Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: captured, trapped, catch, took, arrested, grabbed, taken, seized, stuck, apprehended, picked up, entangled, nabbed, jammed, abducted, acquired, got, bagged, gotten, netted, cornered, appropriated, tangled, snared, ensnared

Antonyms: free, freed, unconfined, loose, unrestrained, set free, uncuffed, emancipated, enfranchised, released, ambiguous, flaccid, let go, discharged, unbound, uncaged, unchained, unfettered, unleashed, unshackled, untied, avoided, discounted, disregarded, missed

Showing 51 to 75 of 2233 results

51. The Condemning Heart

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... her away with an instruction telling her simply to leave her life of sin. He was completely aware that she had sinned but Jesus wasn’t in the business of condemnation, he was sent to earth to save. It is ironic that the men who condemned this woman caught in adultery had sinned also. Jesus was quite aware of their faults when he made his statement. Why is it that followers of Jesus so often ignore this clear example? Remember the shame that used to be attached to a young woman pregnant out of wedlock. Her ...

52. Timeout at Tiberias

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... toiling and nothing will be working. Let it go . . . and seek to find out what God’s real purpose for you is. So they caught nothing for the entire night. But morning came. And Jesus showed up, just like he had--behind closed doors--on Easter Sunday night. But ... there in the midst of our failures. He is right there when all our efforts bring naught. And it might be that we are so caught up in the failure that it keeps us from seeing him. It might be that we are too distracted by the cares of our own lives ...

53. God with Skin On

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... us with total trust and innocence, waiting for us to take care of him. Grimy shepherds, terrified and electrified by an army of angels lighting up the sky with the transcendent glory of the same God who lies helpless in the manger. How odd and how wonderful! Yes, caught up by the familiarity, we are drawn into the story. And maybe if we let go and sink into it, we can touch, taste, see, hear, and smell this story. Maybe — for a minute — that emptiness deep inside of us can be filled by a very real, very ...

54. Get Up

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Will Willimon

... were more than an advertising slogan, whispered among themselves ''The communists should have quoted from the first line of the second verse of the hymn, 'If we on our own strength confide, our striving would be loosing.''' And it's true. Left to our own devices, we are caught, trapped, dead. Face facts. There's a lot of deadness out there and in here. But Jesus does not leave us be. In this story, we don't have to wait to Easter for life to intrude and death to be defeated. Get up! he says. In the name ...

55. Let's Go Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... than fishing, but even one who has spent little time with a rod and reel can see a few basics. For example, you cannot catch any fish if there are none to be caught. It makes sense — and that is the excuse many folks use to not “fish for people” — they say they do not know anyone who is not already “caught,” already a part of Christ’s church. Perhaps. At least at some time in the past, perhaps. But the sad truth is that, even here in the most overtly religious nation in the technologically ...

56. Don't Be Stupid

Jeremiah 4:5-31

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

... infants. We know more about war then we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount" (Source unknown). When I was flying to New York a couple of weeks ago I caught up on some reading. I don't remember specifically what I read that prompted it, but I wrote a note to myself on my ticket envelope. It said: as a society we are moving now from the notion that no one is responsible for anything, to the more serious ...

57. When Life Seems Out Of Control

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth." Before too long some of Joab's men found Absalom. It was a strange accident, it was not as though they captured Absalom or he fell into their trap. It was just an accident that he got his head caught. It was just good fortune that they happened upon Absalom. They were unsure what to do since they had heard the king's command, so they waited for Joab. As the wise military advisor to the king, Joab would know what to do. Now was their chance to rid ...

58. The Great I AM

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

... level: "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was I AM." The ultimate insult! I AM is God's name: Rage turns to physical violence. They pick up stones to throw at him, just like some of these same people had picked up stones to throw at the woman caught in adultery at the beginning of chapter eight. But Jesus slips out of the temple before they can put him to death. Button, button, who's got the button? That's what this chapter is all about. Jesus through word, deed, and name has the control button. Almost ...

59. Matthew

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... Administrator, Antonius Marcellus To: Chief Tax Collector of the Tiberius region,Malchus bar Joachim Dear Mal, Amazing! You're all caught up! That Matthew must be something else. I should have a winner like him up here. For that stomach and ... opium, he didn't collect taxes. When he was off, he was showing the others around our area how it worked. The only guy who didn't get caught up in it was Matthew. He said he didn't need anything like that to relieve him. He said his imagination did so much for him that ...

60. Written On The Heart

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... 's Othello: "Who steals my purse steals trash ... But he that filches from me my good name ... makes me poor indeed." I know a man who, as a young professional man, decided he could avoid paying his income taxes. He did this for two or three years, then was caught and sent to prison. It was a short sentence and he was soon released. But he paid an exhorbitant price, not just in jail time or money. He gave up his good name. That was many years ago, but that man's career was never very successful because ...

61. No Particular Place To Go

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... Doug's father came home for lunch to take him back to the golf course so that he could apologize to the owner for stealing soda pop, return the unopened bottles, and pay for the ones he had already drunk. Doug said he didn't know what was worse, being caught by his father or having to confront the man he had stolen from. It was a lesson Doug would remember the next time he was tempted to do something he knew was wrong. Mighty King David had experienced a meteoric ride to power and fame: a lowly shepherd boy ...

62. Warning! In Case Of Rapture This Car Will Be Unmanned.

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Carl B. Rife

... Beam me up, Scotty." That is a kind of rapture, a transporting up. Paul uses that language in 2 Thessalonians: "We shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." Then there is the whole doctrine of the second ... according to the way that God has shown us in Jesus Christ, those efforts will not be wasted. The good that we do will be caught up in that consummation and will contribute to that consummation. It makes all the difference to know whether we are going about doing good ...

63. The Kingdom of God Is Like… a Joke!

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Steven Burt

... to the reality, to the presence of the Kingdom of God. They had thought this Kingdom or rule of God in each person’s life was coming, but when Jesus confronted them with parables such as this one, they found that it had arrived, had caught them off guard, caught them sleeping like the servants who didn’t stay awake while waiting for their master to return. First, let me say something about the Kingdom of God. The thing folks were waiting for was the coming of the Kingdom. You know, “Thy Kingdom come ...

64. God Moves In Mysterious Ways

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Robert Allen

... Known. Once, when I was teaching a Sunday school class on the miracles, someone asked me, “Robert, with your theology, do you believe that any of the miracles in the Bible really took place?” Yes, of course I do! I just think that sometimes we get so caught up in the hows of the miracle that we miss the most important aspect of the miracle story which is that God is trying to make himself known. The main point of any miracle is not that something magical took place, but that the presence of God is ...

65. Illusion Or Reality?

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... feel they have little to be forgiven for. In a strange way, the Pharisee-host also had a sickness, a condition that needed forgiveness. Because everything had gone so well with him, he had never had much opportunity to learn to sympathize with others. He was so caught up in his own judgments that he could no longer find God in anyone who had what he considered to be a "flaw." The biblical record announces with absolute clarity that it is not always the fittest who reach the Kingdom. If the unfit public does ...

66. Stairways Of Heaven

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Justin Tull

... saw the vision. Only those touched by heaven could understand. Those who live only in the realm of earth -- who never realize the heavenly visits, who never hear heavenly voices -- may well remain hopeless skeptics. But Jacob caught the vision. He caught it not simply because he saw a ladder or ramp. He caught it because he accepted the promises God gave to him and, as he did, heaven and earth touched. The good news that claimed him made earth and stone a holy place. But did you hear Jacob’s confession ...

67. Step Twelve - Responsibility

Lk 19:1-10 · Gal 6:1-10 · Is 61:1-4

Sermon

John A. Terry

... know what will be fun. I'll spend my life lying and then covering up for my lies." "Here's a great career. I think I will spend the rest of my life making friends with people who will get me into trouble." Sometimes in our sins we simply get caught up. We do not mean to do it. An illness overtakes us. The alcoholic reaches out to destroy others. He does not mean to. But he is no longer in control. It is like a swimmer who is drowning. The controls get anesthetized. You are just grasping for something to ...

68. St. Jim, Your Halo Is Tipped

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... on a long journey?" No voice. No answer. No one heeded the prayer to Baal. Then it was Elijah's turn. "Come near to me," he said to the people. They watched him repair the altar of the Lord which had been torn down and neglected as the people were caught in the chaos of idolatry. Elijah placed twelve stones around the altar to remind the people of their heritage of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he dug a trench around the altar and put wood in it. He started a fire, then added the sacrifice of a bull to ...

69. The Way He Taught

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

... TO DO IT IN A LOVING WAY. I. The first time I turned to this text for study a few weeks ago, my eye was caught by the last four words of the first sentence, "the way he taught." The "way" Jesus taught, indeed! It was different. It was stimulating. It ... whose authority is love. That's the way it is with God himself as our heavenly Father. We love him because he first loved us. We are caught up by God's love. We are convinced of his love for us because we have seen the work of his son, Jesus Christ. The cross ...

70. Hunger, Health, and Happiness

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

... , he was rising earlier in the morning and she took that as an indication that he was not sleeping well. On several occasions, she and her husband asked Aba if something was bothering him, but he always made light of such questions. One day his father caught him off guard, and Aba confessed that he was worried because of the rumors of political strife in their country. There was a growing rumor that they would be invaded by a larger, neighboring country. He was worried. So far, he admitted that it was only ...

71. Talents and Trust

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

... resentment, the sad knowledge that we are squandering a great gift and are guilty of faithlessness escalate until we are hopelessly caught - caught in a Catch-22: We cannot act for fear of failure, but precisely that refusal to act is itself failure - and ... far worse than failure, it is unfaithfulness. Like an insect entangled in a spider’s web, there is no way out for those caught in a Catch-22. Help must come from the outside. And it does, from the Holy and Blessed Trinity: as Creator, God breaks into ...

72. Who is Greatest Among You ...

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

... understandings of success. He redefined greatness, at least as far as our life in relationship with God is concerned. One evening, I was on my way to a dinner meeting at a downtown hotel. I parked my car in the parking deck adjacent to the hotel and caught the elevator down to the street level. A big sales convention of some kind was in progress and three or four of the sales representatives rode down the elevator as I did. It was one of those elevators attached to the outside wall of the parking deck ...

73. Recovering From the Blahs

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... department and an ambulance. Since her room was burned out, the young man invited her to share his apartment. She accepted and fell in love with him. Now she was pregnant and wanted to marry him. But when she went in for her blood test, she found that she had caught a disease from her boyfriend. She concluded the letter with these words: "Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you there was no dormitory fire. I did not have a skull fracture. I was not in the hospital and I am not pregnant. I ...

74. The Forgiven and the Forgiving

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... , we don’t! We want mercy. I have done things in my life that I cannot now straighten out. I need mercy. I need forgiveness. I am caught. There is no hope. I have done so much that I cannot un-do. Woe is me. I’ve had it! I can love, and care, and ... the boys and what had happened to them. The Jewish man was mad, bitter, wouldn’t read the letter, threw it away. Then something caught his eye - a name. He didn’t want to but he turned aside and looked, breathlessly. Something held him. It wouldn’t let him ...

75. Jesus Makes House Calls

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." [Matthew 14:22-33] The day of professional people’s making house ...

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