in order to break free from the temporary structures that have been set up by a particular sequence of experience.

Edward de Bono

Who ever is adequate? We all create situations which others can't live up to, then break our hearts at them because they don't.

Elizabeth Bowen

Finley Peter Dunne

Through the dark and stormy night Faith beholds a feeble light Up the blackness streaking; Knowing God's own time is best, In a patient hope I rest For the full day-breaking!

John Greenleaf Whittier

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.

Matthew

The sea heaves up, hangs loaded o'er the land, Breaks there, and buries its tumultuous strength.

Robert Browning

4461. The Stop-and-Think Chair

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Roy Howard

4462. Wife's Ransom

Humor

4463. Sword of Truth