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 201 to 225 of 4946 results

201. The Varsity Challenge

Illustration

... attended, had an idea. Coach Martin told Scott that he would reserve a spot on the varsity for him if he would cooperate with his therapist and show progress in the tasks he was asked to do. And Tom's wife Cindy spent many hours with Scott, encouraging him to keep going. Within 2 months, Scott was riding off the basketball court on his teammates' shoulders. He had made nine straight free throws to clinch a triple-overtime league victory. It was a remarkable testimony of the power of encouragement.

202. Concert Chopsticks

Illustration

... that boy away from there!" When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a countermelody to "Chopsticks." As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, "Keep going. Don't quit, son...don't stop...don't stop."

203. Pie In the Sky

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of the resurrection, the affirmation that life does not end with death. We need to hear once again that God is in charge in this world despite all the evidence to the contrary. The cynics will call it "pie in the sky," but we need to hear it just to keep going one more day. Do you know where the phrase, "pie in the sky," comes from? It is found in a parody of the old gospel hymn that many of us sing, "In The Sweet Bye And Bye." It was written by Joseph Hillstrom, a labor organizer at the turn of ...

204. The Judas Goat

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... ramp to their death. The goat is placed among the sheep and then walks confidently to the ramp as the others follow. Once the Judas goat gets to the top of the ramp the he turns left, as a gate is opened only for him and then closed. The others keep going, turn right, and walk to their death. Note: Judas Goat is an actual term and are used in slaughter houses for this purpose. Read more hear.

205. Trying Again and Again

Proverbs 24:16

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Among other qualities of personal character, what makes a man great is his determination to keep going. Most sports buffs know that from 1960 to 1966 the record for the most stolen bases was held by the incredible Maury Wills. In 1962 he set the current club record for the Dodgers: 104 stolen bases in one regular season. But Maury Wills set another record in those years. ...

Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.

Andre Gide

We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until to-morrow. Keep going. . . . Concentrate on something useful.

Arnold Bennett

Bad experience is a school that only fools keep going to.

Ezra Taft Benson

Everyone who achieves success in a great venture, solves each problem as they came to it. They helped themselves. And they were helped through powers known and unknown to them at the time they set out on their voyage. They keep going regardless of the obstacles they met.

W. Clement Stone

210. The Great Discovery

Luke 15:14b-18a

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... plowing one day in one of my fields. It was a hot day, a tiring day. Up and down, down and up the furrows I walked. It was monotonous to be sure. Then it happened! All of a sudden I heard the clink of metal on my plowshare. Should I keep going or should I stop? I stopped. I dug into the soft sandy dirt as quickly as I could with my bare hands. And would you know? There it was! Buried treasure! Oh my. Surprise. Surprise. ALEXANDER FLEMING: Hello. I am Alexander Fleming. I was a botanist. I lived in Scotland ...

211. When the Going Gets Tough ... the Tough Start Praying!

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

Ever since the sign went up on our property that our church was coming I've gotten phone calls from people asking when we'll have a church. I can be a smart aleck as some of you will attest and so I'm often quick to respond that we already have a church, we just don't have a building. "Well," they usually say, "give me a call when you get the building done; I'm not going to worship in a high school cafeteria." Before I can give my canned speech about the difference between a church and the building I ...

212. No Particular Place To Go

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

It was the last week of summer when some boys who had spent the summer playing together became restless and bored. School would start the next week and they found themselves not knowing what to do, wearied from all the other summer activities that they had enjoyed. On a hot August afternoon the boys decided to play a round of pitch and putt at a local golf course. At least this would give them something different to do and keep them from complaining to their parents about how bored they were -- which was ...

213. Where Would You Go to Meet Jesus?

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

I remember reading in a church development book some time ago of the experiences of a church planter who spent a whole lot of his time in bars. Don't get me wrong. He didn't even drink! What this church planter decided right off the bat was that he would not seek out ready-made Christians (although they were welcome) but that he would go after the lost. He would go after the people that most churches avoided. This man, despite the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes, welcomed sinners and ate with them. ...

214. Promises to Keep

Hebrews 8:1-13

Sermon

James McCormick

Do you know the name Tom Dooley? Not the folk song Tom Dooley, but Dr. Tom Dooley? You need to know his story, because Dr. Tom Dooley was a Twentieth Century saint. While serving in the Navy, he saw the physical suffering of the people of Southeast Asia - so much illness and suffering, so few doctors to deal with it. When his tour of duty was over, he resigned his commission and went to Indochina, now Laos, to serve as a medical missionary. There he poured out his life on behalf of the people. He saw ...

215. Keeping In Touch… With The Lord

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

God created us to be social beings. Life is not intended to be experienced in total isolation though moments of solitude are therapeutic. We live on the planet earth with other people and so it is essential for every person to develop meaningful relationships with significant others. Each person is introduced into society through a family unit, the most fundamental organism in existence today. Human relationships do not automatically survive and certainly do not thrive without constant nurturing. In other ...

216. Keeping Our Souls

John 13:18-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A seminary student (not one of you) preached his senior sermon in a homiletics class. When he got through, the professor gave him his critique. “John, I’ll give you an A- on the sermon. It was a good one. But I must give you an F on the title.” “An F?” said John. “I don’t understand. What’s wrong with my title?” “Well,” said the professor, “the title is one of the most important parts of the sermon. It should be so compelling and captivating that if a busload of people pass by your sign on Sunday morning, ...

217. Keeping the Faith

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Molly F. James

I don’t usually give titles to my sermons but today’s is “Keeping the Faith.” Our Collect, our lessons — particularly the gospel and the epistle — are about being faithful, about being steadfast in our faith. In the gospel, “Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and to not lose heart.” Jesus went on to tell the parable of the unjust judge and the widow who was faithful and persistent, who did not give up in seeking justice, and finally her faith was rewarded. The letter to ...

218. Keep The Devil Out!

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Because of the book and movie, The Exorcist, there is probably more talk about the Devil than ever. The movie earned even more than The Godfather - $180 million. For blocks, people lined up waiting to enter the theaters. One theater operator reported that, at each showing, there were four blackouts, six vomiting spells, and many spontaneous leavings during the show. Today, we are pre-occupied with the Devil. In New Jersey, a twenty year old lad persuaded his two best friends to drown him because he ...

219. Everything Must Go: The Treasure Principle

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

James Merritt

It was something that I had been putting off for a good while, for a number of reasons, the least of which I just didn’t want to deal with it. Last year, Teresa and I finally took the plunge and we did it. I thought it would be morbid – it wasn’t. I thought it would be kind of miserable – it wasn’t. I realized after it was over it really was a ministry. It took a few weeks for the results of our efforts to be completed, but then the day came that it came in the mail. I opened up the package, looked at the ...

220. Going Hard against the Grain

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Perhaps you have heard the story of the star-thrower, first published by Loren Eiseley in his 1969 book The Unexpected Universe. He tells of walking along a beach "littered with the debris of life.... Along the strip of wet sand that marks the ebbing and flowing of the tide, death walks hugely and in many forms. In the end the sea rejects its offspring. They cannot fight their way home through the surf which casts them repeatedly back upon the shore. The tiny breathing spores of starfish are stuffed with ...

221. Keep Your Eye On The Ball

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

There is one thing that seven years at seminary never taught me. I learned a lot about Greek, Hebrew, sermon preparation, counseling, etc. but I didn't learn hardly anything about leadership. Nobody ever told me that the words "pastor" and "leader" are synonymous. Nobody ever told me, specifically about two aspects of leadership. First of all, the pressure of leadership and second the price of leadership. There is indeed great pressure in leadership and a high price for leadership. If you are a leader, I ...

222. When Life Seems to Be Going in the Wrong Direction

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

When he was 88 years old, the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Holmes once found himself on a train. When the conductor came by, Justice Homes couldn't find his ticket; he seemed terribly upset. He searched all of his pockets and fumbled through his wallet but to no avail. The conductor tried to ease his anxiety. He said, "Don''t worry, Mr. Holmes, the Pennsylvania Railroad will be happy to trust the Supreme Court Justice. After you reach your destination, you''ll find your ticket and you can mail it to ...

223. Who’s Keeping Score?

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

William J. Carl

What we have in our passage is the contrast between a theology of grace and a theology of keeping score. The first is the one Jesus espouses in this text. The second is the one Peter is pushing and, by the way, the one our world has bought into for centuries. Anne Herbert once suggested that the whole thing started in Eden when Adam and Eve began keeping score. Certainly it was carried on in their children when Cain’s anger over Abel’s higher giving score finally led to murder. Anyway, God got so angry ...

224. Keep On Moving

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Why did the rooster cross the road? He had something to cock-a-doodle dooo! We laugh at these “old as time” chicken jokes, but think about it. The chicken is kind of wise! Look here, he’s not going to let anything stop him from getting to the other side of that road. He’s a chicken with a purpose, and his goal is to get to the other side of the road no matter what comes his way! Now that’s a chicken with a mission! I’ve seen a lot of animals not ...

225. Keeping Sunday

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

David G. Rogne

One of the churches where I served was located next to a Jewish synagogue. That synagogue was served by a rabbi who quite typically walked to the synagogue on the Sabbath, though his house was some distance away. It was not that he didn't have a car, but that for him it was improper to drive on the Sabbath, for that constituted work. Sometimes I would see him riding a bicycle to synagogue. I suggested to him that that was a lot more work than simply turning on the ignition in an automobile. He said that ...

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