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 1851 to 1875 of 4681 results

1851. Monologue: Hagar

Genesis 16:1-16

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... and I rode out into the wilderness to face death. I put him down under a bush so I would not see him die. It is easy to die in the desert sun and I hoped it would be fast. I wonder what pain is greater for a mother to bear than to see her child die and be able to do nothing about it? I could hear my boy cry as we lay there languishing. What do you tell a child when it has to die needlessly? Now, I wished I had never been born. I wished I had never ...

1852. Monologue: Hannah

1 Samuel 1:1-20

Drama

Lynda Pujad

... and he complained to me about it. I felt humiliated. Eli had to be convinced about the genuineness of my purpose in the temple. After he listened to me, he changed his opinion about me and hoped I would receive God's blessing. Shortly thereafter, I did conceive and bear a child and I named him Samuel. I never forgot my promise to give the child to the Lord to be trained and used for his purposes. It never occurred to me to do anything other than that. The problem was that Eli, the priest, did not appear to ...

1853. Monologue: The Other Shepherd Speaks

Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Robert F. Scott

... . I’ve learned long since that what looks ordinary to me doesn’t mean ordinary when God goes to work. I missed it that night, but I learned it later. The angel told them, “This is what was said by the prophet Isaiah, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called "Emmanuel “which means, "God with us!" ' "How could a baby, a tiny baby, be the mystery of "God with us”? How could such a great event happen in such a small place? And the angels tell it to shepherds, of ...

1854. Six Nails of the Cross II: The Nail of Infidelity

Matthew 26:47-56

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... not to be arrested, at least then, they ran. Peter even denied Jesus three times. They all broke the bond which had been established. Yet, in spite of it all, we see them differently. All 12 fell away from Jesus that night, but only Judas bears the burden of infidelity. The reason is obvious. The 11 came back. They asked and received forgiveness. The nails in the flesh of Christ resulting from our sin of infidelity are permanent only when we allow them to be. Christ forgives the sin of broken friendship ...

1855. Six Nails of the Cross III: The Nail of Envy

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

When the grand hall was being built in Florence, the committee in charge of decorations asked the most important artist in all of Italy, Leonardo da Vinci, to submit some drawings. There seemed to be little question that such an important hall should bear the mark of anyone but da Vinci, but other artists also were asked to submit drawings. One of the committee members had heard of a new and very young artist by the name of Michelangelo, and asked him to enter the competition. The sketches by Leonardo were ...

1856. What's A Savior Worth?

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Drama

Joe Barone

... would enter life, keep the commandments," and my heart surged. I could have told him that I already do that. But I didn't want to appear too eager, so instead, I said, "Which ones?" and he listed several. "You shall not kill, or commit adultery, or steal or bear false witness." And there were more. "All these I have observed ... ," I said, and somehow my heart jumped within me. I was about to hear what I wanted to hear. I was about to be told I had earned eternal life. But that's not what happened. Instead ...

1857. Laughing in Church

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Carl Jech

... a grain of truth in humor that is critical, and this truth can hurt. The drunk can be funny, pathetic and tragic all at the same time. When the Gospel of John says that "grace and truth" came by Jesus Christ, itmeans in part that grace helps us to bear the truth - not to be afraid of even painful truths - and it means that our knowledge of the truth can make us whole and free again. Last Christmas I sent some friends a card that showed Mary, Joseph and the babe in the manger under the star, with Joseph ...

1858. Some Illusions (Symbols) Are Better Than Others

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Carl Jech

Introduction Sigmund Freud said that God is an illusion. We take the idea of a loving father, he said, project it upon the universe, and call it God. Today's text from Acts bears witness to this process of creating gods by means of personification and projection. (A humorous way of criticizing our tendency to create God or gods in our image goes like this: "God created mankind in his image, and mankind returned the compliment!") I'm afraid we have to confess that ...

1859. Love Over Logic

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

Carl Jech

... pass final judgment on us. To borrow an image from modern psychology, God appears to have a "B-type personality," that is, God is more interested in encouraging us over and over again to be productive, positive, to be in the process of "bearing fruit," than in assessing the final, absolute, end result. (The A-type personality is preoccupied with the final goal while the B-type personality thinks more in terms of never-ending processes.) In Hindu-Buddhist theology the doctrine of Karma is sometimes thought ...

1860. Giving Away the Store

Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

Carl Jech

... ! As Jesus whom we call Lord and Teacher took on the role of a servant and washed the feet of his disciples, so too we are to stop claiming, and start giving. The church is not a storehouse where grace is stored up and sold to those who come bearing the proper coin, namely, a willingness to accept a set of doctrines about Jesus or a rigidly-defined, legalistic lifestyle. To the degree that we could say that the church and the Word are treasurehouses of God's grace, we are to give away the treasure. But we ...

1861. A Covenant Sealed By a Sacrifice

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... covenant-promise that he would never leave us or forsake us. On the cross, God shed his blood as the final sacrifice that assures us that nothing can separate us from his love. A covenant is sealed by a sacrifice. This seal can never be broken because it bears the indelible blood of God himself. It is the royal insignia of the cross, which testifies to the fact that we are one with God. The blood of Christ flows in our bodies and enlivens our lives with eternity. We may bleed, but we will never fear death ...

1862. A Holy Hunger

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... flesh and had entered into the world, was now about to become spirit and to enter into our very hearts. In our Second Lesson, the author of Hebrews places the new covenant in the comprehensive context of the Holy Trinity when he writes, "The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us ... I will make with them a new covenant ... I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds." The Father establishes a new covenant with us by the blood of his Son. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, creating a ...

1863. An Easter-Life

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... meaning of Easter. Peter says, "He (Christ) commands us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead." Literally, what Peter is saying is that the resurrection means that we are to bear witness - to proclaim Jesus as the living Christ. When Peter uses the word "preach" here, he does not have in mind the image of a pastor, perched like a boiled egg in an egg cup that we call a pulpit. No. What he means is that we, who hear the ...

1864. Counterfeit Faith

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... costs something, then it is not a gift; it is a purchase paid for, or it becomes a service that is bought. Despite what the Bible proclaims, we still believe that one does not "get something for nothing," or "everything has its price," or "beware of Greeks bearing gifts." These are the glass slippers, fashioned by our "common sense," into which we attempt to force the foot of faith. When we do, the faith that we possess is not genuine. It is counterfeit. It does not fit the faith of the New Testament. One ...

1865. No Grey Area

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... Christ, and by Christ alone, causes Saint Peter, in our text for this morning, to shout out a sharply pointed warning, "Why are you tempting God, to place a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were strong enough to bear?" The phrase used here - "tempting God" - is an interesting one. As Peter uses it, it means to tease or to challenge God by adding additional requirements to his act of salvation in Jesus Christ. Tempting God means to test God to see whether God will overlook ...

1866. Our Roots

Luke 9:28-36

Illustration

John M. Braaten

... our youth is literally wasting away. Health and happiness? There may be some people in church this morning whose health is gone; it may never come back. Perhaps some of you are worshiping today because you are looking for healing, or your burden is too heavy to bear alone so you have come looking for a word of encouragement. For others, an increasing number of problems have cast a pall over your life, and you wish that someone would listen to you and try to understand. You are not very happy and you’re ...

1867. Christian Hearts Produce Christian Lives

Luke 6:43-45

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... learn, Father. The sinful nature in our hearts produces unrighteous living, but we try to disguise it, or ignore it. Forgive us for thinking we can produce a healthy life when our hearts are sick with sin. Give us a new heart, that we, being new creatures in Christ, may bear the fruits of your Spirit. In our Savior's name, we pray. Amen. Hymns "Blest are the Pure in Heart” “I Want a Principle Within” “Lord, I Want to be a Christian” “O Come, and Dwell in Me” “O For a Heart to Praise My God"

1868. Saul's Conversion

Acts 9:1-19a

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... our risen Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession By faith we come to you, Father, believing you can transform our sinful ways into loyal service in your kingdom. We pray for your forgiveness to destroy our indifference and disobedience to your will; and enable us to bear witness with our lives, to a resurrection experience with our Lord. In his name we pray. Amen. Hymns “A Charge to Keep I Have” “Forth in Thy Name” “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” “I Am Thine, O Lord"

1869. The Ascension of Jesus

Acts 1:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... . People: We are his witnesses today, telling the story of his love and redemption for all mankind. Collect Heavenly Father, whose only Son came into our world to give his life for our redemption, and then returned to his eternal home: Move us by your Spirit to bear witness to that redemptive love, and the new life which that love creates, that every person in the world may hear the story of Jesus, the Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession Eternal God, we praise you for the gift of your ...

1870. Christ's Compassion for the Sorrowful

Luke 7:11-17

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

Call to Worship Pastor: Our Lord knows we are people who experience sorrow and grief, and offers himself in compassion. People: Sometimes our sorrow is obvious, and others share our pain. But other times it seems we must bear it alone, and need our Lord's support. Pastor: Christ hurts with us when we hurt. But his compassion also helps to heal the suffering we sometimes must endure. People: May we experience Christ reaching out to us with healing for our hurts. Collect Compassionate Father, who hurts ...

1871. Christ Wants Us to Know Him and Follow in Self-denial

Luke 9:18-27

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... us to live. Lead us in daily self-denial to lose ourselves in Christ, who will save us to our true identity. In his name we pray. Amen. Hymns “Jesus Calls Us O'er the Tumult” “Jesus, I My Cross have Taken” “Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me” “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone” “Truehearted, Wholehearted"

1872. Enjoy Toil, but Its Accumulative Wealth is Vanity

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... depend more on ourselves than on you. Give us your gift of joy in our labor. Then add to our joy, as we give our energies to serve and love you. We pray through Christ, the source of our joy. Amen. Hymns “On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand” “We Bear the Strain of Earthly Care” “O God, Thou Giver of All Good” “My God, I Thank Thee"

1873. Disciplined for Endurance

Hebrews 12:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... as your absence instead of your Fatherly guidance. Use your discipline to make us better children, not out of your anger, but out of your concerned love for our spirited growth, that we may know the joy of righteousness. In our Savior's name we pray. Amen. Hymns "Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone” “Savior, Thy Dying Love” “Am I a Soldier of the Cross"

1874. The Temptations

Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

Glenn E. Ludwig

... " temptations could lead to Jesus being King of the World immediately and easily -- no more preaching to crowds on hillsides or by lakes, no more healing all those sick bodies, no more teaching to those who seem not to understand, and, most important of all, no cross to bear. It would have been the easy way out and it would have lead away from Calvary and death – but it also would have led away from Easter morning, and an empty tomb, and the death of death and sin, and the end of that real kingdom Jesus ...

1875. The Crucifixion

Luke 23:26-43

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... unworthy and deny the message Christ proclaimed of Your love and Your forgiveness. We focus on our own lives and fail to be witnesses to the world of Your grace instead. Forgive us, Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "Go To Dark Gethsemane" "The Old Rugged Cross" "Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone"

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