Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2501 to 2525 of 2962 results

Ephesians 4:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , but always with compassion—we are called in all things to grow into the likeness and person of Christ, who is the unifying head of the body (4:15). This section closes with a metaphorical model of unity. Like the human body, held together by design, the church grows through the coordinated and cooperative work of its many members, who out of love for the whole contribute their individual efforts toward the good of the whole. But the plan and the energy are drawn from the head, which watches over and ...

2502. Holy War: Fighting Right the Right Fight

Ephesians 6:10-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is entailed in the struggle for genuine unity and social justice. But individualized discipleship, even among Christians, is a means to an end and not an end in itself. God’s great plan is to sum up all humanity together in Christ into a divinely designed society (Eph. 1:9–10). In an oxymoron, Paul refers to himself as “an ambassador in chains” (6:20), probably for effect. As an ambassador for the gospel, he proclaims the good news that by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus the Jewish Messiah has ...

2503. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Colossians 1:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , which in general means emissary or messenger but in the early church carried with it a special status of one especially chosen or gifted to speak authoritatively to the church. Paul greets the Colossians as “holy people” (or saints), a typical designation for believers in Paul’s letters. By identifying them as holy, Paul draws on the ancient Jewish conviction that God’s people are set apart and devoted wholly to him. Paul reinforces his conviction that, in Christ, Gentiles, too, are full members ...

2504. Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... era indicate that those who served in public office should be approved by others. Since the apostles were commissioned by God, they seek to please him (1 Thess. 2:4b; Gal. 1:10; 2 Tim. 2:4). The verb translated “please” appears in inscriptions to designate the good service of citizens and officials on behalf of a city or its people, communicating the idea of service rendered in the interests of others. The apostles served the Lord and were not seeking glory from people (2:6). God continued to test their ...

2505. Thanksgiving and Appeal

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of God on display in the gospel (1:8). Verses 9 and 10 virtually sing of the glory of the story he and Timothy have been given to tell. Paul highlights three things: God’s salvation comes from his own purpose and grace; this salvation has been designed according to God’s own timetable; and finally, Christ has destroyed death and brought to light life and immortality. 1:11–14 · Paul’s life: A life worth emulating: Paul has been called to serve this gospel as “a herald and an apostle and a teacher ...

2506. Paul’s Teaching

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... a way as to convict an erring people of their waywardness, pointing them to one in whose sufferings and glory their hope lay. Third, “correcting”: in the so-called Writings (the Psalms and the wisdom literature), God provided songs and sayings designed to realign his people’s hearts with his own heart, teaching them to lament and rejoice and live in accordance with his wisdom. Finally, there is “training in righteousness”: an all-encompassing term for education and spiritual formation in Paul’s ...

2507. Final Greetings

2 Timothy 4:9-18, 2 Timothy 4:19-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... insult to God’s dignity by Adam’s disobedience has been more than turned aside by the second man’s obedience. Christ has “destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light” (2 Tim. 1:10), restoring God’s creation to its original design of reflecting his glory. Paul’s sufferings have done nothing but contribute to the reestablishment of God’s splendor. Second, the benediction: “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all” (4:22). Paul continues to assure Timothy of the ...

2508. The Son Superior to Angels

Hebrews 1:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... living and active word of God (4:12) was for this author largely what is now called the Old Testament. “These last days” (literally “at the end of these days”) is taken from the Septuagint, which literally rendered the Hebrew phrase used in the Old Testament to designate the prophetic future (cf. Gen. 49:1; Deut. 4:30; Isa. 2:2; Ezek. 38:16). “These” refers to the future days prophesied in the Old Testament, or some of those days, or the beginning of them (cf. Heb. 9:26). In verse 3, “radiance ...

2509. Jesus Like Melchizedek

Hebrews 7:11-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the one hand, and the free access and effective forms of New Testament Christianity, on the other. The contrast is rather between two ways of salvation—one by ritual performance and the other by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The argument advanced is designed to correct a misplaced confidence in rituals and to confirm the conviction that salvation is and could only be in Christ alone. The argument could be turned with equal effect on Christian ritualism and on the sacraments of the Christian church when ...

2510. Trials and Temptation

James 1:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... his contrast is between poor Christians, who are to rejoice in their heavenly calling, and rich unbelievers, who have nothing to boast about except their ultimate judgment for their wicked use of money. That James elsewhere uses “rich” to designate non-Christians (5:1) favors this interpretation. On the other hand, “the rich” could be Christians. In this case, James would be contrasting Christians from very different socioeconomic spheres and encouraging all believers to focus not on that worldly ...

2511. True Christian Faith seen In Its Works

James 2:14-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... put it simply, Paul says, “justified by faith alone”; James says, “justified by faith plus works.” What is vital, then, is to see that Paul and James are using the key word “justify” with different meanings. When Paul uses the word “justify,” he designates the initial acceptance of the sinner before God—the solely gracious act whereby God, the judge of all the world, considers us “right” before him because of our identification with Christ (see Rom. 4:5). James, on the other hand, uses ...

2512. Concluding Exhortations

James 5:13-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to one another and pray for one another. As an encouragement to pray, James stresses the great effect of the prayer offered by a “righteous person” (5:16). By this James does not mean to confine effective prayer to a select group of “super saints”; “righteous” designates anyone in a right relationship with God. And even Elijah is cited not because he was a prophet or because he had a special spiritual gift. He was “a human being, even as we are,” yet he was able to stop and start the rain by ...

2513. Final Exhortations and Greetings

1 Peter 5:1-11, 1 Peter 5:12-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... has been broken, then what about authority structures within the church? What kinds of leadership and submission are appropriate for those who are already touched by the glory of the coming age? Peter’s pastoral concern predominates in 5:1–5. His self-designation in verse 1 hints at this deeper concern. He is a “fellow elder” (NRSV omits this)—not an exalted apostle—and with them a witness of (better, “to”) Christ’s sufferings. He therefore enters into all that that means, sharing those ...

2514. Prophecy of Scripture

2 Peter 1:12-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... found in Mark 9:2–8 and its parallels. Second Peter presents this as an eyewitness account of the enthronement of Jesus, describing it by terms like “majesty” and “honor and glory” with a voice coming from the “Majestic Glory,” designating Jesus as God’s Son. Jesus’s reign has already been inaugurated, and if Jesus already reigns, trifling with his leadership and teaching and denying his “coming” are unwise indeed. 1:19–21 · Prophetic witness: The experience of the transfiguration ...

2515. The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

Revelation 8:1-5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... because of their personal actions or indirectly because we live in a fallen world where bad things happen, all will turn to Christ for deliverance. Mysteriously, God does not stop evil by suspending the human freedom that contributes to it but rather turns evil into an unwitting actor of his design.

2516. 8:2–5

Revelation 8:6--9:21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... readers brace themselves for the next set of divine judgments. The account of the first four trumpets employs imagery from the Exodus plagues, which historically forced Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt. The ten plagues (Exodus 7–12) were designed to attack the various gods of the Egyptian pantheon, from the Nile River to Pharaoh himself, who was considered to be a living deity. One by one God defeated the idols of the Egyptian Empire and demonstrated once and for all that ...

2517. The Beast out of the Earth

Revelation 13:11-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... wild animals (Tacitus, Annals 15.44.2–8; cf. Heb. 11:36–38). Those with Nero’s number would be citizens loyal to Rome who carried on his legacy of corruption, persecution, and vainglory. Alternatively, the number 666 could simply designate sinful humanity. Six is one short of seven, perfection. Therefore, 666 would be complete or utter imperfection and sinfulness (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.28.2–3). Although the word “antichrist” is not used anywhere in the book of Revelation, many Christians ...

2518. The Return of the King

Revelation 19:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... with all the power, majesty, and splendor of a triumphant Roman emperor (Latin triumphator). On the occasion of a major victory, kings would often enter the capital city in a triumphal procession wearing a decorated white tunic and toga with gold-threaded designs, a golden crown (cf. the diadems of Christ, which signify his royal identity; 19:12), and riding on a chariot drawn by white horses (19:11). The king was accompanied by his armies, magistrates, senators, captive prisoners of war, and the spoils ...

2519. Jesus or Niccolo?

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... move, you can prove who you really are, the Son of God, and just what you are capable of doing; you can turn stones into bread." Satan knew exactly the true identity of Jesus. The preface to his temptation to make bread out of stones was not designed to question the Lord's identity but to suggest that this was a moment of opportunity to prove that Jesus could do something without the concurrence of his Father, thus undermining his earthly mission. Jesus puts the kibosh on Satan's attack not as God, but as ...

2520. The Womb of Amazing Grace

John 4:5-42

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... that produced the new birth in your life. If you are a believer you have passed through the womb of amazing grace for no one gets saved alone. Indeed, this gospel, given to us through those people through God's amazing grace, is designed to always exist just one generation from extinction. Heresies cannot kill the church. There have always been heresies and the church has always overcome them. Despots cannot destroy the church for there have always been tyrants and dictators -- Herod Agrippa, Adolf Hitler ...

2521. Oh Say, Can You See by the Dawn’s Early Light?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... that when Christ, after his resurrection, calls again to the once-brash Peter, the big fisherman, having failed Christ is hesitant about making a renewed commitment. Upon seeing John, Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" (John 21:21). Peter's question is designed to allow him to give less than his personal best to Christ. Perhaps it seems to Peter that John, following from a distance, might be required to carry less responsibility. He asks it in the context of John following from behind. The Lord ...

2522. The Power of the Trust Factor

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... people of the way." Saul of Tarsus, for example, planned to go to Damascus to search out "any who belonged to the Way, men or women" (Acts 9:2). The name was born out of the lifestyle of the early Christians. Their way of living -- not their words -- designated them as disciples. A pastor friend took a trip to Ireland with his wife. At the airport in Dublin they rented a car and set out to drive to their first night's accommodations. They had not been driving long when they realized they were lost. Stopping ...

2523. This Spirit Is Not Spooky

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... ." The Greek word means "another one like the first one." It stands in opposition to another Greek word that means "another that is a different from the one before." Jesus is telling them, and through them, us, that he and the Holy Spirit are one in design and ministry. That is, they are perfect partners. Jesus our first Advocate was gloriously and wonderfully committed to us all the way to the cross. Now Jesus is saying that we are to be ready to meet our other Advocate, God's Holy Spirit. Like Jesus ...

2524. The Time Is Now!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... and across continents until today, when we hold it and determine what future, if any, it has. The reality of the ascension of Jesus is this: We have work to do. Our Lord has already indicated this in his parables of the talents, each is designed to help the people who first heard them know that his kingdom is not to come immediately. Many of the people who follow him expect the kingdom to be fulfilled when Jesus reaches Jerusalem. These parables should have dispelled those hopes but it seems they ...

2525. Called to Bigness

Isaiah 58:1-12, Matthew 5:13-20

Sermon

James L. Killen

... carpentry skills or could learn them. They spent one day a week doing home repairs. They learned that many people with disabilities were homebound because they had no wheelchair ramps to allow them to get in and out of their houses. They became expert at designing and building wheelchair ramps. At last count, they had built about 400 of them. They also did many other kinds of repair work on the homes of the poor and the facilities of local service agencies. Many of the people in the group were sophisticated ...

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