Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: captured, trapped, catch, took, arrested, grabbed, taken, seized, stuck, apprehended, picked up, entangled, nabbed, jammed, abducted, acquired, got, bagged, gotten, netted, cornered, appropriated, tangled, snared, ensnared

Antonyms: free, freed, unconfined, loose, unrestrained, set free, uncuffed, emancipated, enfranchised, released, ambiguous, flaccid, let go, discharged, unbound, uncaged, unchained, unfettered, unleashed, unshackled, untied, avoided, discounted, disregarded, missed

Showing 1 to 25 of 1248 results

1. Let It Shine!

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... shine it! A church, serve and support it! Let it shine. Use what God has given you or lose what God has given you. Let your light shine for Christ. There is a light shining in the darkness and the darkness cannot overpower it, put it out, absorb it, appropriate it, or be receptive to it, so let it shine! Just as the physical darkness got jealous when God said the light was good and separated them from each other, God has called you to be separate, apart, because you have something good. Now you need to stop ...

2. The Three Kings--And The King Of Kings

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... ? As we begin to move away from Christmas we see in these three wise kings what all wise men and women do in the presence of the King of kings. They were wise enough to kneel before him. That is the first thing to remember. They knew that was the appropriate response for them. Saint Matthew tells us that when they came into the place where the child was "they knelt down." Everybody always knelt down in the presence of a king. It was just the thing to do. I wonder, would you be willing to do that even now ...

3. Grumblers Among God's People

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... were killed by the destroying angel." Do not grumble? You mean grumbling is a sin? Yes, according to St. Paul, grumbling is a sin. And, since grumbling is such a prevalent theme in Paul's writings and throughout the book of Exodus, it would be appropriate for us to give a few moments thought to it this day. No sooner did Israel gather into a congregation than they began to have grumblers. Those of you who have had small children in your family know about grumbling. Sometimes they will complain with whiney ...

4. The Winning Word

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... the point by writing, This ... was a very important key in sustaining the renewal and revival that had begun in Israel. If this kind of work is to continue in the hearts of people, it must continue at the leadership level.[6] The appropriate action occurred when the people remembered their heritage. As Ezra read the passage of the Feast of the Tabernacle, the people learned that God had given their forefathers this special festival. It was a reminder of their temporary wandering in the wilderness and ...

5. Deliverance through Thanksgiving

Psalm 50:1-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... check in God’s bank. Well then. Since this promise is so astounding and since none of us are going to pass through too much of life without needing to lay hold of it, what are the conditions that we need to meet in order to appropriate this promise of deliverance that God gives us? The first condition is – offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Another translation has that – make thanksgiving your offering. Now that has a specially beautiful meaning if you see it in its entire context. If you go ...

6. When the Dragon Wins

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... same time, asking about grandchildren in Swahili would seem impolite. For that, they would have to use the tribal tongue, the language of home. What a wonderful ability. To speak a variety of languages offers the opportunity to choose the language appropriate to the situation: one language for business, one for national issues, and still another for family. Each language requires a different vocabulary. Each language requires its own way of organizing thoughts that are then expressed in ways unique to that ...

7. Giving and Receiving

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... . Jesus knew how to receive and how to let other people do things for him. He knew how to swim, taking care of himself, and he knew how to float or use those things from others. He developed the wisdom to recognize what time it was — that sense of the appropriate that enabled him to know when to do what. In my judgment, one of the great challenges of this moment is right at this point — to use a crisis "to gain a heart of wisdom," as the Psalmist puts it, to learn where we are and how we need to ...

8. In the Light of His Glory

Isaiah 60:1-6, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... sick and tired. Maybe you are in need of an epiphany in your own life. You’re in the right place . . . to turn your life over to God and to ask His guidance and His persistence in helping you make a new start. The symbol of light is an appropriate one in this, the darkest season of the year. Light is a favorite symbol throughout the Scriptures. Christ said about our witness that we do not light a candle and put it under a bushel. Christ himself is seen as the light of the world. When Isaiah sought to ...

9. Less Fear; More Fruit

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... , unable to move. We fold in on ourselves, seek only our own well-being and refuse to hear any pleas beyond our own. We abandon hope, eschew courage and succumb to that terrible melancholy that Søren Kierkegaard called, “the sickness unto death.” Or there is the appropriate fear, the fear of the Lord that is the delight of the faithful and the joy of the true disciple. This “fear of the Lord,” is that awe and wonder that Isaiah experienced on the day he was called to be a prophet: I saw the Lord ...

10. I Am The Door

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

... he learns to "come in and go out" through Christ and experiences for the first time in his life the fullness of his baptismal relationship with God. In baptism, God claimed him for one of his sheep, but not until later in life -- through suffering -- did John appropriate the power of his baptism to "come in and go out" through Christ, the door. A man named Legion (Mark 5:1-20) approached Jesus one day and discovered that his inner, divided nature could be healed by this man who claimed to be the door to ...

11. I Am The Real Vine

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

... what has been accomplished. None are worthy, no not one, the Bible teaches. That's true, but I don't have to be worthy to sign the check. Fears of trusting anyone may haunt the minds of those who refuse to appropriate what has been accomplished. With so many dysfunctional families where children have trusted parents, only to discover that the parents cannot be trusted; with so many cases of physical and emotional desertion; with so many cases of divorce where spouses fear being hurt again if they ...

12. A Holy Hunger

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... our Lord, but to an empty tree where he hanged himself, to be left forever hungry for the forgiving words of God. This term "The Last Supper" as a designation for communion is interesting. It appears nowhere in Scripture. For Judas, it is appropriate. In a sense, it is appropriate for all the disciples because it was the last meal that they would share with Jesus while he was in the flesh. However, in a far more profound sense, that communion which we remember this night, when the disciples broke bread with ...

13. Angry Hands

Psalm 26:1-12

Sermon

... anger is directed toward sin. If we are angry with sin, that's a righteous anger. If we see the source of that anger to be something other than sin, it is misdirected anger. "What, then, is appropriate? What is appropriate for me to do?" If it is misdirected anger, it is appropriate for us to fall on our knees and ask the Lord to forgive us, to calm us, and to restore us. If it is a properly directed anger, we need to say, "God, what would you have me to do?", at the same time asking God for direction ...

14. The Gift That Claims Our Response

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

... whom to enjoy it." So the king begins to mingle among the guests and extend his greetings as any good host should do. As he shakes first this hand and that one, he comes upon a fellow who hasn’t bothered to put on clean clothes and dress appropriately for the occasion. The king stops in front of this fellow and demands, "Friend, how did you get in here without the proper attire?" A hush hurries through the hall as though E. F. Hutton had spoken. But the poor fellow has no answer, so without hesitation the ...

15. Sole Brother

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

... little wonder that writers have called this parable one of the most universal, timeless messages ever written. While the surface may be modernized and changed, and while the center lines may be repainted, the highway stays the same. And its message could never be more appropriate to any age than it is to us today. New York City and the nation were shocked when a young woman was attacked and killed on a Manhattan sidewalk. Murder wasn’t new, but it was devastating to realize that in that half-hour period ...

16. The Right Word For Memorial

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Comforter, but it was all so overwhelming to them-- mystifying -- confusing. "We don't know where you're going," they said, "so how can we know the way?" Jesus put it in one cryptic sentence: "I am the way, the truth and the life." Let that be our clue for appropriating the memorial word. Let's put it this way. One, you may know where you are going, but no matter where you go, there will be the Way. Two, you may not know all things, but no matter what you know, there is always the Truth. And three, you may ...

17. This Is Eternal Life (Easter Message)

John 17:1-5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... dear friends Buford and John -- tomorrow! You may not live upon this earth a long time, but you can have the promise of life tomorrow.> Let's close as we began. What's the Easter word? Jesus Christ -- Alive and wanting to live in us...And how do we appropriate that Easter word? By remembering and acting upon three truths: One, you may now know where you are going, but no matter where you go, there will always be The Way. Two, you may not know all things, but no matter what you know, thee is always the Truth ...

18. Worthy of God

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Sermon

Rick Brand

... . Long years of sacrifice and struggle have made possible the gift of democracy, the right to choose our own leaders, and the only response appropriate and fitting to that gift, the only obligation demanded by that gift to us, is for us to vote. To lead a life that ... , "Is what I am doing worthy of God's gifts to me? Am I using what I have been given in a way that is appropriate for the gifts?" It is terrifying and demanding. To decide to evaluate and to live your life by the standard, "Is this a worthy use ...

19. If You Can't Stand the Heat

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... of character--that's what we think of when we think of Harry Truman. But something has happened to the American character in the last fifty years. Philip Rieff has called it "the triumph of the therapeutic," by which he means that the ethic that is appropriate for therapy has now become the ethic for the whole society. For instance, our emphasis on feelings--"How do you feel about this?"--as if your feelings were the ultimate arbiter of what is right and wrong. In Debbie Boone's smash hit record back in ...

20. Laugh It Off

I Corinthians 1:18-20, 26-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... the future. So at the least, laughter can change your attitude, and laughter can generate hope. I want us to look at that this morning, not from a medical point of view, but from a biblical point of view. According to the Bible, laughter is especially appropriate at two points in our lives. One is when we understand what it means to be a human being, the human condition. The second is when we finally understand the meaning of the Christian Gospel. First, look at the human condition. The Bible says, in the ...

21. Law and Order

Nehemiah 7:73b--8:18

Sermon

James Merritt

... as their Savior. I couldn't help but think that afternoon of how we complain when the buildings are too warm or too cold, or the weather is rainy and yet these people stood in a blizzard just to hear the Word of God. II. We Must Personally Appropriate The Word Of God Do you notice that there is no mention of the wall in this chapter? The wall has now become an afterthought. Nobody thought about having a party because the wall was finished. Nobody was throwing a celebration. All of the attention had moved ...

22. The Perfect Gift

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... love him as he had come to love her, then he would ask her to marry him. This he did, and when she did come to love him, he told her who he really was. Now that story is clear enough, isn’t it? Remember what I said earlier – an appropriate gift reflects a double purpose: first to reveal the capacities and the affections of the person giving it. Jesus is God’s gift to us. And that gift reveals the affection God has for us. God’s desire is for a life with us in living relationship so that we ...

23. At the Banquet...In Your Pajamas

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... God. A seemingly small thing, perhaps, to you and me but what an enormous step for the poor. (3) Like John Wesley, Christ was biased in favor of the poor. So, what was it? What caused the king to be so furious at the guest who was not appropriately dressed? If it was not that his background had been questionable or that his bank account had been lacking, what was it, then, that got him into so much trouble with the king? Could it be that this man represents all those who accept the free gift of grace ...

24. How It All Began

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... census, it was. Bethlehem was a small town only 6 miles from Jerusalem. You could walk that distance if you needed to. Bethlehem had nothing to recommend it except that this is where the Messiah would be born. Bethlehem means, “House of Bread,” so it is appropriate that he who would be the “Bread of Life” should be born there. The important thing is that it was the “City of David,” and the Messiah was prophesied to be a descendant of David. So Mary and Joseph make their way through the crush of ...

25. Dressed for Success?

Luke 24:36-49, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... God and not by us) is about relationship! When we choose to clothe ourselves with the clothing of the world, we lose sight of God, sin, lose eternal life, shed our “holiness.” We need to be clothed by God. While we need to appear before God in appropriate clothing (meaning our humility and our nakedness of soul), it is God who then clothes us in garments of light (Rev). We all look forward to those garments of light, when we enter into God’s eternal kingdom. But for now, we can be empowered with the ...

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