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 1601 to 1625 of 2332 results

1601. A Little Town of Great Renown

Micah 5:2-5a

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... and place when God is born into human history and the Word becomes incarnate. We have a "greeting card" picture in our minds of how Bethlehem must have looked 2,000 years ago. Bethlehem appears to spring up from the middle of a desert oasis. Quaint domed houses line gently rolling hillsides sprinkled with palm trees. Overhead, a cerulean sky features a bright and shining star. An extraordinary light is streaming from the star, leading some stargazers to travel toward Bethlehem. Bethlehem, one of the little ...

1602. Like a Tree Planted

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... ," where he is giving hope and encouragement to the people. Jeremiah's message for us today is quite simple and clear: Trust in God rather than in humans. Those who place their trust in humanity will exist merely as shrubs in the desert, a less than desirable environment undeniably. Jeremiah compares a withered shrub with a watered tree to explain the concept of trust. The scrubby "shrubs" represent those who place their trust in themselves and other individuals when adversity strikes, and it will strike ...

1603. Shine, Moses, Shine

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... , but is reminded of his roots in Hebrew slavery. After being raised in the royal palace, he throws away a dazzling career by killing an Egyptian taskmaster. He then becomes a fugitive fleeing for his life from the Egyptian police, and ends up in the desert wilderness. Sitting by a well in the wilderness, he meets Zipporah, and later they marry. While employed as his father-in-law's shepherd, he grazes the sheep too close to Mount Horeb, also called Sinai, and notices a burning bush. Very curious about this ...

1604. What's in a Name?

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... identity, as well as a name to call upon, as they prepare to cross over to the promised land. Now he could have simply reminded them that they had called aloud to God in their slavery and had been found, redeemed, and freed, sent across the desert while all the time observing miracles and wonders, a people who had seen God speak on Mount Sinai, and who had followed their prophet and lawgiver, Moses himself. Or Moses could have reminded them of all their whining, of their distrust, of their determination to ...

1605. Past, Present, Future

Isaiah 43:16-21

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... Isaiah tells us the words of the Lord: "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth,do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert" (Isaiah 43:18-19). This is his "I Have a Dream" speech. There was no danger of the people forgetting the Exodus. They celebrated it every year in the Passover. That festival brought families together to recall the past, and tie it to the present, so they could envision ...

1606. What Church Looks Like

Acts 16:9-15

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

There's the story of the man who was lost on a desert island for a decade. When he was finally rescued people were astounded to discover he had built an entire town out of palm branches. There was a movie theater — with no movies, of course — a grocery story with empty shelves, an apartment building, a department store, several houses, and at ...

1607. The Undoing of Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... the money exchange, and had memorized a few Spanish phrases that enabled us to ask where the bathrooms were, to say, "Thank you," and to convey that we didn't speak the language. We ambled along without too much problem. Then one day, spotting a beautiful and mostly deserted beach, we decided to stop and swim. After we were there a few minutes, we noticed a man and a boy some distance out in the water, and they seemed to be trying to push a raft of some sort toward the beach. They appeared to be having ...

1608. God's Eminent Domain

Jeremiah 18:1-11

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... through a simple promise spoken by God. It was imported clay — scraped together by God's own mighty hand from the weak and helpless tribe of slaves, baptized in the waters of the Jordan, purified by a daily struggle for survival in their desert wanderings, and shaped by judges, prophets, and kings under God's watchful eye and attentive hand. But this vessel proved to be less than intended. Marred by religious idolatry and political corruption its shape was contorted and now useless for its original ...

1609. The Impossible Takes A Little Longer

Mark 13:1-8

Illustration

Keith Wagner

... with a friend. He was going to meet his fiancée and complete their wedding plans. During the long drive, he fell asleep while at the wheel. His car hit an abutment and rolled down a hill. He was ejected from the car and found himself laying on the desert with a broken neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down. He completely lost the use of his legs and arms. The doctors told him he would never work again. They concluded that he could never play sports again and would be dependent on others the rest of his ...

1610. Good News about Christ

Revelation 1:4-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... , I was very sure to make a good sales pitch as our product was virtually unknown there. I didn’t know how to speak Arabic, so I planned to convey the message through three posters. My first poster was a man crawling through the hot desert sand, totally exhausted. In the second, the man is drinking our soft drink. In the third, the man is now totally refreshed. Then these posters were pasted all over the place.” “That should have worked,” said the boss. The salesman replied, “Well, yes, it should ...

1611. Goodness and Mercy Will Win

Luke 21:5-38

Illustration

Erskine White

... ward in the city, dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. After he heard a few cases, a tattered old woman was brought before him, accused of stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick and her grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, insisted on pressing charges. "My store is in a very bad neighborhood, your honor," he said. "She's got to be punished in order to teach ...

1612. The Whole Family Survival Kit

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Zebedee” while Mark has “Salome,” and John records “his mother’s sister,” all of which may well be the same person. If so this would make the apostles James and John Jesus’ cousins. But on that most horrible scene of Golgatha, when everyone else deserted him when he needed them the most, Jesus had the presence of three Marys: two of them relatives, his mother and his aunt (the wife of Joseph’s brother Cleopas), the two matriarchs in his life, the ones who would never abandon him, no matter ...

1613. So You Want To Go To Bethlehem, Do You?

Luke 3:1-6

Illustration

Johnny Dean

... you still want to go. If we were to ask any of the writers of the gospels how to get to Bethlehem, I think we might be surprised by their answer. "So you want to go to Bethlehem, do you? Tell you what to do: go on out to the desert, outside of the relatively safe confines of Jerusalem. Keep going till you get to the Jordan River. You'll know it when you see it. It's the only river around these parts. You'll find a man there – strange looking old coot – standing knee-deepin the water, just baptizing ...

1614. The Power of Purpose

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Paul had laid down the flail of the persecutor and took up the torch of the evangel on the Damascus Road. There he began the course of a great adventure, an adventure that sent him trudging through the then-known world – through the deserts and over the mountains, through blinding blizzard and blistering sun, traveling in peril of his own life, shipwrecked, beaten by the Romans, stoned by the Jew. Yet, throwing back his great cloak to show the scars of his beatings there saying, I bear in my body the ...

1615. You Must Get Past John

Luke 3:1-20

Illustration

Richard A. Wing

... . If you are going to practice law, you must pass the bar. If you want to get to medical school you must survive Organic Chemistry." Likewise, "If you want to get to the joy of Bethlehem in the presence of Jesus, you must get past John the Baptist in the desert." The word from John is "repent," which means"about-face" or turning 180 degrees.

1616. The Wonder of It All

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of him. Still other persons are remembered because they commanded great armies and were identified with some great organizational effort – military, political, economic, social. Jesus left no organization at all. And he left only 12 disciples, and all of them in his death deserted him. Yet this man who never traveled more than 40 miles from the place where he was born, today has followers that number in the millions in every country of the world. The wonder of it all. It is no wonder that Emerson said ...

1617. The Perfect Gift

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... you’re totally alone; when all seems to be dark and when it seems as though even God has withdrawn his support; when you sense that heaven seems to be pushing down on you and earth beneath you seems to be shaking away; hell is when you feel deserted and destined to survive within your own resources. So God’s gift at Christmas time is the perfect gift – someone to be with us, even in our hell. It’s no wonder the Psalmist could say, ‘even if I descend into hell, you are there.’ If the Psalmist ...

1618. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Luke 23:32-46

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... 's a scene in the movie that I think shows just how hardened the Unrepentant Thief truly was. It's actually about the Good and the Ugly characters. In the movie, Tuco, the Ugly, has subjected Clint Eastwood, the Good, to a grueling journey through the desert without water or rest. It's at the end of this journey, when Eastwood is near death that they encounter a run away coach from the Confederate Army. Tuco leaves Eastwood for dead, stops the coach and begins rifling through the pockets of the dead. That ...

1619. Startled By Jesus

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... is who we claim He is, the sinless Son of God, then He didn't need to be baptized. But Jesus startles us by surrendering Himself to God through baptism just like you and me. C. It's startling that after His baptism, Jesus is driven or lead into the desert where He is tempted for 40 days. The only witness we have of that is Jesus. But obviously it was something He shared with His disciples. They probably didn't understand it at the time but it's startling how significant it is for us. Jesus did not give into ...

1620. The Spirit Has Landed - Sermon Starter

Luke 3:1-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

... to be baptized since there was no sin in his life for which to repent. But he submits to John's Baptism of Repentance anyway. Why? To identify with our sins. He joined in the popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel. Jesus chooses to be baptized because he wants to participate with the people in their desires to be close to God. It's a small thing Jesus does but what a big influence. It forever ...

1621. Daddy, Tell Me a Story

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... to tell this story a story that is critical to their existence as a people. Wherever a group of Jews shall gather on this planet, this story will be told. The wandering Aramean refers to Abraham and his descendants who were nomads. They moved around the desert. They were not fixed to a land. The only constant in their lives was a covenant that God established with Abraham. This covenant sustained them in the time of Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt. He later brought his brothers and their families ...

1622. Wednesday: The Way Of The Cross: Oooh, That Smell

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. [10] So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, [11] since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. It's amazing how a little perfume could become so controversial isn't it. So, what was it about this perfume that made it so controversial? It represented both A Poured Out Love and A Poured Out Life. I. Poured Out Love A. Mary's ...

1623. Thursday: Broken Bread And Broken Trust

Mark 14:10-26

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... still oozing from His very pores, Jesus reaches out and heals the man. In stunned silence, the Guards and Conspirators drag Jesus off for His trumped up sham of a trial. Conclusion (Snuff out the candles, one by one) And one by one, the Disciples would scatter and desert Him. Until all that were left were three. Peter who would run into the terror of the night as the cock crowed and he realized that he had denied Jesus not once but for the third time. And Judas, who would follow behind for a little while ...

1624. Unstoppable Determination

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... many weary miles and have been often in great danger from flooded rivers, and from robbers, and from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the hands of the Gentiles. I have faced grave dangers from mobs in the cities and from death in the deserts and in the stormy seas and from men who claim to be brothers in Christ but are not. I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food; often I have shivered with cold, without enough ...

1625. The Character Of Christmas; Mary: Faith Filled

Luke 1:39-56

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... But it wasn't the interstate with rest areas every few miles. We're talking rugged, lonely, dangerous country. It was kind of like driving 917 with all it's twists and curves, there was no straight way to get from here to there. Their trek took them across desert wilderness and rocky, craggy ground. Life was Hard then. Mary and Joseph understood that. And Mary reminds us that Life is Hard NOW. We may not be experiencing hardship right at this moment but at some point in our lives we will or we have. It's a ...

Showing results