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 101 to 125 of 266 results

101. David's Turn From Wisdom

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Sue Anne Steffey Morrow

Above my desk at home is a single pine shelf that holds a row of books, books which through the years have meant a whole world to me. You may have such a collection of such treasures, too, volumes by favorite writers of poetry, prose, narrative, non-fiction. Some of my books are so old that the covers are frayed and the pages yellowing. There is a volume I read for the first time last summer that is crisp and clean. Some have markers to note a beloved section or a poem I'd like to find with dispatch. Some ...

102. Christmas 2

Jn 1:1-18 · Lk 2:41-51 · Eph 1:3-18 · Jer 31:7-14 · Ps 147

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7-14 This passage derives from the "book of consolation" portion of Jeremiah, compiled by Baruch, and covers the 622 B.C. to 609 B.C. period. God promises to redeem the remnant from captivity. They will return with tears of joy welling in their eyes. The earth will participate in the restoration by bountifully yielding her produce; it will be a well-watered garden (v. 12). All inhabitants will rejoice. Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-14, 15-18 A hymn of praise to God for ...

103. Old Temple, New Body

John 2:12-25

Sermon Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note: John's version of the cleansing of the temple is distinctive in many details, but most especially in its theological perspective. Here the cleansing is most clearly (1) a critique of the old temple and its cultic practice (specifically sacrifice), (2) a reference to the temple's destruction, and (3) a suggestion of a new temple, none other than the body of Christ (i.e., the church). We are dealing here, then, with an old dispensation's passing and the dawning of the new. Liturgical Color: ...

104. A Continuing Presence

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Larry Powell

Clarence Macartney tells of a certain Canadian river which flows through a forbidding chasm. Looming on either side of the river are rugged, uninviting crags which bear the names "Eternity" and "Trinity." Macartney suggests that the opposing crags invite an analogy (you understand of course, that to a preacher, most everything invites analogy). "Inseparable from any true conception of God," he says, "are always the two doctrines of God's eternity and God's trinity ... The threefold experience of God the ...

105. The Big Hand

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

James Weekley

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?" And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, "The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples? And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready ...

106. Wedding: Together...Till Death Us Do Part

Sermon Aid

John M. Braaten

(Name) and (name), the word overwhelming was made for a day like today. No words will ever be able to describe how you feel. Yet the closeness you feel toward your Lord and toward each other on this day is only the beginning of a lifetime of surprises, and gifts, and joys, God has in store for you. Knowing this, we, your family, relatives, and friends, have gathered to celebrate this momentous and sacred event with you. We are here to assure you of our affection and to undergird you with our prayers. In ...

107. The First Christmas Message

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James Garrett

The story of the birth of Jesus as told by Luke is the most familiar to most people. The familiarity of the story can be a frustrating thing for the preacher. Who is capable of rising to an occasion on which the most beautiful text of the Bible is read? It makes the preacher turn pale and stammer. However, the familiar can be the preacher’s delight. That the text and message are familiar means they already belong to you, the listeners. There is power, enjoyment, and an occasional “amen” when we hear what ...

108. Paradoxes Of The Christian Faith

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

There is something strange and paradoxical about the faith of Christians, and many people struggle to understand how we can celebrate the life of someone who died on a cross; someone who didn't fit the conventional criteria of success; someone who brought good and joy to the world, yet was executed by the very people to whom he brought goodness. How could God take someone who was penniless and make us wealthy; someone who was homeless and provide us with a many-roomed mansion in our Father's house? What a ...

109. Take Off The Grave Clothes!

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Today our lesson paints a poignant picture of one of the most famous of Jesus' acts: raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been a dear friend of Jesus and the scriptures say Jesus loved him and his entire family. When news reached Jesus of Lazarus' death, his heart was sorrowful. He wept inwardly and outwardly. Despite the bad news, he kept confidence that Lazarus would be raised. Despite the woeful lament the news caused for those who loved and knew Lazarus, Jesus quietly assured his disciples and ...

110. Moving Words

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

On the surface, this reading from Matthew’s gospel is a strange sounding, and somewhat puzzling passage. It is one we could easily dismiss since it is specifically addressed to the original 12 disciples. The text is part of a lengthy chapter detailing the instructions Jesus gives to those 12 prior to that first “missionary” effort. Since this appears to be a private tutoring lesson for Jesus’ small class of first century followers, we excuse ourselves from paying attention to the words. What could they ...

111. Anointed Ministry

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Ron Lavin

Isaiah 61 is a dangerous text! Jesus used this text to launch his ministry in his home town of Nazareth and it caused him to be thrown out of the synagogue and taken to the edge of a cliff. Jesus' life was threatened as a result of his reading, interpretation and application of this text. "Today, this Scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing," Jesus said. But we are getting ahead of our story. Let's go back to the original context of Isaiah 61 before we return to Jesus' use of the text. Isaiah's ...

112. Wounded Glory

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Erskine White

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. (John 20:20) Have you ever wondered what Jesus really looked like? The Bible is no help whatsoever in telling us, since it doesn't say a thing about the physical appearance of Jesus. Not a single word. We don't know if He was tall or short, skinny or fat. We don't know if He had a straight nose, crooked teeth, long hair or a beard. Everyone has a portrait of Jesus somewhere in their home, but no one knows what He looked like in the flesh. Have ...

113. Loving

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Larry Powell

If I speak in the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (verse 1) A gong has always impressed me as an almost unnecessary instrument. Each time a musician slams into one with a mallet to achieve the dull, disconcerting clash, I fully expect a secret passage to appear, or an oriental servant to fawn onto the stage. Cymbals provide slightly more flexible, functional accents of emphasis. However, both the gong and the cymbal produce but a single monotonous tone ...

114. Winning Isn't the Only Thing ... It's Irrelevant

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Carl Jech

Moses and Elijah ... appeared in glory and spoke of his departure which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:31) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Luke 13:34) The Green Bay Packer football coach, Vince Lombardi, is credited with the declaration: "Winning isn't everything ... It's the only thing!" Now from the very limited perspective of a professional football coach there may be an ...

115. The Stewardship of Money in the Modern Church

2 Corinthians 9:11, 12

Sermon

Dr. John Thompson Peters

For the Christian Church the problem of money, its need and her attitude towards money, has been an ever present one from New Testament days forward. Some of our Lord's sternest and sharpest teachings, as for example the incident of the widow's mite, the parable of the talents, the alabaster box, and many others deal with money. In the early church the tragedy which overcame Ananias and Sapphira was a money matter and an example of how many who started out to follow Christ fell out over money and its use. ...

116. Getting The Facts

1 Corinthians 15:3

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A scale and some packages of different sizes and weights. Good morning, children. How are you on this beautiful day? Have you ever played the game called "Telephone"? Someone whispers to you and you whisper it to someone else and by the time it gets to the end of the line it sounds very funny because it is different from when it was first said. That's the way rumors begin and what you hear may not always be true. When St. Paul preached he hardly ever whispered and his preaching was always based on ...

117. Mission to Unbelievers

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Dives, if we can take tradition’s name for him, first wanted personal relief from his eternal torments. But when Father Abraham, God’s stand-in, refused, Dives asked for a weekend pass to return and warn his brothers. Request denied! Abraham simply said that Moses and the prophets were sufficient. And even if Abraham should go himself, it would not lead Dives’ brothers to repentance. They would only see it as an extraordinary event making no claim upon their lives. So Dives and his brothers, and their ...

118. I Voted for God

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

The Gospel for today begins with these words of Jesus: Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Is that what it means to be a Christian? That we should hate the members of our own family? We must make allowances here not only for the circumstances, but also for the fact that Eastern language is sharp and vivid ...

119. Hunger, Health, and Happiness

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place ...

120. Honest to Goodness Religion

Hosea 4:1-19

Sermon

"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice." (v. 6) Prayer: Lord, Instill in us a sense of wonder that you really care what we do with our lives. Lead us to a greater appreciation of your love so we may never take it for granted. Amen There is a captivating story written by an English novelist, C. E. Montague, entitled Rough Justice.9 The story tells of a little boy, Bron, who was brought to church for the first time in his life, where his uncle was the vicar. For the boy it was an intriguing ...

121. The End is a New Beginning

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

The Exodus story ends with the death of Moses after he had viewed the Promised Land from Mount Nebo. "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go there." And so, Moses died and, apparently, the Lord buried him in an unmarked grave "in the valley of the land of Moab;" his grave-site has been lost forever. God alone knows where Moses is buried. God really seems to have taken Moses to himself ...

122. Is There No Balm in Gilead?

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Sermon

Brett Blair

Let me say upfront that the two men I am about to discuss with you, are, in my opinion, good Christian men who do a lot of valuable work for the Church and God's kingdom in this world. It just so happens they are both in the middle of a controversy because of a position they took with regard to our nation's tragedy. I am talking about Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. On Thursday the 13th, two days after the attack, Pat Robertson said that because of America's pursuit of financial gain, health, wealth, ...

123. Pentecost

Psalm 104:1-35, Joel 2:28-32, John 20:19-23, Acts 2:1-21

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Day of Pentecost is the Fiftieth Day of Easter; it brings the Paschal Season to its conclusion and, at the same time, signals the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples and to the church. Pentecost is not simply a festival of the Holy Spirit, rather, it is the time for acknowledging - ten days after the Ascension of Our Lord - the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit that Christ had promised to his followers. Like Easter, it has a vigil (not observed to the same degree as the Easter ...

124. Pentecost 7

Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 14:1--15:13, Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 19:1-14, Psalm 103:1-22, Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE September 29th marks the celebration of another minor festival, St. Michael and All Angels. The last line of the second reading, Revelation 12: 12, supports the eschatological perspective of Pentecost, because it announces that he (Satan) "knows that his time is short." Without the theological input of the readings for St. Michael and All Angels Day to supplement the readings of the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, the eschatological framework of the church year would be almost ...

125. A Senior Servant

2 Samuel 19:9-43

Sermon

Freshman servants are as easy to find as the circus-escaping elephant hiding behind a fire hydrant. Scores of fraternities and sororities are transformed into animal houses on every September day. Freshmen are turned into obedient coolies as they bow and scrape before upper classmen. Like a faithful Fido, the freshmen must minister to every need of their senior masters. It is part of the initiation process whose goal is to turn beanie-wearing frosh into proud-as-punch alumni, as they return in glory to ...

Showing results