Sermon Resources on Firm Belief

liturgy

Stand Firm in God's Strength

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 27:1, Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:9, Philippians 4:13, Ephesians 6:10-17

Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Pastor: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. People: Put on the full armor of ...

Trust is faith that has become absolute, approved, and accomplished. When all is said and done, there is a sort of risk in faith and its exercise. But trust is firm belief; it is faith in full bloom. ...

liturgy

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 52:7, Exodus 3:12, Ephesians 6:10, Ephesians 6:14-15 , Psalm 29:11 , Matthew 28:19-20

Pastor: Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, with feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Go out into the world with joy and hope, standing firm in...

liturgy

Take up the full armor of God

Author

Trinity Lutheran Church, Lisle, Illinois

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 11:5 , 2 Chronicles 32:7-8, Daniel 3:17-18 , Ephesians 6:13-17 , Psalm 28:7, Colossians 1:26-27

Pastor: Take up the full armor of God, so that standing firm in your faith, you may go out into the world with joy and hope to make known the mystery of the Gospel, through the power of Almighty God...

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Should We Trust the Virgin Birth?

Author

Malcolm Muggeridge

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 18:10-14 , Isaiah 7:14 , Exodus 4:1-5, Psalm 139:13-16 , Luke 1:26-38, John 20:24-29, Matthew 1:22-25

To a twentieth-century mind the notion of a virgin birth is intrinsically and preposterously inconceivable. If a woman claims–such claims are made from time to time–to have become pregnant without sex...

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Doubt is a Felt Tension

Author

Travis Dickinson

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:22, Romans 1:28, Psalm 73:, Mark 9:14-29, Matthew 14:22-33

Doubt is really the felt tension that exists between a belief you have and a contrary claim you do not yet believe…Simply put, doubt is that experience of one of our beliefs seeming like it might be f...

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A Firm Conviction

Author

Ben Patterson

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 40:28-31, Ephesians 3:20-21, Psalm 147:5, James 1:5, Proverbs 3:5-6

The foundation of faith is a firm conviction regarding three things about God—his perfect love, wisdom and power. Like a three-legged stool, no combination of two will do. There must be all three for ...

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Ideas Have Consequences & Doomsday Prepping

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Let’s talk about how our beliefs shape our actions, especially when fear is involved. You've probably heard the phrase, "ideas have consequences," right? It's easy to see this in act...

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Certainty and a House of Cards

Author

Travis Dickinson

Keywords

Scripture

Job 1:42, Genesis 18:10-15, Exodus 14:10-14, Psalm 73:, Mark 9:14-29

When we aim at certainty when it comes to our Christian beliefs, it sets us up for failure. …Imagine someone with a lot of time on their hands who painstakingly constructs a five-foot-high house of...

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It is Just so Good it Must be True

Author

Phillip Yancey

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 25:6-9, Daniel 7:13-14, Zechariah 8:4-5, Luke 24:36-43, Revelation 21:1-5, Psalm 16:11

One day when George MacDonald, the great Scottish preacher and writer, was talking with his son, the conversation turned to heaven and the prophets’ version of the end of all things. “It seems too goo...

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Luther's Stand at Worms

Author

Casey Clark

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 5:29

Luther's stand at the Diet of Worms is legendary. Having written blistering indictments of the abuses of the Catholic church and theological treatises which challenged its teachings, Luther was su...

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G. K. Chesterton: The Great Defender of Tradition

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Matthew 15:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, Psalm 119:97-98

G. K. Chesterton was well-known (and iconoclastic) in his defense of tradition in a time when progress was all the rage in Western Europe- in technology, in the sciences, in philosophy. Chesterton, on...

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The Courage of the First Disciples

Author

Charles Martin

Keywords

These disciples turned the world upside down because they saw a dead man come back to life by the power of God. And whatever that “knowing” and “seeing” did in them, it did it at a deep level because ...

Quote

Author

Helen Keller

Keywords

Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near e...

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A Living Martyrdom: To be True at All Costs

Author

F. W. Faber

Keywords

Scripture

Daniel 6:10–23, 1 Kings 18:17–39, Esther 4:12–16, Matthew 10:28–33, Acts 6:8–7:60 , Psalm 15:1–2

The hymnwriter and theologian F. W. Faber writes with beautiful prose the challenges that each one of us faces when it comes to living a life faithfully according to the truth that is within us: M...

Quote

Author

Tim Muehlhoff & Richard Langer

Keywords

Scripture

Joshua 24:14-15, Daniel 1:8-21 , Exodus 1:15-21, Romans 14:5-6, Acts 4:18-20 , Psalm 15:1-2

We might say that convictions are firmly held moral or religious beliefs that guide our beliefs, actions, or choices.

lectionary

Easter: Resurrection of the Lord

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

John 20:1-18, Luke 8:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:49, John 20:29

Preaching Commentary Death Is Common to All Shakespeare’s Queen Gertrude of Denmark implores her son Hamlet to move past mourning his deceased father, Thou know’st ‘tis common,—all that live must...

liturgy

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 (ESV)

Keywords

Scripture

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To ...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Psalm 91

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 91:, Genesis 3:, Deuteronomy 6:16

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? Psalm of Lament or Psalm of Trust? We’ve categorized this psalm under the psalms of lament. The psalms of lament highlight the problems and enemies tha...

scripture guide

Scripture Guide, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Author

Sarah Puryear

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Ancient Lens What's the historical context? The Gospel in a Pagan World Paul writes this letter to the Christians in the church at Corinth, which he founded during his second missionary journ...

lectionary

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Author

Sarah Puryear

Keywords

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Ancient Lens What's the historical context? The Gospel in a Pagan World Paul writes this letter to the Christians in the church at Corinth, which he founded during his second missionary journ...

lectionary

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Hebrews 10:5-10

Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? Context to the Letter While we don’t have a robust understanding of the context of Hebrews compared to, for example, many of Paul’s let...

series

Psalm 91 | God as Dwelling Place Against

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 91:, Genesis 3:, Deuteronomy 6:16

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? Psalm of Lament or Psalm of Trust? We’ve categorized this psalm under the psalms of lament. The psalms of lament highlight the problems and enemies tha...

lectionary

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Author

Darren Pollock

Keywords

Scripture

John 1:43-51, John 20:29, 1 Corinthians 13:12, John 4:29, John 4:42

Preaching Commentary Context Jesus' Ministry Begins This passage is from the first chapter of John’s gospel and describes the beginning of Jesus’ ministry—fitting for the beginning of a new ye...

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Taking Satan Seriously?

Author

Joseph F. Kelly

Keywords

Satan

In his Christian Doctrine for Everyman: An Introduction to Baptist Beliefs, Jimmy Millikin says, “We know they [demons] are real personalities. They are capable of intelligent, voluntary actions.…We k...

Quote

Author

Bernard of Clairvaux

Keywords

Scripture

Ephesians 3:20, Job 42:2-3, John 20:29, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Romans 11:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6

I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.

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God Believes in You

Author

Ann Voskamp

Keywords

Scripture

Jeremiah 31:3, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5, Romans 8:38-39, 1 John 4:9-19

There was what an Orthodox Hasidic rabbi had said on a flight westward. He’d put his prayer shawl in the overhead compartment and sat down, sweeping aside the tassels dangling from his pockets. And so...

Quote

Author

George MacDonald

Keywords

Scripture

James 1:22, Titus 3:8, Philippians 2:13, Romans 12:2, John 14:15

To hold to a doctrine or an opinion with the intellect alone is not to believe it. A man’s real belief is that which he lives by.

Quote

Author

William James

Keywords

Loss

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

Quote

Author

Stanley Hauerwas

Keywords

Scripture

John 15:4-5, 1 John 3:18-19, Matthew 7:21, Romans 10:9-10, Hebrews 11:1, Galatians 2:20

I do not put much stock in "believing in God." The grammar of "belief" invites a far too rationalistic account of what it means to be a Christian. "Belief" implies propos...

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