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 4914 results

1851. What If It's True?

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Christ is Alive! He has Risen Indeed! He has Risen from the Dead, Hallelujah! “I know that my Redeemer lives.” If I were to change the end of that last statement by only two letters, a “th” for a “s” so it would be “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” you have immediately thought of a song, perhaps the most famous Easter song of all time. What is it? . . . . Handel’s “Messiah.” We may know nothing about George Frederic Handel, but we know the “Messiah” (1741). Oh, we may know that next door to where Handel ...

1852. The Insanity of Profanity

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

A few years ago Time magazine reported an incident that took place in the State of Maryland. A truck driver had been arrested for drunk driving and disorderly conduct. When the police officers arrived on the scene to arrest the man, he became abusive. He began to use filthy and profane language, and repeatedly took God’s name in vain. When the man was brought before the magistrate, he was still using profane language. The maximum penalty the magistrate could impose for drunk and disorderly conduct was $100 ...

1853. A Cry in the Dark

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

"Screw your courage to the sticking-place," says Lady Macbeth to her doomed husband in Shakespeare's tragedy, "and we'll not fail." But fail they do and no amount of courage in the world can save them or turn them into heroes. Courage is a funny thing. It's a bit like happiness: the more you seek it, the more you demand it, the more you try to call it up, the less it shows its face. Words can stir us to courage but only when they are grounded in confident expectation and hitched to unshakable values or ...

1854. The Disciples Confess Jesus as the Messiah

Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 16:13-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: While Matthew warns his readers against the unbelief and wrong teachings of the Jewish leaders, he provides the right response to Jesus in the disciples’ confession of Jesus as the Messiah, which comes via revelation from God. Understanding the Text This passage provides a climactic summary of a number of key story elements that Matthew has introduced thus far. First, the request from the Jewish leaders for Jesus to provide a sign (16:1–4; see 12:38) culminates the various controversies that ...

1855. Jesus Turns to His New Family

Mark 3:31-35, Mark 3:20-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Opposition to Jesus takes a new turn as his family thinks that he is insane and the religious leaders accuse him of being demon possessed. Jesus’s response is twofold: he cannot be under the control of Satan because he has already bound Satan, and his true family consists of those who have joined him in the household of God. Understanding the Text Jesus’s ministry to sinners and his call to several outcasts to be among the Twelve will now get him in trouble with the authorities. This is the first ...

1856. Mission and Rejection in Galilee

Mark 6:14-29, Mark 6:7-13

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: All followers of Jesus are called to mission. Yet when the kingdom news of the gospel is presented, there is both authority from God and inevitable opposition to it when people reject the good news, sometimes even costing the lives of those sent to speak for God. Understanding the Text This begins the fourth section of the Galilean ministry in Mark (after 1:16–3:6; 3:7–35; 4:1–6:30) and constitutes the third sandwiching episode thus far (after 3:20–35; 5:21–43). The sending of the Twelve (6:7–13 ...

1857. Message to Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7-13

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: Jesus commends his church for persevering in obedience under trying circumstances and reassures them with the promise of his eternal presence. Understanding the Text The message to the church in Philadelphia is the sixth in the series of messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3. To the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia, Jesus offers no rebuke but only praise as they endure rejection for his sake. Although this Philadelphian congregation has “little strength,” it has endured opposition, ...

1858. The Lord Guides, Encourages, and Protects David

1 Samuel 23:1-29

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord guides, encourages, and protects his chosen servants in their darkest hours. Understanding the Text Saul’s intention to destroy David was never clearer than in chapter 22, which tells how Saul murdered the priests of Nob simply because he believed they had conspired with David against him. As the story continues, the tension is high because God told David to return to Judah (22:5), placing him in harm’s way. But chapter 23 shows that the God who places his servant in harm’s way also ...

1859. Nebuchadnezzar’s Judgment and Repentance

Daniel 4:28-37

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

Big Idea: The sovereignty of God over heaven and earth is demonstrated in the judgment of sin and the restoration of those who genuinely repent. Understanding the Text See the unit on 4:1–18 for a discussion of the larger context, structure, and comparisons of this literary unit. Against this backdrop, 4:28–37 concludes this narrative, and brief statements of time (“twelve months” [4:29] and “at the end of that time” [4:34]) identify its two parts: God’s punishment of Nebuchadnezzar (4:28–33; with ...

1860. What To Do While Waiting for the Judgment?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Who hasn’t had the experience of being unready for a long-awaited guest? A thousand things have hindered our preparation. An unexpected phone call kept us late at the office. Traffic on the freeway was tied up by an accident. The super market was crowded and we ended up in the slowest check-out line. The oven won’t heat. The cat has walked down the middle of the table we set this morning, leaving unmistakable, sooty footprints. And our six-year-old knocks over a cup of milk. Then time runs out. The guest ...

1861. Empowerment: Realizing the Future

Ephesians 3:14-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul resumes his prayer, interrupted in verse 2, addressing the Father (3:14), who himself unifies the new humanity and all creation. He is the universal God of family (3:15) and therefore is rightly petitioned to promote the present outworking of humanity’s new unity in Christ. Accordingly Paul asks his gloriously resourceful God to provide the readers with inward strength through the power of the Holy Spirit (3:16). This is the same Spirit of the third blessing (Eph. 1:13–14) and the same power that Paul ...

1862. Suffering for Doing Good

1 Peter 3:8-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:8–12 ·“Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35): this is the principle underlying these verses, with which Peter summarizes the whole section. Christians treasure their fellowship with one another. When they are faced with persecution, their common joy in their Lord becomes all the more precious. But Peter wants to impress on them that their relationship with each other is not entirely inward-looking. People will notice what they say to each other about the ...

1863. 8:2–5

Revelation 8:6--9:21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The Seven Trumpets: Why History Belongs to the Intercessors · Prelude of prayer: During a time of silence and prayer, the priest usually made an incense offering as part of the daily sacrifices of the Jerusalem temple (Mishnah Tamid 5.1–6; 6.1–3; 7.3). The priests typically sprinkled sacrificial blood on the altars of the outer temple courts (cf. Lev. 1:5) and later entered into the inner sanctuary to burn the incense on a separate altar before the Most Holy Place (cf. Exod. 30:1–9; Luke 1:8–12). In John’s ...

1864. Oh Say, Can You See by the Dawn’s Early Light?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Across the street from the walls that surround the city of David there is a tomb. It looks like any other ancient tomb in that area. Step inside and you will quickly realize that this tomb is different. Someone of status and wealth once owned this tomb. You can tell that it belonged to a person of means because this is a double tomb with two side-by-side burial spaces. What is more, this tomb once contained a body but now it lies empty. The evidence of its having been used is seen in the way that the sides ...

1865. How Would You Introduce Jesus?

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Series: Seeing God More Clearly in 2020 I have a personal question to ask you this morning: how many of you would consider yourself to be socially awkward? Socially awkward people feel out of sync with those around them. They find small talk very difficult. They often feel they don't belong. Could that describe you or someone you know? Some people don’t have this problem. They are at their finest when they are in a new social situation. But some of us are a little awkward around people we don’t know, and ...

1866. What If It's True?

John 20:1-18 · Matthew 28:10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[Optional Prop: A flower OR if you dare, a horned toad (rubber will do)] Happy Resurrection Day, everyone. “I know that my redeemer liveth.” Samuel Goldwyn (1879-1974) was one of the most famous film producers in Hollywood history. He became famous, not just for his movie and production skills, but for his witticisms, like Yogi Berra after him. Goldwyn said this about a certain screenwriter: “We pay him too much, but he’s worth it.” But this morning I want you to compare what Samuel Goldwyn said about his ...

1867. Lesson from a Prosthetic Toe

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

I’ve got a pop quiz for you this morning. Prosthetic limbs, artificial body parts, have been around for thousands of years. Would you like to guess what is the oldest prosthetic body part that has ever been found? Do you have a guess? It’s a big toe. Years ago, archeologists in Cairo, Egypt were excavating the tomb of an ancient Egyptian noblewoman who lived about 3,000 years ago. And they discovered that her body was fitted with a tiny, prosthetic toe made of wood with a leather strap that connected it to ...

1868. What If It's ALL True?

John 20:1-18 · Matthew 28:10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1869. Time to Light the Fire

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” From the beginning of time, humankind has been fascinated with fire. We found that fire can produce both heat and light, both of which can aid us in our daily lives in a variety of ways. From the time we discovered fire to today’s use of heat and fire, we’ve learned to use heat and light for lasers that heal and for bombs that kill, for fire that cooks our food and heats our home to fire that burns down our homes and ravages our forests. We both adore ...

1870. Accusations

2 Corinthians 2:12--3:6

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

For Paul, Satan is a conquered, yet still dangerous, foe. Although “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20), Satan is still “the god of this age,” who blinds the minds of unbelievers from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4), and he is “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Eph. 2:2). There can be no fellowship between the realm of Belial and unbelievers, on the one hand, and the realm of ...

1871. One in Christ

Ephesians 2:11-22

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

Christ and the Unity of Believers The apostle is addressing Jewish and Gentile believers in 2:1–10. He begins by showing that both groups of people were living in disobedience and sin; both stood in need of God’s mercy and love. The Good News in the passage is that a loving and gracious God acted to correct that through his Son. In union with Christ, believers become a new creation and are resurrected and exalted with their Lord. As such, they are lifted out of their former evil condition that they might ...

1872. The Divine Advocacy

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

The Festival of Pentecost long has been neglected within American Protestantism. Often coinciding with Memorial Day weekend, it tends to be overshadowed by parades and visits to cemeteries and memories of those loved long since and lost a while. Even more than that, it is overshadowed by the official opening of summer for those of us in northern states. Memorial weekend is for opening cottages, launching boats and for getting a good start on a summer tan. But the Festival of Pentecost has been around about ...

1873. Turned On

1 Corinthians 1:17

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

Object: An extension cord and a small lamp. Lesson: Grace, love, friendship, Divine power, light. As the children gather I set a lamp on the floor and begin untangling an extension cord which I have previously determined is long enough to reach from the chancel steps to the outlet in the front of the sanctuary. Then I welcome the children and ask, "What do I need to do to get this lamp to work?" "Plug it in," several children assert as one voice. "Okay, then ... Let's see, we need a power source ..." I ...

1874. Heal the Sick; Cast Out the Demons

Matthew 10:5-8

Sermon

Ron Lavin

In his sermon to the graduates of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, Paul Tillich, the theologian, preached on the theme of healing and casting out demons. He told the graduating seminarians that they would experience two difficulties as they went to their new parishes with this message of healing and casting out demons: (1) Many people will say that they do not need to be healed and (2) Many will laugh at the absurdity of casting out demons that rule their lives; they may tell the proclaimer ...

1875. Spin-masters Need Not Apply

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

Anne Watson tells a delightful story about her mother's family from Tennessee. Grandma was a country schoolteacher. Her brother Ed was a country lawyer. Ed was a big man. He stood over six feet in his socks. He didn't look like a smart person. "Why, just to look at Ed," says Watson, "œyou'd feel sorry for the man. You'd think 'Here's a soul to be specially kind to.'" Ed cleaned up on this. He had a little office in a town right on the Arkansas border. He handled all the law for miles around, which wasn't ...

Showing results