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 1185 results

101. Peacemaking - Active, Not Passive

Sermon

Alan Bacon Bond

... contradictory statement which may, nonetheless, be true. In order to understand the role of paradox in the process of peace-making, it would be helpful to review the first two steps we have taken on "The Sevenfold Path to Peace," which we are pursuing during this period of Lent. First, with the question, "Is peace Attainable?" we wrestled with the fact that what happens inside of us ultimately affects the world around us. The acquisition of world peace starts with our individual and collective inner peace ...

102. Formula for Life

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

... the powerful voice of Amos speaking we discover the simple formula for living the life of faith. For those who want life that is real, Amos says, there are two directions for their quest to take. They must seek fellowship with the Lord, and they must pursue good rather than evil. Faith is important to life, Jesus indicates. It is infinitely powerful and enabling. But faith is its own reward. Do not expect special favors because you have it. To live in responsive obedience to God is to live by the formula ...

103. Don't Try So Hard!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

... accomplishing something in life, isn't there? For there is a subtely and elusiveness about life and success that we must also take into account. So much so that the other side of the coin reads, "Don't try so hard!" Some things in life will escape you if you pursue them too vigorously. Jesus once made this serious statement about that: "For the man who wants to save his own life will lose it; but the man who loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." "Don't try so hard!" Jesus was saying. The ...

104. Proper 19

Lk 15:1-10 · Hos 4:1-3, 5:15--6:6 · 1 Tim 1:12-17 · Ex 32:7-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... him in covenantal love and loyalty. God has appealed to them through the prophets. He sent judgment to get them to repent. He wants from his people love and a relationship of peace, but they are content to render cheap sacrifices and burnt offerings. Here we find a wooing and pursuing God and a people whose love for God is fickle. Lesson 2: 1 Timothy 1:12-17 1. Thank (v. 12). Considering Paul to be the writer, we can see Paul's gratitude. He is one of the most thankful men in the Bible. To be grateful is to ...

105. The Master Has Come - And Is Calling For You

John 11:38-44

Sermon

... the rest of us." We are not all in the same place, but wherever we are, God seeks us out. He pursues us. We often speak of someone finding God - or finding Christ - or finding truth, as though God or Christ or the truth had been lost! The real truth ... is that God has already found us, has sought us out, has pursued us. Years ago Francis Thompson, an unknown poet, published a poem he called "The Hound of Heaven." I fled Him down the nights and down ...

106. Good News for Exiles

Psalm 137:1-9, 2 Chronicles 36:15-23, Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

... Good News is that when you find yourself in exile, God makes ready His move. Just as surely as Babylon was for the Hebrews God’s instrument of Law, the Edict of Cyrus was God’s instrument of grace. The Persians under Cyrus pursued a much more enlightened policy than that of the Babylonians. The Persians built their more advanced empire on the progressive principle of pluralism. They were willing to respect, instead of stifle, the differences of the various subjugated peoples. A wise policy! Their empire ...

107. Who Keeps Getting in My Way?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... what we might call a statement of values. Look again now at these familiar Beatitudes and you’ll become aware once more that Jesus believed our inner attitudes are what make happiness. He saw life in its entirety. From such a perspective, these programs, if we pursue them, will inevitably result in the accompanying promises. Whether or not we accept them depends on how we look at life. A few years ago, in the Museum of Natural History in New York City, a special room was arranged as it might look to a ...

108. Journey To The Cross VI: Jesus And Pontius Pilate

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

James W. Moore

... in the Sermon on the Mount... He underscored it by saying: Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and everything else will fall in place. Blessed are those who keep on hungering and thirsting after righteousness, they shall be filled. Patrick Henry knew the importance of pursuing a great dream and he closed his will with these words: “I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more that I wish I could give them and that is the Christian faith. If they had this and I ...

109. Winners, Losers and the Gospel

Mt 16:25

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... who we are by opening the front door of our house or apartment and going forth to work and play and cry and laugh with other people. We learn who we are by experiencing ourselves in a myriad of contexts - in a variety of places with a variety of people pursuing a variety of activities. A brick layer learns what it means to be a brick layer by laying bricks, not by sitting in his room wondering what it would be like to be a brick layer. A minister learns to be a minister by emptying his heart’s living room ...

110. Pilgrim Living in a Vagabond World

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... ; they were pilgrims. Now they moved with purpose. They had heard the call of freedom, and they had resolved to pursue it to the very death - and they did. John Henry Jowett, eminent British-born clergyman of a couple of generations ... them. They had come to the Red Sea, and there they had camped. Before them was the apparently impassable water, behind them the pursuing army of the angry Egyptian king, and within them a seething restlessness and resistance, a hopelessness and despair. Moses went to God ...

111. How Do You Like Yourself?

1 Peter 3:8-22

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... s a wonderful escape. But then comes the night. All the others are gone, and so we can’t concentrate upon them. We are quiet. We are alone. And it is, finally, then that the pursuing self catches up with us. There he is, and there is no way to get rid of him. Try as we may, we have no grounds for divorce from ourselves. Your pursuing self will keep popping up, crying: "Don’t forget me!" tagging along behind us, shrieking: "You can’t do this to me! You can’t leave me behind! No matter where you go or ...

112. The Scandal Of Redeeming Love

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... surely must have pained Yahweh, in the same way that Gomer’s breaking of the marriage covenant pained him. Hosea saw in Yahweh a God of infinite love, who loved Israel despite its disobedience, and who would no less pursue and redeem Israel than Hosea pursued and redeemed Gomer as his wife. A covenant, of course, is an agreement of mutual benefit whereby each party agrees to certain obligations. Covenants were the legal arrangements which made society work, and by which peaceful relationships were ...

113. Who Knows?

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... , and he was beached up on a new shore, set in motion once more by new and surprising currents. So in our lives. We are called to this or that lofty purpose. We look for an avenue through which we may pursue our goals - some door or way out that will enable us to realize our fondest dreams, pursue our self-imposed direction. The doors are hard to find and harder to open; nothing works the way it should. Quick solutions or tried formulae do not work; the doors and ways-out are solidly closed. We know we will ...

114. Proper 18

Proverbs 2:1-22, Mark 7:31-37, James 1:19-27

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... wisdom and morality: wisdom is for the upright, those who have integrity and who guard justice. Call to Worship Leader: Wisdom and knowledge are wonderful things, and Scripture counsels us to pursue them. People: GOD HAS GIVEN US MARVELOUS INTELLECTS AND A RELENTLESS CURIOSITY, AND WE MUST USE THEM. Leader: Scripture reminds us that to pursue wisdom and knowledge is actually a religious quest, for their source is in God. People: LET US THEREFORE TURN OUR MINDS AS WELL AS OUR HEARTS AND SOULS TOWARD GOD ...

115. The Whip of War

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Brett Blair

... yet our King is king of all nations on earth. This is the big shift that occurs in the message of Jesus and he was largely misunderstood and crucified because of it. Does this mean that Christians are not to get angry, or show aggression, or pursue justice? The second chapter of the Gospel of John shows a startling contrast in Jesus’ behavior. At the wedding in Cana of Galilee Jesus changes water into wine accommodating a wedding host in a delicate predicament. Then in the Temple a few days later he uses ...

116. Worthwhile Arguments

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Richard Patt

... of us need that same reminder, and that’s what Jesus is telling us today. He is encouraging us about having worthwhile arguments. I You can tell something about people by the company they keep. You can also tell something about people by the arguments they pursue. Some of the arguments in which you and I are willing to take part are embarrassing, to say the least. Jesus asks his disciples here, "What were you arguing about on the road?" Then we read, "But they would not answer him, because on the road ...

117. A Good God and the Problem of Suffering

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... , we can best see the eyes of God when we look into the eyes of Christ. There is no doubt what we see there. We pursue the mystery, and we glimpse meaning. You remember the young couple whose first-born child could not be a normal person. Their faith amazed me. ... of death. As someone has put it, "It is not that we can’t find God; the truth is we can’t get rid of him." He pursues us in love. Let’s get one thing straight: suffering is not to be enjoyed. You do not lie down and let it run over you. You ...

118. Lent 3

John 4:1-26

Bulletin Aid

C. David Godshall

... those who turned from you and mocked your goodness for them. People: There are times when we forget all your blessings for us, and pursue our own pleasures and desires. Pastor: There are times when we figure that we must not be so bad, as others have happen ... faith and to seek righteousness before you. Assistant: Enable us to look for the learnings from the past which will help us to pursue justice and mercy for our times and our peoples. People: Turn us from self-righteousness, and give us a proper sense of ...

119. True or False?

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... pleasure. Sex has become a social craze. The most intimate of actions are widely displayed and intensely viewed. The society seems to demand a constant supply of bodies to watch and pursue. Voyeurism is rampant. Lust is a commodity. Sex pervades the marketplace, the politics, the entertainments of a culture whose indiscretions have no boundaries. That’s what Sodom has become. Can you imagine such a place? Then there’s Gomorrah. Have you noticed what has been happening there? The violence just ...

120. Sheep

Matthew 18:10-14, Matthew 18:15-20, Luke 15:1-7

Drama

Dave Marsh

... lost people with a vengeance. He cares about us so much that He will passionately seek us out to bring us home. This drama shows the difference between how God might pursue us (Donna) and how we humans normally view the lost (Jim). Cast: Donna: a good shepherd Jim: a not-so-good shepherd Props: 2 staffs (staves?) A laptop computer a bag (to hold the laptop) A picture of a field (projected behind them if possible) Ambient field noises (if possible) ...

121. His Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Brett Blair

... two expectations being played out. Two storylines are occurring: the hopes of the people is one and the Passion of the Christ is the other. Jesus could not match his hopes and dreams with theirs. The two goals were mutually exclusive. To pursue a king’s crown would defeat the purpose of the cross. To pursue the a sacrificial cross would preclude any chance at a crown. The Passion. What does it mean? Why do we call it the Passion? Well you have to go back a number of years to the old meaning of the word ...

122. Liberty And Civility

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

... based on biblical principles and thus we are free. In any case our freedom is from God. Now let me temper our celebrations with a caution: With freedom comes great responsibility. We are not free to live excessive lives. We are not set at liberty to pursue selfish ends. Our independence should not make us infidels. As Paul so eloquently put it: "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature." What is true for the church is true for the nation: Liberty ...

123. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

... deep appreciation to his beloved brother, Albert, for the years of sacrifice he had put in that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were: “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream and I will take care of you.” All heads turned in love and eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat. Tears were streaming down his face. Slowly, Albert stood to his feet and softly he said, “Thank you, my ...

124. Choose Life!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... at all, because he was often involved in fights in bars. One day some visitors came by the Bramlett home. They wanted to talk to John Bramlett about Christ. The impact of that visit changed John Bramlett’s life forever. Suddenly he turned from pursuing death to pursuing life. That is what repentance is. It is the exercise of our freedom to decide, by God’s grace, for those things that are of eternal value. John Bramlett made that choice. He even became a Christian minister. Today his life is a living ...

125. A Prize Is Waiting For You!

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... thing were only a joke. Evidently the cat was to be chased but not to be caught, and if the cat insisted on being caught, then the dog was most embarrassed. "Too often," says Dale Oldham, "we have pursued the Kingdom of God in this same spirit. We have cried out in a burst of enthusiasm so long as we have been pursuing the Kingdom, but most of us would be greatly embarrassed if we were actually to catch up with the Kingdom."(4) Jesus says we don't have to chase the Kingdom. It's already here. It's already ...

Showing results