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 4986 results

1626. Dark Waters

Exodus 13:17--14:31, Joshua 3:1-4:24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Sea community became threatened and eroded so badly that their homes began collapsing into the sea. They had lived in that town for many generations and were frightened and dismayed to pick up and move from their ancestral homes. And yet, they knew, if they stayed, they would be swept away into the sea. So, they moved 10 miles north to Mertarvik and established a new home there. When your landscape changes, you adapt, or you die. So, it is too with our personal landscapes and our cultural landscapes. It ...

1627. Worship is Your Rest Stop

Genesis 1:1-2:3, Psalm 92:1-15, Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Galatians 3:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of the road. You don’t back out of the journey. You don’t give up on your course or your passion for the road. You stay on course to your destination. But you pull over for a moment and take time to refresh your spirit and load up on nourishment for your ... A “rest stop” for them was a great relief –time out from being on the road, time to pitch a tent and put down some roots, stay for a little while. Time to build an altar and to worship as Jacob did in the hills of Israel. Sabbath was God time. And ...

1628. The Secret to Happiness

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... to crack the code in Thomas Beale’s letter, and since none of the others miners divulged their secret, his treasure remains hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. Is anyone interested in getting up a search party to find all that gold? The rest of us could stay behind and pray for you—as long as you promise to tithe 10% of whatever you find. That’s not the only buried treasure waiting to be discovered in the Rocky Mountains, by the way. In 1988, a man named Forrest Fenn was diagnosed with cancer. In ...

1629. Apostles of Hope

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... out of the rain, you need to invest in an umbrella. So the saying might go. Or in our world right now, if you want to stay clear of the “cloud,” you need to wear your mask. For what you can’t see, CAN hurt you! We can’t see it. We can’t feel it. We can’t hear it. We can’t touch it. And yet, we cower in our homes for fear of the ...

1630. You're Watching What?

Matthew 11:1-19, Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... . But all of Mike’s colleagues and friends lived like this too. Who was he to think that life could be any different? Then it happened. One morning, Mike decided that he would stay home and eat breakfast with his wife and daughter and take the late train to work. To him, this was a huge sacrifice. All his colleagues came in early and stayed late. He couldn’t afford to stand out. But he was just so tired of being controlled by his job and missing out on his family. That morning, Mike and his wife and ...

1631. The Kiss of Life

John 20:19-23

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... the next fifteen minutes trying to remember, and then adding up, the number of your first kisses; let’s try to stay focused folks. Again, a kiss is a powerful thing. All the fairy tales know it: Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and ... power of death in the tomb. Neither can we, who have had the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit breathed into us, stay behind closed doors for long. There are still doubting, hurting, lonely people out there whose fear and skepticism can be transformed into faith. ...

Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Bible

True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self, but the point is not only to get out; you must stay out, and to stay out, you must have some absorbing errand.

Henry James

1634. A Disciple After God’s Own Heart

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... moment, God “saves” Isaac, and the two together sacrifice a ram sent by God for the ritual. Our third clue in the story comes from Genesis 22:4. “On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place at a distance. Abraham said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey. The young man and I will walk up there, worship, and then come back to you.’” When Isaac asks where the lamb for the offering is, Abraham replies, “God will see to it, my son.” From this conversation, we know that Abraham ...

1635. Gratitude

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... mother on the train at Knott's Berry Farm. And someone began to laugh about the time we were in the little town in England, and we were laughing and crying and then I understood. "Don't go, Gratitude," I said. "Please stay. She would want you here. I was wrong. You do belong, even here, especially now. Stay with us through the night, and day after tomorrow at the funeral. We'll need you to help pick out the music and the scripture. It wouldn't be right without you." That night I knew, Paul was right. It is ...

1636. Imagination

Luke 1:39-45, 46-55

Sermon

Will Willimon

... are our own biblical texts, particularly at this time of the year. In the humdrum world in which we normally make our way, poor, unmarried moms and their babies face bleak prospects. The December heavens stay dark and silent. Christmas carols arrive via FM radio, not by angels. And God stays safely aloof from the world. But here in church, in December, our otherwise thin imaginations get assaulted, funded, stoked, poetically pushed by much richer fare than is normally offered by the prose of The Morning ...

1637. Wrong by Association, Right by Jesus

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... You can leave if you want! If you’re ashamed to be seen with me!” And now, you are trapped between a rock and a hard place. What do you do? You feel pressured by both “sides.” One wants you to tow the conformity line. The other wants you to stay true to the group. You begin to doubt yourself. Could they be troublemakers? Am I the only one not seeing it? Am I really seeing things the right way? Have I been brainwashed? Where is my heart? Where should it be? To stand tough in a situation like this, to ...

1638. Having the Right Connection

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... to me. And you are not just connected to me—you are now a part of my substance. You are not alone. Your life is not random or meaningless. The divine nature, the wisdom, the life, the joy that flows through me now flows through you.” If you stay connected to Christ, you have meaning and purpose for your life. Jesus is the vine. It is he that nourishes our hungry spirits. We seek in vain when we look for nourishment in other places. When we are disconnected from the Source of Life, the Creator God, the ...

1639. Clean Hands

Psalm 26:1-12

Sermon

Will Willimon

... and your barns are full, and the vineyards are productive. It is a prayer for bright, sunny, Sunday mornings with all of us here in dresses, hair tastefully styled, coats and ties. God, I thank thee, for me. And all will go well for you, as long as you stay right, and the sun shines, and your tie is straight, and your star is in ascendancy, and your hands are clean. You can pray Psalm 26, groom your virtues, and you can get along quite nicely with yourself, without God. You don't need God for that. Early in ...

1640. Following God's Plan

1 John 5:1-6

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... stopped and Saint Anthony of the Desert was at peace having nothing but God. According to the legend, one day God came to Anthony and said, “Leave your cave for a few days and go off to distant town. Look for the town shoemaker. Knock on his door and stay with him for some time. The holy hermit was puzzled by God’s command, but left the next morning as he was directed. He walked all day across the desert sands. By nightfall he had come to the village and, inquiring with the local people, found the home ...

1641. Walking with God

Acts 2:1-21 · John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... word used in the scriptures today for the Holy Spirit. For etymologically, the word “paracletos” meant “one called to walk alongside.” Our spiritual “eyes,” our defender and advocate, our spiritual and emotional support system, our Christ companion in the world, the “paraclete” helps us to navigate the world while staying spiritually and emotionally sound. Jesus knew that we walk crippled through this world, that most of the time, we are blinded by a thousand distractions that keep us from ...

1642. Not Your Lips, but Your Life

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... of hypocrisy—if it weren’t so prevalent today. Let me give you an example. During the worst months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mayor of a prominent city in Texas recorded a Facebook video urging residents of his town to avoid travel or large gatherings. “Stay home if you can,” he declared. He sounded like a responsible leader of the people—until it came to light that he had recorded the Facebook video from his vacation spot in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (3) And he’s only one example of numerous ...

1643. Like a Phoenix

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... Take your faith with you but don’t feel like you have to pack every answer to every question in your mental suitcase. Give yourself the freedom to trust in the Lord a little bit. Second, be a good guest. If someone invites you to stay with them, accept gracefully and stay with them. Don’t be moving around trying to get a better deal, a softer bed, a bigger honorarium. And third, if you go somewhere and they reject you or refuse to listen to you, leave. This business about shaking the dust off your shoes ...

1644. The Invitation

Matthew 20:1-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

... on your paper and the solution to the problem. Some in the class tell you that, if they work hard over the next few days, staying up for 48 hours straight, they may get it finished. There are others who haven't even begun; there is no hope no matter what ... s right? For us, justice is a matter of giving people what they are worth. Let's see, you worked longer so you should get more. You stayed in school all the way through your BA, your MA, and your Ph.D. You get more. You have more IQ so it's only right that ...

1645. Jesus' Tears

John 11:32-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... friend. But, as you know, that’s not exactly the way things worked out. Instead of going at once to Lazarus, Jesus stayed where he was for two more days. What doesn’t make sense is that Jesus was only two miles away from Mary and Martha’s home. He could ... have made the trip in less than an hour. Instead he purposely stayed where he was for two more days. How would you feel if you or a loved one went to the emergency room of the hospital ...

1646. Briny Faith

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... too slowly, the peacemaker sends an electrical signal to your heart in order to correct the beat. Some pacemakers will even increase the heart rate during exercise as needed. Once implanted, the pacemaker makes sure the heart stays regulated, so that you stay healthy. The body is an interesting and complex organism. Without extenuating circumstances, such as illness or aging, the heart regulates on its own. Amazing, right? The body has other regulators as well. The body self-regulates its temperature ...

1647. Easter Fear

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Will Willimon

... Once again, Jesus had given them the slip. They had come out to the cemetery to give him a decent burial. But Jesus would not stay nailed shut, some sweet memory. As always, he had gone on before them, out ahead of them, into the future, out of death, into life ... the empty tomb. We must finish the story for ourselves, in our lives. We have been told that he is not here, that he will not stay nailed down, sealed shut, all tied up and secure. He will not be held by death. So if we would follow him, it will not ...

1648. A Deserted Place

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... which says "the busier you are, the happier you are." We buy into it and so we strive to be busy. Sometimes we work hard at staying busy. But busy-ness for busy-ness sake is a mistake. It can even be detrimental to your health. We need to look to Jesus and ... so much of himself to others, needed some time alone with God to recuperate and refuel his life and spirit once again. He had to stay connected as Dr. J. D. Phillips, pastor of St. Luke's UMC here in Arlington says. J.D. said, "Until you're forty, you run ...

1649. Beneath The Shadow Of The Cross

Mark 14:1--15:47

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the high holy days of Judaism. It was a time to gather the families together. People came from all over the country to stay with their friends and relatives. Passover always had sort of a homecoming, Christmas and Mardi Gras atmosphere all rolled into one. It ... so he could pray. On the way he asked Peter, James and John to go pray with him. They did but they had difficulty staying awake. While they were fighting sleep, while Jesus was praying great drops of blood, a commotion broke out. All of a sudden the ...

1650. For Men Only?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. Some commentators suggest that this passage in its entirety is stating that men could not divorce their wives, marry another, then divorce that wife and remarry the first wife as a way of swapping wives and still staying within custom and law. This piece of case law goes even further. Deuteronomy 24:5 says, “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, to be happy ...

Showing results

Showing 1626 to 1650 of 4986 results

1626. Dark Waters

Exodus 13:17--14:31, Joshua 3:1-4:24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1627. Worship is Your Rest Stop

Genesis 1:1-2:3, Psalm 92:1-15, Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Galatians 3:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1628. The Secret to Happiness

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

1629. Apostles of Hope

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1630. You're Watching What?

Matthew 11:1-19, Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

1631. The Kiss of Life

John 20:19-23

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.

Bible

True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self, but the point is not only to get out; you must stay out, and to stay out, you must have some absorbing errand.

Henry James

1634. A Disciple After God’s Own Heart

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1635. Gratitude

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

1636. Imagination

Luke 1:39-45, 46-55

Sermon