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 801 to 825 of 4957 results

801. In the Know

Illustration

Michael Horton

... . It seems that in Robert Tilton the church is blessed with a twentieth-century apostle whose visions of revelation exceed that of the apostle John and whose miracle powers surpass that of the apostle Paul. If we are to believe Tilton's astonishing claims, there is no reason we should not include his writings in the next edition of the New Testament. Paul Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), has revelatory dreams and has warmly embraced the neo-Gnostic dogma. His network has become a prime ...

802. Sketch Test

Illustration

... to a border crossing, he explained his predicament to one of the guards. Giving his name to the official, Dore hoped he would be recognized and allowed to pass. The guard, however, said that many people attempted to cross the border by claiming to be persons they were not. Dore insisted that he was the man he claimed to be. "All right," said the official, "we'll give you a test, and if you pass it we'll allow you to go through." Handing him a pencil and a sheet of paper, he told the artist to sketch several ...

803. The Lottery Substitute

Illustration

... , but I am not married and nobody is dependent upon me. I'll take your name and address and go in your place." And that is indeed what the record showed. This rather unusual case was referred to Napoleon Bonaparte, who decided that the country had no legal claim on that man. He was free. He had died in the person of another! This principle of substitution is also at the heart of the gospel. The Savior willingly took our place, not because He had any less to lose than we, but because of His infinite love ...

804. A Total Loss

Humor Illustration

An insurance agent filed this claim on behalf of one of his clients: "The Insured operates a dude ranch and we insure all of his ranch buildings and his pickup truck. He had been having trouble with coyotes and had rigged up an ... instead of shooting the coyote, he tied a stick of dynamite to its neck and lit the fuse, opening the cage door at the same time. The coyote unobligingly ran under the Insured's pickup truck. The claim is for the truck which is a total loss." (from Brian Herbert, Incredible Insurance ...

805. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... all they get is confirmation about who he is not. Before they can even mention any messianic musings John adamantly denies any hold on that title: ”I am not the Messiah.” As they try to pin down his identity this Temple contingent offers him the opportunity to claim other important roles. Is he Elijah, there to usher in the day of the Lord? Is he a new Moses, a new direct mouthpiece for God’s words to the world? John doesn’t want to talk about it. John doesn’t want to talk about himself, about ...

806. It’s a New Year: Take 7 Steps Forward

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... reveals he already knows all about him: “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is not deceit!” (v.47). So stunned is Nathanael that he fails to greet Jesus with any polite salutation or acknowledgment of the exalted position Philip has claimed for him. Instead he simply blurts out an incredulous, “Where did you get to know me?” (v.48). Jesus’ assertion that Nathanael is “without deceit” or “without guile” would perhaps bring to the mind of Jewish readers the exchange between Jacob and ...

807. Seeking Christ

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jesus. It makes sense that Jesus’ image should appear in a door, says one commentator. After all, Jesus did say, “I am the door.” (John 10:7) And he was a carpenter. Of course, we see this kind of thing all the time. One lady in St. Petersburg Florida claims seeing Jesus’ image in a potato chip! (2) My guess is that we see what we want to see, and our deepest yearning of all is to see Jesus. Our deepest yearning is to encounter God. And so, in our search for meaning our eyes pick up patterns that ...

808. Touched

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ’s prompt reporting of her experience of the risen Jesus at the tomb, those she tells do not seem to grasp the meaning of an empty tomb. Instead of running to see the tomb themselves or even going out to search for this risen Jesus Mary claims to have seen and spoken with, in John’s text the disciples keep that news quiet and themselves locked down throughout the day. It is not until ”evening,” that is, after sunset (i.e. officially after Easter Sunday had concluded), that the disciples’ world is ...

809. When Others Serve Your Head on a Platter

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... head hit the platter as a sacrifice for some supposed “greater good,” even though decapitation had no possible positives for you. But even as we all get to feel that bite of steel on our necks — to experience the bitterness of betrayal at the hands of those who claimed to know and admire us the most it is also true that we all wield our own blade against those we call friends and family. We will all face betrayal at some point in our lives. Tell me your twelve closest friends, and I’ll guarantee you ...

810. Not So With You

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... why could his chosen followers not also be imbued with some of that greatness? Surely at least some of the disciples must be destined to sit at Jesus’ “right” and “left” hand when he came into his full glory, when he publically claimed his messianic identity. James and John thought that the path of discipleship, their faithful following of Jesus, would naturally lead them to the celebrated “head table,” to places of honor and rightful recognition in this world. So confident are they about this ...

811. A Glimpse of Glory

Revelation 21:10-22 - 22:5

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... they be served, there is heaven. When we sing "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord," we are not just singing of some glory we have yet to see, some glory that lies somewhere in the distant future. No, we are making the outrageous claim that we have already seen the glory of the Lord! We have already caught a glimpse of heaven! We have already seen that place where death has been defeated, where there are no more tears, where there is only joy and celebration. We have seen Jesus seated at ...

812. It’s a Good Thing He’s Gone!

Ephesians 1:15-23, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... he's gone!" They were glad to get rid of him, to no longer have this Jesus of Nazareth walking around and disturbing their orderly little world. There were people like Pontius Pilate who may have said, "It was bad enough that this Jesus got everyone worked up by claiming to be some sort of a king. And then there was that messy trial and death sentence. I got manipulated into releasing that troublesome Barabbas. I know I'm going to regret that some day. I didn't want to put the man on trial, but I really had ...

813. In the Service

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of all Christians in the oneness of God’s Spirit, he spills that singleness of purpose and being into the multitude of spiritual gifts made available to all those who reside in the Spirit. Within the Corinthian community there had been various claims and disclaimers about the unique, and uniquely giftedness expressions of the Spirit. As chapter 14 will further discuss, a kind of hierarchy of spiritual giftedness was being touted by some members of the church Paul’s directive here levels the playing ...

814. Galatians 1:11-24

Galatians 1:11-24

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of a unique message and mission to the Gentiles. In order to accomplish this Paul implodes the resume he had built up over the course of his life. All that Paul had known or taught before is gone, overwhelmed by a new trajectory. Now all Paul claims as his is the transforming experience of the risen Christ and his call to proclaim Christ to the world. In this week’s epistle text Paul begins by asserting that the gospel he received was “not of human origin” (“kata anthropon”). It is not clear ...

815. Between a Rock and a Hard Rock Thrower

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

816. A Matter of Trust

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... can now buy trust in a bottle? All of you aspiring politicians listen up . . . all you guys who want to win over a member of the fairer sex . . . all of you who have a questionable product to sell to an unsuspecting public. A New York City lab claims to have put trust in a bottle. According to their ads, “After showering in the morning simply spray a squirt or two of odorless Liquid Trust onto your skin, and then the people you meet during the next few hours will trust you without their knowing why they ...

817. The Gift that Matters

Hebrews 2:5-18

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... that the baby was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Our question this morning is what do we do with Jesus now that we’ve celebrated Christmas? Do we pack him away with our nativity set only to bring him out next December? Or do we claim or reclaim Jesus as our Lord? A question worthy of our reflection today is how has God’s gift — Jesus changed our lives? Columnist Maureen Dowd recalls the Christmas that she received “one of those wooden horses that bounced on springs.” She named her horse ...

818. Divided We Fall

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... needed to realize that there was more that united them than divided them. “Be in agreement,” Paul pleaded, “that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” At one point in their journey they claimed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. In the early days of the church the people were united in their mission and ministry. Paul was calling to the people to remember who they were and more importantly to whom they belonged. There will be times when ...

819. The Lifesaver App

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... get in their way. Paul chastises the Corinthians for choosing “camps” instead of choosing Christ. Although we cannot know how formal these factions were within the Corinthian community, there was enough of an angry buzz going on between those who clamored and claimed “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” to get the apostle’s attention and cause him to raise an alarm. Paul reminds the contentious Corinthians that they were not baptized in the name of anyone ...

820. Expect the Unexpected

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... were delighted with the results of his visits and referred more and more people to him. Once he was asked to see a young woman who had a tragic family history. All the women in her family had been diagnosed with breast cancer and it had claimed the lives of her mother, her aunts and several cousins. When her older sister started on chemotherapy, she felt driven to action. She took the only option available to her at the time. She had both breasts removed surgically. The young man, now wearing a prosthesis ...

821. Do You Believe In Miracles?

Matthew 15:29-39

Sermon

James Merritt

... Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.’” (John 10:31-33, ESV) Jesus had just said, “I and the Father are One.” To any Jew that was blasphemy to claim that you were one with, or equal to God! These Pharisees pick up a bunch of stones and said to Jesus, “We are going to rock your world.” Listen to what Jesus says, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;but if ...

822. The Desperate

John 9:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

... of the world, 99.99% of the world didn’t know who He was and had never seen Him. Yet, He makes this incredible claim that He is “the light of the world.” Back in chapter 1, John makes this incredible statement about Jesus. “The true light, which ... I would encourage you to begin reading this gospel that I preached from today, the Gospel of John, and simply ask two questions: Who did Jesus claim to be? What am I going to do about it? It is when I decided to believe in Jesus as a 9 year old boy that ...

823. Digging Deeper

Luke 1:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... The gospels are the only relatively full biographies of this man named Jesus Christ. There is a lot riding on whether or not these four books are historically reliable and deal with facts, not fable. One out of every three people on this planet, over 2 ½ billion people, claim faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. If the Gospels are just legends, just myths, and have no real historical basis, then 1/3 of the world is either just stupid and won’t face up to the fact they are believing in someone no more ...

824. It's Not Rocket Science

John 8:31-41

Sermon

James Merritt

... other book or there is no other book like this book. The one thing that separates this book from every other book that ever has been or ever will be written is that it claims to be uniquely the Word of God. It claims to be the written revelation of God himself and the only written revelation that we have. That is the claim that deserves to be given the most rigorous examination and put to the most thorough test. We are in a series called “Unearthing Truth” and over the last two weeks we have shared with ...

825. King Jesus

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... name I ask it. Amen." Just one year later, servants came to check on their master's delay. They found him on his knees in prayer. He was dead. Livingstone's testimony is powerful on many levels, but the one that is most striking is his claim upon Jesus as "my king." This has been a common declaration of the church throughout the ages. Even in our era, when democratic social movements topple kings and weigh in against tyrannical regimes, the largest social organization in the entire human race, the Church of ...

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