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 2876 to 2900 of 4967 results

2876. Peter's Warning

Luke 22:54-62

Children's Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

... answered Jesus, "The others may forsake you, but I won’t fall away." But Jesus replied, "Peter, tonight, before the cock (That’s another word for rooster) crows twice, you will deny me three times." Jesus knew what would happen. He knew that Peter and the other disciples loved him, but that their faith was weak. He gave Peter that warning, and the rooster reminds us of that. Jesus gives us warning signs, too. He reminds us that we need to listen to his Word, so that our faith will be strong. He tells us ...

2877. Authenticity vs. Showmanship

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

... them, and all other religious types similarly minded in the centuries since, to be more than persons who preach and teach a good line but lack active follow-through (v. 3). In verses 1 and 2, notice first the informal gathering of the crowds and disciples around Jesus. If you and I could imagine ourselves in the midst of such a gathering, I suspect we would consider Jesus being the only one in an esteemed position of authority. The rest of us, regardless of our life-stations before and after the gathering ...

2878. Francis of Assisi: a Faith for Every Day

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... a pilgrimage to Rome he exchanged clothes with a beggar and spent the day begging. When he returned to Assisi, after being disowned by his father, he devoted himself to repairing a ruined church. In 1208, Francis heard read in church his Lord’s words bidding his disciples to leave all (Matthew 10:7-19) and understood them as a personal call to save souls. He soon gathered a band of followers. He drew up a simple rule of life based on sayings from the Gospels for himself and this group. In 1212, his ideals ...

2879. When Something is About to Happen

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Thomas Long

... could come "in the evening," and, in the very next chapter, he tells us that "when it was evening" Jesus ate his last meal with the disciples, and tells them, "one of you will betray me." Or the master could come "at midnight," and Mark records that, later that night, the disciples went with Jesus to Gethsemane. While Jesus prayed his cry of anguish, the disciples, no doubt weary of waiting, slept. "Could you not watch one hour?" he said to them. Perhaps the master will come "at cockcrow," and Peter turned ...

2880. What’s In It For Me?

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... . He was always putting his foot in his mouth. "Who do people say that I am?" Jesus asked his disciples one day. The disciples answered that some people thought he was John the Baptizer or Elijah or one of the prophets. "Enough of what other people think," Jesus said. "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" This time Peter answered. "You are the Christ," he said. Christ was the Greek word ...

2881. Abide In Me

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). I think that sometimes we get the mistaken notion that being a follower of Jesus, being Jesus’ disciple, is something that we do, that it is a matter of our willpower. If someone would just be so kind as to tell us what ... so doing we give glory to God. "By this my Father is glorified," Jesus says, "that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples" (John 15:8). At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me make it clear one more time. We do not give glory ...

2882. Inevitabilities and the Last Days

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down." In A.D. 70 his prediction was fulfilled, when Jerusalem fell to the army of Titus, who was to be Emperor of Rome, and the temple was destroyed. We are no more prepared for change than the early disciples. There is the seed within the soul that wants to send down roots into something solid, and stay put. We want a house we can call our own, in a town we can call our home. We want to work for a company that treats us like human beings, and ...

2883. A Cup Running Over

John 11:17-37

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... hot too risky - for Jesus in the Jerusalem area, and he thought it prudent to get away from town for awhile before his enemies could do him harm. The Pharisees had threatened to stone him, and, on another occasion, to arrest him. So he and his disciples hurried to a remote district in TransJordan, "to the place where John at first baptized, and there he remained" (John 10:40). He had been there about three months when some messengers, sent by his good friends Mary and Martha of Bethany, brought the kind of ...

2884. Easter 3

Acts 3:11-26, 1 John 2:28--3:10, Luke 24:36-49

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... Luke uses here a post-resurrection appearance story that, in light of its emphasis on Christ’s physical aspect, was probably originally an anti-Docetic piece. For Luke, however, it is a "set-up" for some instruction by Jesus to his disciples concerning mainly scriptural hermeneutics: he "opens" their minds by giving them, not a closed system of literalistic rigidity, but a new Christological angle from which to read the ancient Hebrew canon and through which to understand their own situation and ministry ...

2885. Proper 16

2 Samuel 23:1-7, Ephesians 5:22-33, John 6:25-59, John 6:60-71

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... BLOCK. Collect God of the ages, who have given us a challenging and earth-shaking Gospel, grant us the courage to believe it and live it; that, charged with the power of your Spirit, we may become and remain truehearted, whole-hearted, faithful, and loyal disciples of Christ. In his name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Most merciful God, we confess that we are not always as devoted to your Gospel as we should be, and that our faithfulness sometimes fails. Forgive us our lack of spiritual stamina, and ...

2886. Proper 18

Proverbs 2:1-22, Mark 7:31-37, James 1:19-27

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... physical touch rather than the more typical spoken word. The point of the story for Mark appears not to be to signal Messiahship or an inbreaking Kingdom, but to underscore the astonishment of the disciples, who still do not understand their master’s person or powers, yet cannot help proclaiming him. Call to Worship Leader: Disciples of Christ, we are called upon to proclaim a Master and a message that we do not fully understand. People: JUST WHEN WE THINK WE HAVE JESUS FIGURED OUT, HE DOES SOMETHING THAT ...

2887. Proper 24

Isaiah 52:13--53:12, Hebrews 4:14-5:10, Mark 10:35-45

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... Christ, that we may strive to feel deeply the human condition of others, and to love them unconditionally. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen Gospel: Mark 10:35-45 Theme: True greatness - servanthood not status Exegetical Note Mark often uses the disciples to represent the attitudes of his own contemporary church. Here we have them vying for positions of prestige in glory. Jesus’ response hints that suffering takes precedence over glory, that positions in glory are granted by a higher authority, and that in ...

2888. Confronting Hypocrisy With Humility (I)

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Brett Blair

... seats of honor in the synagogue, and walked in the market places just to be seen by the people. The Pharisees and Scribes and become arrogant and self-righteous. What is Jesus’ solution to the long standing history of religious abuses? Here it is. He turns to his disciples and he says, “They love to be honored and in the streets and to have people call them rabbi, but you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and all of you are students. Nor are you to be called instructor, for you have ...

2889. COMMAND TO SHARE

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Ewart E. Turner

... through the Temple. But this was not all that the gospel brought from God. They were to learn the meaning of the Christian life from one who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, who became a servant (actually ‘slave’ in the original). He taught his disciples that when they give even a cup of cold water in his name, when they clothe the naked, or give bread to the hungry, "as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40). Some congregations advertize ...

2890. Palm Sunday - The Crowd That Loved Him

Matthew 21:1-11

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... not far from Jerusalem called Bethany. He had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the great Jewish festival of Passover with his disciples. All of the Jewish people observed the Passover and if they lived within twenty miles of Jerusalem they had to go ... go to a certain house to borrow a donkey. He told them to tell anyone who asked about if, that it was for the "Master." The disciples did exactly what they were told to do and brought the donkey back to Jesus. In a moment you should see Jesus coming down the road ...

2891. OUR LORD DELIVERED UP

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

... and officers making ready for the council to be called into session. Small groups of Sadducee lawyers and aristocratic Pharisees were talking animatedly in hushed tones. To the back of the room, younger men were gathering along the three lines of chairs reserved for the disciples, young men who one day would sit in the semicircle on the dais where the 71 members of the Sanhedrin held court. Nicodemus took in the room at a glance. Caiaphas had not yet arrived. He was in time. He paused to catch his breath ...

2892. Blessed With Peace

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... and knew that at the heart of the universe was God, who loves and cares for all his children. He knew that God can give an inner peace, that he can create a center of calmness and confidence even in the midst of storm and conflict. He promised his disciples that even if the worst should come to torment their days, they still can have peace knowing that God will be with them. We sometimes forget that there are two kinds of peace. There is what we might call a worldly peace. And there is what we could say ...

2893. Reinforced With Joy

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... in the excitement with the tense emotional feelings of the people, that his own men would betray, deny, and desert him. His ministry, the work of his entire life, suddenly appeared to be ending in failure. Yet with all the tragedy facing him, he turned to his disciples and said, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Can you grasp in your imagination a man about to be executed as a criminal, talking about joy, happiness, and gladness? There would seem ...

2894. Called into Friendship

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... friendship. He who was without sin paid with his life so that we could have the blessing of living one day with our Lord. Second, Jesus calls us friends. We miss the whole meaning of these words from the Upper Room if we assume that Jesus spoke only to his disciples when he said, "I have called you friends." As he called them friends, so he calls us friends. Here is the good news of the Gospel: We have a friend who is closer to us than a brother, a person who will stand by us no matter how unworthy we ...

2895. Prepare The Way

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Brett Blair

... can read about that in Luke 7:29. Yet, John gathered a respectable following. He attracted many hearers among the lower class, many of whom received baptism by his hands. John even drew a group of disciples around him, which is significant for two reasons. First, some of these disciples later became disciples of our Lord. Secondly, a number of people began to think of John himself as being the long expected Messiah. For that reason John’s gospel felt obliged to specifically point out “There was a man ...

2896. A Prayer for the Faithful

John 17:6-19

Sermon

George Bass

... prayer; they found out soon after they received the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Jesus knew that his disciples would receive the same kind of treatment from the religious and civil authorities that he had received. If they obeyed ... name of Christ and our fellow human beings on earth, are likely to become. Precisely that is one of the main differences between the disciples of the risen Lord and ourselves. They were driven to do what he commanded them to do by the knowledge that he was really alive ...

2897. What’s Happened To My Dear Old Church?

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Richard Patt

... of their Jewish ancestors. In particular they were eating their food without having ritually cleansed the food or their hands as religious tradition prescribed. This fact upset the Pharisees to the point that they asked Jesus directly, "Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?" In a lengthy response, quoting several Bible passages, Jesus tells them in effect that when it comes to practicing our religion, a clean heart ...

2898. Religion in Focus

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Richard Patt

... our religion in sharp focus, because the stakes are high if we don’t. Jesus knew exactly who he was, and because he did, he was able to make the cross a time of victory, not one of defeat. After Peter’s fine answer, Jesus proceeds to fill in the disciples about the coming catastrophic events that will lead to his great suffering and death. In verse 31 we read, The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three ...

2899. Do Children Like You?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Richard Patt

... and focus, when all is going well for us. But Jesus shows the height of genuine love and sensitivity just at the time when he had reason to be distracted about his own plight. Some readers of this story have been unduly hard on the disciples here because they scolded the people for bringing their children to Jesus. Maybe that was true, but they also responded as they did out of concern for Jesus. They knew that trouble was brewing for him. They knew that this very conversation with the Pharisees about ...

2900. The Best Advertising of All

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... place, Jesus said, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also,; for that is why I came out. and he went throughout all Galilee, preaching ..." telling the good news (Mark 1:38-39). Some of the people who heard that good news were the disciples. They not only heard what Jesus had to say to them, but were called by Jesus to go and tell that good news to others also. Jesus called them to be "fishers of men," to get the word out about the Savior. Their testimony would be the "bait" by which ...

Showing results