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 251 to 275 of 339 results

251. Matthew 5:21-37

Matthew 5:21-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As Jesus' great sermon called the "Sermon on the Mount" progresses, its message grows in pungency and particularity. The soaring Beatitudes that begin this section are surprising in content but so lofty in scope that listeners or readers could avoid finding themselves personally challenged. Jesus' directive about "salt" and "light" begins to personalize his message by evoking the emphatic "you." Yet the call to be "salt" and "light" is sufficiently vague ...

252. Luke 6:27-38

Luke 6:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this week's gospel lesson does not include Luke's version of the "blessings and woes" (vv.20-26), their distinct Lukan structure carries into the texts we do read. Unlike Matthew's version of these sayings, rightly called the "Beatitudes" because only blessings are listed, Luke creates a careful symmetry in his text. Four "blessings" are pronounced, followed by four parallel "woes": poor-rich/hungry-full/weeping-laughing/rejected-accepted. Luke's balanced structure is reminiscent of the evenhandedness of ...

253. Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Christ reveals that his reward is present with him in fact, Christ himself is the reward. Yet there is also a note of judgment intimated by the promise to "repay according to everyone's work." Settling accounts works both ways. In verse 14, the seventh and final beatitude or blessing of Revelation is offered (the other blessings include 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7). The blessing uttered here is offered in short-hand form. Clearly, its reference is to 7:14, where the white-robed residents of heaven ...

254. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... After greeting them, Jesus addresses the critic and invites him to put his "finger here and see my hands" (v.27). Thomas, without doing so, responds, "My Lord and my God" (v.28). Jesus' reply to Thomas has sometimes been regarded as the ninth Beatitude, an assumption erroneously based on the notion that the Matthean list is a complete collection. The only other reference to the "blessed" condition of those who believe is recorded by Luke and placed in the mouth of Elizabeth speaking to Mary: "Blessed is she ...

255. God Loses, So We Can Win

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... got. Jacob thought he should be No. 1. He spent his life seeking to rectify the injustice. He spent his life seeking to be blessed – as he defined it. What does being blessed mean to you? In a few Sundays I’m going to preach a series on the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the….” And Jesus goes on to call blessed the very people we usually call cursed. Jesus does that a lot. Just when we think we’ve got something figured out and nailed down, he comes a long and makes us wonder. In that Father’s Day ...

256. Easter

Psalm 118:1-29, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-18, Acts 10:34-43, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... with them and with you. And when our day of departure comes may we follow with joy the procession that has preceded us. We commemorate with thanksgiving the faithful and blessed departed and give thanks for all who by death have passed into life eternal. As we rejoice in their beatitude may their example inspire our ongoing life that we may live worthily in the communion of the church, to the glory of your name, Father of glory, Son of God/Son of Mary, motherly Spirit, one God, blessed for ever. Amen.

257. Epiphany 6

Psalm 1:1-6, Jeremiah 17:5-10, Luke 6:17-26, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... Psalm 1 First Lesson—Spiritual survival and growth depend on our trust in God. Jeremiah 17:5-10 Second Lesson—Paul argues that denial of the resurrection of the dead undermines the whole gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Gospel—Luke gives us his version of the Beatitudes and Woes pronounced by Jesus. Luke 6:17-26 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader:The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. People:And also with you. Leader:Come and put your confidence in God. People:We will put our confidence in God and will ...

258. Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Psalm 15:1-5, Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... heart of the matter in the conclusion of this reading. Micah 6:1-8 Second Lesson--Paul speaks of the paradoxical power of the gospel of the cross. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Gospel--Matthew gives us the values of Jesus in a series of blessings we call the Beatitudes. Matthew 5:1-12 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. People: And also with you. Leader: Depend upon God to grant your heart's desire. People: We will commit our lives to Christ and trust the Spirit to do what ...

259. James 1:17-27

James 1:19-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... free is more than a list of rules and regulations. It is the living “word of truth” which God has provided for the salvation of the faithful. The “doers,” James asserts, “will be blessed in their doing,” a promise that nicely echoes Jesus’ beatitude “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28). This week’s epistle text concludes with James getting even more specific about what he means by “doing.” These “doing” specifics are contrasted with being ...

260. James 2:1-10

James 2:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the world’s way are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Those whom the world despises will be “Rich” and will become “the heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him” (v.5). James’ words recall Jesus’ own beatitude — “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). This promised “inheritance” is nothing less than the gift of grace and the endowment of salvation. In the first century social status determined a lot of an individual ...

261. What Price Must We Pay?

Luke 6:20-31

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... the days and years ahead. It delineates the kind of outlook they should have as well as the kind of life Jesus expects them to live. Both Luke and Matthew start out with related materials. They both present us with what we have come to know as the Beatitudes and both end with the parable of the two foundations. The verses presented here in Luke provide us with an astounding idea. That idea is simple; the value of your life will not be determined by how many years you live. It will be determined by how you ...

262. Jesus: What's in a Name?

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... not lost on the people in those days who first heard the Good News of Christ proclaimed. They understood by those parallels who He was and what He had come for. “Moses received the Ten Commandments, the Law of Israel on the mountain; Jesus preached the Beatitudes, the Law of the Kingdom on a mountain. Parallels -- all the way up to the Transfiguration, which confirms that He is the Messiah, where Moses is present, to cast his vote. “To say Jesus is like Moses is to proclaim that He is a liberator, and ...

263. Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

Luke 1:1-4

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... makes this pre-natal announcement. In v.42 the blessedness of Mary’s condition and the blessedness of her unborn child are described with the term “eulogoumene.” But in v.45 the “blessed” status of Mary uses the term we know from the Beatitudes, “makaria.” More than a simple state of joy or happiness, this “blessedness” or “makaria” describes being in a state of righteousness before God. (See Psalm 1:1; 2:12; 83:4; 94:12) As a woman who had endured years of childlessness, Elizabeth ...

264. Harmony and Humor: The Ties That Bind Christianity’s Many Christianities

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ’s “Sunday,” 13 July 2008). Our ancestors in the Middle Ages used gargoyles to laugh at the devil. Gargoyles with grotesque faces defended the church and its holy places with the power of parody, laughter and mockery. After all, the promise of the beatitudes was this: those who mourn or weep will be comforted and able to “laugh.” It has been our ability to “laugh” at ourselves, and to laugh at life, that has enabled the many Christianities of Christianity to play together side-by-side. Humor ...

265. Abysmal Heights

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ’s not what you know, but who you know.” So why do we forget that early life lesson when we walk into and out of church? The church’s biggest problem is that we want to know what, not who. We want to know the beauty of Jesus’ beatitudes, not bear Christ’s burdens for the world. The church wasn’t created out of nicely memorized catechisms. The church was born from the nails and splinters of the cross. Almost three weeks after the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the opening of the ...

266. Redemption: A Wide Angle Picture

Exodus 3:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . Moses crossed the Red Sea into forty years of wilderness; Jesus crossed the river Jordan after his baptism and entered the forty days and forty nights of temptation. Moses received the Ten Commandments, the Law of Israel on the mountain; Jesus preached the Beatitudes, the Law of the Kingdom, on a mountain. Parallels - all the way up to the Transfiguration, which confirms that He is the Messiah, and you remember Moses is present at the transfiguration to affirm the delivering power of Jesus. So, to see the ...

267. Fresh Every Morning - A Test

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... three children, the daily pain of loneliness for a young woman without a marriage partner, the temptations of singleness, and the moral pressures. But she’s happy. Her face radiates a sort of transparent joy. I hardly ever see her without thinking of Jesus’ first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” No wonder Jesus put that one first. The poor in spirit are those who know they are dependent upon God, and they are the happy ones. Have you noticed it? The ...

268. The Shepherd Lord

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... evil into the sin of apartheid, where persons are stripped of dignity as human beings. Rights that should belong to all people are denied to 3/4 of the national population. More than ever before I felt the deep meaning of the beatitudes — Jesus Charter for the Kingdom —— especially that 8th one — “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” I knew last Monday night those South Africans — both black and white — had a vision and a ...

269. Living on Full Alert

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17. 20-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , what joy shall fill my heart Then I shall bow in humble adoration And there proclaim—My God how great thou art. Soon and very soon, we are going to meet the Lord. Max Lucado in his book Applause of Heaven, a great book on the Beatitudes of Jesus, comes to the last chapter by that title and opens that chapter with these words: “I’m almost home. After five days, four hotel beds, eleven restaurants, twenty-three cups of coffee, I’m almost home. After eight airplane seats, five airports, two delays ...

270. Affluenza

Luke 12:32-40

Illustration

Mickey Anders

... . 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth. We usually try to water down Jesus' radical commands about money. We prefer Matthew's version of the Beatitudes which says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," to Luke's version which says, "Blessed are the poor." We typically assert that not everyone needs to "sell all and give to the poor" as Jesus advised the rich ruler. Only when acquisitiveness ...

271. With a Firm Foundation, Application Is Second Nature

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... them into practice. We must become "doers of the word."1 Let's get Jesus' "take" on this. Jesus was concluding his famed Sermon on the Mount. You have heard about that famous discourse many times during your life in the church. Among its gems include The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12 — where Jesus refers to the blessedness of those who mourn, are pure in heart, and are peacemakers). Matthew also reports that Jesus taught The Lord's Prayer as well the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:9-13). In Matthew's version ...

272. All Who Share This Hope

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... living. I think it was Flannery O'Connor, the American novelist, who paraphrased Jesus to say, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you ... odd."6 Nowhere is the oddness of the Christian outlook more clearly displayed than in the Beatitudes, which we read today from Matthew. Blessed are you, says Jesus — or, according to some translations, happy — when you are poor, mournful, persecuted, hungry for a justice you don't see. That's hardly our society's usual definition of happiness. Who ...

273. Are We There Yet?

James 5:7-10

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... a common name. It may take a little reflection, but once we begin seeing the connections, we discover the pervasive destructiveness of impatience everywhere. Much of what Jesus taught can be read as a commentary on the meaning of patience. Think of the beatitudes: "Blessed are the poor in spirit; Blessed those who mourn; Blessed are the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted" (Matthew 5:3-12). The poor in spirit and the meek patiently await God's help. The mourners patiently bear ...

274. Luke 6:20-31

Luke 6:17-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... an urban dweller, small town life runs on the rails of a mysterious train of relationships. In both cases the newcomer must learn to adapt. In new places, life is lived differently. In today’s gospel text Luke presents his version of the Beatitudes, a sermon in which Jesus startles the religious imagination with new realities and relationships that characterize a new place, the impending kingdom of God. Unlike Matthew’s version of this sermon, Luke’s text has Jesus list a series of “blessings” and ...

275. God Shows Through

Matthew 5:1-12

Illustration

Jerry Shirley

... that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the pastor had said was true. With a puzzled look on her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?" That is what the beatitudes are about – God showing through.

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