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 151 to 175 of 1185 results

Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."

John Bunyon

If a man loves a woman for her beauty, does he love her? No; for the small-pox, which destroys her beauty without killing her, causes his love to cease. And if any one loves me for my judgment or my memory, does he really love me? No; for I can lose these qualities without ceasing to be.

Pascal

153. One More Year

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... in the faith. This could be one consequence of not bearing fruit. Another consequence comes from the fact that people watch us. They know who we are and what we say we believe. And if our words and our lives do not cohere, then the world out there ceases to take us seriously and we become a kind of joke that is too stale to even tell anymore. If we are not fruitful, we become irrelevant. The good news, though, is that we are called to live into the tension between accountability and grace. We are called ...

154. Scandal

Luke 22:14-23:56

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... village, he would thrust the baby into the arms of a young woman. All knew what this meant. A son from one mother was now the possession of the other tribe. Both tribes had a stake in the child’s future, and all warfare would cease for as long as that child lived. The “peace child” reconciled the foes. With interest mounting, Don asked a further question. What would happen, he queried, if someone should kill the “peace child”? Horrified, the group shook their heads aghast. No one would ever think ...

155. The Spirit Blows Where It Will

John 3:1-10

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . And when you've been there, on those delicious, rare, and all the more delightful for their rarity, Sundays when a cool, refreshing breeze ripples the congregation from the pulpit....it's wonderful. It's grace. And I lay down all of my projects, my plans, I cease my eternal posturing. And I just enjoy the breeze, and I can breathe again, an infusion of pneuma like the sixth day of creation. It's mysterious, it's amazing, it's grace. The last Sunday of the school year I got a call from the Chapel attendant ...

156. A Living Memorial

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... Bowl over the Minnesota Vikings. Upon his retirement from football, Jim began to experience difficulty in the world of business. Investments went bad and business ventures turned sour. Before too long, Jim was in considerable debt. All of the applause and accolades had ceased for Jim Tyrer. Financial hardship placed undue pressure on Jim's personal and family life. He felt isolated and alone. To whom does a once proud athlete turn in such a time of need? Then came the haunting night when two shots rang ...

157. Transforming Love

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... . In Galatians he wrote, "I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it" (Galatians 1:13). All of that changed, though, when Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul's perspective changed dramatically. From that point on, Saul ceased his persecution of the church. Not only did he stop persecuting the church, but he also began to work actively for the church. The periodic table that hangs in most high school chemistry classes lists the 109 elements according to their atomic ...

158. The Greatest Of These

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

In the midwest the summer of 1993 was the summer of the "great flood." The rains, it seemed, would never cease. Rivers all across the central section of our land broke from their banks, broke through retaining walls and laid waste to ten thousands of acres of farmland and many cities besides. It was a summer of horror for great numbers of our citizenry. Many of them lost just about everything ...

159. Prayer Power

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... to do that. \nHOM: You bet He does. He does have the power. But He has \ndecided to allow humans to be a part of the battle against evil. \nRINNAHEL: Then why don't they get on with it? \nHOM: I'm sure they will learn to pray without ceasing as they \nhave been told to do. They will learn to pray for other things \nrather than their own requests. They will learn. \nRINNAHEL: They must learn fast. Evil is winning in so many \nareas. Look at the evil. A little girl, only five years old, \nraped. Now, come ...

160. It's OK To Stir Up God

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Richard Patt

... think of God and how we're going to live our lives. Jesus is making it clear here that prayer is a way of living more than it is a daily ritual of words. The apostle Paul affirmed such an approach when he wrote the famous brief sentence, "Pray without ceasing." Part of what he meant by that involves the thought that all of our lives ought to be a prayer to God. The sense of living in God's presence should be an ongoing reality in our lives. Most of us have heard something about learning how to pray when ...

161. A Tree Well Watered

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... the Lord stand in stark contrast to this picture. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and does not cease to bear fruit (v. 8). This image of the faithful as a well-watered tree does not suggest that trust in God means a privileged life free from trial. The heat and the drought still come, but the tree is not anxious, its leaves stay green, and it still ...

162. Seeing With New Eyes

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Tony Everett

... Go and bear fruit. Go forth in mission. Have you ever seen those three-dimensional pictures that appear to be a random pattern of colorful geometric designs? Within this pattern is a clear, computer-generated image. In order to see it, you must relax your eyes and cease your effort to focus on a specific pattern. Your must "look through" the picture. Soon the image, a building, a landscape, or even a picture of Jesus, pops into view. You begin to "see with new eyes" what was there all the time. This is what ...

163. Your Reflection In God's Mirror

Isaiah 1:1-31

Sermon

James McLemore

... the outside." He tells us today, "Wash yourself; make yourself clean." We need to be clean on the outside, baptized with the water of baptism. We need to be clean on the inside, baptized with the Holy Ghost. Isaiah has some good news for us. "Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless ... plead for the widow." After we have made ourselves clean, then God himself will clean us up. "Come, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are as scarlet ...

164. Lent 4

Psalm 32:1-11, Joshua 5:1-12, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... men were circumcised as a sign of the covenant with God. The place where it occurred was called Gilgal after the fact that the disgrace of Egypt was now rolled away. The people celebrated the Passover. With that the manna they had eaten in the wilderness ceased and they now lived off the grain and fruit of Canaan. The Second Lesson. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21) Paul asserts that Christians no longer look at others from the human point of view but from Christ's. Seeing the world in an entirely new perspective ...

165. Prepared Servants

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... of salvation. God does not find such worship acceptable if it is not accompanied by right living on behalf of the community. It ends with a dire warning of the consequences if the community is not obedient to the Lord's commands. The people need to cease doing evil, minister to the most vulnerable in the community, and assure that justice is done. The Second Lesson. (Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16) The first section gives the familiar definition of faith. The latter section begins with a description of that faith as ...

166. Proper 25

Psalm 65:1-13, Luke 18:9-14, Joel 2:28-32, 2 Timothy 4:9-18, 2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... an honest evaluation of one's self. That involves an awareness of imperfections. No person is perfect and without sin. Persons are unable to sustain their own lives. Without God's grace in providing life and the means for supporting life, all persons would cease to exist. Thus people need to be aware of their dependency, that they owe their very lives to God. Having acknowledged imperfection and dependency, persons are then ready to turn to God in thanksgiving and in repentance for their lack of trust and ...

167. You Can Create A Godly Heritage!

1 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... ruled forty years in Israel. His son Solomon inherited a rule from his father that was "firmly established." When the sun sets, it does not suddenly grow dark. There is an afterglow in the clouds, at times very beautiful. And when we die, we do not suddenly cease to exist on earth. There is an afterglow of influence. And that influence is our heritage. A heritage can be spiritual and take the form of God-fearing habits we've passed along to others. It can be intellectual in the form of education. It can be ...

168. Miracle Nine: Healing A Deaf-Mute

Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... unbelieving man and his friends, when Christ overcame the limitations of ear and tongue, went everywhere, proclaiming the power and glory of Christ. Another man of this same mind was J. S. Bach. He became known worldwide for his remarkable musical talent, but he never ceased to credit his Creator as the one who was responsible for his ability. The pages of his musical compositions could well have been used to satisfy a personal pride as his name appeared on them. But he was determined to give glory to God ...

169. The Agenda Factor

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

William L. Self

... far. A young man had become very interested in his faith. He started studying the scriptures and adopting additional ways to deepen his spiritual life and feed his own soul. One day after much struggle, he announced to his pastor that all this religious activity had to cease because his wife was greatly disturbed by it. Her reasoning was very straightforward. She said to her husband, "I like our lifestyle and our place in the community. I'm afraid that if you keep this up, you'll give it all up and become a ...

170. In The Beginning God

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

William L. Self

... world who stretches his commanding hand above the universe, he knows me, and he clasps me to his heart. He will never give me up. I shall always be his child, even when I depart from him or when death comes or the world ends. His faithfulness will never cease. Luther said, "God created the world out of nothing. As long as you are not yet nothing, God cannot make something out of you." He will never give us up. "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending ...

171. Point Of Origin

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... movement no one was daydreaming. Each person was intent on the music. They played it flawlessly. At the end of the final movement the maestro put down his baton. The members of the orchestra rose to their feet in applause. Toscanini stood there until they ceased. Then he said, "That was not Toscanini. That was Beethoven. You just never heard him before."3 Perhaps you and I are so familiar with the style and characters of the Genesis 1 account of creation that we can almost recite it from memory. Perhaps ...

172. A Bad Temperament Can Kill You

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... ." It is a tough decision, deciding whether to be a non-humiliated and proud sick person or a humiliated, surrendered well person. Maybe we could take the plunge once but not seven times. Finally, consider old Naaman. Ever been in his shoes? So many have. Life never ceases to amaze us. Suppose the doctor pointed his finger at you and said: "You are terminally ill with cancer. We can see it in your body. You are going to die very soon. But if you will crawl out of here to your car and come back Tuesday ...

173. The Burdens Of The Past

Haggai 2:1-9, Haggai 1:1-15

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

... of God's presence: the pillars of fire and smoke, the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Covenant, and the Temple. But these things were signs and symbols of God's presence. They were never the essence of God's presence. The pillars of fire and smoke ceased after the people ended their travels through the wilderness, but that didn't mean God's presence left them. The Tent of Meeting was replaced by various sanctuaries in the land of Canaan, but that didn't mean God had forgotten them. The Ark of the Covenant ...

174. Sometimes Goodbye Is Hello

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

... find you've said goodbye to this friendship forever. And you welcome the beginning of a new relationship. Still friends, but now husband and wife. And one goodbye makes possible a new hello. To gain by losing. To hold fast by letting go. To become something new by ceasing to be what we were before. These are truths at the heart of the gospel. And nowhere is this clearer than in the story of Christ's ascension. Our Lord spoke to the disciples often about his certain leaving of them. But, as it is for all of ...

175. God's A Catcher

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Gerald Whetstone

Amid all the exotic sights and excitement of a circus there's one moment which for me holds more daring, beauty and grace than any other. A moment when the clowns cease their pratfalls, while tigers pace and snarl in their cages, elephants shift their bulk from side to side, the ringmaster hushes the crowd, and cross-pathed spotlights illumine upturned faces in scattered circles around the arena as they focus high, high above the ground. The moment is this: an aerialist ...

Showing results