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 4526 to 4550 of 4972 results

4526. A World in Turmoil

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." So I leave you with one question then. Who won? Amen! 1. Luke Bouman, http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/archiv-7/050320-4-e.html 2. I Maccabees 13:51 3. Edward F. Marquardt, "Hey Sanna, Ho Sanna," http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/palm_passion_heysanna.htm 4. ibid. 5. http://www ...

4527. The Judas Gene

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... him into action, to start the longed-for revolution. Or maybe, because nothing human is ever uncomplicated, something of all of these was involved.(4) Who knows? Perhaps it is significant that the gospel does not spell out the motivations of Judas. That leaves lots of room for us to consider the many reasons why someone...anyone...would stoop to betrayal. Societies have always reserved their harshest judgment for those who betray. It is a sin against the trust that is critical to maintaining any kind of ...

4528. The Pleasure of Your Company

Matthew 26:17-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . At the end of the corridor is the banquet room. In the center of the room is a long table and in the center of the table is one plate and beside the plate is one name - yours. The attendant motions for you to sit and when you do he leaves and you do the thing you have wanted to do since you stepped into the residence. You look around this way and that, up and down and all around. You say for the first time out loud what you have been saying inside ever since the invitation was delivered. "Wow ...

4529. What Do You Believe About Eternal Life

John 14:5-14

Eulogy

James W. Moore

... and filled it with people, I had a plan. I wanted my people to have life as long as they could, but not forever on this earth because then my world would be too full with no room for anybody. I planned it so that when it was time to leave the earth my people would come and live with me in Heaven where there is no pain, no sadness, nor sickness, nor anything bad.” Natalie told her grandchildren that at this point, she said softly to God, “Is my time to come and live with you getting closer?” And God ...

4530. He Rose Again

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... those legionnaires, that requires more of a leap of faith than coming back from the dead. Perhaps some wild dogs got in there and ate the corpse - gruesome, but not unheard of in those days. Still, those would have had to be some incredibly fastidious animals, not leaving even a shred of meat or bone or hair on the floor for someone to notice. And which of the dogs would have folded the cloth that had covered Jesus' head, rolled it and laid it carefully to one side - one of them must have done it, because ...

4531. Following Orders

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of the day. Fortunately, Christian soldiers have one tremendous piece of assurance about our task. We have a promise from the commander, "...and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age," the abiding presence of a commander-in-chief who has promised he will never leave us nor forsake us. Because of that, we can follow his marching orders with the full confidence of every bit of support we need. Am I a soldier of the cross, A follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause Or blush to speak ...

4532. I Am Sombody!!!

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and the kids would respond, "I AM SOMEBODY!" Over and over again, the youngsters would be asked about themselves and the response would be, "I AM SOMEBODY." By the time Jesse would be done, those students would be positively bellowing, "I AM SOMEBODY," and they would leave with a sense of worth that, for many, would be brand new. The message of your baptism and my baptism is that, in God's grand scheme of things, I AM SOMEBODY...YOU ARE SOMEBODY. The world asks, "Who are you?" and because of your baptism ...

4533. Power

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... he thinks is a happy life with his beautiful wife Jessie (played by Farrah Fawcett) when suddenly his world crumbles - Jessie is having an affair with the young youth minister, Horace. Sonny gets enraged and hits Horace with a baseball bat, putting him into a coma. Sonny leaves town, and quickly. He heads to Louisiana and begins a new life. What would be in store for him? In his own unique way, Sonny wants to start things right. He makes his way into a river, stands waist-deep in the water, lifts eyes and ...

4534. "If I But Touch..."

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... a church newsletter called "Touch in Church:"(5) What is all this touching in church? It used to be a person could come to church and sit in the pew and not be bothered by all this friendliness and certainly not by touching. I used to come to church and leave untouched. Now I have to be nervous about what's expected of me. I have to worry about responding to the person sitting next to me. Oh, I wish it could be the way it used to be; I could just ask the person next to me: How are you ...

4535. The Apostles' Creed: I Believe

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the floor in preparation to stand. Why? Because we BELIEVE that the law of gravity is as much in force on this new morning as it was last night before we went to sleep. If we did NOT believe that, we would stay right there under the covers. When we leave our home, if we cross the street, we look both ways because we BELIEVE that iron and steel moving at high speed can make a mess of any flesh and blood with which they come in contact. In the world of work, if we BELIEVE that regularly showing up late ...

4536. Jesus and Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... all that, you can see how radical Jesus was in his position on marriage. "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this [divorce] law," Jesus said. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female...For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." I wonder what the Lord would say if he came back today and ...

4537. The Apostles' Creed: "Suffered, Dead, and Buried..."

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... all make a bit more sense. Let us make the attempt. The concept of family is incredibly important, far more so than here in the west. Oriental cultures think nothing at all of four generations living under the same roof - they do not raise their children to leave. Tied in with that is a special understanding of what it means to be family, not only in terms of mutual support, but also of family honor and family shame. A person may be guilty, but that guilt has a ripple effect - the person's family members ...

4538. Ready or Not, Here He Comes!

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... conflict. • A sudden inability to worry. • Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation. • Unexpected attacks of smiling. • An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to pass it on. The parade rolls on and leaves you finally with "The peace that transcends understanding." Happy holidays indeed! Are you ready? Well, ready or not, here he comes. Amen! 1. Brian Stoffregen, via Ecunet, "Gospel Notes for Next Sunday," #8952, 12/7/03 2. John Lohr, via ...

4539. Doing Battle with Demons

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... are being fought, these battles are not pretty. There is pain. Sometimes pigs die. But evil, by its very nature is destructive, so pain should be expected. No wonder society at large is uncomfortable with the process, even to the extent of asking Jesus to leave. In the first century, demons were a scary business. They were thought to be able to take control of natural processes and often were thought to take possession of persons or control their fate. The demons could enter a person through the ears, nose ...

4540. Ban the "Buts"

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... world around me. I noticed when the fireweed bloomed. My husband would report, "There's some wonderful fern down by the creek bank." We took walks looking for wildflowers. I learned to boldly venture into the cooler at the florist shop in search of lemon leaves and baby's breath. Just this week I made the most amazing discovery - I like doing the flowers. It's not the arrangements themselves; I'm never quite satisfied. Spending time in the silent church, either alone or with my husband, is so refreshing. I ...

4541. A Fool and his Money

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... have paid off. He has got this massive crop in. Now what? Got to store it someplace. He calls in the architect to help him plan bigger barns. The hours pass, finally the architect says, "Look, I have got to get home. I have been out every night this week." "Leave the plans with me", says the man, "I will keep working on them. We can pick it up tomorrow." So he continues to work with his drawings and his figures. Mrs. Farmer comes in to say, "Goodnight, dear. Don't work too late." But he barely hears her, so ...

4542. Is God Like Daddy? - Father's Day

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... remembered feeling the same way when he was that age. At any rate, he decided to go along and accede to the boy's wishes. I wonder what went through my own father's mind about thirty-five years ago when I came to him and said I was leaving. As you may know, he was a minister, and everybody knows about preachers' kids. I did not ask for my portion of the inheritance, because everybody also knows about preachers' salaries. It would have amounted to about twenty bucks. At any rate, I wanted out. I was tired of ...

4543. Would a Loving God Really Let Anyone Go to Hell?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ) Would a loving God really let anyone go to Hell? Our parable seems to indicate the answer is Yes. The righteous will be rewarded with an eternity of comfort and peace and the sinners are going to burn. Some of you, I am sure, would be content to leave it at that, get out of here and beat the Methodists to the golf course. After all, that is what you learned years ago. Others of you will not be content with that because you cannot imagine God being unforgiving, even of the most heinous sin. Note one thing ...

4544. Building a World

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... you and I are to go from this room to make a difference in the lives of people we meet daily. That is how we will build the kind of world God desires--one person at a time. A few years back, Matthew Woodley, a pastor in Minnesota, decided to leave the ministry. Over the years, a negative attitude had taken hold in his heart. He had lost any zeal for the ministry. He was tired of difficult people. He was tired of fielding everyone’s complaints. He was tired of living in a run-down parsonage that the church ...

4545. Carrying Worshipers out on Stretchers

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... the early church on that first Pentecost. But that doesn’t mean that God’s Spirit won’t be here. The Holy Spirit is just as real in this place as in that house long ago. And if we open our hearts to its power and presence, we, too, can leave here empowered, with a new determination to do the work of God. If we don’t resemble the church at Pentecost, there are probably some good reasons. It’s sad, perhaps, but there are some ways in which we are not like them. We Don’t Pray Like They Did ...

4546. Hard to Believe

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... s burn unit. She was prepared to teach English grammar, but she was not prepared to witness the horrible look and smell of badly burned human flesh. She was not prepared to see a young boy in great pain either. She wanted to hold her nose...to turn...and leave faster than she came. But she could not just walk away. So she clumsily stammered over to his bedside, and she simply said, "I am the hospital teacher and your teacher sent me to help you with your nouns and adverbs." The next morning a nurse from the ...

4547. Happy Birthday, Dear Church

Acts 2:14-41, Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... was soon to arrive was one year in the nursery department at Home Depot where there were PENTAS on sale (and for those of you might not know, [and that included me until I looked them up] pentas are bushy, rounded evergreen shrubs with hairy, bright green leaves and dense clusters of many small, star-shaped, tubular flowers in shades of red, pink, purple or white.(1)) So the question must be asked, "How much does a PENTA COST?" [Ugh!] That is as close as we make it to any commercialization of the holiday ...

4548. About Kissing

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... hand noisily several times. When the train drew into the station, he rose, lifted his hat, and in a gentlemanly way said: "May I thank whichever one of you two ladies I am indebted to for the charming incident in the tunnel." He then beat a hasty retreat, leaving the two ladies glaring at each other. Let's talk for a few minutes today about kissing. That might sound like a strange theme for Trinity Sunday. Don't blame me. St. Paul says in our scripture today, "Greet one another with a holy kiss." Who am I ...

4549. Rejoice

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." This is a time for rejoicing. Forget about the ringing of cash registers. Lay aside for a few moments the responsibilities you will have when you leave this room. The Lord is at hand. This is a time of yielding ourselves to his blessed presence. What does Paul mean when he says, "Rejoice . . . The Lord is at hand"? The four Sundays before Christmas are designated as Advent which means literally, "coming ...

4550. Surprised By Christmas

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... of God. Fulghum had been under the weather for a while, so on a bleak February day he went to the doctor. As he sat in the waiting room, he noticed an attractive elderly couple waiting, too. The woman wore holly berries and poinsettia leaves in her hair. The man leaned toward Fulghum, smiled, and announced, "Merry Christmas!" Fulghum replied in same before he realized what he was saying. It wasn't Christmas. It was February. Then the man began singing Christmas carols. The receptionist addressed the old man ...

Showing results