Get to give a sermon, being initially denied (5)
I believe the answer is:
reach
'get to' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'give a sermon being initially denied' is the wordplay.
'give a sermon' becomes 'preach' (I've seen this before).
'being initially denied' means to remove the first letter (the word is denied its initial).
'preach' with its first letter taken away is 'REACH'.
(Other definitions for reach that I've seen before include "Succeed in getting to" , "Stretch of river: achieve" , "Come up to - stretch between bends" , "Get to; extent" , "Hands up" .)