Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: complain, moan, groan, whine, mutter, grouse, bleat, carp, cavil, protest, rumble, gurgle, murmur, growl, roar, complaint, muttering, grievance, objection, protestation, quibble, criticism, charge, accusation

Showing 1 to 25 of 1045 results

1. A Cure for Complainers

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” It is comforting to know, I suppose, that 3,000 years ago, Moses had to deal with grumblers and complainers. It reminds me of the story of a lady who was a veritable fount of complaints. Her pastor came by to see her one day and she began to enumerate some of her complaints: “The neighbor’s children are so noisy . . . People at the church never come to ...

2. Grace for a Complaining People

Exodus 16:2-15

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... the "dead mouse." "It's easier," said the author Stainer, "to get people out of slavery than to get slavery out of people." How easy it is to forget God's promises of grace to us in our baptism and to stray away and complain. Murmuring and complaining come naturally when we have lost our sense of purpose and are unclear of our goals and confused about our destiny. The Jewish sages teach the truth of having clarity about purpose, meaning, and direction in order to avoid unnecessary murmuring. On a treadmill ...

3. When the Church Becomes a Culture of Complainers and Crusaders, What To Do?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

On Wednesday morning of this past week, nobody was completely happy in this country. No matter who you voted for – whether “witches,” “wing-nuts” or “Taliban Dan;” no matter what kind of issues dotted your local ballots; there is no way everything went “your way.” Besides, if we half believed all the rancid rhetoric that has flooded the airwaves this past month, a large billet of unrepentant villains and a huge ballot of disasters have been given voter approval. Or maybe not. Not that there aren’t ...

4. Mary's Complaint

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... been possible for the angels to spread the word in another day or two? After all, she WAS "favored," wasn't she? But it was not to be. Mary surely had grounds for complaint. She said, "[God] has shown strength with his arm..." Another strange way to complain. Somehow, one might expect that, with all Mary had been expected to endure, there would come a time when SOMETHING might have been expected to go RIGHT for her. At least once the anguish of having to tell her husband-to-be that she was going to have ...

5. Mary's Complaint

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the angels to spread the word in another day or two? After all, she was “favored,” wasn’t she? But it was not to be. Mary surely had grounds for complaint. She said, “[God] has shown strength with his arm...” (Luke 1:51) Another strange way to complain. Somehow, one might expect that, with all Mary had been expected to endure, there would come a time when something might have been expected to go right for her. At least once the anguish of having to tell her husband-to-be that she was going to have ...

6. What's So Good About Feeling Bad?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Joann Hary

... but wait, I opened one of the multitude of magazines there and saw this wonderful cartoon. There were two witches on brooms flying through the air. You know how we picture witches to look. Well, one looked pretty happy while the other was obviously very upset as she complained to the other, "I told you before we started out today that it was going to rain. But no, you wouldn't listen to me, you and your Pollyana attitude that all will be all right. I knew all the time we should have left our brooms at the ...

7. Pass the Pigweed

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Bill Mosley

... of food and water, and wanted to go back to Egypt. They may have been slaves, they said, but at least there they didn't starve. You know what a weed is? Actually, any plant that grows where you don't want it to grow is a weed. You can complain about wildflowers, bluebonnets, or columbines, pretty as they are, choking out other ground cover, grass, and such. You can have a tree casting too much shade on your garden plot for plants that need full sun. If a plant causes a problem for you, it's a weed. But look ...

8. Look Inside and Discover Life

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... on all the negatives and/or incompleteness of one's life does not accomplish anything that is good; it leads us in the reverse direction that we seek. The Israelites were certainly guilty in this vein; they looked at their lives, wished there was more, and then complained about what they did not have. They and all of us need to place our thoughts on what we have and what is today. Having a more positive outlook on life helps all, not only ourselves but others to whom we communicate by words and actions. Yes ...

9. Piercing A Hole In The Darkness

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

King Duncan

... I could behold the face of God.' I am a changed woman." Wow! Here is the message of the book of Job in a nutshell. God can use the dark moments in our lives to "pierce a hole in the darkness." (1) When we left Job last week, he was complaining over the injustice of his situation. "Even today my complaint is bitter," he says, "his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mouth ...

10. So Soon We Forget!

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

... generous answer to their complaints. Don't forget faith is always what we need to receive God's highest and best gifts, but even our doubts can touch his heart with pity for us. When we have but feeble faith (doubting faith) when our fears cause us to murmur and complain, even then God will give us what he can so we may learn to trust him and be content. Crazy as it seems, even when we behave like spoiled brats, God loves us! Sometime ago a woman went to her pastor with the tragic story of her marriage. Her ...

11. Is the Lord Among Us or Not?

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Tony Everett

... Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?” For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. — Exodus 14:11-12 Then, right after the Lord provided a miraculous escape by parting the waters of the sea, the Hebrews complained about the food. If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt where we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. — Exodus ...

12. God Never Gives Up on Us

1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20, (11:14-15)

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... ? Because God decided from the beginning not to treat us like marionettes on a string dancing about at the whims of some divine puppeteer. So, in our story, God stands in the shadows to see what we are going to do. Are we going to continue to gripe and complain and push for change even though we have no idea what will come of it? What is poor Samuel going to do with this protest crowd setting up camp at his doorstep every morning? Instead of intervening to save the day or deciding we're not worth it anymore ...

13. Just What The Doctor Ordered

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... with faith to that pole of Calvary to see our freedom there. Some people think we're stupid for trusting in the power of the cross. No, it doesn't make sense. But it does save. God can't and won't punish us as Christians, even though we complain, because his Son already endured that penalty. He crushed the conniving snake once for all. We need not fear the devil. Jesus saw this story as so significant for our spiritual life that it is the only Old Testament picture he applied to himself. The snake on a tree ...

14. Lift High The Cross

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... and when Christ comes again. So we are now on our wilderness journey. We live in the in-between-time. In our wilderness trip, we too have our "snakes" with which to contend - snakes that poison our lives. We also do our share of groaning and complaining. Yes, we live in our wilderness too, only the geography is different. So lift high the cross! Look upon this cross and see there the sign of our healing, the sign of our salvation. Among other things, the cross is the great symbol of God’s continuing ...

15. Grumblers Among God's People

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... to handle conflict. One of the most common causes for grumbling is lack of involvement. Most grumblers are people who are underemployed or unemployed for the church. They haven't found a place in God's kingdom where they feel important. The result is that they complain about what is going on in the church. The goal of a healthy church is to be a full employment church where everybody is needed. A woman came to her pastor and said, "Our church has a fellowship group for the older members, retirement age, and ...

16. The Danger of American Express

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

... wife, thank God for the wife he has given you. Instead of coveting another man's car, thank God for the car you have to drive. You see, covetousness is an attitude of ingratitude toward the God who provides for your needs. God gives us daily bread, and then we complain because we don't have daily steak. We have bread, we covet another man's steak, when much of the world today doesn't even have any bread. We need to learn to be grateful for what we have. b. Be Gratified With What You Have It's not enough ...

17. Can't Get No Satisfaction

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

... enjoy your work and accept your lot in life that is indeed a gift from God."(Ecclesiastes 5:19, NLT) We need to learn to be grateful for what we have and enjoy it and not want what others have. Think about it. God gives us daily bread and we complain because we don't have daily steak. We have bread and we covet another man's steak when much of the world today doesn't' have any bread. It is like one man who said, "I cried because I had no shoes until I saw another man who had no ...

18. Minding the Store of Our Lives

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... many had relations with Moab women leading to their worship of Baal (Numbers 25:1-18). Again, referring to the Israelites' sojourn in the desert (Numbers 16:41-49 and 21:5-6 as two examples) Paul tells the Corinthians how the people tested God and complained against Moses, God's chosen liberator. The people tried the patience of God, who it seems was the object of their anger. All of these incidents, Paul suggests, happened as warnings for those living at the end of the ages. Since the apostle, as indicated ...

19. When the Impossible Becomes Imminently Possible!

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... I wish I could get away from them" (cf. Jeremiah 9:2). Jonah fled in the opposite direction to avoid God's call to proclaim his message to the great heathen city of Nineveh, whose citizens he regarded with disdain. In our reading, the disciples complained because the large crowd was an inconvenience by their estimation. Philip, according to the text, griped, "eight months wages" would not be enough to feed the crowd. Philip's was the stunted faith of the bottom line that will forever come up short. We see ...

20. The Joy of a Thankful Heart

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... his world rejoices, Who, from our mother's arms, Hath blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today."[3] What a difference that made in his life. Because he responded in praise to God for the coming of peace instead of grumbling and complaining, Rinkart experienced the joy of a thankful heart. The same is true for us. We don't get a choice over a great many things that happen to us. We have only the choice of how to respond. If we strive to give thanks for the good in the midst ...

21. Tough Faith In Tough Times

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... So while God is at work to bring about his ends, he is at work through human individuals and human agencies, despite the injustice that often characterizes human relationships, because God respects our freedom. In the second place, it is not our part, while waiting in patience to complain or to sulk or to be passive, but to be faithful and persistent in prayer. This is why Jesus says that we ought always to pray and not to lose heart. It is not our part to set the terms of how justice will be meted out; our ...

22. Preparing The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... by actions at the nursing home where he lived. Vic just knew that all of us are "turned in on self," as Luther described sin. "Selfishness, impatience and materialism are all on my list," grandfather Frank said to his grandson. Religious slackness, moral erosion and complaining were on Malachi's list. Crookedness, inferiority and pride made John's list. What items belong on our lists that we may be made ready for the coming of our special guest? God is coming! 1. Stephen V. Daughty Emphasis magazine, C.S.S ...

23. God's Verdict Upon The World (Looking At The World Through The Eyes of God)

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... appeared before the abbot and spoke two more words, "hard bed". At the end of year three he came to the abbot and spoke his last two words, "I quit." The abbot responded, "Well its about time, because complain, complain, complain is all you’ve done since you came here." We humans are people of darkness. We complain, rebel, work against the Kingdom of God. Death is all we know. Lives filled with the patterns of sin. These are the first things God sees as he looks down upon us, those whose deeds are evil ...

24. Turn in an Account of Your Stewardship

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... basically unfair, and that nothing will change that. But they are determined to make the best of things anyway. Nor do they complain about misfortune. They take life as it comes. And with gusto, they throw themselves into living the life that is given them. ... of light. What faith ought to mean is that you don’t give up, and you don’t bemoan your fate, and you don’t complain that life is unfair. If you believe that the future is in God’s hands, then you keep on working, and you keep on believing, and ...

25. How Moses Handled Stress

Numbers 11:4-35

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... morning picks up the story. The people would plead with Moses during the day, and he would hear their weeping at night, crying, "We were better off in Egypt as slaves, than we are now free, wandering this desert." Finally Moses, stressed out, had it up to here. He complains to God, "Why have you done this to me? Am I the father of all these people that I should take responsibility for looking after them? I've had it. You can take your 'exodus' and finish it yourself. I'm going back to the ranch." I remember ...

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