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 160 results

26. “In the Lord I Take Refuge”

Psalm 11:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: When our theological foundations are threatened, our fears are disabled by remembering God’s just and majestic character. Understanding the Text Psalm 11 is an individual lament. The lament is quite brief (11:1b) and obviously grows out of the immediate threat of danger that David faced (11:2), which itself grows out of the nature of the wicked “who love violence” (11:5). It is that bigger problem that shakes the foundations of faith and life (11:3), until Yahweh’s vision from his heavenly throne ...

27. Introduction and “Hello”

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: Paul introduces himself as a fellow Christ follower and reminds his Corinthian friends that calling Christ Lord should generate life patterns that reflect such a relationship to Christ. Understanding the Text If anything strikes someone who begins reading 1 Corinthians, it is how Paul packs content into every word from the outset. When we realize how well he knows the Corinthian congregation even on a personal level and recognize that this is at least his second letter to the church (5:9), it is ...

28. Why the Greatest?

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

The late film critic Roger Ebert once said there was a great reason many critics considered “Citizen Kane” the best movie of all time. For one thing, it really is a fantastic film. Director Orson Welles combined a compelling story with a great script and creative use of pioneering techniques for filming and editing. But he also pointed out that once you pick the greatest of anything you can stop arguing about whether something new is the greatest and focus on a new film’s merits on its own terms. He had a ...

29. Holy Ground

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

The Bible — under $10 if you do a little shopping. Energy — read under natural sunlight and your only cost is the overpriced floofy coffee you bought from that boutique coffee bar — what? $5 or $6. Reading John 13 and living like Jesus — priceless! Post-Civil-War America was a country anxious to read about how the other half lived. There was a great appetite for reading, and the many periodicals of the era filled their pages with breathless accounts of what other people were doing. Phebe Gibbons was a ...

30. Carrying the Burdens of Others

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

There was a man named Sundar, a convert to Christianity who decided to go to India to be a missionary and bear witness to others about Jesus. One day, late in the afternoon, Sundar was traveling on foot high in the Himalaya Mountains with a Buddhist monk. It was bitterly cold and darkness was rapidly starting to fall. The monk told Sundar they would be in danger of freezing to death if they did not reach the monastery before nightfall. As they crossed a narrow path above a steep cliff, a cry for help was ...

31. Wherever The Messiah Is

Matthew 16:13-23

Sermon

William G. Carter

When you were a little kid, did you have a favorite super hero? The kind of super hero that you could read about in the comic books? Batman was pretty cool, sticking to the shadows of night but full of ingenuity and agility. He had all those nifty gadgets in his utility belt! Or there was The Flash, who could run faster than the speed of light. Or the Incredible Hulk with his radioactive strength. Of course, the favorite for a lot of us was Superman. Faster than a speeding locomotive, he could leap tall ...

32. Much Bad News, Some Good

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

These two chapters are a mixture. God privately instructs Jeremiah not to socialize; God speaks publicly about keeping the Sabbath. The people of God will be exiled; but there will be a restoration. A prophet turns to God in his frustration; Gentiles turn en masse to God in conversion. There are mini essays; there are proverblike sayings. However, the theme remains unchanged: sin is pervasive and judgment will be certain and terrible. God gives Jeremiah three commands about his social life (16:1–13). The ...

33. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin The next two sections of 1 John are on the theme of walking in the light. The first section, 1 John 1:5–2:2, addresses the theme in relation to the issue of sin, while the second section, 1 John 2:3–11, focuses on walking in the light in relation to obedience, especially to the love command. The terms walk, light, and darkness occur throughout the section (1:5–7; 2:6, 8–11) and unify it. The Elder’s opponents are always present in the background. They have made ...

34. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

35. Job's Reply to Bildad

Job 9:1–10:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

How Can a Mortal Be Righteous before God?: Job’s response to Bildad’s speech moves the discussion in a new direction. Up to this point in the book Job has largely been addressing the extremity of his suffering and raising the agonizing question as to how a righteous person can be allowed to suffer so horrendously. Now, however, in response to Bildad’s suggestion that the resolution of Job’s suffering lies in his willingness to “look to God and plead with the Almighty” (8:5), Job begins to consider the ...

36. How Does One Prepare For The Unknown?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

George Johnson

What is one of the most foolish things you have ever done? Pay good money for a suit or dress that you never wore? Buy a car that turned out to be a lemon? Invest your savings based on good advice, but end up losing it all? Have an affair that you thought would be brief and secret, but turned out to bring havoc on everything? But who likes to be reminded of one's foolishness? What is one of the wisest things you have ever done? Saying "yes" to the one you married, or "no" to the one you almost married? Was ...

37. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

By now, most congregations are in the home stretch of their pre-Christmas preparations. There is much at stake for the life of any church. Try and imagine what a bad or indifferent Christmas would do to the morale of your church. We want if not a “Currier and Ives” Christmas for our families at least enough joy and good cheer to override any past enmity. Hopefully tinsel, garlands, and ornaments will chase away any seasonal affective disorder we may be suffering. Most of us are determined that the ...

38. God's GPS

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

When was the last time you got lost? Was this the result of human error or technological error? Or both? Last year, a news station in Indonesia broadcast a story about an Indonesian groom who went to the wrong wedding and almost married the wrong woman because of an error by Google Maps. It appears that this was an arranged marriage, so the prospective bride and groom did not realize the mistake. Family members from the two families discovered the mistake as they chatted before the wedding. Fortunately, ...

39. What Does It Mean to Be Blessed?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

“‘I’m so blessed.’ You hear it more and more these days,” notes Pastor Richard Allen. “Most noticeably . . . from famous people, and often in acceptance speeches. Clutching a golden statue they say, ‘I’m so blessed to be here today’ . . . My issue,” continues Allen, “with such usage is not that it is flippant, or even untrue. Actors and politicians can be deeply sincere about feeling blessed. My issue with such usage is that it is so easy. It requires little effort, in a moment of victory, to know oneself ...

40. All Is Restored?

Job 42:1-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Our text brings us to the climax of the book of Job. Last week, the denouement began in chapter 38, with the ominous voice of God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me" (Job 38:2-3). Then, for two chapters, God thunders at Job, hammering away at his ignorance, his insignificance, his mere creatureliness. The sum of it is, "Shall a faultfinder contend with the ...

41. The Answer Waiting for a Question

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

A number of years ago some Christians placed bumper stickers on their vehicles stating, "Christ is the answer." After some time a wiseacre started displaying a sticker that read, "If Christ is the answer, what is the question?" Of course this made a hilarious impression on those who seem to have "three sneers for everything and three cheers for nothing." As we consider our text for today we discover God telling us that "Christ is the answer"; he is the eternal "yes" to all the promises of God, and the ...

42. What Can I Do for You?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

Knowing James and John wanted something of him Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” The modern equivalent of this question is “What can I do for you?” We hear it on all sides; for many it is a routine way to answer the phone. “Hello, this is Frank.” “Yea, what can I do for you?” After a weekend together on retreat, a participant and I were at a dinner party. Looking at me seriously he said, “You do for a lot of people. I’m wondering if there is anything I can do for you. Just let me know, no ...

43. A Labor of Love - Labor Day

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

This sermon is based on Matthew 16:13-28 You are no doubt familiar with the Japanese word Kamikaze. The Kamikazes were the suicide pilots in World War II who, at the cost of their own lives, attacked Allied ships in the Pacific. Some 1200 died in sinking 34 ships. The word Kamikaze in Japanese means "divine wind" and recalls a typhoon in the year 1281 that crushed the invasion fleet mounted by the ambitious Mongol emperor Kublai Khan in the wake of his conquest of China. Six-hundred-plus years later, to ...

44. Losing and Finding Oneself

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Here is the losing and finding of life in a person. Marian Preminger was born in Hungary in 1913, raised in a castle with her aristocratic family, surrounded with maids, tutors, governesses, butlers, and chauffeurs. Her grandmother, who lived with them, insisted that whenever they traveled, they take their own linen, for she believed it was beneath their dignity to sleep between sheets used by common people. While attending school in Vienna, Marian met a handsome young Viennese doctor. They fell in love, ...

45. Mark 8: 27-38

Mark 8:27-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

By now, your students have returned to their colleges or universities — or will this week. In search of the best departments, the most celebrated scholars, the greatest cutting edge facilities and faculties, students travel far from home to attend the school of their dreams. Soaking in that whole academic atmosphere on campus is a huge part of the collegiate experience. Plus the football games and parties, of course. When Jesus called his disciples to “follow me” he had an entirely different kind of ...

46. Food Sacrificed to Idols

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Contrasting Knowledge and Love At this point in the letter to Corinth Paul enters into the discussion of an issue that will engage him, in one way or another, through 11:1. While the concrete concern that calls for his attention is the issue of “food sacrificed to idols,” at a theological level his focus is Christian rights and responsibilities, especially regarding “knowledge” and “freedom” in lifestyle practices. Interpreters trace the course of Paul’s reflections in slightly different ways, for at one ...

47. The Shepherd And His Flock

John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Not many people today are very familiar with shepherding as it was done in the first century. They are familiar with the frequent use of the image of sheep and the shepherd if they have a background in the scriptures. Many pictures portray Jesus as a shepherd. It is embodied often in stain glass windows or in children's Sunday school materials. Still, it is difficult to conceive of any other image today which would as satisfactorily communicate the caring and sacrificial nature of Jesus' ministry. What ...

48. “Taste and See That the Lord Is Good”

Psalm 34:1-22

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Having experienced God’s goodness, we invite others to “taste and see that the Lord is good” and thus experience the assuagement of their fears. Understanding the Text In addition to being an alphabetic acrostic,[1] Psalm 34 shares at least three other features with Psalm 25, another acrostic: (1) the waw (the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet) is missing from both poems; (2) each closes with a supernumerary verse beginning with the Hebrew letter pe; and (3) the same verb begins each of these ...

49. The Glory of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Hubert Beck

If someone said they would "glorify" you, what would you expect? Honor? Wealth? Power? Fame? Although some of you - perhaps most of you, for that matter - will immediately recognize the words and know their context, play a little guessing game with me for a moment. In what context would you expect these words of Jesus to have been spoken? "Now is the Son of man glorified, and in him God is glorified." Stress the "now" in the sentence so that your guessing is almost pinpointed to an instant in time, for the ...

50. Delivery

Sermon

Michael Rogness

I once visited a church in which the minister delivered what seemed at the time to be an interesting sermon, but I couldn't quite grasp the real thrust of the message, because it was delivered in a monotone, most of it read with little warmth or enthusiasm. [The church secretary] agreed to mail me a copy of the sermon I'd just heard. When the sermon arrived in the mail and I read it, I realized that the structure of the message was coherent and sound and the points well made. I could hardly believe I was ...

Showing results