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 2976 to 3000 of 4967 results

2976. Eavesdropping On Eternity

Luke 9:28-36

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... recognized as Moses and Elijah, were there with Jesus. A voice came out of a cloud and said, "This is My Son; listen to Him." After they heard the voice, Moses and Elijah were gone. Jesus was there alone. The disciples didn't tell anyone what they had seen. I think it was just too awesome. [If you have crosses for the children, pass them out now and say: "When you look at your cross, remember that Jesus' appearance changed too and God said for us to listen to Him."] Prayer: ...

2977. What Do You Really Know?

John 16:5-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... would rather not know. It is the same with our knowledge of God. He has chosen to show us just a glimpse of who He is--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we have other questions. Unavoidable questions. There is undoubtedly a reason for that. Jesus said that his disciples couldn't bear some of the things he was able to tell them. There is a reason we don't know everything about God. But there's something we need to see. We don't know everything about God, but we know everything about Him that we need to ...

2978. Who Am I Supposed To Hate?

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... whom is currently up for sale. (1) I thought of Barbara Bennett's ad when I read today's lesson. Jesus said, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple . . ." Say what? Hey, this is a church that cherishes its families. What in the world can Jesus mean by this--hate your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters? Oh, sure, we get a little upset with them from time to time. Like the lady ...

2979. The Eleventh Commandment

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... Ten Commandments, but absolute failures at the eleventh and most important of all. Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another." (RSV) NOTE, FIRST OF ALL, THAT THIS IS WHAT CHRIST MOST DESIRES OUT OF US--THAT WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER. We may tithe. We may teach Sunday School. We may sing in the choir, serve on the official body of our church ...

2980. Lord, What A Bountiful God!

John 6:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... we are not accustomed to receiving from His loving hand. Nor does it occur to us to pray. So we wander blindly from problem to problem, a sort of picture of those early settlers who starved in a land of plenty. "Make the people sit down," Jesus commanded his disciples. Then he took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed these loaves and these fish to all who were seated, as much as they wanted. So also do we receive God's blessings when we sit and wait and when we receive what God has to ...

2981. Discerning The Will Of God

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... worship at the last minute. He wanted to make sure that there would be no mistake, so he slipped a note to the pastor: "After the prayer," it said, "There will be no response." I wonder how many of us pray prayers to which we expect no response? The disciples used their judgment to narrow the field to two. Then they prayed for God's help in choosing between them. Finally, they acted. This is the third step in discerning God's will. You use the mind He has given you; you pray for His guidance; and then you ...

2982. Clearing Back The Jungle

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... is, willingly surrendered--and He will do the rest. He will make us according to His pattern for which, in His love, He designed us. And it will be good--for our own good--and for His glory." That is why there was more hope for those early disciples than there was for Noah and his family even after their dramatic boat ride. The disciples knew Jesus. "A few raw, unspiritual, uninspiring men were admitted to the inner circle of His friendship. The change began at once. Day by day we can almost see the first ...

2983. Receiving Christ

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... the east and ran into another part of the battle. Then he ran west, but encountered more fighting there. Finally he ran back to the front lines, shouting “Gimme my gun back, Cap’n. There ain’t no rear to this battle!” (1) Jesus was sending his disciples out to do battle with the forces of death and decay in the world. There would be no rear to this battle. In our lesson today he is helping them prepare for their mission. He is telling them that some people would be receptive to their mission, others ...

2984. Confronting Hypocrisy with Humility

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

... seats of honor in the synagogue, and walked in the market places just to be seen by the people. The Pharisees and Scribes and become arrogant and self-righteous. What is Jesus’ solution to the long standing history of religious abuses? Here it is. He turns to his disciples and he says, “They love to be honored and in the streets and to have people call them rabbi, but you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and all of you are students. Nor are you to be called instructor, for you have ...

2985. Is Suffering Punishment for Sin?

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... in Jesus of Nazareth, which first drove me to faith in God. If there is no God, then evil seems to be the natural state of things. But if such a One could exist on our planet as Jesus of Nazareth, then how do you explain that? When Jesus’ disciples asked Him “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus never really answered their question. But He did say that the poor man’s suffering was not caused either by his own sin or that of his parents. He said, “Neither this man nor ...

2986. One Commandment, Slightly Used

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Stack Sullivan once defined love as “the condition that exists when you are as interested in fulfilling the needs of the other as you are in having your own needs fulfilled.” Now, that is love! In that Upper Room so long ago, Jesus did not say to His disciples, “I have given you an example that you have good feelings toward one another.” Not at all. I recall the story of a couple of Quakers who were discussing a third man, a farmer who had had a terrible year. His barn had burned down, he lost all ...

2987. The Jesus Connection

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... vine and the branches would have been pregnant with meaning for those who lived in first-century Palestine. Vines, and their produce, the fruit of the vine, were (and are) a major source of livelihood in the Holy Land. We can easily imagine that one or more of the disciples may have owned a vineyard, or at least have worked in one at one time or another. The figure of the vine may well have been suggested to Jesus by the supper meal of which they had just partaken. They had drunk a cup of the fruit of the ...

2988. Slippery Rock

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , for instance...They were all right after Jesus was dead and all, but while He was alive they were about as much use to him as a hole in the head. All they did was keep letting Him down.” (New York: Bantam Books, 1965, p. 99) Of all the Twelve disciples, none let Jesus down more than the most famous one of all: Simon Peter. In our Scripture, we heard Jesus saying to him: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church...” (Matt. 16:18) I. OVER THE CENTURIES, A DEBATE HAS RAGED ...

2989. Believing Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... plotting to kill him. To go there seemed suicidal and reckless. What made it worse is that word had come that Lazarus was not only ill, he was dead. So now the journey was not only reckless, but pointless. When Jesus said that He was going anyway, the disciples came close to deserting Him. Then there came the voice of one who was normally silent: Thomas, who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16) Thomas was a born pessimist. He could see nothing ahead but disaster. But he was ...

2990. Little Jimmy

Mark 3:13-19

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... ought to do, I will do...with the help of God.” James may have been “the little,” or “the less,” and we may not know much about just exactly who he was, but he knew who he was, and Whose he was. He was one of the Twelve, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that was all that mattered. When Christian Herter was running hard for reelection as Governor of Massachusetts, one day he arrived late for a barbecue. He’d had no breakfast or lunch, and he was famished. As he moved down the serving line ...

2991. Good Old What’s-His-Name

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... to thee, it is necessary for me to fulfill all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled them thus to be taken up again to him that sent me. But after I have been taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease, and give life to thee and thine.” (William Barclay, THE MASTER’S MEN, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1959, p. 121-122) And guess who was sent: Good old “what’s-his-name.” Thaddeus, the Great Hearted. That’s the way Christ gets His work ...

2992. Secretary to Saint Peter

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... they sat down in rows of hundreds and fifties, and how they looked like vegetable beds in a garden. (6:4) When the disciples were on that last journey to Jerusalem, only Mark tells us that Jesus went before them (10:32) and in that one phrase, ... young man in white was sitting there - on the right, Mark says, not on the left. He has risen, the young man said. Go tell his disciples. And Peter, Mark adds, unlike Matthew and Luke again. Was it because he’d known Peter and the old man wanted his name there? So ...

2993. On Talking to Oneself

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... about the faith. There was nothing magical in the garment. There was saving power in the faith.” Ibid., pp. 721-722.) But was it faith that healed her? No, it was Christ. But Christ could use her attitude of faith. “Who touched me?” He asked. The disciples laughed-how could anyone in such a crowd ask such a silly question? That would be tantamount to a football player in an overcrowded U Stadium asking which of the spectators shouted his name as he made a touchdown! But Jesus knew that in the crowd ...

2994. Jesus Out of Character

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . If all else fails, put it on the back burner (my words, not his) until new light comes. I have to confess that there are some things in the Scriptures which do not admit of easy interpretation. I think that Jesus mission to the Jews and His disciples’ subsequent mission to the Gentiles has something to do with it. Matthew may be onto something when He has Jesus say in connection with this passage: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24) Later in Matthew 16 Jesus ...

2995. Men Like Trees Walking

Mark 8:22-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... The need for a second touch may explain why Matthew and Luke leave this story out. Yet this two-stage movement is the very point of the story in Mark, tying it closely to its context and pointing most clearly to its significance for disciples today.” (Lamar Williamson, Interpretation, Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1983, p. 147) I. MARK ALONE GIVES US THE STORY OF THE HEALING OF THE BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA. Bethsaida, which means “house of the fishermen” is important because it was the hometown of at least ...

2996. On Being the Greatest

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... get one close to one’s neighbor. I am not sure that Jesus intended the act to become a ritual to be reenacted down through the ages, but I am sure that he intended that the same spirit of service toward others was to be the mark of His disciples down through the ages. We Christians, above all, are supposed to be people who notice the stains when other people get spilled on. We’re quick enough to notice them when WE get spilled on, but how about other people? Jesus turns our normal set of values upside ...

2997. The Lord Has Need

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Luccock says that “There are skills that can be put to the use of the kingdom, personality that can be the instrument of his truth, feet that can go on his errands, hands that can lift burdens. If this man in Jerusalem who owned the colt had treated the disciples who came for it the same way we often treat God’s calls for help, the conversation might have been: ‘Here, what are you doing with that colt?’ ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ‘What do I care? I need it myself. Go on and let it alone ...

2998. Not the Seasons for Figs

Mark 11:12-19

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . The infant Church was beginning to spread its leaves...but so far hadn’t shown much good fruit. And Jesus was disappointed. Perhaps the whole thing is a parable. Luke makes it such in Chapter 13:6-9. Or perhaps here it is an enacted parable. The disciples come upon a fig tree which is showing a burst of new leaves. But Jesus looks among them, and says that there is no fruit. He expected fruit. It is the condemnation of promise without fulfillment. Charles Lamb told of a certain man in whose life, he ...

2999. Where Is My Guest Room?

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Thou Almighty King,” “The Strife is O’er, the Battle Done,” “Fairest Lord Jesus” and a host of others. We even have books in our Bible written by Anonymous. Scholars tell us that the very last verses of Mark’s Gospel were lost, and that an unknown disciple finished the work by adding his own ending to it. We do not know for sure who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews or the Letter to the Ephesians. In the Hebrew Bible, there are at least three authors at work in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah ...

3000. The Servant Who Delivered the Mail

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... them they will have a baby. You see, God is most frequently revealed through the ordinary and commonplace. Jesus saved a woman by sharing water at a well. Jesus saved a dishonest congressman by calling up a man in a tree. Jesus renews the faith of two disciples by breaking bread on the Emmaus Road. Jesus and Paul knew that while the human spirit often cheers for the underdog we really have the tendency to worship the TOP DOG. We really do have a sparrow complex. Wasn't it Jesus who was always talking about ...

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