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 439 results

1. Back to the Future

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... and others were at a minister's and spouse's retreat. This was a time of recharging the batteries, being energized and encouraged. It was a wonderful time of hearing speakers such as Dr. Paul Simmons and Dr. Fred Craddock. It was great not being an actor, but being acted upon, and, for just a few moments, letting someone else take care of our spiritual needs. If Jesus of Nazareth, the sinless, perfect, Son of God, had to have a time of retreat and prayer and revitalization and encouragement, how much ...

2. Can You Deny Yourself?

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... to bring the hope of God to others. Deny yourself. Take up the cross of the Master. No other lifestyle is ultimately satisfying. No other lifestyle can permanently change the world in which we live. 1. “The Man Who Was Dying to Be an Actor” by Dan Lewis, Now I Know!, December 7, 2020. 2. “French Radio Accidentally Announces Death Of 100 Of World’s Most Famous People” by Alex Ledsom, Forbes, November 18, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexledsom/2020/11/18/french-radio-accidentally-announces ...

3. Actors

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

John Jamison

Whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets.... We can almost see the people in the crowd leaning forward as they try to hear these things Jesus was saying that afternoon on the hillside. He had been talking for a while now, and although he started out talking about things that were theological, he was now getting to things that actually made sense to everyone. It was nice to hear him say how the poor are actually blessed, and the weak ...

4. Masks

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Chris Ewing

There are going to be a lot of people running around out there with masks on this week. People pretending to be something they're not — or maybe trying on something that in part they are, or want to be. (put on mask)1 Masks are interesting things. We all wear them, you know, and not just on Halloween. We put on the brave smiling mask when our hearts are breaking. We put on a gruff mask to keep people at a distance. We put on a wild and crazy mask to get attention or to avoid responsibility. We put on an " ...

5. Isn't It Time To Get It Right?

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Did you ever notice that some people always get it wrong? Paul Harvey, in his book FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, tells about a county jail in south Florida where jail officials found a plastic trash bag hanging to the bars of a cell. Inside was Jimmy Jones, a prisoner who hoped he'd get taken out with the trash. And he might have -- except during roll call his reflexes took over. And when the name Jimmy Jones was called... From inside the bag came a muffled response: "Here." Some people just can't get it right. But ...

6. Counting the Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The best thing to say to a pastor after you hear a sermon that moves you is not, "That was a good sermon." That's a little better than saying, "That was a lousy sermon," but in saying, "That was a good sermon," you may be missing the point of preaching. The point of preaching is for the listeners to put the Word of God into action. Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, says that the role of listeners in a devotional address is not that of an audience at a play. The pastor's role, he says, is not that ...

7. A New Look at an Old Treasure

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"The Lord is my shepherd..." Probably as well-known and well-loved as any phrase of scripture: the twenty-third psalm. Generations have memorized it, in Sunday School or at the knee of parents or grandparents. It is one of the first Bible passages we learn, and, as often as we hear it funerals, it is among the last words said over us when we die. A wonderful affirmation of our faith in God's ability to protect. "The Lord is my shepherd..." There is an old story out there of the man who, in the midst of a ...

8. Journey To The Cross V: Jesus and Simon Peter

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

James W. Moore

One day some years ago, I was with a group of people when suddenly they began to gossip. They were attacking a friend of mine. They were spreading ugly, vicious rumors about him. They were crucifying my friend with harsh, cruel words. I started to say something to defend my friend. I wanted to say something to stop the verbal abuse but I didn’t know those people very well… so I kept my silence. But, later as I walked to my car, I was kicking myself. I was feeling sad and ashamed that I hadn’t seized the ...

9. Day Of Decision

Mark 14:10-26, 43-52

Sermon

King Duncan

Long, long ago, or so I've been told, Two saints, they met on the streets paved with gold. "By the stars in your crown," said the one to the other, "I see that on earth you, too, were a mother. And by the blue tinted halo, I see that you wear, You, too, have known sorrow and deepest despair." "Ah, yes," came the answer, "I once had a son. A sweet little lad, full of laughter and fun." "But, tell of your child!" "Oh, I knew I was blest, The first moment I held Him, close to my breast; And my heart almost ...

10. Facing Up To Temptation

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas Long

Searching the aisles of the hardware store the other day for a tube of "Super Glue," I couldn't find it, so I went up to the customer service desk to ask for help from the young man standing at the cash register. He was on the telephone and, when he saw me coming his direction, he turned his back toward me. I could tell he was making a personal call, but I just waited. The call went on and on ... "So did you like the movie ... really? ... Oh you're kidding! ... What did Susan say? ..." Finally I cleared my ...

11. Dust in the Wind

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy Cargal

Sometimes a song gets so deep inside your head that it can never be uprooted. Maybe it is the melody or the mood evoked by its musical qualities. Maybe it is the themes and ideas that find expression in its lyrics. If it happens to be both the music and the lyrics perfectly matched to each other, then the effect is particularly strong. Such songs have the ability to become a recurring soundtrack to our lives. One such song for me is Kerry Livgren’s “Dust In The Wind.” Since I first heard this song more ...

12. Practicing What We Preach

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. —Matthew 23:2-3 In today’s scripture from Matthew, Jesus accused the scribes and the Pharisees of hypocrisy. And he did not do it just once, but numerous times. Indeed, throughout Matthew’s gospel, Jesus spoke more often about “hypocrites” than he did about “prayer.” I was surprised to discover that! He spoke about hypocrisy twelve times ...

13. Looking Ahead with Hope

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Text: "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" John 1:46 The wedding march had just begun. I stepped to the center of the chancel area. In the ministry there is no moment as deeply moving as that when a wedding march begins. The groom took his place, followed by the best man, at the front of the sanctuary. Down the aisle came the ushers and the bridesmaids. Then into the Narthex came the bride - beautiful, radiant, on the arm of her father. As she moved slowly down the aisle, every eye was fixed upon her ...

14. The More I Understand, The Less I Know

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Johnny Dean

This may sound contradictory to you, but the longer I stay in ministry, the less I understand about preaching. In fact, I know less about preaching today than I knew ten years ago. Back then, while I was a seminary student, I could tell you what constituted a good sermon, what was needed to do it right. All I had to do was ask one of my homiletics professors. Today, I’m not so sure they knew all that much. Why does a sermon "work", why does it achieve positive results, when by all rights it ought to fall ...

15. The Heart -- Our Mirror

Proverbs 25:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Peter Ustinov is one of the great actors of our day. I don't know much about him, but I was impressed by an interview of some years ago during the filming of the movie, "Death on the Nile". He was talking about the images actors have to live with. An image is an awful thing, he said. An actor says, "I'm going to do this or that." And someone will say, "What about your image?" Ustinov said, "I don't know what my image is, I don't want to know." And then he continued, "It is a sad state when the man looking ...

16. God Loves An Underdog

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Thomas Wheeler, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, told a good story on himself. He said that while he and his wife were out driving he noticed they were low on gas. So he pulled off at the first exit and came to this dumpy little gas station with one pump. There was only one man working the place, so he asked the man to fill it up while he checked the oil. He added a quart of oil, closed the hood, and he saw his wife talking and smiling at the gas ...

17. Are You Feeling Sheepish?

Psalm 23, John 10:11-18

Sermon

Mark Trotter

This Sunday could be called the "Good Shepherd Sunday." All the scripture lessons for this morning are about shepherds. We have chosen the music in this service with the same theme. It is some indication of how important the image of the Good Shepherd is for our faith. I want to take this opportunity to share an anecdote Neil Morgan tells about Ted Geisel, in his book about Geisel. It seems that when Geisel was a student, he and his roommate in college wanted to open up a private detective firm. They were ...

18. Will You Be in that Number?

John 11:32-44

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I want to tell you about a grave in Peru. I shared this story with you about ten years ago when a grave of a warrior priest was discovered near the pyramids of the ancient Moche Indians. The Moche Indians preceded the Incas in Peru. Their graves have yielded a treasure trove of artifacts, and a thriving black market for the residents in that isolated, northern part of Peru. The inhabitants up there regularly loot the graves and sell the artifacts to collectors. The government decided to crack down on the ...

19. Made New By Taking A Different Road Home

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

We are made new when we dare to go home by another way. This reality has ancient roots. The stories of the season are about people who were made new by taking a different road home. Mary visited Elizabeth and remained there three months. She went home by another way. After saying earlier, "Do with me as you will," before God, and after singing her song of praise to God, she went home a different way. Bethlehem is a place from which, once you've been there, you cannot go home the same way. The shepherds may ...

20. Lips And Hearts

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

King Duncan

A young man was sent to Spain by his company to work in a new plant. He accepted because it would enable him to earn enough to marry his long-time girlfriend. Their plan was to pool their resources and put a down payment on a house when he returned. As the lonely weeks went by, she began expressing doubts that he was being true to her. After all, Spain is populated by beautiful women. The young man declared that he was paying absolutely no attention to the local girls. "I admit," he wrote, "that sometimes ...

21. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

This is the last Sunday of 2014. Next Sunday is the year of our Lord 2015. My guess is that for some of us that hardly seems possible. Wasn’t it just yesterday when we were in a tizzy over Y2K and the beginning of a new millennium? On the other hand, it seems like a life-time ago. Besides, according to the ballyhooed Mayan calendar, the world should have ended December 21, 2012. [And according to Hal Lindsay and The Late, Great Planet Earth and numerous Left Behind books by Tim LaHaye, we should all have ...

22. So, Explain It to Me

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Trinity Sunday begins the second half of the church year. The first half of the church year beginning with Advent and ending with Pentecost focused on the life of Christ. We call this second half ordinary time but there is nothing ordinary about it. It is an extraordinary time of the year when we focus on the church's life and mission. Some have called Trinity Sunday the "great hinge" of the church year. Others have called it the "great pain"! Why? Because as the only Sunday of the church year that focuses ...

23. Hindering Riches

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

Shortly after the opening of the popular off-Broadway show, Godspell, in the summer of 1971, Cheryl A. Forbes made an interesting observation about it. She said that the show was for the young, in conception and spirit. It was written, acted, and sung by young people to give young people an answer to their despair. But she pointed out that not many youth were there to get the message; the audiences were mainly adult. "The probable reason," she said, "is that the kids can’t afford to come, since ticket ...

24. Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

I want to talk about heroes today. We all have them. Our heroes are men and women that we look up to. Our heroes are those individuals that inspire us and help us to strive to be our very best. There is a cute story about a Texan who was trying to impress on a Bostonian, the valor of the heroes of the Alamo. After finishing his story about Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and countless others, he says "I'll bet you never had anyone so brave around Boston." "Did you ever hear of Paul Revere?" asked the Bostonian ...

25. Stop in the Name of Love

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

A few years ago, the mayor of Oak Lawn, a suburb in Chicago, got tired of people rolling through stop signs, or ignoring them completely, as they passed through his community. So he thought he’d get people to pay a little more attention. Underneath each stop sign in Oak Lawn, he placed a smaller sign that created a phrase. Soon, people passing through Oak Lawn saw traffic signs that read “. . . STOP and smell the roses . . . STOP . . . right there pilgrim , . . STOP . . . billion dollar fine . . . and STOP ...

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