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 1951 to 1975 of 4976 results

1951. What Part of “You Shall Not” Don’t You Understand?

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... is not "Damn." In other words, God's name is to be used in worship and praise, not in cursing, swearing, lying, and deceiving. Third, God has a day. What we do with that day indicates what we think about God. The third commandment is, "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8). Originally God's day was Saturday, the seventh day of the week, the day to remember that God created the world and all that is in it and a day to remember that God redeemed his people by bringing them out of Egypt ...

1952. Does Easter Make a Difference?

Acts 4:32-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... were arrested for healing a lame man in the temple area, they were threatened and told to stop preaching and teaching about Jesus. In reply, they said, "Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20). That's what I call bold purpose! The purpose in life for Christians is to witness for Christ, no matter what the opposition may be. The purpose in life is to glorify God. When they prayed ...

1953. With Friends Like These ...

Job 38:1-7 (34-41)

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... Job cries out, "I wish I had never been born. Why was I given life if I have to endure all this pain?" When friends are in pain we often feel that it is our responsibility to make them feel better. For this very reason, many of us keep our distance when friends experience losses. We feel inadequate, or that we won't know the "right" thing to say or do. Then we feel guilty for avoiding the individual and doing nothing. After a funeral, Jewish people set aside seven days that are devoted to grieving. Mourners ...

1954. Staying in Line

Matthew 22:34-40

Illustration

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

At the entrance to the harbor at the Isle of Man there are two lights. One would think that the two signals would confuse the pilot. But the fact is, he has to keep them in line; as long as he keeps them in line, his ship is safe. It is the same with these commands of Jesus: the love of God, love others, and love of self. When we keep them in line, we remain safe and well in the channel of the Christian life.

1955. Try Christianity

Luke 17:11-37; Matt 6:25-34

Illustration

Donald Macleod

The famous American editor, Horace Greeley, told of receiving a letter from a woman who wrote: "Our church is in dire financial straits. We've tried everything to keep it going: a strawberry festival, an oyster supper, a donkey party, a turkey dinner, and, finally, a box social. Will you please tells us, Dr. Greeley, how to keep a struggling church from disbanding?" Dr. Greeley wrote back to her a message in two words: Try Christianity! What did he mean by that? Look at it in this way. The ancient world ...

1956. John the Stall Cleaner

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ? Good luck with that. None of us are. God created a relational world of connectedness. From huge ecosystems to carbon-based molecules, life exists in community, in relationship, in networked connections. There is only one time we don’t need anyone or anything else to keep us going. That’s when we are dead. 5) I know some of you need to need to clean out your perfectionism. Are you not happy unless everything is tidy and perfect? The Good Housekeeping motto has always been, “A place for everything and ...

1957. How to Play Fair in Foul Play

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... deserve in life not the rich, not the poor; not the well, not the sick. 4. Hope for the best, while you prepare for the worst. 5. Pray without ceasing. Paul asked his friends to "strive together with me in your prayers" (Romans 15:30). 6. Keep a sense of humor; it carries us through the rough times. Someone once said, Children are a wonderful way to start people." The story of the Roman Catholic bishop who was visiting one of his churches and administering confirmation to the children reminds us of this ...

1958. Down the Up Staircase

Genesis 11:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... this lowest moment. It was no small stretch for God to reach down to Jacob, a man who had deceived his father and cheated his brother. But God descends and fills the anguish of Jacob's soul with the promise, "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (v.15). This week's Gospel text propels this divine promise into the disciples' present and into our future. Jesus' carefully constructed ...

1959. The Necessary Book

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and faith shared by the different individuals reveal a very different story written on the pages of their two books. The master in today's Gospel text employs a steward, a business manager, to oversee his investment concerns. The steward himself must keep "necessary books" to keep track of the debts and credits owed his master. But this book of columns and figures becomes a very different kind of necessary book as Jesus tells this parable. For the steward it becomes a tool for easing his re-entry into ...

1960. Get a Life!

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... home is a rancid, run-down, one-room apartment in the center of an crime-ridden, drug-infested slum. Living only for that present leads despairing children to form themselves into vicious, hate-filled gangs. Only those who learn to live in the present but keep their spirits fixed on the future can engender genuine joy day by day. Don't waste time on things you cannot change: Investing only in those things where you can make a difference gives an immediate sense of accomplishment and well being, i.e., "peace ...

1961. FaithRace

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." Once we are well into the race, we begin to sweat, lose confidence and get cramps. But the writer of Hebrews encourages all runners to "Come, then, stiffen your drooping arms and shaking knees, and keep your steps from wavering" (12:12-13, NEB); and earlier, "Do not then throw away your confidence, for it carries a great reward. You need endurance, if you are to do God's will and win what he has promised" (10:35-36, NEB). Jitters of self ...

1962. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:38

Illustration

Susan R. Andrews

... away to college she said, "Son, now I know you want to be a writer. But I want you to think about brain surgery. You'll keep a lot of people from dying. And you'll make a lot of money." To which Potok responded, "No, Mama, I want to be a writer ... what Mama wanted to hear. So, every vacation break for four years she would repeat her comments about his becoming a brain surgeon and keeping people from dying and making a lot of money, and always his response was the same. Finally the son had enough, and, when the ...

1963. Build a Bridge and Get Over It

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... must embrace and bridge a world that is homeless and well-housed, a world that is both dying and healthy, a world that is both fiction and fact, a world that is obese and anorexic at the same time. If our church keeps looking for the middle, keeps cutting to the middle, keeps hugging the middle of the road, we will be hit by both sets of oncoming traffic. Straight-down-the-middle strategies don't work in a serpentine world. Postmodern ministry gives up trying to mend the "broken middle" and instead builds ...

1964. UpTime

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in a tense, humorless confrontation between coworkers? Can you recognize God's time while answering the same question for the 10th time in a class full of fifth graders? Can you recognize God's time while attempting to prepare dinner, hold a meeting on the phone, keep the baby from slamming fingers in the door, and supervise a homework session? Can you recognize God's time while trying valiantly to find the bottom on your "In" box? Can you recognize God's time while you are logged on? Can you recognize God ...

1965. How Do You Sell A Vacuum Cleaner?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is the Super Suckomatic Deluxe 2000. Point to vacuum cleaner, (he points) and, boy, does this vacuum suck. It will clean – Housewife: (fed up) Ummm, I have to go now (she starts to leave; he pays no attention; he reads on) Salesperson: Anything you want, keeping your carpets fresh and new. But wait, there's more – Housewife: Okay, bye, bye. I'm really leaving. (she backs out and offstage) Salesperson: (he pays no notice, still reading) If you buy today, we will give you a special gift, free. Yes, that's ...

1966. A Concert of Prayer

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Drama

Leonard Sweet

... next to a friend, then pair off with that person. Or you may be sitting next to a stranger. Where else should strangers never feel strange but in the house of God? Where does the live Word need to come alive in you? What do you need to do to keep spiritually fresh? What do you need to do to be a spiritual man or woman at any price? Each of you take turns sharing prayer requests with your prayer partner. Then each of you pray for your prayer partner. Note: At this time, allow five or six minutes, or as ...

1967. Easter Completes

Colossians 3:1-4

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Bunny? Adults dismiss the Easter Bunny as a leftover legacy from earlier nature-based celebrations of spring's arrival and as an innocuous symbol of the new life that is abundant in springtime. Kids love the Easter Bunny! Perhaps because the Easter Bunny doesn't keep lists of who has been "naughty or nice" like that Santa Claus fellow, or perhaps because he is quiet and soft and huggable and speechless, children eagerly flock to the sides of mall Easter bunnies. Sitting on Santa's lap is often a terrifying ...

1968. These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... those things that make life worth living." The response was incredible. People thanked him for helping them regain perspective and to remember the little things about life that have such big payoffs. When I have tried this, certain things keep cropping up: sunsets, sunrises, clean sheets, naps, the smell of a campfire, the Sunday paper, snowcapped mountains, falling in love, surprise phone calls from old friends. Some responses Shahin received were fascinating. One person from Albuquerque, New Mexico, wrote ...

1969. Ten Commandments of Trust

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... good," adding its next line "happy are those who take refuge in him" (Psalm 34:8). - Turn to Isaiah 26:3 "Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace in peace because they trust in you." - Turn to I Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." - ... do. Follow-through is crucial in everything we attempt. Good intentions spoil into bad relationships tainted with mistrust when we fail to keep our word. How much can you be counted on? Are you someone who can be trusted? Can you be counted on? 9 ...

1970. Joy and Crown

Philippians 4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of his own difficulties. 3. Slurry The stuff that clogs up our lives and clouds our vision, making it impossible for us to see further than the tiny world of our own concerns and needs. The muck and madness that just normally infiltrate daily life can keep us from raising up our eyes and experiencing the presence of the divine in the most mundane of interactions. I complimented a woman in Rustin, Louisiana, on her jewelry. She smiled and said, "Thank you. I collect gems." I agreed and said, "It shows." "No ...

1971. Paying Dues to God

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are told God created us in God's own image (Genesis 1:26) is the reason "doing justice to God" demands that we mirror God's creativity in our own lives and continue to multiply creation. Genesis started the ball rolling. We and God together must keep going what Genesis started. The creative genius within us is an unfolding of God's creative genius itself. If doing justice to God means doing justice to the image of God we embody, then unfortunately we have let our dedication to creativity become increasingly ...

1972. And Again I Say...Amen!

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... get _ even from our "critics." The problem is not with those who criticize you to your face. To them you can turn the other cheek. The problem is those who stab you in the back or who say nothing and go elsewhere. Keeping your enemies close at hand helps keep you at your critical best. Practitioners of some of the trendiest "feel good" therapies would cringe at Jesus' apparently masochistic suggestions in this week's gospel text. Why open yourself up to all that negative energy? But Jesus' advice wasn't to ...

1973. Third Time's a Charm

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... livestock for a living knows, caring for livestock is a daily, scheduled process. Dairy cows with full udders don't much care whether it is Monday or Saturday or Sunday 4 a.m. is 4 a.m., and they need to be milked. This reality is what keeps part of the state of Indiana stubbornly on standard time all year round livestock only recognize their "biological clocks," not our playing around with the clock on the wall so we can fool ourselves about the amount of daylight we're getting. Establishing faith and love ...

1974. The Kingdom of God Has Come Close

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... many expected. Because they could not see a new incarnation of God's love, they let the moment, the kingdom, pass them by. 4. Fear: There are times we know what to do and we know how to do it, but we remain frozen by fear. Fear keeps us immobile while it murders our hopes and nurtures our doubts. The greatness and glory of God does not always descend like a whirlwind. Sometimes greatness passes by with only a tiny whisper. Someone once asked Albert Schweitzer to name the greatest person alive in the world ...

1975. How to Stay Spiritually Fresh

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Amen." Then two or three seconds later, we'd all scream, "Let's kill 'em!" (Mike Cope, Righteousness Inside Out [Nashville, Tenn.: Christian Communications, 1988], 102.) The tragedy of that story is that it demonstrates how the very prayer Jesus gave us to keep us spiritually alive and alert, and not tied to praying simply "vain repetitions," we have managed to turn into the biggest vain repetition of all. Today's lectionary texts, Luke and Colossians, go well together. They both talk about staying in the ...

Showing results