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 1651 to 1675 of 4963 results

1651. Wake Up! Get Ready!

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... And he is committing his life to helping others in the same way he has been helped. His life goal now is “loving and serving others.” As he says, “That’s what I want to do with the rest of my life—serve others and show them there is hope in this world and there is love that truly exists.” (5) Many years ago, Mother Teresa met with Dr. Robert Schuller, the pastor of the Crystal Cathedral in California. Dr. Schuller was in awe of Mother Teresa’s ministries to the poor in Calcutta, India. She had ...

1652. Stay Awake

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... moment-to-moment with the expectation that Jesus is returning? How would this truth re-order our priorities? What would become most important in our lives, and what would lose its importance? Jesus gives us the best example of what it means to live every moment in hopeful, obedient expectation of God working in the world. So we can look to the daily life of Jesus to see how to live out that call to stay awake and be ready for his return. The first lesson we learn from Jesus’ daily life is that he prayed ...

1653. What We Learn from Love

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... had been a prisoner too. She was one of them. (2) I don’t know why you came through these church doors this morning. But I hope before you leave here, you hear the story of a God who loved you enough to take on human flesh and walk in our shoes. The ... fell open, and all those little strips of paper spilled into her lap and onto the floor around her. And she was filled with hope as she realized that all the promises of God were for her and were ‘Yes’ in Christ. (3) When you love someone, you keep your ...

1654. Christ's Grand Entrance Song

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Sermon

King Duncan

... outsider marries into a Kongthong family, the mother-in-law creates a unique melody for the newcomer, so that every child in their small community can be identified by their special song. (2) Music is powerful, isn’t it? It is the language of joy, of hope, of victory. Author Richard DeHaan tells of an old Jewish legend that after God had created the world, He called the angels together and asked them what they thought of it. One angel said, “The only thing lacking is the sound of praise to the Creator ...

1655. Places That Have a Memory

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... Samuel 15, we see this tragic picture of King David and his men weeping as they climb the Mount for safety. He had been the hope of his nation; now his kingdom was threatened and he was running for his life. And it was at this moment that David stopped to ... reject him. He knew they would crucify him. But it was all worth it. He gladly laid down his life to restore us to God. I hope we will see Jesus’ last week, this Holy Week, through the eyes of Jesus. And in seeing, we would also see just how much he loved ...

1656. Flash Mob

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... flash performances. You can see the joy on people’s faces as they sway to the music and collectively cheer and celebrate together.[1] It had been a long, rough season. People needed this. The laughter and smiles were infectious, and a new sense of hope swept through the country. Music, dance, and celebration have a way of lifting people’s spirits. Such was the feeling too the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem, on a donkey no less. Not everyone knew what was going on. The disciples who accompanied him ...

1657. With Burning Hearts

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... her husband actually lived in Emmaus, and that it was into their own home that they invited Jesus. These were ordinary disciples of Jesus - people who believed in him, but who could also be confused about events in the world around them; people who had hopes that could be shattered; people who weren’t able to recognize Jesus even when he walked beside them; people who needed to understand scripture, who needed to meet Jesus in the breaking of bread. In other words, they were ordinary people just like you ...

1658. Wrestling with God

Genesis 32:22-31

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... or in mashed potatoes, is not for the faint of heart. For many competitors, the secret to success is in holding on until your opponent simply wears out. Of course, that strategy won’t work if you’re wrestling an angel of God. So, what did Jacob hope to get from his wrestling match in Genesis 32? Jacob was a wrestler from birth. He was the twin brother of Esau. Esau was born first, earning his place as the son who would receive his family’s birthright and his father’s blessing. But Jacob was holding ...

1659. Walk the Talk

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and do. God has a deep investment in our created world, and like any good parent, God wants us to allow him to help us make it all that it can be. Second, we have a choice of whether or not to engage with God. God made us this way, hoping that we would choose to seek God’s wisdom and work with God to make the “kingdom” a beautiful, kind, loving, relational place in which all serve God and each other. But God also knew that in granting us free will, we would also be challenged and tempted to serve ...

1660. Ready for Change

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... other time. Fresh start? Relief? Renewal? Something to take away the pain? Yes, please. At first glance, Jesus’ message to his disciples in Mark 13 looks very dark indeed (pun intended). But like the visioner of Revelation and other apocalyptic prophets, Jesus means to offer hope for a new beginning, a new dawn, when things will change, and God’s reign will come. Be ready, he says. Keep awake and alert, he warns. Something big is going to happen and things are going to change. Jesus is nearing the end ...

1661. Fear of the Light

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... brightly when it appears. The darkest places will recognize the Light the most when it arrives. Jesus has not left our world. Upon his death and resurrection, he sent the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us, to revive and infuse us with energy, life, love, and hope. But often, we need help to believe in his presence and recognize his coming. We need a John –a mentor, guide, teacher, or spiritual person in our lives who can help us to cleanse our lines of vision and prepare to see Christ before us, behind ...

1662. Dynamic Preaching January 2024 Sermons

Sermon

King Duncan

... in poor condition. Thus, the people were expected to repair the roads so they would be smoother for the king. Often the roads had to be straightened and the hills cut down. Doubtless, this was what Isaiah had in mind when he wrote these words of comfort and hope for his people. The King is coming. A voice cries, in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Get ready for a royal visitation. Suppose you and I were on the committee. Suppose we had been chosen to make certain that the advent of the monarch ...

1663. Passover Or Passalong?

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... to celebrate that we have been invited to God’s table. We didn’t earn the invitation. We are here because of Jesus’ body and blood, that’s all. We are here because we were given a seat at this table. We are welcome here, equal here, and we have hope here. When we let ourselves think about it, it still feels kind of magical, and perhaps for just a few, brief minutes, we feel what the disciples felt that night it happened for the first time; what it feels like to be the people of God. I read today’s ...

1664. “Lord, Our Lord, How Majestic Is Your Name in All the Earth!”

Psalm 8:1-9

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... nuance is not incorporated into the original psalms but came subsequently to be associated with them somewhere in the history of interpretation.3 While that is certainly a valid way to view the messianism of the Psalms, it seems to me that the strong prophetic hope, also reflected in the Psalter, took shape in those years when the people began to idealize David, perhaps as early as the eighth century prophetic movement (see Isa. 9:6–7; Amos 9:11–12) and long before the exile. Thus some of the psalms ...

1665. Anointed and Appointed

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... be prepared to put what they’ve learned into action, loving and healing others in Jesus’ name. For Jesus, love is an action verb. It’s time for the disciples to become apostles –to bear the fruit of Jesus’ teaching and to proclaim his resurrection hope to all who will listen. To do this, they must act, love, heal, and proclaim in real and tangible ways that matter. Today is your graduation day! In fact, every time you renew your commitment and faith in Jesus, you celebrate yet another graduation ...

1666. Living Through Hard Times

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... with such energy and celebration of the presence of the Holy Spirit. I learned a lot from these people; I have, I hope, brought forth much that I learned into my ministry here in the United States. For one thing, I understand suffering and dedication ... without food for days or had to walk to a community well to access water. While I have been a faithful churchgoer and, I hope, disciple of Jesus, my life has been comparatively simple. I was never beaten or imprisoned or had no place to live and no food ...

1667. Love Lives

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... depth of the love of Jesus, the love of God in our midst. It is key that we remember this sacrifice when we are faced with the need to stand up for our faith, to face the scorn of others for expressing that which we believe. And yet, our hope lives, for the death is not the end. Jesus seeking forgiveness for those who were killing him speaks to reconciliation beyond my imagination. Jesus dying for you and for me is beyond my understanding. Jesus loving that much is more than I can know, or perhaps ever feel ...

1668. Swimming Against the Tide

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... them as harshly as they have behaved? But this is not the vision of God that Jesus teaches. Jesus assures us, in his “God with us” best and truthful voice, that God is much more merciful than we like to imagine. Certainly much more merciful than we like to hope for. Isn’t that the story of Jonah? It sure is. Nope. Jesus is perfectly clear. As disciples, we are to do the opposite of what our culture would do, the opposite of what we as humans might be expected to do –we are to love those who sin ...

1669. Upside Down And Backward

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

... , this Jesus following. We look at things from a perspective of what we lack, rather than through the lens of abundance. God gives us more than enough to do the work we are called to do. We are promised that God will do abundantly more than we hope or imagine. Jesus gifts us with the Holy Spirit to give us the right words at the right time. That Spirit intercedes for us, Christ prays for us and still we stand paralyzed, begging Jesus to increase our faith. We get it backward, seeing scarcity when God ...

1670. Prayer Power

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... continues to be one of our greatest challenges! Why? Because in order to do this we must 1) sublimate our own power, 2) suspend the idea that we can control our own outcomes better than anyone else, and 3) hand over our power (as well as our hopes for favorable outcomes) to an entity we cannot see. As Jesus indicates in our scripture for today: it all comes down to faith. And faith is so much harder than it sounds, particularly when circumstances feel challenging. In fact, the only time many of us “resort ...

1671. Naaman Is My Name!

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... lack of blood, and then a life-giving transfusion is received and 80the patient is made to feel like new again. That is exactly what the cross does. The life-giving blood, flowing from the riven side of the Redeemer gives us life for our death, hope for our despair, and salvation for our lostness. Christ, by his cross, changes our past, our present, and our future. Let it be clearly understood by anyone who would embrace Christianity that at its very heart and center is the cross! Our sin-cure was effected ...

1672. Good News Among The Rubble

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... news among the rubble. A living being which she prized had survived the destruction of a terrible disaster. The entire family shared Amy's joy. In fact, the father suggested: "Why don't we give that cat a real name? Why don't we call her 'Hope'?" Rubble in abundance comes to mind as we listen to the words of Jesus from Luke 21. Picture the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem lying in ruins, with not one stone left upon another. There are predictions of wars and insurrections, of nations struggling against each ...

1673. With Fire In His Eyes

Luke 6:17-26

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... Sunday is like Christmas," Dr. Yacob once said. With the help of overseas partners many of the churches in Eritrea were rebuilt in the midst of ruin. Many 37questioned Dr. Yacob's choice of church building in this desperate situation. "Building a building is a sign of hope," he maintained with fire in his eyes. "We trust God to be Lord of Life in the midst of death. The buildings were like miracles for us. Jeremiah bought a field at Anathoth just when he thought the land was to be taken away by destruction ...

1674. A Shroud Unto Life

Luke 24:1-12

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... of it all was almost too much for Ms. O'Meara. Sacks of life had become shrouds of death. She pondered deeply on this awful turn of events. "What the world needs," she mused to herself, "is for someone wrapped in the shrouds of death to bring new life and hope to the world." Sacks of life had become shrouds of death. What if a shroud of death became a garment of life? Would anyone believe such a story? Or would the world pass it off as just an idle tale?"

1675. No More Tears

Revelation 21:1-27

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... the strength to carry on when he knows, "I don't belong here in heaven." The singer gets a glimpse of heaven, a glimpse of hope. But in heaven he does not belong. Verse two of "Tears in Heaven" returns to the same theme. He wonders if his son would hold ... have to "find his own way through night and day." Clapton's song is a very sad song! The grief is so real and the hope so illusory. Clapton knows he doesn't belong in heaven for whatever reason. Therefore, he will have to carry his own grief and his grief ...

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