Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 2551 to 2575 of 2844 results

2551. No Turning Back

John 6:60-71

Sermon

King Duncan

Former heavyweight boxer James (Quick) Tillis is a cowboy from Oklahoma. Tillis fought out of Chicago in the early 1980s. A deeply religious man, Tillis is remembered as the first boxer ever to make Mike Tyson go the distance in the heavyweight division. Tillis had his disappointments as a boxer, but evidently they didn’t rob him of his sense of humor. He still remembers his first day in the Windy City after his arrival from Tulsa. “I got off the bus,” he says, “with two cardboard suitcases under my arms ...

2552. Shall We Take the Escalator?

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

I hope you’re having a great summer. Some of you, no doubt, have visited or are planning to visit one of our nation’s beautiful national parks. Each year the Park Service receives suggestions from guests on how they might better serve people visiting those parks. Here are some actual suggestions and comments they have received. I’ll let you decide which of them have some merit. Here’s the first suggestion: “Many trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building ones that go uphill.” O. K., I’m all for ...

2553. A Man with No Name

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

Jesus and his disciples were passing through the city of Jericho, a beautiful city some fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem. Jesus was at the height of his popularity, and great crowds greeted him as he came into the city. Although we don’t know for certain, perhaps Jesus spent the day teaching in Jericho, which might explain why the people were so excited about having him visit their city. But regardless, as Jesus was leaving the city he encountered some desperate people with nowhere else to turn. Let me ...

2554. A Man Named Many

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

In Ogden Nash’s poem, “The Outcome of Mr. MacLeod’s Gratitude,” he tells of a wife who was always complaining . . . and a husband who conversely managed to be grateful for everything. What a combination--one always complaining and the other always grateful. The last stanza of the poem goes like this: So she tired of her husband’s cheery note And she stuffed a tea-tray down his throat. He remarked from the floor, where they found him reclining, “I’m just a MacLeod with a silver lining!” I hope you have ...

2555. How to Get the Job Done

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

And [Jesus] said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." — Luke 10:2 It's a startling fact but true — Jesus and politicians have a lot in common. This no doubt comes as a surprise to those who regard politics as a dirty business, or who think of politicians essentially as liars and who believe steadfastly that politics and religion don't mix. Nonetheless, Jesus and politicians have a lot in common. When you ...

2556. The Good Samaritan (Revised Edition)

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

"Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed mercy on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." — Luke 10:36-37 It was a dark, rainy summer night on a remote road. David was driving home to his lake cottage after a movie in the resort village. Going around a corner he thought he saw it. He slowed, wondering if he had seen correctly. He stopped, backed up in the driving rain, then moved his car toward the edge of the road ...

2557. The Word According to Superman

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

(Growing Strong in the Season of Lent, Lent 2) There is an absurd story that comes out of World War II. An American soldier in Tunisia lost his bayonet. Rather than face the consequences of admitting he had lost this important weapon, he carved an excellent facsimile out of wood and placed it in the scabbard at his side. For weeks he went about his duties carrying this fake bayonet. He was safe from getting into trouble as long as his deception went undetected. However, one day the much dreaded order came ...

2558. The Creeping Vine

1 Cor 1:23

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The story is told of a small English village that had a tiny chapel whose stone walls were covered by traditional ivy. Over an arch was originally inscribed the words: we preach christ crucified. There had been a generation of godly men who did precisely that: they preached Christ crucified. But times changed. The ivy grew and pretty soon covered the last word. The inscription now read: we preach christ. Other men came and they did preach Christ: Christ the example, Christ the humanitarian, Christ the ...

2559. Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

Acts 3:11-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Luke’s report of Peter’s speech in Solomon’s Colonnade very likely contains a genuine recollection of what was actually said on this occasion. But in any case we may regard it as typical of what was generally said at this time by Christians in their approach to Jews. The speech exhibits a more developed Christology than that of the Pentecost address—or at least the Christology is expressed in far richer terms, though these are still distinctively Jewish and of the earliest period of the church. Here Peter ...

2560. Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

Acts 16:6-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Nothing is said of any plans Paul might have had for what they would do once they had seen how the Galatians were getting on (though we might guess that he had set his sights on Ephesus, the capital of the province of Asia; cf. v. 6). Instead, the emphasis is entirely on the divine guidance that took them to Macedonia. The story is told with a minimum of detail, which only heightens the impression that they were carried along, as it were, by the irresistible wind of the Spirit, much as Paul and Barnabas ...

2561. Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

Acts 21:17-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The remaining chapters of Acts describe the “bonds and hardships” that Paul had to endure. That so much of the book is given to this may be due to a desire on Luke’s part to simulate the passion narrative of the Gospel, in which the events of a few days are told at a length that seems disproportionate to the whole (see disc. on 19:21–41). But it must also be remembered that Luke himself was probably involved in these events, so that they would have loomed large in his mind and he would have had a wealth of ...

2562. The Trial Before Felix

Acts 24:1-27

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Paul’s removal to Caesarea began a two-year imprisonment in that city. During these years he stated his case (and therefore the case for the gospel) before two governors and a king, thus further fulfilling the ministry to which he had been called (9:15). These were days of high drama as well as of tedious confinement, but through it all Paul maintained his unswerving purpose to serve Christ and the gospel. 24:1 The first of the two governors to hear Paul’s case was Antonius Felix, the brother of Pallas, ...

2563. Living to Please God

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The first three chapters of this letter are largely personal and historical in character, the last two practical and doctrinal. They are joined in the Greek by the conjunction oun, which sometimes expresses a logical connection, as in Romans 12:1 where the exhortation arises out of the doctrinal exposition (cf. also Eph. 4:1; Col. 3:5). But not here. The oun is simply transitional. In his report, Timothy may have noted a tendency, or at least a temptation, for the Thessalonians to slip back into heathen ...

2564. The Coming of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Although the formula, “Now about …” (peri de), which sometimes appears to have marked Paul’s answers to questions (see disc. on 4:9) does not occur, 4:13–18 is probably his answer to a question about the fate of deceased believers. From the teaching the missionaries gave while they were still with them, the Thessalonians would have known the general eschatological scenario that Paul unfolds in these verses, but at least some of them were still unsure where the Christian dead fitted into it. They may have ...

2565. Warning Against False Teachers of the Law

1 Timothy 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

Salutation The letter begins with the standard form of salutation found in almost all the letters from the Greco-Roman period. Where such a letter in our time would have begun, “Dear Timothy,” and concluded something like, “Your affectionate father in Christ, Paul,” ancient letters began with the name of the writer, followed by the addressee and a greeting. Usually these were terse: “Paul, to Timothy, greetings.” Such a terse greeting may be found in Paul’s earliest existing letter (1 Thessalonians), but ...

2566. Final Greetings

1 Peter 5:12-14

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

And Now, Farewell! 5:12 It was common practice at the time this letter was written for the real author to take over the pen of the amanuensis and add the final words of personal greeting (Gal. 6:11). This may have happened here. Peter says he has written his letter with the help of Silas, an expression that, according to examples in Greek literature, can have several interpretations. Literally, the Greek is simply “through Silas.” That can mean that Silas was the bearer of the letter, or that he was the ...

2567. The Birth of Moses

Exodus 2:1-10

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

Exodus 2 begins with the story of Moses, through whom God delivered and shaped the people of Israel. This part of Exodus (chs. 2–15) describes how God used a Levite family and the forces of creation to bring these people out of Egypt into the Sinai wilderness. Exodus 2 includes Moses’ birth, his amazing deliverance and adoption (2:1–10), his identification with “his” Hebrew people, the killing of an Egyptian, his escape to the land of Midian, his marriage to Zipporah, and the birth of their son, Gershom ( ...

2568. The Lampstand

Exodus 25:31-40

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

I Will Dwell Among Them: Lampstand · In the holy place, on the south side of the tent of meeting, stood the lampstand, opposite the Table of the Presence. The lampstand (menorah) was made of approximately thirty-five kilos (75 pounds, a talent) of pure gold of one piece. The text does not give dimensions, leaving the design to the artisans. The talmudic tradition says that it was just over four feet tall (Plaut, The Torah, p. 613). It was similar in shape to a sage plant that still grows in the Middle East ...

2569. The Ark (II)

Exodus 37:1-9

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

Building: Ark, Table, Lampstand, Incense Altar, and Anointing Oil: After the people finished making the tent of meeting, they created the furnishings. The text continues to repeat, almost verbatim, the details of the instructions God gave to Moses in Exodus 25 and 30. The craftsman Bezalel, with focused labor, carries out the instructions using the generous materials that the people provided. The text of Exodus 37 is a somewhat shorter form of Exodus 25 and 30. It omits some of the detail, as generally ...

2570. Circumcision at Gilgal

Joshua 5:1-12

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Religious Preparation for War: 5:1 The wonders of crossing the Jordan demoralize the enemy for the tribal attacks. Enemy kings find their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites (lit. there was no spirit in them). Rahab’s analysis proves true as residents of Canaan experience the “melting of hearts” and “loss of spirit” when they hear of God’s victories east of the Jordan (2:11). Jericho and the cities become vulnerable when the God of the tribes conquers the Jordan. Joshua ...

2571. Achan's Sin

Joshua 7:1-26

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

Spies, Achan, and Failure at Ai: Victory is often a prelude to disaster in the Bible. The joy of the song of Moses after the exodus has hardly died down before the people complain (Exod. 15:24). Moses faces a golden calf upon coming down the mountain after receiving the commandments of the covenant (Exod. 32). Likewise sin rears its ugly side at Jericho. Power gives birth to selfishness and miscalculation of the strength of the enemy. Joshua’s campaign to take Canaan also is a series of successes and ...

2572. Deborah

Judges 4:1-24

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

Deborah and Barak: The story of the fourth of Israel’s judges is full of the unexpected. Deborah is a multigifted woman whose roles parallel those of Moses. Barak behaves as anything but a hero of faith. Jael, a simple, non-Israelite woman, is privileged to deal the death blow to a powerful warrior—with highly unconventional weapons, a tent peg and hammer. Unlike other judges’ stories, the narrative account is followed by a poem, the Song of Deborah, which celebrates the Lord’s miraculous victory on behalf ...

2573. Danites Settle in Laish

Judges 18:1-31

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

The Danites Take Their Own Inheritance: The road to chaos winds its way through Judges 18 but now widens increasingly (cf. Matt. 7:13–14) to encompass an entire Israelite tribe. The Danites were a small tribe who were never able to secure their allotment of territory in the land of Israel. Judges 1 describes their containment by the Amorites (1:34; cf. Josh. 19:40–46) and the Joseph tribe’s encroachment into their territory. The story of their migration from the area originally allotted to them to a new ...

2574. Boaz Marries Ruth

Ruth 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

Boaz’s Transaction: 4:1 Boaz does not go directly to Elimelech’s kinsman’s house, nor does he summon him to his own. Instead, he goes to the town gate. When the kinsman-redeemer he had mentioned came along (lit. “wandered by,” ’abar), Boaz says, Come over here, my friend, and sit down. The narrator portrays this all-important meeting like the chance meeting of Ruth and Boaz in 2:3, but events only seem to happen by chance in Ruth. Boaz’s patient anticipation at Bethlehem’s gate contrasts sharply with the ...

2575. The Israelites Confess their Sins

Nehemiah 9:1-37

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Restoring Right Relations with God: This chapter follows in the wake of 7:73b–8:12 and 8:13–18. The people “assembled” (REB) once more for a third public reading of the Torah and a communal response. This time their response is one of repentant confession. As soon as the festivals of joy ended (8:12, 17), it was appropriate to act on the instinct to respond to the Torah with lament in 8:9. Set in the new literary jigsaw that chapters 8–10 constitute in their present setting, Nehemiah 9 seems to be of ...

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