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 2201 to 2225 of 5000 results

2201. Lost In Translation

Humor Illustration

Some humorous advertising may be totally unintentional. When it was advertising in America using the slogan, "Come Alive With Pepsi," Pepsi had difficulty in carrying that slogan across international borders. For example, in Germany that slogan translated to "Come Alive Out of the Grave With Pepsi." In some Slavic countries the words carried an even stronger promise "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave." We don't know whether such extravagant promises boosted Pepsi's sales in those countries or ...

2202. Bulletin Bloopers

Humor Illustration

The fine magazine, The Lutheran, carries church bloopers. Some of those bloopers are hilarious. For example, The Austin [Minn.] Daily Herald ran a church notice for St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin. According to this notice the music ministry of the church "offers opportunities for children, youth and adults to participate in eight vocal and handball choirs." I would like to hear one of those handball choirs. Grunting in four parts. That must be exciting. Or this one from the Augsburg Fortress bulletin ...

2203. A Familiar Crash Site

Humor Illustration

When the hunters started back home, their pilot, seeing that they had bagged six elk, told them the plane could carry only four out. The hunters protested. "The plane that carried us out last year was exactly like this one. The horsepower was the same, the weather was similar, and we had six elk then." Hearing this, the pilot reluctantly agreed to try. They loaded up and took off. Unfortunately, the plane did not have sufficient power to climb out of the valley with all that weight, so they crashed. As ...

2204. An Implied Kiss

Humor Illustration

A farm boy and a pretty girl were walking down the road one evening. In one hand the boy carried a cane, in the other a chicken, he had a pail on his back and was leading a goat. Soon they came to a long dark lane. The girl held back and said, "I'm afraid to walk through there with you because you might try to kiss me." The boy looked at her and said, "How in the world could I do that with all the stuff I'm carrying?" "Well, you might stick the cane in the ground, tie the goat to it, and put the chicken ...

2205. The Four Scents of Adventing

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A traditional accounting of the number of “senses” the human body registers is five: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. We now know there are between 9 and 21 actual senses, depending on who’s counting. But still there are five main ones, and two biggies in the five: sight and sound. Even those of us with poor vision and tin ears still rely heavily on sight and sound to get around. Taste and touch are less obviously used, but absolutely necessary. Our sense of touch keeps us from absent-mindedly leaning ...

2206. Crying at the Tomb

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Al Smith was once governor of New York. He was doing his first tour of New York’s Sing Sing Prison when the warden asked if he would address the inmates. The governor was taken by surprise, but he agreed. His awkwardness was revealed when he began like this, “My fellow citizens . . .” He stopped himself. He wasn’t sure if inmates actually had the full rights of citizenship. So, he changed courses. “My fellow convicts,” he began again. Everyone laughed. He tried once more. “Well anyhow, I’m glad to see so ...

2207. Sandbox First, Soapbox Second

Mark 1:29-34, Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This sermon has a very simple, but very difficult, message: Faith is a social practice, but one that requires solitude. Genesis 2:18 reads: “It is not good for man to be alone.” Daniel 10:8 reads: “I was left alone, and saw the great vision.” Sometimes society, sometimes solitude. Sometimes it is not good to be alone. Sometimes we need to be left alone to see what God has for us to see. The most talked about movie at the time of this sermon’s composition is “The Artist,” a 2011 French comedy-drama film ...

2208. The Sound of a Mighty Wind

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

On April 27, 2011 the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded hit parts of the southern U. S. causing catastrophic destruction in five states Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. Four of the tornadoes which swept through the South on that terrible day were destructive enough to be rated EF5 tornadoes, which is the highest ranking possible. EF5 tornadoes are extremely rare and yet on this day alone there were four EF5 tornadoes killing an estimated 346 people. Tornadoes, ...

2209. When the Going Gets Tough

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

The golf course was crowded with golfers one pleasant fall morning. Bob was standing in front of a tee preparing to swing at his ball. He visualized hitting a beautiful shot that would carry hundreds of yards. As he was standing there lost in his thoughts, an announcement came over the public address system: “Would the gentleman standing at the women’s tee please back up to the men’s tee?” Bob ignored the announcement. He continued his pre-shot routine. Again, the announcement came across the PA system: “ ...

2210. Adopted

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A man in Wilton, Connecticut named Gary Klahr told a remarkable story in Guideposts a few years back. He said that one night in 1975 he made a new friend at a local restaurant. This new friend, Steve Barbin, happened to be seated at the next table and they got to talking. By the time they finished their burgers, they’d pushed their tables together and were well on the way to becoming best friends. They grew so close that they finished each other’s sentences and shared belly laughs at jokes that no one else ...

2211. Walls, Walls, Everywhere Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down!” wrote poet Robert Frost. I wish that everyone shared that sentiment. Unfortunately most people do not. Most people love walls. They see walls as their security, even their salvation. It is interesting that the largest construction project ever undertaken by humanity was the building of a wall. I’m talking, of course, about the Great Wall of China. It is said that enough stone was used in that 1,700‑year project to build an 8‑foot wall ...

2212. Sister Mary Ann's Gasoline

Humor Illustration

Sister Mary Ann, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. As luck would have it, a Texaco Gasoline station was just a block away. She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas. The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait and walked back to her car. She looked for ...

2213. You Are Here

John 18:1—19:42

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

It is a sad commentary on the state of our world that we are far too familiar with those who have shed their blood ... for noble and ignoble causes. The media has been reminding us of the bloody sacrifice that thousands of our soldiers have made in the war in Iraq. Our country is still bitterly divided over whether that sacrifice has been worth it or not. The last two summers I have had the privilege of visiting two of our national cemeteries: Jefferson Barracks on the shore of the Mississippi south of St ...

2214. Liberating the Possessed

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

He is a tortured man! His hair is tossed and tousled. His beard appears shaggy and matted with debris. His eyes stare saucer-like and hypnotic, betraying his clueless and clotheless dilemma. He beats and cuts himself with sharp rocks until blood flows, clots, and flows again. Blue bruises dot his skin like a leopard's spots. He lives in the cemetery. Imagined or real zombies are his friends. Gerasene citizens try to contain him, but their shackles and chains crack and break by his strange and superior ...

2215. Appointed and Sent!

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

The wheat harvest was glorious that year on our farm in South Dakota. Our pastor even came out from town and shocked grain for us. The two men from Arkansas that my dad hired were less ambitious. When Mom brought lunch out to them she often found them resting in the shade of a shock of grain. Nonetheless, the golden sheaves of wheat were so full and heavy they seemed to bow down to us as we passed by on the road. Soon the threshing machine and crew would arrive to separate wheat from straw. It was an ...

2216. Stuff!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

It's everywhere you look. Stuff! From garage sales, to trunk sales and flea markets, to dumpsters, to folks riffling through your trash to find something of value ... and if they're lucky, something with your social security number on it. Stuff is everywhere. Don't get me wrong. I love stuff. By most measures I have too much of it. When Nancy and I were first married the only reason she could drag me to garage sales was the fact that I wanted to be with her all of the time. But standing there, looking at ...

2217. Finish What You Start

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

I remember as I was growing up, before gas became more precious than gold, that our family would go on buggy rides, as we called them, on Sunday afternoons after church and dinner. It was a great time for the entire family to be together, to wander back roads aimlessly, and to talk about just about anything you could imagine. Most of the time my dad would surprise us but sometimes he would ask us where we wanted to go. One place I always asked my dad to drive to was the park in town. One reason was that I ...

2218. Men Will Hear Your Great Name

2 Kings 24:18-20a, Psalm 137:1-9, 2 Kings 24:20b--25:26

Illustration

Stephen M. Crotts

When Babylon conquered Israel in battle, the year was around 588 B.C., thousands of Jews were deported 500 miles east as slaves. In their captivity they carried their knowledge of God with them. And many a Gentile thus learned of the Lord. Psalm 137 was written during this exile. Hear their lament as Jewish slaves living in a pagan land. "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, Zion. On the willows we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs ... ...

2219. The Call of God

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

If you were to ask a group of people to take pencil and paper and sketch a portrait of an Old Testament prophet, many of them would come up with remarkably similar visions: an old gentleman of fierce demeanor with a long, unkempt, grey beard, dressed in flowing robes of coarse material, and perhaps with a gnarled wooden staff in his hand. It would probably look like Charlton Heston playing Moses in The Ten Commandments. That would not be a bad picture. It would be fairly representative, but only "fairly" ...

2220. Advent 4

Luke 1:47-55 or Psalm 80:1-7, Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:39-45, Hebrews 10:5-10

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

Call To Worship (Includes the lighting of the Advent Wreath) Leader: Good morning! We’ve gathered for various reasons; some of us are dreading being alone during this season; some of us to enjoy the holiday music and decorations. Most of us anticipate remembering the Christmas story with its holy family. People: Yes, we love the Christmas story and the images that remind us we too carry God into the world. Leader: We will sing and pray, dance and sing the old story of God coming into the world as a baby — ...

2221. All Is Different Now

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Before and After. Ante and Post. Each of us has moments, choices, circumstances in our lives that act as a watershed — experiences dividing our life into everything “before” and everything “after.” The event doesn’t have to be devastating or dramatic. Sometimes it is joyful and exhilarating. Sometimes it is a quiet realization. Sometimes it takes decades for us to even determine just when that moment occurred. You have a parent or a sibling die. You are the first in your family to go away to college. You ...

2222. Proper 5

1 Kings 17:8-24, Psalm 30:1-12; 146:1-10, Luke 7:11-17, Galatians 1:11-24

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

Call To Worship Leader: A good summer morning to you! Are you alert, centered, and talkative? Are you joyfilled? Are you ready to sing? People: Ah, yes. We are thankful for life and we are seeking security and happiness. Leader: We have called to God many times and the Holy One has sustained us and restored us to hopefulness. People: With music and dance, with words and silence, we thank God for divine goodness among us! Prayer Of Thanksgiving God of Words and Silence — we are glad for the many ways we can ...

2223. A Dramatic Rendering Of 1 Kings 19:1-15

1 Kings 19:1-8

Drama

Julia Ross Strope

7 Readers King Ahab Jezebel messenger/servant Elijah servant/friend angel God’s voice (offstage whisper) Props lapel microphones or cordless mics are helpful paper and pen for Jezebel’s letter to Elijah facsimile of tree food tray with loaf of bread, carafe of water and glass cave entrance Costumes Jezebel in seductive contemporary outfit; Ahab in handsome suit and tie; Elijah in khaki slacks and long-sleeve white turtleneck shirt carrying a jacket; servants in blue jeans and black T-shirts (Jezebel is ...

2224. Someone Bigger than Phil

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

King Duncan

Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the “2013 Year Old Man.” In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, “Did you always believe in the Lord?” Brooks replied: “No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him.” Reiner was surprised: “You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?” Brooks replied: “Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands!” Reiner asked: “Did ...

2225. Christ the King

Psalm 46:1-11, Jeremiah 23:1-6, Luke 1:68-79; 23:33-43, Colossians 1:11-20

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

Call To Worship Today is the last Sunday in the church year. Next Sunday we initiate a new liturgical calendar: Advent 1. Next week we will decorate this space with symbols of pregnancy and birth, with ornaments of love and peace, with wreaths and garlands, with purples and reds, blues, greens, and golds. Today, we consider how the Christ of God lives among us. Take a gentle, deep breath and be fully present in this place. Take a deep, gentle breath and be aware of God’s Presence. Take a breath that fills ...

Showing results