Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: contest, tournament, match, game, round, heat, fixture, event, meet, encounter, rivalry, competitiveness, vying, contesting, opposition, contention, conflict, feuding, battling, fighting, struggling, strife, war, opposing side, other side, other team, field, enemy, foe

Showing 1 to 25 of 3791 results

1. Struggling with God

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... our Lord. Yes, there are moments when we feel like the little girl sitting on her bunk at summer camp and crying her eyes out. The counselor asked if she were homesick. "No," she whimpered, "I'm HERE-sick." We know what she means. Sometimes it seems like SUCH a struggle. The message of Jacob is DO NOT GIVE UP, because a blessing may await at the end. By the way, the story of Jacob's reunion with brother Esau has a wonderful end. Jacob limps off to meet his sibling who greets him, not with hate, but a hug ...

2. Struggles, Death, and Christ

Philippians 1:21-30

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... life. Some few even pray that they will be released into death. This attitude is sometimes difficult to cope with, even if it is possible to understand the situation of someone who seems to be nearing the end of their life, praying for a quick end to the struggle and pain. What is very difficult is to grasp what Paul is saying in the first sentence of today's lesson. "For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain." Even though this letter was written while he was in prison, Paul's experience there did not ...

3. Stronger after the Struggle

Matthew 14:22-33

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

... insects seemed to be having a particularly hard time getting out. After hours of watching this moth beat desperately with its yet undeveloped wings to break out of the cocoon, Wallace couldn't take it anymore. Moved by the creature's life-and-death struggle, Wallace decided to lend a helping hand. Gently, being careful not to injure the insect, Wallace used his sharp knife to cut open the remainder of the cocoon and freed the moth from that transformation chamber. But something was wrong. The moth was not ...

4. Christianity Involves a Struggle

Luke 12:49-53

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

... was closely watching as this miracle unfolded. Then, the amateur naturalist did a very dumb thing. He took out his pocket knife and he slit the cocoon so that the butterfly did not have to struggle. The butterfly came out and flew around but it was a very weak butterfly because the butterfly never had to struggle in its own birth. Many parents make the same mistake in parenting, where the parents cut the cocoon and make it easier for the children to grow up, protecting their children from difficult ...

5. Struggling with Sin

Romans 7:7-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... not in this life fade away. These remain enemies, death the greatest of them. Through all this the Christian learns to walk “by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Our one anchor is the promise and presence of the resurrected Lord who gives grace for the present struggle and eternal life in the world to come. Additional Notes For a survey of Rom. 7 in the history of theology, see Michel, Der Brief an die Römer, pp. 175, 181–83. For a pre-Christian understanding, see W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die ...

6. Struggle

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... seemed to make almost no progress. Finally, the human observer, thinking that "the powers that be" had erred, took a pair of scissors and snipped the opening larger. The butterfly crawled out, but that's all it ever did—crawl. The pressure of the struggle was intended to push colorful, life-giving juices back into the wings, but the man in his supposed mercy prevented this. The insect never was anything but a stunted abortion, and instead of flying on rainbow wings above the beautiful gardens, it was ...

7. The Struggle of Faith

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

... will pass, the trouble will resolve itself, the deliverance will come. At the same time, there will be times for all of us when, "it doesn’t get any better." Then it is that we are blessed when we take no offense. Then it is we understand the true struggle of faith, the faith that is able to sustain us and to enable us to transcend the vicissitudes of life, knowing for certain that "he that hath begun a good work in us will continue it till the day of Jesus Christ," and that "the Lord God the Omnipotent ...

8. Necessary Struggle

Illustration

Beth Landers

... emperor moth and took it home to watch it emerge. One day a small opening appeared, and for several hours the moth struggled but couldn't seem to force its body past a certain point. Deciding something was wrong, the man took scissors and snipped ... moth spent its life dragging around a swollen body and shriveled wings. The constricting cocoon and the struggle necessary to pass through the tiny opening are God's way of forcing fluid from the body into the wings. The "merciful" snip was, in reality, cruel ...

9. Struggling with Doubt, Standing on Faith

Matt 7:15-23; 28:16-20

Illustration

Donald M. Tuttle

... to those Graham had. We wonder whether Jesus is who Scripture says he is. We wonder if the life he calls us to live is truly the abundant life. We wonder if we can dare do what he asks. We know deep inside that a life that endures our inevitable struggles cannot be built on Jesus as merely a wise man or as one great religious teacher among many. It rests on acknowledging by faith that Jesus is the very presence of God among us. It rests on yielding to the authority he possesses as God's only Son.

10. Without the Struggle, There Are No Wings

Matthew 16: 13-20

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... blade, doing the equivalent of a Caesarean section. The second butterfly never did sprout wings, and in about ten minutes, instead of flying away, it quietly died. The family asked a biologist friend to explain what had happened. The scientist said that the difficult struggle to emerge from the small hole actually pushes liquids from deep inside the butterfly's body cavity into tiny capillaries in the wings where they hardened to complete the healthy and beautiful adult butterfly. The lesson? WITHOUT THE ...

11. Equipped for the Struggle

Luke 17:11-19

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... , to become concerned about and involved in society. A university is here to help you gain wisdom, morality, and maybe even, he concluded, the purpose of the university is "to equip you for the struggles of life, not to guarantee you victory." Well, that's a model of faith as well. That's what faith enables us to do to continue the struggle, to keep on, to refuse to give up. Because, often we have to act in faith before the work of faith is actualized. As the lepers went their way they noticed they were ...

12. Out of the Struggle of Honest Doubt

John 20:19-23

Illustration

Glenn E. Ludwig

... : "It sounds to me like something worth giving my life to." The pastor said "I sat with Thomas that night in the form of a 15-year-old girl and we shared some bread and wine in the presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ." Do you see? Out of the struggle with honest doubt, a faith can be reborn, and new life can begin.

13. The Struggle for Freedom

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... so much a part of his life that he doesn't even realize much how they have trapped and confined him. And then one day, some bullies chase Forrest and he has to run away but the braces slow him down. As the bullies get closer and closer and Forrest struggles to run faster, the braces finally break, fall off his legs, and suddenly he is set free to run fast. The point is this, Forrest never knew what it felt to be free or how fast he could run until he took that step or, in a better sense, was ...

14. Forgiveness: Where Ordinary Folks Struggle

Matthew 18:15-20

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... picture was less bright, however, when it came to interpersonal relations. Only about half of the people surveyed claimed that they were certain that they had forgiven others. Most people admitted that whereas God may be a galaxy-class forgiver, ordinary folks struggle. It's difficult to forgive other people with whom you are angry. It's even difficult to forgive yourself sometimes. But where forgiveness does take place, the study found a link between forgiveness and better health. The more prone a person ...

15. When Your Struggles Subside, You're Ready

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A parable is told about man who fell into the water. It was obvious that the poor fellow couldn’t swim, as he thrashed about wildly. A man on the banks, a strong swimmer, watched until the wild struggles subsided. Then he dove in and pulled the man to safety. When the rescue was over, the rescuer explained his slowness to act. “If I had jumped in immediately, he would have been strong enough to drown us both. Only by waiting until he was too exhausted to try to ...

16. The Struggle Within

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... train and waved good-bye, he turned with bitter tears and said, "If my son is killed, I hope every Jap in the world is killed!" Yet the fact that the father was a Christian made it difficult to feel that way in reality. He had a fierce struggle with himself and finally realized that it was not Christian to hate, whether his son lived or died. He declared rather, "I will not hate. I refuse to be destroyed by hate!" A year later the son was killed. Soon life insurance money arrived. The father did not really ...

17. David’s Struggles with Saul

1 Samuel 18:1-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the beneficial results that David’s triumph brings to Israel as a whole, Saul soon becomes jealous of David and begins to treat him as a rival to the throne. Perhaps Saul suspects that David is the “neighbor” who will replace him as king (15:28). After a brief period of promotions and honor, David becomes persona non grata in Saul’s court, and the king tries several methods to get rid of him. Saul’s attitude is diametrically opposed to that of his son Jonathan, who does ...

18. Struggling With Sin

Romans 7:7-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

7:7–12 · Paul next describes the rule of sin. The assertion in verse 5 (and the statements in 3:19–21; 5:20) may suggest to some readers that the law itself is sin (7:7). Paul energetically rejects such a conclusion. He explains his “By no means!” (RSV, ESV; NIV “Certainly not!”) in verses 7–12: since the law condemns sinners and consigns them to death as the consequence of their sin, the law belongs on God’s side and is thus opposed to sin. The problem is sin, not the law. Paul recounts the history of the ...

19. Stairways Of Heaven

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Justin Tull

... a little attention!” But one card was especially appropriate. A woman who had suffered for many months with an injury, sent me not a get-well card but a sympathy card. She wanted me to know that she knew how I felt! To help me with my personal struggle, I received a lot of cards with advice: “Don’t let your doctor put one of those sticks in your mouth… until you know who ate the ice cream.” “Please take good care of yourself… I have enough to worry about without adding you to my list.” As ...

20. Turf Fights and Rewrites: That's What Stiff-Necked People Are Made Of

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... it! It was me! Yup! It was all my fault!” Or you and your friend or spouse get into an argument, and the first thing you say is, “It’s all my fault. I’m the one in error here. I’m sure of it!” No! We battle, and we struggle, and we stand our ground. Stiff-necked! Immovable! We are a stubborn, stiff-necked people! And yet, we are all on a quest for truth. We need to find, not “our truth,” but God’s truth. God’s truth within us. Our most important truth, our most vital identity, is ...

21. Wrestling for a Blessing

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

James McCormick

... You can count on it. Our choice is about what we will do with the difficulty once it comes. Victor Frankl called it the last human freedom. It is the freedom to decide what our attitude will be in any given circumstance. Okay, here is the difficulty. Here is the struggle. What are you going to do with it? There is a poem that says it: “One ship sails east, another west, By the self same winds that blow. It’s the set of the sail and not the gale That determines the way they go.” So, what are you going ...

22. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

John 16:17-33

Sermon

James McCormick

... their bodies. Finally, the little birds caught on to it, that what they had once thought would be a hampering weight became the means by which they were released into the freedom of the sky. Do you hear it? That’s the way it is with so many of the struggles of life. We face our difficulty squarely. By the grace of God we cope with it as best we can. And then, so often, we discover that that very difficulty has introduced us to a new dimension of life, and has become the means by which we begin to fly ...

23. The Honor Of A Limp

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

... required" (Luke 12:48). In the case of Jacob, life is given to him as an heir to God's promise to Abraham and life is also grasped by him; hence the name Jacob, which in Hebrew means "heel grabber" or "overreacher." The story of Jacob is the story of struggle in life before God, who both blesses us and gives us the space to make our lives blessed. This is the character of Jacob. And the passage before us gives him credit for being a person who knows how to act in ways that ensure the blessings of life and ...

24. The Reckoning

Matthew 14:13-21, Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . To reckon with God means, we agree to make our paths straight, to come to terms with what it means for us to trust, to have faith in God, to believe in the person of Jesus, and to make a conscious decision to make him our Lord and Savior. We struggle, and in that process, we come to a reckoning in which we submit ourselves to God. We come to terms with who we are, who God is, and the path we want our lives to take. So what will it be today, people of God? Will you follow Jesus, or ...

25. Three Secrets of A Life Well Lived

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Brett Blair

... his players. When he was finally replaced, the caricature on the front of Sports Illustrated showed Bobby Knight with both hands around his own neck, choking himself. You could not miss his caustic nature. Knight had become his own worst enemy. When we come to the end of our struggle, all of us can say that we have fought the fight, but can we echo the words of Paul that we have fought the good fight. Can we affirm in good faith that we have given the last ounce of energy? Can we look back upon life with a ...

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