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 851 to 875 of 4943 results

851. "He Who Commands Is He Who Fulfills"

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

... dimensions of truth, new ways we’ve found to be disobedient and faithless. And the Great Commands continue to do their job of convicting us and directing us again and again and again to the One who commands, for he is the One who alone fulfills. And again he takes up residence in us, in our hearts, souls, and minds. He dwells with us. His unconditional love for us makes of us new creatures, new beings in him; beings who live by faith and just and only so in love: love of God with all our being and love of ...

852. Reconciling Palms and Thorns

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... of the career of the ancient prophet. Listen to the writers of the New Testament: "He set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem;" "I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day;" "If any would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me;" ... I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep ... I must bring them also ... So there shall be one flock, one shepherd." Today is the final Sunday in the Lenten Season of the Church Year. It is known either as ...

853. Opening Up to Jesus

Mark 2:1-12

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... can forgive sins. JESUS: You scribes, why do you question this way in your hearts? Let me ask you a question. SCRIBE: Sure, go right ahead. JESUS: Which is easier to say to a paralyzed man: "Your sins are forgiven and forgotten forever" or "Rise, take up your pallet and start walking ..." SCRIBE: Ridiculous. JESUS: "... and keep on walking"? But that you may know positively and beyond a doubt that I, the Messiah, have the right, the authority and the power on earth to forgive sins, (TO HARETH) I say to you ...

854. Grieve Not The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... your friend's child? Each time you are angered, you exercise"”perhaps subconsciously"”a choice. You either lose your temper or you don't. The husband who comes home from the office and unleashes a whole day's frustrations on his family should take up jogging or handball or some other means of letting off steam. You can choose. Infantile behavior is not acceptable or inevitable in anyone older than an infant. Even the youngster going through the terrible two's is able to limit his expressions of emotion ...

855. Death Leads to Life

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, will save it" (Luke 9:24). The cross is not an option for those who wish to be disciples. The Lord makes this expressly clear as well, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). Thus, we know from scripture that there is one and only one way to enter into the eternal life promised us by God and that is by dying to self, as did Jesus, so as to rise renewed in Christ. Our sights ...

856. The Discipleship Question: Do You Wish To Go Away?

John 6:60-71

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... meaning that any of us are going to have. Some folks simply can't follow along with that, and they certainly can't follow along when He begins to make those hard claims on our life -- claims about denying ourselves, giving unto the least of these, taking up a cross, becoming humble, living clean and holy lives. So because of the uniqueness of Jesus' claims and the demands He makes of us, people are tempted to drop out. The second big reason they drop out, I think, is what I call the crowd mentality. There ...

857. Such a Transformation!

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... . 10). The innocent servant’s death atoned for what all of us have done wrong! And as a result, all of us are now counted righteous in the eyes of our God (v. 11). The servant’s burial is not the end of the story, however, for God once more takes up the speech in verse 11. On the other side of the grave, beyond the finality of death, God proclaims that his servant will be restored and exalted to a good and happy life (v. 11). Is that a foretelling of the resurrection of Christ? The text does not say; it ...

858. Mark 9:30-37

Mark 9:30-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this "rising from the dead" business was all about (9:10-11). But with this second prediction of his betrayal and persecution, the disciples respond only with silence. Their tutorial journey now continues to Capernaum (v.33), where Jesus and his disciples take up quarters at "the house." Since Capernaum had been the urban site central to Jesus' Galilean ministry, it is likely that this house, perhaps Peter's own home, had become Jesus' Capernaum "home." Thus it is in these familiar and private surroundings ...

859. Personal Politics

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... there were always a few who were simply running away: "I hope to find solace from the world and refuge from the problems that have plagued me." But Merton said that there was really only one answer which all needed to voice before they could take up residence. "I need mercy!" was the true cry of the heart. "I need mercy!" Merton said that any other answer betrayed our prideful assertion of self-determination. We wanted, we planned, we were running away from, we desired ... But the person who knew his need ...

860. By Whose Standards?

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... . As one doctor put it, he was scooped out. He felt all his creative powers slipping away.2 With the death of C. S. Lewis on the same day President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, much of the English-speaking world expected J. B. Phillips to take up his apologetic mantle. But, as the quote reveals, by then he was no longer able. I relate this in no way to diminish the faithful and fruitful service of Dr. Phillips, but to illustrate how insidious matters of expectation and evaluation can become. So what is ...

861. Because I Live (Memorial Day)

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... ? Christ reminds us that Somebody in this universe not only notices us, but loves us and believes in us. What many people need to know is not only that they can believe in God, but God believes in them. We’re not merely a nameless, faceless blob of protoplasm taking up space in the universe. The God of all the universe sees us, notices us, listens to us, believes in us. Not only does Christ love us, Christ is always with us. “I am in my Father, says Christ to us, “and you are in me, and I am in ...

862. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... day. John the Baptist refused to step into the spotlight. He knew that his divinely gifted mission was to bear witness to the light, not to stand center stage in the spotlight. Every year at Advent season we are all reminded to take up John’s mission, to announce to a dark and troubled world that the light is coming. “Decking the halls,” Christmas concerts, cookie baking marathons, shopping sprees, fulfilling cherished family traditions of all kinds — these are all wonderful, but they are not the ...

863. It’s a Good Thing He’s Gone!

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

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... say, "We don't want somebody always bugging us to give our money away to the poor. Let the poor take care of themselves! We don't want someone telling us to love our enemies. Let us give them what they deserve! We don't want someone reminding us to take up our crosses and follow him, about working for peace and justice, even if we don't get anything in return! Yes, it's a good thing he's gone!" As a matter of fact, it is a good thing that he's gone! All of these people are right about ...

864. The Song of Moses and Miriam

Exodus 15:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... to the Babylonian Tiamat. Ezekiel, in a later context, is much more explicit. “I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams. You say, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it for myself.’” (Ezek. 29:3) “Son of man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas thrashing about in your streams, churning the water with your feet and muddying the streams.’” (Ezek. 32:2 ...

865. Disaster Because of Idolatry

Jeremiah 44:1-30

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... of Jerusalem. But in the previous chapter we observed how they continued to be hard-hearted toward the Lord and his prophet. Against God’s will they fled to Egypt. In this chapter, we will learn that matters get worse still. While in Egypt, they take up the worship of foreign deities, which earlier had brought God’s judgment upon them. 44:1–6 When the divine word comes to Jeremiah this time, Israelites were living in a variety of locations in Egypt. Migdol and Tahpanhes were in the Delta region ...

866. Deliverance and Destruction

Micah 5:5-15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... a people in the midst of the nations. But how they got there and who delivered and gathered them will be utterly mysterious to human beings. In short, their existence and return will be solely the work of Yahweh. 5:8–9 The oracle in 5:8–9 then takes up Israel’s defense against the nations who still want to do away with it. Just as it will control threatening enemies, according to 5:5–6 (which see), it will also be able to defeat any who lift up their hand against it. Its power will be like that ...

867. Woe to Nineveh

Nahum 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... is vulnerable, too. Once more, its defeat is described in terms that might be familiar but Judeans would be wise to shudder at them. Isaiah had declared that Assyria would “lead away . . . Egyptian captives and Cushite exiles” (Isa. 20:4); it happened, and Nahum takes up this language. Isaiah 13:16 declares that infants will be dashed to pieces in Babylon (cf. Ps. 137); Nahum declares that this happened in Thebes. But Jerusalem will be taken captive (e.g., 2 Kgs. 24:15–16) by the same power as Nineveh ...

868. The New-Covenant Blessings: Peace and Hope

Romans 5:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... Gain.” Two points emerge from these verses: suffering proves that one is truly a Christian, and suffering matures the Christian. Jesus said that we should rejoice if we suffer for his name’s sake because it indicates that we are taking up his cross and following him. Believers living in modern democracies know little about that aspect of the Christian life, but followers of Jesus living under totalitarian regimes or extremist theocracies experience such affliction daily for the sake of their Christian ...

869. Leadership and Servanthood

1 Corinthians 4:1-21, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... game. Paul’s warning in this text is that God will hold each Christian accountable. He alone holds ownership of his church. 1. God resides in the Christian community. In chapter 12, when Paul describes the church as a body, he again takes up the question of Christian unity. The language here, however, crystallizes the importance of community in the strongest terms. The Christian community, the church, is God’s temple—the place where he dwells and reveals himself. Any notion of individualism that gets ...

870. Warnings from Israel's History

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... development is logical; for as Paul used himself and the apostles as a personal lesson on Christian rights and responsibilities in chapter 9, and as he drew images from the athletic games to illustrate and register his teaching (9:24–27), now Paul takes up one of the best-known and most-loved stories from the OT to form analogies to the Corinthian situation in order both to document and to authenticate his instructions. This section is a brief biblically-based expository sermon. In it Paul depicts Israel ...

871. Jesus Predicts His Death

Matthew 16:21-28

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... condemned criminal carrying the cross bar of his instrument of execution through the streets of the city and enduring the insults of the crowds along the way. It is worthy of note that though the first two imperatives in this charge (deny, take up) are aorist (a Greek past tense indicating finality), the third (follow) is present. This would suggest definitive action in the decision to enter into a life of discipleship and the necessity of continuing faithfulness in following through on a daily basis. Verse ...

872. Overwhelmed

Revelation 1:4b-8

Sermon

Will Willimon

... honestly. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the young prince muses to himself, asking himself what he ought to do in response to the sin of his mother and his uncle who had killed his father and now have married one another. Young Hamlet wonders if it is better to take up the sword against, "a sea of troubles," or whether it is better simply to pull the covers up over his head, to end his life, to sleep, perhaps even to dream, and end it all. Young Hamlet is faced by a sea of troubles which has become a veritable ...

873. Fired Up and Fit for the Feast

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... but about the state of your heart and your relationship with God. God was not interested in ancestry but devotion. To be God’s “chosen” people meant chosen to spread God’s message, heal and bless others, and point the way toward God, not to take up a pedestal and proclaim to be favored. Repentance for John was the first necessary step toward the direction of redemption. Those John called with God’s prophetic voice were to confess, return not only to God but to one’s true humble nature as a ...

874. What Fills Your Life Now?

Acts 7:55-60

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... we get from Stephen’s life. Let’s begin here: What fills your life now is what defines your legacy for future generations. That make sense, doesn’t it? What fills your life now is what defines your legacy for future generations. Stephen’s life only takes up two short chapters in the Book of Acts, but it is a stellar example of how the Holy Spirit can shape a person’s character with wisdom, faith, grace, power, courage and joy. I read an interview with an award-winning author named Jamil Jan Kochai ...

875. Text Message From Jesus

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Mary Austin

... story, the one we hear today, is much simpler, but we also add in the crowds to our image of the day. So what does Jesus want us to know? Should we see Jesus as a king, as the descendant of Israel’s great King David? Is he here to take up the throne? Is he the king entering this ancient city in triumph? Jesus goes to a lot of trouble to ride in on a colt — the sign of a ruler coming in peace. The first hearers of this gospel would have understood the reference to the prophet Zechariah, who promised ...

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