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 2451 to 2475 of 4957 results

2451. Enter God

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... who sent me.” Enter God. Now the Scripture opens wider to me, prompting deep stirrings in my heart. I begin to feel uncomfortable. Perhaps I may not know how to handle a child; but, with Jesus present, I have guidance. I have nothing to bring and no claim to lay on Jesus. I fight complete surrender. At last, just as Job did centuries ago, I realize that I can only bow in submission, having seen him face-to-face, offering my self, my soul, my all. In recognition of his majesty, justice, and mercy, I stand ...

2452. A Sign Of Divine Protection

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... the Lord. God has given with clarity a sign of divine protection. Let us, therefore, give to God a quality life so that the blessing received will not be in vain. We were saved in order that others might see the light and share in the salvation experience, as they claim the revelation of the divine protection plan.

2453. Nothing Is Impossible

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... , “I Am that I Am.” Jesus declared, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours...(Mark 11:24).” Now that’s faith, believing that your request is already done. It’s good to hear people say, “I claim it in Jesus’ name.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the waters came rushing in on the Egyptian army and they all perished. Israel’s enemy had been soundly defeated. The text declared, “Not one of them survived.” God is thorough in ...

2454. Holy Unto The Lord

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... factor surrounding the reality of God in the affairs of history is found in the existence of a dialogical relationship. It must be said that God speaks to whom he wills. Moses was an unexpected choice to be in dialogue with God. He had no prior claim to leadership skills. Furthermore, he was not a fluent speaker. Yet God chose him for a significant position of leadership in the life of Israel. It was Moses who spoke first, and the text simply declares that, “The voice of God answered him.” A spiritual ...

2455. Saved By Grace

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon

Walter Kimbrough

... for, love expression given in spite of the recipient. Furthermore, grace is that something which one cannot work to earn, buy, borrow or take by force. It is only realized as a gift grounded in faith. An old native American man did not have significant claim to fame. No one recorded his success in life among the listing of who’s who. He had never been featured on television or radio; popularity had systematically eluded him. Jesus Christ had no meaning in his life, but one day a missionary introduced him ...

2456. An Overwhelming Promise

Eulogy

Joe Barone

... God. One time I heard a person say, “To forgive, first you have to be hurt.” What he was saying is that forgiveness is not easy. Until you’re hurt and hurt deeply, you don’t have anything to forgive. And that’s the way it is with death. To claim the promise of the loving Savior, first we have to know the pain death brings. It’s not easy to have to say good-bye, even for a little while, and when we talk about the power of a loving God, we’re not saying we shouldn’t hurt. Instead ...

2457. God Can Change The Past

Eulogy

Joe Barone

... do you seek the living among the dead,” the angel said. “Remember how he told you ... he must be crucified and rise again.” Let Us Pray Almighty and loving God, lead us as you have led so many, from the martyrs to the patient faithful. Help us to claim the presence of your Son’s death and resurrection for the one we love, and for ourselves, and call us to hold Christ’s hand and walk one day at a time — in his presence and your love. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. *Person’s first name**Person ...

2458. Signs Of Glory

Eulogy

Joe Barone

... Holy Spirit, but he is, as we have always been taught, fully human and yet fully divine, and the gospel according to John emphasizes the divine. That’s what makes the story of the raising of Lazarus so powerful. The ancient world was full of people who claimed to be able to raise others from the dead. It was full of miracle workers of all kinds. And whether or not the miracles were true, people believed them. But Jesus’ raising of Lazarus was different. It wasn’t a trick, it wasn’t even a miracle ...

2459. God Works Through Opposites

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... that I just shared with you. God operates through contrasts and negations, he says, in order to exercise our faith. How is our faith exercised by a God who works through contrasts and opposites? Martin Luther said it so well in one of his earliest sermons. He claimed that God works through contrasts (that God hides himself) in order to make us sinners.2 He makes us sinners. By making himself absent from us, by making it appear that he is powerless and unable to help us (unable to help our loved ones), God ...

2460. Focus Your Faith

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... and ears to everything but him and his words."2 Just cuddle up on Christ's lap. Don't get Luther and me wrong at this point. We are not saying that you cannot find God in nature, or in your prayers, or in life. We are not making that claim. We are merely saying that if this is all the data that you have, you cannot quite be sure that there is a loving God. For there are things in life that do not seem so beautiful. Jesus is rather like a pair of glasses, a pair of glasses that ...

2461. The Resurrection Is Freedom

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... life that God gives us sets us free from sin and the fear of death, free to serve him anew. Our second lesson from Paul's letter to the Romans makes the same point. Paul says it explicitly at the beginning of the chapter from which we are reading. He claims to be talking about the new life which Christ has given the faithful. Here is what he says: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2)." Free from sin and death. That is ...

2462. Dispelling Ministry Illusions

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... -class citizenship! Illusion number one: "We are not ordained clergy." Down. Two to go! The Power Of God Is Discovered In The Gifts Of The People "I don't know how to speak; I am too young . . .," Jeremiah initially protested. Similar feelings are experienced today before the sweeping claims of God who expects his baptized people to act for him: "I'm not eloquent." "I'm too young." "I'm too old." "I'm not capable." "I'm too weak." "I can't do it." At baptism God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. In life ...

2463. From Inferiority To Fulfillment

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... be called My Delight." Today's English Version says that Israel's new name is, "God is Pleased with Her." The Living Bible says, "Your new name will be 'The Land of God's Delight' and 'The bride,' for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his own." In Hebrew the word is Hephzi-bah, which is the ultimate affirmation. Literally this Hebrew word means "My delight is in her." The affirmation is of great consequence, especially because the Jews in exile in Babylonia had felt utterly forsaken by Yahweh ...

2464. Robert Paul, You Were Right!

Daniel 7:1-14, Daniel 7:15-28

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... in every country in the world? Young and small as we are we are still a part of the universal Christian church. Still further, are not the saints of all the ages our ancestors, too? May we not claim the following as our own? Twentieth century witnesses -- Mother Teresa, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Bishop Tutu, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Kagawa; Social reformers -- William Booth, Elizabeth Fry and Walter Rauschenbusch; Pioneer missionaries -- William Carey, Mary Slessor and David Livingstone; Puritans -- Thomas ...

2465. No One Enters The Kingdom… Save With Empty Hands

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... , should not even be present at the Games. Jesse Owens was not only present, but he went on to win four gold medals in the 100-meter-dash, the 200-meter-dash, the broad jump and the 400-meter relay race. He demolished Hitler’s claim that the Aryan race was superior to all others. Furthermore, this soft-spoken black athlete embarrassed Hitler and undermined his pompous authority in the heart of the Fatherland. Today is Christ the King Sunday in the liturgical calendar, an appropriate time for us to grapple ...

2466. Leaping For Joy

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... is no room for long faces in the company of the redeemed. Despite its clear-cut demands Christian discipleship is deeply satisfying. There is a direct link between obedience and joy. We begin in obedience and end in joy. No one has more of a claim on celebration than the one who has been stirred by God’s amazing grace. Even though the celebrative mood has a solid scriptural base, how often the upbeat, life-affirming person is suspect. One of my favorite Lincoln anecdotes is about the two Quaker ladies ...

2467. The Road To The Wilderness

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... struggling with. He knew who he was, and what he was all about. He knew what he had to do. But, during that time in the wilderness he clarified his mission, his message and his method. His mission was to usher in the new age of God's kingdom, to claim the world for God and to offer his own life as proof of God's love. His message was about the kingdom of God, and life in this kingdom - a radical upside down view of the world - entirely different from what people thought. His method was to gather about ...

2468. Wedding: Love and Fear

1 John 4:1-6

Sermon Aid

Charles E. Wolfe

... man and wife, but in Ephesians 5:25 husbands and wives are to love each other as Christ loves the church. This had better be more consistent than the vagaries of our emotions, or else our future in Christ is not as secure as the New Testament claims. It is appropriate to place ____’s and ____’s love for each other within the larger context of the interlocking areas of concern for God and the brothers and sisters in Christ. The essence of a marriage is their decision that they can live more effectively ...

2469. The Illusion Of Neutrality

Deuteronomy 30:11-20

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... great social issues. Moral neutrality shows itself in broadminded tolerance which sees all matters of good and evil not in terms of black and white, but in terms of differing shades of grey. Spiritual neutrality chooses neither belief nor atheism, but leaves the matter of God's claim on our lives up in the air. Picture, if you will, a person who tries to live under this dangerous illusion. Here is a person who works as a clerk in a big store and lives quietly with his family in a modest suburban home. "I am ...

2470. Questions

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

John Jamison

... speak John's words. Oh Lord, what have I gotten myself into?" And calling disciples. Matthew makes it sound so easy. It sounds easy for both Jesus and the new followers. But I have to wonder if it really was that easy? If Jesus called disciples, he was claiming to be someone worth following, someone worth paying attention to. It would put him, even more, in that spotlight that sometimes gets so bright it burns you. I have to wonder if when he got up that morning and walked beside the Sea of Galilee he was ...

2471. Watching The Eyes

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

John Jamison

... him, and am never quite sure I will. Is this child a president, or maybe a doctor or teacher? Is this child a mother, or a father, or maybe even a great-grandfather? Is this child a criminal, or could it be the Christ? You never really know. When God claims one of these, you never really know who it will become. All that I know is that one of these days, this little squirming bundle of life is going to "Be." But who? It's no different baptizing older people. I already knew who they were. I have baptized ...

2472. The Call To Victory

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Sims Robert

... Victory is in the air this morning, it is in our faces, it is in our voices, and in truth it is in our hearts. We have already won. Our loved ones who died during this past year have lost nothing but have in fact gone on to claim the crown of righteousness which the righteous judge has kept for them. We, too, have already won, before we lose that job, before the heart attack, before the operation, before the sorrow of grief, before failure with our children or spouse or self, before those feelings of being ...

2473. Chosen By God

Ruth 4:1-12

Sermon

Sims Robert

... permitted her to gather leftover grain in the field. When compared to the giants of the covenant like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, the Moabite woman, Ruth, seems insignificant and out of place as a main character in the Bible. She was a foreigner whose only claim to remembrance was her devotion to her mother-in-law and her cleverness in securing a husband. Ruth didn’t feel very special but she was. In Matthew’s gospel we learn why. Ruth, the pitiful widow from Moab, through her marriage to Boaz and ...

2474. At The Name Of Jesus

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... Kingdoms Meet The interface of these two kingdoms is the crisis of Holy Week and the challenge of every devout Christian life since that day. The charges brought to Pilate are of alleged treasonable acts and teachings, misleading the people and claiming to be a king. Patronizing the Romans to manipulate their desired judgment against the Christ, they affirm their "loyalty" to Caesar. "We have no king but Caesar!" the chief priest shouted. Pilate, who cared little about the religious squabbles of the Jews ...

2475. Crown Him Lord!

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... next. There seems to be a willingness for many to accept the teachings of Jesus but not the divinity of the Christ. Many cannot accept the eternal dimensions that come most naturally with Christ and his teachings. Today's gospel brings us squarely before Jesus' claim. The criminal, having admitted his own guilt, acknowledges Jesus' kingly state by his request. He begs to be remembered in whatever future awaits them. By his asking, he is begging a gift only a king over the next life has any authority to give ...

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