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 126 to 150 of 4943 results

126. Are You Ready for the Journey?

Mark 8:27-9:1

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... act of utter foolishness. Every year, at about the same time, we leave the comforts of our daily lives and embark on this incredible journey. It's not an easy journey, mind you. If you really want to go, if you choose to follow, it might even mean denying yourself, taking up a cross, following Christ. But the good news is we don't make the journey alone. We join company with one another. If we lose our way, if life seems to baffle us, we won't stay stopped for long. Someone is sure to pick up the trail and ...

127. Cross-Bearing

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... rear and said the Spanish equivalent of, "Look at me; I'm bearing my cross," and everyone chuckled. Except the wife, of course. Most assuredly, a wife on a lap in a crowded car is not what Christ had in mind when he talked about taking up the cross. Nor did he mean the kind of thing of which people complain — difficult working conditions, aging parents who are no longer able to function, recalcitrant teenagers who refuse to obey, or even giving up chocolate for Lent — as "my cross to bear." The cross ...

128. Sin, Confession and Redemption

Isaiah 59:1-21

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... of the teaching of the wise—that wrongdoing rebounds on wrongdoers. They do not commit themselves to the way of shalom and to mishpat in the community. They will find that they have consequently lost the way to their own shalom. In Romans 3:15–17 Paul takes up the words of verses 7–8 and uses them to summarize the way in which the whole of humanity is dominated by sin. In Christian tradition, verse 2 has thus been understood to refer to a separation between humanity and God effected by human sin in ...

129. Reveille

Mark 6:7-13, Matthew 10:1-42, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a ...

130. Breathe on Me, Breath of God

Acts 2:1-4

Sermon

James W. Moore

... better place. On the other hand, those with poor self-esteem, those who don’t like themselves… are much more likely to have problems… and be problems in the world. Criminologists are discovering now that the vast majority of people who take up the life of crime, violence and drugs are those with low self-esteem. Healthy self-esteem creates happy people. Poor self-esteem creates hostile people. If you find people who are always negative, always complaining, always unhappy, always criticizing their co ...

131. On Panicking Close to Shore

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... forth their claims at Passover time. If there were going to be any sort of political revolt, it would take place at Passover. This possibility is what led Pontius Pilate to leave his beautiful summer palace in Caesarea by the sea and journey down to Jerusalem, to take up residence in the Antonia Fortress so that he could keep his eye on what was going on in and around the Temple in Jerusalem. (The very next Passover there would be brought to him for judgment a rabble-rouser by the name of Jesus of Nazareth ...

132. Personal Accountability

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Ezekiel 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... to me in 18:1, and the concluding formula declares the Sovereign LORD in 18:32, clearly demarcate the first unit of this section. Unconventional, but equally clear, markers set off the second unit, 19:1–14. In 19:1 the Lord commands the prophet: “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel.” The final verse of the chapter repeats this identification: “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.” The common theme connecting the sermon in chapter 18 and the two laments in chapter 19 is ...

133. “Trust in the Lord and Do Good”

Psalm 37:1-40

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... teacher, and shares his long experience of God’s faithfulness with his students. In the second instance, he offers a word about the “wicked,” asserting that the wicked, “like a luxuriant native tree,” will soon pass away (37:35–36). Here David takes up the theme that preoccupies Psalm 73 as well, the prosperity of the wicked, although Psalm 73 finds the resolution in worship (73:17). Yet there may be little difference between David’s conclusion in 37:13 that “their day is coming” and 73 ...

134. Characteristics of Christ That You and I Need

Mark 8:27-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... , he rebuked Simon Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” Notice that he does not promise that if we serve him things are going to be great for ...

135. I Hate To Rain On Your Parade, But

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... prayed for and expected is not delivered in a neat little package. The Bible speaks of this often. Anger and resentment are two of its major themes. The subject this morning, then, is death – specifically, the death of Jesus. Maybe I should apologize for taking up this subject again here on Palm Sunday. Many of you may have come to hear about the parade, the party, balloons floating around the sanctuary, loud shouts of "Hosannah!" echoing off the walls. I hate to rain on anyone’s parade, but the subject ...

136. The Life We Prize

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Various Authors

... ] in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." (Romans 6:5) Christ’s call to deny self means to turn away from all that is less than God’s best for me. 2. Self-surrender. Jesus calls me to take up my cross daily. This means to surrender myself to him, trusting him to forgive my sins and to strengthen my life. Such unconditional commitment to Christ is difficult because I want to keep control of my life; I don’t want to entrust myself to Christ’s management ...

137. Tevye's Question

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... them can tell you a story similar to that of Timmy's shirt. You may ask, why are they willing to give up a comfortable living to serve Christ in far less desirable circumstances? Most of them will tell you it is not a sacrifice. It's not difficult to take up a cross and follow Christ if you share his faith. God will provide. God is good. All the time, God is good. Tevye, the good-hearted Jewish man, asks his wife Golde, "Do you love me?" She answers that she does. Then together they sing, "It may not change ...

138. Time for the Offering

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

... me, or does God's grace drive me? How do we live our lives? That is the question that Paul is asking the Corinthians, and it is the question that echoes from this passage across the centuries to us: How do we live our lives? It is time to take up the offering. Paul tells the Corinthians, and Paul tells us. In so doing, Paul offers us all the opportunity to consider who we are and whose we are. May God's gracious Spirit guide us in our search. Amen. 1. Dorothee Soelle and Luise Schottroff, Jesus of Nazareth ...

139. The Messiah and His Glory

Luke 9:28-36, Luke 9:18-27

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... it immediately by talking about rejection and death at the hands of the very people whom the Messiah has come to deliver his perception of what was meant by being raised on the third day the sinking feeling when Jesus speaks of the need to take up the cross and not to be ashamed of him the exhilaration of the mountaintop experience, but also the scary sight of a transformed Jesus and two dead men returned the embarrassment of his inappropriate words his possible shift of perceptions about Jesus from 9:20 ...

140. Wimps or Water Walkers

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

King Duncan

... because all your friends have. Neither is it a club for people who are merely fans of this man Jesus. As we have said before, Jesus wants followers, not fans. He wants people who will walk in his footsteps. He wants people who will deny themselves and take up their cross and follow him. Can he count on you? Are you a person of courage and conviction who will give your best to serving him? I hope so. The whole world depends on it. 1. Dr. Jerry Tankersley, http://www.lagunapreschurch.org/cgi‑bin/sermons ...

141. Count the Cost

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Will Willimon

... turns to the crowd and speaks of the high cost of following him. Hate mother, hate father, brother, sister. Take up your cross. Count the cost. Jesus is no guru muttering ethereal truth, not some self-help technician who, for $ ... possessions, achievements. Everybody pays in the end. But what will we get for what we've paid? "Take up your cross and follow me," says Jesus. The one who says these words is on the way to his own taking up the cross, to his own death. In other words, this soon-to-be-dead-man Jesus ...

142. The Way Up Is the Way Down

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... , become rookies on my team, and I will give you influence with people. By the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit the lights came on; they took up the challenge to see just what the kingdom was that Jesus was announcing. They saw something that compelled them to take up his offer. John Ruskin was right: “The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way. Hundreds of people can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who ...

143. Woe to Ephraim

Isaiah 28:1-29

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... is Yahweh’s strange, alien task. It does not naturally fit the commitment Yahweh has made to Israel. It does not fit the notion of Yahweh’s choice of Zion. A medieval midrash reports how someone who had made God angry was told, “You have caused me to take up a trade that is not mine” (from S. Buber’s edition of Tanhuma, Balak 69a, as quoted in C. G. Montefiore and H. Loewe, A Rabbinic Anthology [New York: Schocken, 1974], p. 57). It is easy to say “This hurts me more than it hurts you” and not ...

144. In A Time Of War

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... alone--that the world will be saved. And God gave an assignment to a group of people--people who had come to know God's Son. And the assignment was this: we are to take up that same cross. We are to save the world not by overpowering it, but by loving it. That is our job when this conflict is over. It is to recommit our lives to taking up the cross of Christ--the cross of peace, the cross of love, the cross of sacrifice--until that time when war is no more. It will seem silly to many of our friends ...

145. The Impossible Option

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... too caught up in the oughts and shoulds, the duties and responsibilities of Christian life. We really do make following Jesus into drudgery, a series of losses, burdens, and duties with precious little joy or adventure about it. We are so anxious to talk about "taking up one's cross" that we forget all about how Jesus himself looked beyond the cross' agony to the joy that was set before him. Maybe we sympathize with not only the rich man but also the disciples, who bluntly remind Jesus that they have given ...

146. The Greatest Sin

Luke 13:6-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... , things that would have brought God glory. Fortunately Christ is not interested in cutting us down like a barren fig tree. What he wants is for us to examine our hearts and ask ourselves during our grace period if we are living our best life? Or are we just taking up room on this planet? Christ used his grace period to redeem us from sin and death. Are we using our grace period to reach out to others? May God help us so to do. 1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach ...

147. The Lord's Answer

Habakkuk 1:5-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the manner of a prophet or a psalmist. Yahweh urges the people to raise their heads and look at what is happening on the international scene, to look toward the nations instead of toward the life of Judah that causes so much pain. While the exhortation takes up the words from verse 3, it also puts the people in the position of lookouts. It is as if they are all to stand on the city wall and watch the military hordes sweep across the horizon. The plural “nations” often refers to the empire or superpower ...

148. The Cross And Our Shadows

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

... often than not, seem to have a bad connotation in our society. "Don't preach at me!" the daughter yells at her mother. "Take your missionary attitude and shove it in your ear!" the man yells in exasperation at the friend who has been pressuring him to take up jogging and vegetarianism. Now, of course, it would be quite easy for me to defend sermons, preachers, and missionaries. It is easy to give a lot of flimsy excuses why we don't like sermons, preachers or missionaries, and just as easy to expose the way ...

149. In the Cross of Christ We Glory

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Michael Milton

... Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man ...

150. Now Here Is the Plan

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... experience new life if we were not there with Jesus? The answer is, you can know him from the cross. "When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." He is not hiding from the cross out there in Ephraim. He is getting ready, preparing himself, to take up a cross, to demonstrate in his death, and in his resurrection, what he had preached all of his life. It is there on the cross. You are forgiven. Be reconciled to God. God loves you as a son or a daughter. It is there on the cross. "God sent his ...

Showing results