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 4937 results

1. Playing to the Right Audience

Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... an empty plot of land, told them to plant a garden or build a house, and then not given them the required tools. Any wonder the Christian life does not seem to work for so many of our people who have grown passive and discouraged. Duty gives way to drudgery, and the delight vanishes. Tedium is great, testimonies few. Dry spells are to be expected, but when they go on and on and on, help is needed. Every Christian needs to understand the basic theology and practice of the spiritual disciplines, just as every ...

2. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... on this pollyanna talk goes. When we can’t pack up all our feelings and do as we are told we feel guilty. We try and try. The harder we try the deeper we get bogged down. What is happening is this: our friends and family feel that if we give way to weakness we will do ourselves in. But psychologists teach us that grief is merely a caution sign in life: something must be faced, but it will not mean the end of life. We know that on the other side of our struggle will be a new and perhaps better way ...

3. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... is to be “put off,” he substitutes a virtue that promotes human relationships: Lying is replaced by truth (4:25); anger is removed by reconciliation (4:26); a person who once robbed goes to work (4:27); harmful words give way to helpful ones (4:29); bitterness, passion, anger, and insults give way to tender-heartedness, forgiveness, and love (4:31–5:2). 4:25 The exhortation that each one must put off falsehood uses the same word (apotithēmi) that was used in 4:22. Lying is to be put away because it ...

4. Joy Songs, Trumpet Blasts, And Hallelujah Shouts!

Joshua 5:13--6:27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... new leader named Joshua. Now they were ready to be led and trusted Joshua to lead them onwards. This was a new day - a time in which God would do new things in new ways. It was a day when the old and stale, the wooden and dried-up, would give way to a new dayspring from on high. The people were ready to be led because they were tired of life in the desert. Joshua would now lead them to their appointed place in history. They would now realize all the things God had in store for them because they, learning ...

5. “Weak and Strong” Should Get Along

Romans 14:1--15:13

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... for believers. In light of the new-covenant theme that informs “encouragement” and “hope,” I suggest that Paul has the story of Israel in mind here (cf. again 1 Cor. 10:1–11): Israel’s sin and exile (“endurance,” hypomon?) will give way to restoration (“encouragement, comfort,” parakl?sis) and therefore hope (elpis). But this message of the restoration of Israel includes Gentiles (see 15:9–12 to follow). We can thus summarize 15:3–4 by saying that since Christ’s sacrificial death ...

6. Jesus Prays for His Disciples

John 17:1-5, John 17:6-19, John 17:20-26

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... of God. Both possibilities are held open, but the accent throughout the prayer is more on the believers and their vindication than on settling in advance the fate of the world. This is clearly seen in the prayer’s conclusion (vv. 24–26). In verse 24, petition gives way to a straightforward declaration of intent: I want those you have given me to be with me where I am (cf. 12:26; 14:3). Jesus desires for his disciples a vision of his own glory, the glory you have given me … before the creation of the ...

7. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

... is timely: "Our Father, when we long for life without its trials and work, without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. With stout hearts may we see in every calamity an opportunity, and not give way to the pessimism that sees in every opportunity a calamity." Some grieve that life has passed them by and it is too late to come to the mark. But, General MacArthur was Supreme Commander of the occupation in Japan in his seventies. Titian painted ...

8. Who Do You say He Is?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Erskine White

... and tribulations, filled as it is with the sorrow and the pity - the life of this world hangs in the balance and the One who saves the world is waiting for the world to say, "You are the Christ." In His church - where passivity can give way to power, where groping can give way to growth, where we can be more than friends, but soul mates in the fellowship of God's people - the faithfulness of Jesus' church hangs in the balance and the One in whose name we worship is waiting for His church to say, "You are ...

9. To Live Is To Dance

John 10:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... like Maria? How do you hold a moon beam in your hand. Isn’t that a glorious picture of freedom and joy, of life as a dance. Now don’t get all tangled up in what you don’t like about these images. They have limitations. Don’t give way to the paralysis of analysis. We’re interested in images - symbols. And symbols are not to be analyzed, they are to be experienced. Now listen, the real test of a person as he faces life is whether he runs, fights, whimpers, or dances. Now that word burrows its way ...

10. To Live Is to Dance

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

11. Living The Alternatives

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... down which our world sweeps with suicidal speed, is to plant the seed of an alternative vision right beside it. In time, the seed will sprout and grow into a mighty tree; its roots reaching and expanding under the road. Eventually the cement will crack and give way to the vitality of its life. The promise of life contained in that tiny seed is the ground of our hope. It is also a threat because its vitality challenges the powers of death. Faith's vision is destructive as well as creative. There is a dark ...

12. The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-27

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... than we can possibly imagine. Human Experience: Imagine planning a hiking trip. It starts with a simple trail map. Then a line on the featureless map gives way to the much more dynamic and informative line on a topographical map. Here you consider elevation and decide whether you really want to ascend five thousand feet in a day. The maps give way to photographs, and the mountains become more real. Finally, with your gear packed and your route charted, you head out to the mountains. There you discover that ...

13. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... himself here announces their future freedom from political oppression (no longer will foreigners enslave them) with the language of the removal of the yoke from their necks and the bonds presumably on their limbs. Their forced service to a foreign power will give way to a service to the Lord and his representative, the king in the line of David. “Liberation in the biblical view is a change of masters” (Lundbom, Jeremiah 21–36, p. 390). It is interesting to reflect on the latter part of this promise ...

14. Movin’ Around Room

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... into and solve his own problem, to untie his own leash. Jesus’ offer was also a risk - whether to trust his most interior self to this man. Certainly Jesus is an uncertainty, for he has no way to know anything would come of it. But, he does know that 38 gives way to 39 and on and on till death. Jesus at the least gives him an option, the freedom to claim a possibility in face of the experience of a lifetime. It is like turning a key in the lock. Being in the place of a new thing, he decides, "Yes, Lord ...

15. The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

Nahum 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... is referring to that ultimate consummation, he is doing so in order to encourage his hearers to see the historical events he is about to describe as constituting a particular embodiment of that ultimate purpose. History does not give way to eschatology; eschatology gives way to history. The subsection comprising verses 3b–6 closes with a further assertion concerning the way this event will give expression to Yahweh’s fury. Verse 6 puts it in three ways. Yahweh expresses indignation, a sense of outrage ...

16. What Is That in Your Hand?

Exodus 4:1-17

Sermon

James McCormick

... thing has happened because the hand of God was at work in it. A Moses persuades a Pharaoh, a multitude is fed by a box lunch, the mighty Roman Empire is toppled by a little band of faithful nobodies, and a dark and gloomy Friday gives way to a glorious Easter, all because of God. That has happened so often in history that we should have gotten the idea by now. Success in any venture is not dependent upon our talent, our cleverness, our goodness, our hard work. No, success, finally, is dependent upon ...

17. The Vocation of Leadership: A Prophet Among Them

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... lonely, caged, faint-hearted one that he knew himself to be, he concluded with these lines: Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine. Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine. When we pay attention, “Who am I?” gives way to the real human vocational question, “Whose am I?” and there’s no equivocation in Bonhoeffer’s answer, “Thou knowest, O God, I am thine.” Go back to my introductory story of Saint Patrick. A voice spoke to him – “Return to Ireland, and, preach the ...

18. Proper 28

Mk 13:1-32 · Heb 10:11-25 · 1 Sam 1:4-20 · Ps 16

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... mother's description of a mother giving birth the pain and the joy. Explain that the pain and sorrow of this world are birth-pangs. Jesus describes the translation from this world to the kingdom as birth-pangs (vv. 6-8). Keep faith and the birth-pangs will give way to new life in Christ's kingdom (v. 13). 2. Sermon Title: Christ In Conflict With Culture. Sermon Angle: All of the signs that point to the end/beginning have to do with conflict. The power of God is in conflict with the powers that hold sway on ...

19. Praying Through

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... valve is wide open and the water full on. Repetitious prayer works like this as well. To persist in prayer is to open more and more the spiritual channels through which the power of God can flow. Closed doors, hard hearts, and satanic obstacles give way to the relentless pressure applied by both God and the kneeling Christian. The Bible gives us numerous accounts of knocking prayer. Moses, during a battle, lifted up his hands and prayed continuously until the sun went down and victory was won (Exodus 17:8 ...

20. The Impending Departure I

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... 14:19. The former has to do only with sense experience; the latter introduces what is for John the core of Christian existence—new life in the Father and the Son. Conclusion Only in the last few verses of the chapter does the question-and-answer framework give way to monologue. The concluding summary, marked off by the formula All this I have spoken … (v. 25; cf. 15:11; 16:1, 4, 25, 33; 17:1), continues to speak of the Counselor (v. 26) and of Jesus’ departure and return (v. 28), with some indications ...

21. Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-31, John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

22. Grace Is Not a Blue-eyed Blond

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... us that our problem with God is not restitution, but reconciliation. What we need is “atonement.” which can best be summed up by dividing the word into: “atonement.” We need “at-one-ment” with God. Therefore, the image of a Law Court must give way to the image of a Family. “Grace” is a personal, relational matter. To go back to our illustration of an injured party in a dispute: If the injured party insists that the friendship cannot be restored until the guilty party has paid the debt, then ...

23. The Four Sacred Chords of Home

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to psychologists as the body-sway test. A person stands with eyes closed and is subjected to repeated suggestions that you are falling. If, in spite of this, you remain in a fairly upright position, it can be assumed that you are emotionally mature; but if you give way to the suggestion of falling, the chances are that you need some major maturation. Every day we face a world where people are telling us that we’re falling, that we’re going to fail, that we don’t have what it takes to do what we’re ...

24. The Vision of the Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... beast/ten horns and the prostitute fulfills God’s promise to punish the prostitute (17:1) and illustrates the self-destructive nature of evil. Mounce observes that “the wicked are not a happy band of brothers, but precisely because they are wicked they give way to jealousy and hatred” that result in mutual destruction.4 The gruesome scene points back to the destruction of the apostate city of Jerusalem in Ezekiel 23:11–35, ironically a destruction carried out by Babylon (cf. Ezek. 16:37–41). Three ...

25. Proper 15 & Pentecost 13

Isaiah 56:1-8, Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 78:1-72, Exodus 16:1-36, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

... in the weeks ahead. One's preaching ministry should go into high gear, theologically, because it is around Labor Day that the new year of the church is really about to begin. The Prayer of the Day (LBW) The traditional and classic Collect for the Day gives way to a new, and rather simple, Prayer of the Day, which might be fitting on any Sunday. It addresses the God who has "given great and precious promises to those who believe." The petition, however, is attuned to the Gospel for the Day, Matthew 15:21-28 ...

Showing results