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 1225 results

251. Personal Rights and Christian Testimony

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... of Christian couples traveling together to spread the gospel. as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas. “Other apostles” can refer to “the Twelve” (15:5), to Paul’s co-workers (Phil. 2:25; Rom. 16:7), or to other unspecified evangelists (cf. 15:7; 2 Cor. 11:5; some are false apostles [2 Cor. 11:13]). Whom he specifically has in mind cannot be determined with certainty. The Lord’s brother James and Cephas are singled out because they are recognized by the Corinthian believers ...

252. Priesthood Confirmed and Its Mediation Duties Specified

Num 17:1–8:7

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... . Ephesians 4:8 teaches that today ministers are God’s gift to the church: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” Paul uses this paraphrased quotation of Psalm 68:17–18 to emphasize God’s gift of apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers to the church (Eph. 4:11). Psalm 68:18 is possibly an echo of Numbers 8:6, 14; 18:6, “in which Yahweh takes the Levites from among the people and then gives the Levites back to the people as a gift.”3Thus the ...

253. Eliphaz Turns Up His Criticism of Job

Job 15:1-35

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... City of Destruction to find relief from his burden of guilt, he is derided and mocked by his friends. They make all sorts of false accusations against him, just as Job’s friends do to him in his adversity. This is contrasted with the very good advice early on of Evangelist, who rescues Christian from the Slough of Despond and points him in the right direction ...

254. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 2:22–25; 3:16–21, 31–36; 7:5), now sums up the meaning of Jesus’s public ministry (12:37–43). John 12:37 makes plain what all of early Christianity was forced to acknowledge: Jesus’s many signs fell on disbelief. John joins the other evangelists in drawing texts from Isaiah that must have been commonly used in the early church (Isa. 6:10; 53:1; cf. Matt. 13:14–17). Isaiah too found disbelief in Israel and attributed it to God’s sovereignty over revelation. John, however, has woven this theme ...

255. Jesus Appears to Thomas

John 20:24-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 1–4), it cannot belong to all. Those who believe without seeing—without demanding signs (cf. John 4:48)—are more blessed still. 20:30–31 · Conclusion:It is evident that this is a natural conclusion to the Gospel (see commentary on 21:1–25). The Fourth Evangelist stresses the purpose of his Gospel: that we might believe. (The verb has two readings, which the NIV calls attention to in a margin note: “to begin to believe” [aorist] and “to continue to believe” [present]; the former implies an ...

256. Therefore Walk in Unity

Ephesians 4:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... church (4:13). They include apostles and prophets, those specially gifted and authoritative communicators of God’s message to humanity. The category of “apostle” may have been temporary, while that of prophet continues in God’s spokespersons to particular times, cultures, and situations. Evangelists traveled from place to place with the gospel, announcing like royal heralds the good news of Jesus’s accession. Pastors and teachers, or perhaps pastor-teachers, nurtured the flocks submitting to the ...

257. You Shall Be My Witness

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... this time. Well, listen to this. A Sunday school teacher, Mr. Kimball, whose name is remembered only in forgotten books, led a Boston shoe clerk named Dwight L. Moody to give his life to Christ in 1858. While preaching in 1879, Moody lit a fire of evangelistic zeal in the heart of a pastor of a small church. That pastor was Frederick B. Meyer. F. B. Meyer became one of the greatest preachers of the world. He was preaching on an American college campus, and was instructed in bringing to Christ a student ...

258. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 10:1-42

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... . 10:40–42 At the end of the discourse Matthew once again emphasizes the mission setting. Jesus instructed the Twelve to stay in homes and towns where they were welcomed in verses 11–14. Now he adds that those who extend hospitality to the itinerant evangelists actually entertain both Jesus and the Father. Later in a parable dealing with final judgment, Jesus will teach that to minister to the needs of the hungry and oppressed is to minister to God himself (25:31–40). In the context of persecution (v ...

259. The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... difficulty, however, in the eyes of many contemporary writers, is that the interpretation of the parable is said to belong not to Jesus but to the allegorizing of the early church. One view is that it represents the efforts of a Christian evangelist to account for frequent failures in winning a steadfast following. Natural hazards of agricultural life become human dispositions that impede reception of the kingdom message. It is argued that people who had just been praised for their hearing would not need an ...

260. The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... and unnatural the killing of those who brought the invitation (v. 6), the destruction of the guests (v. 7), and the burning of a city while a meal is waiting to be served (v. 7). These are “no doubt additions, made by the Church or the Evangelist” (p. 347). Beare notes that there are three versions: Matthew’s, which is a “fullblown allegory,” Luke’s (“a genuine parable”), and one in The Gospel of Thomas (pp. 432–34). Hill states that there can be no doubt that Matthew and Luke (14:16–24 ...

261. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... ’s theological concerns. The themes that are here presupposed and debated will recur frequently throughout Luke’s account. Of all the passages in this Gospel this one is of critical importance and must be understood well if we are to appreciate the evangelist’s theological perspective and major purpose for writing. On the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue recalls Jesus’ habitual concern with the things of God, from his childhood (see 2:49) to the beginning of his ministry (4:15). As was ...

262. The Calling of the First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... (who is called “Simon” consistently until Jesus changes his name to “Peter” in 6:14) enjoys a position of prominence among the disciples and a position of closeness, almost endearment, approximating the relationship between Jesus and the “beloved disciple” in John’s Gospel. When one realizes to what extent the evangelist Mark cast the disciples, particularly Peter, in a negative light and that Luke utilized this Gospel as one of his major sources, one can appreciate the special effort this ...

263. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Luke 9:1-9

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... ) since Luke may have intended Herod’s question to be viewed against Jesus’ Galilean ministry as it reaches its climax in the sending of his men to preach and to heal, the very things that Jesus has been doing since Luke 4. Luke 9 is for the evangelist a transitional chapter. In it we see the Galilean phase of Jesus’ ministry draw to a close. We also see the inauguration of his Jerusalem ministry at his transfiguration, where the heavenly voice speaks again (9:35) as it had at his baptism (3:22). The ...

264. Peter's Confession of Christ

Luke 9:18-27

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... Mark 8:27–29. All of the Marcan material between these two episodes (Mark 6:45–8:26; Luke’s “Big Omission”) has been omitted by Luke not simply because of the appearance of certain repetitious materials, such as a second feeding miracle, but because of the evangelist’s desire to produce a unified section revolving around the theme of Jesus’ identity. This theme is seen especially in Herod’s question (9:9) and in Peter’s answer (9:20). Luke 9:18–36 is made up of three parts: (1) Peter’s ...

265. Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-two

Luke 10:1-24

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... account (as he in fact claims in his preface, Luke 1:1–4), the question of what order underlies the Central Section becomes acute. We must either conclude that the Central Section has no discernible order or arrangement, which would be inconsistent with this evangelist, or we must look for clues as to its order and arrangement, even if these clues are not particularly obvious. (4) C. F. Evans has, I think, detected such clues that answer the question of the Central Section’s arrangement. He noted the ...

266. The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Luke 16:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... noting that the word “abomination” comes from Deut. 24:4 in reference to divorce and remarriage. Thus, it is possible that Luke’s reference to “abomination” in v. 15 and his later inclusion of the saying on divorce (v. 18), often thought of as curious, may been suggested to the evangelist by the contents of Deuteronomy. (Because he has dismissed the Deuteronomistic parallels proposed by Evans, Fitzmyer [p. 1121] is at a loss to explain why the ...

267. The Triumphal Entry

Luke 19:28-44

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... defeat, believed that God sided with the Romans (War 6.392–413) and that “God perverted [the Jews’] judgment so that they devised for their salvation a remedy that was more disastrous than destruction” (War 4.573). The perspective of the Third Evangelist is no more anti-Semitic than that of Josephus. 19:42 peace: Jesus’ statement reflects a popular etymology that finds šālôm (peace) in the name Jerusalem. According to Genesis Rabbah 56.10 (cited by Lachs, p. 346) Jerusalem means “I shall ...

268. Jesus' Death

Luke 23:44-49

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... thoughts. This clearly anticipates the sorrow and repentance displayed following Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:14–39 (esp. v. 37). Jesus’ followers (v. 49), rather than running away as they do in Mark 14:50, stood at a distance, watching these things. The evangelist keeps the disciples on hand, as witnesses, ready to resume the ministry as soon as the Good News of Easter is learned. Additional Notes 23:44 At the brightest time of day, from noon till 3 p.m., darkness came over the whole land. This ...

269. Jesus Appears to the Disciples

Luke 24:36-49

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... which passages are in mind in v. 46. With reference to the need of the Messiah to suffer, the Lucan Jesus probably has in mind Isaiah 53, a portion of which is cited by the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:26–39 and applied to Jesus by Philip the Evangelist. When approached by Philip, the Ethiopian was reading Isa. 53:7–8: “As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life ...

270. Peters Confession to Christ

Matthew 16:13-20

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... the early community that identified itself with Peter” (p. 338). On the other hand, Gundry argues on the basis of structure, diction, theological motifs, Old Testament phraseology, and echoes of other Matthean passages that verses 17–19 were composed by the evangelist himself in order to portray Peter as a representative disciple who understood Jesus to be the Christ (pp. 330–36). When widely divergent interpretations are offered it is probably the part of wisdom to be on the lookout for tendentious ...

271. The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

Mark 8:14-21

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... no doubt this kind of attitude and action that Mark had in mind in writing these words about the yeast the disciples were to avoid. The parallel accounts in Matthew and Luke show these evangelists transmitting this saying of Jesus with their own emphases, but we must not allow the interpretations of the other evangelists to prevent us from seeing the particular meaning Mark saw in the saying. Jesus’ reference to yeast triggers the dialogue about bread in 8:16–21. Before studying this part of the passage ...

272. Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Luke 5:33-39

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... has misunderstood the Marcan form of this parable (Mark 2:21). On the contrary, Luke has not only understood it, but in revising it, the evangelist has brought home its point more clearly (see Fitzmyer, pp. 600–601). 5:36 parable: The word parable(s) occurs several times in Luke (6:39 ... only one basic point (or lesson), but the interpreter may well suspect that the tradition and/or the evangelist may have understood the parable, or parts of the parable, allegorically. As the parables are encountered, the ...

273. The Parable of the Sower

Luke 8:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the theme of hearing and obeying the Word of God (see vv. 8, 15, 18, 21). Luke has obtained these materials from Mark. A comparison of the parallel passages in Matt. 13:3–50 and Mark 4:2–34 highlights the different emphases that the three Synoptic evangelists are able to bring out of what is essentially the same material. The Marcan collection begins with the Parable of the Sower and its interpretation (4:2–20), to which is added the Parable of the Lamp (vv. 21–25) and two kingdom parables (vv. 26 ...

274. The Transfiguration

Luke 9:28-36

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... cloud, he was with God for “forty days” (Exod. 24:15–18). Similarly, after “forty days” Jesus is taken up into a cloud (Acts 1:3, 9). If Luke 9:51 does allude to these ascension traditions, then the passage undoubtedly anticipates Jesus’ ascension which the evangelist later recounts (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:2, 9–11, 22). 9:32 Only the Lucan account tells us that Peter and his companions were very sleepy. This may be Luke’s way of explaining why Peter would not know “what he was saying” (v. 33 ...

275. Additional Teachings

Luke 16:16-18

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of the kingdom of God is being preached, that is, it is being preached by Jesus and his apostles (on the last part of v. 16 see note below). As discussed in the Introduction (see pp. 8ff.), Luke 16:16 is an important verse for understanding the evangelist’s concept of God’s saving work in history. Luke seemingly understood history as consisting of three eras or epochs (see Fitzmyer, p. 185). The first epoch is referred to in Luke 16:16a, from creation to the appearance of John. This is the period of the ...

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