Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 226 to 250 of 3314 results

226. Unwavering Light

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... if his references to his "thorn in his flesh" is his personal description of his nagging wife. But, in all fairness, let us put his comments about marriage and families into historic context before we draw any conclusions or make any deductions about the apostle himself. Christians were expecting the imminent return of the Lord Jesus. They really were, and it was very real! Every morning could well be the last day of waiting. Every night could be the eve of the Christ’s appearance. This whole atmosphere ...

227. The Priesthood of All Believers

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

... preach on the text, "God chose what is low and despised in the world," and no one has sense enough to laugh at the inconsistency of it. The man himself has never suffered but he makes a fair living by speaking about the sufferings of Christ and the apostles. Yet no one calls him to task for his dishonesty. We must not say more than we are entitled to say. In the ancient Egyptian "oath of clearing," contained in the Book of the Dead, a man stands before the judgment seat of Osiris and says, "My fortune was ...

228. On Having The Right Credentials

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... to speak for Christ? THE FIRST CREDENTIAL, OF COURSE, WAS HIS CALLING. Paul begins his letter like this: "Paul, CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE of Christ Jesus." Writer Studs Terkel once said something that most of us will agree with. He said, "I think most of us ... day, but few respond. Fewer still have their life changed like Paul had his changed. Paul the persecutor of Christ became Paul the apostle of Christ. Paul's story is like that of Gary Adams of Asheville, North Carolina. Gary didn't have much need for God. ...

229. Through the Eyes of an Eagle (Introduction)

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... historic creeds something to chew upon for the next three centuries, but his Jesus is fully human as well as fully divine. The third purpose of the Gospel of John was to combat the rise of a sect of followers of John the Baptist. In the Acts of the Apostles we read of a certain group who knew only the baptism of John (19:1-7). And so the author of the Fourth Gospel has John the Baptist saying things like, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) In this introduction to this volume of ...

230. Son of Thunder, Son of God

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... John he softens it a bit. He attributes this ambitious request to their mother (Matthew 20:20-29). The reason for the change in the story is this: Matthew was writing perhaps thirty years later than Mark. By that time the early Church had begun to look upon the apostles as princes and foundation stones of the Church, and it is only natural that he would want to soften the story a bit. I like the way Mark tells it, though. It makes those twelve so human. John was a “son of thunder” who wanted to put a ...

231. An Unpopular Profession

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... in the street! But Jesus seems to have had a special place in His heart for those people who were the outcasts and dregs of society. Jesus called them and changed them. They became “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” (II Cor. 5:17) Like many of the apostles, Matthew had two names. Luke calls him “Levi.” “Matthew” may well have been his new name in Jesus, for it means “God’s gift.” But Matthew only became God’s gift after he had received God’s greatest gift himself. We read in Matthew 9:9 ...

232. The Servant Who Delivered the Mail

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Roman government would have looked for anything special to be done for Paul and for Paul to accomplish anything significant through this common, ordinary, run-of-the-mill servant of God? God Did! Paul Did! Beyond that no one else''s opinion really matters. The Apostle realized that in this man, Epaphroditus, he had one who lived out what he taught in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men." (NIV) Yes, Paul calls this common, ordinary man a fellow ...

233. You Can't Win them All

Matthew 10:2-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to practice it in my own life. I have spent time trying to bring people together who are alienated from each other, trying to get people to overcome their differences so that we can be one in Jesus, one in the Lord. Here are two apostles, Barnabas and Paul, violently disagreeing, and then deciding they had better go their separate ways. On the second missionary journey, Barnabas took Mark with him, and Paul took Silas. They tried it. They tried to get along. They tried to make up. But they failed. There ...

234. God Never Gives Up on Anyone

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... guide in every word and action. It would only be through Jesus' departure that the power of the Spirit would be released upon the world. Next, Jesus assures his friends that they will not be left orphans. We recall how the Lord made this promise to his apostles, as reported by Saint Matthew, when he prepared to return to the Father: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have ...

235. Eleven Plus One

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... people to the grocery store, doctor's offices, and church. 3. James, son of Zebedee: Porsche James isn't a son of the earth like Peter, but a man of ideals who tended to forget the individual in pursuit of the ideal. A leader among the apostles and favored by Christ, James was often consumed by the unholy ambition to be Jesus' favorite disciple (perhaps mirroring his desire to be his wealthy father's favorite). A disciple full of zeal and enthusiasm, James serves as a counterpoint to John. His angry temper ...

236. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... most obviously Paul's Greek/Christian attempt to identify the totality of each believer. Paul's final word in today's text is one of faith or trust. It's perhaps Paul's most basic assertion to the communities he serves as pastor and apostle: that God is worthy of all their faith and may be entrusted with all their hopes and dreams. The foundation beneath all Paul's teachings on Christ's life, death and resurrection is this bedrock of God's faithfulness. The Thessalonians, and all Christian congregations ...

237. 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... gifts enjoyed by the people of God. By mentioning the grace God has given to the Corinthians in this thanksgiving section Paul is immediately focusing on one of the problematic issues within the Corinthian community. But while later in his letter the apostle will spell out the proper and improper understanding and use of individual gifts, here he clearly establishes that the grace of God and the gifts this grace results in are the basis of his tremendous thankfulness. Although Paul stipulates that "in every ...

238. Philippians 2:1-11

Philippians 2:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the Christ hymn is cited in vv.5-11, Paul employs a rhythmic style to describe the Jesus spirit he wishes the Philippians to make their own. Verses 1-4 are one sentence, broken into three distinct strophes, building to the apostle’s ultimate conclusion. In verse one Paul throws out a series of rhetorical questions, each of which assume a positive answer. Despite any suffering or misery this community might be experiencing because of their faith, there is the “comfort,” “consolation,” “love ...

239. Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the authority of the one who sent him out, which is why the Twelve are so eager to relate to Jesus "all that they had done and taught." The mission they had carried out was none other than Jesus' own. Jesus' response to his apostles' return is also unique to this moment in Mark. Jesus calls for his disciples to take a rest by going with him to "a deserted place." Unlike Jesus' individual retreats for prayer (cf.1:35; 6:45-46), this appears to be a more physically prompted call for rest. Many ...

240. 2 Timothy 1:1-14

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... need have no fear of suffering, no shame of failure. For the Savior has already "abolished death and brought life and immortality ... through the gospel" (v. 10). In the final verses of today's text, Paul first re-establishes his own position as "herald," "apostle" and "teacher" (v. 11), and then cautions Timothy to adhere strictly to "the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me" (v. 13). Paul's self-declaration in verses 11-12 includes a somewhat obscured reference to "what I have entrusted ...

241. The Driver’s Seat

Proverbs 16:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... …fellowship." (v.42) "Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart (vs. 46) c. Discipleship - "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine." (v.42) d. Ministry - "And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;" (vs. 44) e. Evangelism - "So then, those who had received his word were baptized." (vs. 41) "And the Lord was adding to their number ...

242. Jumping through Hoops

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... killjoys. You think of films like How Green Was My Valley or Pollyanna. Sometimes it's true. In today's scripture, the Holy Spirit has accomplished a great thing — the good news of Jesus Christ has been accepted by Cornelius the centurion and his whole household. The Apostle Peter has helped to break down barriers that separated people. As he would note later in a letter, "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy" (1 Peter 2 ...

243. Proper 4

Lk 7:1-10 · Gal 1:1-10 · 1 Ki 8:22-23, 41-43 · Ps 96

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Yes, he is a Christian, but a special kind of one. No, he is not a disciple, because he was not one of the 12. He was an apostle, one who was sent out by Christ. He had that call at his conversion on the Damascus road. Since an apostle is one called and sent, each Christian in that sense is also an apostle. 2. Pervert (v. 7). We know of sex perverts, but do we know of gospel perverts? Some in the Galatian churches are accused of perverting the Gospel. To pervert the Gospel is to misuse, abuse, and distort ...

244. 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... for Apollos and the work he had done (1 Cor.3:4-9, 22; 4:6; Acts 18:24-28). “Cephas” is mentioned as one who traveled with his wife to the region (1Cor.9:5) but he is mentioned only as an example of a faithful apostle. There is no indication that Peter encouraged some faction within the church to rally around him above others. Paul even calls his own name as an example of wrong-headed identification with anyone other than Christ — a notion he finds particularly ludicrous since he has performed hardly ...

245. Power!

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of something powerful at work that is more to be experienced than explained. Do you remember the movie, The Apostle? Robert Duvall, in a masterful performance, played a pentecostal preacher from Texas named Eulis "Sonny" Dewey. He is living ... is something powerful in baptism. This is why Sonny Dewey could baptize himself, come out of the water with a new name — the Apostle E. F., he called himself — and begin to preach again — first on a local radio station, then on the streets, and finally in ...

246. In the Know

Illustration

Michael Horton

... John included them in the camp of the Antichrist. The Gnostics were so called because of their view of revelation. The word gnosis is the Greek word for "knowledge." In many cases the Gnostic heretics did not make a frontal assault against the apostles or against the apostolic teaching of Scripture. In fact, many of them insisted that they were genuine, Bible-believing Christians. It wasn't that they rejected the Bible; they just claimed an additional source of knowledge or insight that was superior to or ...

247. Another Mary, Another Martha

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... faithful anyway, that's where you meet Jesus. The caregiver, the one who carries the cross for others, the one willing to sacrifice a life for a friend — the message of John for you this morning is: You will see Jesus. You will behold God. So who is the first apostle? Who is the first one to proclaim that Jesus is risen? You got John. You got James. You got Peter. You got Paul. But you don't got the right answer. You can slice it any way you want to, but there's no denying one thing — Mary of Magdala ...

248. But When God ...

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... with any of us. Whether we've lived for nine years or ninety, whether we're very passionate and very active like Paul or maybe not so much, God's work in our lives continues, and God isn't finished with us just as God wasn't finished with the apostle Paul. His one-minute written testimony was actually much more than that. It was a lifelong testimony that he was living out — in his preaching, his letter writing, in his daily work as a tent-maker, as a friend, as a traveler from city to city. Each of us is ...

249. The Good Works We Leave Behind

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... right away. Peter did. When he arrived, he was taken immediately up to the room where the body of Tabitha lay. There he was surrounded by the grieving friends, each one with an article of clothing to show him, each one with a story to tell him. Surely the apostle's heart was blessed by the stories of this saint who had died and by the good works she had left behind. Then he did something unusual. Peter sent them all out of the room. I wonder if that seemed abrupt to the people gathered there. I wonder what ...

250. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... community share — baptism. Although the syntax of Paul’s sentence is a bit garbled, within the context of his argument the apostle’s meaning remains clear — the common experience of the “one Spirit” which all encounter in baptism binds them into a ... of other early orators is that instead of declaring these differences to be based in the physical world, the apostle ascribes this differentiation to divine intention — “God arranges the members of the body” (vs.18). Differentiation within the ...

Showing results