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 576 to 600 of 609 results

576. The Dare Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... “us” again! God, give to us as human beings what we need to do your will,…..and what will is that? “forgive us our sins as [to the degree that] we forgive all who are indebted to us.” Wow is that sentence tricky! Here’s where we truly can cherish the gift of sacrifice that Jesus made for us, because right here in this sentence, we are asking God to forgive us….just the way we forgive others! Yikes! If that sentence doesn’t bring you down to the floor, I don’t know what will! Who wants to ...

577. The Best Seat in the House

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... be like to offer “the best seat in the house” to someone that you do not even know. This is the kind of radical hospitality that Jesus suggests. What does the “best seat in the house” represent for you in your life? Giving away to someone a cherished possession? Offering someone your tickets to a game or show? Writing a recommendation for someone so they get a scholarship or a job that you want yourself but know they’d be better at? Giving someone a chance to get ahead of you in a line? Inviting ...

578. The Foreigner

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... by Jesus. All fall short of the glory of God and are sullied and bent by sin. Some of us will take God’s healing for granted. Those who have experienced the most difficulty in the world, the most bias, the most abuse, the most loneliness, the most rejection will cherish God’s gift the most. Why do you want to be healed by Jesus? To fit in? Or to be fitting to God? Is your primary goal in life to be accepted by the people around you? Liked by your peers? Or to be loved, beloved, and blessed by God ...

579. The Pale Blue Dot

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Illustration

Carl Sagan

... . It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

580. Hidden Treasure

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... are so valuable to God that he would sacrifice everything in the world, just to add them into his kingdom. This is how amazing God is, how much he loves his people and his creation. God literally would do anything, has throughout scripture done everything imaginable, to cherish his people. And yet, I hear from so many people that their greatest fear is that they won’t somehow “get in,” that they won’t measure up, that they won’t be chosen, that they aren’t good enough, that they won’t be part ...

581. The Unfettered Word

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

... he preached. Before he set off for the mountains and Hendersonville, Carl Parker preached. His text? Something about the depth and breadth, the height and width of the love of God. It was Father's Day, so he talked a little bit about how we all love and cherish our children. God loves us even more than that, he said. Then he spoke about the man who was to die in the electric chair in South Carolina the next day. I had seen his picture on the news the night before. Somebody had held a service of remembrance ...

582. Gracious

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... annoyance or disdain? They may appear as Christians. But they haven’t cultivated a true relationship with God. How can you know? Because when you have true gratitude for Jesus’ sacrificial gift of life and love, you can’t help but love, respect, and cherish others and want to show that love hugely and actively. How many people do you know who may not flaunt their Christianity, but who sport hearts of pure gold, pray daily, cultivate a close relationship with God, and though they may have little means ...

583. The View From The Mountaintop

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all nations.”[17] Oh yes, Mr. Lincoln. Oh yes, Lord! Amen! 1. James M. McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and The Second American Revolution, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 68. 2. James M. McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and the Second ...

584. The Practice

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... connecting with him on a deep, relational level, so that Jesus knows, no matter how long he takes in practicing for his mission, God is already with him. His identity and his security are rooted firmly in who he is, Son of God, cherished by the Father. We too as disciples face a difficult mission in taking Jesus’ message of love and hope into a “wild” and “untamed” world, a world filled with distrust, disrespect, and judgmentalism, a world filled with trauma, loss, and illness. We are commissioned ...

585. Marketplace Christianity

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... earth. And every person on this earth who seeks God deserves our commitment, love, depth, access, and servanthood. Let us as a people of God cultivate God’s love for all people. For no person deserves to be a commodity or transaction but a beloved and cherished son and daughter of God. Today, we are called to be the “house of God” within the world. May we be the “house of prayer” that God intended us to be. [1] John’s scripture sees this happening at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, although ...

586.

Psalm 83:1-18

Teach the Text

Craig C. Broyles

... the introductory petitions try to stir God to action by drawing his attention to how his enemies are astir (v. 2). The lament portrays the conflict as one between these foes and God himself: your foes . . . conspire against your people and against those you cherish (vv. 2–3), and they form an alliance against you (v. 5). The poet does not endeavor to draw God into a conflict between human opponents—this dilemma is presented as God’s business already. As evidence supporting the claim of conspiracy, a ...

587.

Psalm 83:1-18

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

588. The Art of Restoration

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... primarily in Japan, artists take broken pottery and china and create beautiful works of art from them by sealing them together with molten gold or platinum. These often discarded and deemed “worthless” pieces are revisioned and reworked to become some of the most cherished and astounding (and expensive!) pieces of art in the world today. Why are we talking so much about the art of restoration? Because this is the way that God sees us! Yes, we can become broken. Yes, we can become dulled by years ...

589. Where's God?

John 16:12-15

Sermon

David Coffin

... Holy Trinity Sunday, I would suggest that it is not as important to know about all of the historical debates, conflicts, and heretical concerns that led to this confession of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Rather it is more important how this cherished confession provides life to the church — especially for those who have lost that which is very valuable to them such as their means of employment. Any unemployed person, or a person who has recently experienced a tragic loss may rest their head on ...

590. Schadenfreude

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... s what God does. God loves. God heals. God shows compassion. God shows mercy. God does not care what day it is or what laws we make up to keep ourselves apart from others. God cares about how we love, how we care, and how we cherish the lives of others. How do you decide what is right? How do you live a life fueled by love for others and joy in their healing, their repentance, their restoration, their lives? We start by recognizing our Schadenfreude, and we cultivate instead our empathy, our relationships ...

591. Shake It Off

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . With God’s breath in our lungs, we’ve become more than our flesh and bones, more than our mistakes and sin, more than a trip from and to the grave. Life, whether in this world or the next, is a beautiful and valuable thing. And we are to cherish it, celebrate it, and praise God for it! Above all, dance through it with joy and thanksgiving! Even when times get tough. Jesus tells us, when things feel tough, all we have to do is “shake off the dust,” and we can free ourselves to learn how to dance ...

592. The Loaves

John 6:1-21

Sermon

David Coffin

... always looked forward to eating since I was twelve years old. When I got out of college in the 1970s, the job market in my area had a glut of four-year college degree graduates. I applied for a manager trainee position at the restaurant I have cherished since childhood. I was sent to manager training sessions and worked at a training store in a metro area. It was an unforgettable experience. I wondered why God would allow me to do such a thing. After the novelty of eating sandwiches for a discounted price ...

593. AAA=A

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... by God’s infinite power) = Actualization The Christian faith is not a one-sided faith. It’s not based in how well we appease the “gods” or draw their favor from our works and our good behavior. Our faith is based in a covenant, a relationship that God cherishes between God and God’s people, in which we step forward and God lifts us up! Jesus tells a story that we’ve heard a thousand times. It’s the story of the Prodigal Son–a teen who runs off and squanders his father’s money, then humbled ...

594. Beloved

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... tree contains us and also our pets! While Jesus’ interaction sounds strange and harsh to us today, what he was doing was creating a metaphor for his disciples to understand. This woman is not a “defiled” street dog. She is an honored, cherished, beloved part of their family –God’s family, and as such, she deserves to be healed, accepted, loved, and honored like everyone else. After this encounter, Jesus would go on to the Decapolis, ten Greek cities in solidly gentile country. There he would ...

595. For the Love of Children

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ve seen this happen myself. Every pastor, every leader, every disciple of Jesus has an inherent and serious responsibility to defend children, women, those who are labeled “different” in any way who live in our communities or come into our churches. We are called to cherish them, call them, bless them, and protect their faith not only in Jesus but in humankind. For Jesus has harsh words indeed for those who do not. We are not simply called to compassion, a loving nature, and a caring spirit. But we are ...

596. Bold Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... from those around us. After all, it’s already pretty bad, right? Most of us don’t speak up about who we are and what we need to change in our lives, because we fear change. Listen….no matter how bad our circumstances, there’s a comfort level we cherish in keeping things the same. There’s a comfort we find in status quo….it’s the “devil we know!” There’s a sense of comfort we derive from keeping quiet. Our lives may be pretty bad. But our days are familiar. We know where we belong in our ...

597. Christ, Our King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... who stopped and wondered much. But he did when he spoke to Jesus. In that conversation we saw how closely wonder and fear were linked. Stopping and wondering — whether prompted by gazing at the sky, marveling at God’s love for humanity displayed on the cross or cherishing the embrace of someone we love — helps us to see that we are not the center of the universe, that we don’t belong on the throne, but one more powerful and gentle than us does. I’ll never forget a moment when I got a glimpse of ...

598. Christ, Our King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

599. Fox in the Henhouse

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and social behavior.[1] Likewise, the ancient Jewish faith highly valued parables, moral behavior, and laws concerning how to live well personally, in harmony with God, and in community with others (halakhah). Judaism with its many “mitzvot” continues to cherish ethical behavior and encourages an action-oriented commitment to God and neighbor.[2] In the first century when Jesus lived, Greek remained the lingua franca of the “modern” world. Jewish people, although deeply steeped in their Jewish faith ...

600. Stay Close

John 10:22-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Sunday that we often name the “Festival of the Christian Home” when we honor mothers, or special women who have impacted our lives in unique or profound ways, we think of that rare, beautiful person who has made us feel not only safe but warm and cherished, valuable, and loved. Honoring those in our lives on this day set apart means for many of us a wonderful time for remembering those times when that special person was there for us, when that beloved someone supported us and lifted us out of a dark ...

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