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 3051 to 3075 of 4967 results

3051. Epiphany 2

Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-34

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... a light to the world - v. 6. Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 1. Consider Your Calling (1:1-9). Need: We are called to be Christians. We do not call but Christ calls us. We do not choose or accept Christ: He chooses and invites us to be his disciples. Our part is in hearing and responding to the call in repentance and faith. We are made Christians; we are not born or self-made Christians. The need is for people to see the grace of God working in their behalf by calling them to the kingdom. Outline: Consider ...

3052. Lent 4

John 9:35-41, John 9:13-34, John 9:1-12, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... light of the healed man, the Pharisees are in the darkness of sin and unbelief. THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS Gospel: John 9:1-41 1. Sin and suffering. In Jesus' day the popular view was that sin caused suffering. In the case of the man born blind, the disciples asked whose sin caused the handicap. Jesus answered that no one sinned in this case. Some suffering is caused by sin, but we should see suffering as an opportunity for God's healing. 2. Dualism. There is the dualism of light and darkness. Christ is the ...

3053. Easter 5

Acts 7:54--8:1a, 1 Peter 2:4-12, John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, Acts 17:1-9, Acts 17:10-15

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... who die for their faith in Jesus - Acts 7:55-60 Lesson 2 - A people chosen to offer spiritual sacrifices - 1 Peter 2:2-10 Easter 5 begins to look forward to and prepare us for the ascension and Pentecost. In the Gospel, Jesus prepares the disciples for his departure. In Lesson 1 we see the ascended Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Because of the resurrection and ascension, we are God's people offering spiritual sacrifices. The focus of the Lesson is on God's people. Psalm 31 relates to Stephen ...

3054. Proper 7

Matthew 10:1-42, Romans 6:1-14, Romans 5:12-21, Jeremiah 20:7-18, Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... accepted the call to preach? Look what his preaching got him: he is a laughingstock among his people, he is denounced by his friends, his enemies are waiting to get revenge, the people refuse to accept his messages. Answering God's call to be a faithful witness and disciple does not guarantee honor, acceptance, or well-being. 2. Driven (v. 4). Here is one who wants to quit but cannot. He decides not to preach but he finds himself driven to keep going. It is like a fire in his bones that must be expressed or ...

3055. Proper 12

1 Kings 3:1-15, Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... . 8:26-27 Need: For many, praying is an impossible task. Not knowing how to pray we often use prayers learned in childhood as a substitute for our prayers, or we ask others to pray for us. We go to church and let the pastors do our praying. The disciples felt their inadequacy in praying and asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. In this pericope, Paul faces up to the same issue. He suggests that we allow the Spirit to do our praying. Outline: Why let God the Spirit do our praying? a. He alone knows how ...

3056. Proper 18

Exodus 12:1-30, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20, Ezekiel 33:1-20

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Epistle: Romans 12:9-21 See Lesson 2, Proper 17, Pentecost 15 (C). PREACHING POSSIBILITIES Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20 1. If A Brother Sins (18:15-20). Need: "If" a brother sins. Should it not be "when a brother sins"? In this pericope Jesus teaches the disciples what needs to be done when a fellow Christian sins. This is the church's execution of discipline which has practically gone out of existence. When is a church member ever called on the carpet for not living the Christian life? Yet, the church has its ...

3057. Christ the King

Psalm 100:1-5, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, Matthew 25:31-46, Ezekiel 34:1-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... The least" are Jesus' "brethren," his followers, not necessarily anyone who is in need. The point of the Lesson is not in our benevolent treatment of the destitute, but in our response to the Master. If we love Christ, we will express that love in caring for his disciples. 3. Me (v. 40). "Me" is used fourteen times in this pericope. It refers to Christ. Is Christ the one who is hungry, naked, and in prison? The sick "brother" is not Christ himself; the hungry man is not Christ. When we help the needy, we do ...

3058. Rejoicing in Reality

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... world make little difference. We know that when we really stick up for what we believe and what we value, the power brokers of this world will laugh at us and pass us by. My friends, if we can see ourselves as that small band of disciples mysteriously pulled out of the crowd, gathered at the feet of Jesus, learning to be an alternative melody of grace in a graceless world - if we can see ourselves that way - then we are already the broken, needy, vulnerable people described by the beatitudes. And it ...

3059. Enduring the Trials of Faith

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... his best friends, those who have walked the journey with him, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (20:21b). He then breathed on them as a sign of the presence of the Spirit that was now upon them. In his first meeting with the disciples after the resurrection, Jesus commissions his best friends to go forward and continue his work. The ministry would not be easy and the methods of approach not always effective or clear, but the call was made. The response of the apostles was to be awaited. We, the ...

3060. Defeat Transformed into Victory

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Richard Gribble

3061. Things to Come!

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... in Jesus Christ, nothing is wasted! Matthew 13 is a unique Bible chapter. It is all but the first time in Matthew's Gospel that Jesus used parables to teach. And, clearly, these parables comprise a single sermon, at that! The first four parables were taught to the disciples, as well as the world, using the prow of a small boat as a pulpit! (Matthew 13:1-3). Then Jesus left the crowd, went into a house with his apostles (13:36), and finished out his message with three more parables. In the Greek, the word ...

3062. Jesus Calls for Treen Christians

Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... topsoil and drifting snow, and that animals and birds would have belts of shelter where they could live and raise families. Just as shelterbelts save on fuel costs, protect from winds, provide cover for wildlife, and generate fruit (and chokeberry jelly) for eating, so treen disciples are shelterbelts that enable others to grow a soul and put spiritual food on the table. There's an ancient legend of the cypress Tree of Life. It tells that when Adam was dying, he sent Seth to the Garden of Eden to fetch him ...

3063. Stirred, Not Shaken

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... axis of evil we're facing today. In today's epistle text the writer of Hebrews concludes his remarks on the cosmic-wide shaking and quaking that will accompany God's final housecleaning with a point-by-point, action-by-action laundry list of good acts disciples of Jesus should do and be seen doing. Here's one of the great juxtapositions of the Bible: the juxtaposition between the shaking of heaven and earth by a vast omnipotent deity in chapter 12, and the small acts of solidarity, love, compassion, and ...

3064. Experience the Mystery

Colossians 1:15-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... this story is only slowly revealed. In the gospels Jesus constantly drops lead-weight hints to his dense and often lightweight disciples. They never figure out the mystery during Jesus' ministry on earth. Only after the gift of the Holy Spirit is ... In 1 John 4:2-4, we even read that "Greater is he that is IN YOU, than he that is in the world." Jesus said to his disciples: If you've seen me, you've seen the father. Jesus says to the church: If people see you, they see me. Have you experienced this mystery? ...

3065. That Is SO God!

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . It's SO God to choose the yoked and scorned Jeremiah to pierce Israel's hard-heart. It's SO God to choose the tragically lovelorn Hosea and his prostitute wife Gomar to emulate God's steadfast love. In today's gospel text John the Baptists' disciples ask Jesus on their master's behalf "Are you the one who is to come?" Jesus discerns the doubt and hesitation behind this question. After all, Jesus' mission and message had been one of love and guidance. Jesus' works were acts of healing and forgiveness. John ...

3066. The Jesus RX and the Biology of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the alien hoards The nocebo effect encourages us to believe the worst, accept the inevitability of bad news, and take all negatives as genuine truths. In today's gospel text, Thomas was similarly paralyzed by the nocebo effect. Although Mary Magdalene and the disciples gathered in that closed room, all testified excitedly that they had encountered the risen Jesus. Thomas let doubt and disbelief close the door on his own entrance into the story. He remained locked up--in his heart and spirit and mind-as much ...

3067. What's Your Status Symbol?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... shows no partiality among peoples. God shows no partiality between clean and profane creatures. The status symbol of first-century Christians become their willingness to dine with all disciples – Jew or Gentile. Christians will sit at table with anyone, anytime, and eat anything. Another quirky Christian status symbol. Throughout the centuries Jesus' disciples have made a point of taking status symbols and turning them on their head. Paul boasted about how many towns he had been kicked out of, how many ...

3068. Can You Jump for Joy?

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... us to laugh and jump for joy at Jesus' coming. If we didn't have Santa, but just had Jesus, could we be merry at Christmas? Does anyone else find something tragic about this? After all, Jesus did have enough spirit and spunk that he attracted flocks of disciples and entertained huge crowds with his words of wit and wisdom. Do you really think Jesus would have been such a popular party guest on the "A" list of all the local rowdies (the tax collectors, the rich, the morally lax) if he was nothing but a sad ...

3069. The Dash of Discipleship

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... glad tidings of great joy: "For UNTO YOU is born a Savior." But the promise of Advent is even greater than that for unto you is born a Savior. Christ is not just born unto us. Christ wants to be born IN us. Meister Eckhart claimed that all disciples become mothers of Christ conceivers of Christ's presence and power in our world. The incarnation is not something that happened only once. As Welsh poet/priest R. S. Thomas would put it, the incarnation is not witnessed by only one star in one place in one time ...

3070. What Happened to the Leftovers?

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... people. We were entranced. "I was starting to feel weak and a little lightheaded but I still couldn't bring myself to go to a nearby village and buy food as a few people suggested. So Jesus fed us all. No. He didn't seem prepared, either. His disciples had only brought a little food, a few fishes, a few loaves of bread." That was it. Jesus blessed what little there was and suddenly there was plenty, more than enough to feed the thousands of us gathered. In fact, there were baskets and baskets full of broken ...

3071. Tiny Pencils

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... state at the time of Christ in the Greco-Roman world. It went by the name of Pax Romana. One reason why Christianity spread so fast was because of the globalized culture of the 1st century. In that world, Jesus said that the only way to be a true disciple was to "love one another as Christ has loved us." And the first Christians were famous in the ancient world for this one thing: "Look how they love one another." In a world where we're all living next door to one another, Jesus' words are needed today more ...

3072. Nothing but Christ, and Him Crucified

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

James McCormick

... struggle of love and hate, of good and evil, of truth and falsehood, make no mistake about it, God will win! And all the faithful will win with Him, and then live forever in the joy of His presence. We see that in the resurrection. For the disciples, the resurrection and the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost was where it all came together. For all the time they were together, Jesus had been teaching them, trying to help them understand. But, early on, they just didn’t get it. Even at the crucifixion, they ...

3073. The Twelfth Man

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... eloquent. The home town advantage gives intangible, invisible, but authentic authority to the home team's actions. In today's gospel text the first thing Mark notes is that Jesus and his new disciples journey to Capernaum. Archaeological evidence suggests that Capernaum was the hometown of Big Four fish disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. When Jesus and his companions entered the Capernaum synagogue they were on home ground. In fact, the Greek text suggests that going to the synagogue to teach was ...

3074. 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the day but sets it into Christian perspective by renaming this day as belonging to "our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 9). Despite the tongue-lashings to come, despite all the shortcomings and theological wrong-headedness of some of these Corinthians' disciples, Paul can nevertheless close his thanksgiving prayer with the assurance to them that "you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (verse 9). This positive pronouncement is confidentially relayed by Paul not because he believes ...

3075. A New Attitude

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... time. Peter wants to build three shelters and stay on that mountain. While he is still speaking, a bright cloud envelopes them, and a voice from the cloud says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples hear this, they fall face down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus comes and touches them. “Get up,” he says. “Don’t be afraid.” It is amazing how often fear is mentioned in Scripture. There is a reason for that. Fear is the biggest obstacle we ...

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