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 926 to 950 of 1249 results

926. God Will Provide the Resources

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... call themselves Christians. From a purely statistical standpoint, American Christians by themselves have the wherewithal to house every orphan in the world. Of course, many people are not in a position to do so. They are elderly, infirm, unemployed, or simply feel no call to adopt. Yet what if a small percentage of them did? Hmmm, let’s say 6 percent. If so, we could provide loving homes for the more than 14.1 million children in sub-Saharan Africa who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. Among the ...

927. The Question that Will Change Your Life

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... Barnes. It was tough for Roger to change, and he had to work at it. But he was motivated by gratitude for the incredible love he had received. Then Dr. Craig Barnes asks this question: “Do you have a lot of hard work to do now that the Spirit has adopted you into God’s family? Certainly. But not in order to become a son or a daughter of the heavenly Father. No, you make those changes because you are a son or daughter. And every time you start to revert back to the old addictions to sin, the Holy Spirit ...

928. About that Salesman

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... something they are not. Know anyone like that? I chuckled over an awful story that was in Reader’s Digest several years ago. Please forgive me for telling it. But it appealed to my perverse sense of humor. A woman wrote in to say that her brother adopted a snake named Slinky. Being a normal snake, Slinky’s diet included eating live mice. Once, this woman reported, she was pressed into going to the pet store to buy Slinky’s dinner. That meant she would be taking home live mice for Slinky to devour. She ...

929. Night of Light

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Timothy Cargal

... Christ. Titus 2:11-14 One of the great values of the epistle lesson assigned by the lectionary for Christmas Eve is that it reminds us that this night stands as the threshold between Advent and Christmastide. As more and more congregations adopt the practice of only Christmas Eve services rather than both Eve and Christmas Day services (Christmas morning being considered first and foremost “family time”), the Christmas Eve service is having all the liturgical functions of Christmas Day foisted upon it ...

930. What Are You Waiting On?

John 11:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... Martha.” (John 11:1, ESV) When you go to Israel one of the neatest places you get to visit is the little village of Bethany. Which is just across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem not far from the Mount of Olives about two miles walking distance. This family had adopted Jesus and this is where Jesus would stay whenever He went to Jerusalem. Lazarus is sick and it’s not just a cold or a touch of the flu, he’s deathly ill. So the sisters send for Jesus and it’s interesting that they describe Lazarus as ...

931. Jesus Prays for Us

John 17:6-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... of all faiths, but it is horribly naïve to say that all faiths and all philosophies are the same. No other faith, for example, teaches people to love their enemies. Think what a difference it would make in the world today if all nations, including our own, adopted that creed. We would not have the Gospel today if those early believers had not persevered. But here’s what we desperately need to see. THE FUTURE OF THE FAITH TODAY DEPENDS ON US JUST AS SURELY AS IT DEPENDED ON THEM. Indeed the future of the ...

932. Moving On Up

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s congenial face became a familiar sight to millions of people through his company’s television commercials. Dave also appeared in training films for Wendy’s employees. He was unique in his ability to identify with his employees. Dave Thomas was a remarkable success story. Adopted as a child, he never finished high school. In his book, Well Done: the Common Guy’s Guide to Everyday Success, Dave said he got his MBA long before his G.E.D. He says he has a photograph of himself in his MBA graduation ...

933. Peace Comes to Our Hearts

Philippians 4:4-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... few years that have had far different endings. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We could have the gentleness of Christ, a gentleness that transforms anger to laughter, hatred to love. That’s the kind of gentleness Paul is urging us to adopt in our own lives. Then he writes, “Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” No wonder Paul could rejoice--even while waiting in prison to learn his fate. No wonder when ...

934. The Word According to Superman

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... as a sign of divine judgment in Old Testament theology (Leviticus 20:20-21; 1 Samuel 1:11; Jeremiah 22:30). Abram was concerned that a member of his household might have to one day be his heir. It was not uncommon in that time for a childless couple to adopt a servant as their heir. Abram saw that as his only viable option because he had no child of his own. In his mind God had forgotten His promise. After all, he and his wife Sarai were getting old. There were some things that even God could not change ...

935. Pet Rocks and the Big Reveal

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... it threw open its doors to the poor and the homeless. He mentions one man in particular. His name was Edgar. He lived alone in a nearby welfare motel “better known for drug addicts and prostitutes than for the righteous.” For some reason, Edgar adopted Bouman’s church. It was not always a perfect fit--which is an understatement. Edgar was rough around the edges. On occasion, he got loud and demanding and was known to interrupt the sermon if he didn’t agree with something the preacher said. Bouman ...

936. Preparations for Building the Temple

2 Chronicles 2:1-18

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... confined to the sanctuary. McKenzie (1–2 Chronicles, p. 233) mentions that this theological understanding is probably related to the practice in the ancient Near East whereby a king would lay claim to a site by placing his name there. The Chronicler adopted this name theology here in order to reflect his understanding of the status of the sanctuary, namely, as the place chosen by Yahweh. Although the palace of King Solomon is also mentioned in this context (and is therefore closely related to the temple ...

937. Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

2 Chronicles 10:1--11:4

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... This verse mentions the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite. In the Deuteronomistic version this is a back reference to 1 Kgs. 11, where the prophecy of Ahijah is mentioned. However, that text was not adopted by the Chronicler. This was probably just an oversight in the Chronicler’s editing of the older material, but it emphasizes at least that the Chronicler had access to a fuller text and that his use of that tradition was deliberately selective. The Chronicler ...

938. Josiah's Reforms

2 Chronicles 34:1-13

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... of the LORD” was found during this process (34:14–18). In the second subsection, 34:19–33, the reactions of the king and the Huldah oracle (34:19–28) and the renewal of the bond by the king and the people (34:29–33) are adopted more or less unchanged from the older tradition. The third subsection, 35:1–19, is devoted entirely to the first celebration of Passover “since the days of the prophet Samuel.” This version of the Passover celebration is not only considerably more elaborate than the ...

939. Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

Acts 1:12-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... not Judas Iscariot) of John 14:22. Simon the Zealot (“the Canaanean,” [which is Aramaic for “zealous”] RSV Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18), so-called either because of his zealous temperament or because of some association with the party of the Zealots. NIV appears to have adopted the latter interpretation (cf. GNB), but we should note that precisely the same word is used by Paul of himself in 22:3 (cf. Gal. 1:14) and by James of members of the church in Jerusalem in 21:20. In neither of these cases can it ...

940. The Fellowship of the Believers

Acts 2:42-47

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... rendered “grace.” It is often used of finding favor in God’s sight (cf. Luke 1:30; Acts 7:46), and that sense would be possible here, “having (God’s) favor before all the people.” But the word is also used of human goodwill, and NIV is probably right to adopt that meaning in this verse (cf. 7:10). Yet another possibility would be “giving (God) thanks before all the people.”

941. The Stoning of Stephen

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... knees and then to the ground dead. Or perhaps he deliberately knelt (v. 60). The usual posture for a Jew at prayer was to stand (cf. Matt. 6:5), though kneeling was not unknown (cf. 1 Kings 8:54; Ezra 9:5). But kneeling became the distinctive Christian attitude, adopted perhaps from Jesus’ own practice (cf. 9:40; 20:36; 21:5; Luke 22:41; Eph. 3:14; Phil. 2:10). And like Jesus, Stephen’s last prayer was one of committal and of forgiveness for others (v. 60; cf. Luke 23:34). The latter, like Stephen’s ...

942. The Church Persecuted and Scattered

Acts 8:1b-3

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... fled the city, and by this means the gospel began to spread (cf. 8:4–40; 11:19–30). 8:1b Until now the Sadducees had been the chief antagonists of the Christians (cf. 4:1, 5f.; 5:17), whereas the Pharisees, if Gamaliel is any criterion, had adopted a more neutral position (5:34ff.). But Paul, a Pharisee (23:6; Phil. 3:5), now abandoned the milder stance of his teacher and took the lead in a concerted attempt to root out the new teaching. His prominence is indicated by the mention of his name three ...

943. Saul’s Conversion

Acts 9:1-19a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... Damascus, men and women, and to bring them back to Jerusalem (v. 2; see disc. on 1:14). The expression “the Way” is peculiar to Acts (cf. 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22) and may have originated with the Jews who saw the Christians as those who had adopted a distinctive way of life. But it must have soon come into use among the Christians as an apt way of describing themselves as the followers of him who is the way (John 14:6f.; the sectarians at Qumran also spoke of themselves as “the way,” e.g., 1 QS ...

944. Cornelius Calls for Peter

Acts 10:1-8

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , 30; 16:14; cf. also Tobit 14:10f.; Sir. 29:12; 40:24), but we cannot believe that Cornelius saw what he did in this light (see vv. 3–6 for his prayer). Naturally (in that society), all his family, that is, his household, including his servants, adopted his religion (see note on 10:48). This reference to Cornelius’ household and to the reputation that he had for good works (v. 22) implies that he had settled down in Caesarea and had been there for some time. It was probably here that he had been drawn ...

945. Peter’s Vision

Acts 10:9-23a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... access to the temple, devout Jews would gather there for prayer at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices, that is, at dawn and midafternoon (see disc. on 3:1), with perhaps a further gathering for prayer at sunset. Away from the temple, the practice seems to have been adopted of observing the third, the sixth, and the ninth hours for prayer (cf. Ps. 55:17; Dan. 6:10). The custom of prayer three times a day passed very early into the church (Didache 8.3).

946. Paul in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , having seen the power that Paul wielded by his appeal to “the name of the Lord Jesus,” thought to include that name in their repertoire. There is a notable passage in Justin Martyr in which he complains that as a class the Jewish exorcists had adopted the same superstitions and magical aids as the heathen (Dialogue 85). It need not surprise us, then, that these men were willing to try any formula that seemed to work, though they owed no allegiance to Jesus (for the use of Jesus’ name by Jewish ...

947. Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

Acts 21:17-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... for circumcision in particular, no doubt many Christian Jews were influenced by teaching such as Romans 2:25–29 and Galatians 4:9 and 5:6 and concluded that there was no more reason for them to maintain the rite than for the Gentiles to adopt it. Hence the accusation that Paul had been telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to (the Jewish) customs. But though Paul was certainly no advocate of circumcision (cf. Gal. 5:11), neither was he opposed to its practice by Jewish believers ...

948. Paul the Roman Citizen

Acts 22:22-29

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... exchange hands. This was especially so in the time of Claudius (Dio Cassius, Roman History 60.17), when the prefect, judging by his name, Claudius Lysias (23:26), was granted this status. Evidently, he was a Greek, but following custom, he had adopted the praenomen and nomen (Claudius) of his benefactor, retaining his own name, Lysias, as his cognomen (see note on 13:9). His sarcastic comment about the prisoner “debasing the currency” produced something of a put-down in reply. Whereas the prefect had ...

949. The Trial Before Festus

Acts 25:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... (cf. also vv. 11, 12): In each of these verses, and later in 26:32, the word used is Caesar, the name of the branch of the family of Julii that ruled as the first emperors—Octavian (Augustus), Tiberius, Gaius (Caligula), Claudius, and Nero. The name was adopted by later rulers as a title, but even with the Julian emperors themselves, it had something of the nature of a title (see also note on v. 21). 25:10 As you yourself know very well: To express the comparative adverb, the rendering “as you are ...

950. Festus Consults King Agrippa

Acts 25:13-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... appellation was inherited by his successors and is ascribed in these verses to Nero. The divine sanctity that the name Augustus seemed to confer (cf. Dio Cassius, Roman History 53.16.18) excited the scruples of Tiberius, but succeeding emperors appear to have adopted it without hesitation. It may be significant, however, that the title was not apparently used by Paul himself, who preferred the word “Caesar” (vv. 11, 12), but by Festus in reporting Paul. 25:22 I would like to hear this man myself: The ...

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