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 2101 to 2125 of 4681 results

2101. In Debt Forever!

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... ’s meaning and Paul’s intent perfectly when he wrote, My God, I love thee, not because I hope for heaven thereby, Not yet because, if I love thee not, I must forever die. Thou, O my Jesus, thou didst me upon thy cross embrace; For me didst bear the nails and spear, and manifold disgrace; Then, why, O blessed Jesus Christ, should I not love thee well? Not for the sake of winning heaven, nor of escaping hell; Not with the hope of gaining aught, not seeking a reward; But as thyself hast loved me, O ...

2102. What It Takes to Stay Christian

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... . Love is boundless rapport - a time to be silent, a time to be heard; pleasure in being together that needs not a spoken word. Love is commitment - a total involvement of body and soul, a ready willingness to share, not only joys, but burdens we must bear. Love is a mystery - each love leaves its mark; no power on earth can erase it, yet our hearts, once open, cannot close and forget. I am absolutely convinced that the source of Miss Roger’s beautiful definition was St. Paul’s second guideline to the ...

2103. A SERMON-DRAMA FOR EASTER

Drama

Tom Eberle

... sign of an inward grace, or describe them in some other manner, what we are affirming is that the dramatic action and the divine reality have become one. The outward enactments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper recreate the reality to which they bear witness. A SERMON-DRAMA FOR EASTER [At the beginning of the enactment the narrator takes his/her position at the pulpit or lectern, and the minister is seated in a chair facing the congregation.] Narrator: Let us imagine that with the aid of science fiction ...

2104. Old and New

Mk 2:22 · 2 Cor 5:17 · Is 43:19

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... have histories, many of which are traceable back one or more centuries. As individuals we have personal histories that carry us back to England or France, to Africa or to Sicily. We have personal roots and we have corporate roots and our fascination with history bears witness to the fact that we feel history holds something for us. We are - at least in part - what our parents have been and what our grandparents have been. Collectively we have a heritage that we like to trace to the primordial couple, Adam ...

2105. Winners, Losers and the Gospel

Mt 16:25

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... lay, it matters not whether you work in dirt or in splendor, it matters not whether you are a corporation president or a short order cook, it matters only - win or lose - how you chose to carry yourself about on the field of human intercourse and whether your bearing to others becomes a stumbling block or an open door for the indwelling in us all of God’s grace and mercy. "The saint," writes Thomas Merton, "seeks not his own glory but the glory of God. And in order that God may be glorified in all things ...

2106. Are You Under Arrest?

Heb 5:11-13; 10:39

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... thought that views women as little more than chattel, and that has needed correction. Napoleon Bonaparte once remarked that: Nature intended women to be our slaves ... they are our property; we are not theirs. They belong to us, just as a tree that bears fruit belongs to a gardener. What a mad idea to demand equality for women! ... Women are nothing but machines for producing children.1 John Knox was even less flattering when, in a work carrying the rabblerousing title, "The First Blast of the Trumpet ...

2107. Dessert in the Desert

Deut 32:10-12 · Ez 37

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... to be awake, To be living on several planes at once Though one cannot speak with several voices at once. 2 Religious emptiness is derivative of being what Herbert Marcuse termed "one dimensional" men. "The people," wrote Marcuse in a book bearing that phrase, "recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automatic, hi-fi set, split level home, kitchen equipment." 3 Meaningless is also a symptom of dwelling in the religious wilderness. Like the television characterizations of men ...

2108. The Circus and My Faith

Ps 139 · Mt 22:37

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... that God has made available to us is a way of expressing our love for God; it is a way of expressing our appreciation for what has been given us. I suppose it is much like giving another a gift of a table saw; the individual’s use of it bears testimony to his or her love for it. Our love of life and our love of the One who has given us life is revealed as we move in and capitalize on the possibilities of that life, including the possibilities to which we lay claim through our ability to think ...

2109. The Therapy of Song

1 Samuel 16:14-23, Exodus 15:1-21, Psalm 5:1-12

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... only that we grant it the liberty of leading us. Many have enjoyed either the screen or stage version of "Fiddler on the Roof." It is the story of life in a Jewish ghetto called Anatevka, and music is quite literally the saviour of the people as they bear the pangs of prejudice. Throughout the story, the main character Tevye sings his way along. At one point he fantasizes in song about what it would be like if he were a rich man, and when he is finished, one is left with the impression that while he, like ...

2110. Issachar

Genesis 49:1-28

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... war. Judah was a young lion. Zebulon was to become a haven for ships. Dan was a serpent, while Gad was to spend his days as a raider of enemy territory. Asher would be known for rich food, and Naphtali was as a female red deer, bearing fawns. Joseph resembled a fruitful branch, and Benjamin was a ravenous wolf. Undoubtedly, we have the most startling speech ever made by a dying servant of God. Its frankness made the heirs cringe. The most scathing: "Issachar is a strong ass, crouching between the sheepfolds ...

2111. John the Baptizer

Isaiah 40:1-31, Luke 1:67-80, John 1:19-28

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... first stirring of the unborn child. John was probably born at Hebron, some six months prior to the birth of Jesus. Naturally the neighbors and kinspeople assumed the child would be named Zechariah, for his father. Both parents, however, insisted he bear the name John, for God had so designated to them. "None of your family is called by that name," pleaded the puzzled relatives. Immediately all speculated, "Whatever will this child become?" Zechariah’s speech surprisingly returned, and he gave his fatherly ...

2112. Mary of Nazareth

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... yet to be born. A SON In due time, while in Bethlehem for the census, Mary’s child is delivered, cradled in a manger, "And she brought forth her firstborn son ..." Shepherds came, so Luke records, and Matthew tells us the magi arrived, later perhaps, bearing costly gifts. What wonders! What did it all mean? "But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." Years later, did she tell the story to Luke? Is she responsible for the priceless account we lovingly read? Presentation in the Temple ...

2113. The Guy With The Donkey

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... this grisly business finished, tapped a stranger on the shoulder and said, "pick up that cross and carry it for him." Simon didn't have much choice in the matter. But for the rest of eternity he would rejoice that he lent his shoulder and his strength to bear the Master's cross. He too was a donkey- giver. This guy with the donkey. He is one of a large fraternity and sorority. People are still giving things to the Master so that he can move his kingdom further down the road. You cannot be in relationship ...

2114. Can We Really Get Along?

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Jews who had intermarried with many other tribes and nations. The Jews called them "mixed-breeds." Why did Jesus lead the disciples through Samaria? Verse 4 tells us that Jesus "needed to pass through Samaria." Surely this was the inner constraint of love. Jesus could not bear to write off those people. As they walked in the heat of the day, they came to a famous landmark--Jacob's well. Jesus rested at the well while the disciples went into the nearby village of Sychar to buy some food. Verse 7 tells us ...

2115. Easter Headlines

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... him. Then early last year, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He stared into the ugly face of death without blinking. His comment was this: "I can say with all sincerity that I am at peace." And suddenly, our secular society, so terrorized by death that it cannot bear to talk about it, much less make out a will, looked at this man of God and said, "He must know something that we don't know." Indeed he did. He knew and trusted in the One who promised, "Because I live, you also shall live." Dear people ...

2116. Why Did God Allow That To Happen?

John 9:1-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... a charmed life or render you immune to heartbreak or tragedy. St. Christopher medals don't prevent auto accidents. If God won't promise us safety, what does He promise? He promises that He will not allow more to be put on us that we, with His help, can bear. He promises that His grace will be sufficient for our needs. He promises that nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from His love. And, no matter how bad something may be, He promises that if we share it with Him in faith, He will ...

2117. Nag, Nag, Nag!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... husband. She had not rights or privileges except these which her husband deemed to grant her as a favor. She was a non-person. This attitude prevails today in some countries. A recent visitor to India tells how a Muslim woman can be divorced by her husband for not bearing children. All he needs do is to say three times, "I divorce you." Then she must go her way and earn her own living by begging on the streets. Because she was a woman, the lady in our text had no right to ask Jesus for any help whatsoever ...

2118. Mary of Bethany and Jesus’ Mother

Drama

Jon Joyce

... . Nine months before Jesus was born, an angel came to me and addressed me as God’s favored one. MB: [Astonished] Mary! MJ: Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." And then he added that Jesus would "reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." MB: [Amazed, but believing] Mary, how amazing! MJ: I asked the angel how this could be ...

2119. Mary Magdalene, Stephanus, and Lucia

Drama

Jon Joyce

... chokes back a sob] Yes, Judas said all is vain and something about promises that aren’t kept. He has been acting strange lately. Unhappy. Sort of disturbed and ... and almost sick, as I was before the Master healed me. Oh, my! It’s almost too much to bear. But, the Master has seemed so strong and confident, even though he, too, has had an unusual look in his eyes this past week. He seems more determined than usual. There’s been none of the friendly good humor and banter that we usually have when we ...

2120. This Grace In Which We Stand by Dr. Gene E. Bartlett

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... I want to see you be yourself at your very best, then you have started him on a life of joy and freedom. It was the grace of love never withheld which did it. Prevenient love, the old theology, a love that came first! A businessman once was asked to bear testimony to what his personal faith meant to him. He, too, reached back to boyhood experience. He recalled walking with his father one day having to reach up to hold on to his hand. After a while he said, "I can’t hold on any longer, you’ll have to ...

2121. The Bible, Your Mirror? by Dr. Lawrence L. Lacour

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... you? How do you understand the way you act and feel? How do you interpret the actions of others? In our Scripture lesson we see Jesus, the model of faith, distrusting a group of institutional custodians. Why? "Because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man." What Jesus has to say, about both ourselves and others, fits into the entire message of the Bible. All that Jesus taught and did is encompassed in four doctrines of man. And our understanding is not ...

2122. Only the Wounded Can Serve

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... felt deeply the wounds of life. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a semi-invalid ... Robert Louis Stevenson lived with the pain of his tuberculosis ... and Beethoven, despite his deafness, heard heavenly music which he translated for the mortal realm. St. Paul went about his ministry bearing a thorn in the flesh, as he called it. He prayed desperately to have his infirmity removed, but the word came back, "My grace is sufficient for you." It is enough to say, "He was a wounded soldier in life’s service." He ...

2123. The Cunning Craftsman, God

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... this sham of a man with a pretense of a prayer, worshiping at the altar of self. His very sanctimoniousness isolated him from humanity and heaven. His look of superiority criticized an unfortunate, seeking a word of hope or a hand of help. His pride of bearing and being set him apart from the affairs of his day where the polished surface of his self-excellence needed to get scratched and smudged in the struggle of humanity. And so our Lord dismissed his piosity with the words of retribution: "For every one ...

2124. To Be Perfectly One

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... was for you as an individual and for me as an individual. Even as the cross was God’s instrument for revealing his care for humanity (which is made up of individuals), so we who have been influenced by that cross have a singular witness to bear. Through the years you may have been active in the church, supported its programs and projects, and attended its worship regularly. But, have you ever talked to another person and truly witnessed? Have you told others what the love of Christ means to you personally ...

2125. Burrs on the Apple Tree?

Matthew 7:15-23

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... you have in your yard this year? [Let them answer.] Is it possible that your tree could give apples this year and oranges next year? Does a tree always have to give the same kind of fruit every year? What I want to know is, will a fruit tree always bear the same kind of fruit? [Let them answer.] Are you sure? Then tell me what kind of a tree has this kind of fruit? [Hold up each kind of fruit that you have and let them name the tree.] That’s very good. You sure do know your fruit. I ...

Showing results