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 826 to 850 of 1249 results

826. The Power of Small Things

Luke 3:1-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

... girl by the name of Sofi was born in Siberia, a bitterly cold and desolate area of Russia. A difficult place to be a child but Sofi's life was going to be even rougher than most. She was an orphan. Then suddenly at the age of 2 she was adopted, sight unseen, by Laurie Collis a single mother in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is now doing well. So well that she entered a NASA essay contest to suggest names for the two rovers the Sapce Agency was about to send to mars. She was in the third grade and out of ...

827. Flying First Class

Ephesians 1:3-13

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. [5] He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according ...

828. Gideon: One Giant Leap

Judges 6:11-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the Midianites, they just caused confusion in the camps. It wasn't really even Gideon, it was God. And it all came about because Gideon, this ordinary person, had extraordinary faith. And then it was only a little faith at that. God did the rest. When we adopt this whole idea of Servant Evangelism, we do the little things and God does the rest. Let me give you some examples. One church chose to go into a local Laundromat with a handful of quarters and as people began to put their clothes in the washer ...

829. Never Too Old For God: Abraham And Sarah

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... family can be two brothers like Earl and Randy in My Name Is Earl. But a family can be one person as well, choosing to remain single. Or a blended family with everything from kids from one or both former marriages like the Brady Bunch, to families with adopted children. So, you see, in today's society, family can be almost anything. The important thing is that a family is a place of nurture, love and understanding. Does that mean there won't be conflict? No. Does it mean that every day will be sunshine and ...

830. The Dachshund Dilemma

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... had turned him around, the disciples in Jerusalem refused to believe it, or accept him. They gave him the cold shoulder. You can understand their feelings. The Jerusalem disciples thought Saul had joined the spy business. They suspected their arch-persecutor of adopting a deceitful ploy. By becoming an undercover agent in Christian guise, he would discover the followers of the Way. They feared he would send them to prison or to death, but Barnabas believed the best about Saul. Taking him to the leaders ...

831. Life Is Difficult

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

Mark Trotter

... corporation. The worker says to the boss, "If it's any comfort, it's lonely at the bottom too." Life is difficult for everyone. Someone explained to me once why they don't like Lent. They said, "I'm not into suffering." Like it's optional. Like it's an adopted lifestyle. Well Jesus was not into suffering either. You remember he prayed, "Let this cup pass from me." But when the time came for him to go on "The Hero's Quest," the text says, "He set his face steadfastly for Jerusalem."

832. Valley of Suffering (Series: Peace in the Valley)

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... involved in the birth of a child, so suffering seems to be a given in our transition into heaven, Or as St. Paul put it, “The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time…as we eagerly wait for our adoption as children and the redemption of our bodies.” It takes a leap of faith, but the God who knew us before time began, who willed us into being, will also give us an embodied life for eternity. We believe in the resurrection! Sing with all the saints of ...

833. Where do You Live?

Romans 14:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... leaders people how to do their jobs, but he wanted the pastor to tell the choir director which songs to sing. People are amazing aren't we? (2) For the first 18 years of my life, I used my stepfather's last name even though I wasn't legally adopted. The only two things that had the name Strayhorn on them were my birth certificate and my driver's license. When I enlisted in the Coast Guard, they insisted that I use my legal name. The first day of boot camp they were calling out names, checking to make ...

834. Reassessing Our Laughter (Series: Questioning Our Values)

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... It went in part like this: Dear Dr. Schuller, In 1961, my wife and I got married and shortly thereafter, we suffered a financial reversal that made me bitter. We wanted children, but discovered we couldn’t have one. That made me more bitter. Finally, we adopted a little boy, but then we found out he was mentally retarded. I became even more bitter. The bitterest day of my life was when little Joey died. The day we buried him I completely stopped believing in God. The years passed. My wife started watching ...

835. Does Love Really Make the World Go ’Round? (Series: Real Faith for Real People)

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of. Being made Perfect in Love develops Christ-like people. Let us be honest! Is there anybody anywhere, Christian or un-Christian, religious or non-religious, who does not believe that Jesus Christ showed the world a better way to live? What keeps us from adopting His values and imitating His life style? As my fellow Kentuckian Wendell Berry writes, “In times like these when we have been most cruelly hurt by those who hate us, it is hard to speak of the way of peace and to remember that Christ enjoined ...

836. This Is the Day!

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

King Duncan

... . He says that when a wildebeest or zebra is trapped by a lion, the trapped animal will submit to the inevitable. Its head drops, its eyes glaze over, and it stands motionless and accepts its fate. Walsh notes that people, in the face of adversity, adopt this same behavior. He calls it the posture of defeat chin down, head dropped, shoulders slumped, arms hung limply. This posture, he notes, is often visible as players leave the field in the later stages of a game when things are going against them. He ...

837. Go

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... every day ordinary kinds of people. He didn't have a single Pharisee, Sadduccee, Priest or Levite on his staff. It was all run by the laity. And after Pentecost their ministry exploded. William Willimon said: "In baptism we are initiated, crowned, chosen, embraced, washed, adopted, gifted, reborn, killed, and thereby sent forth and redeemed. We are identified as one of God's own, then assigned our place and our job within the kingdom of God." (2) So you see, it is all about You telling all about Him. "GO ...

838. East of Eden or Home

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... in her life, creating a new family of caring for her and about her. She never regained consciousness and died, unclaimed, no one really knowing who she was. A funeral mass was held for her in the hospital chapel, which was packed with her new “adopted family” of hospital personnel. Jane Doe had died unknown by her real name and unclaimed by her family. But, within the Christian understanding of life and death, she had died known by God where her true identity exists. Feel the tragedy of that - the fact ...

839. Freedom to Set Free

Galatians 4:21-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... far enough. They must now be circumcised, and begin to keep the Sabbath, new moon, and other ceremonies. Confused by these newcomers, the Galatians were tempted to turn again into religious slavery, to get caught up in legalism and negative restriction, to adopt the prohibitions and requirements of a depressing system of ceremonial, moral and ritual law. Paul heard of this and reacted with severity. He wrote this letter to the Galatians pressing upon them the fact that they had been delivered from all of ...

840. The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James W. Moore

... 25 about the least of these and he shouted... "Wait! Don't you recognize me? Don't you know who I am? I'm one of the least of these. I am of Jesus whom you say you love!" And the woman opened the door and welcomed him in. She adopted him and raised him as her own. Wouldn't it be something if we could see the face of Jesus in every person we meet? Wouldn't it be something if we could relate to every person we meet as if that person were Jesus in disguise? Unconditional love... that ...

841. Assurance: The Privilage of All Believers

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to take no thought for tomorrow.’” (works, Volume 1, page 104). That can be my experience and your experience – with the assurance given us that we are no longer slaves but sons – and that we’ve not been given the spirit of fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba, Father.” We can sin not today and know that Jesus forbids us to take any thought of tomorrow. And we can keep singing that hymn that Charles wrote in a celebration of his and his brother’s conversion. Where shall my ...

842. Samaria and Our Spiritual Journey

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . Mother was sitting quietly, kind of old and small looking. Suddenly she jumped into the conversation: “I first experienced the love of God,” she said, “in the orphanage.” Mother was an orphan. We have no idea who her biological parents were. She was adopted from the orphanage at age 15. “Someone was reading from the Bible,” she continued. “They read: ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.’ My father and my mother did forsake me”, she said, “and the ...

843. Out of the Miry Bog (Dealing with Depression)

Psalm 22:1-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... played a trick on us - somehow, the prevailing notion is that a Christian must always be glowing, always be on top, never down, and certainly never in doubt about God’s presence. I think this shows how powerful the devil is - causing masses of Christians to adopt a model that even Jesus didn’t fit. Do you remember Gethsemane? Sweat drops of blood, no less. Do you remember the cross? “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!” No matter what our feelings of depression and despair, we’re in good ...

844. When Being Christian Has Worn You Down (Compassion Fatigue)

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . But we must do it – when compassion and fatigue sets in. A RABBIT ON THE SWIM TEAM Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do some thing meaningful to meet the problems of the new world. So they organized a school. They adopted an activity curriculum of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects. The duck was excellent in swimming; in fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying ...

845. The Time Is Right

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... weary road, And hear the angels sing. The time is right for a visit from God tonight. II. THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR YOU TO HAVE NEW LIFE. Listen to this reflection of the early Christian church on this Christmas eve event. In the fullness of time God came to adopt us as children so that we are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God (Galatians 4:4,7). God has come to give you the very best Christmas gift ever—an identity and an inheritance. Don't go home without ...

846. What Power Has He?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . Maybe it's time to realize where power lies, and straighten it out in our mind. When Caesar Augustus ruled the world, Christ the Savior was born. I. Contrast the Power of Position VS. the Power of a Person Caesar Augustus was Gaius Octavius the adopted son of Julius Caesar who reigned as absolute monarch over the Roman Empire for 45years. During Octavian's reign, Rome came to rule the world from Western Europe to Iraq. Roads were built. Arts abounded; literature exploded. Some said this man found Rome a ...

847. The Power of a Vision

2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... God has never failed me yet. The greatest passage in the Bible is John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. We are the recipients of that kind of love from God. As Stephen Doughty tells the story in Weavings, a couple adopted a little girl. When Sarah was about 18 months old, her parents would say, “How big is God’s love?” Sarah’s arms would shoot straight away from her shoulders, her fingers pointing to the end of the earth, an open-mouthed smile would shine across her face ...

848. The Power to Make a Difference

Acts 16:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the opportunity. Grandparents now have 20 to 30 years of time after retirement. What could be a better use of that time than to shape the spiritual life of the next generation? If you don't have grand children close, I think the Church can help you adopt a few. His mother, Eunice, was a Christian. There is no substitute for godly parents. You can't give what you don't have. Become a sincere believer yourself. Don't form an opinion about God, develop a relationship with God. Seek God's wisdom. Accept God ...

849. Love

John 15:9-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... in my love." I. Love Is An Experience Love is an experience before it is an expression. So let me ask you. Are you living as a loved child of God? To be loved is to be chosen. To be chosen is to be picked, selected, wanted, desired, adopted, claimed, singled out, set aside. The need to be chosen causes pastors to run for bishop, teenagers to try out for sports teams, politicians to seek elections, and employees to work for promotions. It is a good feeling to be chosen, and a raw feeling to be overlooked ...

850. Something to Brag About

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... a tree is under God’s curse.” (21:22-23) Did you get that? For the Jews, to hang on a tree did not mean you were the Savior of the world. Rather it meant that you were under a curse from God. It’s utterly amazing that Christians would adopt the cross as the symbol of the faith. There are not many people who revile the cross today, of course. Indeed, what concerns me is that not many people today take the cross that seriously. We see a cross hanging around people’s necks, but how much power does it ...

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