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 1301 to 1325 of 4490 results

1301. God Knows!

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

You are the man! -- 2 Samuel 12:7 It has become fashionable to pretend a separation of private from public lives. You know how it goes: "What I do in private is nobody's business ... Keep your nose out of my affairs! ... There's no connection between a person's private life and her or his profession ... What I do on my own time is of no concern of yours ... We're not a reincarnation of the Soviet Union! ... He's doing a good job! So leave him alone! Everybody deserves a private life!" The assumption ...

1302. Hard Questions!

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Children sometimes ask cute questions, but often they are also incisive. In Children's Letters to God, a child inquires, "Dear God, Where does everybody come from? I hope you explain it better than my father. Ward." Another child queries, "Dear God, Did you mean for a giraffe to look like that or was it an accident? Norma." Then, there are those persons who, in the presence of larger questions, can think only of the obvious and mundane. Yellowstone Park Rangers report that, at the place where Old Faithful ...

1303. Proper 10

Colossians 1:1-14, Amos 7:10-17, Luke 10:25-37

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Amos 7:7-17 Amos was a prophet of the South in the eighth century. He wrote the earliest book in the Old Testament. Although he was from the South (Judah), God called him, ca. 750 B.C., to go to the North (Israel) to preach. He found the people prosperous, religious, but oppressive of the poor. His message was one of doom: death for the king and exile for the people. His preaching was not accepted. The chief priest told him to go home and preach to Judah. Epistle: Colossians 1:1- ...

1304. Liberating Truth

John 8:31-41

Sermon

William G. Carter

During the 1960s, Sherwood Schwartz wrote and produced a number of hit television shows. One of the most popular shows was Gilligan's Island, a comedy about a handful of pleasure cruise passengers who found themselves shipwrecked on a desert island. Every episode featured the castaways of the S.S. Minnow facing a wacky new adventure. The show was an immediate hit of the 1964 season. Each week, a lot of otherwise thoughtful, intelligent television viewers tuned in to hear the Skipper say, "Gilligan, drop ...

1305. World Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23-25

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

Object: A small loaf of bread or a roll and a ceramic glass. Lesson: Communion; sharing; community; remembering. "Have any of you ever had trouble remembering things?" I ask the assembled children. Heads nod; a few hands go up. "Raise your hand if you've ever had trouble remembering something." Every child raises a hand; I raise mine too -- and have no doubt every adult in the room has mentally done so as well. "It looks like all of us have this problem sometimes. Do any of you know, or remember from ...

1306. We Come to Jesus for Rest

Mark 6:30-44

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

In the first days, people came to Jesus for rest, to hear his teaching, and to be healed. We still do this today, because Jesus is still the greatest of all teachers and healers. Greeting Leader: Jesus said to his disciples, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile." People: Jesus, we also need your rest. Leader: Jesus saw the crowds were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began to teach them many things. People: Jesus, be our shepherd and teach us. Leader: Wherever Jesus went ...

1307. AUGUST 14-20

John 6:25-59

Sermon Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Theme: John is very plain. Unless we eat and drink Jesus Christ, we will not live forever. GREETING The Choir sings the chorus, "Eat This Bread," that comes out of the Taize Community. Choir: (Sings the chorus.) People: You, Lord, are our living bread, giving your own flesh for the life of the world. Choir: (Sings the chorus.) People: You are our true food, our true drink. Abide in us, and let us abide in you. Choir: (Sings the chorus.) People: Feast of life, feast from heaven, feed us till we want no more ...

1308. First Sunday In Christmastide

John 15:1-17

Bulletin Aid

David M. Oliver

Introduction to this Service Everyone is to bring an evergreen branch to worship. Extra boughs may be brought by church members and handed out to those who do not have any. The evergreen is a useful symbol for the Christian life. The focus of the message is to consider how we can remain "ever-green" and fruitful as people of faith. During enjoyable holiday periods, most of us are like the fresh-cut evergreen. The sweet aroma of our lives is readily lavished on everyone. After these periods of celebration, ...

1309. The Conference

Mark 1:9-13

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Synopsis: A strangely behaving student and his parents have a conference with the school counselor about the student's behavior problems. Throughout the consultation, the student acts out strange antics in order to call attention to himself. The counselor shocks the parents with a surprising diagnosis and prescription at the end of the consultation. Theme: The Need To Be Appreciated And Respected Characters Dr. Hobbs, school counselor Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Rosett Dirk troubled student Tone: Humorous, ...

1310. The Things Which Remain When All Is Lost

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Eulogy

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Child There is a story in the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel which I want to share with you. When King David and his wife Bathsheba had their first child it became apparent the boy would not live very long. For seven days the child lay near death. During this time King David was in a period of mourning and fasting. He lay all night upon the ground asking God that the child might live. Finally, on the seventh day the child died. The servants of King David were afraid to go in and tell the king what had ...

1311. The Infinite Becomes An Infant

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

The Miracle Of The Nativity Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is ...

1312. A Faith That Burns

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

"Conflict" is a dirty word in most churches. As Christians, we seek to avoid it at all costs and do so in the name of Christian love. We call it, "seeking the peace, unity and purity" of the church. And then Jesus comes along and says, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34)," or as Luke has it, "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!" The words send us scurrying for explanations to reduce their caustic effect. But who is this whose words intrude ...

1313. Lent 2

Philippians 3:12-4:1, Jeremiah 26:1-24, Genesis 15:1-18, Luke 13:31-35, Psalm 27:1-14, Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Second Sunday in Lent reminds the people of God, who gather for worship this day, that they are following Jesus to Jerusalem, according to the Roman Catholic ORDO, or, in the other lectionaries, are given a preview of what is going to happen in the Holy City. Almost any Gospel for the Day that is selected from St. Luke, which would fit into the liturgical/theological scheme of Lent, will have some sort of orientation to Jerusalem; Luke's whole gospel makes it absolutely clear that ...

1314. Breakfast on the Beach

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Steven Burt

There is a handful of narratives about Jesus’ appearance after the empty tomb. Several center around the empty tomb itself, like the one in which the angels say Jesus is risen, or the one where Jesus himself appears and says to Mary Magdalene, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” And there’s an appearance to the disciples when he says to doubting Thomas, “Go ahead, stick your hand in my wound and be sure it’s really me.” Another time Jesus walks along the road to Emmaus with two ...

1315. Marked At The Cross

Sermon

George Bass

“When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there and the two criminals also, one on the right, the other on the left.”Luke 23:33-46 Yes, “the cross is still there;” Jesus’ death on Good Friday on that little hill that looked like a skull tells us so. That cross will forever be a sign and symbol of the unmeasurable and undying love that God has for every human being. It really does declare that “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” to die for all of us “… that ...

1316. First Things First

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

In our text Jesus makes a comparison between two different things: buildings and a person. The buildings he spoke of were of great importance, representing many resources. No doubt the excess wealth of the city or nation was required to build them. Many workers were conscripted to work on them. And, no matter big or small, they were always much larger, more solid, and of greater economic value than any of the persons who helped in their construction. In fact, they gave a feeling of permanence which those ...

1317. Holy Unto The Lord

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

The challenge of every Christian believer is to live a holy life. Ralph P. Martin has defined holy as, “That person or thing that is separated from all that is profane, common or defiling. Yahweh alone is ‘the Holy One.’ Those persons, places or things that belong to God are holy -- they are sanctified by God for divine use or they manifest God’s presence or activity.” In other words, one who experiences a holy life has, out of necessity, that life connected with God. In the Christian experience the ...

1318. Previews Of Coming Attractions

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Ron Lavin

What comes to your mind when I say the word "forecasting"? The weather man? The predictor of tomorrow's heat, cold, rain, humidity? Probably so. In the Bible, the forecaster is God's prophet. He tells us what is going to happen in the future based on the reality of the present. True prophecy involves both forth-telling and foretelling. Jeremiah tells forth and foretells by giving us previews of coming attractions. What comes to your mind when I say, "previews of coming attractions"? Perhaps you think of ...

1319. Throw Your Heart at the Sky

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Carl Jech

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus ... Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.(John 21:4, 12b) Now wait a minute! Either they knew it was Jesus or they didn't. Why would it even occur to them to ask who he was if they already knew who it was? The answer is that the editors of the gospel of John (and many scholars think that John went through at least three major revisions) are using this story to ...

1320. If Only We Would Let God Mold Us ...

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

"John’s pulling his ear again," my wife would say wearily when I came home for lunch. "I guess I’d better take him back to Dr. Byrd’s this afternoon before things get worse." "That probably means another round of penicillin shots for John and some more sleepless nights for us," was my usual response. That dialogue was repeated over and over in our household. It seemed as though we would never get our three-year-old son’s ear infections cleared up. We were positive his body was working up an immunity to ...

1321. Thanks, Lord

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a ...

1322. Communion Is Refreshment

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the scripture), "I thirst." A bowl full of vinegar stood there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished"; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Death by crucifixion was such an agonizing way to die. The dehydration which came before death was especially severe. So we can be sure that all the humanity of Jesus was screaming forth as ...

1323. Another in the continuing adventures of AMAZING GRACE

Drama

Narrator: Today we find Grace, still captive in the castle of the Evil Prince, forced by a magic spell to do his bidding. He is now moving her from the laundry room dungeon in the subbasement to one of his more horrible torture devices - the kitchen sink. [Enter Grace and the Evil Prince] Evil Prince: Come on, Gracie Baby, move along. I’ve got a special treat in store for you today! Grace: [Being led in chains] When are you going to give up. You can’t break me, and you know it! E.P.: Now, Gracie, don’t be ...

1324. The Yestermorrow Eclipse

John 10:1-21

Sermon

It was a fearsome sight ... striking terror to the hearts of city dwellers and country-folk alike. Mysterious, unexplainable, frightening. Surely the wrath of the gods had come upon them, and perhaps the end of the world was at hand. Few events in history have penetrated human lives with such universal mystery and fear. As the Greek writer Archilochus described it, "sore fear came upon men," and Theoclymenus notes that "an evil mist has spread over all." People would hide, tribes would dance feverishly, ...

1325. Kindness That Makes You Sorry!

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"... Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil." (NAS) A gentle Christian of the Society of Friends, a lady by the name of May Haviland, lived alone. One night as she entered her bedroom, she found a burglar rifling through her bureau drawers. When she turned on the light, he pointed a gun at her heart. She gently said to him: "Put that thing away. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s guns. Besides, if your ...

Showing results