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 2476 to 2500 of 4942 results

2476. The Apostles Persecuted

Acts 5:17-42

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In light of the success of these apostles, the Jewish leaders decide to take action against them (5:17–42). This section repeats Peter’s earlier statement that one “must obey God rather than human beings” (5:29; cf. 4:19), and the narrative itself also makes clear that the Jews are not standing on the side of God. After the Jews first arrest the apostles, “an angel of the Lord” comes to deliver them (5:19). This becomes an emphatic statement indicating that the Jews are opposing the work of God himself. ...

2477. Unity and Division in the Early Church: Appointing the Seven

Acts 6:1-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

After the portrayal of the unity of the Christians in the proclamation of the good news (5:42), Luke presents an urgent problem in the church that ultimately leads to another stage of the progression of the gospel message. The severity of the problem is highlighted by Luke’s use of the term “complained” (6:1); the same Greek term often is used in the Septuagint in reference to the grumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 16:7–12; Num. 17:5, 10). In this context, God’s people likewise face a ...

2478. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:1-53

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In response to these charges, Stephen gives a lengthy speech (7:1–53) that provides a recital of the history of Israel. He begins by emphasizing the active role of God in his covenant with Abraham (7:2–8). Then he moves to Joseph, where he depicts the rebellious nature of his brothers (7:9–16), and then provides an extensive treatment of Moses where the faithfulness of God is evident even when Israel rebels against her God (7:17–44). The final section focuses on the Jerusalem temple, as Stephen responds to ...

2479. On to Jerusalem

Acts 21:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

After his farewell speech, Paul continues his journey to Jerusalem. The first few verses provide yet another detailed itinerary, as Paul and his companions travel through Kos, Rhodes, Patara, and Phoenicia and arrive at Tyre. There disciples confirm what the Holy Spirit has already told Paul: he will face hardships in Jerusalem (21:4; cf. 20:23). In this context, it is best to understand the role of the Holy Spirit as revealing what is going to happen (cf. 21:11–15), and the disciples infer from what the ...

2480. Righteousness Through Faith

Romans 3:21-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:21–5:21 Review · God’s saving righteousness for Gentiles and Jews:Paul describes how God “now”—at the time when Jesus the Messiah came—declares sinners justified as a result of Jesus’s atoning death (3:21–31). Faith in Jesus Christ creates the universal people of God, consisting of Jews, the ethnic descendants of Abraham, and of Gentiles, the families of the earth whom God wanted to bless through Abraham (4:1–25). Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ have peace with God, the hope of sharing the ...

2481. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul links his rejection of boasting (3:27–31) with Abraham, whom he describes as the fundamental paradigm for God’s people, the prototype of justification for both Gentiles and Jews. Paul argues in 4:1–16 that Abraham was justified by God not on the basis of works but on the basis of faith. Abraham was regarded as the first converted Gentile (from Ur of the Chaldeans, Gen. 15:7) and as the first Jew who was circumcised and received God’s covenant (Genesis 15; 17). Contrary to the traditional Jewish ...

2482. Death through Adam, Life through Christ

Romans 5:12-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

This section concludes the first major part in Paul’s letter, while preparing for the second part, in which Paul explains the reality of the revelation of God’s saving righteousness in the life of believers. In this section, Adam stands for the sinfulness of all humanity (1:18–3:20), while Jesus Christ stands for God’s solution to the problem of the human condition (3:21–5:11). In 5:12 Paul sets up a contrast between two men. One man is responsible for sin in the world, resulting in death, which has spread ...

2483. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

6:1–8:39 Review · The reality of justification by faith in the life of the Christian:In the second main section of the letter, Paul explains the reality of God’s saving righteousness in the life of the Christian (6:1–8:39). Believers in Jesus Christ cannot possibly trivialize sin, since they have been freed from the slavery of sin (6:1–23). There has been a fundamental change from tolerating sin to being in the Spirit and living according to the will of God (7:1–8:17). While believers suffer in the present ...

2484. Struggling With Sin

Romans 7:7-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

7:7–12 · Paul next describes the rule of sin. The assertion in verse 5 (and the statements in 3:19–21; 5:20) may suggest to some readers that the law itself is sin (7:7). Paul energetically rejects such a conclusion. He explains his “By no means!” (RSV, ESV; NIV “Certainly not!”) in verses 7–12: since the law condemns sinners and consigns them to death as the consequence of their sin, the law belongs on God’s side and is thus opposed to sin. The problem is sin, not the law. Paul recounts the history of the ...

2485. All Israel Will Be Saved

Romans 11:25-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul now proceeds to explain the mystery of Israel’s salvation. He begins by underlining the significance of the following explanation of God’s sovereignty, warning the Gentile believers not to be proud (11:25). The “mystery” that Paul refers to is not a particular secret that only he knows and now reveals. Rather, it is a reference to the divine plan of salvation, which has been hidden but which God now has revealed to his people (cf. Dan. 2:18–19, 27–30; Dead Sea Scrolls, Rule of the Community 3:22–23; ...

2486. Wisdom from the Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Having criticized the wisdom that some at Corinth value, Paul now turns to a wisdom he can commend. It is a wisdom that is different in focus (2:6–9), that differently authenticates itself and its possessors (2:10–3:4), and that is different in its purpose and effect within the Christian community (3:5–17). On the basis of these contrasts, Paul clearly differentiates the Christian wisdom he commends in this section from the wisdom that he has criticized in the preceding section. This section begins with ...

2487. Apostles of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul then turns to the situation that gave rise to his remarks on wisdom, the tendency of some at Corinth to make comparisons between their teachers, to boost their favorite above the others, and to boast of their allegiances (1:12–17). Alluding to 3:5–9, Paul again asks the Corinthians to recognize that the truth lies in precisely the opposite direction. It is not the Corinthians who “belong” to Paul, Apollos, or Cephas; rather, along with all things, life and death, the present and the future (Rom. 8:38– ...

2488. The Rights of an Apostle

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The mention of restraint prompts Paul to recall that some at Corinth have begun to interpret his reserve as an indication that he is not free to act, as they presume an apostle would, without reference to the beliefs of others. The rhetorical questions he poses in response are not so much concerned with his defense as they are with the fact that this false supposition may cause the Corinthians to neglect his advice (9:1–27). So he must reestablish his apostolic authority through reference to his experience ...

2489. The Resurrection of the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul next points out the implications of unbelief (15:12–19). The Corinthians had been reminded that the resurrection lay at the heart of the gospel that was proclaimed to them. But was it necessarily the center, or did the call to a spiritual life in union with the risen Christ demonstrate that, unlike Christ, Christians were called to be those who pursued and received spiritual immortality rather than resurrection from the dead? Some such question appears to have led various persons within the church to ...

2490. An Appeal for Complete Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 6:3-13, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul’s Appeal to the Corinthians (6:1–13:10) As one of “God’s co-workers,” chosen to bear the message of reconciliation, Paul now presents the Corinthians with the first in a series of appeals, urging them “not to receive God’s grace” in vain (6:1). In context these words seem meant to spur the Corinthians to respond to Paul’s attempt at reconciliation with the church. The citation (from Isa. 49:8) and its interpretation may then be seen as reinforcement to the appeal, entreating the church to respond ...

2491. An Appeal for Complete Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 6:14--7:1, 2 Corinthians 6:3-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

2492. An Appeal for Full Response to the Collection

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Having expressed renewed confidence in the Corinthian church, Paul now proceeds to a further appeal concerning “service to the Lord’s people” (8:4). The service the apostle has in mind involves the collection of an offering intended to supply the “needs of God’s people” and to be a manifest “expression of thanks to God” (9:12). There seems no doubt that this is the same gift for Jerusalem that was first mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:3 (see also Rom. 15:26–27). Obviously, in the period between the writing ...

2493. The Conclusion of the Appeal

2 Corinthians 12:11-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul concludes his appeal for Corinthian allegiance to his apostolic authority by informing the church that he is preparing to come to them a third time and urging them in advance to think over what he has said. If they do, they will surely see that his reluctance to accept their support is no more difficult to explain than the reluctance of parents to accept their children’s support or to give up the privilege of spending their resources on behalf of those whom they love. It is just this kind of parental ...

2494. Practical Ethics

Galatians 6:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

It is not unusual for Paul to conclude his letters with a section on practical living, which emphasizes some of the themes he addressed in the heart of the letter (see Rom. 12:9–21; 1 Cor. 16:13–14; 2 Cor. 13:5). A pervasive problem for the gospel of grace was for the attitude of hierarchy to invade the Spirit-led life (cf. Rom. 12:3–8; 1 Cor. 1:10–17; 2 Cor. 10:1–18, esp. v. 12). It may well be that this was the chief attraction of legalism—the opportunity to measure oneself relative to another and to ...

2495. Conclusion with Personal Appeal

Galatians 6:11-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Confirming the belief that most of the letter was dictated is the notification in verse 11 that Paul writes the remainder of the letter “with my own hand.” In drawing attention to the “large letters” with which he writes, Paul may give us the final clue as to why, upon his initial visit, the Galatians were willing to tear out their own eyes for him (4:15). The “thorn in my flesh” of 2 Corinthians 12:7 and the ailment that plagued him in Galatia may well be attributed to some form of eye disease. His ...

2496. A Call to Christlike Obedience

Philippians 2:12-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

After ending the hymn, Paul continues with another “therefore.” In light of the example of Christ, Paul explicitly calls the Philippians to a life of obedience following the example of Christ. In light of his current situation of imprisonment, Paul calls them to obey while he is away, as he has known them to obey when he is there (2:12). Yet this obedience is even more important because Paul is not there. When Paul is there with them in Philippi, the Philippians may have obeyed only out of respect for Paul ...

2497. The Hymn to Christ

Colossians 1:15-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1:13–14 · The Father rescues his people: Verse 12 prepares the reader for a further discussion of God’s kingdom with its insistence on the church’s rightful inheritance of it. (On the kingdom of God in Paul, see also Rom. 14:17; 1 Cor. 4:20; 6:9; 15:24–28.) Verses 13–14 explain how this inheritance has been accomplished. Paul makes clear that the Colossians had lived in darkness, that is, in sinfulness. God rescued them through his beloved Son, and now they are in the light (see Luke 16:8; John 12:36; 1 ...

2498. Leadership

1 Timothy 3:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:1–7 · Overseers or bishops: Church leadership had become problematic in Ephesus. Charges were being brought against some church officers (1 Tim. 5:17–22), and disputes had erupted about who should be teaching (1:4–7). Immature believers had unwisely been elevated to spiritual leadership (3:6; 5:22), resulting in the scenario Paul had predicted for the church at Ephesus: “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:30). Holding office ...

2499. False Teaching and Love of Money

1 Timothy 6:3-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Paul begins this section with a warning against false teaching that recalls the opening of the letter. He is returning to his concern about aspiring but confused teachers. In chapter 1, Paul addressed their speculations and their wrong use of the law. In chapter 4, he addressed their nonbiblical self-denial. Here in chapter 6, he speaks to the ill effects of their teaching and to the teachers’ unworthy motives. The false teaching creates a climate of spiritual disease that has three elements: godlessness, ...

2500. Paul’s Teaching

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:10–17 · Third appeal, part one: Stay with what you know: The false teaching being circulated among the Ephesians is that the resurrection is entirely “now.” In his controversy with the Corinthians over whether there was still a resurrection to come, Paul pointed to his own sufferings as proof that “we have not yet begun to reign” (1 Cor. 4:8–13). Here in 2 Timothy, Paul reminds Timothy of the normalcy of suffering by taking him back to the events of Acts 13–14, when Paul ministered in Lystra, Timothy’s ...

Showing results