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. Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:41-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... or a bundle to superintend, but their movement within the group was much more fluid. Little wonder that Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus to be somewhere in the midst of the caravan's chaos and did not miss his presence until everyone stopped and settled in for the night. Immediately Joseph and Mary retraced their steps and trekked back to Jerusalem. For some unstated reason, they apparently proceeded directly to the temple site perhaps already suspecting they would find Jesus there. We should not read this ...

4527. 2 Timothy 1:1-14

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... stand up to the testing that is to come. As usual, Paul uses his own life experiences and practices as model examples. He begins in verse 3 by referring to the Jewish tradition of praying at regular intervals "night and day." Twice a day, Paul stops and offers prayers to God and "constantly" that is, every time, Paul claims to remember Timothy in his prayers. The issue of loyalty, which will recur throughout this letter, may be what prompts Paul to declare here at the outset that he worships with a "clear ...

4528. Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... people from their sins." It is Joseph, not Mary, who is clearly given the foreknowledge that the child Mary bears is none other than the Messiah, the one who will bring about the reality of God's saving forgiveness for all Israel. The angelic message stops, and the words of the gospel narrator begin again in verse 22. Matthew reaches back into Hebrew Scripture to further verify the miraculous events that are unfolding. Isaiah 7:14 is the basis of Matthew's text here, although he substitutes "they shall name ...

4529. Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-50

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , so now the "chosen" community of the twelve try to distinguish themselves collectively as better than the rest of those who invoke Jesus' name. Aghast that a man outside their group would dare to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, they resolve to stop him. The disciples want the lines of Christian community to be sharply drawn, with cut-glass clarity about those who are in versus those who are out. Jesus smashes this sharp, self-defined smugness with his reprimand to John. The inclusive nature of the ...

4530. Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:46-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as a healing encounter, this story is filled with Bartimaeus' energy and action. His cries to Jesus are pointed and poignant. He will not be silenced by the embarrassed "shushing" of those around him, but repeats his frantic calling until Jesus is stopped in his tracks and orders the owner of this disembodied voice brought before him (vs. 49). The crowd's urging that Bartimaeus "take heart" seems fairly redundant. Bartimaeus' heart has obviously already gone out to meet the one whom he believes will heal ...

4531. Hebrews 10:5-10

Hebrews 10:5-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... text in the Psalm and the link that it makes with the new covenant language found in Jeremiah 31:33. The law written upon the believer's willing heart is a basic requisite of this new reality formed by the new covenant. But the writer of Hebrews stops short in his quotation so that he might continue to focus his reader's attention on the sacrifice made to bring this new covenant into existence. The old order required blood sacrifices(as noted in 10:4) of uncomprehending beasts such as bulls and goats. The ...

4532. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a gift with numbers" (making him the perfect person to act as church accountant). Conversely, those churches traditionally scooted to the furthest folds of the faithful - the charismatic-pentecostal - have claimed for themselves the most dramatic, show-stopping gifts like speaking in tongues, prophesying and healing. Not surprisingly, the advocates of these two very different-looking kinds of gifts glare suspiciously at one another from across a theological chasm. While the oldliners accuse the pentecostals ...

4533. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to touch him at this point when he then invites Thomas the doubter to poke and prod away a few verses later? What does Jesus' command to Mary in v. 17 then really mean? Newer translations assert that Jesus' caution is in the present imperative, "Stop holding on to me," indicating that Mary was already touching him when he spoke. Obviously then, Jesus' admonition is not because something dire will happen to either of them if she touches him. The focus of Jesus' words shift to his next directive. Indeed some ...

4534. 1 Peter 3:18-22

1 Peter 3:18-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the missionizing Christ overwhelm the rest of 1 Peter's message. Our text provides one of the Bible's most vivid witnesses to the saving power of Christ's sacrifice and his enduring, unceasing love. Not even the impenetrable prison of death is capable of stopping Christ's love and silencing his witness. There are no sins that can place us in a prison that God's sacrificial love cannot break through. No matter how distant our spirits are from God, Christ journeys to us, preaching the Good News of our ...

4535. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... can stonewall the message of God's forgiveness. It is an inauspicious start for the church. Yet in the second pericope of today's text, Jesus reappears to the gathered disciples, this time with Thomas in their midst. This resurrected Jesus cannot be stopped by locked doors or even Thomas' locked heart. He once again proclaims "Peace" to his disciples a greeting that testifies to the upgraded nature of their Spirit-enhanced relationship. Despite their failure to pass along the good news to Thomas, the power ...

4536. Mark 2:23-3:6

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as an explanatory text enabling the late first-century church to defend its view of the Sabbath to the Jewish hierarchy. Given the contrived feeling to the scene depicted in verses 23-24 a group of Pharisees happened along just as Jesus' disciples stopped their Sabbath-day stroll to pick ears of grain it is easy to see that scholars would wonder whether the disciples don't represent first-century Christians who had lately been "observed" by the Jewish authorities as not strictly following the traditional ...

4537. Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-50

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 's unusual message. In verses 38-41, the disciples proudly tell Jesus how they had nipped a budding heresy in their midst. Discovering a man exorcizing demons in Jesus' name, without any official disciple-designation or given authority, they command the healer to stop. The use of the phrase "in your name" suggests a technical reference (more specific than indicated in v.37): The man was practicing a sort of "word magic," invoking Jesus' name to perform healings. Mark's description makes it clear that this ...

4538. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of gifts present and possible, Paul happily enumerates them. He seems eager to demonstrate that whether an individual experiences the impressive gift of wisdom, the eye-opening gift of knowledge, the quiet gift of faith, or the more show-stopping gifts of healing, working miracles, uttering prophecy, discerning spirits, or speaking and interpreting tongues all these are "by the same Spirit." We of the 21st century are often tempted, as were the first-century Corinthians, to order these various spiritual ...

4539. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in this weekly sermon. Here are their responses. Imagine a Church Imagine now, a church. Its doors are as wide as the world, and the flow of people moving into and out of its many aisles never ceases. Marita and Arianne approach the entrance and stop while one introduces the other to several people. The two of them had met at a networking breakfast several months ago. Each worked in an office out of her home and struggled to juggle career, family and personal growth. Marita had found strength in her ...

4540. Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-62

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... take over John the Baptist's role of proclaiming Jesus' coming. This "mission strategy" depicted in verse 52 will be more fully fleshed out after this first step of Jesus' journey, when the 72 are deployed with their marching orders (10:1-20). The first stop on Jesus' long journey makes for an inauspicious beginning (9:52-53). Remember how Jesus' public ministry in Galilee began with an experience of rejection (4:23-30). So now does this journey to Jerusalem. In fact, Luke's gospel makes it clear that at ...

4541. 2 Kings 5:1-14

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... urge him not to reject help because the helper's style appears simple and unassuming. The prophet asked of Naaman obedience and humility, not physical/intellectual gymnastics or a hocus-pocus performance. The truth of his servants' words slaps Naaman awake. He stops being the military commander, the friend of kings, the wealthy courtier and instead acknowledges what he is a leper who needs to be cleansed. When Naaman "went down" to the Jordan to wash, therefore, he was willy-nilly lowering his own walls ...

4542. Luke 14:25-33

Luke 14:25-33

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is a few bricks shy of a full load, and can also avoid being a few soldiers short of a full and complete spiritual victory. Other authorities are less sanguine about this interpretation. Some argue that Jesus would never in this context propose stopping to count the cost of discipleship. If one counts the cost, one will scarcely choose to follow at all. His comments are instead deliberately aimed at thinning the ranks of the casual and the curious who are following him. Another scholar offers a compelling ...

4543. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it was for Christians to be prepared for that event (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). Paul's message was meant to offer comfort (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Instead, his words seemed to cause too much uncontrolled, uninformed excitement. Some stopped working. Some could not think or talk of anything else. Some were mentally "shaken up." Some were spiritually discombobulated. At this point, Paul intervenes. He counsels his Thessalonian "brothers and sisters" to calm down, to "not be quickly shaken in mind ...

4544. Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew 2:13-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... exile until they are "re-called" by a voice proclaiming that those who sought their lives are now themselves dead (see Exodus 4:19). Besides being a pericope of ordained directions, Matthew places at the very center of all this motion the event that stops readers cold. In verses 16-18, Matthew assigns to Herod the Great's already long list of hate crimes the so called "slaughter of the innocents," which also parallels events surrounding the birth of Moses (Exodus 1:16,22). Although Herod's vengeful and ...

4545. Refusing to Quit

2 Timothy 4:5-8

Sermon

James McCormick

... guy left. And, it you think I’m going to carry on alone as a faithful servant of yours, you’re mistaken. I quit!” God said to him, in effect, “Listen Elijah. I’ve got seven thousand people in Israel who have not bowed down to Baal. So stop feeling sorry for yourself. Get up from there and go back to work.” Now, you won’t find those exact words in your Bibles. That’s the McCormick revised version. But that’s pretty much what happened! I’ve been criticized. Or, I’ve been hurt. Where did ...

4546. A Burden or a Song

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

James McCormick

... the leader”. The leader would jump a stump and all of them would jump a stump. The leader would run around a fence, and all of them would run around a fence. Then the leader jumped across a creek. And, just as my father started to jump, someone shouted, “Stop!” My father sort of jumped and sort of didn’t. As a result, he landed squarely in the water. It’s better to jump or not jump. The worst choice of all is to “sort of” jump. Similarly, to be “sort of” religious is the worst option of ...

4547. More Than Feelings (Weddings)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Illustration

James McCormick

... will be times in your marriage when you will not like each other very much - and that’s normal. There is no-one in the whole world you can feel good about all the time! So, when those times come in your marriage, as they will, I hope you will stop and remember that love is more than feelings. Love that has grown up to maturity is first of all a commitment, a commitment to be together as husband and wife from now on, no matter what. It’s a commitment that is unconditional. Mature love is also a decision ...

4548. A Relationship Changed by Baptism

Mark 1:4-11

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

... President walks in; you snap to attention, click your heals and salute. The relationship is stiff, formal, technical, with eyes never looking the President in the eye but eyes always straight ahead, frozen like a stiff wooden soldier. But…in this story…one day, the President stops in front of you, the young lieutenant, and says to you "Please follow me into my office." You do so and the door is closed. The President orders you to be seated and then looks you in the eye and says, "I want you to become ...

4549. Two Forces at Work

Mark 1:4-11

Illustration

Fred Craddock

... and knows everything. There's no way to modulate the human voice to make a whine acceptable. The whining is over. The excusing is over. It's the school, it's the church, it's the board, it's the government. It isn't! All that's over. It just stops. Like waking from a dream of palaces and patios to find the roof leaks and the rent's due. Like shutting off the stereo, and you hear the rat gnawing in the wall. That's just the fact of it. In my mind, I serve God. But there's another ...

4550. Matthew 26:14-27:66

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Passion, events would not have reflected the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies so completely, a point Matthew has Jesus himself affirm at his arrest (26:56). Matthew's refusal to explain whatever personal ambitions may have motivated Judas have not stopped scholars from speculating. Maybe Judas was a member of the Zealots, a radical offshoot of the Jewish community who agitated for some sort of military action from their kin to throw off Roman oppression. In this interpretation, Judas was hoping ...

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