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 1776 to 1800 of 5000 results

1776. A Good God and the Problem of Suffering

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

"I don’t know what to do about them, they won’t get out of the way." "Who?" said Stef. "There’s disaster rolling down the hill and they won’t move." "Who won’t? Whom are you talking about?" "I can’t make them pay attention, they just stand there ..." Steinbeck sounded as if he might break into tears. "They won’t heed me ..." Stef was growing irritable. "Who?" he repeated. "What are you lamenting? Who won’t move?" "My characters!" Steinbeck exploded. He was writing Of Mice and Men.1 This could be God ...

1777. Called to Be Saints

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." (v. 12) Who is a saint? The historic definition is one whose life is worthy of imitation by all of Christendom. Some add that a sense of humor is a prerequisite, along with having performed miracles. "She is a saint," we say. What do we mean? We usually have in mind a person whose goodness, unselfishness, love, is unmistakable. Ah, but ask that one, "Are you a saint?" The answer: "Of course ...

1778. The Heart of The Gospel

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

[While the following sermon may be adapted to the usual solo style of the parish parson, it could also be used in the more dramatic form. The copy indicates a role for seven resonant voices, strategically placed at various locations in the church, not visible to the congregation. The lines should be carefully rehearsed so that they are spoken with effective accent, and in a manner that flows with the body of the sermon.] If Jesus Christ had won his case, he would have lost the world. He lost his case and ...

1779. Change

Mark 6:7-13

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: God will supply all our needs. Summary: Two disciples talk about the upcoming missions trip and how Jesus limits their dependence on things. Playing Time: 3 1/2 minutes Setting: Anywhere disciples meet Props: List Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: Now Cast: Matthew -- a disciple Thaddeus -- another disciple MATTHEW: (ENTERS ALONG WITH THADDEUS) Did you prepare your missions support newsletter? THADDEUS: I tore it up. MATTHEW: How are you going to go on a missions trip if you don't send out your ...

1780. Anger

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: Anger is inevitable, but there must be reconciliation or our relationships deteriorate. Summary: Things are in an uproar at the Pesky home. Rena is trying to find her keys and get Sam, her husband, to paint the bathroom. Rena gets angry. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: The Pesky home Props: Sam -- a shirt with missing buttons Rena -- a can of interior latex and a paint brush Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: Sam Pesky Rena -- his wife Bill -- their son SAM: (ENTERS, CARRYING A ...

1781. Lust

Mark 8:31--9:1, Mark 8:27-30

Drama

James F. Crowley

Theme: The evil one has ways of ruining our lives. If we don't have Jesus -- we don't have hope. If we don't believe in Jesus all things are not possible. Summary: Things are calming down at the Pesky home, or so they think. Rena has taken care of sewing the buttons on Sam's shirt and he has finally painted the bathroom, but Bill, their son, has been looking at pornography. Playing Time: 3 minutes Setting: The Pesky home Props: Sam -- an empty can of interior latex and a paint brush Rena -- a shirt with ...

1782. Success

Mark 10:17-31

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

Theme: What is success? Can it be bought or achieved or is it found in the security of God's will? Summary: Bryan is a young man who is sure he has it all. He is young and has a good job. His future is guaranteed. He is successful at all he does so, of course, he thinks he can nail down this "spiritual thing." He gets his chance when he hears Jesus speak and then talks with him afterward. Jesus shows him the right path, but will Bryan take it? Playing Time: 4 minutes Setting: By the coffee machine in a big ...

1783. The Exalted Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

When a Russian cosmonaut became the first man to walk in space, a conservative religious publication in our country published an editorial saying, "This Russian was not the first one to walk through space. This occurred two thousand years ago when Christ ascended to heaven." Such an interpretation of the Ascension leaves thinking modern men cold. Science has given us a view of the world quite different from the cozy little three-story universe of ancient times, according to which beneath our earth is an ...

1784. True Freedom

John 8:31-41

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

"Freedom" is a precious word for Americans. We pride ourselves in being "the land of the free" and we have made great sacrifices to preserve it as such. And we try to remember the saying of Abraham Lincoln: he who is not concerned with freedom for others will not long enjoy it himself. The foundations of our country were laid by men and women who fled oppression in other countries and sought to establish here a community of free men. As symbol of the American dream the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor ...

1785. Home for the Holidays

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

William G. Carter

Laura was going home for the holidays. As she sat in O’Hare Airport one Christmas morning, she bristled with anticipation. Her vacation would last only two and a half days, but two bags of luggage were stuffed with presents. She had finally gotten the first job that paid any real money, and she was eager to go home and lavish gifts upon people she loved. Her family met her at the airport and took her back to the familiar neighborhood. The house was bigger than she remembered. They exchanged gifts that ...

1786. And On the Third Day...

John 2:1-11

Sermon

William G. Carter

The story of the wedding at Cana is one of the most famous stories in the Bible. It has been the basis of many sermons and numerous misinterpretations. In fact, there are so many good misinterpretations of the text, I am not sure which misinterpretation I like the best. I recall hearing a sermon based on this text. The preacher said, “In Cana, everybody was having a good time at the wedding banquet. There was a lot of music and dancing. It was a hot day. People got thirsty. They ran out of wine. Everybody ...

1787. Salvation Includes Social Justice

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

On this last Sunday of the Church Year (we call it Christ the King Sunday) our attention is directed to the reign of Christ — to his glorious reign which has already begun with the resurrection on Easter. It is a Sunday to think about salvation, because where Christ reigns salvation is effected. These themes are especially evident in our First Lesson. Jeremiah conducted his ministry in Judah (the Southern Kingdom of the Hebrews ruled by David’s heirs and centered in the great capital of Jerusalem) in ...

1788. Do You Know?

Hosea 11:1-11

Sermon

John W. Wurster

“ ‘It was I who taught Ephraim how to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them’ (11:3). They did not know me. Do you? “‘I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.’ (1:4). But they did not know me. Do you? “I fashioned a world in love, bringing forth order from chaos and light from darkness. I filled the seas and the land and the air with life. As the climax of my ...

1789. He Commanded Us to Preach

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Opposition to preaching the risen Christ and reaching the Gentiles emerged early in the ministry of the apostles. Peter and the others quickly found themselves on the front lines of defense against attacks regarding the cogency and credibility of the message they were preaching. Emboldened by the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, many of the apostles gained renewed fortitude in proclaiming the message of Christ to Jewish and Gentile communities in the early days of the church. Anytime the gospel is ...

1790. The Children of Promise

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

A serial killer is the object of a serious psychological study in the novel The Alienist by Caleb Carr. The alienist in the nineteenth century was an expert in mental pathology. In this story, set in 1896, the alienist is Llazo Kreizler, hired by Theodore Roosevelt, then Commissioner of the New York City Police Department. Mr. Roosevelt was intent upon apprehending the serial killer of the young boys caught in the web of an unsavory lifestyle. As Kreizler tries to develop a characterization of the nature ...

1791. You Were Saying?

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: This is a very easy drama to perform as there is only one line. In this drama, the 3 people need to stop being so busy that they can hear God. Most every Christian agrees that daily Bible study is essential to building a better relationship with the Lord. Even if you believe that, perhaps you are like me. If you don't schedule a particular time of day of reading God's Word, you will most likely not do it. There are soooo many distractions that we must make sure study is a priority in our ...

1792. The Diary of Horace Wimp (A Drama about Past Failures)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: No one in their right mind carries around a journal of every past failure they've had but many of us store them up in our heads. We need to realize that any sin is 'remembered no more' and is 'as far as the East is from the West" in God's eyes when we give our lives to him. As far as failures that have nothing to do with sin? Well, we just need to forget them, move on, and enjoy our walk with the Father. (Yes, this is the name of an old ELO song - in case you were wondering and you know ...

1793. His Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Brett Blair

Seven days changed the world. These seven days have been the topic of a million of publications, countless debates, and thousands of films. These seven days have inspired the greatest painters, the most skilled architects, and the most gifted musicians. To try and calculate the cultural impact of these seven days is impossible. But harder still would be an attempt to account for the lives of men and women who have been transformed by them. And yet these seven days as they played out in Jerusalem were of ...

1794. His Trial

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Brett Blair

On Friday of Holy Week the streets were filled with people. It was not an ordinary market day crowd. It was religious tradition that brought these people together. It was the festival of the Passover and Jews from far and near had migrated to the holy city of Jerusalem. It was this same religious fervor that created a certain tense atmosphere in the city. Jesus, the Nazarene carpenter, the one whom some called Messiah, had been placed under arrest by the Roman authorities due to pressure from the Jewish ...

1795. Real Gratitude

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James W. Moore

I want to begin this morning by telling you about two of my most prized possessions. The first one is a simple ordinary rock. It’s a rock with some green and yellow paint splattered on it. I use it as a paper weight on my desk. I have had it for over 30 years. It’s not worth a lot, but I cherish it. If I tried to sell it, I couldn’t get much money for it, but you see, I would never even consider selling it, because I treasure it so much. Why is it so special to me? Not because of what it is. Not because of ...

1796. The Grief Grinch

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

We are approaching an exciting time of the year - Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. Times of celebration. Times for friends and family. Times of joy. And for some, times of incredible sadness. The holidays will be hard because someone with whom previous special days were shared is gone. To paraphrase Tennyson's In Memoriam, "Never Christmas wore to New Year's but some heart did break." If you have never experienced that, I would be tempted to offer congratulations, but I will not. They would probably ...

1797. Struggling with God

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

In all of scripture, and even in all of literature, you would be hard pressed to find a character more interesting than Jacob. We meet him first before he is even born - his mother Rebekah is in such agony during her pregnancy carrying him and his twin brother that she wants to die. When the babies finally make their appearance, little Esau comes out first, but his brother is holding on to his heel, and, as the legend has it, that is why he was given the name Jacob - it meant "heel" or "trickster" or " ...

1798. The Ten Commandments #4: The Sabbath

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Let me tell you a story.(1) It seems a young Martian was studying comparative anthropology and, in preparation for a doctoral dissertation which was long overdue, made a quick flight down to earth in his flying saucer to check on the habits of the residents of the planet. He could not get too close or make any prolonged inspection because his work had to be submitted in just a few days, so time was of the essence. He had made a fortunate choice of days and locations - a fine summer Sunday over the United ...

1799. David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 11:1-27, 12:1-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Sexy story, eh? We get lots of them these days. Parental Discretion Advised. In the comics Blondie and Dagwood are watching television. Dagwood remarks, "Boy, there sure is a lot of nudity on TV lately!" "I'll say," Blondie replies. They continue to stare at the TV, eyes wide open. Says Dagwood, "Darnedest tire commercial I've ever seen."(1) Uh-huh. If it is any consolation, as our lessons this morning indicate, a preoccupation with sex is nothing new, especially in high places. And if you were either ...

1800. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The Archangel Michael. We meet him here in Revelation as commanding General of God's forces in heaven. We meet him in the book of Daniel as the guardian of the nation of Israel,(1) who, together with Gabriel, fought against the prince (the angelic patron) of Persia. Then we meet him once more in Jude 9 where we read of a strange dispute between the devil and Michael over Moses' body. We meet him today on the liturgical calendar - in some church traditions, today, September 29th, is the Feast Day of St. ...

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