Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2576 to 2600 of 4508 results

2576. Keep on Asking. Keep on Trusting.

Illustration

King Duncan

A young pastor sat beside a hospital bed in which his wife lay. It was nearing the time for them to become parents. Soon this young couple would bask together in the glow of the announcement: "It's a boy." Later, however, they would begin a desperate search for some specialist who could help the child. They were unsuccessful - little Ronnie was born mentally impaired. The entrance of this father i...

2577. A Little Time Alone

Illustration

King Duncan

John R. O'Neil, in his book The Paradox of Success, tells about a psychologist who was once summoned for a delicate interview with a top executive who had been acting oddly. Every Wednesday afternoon, this hard-charging company man would leave his office for a 3:00 P.M. appointment and did not return. He never told anyone where he went, but because he was observed entering a nearby apartment build...

2578. Belief in Hell

Illustration

King Duncan

While the majority of Americans believe in heaven and eventually expect to end up there, studies show most people today do not believe in hell. It reminds me of a P. D. James' story. A young woman discovers that she was adopted. Almost immediately, she begins looking for her biological mother and father. She is stunned to discover that as a baby she had been taken from her parents when they were ...

2579. A Mother’s Faith

Illustration

King Duncan

Augustine's mother, Monica, was a fervent believer who prayed constantly for her son's salvation. She devoted her whole life to praying for Augustine's conversion. At one point, when Augustine was becoming devoted to the Manichaean philosophy, Monica begged a holy man to speak to Augustine, and show him why their beliefs were not true. The holy man refused because Augustine was known to have a gre...

2580. Don’t Take No for an Answer

Illustration

King Duncan

A story came across the wires from the Reuters new service about a family of ducklings that fell down a sewer grate in Vancouver. Their mother did what any parent would do. She got help from a passing police officer. The mother duck grabbed the policeman by the pant leg while he was on foot patrol. The policeman shoved what he thought was just a goofy duck away, but she persisted, grabbing his leg...

2581. A Mother · A Canaanite Woman

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

Like the woman of Samaria the mother from Canaan whose story Matthew and Mark have preserved for us was a foreigner. Tradition calls her Justa and names her daughter Bernice. One scholar describes her as "by language a Greek, by nationality a Canaanite, and by residence a Syro-Phoenician." So, too, she was probably Greek by religion. Coming from the Phoenician coast as she did she was very likely ...

2582. Proper 15

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

The Miracle Of A Woman's Faith In the miracle of Jesus' healing a Canaanite mother's demon-possessed daughter, we confront a different kind of Jesus. Is he the same Jesus whom we often describe as "meek and mild?" Can this be the same man who blesses little children, gives sight to a blind beggar, forgives an adulterous woman, heals a lady by her touch of his garment, and tells the story of a Goo...

2583. Proper 15

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS In Genesis 45, Joseph provides his brothers with a theological interpretation of the events that have befallen him, while Psalm 133 celebrates kinship. Genesis 45:4-20 - "The Power of the Promise" Setting. Scholars have long since noted how different in character the Joseph stories are from the other ancestral stories. The sharpest point of contrast is the absence of God as...

2584. Love And Boundaries

Sermon

William G. Carter

Let’s face it. This story is difficult to understand. I have been struggling with it all week. But then I heard a short phrase that offered some help. I am not sure if the phrase came to me in a dream or a conversation. I cannot recall if I heard in a Top 40 tune or a country and western song. Nevertheless the phrase has given me an angle to understand this text. The phrase is “love with boundarie...

2585. The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Matthew provides another summary of Jesus’s compassionate healing ministry at 15:29–31 (cf. earlier summaries at 12:15–21; 14:13–14; 14:34–36). The crowds respond with amazement, praising “the God of Israel” (a commonplace Old Testament phrase; e.g., Judg. 5:3). Matthew narrates next the feeding of the four thousand (15:32–39), which also emphasizes Jesus’s compassion for the crowds (15:32) as wel...

2586. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

15:29–31 In Matthew’s account the scene shifts immediately from the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon (cf. 15:21) to the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee (the Markan parallel says “the region of the Decapolis,” 7:31). It is not certain how much time Jesus spent in non-Jewish territory, although there may have been about six months between the feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14 (v. 19 says the...

2587. Resurrection: From Brokenness to Wholeness

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

His name was Jahmai. In the ancient lineage of his people Jahmai was one of the sons of Tola (1 Chronicles 7:2), a worthy man and father of a great tribe by the days of King David. But the Jahmai of our story lived much, much later in the Hebrew lineage and his grand namesake was long forgotten. The Jahmai of our story was a youth, and this day he walked behind the crowds that followed Jesus. His ...

2588. Do You Believe In Miracles?

Sermon

James Merritt

It is not only one of the most famous broadcasting calls in sports history, it is probably the only one that asked a theological question and for sure the only one that gave the correct theological answer, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” To be honest, that unbelievable upset of the United States beating Russia for the Gold Medal in Hockey in 1980 was as close to a miracle in the sports world as...

2589. The Disciples Confess Jesus as the Messiah

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: While Matthew warns his readers against the unbelief and wrong teachings of the Jewish leaders, he provides the right response to Jesus in the disciples’ confession of Jesus as the Messiah, which comes via revelation from God. Understanding the Text This passage provides a climactic summary of a number of key story elements that Matthew has introduced thus far. First, the request from th...

2590. The Demand for a Sign

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In anticipation of the climactic scene of 11:2–16:20, Matthew returns to a number of motifs that he has developed. First, in Matthew 16:1–4, we see a challenge to Jesus by Pharisees and Sadducees that demonstrates their opposition to Jesus’s ministry (16:1; cf. 12:14) in a request for a sign. (The analogy to weather signs in 16:2–3 is missing in some early manuscripts, presumably omitted by scribe...

2591. The Demand for a Sign

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

16:1–4 Only here and in Matthew 3:7 do the Pharisees and the Sadducees come together in a common cause. In the earlier setting they went out to the Jordan to find out for themselves what John the Baptist was doing. Here they combine forces to tempt Jesus to show them some spectacular sign from heaven that will authenticate for them his divine mission. He answers them by pointing out that only an e...

2592. The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

As Matthew turns to Jesus with his disciples (16:5–12), a number of disciple-related themes resurface. Once again, Jesus refers to his disciples as “you of little faith” (16:8), this time in relation to their incomprehension of Jesus’s power at the two miraculous feedings. Even though Jesus has demonstrated that he is able to provide food for large crowds, the disciples are concerned that they hav...

2593. The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

16:5–12 Leaving behind the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus and his disciples go across the lake. Jews traveling in predominantly gentile territory would take their own bread in order to avoid eating food that was not ceremonially clean. On this occasion the disciples had forgotten to take bread. Jesus warns them to be on their guard against the yeast (leaven) of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Discuss...

2594. Rocky

Sermon

William J. Carl

It is said that Winston Churchill never liked talking to subordinates. He always wanted to go to the top because he figured that was the only way he could get any action. So, as the story goes, when Churchill went to heaven, he met St. Peter at the gate and said, “Who are you?” When Peter said, “I’m St. Peter,” Churchill said, “To hell with you, get God!” How did poor Peter get this job in the fi...

2595. The Pop Quiz

Sermon

Johnny Dean

Once there was a rich man who wanted to do something good for someone in his community. He spent a few days just traveling around his neighborhood and the general vicinity. During his travels, he noticed the poor living conditions of a certain carpenter who lived nearby. So the rich man went to the carpenter and hired him to build a house. "Now this isn’t just any old house you’ll be building," th...

2596. Who is He?

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: The identity of Jesus. Props: I do not use any props in the text but a letter with your name on it or other items that identify you may be used. Work them in at the appropriate time. Example: If you are a teacher by vocation bring something that identifies you as a teacher and tie it in to the story. Lesson: Good Morning! I have a question for you and I am not sure you are going to...

2597. Confused as Pigeons

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

It seems that every weekday morning, before tourists and schoolchildren descend on London's Trafalgar Square, city-authorized volunteers toss more than a hundred pounds of bird seed to a swarm of hungry pigeons. Then, four hours later, the city pays for a trained hawk to fly around the square and chase the pigeons away (Wall Street Journal, 11 February 2005). Anyone identify with those poor pigeon...

2598. Matthew 16:13-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Jesus and his disciples have traveled to Caesarea Philippi in northernmost Israel, away from the distractions and confusions of Jerusalem. Jesus there confronts his "students" with, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" "Son of Man" appears regularly as Jesus' favorite term for himself. Obviously the disciples are familiar with this self-designation. They do not hesitate to answer with a ser...

2599. Matthew 16:13-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Turning points. Axial periods. Hinge events. Moments of truth. Every life hinges on moments that demarcate the “before” from the ever “after.” Today’s gospel text describes one of those times. In Matthew’s gospel reading for today the insightful declaration made by Peter is one of those watershed moments. From the northernmost point of his preaching and teaching journey, Jesus turns south towards ...

2600. Peter's Confession to Christ

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The climactic moment of Matthew 11:2–16:20 is Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah (16:16). In response to Jesus’s question about his identity as perceived by others, the disciples provide a range of responses (16:13–14; including John the Baptist in line with Herod’s belief at 14:2). Peter speaks on behalf of the disciples, rightly identifying Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the living ...

Showing 2576 to 2600 of 4508 results