Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 251 to 275 of 302 results

251. After the Parade

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome to this celebration of Palm Sunday. Today is a joyous occasion as we remember the crowds of people who lined the streets of Jerusalem to welcome our Master into their city. Ironically, today is also, of course, April Fools’ Day. Maybe that is more appropriate than ironic. For, after all, didn’t St. Paul teach us the Gospel is foolishness to those who do not believe? “A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles . . .” is the phrase he used (1 Corinthians 1:23). So perhaps April Fools’ Day ...

252. Thanksgivings to Remember

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

Argile Smith

Joan sat on the sofa reflecting on the Thanksgiving Day holiday that she and her children had enjoyed together. Her children and their spouses seemed to enjoy the meal she had prepared, and she couldn’t have been happier in the kitchen with them stirring around in the living room and helping out in the kitchen. Most of all, she delighted in having all of her family at home and at her dinner table one more time. Even though her grandchildren seemed to be a little fidgety at times, she was grateful they sat ...

253. Can You Hear the Music?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Who doesn’t like an “attaboy!” when they do something good? It’s why we have “honor society” in school. It is the reason we have scholarship awards as we head into college. “Attaboy!” stands behind all those accolades high achievers get throughout life — Rhode’s scholarships, purple hearts, Silver stars, gold statues, merit raises for school teachers, making partner in a big firm, getting re-elected (in any organization, at any level). “Attaboys!” reward the gracious, good, above-and-beyond behaviors we ...

254. Ignite: Set On Fire!

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Without question, perhaps the most famous well-known name outside of politics and entertainment would be Billy Graham. Of all the stories I’ve ever heard about Dr. Graham, probably my favorite is the time when he was going to a certain city to do one of his crusades. There were some critics who didn’t particularly care for either his style or his methods. They didn’t want him to come. They called a press conference and said, “If we let that man come to our city and preach his message he will set the church ...

255. God Will Provide the Resources

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a time-honored story about a pastor and his wife who decided to invite the church council and their spouses over for dinner. It was quite an undertaking, but this devoted couple wanted to be a good example for the leaders of their church. When it came time for dinner, everyone was seated and the pastor’s wife asked their little four-year-old girl if she would say grace. The girl said, “I don’t know what to say.” Her mother said, “Honey, just say what I say.” Everyone bowed their heads and the ...

256. The Believers’ Prayer

Acts 4:23-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

4:23 On their release, Peter and John immediately went back to their own people, that is, the believers, and told them what had happened. For their place of meeting, see notes on 1:13 and the discussion on 12:12. Their specific mention of the chief priests and elders again points to the Sadducees as their chief opponents (see disc. on vv. 6, 8). 4:24 The seriousness of what they had to tell and their sense of dependence upon God were such that the whole group fell to prayer. The expression they raised ...

257. 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 ...

258. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Israel’s Loss of the Stuff of Life (9:1-4): Some commentators would regard 9:1–9 as the first complete unit in this chapter. Others would point to 9:1–6. Judging on the basis of rhetorical criticism, it seems best to divide the chapter into five separate oracles: verses 1–4, 5–6, 7–9, 10–14, 15–17. What we have here are several oracles, strung together by the redactor/disciple of Hosea on the basis of the common theme of the loss of vitality. In this instance, however, the beginnings and endings of the ...

259. A Peaceful Mind

John 14:15-31

Sermon

King Duncan

One of the most bizarre true stories to hit the news media in the 1990s was that of Tracy Lippard, a contestant destined for the Miss Virginia beauty pageant after winning the title of Miss Williamsburg, VA. Unfortunately, Tracy never made it to the Miss Virginia pageant. Instead, after crowning her successor as Miss Williamsburg, Tracy got in her car and drove 275 miles to Lewisburg, W.Va. Her goal was to seek revenge against her boy friend who had jilted her for another woman. Reportedly she carried with ...

260. Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

Call for Mutual Consideration Paul’s concern for unity of mind and mutual consideration among the members of the Philippian church need not imply that there was an atmosphere of dissension there. The fact that two members are singled out by name and urged to agree in 4:2 could suggest (unless 4:2 belongs to an originally separate letter) that theirs was an exceptional case of conflict. We do not know what Epaphroditus had told Paul about the state of the church, but at this time Paul found sufficient ...

261. Egypt

Ezekiel 29:1-21, Ezekiel 30:1-26, Ezekiel 31:1-18, Ezekiel 32:1-32

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The last four chapters of Ezekiel’s oracles against the nations consist of a loose collection of seven prophecies, all concerned with Egypt: an allegorical oracle depicting Pharaoh as a dragon in the Nile (29:1–16); a late appendix to the book promising Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar (29:17–21); a lament over Egypt (30:1–19); a second oracle against the Pharaoh (30:20–26); an allegory depicting Egypt as the World Tree (31:1–18); a lament over Pharaoh, recapitulating the dragon allegory (32:1–16); and a funeral ...

262. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Ezekiel’s Message of Hope and Restoration: Ezekiel 34–48, the second major part of this book, is concerned with a message of hope for the exiles and with the promise of Israel’s future restoration. That message has broken through in a muted sense in chapters 1–33 (11:14–21; 16:53–63; 20:33–44; 28:25–26), but it now becomes the central theme. These fifteen chapters fall into three sections. The first, chapters 34–37, is a series of seven oracles dealing with the restoration of Israel. The second section ...

263. A Prophecy Against Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Gog of Magog: Both Gog and his kingdom, Magog, are a mystery. Apart from Ezekiel 38–39, the name “Gog” appears in the Old Testament only in 1 Chronicles 5:4, where Gog is a descendant of Reuben—clearly not the foreign ruler Ezekiel describes. Magog appears in Genesis 10:2//1 Chronicles 1:5 as second in the list of nations descended from Japheth, youngest son of Noah, whose descendants populate the lands north of Israel. These texts group Magog with other nations in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), ...

264. The Disciples’ Insufficient Faith to Heal as Jesus Heals

Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 17:24-27

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus, now revealed as the suffering Messiah, continues his kingdom ministry of healing, while his disciples demonstrate their “little faith” by their inability to heal as he does. Understanding the Text Matthew’s emphasis in the account of the healing in 17:14–20 is on the disciples’ inability to heal (17:19–20) in spite of the authority given them by Jesus to do so (see 10:1, 8). Their inability is tied to their little faith (17:20), already attributed to the disciples at 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16: ...

265. Gentiles Exemplify True Discipleship

Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Salvation and the kingdom blessings, heretofore experienced primarily by the Jews, are now extended to the Gentiles. A Gentile woman of Tyre shows remarkable faith and humility, and a deaf mute in the Decapolis experiences messianic healing. Understanding the Text Mark now turns to examples of faith, as the Syrophoenician woman is one of the “little people” in Mark, characters who appear only once but carry the theme of what a true disciple should be. As such, she gives a lesson to the disciples ...

266. Adam, the Law, and the Curse of the Covenant

Romans 5:12-21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul presents another new-covenant blessing: Christians are part of the new humanity created by Christ, the last Adam. Sin and death, instigated by the old-covenant law, began with the fall of the first Adam. This is the curse of the covenant. But Christ has undone the consequences of Adam’s sin by obeying God and thereby creating the new humanity. Understanding the Text Romans 5:12–21 continues the theme begun in 5:1–11: the blessings of the new covenant have replaced the ineffective old ...

267. Fighting Wars and Keeping a Promise: David Establishes an Ideal of Kingship

2 Sam 8:1–10:19

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord blesses his chosen servants when they rely on his protection and seek to reflect his character in their dealings with others. Understanding the Text The narrator’s positive portrayal of King David continues in these chapters. Once David became king over all Israel, he conquered the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem and then turned the tables on the Philistines. He brought the ark to Jerusalem and intended to build a house (temple) for it. But then the Lord surprised David by announcing ...

268. Samuel Confronts the People

1 Samuel 12:1-25

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The security of God’s covenant people depends on their allegiance to the Lord, who remains committed to them. Understanding the Text This chapter provides a fitting conclusion to the story of Saul’s accession to kingship. Facing a serious military threat from the Ammonites (12:12), Israel demanded a king like all the nations, for they thought such a king, supported by a standing army, would give them the security they so desperately needed (8:19–20). When the time came to choose this king, the ...

269. Adversity of a Righteous Man

Job 1:1-22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: In the face of severe adversity, Job lives up to the Lord’s confidence in his character. Understanding the Text Job 1 and 2 serve as a prologue for the book. The initial chapter introduces the protagonist, Job, as a man of exemplary character. Both the narrator (1:1) and Yahweh (1:8) describe Job as blameless, righteous, and God-fearing. The rest of the book is intended to be read with this introduction in mind. Under the intense pressure that he faces, Job will make some statements that sound ...

270. The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

Nebuchadnezzar Builds the Statue (3:1-12): Big Idea: God sometimes allows believers to face dark times of crisis in which their faith and faithfulness are challenged, even with the penalty of death. Understanding the Text Daniel 3:1–30 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in two ways. First, it advances the narrative of chapters 1–6, in which the first four focus on Nebuchadnezzar (chaps. 1–2 with historical markers and 3–4 without) and the last two show the transition from Belshazzar of ...

271. Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

Numbers 12:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

At Hazeroth (11:35), Moses has to endure a more personal kind of attack on his leadership from Miriam and Aaron, his own sister and brother: “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: ‘He married a Cushite woman!’ They said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?’” (Num. 12:1–2 NJPS). Miriam is named before Aaron, suggesting that she is the instigator. Criticism of Moses’s marriage is a way to lower him closer to the level of ...

272. Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

God’s Peculiar, Powerful Way This paragraph is crucial, both in the context of this particular letter and for the overall understanding of Paul’s theology. Here he delivers the heart and essence of the gospel he believed and proclaimed. Paul’s lines reveal that God works in a most peculiar way—first, God works in defiance of the standards of this world as they are understood or construed by humanity, and second, God’s work is powerful so that it incapacitates, reverses, even turns upside down the values of ...

273. Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

These verses are often referred to as an excursus on love, and there are good reasons for this description. Remarkably, in this extended meditation on love Paul does not write about loving: there is no statement here that X loves Y. Love itself is the actor or the object of reflection. This beautiful passage never attempts to offer an abstract definition of love; rather, Paul rehearses critical characteristics of love and states in practical terms what love is and isn’t or does and doesn’t do. The verses ...

274. Saul Made King

1 Samuel 10:9-27

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

The Coronation and Confirmation of Saul: 10:9–16 The exact significance of the change in Saul’s heart is not clear. The mention of the fulfillment of the signs may indicate that he was now convinced about his commission, although verse 16 could cast doubt on this. Only the third of Samuel’s three signs is described in detail. Saul did meet the prophets and did temporarily join in their prophesying, an experience as unexpected to those who saw as it was to Saul. It gained proverbial significance as Saul ...

275. Job's Reply to Eliphaz

Job 6:1–7:21

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Impatience Justified: The first chapter of Job’s response to Eliphaz divides into three parts. Initially (vv. 1–13), he defends the sense of growing impatience with his circumstance that Eliphaz has attacked (4:1–6). Job then turns to a counterattack on the fickleness of some friendship (vv. 14–23). He concludes chapter 6 with a pointed demand to know where sin resides within him that is commensurate with the punishment he bears (vv. 24–30). 6:1–4 Job’s impetuous words are the consequence of unbearable ...

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