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 779 results

276. Shining as Stars

Philippians 2:12-18

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

Encouragement to Fidelity After the Christ hymn, and reinforced by its contents, the apostolic exhortation is resumed. 2:12 Christ’s obedience has been stressed; his obedience should be an example to his people. Paul has no misgivings about the Philippian Christians’ obedience: unlike the Corinthians in the situation reflected in 2 Corinthians 10:6, they had always shown obedience, not so much to Paul as to the Lord whose apostle he was. If it is felt to be strange that obedience should be mentioned at all ...

277. Jesus as the Isaianic Servant of the Lord

Matthew 12:15-21

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew shows Jesus’ withdrawal from his antagonists and his admonition to secrecy to be signs of his identity as the Isaianic Servant of the Lord, who will proclaim justice to all the nations. Understanding the Text Following the Sabbath debates between the Pharisees and Jesus, Matthew narrates that Jesus withdraws from controversy and turns to the crowd, which needs and receives his compassionate healing activity (12:15). This first of three withdrawals from controversy (also 14:13; 15:21) is ...

278. Rejecting or Responding to Jesus

Luke 10:1-24

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: How people respond to Jesus and his ministry (and to his disciples’ message) determines their spiritual destiny. Understanding the Text The mission of the seventy-two leads to reflections on the significance of Jesus’s ministry and of the mission that he now shares with his followers. As in the earlier account of Jesus’s transfiguration, we see again here that the drama being played out on the earthly level also has a supernatural dimension, both in the conflict with and the defeat of Satan (a ...

279. Isaiah’s Call

Isaiah 6:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The prophet dates his vision of God’s glory (6:1–4) to the year in which King Uzziah died. Scholars have tried to understand the significance of this dating, but it is enough to recognize that this is one way of connecting chapter 6 to the context of the Syro-Ephraimite War (see Isa. 7:1). A vision of the Lord appears to the prophet. He sees Yahweh sitting on the throne, exalted in the temple. The prophet concentrates not on the throne or on the Lord seated on it but on “the train of his robe” as it fills ...

280. The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Luke 16:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

This section includes the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (vv. 1–8a) and various sayings of Jesus related to the parable or to the topic of money in general (vv. 8b–13). This material is for the most part unique to Luke (although Luke 16:13=Matt. 6:24) and contributes to the Lucan concern over proper use of wealth. 16:1–8a Few of the parables of Jesus have puzzled readers of the Gospel more than the Parable of the Shrewd Manager. The main question has to do with why the rich man would commend his dishonest ...

281. Expel the Immoral Brother!

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

The move from chapter 4 with its discussion of the ministry of the apostles to chapter 5 with the focused discussion of immorality may seem to be an illogical leap on the part of Paul. Quick shifts in focus such as this one have led a few interpreters to suggest that the document called 1 Corinthians is not a unified composition; but that reading of the text is an overreaction to the diversity of Paul’s remarks. Indeed, in 4:18 Paul confronted some of the Corinthians because they were arrogant (ephysiōthē ...

282. Jesus' Tears

John 11:32-44

Sermon

King Duncan

Today on this All Saints’ Day, we remember those who have served God on earth and now enjoy His company in Heaven. This is not a day of sorrow, but a day of gladness, for we know that because Christ lives, we, too, shall live with the company of all those who are part of the family of Christ. We remember the words of St. Paul when he instructed the church at Thessalonica with these words, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve ...

283. You Are My Witnesses

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

The inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president of the Republic of South Africa goes down in the annals of history as a most memorable moment. Imagine historians a hundred years from now trying to recreate the excitement and the significance of what took place in Pretoria and Capetown in 1994. Three centuries of bitter and harsh white rule were brought to a close as Mandela was elected the first black president by its first all-race parliament. What dramatized that election was the fact that Mr. Mandela ...

284. Eighteen Years Is Long Enough

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

John N. Brittain

A few weeks ago the officers of Kappa Chi, our co-ed Christian service fraternity, had a planning retreat in a small town just east of Indianapolis. We took our Saturday afternoon Burger King and Taco Bell to a picturesque park where I spotted a little boy who looked to be about five years old. He was the spitting image of my son Tim as he looked eighteen years ago when he was five. A lot of water has passed over the dam in those years: Tim had grown a great deal and now towers over me. He is a cook at a ...

285. He Has Come Back To Life!

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon Aid

Clement E. Lewis

Instrumental Meditation Words Of Preparation: (By the Worship Leader) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah! Thanks be to God who gives us the victory! Let us sing ...

286. Who Are the Christians?

Judges 1:1-36

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A student from Yale Divinity School invested a summer working in a New York City mission on the edge of Harlem. There were lots of drug addicts and criminals around but not many Christians. The student would gather groups of kids, play basketball and other games with them, and then tell a few Bible stories. One day after one of these sessions, an 8-year-old named Butch hung around to talk. He asked, "Who is this Jesus you keep talking about?" "Do you mean," asked the student, "that you've never heard of ...

287. Ascension Day

Acts 1:1-11, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:36-49, Luke 24:50-53, Mark 16:1-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: Acts 1:1-11 Theme: The ascension of the master means the activation of his disciples Exegetical note Luke begins his second volume, and thus his account of the second phase of the Gospel, with his version of the ascension of Jesus. The author’s intention here - with the disciples’ question, Jesus’ answer, and the angels’ closing exhortation - is to change the church’s perspective from one of hope for eschatological finality and heavenly bliss to one of missionary zeal and earthly activity. ...

288. Swimming With The Sharks

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Swimming with the Sharks New Title: Transformed by the Transfigured Perhaps you’ve heard the old story that sharks only grow as large as their surroundings permit. I’ve heard that for ...

289. The Huddle Is Not the Game

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Not being a great sports fan myself, I have to rely upon others to help me with the sports imagery in writing about the topic above. In this case, I want to call upon evangelist Tom Skinner to flesh out the metaphor which gives us the title for this chapter and which helps us to understand the mission and purpose of the Church. He writes, In football we have what is called the huddle. We have only 25 seconds in the huddle. If you stay longer than 25 seconds, you are penalized five yards for delay of game ...

290. The Secret: Christ In You

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It's an awesome responsibility to preach. One of my heroes, Bishop Gerald Kennedy, was fond of telling of the Church of England Bishop who remarked that a sermon is something a clergy person will cross a continent to deliver, but will not walk across the street to hear. There may be more truth in that than most of us will admit. Yet, when we get beyond our egoes and our yet unredeemed arrogance, we know that preaching is an awesome responsibility. And especially is it so at a high hour such as this when we ...

291. All Keyed Up

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There is an old story about a man who went to a doctor for a physical examination. The examination was concluded, and the doctor said, "Sit down. I have good news for you. You are in perfect health. In fact, you have the health of a man half your age." The man thanked the doctor, got up and headed for the door. When he got near the door, he collapsed, and died on the spot. The doctor said to the nurse, "Let's turn him around so it looks like he was coming in." Dr. Karl Wenninger used to ask his medical ...

292. Proper 28

Judges 4:1-24, Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, Psalm 123:1-4

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS Judges 4:1-7 are the opening verses of the story of Deborah the prophetess and judge. Psalm 123 is a cry to God for help Judges 4 - "Faith in a Topsy-Turvy World" Setting. The book of Judges consists of a series of short stories that follow a set four-part pattern in which (1) Israel sins, (2) God judges or punishes Israel by having a neighboring nation threaten them, (3) Israel cries for help out of their situation of need, and (4) God raises up a savior in the form of a judge, who ...

293. Unlikely Election

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

John E. Harnish

You could make the case that right here, in the first days of the first church in the first chapter of the book of Acts, the church made its first big mistake. Jesus left them in Jerusalem with nothing but a promise and told them to wait. Waiting got to be too much. With no idea what was to come, or when, anxious about the future, uncertain about what they should do, they decide to take things into their own hands. I can just imagine impetuous Peter—always ready to jump into a vacuum, to fill the silence ...

294. Isaiah 42:1-9

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's text introduces the first of the four wonderful "servant songs" found in Second Isaiah. This first "song" (so-called because of its poetic form) is seen by many scholars as this servant's original "call" or "commission." It begins with the unmitigated exuberance of the Lord for this servant. The cry "Here is" or "See" (Hebrew hen) which introduces verse 1 is emphatic with its positive delight - starkly contrasting this approved servant with the condemnation of the worthless idols also pointed ...

295. Caring for Others: The Christian Vocation in the World

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Richard Gribble

When Bobby Smith was a youngster, his family lived near Mrs. Hildebrand, a widow, who at 95 years of age, was in constant pain and crippled by arthritis, which ravaged her body. Living alone, she could only take a few steps at a time with the help of her cane. Every week when Bobby's mom went to the market, she took her son who would always deliver groceries to the old widow. The family car would pull up into Mrs. Hildebrand's driveway and the command would be heard, "Bobby, here are Mrs. Hildebrand's ...

296. The Golf Shot That Destroyed an Airforce

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl had been naughty, so she was sent to her room for a quiet time. Afterward, all smiles, she returned to her family, saying, “I prayed to God.” “That’s good,” said her mother. “Did you pray that God would help you be a good girl?” “No,” she replied. “I prayed that God would help you put up with me.” Many of us are like that little girl. We do wrong, but rather than repenting of our sins, we pray that God will put up with us. And why not? It’s our nature to sin; it’s God’s nature to forgive. ...

297. So Send I You

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

One of the fastest growing, most profitable investment ventures in today’s economy is . . . . anything having anything to do with security. You couldn’t have lost money in the last twenty years if you invested in storage or security: national security, personal security, home security, financial security, Internet security. The dangers of this world seem to be breathing hotter and closer down our necks. Any offering that promises to cool that threat down is welcomed with open arms and wallets. We gladly ...

298. All In God's Time

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In our contemporary society in which information lies immediately at our fingertips or even at our voice command and we can instantly communicate our wishes in a variety of ways, we humans have become more and more…impatient. This quickly leads to frustration that our needs and desires are not being met. Impatience then causes stress, often making us feel more…impatient. How do we break this unhealthy cycle? And it is unhealthy. Stress caused by impatience can cause a variety of emotional, mental, and ...

299. Acres of Diamonds

1 Timothy 6:10

Sermon

Russell Conwell

I am astonished that so many people should care to hear this story over again. Indeed, this lecture has become a study in psychology; it often breaks all rules of oratory, departs from the precepts of rhetoric, and yet remains the most popular of any lecture I have delivered in the fifty-seven years of my public life. I have sometimes studied for a year upon a lecture and made careful research, and then presented the lecture just once -- never delivered it again. I put too much work on it. But this had no ...

300. Jesus and Andrew

John 1:35-42

Sermon

James W. Moore

Back in the 15th century in a tiny village near Nuremberg, Germany there lived a family with eighteen children. That’s right… eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this large family, the father (who was a goldsmith by profession) worked almost eighteen hours a day at this trade and any other paying job he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of the older children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full ...

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