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 4551 to 4575 of 4943 results

4551. Proper 11

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

... , deserted land. It was an ordinary place for that part of the world and the event which attracted his attention was a common sight. A desert thorn bush set afire by the dry intense heat was nothing unusual. What caught Moses' attention was the flame continued without the bush being consumed. Whether it is intended for us to see anything miraculous here or not is of little importance. The burning bush was intended to attract Moses' attention, which it did. And, out of the event, came God's message to this ...

4552. Proper 6

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

... indeed. The Scriptures record how they began to clash even while in Rebekah's womb. This mother, who had prayed so long to conceive, was so tormented by their struggle, she was not even certain she could survive the pregnancy. Jacob and Esau's fight continued, carried on by succeeding generations of their decendants. Each of the boys gave birth to a nation, and over the years, those nations became intense rivals. Here is the strange tale of two groups of people at odds with each other before either of their ...

4553. Proper 8

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

... , as he departed the area, Jacob left the River Jabbok limping. An interesting point is the ease with which this combatant disabled Jacob. It gives us every reason to think he could have won the battle at any time during the night, but chose to let it continue. Therefore, the meaning of the encounter must lie in the struggle itself; the purpose of this adversary was to test Jacob, not to destroy him. Jacob came out of that battle equipped to begin the best and the most productive part of his life. "The sun ...

4554. Proper 9

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

... be claimed the children were all stillborn. It's not at all clear why the Pharaoh thought the midwives would go along with his heinous plan. Pleading extenuating circumstances, they didn't, and the Hebrew male children lived, and the population of the foreigners continued to grow. Finally, perhaps in desperation, the Pharaoh commanded that all the male Hebrew children should be thrown into the Nile and drowned. One wonders why this was necessary since, there are so many easier ways to kill a baby. But, H. L ...

4555. Seeking Hands

Psalm 141:1-10

Sermon

... to do. II Uplifted hands in prayer can have special meaning for us in this Lenten Season Very possibly we are not going to change our prayer style. We probably are in such a habit of folding our hands and bowing our heads that we are going to continue. However, during this Lenten season as we consider our theme, and as we listen to King David regarding the lifting up of our hands, it would be well for us to give consideration to the thought of praying in the spirit with uplifted hands. When we come before ...

4556. Angry Hands

Psalm 26:1-12

Sermon

... would you have me to do?", at the same time asking God for direction. Also, we can ask of ourselves, "How would I like to be treated?" If someone was angry with me, rightly or wrongly, how would I want to be treated? Finally, we need to live continually in the knowledge that we are forgiven people. We are not righteous people by our own merit, but forgiven people, declared righteous through Jesus Christ, forgiven by the blood of the Savior, wiped clean of our sins by him who knew no sin and gave his life up ...

4557. Estranged Hands

Psalm 143:1-12

Sermon

... Through the waters of our Baptism, God has attached us to the history of his grace. The testimony of his grace reassures us that God's forgiveness is ours. Thirdly, the Psalmist says (verse 7): "Do not hide your face from me." From deep within our heart our faith should continually plead that God would be near to us. He has given us Word and Sacrament as a means of being held near to him. It should always be our concern that we would walk close to the Lord, for only then can we put aside sin. Only through a ...

4558. Our Prayers, Not Questions

Sermon

... understand. "My husband isn't even thirty. I'm his second marriage. "He was divorced, my sister is divorced, my brother is divorced, and we may be getting divorced, and I'm only twenty-five." Her questions are asked, and what answers can be given? But the conversation continues. "Why do you want to commit suicide?" I ask. "Because I'm no good," she says; "if I were dead, things would be simpler." "Do you go to church?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "And what do you pray for?" I asked her. "For my husband," she ...

4559. Parable of a Prayer and a Bank Account

John 15:16-17

Illustration

... miss out on friendships and thrilling experiences. They are never quite ready to admit that they don't know how to pray and don't know how to communicate with God. So they tell their friends they are offended with the Church, the preacher, the religion or with God and continue in their unfulfilled dreams. It is more than a pity -- it is human tragedy to live and not live, to desire love and not obtain it and to ignore the presence of God's love, when it is the answer to human suffering.

4560. Life Turned Upside Down

Luke 14:1-14

Illustration

... the atomic bomb the United States used against Japan at the close of World War II. He was born in 1904 in New York City, and showed an early interest in science. He entered Harvard at 18 and graduated 3 years later with honors. He continued his studies in theoretical physics at various universities in Europe prior to teaching at the California Institute of Technology. He was considered one of the top ten theoretical physicists in the world, and specialized in the study of sub-atomic particles and gamma rays ...

4561. Hunger, Health, and Happiness

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

... very, very well for this South American family. They grew in stability and became friends with William. Vijah missed his parents, but he never ceased to give thanks for William and his friends who gave them food, clothing, and training and enabled them to continue to lead normal lives. Mark Steele Mark Steele was a happy-go-lucky, single man with an MBA from Vanderbilt University. He had gone to work for the Exxon Corporation and found himself living and working in Houston, Texas. Life for him was easy ...

4562. A Good Picture of Bad People

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

... the creatures even more time to seek and serve higher purposes. They discovered higher purposes but were always frustrated because even the higher purposes were not high enough to satisfy them. So they kept making machines to serve a higher purpose and continued to seek still higher purposes for themselves. The machines were so efficient and accurate that they were finally given the job of figuring out what the highest purpose of the creatures might be. The machines reported that the creatures did not have ...

4563. Thanks, Lord

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

... obedience. But herein lies a part of the beauty, meaning and power of this passage of Scripture. The Disease Leprosy was a dreadful disease.1 It brought discoloration and deterioration of the skin. Parts of human flesh were eaten away and this "rotting away" continued until death came as a merciful angel. There were three types of leprosy, and some of these brought more suffering than others. But all were bad and very much dreaded by the people who lived in Jesus’ time. In addition to the physical pain ...

4564. God Is Good But Not Easy

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

... to him and saying, 'Vindicate me against my adversary.' For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’ " And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily." You are invited to allow the light ...

4565. Parable of the Weight of Happiness

Psalm 34:1-22

Illustration

... Lord, the promises of Christ, God's love for mankind, we have a real cause for happiness and good reason to bless others with our cheerfulness and contagious faith. We do well to follow the psalmist, when he said, "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

4566. God Is a Mystery

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... he had seen in his disciple, Thomas. One of the zealots in the crowd even suggested that Jesus was encouraged when he saw Zacchaeus because he recognized in him the same strength that he had seen in his disciples, James and John. Still others continued to believe that Jesus was totally confused and had acted irrationally. Conversations followed many different courses of logic, but nobody seemed to be able to put it all together. They talked about it for weeks and months. It was an experience so etched upon ...

4567. A Criminal, A Cross, and the Christ

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Thomas C. Short

... and loving. In a sense God had given him a garden of peace. Although life was not perfect, it was good; Etaus was able to enjoy his family and his God. He was never able to recall when things first began to go wrong. He continued to say his prayers and to practice his faith, but slowly other influences crept into his life. Some of the less desirable people of the community became his acquaintances and later his constant companions. At first, they merely discussed some possibilities of making easy money ...

4568. Parable of the Wagon and the Ball

Luke 12:13-21

Illustration

... in families, but in communities and nations. Each generation tends to believe that all that has been achieved and inherited is creditable to the nation or person that is in possession. This indeed, is a basic falsehood and leads to much selfishness and the continuance of many miseries. The socialistic concept that everything belongs to the state and capitalistic concept that all belongs to the owner, both fail to recognize that God is the Giver of life and all that is in life. To bring happiness and peace ...

4569. Seek Good, Not Evil (That You May Live)

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

... which by their very nature oppress, put the poor at a disadvantage, operate with technical and legal rights while violating the moral. It has been too easy for us to do band-aid work with a good conscience while structures and systems have continued to victimize. We have talked about the violence in schools, for example, but what about the violence of the schools? There is violence within companies, but what about the violence of companies? In recent days more than one company that has served a community ...

4570. A Word About the Right Time

Haggai 2:1-9

Sermon

... giving them to you. And you shall have prosperity. You shall have prosperity of a kind you have not known." "To be with you ..." What good news to hear in these days of loneliness and exile and alienation. The One who made and kept the Egyptian release pledge to Haggai, continues to make it to us and to keep it. Emmanuel, "God with us," not just a friend or a neighbor or a parent or a brother or a sister or even a lover, but God with us. God guarantees it in a strange way, sends our Companion on the way ...

4571. There’s Gotta Be a Day

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

... constitution." A friend of mine escaped the Communist forces at the end of World War II. She had told herself that she would never complain again if she would only make it to freedom. Then she added, "And here I am, complaining again." The arms race continues over the centuries fed by the belief that the invention of each new weapon will make war so terrible that no one will want to go to war again. The result has been ever more terrible wars, rather than their cessation. Now our weapons are so terrible ...

4572. Whoever Would Be King

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... ’s radical innovation seemed as fragile as the unity of the Israel of David and Solomon. How can the best and the worst be lumped together? Do you mean to say that no one is automatically advantaged or disadvantaged? Christ’s answer was (is), "No!" We continue to say, "No," to his, "No!" for the most part today. That the evidence is clear, now more than ever, that we are one family, matters nothing. We live from each other, says Charles Williams. We live from whomever. We sing and play music that’s ...

4573. Beasts, Saints and Chaos

Daniel 7:1-14

Sermon

... it. In his epistles, Paul addresses the members of the congregations as saints, people called as saints; notice, not just to be and become saints, but they are saints even as he addresses them. Even the congregation at Corinth, guilty of a most grievous sin, continuing in that sin even as Paul writes, he addresses as saints. Do we need more evidence? The list of heroic saints in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews is not ours: Noah, who got drunk at the end of the ark trip; Abraham, to save his life ...

4574. To Thank Is To ...

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

... have an infinite capacity to crucify. He was killed because we are killers. He died, for to be one of us is to die. It is our destiny. And now he has become the first fruits of the resurrection. We were not there for that specifically, but no matter. God continues to give. He gives his Son to us in baptism where we become what he is because he became what we are. Now we are prime examples of the way God rights wrongs. That means life for us on a new plane altogether. In the Lord’s Supper he gives ...

4575. The Fifth Sunday in Lent

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Kendall K. McCabe

... life with Christ will have begun for you. You may know his presence in a special way each week as you meet him at the Lord's Table. Like Lazarus, we still have to face a physical death. But we will face it equipped with the knowledge that Christ will continue to walk with us through that door as he has faithfully walked with us through all the days of our earthly tour. No wonder we can sing, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus!"

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