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 612 results

226. Jerusalem to Be Inhabited

Isaiah 44:24--45:25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Cyrus, Yahweh’s Anointed Shepherd: We have noted that the two sections on the restoration of a blind and deaf servant (43:22–44:23 and 42:18–43:21) paralleled one another, but that the former lacked an equivalent to the last paragraph (43:14–21). This parallel ending now follows, in 44:24–45:8, with its lyrical postscript (45:8) marking it as an ending. Yet 43:22–44:23 did have a different sort of lyrical postscript (44:23). For 44:24–45:8 also marks a beginning. It makes an announcement whose significance ...

227. The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Isaiah 61:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Five Responses to Yahweh’s Promises: Chapters 61 and 62 recapitulate much of chapter 60, but they do so in a new framework. They offer five responses to those promises. Whereas the prophet’s word was a brisk preliminary to Yahweh’s word in 59:21–60:22, in chapters 61–62 the prophet speaks a number of times in a way that has significance in its own right but also introduces recapitulations of the promises. Accounts of a prophet’s own experience or actions appear in the OT because the testimony is in some ...

228. Jerusalem’s Siege, in Parable and Sign

Ezekiel 24:1-14, Ezekiel 24:15-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Ezekiel 24 contains two discrete units. The first, verses 1–14, picks up on an image from 11:3: Jerusalem as a cooking pot. The parable opens with the word of the LORD came to me, and a very important date: the day when the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem began (v. 2). It closes with the oracular formula declares the Sovereign LORD (v. 14). The second unit describes the most difficult sign-act in this book. Here God forbids Ezekiel to mourn the death of his wife (vv. 15–27; for other sign-acts in Ezekiel, ...

229. Jesus Warns of Presuming Reward and Status

Matthew 20:1-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: While promising eternal reward to the first who have followed him, Jesus also warns against presumption of reward and status by telling a parable about the equalization of status that will occur in God’s kingdom. Understanding the Text Peter’s initial question in this passage about the rewards that he and the rest of the Twelve will have for leaving everything to follow Jesus (19:27) connects directly with the previous passage, in which a rich man chooses his wealth over the chance to follow ...

230. Interpreting the Times

Luke 12:54-59, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:35-48

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: God’s true servants will not be caught unawares but will always be found doing their master’s will. Understanding the Text The theme of readiness for the Lord’s coming, begun at 12:35, now continues: 12:35–48 is a coherent unit of teaching, which has been broken up here simply to accommodate the commentary divisions. The collection of sayings that follows in 12:49–59 does not relate specifically to that theme, but it does add further to the sense of crisis: Jesus’s arrival has confronted people ...

231. Let Us Love One Another

2 John 1:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1–3 · Greetings to the Chosen Lady and Her Children: The greeting of this letter compliments the chosen lady and her children, and the elder not only expresses his love for her in the truth but also emphasizes that all who know the truth do so as well (v. 1). He claims the truth “abides in us and will be with us forever” (v. 2 NASB) as a means of supporting his compliment and continues with a blessing reminiscent of Paul’s letters. “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the ...

232. The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

Chapter 5 marks the beginning of the third section in John’s apocalyptic letter (see outline), shifting the reader’s attention from epistolary thanksgiving to the main body of his composition. The study of the main body of religious letters has received little attention from scholars. They agree, however, that the importance of the body segment is substantive and rhetorical (see introduction). In this section of his letter, the writer deals with and seeks to resolve the crisis that threatens his audience’s ...

233. One Like a Son of Man

Revelation 1:9-20

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

1:9 In the second half of his greetings (vv. 9–20), John expands his earlier prescript (v. 4a) by relating the remarkable christophany by which the Risen Christ commissions him to write Revelation. Such a commissioning vision is not unique to John; it is the normal vehicle by which God commissioned the OT prophets, and then Paul, who received his call through a christophany while traveling on the Damascus Road (cf. Acts 9:1–9). The function of such visions is twofold: the first and more explicit function ...

234. Restoration of Israel

Isaiah 49:8-26

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

To Restore the People and the Land: So 49:1–6 is a major turning point. So far the Poet’s focus has been Jacob-Israel. Henceforth it will be Jerusalem-Zion. So far the addressee has been Jacob-Israel. Henceforth it will be Jerusalem-Zion. So far Yahweh’s promise has thus concerned the fall of Babylon and the end of the Judeans’ enforced residence there. Henceforth it will concern the restoring of the city that virtually none of the exiles have ever seen. Once more there is no need to infer that time has ...

235. Share Your Unique Story

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Richard Hasler

The ageless comedian George Burns once told how a church amateur contest started him in show business more than 90 years ago. When he was only seven years old he and three other Jewish kids from the neighborhood organized a singing group and called themselves "The PeeWee Quartet." In those days growing up in New York City a large department store, Siegel and Cooper, used to hold an annual picnic. The highlight of the festivity was an amateur contest involving churches throughout the city. Near where George ...

236. Stilling The Storm

Mark 4:35-41

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

WHAT'S HAPPENING? First Point Of Action: In the evening, Jesus wants to leave the crowds and cross to the other side of the lake. The disciples take Jesus in the boat. Several boats accompany them. Second Point Of Action: A storm rises and swamps the boat. Jesus sleeps through it all until the frightened disciples wake him. Third Point Of Action: Jesus speaks to the wind and to the sea. The storm stops. Jesus speaks to the disciples. Fourth Point Of Action: The disciples respond with awe and wonder. ...

237. Captive To The Word Of God

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

The Zealots had made a courageous stand, holding off General Silva and his elite Roman legion for more than a year. Jerusalem had already fallen months ago, and the mesa named Masada, along the west coast of the Dead Sea, was the site of the last pocket of Jewish resistance. Come morning, that, too, would change. The wooden walls were burning, and within the day's first light the Roman battering ram would begin again and make its final assault upon the weakened walls and gates. The leader of the 960 men, ...

238. Our Living Hope

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

Not every question requires an answer. Sometimes the hope is that there will be no answer. Questioning can be "posturing," that is, taking a position rather than soliciting information. By the questions raised, information is given as well as asked. Often playing to the audience of listeners or bystanders, questions are intended to manipulate others while vindicating the posture of the speaker. One needs only to listen to a congressional hearing or a political debate to watch masters of an art most of us ...

239. Rome at Last

Acts 28:11-16

Sermon Aid

CSS

Spring shipping would begin to move when the sealanes opened up again to commerce about the beginning of March - early spring in the Mediterranean. At that time a ship from Alexandria, which had wintered at Malta’s main port was ready to sail. Centurion Julius, with his soldiers and prisoners, was eager to complete the final leg of his journey. Paul and the others were therefore taken aboard the "Twin Brothers" or "Twin Gods" for the trip northward past Sicily and up the west coast of Italy to Rome. The ...

240. The Lonesome George Church

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Theme: Here is a sermon on evangelism that doesn’t use the word “evangelism” once. The text for this week’s gospel reading is a combination of three pericopes which portray the beginning of Jesus’ public Galilean ministry. While Matthew’s description mirrors much of Mark’s version, Matthew’s unique focus on theological nuances and precise historicity bring added details and depth to Jesus’ actions and words. In the first section (vv.12-17) Matthew takes more than a glancing interest in the “whys” and the “ ...

241. Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

While Matthew and Luke begin their narratives with biology (Jesus’ birth), and John begins with cosmology (“the Word was with God”), Mark begins his gospel by looking backward and forward at the same time: recalling biblical tradition and revealing some “good news” — the gospel itself. Like Genesis (and later John), Mark’s fitting first word is “beginning” (“arche”), letting his readers understand that this new thing that was revealed through Jesus Christ is part of the same God-designed activity that has ...

242. Romans 12:1-8

Romans 12:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Although when one thinks of Paul's teachings on "spiritual gifts," one usually turns to his writings in 1 Corinthians 12, this topic is also discussed and developed in Paul's letter to the Romans. In some ways, the apostle's unique use of "body of Christ" imagery for the church community is even more important and poignant for the Roman Christian communities than for those obstreperous believers in Corinth. Paul's letters addressed to "all God's beloved in Rome" (Romans 1:7) were intended not just for a ...

243. Acts 5:27-32

Acts 5:27-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Today's text describes a head-on encounter the religious authorities have with Jesus' followers. The Sanhedrin's frustration is becoming acute. They have tried threats, orders and imprisonment but the apostles keep showing up and keep preaching. This last time, they have really pushed the limit. They not only escape from a well-guarded jail cell, but instead of fleeing for their safety, they immediately continue preaching their message right in the middle of the temple courtyard. Perhaps one of the most ...

244. No Partiality

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

John N. Brittain

You may be looking at the most fortunate person on the face of the earth. Let me explain. It seems that without even entering, I've won several lotteries based all over the world. I've supplied them with all my personal information — social security number, bank accounts, all of that — so, any day now, millions of pounds and rupees and doubloons will be flowing into my accounts. And if that's not enough, I have signed on to be the executor for a number of recently deceased international figures who need me ...

245. When The Baker Becomes the Bread!

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

A story is told of a well-to-do man of a former generation who on his brisk early morning walk would daily meet a workingman on his way to the factory. One day as they passed each other, the wealthy man added to his usual nod-of-the-head greeting these words of complaint, "I have no choice but to make this walk early each morning to get a stomach for my meat." The workingman responded, "And I must walk this early each morning to get meat for my stomach!" The reality is that neither man was truly satisfied ...

246. How Odd of God

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a small poem that is often quoted in Christian Bible studies that goes like this: How odd/ Of God/ To choose/ The Jews. Jews often use the word Goyim to refer to non-Jews. And so an unknown Jew with a biting wit responded to “How odd / Of God/ To choose/ The Jews” by writing these words: “Not odd / Of God / Goyim / Annoy 'im.” I cite these little bits of creative poetry strictly in fun. Our Jewish friends are generally delightful people, and they have contributed to the advance of civilization far ...

247. Acts 8:26 40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The content of Luke’s second volume of work — The Acts of the Apostles — is summed up in Acts 1:8: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Embracing and embodying that directive is the continuous theme of Acts. Today’s text is the first of three startling conversion stories that demonstrate just how all encompassing is this directive. The conversions of the Ethiopian eunuch (8:26‑40), Saul of Tarsus (9:1‑19), and Cornelius and his family (10:30‑48), ...

248. A Faith that Will Transform You

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

The news service Reuters carried a story sometime back about a man in Poland who was up a tree literally. He was trying to avoid paying a cab driver. The man jumped from the cab with driver in hot pursuit. He must have been amazingly athletic. After climbing a tall tree, he jumped from branch to branch and hurled bananas from a shopping bag at a crowd which had gathered at the scene. More than a dozen firefighters were called in. They spread out an airbag under the tree as a police psychologist was sent up ...

249. She Had Great Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

A few years ago author Bennett Cerf was addressing an audience of doctors in San Diego. Afterwards one of these doctors told him about an operation he had performed on an ill‑tempered lady of about eighty. The woman came through the surgery with flying colors despite all her dire prognostications. Nevertheless she became quite agitated when the doctor told her that in accordance with the rules of the hospital, she’d have to walk ten minutes the very first day after her surgery and would have to get out ...

250. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:1-53

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

More than most, this speech of Stephen has been subject to that skepticism that is inclined to regard all the speeches of Acts as Luke’s own composition. There is no denying that Luke’s hand may be seen in them all in their literary style and vocabulary. But there is about each of them a distinctiveness that not only fits each to its context, but in some cases, at least, to the speaker’s own writings elsewhere (see, e.g., disc. on 5:30, 13:39; 15:13ff.; 20:17–38). To attribute this entirely to Luke’s art ...

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