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 4490 results

826. Dream Weaver

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many know the 1975 song, “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright? Wright apparently took the idea for the song from John Lennon, who in his song “God” saw himself as the “dream weaver” of the 1960s, “breaking away from the influences and dogmas that informed his life.”* Lennon in fact spent his life trying to “break free” of the childhood traumas and psychological demons that plagued him, as well as cultural conventions. That “liberation” theme came out frequently in his music, and in his life. Lennon was ...

827. The Rebirth

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The story of Nicodemus is fascinating and intriguing. Nicodemus came to Jesus secretly by night, probably because he didn't want anyone to see him. He came to Jesus with a compliment. He said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him" (John 3:2), thinking that Jesus, like most people, would be impressed by a compliment. He came wanting to discuss theology, assuming that Jesus would be interested in a ...

828. Hear, Hear

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

A woman went to see a divorce lawyer. Frantically she told him, "I must have a divorce from my husband immediately!" The lawyer asked, "Do you have any grounds?" "Yes, about five acres." "I mean, do you have a grudge?" the lawyer questioned. "No, just a carport." Then the lawyer asked, "Does he beat you up?" "No," the woman replied, "I get up before he does." Exasperated, the attorney demanded, "Madam, why do you want a divorce from your husband?" "Because it is impossible to communicate with that man!" ...

829. Is Christ In The Manger?

Drama

Karren Boehr

Theme: The Christ Of Christmas Changes Lives (Based on Isaiah 61) Scenes I - IV are placed in various areas of the sanctuary. In Act I each of the four scenes portrays a different pitfall of the holiday season: the bitter family feelings, the busyness, the anxiety, the loneliness. In Act II the same scenes are touched by the glory and power of the Christ Child. (The optional use of a spotlight enhances the effectiveness of each scene.) Act I (Actors in Scenes I - IV take their places, then freeze) Scene I ...

830. Having Trouble Sleeping Through the Night

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Having trouble sleeping through the night? You're not alone. Samuel did, too. Sometimes you hear a haunting phrase that sticks with you years later. I heard one like that from Gardner Taylor, that great African-American preacher who once held forth in the pulpit of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn. I don't even remember the sermon, which is all right — we're not supposed to remember sermons anymore than we should remember meals; we're supposed to be fed and challenged by them at the moment. I don't ...

831. No Excuse

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

James Merritt

Imagine this: U2 has just made an announcement they are splitting up. They have been at it a long time, made all the money they could ever spend, and they are tired of traveling. To celebrate their long careers one of the most successful bands in the history of music are going to do one last farewell concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. For one night only, last chance to hear them doing all their best songs, they are advertising it as the greatest show they will ever put on. It is destined to ...

832. Elihu Makes His Appearance

Job 32:1--37:24

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: The young Elihu claims to know the truth that has escaped Job and his friends. Understanding the Text After Job concludes his words in 31:40, the reader expects to hear Yahweh speak to resolve the debate between Job and his friends. Instead, a young man named Elihu bursts upon the scene, and for the next six chapters he holds the stage. In his long, uninterrupted speech, Elihu summarizes the points made by Job and the friends, often quoting or alluding to their specific words. He agrees with them ...

833. Defeating Discouragement

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Yard sales are interesting to me. I don’t frequent them very often, but I am always fascinated by the fact that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Someone can’t wait to get rid of old tapes and records — doesn’t want them cluttering up the house anymore. Along comes a complete stranger and he just can’t believe anyone would want to sell them. He buys them for a steal and drives home with a big smile thinking he just committed robbery. He brings the records home, clutters up his own house ...

834. Let It Loose!

Mark 7:31-37, Exodus 4:1-17, Exodus 4:18-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Let it loose! Let ‘er rip! Open up and give the best rip-roaring shout of praise you can muster up! Ready –shout! [Cock your ear to listen…] That was your shout of praise? Let’s try that again! [Invite people to whoop it up!] Well, that’s something that’s become hard for us to do in church these days, isn’t it? Here we are experiencing the most amazing, mind-blowing truth of all time –the resurrection of Jesus and the super-charged presence of the Holy Spirit blowing right through and among us here this ...

835. Dim Visions And Blind Guides

Sermon

Harold Warlick

The societal limits which impinge on our world also affect our personal existence in profound ways. Nowhere is this more critical than in our own dreams and visions. Dreams and visions are important in life. Every action we take in life was designed by someone. Every piece of clothing, every building, every hymn book, every chair, every light fixture, and every automobile existed first in someone's vision. Someone had to have the idea or the dream to turn out the product. The same holds true for the way we ...

836. How To Be Rich And Poor

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One day, Herman and Clara were riding along in their shiny new car. Clara spoke up and said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this wonderful new car." Herman just sat there and didn't say a word. As they pulled into their driveway, Herman turned off the engine. They quietly admired their beautiful home and Clara said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this house." Herman just sat there and didn't say a word. That afternoon, a ...

837. Caring for the Vineyard We Did Not Plant

Matthew 20:1-16, Joshua 24:1-27

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many of you have seen an episode of “This Old House”? How many know what I’m talking about? The show, on television for nearly 40 years (since 1979), now also has a website and a magazine. The innovative show has developed a “buzz” as the “go-to” site for creative hands-on remodeling --for men and women alike! Its premise is simple: how to take an ordinary, drab, old, crumbling, or even condemned house, a “fixer-upper” if you will, and renovate and revision that house into a new, sound, and exquisite ...

838. Swords Into Plowshares

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

One Sunday after church, a mother was talking to her young daughter. She told her daughter that, according to the Bible, Jesus will return to earth some day. "When is he coming back?" the daughter asked. "I don't know," replied the mother. "Can't you look it up on the Internet?" the little girl asked. (1) Well, you can find lots of interesting things on the Internet, but to read an authoritative source about the return of Christ, you will need to turn elsewhere. Eight hundreds years before Christ, the ...

839. Landing Instructions

Isaiah 40:25-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

We were all attracted to the story of Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France last weekend, that grueling bicycle race. It is one of the great endurance races in the world today. Lance Armstrong won it in record time, two years after undergoing surgery and then chemotherapy for cancer that spread throughout his body, including to his brain. It is a testimony first of all to the wonderful advances that medicine has made in curing cancers, but everyone recognizes as well that it is a terrific testimony to ...

840. The Great Depression

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

I’m beginning a six-week series of messages that I am entitling “Dealing with Feelings.” I’m going to begin today with the most dominant destructive debilitating feeling of all. Have you ever awakened in the morning and somehow you just knew it was going to be a bad day? Somebody with a great sense of humor described a few clues to let us know that it’s “going to be a bad day” when: You wake up face down on the pavement. You call Suicide Prevention and they put you on hold. Your birthday cake collapses ...

841. Wake Well, Wake Welcome

Romans 13:8-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Anyone here this morning NOT ever had the experience of “getting up on the wrong side of the bed”? So, we have no superior beings here this morning. Good, I can feel right at home. But there is something even worse than “getting up on the wrong side of the bed.” It’s eating breakfast across from someone who “got up on the wrong side of the bed.” Nothing starts the day off on a more sour note than a crabby crash encounter with a wrong-side-of-bed person while you are both still in your pajamas. These days ...

842. The Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

The Writer’s Purpose Restated 3:1 After his lengthy tirade against the false teachers and their perverted life-style so dangerous to the well being of his readers, Peter turns—one senses, with warm relief—to address his dear friends directly. He now reverts to his opening exhortation to them to foster their spiritual life (1:5–8). This is now my second letter to you, he declares, although whether he means 1 Peter or some other letter, now lost, is uncertain. Since Peter is evidently not able to visit his ...

843. The Lord Speaks

Job 38:1--41:34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

God’s Appearance and Examination of Job Excursus: It should be clear from the outset that the fact God that appears in response to Job’s plea for a meeting immediately puts the lie to any claims to the contrary that Elihu and the other friends have made. God does appear in response to Job. His very appearance, therefore, proves Elihu’s earlier claim false—that God will not respond to Job because he has already spoken his final word of judgment in Job’s suffering. Deciding how to characterize this divine ...

844. Forgiveness

Matthew 6:12

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

Object: Several large rubber bands. Lesson: Forgiveness. As I greet the children this morning, I pull several rubber bands out of my pocket. The children's eyes light up with interest as they consider the possibilities of what I might be going to do with something so potentially fun. "I see some of you have noticed the rubber bands I've brought with me. I need someone to take hold of one of them and pull on it just a little bit while I hold onto it too." (One of the children volunteers) As we stretch the ...

845. A Gift That Won 't Wear Out

2 Corinthians 4:18

Children's Sermon

Object: a warranty or guarantee. Good morning, boys and girls. I want to see how good your memory is today. How many of you can remember a toy you received way back at Christmas time? (Let them raise their hands if they can remember.) Can some of you tell me one thing you received? (Let them tell you.) Now let me ask you a different kind of question. How many of you received something for Christmas that is already broken? (Let them answer.) Sometimes it doesn't even take six months for something new to ...

846. Easter 3

Acts 2:14-41, Acts 2:42-47, Isaiah 43:1-13, 1 Peter 1:13-2:3, Luke 24:13-35

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Second Sunday after Easter used to be titled as Misericordia Domini ("the goodness of the Lord") and was known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Now it is listed as the Third Sunday of Easter, and Good Shepherd Sunday was moved to the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Years A, B, and C. Years A and B now feature the first appearances of Jesus, according to Luke 24; Year C employs John 21:1-14, which is the third appearance of Jesus after the resurrection. This is one way of extending the appearances of ...

847. John Was not like Gene

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

As the people misunderstood the authentic John the Baptist of history ("What did you go into the forest to see?"), people may misunderstand him now. So suggests this sermon. Because John the Baptist may appear today in clothing other than that of camel’s hair, John’s message may appear in different forms. To illuminate a common distortion of the figure of John the Baptist, the sermon uses a childhood experience, which also captures the listener’s attention. The sermon refers to this experience throughout ...

848. More Than We Are

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In Cabeza De Vaca’s account of his journey from Florida to the Pacific, between the years of. 1528 and 1536, he tells how the Indians came to him and his companion asking them to cure their sick. The two white men were themselves half-starved, lost and filled with blank despair. Yet, the Indians felt that they, being white men, had super-human power. De Vaca felt that they had no such power. “But we had to heal them or die,” he wrote. Now listen to De Vaca: “So we prayed for strength. We prayed on bended ...

849. When God Seems Far Off

Psalm 10:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

“Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Have you ever felt that way? You wanted to say that to the Lord? There have been times in my life when God seemed far off, beyond the reach of communication. I have awakened at 3 o’clock in the morning, morning after morning after morning, and anguished in spirit until day break, but my praying was more frustrating than fruitful. My passionate pleas seemed to bounce off the ceiling and ricochet around the walls. It never ...

850. The Horror before the Blessing

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

A few years ago, a woman wrote in exasperation to the editor of her newspaper. She demanded to know why the media always publish negative and sad stories during the holiday season. As she pointed out, "Christmas is supposed to be a happy, joyous time."1 Her letter sounds almost as if she thinks that, even if bad news happens during the holiday season, the newspapers and television should simply ignore those things. Maybe we all wish Christmas time had a kind of protective bubble around it. Christmas could ...

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