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 1151 to 1175 of 4977 results

1151. It’s About God

John 3:14-21

Sermon

David T. Ball

... I’ve been impressed by how well the English subtitles seem to flow. They must have translators who are pretty good at expressing in English what is being said in another language. But sometimes the subtitles seem stilted, using a phrase in a way that’s not quite right. And sometimes the way things get expressed in English can be downright funny — usually because what we read below doesn’t seem to match the action in the scene. It doesn’t seem like the way we would have spoken in such a situation ...

1152. Momentous Moment

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

David T. Ball

... a bothersome sense that his ability to do so was slipping away, and it might all collapse in disaster. He resolved to quit drinking, but he just couldn’t stick with it. And every time he’d get drunk again, he only hated himself more. He felt he had ... so deeply disappointed his parents, if they only knew, and even his desperate attempts to quit had failed. It was all about to come crashing down — this was the only way he could see it. He could not see a ...

1153. Day One: a New Beginning

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... we've been moving on for a week now. But the truth is that as far as the church is concerned, Christmas isn't over quite yet. As far as our traditions and our history are involved, this day is actually the climax of the Christmas holiday. The Twelfth Day ... it ... on day one! If we believe, if we trust, if we dare to live our lives as though we are new creations in Christ, then quite literally, there is no limit to the healing we can offer. There is no bottom to the depth of our compassion. There will be no ...

1154. What Part of “You Shall Not” Don’t You Understand?

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... entertainment industry. Allen writes, "The business people (in television, radio, movies, music, and recordings, and the print media) are quite happy to market garbage so long as they can make a buck by doing so." Allen, honorary chairman of the ... it still causes us to sin with words and deeds. Note that in this passage Jesus says, "You have heard ... But I say unto you...." That's quite a statement! If I made that claim, you'd lock me up in a hospital for the mentally ill and throw away the key or at least ...

1155. With Friends Like These ...

Job 38:1-7 (34-41)

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... gum in his hair. His teacher likes his friend Paul's sailboat picture better than Alexander's invisible castle, which she can't quite see. At the lunch table, while others are enjoying various delicious sweets, Alexander discovers that his mother is the only one who forgot ... out through sonorous melodies and lavish harmonies. Beethoven's friend later commented that no other single act had been quite so uplifting and comforting. So often we equate grieving only with death, but consider Job's other losses: his ...

1156. Apocalypse Wow!

Isaiah 25:6-9

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

A pastor friend of mine recently attended a ministerial meeting at a Presbyterian church, along with clergy representing several different denominations. During refreshment time, she was introduced to the church's sexton. She was familiar with the word "sexton," but couldn't quite remember what a sexton is, and she wasn't about to ask for a definition in that room full of men. Later she had an opportunity to consult a dictionary and was reminded that a sexton is a custodian associated with a church or ...

1157. Giving Whole-heartedly

Matthew 23:1-12

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... Osceola McCarty. You see, Osceola McCarty was a washer woman. She washed other peoples' clothes all of her life. And every week, she put a little aside in a savings account. Her banker told that was a wise thing to do. So, she did. After awhile, she had quite a bit of money and her banker suggested she invest it. So, she did. In the summer of 1995 she did something unheard of, she donated $150,000, most of her life savings to the University of Southern Mississippi to help students get an education and have ...

1158. Matthew 25:1-13

Matthew 25:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... than oil lamps used inside the house. These “torches’ would be simple oil-soaked cloths bundled around the end of a stick. As in all those old scary movies set in Gothic castles or underground caverns, such torches tended to burn through their oil quite quickly. A handy supply of oil needed to be brought along so that the torches could be replenished and kept burning. This extra oil supply is what separates the “foolish” from the “wise” bridesmaids who go out to meet the bridegroom. The “wise ...

1159. Stepping Out on Faith

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... zoo fences. If you fall, animals could eat you, and that would make them sick.” Brenda from Florida was taking the shuttle from La Guardia Airport to the Marriott Hotel. She passed several signs along the road that warned CAUTION: LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT. “I wasn’t quite sure what we were supposed to do,” Brenda confesses. “Duck our heads? Veer off the road when a plane is approaching?” It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? By the way, on the subject of signs there is a sign on Route 5 near downtown ...

1160. Welcome Home, Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in which this salvation would enter the world. It was one thing to read and venerate the prophets and their words. It was quite another thing to have one's own betrothed suddenly become that chosen virgin, to be pregnant when not yet married. But Joseph' ... troughs - mangers - with sturdy sloping sides that would serve nicely as a cradle. The events of Jesus' birth now read quite differently. Joseph brings Mary to the home of some relatives. With their separate guest chamber already filled, the family invites ...

1161. Advent: Time to Listen

Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

... ?" And those who thought they had heard a part of what he'd said, whispered back the part they'd heard - or what they remembered from a prior reading of Auden, triggered (in that moment) by what they thought they'd heard. While others, not quite hearing - and not quite knowing - guessed at what he was saying. And pretty soon, the whispers drowned out the poet. Which, if you ask me, is what sometimes happens in our churches, else why would there be so much interest in the word of God, yet so little clarity ...

1162. The Truly Human Christ

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

... that there are still a lot of happy Gnostics and Docetists among us. The theology of Mary Baker Eddy which forms the basis of Christian Science certainly leans in the direction of Gnosticism. Most popular piety has a Gnostic Christ who never really quite touches this earth. When British mystery writer and lay theologian Dorothy Sayers' famous cycle of plays "The Man Born to be King" was first performed on the radio in England in 1941, there were strong protests. Mr. J.W. Welch, then director of Religious ...

1163. Parable Power

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of sayings known as Jesus' parables. But a list of rules never changes, never adapts. Written essays are like insects encased in amber beautiful and precisely formed, but no longer vital and alive. It takes the fluid format of a story a tale that can never quite be told the same way twice to keep breathing new life into the Good News. If you still think Jesus would have gotten his points across better with hard and fast rules, try remembering the last time you sat down and really enjoyed reading Leviticus ...

1164. Back to the Real World

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... they trusted God. I wonder if Mary realized how short her time with Joseph and Jesus would be? Maybe she did. Life spans were much shorter then than they are now. But no one’s really prepared to be widowed, are they? Particularly when they are quite young. Mary may have lost Joseph when she was still in her twenties or early thirties, and there is no record that she ever remarried. She was likely in her late forties when she experienced the unspeakable tragedy of watching her son die an excruciating death ...

1165. 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... brusque rejection of those who would doubt his word. On verse 36 he dismisses them with the brisk "fool!") The first analogy Paul uses to discuss resurrection was a familiar image to the ancient world. Although Jesus also used the seed image, it is quite possible that Paul uses this analogy with no foreknowledge of Jesus' examples. The use of this agricultural metaphor was common among land-oriented peoples. In emphasizing the frailty of the seed, a "bare seed" (v. 37), Paul makes the analogy to the human ...

1166. 1 Peter 2:19-25

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... slaves were simply property, not people. Undoubtedly, being mistreated or suffering injustices at the hands of a master were quite familiar issues to the intended readers of this epistle. Among the Christians 1 Peter addresses, there were obviously Gentile ... Scriptures' theology of the "suffering servant" (Isaiah 53). In fact, there is a creedal feel and sound to these verses. It is quite likely that here we have an established creedal formula already used in the church which 1 Peter imports here into his text ...

1167. Luke 13:1-9

Luke 13:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... coherent unit; verses 6-9 form another. The incident Luke reports in 13:1 is certainly typical of the bloody, brutish reputation Pontius Pilate had cultivated during his reign. Though it is difficult to tell exactly which incident Luke is alluding to, it is quite likely that this is part of the fiasco that Pilate created when he decided to siphon money away from the temple treasury for an aqueduct project that he personally longed to complete. This aqueduct was to convey water from a spring, some 30 miles ...

1168. Philemon 1-21

Philemon 1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is no runaway slave that Paul is returning to his master but a wayward brother who now returns to his family's household. Whatever status he had endured in his brother's house previously and as the younger, unlanded sibling, it may have been quite "slave-like" is to be forgotten. He is now redeemed by Christ's love back into full fraternity. In verses 17-18, Paul makes further stipulations that will guarantee Onesimus complete acceptance into the household. Paul asks Philemon to welcome Onesimus now as Paul ...

1169. 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1170. Mark 10:35-45

Mark 10:35-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ." The messianic title, coupled with the theological significance of the "Son of Man" entering Jerusalem, sounded the bell in the disciples' minds for all sorts of glorious rings. Refusing to deal with the core content of Jesus' statements, James and John quite clearly hear only the final message he relays ("after three days he will rise again"). Only this image of a risen, powerful, ruling messianic Son of Man are Jesus' disciples able to envision. In short, despite Jesus' graphic details of an immediate ...

1171. Hosea 11:1-11

Hosea 11:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... text opens with words probably made most familiar to us by their use in Matthew 2:15. The gospel writer could have found no other prophetic text that could communicate parental concern quite so touchingly. Although Matthew's gospel uses Hosea's words to explain Jesus' personal history, the prophet's proclamation in 11:1 is quite clearly a reference to the nation-building exodus event in the life of Israel. Scholars identify the divine testimony that claims "out of Egypt I called my son" as representative of ...

1172. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... for the gospel inside the religious establishment. After Nicodemus' initial confession, Jesus opens to this Pharisee the possibility of a radically redrawn relationship with the divine that is imminent and immanent. Jesus combines two distinct terms here, one familiar and one quite new. The phrase "the kingdom of God," while used frequently in the synoptic Gospels, occurs only here in John's text. As an enigmatic eschatological symbol, the kingdom of God denotes both a time and a place where God will reign ...

1173. Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . For those "in Christ," however, no matter how much chaos swirls about them, they can stand firm within a calming peace for Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2:14). While vague about the foot covering, the description of the "shield of faith" is quite detailed. The image described here refers to the ancient tradition of taking the heavy wood, cloth and hide-covered shields of the front-line soldiers and dipping them into water just before the battle. The shield soaked up this water and retained its wetness ...

1174. Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that these commands should be designated as numbers 1 and 1, not 1 and 2. Ever been suspicious when literary scholars conclude a fruitless wrestling match with some text by crying "scribal error"? Verses 32-33 provide convincing evidence that scribes were quite good at hearing a slightly different message than they had been told. While this particular scribe generally gets the message, he still feels the need to add his own flourishes. In verse 32, he separates and emphasizes the singleness and unity of ...

1175. A Dramatic Career Change

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Scott H. Bowerman

... fish - full time - as a professional bass fisherman. I guess you can imagine Denny's wife thought of this. Jack McCallum in Sports Illustrated captured their prospects nicely when he wrote, "Deciding that you wanted to make a livable wage as a bass angler in 1980 wasn't quite as risky as deciding that you wanted to make a livable wage as, say, a marble shooter, but it was close." But amazingly enough, Denny's wife said, "Well, let's go!" And they packed up and moved to where the fish were. It turned out to ...

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