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 1801 to 1825 of 4972 results

1801. The Witnessing Hitchhiker

Illustration

J. Kirk Johnston

... May 7. His heavy suitcase made Roger tired. He was anxious to take off his army uniform once and for all. Flashing the hitchhiking sign to the oncoming car, he lost hope when he saw it was a black, sleek, new Cadillac. To his surprise the car stopped. The passenger door opened. He ran toward the car, tossed his suitcase in the back, and thanked the handsome, well-dressed man as he slid into the front seat. "Going home for keeps?" "Sure am," Roger responded. "Well, you're in luck if you're going to Chicago ...

1802. Searching for Delaware

Illustration

Staff

... see Yellowstone's magnificent sights, he didn't glance at them. He preferred to run up and down the parking lots, looking at license plates. Talk about stress! Talk about anxiety! You would have thought that his whole life depended on finding a Delaware license plate! When we stopped to eat in a cafeteria near Yellowstone Falls, my son begged me to let him look for license plates. Please, I don't want to eat," Larry said. "Can't I just stay here in the parking Lot?" "No," we told him, "you have to eat." So ...

1803. Plow Through It

Illustration

... , remembering all the trouble that the rock had caused him and how easy it would have been to get rid of it sooner. There is often a temptation to bypass small obstacles when we're in a hurry to get a large problem solved. We simply don't want to stop and take the time to deal with it now. Like the old farmer, we "plow" around it. Usually we tell ourselves that we'll come back to it later. What often happens is that we never do. If the obstacle is of a type that will keep reappearing over and ...

1804. Muffle the Noise

Illustration

Staff

... to help the student pick up the books. Then the experimenters brought out a lawn mower without a muffler and started it near where a student would again intentionally drop the books. This time, only about 10% of the people who passed stopped to help. It was clear that behavior changed, because of the earsplitting sound of the nearby lawn mower. In experiments in Los Angeles, researchers found that children who lived in neighborhoods near the airport could not complete certain tasks undertaken when jets ...

1805. Finally Fitting In

Illustration

Elizabeth Elliot

... Aylward unable to accept the looks God had given her. Ms. Aylward told how when she was a child she had two great sorrows. One, that while all her friends had beautiful golden hair, hers was black. The other, that while her friends were still growing, she had stopped. She was about four feet ten inches tall. But when at last she reached the country to which God had called her to be a missionary, she stood on the wharf in Shanghai and looked around at the people to whom He had called her. "Every single one ...

1806. Thank You for Coming

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... asleep any time when a harsh voice shouted “Get up!” He opened his eyes, blinking in the bright sunlight. Then he remembered what day it was. With a joyful shout he hurried into his clothes and bounded down the stairs. On the bottom step he stopped. No stocking hung from the mantel. The Christmas tree was gone too. “But . . . but I put the angel on myself,” Bobby began, when the shrill whistle from the factory made him jump. “The factory can’t be open on Christmas!” Bobby thought, as he put ...

1807. Keep Running

Humor Illustration

... the players started running their sprints up and down the field, he told himself, "I'll just keep running until they quit." So they ran. And he ran. And they kept running. And he kept running. Finally, in exhaustion he stopped. An equally exhausted football player walked past the jogger and said, "Boy, I'm glad you finally stopped, mister. Coach told us we had to keep running wind sprints as long as the old guy was jogging!" Ken Durham, Speaking from the Heart, (Ft. Worth, Texas: Sweet Publishing, 1986).

1808. What's the Price?

Humor Illustration

... at the mall two blocks from where you are. I saw a beautiful mink coat . . . It is absolutely gorgeous!! Can I buy it?" "What's the price?" "Only $1,500.00." "Well, OK, go ahead and get it, if you like it that much . . ." "Ahhh, and I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the 2001 at a really good price . . ." "What price did he quote you?" "Only $70,000 . . ." "OK, but for that price I want it with all the options." "Great!, before we hang up, something else . . ." "What?" "It might look like a ...

1809. Six Stages of Job Hunting

Humor Illustration

... than half a dozen companies in the last 15 years. Here's what to expect. Stage one: I'll make a few phone calls and be working in no time. Stage two: None of these jobs in the paper are good enough for me. Now that I've stopped shaving, maybe I'll just stop bathing too. Stage three: Geez, I'm not qualified for any of these jobs, but the house sure is clean. Stage four: Maybe I'll try a whole new career. I wonder who's on "Oprah" today? I've got to put something on my unemployment claim ...

1810. Praise the Lord and Amen!

Humor Illustration

... . I've been raising horses all my life. I'll make him go my way." So he jumped on the horse and kicked him until he started to run. The horse went faster and faster. Worried, the buyer reined back and yelled, "Whoa!" But the horse wouldn't stop. Suddenly the man saw they were galloping toward the edge of a cliff. Desperately he yelled, "Amen!" The horse screeched to a halt just in time. Peering down over the edge of the cliff, the man wiped the perspiration from his brow. "Whew," he said. "Praise the Lord ...

1811. A Drink at Gunpoint

Humor Illustration

... young man who was hitchhiking through one of our Southern states. A farmer driving an old pickup truck stopped to give him a lift. As they rode along, they got to talking about the local moonshine whiskey ... for any." "No, I insist," pressed the farmer. "Have some." "No, thanks really," said the young man. The farmer wasn't going to take no for an answer. He stopped the truck and grabbed his shotgun from the rack in back. He pointed the gun at the lad and roared, "I said, take a drink!" "Okay! Okay!" said the ...

1812. We Ache to Know God’s Blessings

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

... more than twelve years old, clearly had watched a lot of television, because he began to flail away at Jim with earnest but ineffectual karate kicks. Noting that the youth weren't carrying guns, Jim decided to confront them with what they were doing. "Stop it! Just stop it!" Jim scolded them. "You guys have got to quit terrorizing people like this." The young teens, taken by surprise, dropped their hands, so Jim continued, "I'm a pastor. You boys want to try and beat up a pastor and take his money? Come ...

1813. Doing Your Own Thing

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... hygiene. They were stupid you say? Perhaps no more stupid than we are by the ways we dishonor the body and dishonor God today. There is an old story about several large signs posted on a piece of property that said “No Trespassing.” But that didn’t stop young boys from climbing the fence in order to reach the apples that grew on a large tree in the forbidden territory. One day, a small boy slipped while he was climbing the apple tree, and fell onto a pile of sharp branches, cutting himself badly, and ...

1814. God’s Beautiful World

Illustration

John Killinger

... recover. One day, when Millard was back in Nashville at home, he was feeling a little depressed and he decided to go for a walk around his neighborhood. It was springtime and there were flowers growing in a neighbor's yard. Millard stopped to look at them. A bumblebee was buzzing from one blossom to another. Millard knew about bumblebees and how aerodynamically challenged they are, with those heavy, cumbersome bodies and the tiny, insubstantial little wings. But suddenly this bumblebee did something truly ...

1815. The Simplex Faith of 3:16

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... as they continue as full participants in a broken, sinful world. Long before the official day of judgment the fate of those who refuse to believe is already sealed. The final image John leaves with his listeners in today’s text challenges them to stop looking at the world as divided into any established set of “haves” and “have nots,” and instead to look at the differences between “light and darkness.” Back in his prologue John clearly asserted that at creation it was the Word that brought ...

1816. How Odd of God

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” Now, if we were to stop right here, we could say, “Yes. Peter is calling the Jews Christ-killers.” But listen to how the story ends. Peter is still talking, “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had ...

1817. Whistling Jesus

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... must be grown from a seed that is planted by those who are nurtured by Mother Church today. A traveler found himself lost on a quiet country road. He stopped at a farmhouse to ask for directions. An elderly woman sat on the front porch, rocking quietly and contentedly. A younger gentleman was working around the front yard, whistling non-stop. The whistling was loud and clear, a stringing together of one song after another. As the lost traveler approached the whistler for directions, he greeted him with a ...

1818. Love Each Other (Mother's Day)

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... fighting with the First Marine Division in Iraq. She says she still couldn’t help reacting like a mom when she saw him running across the base carrying a bayonet to give to some of his buddies. “Kevin!” she shouted halfway across the base, before she could stop herself. “Don’t run with that knife in your hands!” Every mom has done it at some time or another, but let’s face it: most of us would have been lost without our moms. A couple was moving across the country. They decided to drive both ...

1819. Stand by Me

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... We can trust our weather to the one who weathered all of life’s dangers well. A traveler passing through tornado alley stopped at a tourist information center. He told one of the information specialists that he would like to know more about the area ... persecution, Stand by me (stand by me); In the midst of persecution, Stand by me (stand by me); When my foes in battle array Undertake to stop my way, Thou Who savèd Paul and Silas, Stand by me (stand by me). 5. When I’m growing old and feeble, Stand by me ...

1820. When the Going Gets Tough

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... had happened to him. This is the point at which so many people would give up on God and life, but not Campanella. After he was injured, he spent a lot of time in the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in New York City. One day he stopped to read a gold plaque upon one of the walls. This plague resonated deeply with his Christian faith. Some of you will recognize these words: I asked God for strength, that I might achieve. I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey . . . I asked for ...

1821. Christmas Grass and Easter Tinsel

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... , processed decorations. They are ordinary signs pointing to the extraordinary. What happens when we move two words around? What about Christmas grass and Easter tinsel? How's that for a switcheroo? Just think of a jokester swapping traffic signs, making a stop a go and a go a stop. Whoa! What an impact that would have on drivers and vehicles. Our Christmas gospel tells us that when Joseph and Mary arrived at Bethlehem they could not find a place to stay. Someone must have had compassion on them, for we ...

1822. Checked the Ditch Lately?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... the Levite are like the wealthy man driving his BMW who sees a poor, hungry family along a country road are eating grass. The rich CEO stops. "Get in, I will help you." The hungry family gets into the BMW. The rich man drives them to his own estate and says to ... ' parable, a Samaritan despised by the Jews, but when he sees the man in the ditch, he is moved with compassion. He stops, goes to him, bandages up his wounds, puts him on his own animal, and takes him to an inn with the instructions, "Take care ...

1823. Stuff!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

... and his wife for the day. He found a tree that would bring an adequate price but as he raised his ax a forest fairy stopped him. The tree was much older than he and so he was asked to spare its life. The man countered that without the money that ... we could have a wagon full of gold?" she countered. On and on through the evening they argued. Finally, worn out from arguing, they stopped and the woodcutter said, "I'm hungry. I wish we had some sausage." You know what happened. His wife began to tear into him ...

1824. Don’t Be Afraid

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

... words we could ever hope to hear. "Don't be afraid, I'm here with you. You're going to be all right. I love you. Stop worrying. Don't be anxious." They are wonderful words when spoken by a loved one. I'm here ... "Don't be afraid." Jesus says to his ... lives, their food, or their clothes. "Think," he says to them, "about how well God cares for the birds and the flowers and stop your worrying. Quit spending so much of your time fussing about these things. Instead," he says, "set your hearts on the kingdom and ...

1825. Where Would You Go to Meet Jesus?

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

... this, perhaps it is we ourselves who are lost. What would happen to our church if we focused on those outside these walls rather than on making sure that each of us received exactly what we wanted from the church? What would happen if the church stopped being about us? What would happen if we focused our attention on the lost and neglected of the world instead of on what color carpet we should put in the guild room? Our bishop recently encouraged us to imagine the church and the world switching places ...

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