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 4957 results

576. Our Dwelling Place In All Generations

Psalm 90:1-17

Eulogy

Joe Barone

... that the whole world is changed. Every act we take is like a pebble dropped in water, rippling, we know not where or how. We all loved *. We are grieved by his death, though we don’t want to claim for him something which he would not claim for himself. In * we could see the works of God, not because he claimed to be special, but because he, like the one who wrote the psalm, knew how to number his days and live in hope. “Let thy works be manifest to thy servants,” the psalmist says, and they were in ...

577. An Our Good Works And Generosity

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... engaged in! Jesus still talks about giving alms in secret, so that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. There is much debate among biblical scholars about what he meant at this point, but I rather like Martin Luther's version of it. Luther claimed that Jesus urged the faithful not to inform the left hand what the right hand is doing when alms are given, because otherwise the left hand will try to take more away than the right hand gave.2 Is that not our way of dealing with people? If we ...

578. Where Have All The Visible Miracles Gone?

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... Jesus and God the Father were encountering. People were just beginning to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, but it was a very fragile faith - one that could easily be shaken. Perhaps when Jesus was crucified on the cross, everyone would come to doubt his claims to such an extent, believe so firmly that it was all a hoax, that they would never hear the message of the resurrection - the real proof that Jesus was the Son of God. Of course, the resurrection would prove to everyone that Jesus really was God ...

579. The Recovery Of Reverence

Leviticus 19:1-37

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... Lord your God!" That is almost the same reminder that precedes the commandments in the Bible: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Therefore ..." That is the basis for all reverence - God's everlasting claim upon our lives. Without that sacred sense that all of life belongs to God, there will be no respect for persons, for property, or for justice in our society. So let this ancient word from Leviticus call us to a new sense of reverence for God and ...

580. A Lesson From Prayers Overheard

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... of serving God." Were it not for Jesus' introduction to our parable and our long-standing stereotypes of the Pharisees, we would see such a man as upstanding and righteous. The point of the parable is not his insincerity. Jesus does not challenge the man's claims. He presents them as facts. And thus he draws the contrast more sharply for us. Because ... The Tax Collector And His Prayer There is no way that the tax collector in this story can be called a righteous man! Had they been honest (and they were ...

581. Captive To The Word Of God

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... who were Jesus' audience in today's lesson were "Jews who believed in him." This was not a hostile crowd. They were sincere about their faith, even open to new insights and means of spiritual growth. Still, they were slaves to a system that carried God's name and claimed his approval, but was not about his agendas. There's an old saying: "It happens to the best of us." It is well for us to remember this, lest we criticize others without charity and fail to keep vigilance in our own souls. Isn't it so! Just ...

582. For One Who Came to Faith While Dying

John 14:1-4

Eulogy

Palmer L. Gedde

... true God: the God of love, the God of promise, the God of hope and joy in Jesus Christ. And he confessed Christ, and accepted Christ, and received the blessed Sacrament, and prayed, and gave thanks - even in the midst of his illness and pain. When __________ died, he died claiming a promise. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." I honestly believe that if he were here today, he would have one last word of counsel for you and that it would be as follows. "Don't wait as long as I did to learn of the true ...

583. Here Comes The King

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

George Bass

... sitting on that donkey with people throwing branches in his pathway.... I didn't think too much about it, except for the comedy of it." There is something ludicrous about Jesus' riding into the city of Jerusalem, with his disciples quoting scripture to support his claim to the throne of David, isn't there? It was hardly the red carpet treatment, because Jesus' path was lined with the garments of ordinary people. Would any of them have been dyed red? Jesus had to supply the red dye himself, and he did it ...

584. Been Fishin' Lately?

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and had to bear the smell of dead and decaying fish every day. They were ridiculed by some who made fun of their fishermen’s clubs and for the fact that, though they claimed to be fishermen, they never fished. They wondered about those people who felt that attending weekly meetings to talk about fishing was a waste of time. After all, were they not following the Master, who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men ...

585. The Youth

Drama

William Grimbol

... is constantly taking the side of the poor people ... CURT: No wonder - all his friends are poor. PAUL: What a pack of losers. CURT: That is true of every cult. PAUL: True. Cults always attract weirdos. CURT: He probably will get killed. PAUL: Why would anyone claim to be the Messiah? CURT: Got me. PAUL: His friends must really believe he is, though. CURT: They must. They sure stick close to him. PAUL: They seem normal, don't they? CURT: Until they open their mouths. PAUL: They sound bizarre. CURT: Cults are ...

586. Have You Talked to Jesus Lately?

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... of sight, I went into the church, climbed the stairs to my office, and telephoned one of my local colleagues in ministry. "Guess who I just talked to?" I asked. Some of you may have come to church this morning hoping to meet Jesus – not some weirdo who claims to be Jesus, but the real thing. Maybe you came because you have a sense that something is missing in your life, that your life is somehow incomplete or lacking in purpose or direction or meaning. And you feel that if you can just find Jesus, that ...

587. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

... and only twenty percent end up being used to hold paper together. I used a couple the other day to fasten the glass in a gaslight. Prophecy, faith, knowledge, and people all have intended uses. I wonder how many times they end up being used for the wrong reasons? Paul claimed that unless their aim is love, they count for nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (verse 3) A woman testified on the radio some time ago how God had blessed her ...

588. The Darkest Hour

Drama

Pamela Urfer

... and a crown of thorns, his hands tied before him, his eyes on the ground. NARRATOR: Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe, mocking his claim to be king. Two SOLDIERS enter, go up to JESUS and start pushing him around. They will pantomime the words (in quotes) spoken by the NARRATOR. NARRATOR: They kept coming up to him saying: 1ST SOLDIER: (Miming the words spoken by the NARRATOR) "Hail, King of the ...

589. Will the Real Jesus Christ Arise?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Carl Jech

"We do not know where they have laid him" ... Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I am about to ascend to my Father." (John 20:2b, 17a) You may remember the television program "To Tell The Truth." Three people would come out, all claiming to be the same person. After the panel had interviewed all three and everyone had decided who the imposters were, the host would intone dramatically: "Will the real John Doe, please stand up!" Then everyone waited with baited breath as each contestant stirred as if to ...

590. The Ambiguity of Life, Deciding for Christ

John 10:22-42

Sermon

Carl Jech

... , for not making my entrance into these gates dependent upon the adequacy of either my faith or my deeds. I know that even when I have managed to do my best it hasn't been good enough to make myself or the world perfect. No merit of my own I claim, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." "When I come to die, give me Jesus!" Give me the name that means "God will save." Give me the simple, blessed assurance that my destiny is in the hand of a loving and gracious God and that no one can snatch me out ...

591. Lovers Never Ask, 'What's the Least I Can Do?'

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Alvin Rueter

... this extravagance calls forth comes naturally. When we discover what Christ’s atonement has done for us, then we can live without the strain of thinking of alibis. We can relax with ourselves and not be uptight about what others think of us because God has claimed us as members of his family. That’s not bad. We can even feel better about our family, our inlaws, our neighbors, our coworkers, our enemies. When we see that Christ’s atonement even makes up for their faults, then we don’t have to stir ...

592. Booby Trap

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

... us with an opportunity to live lives that are truly God-like toward others. If you and I understand what Jesus was getting at when he said to the lawyer, "Do this, and you will live" - that is, "love your neighbor as yourself" and, of course, as you claim to love God, perhaps something good will come out of the difficult and changing times we live in. It just may be that as we respond more to the call for voluntary service to perform many works of mercy and neighborliness, that we will learn the lesson that ...

593. Heaven Can’t Wait

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... to shape up to the image of our God in which we are created. The kingdom came from over there to over here in Christ to claim his reign among us now. The foretaste of the future is in Christ in whom we have a new relationship with God, the new creation ... These are the brushstrokes in the portrait and the profile of the saints in whom the future is made present. None of us would claim the portrait and the profile as our own, but heaven can’t wait. As Jesus calls us to the kingdom one by one and names ...

594. No Snap Courses

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... s fit to be with him. This is the way he does it. Who answers Christ’s insistent call Must give himself, his life, his all, Without the backward look; Who sets his hand unto the plow And glances back with anxious brow His calling hath mistook. Christ claims him wholly for His own; He must be Christ’s and Christ’s alone. John Oxenham (quoted in the Expositor’s Minister’s Annual 1930) "So you also, when you have done all that is commanded of you, say 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what ...

595. The Season of the Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

... , he is the Lord and giver of life. Second, the Holy Spirit proceeds (or comes to us) from the Father and the Son. Finally, the Spirit speaks through the prophets, in times past and also today. Let us look at these three points more closely. I. The first claim about the Spirit here is dramatic and confronting. He is the Lord and giver of life. Perk up your ears, friends! Hear that again. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life. We're speaking here about quality life, of course, not quantity. The Holy ...

596. A Wandering Aramean

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

... faithful, to which we belong, different from any other family tree and story the genealogists can dig up, is not that we're better than anyone else. Abraham, David, Elijah, and Jacob show we're no saints. What makes us different is we're blessed by God. God claims us. We are part of his clan. He made that investment in us; he established his kinship in Exodus when he said, "You will be my people, and I will be your God." And he demonstrated his involvement in our clan when he sent his Son to struggle and ...

597. Preaching Your Life

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

... day, Christ appears to him, speaks to him, holds out his hands to him. Thus Thomas believes: "My Lord and my God!" Does this mean we must have a vision of God to have genuine faith? If so, who could ever believe? Only a few mystics over the centuries have claimed such a visible encounter with God. Even Christ downplayed the idea when he said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." If we are to believe in Christ, we will have to be led by what we hear. And what we hear that moves us most and ...

598. Your Calling from God

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

... I rather have done than follow the response that I made to his call. Many of you understand that. Some of you believe you are where you are, doing what you are doing, being what you are; because, at some point in your life, you felt some kind of inner claim upon your life to be, to do, or to go. Whether at the time you identified that as a call from God or not, if you are fulfilled, happy, and finding your experience of life meaningful; it was a call from God as he confirms our lives in goodness, creativity ...

599. The God You Worship

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

... and dependable? Can they be trusted to tell the truth? Yes. Are their reports and witnesses mutually consistent? Yes. Even though they are divided by centuries in time and by half a world in space, the witness is consistently true. You can know God. If the evidence supports the claim that you can know God, that God is not unknown, the question becomes how and whom can we know? If you want to know God you must acknowledge that it is not God who needs you; you need God. "Nor is God served by human hands as if ...

600. Easter 6

Jn 14:23-29 · Acts 14:8-18; 15:1-2, 22-29 · Rev 21:10, 22-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... is no problem in the use of the lectionary for Easter 6 and 7. A number of options face each pastor at this Ascension time. 1. Observe the "Ascension of our Lord" on Thursday. This is the ideal, but few churches have this service because, they claim, people will not attend on a weekday in sufficient numbers to justify the service. 2. Observe Easter 6 and 7 and ignore the Ascension festival. To do this means we deny our people the privilege of celebrating a major festival. The Ascension holds a vital and ...

Showing results