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 1446 results

1. L’Chaim!

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... that God brings us through his Son. It is a restoring of the whole process of existence with God, guaranteed and sustained through his guidance, at the cost of his own life and certified by his rising from the dead. When Religion Becomes Anti-Life In taking measure of the forces which work againt the life which God shares with us through the grace of his Son, we must not overlook the spirit of Pharisaism. That is a malady of spirit which can plague us, too. Another name for it is distorted religion. It ...

2. Together, But Not Enmeshed

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... . Pruning, too, is a part of this imagery. Pruning involves cutting off what is dead, and sometimes what is living, too -- all with a view to increasing fruitfulness. Churches are quite reluctant to put members on inactive lists, and even less inclined to take measures whereby one is dropped from membership. Ministers spend a fair share of time over the years chasing after inactive church members. But sometimes there comes a point where it is better to allow people to drift way, because not to do so can ...

3. Taking the First Step

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

Create in your minds, if you will, a scene where the people are gathering at a small church for worship. They are drifting in one by one. One man storms in, unaware that his entry is causing a disturbance. He's angry! He's mad! He's fuming! As he sits down, his mind begins to recall the events of the day. Someone he thought was his best friend took an idea of his, lied to him, lied about him, and gave the idea to the boss. Now, this so-called friend will probably get the advancement that should have been ...

4. Extreme Measures

1 Kings 21:1-29

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The tragedy of Naboth is a lesson in the lengths some leaders will go to have their way and maintain power. Theft of property, conspiracy, and assassination are a few of the diabolical machinations employed by some leaders to maintain control over their subjects. In our text today we find that Jezebel has plotted the death of a man named Naboth because he refused to give up his land to King Ahab so that the king might have a vegetable garden. The crimes of grand theft and murder over such a paltry thing as ...

5. The Measure You Give Is the Measure You Get

Mark 4:21-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

In 1883 half of the Island of Krakatoa, between Indonesia and Australia, blew up in a great volcanic eruption. The other half of the Island was covered with volcanic ash. They say that in some places, that ash was 100 feet thick and blew on the winds as far as Madagascar across the Indian Ocean. It was the most violent volcanic explosion in the history of man. That beautiful island was destroyed. All the life, both human and animal, was killed. Yet ten years later, Krakatoa was once again green and ...

6. Come, Learn Your Worth

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Various Authors

Therefore, if any [are] in Christ, [they are] new creation[s]; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. (v. 17) John Bishop tells of a London slum child whose major refuge was his Roman Catholic day school. In the course of things, his school was visited by a physician who did medical examinations for the students. As the skinny little fellow left the doctor’s room, one of the nuns asked, "Well, Jimmy, what did the doctor say to you?" Jimmy answered, "He took one look at me and said, ‘What a ...

7. The Measure of Greatness

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Brett Blair

Some years ago St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City was seeking a new president. Over one hundred candidates applied for the position. The search committee narrowed the list to five eminently qualified persons. Then somebody came up with a brilliant idea: let's send a person to the institutions where each of the five finalists is currently employed, and let's interview the janitor at each place, asking him what he thinks of the man seeking to be our president. This was done and a janitor gave such a ...

8. Measure for Measure

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Poetic justice!” we say, when we feel a certain “punishment” exactly meets the “crime.” A bad guy in a movie ends up falling into the trap he set for someone else. A thief ends up losing everything. A murderer who prepares a poison ends up drinking it himself. While these make for great plots in fiction, they seldom apply to real life. Or do they? How about the overprotective mother who in her smothering loses the very daughter she seeks to shield? Or what about the wealthy woman who values accumulating ...

9. 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 ...

10. The Dailyness of Healing Measures

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Thank God for the daily gift of health - physical and spiritual health - and for the surgeries and healing measures that keep us well. Last fall there was a much-publicized "shootout at the ratings corral" between two highly touted new doctor shows. In their mysterious wisdom, the network executives decided to face "E.R." and "Chicago Hope" off against each other. After opening night, though, the battle was all over. "Chicago Hope" lay bleeding on the floor, while "E.R." rode off as the hero. "E.R." ...

11. Measured Salvation

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

All of us have jobs or have had jobs sometime in our lifetime. I want you to imagine now that you have been working hard for Company G for about 20 or 30 years. You started with a reasonable pay, but now as you’ve done well, you have gained a great salary. You are proud of your accomplishment. With your salary, you’ve been able to buy a nice home, raise a stable family, and accrue funds for your retirement. This is the “way it’s done,” and you mastered it. One day, the company decides, it needs to hire a ...

12. When God Measures The Church

Amos 7:7-17

Sermon

Stephen P. McCutchan

We begin to hear about prophets in the Bible after Israel convinced God to let them have a king. It was almost as if God set up his own checks and balances system. Once the people looked to a king and the government to guide them, God also called prophets to remind the government that it, too, was subject to God. There were apparently professional prophets in Israel who served as ethical advisors to the king, but occasionally a voice arose that challenged the very nature of the society. Amos was one of ...

13. 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 ...

14. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost VIII That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil but when the sun rose ...

15. Take a Close Look (At the Widow)!

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

James W. Robinson

Mark is a marvel when it comes to storytelling. He is the O. Henry of the New Testament, a magician with words, who squeezes a novel into a paragraph or two. His skill is nowhere more evident than in his account of the widow with the two coins at the temple treasury. It is a gem of a short story. He makes it so easy for us to visualize the woman as she waits patiently in line to drop her offering into the chest with the trumpet-shaped tube. Without going into a detailed character study, he makes us feel ...

16. Take Some Lessons

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful....-- 2 Timothy 3:16 My handicap was heading to single digits and those absurd late fortyish daydreams about the senior tour were making denomi-national meetings more tolerable when disaster struck. Playing with my dad in one of those little friendly-while-you're-winning matches, I was even through fifteen holes. I had been slow, steady, and solid throughout the round. So I strutted to the sixteenth tee, undoubtedly more personally impressed than impressive. ...

17. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

I read a story about an angel of the Lord who telephoned the editors of five major newspapers with this message: "God says the world will end tomorrow." The New York Times carried a front page headline which read: "The World Will End Tomorrow Reliable Source Says" A box read: "Analysis on page 11." The Wall Street Journal's front page headline read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Market Plunges" The headline in USA Today read: "We're Gone!" The Headline in the LA Times read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Bill Clinton says ...

18. What Will It Take to Make You Happy?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

“Who do you think is happier?” asks Marc Reklau in his book Destination Happiness, “people who [have] won the lottery or people who [have become] paralyzed after an accident?” You may be surprised at the answer. “Yes, the lottery winners were very happy, but not for very long,” Reklau continues. “After six months they went back to their previous levels of happiness.” On the other hand, “the accident victims were sad, but surprisingly after six months, they [also] went back to their previous levels of ...

19. Real Solutions To Real Problems

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Lee Griess

There's a story of a man who went to his doctor complaining about terrible neck pains, throbbing headaches, and recurring dizzy spells. The doctor examined him carefully and pronounced, "I'm sorry but I have bad news for you. The diagnosis is not good. But from what I can tell, you must have an unspecified brain tumor causing the problem. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do for you. It seems that you have only six months to live." The doomed man left the doctor's office shaken and crushed, but he ...

20. Playboy Or Plowboy -- Let The Party Begin

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Lee Griess

It's a story that we all know by heart, the story of the father and his two sons. One was a plowboy, who stayed home, behaved himself and enjoyed the good life. The other was a playboy, who sought for himself the good life and ended up in a pigpen. Reduced to abject misery, the playboy swallowed his pride and came home, to be welcomed with a great celebration of joy. The plowboy was angry at his father and jealous of his brother, so he boycotted the party. Coming in late from the fields, he heard music the ...

21. The Plank

Matthew 5:38-48; 7:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."” (John 8:7) “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18) Props: Colored Vases / Plants (one withered and one healthy) / volunteers I need a volunteer today! [Choose someone.] Super! –Come on up! Now, you’ll see everyone that I have two very beautiful colored ...

22. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

There are two topics a pastor can talk about that are guaranteed to generate emails, letters, phone calls, discussion, and debate. Those topics are money and marriage. I knew that this series we are doing on marriage would generate a lot of interest, reveal a lot of anguish, and strike a lot of nerves. There is an old joke about marriage that goes like this: “Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond. At the end you wish you had a club and a spade!” ...

23. Playing Outside the Rules

Luke 6:27-38 · Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

It’s no surprise that God is an “out of the box” thinker, is it? After all, God is the ultimate “outside of the box” God –can’t be confined to a tabernacle, won’t be pleased by a simple sacrifice, definitely won’t tolerate other gods, makes relationships in terms of covenant, creates humankind in God’s own image, gives people more than 1,000 chances to get it right…. and the list goes on. God can’t be confined or defined by our rational or calculating minds nor described in terms of our limited, “rational ...

24. Mercy Me!

Romans 14:1--15:13, Luke 6:27-36, Luke 6:37-42, Luke 6:43-45

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“My yoke is easy, my burden light.” --Jesus What burdens are you carrying this morning? How heavy is your heart? How weighed down is your spirit? Most of the time, when we think about that question, we think of the burdens of responsibility we carry or the weight of grief, the sandbags of unfair treatment levied against us, or hardships, such as unemployment, or health, or broken relationships. Certainly, those burdens of despair and sorrow can weigh heavily upon our hearts. But other kinds of burdens can ...

25. No Fair!

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: a ruler or yardstick We love our measuring sticks. When our children are young, we measure their growth and notch little marks in the wall, as they grow taller and taller. We measure our flour and our water to make just the right bread. We measure how much money we put into the bank, so that we can save for college for our kids and our grandkids. We measure our anniversaries, our birthdays, our tenures at various positions. In fact, we measure how many years we’ve been members of this church, don’t ...

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