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 726 to 750 of 2665 results

726. On the Art Of Listening To Sermons

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... to sort through the noises, to hear the Word. Distractions divert our attention from what is to be the focus of the moment, and we turn off our hearing to think about what has just happened. We lose our place when a physician’s pager sounds, a hymnal is dropped, a door is opened or there is a sudden movement by some person. All of it sidetracks us from the main agenda. These are not days which are the most conducive in hearing God’s Word. There are many competing ideas and rival ways of living vying for ...

727. Saturday Night At The Fights

Drama

Timothy W. Ayers

... that I shouldn't marry you. She was right. You're a loser! (John staggers) John: Anyone in a partnership with you is bound to end up a loser. (Wilma staggers) Wilma: Maybe you should just call the whole marriage off and try it with someone else. (John drops to one knee) Sound effects: bell gong(They stand and stare at each other in stunned silence. They start to back away from each other; showing hurt and fear) Announcer: In a moment the referee will bring over his decision on who the winner is. While we ...

728. How Do You Spell Stress?

Drama

Timothy W. Ayers

... only thing that's getting meaner is me. They downsize and the business gets bigger and bigger. I'm supposed to handle more, with less, in less time and for less money. My territory now covers six states instead of three. I've doubled the customers and the quality keeps dropping. I can't tell you how many times I've had to say, "Your order is on the loading dock," when I know the company is having trouble producing it. Did I mention the commute? What a ride! Me I spell stress, J-O-B. Male or Female: How do ...

729. Endorsing The Future

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... promised them bread in the mornings. The manna came on the tamarisk bushes. But there was a spiritual lesson in the manna. The manna comes from insects who eat the sap of the plant and pass the excess sap in honeydew excretions. The dry desert air changes those into drops that turn solid. But if you pick it and let it stay too long in the evening air, it spoils by the next morning. As the people gathered this manna, they were warned by Moses not to gather more than enough for their family for one day. But ...

730. Dim Visions And Blind Guides

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... years. And as I read papers I always discern a familiar pattern. About one-third of the students will have stopped attending church prior to college. And the number one reason given for their lack of a religious background will be this: their parents dropped out of church over the hypocrisy of someone who pretended to be a guide or teacher. The preacher ran off with the choir director or a secretary. Or the venerable church school teacher or deacon got arrested for embezzlement. Or some arrogant born-again ...

731. “You Did That for Me!”

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... . We enjoyed jumping from one topic to another, sharing, interrupting, countering. I did a double-take when my friend slipped in a surprise. “My marriage is in trouble.” The conversation changed at once. Another new topic had occurred to me, but I dropped it. The time had come for listening. Our conversation had changed from a freewheeling exchange to an intimate opening and sharing. I asked leading questions and made observations. I was trying hard to listen, actively using a mixture of silence and ...

732. A Road Map to the Kingdom

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... are learning how always to make forward progress. So it will be that when we come to the door of the Kingdom, we will have no bulky burdens on our shoulders to hamper our entering, no treasures we feel we must hold on to. We drop regrets and self-pity. Recriminations against life disappear; we make no bargains with life simply because we worked hard; and no false attitudes slow us down. Stripped for the journey, having cast off all baggage -- the encumbering weight of our “treasures”--we enter into that ...

733. Where Does That Leave Us?

Mark 13:1-31, Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... station in Liberia. One day she arose early to shower before the others. As she began to shampoo her hair, to her surprise she found the water to be brown, and finally there was no water at all. As she tried to wash out the shampoo with the last few drops, she realized to her dismay that there was sand, the red soil of the region, in her hair. She asked her friend what had happened. The friend told her that there was a man in the station in charge of the two water tanks. When one emptied, his responsibility ...

734. The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

... raising 4 kids on $150 a week." I don’t want to put words in the mouth of Jesus but if he were to define winning I think he would define it as a despised Samaritan who stops and helps a beaten victim on the Jericho Road, a widow who drops her small coin in a collection box, a despised tax collector' who cries out: God, be merciful to me a sinner. In short, a winner in God's eyes is one who feeds the hungry, tends the sick, and visits the imprisoned. And who are the losers? A religious leader ...

735. One Flower or Many?

John 11:50

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... first I want to show you something that I think will help you to better understand the story. I have a flower with me. It is a beautiful flower. (Show them the flower.) Inside of the petals on this flower there are seeds. Did you know that, when the petals drop off of this flower and the flower looks like it has died, the seeds fall to the ground? (Let them answer.) What happens to the poor little seeds? (Let them answer.) That's right, they are buried in the ground and next year you have a bunch of flowers ...

736. Our Dwelling Place In All Generations

Psalm 90:1-17

Eulogy

Joe Barone

... hope. There is real hope in the message of the psalmist. There is real hope in the blessing of a loving God, a God who makes it possible for us to live in such a way 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 ...

737. Previews Of Coming Attractions

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... . Now the clerk started shouting, threatening the child with a loud, angry voice. Just then a girl about seven or eight years old came around the end of the counter. She sized up the situation with a glance. And then she acted. Running over to the boy, she dropped to her knees, put her arm around him, and began whispering softly. Now the child understood. Slowly and carefully he began replacing the items on the shelf.Then the girl stood and turned to the clerk. Her voice was still calm and soft. "He doesn't ...

738. Anointed Ministry

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... for sabbath worship at the local synagogue because it was rumored that Jesus who was making a big hit all over Galilee would be there. Sure enough, Jesus was there. Sure enough, he spoke. The atmosphere was electric with anticipation. You could have heard a pin drop when the ex-carpenter of Nazareth got up to interpret the Word. The intensity of the moment grew dramatically when the young preacher read Isaiah 61:1-2 as the beginning of his inaugural address. "The spirit of the Lord is upon me," Jesus began ...

739. The Road To Jerusalem

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... and over again we are Jerusalem. So on this Palm Sunday, I want to remind us of what is before us today. If we want to be bystanders parade watchers - palm waving, flag waving Christians who go home after the parade and forget it, then we can do just that. Drop in $10, pay our dues, have a good feeling, be at ease and let the world go to hell. But, let me warn you. If you are serious about this Jesus stuff, if you want to be a participant, then you had better watch out and prepare yourself and get ...

740. Christmas Preparations We Often Forget

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... rescue. He watched from the island's heights for a ship, but none came. Then, one day, on the distant horizon, he saw it: first a sail, then a ship coming closer and closer. He thrilled at the prospect of being rescued at last. But when the ship dropped anchor off-shore, and a landing party approached the beach, he was afraid, after all this time of aloneness, to meet his own kind face to face. He hid himself. The men of the landing party saw signs of his presence. They called. They searched. But he knew ...

741. The True Story of The Magi (Old Title: Just The Facts)

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

John Jamison

There is a beautiful old tradition about the star in the East. The story says that when the star had finished its task of directing the wise men to the baby, it fell from the sky and dropped down into the city well of Bethlehem. According to some legend, that star is there to this day, and can sometimes still be seen by those whose hearts are pure and clean. It's a pretty story. It kind of makes you feel warm inside. There are other legends about ...

742. The Call To Excellence

Numbers 27:12-23

Sermon

Sims Robert

... One who has done everything for them. We’ve heard much lately about “burnout” among the clergy. I am sympathetic, and understand why the burnout happens. I know pastors who have been overworked and overstressed. Under the pressure they have burned out and many have dropped out. However, let me be honest with you and say that I am far less concerned about burnout among clergy than I am about cop out. I know far more ministers who are giving too little to the church than those who are giving too much ...

743. Chosen By God

Ruth 4:1-12

Sermon

Sims Robert

... us that in the next 24 hours in this country, 3,200 children and teenagers will run away from home, 2,900 will see their parents divorced, 2,800 teenage girls will become pregnant, 1,850 children will be abused or neglected, 1,500 teenagers will drop out of school, 1,100 teenage girls will have an abortion, 200 children will be arrested for drug abuse, and six teenagers will commit suicide. Can we face that challenge as a weakened, enfeebled church? Understand that to be chosen of God is a demanding thing ...

744. A Lesson From Prayers Overheard

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... is telling the truth, too. He is a sinner! And what's more, he makes no offer either of repentance or of reparation. He cannot offer to repent, for he would have no way to earn a living or support his family. Being the highest bidder, he can hardly drop his rates and still make a profit. If he repents, he must also make reparation of the amount wrongly charged, plus a penalty of one-fifth -- 20 percent! Unlike Zacchaeus, who in his repentance goes beyond the law ("Half my goods I give to the poor, and if I ...

745. The Glorious Company

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... , there are many more who pile up the fruits and candies, turn on the lights and wait by the door for the little ones and their anything-but-frightening, "Trick or Treat!" We chuckle as we listen for the familiar voice from behind the mask, and we drop an apple in the extended bag. Except for a few roaming older teens and perhaps a few soaped windows at their hands, no one worries about the "tricks" that are threatened. Halloween takes its name from All Hallows Eve, though its origins are pre-Christian and ...

746. The Boy Who Ran Away

Mark 14:43-52

Sermon

Erskine White

... that? Then Jesus took three of His disciples and went to a large, flat rock nearby in the garden. I couldn't hear what He was saying, but I could see by His silhouette in the moonlight that He was praying. He prayed so hard that His sweat became like drops of blood (Luke 22:44), and it made me scared. What was going on? I knew Jesus had enemies, and I had heard He could be tough on the priests and the moneychangers. But Jesus had always been kind and friendly to me; He especially loved the children. I had ...

747. Can A Nation Repent?

2 Chronicles 34:14-33

Sermon

Erskine White

... by the holiness and majesty of God. Most rulers become too enamored with their own power and prestige; then they are no longer impressed enough with God. But Josiah surely knew in spirit what the prophet was soon to say: Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales ... [For God] sits above the circle of the earth ... [He] brings princes to nought, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. (cf. Isaiah 40:15-23) When kings (or presidents) truly understand ...

748. Checking The Vital Signs

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... .” Has your life changed any in the last couple weeks since Easter and the resurrection? After all, the Christian faith is a lot like the measles -- you catch it -- It’s a holy infection! A stranger came into a doctor’s office and said, “I just dropped in to tell you how much I benefited from your treatment.” The doctor replied, “But you are not one of my patients.” “I know,” the stranger replied, “but my uncle was and I’m his heir.” Sometimes our witness is so dull. We seem like a ...

749. For One Who Worked With Disturbed Children

2 Corinthians 12:11-21

Eulogy

William Luoma

... on his leg, cannot yet stand up by himself. Even though we may like to think that we are self-sufficient, we all need help at some time or another. We are dependent on others around us. God's help does not necessarily come dramatically, nor is it dropped from heaven into our front yard. More often, his help comes through other people - people who care. I think of the young man, a Christian from Nigeria, who was a student in college in the United States. He received a message to return home for an important ...

750. For a Cancer Victim

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Eulogy

James W. Robinson

... perfect." (Matthew 5:48) If any mere mortal was ever perfect, it was Paul. But Paul said, in effect (Philippians 3:12), I'm not perfect. I haven't gotten there yet. But I'm trying. And by the grace of God, I'll make it, or try 'til I drop in my tracks. Methodist belief holds that perfection is a possibility in this life. Here's why. Christian perfection (as a Methodist doctrine) means this: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all ...

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