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 1351 to 1375 of 4933 results

1351. Prayers for Ash Wednesday

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:16-18, Psalm 51:1-19

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

Call to Worship Take joy in your salvation and be willing to obey God as the Spirit prompts you. Prayer of Confession God above all, you have created us from the ground up and in Christ came to our turf, to show us again that the earth is yours and you have made all things to be good. Your own Spirit infused life into the lifeless so that the human race should be distinct not in its physical properties but in its ability to control behavior individually and socially. Forgive our lack of self-control and ...

1352. Ash Wednesday

Joel 2:1-11, Matthew 6:1-4, Psalm 51:1-19, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, 2 Corinthians 6:3-13, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP Take joy in your salvation and be willing to obey God as the Spirit prompts you. PRAYER OF CONFESSION God above all, you have created us from the ground up and in Christ came to our turf, to show us again that the earth is yours and you have made all things to be good. Your own Spirit infused life into the lifeless so that the human race should be distinct not in its physical properties but in its ability to control behavior individually and socially. Forgive our lack of self-control and ...

1353. Beyond Denominationalism

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

Unity • Week of Prayer for Christian Unity • On October 31, 1517, an event occurred which changed the course of Christian experience. On that date Martin Luther tacked ninety-five theses for debate on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. That action eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. Although in 1517 the church was already divided between east and west, the Reformation brought further divisions until, at one time, there were over 300 Protestant denominations. For years these ...

1354. Mourning Turned To Joy

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The 14th canticle from the Lutheran Book of Worship poetically summarizes Jeremiah 31:6-14: Listen! you nations of the world:listen to the Word of the Lord.Announce it from coast to coast;declare it to distant islands. The Lord who scattered Israel willgather his people again;and he will keep watch over them as ashepherd watches his flock. With shouts of joy they will come,their faces radiantly happy,for the Lord is so gen 'rous to them;He showers his people with gifts. Young women will dance for joy,and ...

1355. Whose Meal Is It?

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Family meals are important, interesting experiences. They are not only a physical gathering of the persons but a gathering of all that each of those persons is and represents. They are a gathering of beings, ideas, experiences, and memories. It is important to have gatherings of the family around a meal, whether it is your immediate family or the extended family of which you are a part. Family meals make a difference. I love to sit around the table after a meal and hear one after another of the family say ...

1356. Bitter-Sweet Recollections

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

"The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, Nor did I turn away. I gave my back to those who struck Me, And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help Me; Therefore I will not be disgraced; Therefore I have set my face ...

1357. The Personal Touch

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Brett Blair

Lamar Hunt, the man who started the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, was walking through his home and came across one of his daughter's toys. The toy was called a “Super Ball.” In that moment he was given the inspiration for the name of the championship game between his upstart AFL and the old guard National Football League. "Why not," he wondered, "call our championship game the Super Bowl?" The name caught on quickly and thus, an American tradition was born. Some of you will ...

1358. A Christian's Duty in Time of War

Nehemiah 4:1-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We gather for worship on a weekend that we will long remember as the beginning of the liberation of Iraq. We are concerned about our troops and the innocent people of Iraq. We Christians love peace; therefore, we automatically recoil against the death and suffering associated with war. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” But as a World War II veteran reminded me, “Somebody has to take care of the peacemakers while they are making peace.” That task has fallen upon the armed forces of the United ...

1359. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

Back in the 15th century in a tiny village near Nuremberg, Germany there lived a family with eighteen children. That’s right… eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this large family, the father (who was a goldsmith by profession) worked almost eighteen hours a day at this trade and any other paying job he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the older children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full ...

1360. What We Have Is A Communication Problem

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

King Duncan

A woman dialed the number of what she thought was the local record shop. A man answered. She asked, "Do you have 10 little fingers and 10 little toes in Alabama?" The man had no idea she was talking about a song. He said, "No, but I do have a wife and 15 kids in Louisiana." She asked, "Is that a record?" He said, "I don't know if it is a record or not, but it sure is above average." (1) One of the favorite devices of comedians is that of garbled communication. An Italian gentleman was trying to learn ...

1361. How Have We Made It This Far?

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Charles Killian, a Professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky has described a mythical modern worship service like this: Pastor: “Praise the Lord!” Congregation: “Hallelujah!” Pastor: “Will everyone please turn on their tablet, PC, iPad, smart phone, and Kindle Bibles to First Corinthians 13:13. And please switch on your Bluetooth to download the sermon.” [There is a pause.] “Now, let us pray committing this week into God’s hands. Open your Apps, BBM, Twitter and Facebook, and chat with ...

1362. On the Beach

John 21:15-25, John 21:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

On this third Sunday in the season of Easter, we look at yet another resurrection appearance, this one from the Gospel of John. The disciples are despondent. The world has collapsed around them. Their Lord has been crucified. I suppose that by the time this story takes place, which is at least a week after the Resurrection, we can assume that they have heard of the Resurrection, if they have not actually experienced the Resurrected Christ. Although we know that some did see him, if you think of the Upper ...

1363. The Day Life Increased

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Mark Trotter

The Antiques Roadshow has become one of my favorite television shows. If you haven't seen it, you should know that it is simply a group of appraisers who travel around the country, rent out convention centers and civic auditoriums, and people by the thousands bring in some object they have found in their house, or at a swap meet, for appraisal. Someone will bring in an old clock, a watch, a vase, or a painting, almost anything. The conversation between the appraiser and the owner of the object is recorded ...

1364. Our Prayers Are Our Thanksgiving

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands — one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands — one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. How many of us memorized these words as part of our morning classroom ritual in elementary school? Probably most folks gathered here. Some of us still recite ...

1365. Just Say Know

Philippians 3:4b-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We are living in a world of informational overload and relational anorexia. The call of the church must be to "know Christ" and to "make Christ known." Thus, "Just Say Know" may be a better addiction strategy than "Just Say No." Is there anyone here immune to the "Great American Dream"? The American "pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps" Dream lures us into believing that if we somehow just knew more, we could get ahead and get the jump on the next guy. You say you are immune to the Dream's magic spell? ...

1366. Proper 20

Matthew 20:1-16, Psalm 106:1-48, Exodus 16:1-36, Philippians 1:12-30

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter - Psalms 105:1-6, 37-45 First Lesson - When the Israelites complain of hunger to Moses and Aaron, God sends bread from heaven. Exodus 16:2-15 Second Lesson - Paul shares with the Philippians the conflict between keeping on or being relieved by death from present suffering. Philippians 1:21-30 Gospel - Jesus suggests that those of us at this late hour of the Christian day may still be rewarded for our work as if we had been there at the beginning. Matthew 20:1-16 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The ...

1367. The Difference Disciples Make

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Criminologists tell us no person enters and exits a room without leaving something of themselves behind. There will be a fingerprint, a footprint, a trace of hair, a thread of clothing or some other DNA evidence that we have been there and done that. On our way to Holy Communion today, I want to raise a few questions with you who are seeking to be disciples of Jesus Christ: What kind of footprints are you leaving on the sands of time? What difference will it make that you have crossed the stage of life? ...

1368. Hey, Foolish Thing!

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever noticed that some bright people can say really dumb things? When the American baseball player Bill Gullickson signed a phenomenal contract to play baseball in Japan, he was asked what daily life was like in Japan. He replied that the language was the most difficult and different feature. “It’s crazy,” he said. “The only American words I saw were Sony and Mitsubishi.” (1) Well, I guess those are American words. There is no limit to the foolish things people do and say particularly our ...

1369. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-8

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

An old “Peanuts” cartoon showed Linus asking his sister Lucy to check out the shine job he had done on his shoes. She says his shoes look great, but as he turns around to leave Lucy informs Linus that he forgot to do the backs of his shoes. They still are all scuffed. “Oh I didn’t forget,” Linus explains. “I just care what people think about me as I come into the room. I don’t care what they think of me when I leave.” That is the kind of attitude Paul is forcefully arguing against in today’s epistle text. ...

1370. The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

Since the imagery of war and armor is quite prominent throughout the NT, this section in Ephesians does not specifically represent any new teaching. Paul, for example, speaks of his own Christian life as a spiritual fight (1 Cor. 9:24–27), and the author of the Pastorals encourages Timothy to “fight the good fight” (1 Tim. 1:18; 6:12) in an age of apostasy. On several occasions Paul even identifies the weapons that the Christian is to use. Because the battle is a spiritual one, he says, “the weapons we ...

1371. Lying By the Side of the Road

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

In October of 2015 Reader’s Digest carried an article that featured 24 stories about what the editor called “the touching kindness of strangers.” One story was titled “The Man at the Market.” It was contributed by Leslie Wagner from Peel, Arkansas. Ms. Wagner told of being in a supermarket one time. When she checked out, the clerk tallied up her groceries. Much to Ms. Wagner’s surprise she discovered that her bill was $12 over what she had in her purse. With embarrassment she began to remove items from the ...

1372. Call It Like You See It

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

In Tobit, one of the books of the Apocrypha, the hero Tobias sets out on a journey to call in a loan owed to his father, who has gone blind. He will return with a bride and a cure for his father’s blindness. But he sets out on the journey with a young man — who he does not recognize as an angel — and a faithful dog. Well, sort of. There are several versions of this apocryphal book. In the version that was current among Greek-speaking Jews, there is a dog. In the versions that circulated among Jews closer ...

1373. He Loves You Anyway

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Let me ask you an uncomfortable question this morning: what criticism are you most likely to hear from the people who know you best? Do they say you are always running late, or you’re too uptight about being early? Or you’re a penny pincher, or you’re always overspending? Very few of us handle criticism graciously, even from people who know us and love us. A famous humorist once wrote, “Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger.” (1) And he’s ...

1374. Who Are These, Robed in White?

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Will Willimon

In the Sixties, rebelling students donned special clothes - jeans, sandals, tie-dyed tee shirts - as sign of their rebellion. The early members of the contemporary Women's Movement say the clothing that women wore as a sign of women's oppression. Bras were burned. High heels were condemned. When a judge, in the British legal tradition, renders judgment, the judge puts on, not only a robe, but also a wig. What does this special dress symbolize? It covers the individuality of the judge, signifying that the ...

1375. Table Manners

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Alex Gondola

Ethel Barrymore, the great stage and screen actress, was a stickler for good manners. She once invited a younger actress to a dinner party at her home. But the young lady never appeared. She didn't even bother to offer an excuse or make an apology. She just didn't show up. Several days later Ethel Barrymore and the young lady met by chance at a museum. Embarrassed, the younger actress began, "Miss Barrymore, I believe I was invited to your house last Thursday evening for dinner." To which Ethel Barrymore ...

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