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 4726 to 4750 of 4977 results

4726. Will He Find Faith?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Scott Bryte

... judge" has a reputation for being a tough story to deal with. And in fairness, you'd have to say that the "parable of the unjust judge" deserves that reputation. If the point of a parable is to make a deep truth easier to understand, then this parable doesn't quite work. What makes it so tough to deal with is that the main character is not a nice person. He's a man who became a judge, but not for any of the right reasons. We learn that he doesn't fear God. Here he was, in a position ...

4727. How Many of Us Does It Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... minister and his wife invited this man in the expensive suit to come to their home for dinner. When they got to the house they made certain that they treated this finely dressed man like royalty. They wanted him to have nothing but the best. Then something quite peculiar happened. They sat down to dinner, but when the meat was passed around, their guest took a portion of meat and put it into his pocket! The hosts quickly looked away, but couldn’t help notice the stain it made on the man’s expensive suit ...

4728. Eyes Up!

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... 's, then came the diagnosis of liver cancer. Liver cancer can be especially painful, but, fortunately for him, the end came quickly. It was just about this time of year, as we all were getting ready for what would turn out to be a not-quite-joyous Christmas as we might have liked. How do people handle things like this? I suspect that Abuelo would advise (and after all those years in Mexico, in Spanish, no doubt), "Alzen sus cabezas, porque sus redención está cerca ... Raise your heads, because your ...

4729. The Trouble With Stables

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the occasion we commemorate, the coming of God in human flesh, the birth of the baby Jesus. It is a rather romantic picture,the way we do it, and the reason it is romantic is the same as so many things we make romantic— they are not real. To be quite honest, our popular picture ofthat manger scene is wildly inaccurate. Be that as it may, do we do the Christmas story an injustice by trying to pretty it up? I do not think God wanted it to be pretty. If God had wanted it pretty, it would have been handled ...

4730. Life After Life

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... was so highly thought of that the president of Venezuela awarded him the prestigious "Amigo de Venezuela," one of the highest honors that can be accorded a foreign national in that land. Sears inducted him into their corporate hall of fame to honor his marketing expertise. He was quite a man. His passing was a loss. One thing his death was not was a blessing. I said at his funeral, if I never again hear, "It's a blessing ... It's a blessing," it will be too soon. Oh, I know. The ravages of the Alzheimer's ...

4731. Life In the Valley

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... able to meet and cope with the demands of everyday life.[1] Jesus understood that — the gospels have him regularly retreating for solitude. Now, he is back with the people. A father had brought his epileptic son to the disciples, and the disciples had been quite unable to deal with it. Jesus said to bring the boy. One last fierce convulsion gripped him. The boy fell to the ground, the foam still on his mouth, the mouth still open, the eyes still fixed and staring. According to the parallel account in ...

4732. The Judas Gene

John 18:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... helped. He might have heard, "Father, forgive...." Perhaps we can derive some comfort from George Bernard Shaw's quip that "The last Christian died on the cross." There is a certain absolution in realizing that we all fall pitifully short. I am not sure I want to absolve myself quite so blithely (or you either, for that matter), but I do admit that I for one am glad that Judas was there that night. If he had not been where he was, I am not sure I could be where I am. Are you feeling the same thing? Remember ...

4733. A Time To Laugh

John 20:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ? An ether bunny . In many churches, the second Sunday of Easter is celebrated as Holy Humor Sunday. It builds on the good news that was celebrated last Sunday — Jesus was dead, now alive; the women come to the tomb in despair then leave the tomb in delight. Quite a story. Lots of questions, but the bottom line is "He is risen. He is risen indeed!" Holy Humor Sunday celebrates the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is God's ultimate joke on evil and death. It is a testament to the God who, as the ...

4734. The Legacy of Jesus

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of Liberty Hill, a trip that would normally take about 25 minutes; this day the trip would take three-and-a-half hours. Trees were down, utility poles snapped, live power lines were dangling, and debris was all over the road. Suddenly a hail storm descended that, quite frankly, scared me half to death. I was convinced that there was no way our car windows would be able to survive it and that we would find ourselves in the middle of that terrible storm stranded on the highway with a newborn baby. The noise ...

4735. Choosing a God

1 Kings 18:20-21 (22-29) 30-39

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... ignite quickly. Elijah stood off to the side as he watched the opposition work. Then he said, "Since there are so many of you, why don't you go first? I will just wait over here until it is my turn" (1 Kings 18:25 cf). And so it began. Quite a panorama — 450 prophets dressed up in their most exquisite robes surrounding a high altar on which had been placed a pile of raw beef. Then they began to sing and chant their prayers to Baal as they danced their way around the meat. Hey-hey-hey! Their faces were ...

4736. Our Family Inheritance

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... than any infant brought to the baptismal font in a mainline Protestant or Catholic church. The faith relationship upon which the covenant is based is found in both cases in the faith of the parents. The covenant includes our children as scripture makes abundantly clear. And quite frankly, if it did not, I doubt that very many of us would be interested in it anyway. Who among us would be content in the knowledge that the God who claims to care about us does not really care about our sons and daughters? That ...

4737. Lust

Galatians 5:16-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . If nothing else told us, from that alone we should know that sex is not to be trifled with. William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote, "It is to be recognized that sex is holy as well as wholesome ... Anyone who has once understood that will be quite as careful as any Puritan in making jokes about sex — not because it is nasty but because it is sacred. He would no more joke about sex than he would about holy communion — and for exactly the same reason. To joke about it is to treat with ...

4738. Greed

2 Kings 5:1-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... back and forth in his mind: chariots, women, travel, women, fine food, women. He had never seen such beautiful clothes as those Naaman gave him: Hart, Schaffner, and Lebanon, the best tailors in the Middle East. It was about to become a great life. But it didn't quite work out that way. Elisha confronted him when he got back home. "Where have you been?" "Nowhere." "Don't lie to me. I know where you've been. You shouldn't have done it, and you're going to have to pay the price. You know that leprosy Naaman ...

4739. The Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of us do from time to time — in good lawyerlike fashion, he looks for a loophole. "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:29). In other words, "Okay, Jesus, I understand I am supposed to care, but what are the limits of my caring? When can I quit?" And here Jesus tells his famous story. The first person to whom we are introduced is the poor traveler. He had taken the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which was notoriously dangerous. This unfortunate fellow had been stripped, beaten, and left for dead — a first ...

4740. A Tale of Two Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... like, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." But it was neither. It was unusual, to be sure, even a little exciting. After all, these were the days of an itinerant rabbi called Jesus of Nazareth who was attracting quite a bit of attention. At some point previous — we are never told when, where, or how — these two sisters, Mary and Martha, along with their brother, Lazarus, had been introduced to Jesus. They must have become fast friends because Jesus and his entourage were welcomed ...

4741. Prayers For the President

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. — 1 Timothy 2:1-2 No doubt, sometimes we are not quite sure how to approach this instruction. If you like the current administration and the way things are going, no problem. If not, well.... A few years ago, one of my friends asked, "Can we just pray for regime change?" Truth be told, you can pray ...

4742. Would A Loving God Really Let Anyone Go To Hell?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... to understand it in light of what we have come to know about God? Would a loving God really let someone, anyone, go to a place of endless torment? The tradition, of course, is clear. Absolutely! But these days, we do not hear that very often. Quite frankly, many people believe hell does not exist. In the minds of many, hell is only an expletive: hell, yes; hell, no. Is that legitimate? The tradition surely says that there is a literal, awful, fiery place where unsaved sinners will spend eternity. What about ...

4743. A Faith That Matters Between Sundays

Romans 3:19-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . There were some issues that needed to be addressed. We wanted to fix them and move on. Luther's immediate distress was over the sale of indulgences or "pardons" for sin offered by the church — kind of a "Get Out of Hell Free" deal (but not quite "free," as we shall see). The young priest had a theological problem with that. His own study of scripture had convinced him of the truth of Paul's statement in the epistle to the Romans: "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing ...

4744. What Is Truly Important?

Psalm 149

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... most folks figure Mother Teresa is a saint, whether the church says so or not, especially after the revelations of her struggles with doubt and what her own writings indicate was a life lived in a perpetual "dark night of the soul." This was quite a lady. But we remember not just the famous saints - the Peters and Pauls, the Luthers, the Calvins, the Wesleys. We remember, and rightly so, the faithful pastors and Sunday school teachers, the patient youth leaders, the long-suffering choir directors who are ...

4745. A Religion That Shows

Haggai 1:15, 2:9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... kind of religion is that? Put your money where your mouth is. Fix the place. You would not want to call a house like that your home; why would you expect God to want to. - Haggai 2:3-5 cf That was Haggai's message. But the prophet did not quit there. He went on to say that if these impoverished people - and that's what they were: impoverished - if they would have faith enough to dig deep enough into their pockets to get the job done, if they would let their religion show by what they were willing to do ...

4746. Remember!

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... someone sent me the biographical sketch of a man, the Reverend Samuel Suther, a minister of the German Reformed Church in North Carolina in pre-revolutionary days. He had been born in Switzerland in 1722 and emigrated to America in 1739. Apparently, he was quite the fire brand in advocating a break with the English king, and as such, got himself into all sorts of difficulties. He sounded like an interesting character, but I doubt that I would have given him much more than passing curiosity except for the ...

4747. Advent 4

Luke 1:47-55 or Psalm 80:1-7, Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:39-45, Hebrews 10:5-10

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... prayer and then continue your conversation in silence with God. Community Confession (Unison) Loving God — we don’t offer you burnt offerings; we offer you a home on earth — our minds, bodies, and souls. Our thoughts and behaviors, our loves and our hates, quite different from the first century, get in the way of our being satisfied with living. Help us be aware of the behaviors that bring disempowering consequences to us. Renew us with deep peace so that we carry goodness into the world. Amen. Word ...

4748. The End of the Gladiator Games

Mark 7:24-37

Illustration

Robert Salzgeber

... seat and ran into the arena. He held high the cross of Christ and threw himself between the two combatants. "In the name of our Master," he cried, "Stop fighting!" The two men hesitated. Nothing like this had ever happened before. They did not quite know what to do. But the spectators were furious. Telemachus had robbed them of their anticipated entertainment! They yelled wildly and stampeded toward the center of the arena. They became a mob. With sticks and stones they beat Telemachus to death. Far down ...

4749. Did You Come Here to Die?

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... is to bear a cross? Even in church we don’t talk about the cross as much as we once did. It’s a hard sell in our society to ask anyone to sacrifice even Christians. There was a marketing report in the Wall Street Journal that was quite revealing. It had to do with how thick pew cushions are becoming in America. Church suppliers note that 50 years ago there was virtually no market for pew cushions. None! People in churches sat on hard benches. But today 50% of their orders are about softening the seats ...

4750. Epiphany 2

Psalm 36:5-10, Isaiah 62:1-5, John 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... as Isaiah 62 — compared with the literal ways they have been read. The interpretation might also look at contemporary politics and globalization and ask how we can accommodate ancient stories. Likewise, the issues of “costly show weddings” and alcoholism might be addressed as quite different from the gospel of John in 30 CE. The epistle texts for today and the next two Sundays are so familiar that they have little impact on the people sitting in pews. Perhaps the image of the body functions could be ...

Showing results