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 4876 to 4900 of 4964 results

4876. Setting His Face Toward Jerusalem

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... , on her way back from mailing that letter, the young woman was hit by a truck. She died instantly. A few days after her death, her parents received the letter. It spoke of the hope and joy she had found in giving her life to Jesus. (7) I can only imagine the pain of those parents at losing their daughter, but I can also imagine the hope and joy they had in knowing that their daughter made that decision to give her life to Jesus. When she chose Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, she died to her old life ...

4877. Planted for a Purpose

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... , the fruits have not been forthcoming; they as a people are virtually useless to God. Yet the story has a tone of hope. Jesus recommends that things be stirred up around them, that the people be fed and the branches pruned, so that with tender ... of the family because then, and only then, can they experience the warmth and joy of what it means to be God's people. I hope you begin to see how very important it is, not only that we belong to this congregation, but that we participate in its congregational life ...

4878. Time to Pick a Side

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

King Duncan

... to choose. Let me give one more example of how total commitment can cause tension and even division: Ron Luce’s parents divorced when he was a child. When he was 15, he moved in with his father. His father was not the kind of father most of us would hope a Dad would be. His dad encouraged Ron to smoke pot and party. For a while Ron thought he’d found the perfect life. But then, a friend invited Ron to church. This little church was alive with joy, and the pastor’s message connected with Ron, and he ...

4879. Use Your Head as Well as Your Heart

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

King Duncan

... is a line that we desperately need to cross, and that is the line that separates those who follow Jesus from those who do not. Once we cross that line, something special is expected out of us, and that is that we dedicate everything we are and everything we hope to be to following him. And why shouldn’t Christ expect that out of us? People all the time are committing themselves to matters of far less importance. A famous athlete said that he does 1,000 sit-ups a day. How could anybody be that dedicated to ...

4880. Understanding Outrageous Grace

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... arena, don’t we? It’s no fun when our ego trip gets derailed. Imagine how Jesus’ listeners felt in our Bible passage today. This parable would have been shocking to them, mind-blowing. Let’s hope their big egos don’t get in the way of them hearing and understanding it. And let’s hope that our big egos don’t prevent us from hearing it and understanding it today. This Bible passage starts with the words, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else ...

4881. First the Bad News...

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... persecution and violence because of their commitment to him. Life as they knew it was going to fall apart. In verse 6, Jesus says, “As for what you see here. . .” Those are powerful words. It is so easy to put our faith . . . to anchor our hope . . . in the things we can touch and see in this world. It’s so easy to be impressed by appearances . . . by possessions . . . by symbols of security . . . even though some of these symbols are superficial and, in some cases, not even real. For example, I was ...

4882. Freeing Those in Bondage

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

George Reed

... broke. The problem is that he is broken.” This teenager looked on the man with the compassion of Christ and saw someone for whom hope was no longer possible. Instead of seeing a lazy man who wouldn’t help himself or his family, she saw a man that life ... the kind of compassion and insight this youth group member displayed. Telling him he is lazy and no good will not help. Giving him hope is the only thing that can help. Telling him and showing him that God loves him and he is important is the only start ...

4883. Innate Potential

Luke 17:5-10

Illustration

W. Robert McClelland

... a single baby eagle which he had found in the wilderness. He raised it with his chickens, and it grew strong. But alas! This king of birds came to think of itself as a chicken rather than an eagle. Each day the farmer would throw it into the air hoping to see it fly, and each time, it would return to the earth to eat the chicken feed thrown on the ground. One day, however, something began to stir in the bird's memory when it was launched aloft; a strange and fearful excitement surged through its breast. It ...

4884. The World's Most Extraordinary Club

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Pastor Keller and the deacon went by her house and shared the good news of Jesus Christ with her, and the promise of a new life in him, and she accepted Jesus as her Savior. When Pastor Keller and the deacon left, the woman was full of joy and hope for the future. A week later, they visited this same woman, and she burst into tears. When she had called her sister to tell her of her decision to accept Christ, the sister had said, “Let me get this straight. This preacher told you that a person like you ...

4885. The Problem with "Fawneys"

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... all the children of America will either look up to or will look down to. And I can only say that I’m very proud that President Eisenhower restored dignity and decency and, frankly, good language to the conduct of the presidency of the United States. And I only hope that should I win this election, that I could [see] to it that whenever any mother or father talks to his child, he can look at the man in the White House and say: Well, there is a man who maintains the kind of standards personally that I would ...

4886. Bless the World

Luke 6:20-31

Sermon

Molly F. James

... our blessings. We can choose to live with gratitude. We can choose to follow the example of all the saints in our lives, all those who have been examples of strength and hope to us, by choosing to define our lives by joy and blessing rather than by pain and loss. The challenges will come, and it is by holding fast to our faith, to our hope, to the ever-present reality of love and blessings in our lives that we can overcome those challenges. The world needs more people whose lives are defined not by pain and ...

4887. Third Sunday of Advent

John 3:1-21, Micah 5:1-4

Bulletin Aid

Heth H. Corl

... our hearts for Christ to be born. We pray through Christ our Lord, whose birth has given us the hope of our rebirth. Amen. CONFESSION God, I'm not sure what we mean about Christ being "born in me," and "rebirth." I'm about as confused as Nicodemus. But it does ... suggest to me the hope of new life, and I certainly need that. My life isn't anything to brag about. I'm sure it's people like me that caused ...

4888. Should We Wash One Another's Feet?

John 13:31-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... death in a way that nothing else—no theories, no clever ideas—could ever do.” (2) What a meaningful statement that is. Jesus “didn’t give us a theory or a theology; he gave us a meal.” That’s why we’re gathered here this evening. I hope you realize what a special event this is. I read about an event that took place on Sunday, July 18, 2010 in Ruhr, Germany. On that date one of the busiest highways in Europe became what some called “the longest table in the world.” Officials closed a 37 ...

4889. The Sign of Jonah

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to the shore to Jesus. This immersion is a kind of baptism experience, as well as echoing the emerging of Jonah onto the shore of after his womb-like period of inner conflict. It is a resurrection-like experience, a symbol of a second chance, and a hope for a renewal. Jesus welcomes the disciples on the beach with some bread and a charcoal fire cooking some fish, a similar charcoal fire to the one Peter must have remembered from the evening of his denials. Jesus asks the disciples to bring some of the fish ...

4890. The Sign of the Dove

Matthew 3:1-17 · John 1:1-34 · Mark 1:1-8 · Luke 3:1-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is the symbol of relationship, of loyalty, of grace, the symbol of the beloved partner in covenant. With that symbol comes our hope and our joy, our promise that we can become children of Light. The symbol of the dove is a mixed symbol, paradoxically ... journey that will end in death. Yet it is the beginning of a journey that will also bring a new beginning of life, of hope, of promise, or resurrection glory to the world. It is a bittersweet moment that signifies a bittersweet life. All of us yearn to be ...

4891. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... a faucet with a spigot. To draw water, you would need to let down the rope and bucket and draw up the water, OR you would pump the metal pump beside the well, and the water would bubble up and burst out of the spigot in front, hopefully into your waiting bucket. Ever wonder where that water came from? Wells are like little peepholes into underground springs. They tap the running subterranean waters in the earth, fresh and filled with minerals, and pull it up to the surface where we can drink it, bathe in ...

4892. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is oppressive, the “new” is liberation. Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote one of the most beautiful books in print: The Sabbath. He reminds us in it, “The Sabbath is a reminder of the two worlds –this world and the world to come.” “All week there is only hope to redemption. But when the Sabbath is entering the world, man is touched by a moment of actual redemption; as if for a moment the spirit of the Messiah moved over the face of the earth.” The Sabbath as metaphor is rich and filled with meaning ...

4893. Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of food. Even as Jews called gentiles “dogs,” here Lazarus …a son of God…is being treated just as the street dogs. Even if they were guard dogs, Lazarus lays on the street at the entrance to the gate along with the dogs…who lick at his sores, hoping for a scrap of food. The “certain rich man” may have thought he was doing “enough.” But in Jesus’ eyes, he left a “son of God” lying in the street like a dog until he died. Lazarus was left like roadkill in the street. He was not brought ...

4894. What If It's True?

John 20:1-18 · Matthew 28:10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... s body. Immediately the body reacted by moving, curling up, its tail twisted. It had life again. But the first reaction of the little girl to a toad come to life was not rejoicing, but screaming in horror and dropping the box. It is one thing to hope for a life come back to life. It is another thing to accept that there actually may be an indestructible spirit that can overcome death, that resurrection may be real. Most of us are caught somewhere between wanting to believe in the power of resurrection and ...

4895. Born of the Spirit

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the light, all fear and doubt and shame will be washed away by the purifying power of the all-mighty God. Some of you are pregnant today. It’s a time of waiting, wondering what that little person inside of you will be like. It’s a time of hoping, and excitement for the future. It’s a time of great change, and growth, and development. And one day, when that little person is ready, the birthing pangs will begin. In a sense, faith is like that for all of us. We often live in “pregnant” moments, grey ...

4896. Reveille

Mark 6:7-13, Matthew 10:1-42, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... or Moses or Noah, or the many other prophets who spent their lives saying, “Let us help you find the way”, the final decision is up to those “with ears to hear.” All you need to do is “go” and give the “good news,” give Jesus’ message of hope to everyone you meet.” Some will listen. Some won’t. For those towns who won’t hear you, Jesus says to his disciples, “kick the dust off of your feet at them, and move on.” In the language of the Romans, you might say instead, “wash your ...

4897. Apples, Onions, and Cheese

Mark 7:1-23, Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... are hundreds of “conversion” stories in the scriptures. In the story of Jonah, while Jonah flees in a boat on the sea, his comrades end up converting in a humorous scene on the water. In the story of Samson, Samson seeks to marry a foreigner, hoping she will encourage the Philistines to convert to Judaism too, so as to appease the warring nation. And there are so many other Jews who married foreigners for these reasons and others: Abraham and Keturah, Judah and Bat-Shua, Joseph and Asenat, Moses and ...

4898. The Balm of Gilead

Mark 8:1-13, Mark 8:14-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” (Jeremiah 8:20-22) Jesus’ message is clear. The Physician has arrived. The “balsam” of Gilead will heal all souls without hope, those who have wandered aimlessly, those whose parents led them into idolatry, those who no longer know their true home, those who have never gotten the chance to see the Light in Israel to lead them back to God. There is a balm in Gilead. The word ...

4899. Liminal Space

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... dissolved or changed in the last 50 years. Some of you remember watching the fall of the Berlin wall. It was sudden and shocking. But then there was a brief time, in which the old regime ceased to exist, but a new order had not yet taken shape. Hopes and dreams mixed and mingled in strange and uncertain ways. This was liminal space. Think of what happened in the Soviet Union….or more recently in Egypt. An old regime fell, and yet it took a bit of time until a new one was instituted. That brief “nowhere ...

4900. The Birth of the Bridegroom

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... celebrating, because the Bridegroom is in the House. God would call His people home. Today, we celebrate a brand new year. It’s a time when we look for signs of change, hope for a better year than the last, yearn for love and peace, pray that our lives might become somehow better than even before. The new year’s time is a time of hope. For Christians, New Year is simply another new chance to recognize the Name of Jesus upon our lives and our hearts. It’s a time to re-evaluate our commitment to the ...

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