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 1076 to 1100 of 2665 results

1076. The Christmas Promise: God With Us

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

... carols. In their serene young beauty, they looked like angels in disguise. Margaret added her quarter to the pile of change in their open flute cases. The train came and went, but she lingered, fascinated by the people who came forward to drop coins, even bills, into the flute case. Most were shabbily dressed, but their faces seemed alight with happiness. These were the poor -- the people Christ had greatly loved. On that cold, noisy subway platform they were joined, without knowing one another, in ...

1077. I've Got a Strong Case of the 'Can't Help Its'

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... . to be able to hear 3. to be able to touch 4. to be able to feel 5. to be able to taste 6. to be able to laugh 7. to be able to love.” The room was so quiet when she finished that you could have heard a pin drop. Isn’t it amazing how we overlook and take for granted the gifts that God has given us? We become so captivated by man-made things that we sometimes forget the astounding generosity of God. The psalmist did not make that mistake. Read the Psalms. They resound on page after ...

1078. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

... and respect. There’s a name for that. It’s called grace, and that’s the second lesson we learn from this great story. III. THIRD AND FINALLY, THERE IS HERE THE LESSON OF GRATITUDE. Bartimaeus was so grateful for what Jesus did for him, he just dropped everything and followed Jesus, which, by the way, is the Biblical way for saying, “He became a disciple of Jesus.” Just a few weeks from now, on April 12, our son Jeff and his wife Claire will celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary. On the night ...

1079. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

1080. The Devil Made Me Do It

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... blamed Jesus for doing something like that? The second temptation was equally enticing. Let folks know beyond the shadow of a doubt that YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, the Chosen One of God. What a spectacular stunt to leap from the Pinnacle of the Temple, drop the 450 feet straight down into the Kidron Valley, and land unharmed. God's angels will protect you. People will SURELY listen to your message when they hear what you have done. Would anyone legitimately reproach Jesus for deciding to take that course? The ...

1081. Sight for Blind Eyes

John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... particular Sabbath, it was not the temple leaders or the widow or the pranksters who approached you. It was a group of students with their rabbi. You made your usual appeal for mercy: "Help me, poor and miserable, blind from my birth." But instead of hearing coins drop in your bowl, you heard one of the men ask, "Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" WHAT? What kind of thing is that to ask? You thought, "Don't ask questions...give a few sheckels here." It WAS a fair ...

1082. Excuses

Luke 14:15-24, Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... time had been noted in the invitation, but the understanding of the day was, once all was ready, notification would go out to all who had accepted. The moment arrived; servants were dispatched to gather the guests. The expectation would be that invitees would drop what they were doing and come, because to accept the invitation beforehand and then make excuse when the day came was a grave insult.(7) Horror of horrors. Excuses. Can't come. Business. Real estate investment. Can't come. Five new yokes of oxen ...

1083. The Grief Grinch

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... or the twenty-first. In my younger days, I wondered whether I should bother someone who has just lost a loved one. Should I intrude? Now I know. Anyone who has ever gone through such a thing will probably tell you just HOW MUCH it meant for friends to drop by...no need for particular words of consolation, no need for another shoulder to cry on, no need for answers as to why death would come...just friends' BEING THERE was as much a help to the bereaved as anything else. Pain shared is pain divided, and it ...

1084. The Common People Heard Him Gladly

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

James W. Moore

... ago that caught my attention. It’s called “The Land of Beginning Again,” and here are the words: I wish there were Some wonderful place Called the Land of Beginning again, Where all our mistakes And all our heartaches And all our poor selfish grief Could be dropped Like a shabby old coat At the door… And never be put on again. The Land of Beginning Again — wouldn’t that be nice? Well, there is such a place. This is the good news of the Christian faith; this is the good news that Jesus came to ...

1085. God's Not Done With Us Yet!

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. OK. Ishmael is here. Then God drops a bomb: "As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. [Both names come from a root meaning Princess. Sarah would have been understood as "great princess" or "princess of many."(6)] I will bless her and will ...

1086. The Last Laugh

Genesis 18:1-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the same. One day, when Ishmael was thirteen, God said to Abraham that he and Sarah would have a son together. Abraham did not just chuckle at that. Scripture says "Then Abraham FELL ON HIS FACE and laughed..."(9) A little later, three men (heavenly visitors) dropped by the tent, had a little rest, a bite to eat, and gave that same message that Abraham had heard before. Like the dutiful Middle Eastern wife, Sarah was inside, out of sight, but not out of earshot; tent flaps are not soundproof. Actually, she ...

1087. God Hears

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... least he was still alive. She poured her mother love into the boy, and she wept...and wept and wept. Through the water of her tears she saw a well. Had it been there before and had she just not seen, or had God given her a miracle? She almost dropped the boy in her hurry to fill the skin with water, then to press it to Ishmael's thin cracked lips. At first he hardly responded, but then he moved, and slowly, bit by bit, he drank. Hagar's hopes renewed, then crashed once more as she remembered who she ...

1088. The Ten Commandments #3: God's Name

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... would ensue if honesty is not at the foundation of our society. Next week...Number four - "Remember the sabbath day..." Why? Is God afraid of being ignored? Not at all. But God is concerned that workers are treated fairly and not driven till they drop. Commandments five through ten - take care of parents, no murder, no adultery, no theft, no false testimony, no coveting what belongs to your neighbor. All of those are involved in having a decent society. The commandments are for OUR benefit, not God's. God ...

1089. The Ten Commandments #5: Honoring Parents

Exodus 20:12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... extra work. He decided to surprise the family, so he flew to a West Coast city without calling them. Then he took a taxi out into the country on a highway that, according to the travel plan, on which the family would be driving later that day. The taxi driver dropped him off on the side of the road. Dad waited there until he saw the family car coming, then stuck out his thumb as a hitchhiker. As Mom and the kids drove past, they did a double take. DAD! Mom screeched to a stop, backed up to the hitchhiker ...

1090. Blessed Be The Title That Binds

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... wrong. The word tithe comes from the Old English and simply means one-tenth. A tithe is one-tenth of something, anything - horses, pigs, cars, houses, anything - there is nothing "churchy" about the word. That means that many of those folks who THINK they are tithing when dropping a buck or two into the plate from week to week are mistaken. The truth is that, not 17% of us, but only about 3% of us actually tithe. You have seen those bumper stickers over the years, "Honk if you love Jesus?" There is a better ...

1091. Does God Care Who Wins the Superbowl?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... in my name?" Are there not players praying in those locker rooms at this very moment? What do you think? My mind is suddenly filled with images of Sunday afternoon heroes, kneeling in the end zone in a brief prayer after scoring a touchdown, or groups of players dropped to their knees, heads bowed, in the middle of the field at the conclusion of a game. I hear post-game interviews with sweaty stars: "Great game, Biff." "Thanks, Bud. The first thing I have to say is that I owe it all to my Lord and Savior ...

1092. A Mother's Gift

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... for nothing." Perhaps the yearly pilgrimage would have been easier on Hannah if Peninnah's mouth had not proven as productive as her womb. Oh yes, Peninnah knew how to give her husband joy, but she knew even better how to give her rival pain. Any sisterly drops of the milk of human kindness toward Hannah had long ago curdled and gone sour. Peninnah knew she was not Elkanah's favorite, so she made up for the bluntness of his affection with the sharpness of her tongue. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned ...

1093. Therapy in Melody or Healing in 4/4 Time

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... fully what it means to communicate music to other people...Words only go so far...” Amen to that. Our friend Will Willimon, the Dean of the Chapel at Duke, tells of a visit he made one afternoon to the office of a lawyer in his congregation. It was just a drop-in. Will says he did not know the man that well - his wife seemed to bear the church interest for the family. Listen to the story in Will's own words: "It was at the end of the day. I entered the outer office of his law firm. Everyone had ...

1094. Dealing with Depression

1 Kings 19:9-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... that even his closest disciples often misunderstood him. He stood on a hill overlooking Jerusalem one day and broke into tears because the people would not listen. One night, as he prayed in a garden, his distress was so great that scripture says he sweat great drops of blood and begged for escape. The word from the Lord in all this is that deep depression occasionally happens to the very best. The story of Elijah offers a prescription for dealing with it. I am grateful that I have never had much problem ...

1095. Do I Matter?

Psalm 8:1-9

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Victor acted a little differently from other students in school because he was bored. But an insensitive teacher gave him the nickname "Dummy," and it stuck. Victor was placed in a class for slow learners which gave him such a bad sense of himself that he dropped out of school at age sixteen. What else could a "dummy" do? Victor drifted from job to job because he knew he could not really amount to much. But when Victor was 32 years old, something marvelous happened - he applied for a job that demanded that ...

1096. The Apostles' Creed: "God...Almighty"

Mark 15:33-41, Mark 15:21-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . There was that illegal midnight trial, the taunting and torture. The trek through the city streets under the weight of the wood. The thud, thud, thud of the hammer and the blood that spurted from nail-pierced hands. The agony of the cross being elevated and then dropped with a cruel thump as flesh was torn from the shock. There was even a moment when a casual listener heard Jesus mumble what at first blush sounded like a cry of utter despair: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Was it despair? Or ...

1097. Grace and Golf

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... made a living picking vegetables. Like any other youth, Calvin had a dream. He wanted to be a professional golfer. His friends laughed at his dream, pointing out that poor blacks just did not become pro golfers. In the eighth grade, Calvin found it necessary to drop out of school and go into the fields to help his family earn a living. But, despite his daily labor, he always felt God intended more for him than picking vegetables. His dream of becoming a professional golfer would not die, and Calvin took up ...

1098. When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough

Ecc 2:1-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... questions that the new guy might have, but he has none, of course. Now what? His wife of 42 years scrimped and saved enough to buy a 35-foot Winnebago in which they might travel the country now that retirement has arrived, but, unfortunately, she drops dead while cleaning the house. Now, Schmidt is really lost. No job. No wife. No family except a daughter in Denver from whom he has been somewhat estranged for years. Warren is desperate to find something meaningful in his thoroughly unimpressive life. He has ...

1099. Do You Hear What I Hear?

Luke 1:46-56, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him---for always." As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him -- FOR ALWAYS.(4) Said the king to the people everywhere, "Listen to what I say! Pray ...

1100. The Handwriting on the Heart

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the Lord." He even incited his compatriots to desert to the enemy. He was hated by his family and friends; he was forbidden to preach in the temple; he was arrested and placed in stocks; he was threatened with death; he was beaten and imprisoned; he was dropped down into a cistern that had nothing in it but gooey muck; finally, he was carried off into exile in Egypt against his will. Jeremiah's ministry spanned a half-century, one of the most difficult half-centuries in the history of his nation. No wonder ...

Showing results