Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 226 to 250 of 2962 results

John 19:1-16, John 18:28-40

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... cross is the ironic moment of Jesus’ “lifting up,” is not his formal presentation as king outside the governor’s palace the ironic moment of his glory? Is it only coincidence that the place of crucifixion and the place of the presentation are each carefully designated with both Greek and Semitic names (vv. 13, 17)? It appears that the two events are intended to form a pair, with the precise time reference of verse 14 placed between them to do service for both. They are joined not simply for the sake ...

227. David Makes Solomon King

1 Kings 1:28-53

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... ch. 1 eating, while his world falls apart around him. Certainly there is a neat irony in the fact that, while Adonijah imagines that it is David who lacks the crucial information from “outside” his small bedroom world that would enable him to frustrate his designs, it turns out to be Adonijah who is fatally ignorant, closeted away from political reality, wining and dining his friends. There is probably even more to it than that, however. It is at least a curious coincidence that the name of Adonijah’s ...

228. Jeroboam II King of Israel

2 Kings 14:23-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... ’s reign are certainly large enough to make space for different scenarios in which he might have “restored” territory to his southern neighbor (under treaty? for administrative purposes?). The perplexing “Judah in Israel,” for all we know, could have been an Israelite designation for Judah during Jeroboam’s reign (representing a claim to overlordship?), if indeed the Hb. phrase lîhûdâ beyiśrāʾēl does not simply mean “to Judah at Israel’s cost” (cf. Hb. be in 1 Kgs. 2:23; 16:34). 15 ...

229. Azariah King of Judah

2 Kings 15:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

230. Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah

Isaiah 3:1--4:1

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... blessing is its background destiny. Or, encouragingly, blessing does lie enfolded even if trouble dominates the community’s immediate prospects. We do not know the date of any of the material or of the composition of the whole. 3:1–7 Another solemn designation of God (see 1:24) marks the beginning and end of verses 1–15, and this whole section focuses on the community’s leadership and the collapsing structures of the community. A chiasm describes Yahweh’s punishment in verses 1–7: A Yahweh ...

231. The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 42:1-9

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... for one person. Duhm assumed that the same was true of the term “Yahweh’s servant” in his four passages, but the earlier chapters of Isaiah mentioned earlier (along with usage in Jeremiah and elsewhere) show that this is mistaken. A number of individuals may be designated “Yahweh’s servant.” The context has to tell us who is the referent. So is the servant the prophet who speaks in these chapters, the one whom we call the Poet? In 49:1–6 and 50:4–9 the context indeed points in this direction ...

232. The Time Is Near

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

Molly F. James

... house and operate in a community with an early warning system. So “earthquake” does not mean the same thing for us that it did for our ancestors. This seems a text designed for its original hearers. It seems designed for the early Christians for whom the end of the world and the return of Christ seemed imminent. Those who did not have scientific or economic explanations for famines our earthquakes. Those who lived in a world where choosing to follow Jesus and acknowledge him as the Messiah, as the ...

233. By the Sea

Matthew 4:18-22, John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of a time when you created in God’s mind and cradled in God’s loving arms. Open your heart. Remember your primal memory when God put God’s mark on YOU: G--O--D. Grand Organizing Designer. G—O—D. Each one of your souls is stamped G—O—D. Grand Organizing Designer. You are designed by the Divine. Come Home. Come Home. *Good News Bible translation. “On the road by the sea” NRSV. Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Simon (called Peter) and Andrew, James and John (Matthew’s Witness) Jesus ...

234. She Waits

Acts 1:1-11, Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... a high prieszt forever after in the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb 6:19-20) While the Greek “parakletos” is usually interpreted as a legalistic advocate, I would argue that the Holy Spirit instead is more of the kind of “advocate” teacher and guide” designated by the Father of the Groom, sent to help prepare the Bride (The Church) for her new life in the Spirit. Because Jesus is typically also depicted as Jacob’s Ladder, literally the interceder, this makes sense in the order of “metaphors ...

235. Oh That Cookie Jar Goodness!

Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is a person –the person of Jesus.” When we philosophize Christianity, we lose sight that our covenant relationship with God, in which only God can grant us pardon and entry into the kingdom, must be paramount. Only God is good. Humans by their own designs or devices can never achieve “perfection.” But only God is perfect. And as Jesus’ disciples then ask, “then how can anyone be saved?” And he answers, “What is impossible for humans is possible with God.” Indeed, this is what we most lose ...

236. God's GPS

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... drink and your fill to eat. Any traveler’s dream. As Micah describes it, “everyone will sit under his/her own fig tree” (4:3-4). God’s GPS, the Shepherd and his Staff, will lead you there. That kind of staff GPS was “designed by God.” A “God-Operational-Design” that leads you in the right direction. And that direction is always programmed with “HOME.” That is –HOME to GOD. In relationship with God. GOD at the wheel of your mind and your heart. God WITH you on the drive of your life! In ...

237. Sweet Salvation

John 2:1-11, Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... graced both the beginning and ending of the marriage ritual, it would be “holy wine,” a sign of God’s abundant blessings –not the usual “last” wine saved for the end by the father of the bride, but the very best wine ever made, designed by God’s own self, graced and given by the Son, signaling not the end of the wedding, but the beginning of something very, very new and wonderful. Something amazing and sweet, sweeter than imaginable –the beginning of God’s fulfillment of blessings poured ...

Outside of the chair, the teapot is the most ubiquitous and important design element in the domestic environment and almost everyone who has tackled the world of design has ended up designing one.

David McFadden

239. Holy Matryoshka!

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... as Russian nesting dolls or Russian tea dolls, matryoshka are a set of wooden, beautifully hand-painted dolls in forms of cups that nest inside of each other. Originally made in 1890 by a wood carver named Vasily Zvyozdochkin of Russia from a design by Sergey Malyutin, a folk crafts painter, the outer layer originally depicted a traditional Russian peasant woman. Inside, each hand-painted doll cup figure varied in gender, decreasing from adult to child. The smallest, innermost doll was a baby turned from a ...

240. Not Your Lips, but Your Life

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... Christian and [have] been so for a long time and feel really strongly about the leaders of the church and how high of a calling they have. I started questioning myself, ‘What is OK as far as optics...as far as pastors wearing hype or designer clothing?’ I don’t have an answer.” (4) Our Bible passage today revolves around a question of “optics.” The Pharisees and some teachers of the law noticed that Jesus and his disciples were not following the Jewish laws of ceremonial hand washing before they ...

241. Have You Seen a Buck Flying Past?

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... Him be the Master of our lives or choosing a lesser master to shape us. Imagine you have an architect who is highly skilled at designing the finest homes. A true visionary and expert. But imagine, clients line up to hire this architect. But instead of letting the visionary, highly skilled architect actually design the home, the clients hand her their own amateur house designs and ask the architect simply to approve them. Pastor J.R. Miller compares this situation to our tendency to live our life any way we ...

242. The Mother of All Yard Sales

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... I was at a golf show one time where businesses were touting the latest technologies and equipment and trying to get us to buy it when I came upon a booth where a guy was selling little glassine bags full of golf tees. He swore that the special, goofy looking design of this particular tee would increase your drive by three to five yards. He was selling them faster than he could ring them up. I remember a conversation I had with my Uncle Waldo, my dad’s brother, when I was a little boy. Waldo was an avid ...

243. Investing Our Inheritance

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... able to celebrate with thanksgiving the rich inheritance that is now our possession. I know of a young man who went to a basketball camp when he was a teenager. He had saved his money for a year so he could spend a week of his summer at a camp designed to improve one's skills in basketball. The camp was held at a college campus and pro and college stars were brought in during the week to offer insights and tips. The boys lived in the college dorm during the week. The camp was run by local high school ...

244. Food For The Body And Food For The Soul

John 6:25-59

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... are so intricately and closely woven that when we tug at one thread, the whole fabric begins to unravel. Therefore, in order to better understand our text we need to see something of the complete design. The controlling motif of this long discourse of Jesus is bread. The event which sets in motion the weaving of the design is John's account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in the wilderness. Loaves of bread dominate the story. Jesus himself raises the question of how Jesus and his disciples can buy enough bread ...

245. The Taught Can

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... world's population was to become his pupils, but for the time of his ministry on earth he limited his lectures to Palestine. He focused much of his instruction on the twelve. Small group discussion was in his lesson plan. On this morning the instruction began with what was designed to be a discussion question. "Who do people say that I am?" One couldn't miss on that question. There could be no wrong answer. But it led up to the real issue: "Who do you say that I am?" Peter, as always, had his hand up. Did ...

246. Advent 1

Luke 21:5-38, 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13, Jeremiah 33:1-26, Psalm 25:1-22

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... of the Predictors. Many schemes try to unfold the future. People have scanned the scriptures looking for clues that would help them to construct a timetable of history. They look back and develop a design to history which they are sure has brought us to this point. They then attempt to project that design into the future and predict when and how the future of history will come to consummation. Luke 21, Mark 13, Daniel, Revelation, and similar passages of scripture have been "mined" repeatedly to provide ...

247. Miracle Six: Stilling A Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... of natural causes. The feeding of the 5,000, for instance, these detractors claim, was accomplished when people shared their "sack lunches" with those who had no food. How this could be a valid explanation tests one's credulity. How does one explain that the designated task was to feed "so many people"? Those who were present and aware of the situation called it a miracle and marveled at it. But while such an incredulous explanation can be used to attack this miracle, one cannot find an easy explanation for ...

248. When God Steps Out Of Shadows

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

William L. Self

... play, the writer and director came from the wings to interact with the audience. Their purpose was to disclose to us what they had in mind, how they went about achieving it, and to reveal the behind-the-scenes thinking of director, writer, and set designer. What was hidden was revealed. What was implicit became explicit. That is not unlike God in this portion of Jeremiah's word to the captives. Where his purposes had been implicit, he now made them explicit. Heretofore, he had been subtle but now he became ...

249. Ready Or Not -- He Comes

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... lose "merely" a few thousand men, but it will be worth it. Within the Advent narrative nothing is "merely." Things are not "merely" things, but are part of God's grand design. Common things, such as motherhood, a birth, a child, now have new meaning. This is not "merely" the world, but a world that is charged with the beauty and grandeur of God's design. It is a world so loved by God that God gave his only Son. What is so great about the Advent season is that everything appears charged with the beauty and ...

250. The Sacred Other

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... use those rulers to slap and bruise! "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). God has designed the world to work smoothly only when the needs and feelings of others are held in the same esteem as our own, where the pain of a mere splinter consumes our lives. God's design is for us to see every other person as sacred. Some time ago I read about a Doug Nichols who was a missionary in India in 1967. He tells of spending several months ...

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