Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: captured, trapped, catch, took, arrested, grabbed, taken, seized, stuck, apprehended, picked up, entangled, nabbed, jammed, abducted, acquired, got, bagged, gotten, netted, cornered, appropriated, tangled, snared, ensnared

Antonyms: free, freed, unconfined, loose, unrestrained, set free, uncuffed, emancipated, enfranchised, released, ambiguous, flaccid, let go, discharged, unbound, uncaged, unchained, unfettered, unleashed, unshackled, untied, avoided, discounted, disregarded, missed

Showing 151 to 175 of 2233 results

151. Responsibility And Motivation

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... is thereby telling us that this man, who did not want to shoulder the responsibility that was rightfully his, is not worth remembering. Do I even need to ask what his short-sighted and selfish motivations were? Unlike Ruth, he does not seem to have caught the vision of the God of Israel; nor, like Boaz, did he understand his responsibility to the larger society around him. Instead he represents all those unnamed, often unidentified, influences that whisper in our ear that we can take but not give, that we ...

152. Fools For The Sake Of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... Earth Society would be flooded with applications from law school professors and National Public Radio would soon broadcast a series entitled 'The Shape of the World Reconsidered.' " But what really caught my attention, as a minister and sometime professor of the Bible, is that nobody -- no reporter, no researcher, no data bank -- caught the fact that Scalia was quoting that venerable book that adorns our coffee tables. It was only after ten days of flap that Robert A. Sirico, an attorney who also happens ...

153. The Spreading Word

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Marc Kolden

... doesn't take root; and with still others the word gets choked by all the other things in life in which they are caught up. Yet for some -- indeed, for many -- the word is joyfully received, takes root and bears fruit. The parable is about God sowing ... 4:12). God's word in Jesus not only cuts us free from sin but also pierces us, judges us, and lays us bare. Because we are caught in sin God's word stands in opposition to us in some important ways. The image of the word as a seed already hints at this. The ...

154. The Man From Galilee VII: The Triumph Of His Defeat

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... them we may find a way through. There are many times for all of us when life gets bogged down in sorrows and heartaches, when it seems to be going nowhere and nothing good is happening. A man was fishing in a farmer's pond. The farmer came out and caught him. He said to the man, "Do you see that sign? It says 'No Fishing.' " The man looked at the sign, and said to the farmer, "Whoever painted that sign knew what he was talking about." There are so many times when life seems empty, when it seems we may ...

155. The Temptation Of His Life

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... comes up before us every day. Sometimes we will do almost anything to gain popularity and acceptance. A woman was all caught up in the Christmas rush. Finally, she had everything done on Christmas Eve, but then she remembered she had not sent cards ... , "This card is just to say a special gift is on the way." She had to spend the few days left in that week getting caught up. Sometimes we would do anything to gain popularity and acceptance. Young people face it. We call it peer pressure. Adults face it. We call ...

156. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

... smoothly. They are concerned instead with people who need to express their anger and grief and heartache. Brueggemann warns against making these Psalms too religious or pious by reminding us that many of them are not courteous or polite. These are the cries of people who have been caught in "the rawness of life." "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?" (Psalm 13:1-2). "O Lord ...

157. I Am The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

... the woman as comfortable as possible. In ministering to her, he discovered that she had been a Lutheran many years ago. When he asked her about it, she said that faith had not been a reality to her in her entire adult life. "John (my husband) and I got so caught up in making a living that we just forgot all about church and God," she said sadly. John chimed in, "We made lots of money. What good does it do us now?" "It's never too late to return to God," the kindly chaplain suggested. "God is always waiting ...

158. Moses' New Job

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... up, trained in our religion,language, and culture by my mother and trained also inEgyptian life and ways by the princess. I was very fond ofher and she was nice to me, but we never were close. Youknow how her death at the hands of the new Pharoah caught usall by surprise. Why he didn't come after me at the sametime I'll never know. But such injustice burned me verydeeply. I saw that injustice again when the foreman overseeinga group of my Hebrew relatives struck down one of them forno reason. The others ran ...

159. Jacob And The Night Wrestler

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... : I turned my back and started to walk away. Oneof the stones he threw hit me hard just above the hip. Iwent down in agony, pain leaping through my right leg fromwhere the stone hit, all the way to my toes. With rage, Igrabbed at the stranger from the ground, caught his leg andpulled him down. He came down on top of me hard. I was sofurious I lashed into him with everything I had. The stranger kept up his insults and I tried to shuthim up any way I could. But he was so strong. The anger andthe pain kept ...

160. Those Who Mourn

Sermon

John A. Terry

... able to feel pain was the clue that death had come to his body and little by little would take possession. How much better for him if that boiling water had caused him pain. It is like the man whose feet had been amputated, who told of his experience being caught out in the bitter cold of the far north. So long as his feet pained him he was happy, but after a while, the pain was gone, and he knew then that his feet were doomed. The pain diminished as they froze. How deadly, how horrible to be unable to ...

161. Something To Do While The World Falls Apart

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

William G. Carter

... you why I don't go to church anymore. It's because I got in the habit of reading the Sunday Times before I went to the worship service." Esther leaned forward. "Tell us," she said warmly, "how did the newspaper keep you from coming to church? Did you get caught up in the sports section and lose track of time? Or the comics?" Mr. Tarnower looked at her with wild eyes. "No," he said, "I read the news. It's an awful world out there. There are a lot of diseases I don't understand. Wars break out. Families fall ...

162. Have You Heard The Good News?

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... birth of Jesus a relationship between God and humankind has been made possible. It can never be earned, since it is a result of grace; it can only be received. In fact, grace cannot really be described as it can be experienced. It is more "caught" than "taught." It is defined in the scriptures as "steadfast love." Therefore, as "steadfast love," it is reliable and constant and trustworthy -- the very thing that is needed in our lives today. Grace has been defined as love in action. That is a good definition ...

163. A Moment Of Decision

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... casually walked into a library and sat down at a table to study. He picked up a magazine that someone had failed to return to the rack. It was a publication of the London Missionary Society. As he thumbed through it, an article about African missions caught his eye. That article changed the direction of his life. He could have been a great organist, performing in the world's most renowned concert halls, or a medical doctor, working in the great research centers of the world. Instead, he would spend the rest ...

164. Moses's New Job

Exodus 4:18-31

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... I saw in the camp, the bitterness, the despair, the slum conditions of the families. It was bad. I knew I had to do something. Now is my chance. And, God is with me! Your husband,Moses Dear Moses, Prophet of the Lord, Your God! Your obsession. You were so caught up in your crusade that you dreamt one night your God was attacking you. Remember that? It was so real to you that you screamed out to me to circumcise Gershom. You weren't able to settle down until I finally did it. That was such a bad night! I ...

165. Those Who Mourn

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

John A. Terry

166. Teach Fear To Say Its Prayers

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... By our very natures, we pick up the vibes from the strongest people around us. If everybody else is afraid, then we are likely to be afraid, too. You have to be a strong person to keep faith if those around you are ruled by fear. The Twelve caught Jesus taking a nap as they crossed the lake in the boat. When a violent storm arose, Jesus continued to sleep. The disciples woke him, shouting, “Master, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” Jesus replied, “Why are you so frightened? What has happened to ...

167. Runaway Lives

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... being bald.) Joab: He was one of David’s most loyal and effective military commanders. He is so loyal in fact, that he becomes caught by his zeal for a military victory in David’s behalf and disobeys David’s wish that his son Absalom not be harmed. Not ... 5:10) Remember the runaway stagecoach? All of our lives become, at some point or another, runaway lives, and we become caught up in forces that appear larger than life and seem to demand our blind obedience. This happens in our families, our places ...

168. A Sleeping Bag God

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now, I have never lived in a temple; I have traveled around living in a tent.” (2 Samuel 7:6 TEV) God is disclosed not as a domesticated, but instead as a dynamic God. God cannot be cabined and caught; harnessed and held; isolated and studied. No. God is too busy for that. God is constantly on the move with his people, seen now in this event and later in quite another guise. God rejects the suggestion that he can be placed here or there, or that he can ...

169. Absalom, Absalom

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Sue Anne Steffey Morrow

... with the dead. And there were bouquets of yellow rosebuds and a letter laminated to one who had died, Stephen. There were flags, of course, and loved ones rubbing a name. I was unprepared for the effect the memorial would have, and I caught up my own children's hands as I was caught by the agony of the war reflected in the wall. Why did we ever let all these young people die? These are the names of sons and daughters, those who once had dreams and delights, hopes and habits, treasured moments, a taste for ...

170. The M And M Factor

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... him was parted by an angry crowd who stopped a few feet from him and began shouting. Crouching very still, Caleb shared in an unexpected encounter between Jesus of Nazareth and the religious leaders of his day. Caleb didn't really mean to be part of it. He was caught in the midst of it. Life just moved along, engulfing him, whether he was lazy or not. He long remembered that meeting in the middle of the grain field. And whether you want to be involved in it today, you are! That is the point. You may have ...

171. Love And Friendship

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Mark J. Molldrem

... a true story that occurred during the internment of Christian missionaries in a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines during World War II. It was the rule of the camp that anyone caught trying to escape would be put to death. One day a little-noticed, "unimportant" prisoner broke out of the compound for freedom, but was caught. He was a small, dirty, hairy individual, whose life seemed to have no great significance to the Japanese or to the imprisoned Americans. The guards placed the man in the middle of ...

172. Know What Time It Is!

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... the standards of the world we ought to conclude that he died "prematurely;" that his life began in "scandal" and ended in "failure." He was an "embarrassment" to his family and friends. To his disciples his ministry ended in "tragedy" and "disillusionment." When we are not caught up in a pious sentimentalism we ought to conclude that he was a misfit. The miracle of faith is that we call this misfit, "The Son of God." Look at how we as believers have come to regard his crucifixion. We call his cross a symbol ...

173. Beware! Caution! Danger!

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... are so carried away with the miracle of healing that they suspect that Barnabas, with his imposing appearance, is Zeus, the king of the gods, and Paul is Hermes, the god of speech, because he seems to be the main spokesman. Then, too, they don't want to get caught as they were before when they slammed their doors in the face of the gods. After all, you have to watch out for these gods. They get pretty touchy when they aren't treated right, and the people don't want to get in their bad graces again. So ...

174. The S & L That Didn't Fail!

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... our Savior covers our mistakes and our sins with his own precious blood! United Methodist Evangelist, Rev. Leo Lacey, tells the story of a young boy working with his father, in one of the textile mills of North Carolina. Suddenly, one day, the boy's clothing was caught in the heavy machinery and began slowly pulling him into the claws of certain death. The father saw what was happening, sizing up the situation in a glance, and knew there was not time to run to the control room to shut off the power. So he ...

175. How A Young Man Fell

Judges 16:1-22

Sermon

Erskine White

... . That's the way Samson's sin sneaked up on him. Think about those in school who lie and cheat. They do it once and think it doesn't matter because no one caught them, so they do it again. Pretty soon, they are doing it all the time because they can't stop. They become convinced they cannot pass an exam without cheating. Eventually, they'll get caught and take a hard fall. Again, they didn't intend to turn out like this when they first cheated on a quiz back in the second grade, but that's how it works ...

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