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 2276 to 2300 of 2561 results

2276. Luke 8:26-39

Luke 8:26-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

How long has it been since you did something that took you out of your “comfort zone?” Whether it was a good experience or a bad experience, it was definitely a new experience. And new experiences bring new perspectives, revealing some new information about yourself, others, and life. Jesus and his disciples moved out of their “comfort zone” in this week’s gospel text. For the first time in his public ministry Jesus travels outside of Galilee. He ventures out of territory populated primarily by Jews. ...

2277. Jesus’ 10 Commandments

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

From Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” to The Nightmare on Elm Street’s “Freddy;” from Friday the Thirteenth’s “Jason” to Stephanie Meier’s vampire “Voltaire”, we are always creating new monsters. Why are we constantly on the lookout for bigger, scarier “bumps in the night?” Why do we keep making up monsters that are so elaborate and extraordinary, so super-powered and immortal? Maybe we need our monsters to be as unlike ourselves as possible so that we can ignore the presence of the real monsters that possess ...

2278. Positive Living

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar calls it “stinkin’ thinkin.’” He’s talking about people who approach life with a negative attitude. Do you know anyone like that? Whether or not it’s justified, New York cabdrivers are notorious for having a bad attitude. A man approached one such driver in New York. “Take me to London,” the potential fare said. The cab driver told him that was not possible. He couldn’t drive across the Atlantic. The customer insisted it was possible. “You’ll drive me down to the pier; we’ll ...

2279. In Prayer’s Way

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who is our newest parent here this morning? . . . How old is your baby? May I hold him/her? Let’s bow our heads and offer a prayer of blessing for this child . . . This little baby is embarking on a journey. And it’s an awesome journey to be a part of. All new parents here - is there anything as exciting as watching your baby go from a snuggly little lump you cradle in your arms to a roller, then a crawler, then a “cruiser,” and finally a walker? Babies seem absolutely driven to get on their feet. No ...

2280. Being Open to the Impossible

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is an old story about Albert Einstein. He was going around the country from university to university on the lecture circuit, giving lectures on his theory of relativity. He traveled by chauffer-driven limousine. One day, after they had been on the road for awhile, Einstein’s chauffeur said to him, “Dr. Einstein, I’ve heard you deliver that lecture on relativity so many times that I’ll bet that I could deliver it myself.” “Very well,” the good Doctor responded, “I’ll give you that opportunity tonight ...

2281. You Can't Stay on the Mountain Forever

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Some years back, Desmond McCarthy, renowned drama critic for The London Sunday Times, came for his initial visit to America. His New York City host had arranged, naturally, to go to the theater the very same night that he arrived. Coming out after the performance, McCarthy looked for the first time at the dazzling lights of Broadway. He had blinked at them for a few moments without a word, then he turned to his host and said: “Tell me, what do you Americans do when it comes time to celebrate what should be ...

2282. Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to begin with a song. Don’t worry. I’m not going to sing. Perhaps I should say, I want to begin with a song title. I’m not going to ask you how many of you remember the song. It might say something about your age. The song is titled simply, “Sisters.” It’s a classic Irving Berlin tune much beloved by previous generations. It begins by describing how devoted two sisters are to one another. But its famous refrain goes like this: “Lord, help the mister who comes between me and my sister and Lord help ...

2283. In Whose Likeness?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Chris Ewing

Okay, teacher, you think you're so smart — is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor? Talk about your loaded question! If we're talking about the law of Rome, the law of the imperial government, the law of this part of the world, of course it's legal to pay taxes to the emperor — it's illegal not to! And just in case Jesus was hoping to fudge a bit on the answer, there are among his questioners members of the Herodian party, supporters of the puppet king, toadies to the Roman government, here listening to ...

2284. What About the Baby?

Isaiah 9:2-7

Sermon

Tony Everett

Brian had just received a major job promotion that required a 2,000-mile cross-country move during the Christmas season. As a dutiful father, Brian was very concerned about how this sudden move would affect his children, particularly his six-year-old son, Adam. When it was Adam's bedtime, Brian spent several minutes giving a carefully rehearsed presentation about the impending family relocation. He described the new city, their new house, and all the new friends Adam would meet at school. He even told Adam ...

2285. No Room for Gloom

Isaiah 9:1-4

Sermon

Tony Everett

Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, once remarked, "The future ain't what it used to be." Yogi might have been describing Isaiah's message in our text today. On the one hand, things looked pretty bleak for God's people. A few years before that was written, the mighty Assyrian army under Tiglath-pileser III, had ravaged the land and absorbed the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali into one Assyrian Province (1 Kings 15:29). After the Assyrians took over, many people had begun to worship pagan ...

2286. Show Me What’s Real

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Have you ever found yourself in a position or place where you would rather not be? Sometimes it is our own doing, our own poor choices that bring us to a place we would not choose. At other times it is a series of circumstances that carries us to that place. A church near campus has a chapel for university students to meditate and pray. Students have the opportunity to reflect and share their thoughts in a notebook. The entries sometimes reveal an inner struggle. One young woman candidly shared, "My ...

2287. A Little Theology at Christmas

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

Scholars who study such things are quick to tell anyone who will listen that Christmas is much overrated as a church festival. If you ask the average person (even the average churchgoer) what the most important Christian festivals are, they will probably answer "Christmas and Easter," and most likely in that order. But, the scholars will point out, they are not even close in theological significance, Easter, with its empty tomb, being the primary reason there is Christianity. There are a number of ...

2288. A Disconcerting Sight

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

I once had a student whose dad was a pilot for a major airline who told me this true story. Her father flew DC-10s from St. Louis to the east coast. There were certain business people who took the same flights on a regular basis and, while certainly not friends, he recognized them enough to exchange pleasantries. One of these frequent travelers was visually impaired and used a guide dog. On one occasion, the flight was so delayed that it was decided to let the passengers back off the plane to wait in the ...

2289. Will It Last?

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

Sermon

John N. Brittain

A quarter-century ago, the little college at which I worked offered a scholarship for one year of study to a church official from Liberia who needed updating in business and accounting practices. Since this was a mature individual with a wife and children to support, leaving them for a whole year was a big deal, particularly since the scholarship covered his expenses at school but little else. Nonetheless, this was an important opportunity, and he prepared diligently so that when he set off for America it ...

2290. In the Balance

Romans 5:12-19

Sermon

David O. Bales

"He started it." You've probably heard that from the backseat or from a distant bedroom. "He started it." If you have a daughter, the variation is, "She started it." Children become more sophisticated as they grow up, but the jostling and blaming continue. Blaming one another is a human trait; that's why it's recorded in the Bible's story of Adam. In Hebrew, the name, Adam, means "humanity" and the name, Eve, means "life." In Genesis, chapter 3, after Adam eats the fruit, he blames Eve and then goes on to ...

2291. A Truly Universal Operating System

Romans 14:1-12

Sermon

Larry Lange

Once upon a time, in a garage in the ancient city of Rome, a man developed a computer operating system that became the digital lingua franca for the ancient world. How his operating system defeated its competitor is one of the great mysteries of all time. There must have been something about its ugly, utilitarian appearance and its proclivity toward redundancy that appealed to the brutal bureaucrats who established the Roman Empire. Even the name of the operating system came from a word butchered beyond ...

2292. Unlocking the Access

Ephesians 3:1-12

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Did any of you hear or see this story back in November. It originally appeared in the Columbus, Ohio paper and was reported in both the newspaper and on ABC 13 News. Here's the headline: Teen locked out of house ends up stuck in chimney An Ohio teenager who locked himself out of the house tried to make like Santa Claus and shimmy down the chimney. It didn't work. Firefighters in Columbus say the 15-year-old was small enough to get most of the way down the chimney, which was about a foot wide. But the flue ...

2293. Mystery of the Unlikely

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In the year 1870 the Methodists in Indiana were having their Annual Conference. At one point, the president of the college where they were meeting said, "I think we live in a very exciting age." The presiding bishop said "What do you see in our future?" The college president responded, "I believe we are coming into a time of great inventions. I believe, for example, that men will fly through the air like birds." The Bishop was indignant and said, "That's heresy! The Bible says that flight is reserved for ...

2294. Totally Poured Out

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Mike Krzyzewski [pronounced “shuh- shef-skee”] is coach of the national champion Duke Blue Devils basketball team. He is known as being meticulous in his pursuit of basketball success. In his book titled, Leading with the Heart, he attributes much of his success to his mother. He writes, “You want to know who my hero is? My hero is my mother. Everything she did was something that she put her own trademark on. Whatever it was, something as simple as making a batch of chocolate chip cookies. When we were a ...

2295. Some Not So Bright Thieves

Lk 23:33-43

Illustration

King Duncan

Not everybody who takes up a life of crime is all that smart. Sometimes movies or television glorify criminals. They make them appear sophisticated, even cool. Most criminals do not fall in that category. Like the guy who walked into a little corner store in England with a shotgun and demanded all the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but the ...

2296. Full Body Scans or Re-spect Spectacles

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How many of you have had the experience of being stripped naked before a room full of strangers? Anyone here this morning ever been strip-searched? You have if you’re a frequent flier. You have if you’ve recently flown through any of the sixty-plus airports that now use “full body scans” as part of their security procedures. Just as the “shoe bomber” made it a requirement for all of us to pad around barefoot on grungy airport floors, the “underwear bomber” has led to the use of these virtual strip-down ...

2297. The Case of the Dancing Men

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be fans of the PBS show, “Mystery.” Pastor Richard Slater tells about a scene in one of those PBS presentations, a Sherlock Holmes mystery, “The Case of the Dancing Men.” As the story opens, a young woman is gathering flowers in her garden. Suddenly, her face is transformed into terror by something she sees. She drops her basket of flowers and runs panic stricken toward her home. Once inside, she bolts the windows and doors, draws the drapes tight, and falls sobbing and trembling into a ...

2298. The Triumph and the Tragedy

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

On Palm Sunday April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army, at the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. This surrender ended the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. State against state, brother against brother; it was a conflict that literally tore our nation apart. Five days later Good Friday, April 14, 1865 America’s most revered president, Abraham Lincoln, was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theatre ...

2299. Why Are You Here?

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. William P. Barker once told a beautiful story about the isle of Iona. Iona is off the west coast of Scotland. It seems that in the sixth century A.D. St. Columba sailed from Ireland to the Isle of Iona. Ever since then Iona has been considered a holy place by many Christians. The focal point of Iona, says Barker, is the magnificent Abbey Church. The foundation of this gem of early Christian architecture is over 1,400 years old. The church has been lovingly rebuilt, stone by stone. Once the exterior ...

2300. Was There No Other Way?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

King Duncan

Are you familiar with the legend of the robin? According to this tale the robin was originally a little brown bird. That is, until Good Friday the FIRST Good Friday. On that dark day this little brown bird saw a man nailed to a cross, slowly dying. He was all by himself . . . and there was no one to help him. The little brown bird began trying to free the man from the cross. The bird flew around and around until he found a way to remove a thorn from the crown of thorns that circled the man’s head, and in ...

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