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 715 results

251. So, You Want to Get Well?

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... difficulties in which I may find myself, I come to you, Lord, knowing that I need help. If I come, like the Pharisee in one of Jesus' parables saying, "I'm glad I'm not like this tax collector... I avoid sin, I go to church regularly, and say my prayers every night...." I will go away unforgiven. If, like the tax collector in that same parable, I say sincerely, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," I have opened the door to new life, health, and wellness. O Lamb of God, I come to you without one plea, but ...

252. Making a Difference

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Molly F. James

... named after him on multiple college campuses. On the surface, she might seem to be just like Zacchaeus. One of the 1% who has been aloof to the needs and concerns of the other 99%. In our gospel today, we hear of Jesus’ encounter with the rich tax collector, Zacchaeus. And at first we all think we know where this story is going. We know what Jesus thought of the rich. He so often spoke critically or disparagingly of them. We might be expecting Jesus to be critical of Zacchaeus, to chide him for the wealth ...

253. Lord of the Sabbath

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

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” Image Exegesis: Lord of the Sabbath I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy. (Ezekiel 20:12) In the scripture stories for today ...

254. One Tough Master?

Matthew 25:14-28

Sermon

Will Willimon

... people showed up in Chapel one Sunday: one, a pious, Bible quoting, good, very good Pharisee who prayed eloquent prayers and knew long passages of scripture by heart; the other, a cheating, lowly, tax collector who couldn't say the prayers and didn't know how to find his way through the Hymnal. Jesus said that God justified that humble tax collector before the Pharisee. We like those stories where the little guy goes to the head of the class and the big guy gets clobbered. We don't like this story with the ...

255. Famine of the Heart

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... out, the particulars of this title will be important to the story! The question? Who is experiencing the greater famine? Let’s take a look. The story begins with a saga of two sons (hence the comparison). For Jesus, this may refer to two groups: 1) the tax collectors and sinners and 2) the religious folk who follow “the rules.” The errant son feels the need to “sow his wild oats” so to speak and so requests his inheritance at which he goes out on a wild and woolly spending spree, trying to find ...

256. Christ Has Set Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

... Pompey attacked Judea and left a Roman governor and an army of occupation in charge, a state of affairs that still prevailed at the time of our text - when foreign soldiers were everywhere on the scene. Worse than that, you couldn’t escape their tax collectors, publicans who’d stop you several times on every little trip to impose their wheel taxes, road taxes, sales taxes, and whatnot taxes. Who could forget for a minute that Judea was subject to Rome? Isn’t it remarkable then that having a history ...

257. Heart of a Pelican

Matthew 17:24-27, Exodus 30:11-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the whole world….a “premiere” place with “tickets to ride” for all? That’s really what it means to be a VIP. A very impressive pelican! Or rather a very impressive person –with the heart of a pelican! Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Matthew the Tax Collector Witnesses to Peter’s Paying of the Temple Tax Per Jesus (17:24-27) The Money Given for Atonement by All of the Jews (Exodus 30:11-16) Minor Text Solomon Collects 666 Talents of Gold Per Year for the Wealth of His Temple (1 Kings ...

258. Proper 28

Judges 4:1-24, Proverbs 31:10-31, Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18, Malachi 2:1-9, Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... his substance. We are richly endowed with that which is his. What a chance he is taking! Quite a gamble! That seems to be Christ's way. In his earthly journey, he invested his love in those whose lives were out of control, such as prostitutes and tax collectors. He scattered the seed of the gospel wildly, letting it fall where it may and take root where it was able. The cross was the biggest gamble of all, as the devil whispered in his ear: "They aren't worth it." Some of those wagers paid off; others ...

259. A Seeking Savior

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... life was cheap and public executions - crucifixion-style - were hardly noticed. In those days when the lame and the blind had resigned themselves to their careers of begging, like blind Bartimaeus sitting beside the dusty road going up from Jericho to Jerusalem; when tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus had long since learned that the way to get ahead was to play the game and had willingly sold their souls to the system in order to make a living. In those days when frustrated fishermen like Simon and ...

260. APPRAISER

2 Kings 23:31-35

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... , but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco." Later we will speak of the tax collectors, and the types of articles and services which were taxed, and, although we don’t have a specific word in the Bible for appraiser, still we do know that there must have been some method of determining the value of property, livestock, and valuables. So we ...

261. On Welcoming the Imperfect

John 10:22-30

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... ? If that was Jesus’ objective, the Pharisees just might support him. Their concern was that Jesus had not shown much interest in purging impurity. He had drawn his closest followers from the lowest ranks of ordinary people. He associated with tax collectors and Gentiles. He treated women as valued children of God. He failed to condemn the Romans with sufficient enthusiasm. He seemed not to care one whit about keeping sabbath rules. They wanted a Messiah committed to purging impurity. The Pharisees ...

262. For All the Saints

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . It's only as we respond to Christ's call with faith and follow-through with Christ-directed action that we take our place among all the saints. In today's text Jesus calls out to a tree-perching publican, "Zacchaeus, come down." When the rich tax collector follows the directive of Jesus, and clambers down that sycamore, he climbs back into his skin as a "son of Abraham. All it takes to transform Zacchaeus from sinner to saint is to "come down." When Jesus first spied Simon Peter and Andrew, and then James ...

263. The Mighty Mustard Seed

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... itself is a rather unique celebration of the seemingly small and insignificant. Bethlehem was a small town. Nazareth was too. Calvary was a tiny spot on the globe. There was nothing particularly significant about the profession of carpenter or fisherman or tax-collector. Yet these are the people who became Jesus’ disciples, his followers. These are the people who created the early church and wrote the testimonies in the Bible. These are the people who changed the world. The tiny mustard seed planted 2 ...

264. Let Me Explain: A Sermon By Judas Iscariot

Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Don M. Aycock

... I was born, the Romans had a firm grasp of everything relating to my beloved country. They bled us with taxes, and regulated every single part of our lives. How we hated them! And how we hated those Jews who were friendly to them, especially the prostitutes and tax-collectors. I was puzzled by all of this. "How could God let this happen?" I wondered. "How can the promises of God come true?" We Jews had read in what you call the Old Testament that someday God would send a Messiah to set his people free. I ...

265. The Other Ninety-nine

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

John G. Lynn

... , a lost sheep. Nothing turned their stomachs more than those tax collecting men and those alabastered women, the lost sheep of Israel. The gospel word we translate as "lost" really means destroyed, utterly devastated, crushed by a rock or chased from the flock. The tax collectors and prostitutes Jesus sought after did not just wander away. They were chased away. They did not just fall off the edge of a cliff. They were pushed off. They did not leave the flock. They were driven out. Jesus, going after them ...

266. The Nativity Of Our Lord

Luke 2:1-20 · Titus 2:11-14 · Isaiah 9:2-7 · Ps 96

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... . Luke's nativity story makes very clear that the Messiah's coming is good news for the poor and those considered to be of little importance. His birth announcement was proclaimed to humble shepherds whose status was only slightly greater than that of prostitutes and tax collectors. Luke's version of the Beatitudes is addressed to the poor, while Matthew speaks to the poor in spirit. Luke has a special concern to show Christ's compassion for the down-and-outers, for he enters the world as one of them; he ...

267. Pilate's Sign

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... . Even before he offered his name, the crowd began to chant, "Barabbas." Visitor: Who's that? Local: He was always a crook, known for theft and murder. He had been recruited by the leaders to join the Zealots to harass the Roman soldiers and the tax collectors. He got caught. It never occurred to Pilate that the crowd would prefer Barabbas to Jesus. Visitor: That sure backfired. Is that when Pilate gave in? Local: Pilate had another trick up his sleeve. He had his soldiers beat Jesus, put a purple robe on ...

268. Pilate's Sign

Drama

Jerry Eckert

269. The Gospel of the Little Man

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... disappoint them. A sycamore remains in Jericho to satisfy the curious. But the little man deserves to be remembered for much more than being up a tree. He may have been a little man, small of stature, as the record has it, but he stood tall among the tax collectors in the region. He was the chief publican. He was also in the upper economic echelon of Jericho - very rich. And we remember, too, that on the list of those we love to hate, Zacchaeus held the top spot with his fellow town folk. He had sold out ...

270. Winners And Losers

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... . . ." And in II Peter 3: 9, we are assured that the Lord doesn't want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. Just when we think we have got the saints and the sinners sorted into their own separate boxes, Jesus comes along and praises a tax collector and spends an afternoon with a Samaritan woman. We can never rest comfortably in a place of judgment over others, because God's love is wide enough to draw in even the people we don't dare accept. A few years ago, Lewis Smedes spent a day at the ...

271. Saint Who?

Luke 6:27-36, Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Scott Bryte

... and climbed a tree. That was hardly the easy way to do it. We also know why Zacchaeus chose to shimmy up a tree rather than simply asking to be let through to the front. He didn't ask because he knew what the answer would be. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. We may grin knowingly at that and agree that working for the IRS would not help to make you a big hit at parties. No one, after all, actually enjoys paying their taxes. But being a tax collector at that time and in that place was even less of ...

272. Pet Peeves and Pet Pleasures

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... sorts of questionable characters. Jesus felt God’s pleasure, every day of his life, and the gift of that approval brought him unlimited joy. It was a joy that Jesus shared with all those who believed they were forever outside God’s pleasure — the tax collectors, the sinners, the sick, the poor, outcasts of all sorts, even Gentiles. Jesus reached out to include all persons because he himself received and recognized God’s pleasure, God’s love, as a gift of grace. We do not receive God’s love and ...

273. The Overtaxed Soul (Even Me)

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... (James 1:1-18) Jesus Saves Sinners of Which I Am the Worst Says Timothy (1 Timothy 12-17) Jesus Sees Zacchaeus and Invites Zacchaeus to His Own Table Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he ...

274. The Road to the Passover

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

... was right. When Pilate forced the Roman deity of Caesar upon the Jews, Caiaphas stood back and allowed it. It was Caiaphas who permitted the Court of the Gentiles in the temple to be used for the selling of sacrificial animals, the money changers, and the tax collectors to operate inside the gates. He took his cut from every coin changed and every sacrifice sold. He was defiling the temple to fill his pockets to the tune of millions each year and Pilate took his cut from Caiaphas. They were thick as thieves ...

275. The Grace of Disillusionment

Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... as to embrace his own wretched need. The parable’s ending must have stunned its hearers. Luke says they were people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Jesus says to them: "I tell you, this man, this miserable tax collector, went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." This pronouncement seems almost an insult to our sense of propriety. The Pharisee has committed no ...

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