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 4934 results

2451. Thankless Jobs

John 10:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

A family of five were enjoying their day at the beach. The children were bathing in the ocean and making castles in the sand when in the distance a little old lady appeared. Her gray hair was blowing in the wind and her clothes were dirty and ragged. She was muttering something to herself as she picked up things from the beach and put them into a bag. The parents called the children to their side and told them to stay away from the old lady. As she passed by, bending down every now and then to pick things ...

2452. If You Really Want To Be Helpful

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A nationally known minister of the Gospel was involved in a question/answer session. He was on stage with several prominent church leaders in front of a large audience made up of pastors and lay persons. The minister had just responded to a question from one of the other leaders on the panel when he was shocked to see someone rise in the audience. The person who stood up seemed to be out of place. Actually this person was a friend from the minister's past whom he had not seen since he had professed his ...

2453. Entertaining Angels

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a fascinating story in Time magazine sometime back about Melissa Deal Forth, 40, a film maker in Atlanta. It was about the day her husband Chris Deal died. It was exactly one year after he had been diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. The last months had been gruesome: treatments that could not save him, nights when she could not sleep. But Melissa was sleeping soundly at his hospital bedside on the morning of Jan. 4 when Chris managed, somehow, without being seen or heard, to maneuver ...

2454. Flesh-eaters; Blood Drinkers

John 6:51-58

Sermon

King Duncan

Some people have weird eating habits. But none weirder than Michel Lotito. Lotito ate everything. I mean EVERYTHING. In Amarillo, Texas, he ate a queen-sized bed. In Quebec he ate a whole bicycle. "The chain," he was quoted as saying, "was the tastiest part." In Marseilles he ate a car. A small car, true--a Renault, I think--but still a car. As James Dent once noted in his humorous book, James Dent Strikes Again, Lotito was not an overgrown termite. He was a human-type person born 1950 in Grenoble, France ...

2455. You Will Not Leave My Soul In Hell

Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

There are some people who never let anything get them down. They are like the little boy who kept bragging to his father about what a great batter he was. Finally the father said, "All right, son, show me what you can do!" So the little boy got his softball and bat and they went out to the backyard. The father stood over to the side while the boy tossed the ball up into the air and then swung the bat with all his might. "Strike one," said the little fellow after he had missed the ball completely. "Strike ...

2456. No Longer Orphans

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Have you ever wondered where sermons come from? I have. Especially when I first entered the ministry. I had an idea what I was going to preach about next Sunday, and a pretty good idea of what I would like to say a week from next Sunday; but I wondered: what on earth I would find to preach about five, ten, fifteen or twenty years down the road? Fortunately, thanks to the limitless resources available in the Holy Scripture, I never ran out of sermon topics in forty years of parish ministry, but the whole ...

2457. If Christ Had Not Come

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.” (John 15:22) What strange words are these! Especially the part where Jesus says, “If I had not come...” What would it be like, I wonder, if Christ had not come? Would it really make that much difference? Are we right in dating all human history from the birth of Christ, so that everything that has happened before He came is called “B.C.” (before Christ) and everything that has happened since then is ...

2458. Participants In The Gospel

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

January 6, this past Wednesday, was the day of Epiphany - the day when the Wise Men brought their gifts to the baby Jesus. Vast sections of the Christian world celebrate Epiphany in a special way. For Eastern Christians especially, this day, not the day which we celebrate as the birth of Jesus, is the occasion for gift giving. More important than that, on the Christian calendar, the season of Epiphany is the season of evangelism and mission. The season when we put the emphasis upon the taking the light of ...

2459. God Shaves With A Borrowed Razor

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

For weeks before Columbus discovered the new world, some members of his crew kept telling him, "Turn back before we run out of food and perish! Turn back before we are attacked by sea monsters! Turn back before we sail off the edge of the earth!" There was a name for those people -- we would call them today "Consultants." Now, obviously, I am in for making a little fun as we begin today -- but all for a purpose. I hope you will see it. Recently I came across a report of a Consultant. The title of the ...

2460. What Is Your Life?

James 4:13-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

When the historian H. G. Wells died in 1946, many of the newspapers reporting the event quoted the last words he ever spoke. Friends and nurses were fluttering about his bedside trying to be helpful, adjusting pillows, pulling up the covers, administering sedatives, and so on. Wells turned to them and said, "Don't bother me. Can't you see I'm busy dying." It was the last flicker of humor from a gallant spirit. I've been thinking about that lately...about the way people die. It says a lot about how they ...

2461. Return to the Father

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Karl Barth once remarked that the greatest tragedy in human life would be to come to the end of our days and to realize that we have been totally worthless in the purpose of God. Or in the thought of our Epistle lesson, at the end to realize that God has poured out his grace on us through all our years, and yet we have done nothing with it (2 Corinthians 6:1). It is that "end" that the prophet Joel is preaching about in our Old Testament lesson, the end of our lives, and in fact, the end of human history. ...

2462. Homesick For a Future: New Life for the New Millenium

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

I don’t know how it is with you, but occasionally I have flashbacks. Sometimes these are connected with a task at hand, or a decision with which I am struggling, or when I am wrestling with what I perceive as a call of God upon my life. Occasionally these flashbacks are connected with my preaching. It happened a couple of months ago. I was struggling with personal direction issues, but had also begun to think of the assignment of preaching on this occasion. The words of a young man named Nicholas in The ...

2463. Oh Taste and See

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Do you have a favorite psalm – other than Psalm 23? Is there a psalm that has spoken to you in a special way? Jerry and I had a wonderful experience about three weeks ago. There is a group of students on our campus who meet together each Sunday evening – they cook a common meal – eat together – then have a time of worship, praise, and prayer. It all began because we don’t serve a meal in the Commons on Sunday night and so three or four of them decided to get together and share food and pray. They rotate, ...

2464. News from the Flood

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

We have all heard the news of the floods in the Pacific Northwest, and in Northern California. Some of you, I know, were up there and saw them. Floods can be terrible, dangerous and devastating, sweeping away houses and other structures. I understand that Sacramento, which is built at the confluence of two rivers, the Sacramento and the American, almost flooded this time. People anticipated what a terrible devastation that would be. If the American River had risen a few more feet, that would have happened ...

2465. Transmission

1 John 3:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In our house, having a fresh grapefruit for breakfast is much more than a delicious, healthful, eye-opener. It's a painstaking reminder of the legacy of love that one generation can pass along to the next. A grapefruit? In my own past (when I was president of United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio from 1984 to 1995), I was taken under the wing of an amazing woman/gardener/philanthropist/ environmentalist named Marie Aull. She taught me so much, and we became such close friends, I dedicated a book to ...

2466. Ash Wednesday

Mt 6:1-6, 16-21 · 2 Cor 5:20b--6:10 · Ps 51:1-17 · Jl 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament texts explore the themes of sin and death that are central to Ash Wednesday. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 proclaims the judgment of God on sin through the terrible Day of the Lord, while Psalm 51:1-12 is a penitentiary prayer in which the guilt of the psalmist is confessed as a basis for petitioning God for deliverance. Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 - "The Terrible Day of God's Judgment" Setting. The reference to the Day of the Lord in Joel 2:1 provides important background for interpreting ...

2467. Baptism of the Lord

Psalm 29:1-11, Isaiah 42:1-9, Acts 10:23b-48, Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The central focus of the First Sunday After Epiphany is the baptism of Jesus. Isaiah 42:1-9 provides commentary for interpreting the significance of the baptism of Jesus for Christians, while Psalm 29 is a hymn of praise that can be used liturgically to celebrate the event. Isaiah 42:1-9 - "The Commissioning of the Servant" Setting. Isaiah 42:1-4 (and perhaps vv. 5-9) is often described as one of the Servant Songs in "Second Isaiah" Isaiah 40-55). Four times the anonymous exilic prophet ...

2468. How to Live the Good Life (Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

The French philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau, once said, "Happiness is a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion." That is what he would call today "the good life." There are many today who would agree with him. There are some who say that the good life is physical. They believe it just doesn't get any better than a hot tub, a back rub, and a drink at the pub. But then there are others who say the good life is material. They think that if you've got the mansion, the Mercedes, and the money, ...

2469. Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

During one of the darkest periods of World War II, after the collapse of France and before America got involved, Winston Churchill wrote that the question in the minds of both friends and foes was this: "Will Britain surrender too?" At the time he made a speech that contained this sentence: "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization." If you are a Christian you, too, are in ...

2470. Battle Stations

Ephesians 6:10-18

Sermon

James Merritt

If you are in the military, and especially in the Navy, you will recognize the command "Battle Stations." Whenever a military man hears this he knows to get to his post, lock and load, make sure the safety is off, the trigger is pulled back, and he is ready to fire and ready to fight. I've already told you that every Christian on earth is at war. We were born at war with God because we are born in sin. But when we lay down our arms at the cross of Jesus Christ in unconditional surrender, God declares peace ...

2471. Stop Fuming, Start Forgiving!

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

The late Bishop Lance Webb used to tell a story about a little five-year-old boy who misbehaved. His mother decided to give him some quiet time. She had a large closet. So, she pushed back the hangers in the closet so there would be room for his chair. She turned on the light and told him he would have to stay in the closet for 30 minutes. She heard strange sounds inside the closet and then everything got quiet. The mother was curious, so she opened the door. “Jimmy, “she asked, “what on earth are you ...

2472. Poor Relations

James 2:1-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

I. Poor Questions Are we as concerned about the poor as the Bible is? Do you know personally a poor person or family to have firsthand knowledge of what their life is like? How do you reconcile having so much and others having so little? Should the church continue its participation in Room in the Inn, a ministry of hospitality with the homeless? Our church has been involved in Room in the Inn for many years. Have we worn out? Are we experiencing “compassion fatigue”? Is there enough commitment among us to ...

2473. What Is Your Name?

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

Sometimes things don’t work out the way they should. Then, again, maybe they do. Esau and Jacob This seems especially true with regard to twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first, hairy, ruddy, red complexioned. Thus he was named Esau. Esau relied on his brawn rather than his brain. Had his name been based on who he was instead of how he looked, his name should have been "Easy-Going," "Laid Back," or even "Slow." His was not a Type-A personality. He had no desire to be his class’ President and ...

2474. We Are At War

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

James Merritt

2475. Every Member Matters

Hebrews 10:24-25

Sermon

James Merritt

Thinking about a body, and the various parts and organs of a body, helps us to answer two very vital questions about the church: What does it mean to be a member of a church? and Why is being a member of a church different from being a member of any other institution or organization in the world? Well you will understand why membership matters and every member matters if you will begin to see the church as a body, and the members as the vital organs. In fact, that is what we are told in Rom. 12:5,"In ...

Showing results