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 4944 results

26. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... Christians to consider their occupation a vocation. Paul coaches those who seem eager to change their present circumstance to look beyond their personal desire for self-fulfillment and seek God’s guidance to choose what benefits his kingdom. 3. “Keeping up with the Joneses” is a human desire that mature Christians should eschew. Paul’s statement that slaves are free in Christ while those who have been set free remain slaves of Christ reminds Christ followers that their motivation for success ...

27. The Young And The Restless

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... that they will soon surpass human intelligence and unless we wire our brains to theirs, computers could take over the world. Computers have already taken over the workplace--leaving us with the feeling that before long we will not be able to keep up. After all, experts tell us that the current generation of people living right now has witnessed and participated in more change than any 10 previous generations combined. You've heard that, at present, human knowledge doubles every two years. It is estimated ...

28. The Ride of Your Life

1 Peter 1:17-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... stay in one place. 3. The roller coaster. One minute we're high (with life, with work, with God). The next minute we're plunged down low. One minute we're "on top of the world." The next minute we're on skid row. Our body says it can't keep up, but we ignore it. We don't like routines they are too dull and deadly. Gamblers by nature, we love the fast track we say we like pressure. Do we like the ulcers, migraines and high blood pressure as well? 4. The uncontrollable escalator. Despite success, we can't ...

29. When You Reach Wit’s End

Psalm 107:1-43

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... , and then put the list and worries aside for a week. We’d find that many of the problems had just taken care of themselves. Robert Louis Stevenson used to say that a well-ordered mind in a time of crisis is like a clock in a thunderstorm - it just keeps up its regular ticking. There is a moving scene in the second book of Samuel (12:16f). David, the King, had taken for his own another man’s wife. And to make sure that there wouldn’t be any trouble, he had had the other man killed. The child of their ...

30. Don't Give Up - He Hears!

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... pray with great pain and anguish. We need an answer. We need it now. But no answer comes-at least no answer that satisfies us, and we ask, "Where is God? Does He care?" THIS LEADS US TO A SECOND OBSERVATION. SOMETIMES THE BIGGEST BATTLE IS SIMPLY TO KEEP UP OUR FLAGGING SPIRITS. Part of the reason that Jesus praised the widow is that she did not give up. One of the ironies of life is that our struggle with discouragement in a given situation is often a bigger battle than the struggle with the actual problem ...

31. Prison Break

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... have anxiety attacks when they venture out into the world. For many the phobia gets so bad that they never do—-and they become the ultimate “stay at home.” While the Internet has made it easier for agoraphobic individuals to have a job, keep up contacts with others, even “meet” and establish new friendships, their online existence cannot hide the fact that some people are prisoners in their own homes. Their fears keep them trapped behind the walls of their homes, just as surely as the walls of a ...

32. Facing Difficult Decisions in Life! Part VI

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... any great distance, he would put a saddle on it and ride the horse. The horse played an important role in his life. "One day a bee stung the horse and, in fright, he ran up into the mountains. The old farmer tried to follow him, but he couldn't keep up. He came home that night to tell the whole village that he had lost his beloved animal. His neighbors began to come in and say, `I''m sure sorry to hear about your bad luck, about your losing your horse.'' "The old farmer shrugged and said, `Bad luck, good ...

33. Everything Must Go: Striking It Rich

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... Caught In A Trap And I Can’t Get Out.” I bought too much house and can’t make the mortgage – Trapped! I want to spend more time with my family and give more time to God, but I’ve got to work 60-70 hours a week just to keep up with everybody else – Trapped! I would like to give more money to people that need it and to the causes of Christ, but I owe so much money to so many people I don’t have any money left – Trapped! I hate to miss church so much, but we’ve ...

34. Shall We Take the Escalator?

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... works out all right at first, but the candy starts coming faster and faster and Lucy and Ethel find it harder and harder to keep up. They work as fast as they can, but the belt keeps getting faster and faster, and they get further and further behind. In ... are in that kind of situation--at work or at home or school. Life is coming at you way too fast and you can’t keep up. You need to get away at least for a little while for a rest. Richard Fairchild tells us that when the machine gun was first invented ...

35. A Strategy For Status Seekers

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Jesus was a master psychologist. He knew that all of us crave recognition. He knew that the desire for status is an innate part of the human condition. Most of us don’t want to simply keep up with the Jones we want to be slightly ahead of the Jones, the Smiths and everyone else on the block. There is a popular joke about a fellow named Pat who always wanted a telephone in his car. Finally he got one. He couldn’t wait to tell his best ...

36. When Others Serve Your Head on a Platter

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . The family tree that sprung from Herod the Great was most frequently “pruned” by fortuitous “accidents” and by flat-out murders. Every famous story of betrayal — from Brutus and the Borgias to the Corlions and the Sopranos were still trying to keep up with the Herodians. Being brutal and blood-thirsty appears to be a trait that surfaced early and often among Herod’s offspring. In today’s gospel text the one named Salome by historian Josephus, the teen-aged daughter of Herodias, creatively ...

37. Serendipity

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... is cultivating the very field where that treasure is buried. This is a poor man—too poor to own the land; he’s more like a tenant farmer. He’s had it hard his whole life. For him, life has been dull and boring—a treadmill where he has to keep up a rapid pace day in and day out. On this particular day, he faces the same routine. He rises before the sun is up in order to get in a full day’s work. And once again, he’s doing what he has done so often, following his oxen down ...

38. Are You Living the Three Advents?

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... “In the Midwest there is a version of the nativity story with an unanticipated conclusion. It is a true story about a nine-year-old named Wallace Purling. He was in the second grade that year, although he should have been in the fourth. He had difficulty keeping up, was a little slow and clumsy but was also very kind. The kids tried to exclude him from their games, but Wally hung around, ever the protector of the children at risk. Wally so hoped to be a shepherd with a wooden flute in the nativity play ...

39. When I Am Tempted

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... also a temptation to try and get Jesus to use His powers to impress others. Let me get it down to our level. All of us, at times, will face the temptation to follow what we feel, rather than what we know. For example, we feel like we need to keep up with the Jones'. Even though we know we can't afford a new car or we can't afford a bigger house, we go deeper into debt and buy them anyway or we feel like we are in love with another person even though that person may not be a ...

40. The Problem of Unanswered Prayer

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are and to tell the truth about ourselves, which changes our prayers. Have you ever noticed, as did Huck Finn, that "You can't pray a lie"? When you pray, listening to God speak to you, you are forced to deal with yourself: no roles to perform; no impressions to keep up; no masks to hide behind. Maybe this is one reason we are so afraid of prayer. For in prayer, we learn to tell the truth about who we are and what our motivations are. We learn to criticize our whole way of being in the world, to lay down ...

41. What to Do When Life Is the Pits

1 Peter 5:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... to rob you of the joy of your salvation. So you had better be serious about his reality. b. Be Sensitive To The Devil's Ferocity We are to "be vigilant." Now the word vigilant means "to be awake," or "to be alert." In other words, we need to keep up our spiritual radar twenty-four hours a day. We can never let our guard down because Satan "walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." After doing a background study on lions, I think I know why Satan is compared to one. First of all, lions ...

42. Journey To The Heart Of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... it has taken us to get here. With that census thing, the roads are so crowded. Everyone is traveling back to the town of their birth to register. It’s been great for my family. We have sold so many things, particularly jugs to carry water. Dad says if this keeps up, we may be able to head home to Nazareth and not have to work for months. But, boy, am I tired. I’m so glad we’re finally making camp for the night. (sits stage right, opens up her bundle, sets a blanket down, and pretends to warm herself ...

43. A Most Important Dawning

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... community of healing and love is one in which everyone is working together cooperatively with God and with one another. This happens through the Spirit of Christ revealed to us by our loving God. Have we forgotten the X Factor in our lives? Have we failed to keep up front in our minds and hearts the total life-changing power of God's love and life as revealed to us in Jesus of Nazareth? Have we gotten sucked into the worst of the institutional church that keeps us busy doing good things, and forgotten the ...

44. Give Me A Break!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... -partner is none other than Christ himself. When I begin to envision what that yoke looks like and feels like, I come to realize that Jesus in this invitation has cut through to the very heart of the problem for most of us. We are tired, weary and worn out keeping up with our schedules. But Jesus allows us to see that the issue is not that we have too much to do. The problem is that much of what we have to do is insignificant and meaningless. We are all at times guilty of filling our days with an endless ...

45. The Reluctant Celebrity

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... the heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune. Also on the list are other names ripped from Hollywood’s gossip columns, such as Brandon Davis, Kim Kardashian, Jack and Kelly Osborne (Ozzy’s kids) and Kevin Federline Britney Spears’ ex for those of you don’t keep up with such matters. People who are famous simply for being famous. (1) I suspect that most of us would have mixed feelings about being celebrities. Fred Allen once quipped that a celebrity is one who works to be known, then wears dark glasses so ...

46. Greed - Putting Things In Their Proper Perspective

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

... boat, not some little dinghy, but a really nice, fancy boat. Every couple of years Mr. Jones would buy a new motorhome camper. It was obvious that several other men in the neighborhood envied Mr. Jones and tried to keep up with his new toys. They too would buy and sell boats and campers. It was obvious that keeping up with Mr. Jones was a priority in their lives. It's sad though, because such a priority means that you end up thinking that who you are, your value as a person, is determined by how much you ...

47. The Ten Commandments For Today

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Erskine White

... 's house ... or anything else that is your neighbor's." Do not set your heart on things your neighbors have. Do not let conspicuous consumption or the culture of corporate advertising make you hunger and thirst for material things. Do not be obsessed with "keeping up with the Joneses," for the Joneses have already received their reward. Jesus taught that instead of coveting the things of this world, we should covet the things of God. Covet God's love, and the love of one another. Covet the fruits of faith ...

48. The Ten Commandments: One God, Only One

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the great god Mammon has caused for those who have chased after him...so much DISsatisfaction in life because of the mad dash to acquire more and more, to keep up with the Joneses and never quite making it. Or look at what Mercury has done...family, friends, church, loving relationships all lost because too much time and had to be expended to keep up with the competition. Or Bacchus...25,000 people a year dead on America's highways because of drunk drivers; thousands of young people hooked on drugs; a world ...

49. Hear, Hear

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... a pool of water on a dry, desert road right when they needed it. Third, Philip didn't get to rejoice with the new Christian because he was "energized" to another town immediately after the baptism. Ah, but there was another miracle: how did Philip keep up with the chariot pulled by an animal? Perhaps he had Elijah-endurance so he could make a spiritual difference in the lonely man who was traveling on the super-highway of the day from Jerusalem to Egypt. Who is this eunuch? He was probably an interesting ...

50. Strength for The Journey

John 16:12-15

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... . So, how shall we speak of this Holy Spirit? Talk About Spirit Let us speak first of spirits in general, those of the not-so-holy kind. No, no I’m not speaking of ghosts or haunts. I thought we left that behind. Please, try to keep up. Rather, I’m speaking of the spirits we speak of and accept as not just harmless but benevolent, even good on a near daily basis — spirit in the common, everyday sense. The Cambridge Dictionary tells us that spirit is a particular way of thinking, feeling, or behaving ...

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