Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 1 to 25 of 4943 results

1. Is It Too Late? ... Continued

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

George Johnson

... won't let him turn the air conditioner on in their car anymore. Here's another sign of hope. I've received several phone calls and comments this past week about my sermon last Sunday. Almost all were positive. Because people heard that I was going to continue the sermon next Sunday, some gave me ideas of things to say, things we can do. I was told by a professional in the environmental business that Minnesota leads the nation in dealing with solid waste. That's something to applaud. One person I talked to ...

2. A New Continuing

John 14:8-17, 25-27

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... help. He promised that the Father would send us the best lawyer he could find to stand by our side and assist us. Actually, when you come right down to it, the Holy Spirit is the form the Spirit of Jesus now takes in this world. The Spirit is the continued presence of Jesus in the church. As we read in John's Gospel, this is a Spirit of truth, of power, and of peace. These are three gifts of the Spirit in John's Pentecost story, and these three gifts correspond to three fears that surely must have been ...

3. A Continuing Presence

John 16:5-16

Sermon

Larry Powell

... as are in accordance with God's will. The Spirit of truth also reveals that which is not of God. Witness your daily newspaper. And when we observe that not even offenses within the church are exempt from God's scrutiny, we may be assured of the continuing work of the Spirit. Euripides once said, "When once I had seen the truth there was no drug that I could take to unsee it and lose again what I had seen." How much more revealing it must have been for the disciples following the Resurrection. Even ...

4. Continuity

Illustration

Yotaro Kobayashi

There is a very strong tendency on the part of Americans, whether in government or business, that you really have to establish some achievement of your own. In Japan, there is emphasis on continuity. Unless there is something wrong, I build on what my predecessor has built. In the U.S., the new man comes in and very often the value of that man is judged by the things he does differently from his predecessor. This is very destabilizing; you start from scratch. In ...

5. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to them special importance. Unlike the man born blind, they did not make a public confession of their faith. They did not want to risk expulsion from the synagogue (cf. 9:22, 34), so they kept quiet about their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and continued to function in positions of leadership in the Jewish community. The verdict of John’s Gospel is that such a position is an untenable one. Not to decide is to decide. Such people have, by their silence, chosen human approval over the approval of God (v ...

6. Jesus’s Ministry and Popularity Continue to Grow

Mark 1:40-45, Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:29-34

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... in a different direction. The problem with the crowds here in Mark 1 is that they are filled with wonder and follow Jesus everywhere but fail to commit to him. Their desire is for the spectacular miracles but not for the gospel truths. This problem will continue throughout Jesus’s ministry, and at the end the crowds will join the leaders in seeking his death (15:11–15). 1:38–39 Let us go somewhere else . . . so I can preach there also. Jesus’s mission is to “preach” the gospel and call people ...

7. Resolution: The Temple Building Continued and Finished

Ezra 5:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... order in this part of the empire. Their request is legitimate. The author here calls attention to God’s providence: “But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews” (5:5). This explains why the officials allow the Jews to continue until they have an official reply from the king. This positive attitude on the part of the Persian officials is further seen in the details they include in their letter to the king. The Jews’ answer is very honest and transparent, even acknowledging that ...

8. Continuing Opposition to the Apostles by Jewish Leadership

Acts 5:12-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... can be resolved by recognizing that the word “join” in this context does not refer to “believed in the Lord” (cf. 5:14) but simply adhering to the group of believers (cf. 9:26; 10:28; 17:34). Other details in this account highlight the continuity between Jesus and his apostles. The power that is transmitted even through Peter’s shadow (5:15) reminds one of Jesus’s own magnificent power (Luke 8:44), and the presence of large crowds that gather from surrounding towns (5:16) likewise reminds one of ...

9. To Be Continued

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

Here is a remarkable story from World War II. From the island of Guam one of our mighty bombers took off for Kokura, Japan, with a deadly cargo. The sleek B-29 turned and circled above the cloud that covered the target for half an hour, then three-quarters of an hour, then 55 minutes, until the gas supply reached the danger point. It seemed a shame to be right over the primary target and then have to pass it up, but there was no choice. With one more look back, the crew headed for the secondary target. ...

10. Another in the continuing adventures of AMAZING GRACE

Drama

Narrator: Today we find Grace, still captive in the castle of the Evil Prince, forced by a magic spell to do his bidding. He is now moving her from the laundry room dungeon in the subbasement to one of his more horrible torture devices - the kitchen sink. [Enter Grace and the Evil Prince] Evil Prince: Come on, Gracie Baby, move along. I’ve got a special treat in store for you today! Grace: [Being led in chains] When are you going to give up. You can’t break me, and you know it! E.P.: Now, Gracie, don’t be ...

11. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

John the evangelist, who has been the narrator of the story all along (2:22–25; 3:16–21, 31–36; 7:5), now sums up the meaning of Jesus’s public ministry (12:37–43). John 12:37 makes plain what all of early Christianity was forced to acknowledge: Jesus’s many signs fell on disbelief. John joins the other evangelists in drawing texts from Isaiah that must have been commonly used in the early church (Isa. 6:10; 53:1; cf. Matt. 13:14–17). Isaiah too found disbelief in Israel and attributed it to God’s ...

12. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... :1 (Eliphaz); 6:1; 9:1; 12:1; 16:1; 19:1; 21:1; 23:1; 26:1 (Job); 8:1 (Bildad); 11:1 (Zophar); 15:1 (Eliphaz); 18:1 (Bildad); 20:1 (Zophar); 22:1 (Eliphaz); 25:1 (Bildad). The Heb. translated, “And Job continued his discourse,” lit. means, “And Job continued to lift up his mashal and he said.” The term mashal describes a more general form of wisdom speech, normally translated “proverb.” (See the discussion in the additional note on 3:2 in §7.) The phrase here is identical to that in 29:1. Other ...

13. Children of God

1 John 2:28--3:10

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... precisely, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, fits the picture appropriately (cf. 1 John 2:27; 3:24; 4:13; John 3:5, 8; 6:63a; 14:16–17; 16:7–8; 20:22). The meaning, then, is that the Holy Spirit, abiding in the Christian, keeps the Christian from the continual practice of sin. Because of the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit of God, the Christian cannot go on sinning, for the Spirit of God has caused him/her to be born from above (John 3:3, 5–7) or born of God. 3:10 Throughout this section of ...

14. Elihu

Job 32:1--37:24

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... beck and call of Job, and it emphasizes God’s freedom to appear or not. This message of freedom is one of the implications of Job’s submission in 42:1–6 and must have been directed to the community of readers who were struggling with the continued absence of God in their own experience. The delay has the added dramatic effect of increasing the tension of expectation in the narrative. Job has thrown down the gauntlet, so to speak, and yet God does not come! The second effect of the Elihu speeches is to ...

15. The Son Makes Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... is a large idea in John's gospel. He uses his images like a kaleidoscope. The same images are combined and re-combined in different ways, so that each time he turns the crank we see something different and yet recognize it as the same. So he speaks of continuing in Jesus' word and of Jesus' words abiding in those who hear them. He speaks of abiding in his words and abiding in his love, and we realize that he means the same thing. He speaks of having given his disciples his word and of them keeping his word ...

16. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... -seven in the letters of John. “Remain,” “abide,” and “dwell” are its primary meanings. The NIV translates it variously as “live” (1 John 2:6, 10, 14, 17; 3:6, 24; 4:12, 13, 15, 16; 2 John 2), “remain” (1 John 2:19, 24, 27; 3:9, 14), “continue” (1 John 2:28; 2 John 9), “be” (1 John 3:17), and leaves menō untranslated in 1 John 3:15. See the concise study of menō in Brown, Epistles, pp. 259–61. The name Jesus is not in the Greek text; instead the special Johannine use of the ...

17. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

18. God Is Not Yet Finished With You

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... visit or witness or to help the poor. To enable us to render this service, God the Spirit provided us with nine gifts of the Spirit. In and through the Word and Sacraments, the Holy Spirit comes to motivate us to godly living. God the Spirit creates godly people. He continually works in us to produce character. As the Spirit gave us nine gifts, he also produces in us the fruit of nine virtues such as love, joy, and peace. Today I may be a good person, but if I allow God the Spirit to work in me, next year I ...

19. God’s Love and Ours

1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... :4b The link concepts in other passages are: “Son of God” and “life” in 5:12–13, “love” in 4:18–19, “living” in 4:12–13, “from God” in 4:6–7, “spirit” in 3:24–4:1, “truth” in 3:18–19, “love” in 3:10–11, “remain … continue” in 2:27–28, and the end of the age in 2:17–18. New sections clearly begin at 1:5, 2:3, and 2:12 without the use of linking ideas or phrases. 5:6 A full discussion of the various alternative interpretations of this verse may be found ...

20. Job’s Reply to Zophar

Job 12:1--14:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... world. For Job, however, this awareness of the power of God leads in a very different direction. The difference is Job’s absolute conviction of his own innocence in the face of the overwhelming onslaught of suffering and loss. This tension casts doubts on the friends’ continuing affirmations of the justice of God. The section is divided into two parts: a set of rhetorical questions (vv. 11–12) that introduce a hymn to the power of God in the world of human affairs (vv. 13–25). 12:11–12 In a series ...

21. Faith in the Son of God

1 John 5:1-12, 1 John 4:7-21

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

22. Reformation Sunday

Jn 8:31-36 · Rom 3:19-28 · Jer 31:31-34 · Ps 46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... in a single segment. Our relationship with God is ongoing; it's a serial story. What matters to God is not what happens in the first installment of our walk with the Lord. What counts is that we grow in love as we continue in Christ. Our relationship with Christ remains healthy if we continue in his teachings (v. 31). Outline: Introduction: How do you feel when you're engrossed in an exciting story on television and are finally getting to the crux of the plot, when all of a sudden there's a station break ...

23. Winners Losers

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... dignity at his command said, “Sir, I want you to know I can stop smoking any time I want to.” The reply was unexpected and bore no relevance to my request. I have thought a lot about what he said. This gentleman had lied to himself. Oh, yes, he had continued. No matter what presented itself to him, he had a response that justified his behavior even if it had nothing to do with the facts or the opinions of others. “I can do it if I want to.” What he was compelled to do was to keep deceiving himself ...

24. The Glory of the New Covenant

2 Corinthians 3:7-17; 4:1-6

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... as Israel was hardened to the law in Moses’ day (Deut. 29:3–4) and in the days of the prophets (Isa. 6:9–10), Israel continues to remain so under the old covenant in Paul’s day as well (cf. Rom. 11:25; also Acts 28:26–27). As I have tried ... expected a perfect tense verb to express this idea, but the aorist is regularly used in the LXX to refer to a past action with results that continue to the contemporary period (cf., e.g., Gen. 47:26; Deut. 3:14; 29:3; Josh. 6:25; 7:26; 22:17; 23:8; Judg. 1:21 ...

25. To Live Is To Grow

1 Timothy 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... death of Jesus Christ. The purpose of Christ in their life was to perfect them, to bring them to maturity as God's people that He might present them "holy and blameless and irreproachable before (God). This would be possible, he said, if they continued steadfastly in the faith. Paul's letter to Timothy makes the case even more specifically. Listen again to verses 7 and 8: "Train yourself in godliness, for while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way." And hear again verses ...

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