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 676 to 700 of 1044 results

676. When the Sermon Turns Sour

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

I want to let you in on an industry secret. Ready? Most preachers have a difficult time preaching in the congregations where they grew up. It is true for me. I was recently invited to preach in the church where I grew up. My mixed feelings about the invitation were justified. Before anybody heard a word I said, they remembered little Billy Carter, who made paper airplanes out of worship bulletins and dropped them from the balcony when nobody was looking. Even the newcomers who joined long after I moved ...

677. Respect

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Harold Warlick

Roland and Elizabeth were unusual guests at the complimentary “high tea” being held late in the afternoon in the four-star, luxury inn on Hilton Head Island. For one thing, Roland and Elizabeth were not guests of the hotel. They lived about twenty minutes away from the inn. Their home was in the wealthiest neighborhood on that island of very wealthy residents. In fact, Michael Jordan, the basketball legend, had lived next door to them. But Michael had stopped visiting the home after his father died. Roland ...

678. True or False?

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

John W. Wurster

“Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah” (1:10; cf. Genesis 19). Sodom. Gomorrah. Remember? Places of wickedness, of violence, of perversity. Do you know any place like that? Places where sexuality is twisted and relationships are corrupted and social order is breaking down? Places where people seek to gratify personal desires at the expense of others, where individual pursuits take precedence over common well-being, where anything goes as ...

679. There Is Hope (A Christmas Communion Meditation)

Luke 1:67-80

Sermon

Brett Blair

The birth of John the Baptist puts a different spin on the birth of Jesus. We get to see the birth and life of Jesus through the eyes of relatives who were going through the same odd happenings that had surrounded Mary and Joseph. Zechariah and Elizabeth are the proud parent's of John, who would later be called The Baptist, new parents who are allowed to see into the future and understand that there was hope, a great hope coming to the world. Zechariah’s song reminds us that the backdrop of all this hope ...

680. Box O' Jesus

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: As I mentioned earlier, you can alter many of my existing dramas to work with a new subject. With that in mind, I decided to alter 'The Attic' to focus on why how people know that we are Christians. When you hear the old song 'They will know we are Christians by our love...' what does that mean to you? How do we show others that we are Christians? Although no one has a literal 'Box O' Jesus' where they keep evidence of their faith, many people show their relationship with God based on ...

681. His Resurrection

John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18

Sermon

Brett Blair

As I look around, I see great events playing out on the world stage: Democracy is being brought to regions of the world that never really understood the dignity of individual citizens or the joy of liberty. World health organizations are working around the clock to stem the tide of SARS a disease which if not fought might become another black plague. An unprecedented ability to communicate ideas and beliefs to any part of the world and to any person in the world is quickly becoming commonplace. And the ...

682. Pay Back Time

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Some years ago Bill Cosby did one of his many great comedy routines about his growing up years in Philadelphia.(1) He recalled a snowy winter day, enough snow on the ground for a really good snowball fight. So he and his friends had one. Now, if you grew up in an area where snowball fights are a common winter occurrence, you will know that there are certain unwritten rules about what is allowed and what is not. For example, you did not put a rock in the center of your snowball, because that could kill ...

683. The Bush Is Still Burning

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

There is an old story of a very long evening. The search committee for a new pastor had been going over resumé after resumé in hopes of finding the perfect minister. None so far. Tired of the whole process, they were about ready to call it a night when they came upon this letter of introduction from a candidate: To the Pulpit Nominating Committee: It is my understanding that you are in the process of searching for a new pastor, and I would like to apply for the position. I wish I could say that I am a ...

684. Do You Hear What I Hear?

Luke 1:46-56, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Years ago, a wise teacher of preachers advised us to prepare our sermons with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. His point was that sermons had to be relevant to the day-to-day lives of our people, and the best way to insure that would be to focus on what is going on in our people's world. Good advice, don't you think? So what has the newspaper (or the TV or radio or internet or whatever) had for us this week? Well, early on there was the story of the failed mission to Mars. After the ...

685. There Are Other Worlds To Sing In

John 3:1-21

Sermon

James W. Moore

His name was Paul. He lived in a small town in the Pacific Northwest some years ago. He was just a little boy when his family became the proud owners of one of the first telephones in the neighborhood. It was one of those wooden boxes attached to the wall with the shiny receiver hanging on the side of the box… and the mouthpiece attached to the front. Young Paul listened with fascination as his mom and dad used the phone… and he discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device called a telephone lived ...

686. God and Hurricanes

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A scary few days, eh? Just a week ago we were hearing about this incredibly powerful Hurricane Floyd in the Atlantic that might be heading in our direction - almost a Category 5 with sustained winds near the eye of 155 miles per hour. And it cut a wide swath too, hundreds of miles in diameter. Fool that I am, I normally do not worry much about hurricanes. I have come through a few. During my years of living on the coast, I evacuated in the face of oncoming storms along with everyone else. I still have a ...

687. The News from Nazareth

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Interesting item in the paper the other day. "According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year...Male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to mid-December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen...had to be a ...

688. Fish Bait

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Two guys go on a fishing trip. They rent all the equipment: the reels, the rods, the wading suits, the rowboat, the car, and even a cabin in the woods. They spend a fortune. The first day they go fishing they don't catch a thing. The same thing happens on the second day, and on the third day. It goes on like this until finally, on the last day of their vacation, one of the men finally catches a fish. As they drive home, they are both really depressed. One turns to the other and says, "Do you realize that ...

689. Carrying Worshipers out on Stretchers

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

William Willimon tells about a church in a town he was visiting years ago. According to the newspaper, the church was having an all-day meeting of the church’s “medical auxiliary.” Willimon figured this was a meeting of church folks who occasionally volunteered at the local hospital. He was wrong. A friend of his, someone who knew more about the church and its denomination than he did, told him that this was not the case. He said “the medical auxiliary consists of those persons who handle the stretchers, ...

690. Different From A Camel's Hair Sport Coat

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Frank Lyman

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was moving toward a fevered climax. NBC had shown marching bands and recording artists who casually paused in the middle of Fifth Avenue to "lip-synch" their latest recording! Massive balloons of "Bullwinkle" and "Underdog" and the excitement in the announcer's voice made it obvious that Santa and his Reindeer were just around the corner. It was then that a small float came wheeling down the street with the wise men, shepherds, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. The NBC ...

691. Jerry's Christmas

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Clark D. Cowden

Once upon a time, there was a man named Jerry. Jerry was a builder. He had started off as a carpenter, and learned to build homes and construct small office buildings. He lived in a small, but growing town on the edge of a big city, so there was always a lot of work to be done. He gained a reputation as the best in his field; he was honest, hard-working, didn't rip people off, and did a high quality job. Jerry made a lot of money in his business. He was able to purchase ten acres of land, and built himself ...

692. God Is Greater

John 10:22-42

Sermon

King Duncan

A new kind of modern airplane was on an experimental flight. It was full of reporters and journalists. A few minutes after the takeoff the captain's voice was heard from the loudspeakers: "I'm delighted to be your pilot, and the captain of this airplane on its first historical flight. I can tell you that the flight is going well. Nevertheless, I still have to tell you about a minor inconvenience that has occurred. The passengers that are sitting on the right side can, if they look through the window, see ...

693. Good News For Broken Hearts

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

William Miller, in THE JOY OF FEELING GOOD, relates the story of a woman who went to a psychiatrist because she was severely depressed. As her therapist began to probe her emotions, he discovered she had never worked through the death of her husband many years before. Her husband had died one week after President Kennedy was assassinated. This woman watched with admiration how well Mrs. Kennedy handled the shock and trauma of her husband's death, and when her own husband died, she made up her mind to be ...

694. The Most Vexing Question In The Bible

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to read again some of the strongest words that ever came from the lips of our Master. Jesus was making his way through the towns and villages leading to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up, and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, `Sir, open the door for us.' But ...

695. Friends

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

A moving truck loaded with furniture was parked in front of a Southern California home. A husband and wife were sweeping out the open garage when a woman from a house across the street approached with an apple pie. "Welcome to the neighborhood," she said. "I baked it myself and I want you to have it." "Really, we can't," the husband replied. "Of course you can," she ran on. "When I moved in two years ago no one welcomed me, and I want you to feel at home." She thrust the pie into the husband's hands. "Uh, ...

696. Are You Successful Or Do You Just Have Money?

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Bill was a writer, a really good writer. As a matter of fact, the whole country knew his name ” although they did not know him as "Bill." Editors competed to get Bill's stories. He was not one of those struggling young writers who couldn't get a break. In fact, editors paid top dollar competing for Bill's work. Bill seemed to have it made. He had money, he had fame, and he was superb at what he did. One more thing. Bill's stories usually had a bit of mystery about them. He was famous for the little twist ...

697. Peace

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

One of my favorite PEANUTS cartoons has Lucy coming to Charlie Brown and saying, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. Since it’s this time of the season, I think we ought to bury past differences and try to be kind." Charlie Brown asks, "Why does it just have to be this time of the season? Why can’t it be all year long?" Lucy looks at him and exclaims, "What are you, some kind of fanatic?" One more Peanuts bit of wisdom. Lucy has a score to settle with Charlie Brown. She chases him, shouting, "I’ll get you, ...

698. Are You Going Down?

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Many years ago there was a serious coal mining accident in the Allegheny mountains. Many miners escaped, but three men were trapped somewhere deep in the earth. No one knew if they were alive or dead. As the hours passed, intense heat and noxious gases built up within the mine itself. Two days passed before a search expedition was allowed to enter the mine. The camera teams from the local news station interviewed the three-man rescue team as they prepared to enter what could be their grave. A reporter ...

699. He Has Done All Things Well

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

It's time for us to visit again with our old friend Charlie Brown. Charlie, Linus, and Lucy are on their way to school. It's show and tell day. Lucy asks Linus if he has remembered to bring anything for show and tell. "Yes," Linus answers, "I have a couple of things here to show the class." He then unfolds some papers. "These are copies I've been making of some of the Dead Sea scrolls," he says. Holding them up for Charlie Brown and Lucy to inspect he continues."This is a duplicate of the scroll of Isaiah ...

700. How Do We Choose?

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Since this is Mother's Day, I want to ask the men in the congregation a provocative question. How do you get along with your motherinlaw? Think about that one for a moment. How do you get along with your motherinlaw? If we lived in Goradze, Yugoslavia, the question would not be frivolous. In Goradze, when a marriage announcement is made, they have a strange custom. The bridetobe's neighbors grab the groomtobe and drag him outside. There they tie him to a stake near a bonfire and fan the flames toward him. ...

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