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 51 to 75 of 1249 results

51. A Theology of Linguistic Linguini

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... will take care of you. Being a child means trusting someone else to do what is best for you, provide for you, nurture and love you. Paul embraces this identity as a divine dependent. Even more remarkable, Paul extols this identity as a divine dependent, as adopted children of God. You can feel his forehead bumping on the ground again and again. . . . Once we were abandoned, alone, parent-less, and purpose-less. But then faith brought us to a new family “in Christ.” God offers a way to live in, a truth ...

52. Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and vocabulary have led commentators to designate Ephesians "an epistle of ascension." From this lofty viewpoint the epistle writer reveals what he has glimpsed the vision of God's purpose and plan for the church and for all the men and women who become his "adopted children" through the work of Christ. It is God's intention that human beings may once again stand before the divine "holy and blameless" (v.4) as a result of Christ's sacrifice. There is some debate whether the words "in love" should conclude ...

53. Who's Working In You?

Philippians 2:1-13

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... serve others. Servants are heroes who ride Shetland ponies. There was an old man in Chicago who got a burden and a passion in his heart for the inner city kids in Chicago. He didn't have a big developed plan, but what he decided to do was just to adopt an inner city high school. And what he did was every time there was a sports practice that ended he would be there and spend time with the kids. If it was basketball season, he'd be there when the basketball players came out of the locker room. If it ...

54. Romans 8:12-25

Romans 8:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to all who live according to the Spirit. This is a status equally applicable to Jews and Gentiles. To “prove” this new reality Paul offers the contrast between the old “spirit of slavery,” the human spirit held captive by sin, and the “spirit of adoption” received by disciples of Jesus. The “spirit of slavery,” the sinful state that kept men and women in a constant state of anxiety over their pending judgment by a righteous God, could only engender “fear” in people. This new “spirit of ...

55. Don’t Be Childish, Do Be Child-like

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and an adult’s “childish” behavior. In this week’s epistle text Paul is pleased to pronounce all those who follow Jesus and have received the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the living Christ, as “children of God.” The indwelling Spirit is a “spirit of adoption,” re-birthing disciples into a new relationship as sons and daughters of God. It is the presence of this Spirit that allows us to address God even as Jesus himself did as “Abba, Father.” Some of you may not like what I’m going to ...

56. Accusations

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... of 2 Sam. 7:14 (“I will be his Father, and he will be my son”), which was interpreted messianically both in Qumran (4QFlor 1.10) and in T. Jud. 24:3, is applied to the eschatological people of God (cf. Jub. 1:24; T. Jud. 24:3). Cf. my Adoption as Sons of God: An Exegetical Investigation into the Background of ΥΙΟΘΕΣΙΑ in the Pauline Corpus (WUNT 2/48; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1992). Elsewhere, Paul uses the plural promises in Rom. 9:4; 15:8; 2 Cor. 7:1; Gal. 3:16, 21. 1:21 On Paul’s use of ...

57. Because We Are Chosen

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... painting unless you plan to display it and enjoy it. You don’t choose a pet unless you plan to nurture and protect it. You don’t choose a spouse unless you plan to cherish and love that person. Now consider that God chose you and destined you for adoption as His child before the creation of the world. Once we understand this truth, how can we doubt God’s love for us or God’s plans for us? In November 1984, a young man named Patrick was doing his laundry in the dormitory laundry room at San Francisco ...

58. The Rebirth

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... in the church and the home. Baptism is the beginning of the rebirth. If you are ever approached by another Christian with the question, "When were you born again?" give him the best answer possible -- the date of your baptism. Baptism is the time when you were adopted as God's son or daughter. You were made a child of the heavenly Father by water and the Spirit when you were baptized. You came into the kingdom of God by baptism. You began the process of being reoriented to God in baptism. This reorientation ...

59. Prepare The Way Of The Lord

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

James Garrett

... is a chosen child. Isn’t that wonderful! Paul’s use of the word shows God’s choosing of us. We are his children by his deliberate will. God in his amazing grace and mercy has taken the lost, helpless and weak -- adopted them into his own family. The debts are cancelled. The unearned love and glory inherited. John Killinger has taken some of the parables of Jesus and retold them in the language of Christmas. What person among you, taking 100 children to the theater for a performance of A Christmas ...

60. Family Reunion

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... :4-5) As we come to the table of Holy Communion today, let's savor our unity in Christ. I want you to feel that you are a vital stone in the temple of God; you are a full-fledged citizen in the Kingdom of God; and you are an adopted son or daughter in the household of God. In order to fully appreciate how connected we are, we need two things: a class or other small group and a ministry task. If you don't have either of these, I give you permission to use one of the offering envelopes ...

61. Resurrection: From Slave to Child

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... that has been walked upon by others, tracing our human story back through the centuries. The Christian call is that we dare not walk life’s road as slaves - bound by whatever shackles us to being less that God intends for us. We walk it as sons and daughters, adopted by God in Christ, free to be all that God calls us to be. Worship Aids for Easter 7 Call to Worship "With all my heart will I praise the Lord in company of good persons, in the whole congregation. Great are the doings of the Lord; all persons ...

62. The Story behind the Glory

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... life without God and turned in faith to the lover of our souls, saying, "If you have loved me that much, I will trust you, and gladly commit the direction of my whole life to you!" Call it what you will, this is the defining moment, the moment of adoption, or reconciliation, or conversion. Our wandering is over, the prodigal has come home. Isn't that what Phillips Brooks had in mind when he wrote in his carol: "O Holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray. Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us ...

63. Christmas 2

Psalm 147:1-20, Jeremiah 30:1--31:40, Ephesians 1:1-14, John 1:1-18

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... is spatial. To express this sense of "in Christ" we may paraphrase, "in the context of the new creation established by the powerful grace of God at work in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ." The statements that God chose and destined us for adoption "in Christ" make clear that it is by God's work and grace that we are brought into God's family. These verses convey a remarkable message about God, about God's work in Christ, and only secondarily do they provide information about us. The point ...

64. Changed Lives - The Woman at the Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... us that we cannot love those for whom he died? Anne Lamott, in her book Traveling Mercies, describes a time when a fellow church member told about adopting her son through an organization called ASK, Adopt Special Kids. Part of the adoption process included filling out a questionnaire checking yes or no to one’s willingness to adopt babies that had been born addicted, terminally ill, with physical “defects,” or mental disabilities. She and her husband had checked down the list. Lamott’s pastor said ...

65. Did You Know...That You Can Be Perfect?

1 John 3:1-3

Sermon

James Merritt

... one of His children. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about you, God says you are one of His children. There are three ways to get into a family. First of all, you can be born into a family; life gives you that privilege. Second, you can be adopted into a family; the law gives you that privilege. Third, you can marry into a family; love gives you that privilege. We are born into the family of God through the Holy Spirit. John 3:8 speaks of those who are, "Born of the Spirit of God" (John 3:8 ...

66. More Than We Are

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... other end of the flight, in Pennsylvania, in this instance, there were a man and a woman - their name was on the little band around the baby’s arm - filled with joy and excitement, ready to give their love and care to this little one that they had adopted as their child. That picture sheds light on our scripture. In the sense of paternity (creation) all people are children of God; but in sense of parenthood, we are children of God only as we respond to God’s gracious love poured out for us in Jesus on ...

67. Family Matters

Romans 8:12-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Christ. That means that we have equal access to God. We are seen as equal heirs with Christ. There is no longer any distinction between us and Christ. We are brothers and sisters with Christ Jesus. God just loves us and can't remember anymore which ones of us are adopted. Why? Because Family Matters to God. And God wants each of us in His Family. That's what faith in Christ does for us. It puts us in God's family. We can hold our head high because we belong. We belong to God's family. We know our value ...

68. The New Census

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -to-one, one-on-one basis. Chaos becomes cosmos where Christos reigns. Jesus counted as the new “number one” in the new divine census. Jesus counts each and every disciple who come to him as a unique and new “number one” — a wholly reborn, re-created adopted son or daughter of God, a Jesus human. In the fourth century the Roman emperor Julius tried to jump-start the glory of Rome’s earlier days by rebuilding and especially re-gilding the glory of the pagan temples that had been such a major part ...

69. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... (4) And that’s Paul’s message to us as we end one year and begin another. Remember who you are. “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons [and daughters], God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir ...

70. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... set for that day in the synagogue, see Ramsay, Paul, p. 100; J. W. Bowker, “Speeches in Acts; A Study in Proem and Yelammedenu Form,” NTS 14 (1967–68), pp. 96–111; and E. E. Ellis, p. 200. 13:33 You are my Son: In the exposition, we have adopted the view that Psalm 2:7 is quoted with reference to the resurrection of Jesus. It is not certain, however, that this is the case. The text says nothing of Jesus being raised to life; it speaks only of his being “raised up,” and it is possible that the ...

71. Vetted

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... if he’s been giving you problems. His real name is Tank. Because that is what I drive. Again, if you’re reading this and you’re from the area, maybe my name has been on the news. I told the shelter that they couldn't make “Reggie” available for adoption until they received word from my company commander. See, my parents are gone, I have no siblings, no one I could've left Tank with, and it was my only real request of the Army upon my deployment to Iraq, that they make one phone call to the shelter ...

72. The Word Above All Earthly Powers

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

... life and about God, and that truth will set you free. In one of his books, Professor Tom Long wrote about Mr. and Mrs. Williams, a deeply religious couple, who adopted four children and hoped to adopt at least one more. The types of children the Williams adopted were the type that the adoption agency termed “hard to adopt.” You see, one of their children, a son, is severely retarded; the other three have major birth defects. “Our children are our greatest joy,” said Mrs. Williams. “Caring for them ...

73. Grown In Mommy's Heart

Humor

A first grade class was discussing a picture of a family. The little boy in the photo had a different hair color than the other family members. One child suggested that was so because the boy was adopted. A girl in the class responded that she knew all about adoption because she had been adopted. Another girl asked what it meant to be adopted. Her classmate answered, "Adoption means that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy."

74. Suffering And Service

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... the church, one of the church's members would come to them each Sunday and say, "Are you going to join today?" Through this member, she felt Christ was saying to them, "I want you very much. Will you be committed to me?" The young couple hoped to adopt a baby but it didn't work out. The following Sunday a member of the church came to them and said, "I cannot tell you anything except God will help you through this." The young woman perceived that Christ was speaking to her through this person, saying, "I ...

75. Tying Up A Strong Man

Mark 3:20-30, 1 Samuel 8:1-22, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, Mark 3:31-35, Psalm 138:1-8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... not yet of age to be members of the church call church members who are not their parents uncles and aunts. The church is regarded as an extended family. 4. Who are True Parents? A. A minister and his wife had two biological children and an adopted child. The minister contended that true parents are not necessarily those who give birth to a child. He proposed that many women who never gave birth to a child nevertheless were truer mothers to many children than the birth mothers. They usually were teachers who ...

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