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 29 results

1. Hiltgunt Margaret Zassenhaus

Deuteronomy 31:1-8

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

... be described as unorthodox, met the Master. Some may read these words and say, "Her actions were not voluntary. She did not seek this ministry." Such an observation would be correct, but unfair. A meeting with the Master need not be a deliberate one to be efficacious. How the meeting occurs is not as important as the result of the meeting. The rich young ruler went deliberately to the Master seeking salvation, but was unwilling to pay the price required of him. The Samaritan woman went to the well to get ...

2. Behold the Blood of the Covenant

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

... pivotal phrase, which blanches the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper not only with the Passover observance but also with the Jewish idea of covenant ratification, is "the New Covenant in my blood." Blood must be shed. The ancients believed blood to be efficacious in establishing an irrevocable covenant between God and humanity. Leviticus 1:5 preserves an early formula: "Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall present the blood, and throw the blood round about against ...

3. Veni, Spiritus Sanctus, Veni

John 14:8-17 (25-27)

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... . Sabellis is another who taught modalism, a heresy that promoted the Trinity as expressed in three separate modes. Pelgius, an Irish monk, confused salvation by trying to mix water and oil, teaching that grace needs an act of human will to be efficacious. The list of dubious teachers is long: Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, and in our own day, Warren Jeffs, and many others. It is refreshing that Jesus promises a teacher, an instructor, an advocate, worth listening to. This instructor/advocate, the ...

4. A Tale Of Two Cities

Amos 7:1-9, Amos 7:10-17

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times ... It was an age of belief. It was an age of incredulity." Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, was highly vexed at the pronouncements of Amos, who warned of God's coming judgment on Jeroboam and the people of Israel. Amos was no extraordinary prophet. He lacked the sophistication, flamboyance, and eloquence of some high prophets, but he knew that God had called and anointed him to preach judgment to the people of Israel. Amos was not well connected ...

5. Take Dead Aim

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

My wife and I were discussing the state of affairs in America. I said every child of the 1960s knew there was a credibility gap when he said he didn't inhale. I said every golfer knew character would be a continuing issue after correspondents for several golf magazines caught him cheating during a round with two of his predecessors. I said everybody knows he cheated on his wife for years and lied to family, friends, colleagues, and employees. I said he admitted to an inappropriate -- s-e-x-u-a-l -- ...

6. Let Us Pray!

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

In James Baldwin's Blues For Mister Charlie, there is an arresting scene in which a young boy announces before his grandmother and the world that he no longer believes in God. The wise and unperturbed woman replies, "Ain't no way you can't believe in God, boy. You just try holding your breath long enough to die." No less than breathing or the sucking of a newborn infant, prayer is instinctive human behavior. The disciples' plea, "Lord, teach us to pray," arises from a primal urge deep within the human ...

7. Holy Diet

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Donald Macleod

So when the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for ...

8. A Mother's Pride And Joy

Sermon

Ron Lavin

The story of Samuel is a drama of great intensity, great love, great change, great conflict and great challenge. This story begins with Hannah, in the 11th century B.C., praying to the Lord for a son. She was barren. In ancient times barrenness was a disgrace for a woman. A Mother's Pride And Joy As Hanna and her husband arrived at Shiloh for a religious pilgrimage to the place of worship, Hannah prayed. We pick up this prayer at verse one of chapter one of the book of 1 Samuel. She (Hannah) was in deep ...

9. Cross Purposes

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"In the cross of Christ I glory towering o'er ..." Is the cross today towering over the world? Atlanta is presently boasting of its newest hotel, seventy stories high, the highest hotel in the entire world. Just a couple of blocks from this hotel are a Methodist church and a Catholic church, each with a tower and a cross on top. There was a time when the highest point in a town was the church spire with a cross on its pinnacle. Now city skyscrapers dwarf the church with its cross. The cross is over-towered ...

10. The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

John begins his story, "A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany." "Lazarus" means "God helps," and "Bethany," some scholars suggest, is a figurative play on the word that means "House of Affliction."1 Thus the plot of the story is prepared for us. God helps a man in a house of affliction. All of us dwell in that same house, and our affliction is that, like Lazarus, one day we will die. We will be struck down, carried out, and placed in a tomb. It will be sealed with a stone of sorrow. And the haunting ...

11. Incalculable Riches by Bishop Roy C. Nichols

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Mann

In Ephesians, Chapter 3 and verse 8, Paul says, "To me, least of all the saints, is given the grace to preach the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ." One of our modern translations renders the text thus: "the incalculable riches." I like that better, because it expresses the vastness of the gospel, rather than its "mystery." Paul was sharing this testimony with the members of the churches of the city of Ephesus. They knew him well; for he had first preached in their midst and nurtured them ...

12. The Hard-to-Believe Promise

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

As our Lord took leave of his disciples, promising them the coming of the Holy Spirit and the power that would be thereby transmitted to them and through them, he repeated a promise which he had made before. He was attempting to reiterate the power that we have at our fingertips, if we only believe it. Actually, it concerns the subject of prayer, because any petition addressed to Christ is a prayer. So when he says: "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it," we have the whole key to the power of prayer. ...

13. Readying the Twelve for Mission

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Donald Macleod

After two such unprecedented events as Resurrection and Ascension, certainly this question is in order: what can God do for an encore? Or, one might simply exclaim: what a hard act to follow! The eleven disciples left Mt. Olivet and returned to Jerusalem, as Jesus had commanded them. Naturally, they sought out the Upper Room, a place filled with memories that were now sacred. Other faithful persons joined them until they numbered about a hundred and twenty, (v. 15) including a number of women with Mary and ...

14. Obeying God Rather Than Men

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

How many times have we borne witness to this scene? Men and women of the Gospel attacked by their enemies for preaching the resurrected Christ? How many times have we seen this inevitable and inimitable skirmish between the horizontal and the vertical, the spiritual and the carnal, the things of man and the things of God? How many times have we seen this scene within and without the church, where servants of the Lord who have confessed with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts that ...

15. He Commanded Us to Preach

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

Opposition to preaching the risen Christ and reaching the Gentiles emerged early in the ministry of the apostles. Peter and the others quickly found themselves on the front lines of defense against attacks regarding the cogency and credibility of the message they were preaching. Emboldened by the presence and power of the Holy Ghost, many of the apostles gained renewed fortitude in proclaiming the message of Christ to Jewish and Gentile communities in the early days of the church. Anytime the gospel is ...

16. Paul's Prayer For Us

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Sometimes bizarre stories make the newspapers. Like the one in New York involving Daisy Fernandez. It seems Daisy won $2.8 million in 1981. Subsequently she was sued by her son's teenage friend. Why did he sue her? It was because she had asked him to pray for her. The friend, Christopher Pando, prayed to his favorite saint. When his prayer was answered, Christopher claimed half of Fernandez's jackpot. The case went before a panel of five State Supreme Court judges, who ruled against the boy, declaring ...

17. The Family That Prays Together Stays Together

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

I don't have to tell you that families are falling apart, and that is born out by the following statistics: There has been a 200% growth in single parent households since 1970 - from four million to eight million homes. The number of married moms leaving home for work each morning rose 65% from 10.2 million in 1970, to 16.8 million in 1990. Married couples with children now make up only 26% of US households, down from 40% in 1970. 36% of children said their chores included making their own meals in 1993. ...

18. Finding Unity through Christ

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Nature is filled with examples of how the world functions better when things come together and act as one. Ancient philosophers understood this need for unity quite well. In their efforts to explain the world that they observed, they postulated, without the advantage of modern science, that all things were composed of four basic elements: earth, water, air, and fire. Everything that existed was a measured combination of these four elements and could exist in no other way. Earth was the "stuff" of the ...

19. God Our Protector and Shield

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

James Gillis, a priest and writer in the mid-twentieth century, became well known as a commentator on American life. He saw himself as a champion for the cause of moral righteousness and absolutism against the forces of darkness that manifested themselves in various ways. This "war" continued throughout his life with battles waged on numerous fronts, all prosecuted to protect the American Christian way of life that was instilled in him from childhood. Gillis believed that truth should enwrap all decisions ...

20. It’s Humble or the Umbles

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

You know you’ve crossed into some new station in your life when you visit the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and realize as you are leaving that you completely skipped all the paintings. That’s right, the entire Renaissance wing just was not on the agenda. Suddenly it hits you: You are no longer a student, or a tourist, or an art lover. No, you are a parent of small, squirming children who need to see something big, and strong, and hard-hitting. So your museum tour was through the pyramids. Your ...

21. Repairing Our Lives

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled over a small kingdom that wasn't powerful nor was it known for anything of any great value. But, the king did possess a large and perfect diamond that had been in his family for many generations. He kept it on display for all to see and appreciate and people came from all over the country to admire this rare and precious gem. People from other lands, hearing about the great diamond, also came and they, too, felt some sense of pride simply by gazing upon the ...

22. One Lord, One Table

Exodus 20:1-4

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Growing up, there was a family who lived across the street from us by the name of Wallace. There were six kids, one girl and five boys. Their yard was the cut through yard to get to the rest of our friends houses. Mr. Wallace loved to grow things. He always had a garden and grew tomatoes, lettuce and carrots. But his favorite was peaches. The Wallaces had a double lot and he must have had three dozen peach trees. He sold many of the peaches to a local grocery store. But Mr. Wallace also had red and purple ...

23. One to Take the Place of Jesus

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Introduction to Scripture: In Chapters 14, 15, and 16 of John’s Gospel, there are telling and descriptive words of Jesus about the Holy Spirit. Since this is Pentecost Sunday, the occasion on our Christian calendar when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church, I’m again leaping ahead in my preaching through this Gospel to consider these power-packed words of John concerning the nature and ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the Sermon, I’ll refer to a number of these words, but for ...

24. With Our Own Eyes

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

John N. Brittain

Leslie D. Weatherhead, the great British preacher who served many years at City Temple on Holborn Viaduct in London, told the story of the elderly gentlemen who sat on the benches near the church trading stories. As one might expect, in addition to the good old days, a popular topic of conversation was their aches, pains, and ailments. "I have heard that such-and-such a clinic has a very effective regimen of treatment for this," one fellow would say. "Well, I understand that Dr. So-and-So is very ...

25. Eyes on the Prize

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

"I believed, and I spoke." Paul begins this passage with a reference to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It is from Psalm 116:10 in which the psalmist thanks God for saving him even in, and especially in, the midst of his conflicts and struggles: "I kept my faith, even when I said: 'I am greatly afflicted.' " Paul knows the feeling! He has had many struggles in his journey to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the church at Corinth is one of the main sources of those ...

Showing results