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 4972 results

1776. When God Speaks

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... his Star Wars pajamas into his Sesame Street suitcase. They asked, "Ben, what are you doing?" He answered, "Packing." "Why?" they asked. "To go to heaven," he said. In Ben's young mind, giving one's life to Christ was no small step. It meant the willingness to leave his family and travel immediately to be with Christ. (1) As I read this story told by Ben's mom I thought of that old Testament figure, Abraham. The picture we get of Abraham is of a man with the same kind of complete and unreserved faith in ...

1777. Found Of God

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... philosopher, asks the question, "How big will a tree grow?" The answer is that a tree will grow to be as big as it can. It will put down as many roots as it can; it will grow as many branches as it can; it will put out as many leaves as it can; and it will produce as much fruit as it possibly can. In fact, everything in nature grows to its maximum potential. That is, everything except for people. Why? Because only people have the ability to choose. Sadly, they can choose to be less than they have the ...

1778. A Niche For Every Itch

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... Upper Room tells about walking in the woods in early spring in her native Georgia when she noticed an unfamiliar plant along the trail. Strikingly beautiful, it had tiers of large, variegated leaves and was crowned by a deep red blossom. Further down the path in the gravel was another plant with four small leaves misshapen from being stepped on. Their color was concealed completely by mud. Kathy was surprised to discover it was the same kind of plant whose beauty had caught her attention earlier. She felt ...

1779. Rejected

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... in America in Colonial days. When a bashful suitor wanted to find out, without asking, if the woman he was courting would marry him, he would place a "courting mirror," face upward, on a table in front of his sweetheart, after first looking into it himself and presumably leaving his own likeness in it. If the young woman cared to accept him, she would pick up the mirror and smile at his likeness which she was supposed to see there. But if she did not want him, she simply turned the mirror down and with it ...

1780. Have You Seen God's Heart?

Revelation 1:4-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... result would be if people always judged Christ by the actions of his followers. Isak Dinesen, in her book OUT OF AFRICA, tells the story of a young man from the Kikuyu tribe who worked for her on her farm for three months. Suddenly he announced that he was leaving her to go to work for a Muslim man nearby. Surprised, Dinesen asked him if he were unhappy working for her. He told her that all was well, but that he had decided to work for a Christian for three months to study the ways of Christians and then ...

1781. Come Home For New Year's

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the world captivity to our own emotions captivity to greed, lust, indolence captivity to an indifference to others and a certain measure of destructiveness to self. Who will free us to soar with the eagles? Who will free us to be the very best we can be and to leave this world a better place? Who will make it possible for us to find our true home that place where we are at our best? ONLY ONE CAN SET US FREE, AND THAT IS GOD. Come home, God says. Come home. "Even if you have been banished to the most ...

1782. Show Me The Fish!

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... pleaded with him not to go, but the headstrong boy did not want to listen to reason. His quick thinking mother did what she could. She hid his clothes. Though Origen stormed and protested, she wouldn't reveal where they were hidden. He couldn't leave the house, and so he was unable to volunteer for martyrdom. Isn't it interesting? Origen was brave enough to be martyred, but not brave enough to go outside naked. Stepping outside without clothing would have sped up his arrest and imprisonment, but it was ...

1783. A Colt Is Not A Horse

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... Palm Sunday story is how it ends with a fizzle instead of a sparkle. It begins with elaborate preparations to secure a colt. Jesus then parades into Jerusalem as the crowds hail him. He enters the Temple in triumph and then, most curiously, he just looks around and leaves. His day of victory ends not with a bang but with a shrug . . . and that's the clue for us. Palm Sunday's meaning can only emerge as we observe what happens to Jesus during the rest of the week Palm/Passion Sunday may be a historical and ...

1784. Peace, Blessed Peace

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... find that center of calm that allows them to cope successfully with life. Some people never find it. Jesus said to his disciples, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and ... peace. The peace of a clear conscience. The peace of forgiveness. The peace of quiet acceptance. And the peace of God's presence. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and ...

1785. Fighting Over Daddy's Will

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... family plagued with inheritance problems. He was teaching one day when someone called from the crowd, "Sir, please tell my brother to divide my father's estate with me." Now we are not given the juicy details behind this family controversy. Maybe Papa died without leaving a will. Or perhaps there was some subterfuge as in the story of Jacob and Esau. However, the man's request was not totally out of line. Jewish rabbis were often called on to serve as judges and settle disputes. But Jesus replied, "Man, who ...

1786. Who Will Be Crying At Your Funeral

Luke 12:22-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... at the expense of those who do?" Powerful thought. It is a question of priorities. It is a question of putting first things first. It is a question of taking charge of our time. JESUS WAS CONCERNED ABOUT HOW WE MANAGE OUR TIME. He told about a landlord who was leaving on a trip. He left his servants in charge of the estate. The servants did not know when the master would return. All they knew was that they were to have the house ready when he did. Now put yourself in the place of these servants. They had a ...

1787. Are You Available?

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... love for them keep him from his mission. Do you not think that he was tempted as the shadows of the cross grew darker about him to leave it all and go back to the security of hearth and home in Nazareth? Of course he was. But he had a higher calling and he could ... the new fellow if he had brushed his teeth that morning. Milton wasn't about to disturb the stranger, but the girl wouldn't leave him alone. Finally, he gave in. He said, "Mister, I don't mean to bother you, but my friend here wants me to ask you ...

1788. Never Give Up

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... how to combine marriage and a career." Gloria Steinem Our last one is from Zsa Zsa Gabor: "I am a marvelous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man I keep his house." It has never been easy being a woman, but it is a picnic today compared to the world in ... human being. One day, some children on a playground called W. Mitchell a monster. It would have been natural for him to leave quickly, and to further withdraw from human contact. But W. Mitchell didn't do that. He began talking to the children, explaining ...

1789. The Patron Saint Of All Who Are The Last To Know

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... make fine witnesses for the faith. As it's been said, "The believer who has never doubted will hardly convert a doubter." (10) One commentator described Thomas like this: "The Thomas we meet in John's account was as resistant and rigid as rock. No leaving Jerusalem. No searching for the missing body of Jesus. Above all, no believing on the witness of what others had experienced. Thomas demanded his own experience." "Give me your hand," Jesus says to him. What Cleopas SAW in order to believe, what Mary HEARD ...

1790. Pretenders

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... them honored seats at the ball game or would name a building after them. And when they prayed they did it loudly so that everyone in the restaurant would know that they were saying grace--unlike the unwashed heathen around them. And they loved Ash Wednesday. They could leave church with the ashes on their forehead and still make it to the mall before closing time so that people could see that they were God's elect. Jesus never said these were bad people. He did not say they were going to hell. All he said ...

1791. Where Is Your Heart?

Luke 12:22-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... Leroy Bodell in the newspapers many years ago. Bodell has been in and out of prison since his twenties for various crimes, mostly bank robberies. At age 71, Bodell was finally set to be released from prison. Two weeks before his release date, he was allowed to leave his halfway house to attend a family reunion. Nice idea, right? The next weekend, Bodell tried to escape from the halfway house in a deliberate attempt to get put back in jail. Bodell's lawyer claims he wants to stay in jail so he can "have ...

1792. Don't Look Down

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... race or another religion? Did you rise to the occasion? How long has it been since you took the simple risk of inviting a neighbor to join you in church? How about our church? What great risks are we taking for God? God needs people who are willing to leave the safety of the boat, people who are willing to trade in their lawn mowers for motorcycles. We don't have a submerged bridge like they're building in the Sea of Galilee, but God is calling us to walk on the water, too. 1. Randy Cassingham, THIS is ...

1793. Straight Backs And Rekindled Dreams

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... horribly. The game came to a stop while the player pulled out each of the burrs. Some players wanted to keep on playing in spite of the burrs, but it was usually too painful. Lucado trusted no one but his father to pull out the burrs. So he would leave the game, go home, and get his father to pull out every last burr, then he would return to play. (5) Friends, there are burrs that only our Father can remove. Fortunately God will remove them if we trust ourselves to Him. Jesus knows our needs. And Jesus has ...

1794. He Touched Me

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... us whole. Dawn Weiss’ life was falling apart. Dawn, a recovering alcoholic, moved to Tennessee after the California earthquake of 1994. She got a job as a waitress and enrolled in school. But Dawn had never confronted the stress of an earthquake, of moving, of leaving loved ones. One night, she felt ready to give up. She prayed for help, but didn’t feel any better. That night, Dawn decided that after work she would go out drinking. When Dawn got to work, she noticed that every single customer in the ...

1795. Beaten Up, But Still Standing

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... was dead and there was no point in his continuing his journey. But Jesus went anyway. She's only sleeping, he explained. Jairus' family and friends ridiculed him. They knew dead when they saw dead, and this little girl was dead. But Jesus told them all to leave, and taking the little girl's father and mother and his three disciples, he went into the room where she was lying. Taking her by the hand he said to her, "Get up, little girl!" And she jumped up and walked around! And her parents were dumbfounded ...

1796. Like Everest Without Oxygen And Wimbledon Without A Racquet

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Frank Lyman

... Luther King, Jr. This outline identifies three life philosophies in the way the man lying bleeding beside the road to Jericho is treated. The first philosophy is exemplified by the robber. The robber's philosophy is WHAT IS YOURS IS MINE. He robs the man, beats him, and leaves him for dead. None of us would be guilty of such an overt act of violence. But that doesn't mean that at times we do not live from a "what is yours is mine" philosophy. We may not fight and steal, but through insensitive actions and ...

1797. A Great Love Story Gone Awry

Genesis 24:1-67

Sermon

King Duncan

... s family. He found them to be quite cordial to his inquiry. They had only one condition that we know of. They wanted to make sure this was something that Rebekah wanted. After all, she had never laid eyes on her potential husband. And it would mean leaving home and traveling to a distant land. They called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man? “I will go,” she said. That was it. Obviously Rebekah was ready. “I will go.” So they sent Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham ...

1798. A Devastating Storm, An Incredible Promise

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Brett Blair

... given a new wife, new land, and new children. But that doesn't return those whom he lost. You can declare from the roof tops that the preacher in Ecclesiastes who said, "Vanity. All is Vanity," ends his book with the injunction to put your faith in God. That still leaves this world a very cold and lonely place when you lose those you love. So let me say to all of you here this morning, "Eat. Drink. And be merry for tomorrow you die." I say that not in a defeatist way. I say it the way the Old Testament ...

1799. The Present

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... . He didn't realize that Indianapolis is on Eastern Standard Time and Chicago is on Central Standard Time. He inquired at the Indianapolis airport about a plane to Chicago. “The next flight leaves at 1:00 p.m.," a ticket agent said, “and arrives in Chicago at 1:01 p.m." “Would you repeat that, please?" the startled traveler asked. “The next flight leaves at 1:00 p.m.," the ticket agent repeated, “and arrives in Chicago at 1:01 p.m. Do you want a reservation?" “No," said the man, “But I think I ...

1800. Unprepared

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... were smart; they had brought extra oil. But the other half failed to bring extra oil for their lamps and their lamps had gone out. They tried to borrow oil from those who had brought extra, but they were rebuffed. What choice did they have but to leave the wedding site and head for the closest Wal-mart to buy more lamp oil? While they were gone the bridegroom arrived, and he and the five bridesmaids who had brought extra oil went into the wedding and the door was shut. When the five unprepared bridesmaids ...

Showing results