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 2901 to 2925 of 3314 results

2901. Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2:17--3:5

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the letter. But in the events described here, Silas was apparently still in Berea (Acts 17:14f.), and although Timothy may have been consulted when he rejoined Paul in Athens, it was Paul’s own decision to send him back to Thessalonica, thus leaving the apostle on his own until they were all reunited in Corinth (Acts 18:5). Events may be more complex than Luke’s narrative in Acts would have us believe. Perhaps on one occasion all three were together in Athens, in which case the “we” of this ...

2902. Thanksgiving and Prayer

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... is often used by Paul as the antithesis of thlipsis—relief from trouble (cf. 2 Cor. 2:13; 7:5; 8:13). He and his colleagues looked forward to sharing this respite with the Thessalonians—and to us as well. “When we are thinking of the great apostle as bringing consolation and encouragement to his persecuted friends, it is easy to think of him as living in a different atmosphere. We tend to forget that he shared the same world as that inhabited by the Thessalonians; he, too, was afflicted (2 Cor. 11:23 ...

2903. Stand Firm

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... . In this instance Paul is speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ (2:14) and therefore Jesus is addressed before the Father. William Neil comments, “The only theological significance to be attached to the variations in order is that there is complete equality in the apostle’s mind between the Father and the Son. It is only through his knowledge of Christ that he has come really to know God. For him they are One” (The Epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1950], p. 185). The ...

2904. Overseers and Deacons

1 Timothy 3:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... a way similar to Ephesians 2:19–22. He begins with conduct (behavior) in God’s household. This metaphor for “family,” already hinted at in 3:4–5, flows naturally from the recognition of God as Father, believers as brothers and sisters, and apostles as “stewards” (household managers). Paul’s point, therefore, is not, as the KJV reads and others imply, to know how “to behave in the house of God” (that is, “in church”), but as the NAB happily renders it, “what kind of conduct befits ...

2905. Paul's Charge to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11-21

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... subscribes to such a view. 6:20 For a helpful discussion of parathēkē in 1 and 2 Timothy, see esp. W. Barclay, “Paul’s Certainties, VII. Our Security in God—2 Timothy i. 12.” For a powerful illustration of the meaning of the term, see the story of the Apostle John and the young man he entrusted to a bishop’s care as a parathēkē as told by Clement of Alexandria, The Rich Man’s Salvation 42 (Loeb, pp. 357–65).

2906. Paul's Charge to Timothy

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... the qualifier added to Christ Jesus, namely, who will judge the living and the dead. This terminology, which was unique to Christians (cf. Acts 10:42; 1 Pet. 4:5), very soon became a semicreedal formula (Barnabas 7:2; Polycarp, Philippians 2:1; 2 Clement 1:1; cf. the Apostle’s Creed). It was based on the conviction that he who appeared once to save will appear a second time to complete that salvation and for judgment (cf. also Acts 17:31 and 2 Cor. 5:10). Thus he will judge both those who are alive at his ...

2907. Final Greetings

2 Timothy 4:19-22

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... Titus, but unlike 1 Timothy (see disc. on 1 Tim. 6:21), Paul concludes this letter with personal greetings, both for friends in Ephesus and to Timothy from some Roman believers. Such greetings are typical both of the Hellenistic letter and of the Apostle Paul (cf. 1 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, Philippians, Philemon). Although no one of these is formally like the others, all the elements of this one are found in some form elsewhere. There are five parts to this closing: greetings ...

2908. A Call to Persevere

Hebrews 10:19-39

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... occurs in Hebrews only here. NIV’s publicly derives from theatrizō, a verb occurring only here in the NT that means “to make a public show” (NEB). Cf. the cognate noun “spectacle” (theatron) in 1 Cor. 4:9, describing the experience of the apostles. Stood side by side with translates the noun “sharers” (koinōnos), a word occurring in Hebrews only here. For a parallel concept, “sharers in sufferings,” see 2 Cor. 1:7, where the idea depends on Paul’s doctrine of participation in the body ...

2909. Taming the Tongue

James 3:1-12, James 3:13-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... springs; Laodicea had to put up with lukewarm water piped in from a distance. In the Jordan valley the traveler would have to guess which of several springs seen in the distance were sweet and travel miles accordingly. See further E. F. F. Bishop, Apostles of Palestine, p. 187; or D. Y. Hadidian, “Palestinian Pictures in the Epistle of James,” p. 228. The King James Version reads, “So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh”; this reading follows an inferior Greek text that harmonized 3:12 ...

2910. Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites

Judges 1:1-36

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... and Naphtali (v. 33), all located in the northern part of the country, later to be known generally as Galilee. Most of the cities named here have not been definitively identified. Acco, one city that has been identified, was later renamed Ptolemais; the apostle Paul stopped there on his way to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey (Acts 21:7). Overall the significant point is that all the Israelite tribes except Judah disobeyed God’s command to possess the land promised them and spurned his gift by ...

2911. Sin and Punishment

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... Paul may be alluding to, or quoting from, this passage in Jeremiah, when he says: “Let him who boasts boast in the LORD” (1 Cor. 1:31, see also 2 Cor. 10:17). However, the context of the New Testament passage is different because the apostle seeks to encourage an audience not characterized by riches, power (strength), or wisdom. Jeremiah is warning those who are wise in the eyes of the world, those who have riches, and those who have power not to put their confidence in these things. Indeed, riches ...

2912. The Lord's Anger Against Israel

Hosea 13:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... follow. Samaria’s fighting men will fall by the sword, and then the entire populace will be subjected to the rampaging cruelty of the invading army (cf. 2 Kgs. 15:16; Amos 1:13). Ephraim will die. Hosea foresees the end that befalls Ephraim in 721 BC. The Apostle Paul uses Hos. 13:14 in his great chapter on the resurrection, in 1 Cor. 15:55, but he turns the saying on its head. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, death and Sheol have no more power. God is sovereign still, and Christ has ...

2913. The Day of the Lord

Joel 2:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... God (Joel 2:3), and the land that was like Eden becomes a desolation (v. 3; a reversal of the thought of Isa. 51:3 and Ezek. 36:35). We cannot conclude from this passage that we know exactly what God’s final judgment will be like. The prophets and apostles of the Bible draw on traditional descriptions to tell us of it. We do know, however, that the day of the Lord comes. It began with the death of our Lord on the cross, when the sun was darkened at the sixth hour until the ninth hour, and death was ...

2914. A Promised Ruler from Bethlehem

Micah 5:1-4

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... , by the statement that his tribe or clan, which designated an association of extended families, was one of the smallest in Israel, verse 2b. Similarly humble backgrounds are claimed for Saul (1 Sam. 9:21) and Gideon (Judg. 6:15). Repeatedly the Scripture emphasizes what the Apostle Paul put into words: God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in ...

2915. Don't Just Stand There!

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s consider the story in depth. The book of Acts begins like this: In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he ...

2916. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... message . . .” That’s us. So Christ is praying for his disciples and he is praying for those who will be reached through the disciples’ witness. In the first generation of Christians all who believed in Christ did so through the witness of the apostles, whether directly or indirectly. And, that chain of believers continues even to this day. Christ prays for all who believe because of the testimony of those first saints, including us. So that’s the first insight we find in this lesson: When Jesus ...

2917. A Woman Burdened with Guilt

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... have never experienced the realization of what it means when God says to us, “You are forgiven.” Theologian Karl Barth, one of the giants of the 20th century, understood that. “We live solely by forgiveness” he declared. He was but echoing the message of the Apostle Paul. Paul struggled mightily to obey the Jewish Law, for he believed it to be the path of salvation. But instead of saving him, he came to the conclusion that it was the law that condemned him. Who can satisfy the demands of a totally ...

2918. People Who Are Down on Themselves

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... if you’re going to carry any bigotry in your heart, please don’t use the Bible as your excuse, at least not the New Testament. In the book of Acts, there is an amazing story about an Ethiopian eunuch. Do you remember that story? One of the Apostles, named Philip, was led by the Spirit to Gaza. On the way he encountered an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. The eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home. He ...

2919. Jesus Heals the Official’s Son

John 4:43-54

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... depend on such an identification. The purpose of the statement is simply to explain why Jesus left Sychar after only two days. The principle corresponds to that of the “ordinance of the gospel” laid down in the second-century church manual known as the Didache: “Let every apostle who comes to you be received as the Lord, but he shall stay only one day or if necessary a second as well; but if he stays three days, he is a false prophet” (11:4–5). This is part of what the writer calls the “behavior ...

2920. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ends of the earth into your kingdom” (Didache 9.4). The twelve baskets of bread left over are here understood to represent the Christian church kept safe in the world by the power of God. As the bread is gathered in twelve baskets, so the church is personified in twelve apostles (cf. 6:70; 17:12; 18:9). As none of the bread is lost or wasted, so none of those who believe in Jesus will be left to wander from his saving care (cf. 6:39; 10:28). Yet it is an oversimplification to say that the feeding of the ...

2921. Jesus and the High Priest

John 18:15-18, John 18:25-27, John 18:19-24

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... of the guards, interpreting Jesus’ response as a refusal to answer the high priest’s question, and therefore as a sign of contempt, rebuked Jesus and struck him, probably because of Exodus 22:28 (“Do not … curse the ruler of your people”). The Apostle Paul is described as showing respect for this principle in Acts 23:2–5. But while Paul apologizes for his behavior by pleading ignorance, Jesus squarely denies the charge of evil speaking: If I said something wrong, … testify as to what is wrong ...

2922. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... can be gathered from Paul’s appreciative words in 2:20–22. Paul and Timothy are described as servants (lit., “slaves”) of Christ Jesus. In Romans 1:1 Paul introduces himself as “a servant [lit., ‘slave’] of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God.” In addressing the Philippians Paul had no need to stress his apostolic authority as he did in addressing the churches of Galatia and Corinth: there was no disinclination to recognize his authority in Philippi, as ...

2923. Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... cf. Prov. 3:19; 8:22–31; also, with “word” instead of “wisdom,” Ps. 33:6). First-century Christians did not share the intellectual problem involved for many today in “combining heavenly pre-existence with a human genetical inheritance” (Montefiore, Paul the Apostle, p. 106). Various renderings are offered of the next statement: in addition to the NIV text, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, we have the marginal rendering in GNB, “he did not think that by force he ...

2924. Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... but it took time for him to appreciate by experience what was involved in the pursuit of this ambition. Having attained spiritual maturity, however, he “no longer frets about weaknesses, failures and frustrations,” whether in himself or in others (Montefiore, Paul the Apostle, p. 30). If some of Paul’s readers felt bound to admit that they could not express their ambition or attitude in Paul’s terms, let them not despair or resign themselves to eking out a second-rate Christian existence. Let the ...

2925. Thanks for Their Gifts

Philippians 4:10-20

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... felt by his independent and sensitive spirit at saying “Thank you” for a spontaneous gift even from such well-loved and loving friends as the Christians in Philippi. Paul’s policy was not to live at the expense of his converts. He agreed that, like other apostles and Christian leaders, he was entitled to be supported by them, but he chose not to avail himself of this right (1 Cor. 9:12; 2 Thess. 3:9). He traveled light; his possessions were restricted to the clothes he wore and perhaps some tools of ...

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