Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2826 to 2850 of 3160 results

1 Kings 19:19-21

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... to it, for Horeb (also known as Sinai) is not just any mountain. It is the “mountain of God” (v. 8)—the place where Israel herself, having been sustained in the wilderness (Exod. 16:1–17:7), met with the LORD and discovered in some detail what sort of God he served (Exod. 19–20 etc.). This is significant; it appears that the LORD is intent here, not only on reminding Elijah of his recent history but also on teaching him something new. The emphasis at Carmel had been on God’s spectacular ways and ...

2827. Ahaziah King of Israel

1 Kings 22:51-53

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... is a Davidic king, so we anticipate no major disasters in his reign (cf. 1 Kgs. 11:36), particularly since he is evidently pious (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:5). Ahaziah, on the other hand, is an Israelite and a son of Ahab. We anticipate wickedness, and disaster of the sort that has fallen upon all the successors of northern kings who receive negative oracles about their house (cf. 1 Kgs. 14:1–18 with 15:29–30; 16:1–4 with 16:11–13; 21:21–24, 27–29). These expectations are largely fulfilled, but there is a ...

2828. Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

2 Kings 2:1-18

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... course, either living or dead. They are thus invited to draw the conclusion that we and Elisha have already reached: Elijah has indeed been taken up into the heavens. Whether that “taking up” is itself a kind of death or simply translation to a different sort of life is never resolved by the narrative. There are hints of death all around: the conversation about double portions in verses 9–10; the tearing of the clothes in verse 12; the search in verses 16–18. Yet in the final analysis these features ...

2829. Healing of the Water

2 Kings 2:19-22

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

2830. Elisha is Jeered

2 Kings 2:23-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

2831. Jehoash King of Israel

2 Kings 13:10-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... Given that Elisha has in mind a series of victories in 2 Kgs. 13:18–19, it may well be that his use of “Aphek” (v. 17; cf. 1 Kgs. 20:26, 30) is not meant to signify the location of Jehoahaz’s victories but to inform him of the sort of victories he can expect. 13:21 Elisha’s tomb: Since tombs in ancient Israel were characteristically dug out of soft rock or located in caves (e.g., Gen. 23), they did not present the difficulties of access to people in a hurry that more modern Western forms of burial ...

2832. Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold

2 Kings 19:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... lit. “surely word of lips is counsel and power for war,” implying that Hezekiah thinks that mere talk (cf. “word of lips” in Prov. 14:23) is sufficient preparation for the confrontation. The NIV translation is thus unfortunate. Hezekiah is not claiming any sort of military strength, and quite evidently does not have sufficient troops to be able to take advantage of military hardware if he possessed it (vv. 23–24). He depends on “the word”; and the word is, of course, sufficient for the crisis ...

2833. Hezekiah's Prayer

2 Kings 19:14-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

2834. Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

2 Kings 19:20-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

2835. Jehoshaphat Defeats Moab and Ammon

2 Chronicles 20:1-30

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the nations before them and gave the land forever to the descendants of Abraham his friend (20:7). This last expression clearly links the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign with Israel’s ancestral history. In 20:10 the king’s prayer turns into an argument of sorts against Yahweh, who did not allow the people to drive out Judah’s attackers (men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir). On this account the king calls upon God to judge them. Although this very king in an earlier episode of his reign had the biggest ...

2836. The Completion of the Wall

Nehemiah 6:15-7:3

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... in 5:19, this time it is negative in tone, directed against his two adversaries—the go-between and his boss. Nehemiah appeals to God to vindicate him by providentially punishing these Samarian officials and the local prophets, who had evidently played the same sort of game as their colleague Shemaiah. By this means justice would be done—such justice as the widow persistently pleaded for in the parable of Luke 18:1–8. 6:15–16 Nehemiah could now proudly announce the completion of the wall, presumably ...

2837. Haman's Rage Against Mordecai

Esther 5:9-14

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... . This was certainly an attempt to make a public spectacle of Mordecai’s private insurrection (see also Esth. 2:23). The fact that Haman is delighted (v. 14) with this idea is as premature and presumptuous as his gloating over the original plan in 3:15. This sort of sadistic joy in the downfall of an enemy is the joy of triumph often feared in the psalms of lament (Ps. 35:19, 24, 26). Haman has now twice concocted plans that will backfire on him. The date that was set to witness the widespread destruction ...

2838. The Remnant of Israel

Isaiah 10:20-34

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... v. 20). Israel will then live up to another interpretation of the name Shear-Jashub as it turns to Yahweh, holder of the designation Mighty God (v. 21) which also appeared in that other name in 9:6. If the notion of a remnant surviving had become some sort of comfort instead of being a threat, verses 20–21 take the idea of a remnant returning and do something new with it that prevents it from being a false comfort. Survival is not enough. It is still necessary that people learn the lesson about false and ...

2839. Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold

Isaiah 37:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... trouble and the fate of this mere remnant. But like the commander’s words and Hezekiah’s own, the response soon centers on what has emerged about attitudes to Yahweh (v. 6b). So the second part of the response is a specific promise of what will happen to sort out the one who has unwisely provoked God (v. 7). Hezekiah Responds to His Great Political Crisis (37:8-13): It will be a while before Yahweh will carry out the threat in verse 7. In the meantime, verses 8–35 go over similar ground to that just ...

2840. Sin, Confession and Redemption

Isaiah 59:1-21

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... some of the Ambassador’s scathing words in 1:10–20, and these included Yahweh’s anger at prayers that were made without effective action to ensure that the society was the kind of which Yahweh approved. Suppose that the community consisted of the sort of people we have been reading about, living in true continuity with that presupposed by the Ambassador. Putting prayers on their lips is then to risk making their situation worse (as happened in connection with Hosea and Jeremiah). On the other hand, it ...

2841. Jonah Goes to Nineveh

Jonah 3:1-10

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 12:41; Luke 11:32). Fasts of repentance are mentioned throughout the OT and could be acts of individuals (2 Sam. 12:16) or of the community as a whole (Jer. 36:9; Joel 1:14; 2:15–17; see the comment there). They were proclaimed when any sort of danger threatened the community. They were designed to turn aside God’s wrath, manifested in the danger, to beg divine forgiveness, and to enlist divine aid. That animals are also to join in the fast by being covered with sackcloth and kept from food and water is ...

2842. The Power to Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... if you forgive me, please wipe this message out.” He went to his room, and about an hour later returned, and, to his great joy, discovered that the chalkboard had been completely erased! That is what God has done for us. Can we not do the same sort of thing for people who have hurt us? We forgive because God has first forgiven us. In the second place, we need to recognize that forgiveness is the most powerful witness we have to the activity of grace in our own lives. The great Christian scholar and writer ...

2843. How to Have a Rich Future

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... creed of the Department of Homeland Security’s war on terrorism is this: “Be vigilant, be watchful, be prepared.” “Be vigilant in matters of security,” say those in charge of our security, “whether at an airport, a government institution or in the back sorting room of the post office. Be watchful for signs of terrorism: a back-pack left unattended, a strange request for chemicals at a fertilizer plant, a white powder in the mail or unusual behavior by a neighbor down the street. Be prepared to ...

2844. Among You Stands One

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... a dress and booties for the doll. Finally, she cut off a length of her own beautiful hair and fashioned a wig for the doll. Her mother’s sacrifice, says Sheryl, resulted in a Christmas memory that will be passed down through many generations. (3) That’s the sort of response to adversity only Christmas can provide. Light came into this dark world when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the light of God’s love. This brings us to a second thing to be said: When Christ came into the world, a new way of living ...

2845. The Bethsaida Boys

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

John Jamison

... to the west. The story began on a fairly typical morning in Bethsaida. The warm breeze was blowing in to shore from the water, the gulls were screaming overhead looking for scraps, and the two brothers were there at the boat docks helping their crews mend nets and sort through the fish that had been caught the night before. A lot of fishing was done at night on the sea because they could hang lanterns on the side of the boat that drew the fish to the surface, making them easier to catch. These guys had ...

2846. The Shepherd

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Jamison

... much for things like prophets and miracle workers. His main concern was his sheep. Don’t misunderstand, he was a man of faith. You had to have a strong faith to stand in front of real danger holding only a sling and a stick, but his faith was not the sort you spent a lot of time talking about and debating. You either stood up to your enemies, or you didn’t. It was a pretty basic faith. He walked toward the back of the crowd, more out of curiosity than anything else. As he moved closer in order to be ...

2847. Making Sense

John 17:6-19

Sermon

John Jamison

... reasons they actually stop. Either they aren’t capable of understanding the great mysteries of the word of God, the Bible is just too old to make any real sense today, or the Bible is just kind of thrown together with no real design and no real way to sort through it all to make any sense. If we can help make some sense of this strange little passage, perhaps it will help someone keep reading when they run into it, and others like it, in the future. Because the passage does make sense. What we want to ...

2848. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... ,” said the husband. His wife immediately nodded in agreement. “You must understand,” said the doctor, “that studies show that parents who keep these children have a high incidence of marital distress and separation. Is it fair for you to bring this sort of suffering upon your other two children?” At the mention of the word “suffering,” writes Willimon, it was as if the doctor finally began speaking the woman’s language. She said, “Our children have had every advantage in the world. They ...

2849. Without Conflict There Is No Story

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... to dinner and listened to my troubles and conflicts. I'm feeling a lot better since I talked to you three weeks ago." The pastor responded, "I'm really glad that the group has helped you. Sometimes, just being with other Christians who listen to your story helps to sort things through. Conflicts come to all of us. How we come out is not so much what happens to us as how we respond to what happens to us. We usually respond better to our conflicts if we have understanding people with whom we can share what is ...

2850. Six Days to Make a Decision for Christ

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... aback, embarrassed but held up remarkably well as he continue to "school" them. I'll bet that Peter felt pretty much the same way in the face of Jesus taking him to school. "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus asked and Peter answered correctly. Well, sort of correctly. He held the common belief that the Messiah would be king over Israel and lead, most likely, a revolt against their oppressors; in this case, the Romans. But Jesus talked of a whole different understanding of what would be the Messiah's life and ...

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