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 3026 to 3050 of 4967 results

3026. Peacemaking and Self Control

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... as if I had a choice.” She had lived so long in the faith that forgiveness had become a reflex. If we take the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and turn it into a new law, another burden we must carry to earn the title of disciple or bear the name Christian, we will have misread his intent. This teaching is a gift. It is a description of what life looks like from inside the kingdom of God. In Jesus as its visible ambassador, and through the Holy Spirit as its invisible power, we have access to ...

3027. Get off the Throne and Learn Wisdom

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... ) the one I am condemning in word or action; 3) the God who judges my judging as wholly presumptuous and out of place; 4) the Jesus who is kind enough to alert me to the seriousness of the process, now and at the Last Judgment; and 5) other disciples who are hearing the same words and coming under the same inward conviction of sin. That the word judge implies condemnation and not just casual observation is clear from the parallel in Luke, "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not ...

3028. The God Who Must Be Pursued

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... proud. If you lack, you ask. If you are lost, you seek. If you are outside and resources inside, you knock on closed doors. Need drives you forward, and the experience of beggars is the root image Jesus employs in verses 7 and 8. He invites his disciples to see themselves as beggars. Unless you see yourself as not having what you need and God having everything you need, you will never learn to pray. Praying is a posture of humility that makes beggars of us all. Nothing to offer and needing everything. It is ...

3029. A Broken Vessel for Jesus

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Michael Milton

... came to him, broke a flask of costly ointment, and anointed, this time, the head of Jesus. Mark does not call her name, but John does. This is Mary, the sister of Lazarus. With its strong aromatic fragrance lingering and the head of Jesus still damp, the disciples scolded the woman and called into question the practicality and the expense of this act. Today, the scene is our town, our lives, and the question comes to each of us, How practical is it to break open the expensive vessel of my life and pour it ...

3030. Identifying a Christian

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... could wipe up the mess--only to watch the dog trot to the puddle and begin lapping it up. The dog loved cod liver oil! It was just the owner’s method of application the dog objected to. Is this not true of the church’s commission to make disciples of all people? People desperately want to know that God is alive and that God loves them. Why aren’t our churches full? There must be a problem with how we are communicating our message. Who we are speaks so loud that people cannot hear what we are saying ...

3031. Guidance for a Time of Chaos

John 16:5-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... not making this up. If the maps are so good prisoners aren’t allowed to read them--imagine what they can do for you.” (3) If you are escaping from prison, you need all the guidance you can get. In our lesson from John’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching his disciples. He says to them, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.” Last week in our celebration of Pentecost, we dealt with the Holy Spirit as the source ...

3032. Let's Get Serious

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... is a death in the family." After which Jesus says, "Anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back, is not fit for the kingdom of God." The parable of the two sons says, Jesus doesn't like big talkers. The story of the call of the three disciples says, Jesus doesn't like excuses, and there is one more, the famous parable of the talents. A master goes away, leaves his estate in the hands of three stewards. To one he gave five talents. To another he gave three. And to the third, he gave one talent. When ...

3033. Stick to the Knitting

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... another mission statement. This one could be called, the "second" mission statement of the Church. The first mission statement of the Church is called, "The Great Commission." It was given by Jesus to the apostles at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. That was the first mission statement for the Church. The second statement, I suggest, is ...

3034. Prayer

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , nor speak, still I can pray so that God can hear. When I finally pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I expect to pass through it in conversation with Him.” There is a lot in this; reread it slowly. Put that testimony of a great Christian disciple alongside the word from the psalmist whose hunger for God we encountered the first day of our prayer adventure: Psalm 63:1-8 O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faintst for thee, as in a dry and weary land where ...

3035. Warning To The Clueless Enthusiasts

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... whether or not it is possible to win the war. In that same way, they must count the cost of faith. That cost, Jesus insists, is very high. "So, therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions" (v. 33). "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple" (v. 27). In fact, following the Christ means your family must be a lesser priority than your faith. You will have to turn your back on your family. (That, incidentally is what it means when it ...

3036. Letting Go

Acts 7:55-60

Sermon

Bill Mosley

... He let go his life serenely. He even let go his anger and hate and self-pity and everything else, and clung to Jesus -- even to imitating the last words of Jesus, "Father, forgive them." This is a great example of what Jesus is talking about to the disciples in today's Gospel Lesson. You know the way. The way is Jesus. When Jesus says he is the way, doesn't that change the direction of our lives? Isn't our destination important enough to have some serious conversation about it? How many sermons do you hear ...

3037. Remembering Jesus

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

James L. Killen

... a basis for the Christian belief about Jesus. It was an event that Peter had shared. Do you remember the story of the transfiguration? One day, Jesus took Peter and James and John with him up onto a high mountain to pray. While they were praying, the disciples saw Jesus change. His face and his garments glowed. And they saw Moses and Elijah, two of the great leaders of God's chosen people from the past, talking with Jesus. Then, while Peter was stammering and trying to think of the right thing to say, a ...

3038. Abraham Believed God

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... them for forty years. Then he had to stay behind as they crossed over into the Promised Land. David became a great king of God's people, but the road to greatness was paved with treacherous curves. John the Baptist before Jesus, and the disciples after Jesus, all sacrificed their lives for believing God. Jesus, himself, believed God even as he hung up on the cross and gave up his life. Many great people believed God. They went beyond "believing in" God, to "believing" God. Believing, however, didn't always ...

3039. No Shame

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)

Sermon

William G. Carter

... of the unashamed. * I have Holy Spirit power. * I have stepped over the line. * The decision has been made. * I am his disciple. * I won't look back, slow down, back away, or be still. * My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future ... won't give up, shut up, or let up until I've stayed up, prayed up, and preached up for the cause for Christ. * I am his disciple. * I must go until he comes, give until I drop, preach until all know, work until he stops me. * When he comes back, I want him to ...

3040. A Tale of Two Dancers

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... it acts like David with the ark, and assumes that it is above the law and the human limitations that apply to everybody else. There are antidotes to this hubris, and they are found in the Bible itself. The first is humility. Jesus told his power-grabbing disciples as they walked to Jerusalem, each of them arguing which one is going to be the greatest when Jesus finally comes into his Kingdom, "Those who will be the greatest in my Kingdom will be the humblest here." For some reason we are entering once again ...

3041. Have You Got a Prayer?

Luke 3:21-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... the mountain praying, a voice again says, "This is my Son. Listen to him." That confirmation is not only for Jesus, it is also for the disciples. "Listen to him. This is my Son." At the end of his ministry, the last night of his life, he went off by himself again, ... address. Jesus said, when you pray, pray the way I do, say, "Our Father." There are few commands that Jesus gave the disciples. One was, when you pray, say, "Our Father." The other was, "Go into all of the world baptizing everybody in the name of ...

3042. He's Here Somewhere

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... Gospel of John it says he went to his own people, and his own people did not know him. It says that he went to his disciples, and the disciples were confused. Jesus says to Philip, "Have I been with you so long that you don't even know who I am." Later, he says, ... breaks it. They say, "It's him!" They swear to it. "It's him!" "The Lord is with us!" They rush to tell the disciples, "He is with us!" Could it be that he is among us as one unknown, until we practice hospitality to a stranger? Remember Abraham ...

3043. Honoring the Fathers

Hebrews 11:17-22

Sermon

Mark Trotter

3044. How about Something Different?

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... says, "Remember your baptism and be thankful." Then the table. We bring it out for Holy Communion. We got that table in a room, in the city of Jerusalem. We brought it here. It is the table that Jesus used when he ate his last meal with his disciples. We brought these things, just like Naaman took those baskets of dirt back with him, across thousands of miles, to remember what God has done for us. When the table is out here and we celebrate the Lord's Supper, the celebrant says, "Lift up your hearts." And ...

3045. If I Were a Rich Man

Mark 10:17-27

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... , that I must have all these things in order to be somebody. The only way you get rid of an addiction is cold turkey. You leave it behind. You walk away from it. That which you cannot let go of in this life is an addiction. Jesus then gives the disciples a little homily on wealth, how hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God. It is the exact opposite of what everybody in that society was taught to believe. So you see how subversive this passage is. Jesus was thought, in fact, to ...

3046. If You Can't Stand the Heat

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... matter, but not kindred. So put something else there. What is it that is the highest priority for you, what is it that demands your ultimate loyalty? And whatever that is, unless you are willing to put loyalty to Jesus higher than that, "You are not fit to be my disciple." Those are hard words. That's why he says, "Which of you who is interested in building a tower, doesn't sit down first and count the cost to see if you have what it takes to finish it?" You notice, he doesn't ask, "How do you feel about ...

3047. Like None Other

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to you reveals that that is what they did, right from the beginning. What we heard this morning is the record of the first class of baptizands. They were there in Jerusalem, at the Jewish feast of the Pentecost, when the Spirit came upon the disciples, empowering the disciples to preach the good news of what God had done in Jesus Christ, in words that all people could understand. That is what Peter did. He went out into the street and started preaching. At the end of the sermon, the crowd gathered there ...

3048. What Kind of Name Is That?

Luke 1:26-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... a transformation in the life of the person. That is a biblical precedent. We all know about the famous incident of Saul on the Damascus Road, met by Christ in a vision, and changed his life around. He changed his name to Paul. And Simon, the first disciple, who at Caesarea Philippi confessed, "Jesus, you are the Christ." Jesus said, "Your name is now Peter, the rock on which I will build my church." I know a man whose life was changed drastically. He felt that it was important to start afresh with a new ...

3049. When to Be Extravagant

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... Passover. Mary knew all of this. Anyone with any sensitivity at all was aware of it, and knew this may be the last time they would have him with them. In a sense the meal at Bethany is another "Last Supper." It is not the Last Supper for the disciples, it was the Last Supper for the friends of Jesus. So during the meal, I am sure Mary, overcome with emotion, and deep gratitude and love for this dear man, just had to do something. It was unbearable, the tension, knowing all that she knew. Nobody was doing ...

3050. Where Can I Find the Church?

Acts 2:1-8; 4:32-37

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... , like Jesus. Luke says that the Church was that way at the beginning, which was the passage read for us today. The passage is really in two parts. The first part came from the second chapter, which is the dramatic descent of the Spirit on the disciples. The second part from the fourth chapter, where Luke describes the first Church. It is the first description of Christians in the Church. Listen to it again. It is very strange, and for some, it is very disturbing. Now the company of those who believed were ...

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