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 3536 results

1. Being Set Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... to grow in our understanding of Jesus. If we are to be a disciple, we must keep on expanding our spiritual knowledge. That means to be free is to be a real disciple; to be a real disciple is to learn and study him and his Scripture. When we decide we now "know ... I stand up and have breath in my lungs - I shall be one flame of that fire; it’s all the life I have." It is a freeing thing to finally be able to discern that which is good and worth a sacrifice from that which is junk in our lives. When we get this ...

2. Freedom to Set Free

Galatians 4:21-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a piccolo trying to play in the tuba section because some men I admire greatly play the spiritual “deep notes.” Can you imagine anything more pitiful than a piccolo trying to play in a tuba section? Yet this is the story of much of our lives and we never feel free and natural in our Christian living because we try to be something we are not. We know about that don’t we? How often do we forget that God measures us not in terms of what we own, or whom we know, or what we accomplish, but in terms of ...

3. How Free Are We?

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... strange paradox Jesus left us: that we only find ourselves by losing ourselves. This is the answer to that other paradox of Jesus in John, chapter 8: we only find true freedom as we surrender ourselves to Another. “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” He said. (John 8:32) But He wasn’t talking about just any old truth. These words must be placed beside Jesus’ other words in John 14:6 where He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” It is only in His service that ...

4. Living Free

Haggai 2:1-9

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... ? In another passage Martin Luther compared the Christian to a cup into which God pours his love. God pours so much love into us that like a cup with too much in it that love flows out of us to our neighbors.7 How are we still free? An empty cup does not have any cares and fears about spilling its contents. Christians, neither do you have to have any cares and fears about exercising your Christian responsibility. Doing that will happen as spontaneously as a beverage spills out of a cup that is overflowing ...

5. Captive Free!

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... hug feel so good. It felt like a burden had been lifted, like the chains had been cut loose, like the captive had been set free. That is surely our plight. We are captive, trapped, caught in double jeopardy, damned if we do and damned if we don't. But Jesus ... me, all you that are weary and heavy laden ... all you who are in captivity, and I will give you rest — and I will set you free." That is exactly what he does every time you come to this place to hear the words of comfort and to eat and drink at his ...

6. Free Indeed!

John 8:31-36

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... had been in exile, taken captive to Babylon. At the time of Jesus, they were living under the rule of the Romans who had taken over their land. How then could they say, "We've never been slaves"? Today we have our own blind spots. We might think we are free, but at the same time we eat too much, we work too much, we spend too much on ourselves, and we accumulate too many things. We are tied to our consumer culture. We see war waged and rationalized in the name of peace. We see ignorance posing as knowledge ...

7. Free From What? For What?

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... but we are not to use our freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence of the flesh but rather, through holy love, we are free to become servants of God and slaves to each other. The tale is told of British and American POW’s imprisoned behind German ... the dogs. When the guards found out about the surrender, they fled, leaving the gates open. Now, when were the prisoners really set free? That’s right — when they heard that they were to be delivered from their captivity. This is the state we live in. ...

8. Free to Be

Acts 4:23-31

Sermon

Michael J. Anton

... are men who want racial revenge on me. My wallet would like to convince me I will be happiest when I sell my soul to the dollar sign. But my biggest enemy is me. The largest threat to my freedom as God’s person is myself. In trying to be free to be God’s person, I am afraid for my security, my safety, my reputation. The early chapters of Acts describe how Peter and John used the power of God’s Spirit to heal a man paralyzed for almost forty years. The healing stirred up quite a reaction in Jerusalem ...

9. Set Free

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... old man heard knocking on his door. He called out, "Who’s there?" "It is your son!" the voice outside replied. "My kidnappers set me free, and I have spent many years trying to find you!" The old man yelled, "You are a fake and a cruel man. My son is ... who was still living. Why? Because he was determined to hold on to the bones of the past. Our message today is also a challenge: "Set Free in ˜93." That’s my prayer for each of us. This is the first Sunday of a new year ” a great day for letting go of ...

10. Christ Has Set Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

... and Eve, the devil promises if we’d only get God off our backs, we could take over and be worldly and mature and sophisticated - and free. But whenever we yield to the big lie and reach for the forbidden fruit, we gag on it, and we’re left with the same ... to count and run through the scales and then to drill and to drill and to drill. Only by working at the piano is the artist free to play the piano. When we first moved to St. Paul, 1-94 wasn’t finished between the Twin Cities. As a newcomer it was ...

11. The Truth Will Make You Free

Sermon

Phyllis Faaborg Wolk

... worship and pray and read the Bible. Chris drifted back just in time to hear the last sentence of the pastor's sermon. "Jesus said, 'If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." As the congregation started to sing the sermon hymn, Chris felt his heart beginning to race again. It was almost time for him to go and stand in front of the congregation for the confirmation part of the service. When the nod came from the pastor, Chris made ...

12. The Truth Will Make You Free

Sermon

Phyllis Faaborg Wolk

13. The Son Makes Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... slaves by her mother-in-law and plantation overseer. Freedom for the young slave woman came in the form of courage to hang on and do what she had to do to secure the promise from her master that the son she had borne him would be a free man and not a slave. Today is Reformation Sunday. We remember, with thanksgiving, the rediscovery of the freedom of God's children by a 16th century Augustinian monk named Martin Luther. At a time when much of the church had forgotten the simple, yet profound truth that sets ...

14. What Does It Mean To Be Really Free?

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... you have--and the more these things define who you are--the more you live in fear that these things will one day be taken from you. You become the bird in the gilded cage. And while the cage may be gilded indeed--it remains a cage. St. Paul was free because he had nothing to lose. The sooner you and I realize we have nothing to lose, the happier we will be. There was once a twelve-year-old boy who had been given an assignment by his father to work in the yard. The boy hired his six-year ...

15. Your Sins Are Remembered No More! You Are Free!

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... society, is in such bondage. We cannot get past our bad memories. Oh, but that is not the way that God forgives. He wipes the slate clean! God remembers your sin and my sin no more. We really are forgiven. Our sins are forgotten! Can you feel how freeing this Word is? The sins of the past, the misdeeds of the past, and the bad habits that may still be plaguing you, God has forgotten them. And if God has forgotten them, all those wrongs do not have ultimate meaning any more. They have no eternal significance ...

16. For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... on with all the luxuries of a spoiled life, became a servant. She changed bandages, bathed babies, fed lepers…and became free. She wrote her autobiography and called it All I Ever Wanted Was Everything. She could not get the everything that would ... a freedom that has come through forgiveness. We’re no longer slaves to the past, weighed down by guilt, by morbid regret - we are set free, because Christ has wiped the slate clean, as it were. Let me ask you a question. When you think about God, do you become ...

17. Thank God We're Free at Last

Romans 6:12-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... the brim with a joy that surpasses understanding. Today is the day that can happen. Will you join your life to that of Christ? Then you will be able to say that glorious chant that we first heard from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, [I’m] free at last.” (6) Let’s thank God for freedom this day, and let’s open our hearts to the One who gives us freedom in this world and the world to come. Amen 1. Jim Davis, http://focusongod.com/Romans07.html. 2. Uncle ...

18. Addiction Free

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ever before faced it. The de-tox program of Christ's church is not a 10-Step Program or a 12-Step Program. The glory and wonder of our message is a true one-step wonder. Jesus accomplished it all on the cross. The ultimate answer to an addiction-free life is found in the redemptive love of Christ, the merciful overflowing measure of God's love. End your sermon with a demonstration: Fill a glass full to the brim with milk. Fill an adjoining glass of the same size with popcorn. Fill a third glass of the same ...

19. Free and Faithful

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... words: And the people rejoiced that they were again led like sheep and that the terrible gift that brought them such suffering (freedom) was at last lifted from their hearts. I think we are all a bit like the people in Dostoevski’s story. God means us to be free, but sometimes we stagger under the weight of our freedom. We do not receive our freedom as a gift. Instead we ask God for a sign. We demand nothing so dramatic as turning stone to bread, perhaps, but still we ask for a sign. We are a bit like ...

20. If the Son Makes You Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

"We have never been in bondage to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be made free’?" "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." Two butterflies - colorful and majestic monarchs - sat side by side on a tree limb. Beside them was the ruptured cocoon from which they’d just emerged. "Come, fly with me," ... tentatively flexed his wings and seemed to inch closer to the edge of the limb. "We have never been in bondage to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be made free’?" "If the Son makes you ...

21. Free Living Water for All

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... this nameless, unsatisfied longing, this vague discontent, this something lacking, and we don't know what it is or why we have it. The Israelites are physically thirsty. Their jugs are dry. What wouldn't they give for a glass of Ted and Dorothy Hustead's free water generously mingled with ice? The Israelites do what they do best. They quarrel. They complain. They direct their complaints to Moses. "Give us water to drink. Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst ...

22. Finding the Truth That Makes Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... God "lives and loves, that he reaches down to help us with our lives and strengthen us when we are weak."5 The truth about life, its meaning, its purpose, its destination. That is what he sang about. He sang the truth. For the truth had made him free. An old Christian was spending his last days on earth in a hospital bed. His frame was frail and his face pale, but his smile was as radiant as ever. He had responded years before to the divine command, "Follow thou me." He had learned in his own experience ...

23. God's Gifts Are Free: Enjoy

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... we can be confident that he will ensure a good and happy outcome of crises that concern his property. The good things that you have are not ultimately yours. Ultimately God will take care of them. Is that not a wonderful freedom? God’s gifts really are free, friends. Enjoy! We can never get around to saying thank you enough for all these gifts. 1. Luther, Lectures on Deuteronomy, in Luther’s Works, Vol. 9, p. 141. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid., p. 255. 4. Ibid., pp. 141, 255. 5. John Wesley, Commentary on the Bible ...

24. When You’re Free (In Christ), Sacrifice Is No Burden!

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... , which abolishes a sharp distinction between the time of Jesus and the time of the church, our own time.4 The comfort Jesus offers is his attempt to comfort you and me. I need that comfort. You need it too, right? That word of comfort sets us free. Start there. Nothing else about our purpose, about living as a Christian, makes much sense, if you forget this word of comfort and the freedom it affords. Jesus proceeded with another word like that. In verses 29-31, he reminds the disciples and us that God the ...

25. Ollie, Ollie, All In Free!

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Steven Molin

... so good, I was never found. Even when I wanted to be, I was never found. I would get tired of hiding, but my pride kept me there. Sooner or later, I would hear someone scream the words I wanted to hear from my hiding place: "Ollie, Ollie, all in free!" Game's over. You can come out now. There's no reason to hide anymore. And that's the message God wants to scream to you this day: "Ollie, Ollie, all in ...

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