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 4914 results

1501. The Constant God in a Changing World

Psalm 48:1, 9-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In Berlin, Germany, after World War II, there stood a church in the center of the city with nothing left but the Gothic arch which framed the main door. Over the arch were these words from Luke 21: “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words remain forever true." I would like to talk about that today. The author of Psalm 48 was enthralled with the strength and beauty of Jerusalem. Her towers seemed immovable; her citadels appeared immutable; her temple looked like nothing less than something immortal. ...

1502. The Great Physician

Matthew 4:23-25

Sermon

King Duncan

It was rumored that the owner of a certain hardware store had discovered a cure for arthritis. As you might imagine, this stirred a great deal of interest in the small town where the hardware store was located. One day, the locals saw a little old lady, bent over on her cane, enter the store for a visit. A little later this same lady came out walking almost perfectly straight with her head held high. The crowd cheered. “It’s a miracle!” they declared. Then they wondered. What did the owner of the hardware ...

1503. Claimed, Framed, Changed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

What do athletic coaches, politicians, and preachers have in common? They are expected to give inspirational pep talks, speeches, or sermons that fire up powerful emotions. They are supposed to motivate their listeners to “give 110%,” overcoming all obstacles to victory no matter what the cost. Coaches know that the best pep talk can only get athletes through the first football collision, the first gymnastics tumbling pass, or the first baseball at bat. Politicians know that the most stirring speech is ...

1504. Barren No More

1 Sam 1:1-20–2:11

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord, the incomparable King, vindicates his loyal followers. Understanding the Text The judges’ period was a low point in Israel’s history. God’s people, without effective leadership, hit rock bottom morally, ethically, and spiritually. The final chapters of Judges contain alarming accounts of gang rape, civil war, mass slaughter of entire tribes and cities, and kidnapping. The book ends by declaring, “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judg. 21:25). First Samuel ...

1505. Without Christmas, Life Would Be Impossible

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

George died in May. He was only 37 years old. The cancer appeared seemingly out of nowhere, instantaneously, over night. It was diagnosed in January—and by May he was gone. So little time, so shocking, so devastating to his wife, Ann, and their three children. Christmas came. Ann, alone at Christmas with her three little girls, sent a card to her pastor. The familiar handwriting on the envelope brought a lump to the pastor’s throat. As he held the card, he asked himself again the same kind of questions ...

1506. Claiming Hope

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

James L. Killen

"Hope" is one of the most beautiful words in the English language. It evokes thoughts of sunrises that push back all kinds of darkness. It suggests birth and healing and promise and possibility. Hope makes us able to keep on going, or if we have fallen to get up and try again. Hope is a gift that our faith can give to us that will indeed meet the need of our hungry hearts. Hope is the essence of the Christian faith. The good news is that hope is there for us. But most of us have yet to learn to discover it ...

1507. I Wonder Why My Prayers Go Unanswered?

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Warren Wiersbe tells of the time when he was helping to paint the outside of his neighbors’ home. His neighbors had a small black dog that had a ritual of going to the back door of the house. Once the little dog took up his station at the back door, he would bark and bark until someone finally got the message and let him out. One day Wiersbe was painting the outside of the house when no one was home. The neighbor’s dog started his ritual at the back door and barked and barked all day long. The sad thing, ...

1508. Grace Under Pressure

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

I’d like to ask you a question this morning. Who is a good example to you of grace under pressure? I’m talking about someone who can rise to a challenge without panicking or taking shortcuts. How would you rate yourself at handling pressure? We’d all like to think we could pass a sudden test or challenge with ease, but then we read the news story about a woman in Illinois who gave birth in the middle of taking her bar exam and we wonder. Brianna Hill was scheduled to take her bar exam at about the mid- ...

1509. More Than Just Image

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Would you agree that we are an image-conscious society? Appearances are important to us. And not just our personal appearances. We want the things in our environment—our homes and cars and sneakers and even our lunches—to look Instagram-ready. The problem with living in an image-conscious society is that we are easy to deceive. Too often, appearance wins out over substance. If something looks good on the outside, we don’t question its authenticity or integrity. Author Mark D. Roberts tells of meeting a man ...

1510. The Great Reveal

John 12:20-33

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Here we are in the fifth Sunday in Lent, nearing the end of Jesus’ ministry time on earth, and this week once again, John introduces us to yet another enigmatic scripture, an encounter involving Jesus and a group of Greeks who were coming to the Passover Festival in Jerusalem and who requested a “colloquium” with Jesus. Through Philip, they request an assembly with the Messiah. Philip tells Andrew, and together they inform Jesus of the Greeks’ request. We know that we have some “blind spots” when we read ...

1511. The Divine Mission

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

A friend of mine taught ethics at a Christian college. Several years ago, there was a scare on campus because a student had been raped. Since my friend wanted his students to deal with actual ethical situations, he began the next class session with a question: “If a friend came to your room in tears, telling how her date had just raped her, what is the first thing you would do to help her?” After a moment’s reflective silence one student raised her hand and asked, tentatively, “Pray?” The whole class ...

1512. The Impartiality of God

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Hubert Beck

There are more saviors in the world than the mind can comprehend. Bookstores have shelf after shelf of books that promise to save us from anything we can name - anxieties, fears, personal difficulties, or whatever else may be causing us distress. A whole range of people - some of them reliable counselors but all too many of them little more than hucksters - offer themselves to the troubled (for a fee, of course), usually with implicit or explicit promises of remedies for whatever problems one may have ...

1513. The Long Lonliness

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

The Beatles surprised the world in the 1960s and took the United States by storm, introducing a new era in popular music. And many of us were pleasantly surprised by the deep insights expressed in rather direct and poignant lyrics. In "Eleanor Rigby," for example, they sing of a woman picking up rice at a church where a wedding has been. Holding the rice, peering through a window, living in a dream she someday will wed, death comes instead. As she lived alone, so she died alone. And so the Beatles lament, ...

1514. Do You Know This Man?

John 6:25-59

Sermon

King Duncan

Actor Tony Randall, famous for his role as Felix in The Odd Couple, once had an experience that surely was the inspiration for a current credit card commercial. Randall was in a jewelry store in New York City. The store's owner recognized him and became very excited. He declared that Randall was his all-time favorite actor. What a treat it would be for his wife, the man said, if she could talk to the Tony Randall. Randall graciously agreed. So the man called his wife, and Randall had a short, pleasant ...

1515. A Victory For The Angels

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Baseball, which used to be America's pastime, finally hit a home run this past week--a truly outstanding World Series. You don't have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the drama. In fact, with a little imagination, we can envision a conflict of biblical proportions--the Angels against the Giants. The Angels were characterized as a group of no-names, re-treads, journeymen ballplayers while the Giants had their very own Goliath--Barry Bonds, already a baseball legend. The Angels were so close to losing. ...

1516. Reconciliation: Our Gift And Our Ministry

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Now will you hear the word of the Lord as you find it in the 5th chapter of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. The 5th chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, beginning with the 14th and continuing through the 21st verses, the end of the chapter. This is the word of the Lord. “For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all, therefore, all have died. And he died for all that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who, for their ...

1517. Transfiguration

Psalm 2:1-12, Matthew 17:1-13, 2 Peter 1:12-21, Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS This Sunday is a celebration of the Transfiguration. The Old Testament texts provide two perspectives on the presence of God in our midst. Exodus 24:12-18 describes the descent of God in the form of fire to the top of Mount Sinai in order to be with the people of God in worship, while Psalm 2:6-11 celebrates the messianic rule of God throughout this world. Taken together these texts provide commentary on the Transfiguration. (Note that Psalm 2:6-11 is the alternate reading, which is ...

1518. Seeing the End from the Beginning

Numbers 13:1-2, 17-33

Sermon

James Merritt

Disney World. It is the most popular tourist attraction on the planet. The four theme parks, The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney MGM, and Animal Kingdom individually rank among the top ten theme parks in all of the world. In 1998, forty-two million people went through the turnstiles at Disney World alone. It sits on forty-three square miles of some of the most prime property in the entire state of Florida. It is twice the size of Manhattan Island. Originally, it took seven years to plan, and four and one-half ...

1519. A New Day Is Coming

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Richard Gribble

South Africa, a nation rich in resources, people, and possibility, only recently emerged from its darkest hour. The nation traveled through a tunnel of darkness and ignorance that was generated by a social and racial system of segregation called Apartheid. The National Party of South Africa, formed in 1914 after a revolt by the Afrikaner people against the British, created the system of Apartheid in 1948. Ostensibly it was advertised as a means for "separate development" but it in essence was a system ...

1520. The Last Parable

Mark 12:1-12

Sermon

James McCormick

It took place during that first Holy Week. For about three years Jesus had been teaching and healing and living among his followers. He had been preparing the disciples for the time when he would no longer be with them. He sensed that they were ready, so he went to Jerusalem to confront those who opposed him. On Sunday he made his entry into Jerusalem – that was Palm Sunday which we will celebrate next week. He did it in such a way that his claim to be the Messiah was unmistakable. He had ridden on a ...

1521. Every Day God Enables

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I remember reading a book of letters from children to their pastor. One of them read: "Dear Preacher, I'd like to bring my dog to church on Sunday. She is only a mutt, but she is a good Christian. Love, Sissy. PS I'm sorry I can't leave more money in the offering plate on Sunday, but my Daddy won't give me a raise in my allowance. Maybe you could give a sermon about a raise in my allowance. It would help the church get more money." I like that little girl. I'll bet she's going someplace in her life. Not ...

1522. The New-Covenant Blessings: Peace and Hope

Romans 5:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Romans 5:1–11 presents three new-covenant blessings: peace, hope, and love (love will be covered in the next unit). Understanding the Text Romans 5 has been much debated in terms of its context: does it belong with 1:18–4:25, or does it begin a new unit?1Most scholars today believe that although chapter 5 does connect back to 1:18–4:25 (since the topic of justification so pervasive there occurs also in 5:1, 9, 16–19, 21), it most likely begins a new unit that concludes in 8:39. Several arguments ...

1523. The Great Omission

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Charley Reeb

As Christians, we only have three things that are required of us: love God, love our neighbor as ourselves, and make disciples. To make disciples means to be witnesses of Christ in order to bring others into a relationship with Christ. When Jesus called Simon and Andrew to follow him he was very clear, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people” (Mark 1:17). The call to make disciples was clear from the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry through the very end. In fact, at the end of Matthew before Jesus ...

1524. Food Sacrificed to Idols

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Contrasting Knowledge and Love At this point in the letter to Corinth Paul enters into the discussion of an issue that will engage him, in one way or another, through 11:1. While the concrete concern that calls for his attention is the issue of “food sacrificed to idols,” at a theological level his focus is Christian rights and responsibilities, especially regarding “knowledge” and “freedom” in lifestyle practices. Interpreters trace the course of Paul’s reflections in slightly different ways, for at one ...

1525. Simple Faith?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

John Jamison

It all sounds so simple. It’s just so nice, so easy, and so straightforward; almost comfortable. And we’ve heard the story told so many times that many of us know it by heart. “This John the Baptist guy was standing in the middle of the Jordan River, yelling at people and baptizing them. He was yelling at some of the priests who didn’t like him, when suddenly Jesus stepped out of the crowd, walked into the water, and stood next to John. At first, John wanted Jesus to baptize him, but finally, he went ahead ...

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