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 2426 to 2450 of 4962 results

2426. Advent 2

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19, Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12, Romans 15:4-13

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

... (Sing verse 2 of the hymn chosen for Advent 1.) Burn brightly in our hearts, Lord, and set us on the path. Offertory Prayer Leader: Gracious God, we are the work of your hands and we come before you with thanksgiving. All: Receive these gifts as signs of hope, that what you have begun in our lives will continue until that great day comes when you will make all things new. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Eucharistic Prayer If you are serving in a congregation whose tradition it is to use ...

2427. Lent 5

Psalm 130:1-8, Ezekiel 37:1-14, John 11:1-45, Romans 8:6-11

Bulletin Aid

Amy C. Schifrin

... nothing left, All: my soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. Leader: It is a promise ... unbroken ... listen — All: O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy. Leader: It is hope beyond all hoping. All: With God there is plenteous redemption, and we shall be redeemed from all our sins. Prayer Of The Day Leader: You, who defeated the tempter and made the blind to see; you, who fills us from the wellsprings of your love and brings ...

2428. Full Body Scans or Re-spect Spectacles

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... they emit cannot penetrate into our cavities, our mind, our heart, our spirit. Nor can they reveal the intentions, the desires, the hopes, the fears, the virtues or the vices we harbor within ourselves. It takes a different kind of light to get under our ... compassion and companionship. Instead of finding failure the respect-spectacles focus our gaze forward onto a horizon of hope and possibility. Instead of condemnation, the respect-spectacles offer vistas and visions of forgiveness. Even though none of us ...

2429. A Power Higher Than I

Matthew 2:13-23

Illustration

William B. Kincaid, III

... was over. "I want what you have," Shelly told Martha, "I want what you have." Shelly wanted the compassion and depth and hope which Martha knew, but she may not have realized fully how Martha came to know those things. Martha learned compassion from a ... time of deep personal suffering. She acquired spiritual depth from hours of praying when there was nowhere else to turn. She discovered hope by taking one step at a time because "one day at a time" was too much to be expected. Shelly said, "I want what ...

2430. The Case of the Dancing Men

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... She was shocked by the letters. And the reason she was shocked was that she was not pregnant. She was not the desperate young woman who had called earlier . . . Apparently some other girl had dialed a wrong number. I told you it was bizarre, but true. Don’t you hope that the girl who did call was brought to faith by what she thought was the response of her father to her situation? We don’t know what the phone call meant to her, but what is impressive was the reaction of the man’s real daughter to the ...

2431. Daring Thomas

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... and churches in India named after St. Thomas and inscribed with his 52 A. D. landing and missionary work there before he was later martyred. The oldest of India’s churches ascribe their faith to the missionary work of daring Thomas. (6) I hope there’s a bit of Daring Thomas in you. I hope there’s a bit of Daring Thomas in me. Faith is not to be taken for granted. We would not be in this room today if earlier generations of Christ’s followers had taken their faith for granted. We probably will never ...

2432. A Picture of Evangelism

John 17:1-11

Illustration

Richard J. Fairchild

... rock protruded out of the water. There, clutching desperately with both hands, was one lone seaman. It was a moving scene. Looking at the painting, one could see in the tempest a symbol of humankind's hopeless condition. And, true to the Gospel, the only hope of salvation was "the Rock of Ages", a shelter in the time of storm. But as the artist reflected upon his work, he realized that the painting did not accurately portray his subject. So he discarded the canvas, and painted another. It was very similar ...

2433. Wrong!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... church can count on new “wrongs” with every new year. That does not mean we have failed. That does not mean the gospel is false. It DOES mean that the Church must always keep its heart and soul focused and fixated, not on itself, not on its own history and hopes, but on nothing less than Jesus the Christ. We will always get things wrong. We will even get the same things wrong, over and over again. But that is not a problem for the Body of Christ, as long as we know the ultimate truth. And what is that ...

2434. The Mouse Christmas

Drama

Frank Ramirez

... costume and recites his or her lines into the microphone.) Mouse King I have a present and follow the star To seek where the hope of the world is, or are. My grammar’s uncertain, but I read the skies And know from antiquity wherefore and whys A ... just like a mother protect him from harm. From now in the present to days from of old, So many children have suffered from cold. Hope comes in packages small but still able. Let’s protect babies, and start in this stable. Mouse Baby I am the smallest, no if, but ...

2435. Do You Hear What I Hear?

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the mighty king, "Do you hear what I hear? In your palace warm, mighty king, Do you hear what I hear? A Child, a Child shivers in the cold Let us bring him silver and gold, Let us bring him silver and gold." Something new and unexpected. A word of hope in a hopeless world. Do you hear it? That is the message of Advent. That is the message of the coming of Jesus. Said the king to the people everywhere, "Listen to what I say! Pray for peace, people everywhere, Listen to what I say! The Child, the Child ...

2436. A Winsome Witness

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of ultimate fire insurance, but tell about him as you have come to know him ... in your own life, in your family, in your church. No need to theologize. If a specific question is asked, answer it. Other than that, tell your story. By the way, if we ever hope to have an opportunity to share our own experience of faith with a friend, it would be a good idea if we have thought about it some beforehand. What would you answer if someone came up to you and asked you point-blank about why you became a Christian ...

2437. Grand Opening

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... households on their backs and heads, it is a quantum leap forward, sometimes freeing up as many as 100 people for work other than hand carrying. Earl Miner's garage became the worldwide headquarters for the TRAG, and Earl responded to cynics by saying that our hope for the world is for "spirituality added to technology." It seems to me like a gift that would be right at home alongside the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What can I do? No matter how much care went into the purchase of those Christmas gifts ...

2438. The Eyes of Faith

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... you can't get over or around or under such problems. Most of the time you have to go through them. For that, you need eyes of faith. Hebrews 11 teaches about this journey through problems. The author describes faith this way: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The only way to see things not seen is through eyes of faith. What does this mean? The author gives some examples. By faith, we understand that the world was formed by God. We never saw it. By faith, Noah ...

2439. Interceding for Us Now

Hebrews 7:23-28

Sermon

Patrick J. Rooney

... of acclamations — "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again." We hold to the truth of Jesus having lived among us, fully human and fully divine. We hold to the truth that indeed this man died on the cross for us. We cling to the hope of the promise from that same Jesus that he will come again in power and great glory. But between the coming and the coming again, where is this Jesus and what is he doing? Living in the immediacy of these between times, the early church struggled with this ...

2440. Make a 119 Call

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a 911 call to in the last ten years — a call of panic, despair, depression, a call of giving bad news and offering bad advice? What if followers of Jesus were to make some “119” calls?” Calls that spread good news. Calls that offer hope and help. Calls that celebrate and congratulate. We are a 119 people, not solving people’s problems, but bringing people comfort and mercy and prayer and help, bringing people consecrated chicken soup. Besides “Day by Day,” maybe our theme song could be Psalm ...

2441. The Waiting Room

John 1:1-18

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... I hiccuped through the whole thing. (hiccups) We all did badly and my teacher thinks I wrecked the curve! (hiccups) I just hope I don’t have to get a shot! (hiccups) Mr. Rush: Now I’ve heard everything, but I suppose it ... (Nurse enters ... I couldn’t tell, they closed the door. Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s in good hands and she’ll be okay. Waiting Man: I hope you’re right. I can’t take much more waiting. (Mr. Rush and Nurse reenter. Mr. Rush has an additional sling on the other arm.) Nurse: Be ...

2442. Don't Mess with the IRS

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... is a plumber. He helped some people fix up a house for my friend’s family because their first house burned down. He also visits my grandmother in the nursing home and makes her happy with his stories and his harmonica playing. He is a lot like Jesus. I hope he wins. But if he doesn’t it won’t matter. He will still be the same good old Anthony.” And it was signed, “Love, Anne.” (5) I like that. He “makes [my grandmother] happy with his stories and his harmonica playing. He is a lot like Jesus ...

2443. Baptism: The Light Shatters the Darkness

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... by setting a good example in action and in word. We are to be evangelists to a world that badly needs Christ's message of hope and peace. There is no need to stand on a street corner or go door to door and tell people in an overt way about ... the good and charge forward to the light, as we move daily toward our return to God. Jesus came to bring the light of truth and hope and dispel the darkness of ignorance and fear. As the prologue of Saint John's gospel says, "What has come into being in him was life ...

2444. The Renewal of Life

Isaiah 43:18-25

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... good for nothing but to be thrown into the fire." The poor tree wept. All around him he saw his fellow trees being made into beautiful objects but he was good for nothing except to be chopped up and burned. He would die and never live forever as he had hoped. Then one day, a new carver appeared in the forest. He walked up to the tree sat down and looked at it with great concentration. After some time, he left and went away. Over the next several days, the man returned each day looked at the tree, but said ...

2445. Troubled Waters

Genesis 9:8-17

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... parted to reveal a silver lining, which issued forth into a glorious rainbow! And the animals were included! One account (not in the Bible) reports a conversation that Noah had with a gorilla boarding the ark. Noah asked, "Where is your mate?" The gorilla answered, "I was hoping to meet her on the ark. I have heard that a cruise is a good place to find a wife!" That silly story makes a point. The flood story is about the salvation of all life on earth. Somehow it all worked out; the gorilla species is ...

2446. The Last Compact

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... believer, Jeremiah announced a salvation that he may not have totally comprehended. God spoke through him about God's unbounded and unconditional forgiveness. If Jeremiah's vision gave hope to those in captivity in Babylon, how much more is the boundless hope that fills our hearts and lights the path of our journey to the kingdom beyond the dark cross of Golgotha? In hope we enter the final week before Passion Sunday, eager to see the light at the end of his "way of sorrows." Amen. 1. C. S. Lewis, The ...

2447. Three O’Clock at the Temple

Acts 3:12-19

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... him! He's the innocent man you sent to the cross! But know this! That very man you murdered has given new life and hope to the lame man at the gate! What do you think about that?" There was a little soul searching that day. Maybe people don' ... whole and leaping and dancing! The man you killed was raised from the dead with great power. It is that same man who gave back life and hope to this poor soul! God had it all planned out! It was not a coincidence! God has made good on his promises to the fathers, to ...

2448. Dancing in Holy Places

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... old Scots left to us was their enthusiastic, awestruck worship of God, the sense that something is happening here that makes a difference to us and to our loved ones, especially those who have gone on to be with God. Thus David's divine destiny dance, full of joy and hope, is our dance, too, one that we do no matter how hard life has been because our Lord Christ danced on Easter morn and we can, too. I don't know about you but that's the only thing that gets me through a week with lots of deaths in ...

2449. A Preview of God

Illustration

... see that her spirit had risen far above this world. These were her words, 'O glorious resurrection! O God of Abraham and of all of our fathers, the believers of all the ages have trusted on Thee and none of them have hoped in vain. And now I fix my hope on Thee.' These short statements were cried out rather than distinctly spoken. These were not lines suggested by someone else but came from her own thoughts." An hour later she could no longer speak and her mind seemed confused. "Yet her facial expressions ...

2450. Thank You for Coming

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... was when he was growing up. They were so poor, he said, they didn’t get presents, but on Christmas Eve they would hang up their stockings before they went to bed and sure enough, the next morning when they woke up they’d be nice and dry. Hope also said that since his folks couldn’t afford to buy them any toys for Christmas . . . every Christmas Eve after everyone went to bed, his father would tear an extra page off the calendar; and when the kids came downstairs the next morning, He’d point to the ...

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