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 2326 to 2350 of 4977 results

2326. Saving A Church

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

... she said that. I’m hanging it up. What’s the matter with you, I asked. Well, she answered, this is my last Sunday. I thought that she was retiring from the choir. She had been in it about 30 years. No, she said, I’m not retiring I’m quitting. She said: I finally accepted the question that has been haunting me for years now. I looked out at all of the people, the ushers, the pastor. And it just finally sunk into me——who cares. Who cares whether or not I am in the choir. Who cares whether or ...

2327. Partners With the Eternal

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

"Bring them ... to me." - Matthew 14:18 One of the best known stories of Jesus concerns the feeding of five thousand persons. To assuage the appetites of that many people all at one time and place would be quite an achievement anytime, anywhere. But the achievement is infinitely great when it is accomplished with five loaves of bread and two small fish. I am sure a great many restauranteurs and homemakers would like to know how to make so little food go so far. I am sure it would ...

2328. Come From Anywhere

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... to them, but to the world. Here this brief roadside drama comes to an end. At this point, Jesus turns his group of followers back toward Galilee, and soon they are in their own land again. And what is it that has happened here? Well, it is quite apparent that Jesus had gone into Phoenicia so that his disciples might discover an essential truth he wanted them to know. The Master had done his teaching well. And equally well, the disciples should have learned the lesson he was teaching that day. And the lesson ...

2329. The Importance of Believing

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

"... On this rock I will build ..." - Matthew 16:18 The disciples of Jesus had been with him for quite a long time, a couple of years probably. Then one day he asked them, "Who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15). I doubt if he asked that question because he was concerned about his reputation. He asked it, I rather think, because he was concerned about his ...

2330. The Lord's People Together

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

... on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them ..." (Matthew 18:19) Does this mean that it takes two people to make the kind of prayer that will be answered? I don't know. I really doubt if it means this exactly. But I am quite sure it is saying something to us about the very great importance of our being together with one another as disciples of our Lord. Second: again and again in his teachings, Jesus promises always to be with his people. We get the impression that wherever one of his people ...

2331. An Everyday Theology

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... does not deliberately send such pains and sufferings upon us. Again, an everyday theology provides the answer. If we ask the question in an everyday context - "Would a human father work this way?" - "Would you act this way toward your children?" - the answer becomes quite clear: no, my role as a human parent would not allow me to do this to my sons and daughters, even for supposedly good purposes. An everyday theology, imbedded in the realities and good sense of everyday life and relationships, is a very ...

2332. Full Barns and Empty Hearts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... grace; In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place. Having full barns alone doesn’t bring inward peace, nor does it fill the empty places of the heart. Do we ever really reach the point where we quit worrying about economic security - even when the barns are full and overflowing? I have a hunch that the wealthy take as much Sominex as do those on the lower edge of the economic heap. My guess is that they, too, have trouble sleeping because of gnawing anxieties ...

2333. Do I Give Up Praying Too Soon?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

... and aunts. I can understand that the man inside had plenty of reason to say, "Don’t bother me. The floor is covered with bodies and I don’t want to step on anyone. I can’t get up to get you a thing." But the man outside wouldn’t quit. And so as Jesus observed: I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. (Luke 11:8) Importunity means being persistent to the point of nagging. Another ...

2334. The Freedom To Be Wrong

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... parents have of you and you’re pleased with that. Good for you. You are with the gang at your favorite gathering place and you are taking some of them home. Everyone is laughing and you are backing up - and all of a sudden, crunch. Never happened to you before. Quite a blow, to the rear fender and to your self-image. When dad sees the dent in the morning ... If you’re like many of us, driven by the need to be right, you’ll be tossing in bed all night, testing out one alibi after another. Here’s a ...

2335. Christ the King The King On His Cross

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Alvin Rueter

... . But it couldn’t last. The owner of the land might run them off, or a bunch of girls would come by, or some boy’s mom or dad would come and holler for some fool reason. A hint of paradise to taunt us. Almost in our grasp but not quite. George Friedrich Handel, one of the great writers of church music, had such a glimpse of paradise when he was creating his oratorio, Messiah. He said that as he was composing it, "I did think I saw all heaven open and the great God himself." His music gives us goose ...

2336. A Mission and a Message

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

... more months before anyone - pastors or evangelism committee members, or even neighbors who belonged to that congregation - ever visited them and invited them to join the congregation. The irony of the situation is that the people are wealthy, and I suspect would be quite generous in their financial response to the work of the congregation in that community and the world. Thank God that we do a respectable job in the area of education and social missions today, and that our worship is becoming more dynamic ...

2337. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

... land mine that is detonated only once, the parables are detonated every time we step on them. The parable may be the same, but in kaleidoscopic fashion the design is changed with every turn of time. The word it brings us in the here-and-now will be quite different from the word it brought us in the there-and-then. So it is with this one, The Parable of the Unrighteous Judge, or the Parable of the Persistent Widow, or the Parable of Persevering Prayer, or the Parable of Tenacious Faith. It has been known by ...

2338. An Encounter With Two Old Friends

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... I am less inclined to roller skate across it in my reading of Saint Luke, as though encountering these two old friends could be a casual meeting. Both of them, surprisingly, have taken on new life, and they appear as mirror images of someone whom I know quite well, although not well enough. So as I introduce you to these two old friends again today, you will recognize them, too, though not as bearded characters from Bible days, nor even as contemporaries in your life scene now, but as reflections of the man ...

2339. The Sermon on the Level

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

... waistlines. And across the Scripture, have you noticed, our relationship with God is frequently defined in terms of our relation to the poor, the hungry, the oppressed. The new life of the kingdom makes the difference. The Vision of What Will Be It is quite unlikely that this new life of the Kingdom will stamp its imprint on the lifestyle of the world, that differences between the nations will be settled in a lasting peace, that distrust measured by an arsenal of nuclear advantage will be dissipated, that ...

2340. The Nearest Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... ." "He did touch you. How do you think God touches people? That he comes down like a fog blanket or a pillar of fire? When God touches people he takes the nearest hand and uses that." That sounds good, doesn’t it? And it’s almost right. Almost, but not quite. She left out one word. When God touches people he takes the nearest willing hand and uses that. The Gospel for today is a case in point. The nearest hand to the stricken traveler was the hand of the priest, but it wasn’t a willing hand. The next ...

2341. I Voted for God

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... , and on our prayers as a bargaining session with God. It becomes a give-and-take experience. I am voting for Jesus. Where is my patronage? We talk a lot about the Christian life being no guarantee of specific dispensation, but many of us can’t quite seem to accept the idea. The Christian life does not protect us from our own incompetence, our own sin and our own foolishness. It does not protect us from the malice and evil in other people, nor from ill health and death. There is much seeming injustice ...

2342. Dodging the Thrust

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... in the big city some distance away. She assured her children that she couldn’t get lost. She had certain landmarks. She always knew the way home, and how close to home she was getting. Then they put in the new highway. She said, "Now I never know quite where I am, or how close I am to home. I’ve lost my landmarks." Perhaps those three young men, like that woman and like some sheep, have lost their landmarks, too - the home of their childhood, the gospel hymns in the little church, the mother who heard ...

2343. Formula for Life

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

... youth in real life activities with built-in compensations. No less important than the immediate returns were the development of skills and capacities directly related to lifetime activities. Whether or not this is a fair appraisal of the two programs, the point made is quite relevant to our discussion. The Christian religion is not something to be artificially imposed on life. It is the essence of real living. So what is the formula for real life as Amos and Jesus outline it for us? It is to seek the ...

2344. Of Preachers and Preaching

Micah 1:8-16

Sermon

... the living God. They, like Micah, are supposed to deliver the word, not merely as it has been derived from past revelation but also as it has come to them directly from their experience with God. But there are many impediments in the way. Quite understandably, some preachers find it safer, therefore, to stay strictly with what the Bible says than to seek any fresh, updated insight into God’s continuing revelation of truth. People, they have found, seem more comfortable with the thought that God was alive ...

2345. Counsel for Discouraged Disciples

Habakkuk 1:1-4

Sermon

... to think God is unconcerned about the evil, or that he is not supportive of us in our resistance to it, we will do well to think carefully about how we expect him to work his will in the world. His schedule and perspective may be quite different from ours. Dr. Leslie Weatherhead has made the helpful suggestion that God’s will must be understood as three-dimensional. First, there is God’s intentional will; then there is God’s permissive will; and finally, there is God’s ultimate will, what he keeps ...

2346. Working and Praying Go Together

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

... II. So, working and praying go together. But now we come to the flip-side of this coin and confront another challenge. As work is a problem for many, so for others prayer is the problem. Some folks say they have been praying for a long time, and quite in earnest, but nothing happens. Prayer doesn't work, they claim. It is not effective. That always reminds me of the passage in Mark Twain's unforgettable story of Huckleberry Finn. At one point in the story Twain puts these words into Huck's mouth: Miz Watson ...

2347. Overcoming Life's Obstacles

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

... off his royal sonship? Was he a trickster, bent on frightening his friends in this spooky way? Was it all like the song of Herod suggests in the rock opera, Jesus Christ Superstar? Herod sings this: Jesus, I am overjoyed to meet you face to face You've been getting quite a name all around the place Healing cripples raising from the dead And now I understand you're God at least that's what you've said So you are the Christ you're the great Jesus Christ Prove to me that you're divine - change my water into ...

2348. The Yoke of Christ

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

... you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light." (St. Matthew 11:29, 30 TEV) Life is full of questions. One we frequently ask, consciously sometimes and unconsciously other times, is this: how can I find some rest? Some people ask that question quite literally. They have trouble sleeping. They have insomnia. If Sominex can't do it, then how can I find some rest? they ask. Others want a different kind of rest. They seek relief from a busy schedule. A rat-race daily life bugs them. Relief from family ...

2349. Practice Being Good

1 Thessalonians 4:1

Children's Sermon

... isn’t easy, is it? Would one of you like to try? (Let one try it. A child whom you know won’t do it well). It is hard, isn’t it? Now I think that if I couldn’t do any better than I can right now I would quit. But if I knew that by practicing and practicing I would get better, then I would do it lots of times. I would do it more and more. The reason that I told you this is because it seems that no matter how hard we try, we fail. It doesn ...

2350. Bringing Back the Shine

Romans 6:6

Children's Sermon

... slower and feel worse and worse. At first when God comes into your life it may be a little rough, he may even feel like sandpaper as he gets you to stop doing the wrong things that you’ve been doing. But then, in a little while, we’re not quite so rusty and we’re able to move better and better and the first thing you know, we’ve put our lives in the hands of God and we feel free. We can play and work much better because we’re not covered with sin and what we thought was ...

Showing results