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 4939 results

826. Persevere - What Would Bill Do? (New)

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... reminding his readers how hard it was for him to keep on preaching about Jesus. There were a lot of people who did not like for him to preach about Jesus. Paul said his purpose was to please God, not people, so he went right on preaching. He didn’t give up. How do you think he had the courage to keep on when so many people were against him? He persevered because God gave him the courage. There is a message in that for us today. When you are doing what Jesus wants you to do, don’t ...

827. The Primacy Of Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... gong or a clanging symbol. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains -- but if I have not love I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned -- but if I have not love, it does me no good." You can't miss it, can you? No matter who I am, what I believe, who I know, what I do -- if I don't have love, I am nothing at all. Love is ...

828. Changed Lives - Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... , the more committed you are to serving God, the more intensely you will struggle with the things of faith. Persons for whom faith is nominal never struggle. That’s because they don’t really care. But, if you really care, if you’re really seeking to give up everything to follow Christ, you are going to wrestle with the meaning of it all as well as the reality of it all. Thomas really wanted to serve Christ. There is another incident in the New Testament when Thomas is prominent, this time before Jesus ...

829. Turn Right with the Right Turn

Luke 13:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... about total repentance, not partial repentance. There are a lot of people who come down the aisle of a church, or make some type of a decision for Christ, but it's only a half-hearted repentance. They are willing to give up some things, but they are not willing to give up everything. I want to tell you something. A half-hearted repentance is nothing more than wholehearted rebellion. I heard about a shoplifter who wrote to a department store an anonymous letter, and said, "Dear Sir, I have just become a ...

830. What Is 40 Days Of Purpose?

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

James Merritt

... it is - sharing good news. I say to you unashamedly that at Cross Pointe we want to see as many people in our church as we can, but hear me clearly. It takes unselfish people to grow a church. It takes people who will say, "I will give up my seat. I will give up my parking space. We will go to extra services. We will build an extra building. We will support a stewardship campaign. We will do anything it takes because there is something more important than my comfort and it is that people get in to heaven ...

831. What Would Jesus Say About Medical Care?

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... pain of that fractured relationship was taking its toll on her physically. The healing she needed that night was a spiritual healing. She needed something touched in her heart alright, not the pump, but the soul. E.S. Jones once said, “We must give up on the notion that we can harbor fears, resentments, self-centeredness, guilt, and still believe nothing will happen to us physically.” The body cannot bear what the soul will not resolve. I will know we are making progress toward spiritual health when the ...

832. The Lenten License to Steal, Drink, Lie and Swear

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... He believed God had a purpose. He believed God had his back. When Abraham believed God, he surrendered control of his life over to God without reservation or hesitation. Abraham trusted and obeyed God, and stepped forward in faith. If Lent is about “giving up” something, let’s not pretend that it is significant to deny to ourselves chocolate or red meat or “Blue Bloods” tv shows. What would be significant this Lenten season would be if we could strive to deny ourselves, not just deny to ourselves ...

833. The Thoughts of Our Hearts

Luke 2:22-40

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... welcome — it would set Jesus' ministry in high relief against the background of the law. I can imagine old Simeon, taking a trip to the temple each morning, regular as clockwork. He had probably been doing so since his youth. He was now an old man, but he would never give up the daily walk to the temple as long as he had the strength in his legs to carry him. He had gotten it in his mind that even though his people had been awaiting a Messiah for over 1,000 years, he was to be allowed to see him before ...

834. Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... felt compassion” or “pity.” His emotional response immediately results in action. First, he offers emergency medical care, giving the first-century version of disinfectant (oil and wine) and carefully dressing and binding up the injured man’s wounds. Second, he gives transport, giving up his own “seat on the bus” so that the poor “half-dead” man can be safely moved to a secure place. The fact that this Samaritan has an animal and such supplies at his disposal suggests that he is a well-off ...

835. The Lifesaver App

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... some sample “Jesus apps” you can make into “love practices” this week. How about a “smile app?” Make a point to look everyone in the eye and offer them a genuine smile that says “I see you and care about you.” How about a “give up your seat” app? Or a “give up racing for that prime parking place” app? Or a “let someone go ahead of you in line” app? What if we were to place the small needs of others over our own? How about a “pay it forward” app? This Christmas at a Starbucks ...

836. In Corinth

Acts 18:1-17

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 9; Isa. 43:5; Jer. 1:8) and contains a twofold command: first, “stop being afraid” (the force of the Greek) and then, keep on speaking [as he had been doing] and do not be silent (v. 9). This idiom of affirmation and negation—“keep on … do not give up …”—adds a certain solemnity to the utterance. It was backed by a threefold promise: that the Lord would be with him (cf. Matt. 28:19f.); that none would harm him—not that the attempt would not be made, but that he would survive it (cf. vv. 12 ...

837. Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

Hosea 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... Assyrian armies, as many did before the Babylonians in Jeremiah’s time (cf. Jer. 43)? Once again, that does not seem the same as Yahweh’s judgment. Or does the line mean that, as Hosea has said before (cf. the comment at 2:14–15), God, giving up this sinful people to Assyria’s destruction of them, will nevertheless begin his salvation-history with them all over again on the other side of the judgment? This latter seems to be the meaning, and taken by itself the statement would furnish a ray of hope ...

838. Sheep and Shepherds

John 10:11-16 · Psalm 23

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . “I am the Good Shepherd,” Jesus says. “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Here I react even more negatively than when Jesus classifies me as a sheep. The thought of a warm, sensitive, intelligent human being—especially one so fine as Jesus—actually giving up his life for a flock of stupid sheep. What a waste. It is one thing to give one's life for one's family, or one's best friend, or even for one's nation. But to sacrifice a life for a sheep—can such undistinguished animals ...

839. Swansong as Themesong

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... them, we remember too just how precious a commodity hope then was. Maybe the vessel of hope was a friend, or a passage of Scripture, or a religious experience, or a line from a book. The point is, it kept us going; it dissuaded us from giving up; it made suicide a less attractive option. Victor Frankl, in his celebrated book Man”s Search For Meaning, tells of a fellow concentration camp prisoner who related one of his dreams. In the dream this man was told that he could have answered any question he ...

840. Crowned With Victory

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... . Their master and friend was gone. The curtain of death fell upon their hopes, dreams, and joys. They, like many people, mumbled to themselves through their tears as they dragged to their homes, "Why live? Life is only one big headache and heartache! Why not just give up, too? What meaning or value has life? Joys only end in nightmares." Then came the morning of the first day of a new week. Suddenly they discovered the sunrise that morning was more than a sunrise of another day. It was the sunrise of life ...

841. Walk In Newness Of Life

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Mark and explained to him kindly that he believed in him, that he had tried to get him another chance, and that he was sorry the whole thing hadn't worked out. Not Barnabas. He possessed the kind of tough goodness that wouldn't give up. He defended Mark, fought for him, and eventually, split with Paul over the issue. Barnabas was a good man. He was wonderfully kind, but his kindness was reinforced with spiritual muscle. Sometimes we need just such strong goodness." (J. Ellsworth Kalas, "The Strong Goodness ...

842. Turn in an Account of Your Stewardship

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . He invites the comparison. The children of this world are more shrewd than the children of light. The children of this world, the tricksters, are the ones who appear to be more faithful than the children of light. What faith ought to mean is that you don’t give up, and you don’t bemoan your fate, and you don’t complain that life is unfair. If you believe that the future is in God’s hands, then you keep on working, and you keep on believing, and you keep living your life to the full, even in ...

843. Falling Into Faith

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... t you waited long enough? Haven’t you listened to the promises of God long enough? Isn’t it time for you to follow Abraham’s lead and open yourself to God’s power and plan for your life? So why not let go and find faith. Give up and find God. Give in and find power. Fall back and find a future. 1. Maxie Dunnam, Pack Up Your Troubles: Sermons on How to Trust in God (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1993), p. 79. 2. Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and Teaching ...

844. Hungering for Some Time Off

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

King Duncan

... to think about his legacy. What was the purpose of his life? Would anyone be better off because he had lived? Hamilton Whaley developed a singular hunger: to know that he was living the life that God had made him for. That hunger eventually led Hamilton to give up his successful law partnership. He and Betty and their teen-age son, David, became house parents at the Bethesda Home for Boys in Savannah, Georgia, one of the oldest orphanages in the U.S. They were put in charge of one of seven cottages. It was ...

845. Proper 5

Luke 7:11-17, 1 Kings 17:7-24, Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... and Paul, June 29. These two minor festivals reinforce the kerygmatic perspective of the church, as the lives of John, Peter, and Paul are related to Christ and the gospel. The church remembers that they "took up their crosses" and followed Jesus, literally giving up their lives for Christ and the proclamation of the good news to the world. Their most powerful witness to the world was that they became martyrs, witnesses, to Jesus and his gospel. This reminds us that all Christians are called to be witnesses ...

846. The Problem With Finding The Kingdom

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

William J. Carl

... in on kingdom action costs you everything you have, says Jesus. That’s how precious it is. That’s why you better think twice before you buy into it. Why? Because buying into the kingdom means giving up everything, especially old habits and ways of doing things that are destructive to ourselves and others. It means giving up the kind of stinginess that finds us holding back from God. That’s what got Cain in trouble way back in the beginning of Genesis. He held back; he only gave God the dregs instead ...

847. Save Us From the World-Savers

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Carl Jech

... means that we trust God alone to handle the matter of every person's eternal destiny, therefore, we cannot put limits on who God can save! We do not need to worry that God can't save Jews unless they give up their Judaism, or Buddhists unless they give up their Buddhism. We can enjoy open dialogue with all people and all faiths without the hidden agenda that desperately needs to convert everyone. At a symposium on "Jews and Christians in Dialogue," Episcopal theologian Paul van Buren and Paulist priest ...

848. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

... our world. The gospel news points up the light of Christ who is creation’s Lord. "When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" The days ahead for his disciples were full of peril, trial, persecution, martyrdom - and temptation to give up, toss in the towel, and accept defeat. With this parable Jesus wanted to prepare disciples for the possibility of long delay when patience would be pushed and faith stretched in the stress of mission. But their persistent prayer, "Thy kingdom come," would be ...

849. Hot Tubs and Fishing Trips

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Thomas Long

... changes." People all across the map are becoming vegetarians, signing up for "marriage encounter" weekends, taking up jogging or sailing, leaving their spouses, changing careers, entering "midlife crises," trying to become "computer literate," working on new relationships, giving up alcohol, "getting into" therapy, joining prayer groups, learning to be more assertive, and making scores of other adjustments to the compass settings of their life journeys. It is easy to be cynical, of course, about such ...

850. A Good God and the Problem of Suffering

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... drunks, coming around a curve at seventy miles per hour, hit my friends head-on. My friends died; the two drunks lived. Why? In a retreat I asked the group, "What is your most difficult problem relative to Christian Belief?" This was the answer of one woman: "Giving up all our children, whom we so much wanted and loved. First an infant son. Second an infant daughter. Third a daughter 13 1/2 years old. There was no bitterness in my soul - but a deep heart hunger." Why? Walk down any street, in any city, in ...

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