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 2815 results

276. No Fair!

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the heels of the prior exegesis, and many of the same scriptures apply. Again, God is the owner of the Vineyard, from which we all are given part. The lesson that all belongs to God, and we must accept the grace we are given without grumble continues in this parable. The Vineyard is not ours. We do not own it. We did not create it. We merely live upon it and benefit from its bounty. The vines feed us and nourish us. The vineyard metaphor is like that of the garden which God planted. Each time a covenant is ...

277. Burning the Midnight Oil

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Steve Molin

... of their apathy. They never really expected to see the bridegroom. The wise maidens, however, were able to sleep because they were at peace. Their oil lamps were full. They had done all they could in preparation. They were ready, with nothing left to do but wait. This parable of the maidens, if it does anything, it encourages us to keep our oil lamps filled as we wait. The oil is not our good deeds. It is not doing things that will make Jesus love us more. The oil is not jumping through hoops until Jesus ...

278. Good News! You Are Going To Be Tortured

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

... tortured until he pays every cent. Remember, this is the guy who, even under the best of circumstances, would have to work for 200,000 years to pay his debt. That's how the story ends, not in mercy but in vengeance. This is supposed to be a parable of forgiveness, but no one is forgiven. And remember, that king who has just ordered this terrible sentence of thousands of years of suffering is the very one to whom Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is not only like a king who forgives ...

279. It's Your Funeral

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

... she agreed but didn't do it, you would not fire your own child. You can't. Notice, Jesus doesn't say what happened to the two sons. If he had wanted to condemn the second son, Jesus might have concluded with him being tortured, like the unforgiving servant. The parable just ends. It is left to us to imagine what the father did with these two sons. That, my friends, is exactly the position we are in at a funeral. We know two things when someone dies. The first is: This is a child of God. The second is: All ...

280. Investing God's Gift

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them -- bring them here and slaughter them in my presence." Can we really imagine Jesus doing such a thing? It would be tempting to simply separate those two conflated stories from each other, think about the parable of the servants who are given a sum of money to invest in their lord's absence, which is the familiar part, the part we think we know, and forget about the violent and harsh story of the slaughtered dissenters. In fact, that's what is usually ...

281. Know What Time It Is!

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... . Things go from bad to worse in the next attempt when we are offered a little moralism to take home with us. "If you have not been faithful in worldly affairs, you will not be trusted with heavenly treasures." Again, probably true. But it totally contradicts the parable. Not satisfied with any of the above endings, Luke decided to go with a sure-fire winner. Quoting Jesus completely out of context, we read, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be ...

282. Taking Life Seriously

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... every day, but he had no compassion for him. Lazarus' needs were obvious. The rich man felt no sense of obligation in meeting them. It was not his lack of faith in Christ that got his ticket punched, it was his lack of regard for Lazarus. Second, the parable's focus is on life, not death. As with the professor and his wife, the concern is with this world, not the next. Religion has led us to believe that life in the next world is what really matters. Heaven and hell are where the real action is. Everything ...

283. What Kind of Name Is That?

Luke 1:26-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... The Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man had a poor man sitting on his doorstep. Everyday as the rich man entered his house he stepped over the poor man, didn't even see him. That is the story of Scrooge. But Jesus told other parables. For instance, parables when fathers and sons are reconciled, and presumably mothers and daughters as well. So reconciliation with those from whom we are separated is a characteristic of the life into which Jesus has called us. If we are going to be Christians, then we ought to ...

284. Matthew 13:24-30, 24-30

Matthew 13:24-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... have recognized that however much the weeds and wheat may have reminded Matthew of his own faith community, the conclusion of the "explanation unit" returns to a different theme. In verses 40-43 the more typical "Jesus voice" returns to the text and the focus of the parable clearly is on the final judgment scene. The "end of the age" (v.40) is described, and the unique role of the "Son of Man" or "The Human Being" becomes central. Matthew's gospel is the only one to describe this end time as the kingdom of ...

285. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , possibly a common local variety known as darnel, was a poisonous plant that looked very much like wheat when young. Thus, the malicious neighbor's deed isn't visible until the weeds and wheat are both well developed. In verse 27 the focus of the parable now shifts from the state of the field to the reactions of the householder and his servants. The servants are mystified by the weeds' appearance. At first they surmise that the seed their master had planted was no good. But the householder makes it clear ...

286. Mark 4: 26-34

Mark 4:26-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... up kernel of potential. There is nothing grand about this comparison. If anything it is grubby and ordinary. In the first parable Jesus describes the act of sowing the seed as somewhat haphazard. The seed is “scattered” and the sower then becomes an ... Clearly, God’s providential power ordains the growth of seeds into harvestable crops, both in Leviticus and here in Jesus’ parable. This divinely ordered growth gradually brings the small seeds to fully ripened grain heads, ready for harvest. The image of ...

287. How to Make Heaven Happy

Luke 15:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... in rebellion against God. We must realize that people without Christ are lost. II. Remember That People Without Christ Are Loved Now the parable goes on to teach us something else, not only about the sinner, but about the Savior. It teaches us that God is a ... ; we need to be about the business of rescuing the lost sheep, restoring the lost silver, and receiving the lost son. Jesus told this parable to tell us this: He wants us to go out and to see the sinner, seek the sinner, and share with the sinner how ...

288. Men in Black

Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43

Sermon

James Merritt

... world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.'" (vv. 36-38) Now unlike the parable of the sower where we are told the seed is the word of God, here we are told that the seed is the child of God ... . I cannot help but share with you a quote from Mohammed Ali, which really illustrates in a sad way the whole point of this parable from a different perspective. After 9/11 a man interviewed Mohammed Ali about his Muslim faith, and said, "What does your faith mean to ...

289. A Pair of Ducks and Abundant Life

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... I didn’t use all I had.” Anything that is saved in this world will be lost. Isn’t that the meaning of the parable of the talents? The servant took the one talent and buried it in the ground. The other two servants put their talents to work. Anything ... I didn’t use all I had.” Anything that is saved in this world will be lost. Isn’t that the meaning of the parable of the talents? The servant took the one talent and buried it in the ground. The other two servants put their talents to work. Anything ...

290. Matthew 22:1-14

Matthew 22:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , the servants are sent out with a message. This time it’s a surprise invitation to come to the wedding banquet. But these messengers are rejected, even killed, for their graciousness. The response to such violence is only predicted in the vineyard parable (21:40). Here in Matthew 22:7 the king’s reaction is graphically recorded. The “enraged” ruler not only sends armed troops now to punish those who murdered his messengers. He has those same troops burn down “their city.” Most commentators hear ...

291. Welcome Home

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... but now he’s found it again.” Though it may not sound quite like you’ve heard it in the past, it’s still the famous “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. But that’s not a very good name for it. Not even Jesus called it that. He begins the story in verse ... already accepted them. Both groups were wrong and that is why we read these words in verse 3. “So he told them this parable.” (Luke 15:3, ESV) The religious crowd couldn’t stand it that Jesus would not only hang around these tax collectors and ...

292. Investment Choices

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Steve Molin

... belong to us, we just think they do. We think we were born poor and worked ourselves rich, or that we were born dumb and worked ourselves smart. And therefore, everything we have is earned and deserved. But that’s not what the parable says; the parable says they belong to the master. So the ultimate meaning of this parable can only be found when we ask this question: What does God want us to do with the blessings that he has loaned to us? And what will happen to us if we fail to do it? It’s not a simple ...

293. Proper 4

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... under the pressure of forces that rage around it. Thesis: The person who hears the words of Jesus and responds to them in action has a stability able to withstand any forces in life. Theme: Building life on the real foundation of Christ. Key Words of the Parable 1. "Lord, Lord." (v. 21) The term Lord in v. 21 would readily be understood in the New Testament period, both from the Hebrew and the Greek, as referring to divinity. In Hebrew usage it was a euphemism for the name of God, which was considered too ...

294. Proper 21

1 Timothy 6:11-21, Jeremiah 32:1-44, Luke 16:19-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... care for the other members of his family. d. Hear the Word v. 31. The Word of God, the Bible Law and Prophets and the Incarnate Word in Jesus teach us to love one another by caring and sharing. 2. The poverty of abundance (16:19-31). Need: In this parable we have a description of wealth and total depravity. This is a description of today's world. On the one hand is America's wealth giving us the highest standard of living in the history of the world. On the other hand, we have a third world of poverty and ...

295. Proper 6

Mk 4:26-34 · 2 Cor 5:6-17 · 1 Sam 15:34 - 16:13 · Ps 20

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... through death. In the First Lesson Samuel's hopes for God's kingdom die with God's rejection of Saul and are reborn in David. In the Second Lesson Paul is looking forward to death, which would bring him into the presence of the Lord. The Gospel contains the parable of the seeds, which also have to die to be reborn as living fruitful plants. Old Testament: 1 Samuel 15:34--16:13 1. Sermon Title: Moving On. Sermon Angle: Samuel was an old man and had seen many changes in his lifetime. Now God had rejected Saul ...

296. The Kingdom of God Is Like… a Joke!

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Steven Burt

... Russian embassy stops and plays the Good Samaritan.1 That fresh image may work, but I think it might work even better if Jesus went to a Ku Klux Klan rally and they asked him whom they had to include as neighbors. Jesus then might tell the parable, having the Grand Master of the Klan crash into a ditch only to be passed over by a bigoted white sheriff and a bigoted white minister who had frequently bought drinks for him. Finally, along would come a black sharecropper playing the part of the Good Samaritan ...

297. Playing By A Different Set Of Rules

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

... and wipe out all that is seen as ugly, harmful and against their well-defined, one-issue agenda. Now before we all rush out and sign up to trash society of its “trashiness,” we would do well to stop and listen again to the sound of this parable of wheat and weeds. Whether or not it fits our ideal of zealous crusading, it is an important word. What Jesus is suggesting goes against the grain of common sense, and certainly against the advice of most country agents: let the weeds grow! Leave the weeds alone ...

298. A Good Picture of Bad People

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

... is so difficult to tell the "sons of this world" from the "sons of light" that we confuse evil and good. Evil is that cunning. Evil is that shrewd. How quickly and quietly it invades the garden of goodness. It is like a snake in the grass. Consequently, in this parable, Jesus gives us a clear picture of evil in our world so we can learn to respect its influence and power and be able to identify it and cope with it. If we are unaware of what we confront, we will not be able to survive. If Jesus were here ...

299. Proper 21

Lk 16:19-31 · 1 Tim 6:6-19 · Joel 2:23-30 · Am 6:1-7

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... wealth giving us the highest standard of living in the history of the world. On the other hand, we have a third world of poverty and hunger. It could be that the so-called wealthy, either nation or individual, is really the poor man as was the case in the parable. Americans may be the richest on earth, but they can be suffering from the poverty of abundance. Outline: Like Dives, you can be a poor rich man. A. Dives had no name - v. 19. He was a nobody in spite of his wealth. B. Dives had no concern for the ...

300. What Will He Find… When He Comes? - Shorter Version

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... a long while. "I'm just tired," he mumbled over and over, shaking his head. A saint of many more years watched for a while and then said, "Young man, if you're tired already, you are not going to make it." That's the question Jesus addresses in this parable. Are we going to make it? Do we pray constantly, keeping our eyes fixed on him whose will is our guide and whose faithfulness is the root of our hope? Do we live in the faith, expecting great things to happen in our lives, in our congregation, and even ...

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