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 2651 to 2675 of 2815 results

2651. Jesus and Finance

Illustration

Howard Dayton, Jr.

Jesus talked a great deal about money. Sixteen of the thirty-eight parables were concerned with how to handle money and possessions. In the Gospels, an amazing one out of 10 verses (288 in all) deal directly with the subject of money. The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions.

2652. Only Fifty-Seven Pennies

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... accommodates thousands of students, a Temple Hospital, and a large Temple Sunday school. And it all began with a beautiful, dedicated spirit-and fifty-seven pennies. It rakes concern and commitment and dedication and love to give one's self. In the words of Jesus at the conclusion of the parable of the Good Samaritan: "Go thou and do likewise."

2653. Lying By the Side of the Road

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... certainly did do something about it . . . I made YOU.” And that’s why God made us—to do something about it. Can He depend on you? 1. https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/kindness-strangers/. 2. The Parables of Jesus (The William Barclay Library, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation), p. 79. 3. http://hottubreligion.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/summer-sermon-seedswho-caresluke1025-37/. 4. Tarbell’s Lesson Commentary, Sept. 2004 ‑ Aug. 2005 (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications). 5. Representative ...

2654. When Mickey Mouse Recognizes You...

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... use that very natural craving for recognition to teach us some very useful lessons. One Sabbath, Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee. When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them a most interesting parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast,” he said, “do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person ...

2655. Money Verses

Mk 12:41-44

Illustration

John MacArthur

16 out of 38 of Christ’s parables dealt with money. More is said in the New Testament about money than Heaven and hell combined; five times more is said about money than prayer; and where there are over 500 verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2000 verses dealing with money and possessions.

2656. Pay Attention!

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Robert C. Cochran

... for her sharp tongue while Mary was praised for kneeling down at a man’s feet and keeping her mouth shut. If you find yourself disturbed by this story, then you’re not alone. In fact, generally, if you’re not disturbed by Jesus’ actions and parables, you’re not paying attention. Jesus wanted to get people to look at life differently, and the only way to get people out of their old ways of thinking and begin viewing life from the perspective of the kingdom was to shock them. Martha was a good ...

2657. Satisfy the Soul

Illustration

King Duncan

Christian commitment is told by way of parable in Tennyson’s story of the Holy Grail: One knight, riding on the quest, came upon laden fruit trees but even as he ate the fruit it turned to dust. No feeding of the body could satisfy the soul. Riding on, he found a gracious woman and a home. Surely ...

2658. A Child of the Resurrection

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... the resurrection of the dead? Let me point out here that throughout the Gospels—the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—Jesus almost never answers questions directly. Usually, when someone comes to Jesus with a question, he answers with another question, or with a parable or a challenge. In fact, author Philip Yancey says he once heard a theologian say that Jesus was asked 183 questions in the Bible, and he only answered three of them directly. Three out of one-hundred-eighty-three. So we need to pay ...

2659. Déjà Vu or Divine Revelation?

Luke 23:35-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... and Fahim Abed, New York Times, Nov. 16, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/world/asia/kabul-explosion-police.html. 5. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (New York: Bantam Books), 1996. 6. https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-shrewd-steward-tim-smith-sermon-on-parable-shrewd-manager-204259?ref=SermonSerps. (J. C. Ryle, Foundations of Faith [Bridge Publishing]).

2660. Preparing the Way

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... Jesus sent back an answer that may have been something of a shock to the early church as they read Matthew’s gospel. Jesus answered bluntly, concretely, and specifically. Gone, here, are the homely paradoxes and the quaint proverbs of Mark. Gone are the oriental parables and wisdom sayings of Luke. Nowhere here are the long theological treatises to be found as they are found in John. Matthew prefers to be concrete and specific. How do we know if the messiah is really present and at work? Well, we look for ...

2661. Know Jesus--No Peace

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

George Reed

... with their lives. While Jesus seems to never sanction the use of force and violence, he also did not embrace either of the other ways to find peace. For Jesus there could be no peace without justice and mercy. Jesus’ whole life can be seen as a parable about what it means to stand up to oppression. It didn’t matter to Jesus if the oppression was political, financial, or religious and often it was all three rolled into one. He could have spent his life wandering the hills of Galilee teaching and healing ...

2662. Star Light, Star Bright

Illustration

King Duncan

Soren Kierkegaard told a parable once about a wealthy man driving along in a well-lighted carriage, looking comfortable and secure. There was so much light in his carriage and he was so wrapped up in his secure little world that he never noticed the majestic beauty of the stars overhead. On the same road traveled a peasant who had no majestic well-lighted carriage--only a small cart. But he had the stars.

2663. Giving Away the Nail

Illustration

Steve Farrar

An old parable told by a Haitian pastor makes the point. A certain man wanted to sell his house for two thousand dollars. Another man wanted to buy it very badly, but he was a poor man and didn’t have the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the ...

2664. A Shrewd Christian?

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

George Reed

For many the term “shrewd Christian” is an oxymoron as these two terms just seem to be so opposite in their minds. But in the parable of the unjust steward Jesus calls on his disciples to become as shrewd in doing good as others are in doing evil. According to Webster’s dictionary shrewd means “keen-witted, clever, or sharp in practical matters.” We have often used the word in its secondary sense of cunning and ...

2665. Making a Difference

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Molly F. James

... spoke critically or disparagingly of them. We might be expecting Jesus to be critical of Zacchaeus, to chide him for the wealth he has amassed. Remember how he chided the rich man who did not wish to give up his possessions to inherit eternal life? Think of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man that shows us the perils of ignoring those around us who are in need. But the next sentence in our reading for today gives us a clue that this story might not just be a story about criticizing the wealthy. As we ...

2666. You Have a Story to Tell

John 9:1-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... , stand in the way of us understanding God and living a life of meaning and purpose. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, and I want to mention it again. Usually, when someone comes to Jesus with a question, Jesus answers with another question, or with a parable or a challenge. In fact, author Philip Yancey says he once heard a theologian say that Jesus was asked 183 questions in the Bible, and he only answered three of them directly. Three out of one-hundred-eighty-three. (5) So sit up and pay attention. This ...

2667. You Are My Beloved

Mark 1:10-11

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased." What an affirmation, especially at this point, as Dick Meyer points out, because Jesus has yet to do anything. He has not healed anyone. He has not preached a sermon. He hasn't told any parables or calmed any seas. And yet there is this affirming word from heaven: "With you I am well pleased. You are my beloved."5 What do these words tell us about God? What do they teach us about ourselves? Ten times you see these affirming words in the ...

2668. Grace Upon Grace

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... is your soul that I am buying for you. I withdraw it from dark thoughts and from the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God!” I think, maybe, Philip Yancey is right. We can’t explain grace, we can only tell of it in stories, in parables and, sometimes, in our own biographies. Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson speak of it in their story which they wrote together in 2009. It’s called Picking Cotton, and it’s published by St. Mary’s Press. Here’s a brief synopsis of their story as told by my ...

2669. Hosanna! Please Save Us!

Matthew 21:1-11, Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... all refer to him as a servant leader. That’s an interesting term, isn’t it? “Servant leader.” Sameer credits his mother, who was killed when Sameer was just 15 years old, for teaching him the mindset of servant leadership. There was a particular Indian parable she loved to recite for him. She would say, “When we enter this world we all enter as babies with our fists clenched, kicking and screaming and crying. When we leave, we all leave at peace, with our hands open. There’s a reason why this ...

2670. The Sign of the Dove

Matthew 3:1-17 · John 1:1-34 · Mark 1:1-8 · Luke 3:1-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... book written by Eliane Wilson in 1998 called The Lost Dove of Peace. You can read it in one evening. The illustrations by Hans Erni are enchanting. It’s a story for young and old about a world in crisis based in part on Stefan Zweig's parable “The Legend of the Third Dove.” In “The Lost Dove” there is so much death and destruction that the doves of the world leave their abodes, where they were painted, inked, sculpted, woven into tapestries, or alive in the wild, and hold a summit conference at ...

2671. The Gathering at Cana

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... with the fruit of the womb and the blessings promised from God. The covenant of marriage is bound up with the covenant of God. Jesus would use this metaphor yet again later in Matthew (9:14-17), Luke (5:33-39), and Mark (2:21-22) with the parable of the old and new wineskins. And when asked why his disciples and he don’t fast, he answers, “Can you make the children of the bride chambers fast, while the bridegroom is with them?” Jesus speaks of the new covenant, of himself as the messiah and the ...

2672. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... disciples eat and drink.” Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.” He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and sews it on an old garment; otherwise the new will be torn, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the ...

2673. Do you need a Pharisectomy?

Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 12:15-21, Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has demons.” And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand ...

2674. Moving On

Luke 6:12-16, Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... For Jesus, the sacrament of kicking off the dust proclaimed that the kingdom was coming, and it wouldn’t be good for them. So the disciples need not worry about failure. The failure was the town’s, not the disciples’. The mission of Jesus, like the parable he would later tell about the mustard seed, would be widespread and fast-moving. There was no time to tarry about those who would not receive the word of God! The mission was to get to as many of the “lost sheep” as possible before Jesus’ time ...

2675. Your Faith Has Made You Well

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of God upon him. They could not let go of their conceptions of him just as a boy who grew up in their synagogue. When you insist on holding onto your doubts and misconceptions, you will prevent Jesus from healing you body and soul. There’s an old parable told by Rabbi Edwin H. Friedman called “The Power of Belief.” Here is how he tells it: One evening a man came home and announced that he was dead. Immediately, some of his neighbors tried to show him how foolish this notion was. He walked, and dead ...

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