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 476 to 500 of 606 results

476. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... the powers of evil can achieve; namely, death itself. The concept of new birth is based on the teaching of Jesus (John 3:3–8). It speaks of the gift of spiritual life on a plane previously unknown in an individual’s experience. It can no more be acquired by self-effort than a babe can bring about its own physical birth. The first result of this new birth, and the first characteristic of the new pilgrim life of the believer, is hope (anchor for the soul, firm and secure: Heb. 6:19). Hope is living (cf ...

477. The Fall of Man

Genesis 3:1-24

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... shattered the harmony humans had enjoyed with God, each other, the animals, and the environment. Instantly becoming aware of their nakedness, the man and woman gathered fig leaves and made for themselves makeshift coverings. Ironically, the knowledge they acquired did not even give them the skill to make adequate clothing for themselves. Instead of being filled with the pride of achievement and becoming like gods, they were overwhelmed by a deep sense of inadequacy and disturbing self-consciousness ...

478. The Call of Abram

Genesis 12:1-9

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. We may assume that he invited other relatives to accompany him, but only Lot, whom Abram had reared after his father’s death, accepted. Abram also took along their possessions and the people, presumably servants, they had acquired in Haran. The band set out for Canaan. There is no information about their journey, but they most likely took the main highway to Damascus, then traveled through the Huleh Valley to the Sea of Galilee. Once in Canaan, Abram left the main highway ...

479. Leadership in Israel: Judges and Kings

Deuteronomy 16:21--17:7

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... , but it could refer to the actual trading of men for horses—i.e., selling Israelites as mercenary soldiers in exchange for horses. Solomon exchanged Israelite towns for timber (1 Kgs. 9:11–14), and there is some hint that he may have traded in this manner so as to acquire horses (1 Kgs. 10:26–29). The antipathy to any return to Egypt is echoed in the prophets who condemned reliance on Egypt and/or horses and chariots (cf. Isa. 2:7; 30:1–7; 31:1–3; Jer. 2:18, 36; Hos. 14:3; Mie. 5:10). There is ...

480. Law Courts

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

481. The King

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

482. Solomon's Wisdom

1 Kings 4:29-34

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... breaking God’s law early in his reign (and particularly the law as it is found in Deuteronomy), was storing up trouble for himself in the future. Aware of this precedent, we need also to be aware of Deuteronomy 17:16, which forbids the king from acquiring “great numbers of horses for himself” and further forbids him from making the people “return to Egypt to get more of them.” Solomon clearly infringes the first part of this prohibition in 1 Kings 4:26; he will infringe the second in 1 Kings 10:26 ...

483. The Siege Lifted

2 Kings 7:3-20

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... retreat. General plunder of the Aramean camp ensues (v. 16), with the consequence that economic conditions in Samaria immediately improve. The skeptical officer—ironically stationed at the very gate where he had anticipated seeing no trade (v. 2)—is trampled in the scramble to acquire goods (vv. 17–20), fulfilling Elisha’s prophecy that he would not share in the bounty. He has stood in the way of God’s salvation, as kings and their officials often do in these Elisha stories, and he has died in a ...

484. The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

1 Chronicles 15:1-16:6

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... ’s creative use of source materials (15:1–24) is mainly dedicated to the Levites and Levitical responsibilities. 15:1–3 The Chronicler now ties up the loose ends of the previous sections. The conquest of Jebus to become the City of David now acquires new significance, and Hiram’s assistance in constructing a palace for David (mentioned in 14:1) forms the backdrop for the preparation of a place for the ark. Also, 15:2 probably alludes to the first, aborted attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem ...

485. A Cat In a Tree

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’” That was a reasonable suggestion. There were no McDonalds or Burger Kings nearby. Acquiring food would take the people some time. And yet Jesus made an astounding reply to the disciples’ reasonable suggestion, “They don’t need to go away,” he said. “You give them something to eat.” This obviously sounded ridiculous to the disciples. “We ...

486. Who Is This Man?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... be the messiah. After all the Jewish people had been looking for a messiah for hundreds of years--one who would come to deliver the Jews from their enemies. It was not unusual for a person--either out of an irrational spirit of grandiosity or as a cynical means of acquiring power--to claim to be the one whom the people had been awaiting. How would the people be able to discern who was the genuine messiah and who was not? Even John the Baptist was unsure of how to judge. John the Baptist was one of the most ...

487. Everything You Need to Know about Love

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... of being born of emptiness or lack, this form of loving is born of fullness. The goal of gift love is to enrich and enhance the person whom we love rather than to extract value from them. “Gift love moves out to bless and to increase rather than to acquire or to diminish. Gift love is more like a bountiful, artesian well that continues to overflow than a vacuum or a black hole.” Lewis concludes that is what God’s love is all about. In other words, God’s love is gift love, not need love. (2) This, of ...

488. You Are What You Eat

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... of child rearing gone by and the years of grandparenting in my future. I think about what values we tried to instill in our children, and what values we tried not to teach. An example of a bad value, in my mind, that I didn't want my kids to acquire, was that they were to win at any cost. Hopefully we don't see much of that in our schools, but in professional sports it's there all the time. Bonuses paid to players who injure an opposing team member are just one example. We sometimes see that "value" lived ...

489. Searching for Happiness

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... and female slaves . . . I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces . . .” Still he did not find what he was seeking. Then he tried sex: “I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well--the delights of a man’s heart.” A thousand wives and concubines still left him unfulfilled. Solomon lived life larger than anyone who came before him: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused ...

490. A Word to the Wealthy

Mark 10:17-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... -old Egyptian statues, medieval Flemish tapestries, and centuries-old hand-carved ceilings, and some of the greatest works of art of all time, most of which came from Sweden. He built a house of 72,000 square feet to put his stuff in. He acquired property for his house: 265,000 acres; he originally owned fifty miles of California coastline. He collected stuff for eighty-eight years. Then you know what he did?” asks John Ortberg. “He died.” (5) He died. You know how much William Randolph Hearst left ...

491. What to Give Up for Lent

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... money will not satisfy the underlying existential hunger for meaning and purpose. We need bread but the abundant life does not come by bread alone. Where are you on this issue? Do you harbor any lingering notion that if you just had a little more money or just acquired a few more possessions you could really be happy? If so, you might want to think about giving up that idea for Lent. You might want to commit yourself to pray and study on why people do not live by bread alone. After his initial failure, the ...

492. We're All Presents

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... Star as she said, "Look at me, Daddy! I'm a present!" Her words were truer than she realized! Our children are indeed the most wonderful gifts God gives us, at Christmas or any time. We may appreciate the gifts of talents and skills, either God-given or acquired; but do we consider our children as divine gifts—presents from God? What is more unique and special than our children? To help us understand the kind of God we have, the Lord went so far as to send us God's own Son ... the most remarkable present ...

493. The Passion of Envy

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

What we have not poisons what we have… Our urge to acquire things is due less to the passion to possess them than to the vanity of feeling superior to those who envy our possession of them…Envy transmutes other people's base metals into gold… Our envy is the yeast that swells the fortune of others… No form of hatred is as keen as envy. It magnifies the importance of our enemy—and belittles our own.

494. Sin of Dishonesty

Illustration

Lewis Smedes

... patients. Prize athletes at great universities are kept eligible for competition through bogus credits and forged transcripts of academic records. parents pay for SAT test takers, journalist write partisan news, and science is compromised by grants. Children soon acquire the cynical assumption that lying is the normal tack for TV advertisers. Ours is "a huckstering, show-bizzy world, jangling with hype, hullabaloo, and hooey, bull, baloney, and bamboozlement." Today, people expect not to hear the truth ...

495. Stargazers

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Orient an old and established belief that it was Fated at that time for mankind for Judea to rule the world.” (Roman historian Suetonius) “There was a firm persuasion that at this very time the east was to grow powerful and a Ruler coming from Judea was to acquire a universal empire.” (Roman Historian Tacitus) There is a lot we do not know about the magi. There is a lot we have embellished that we “take” for truth. We do not know their names. We do not know there were three of them. We do not know ...

496. Seat of Power

Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... our ministries, and we even see it in our prayers. Jesus, I need you to do this for ME. ME, ME, ME. And when God doesn’t make things go our way –we can be very angry, hostile people. But Jesus kingdom, as he tells us, is not to be acquired by wiles or wares, but a seat at Jesus table is by invitation only. And those who humbly follow will always be first, while those who demand the best seats, will always be thrust aside. “Like a child,” Jesus said. Approach God as one willing to follow. We have a ...

497. Babel

Genesis 11:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , we have to have a few walls for protecting intimate space and private rituals, don’t we? But when you start brick laying for brick laying’s sake, when you become obsessed with building walls to protect or flaunt territories, or to acquire and exclusivize space, you have crossed the Rubicon from community builder to hermitage broker. Or worse, to destroyer of community. For a community is and needs to be an “open marketplace” for interaction, inclusivity, diversity, and growth. We’ve all heard of ...

498. The Excellent Meal Ticket

Genesis 37:1-11, Genesis 37:12-36, John 21:15-25, Mark 8:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... law concerning land in Egypt—still in force today—that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh. It was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaoh’s. 27 Now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly in number. Jesus Asks Peter to “Feed My Sheep” When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that ...

499. Would You Like to Live Forever?

John 10:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the islands. The native Hawaiian man explained: “Our forefathers thought the settlers were always in a hurry to build plantations, harbors, and ranches. To the native Hawaiians they seemed short of breath.” (7) Always in a hurry to build something bigger or acquire something better—does that sound like most of the people you know? We are the haole, the people with no breath. In contrast to the haole, look at the life of the late Bob Pierce, the founder of the Christian relief organization World ...

500. Priceless!

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Jesus is telling about two discoveries that were worth selling everything their owners had—nothing held back—in order to acquire those treasures. That sounds sort of like investing in a Rolex for some of us of limited means. Jesus is reminding us that there are some things in life that are priceless. These things are worth much more than a luxury watch. For example, how ...

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