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 276 to 300 of 339 results

276. Matthew 5:13-20

Matthew 5:13-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a dream…” Jesus’ most recognized, remembered “speech”? It was identified as the “Sermon on the Mount” by Matthew and the “Sermon on the Plane” by Luke. What every Sunday school student learns about this “sermon” is Jesus’ list of “Beatitudes”or “Be Attitudes” — the series of “blessings” with which Jesus turned the world upside down, extolling the virtues of the poor in spirit, the mournful, the meek, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted. But the list of ...

277. A Disaster of Biblical Proportions

Job 42:1-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... too busy counting the dead, feeding survivors, and combating disease to even think about partying. This was a disaster the like of which we had never seen, and certainly hope never to see again. In the aftermath of the horror, Steve Goodier offered these beatitudes: * Blessed are those who mourn for the tsunami's victims; may they find comfort in their pain and hope in their helplessness. * Blessed are those who found a way to survive; may they now find sufficient strength and healing as they reassemble the ...

278. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of such action. At verse 14 Paul turns his eyes away from strictly intra-community relationships and acknowledges the hostilities and dangers presented by those outside the church. In many ways this whole section is Paul’s version of Jesus’ Beatitudes. His directive to “bless those who persecute you” is almost identical to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:44). To “bless” and not “curse” the persecutor is the essence of “genuine love.” In verses 15-16 Paul describes the ...

279. Avoid Shattered Glass

Illustration

In his classic work on the Beatitudes titled The Heavenly Octave, F.W. Boreham included this passage: "The ideal peacemaker is the man who prevents the peace from being broken. To prevent a battle is the best way of winning a battle. I once said to a Jewish rabbi, 'I have heard that at a Jewish wedding ...

280. A Life of Despair

Mt 5:1-12; 22:36-40; Deut 30:11-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

... with industrial production. What is there left to live for? This world would lead to the despair that caused the Marx family to take their lives. They stand in contrast to the Greatest Commandment to love God and love your neighbor and to the admonition of the Beatitudes. Christianity frees and affirms; Marxism controls and demands. It's life or death isn't it? It's God's offer to the Israelites: I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and ...

281. How Much Is That Preacher?

Illustration

Jean Shaw

... more we put in contact lenses. I don't know. He might study too much. We don't want a man who's in his office all the time. Of course. How about this minister over here? Comes from a management background. Trained in business operations at Beatitude College. Adept with committees. Gets his work done by 11:30 every morning. His tag says he's an IBM 400. Madam, you have a discerning eye. IBM stands for Innovative Biblical Methods. This man will positively revitalize your church. I'm not sure our church wants ...

282. This Is a King?

Matthew 5:40, 43-44, Colossians 1:15, 16-19, Matthew 5:3, 6, 11

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

... . Now, what is your reaction? Honestly? It's got to be one of four. First, that's just stupid! Philip Yancey in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, quotes a professor at Texas A&M who had her English comp class read these words from the Beatitudes from Jesus and asked them to write an essay. She expected them to have some basic biblical knowledge but soon found out they had very little. She grew up in a church with a picture of Jesus teaching these words on a small mountain overseeing a green hillside ...

283. When We Don't Know God

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... have a birthright in the church, let him come talk to me. I was born in the church. Cradle roll from day one. I wasn’t a week old when I attended my first church potluck . . . I memorized the Ten Commandments when I was six. I memorized the Beatitudes when I was seven. I memorized the Sermon on the Mount when I was ten. I not only knew the rules at an early age, I kept them. No drinking, no chewing, no dancing. I had perfect Sunday school attendance for seventeen straight years, and it would have been ...

284. Seismic Shift

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... …I broke the law.” Godly grief says, “Oh God…I broke Your heart.” There is a difference between tears that leave you where you are and tears that move you where you need to be. One of the strangest statements Jesus ever made was in His Beatitudes when He said in Matthew 5:4, ESV: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4, ESV) How are people who mourn blessed? When Jesus is talking about people who mourn over their sins they are heart-broken, because they have ...

285. Warning Against False Teachers of the Law

1 Timothy 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... 2; 5:24; 2 Tim. 2:26; 3:13; cf. 1 Tim. 2:14; 5:15; 2 Tim. 3:5–7), have “seared” consciences (4:2), “and have shipwrecked their faith” (1:19). A pure heart reflects Paul’s biblical background (Pss. 24:4; 51:10; cf. Jesus’ beatitude, Matt. 5:8). The concept of a good conscience derives from his Hellenistic environment. The conscience is the capacity, or seat, of moral consciousness, common to all people (Rom. 2:15; 2 Cor. 4:2). In Paul’s earlier letters (Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians only) the ...

286. God Disciplines His Sons

Hebrews 12:1-13, Hebrews 12:14-29

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... as specifically pertinent to the readers. To see the Lord refers to the end of the age. “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). It is worth noting that in two successive beatitudes Jesus refers to “the pure in heart” who will “see God” and the peacemakers who will be called “sons of God” (Matt. 5:8–9). 12:15 The exhortation in this verse is directed to what is apparently the main concern of the author. Again and again we have ...

287. Warning Against Refusing God

Hebrews 12:14-29, Hebrews 12:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

288. Suffering for Being a Christian

1 Peter 4:12-19

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... This particular term occurs only here in 1 Peter, but the theme of verbal abuse suffered by believers is mentioned several times. Evidently it was an all too common experience (2:12, 15; 3:16; 4:4). Blessed (makarioi): The same word is used in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3); see commentary and Additional Note on 3:14. The Spirit of glory and of God may be an example of hendiadys, and so be translated “the glorious divine Spirit.” On the literary figure of hendiadys, see Additional Note on 2:25. The presence ...

289. To Elders and Young Men

1 Peter 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... to show himself above others, haughty, disdainful. 5:6 Humble yourselves: “Ever be more and more lowly in spirit, since the expectancy of man is to become the food of worms” (Aboth 4.4). The downcast pessimism of the rabbis contrasts with the opening Beatitude which bids the believer to look up: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). See Edersheim, Life and Times, vol. 1, p. 531. Under God’s mighty hand: A frequent OT metaphor for divine deliverance ...

290. Wisdom's Call

Proverbs 8:1-36

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... meaningful, even if the details are not spelled out here. 8:32–36 Instead of the sage speaking, Wisdom continues, employing the exhortatory style used by the sage (cf. 4:1; 5:7; 7:24). A threefold insistence upon listening (and that means obeying) culminates in the beatitude of verse 35 where the suitor of Woman Wisdom is portrayed as ardently pursuing her. The suitor is at her very doors. The doors of the strange woman in 5:8 and the door of Woman Folly in 9:14 make an interesting contrast. Verse 35 sums ...

291. Sermon on the Mount: Jesus Teaches on the Torah

Matthew 5:17-48

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... to include Jesus as Wisdom, the embodiment of God’s will as revealed in the Torah and his own teaching on it (11:2–19, 28–30). 5:19 whoever practices . . . these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. The beatitudes have opened the sermon with an emphasis on God’s kingdom arriving. With the move to Torah instruction, Matthew’s Jesus deftly combines the two primary motifs of the sermon: kingdom and covenant loyalty. As such, the Sermon on the Mount “provides a vision ...

292. Jesus as the Isaianic Servant of the Lord

Matthew 12:15-21

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... addition to this use of Isaiah 42 to frame Jesus’ ministry of justice, elsewhere Jesus speaks of the centrality of justice for interpreting and obeying the Torah, where justice is one of three most important values (23:23). Also, if dikaiosyn?in the beatitudes is best rendered “justice” (see 5:6), then God’s coming reign as typified by the arrival of justice headlines the Sermon on the Mount. 12:21 In his name the nations will put their hope. Although Matthew focuses Jesus’ ministry on Israel ...

293. Parables Discourse: Importance of Response to the Kingdom Message

Matthew 13:1-23

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Jesus invites the crowds to hear and respond (13:9), and some from the crowd will continue to respond to Jesus in faith (e.g., 15:31; 20:29–34). 13:16–17 But blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. This beatitude (makarios, as in 5:3–11) announces blessing on those present for the arrival of the kingdom. Here it is the disciples specifically who are beneficiaries of God’s work in Jesus, which they have been seeing and hearing. The crowds have not been privy to the ...

294. Parables Discourse: The “Already and Not Yet” of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... . . .”) occurs after each of the five Matthean discourses (7:28; 11:1; 19:1; 26:1). Theological Insights: The Kingdom’s “Already and Not Yet” Matthew has already introduced the “already and not yet” realities of the kingdom in the beatitudes (5:3–10): “the kingdom is theirs . . . they will be comforted.” In chapter 13 Matthew highlights the hiddenness of the kingdom—its still-future dimensions. This dual reality of the kingdom cuts across the New Testament writings. Paul, for example ...

295. Mary’s Song—the Magnificat

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... and ensures a grateful, humble people of God. God is the rescuer of the poor and afflicted, and responds generously to those who acknowledge their powerlessness. Bible: This concept can be well illustrated with a brief look into a number of Scriptures, such as the Beatitudes (Matt. 5); Psalm 34:18; or the widow’s oil (2 Kings 4). Object Lesson: Use three clear glasses. The first should be filled with red wine or grape juice. The second should be empty. The third should be empty and broken or punctured so ...

296. Priorities

Luke 12:35-48, Luke 12:22-34

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... be alert in God’s service, just as the Old Testament prophets had warned people to be ready for a coming “day of the Lord.” 12:37 It will be good for those servants. Literally (here and in 12:38), “Blessed are those slaves.” This unexpected beatitude makes a startling shift away from normal life. Jesus himself will recognize in 17:7–10 that this is not how slaves are treated. But Jesus turns conventional ideas of status on their head (see also 22:26–27), as he will in a more practical way ...

297. Interpreting the Times

Luke 12:54-59, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:35-48

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... for disciples, then apparently they are the immediate target. But everyone in the crowd is a potential disciple, so perhaps the question does not really need an answer. If the shoe fits, wear it. 12:43 It will be good for that servant. This is another beatitude as in 12:37–38 above. The one so congratulated is the “faithful and wise steward,” so called on the basis of his behavior in the first of two possible scenarios (12:42–44). The steward’s behavior in 12:45–46, by contrast, is not ...

298. Affluence and the Afterlife

Luke 16:19-31

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... and corporately. Who are our Lazaruses, and where are they (internationally as well as locally)? This would be a good place to review this important theme of the rich and poor throughout Luke’s Gospel (e.g., Mary’s Magnificat [1:46–53], the beatitudes and woes [6:20–26], the parable of the rich fool [12:13–21], etc.). On the theme of the eternal consequences of one’s concern for the poor and oppressed, compare Matthew’s parable of the sheep and the goats (25:31–46). Theologically ...

299. The Bowl Judgments

Revelation 16:1-21

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... , with its political momentum and economic security, has the power to lull us to sleep spiritually. Jesus intrudes to shock us out of our slumber and warn us that his return will be sudden and unexpected. Most interestingly, in this third of seven beatitudes in Revelation, Jesus blesses the individual (“the one”) who stays awake and remains clothed (see the sidebar in 1:1–3). As Resseguie reminds us, “the great eschatological battle turns out to be an individual spiritual battle.”[6] In Jesus’s ...

300. The Choice: Obedience or Punishment

Lev 26:1-46

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... flowed from gratitude for God’s having saved it from Egyptian bondage. Similarly, the Christian’s obedience flows from having been saved from bondage to sin (Rom. 6:6, 16–24). Like Israel, we can expect God to bless us as we obey (compare the Beatitudes pronounced by Jesus in Matt. 5:3–11). Teaching the Text Leviticus 26 lays before Israel a choice: obey God or pay the dreadful consequences. 1. God blesses those who obey his word. Our blessings, like Israel’s, flow from our relationship with God ...

Showing results