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 1626 to 1650 of 4972 results

1626. The Remnant Year

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... ? What is that bit or piece of the Spirit of the newborn Christ that captured my heart so that God can shape it into life abundant as the days go by? I remember an event which happened in the early minutes of Christmas morning as the congregation began to leave the church. The spirit of the holy hour was hanging over the people, filling our hearts. "Merry Christmas" rang out as people greeted each other before going out into, the falling snow. A person who had had a hard time with me and with whom I had had ...

1627. Epiphany 3

Jonah 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 7:1-40, Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:14-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... ADJUST OUR LIVES TO SERVE CHRIST AND THE COMING KINGDOM. Collect Glorious and gracious God, who have called us to repentance and belief through Christ, give us the strength to transform our lives in accordance with your Gospel; that we may be willing and able to leave behind our old occupations in favor of our new profession of faith in you, your Kingdom, and your Son. In his name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Ever loving God, we are sorry to have to admit that, more often than not, we remain attached ...

1628. I Affirm

Acts 27:13-26

Sermon

... war and to pray and work toward the day when war shall be banished as a way to solve national problems. His teachings leave us uncomfortable, even if we hold the rightness of our cause in Vietnam, when we hear reports of the bombing of women and ... passages which give the assurance of the triumph of God’s plan and purpose: "Of his Kingdom there shall be no end." "I will not leave you comfortless. I come to you." All through the Word of God there is an assurance of the triumph of God’s plan and purpose. ...

1629. BECAUSE HE LOVES ME

Drama

Gary C. Bratz

... give honor and glory now and forever. Amen. THE OFFERING I. THE PROMISE THE SONG: "Come, Jesus, Holy Child, to Me" Come, Jesus, holy Child, to me; Close tight my heart to all but Thee; And with Thy Holy Spirit’s grace Make me, dear Lord, Thy dwelling place. And leave me not, Thou welcome guest - A promise in Thy Word expressed. With Thee alone will always be All joy and blessedness for me. With joy and love I wait for Thee To come with Thy good gifts to me. Stay close to me all through my days; Then let ...

1630. God Isn’t Dead - Death Is Dead

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... you have going for you - your youth. Why do you yearn to look aged twenty, or twenty-one? Why do so many attempt to seek reality in the dead years gone by, and for years not yet come to life? The old saying makes sense, "Yesterday is dead, leave it. Tomorrow may never come, don’t worry. Today is here, live it!" Does all this sound trivial, especially for Easter? Then ask yourself why so many persons look for the living Christ among things that are dead. Mary Magdalene, and Mary, went to the tomb fully ...

1631. What’s Going On in Your Orchard?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... created to be with the Father, but I will be eternally without him. I will forever yearn to be with him, but it will never be so. That’s got to be Hell! Without God’s Christ, our vine of life, left to ourselves, we will consume ourselves, leaving a rusted hull on an abandoned beach. When as branches we break away from Christ as the vine, we begin to rot from the inside. Spiritual dry rot. I recall from our Canadian canoe trips, taken with the youth of our parish, looking for dry firewood. There it was ...

1632. Everyone Has a Somebody

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... death. Was he grateful? Oh, no - he slapped a $50,000 malpractice suit on the good doctor because one of his fingers was stiff after recovery! To love is also to risk. To risk! Oftentimes our love is never really heard or understood by another. To love is to leave oneself wide open. Wide open to be misunderstood, to be misinterpreted. And who wants to love and be hurt in return? Riddle me this: if we are such great "lovers," why do we end up hurting the very ones we love the most, the ones we swear we would ...

1633. Mission Accomplished!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... a future thought, they piled the coats of their many guests on their small son’s bed. When his bedtime came, they discovered their error. Rather than go through much unnecessary work, his parents said, "Son, go to sleep in our room in our bed. When our guests leave, taking their coats, we will carry you into your own bed." And it was so. The boy went to sleep in his parents’ room, but he awakened in his own. What we term "death" must be something like that. We go to sleep in this earthly house, but ...

1634. John the Baptist

Drama

Charles L. Koester

... and my father could not understand, try as he may, or talk as we did. My trips out into the wilderness to meditate became more frequent, for here my mind and body was free from the stink of the town and city, and the dust of the streets. Finally, after leaving home one day, I did not return. I fell in love with the solitude as I sought out my mission. What would God have me to do among His people, among my people, to prepare His way? For my people were stiff necked, unbending, exclusive, and they hated each ...

1635. Joseph

Drama

Charles L. Koester

... , the King, the Messiah, why was He born under such meager circumstances? Perhaps you of the 20th century, with the perspective of almost 2,000 years of history, know more than I. Do you? I made the enrollment, and we made preparation to return home. The night before leaving, I was visited again in my sleep by the angel who warned me, "Rise, take the child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the Child and destroy Him." I could not deny what ...

1636. Palm Sunday - The Crowd That Loved Him

Matthew 21:1-11

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... let’s pretend that we are in the biggest crowd that we have ever seen and we are watching a parade and we are happy. I am going to give you something to hold in your hands and wave. [Pass out the palm leaves.] I also want you to say something while you are waving these palm leaves and it goes something like this. Say, "Hosanna, Save Us Now, Hosanna, Save Us Now!" When I tell you that Jesus is coming you will keep saying those words, "Hosanna, Save Us Now!" Actually that is what the word hosanna means when ...

1637. The Forgotten

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... when he died although there are many who would put forward the theory that since mention of Joseph is not made in the incidents of Jesus’ ministry, it is probable that he had died leaving the widow Mary in the care of the eldest son, Jesus. Whatever the facts of the matter, there can be no question that this man Joseph did leave his lasting influence on Jesus. He shared in a unique way as a part of the miracle of Love that we celebrate each Christmas. It was to Joseph the carpenter that God entrusted the ...

1638. The Ordinary

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... a publisher? Maybe! But back to their ordinary life? Unbelievable! Yet this is exactly what the story says. And moreover they returned glorifying and praising God. There is that within me that really wants to conclude this sermon with an urging to display this same attitude as we leave Christmas this year. But I cannot and still be true to the story. For there is in this story no final urging to be good no saying to go an do likewise. There is no call to change the ways or values of our lives. There is only ...

1639. The Seekers

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... , our knowledge of the Three Kings grew. We discovered that Saint Matthew was the only one of the four gospel writers who included these men as a part of the story of the birth of Jesus. And his account of their visit is really rather sketchy and leaves one with a number of unanswered quesions. Matthew calls them "wise men," not kings. He is quite vague as to their homeland, saying only that they come to Jerusalem and were "from the East." He leads us to believe that these men were astrologers since they ...

1640. OUR LORD BETRAYED

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... of steel, and the servant of the high priest was screaming and holding the side of his head, blood streaming through his fingers from where his ear had been severed. Then all was pandemonium. The soldiers and ruffians closed in, and the disciples fled. All of them, leaving Jesus alone. And so it was done. The end of the road, the awakening from the dream, the moment of truth. Judas followed them back to the city. All the tension, the anxiety was released. He would lose himself now, in a few days begin a new ...

1641. OUR LORD TORMENTED

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... the high rail, rested his chin on his doubled fist. "What do they intend for him?" "Execution." The Roman procurator might have been a marble statue, unmoved and unmoving, but his thoughts were racing, prodded by the same concern which had held back Morpheus, leaving his night restive and sleepless. At lost he turned, gazed at the magnificent fortress on which he stood, a glint of moonlight on the corner of the roof gave evidence of the sentries who kept guard throughout the night. Pilate preferred to live ...

1642. OUR LORD SMITTEN

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... sun was pressing toward its meridian, and the desert wind from the east which had prevailed during the night was quiet. A tense, hot stillness hung over Jerusalem, harsh as the dust that fogged the air, raised by the feet of thousands of pilgrims entering and leaving the temple compound. It clung to the skin and caked the nostrils, and the centurion longed for the day when he would be pensioned home to the clear, cool air that flowed over the mountains of Italia. He had been patient through the night with a ...

1643. FOLLOW TO THE JUDGMENT HALL

John 8:48-59

Sermon Aid

John W. Rilling

... had to say at least ten men were the greatest, or else limit the choice to less than six. He called the roll of the great - statesmen, scientists, philosophers, humanitarians. By what rule do you measure true greatness? His answer was: "What did he leave to grow? Did he start men to thinking along fresh lines with a vigor that persisted after him? It is significant that a historian, without any theological bias whatever, should find that he cannot portray the progress of humanity honestly without giving a ...

1644. Crowned With Victory

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... two hours in a hospital room and experience unforgettable closeness. The next time I was near our son, his lifeless body was wrapped and placed on the back seat of our car for a seven-hour drive home." Suddenly they began to listen. Then I told them about leaving his body at the snow-covered cemetery and about the next day when I stood with our son’s two pastor grandfathers before 1,200 people at the Christmas Eve service, praising and thanking God for the birth of Jesus Christ. I told them my heart was ...

1645. Back To Basics: The Three R's of Baptism

Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

... are beginning to turn from green to red to orange. The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south. The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter. For leaves, birds and animals, turning comes instinctively. But for us, turning does not come so easily. It takes an act of will for us to make a turn. It means breaking old habits. It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy. It means losing face. It ...

1646. The Chosen One

John 1:43-51

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... 'm not going to listen to you anymore. DISTURBING ANGEL: Now, wait a minute. You have taken some good sound advice from me in the past and I intend to stay around just to protect you from this man. What he says is disturbing. JESUS: Absolutely not! Now, you just leave. (DISTURBING ANGEL BEGINS TO COMPLAIN) Not a word. Just leave. (DISTURBING ANGEL EXITS) MINISTERING ANGEL: Praise to you, Jesus. You are the victorious one. (MINISTERING ANGEL CONTINUES TO PRAISE AS ALL EXIT)

1647. Suffering

Mark 8:31--9:1

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... in the church for most of those years. REGGIE: Yes, we have. SYLVIA: Then why won't God heal you? REGGIE: Maybe we shouldn't ask. SYLVIA: What do you mean? REGGIE: I mean, maybe we should leave that in His hands. SYLVIA: You're just depressed. REGGIE: No, no, I don't think so. SYLVIA: Then how can you say we should just leave it in God's hands? REGGIE: Well, we have to, don't we? I mean, what can we do? SYLVIA: Do? I guess we've done all we can do. REGGIE: Well, then? SYLVIA: I'm not ...

1648. A Dreadful Declaration

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George Bass

... been a very good priest to you." When he removes his alb, and puts it, too, on the pulpit with the other vestments, he declares, "From here - I can’t really see your faces. I need to get back to the street corner." With that he leaves the pulpit and, before the people, is on the "street corner" once more and addresses his congregation, informing them that Mark Dolson has been expelled by Monsignor Burke, rector of the seminary, "because of his past ... I believe Mark’s past is irrelevant. I believe Msgr ...

1649. Feet Of Clay

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Roger Prescott

... gelding tethered to a tree, sweeping the flies away with his tail. In the servants’ court, a cistern had overflowed onto the cobbles, leaving a puddle the shape of Asia. Beyond a wall, a naked girl stood in a shallow pool dipping water over her shoulders with a ... looked at me and said, "Sam, you stay here." Of course, I didn’t argue with my father, but I wonderod why he would leave me out there instead of taking me back to safety with him. My father did make it back to the village. Some people had ...

1650. Paul of Tarsus

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

... Rome alive. They promise to review my case, but nobody takes action. I think someone - or some group of people - may have gotten to the powers-that-be and succeeded in persuading them not to permit my case to come up. In the meantime, I’m under arrest and cannot leave my quarters. Actually, it doesn’t matter. If I live or if I die, I’m with the Lord already, for he lives in me. Dear Timothy, he lives in you as well. Believe it. Trust it. Never give up on the Crucified. He hasn’t given up on you ...

Showing results