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 3126 to 3150 of 4942 results

3126. Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Luke, the master storyteller, spends the first three chapters of his gospel carefully interweaving the lives of two individuals John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. More than any other writer, Luke focuses on the special relationship between these two prophesied figures. While John's ministry and message are given considerable ink, Luke does so only to differentiate with indisputable clarity the mission and identity of John from Jesus. Today's gospel text is part of that distinguishing process. While we ...

3127. 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

today's text also has a chiastic structure perfect except at A', because Elisha does not return to Gilgal but rather continues past Bethel to Carmel and Samaria. Our reading, moreover, extends only to the center piece of the structure, verse 14: A. From Gilgal to Bethel (2:1b-2) B. Bethel (2:3-4) C. Jericho (2:5-6) D. Jordan River (2:7-8a) E. Crossing (2:8b) F. Transjordan (2:9-14a) E'. Crossing (2:14b) D'. From the Jordan to Jericho (2:15-17) C'. Jericho (2:18-22) B'. Bethel (2:23-24) A'. The events of ...

3128. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

While Colossians contains some theological content that seems distinct from Paul's more common themes, there is no compelling reason to dismiss his authorship. Things that make it suspicious to some seem to be a function of the theological and personal issues Paul and Timothy are addressing. Perhaps Timothy had a more collaborative role in the authorship than is generally recognized (v.1). But our exegesis of these passages will assume Paul's overall authorship. In overall literary style, Colossians ...

3129. Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In the final chapter of Hebrews, both the eloquence and the wisdom of the author are coupled with genuine pastoral concerns. Although some scholars identify this final chapter of the epistle as a later, unrelated postscript of behavioral advice, it seems logical for this writer, who has spent so much time teaching and admonishing, to close with simple, straightforward ways his readers may apply the lessons of this epistle to everyday life. Some scholars view the list of exhortations in verses 1-6 as a ...

3130. Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's text presents the story of one of Jeremiah's greatest symbolic acts. Besieged, imprisoned, branded as a traitor, despised by king and court, Jeremiah's response to hatred and rejection is to invest in the future a future nation, a future faith, and a future fulfillment. Although the story is presented in chapter 32, to fully understand Jeremiah's situation we must look ahead at chapter 37. The final redactor of Jeremiah had other organizational criteria than strict chronological order when this ...

3131. Romans 13:11-14

Romans 13:11-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Today's text comes from a section of Paul's letter to the Romans that exhorts this community to display proper Christian behaviors and attitudes. In verses 8-10, immediately preceding the reading, there is a description of what should be the ultimate guiding principle in every Christian's life - love. The pre-eminence of love is mandated not just to fulfill all the past demands of the law. Love is also the appropriate attitude and course of action necessary to see Christians into the eschatological future ...

3132. Matthew 17:1-9

Matthew 17:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The only single event in Jesus' earthly life more shrouded in mystery and enigma than the mountain-top experience of the Transfiguration is the great mystery of the Incarnation itself. While the Transfiguration is described in each of the three synoptic Gospels, it has been only weakly celebrated in the traditions of the church. Like the disciples who first witnessed the Transfiguration, the church has also seemed unsure of what it meant, what its purpose was, and what it calls Christians to do today. ...

3133. John 11:1-45

John 11:1-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In closing out the section of his Gospel scholars refer to as "The Book of Signs" (1:19-12:50), John records the wondrous Bethany episode - the raising of Lazarus. John alone tells this story. It is a miracle that is both a sign of Jesus' true identity and power and a portent of his own personal encounter with death once he reaches Jerusalem. Jesus' journey to Jerusalem is his first step towards that cross which awaits him. As a hinge-event in Jesus' history, raising Lazarus reveals to Jesus' followers his ...

3134. Matthew 10:24-39

Matthew 10:24-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In the 10th chapter of Matthew's Gospel the focus is completely upon discipleship. Here Jesus gathers his 12 specially chosen followers and gives them authoritative power over the diseases of mind, body and spirit. Matthew's penchant for calling the disciples "the Twelve" purposefully calls attention to their uniquely chosen number - one disciple to represent each of Israel's 12 tribes. Jesus then gives his designated emissaries specific guidelines for the course of their crucial missionizing journeys (5b- ...

3135. Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Just who Paul is arguing against in the beginning of Philippians 3 has been rich fodder for many scholarly debates. There is no indisputable evidence identifying these opponents. Still, some logical and probable extrapolations can be made. Paul's derogatory reference to these opponents in verse 2 as "dogs" strongly suggests they are Gentiles, not Jews. These Gentiles have apparently adopted the rite of circumcision, possibly as a semi-magical initiation ritual. Obviously this group understands neither ...

3136. Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The letter to the Ephesians opens with the lengthy prayer of thanksgiving. In Greek, these 13 verses are one long, continuous statement as though the author, so caught up in the wonder of God's work through Christ on our behalf, simply could not stop for breath. Consider all the theological issues covered in this prayer God's work through Christ, the plan of salvation effected, a repeated emphasis on God's sovereignty in this plan, the re-creation of humanity as a result of Christ's redemptive death, the ...

3137. Acts 19:1-7

Acts 19:1-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In Acts 19, when Paul's journeys brought him back to Ephesus, it was the beginning of two amazing, yet difficult, years of teaching, preaching, witnessing, healing, debating and close calls. While Paul's confrontation with the practitioners of magic (vv.11-20) or the near-riot with the Artemis worshipers (vv.21-41) may be the most exciting moments of his Ephesian visit, it is Paul's first encounter with fellow-Christians that has caused the most theological uproar in the church. From Acts 19:1-7, we read ...

3138. Ephesians 2:1-10

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

"From death to life" is the appropriate heading of this section. The author of Ephesians pulls no punches in summing up the condition of people before the gift of new life in Christ: "dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived." Their spiritual condition was so bereft of substance that they were not just spiritually sick, but completely lifeless. Death had been brought about by the usual human cause sin. Without a living relationship with God, these men and women had simply followed "the ...

3139. John 10:11-18

John 10:11-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Instead of the synoptic gospels' familiar parables, John's gospel presents his readers with a number of dramatic "I am" statements in which Jesus speaks about himself and the reality of the kingdom. These "I am" declarations are neither an actual parable nor simply an allegory, although elements of both make up these utterances. When Jesus makes his declarative "I am" statements, he is offering a kind of "symbolic discourse" (see C.K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John, 2nd ed., [Philadelphia: ...

3140. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In Mark's parables section, 4:1-34, Jesus speaks both openly to great crowds and privately to his chosen disciples. His words to the crowds are all parables, presented without translation or explanation. In his private asides to his disciples, however, Jesus takes his followers by their hands and carefully leads them through the maze of meaning lying behind these stories. In the "Parable of the Growing Seed," read today, Jesus is speaking to the combined audience of the uncomprehending crowds and his ...

3141. Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

It seems that as Jesus comes closer to Jerusalem, he hits closer to home with some of the most discomforting and disheartening judgments anyone could hear. Last week Jesus spoke about divorce messing around in our regions of relationships, loyalty and integrity. This week Jesus really gets personal moving from marriage to money. His message is so startling and discouraging that he frightens one potential convert away and strikes doubt and despair into the hearts of his own disciples. In verse 17, the ...

3142. Revelation 1:4b-8

Revelation 1:4b-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

There is little agreement over anything having to do with the book of Revelation. True authorship remains a mystery - there is no clear evidence to establish whether the writer might have been John the gospel writer or John the son of Zebedee or if "John" was simply a late redactor's pseudonym used to heighten the acceptance of this book of visions. Neither does internal evidence clearly suggest when this book may have been written. While most scholars place it about 94 A.D., there are arguments for ...

3143. A Demon Speaks Out in Church

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson for today may be quite disturbing to some of us. It takes place in Capernaum. It was the Sabbath and Jesus was teaching in the synagogue. The people who heard him “were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” Suddenly, however, there was an unexpected disturbance. A man began to cry out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!” I imagine the other ...

3144. The Compassionate Christ

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

Author Larry Davies, in his book Sowing Seeds of Faith in a World Gone Bonkers, tells a story with which many of us can identify. He says the check‑out line at his local grocery store was long and he was in a hurry. Seeing another line nearby nearly empty, he walked over and stood behind the only customer still to make a purchase. A young twenty‑something woman was holding a small basket with fifteen to twenty jars of baby food. There was nothing else in the basket: just baby food. “This is great,” he ...

3145. Easter 7

Acts 1:12-26, 1 John 5:1-12, John 17:6-19

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 The church is living between Jesus' departure and the coming of the Spirit. The time has come to fill the vacancy caused by Judas' suicide. The one to be chosen as a replacement is to be one who shared the experience with Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension and one who can witness to the resurrection. Two men met the qualifications: Joseph and Matthias. God and not the church elected Matthias. The church merely asked the ascended Lord which of the two ...

3146. Easter 6

Acts 10:23b-48, 1 John 4:1-6, John 15:1-17, 1 John 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 10:44-48 These verses constitute the conclusion of a Roman centurion's request to hear the gospel, Peter's converting vision and a gospel sermon. The result was the reception of the Spirit manifested by glossalalia in praising God and baptism. It marked a new dimension for the church, from Jew to Gentile, from sectarianism to universalism. Through this experience the kingdom was opened to all humans and for the first time Gentiles received the Spirit and were baptized into Christ. ...

3147. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Easter always begins in the dark. In every gospel account, those who come first to the tomb travel in pre-dawn gloom to reach Jesus’ burial site. The journey that reveals the greatest light begins far down a tunnel of darkness. The bleak, bitter, post-crucifixion Sabbath endured by the disciples concluded at sundown. In order to reach Jesus’ borrowed tomb, and prepare him for a final burial, the women followers of Jesus started out even before daybreak. As do all the gospels, John’s text declares that Mary ...

3148. Proper 20

Mark 9:33-37, Mark 9:14-32, James 4:1-12, James 3:1-12, Proverbs 31:10-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Proverbs 31:10-31 In this epilogue in Proverbs, a godly woman is described. It is a picture far from the view that in Old Testament times, a woman was a nobody, a man's property without privileges and rights. She is a wife and mother who fears the Lord. Her husband and children praise her and call her blessed. Epistle: James 3:13 4:3, 7-8a In this lesson, James distinguishes between the types of wisdom. Earthly wisdom is characterized by ambition, rivalry and selfishness. This ...

3149. Proper 13

2 Samuel 11:26–12:13a, Psalm 51:1-19, John 6:24-35, Ephesians 4:1-16

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalm 51:1-12 First Lesson—The prophet’s parable traps King David’s conscience. 2 Samuel 11:26–12:13a Second Lesson—The unity of the church can be maintained only by the exercise of the best gifts that God gives. Ephesians 4:1-6 Gospel—Jesus advocates a higher vocation than the pursuit of a free lunch. John 6:24-35 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. People: And also with you. Leader: Come into God’s presence with a clean heart, with a new and right ...

3150. Lent 5

Psalm 51:1-19, Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 12:20-33, Hebrews 5:5-10

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalm 51:1-12 First Lesson—The prophet Jeremiah forecasts a new covenant of the heart to replace the broken one. Jeremiah 31:31-34 Second Lesson—Jesus is praised as a sincere and suffering high priest appointed by God to serve all who obey him. Hebrews 5:5-10 Gospel—John reports the interest of some Greeks as the occasion for the explanation by Jesus of what suffering love will accomplish in the divine purpose. John 12:20-33 CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be ...

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