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 1526 to 1550 of 2332 results

1526. Psalm 1

Psalm 1

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this inward-directed, meditative focus. Linguistic tradition suggests that the psalmist refers to an outward oral activity _ i.e., "from his law he recites day and night." The lush images of fruit-bearing trees standing beside life-giving streams of water portray paradise for desert-dwelling people. The psalmist's image recalls both that of Jeremiah 17:8 and Genesis 2. Indeed, it is quite likely that this writer intends to depict a kind of rebirth of the streams of Eden into the life of each of those who ...

1527. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is urgent therefore, all standard proprieties are cast aside. In the harsh land and the harsh times in which Jesus lived, the requirement of hospitality was taken very seriously. Unexpected midnight visitors who perhaps had traveled late in order to escape the desert heat must be cared for correctly. The rudely awakened friend's reluctant compliance foreshadows the examples Jesus cites as God's wholly gracious response to his children. Verses 9 and 10 present a litany of sayings that has been reworked and ...

1528. Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Hebrews 12:22). For this writer, Canaan is not the final goal of Abraham or the Abrahamic promise. Faith is a forward-looking endeavor, and the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise is not to be found in the stones and mortar of some dusty desert city but will only be fully realized in the city built by God as God's heavenly residence. Before moving to his own commentary on Abraham's faith, the author cites a third example of the patriarch's faithfulness. Besides leaving his homeland and then voluntarily ...

1529. Genesis 9:8-17

Genesis 9:8-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... will remember, we already considered during the week of 13 January. As noted then, what faces Jesus immediately after his baptism is not what might have been expected. Luke and Matthew, utilizing the "Q" source, provide a much more detailed account of Jesus' desert struggles. But Mark's abridged version of "The Temptation of Jesus" highlights some unique essentials of the story. Verse 12 wrenches us away from the glorified moment of Jesus' baptism, where the Spirit is likened to a dove and the voice of the ...

1530. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... rather than agony. They sprint off towards the now abandoned tomb. Although Peter is slower to arrive, he takes bolder action once at the tomb's entrance. The "other disciple" timidly peeps in but hesitates to enter. Peter strides in among the oddly deserted space littered with discarded burial clothes. The details John gives us are of physical things, and they create a bleak stage. We know the disciples' actions, the tomb's appearance, the location of shroud. John leaves Peter's thoughts private. John then ...

1531. 1 John 4:7-12

1 John 4:7-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , and directed by God. Luke's story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch perfectly illustrates how the "true Israel" bears its fruit. The pericope begins with Philip unhesitatingly responding to the voice of the Spirit, even when it calls him onto a deserted highway in the middle of a barren land. Yet Philip's "pruning" has just begun. Down the wilderness highway, traveling directly into Philip's path, came a most unlikely character, an Ethiopian eunuch who was also a powerful and influential individual. When ...

1532. 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of wilderness wanderings. Undoubtedly it is the concept of this standing-by-steadfastness that leads Paul to identify this rock with Christ. Without the life-giving water the peripatetic stone provided to the Israelites, they would have died in the desert. Its persistent presence assured them of God's continued concern for their welfare. No matter where they wandered, the source of life was with them. Having established the intimate and uniquely protective relationship between God and the Israelites, Paul ...

1533. 2 Kings 5:1-15ab

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , willingly traveling out to the prophet's remote outpost to ask for the healing touch. But Elisha's apparently impersonal response to Naaman's presence propels this mighty warrior into a pouting huff. First Naaman is put out because this scruffy desert prophet does not even formally welcome him to his home or acknowledge the Aramean's social status and importance. Having insulted Naaman individually, Elisha's prescription for Naaman's healing now insults this warrior's Aramean homeland by denoting Israel's ...

1534. Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... faith" that all things are possible. Now, despite the actuality of real death, faith continues to endure. The patriarchs died "in faith" because the promised inheritance had not yet been established. It was customary for travelers on the open plains and deserts of this rugged area to announce themselves to an approaching caravan or city the moment they appeared on the distant horizon. Without this long-distance greeting, the motives of the approaching party would immediately be suspect and defenses would be ...

1535. Philemon 1:1-20

Philemon 1:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... master's household when he fled. Most likely this involves money and/or supplies Onesimus took to facilitate his journey to his intended mediator, Paul. Despite the fact that Onesimus was previously "useless," and then compounded his sins by taking off and deserting his household position, helping himself to his master's goods in the process, Paul insists that Philemon give the slave a carte blanc promise of forgiveness. As a final pin-prick to this master's conscience, Paul once again reminds Philemon of ...

1536. 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... rapid backsliding of attitudes and behaviors. Jeremiah noted that the priests themselves had already reneged on the new laws (Jeremiah 2:8) and that a host of soothingly sweet false prophets had quickly cropped up to add their dissenting voices to the deserting crowds. Habakkuk's lament, then, is not against God's righteous wrath. The lament is that God has not yet brought an end to evil behavior, making Habakkuk an unwilling, uncooperative witness to the "destruction and violence" carried out in the sinful ...

1537. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the Son of Man voluntarily descends from heaven so that he might be lifted up in sacrifice. Note that perhaps in one last attempt to involve Nicodemus in this great moment of revelation, Jesus uses a familiar biblical image Moses lifting up the bronze serpent on a pole in the desert to describe what will be the work of the Cross. By being lifted up, offering his own life as sacrifice, the Son makes new life from above possible for "whomever believes."

1538. Mark 10:2-16

Mark 10:2-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a woman could not initiate a divorce, which was solely the husband's prerogative. But in Greek and Roman law in the first century, a wife could divorce her husband. Herodias did when she sent a letter of separation to her husband Philip after deserting him for Antipas. These verses make yet another break with Jewish tradition when Jesus declares that the man who "divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her." According to Jewish law, a man could commit adultery against another man (by ...

1539. 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... are less obviously idolatrous in context. Paul's caution to not "put Christ to the test" (several translations read "God") sounds like a more general warning against wrong behavior. In verse 9, Paul describes the Israelites' constant complaint against God and Moses in the desert (Numbers 21:4-9). The NRSV's translation reads "Christ" for "God" as the one to be tested yet another case of Paul's reading a pre-existent Christ into God's Old Testament activities. There are a couple of scriptural candidates for ...

1540. Revelation 21:1-6

Revelation 21:1-6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus God, the truth, is a God who is present at the beginning, the center and the end of all created existence. The final image in verse 6 again echoes Isaiah's prophetic visions of divinely perfected life. For a desert people the divinely renewed future was always envisioned as having abundant water (see Isaiah 35:1-2; Ezekiel 47:1-12). Those whose names have been found in "The Book of Life" receive the reward of knowing that for all eternity they will take the "water ...

1541. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... prayer addresses the earthly concerns which Christians face. In the first of three petitions, the disciples are to ask the "Father" for their "daily bread" (v.3). Just as their forebears lived by the bread which came to them daily in the desert (Exodus 16:4), so now they must rely on the Father for their daily sustenance. Although the early Christian exegetical community began to allegorize the meaning of bread as the "bread of heaven" and later the Eucharistic bread, the overwhelming tradition has remained ...

1542. Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... prison (see 37:4). In 37:11-14, Jeremiah attempts to leave Jerusalem in order to receive his rightful share of a piece of familial property. Instead, the prophet is nabbed on his way out of one of the city gates. Charged with attempting to desert to the besieging Chaldean army, he is thrown in prison. Over time, Jeremiah's outspoken outrage and crabby complaints gained him a minor reprieve. Although still technically a prisoner, he was moved from the dreary cells in the improvised cistern house prison to a ...

1543. Luke 23:33-43

Luke 23:33-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus is on the cross, he is the Messiah. It wasn't the disciples who "got it." It wasn't Jesus' family who "got it." It was this "criminal" (v.40), this outsider, who "got it" and gave witness to whom Jesus was when everyone else had deserted, double-crossed, and derided him, and then gone into hiding. The power of Jesus' words, "be with me," should not be taken lightly. This is not only an offer of forgiveness, but also of friendship. Although the criminal's request was rather open-ended ("Remember me ...

1544. My Fellow Lepers

Mark 1:4-11

Illustration

Jerome D. Cooper

... juts out north from the island and is separated from the rest of the Molokai by an almost sheer cliff 2,000-3,000 feet high. The only ways to get to that peninsula were to jump off the cliff or go by boat in the open ocean. That deserted peninsula was where the Hawaiians abandoned all their lepers, If you got leprosy in Hawaii, you were taken to this peninsula and abandoned. And Father Damien felt a call to the people there who had been cast off, outcasts removed from society. And he worked there just as he ...

1545. Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... here. This angel is no namby-pamby fluffy creature. Matthew describes the angel as a truly miraculous being. His "appearance was like lightning" - dazzling, striking, unexpected - while his clothing was "white as snow" - snow itself being a rare and wondrous occurrence in those desert-like regions. The guards posted at the tomb, whom Matthew alone takes care to stipulate (27:64-66), are weak-kneed and worthless in the face of the angel's power. The symbol of Roman imperial power freezes. The guards might as ...

1546. Acts 1:6-14

Acts 1:6-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... piece of information Jesus gives the disciples is to not leave Jerusalem. Undoubtedly getting out of this frightening city is high on everyone's list. But even in this sorry, disorganized state the disciples could still pray. In place of a sense of desertion or loss, Jesus' Ascension gives teeth to his promise to the disciples, and gives teeth to their prayers. The disciples do not return to Jerusalem despondent over Jesus' departure. They are people on a mission. Jesus' words ring in their ears: "ask and ...

1547. Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28

Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , Jesus' characterization of the Gentile others as "dogs" hits us as an unnecessary racial slur. Some scholars have tried to soften this characterization by noting that the term Jesus uses here is for pet or domesticated dogs - not the wild untamed dogs of the desert. Yet, it is in the face of this cutting remark that the woman becomes her most articulate. By no longer simply ignoring her or denying her legitimacy, Jesus has now resorted to finding excuses for not dealing with this woman. This rationale, as ...

1548. Mark 1:29-39

Mark 1:29-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... conflict and confrontation in Jesus' life and ministry. Things are just too good for Jesus to stay in the shalom zone of Simon's home any longer. Given this Markan concern, the gospel writer is probably implying that Jesus' solitary sojourn in that "deserted place" for private prayer was more in preparation for his return to the road than as rejuvenation from the previous evening's round of miraculous healings and exorcisms. The tone of verse 36 intimates that Jesus' new disciples might have suspected that ...

1549. Mark 14:1-15:47

Mark 14:1-15:47

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... arrest. Peter's three-fold denial, yet to come, is his own repeat of a denial that had already taken place in the Garden. The scene of Peter's denial combines cowardice with at least tentative courage. After Jesus' arrest, as Jesus predicted, all the disciples "deserted him and fled" (v.50). But Peter is willing to risk at least a little bit. Instead of hiding himself as far away as possible, Peter stealthily follows Jesus albeit "at a distance" into the very "courtyard of the high priest" (v.54). There is ...

1550. Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... were at this time two separate roads that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. Thus the qualifying remarks about the "wilderness road" were necessary to ensure Philip's correct path. While Philip might have wondered why in the world he was being directed out onto this deserted stretch of highway, the Spirit of God knew that he would meet the Ethiopian eunuch there. This eunuch is a rather enigmatic figure. If the purpose of this story is to demonstrate that the doors to the church are now open to everyone, this ...

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