Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: take action, take steps, take measures, take the initiative, move, make a move, react, do something, proceed, go ahead, behave, function, perform, operate, work, take effect, serve, be efficacious, play, play a part, take part, be an actor, be an actress, be one of the cast, appear, pretend, play-act, sham, fake, feign, put it on, bluff, pose, posture, masquerade, dissemble, dissimulate, deed, action, gesture, feat, exploit, performance, undertaking, maneuver, stunt, operation, venture, effort, enterprise, achievement, accomplishment, law, decree, statute, bill, Act of Parliament, edict, fiat, dictum, dictate, enactment, resolution, ruling, rule, judgement, canon, ordinance, proclamation, command, commandment, mandate, measure, stipulation, direction, requirement, division, section, subsection, portion, part, segment, component, bit, turn, routine, number, item, piece, sketch, skit, playlet, dance, song, pretense, false display, show, front, facade, charade, guise, affectation, appearance

Antonyms: do nothing

Showing 1 to 25 of 1381 results

1. Achieving An All-In Victory - 1952

1 John 5:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... he makes more largely determines his destiny than any other single factor. When I say that I must choose myself, I mean that I must act as though my best self were the most authentic and therefore my most legitimately authoritative self. There is no possibility of achieving an "all-in" victory so long as the beast in me is not in bondage to the best in me. There is only one rightful heir to the throne of my life - my noblest self. Anything less is a false pretender whose subversive activity must be exposed ...

2. Achieving Peak Performance

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... mathematician for NASA. He was part of the Apollo Project that put a man on the moon. He left NASA to study psychology. He became interested in what motivates people to reach their highest possible achievement in this life. He went to Berkeley and got a PhD in psychology. Then he interviewed 1,500 people on how they achieved what he called "peak performance." He published that result in a book, and then he started on the lecture circuit. I read about that speech he gave on peak performance. He said the one ...

3. The Possibility Mindset

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... have to identify our boxes, break them open, and then step outside of them in order to get a different perspective on life and the world. It sounds simple in theory. It’s not so simple in practice for most of us. Why? Because our “Acquisition” and “Achievement” mindset keeps us conveniently locked up in a multitude of “boxes.” And they are hard to break out of. [Show a ruler.] Here in front of you I am holding a ruler. We all know what it is. It measures things. It tells us how large something ...

4. Are You Trying to Prove Something?

Genesis 12:1-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... one day he met Christ, and he experienced grace. That is what he called it. He called it grace, because it meant that it was the experience of being loved when he didn't deserve it. He couldn't get over that. He had been trying all his life to achieve the love of God through the Law. He wanted God to love him. He kept trying, harder and harder, as hard as he could to make himself acceptable to God, to be righteous. All that effort, all it did was to make him miserable and mean. But then he experienced ...

5. You Are Gifted

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is living a “gifted” life. The question is, what will you do with that gift, that gift of “life?” Because relationship is the meaning of all true life, the life that you have been given. The gift of relationship is not about attainment, or achievement, or besting, or best-selling, or climbing the ladder of success. The gift of relationship is about receiving that gift of life and truth and authenticity in Jesus that will transfigure the way you live your life –the way you live it with God, and ...

6. What Are You Sitting On?

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

King Duncan

... with it." (4) This brings us to the second thing to be said, GOD HAS PROVIDED US MEANS BY WHICH OUR DREAMS CAN BE ACHIEVED. God did not create us to wallow in despair and self-pity. I am always amazed at how many bright, talented, energetic people ... that it is God's will that we live successful lives, however we might define success. We believe He has given us everything we need to achieve our dreams. All we have to do is trust Him and venture out boldly to live the kind of lives He has called us to live. ...

7. The Peacemakers

Sermon

John A. Terry

... in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." These are words from President Lincoln's second inaugural address, seeking to make peace after our nation's Civil War. Being the bringer and maker of peace marked Jesus from the very beginning. At his ...

8. The Peacemakers

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

John A. Terry

9. Who is Greatest Among You ...

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

... We look for and expect the recognition and reward that come with a promotion as we aim to move up another notch on the corporate ladder. And, if we end up disappointed with our advancement in life, well, we can still hope that our children will excel and achieve more than we did. It was the late coach of the Greenbay Packers, Vince Lombardi, who first coined the creed many would have to live by, "Winning isn’t the only thing," he once said, "It’s everything!" Jesus had something to say about our need to ...

10. A Niche For Every Itch

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... want more than anything else to do the accepted thing. Therefore, to sell a product to people in this group an advertiser will stress that the product is the most popular product of its kind. That same pitch would not work with a group of achievers, however. Achievers, so the theory goes, are financially successful people who would not want to buy the most popular product. They only want to own things that most people can't afford. An example of how this particular theory is put into practice can be seen in ...

11. A More Perfect Union

Habakkuk 2:1-5

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another." That is the kind of ethic that makes freedom possible. We think not only of our own welfare, but we are concerned about the welfare of other people. To achieve this more perfect union two things had to happen. The states had to surrender some of their sovereignty, and the citizens had to discipline their freedom. And they did. But the core of this vision, this dream of a more perfect union, was the belief that ...

12. The Power of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... his legs were affected, she argued, not his brain or his spirit. For seven years FDR threw himself into his recovery. He spent all his time exercising and exploring new cures. He dreamed of one day walking unaided. That never happened, but he still believed he could achieve great things. He turned to politics. In order not to be perceived as handicapped, he had the steel braces on his legs painted black; he wore his trousers long to hide the braces when he sat down. He had wheels put on a kitchen chair so ...

13. The Power of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

14. Easter Power

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... faith. What was important, however, was to make it clear that faith is a miracle. It is the Holy Spirit who has the power to create faith in the hearts of people. The Holy Spirit works that miracle in helping people to believe in the Christ who has achieved our salvation for us. Believe! John concludes his Gospel with the words, "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah ...

15. God Works Through Opposites

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... the cross that the contrasts are the most stunning. For on the cross we see God using death to give life. That is why the cross is the symbol of Christianity. That is why we call God's inclination to work through contrasts and opposites in order to achieve his aims, the theology of the cross. What does it mean? What does all this imply for our Monday through Saturday lives? Palm Sunday and the theology of the cross explain the problems that I was talking about at the beginning of this sermon. They speak to ...

16. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

... . We do not live forever, do not always stay young, and do not always do the proper thing. That is indicative of our kind. It is "perfectly" human. To be anything more would be superhuman, and it is nowhere written that any of us can achieve that in this life. There are some mild comforts, however, about our fumblings. For one thing, at least some of the time we are by ourselves when they occur, which mercifully spares us from embarrassing guffaws. For another thing, we have the satisfaction of knowing ...

17. A Man Whose Dreams Came True

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... man." So Joseph was promoted and became second only to the Pharaoh in power. A royal seal was placed around his neck and a royal ring upon his finger. He became, we might say, the prime minister of the whole land of Egypt. Dreams vs. Achievement Then it was that Joseph faced one of his greatest problems, a problem of a different kind. When you are true to your dreams, through all kinds of animosity and adversity, through all kinds of allurement and temptation, through all kinds of apathy and forgetfulness ...

18. Do Children Like You?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Richard Patt

... law for you because you are so hard to teach" (v. 5). To us Jesus is saying, "Do I have to write down lists and laws for you about how to love your husband or wife or children? Just allow selfless love and caring to guide you; the tasks and achievements of life will be met, and if they aren’t always accomplished, you will still have someone who will hug and embrace you when you fail." In another place Jesus said it like this: "Above all be concerned with the Kingdom of God ... and he will provide you with ...

19. The Secret Of A Great New Year

Luke 3:1-20, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... have a dream in your heart that God is calling you to pursue, that you begin as Jesus began--with humility. It's a standing joke, of course, that men won't ask for directions. I wonder how many men not only get lost, but also fail to achieve their dreams, because they will not turn to someone wiser, someone who has been down that road before and ask for help. There is a story about a mountain whose stone face seemed to stretch upward forever. The mountain had an almost magnetic effect on the boys who came ...

20. What Really Matters The Price Of The High Calling

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... mouth shut when he’s right. Now get the formula solidly in your mind. In the race of life, we concentrate on the present, and we forget as we run. Now what does that mean? Not only do we forget our past sins and failures, we forget out achievements. We may store up our achievements in our memory, but we do not allow them to slow us in our present running. We may take them out of our memory storehouse only on occasion, but we do so not to rest on our laurels, but to be energized for the race ahead. Jeri ...

21. Night Moves

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... children, "You be whoever you want to be. You climb as high as you can." That's what it means to be a fully realized human being. To know that you have within you unlimited possibility. To be successful in life is to be a person who has striven to achieve all that is possible for them to be. That is what Jacob did all his life. Then he came up against the limitation at the River Jabbok, and he wrestled with God. Like Prometheus, he was defying the gods. Like Adam and Eve, he was disobeying God. He tried to ...

22. What Is a Good Samaritan?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , if you want to make a difference, you have to be different. This was the error of the lawyer Jesus spoke with in today's gospel text. The lawyer wanted to reach his goal, his desired finish line of "eternal life" by doing something, by achieving something. The Good Samaritan parable demonstrates that we cannot do discipleship. We must be disciples. We must be the neighbor to each person we encounter. Only when we become Christ's messengers of faith, love and hope in this world do we become truly alive ...

23. Worthless Slaves

Luke 17:5-10

Sermon

George Reed

... . Most of us are pretty clear that we have not attained this kind of holiness even before Jesus reminds us that he isn’t talking about just our family and friends but about strangers and those we would consider our enemies. And if we should somehow manage to achieve such a goal, the angels of heaven may be surprised but they won’t be falling down in awe and wonder of us. We have only done what has been asked of us and nothing more. We are just worthless slaves. Some may conclude that God is a heartless ...

24. Oh That Cookie Jar Goodness!

Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and entry into the kingdom, must be paramount. Only God is good. Humans by their own designs or devices can never achieve “perfection.” But only God is perfect. And as Jesus’ disciples then ask, “then how can anyone be saved?” And he ... has the power to save. Somehow, we always end up thinking it is we who have the power. We who should be deciding. We who should be achieving. We who should be in charge. And that’s the human way of course –in a life without Jesus at the head of it. One of the ...

25. Mirror, Mirror ON The Wall . . .!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... by God to fill a job here on earth. And the Lord, seeing how he wants us to fit in, designed us with all we need to achieve his goals. We are unique! Oh, we may feel like we're that small, grease-covered cog, but let us stop doing our job and things ... the Lord's work (Acts 9:15). Right here is where we are faced with a choice. We can either accept ourselves and cooperate with God in achieving his goals, or we can hate what he made us and put our hands to some other task. The Bible warns us to take the former ...

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