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 26 to 50 of 4964 results

26. The Living Advent Wreath (Hope: Purple Candle of the Moon)

Isaiah 40:1-31

Drama

Frank Ramirez

... is the hub at the heart of the flower While in the autumn she yearns Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower. Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn. Sunshine will always return. Guide: And you remember what I said about faith? Pilgrim: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Yes, I remember. I have thought on those words. But still, I think of my king, the king in a country far away, who lies dying in his bed because of his fears. Guide: Do you think he is truly dying ...

27. Confidence, Joy, and Hope

Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... God dead? We aren’t facing the enormous and painful struggles of slavery and systemic injustice that Douglass and Sojourner Truth and so many African Americans faced back then. But we face our own challenges and fears and an uncertain future. How do we live with unshakable hope? By remembering that we serve a living God, and that God has always had a plan to save us and ensure our eternal life with Him. This life is not the end. The second insight we get from this passage is the truth of the resurrection ...

28. The House of Hope

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... life also came to know Jesus Christ. A year later this changed man died at peace with God and at peace with his son.1 God is a faithful God who seeks to restore broken relationships which is part of the structure of "The House of Hope." The House of Hope is a place of grace, a place where broken relationships are restored, but it also is ... A Place for the Renewal of Wedding Vows Hosea has wooed Gomer and renewed their wedding vows. The prophet sees in his renewed relationship with Gomer a picture of God ...

29. Hope In A Hostile World

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... and inoperable. As I drove to her house, I braced myself with prayer, trying to think of some comfort I could offer. When I knocked on her door and she opened it, I was surprised by the bright smile on her face. As I tried to deliver a message of hope, she interrupted me. She patted my hand and said, “Now pastor, don’t you worry about me. I’m getting ready to take a trip and I don’t even have to pack a suitcase. And when I get there, I will have a brand new wardrobe!” My prayer turned ...

30. Job’s Hope against Hope

Job 19:1-29

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... witness forever to his character. He does not want justice to die with him; rather, he wants his claim to keep speaking even after his death. 19:25 I know that my redeemer lives. See the sidebar. 19:26–27 yet in my flesh I will see God. Job’s hope, however, is not just for the future. Here Job may well be thinking, or at least desire, that after his severe suffering God will intervene on his behalf to restore him within his lifetime on earth (cf. Ps. 27:13). Indeed, in 42:5 Job does at last get to ...

31. Hope Against Hope

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... prey" (30:16). Paradoxically, what makes this turning possible is God's own grief. God grieves so that Judah might move from grief to hope. "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he the child I delight in? As often as I speak against him, I still remember him. ... our salvation, our security, in Jesus, whom we acclaim as our shoot from the stump of Jesse. Just as Jerusalem was given, in hope, the name "The Lord is our righteousness" (v. 16), so we, in faith, appropriate that name also for ourselves. By that name we ...

32. Faith, Hope, and Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... cry out: Let me out, to sooth your pain. Fearfully they opened the box again, and this time a beautiful butterfly flew out. It touched the couple and miraculously their pain was healed and they were happy again. The butterfly we are told was hope. It is hope that sustains us; it is hope that sooths our pain. In my way of thinking, there is a big difference between a funeral and a Christian funeral. A funeral can be nothing more that a eulogy. The theme is the deceased. The theme in a Christian funeral is ...

33. A Reason to Hope

Lamentations 3:1-66

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

... age. That makes his business our business since we are his Body in Christ. The Church is not a haven of escape. But there is more. God always seems to have more in his pockets. The Church is here to offer hope. The Church is the sign of hope for today and tomorrow. The person who has lost all glimmers of hope is living in hell. Hopelessness, of course, is one of the major causes of suicide. The man who sees no light at the end of his dark tunnel sees no reason for going on. That’s the way it happens often ...

34. The God of Hope

Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12, Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... the world a better place for their efforts but now they reside in a better place as well--Dr. Brackett, Office Upstairs. (4) The God of Hope. You and I are free to choose the attitude with which we confront life. We can believe that there is a five per cent chance of ... forsake us regardless of our situation. We can choose to live in continued darkness, or we can step out into the light of hope and triumph and eternal victory. We can live for ourselves alone, or we can make the world a better place to live for ...

35. Hope to Carry On

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Lee Griess

... God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he would be the one who would redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, ... empty tomb and have met the risen Christ, we know that death is not the end. We know that there is an eternal hope that is ours through faith in the living Christ. There is a certain city in Romania, which has a "burying ground" that is ...

36. Expectations of Hope

John 12:20-36

Eulogy

Daniel M. Shutters

... it is harvested, but the feast afterward. Good Friday only seems to be the finish. The death, the harvest we remember and we see before us taking place is not the end of the story. There is Easter event, a feast of victory. We look forward to Easter in hope because of a faith which is not based on our own accomplishments, no matter how good we believe we are. The faith we claim is based on something much more solid and firm ... the Christ. The cycle of birth, life and death in which we ourselves are caught ...

37. Hope in a Plain Brown Wrapper

Luke 1:47-55

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days." Bethlehem was just a small town, like Joshua. It's name means "House of Bread." God took the plain brown wrapper of Bethlehem and made it a Jewel of hope. IV. Stable And what about the stable. Surely god could have come up with something better than that for his own son. And yet this simple stable and manger changes the world. Who but God would have thought of it. Who would have thought that something as simple ...

38. A Vision of Hope

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... threat of war. "But by the grace of God," Bishop Bul boldly claims, "we are alive. You don't know whether tomorrow you will be alive or not. So the threatening of physical (harm) is there because danger is everywhere in the southern Sudan. But we have a hope always that whether we die or we're alive, we glorify God. So we are not worried about what is going to happen, but we know that we are going to die like our brothers and sisters who have already gone before us."1 Living under such dangerous conditions ...

39. The Assurance of Things Hoped For

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... with his own blood and names him "Wilson." Wilson becomes Chuck's only companion while he remains on the island. He talks to and sometimes even for Wilson to keep himself company during the lonely months. After four years on the island Chuck builds a raft that he hopes will take him out to sea, where maybe someone will find him. He puts Wilson on a wooden post on the raft, because he can't leave without his friend. At one point, as they are floating on the sea, far from the island, Wilson falls off his ...

40. The New-Covenant Blessings: Peace and Hope

Romans 5:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... seems to be drawing on these backgrounds to say that Christians ensure the lost glory of Adam for themselves as they suffer for Christ in the tribulation of the last days. We also see in 5:2b–4 the “already but not yet” tension: Christians have the hope now (the “already”) that they will share in the glory of Christ at his return (the “not yet”). Interpretive Insights 5:1–2a we have peace with God . . . this grace in which we now stand.[5] Verses 1–2a give the first blessing of the new ...

41. A New Creation in Hope

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... away the excess, and focus on love ― love from God, love to God and love shared with the world. A new humanity, a new creation, would, I believe, be a humanity and a creation built on love, celebrating love. Love births the other gifts of the spirit. Love births hope for a new way, a new creation. And because we are children of God, we are beloved, just as Jesus is beloved because he is a child of God. We enter into new life, new creation, and a new covenantal relationship with God. We are loved. We are ...

42. Make Scriptural Hope Your Own

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... way or another to overcome the dark side of our existence. The Advent season leading to Christmas should be a time of joy, anticipation and hope. But, the very fact that it is supposed to be such an upbeat time only compounds the problem. Some of us do not like ... keenly in the holiday season. If we are struggling with loneliness, a lack of direction, a feeling we are cast adrift without much hope, where can we turn to find the way through our own dark and stormy night? The Apostle Paul provides us with a clue ...

43. Wedding: Faith, Hope, And Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Derl G. Keefer

... , faith that Jesus Christ is proof of God's sacrificial love, and faith that God can give you the ability to love each other at that higher level. Such love will bring a different kind of hope to your marriage, too: a hope that simply cannot be put out, no matter what happens in the years ahead. Even death can't extinguish this hope, because God's love shown in the Risen Christ points us to life beyond death. (Bride) and (Groom), my prayer for you is that you will seek God's most excellent gift of love for ...

44. There Is Hope (A Christmas Communion Meditation)

Luke 1:67-80

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the story is really saying to us is that in the midst of all this poverty and misery and injustice and pessimistic attitude--there is hope. They found that hard to believe back in the days of Herod and I don’t Wonder if we do today. Most people were too ... rescues. When our sins have damned us, his righteousness is given to us. When fear is the watch word for our lives, he announces hope. You are no doubt familiar with the Diary of Ann Frank. It is the portrayal of the agonizing tension of several Jews who ...

45. Hope in the Shadows

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Darrick Acre

... going wrong, the Son of Man has come, is coming, and will come again. The coming of Jesus to our lives isn’t a wishy-washy hope. There is surety here. That is the point of the fig tree. When we look at the fig tree and see the sprouting leaves and buds ... , the very reason He comes again to make all things new is so the shadows do not dominate our lives, but we might live in hope in the midst of the shadows. The Christmas season is a time to live like children, up on our tippy toes, looking out the window of ...

46. The Christmas Message of Hope

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... what will be our birthday present to Jesus? The one and only thing that Jesus wants and asks of us is possibly the most difficult thing to give — the best possible person we can be. We owe Jesus at least this much. We can move toward the light of hope because God can be trusted. God came to fulfill the covenant with the Jews. He never wavered; he never gave up on his chosen people. Yes, God sent Jesus, his Son, into our world to fulfill the promise to send a Messiah. We must, therefore, respond to the God ...

47. Hope Again!

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will fear disaster no more. — Zephaniah 3:14-15 (NLT) Hope to press on ... hope to endure ... hope to stay focused ... hope to see dreams fulfilled ... that is what God is giving them in the midst of judgment and despair! That need still exists! In a world filled with hopelessness and abandonment, we need to hear the voice of God saying that he ...

48. A Celebration of Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... those who have been hurting will be healed, those who have been mourning will break out in laughter, people who are at the end of the rope will not only tie a knot in that rope but will use it to pull themselves to a better place--a place where hope and inner peace prevail. People who are suffering in the Middle East under Isis need to hear that question, “Is God dead?” As do suffering people in the Sudan as well as those in gang infested inner cities in our own land. God is not dead and God will not ...

49. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... the new creation, as expressed in the new birth of believers, and for divine provision for them of “an inheritance” of a promised land “in heaven,” safe beyond the slavery of sin or the frenzy of foes. The experiences of new birth and of a living hope are beyond human procurement. They are God’s gracious gift and are bestowed solely on account of his great mercy, for there is no way in which they can ever be deserved or earned. They come to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ...

50. A Time For Hope

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

... had not forgotten them or forsaken them but that he would return to rescue those who had been faithful ”faithful often unto death. There were times when on every believer’s lips were those precious words, "Maranatha," Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Advent then is a celebration of hope. It is the celebration of a people who know what it is to be in darkness and to see a great light. It is far more than tinsel and holly and silver bells and the ringing of cash registers. Advent goes right to the heart of the ...

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