Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 276 to 300 of 975 results

276. The Seventy “Sevens”

Daniel 9:20-27

Understanding Series

William Nelson

Daniel’s Prayer and the Seventy Weeks: Chapter 9 is unique for three reasons. First, it starts with Daniel reading a prophetic text rather than receiving a vision as in the surrounding chapters (chs. 7, 8, and 10). Second, the particular name of Israel’s God, Yahweh, is only found in this chapter (vv. 2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14, 20). Third, most of the chapter is taken up with a prayer. Elsewhere, the author makes clear that Daniel believed in talking to God (2:18; 6:10), but only here does he record the lengthy ...

277. Proper 22

Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 3:1-11, Philippians 3:12-4:1, Isaiah 5:1-7, Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God's judgment on those who do not produce the fruits of righteousness. In the Isaiah text, God pronounces Israel an unfit fruit and votes to let it go fallow. In the Gospel parable of the Unfaithful Tenants, the Lord promises to take the kingdom away from Israel and give it to a nation producing the fruits of righteousness. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 God had, in his grace, freed the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt and was leading them into the Promised Land. To govern ...

278. The Creation Story

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

Suggestions: Use as an anthem. 6 readers - 2 junior high, 4 middle elementary youths. God is read in duet by girl & boy. Encourage readers to read at a pace that does not drag. Key: 1 and 2= oldest readers, 3 and 4 = easy reading, 5 = boy comfortable with reading, 6 = girl comfortable with reading All: [In the beginning . . . .] 1: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2: the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the ...

279. The Lord's People Together

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

"... if two of you agree ... about anything ..." - Matthew 18:19 The inimitable Will Rogers was once asked, "What's wrong with the world?" And he replied, "People!" Of course, the famous humorist was being humorous. Others have been seriously cynical concerning the human race. One said, "The world would be a pretty good place to live if it weren't for the people in it." But when all the cynics have had their say, I will still believe, that in general, we human creatures really have some pretty good things ...

280. Listening or Hearing?

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat there; and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were ...

281. Strengthened For Life

John 15:1-17

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

During these Lenten Sunday mornings we have been thinking together about some of the things which Jesus shared with his disciples on the last night of his earthly life. These teachings of our Lord are recorded for us in chapters 13 through 17 of John’s Gospel. If you will read these chapters carefully, you will find they contain everything that is most precious in our Christian heritage - every gift, every promise, every commandment, every warning, every spiritual resource that the living Christ gives to ...

282. The Divine Paradox: To Die That We Might Live

John 12:20-36

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Blessed be the Lord to whom all wisdom and might belong! People: Only as we yield our lives before the Lord will we truly be servants. Leader: For only as we live for Christ daily do we find genuine life itself. People: Let us have joy in our hearts as we seek each day to serve the Lord. Leader: For great is the Lord and greatly is God to be praised. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, surely Your ways are not our ways. You taught us that only as we yield our wills ...

283. Thanksgiving: Where Are You Looking For It?

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

A little girl whose father was a disc jockey, a radio announcer, was invited to a friend's house for dinner. When she arrived, the mother asked the little girl if she would honor them by saying the blessing. It delighted the little girl. She cleared her throat, looked at her wristwatch, and said, "This food, friends, is coming to you through the courtesy of almighty God." Well, she was right, all food that we eat comes through the courtesy of almighty God. (1) Thanksgiving is a special time of year. Can't ...

284. People Jesus Loved

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

A man working at a school for the deaf was walking by a computer lab. He saw a deaf student sitting alone and signing vigorously into thin air. He could see her moving her hands and arms with great force, but there seemed to be no one with whom she was communicating. It turns out that she was cursing her computer. (1) Some of you who work with computers can relate to that. I want to focus for a few moments today on people who have what we sometimes call, handicapping conditions--those who cannot see, ...

285. God Outwits Us

Psalm 31:1-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Many of you know the name, Brother Lawrence. If you have not read his book The Practice of the Presence of God, you have probably heard a preacher or teacher speak of Brother Lawrence. He served in the kitchen of his monastery and said he experienced the presence of God as clearly in washing pots and pans as in the Blessed Sacrament. Though known as Brother Lawrence, his name was Nicholas Herman. He was born into a peasant family in Lorraine, France, in 1611. At the age of eighteen, he awakened to the ...

286. Patience

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

I hope you are getting excited as Christmas nears. I heard about one dad who was shopping in a toy store. He said, “That’s a terrific train set. I’ll buy it.” The clerk said, “Great, I’m sure your son will love it.” The young father said, “Maybe you’re right. I’ll take two.” It’s an exciting time of the year, but it is not without its frustrations. Years ago, the Associated Press carried a story about a group of post office customers who mutinied while waiting in line. According to those who were there, ...

287. God’s Wisdom or the World?

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once upon a time there was an old man who lived on the outskirts of town. He had lived there so long that no one knew who he was or where he had come from. Some thought that he had been a very powerful king, but that was many years ago. Others suggested that he was once famous, rich, and generous, but he had lost everything. Still others said that he was once very wise and influential. There were even some who said he was holy. The children in the town, however, thought he was an old and stupid man and ...

288. Accepting the Lord Once Again

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Richard Gribble

He came softly, unobserved and yet, strange to say, everyone knew him. The time was the fifteenth century; the place was Seville in Spain. He came to announce peace and to proclaim the good news. He came to teach and to cure; he came to bring the light. As he walked by the cathedral, a funeral procession for a little seven-year-old girl was just beginning to form. He heard the sobs and pleas of the girl's mother. Moved with compassion he asked the bearers of the funeral bier to halt. He touched the girl; ...

289. The Dark Side Confronted

Hebrews 12:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

As we left our story last week, the Emperor and Darth Vader had devised a plan to turn the young Jedi, Luke Skywalker, to the Dark Side. While we were gone, Darth Vader revealed his true identity as Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Luke has now been captured and is ready to face Darth Vader, not just as his enemy, but also as his Father. We have been in a series of messages called "The Dark Side". I remind you again that what Star Wars calls "The Dark Side" the Bible calls "sin". There really is a dark ...

290. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 12:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

12:1 Antithetic and juxtapositional. The sages are emphatic in teaching the need for discipline and openness to reproof. Discipline (mûsār) is a mark of love (13:24), but it is also parallel to corporal punishment. It has a wide range of meaning, such as “instruction” or correction (as the word pair in this verse suggests). Stupid is, literally, “brutish, like an animal.” 12:2–3 Antithetic. These verses are an affirmation of traditional retribution theory. 12:4 Antithetic and chiastic. Noble character is ...

291. Parables of the Kingdom

Mark 4:1-20

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus has sown his kingdom truths among the crowds, the leaders, and his disciples. They are the soil in which his gospel seed is placed, and God holds them responsible for their receptivity to the message of the kingdom. Understanding the Text This parable discourse (chap. 4) is one of two extensive teaching sections (with chap. 13) in Mark, and it interprets the action and mission of Jesus in chapters 1–3. These are “kingdom parables” describing the implications of the arrival of the kingdom in ...

292. The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

Parables of Jesus: In chapter 13 we come for the first time to Jesus’ favorite method of teaching, the parable. The seven parables recorded in this chapter form Jesus’ third discourse as arranged by Matthew, There are in the first three Gospels about sixty separate parables. In the LXX the Greek parabolē almost always translates the Hebrew māšāl, which denotes a wide variety of picturesque forms of expression, including the proverb, metaphor, allegory, illustrative story, fable, riddle, simile, and parable ...

293. The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

4:1–9 This passage begins a longer section dealing with the parables that runs through 4:34. Careful reading shows, however, that the passage is not only about parables but also about the necessity for the Twelve to understand the parables and their difficulty in doing so. Note that this parable is given an explanation in 4:13–20, something not done for most of the parables in the Gospels. Though Mark says (4:34) that Jesus explained other parables to the disciples, this one is the only parable for which ...

294. The God Who Blesses Israel’s Harvests and His International Praise

Psalm 67:1-7

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

To know how to read this psalm aloud and what tone of voice to use, we need to recognize its function or genre. The Hebrew text (using imperfect verbs) leaves the question open: should we read each verse as a humble request (“May God be gracious,” so NIV) or as confident assertions (“God is gracious to us”)? The familiar echo of the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6:24–26) in the opening verse immediately implies that the NIV’s rendering in verses 1, 3–5 is correct. The notion of the peoples praising God repeated ...

295.

Psalm 77:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Has God Forgotten to Be Merciful? Nothing like the silence of God in the face of distress brings the sinking feeling of despair. The Bible does not offer a prepackaged answer to this problem, but—remarkably—the divine word is a humane word, and so comes alongside to help. It offers not only God’s words to us but also words that we may bring to God—even when he does not seem to be listening. Psalm 77 gives no hint as to what may have been its immediate occasion. It simply refers to distress (v. 2). It soon ...

296. The End Times

Daniel 12:1-13

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation--The Body: We enter now into the body of the last main revelation of the book of Daniel. There has been some progression in the visions of the book from a more general scope, encompassing larger blocks of history, to a more narrow focus on shorter periods of time. So, for example, Daniel 2 spans four and a half centuries by outlining the four human empires of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece, which are swept away by the fifth—the eternal kingdom of God. Aside from the fact that the ...

297. What Kind of Sheep Are You?

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20, Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. (Psalm 119) Animation: “What Kind of Sheep Are You” Online Test: http://selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php?client=baaa Animation: Live Lamb (you can rent a lamb at your neighborhood 4H club or a nearby farm) Animation: Shepherd’s staff (any large natural wood staff will do) We love the Christmas story for its simplicity. Simple shepherds, simple sheep, simple message, simple mission. It all seems so simple. Hence ...

298. Grounds for Blessing

Matthew 13:1-23, Luke 8:1-15, Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.” (Proverbs 8:19-21) Prop: Mustard seeds / soil [Have someone hand out some small black mustard seeds to everyone at the start of the sermon.] In your hand, you have some mustard seeds. These are seeds from the black mustard plant that grows still today in Israel. [Note to pastors: you can ...

299. God Is Down To Earth

John 1:1-18

Sermon

John A. Stroman

William Barclay is convinced that John wrote the fourth gospel for the sake of this fourteenth verse. Early in the first chapter John talked about the Word: the creative and dynamic word. The Word was the agent bringing about creation. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.-- John 1:3 In the beginning it was this directing, controlling Word which ...

300. The Downside Of The Practice -- Performance Equation

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert R. Kopp

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God.... -- Romans 8:28 I'm glad I'm a man. As my son was being born 22 years ago, two thoughts came to mind. First, "What a miracle!" Second, "Thank You, Jesus, for making me a man because I could never do that!" It's like Joan Rivers said, "If a man wants to know what it's like to give birth, all he has to do is take his upper lip and pull it over his head." I'm also aware of sexism in society and church. But as a beneficiary of sexism ...

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