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 1501 to 1525 of 2404 results

1501. Assurance: The Privilage of All Believers

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... poor all of his money except that which was absolutely necessary for his own living, almost neurotically preoccupied with the right use of his time. He was a man desperately seeking salvation and an assurance of his salvation. He was tirelessly bent upon achieving that, and drove himself as a merciless taskmaster in all the religious disciplines and services that could be imagined. He even came to America as a missionary to the Indians — serving for a time in South Georgia near Savannah. But all of that ...

1502. Holiness of Heart and Life

Romans 2:21-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the world, not by running errands, but by providing a light, that is, providing an alternative for society. The gospel call is invitation to be part of a people who are struggling to create those structures which the world can never achieve through governmental power and balanced self-interest. By its very existence the church is a paradigm for a society which the world considers impossible. “For instance Christian charity will always be more radical than social legislation because the world can never ...

1503. Lessons from Rephidim - Being the Lord's Intercessor

Exodus 17:8-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... my face and body as if it would dissolve.” That confession of Brainerd calls to mind Jesus wrest ling in Gethsemane, and it certainly makes Taylor’s definition of prayer inadequate. None of us are going to escape struggle and conflict if we’re seeking to achieve integrity that cannot be bought or sold, if we’re seeking a courage that will not bend in the face of the gravest fear. So as Fosdick says, “The best guarantee of a character that is not for sale is this battlefield of prayer, where day ...

1504. The Unsuspected Trojan Horse

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... demon which was fear. It was a fear for my son’s future, but it was a fear tied with my own life struggle. I wanted him to have more options than I felt I had had. Naming that demon enabled me to deal with my own sense of achievement, but it also gave me a focus around which I could deal more objectively with the issues and more acceptingly with Kevin as a person. (Dunnam, The Workbook on Spiritual Disciplines p. 78) The point is, that whatever we’re dealing with, whether it’s fear, or disappointment ...

1505. Hades, The God of the Underworld

Luke 7:11-17; 1 Cor 15:26

Illustration

Donald T. Williams

... ever more solid, as Eurydice begins to resume physical form. How he wants to look and see her again, to verify that it is her footsteps that he hears! But he dare not. And now they have almost emerged. One more step and the quest will be achieved life snatched back from the grave! But at that moment she stumbles against a stone and cries out, and by instinct, without thinking, he turns to catch her and keep her from falling. But he has broken the ban, he has violated the requirement, he has transgressed ...

1506. The Shared Life of the People of God

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a sharp perspective on this dimension of the shared life of the people of God. “Such self-affirmation is always fraught with the danger of confusing derived strength with self-engendered strength. It is subject to a substitution of personal achievement for gracious endowment But a reverse temptation must also be recognized, namely a denial of strength, which is actually possessed under the guise of pretended weakness or false humility. The danger of misplaced confidence should not undercut the reality of ...

1507. Extravagance

Luke 7:36-8:3; Matthew 26:6

Illustration

Larry Powell

Senator William Proximire (D-Wisconsin) regularly delights the general public by awarding his now-famous "Golden Fleece Award" to some government committee or agency which, because of some redundant high-dollar project, has achieved recognition for excelling in flagrant, wasteful, unnecessary spending. Senator Proximire gets our attention because he illuminates a subject of interest to us all: how money is spent. We do not like to spend more than we have to and have little tolerance for irresponsible, ...

1508. In the House of the Lord

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... -down ring to it. But the haunting line is the one that follows. “And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20) Let that question jangle your conscience when you begin to think about what have done, what you have achieved, how successful and sufficient you are. Give that question your clearest consideration when you’re deciding what part of your income you are going to give to the Lord. “And these things you have prepared, whose will they be?” They are not passing questions ...

1509. The World's Best-Known Widow

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... it happily - perhaps even longingly - until my eyes left the smooth and beautiful lines of the car itself and focused on a (bumper) sticker that had been affixed to it. The words jolted me suddenly out of my appreciation for beauty and engineering achievement to an awesome wonderment whether they were displayed there in seriousness or in jest. For there, plastered on this expensive object of design, power, and beauty, stood out the words: “The One Who Dies With the Most Toys Wins.” “The One Who Dies ...

1510. Should America Repent?

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... five Heisman trophy winners. Name the last five winners of the Miss America Pageant. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners. Very few of us remember the headliners of yesterday. They were the best in their field, but applause dies, awards tarnish, and achievements are forgotten. Now, let me ask you another set of questions. Name a teacher who inspired you in life. Name three friends who will go with you to the end. Name someone in your history and life who believed in you long before you believed ...

1511. When It's Time to Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... hung on to a revelation. He hung on to hope. He hung on to a promise. I will not die before I see the Messiah. That was reason enough to be alive. Hope does that for us. Hope sees the invisible. Hope feels the intangible. Hope achieves the impossible. People of hope have discovered the vast difference between waiting and marking time. Have you discovered the difference? Do you know the difference between just taking up space on earth and living for a great spiritual ideal? Simeon waited with purpose and you ...

1512. On Being Faithful and Focused

Hebrews 11:1, 32 – 12:2

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... We are here with all of those who marched before us and with the generations that are to come after our brief moments here. Mr. Holland's Opus is a touching movie about a high school band teacher in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Holland really wants to achieve critical acclaim as a classical musician. But, the pressure to make a living, raise a family, deal with a deaf son, and with students who really do not want to learn music, denies him the opportunity of fulfilling his dream. For a lifetime Mr. Holland pushes ...

1513. Hearing the Questions of Children

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.” [2] Abraham travels on when he does not have a clue where ...

1514. Embracing an Endless Line of Servants

1 Corinthians 3:5-23

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... It’s grace that has seen us through the toils and troubles of our days and has empowered us to keep on keeping on. Mr. Holland’s Opus is a touching movie about a high school teacher in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Holland really wants to achieve critical fame as a classical musician, but the pressure of making a living, raising a family, dealing with a deaf son, resisting the temptations of a seductive student, and handling the music program cut-backs of the school board, denies him the opportunity of pursuing ...

1515. Why Join a Church?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... one another, be kind to one another, comfort one another, edify one another, fellowship with one another, confess your faults to one another, forgive one another, pray for one another, minister to one another, bear one another’s burdens. We will never achieve Christian maturity apart from Christian community. We need more resources than our interior lives can supply and more influences than our few like-minded friends will give us. We need the support of a community of people who are both like us ...

1516. Furnishing It with Love

1 John 4:7-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of time; to ponder our individuality among the billions of human beings; and then affirm that God loves me is more than my small mind can fathom. That is exactly what the Bible says. I. The love of God is UNEARNED. You can’t accomplish or achieve love. John Elderidge, in his new book, Waking the Dead, talks about the wounded heart of his friend Abby. Listen to her story. “The assault started as a young girl. There was something about me that seemed to aggravate my father. Something that seemed to annoy ...

1517. The One in Whom We Glory

John 12:12-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the Lord's Prayer, to which he added, “Help me God. Help me Jesus." In a few minutes flight 93 crashed in a rural field 80 miles southeast of Pittsburg. The power God gives is not blind energy or brute force. The power God gives is the ability to achieve a purpose. It is the power of love that suffers to redeem. Tony Compolo tells this story: In Ducktown USA, every Sunday all the ducks waddle out of their houses and down main street to church. The duck choir waddles in and takes its place. The duck pastor ...

1518. Engaging the Master Designer

Psalm 139: 1-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... us. He is not remote; he is near. For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17, The Message). It has been said that Americans are incurably religious. There are hungers in our souls that no success can satisfy, no accomplishment can quench, no achievement can abate. We are made by God and for God and our souls are forever restless until they make peace with God. So if you want to build a life that really matters, it makes common sense to engage the Master Designer, our Maker, our Lover, our ...

1519. What Would Jesus Say About Medical Care?

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of that in healing is incredible. I always use the saying, ‘The wise healer uses what works.’ If you don’t bring together the things that you know are effective in healing, the mind, the body and the soul, then you will never achieve optimal health. We have realized that health is multi-dimensional. Healing is really five different things: your mind, your body, your spirit, but it is relations to your God and relations to others. Part of that healing philosophy is to seek the wholeness.” Absolutely ...

1520. What Would Jesus Say About War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... settlement of a conflict must be tried before war is begun. 4. Legitimate Authority—A decision for war may be made and declared only by properly constituted governmental authority. 5. Reasonable Hope for Success—Can the ends sought be achieved? In addition to these traditional Just War teachings there are also guidelines presented by that school of thought for conduct during a conflict and they include: 1. Discrimination—Respect for the rights of enemy people, which rules out atrocities, reprisals ...

1521. Using the Best Materials

Galatians 5:16-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... education to be a good person. As one Harvard student wrote, “The very qualities that I recognize as essential to getting me here are those qualities I least like in others, and since we are all alike, at least at the level of ambitious self-achievement, we do not know how to like one another or to live with one another. This place is intensely selfish.” A teenager coming off summer mission trips wrote: “Thanks to my experiences through the summer, I realize that all teenagers have the power to make ...

1522. The High Price of Short Cuts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... today you feel like a failure. Many people spend their lives climbing the ladder of success only to come to the end and realize it was leaning against the wrong wall. After all, everything you have ever wanted will never be enough. Solomon, who achieved every good he set for himself, laments, “Vanity, vanity all is vanity.” In 1923, a group of the world’s most successful men met at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel. They included the president of the largest steel corporation in America, the greatest ...

1523. Are You Able?

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... an entitlement, have we produced more characters than people of character in our day? Helen Keller said that character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. In my home office I have the book and a couple reminders of the children's book, The Velveteen Rabbit. I just like to be reminded of it. Animals in the nursery discuss life. Rabbit says to Skin Horse “What's real? Is ...

1524. Singing With the Saints of Glory

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... ).” I don’t know about you, but I’m delighted to be part of the family of God. It’s a privilege to serve an outpost of heaven. Go all the way in, you explorers of the faith. Tell us the roots of our religion. Climb the ladder, you ecclesiastical achievers. Order our ways in wise administration. But as for me, I’ll take my old accustomed place, near the door of a local church. I want to be near enough to God to know him and know that he is there, but not so far away from people as not ...

1525. The Fundamentals of Family Ties

1 Corinthians 13:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to become angry. Members of a nurturing family feel free to tell each other how they feel. Anything can be talked about — disappointments, fears, hurts angers, criticisms, as well as joys and achievements. A father comes home in a bad mood. The son can honestly say, “Gee, Dad, you are grumpy tonight.” Instead of barking back, the father says, “I am grouchy; I’ve had a really hard day.” The relieved son says, “Thanks for telling me ...

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