Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: take action, take steps, take measures, take the initiative, move, make a move, react, do something, proceed, go ahead, behave, function, perform, operate, work, take effect, serve, be efficacious, play, play a part, take part, be an actor, be an actress, be one of the cast, appear, pretend, play-act, sham, fake, feign, put it on, bluff, pose, posture, masquerade, dissemble, dissimulate, deed, action, gesture, feat, exploit, performance, undertaking, maneuver, stunt, operation, venture, effort, enterprise, achievement, accomplishment, law, decree, statute, bill, Act of Parliament, edict, fiat, dictum, dictate, enactment, resolution, ruling, rule, judgement, canon, ordinance, proclamation, command, commandment, mandate, measure, stipulation, direction, requirement, division, section, subsection, portion, part, segment, component, bit, turn, routine, number, item, piece, sketch, skit, playlet, dance, song, pretense, false display, show, front, facade, charade, guise, affectation, appearance

Antonyms: do nothing

Showing 1 to 25 of 2136 results

1. Sermons

Sermon

John R. Bodo

... , our disapproval, our disappointment. But the quarrel does not have to go on forever. God would put a stop to it today, in your life and mine. God has taken action to stop the quarrel. The action occurred nearly two thousand years ago, but it can take effect in our life any day, even today. We are trying to run away from God, from whatever God is plainly commanding us, through our conscience. But there was "One who was obedient unto death, even death on a cross." We fret and rebel because God does ...

2. The Lightest Touch

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... work of God. All of us know we will not match what he achieved. Nor is it likely that we will have to suffer what he did. Yet because, he did what he did, we can take heart that what we do in the name of our God will also take effect.

3. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... far as possible, ignore these distractions and will do all in his power to remove such distractions from the next service. His mind is set on the Word and he takes it all in. Only then is he preached to and only then does the act of preaching really take effect. The good soil is the receptive soil. Preach by Understanding The hearer may be present to hear the Word. He may go even further and listen to the Word. But, if he does not understand what he is hearing, the preaching does no good. The layman in the ...

4. She Had Great Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... from the church knelt by Walter’s bed one day and prayed for Walter and encouraged him to have faith that God could help him walk again. Walter’s mother gave him similar encouragement, and she began to work on his legs. Therapy and exercise began to take effect and, almost miraculously, Walter learned to walk again. But that wasn’t enough for Walter. He set a goal for himself not only to walk, not only to run. He set a goal for himself to break the world record for the high jump. It seemed impossible ...

5. The Biggest Prayer Ever Prayed Under Heaven

John 17:1-11

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... time we sing it: ...'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far And Grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures. The upward impact of this marvelous prayer still takes effect in the lives of God's own people. He is still protecting us day-by-day. The Outward Emphasis of His Prayer! I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept ...

6. His Baptism and Ours

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... . Through Christ our life was taken up into God’s life. The one business of our life now is to realize and give effect to what God did and gave. In baptism, as Paul says, we died to sin and can therefore no longer live in sin. Baptism takes effect in us as we daily die to sin and daily rise with Christ into a new life. This is the essential significance of our baptism, as Luther points out in the Small Catechism. He asks, "What does such baptizing with water signify?" and answers, "It signifies that the ...

7. Tears Are Our First Words

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , mostly young people, standing on top of the wall, waving flags, hammers and screwdrivers and tearing wall down with their bare hands. And when The Wall came down, and the communist regime in East Germany came down, the domino effect seemed to take effect, and the Soviet Union came down and the communist regimes in Eastern Europe came down. That’s right. You heard me. Instead of an underground army of freedom fighters launching guerilla attacks on that concrete barrier, the force that finally toppled the ...

8. Ignite: Fire and Water

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

James Merritt

... people be baptized? Does it matter? Is it a big deal whether you are sprinkled, poured, dipped, dunked, or somebody just spits on you in the name of Jesus? Is baptism necessary for salvation? Is baptism somehow the kick-starter for salvation to really take effect in a person’s life? This whole debate is very frustrating for any pastor, because baptism is meant to be a bridge – not a barrier. Baptism is meant to be a stepping stone to walking deeper with God, not a stumbling block from going higher ...

9. The Gracious Dream

Genesis 28:10-17

Sermon

Will Willimon

... of Tom Long, "Jacob has a dream that God, in his dream, has him." And God will not let Jacob go until he has his way with him, until Jacob is transformed. Jacob is a dreamer. But so is God. It takes awhile for God's dream for Jacob to take effect. Jacob awakens, after being promised in the dream of God's steadfast commitment to him, and Jacob says to God, "O.K., God, if you will clothe me, if you will feed me, if you will take care of me, if you will give me land--I'll let you ...

10. Peacemaker

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... war somewhere. Somebody once said, “Washington has this large assortment of peace monuments, because we keep building one after every war.” The United Nations charter reads as follows, “Our purpose is to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective, collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace.” I would like to ask the United Nations one question, “How is that working out for you?” There is no area in the world that has ever been and ...

11. Seeing God In The Ordinary: Work

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... up ways to increase corporate profits; building houses or building the future by teaching in our schools; moving dirt with heavy equipment or removing dirt by bathing the patients in your care. It doesn't matter if you are waiting tables or waiting for the anesthesia to take effect so you can begin the operation. It doesn't matter if your pumping gas, pumping iron, or pumping oil. If it's an honest day's work, the job doesn't matter, it can bring glory to God. Every job under heaven can give God glory if ...

12. Taking The Risk Out Of Dy(e)ing

John 20:1-9

Sermon

Lee Griess

Not long ago a newspaper carried an unusual headline. It read, "Test Takes Risk Out of Dyeing." Now, obviously, it was talking about dyeing hair. An expert was being quoted as saying that before dyeing your hair, you should test one strand to see how it works. Now that seems to make good sense to me. But it was the headline which attracted my attention: "Test Takes Risk Out of Dyeing." Another recent news article intrigued me even more. It was a report that archaeologists in the Holy Land had uncovered the ...

13. Effective Suffering

Romans 8:26-39

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

Many people have heard a part of this lesson before. Most particularly, the last two verses, the part about "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." These verses are often a part of funeral services. In the context of a funeral service, these verses are a source of comfort for those in attendance, a consolation for ...

14. The Public Effect Of Private Living

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Robert Allen

It happens so often that it seems almost routine to our modern world. We read or listen to certain stories with interest and then we make little jokes about how the private morality of people becomes public information. A U.S. Congressman is found guilty of having sex with a 16-year-old and the story becomes headline news. Jim Wright becomes the first speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives ever to resign his office over ethic violations. He was charged with 69 violations of House rules. The public ...

15. The Secret Of Effective Living

Proverbs 8:1-36

Sermon

Robert Allen

Jack was a big man who always seemed to have a smile on his face. In fact, joy and happiness seemed to bubble in his life. His happiness was so genuine that others discovered that joy and happiness increased in their lives when they were around him. But, why shouldn’t he be happy? He had a good family. He had a lovely wife and two college-age daughters. He had a large home in the country. He was active in his church. He was the vice-president of a large defense-oriented company and it paid him a six-figure ...

16. Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Christians

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

William L. Self

Naaman was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. What a shock it must have been to this great man, the leader of the Syrian army, when the unaccountable lethargy and the terrible pain in the joints attacked his body. Then he discovered, especially on his back, the discolored patches and on them the little nodules which were pink at first and then turned brown. He knew that he had it, the dreaded leprosy. It was the scourge of the ancient world -- the AIDS of his day. In crystal clear and cryptic ...

17. The One Habit of Highly Effective Christians

John 4:19-24

Sermon

James Merritt

I want you to listen to the following poem and see if you can guess its subject: I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it ...

18. Whatever It Takes

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Sermon

James Merritt

A tourist was vacationing on the Island of Malta, a Mediterranean island which is hot every day of the year, and very sunny. He was appalled by the chaotic traffic; cars and buses were darting every which way with no apparent order whatsoever. The tourist asked a policeman why the traffic was so disorderly, and the policeman said, "Well, in some countries they drive on the right side of the road; in other countries they drive on the left side of the road; here we drive in the shade. This world is full of ...

19. Take Time To Say Thanks

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

It always makes us feel good when people take their time to express appreciation. The late, great cowboy film star and all-round good guy Roy Rogers never forgot the people who made him what he was. According to Zig Ziglar in his book, Something to Smile About, after Roy starred in his first movie, he began receiving huge stacks of fan mail that he wanted to answer. However, his salary of $150 a week did not even cover the required postage. He talked to the head of Republic Pictures in the hope that the ...

20. The Keys to Effective Praying

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to begin with a true but incredible story. Back in September 1996 a man named Edouardo Sierra, a citizen of Spain, was on a business trip to Sweden. He was driving through the Swedish countryside when he came upon a Catholic church. He decided to stop in for a few moments to say a prayer. The church was empty except for a coffin with a body lying at rest inside it. Edouardo decided to take a few moments to stop and pray for the man who lay in the coffin. Then he signed a book of remembrance left by ...

21. Take Time To Pray

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

It is said that one of President Reagan's favorite stories was the one about the minister's son who was taken out camping one day. His companion warned him not to stray too far from the campfire because the woods were full of wild beasts of all kinds. The young boy had every intention, really, of following that advice but inevitably he was drawn by curiosity and wandered farther and farther from the fire. Suddenly, he found himself face to face with a very large and powerful looking bear. He saw no means ...

22. Taking the Long View

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

So much seems to press upon us in our daily living that "taking the long view" may not only be remote but considered impractical and therefore shelved. A thousand years equals one day and one day equals 1,000 years. It all sounds so mystical and unscientific! Do you mean we have to rethink being captains of our own ships? That is so basic to the American way and you are suggesting we give it up? After all, we can accomplish anything we set out to do — that is if we just try hard enough. Planning is done ...

23. The Placebo Effect

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

When medicine was primitive years ago, doctors, not knowing exactly what to prescribe to their patients, often prescribed sugar pills or bottles of colored water with no medicinal value with the assurance that some of their patients would still experience some relief as soon as the so-called medicine was applied. This form of treatment is called "the placebo effect" and it has been noted that 30 to 60 per cent of those persons who receive a placebo, not real medicine but a harmless substitute will ...

24. Extravagant Guestures in a Cost-Effective World

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Families of faith that dwell in older buildings eventually have to struggle with the issue of restoring stained glass windows. Such restorations can be exceedingly costly. Those same families of faith often struggle to meet their normal operating budget responsibilities. What's more, within a short distance of most church families are community people who struggle to provide the basics for the people whom they love. Can one not therefore argue that spending thousands and thousands of dollars on stained ...

25. There's A Man Going Around Taking Names

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Thomas Long

There is an old black gospel song from the American South, most often sung to the driving beat of a blues guitar, which includes the following lyrics: There's a man going around taking names. There's a man going around taking names. He took my father's name,And he left my heart in pain. There's a man going around taking names. There's a man going around taking names. He took my mother's name,And he left my heart in pain. There's a man going around taking names. There's a man going around taking names. He ...

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