Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 301 to 325 of 4943 results

301. The Hidden Gifts of Christ

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... native land of Ur to what is now Israel, with the promise that if he was faithful he would become the father of a great nation as numerous as the stars in the sky. Throughout salvation history we know of God's faithfulness, even with the continual unfaithfulness of his people. The Ephesians, and all of us by extension who have inherited the promise, are God's children by adoption. Made in the image and likeness of God, we were chosen by the creator for a special role in salvation history. What a privilege ...

302. The Winning Word

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... day thousands of years ago, to separate ourselves from anything that would cause us to sin, separate us from God, or detour our way to heaven. It can only be done as we learn his word and hide it in our hearts. Keep close to God through continual communication through prayer with him. Allow fellow believers to help you in your journey. Keep in step through the correction and guidance of the Holy Spirit who leads us into holy living. Do your actions match your words? As we apply this sermon today to our ...

303. Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of great faithfulness, from Abraham on throughout Israel’s long history. Among those singled out and their faithfulness raised up, there are both the expected and unexpected. Abraham, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses are obvious choices. But as this litany of the faithful continues in this week’s text, some surprising individuals are selected as examples. It’s like the old saw about the first question of heaven: “Where’s so-and-so, and what are YOU doing here?” The first to be praised for their ...

304. Lean on the Cloud

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you let your weight down? Will you live by faith and not by sight? Will you trust God with all you are? Will you lean on the “Everlasting Arms?” Will you let your weight down on “the Cloud?” COMMENTARY This week’s epistle reading continues to the conclusion of what has been called the Hebrew’s “great faith” chapter. Beginning with a definition of faith in 11:1-3, the Hebrews’ author then proceeds to cite a long list of examples of great faithfulness, from Abraham on throughout Israel’s ...

305. On the Road with Jesus

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

David O. Bales

... We should never, however, forget how painful was the beginning of their Easter evening walk. Jesus had suffered. We need to remember Jesus’ meeting them in suffering because Jesus still joins us on life’s real roads. He finds us in our pain, and even here he continues to teach us not only about the Bible, but about his resurrection’s power in our lives. Jesus teaches us of God’s love even when we think we’ve reached the end of life’s road. On August 31, 1983, in Anchorage, Alaska, Pam Joy Lowry ...

306. The Christian's Royal Jelly

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that is an encouraging word. Paul doesn’t just say, “You can do better!” He affirms that they ARE better, that the Corinthians church family is bound together by the “grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus.” As Paul continues in his letter to this cantankerous church with cancerous growths spreading everywhere, he never forgets to remind them that as long as they are grounded in the gospel they are assured of faith and forgiveness. His love for his “family” is first and foremost ...

307. Great Balls of Fire!

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the twenty first century, Pentecost is a heavenly light show directed to the places where we live. The light that we hold in our hearts and souls and the light that we have been called to shine upon our neighbors, is the light of Christ’s continued presence in this world. That is how the gift of the Holy Spirit keeps Jesus’ ministry and mission, all of God’s promises and possibilities, alive in this world today and every day. If you have time, here are some further thoughts for an alternative ending ...

308. The Right Connection

John 15:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16, ESV) This is the fruit that lasts! This is fruit that won’t rot. It just continues to ripen. What Jesus is saying is this, “The more faithful you are to Christ, the more fruitful you will be for Christ.” If you are not a follower of Jesus Christ you are not bearing any fruit, because you are not even a branch. You are not even attached ...

309. Two Kinds of People

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... through Jesus Christ. What the corrupt heart does not tell us is that we may yet live a new and richer life--that there is more to life than food to eat and meaningless games to play. Think about it. There is something within me--and within you--that is continually lying to us about what is real and lasting and good in this world. And, if we do not watch it, a vast erosion can take place in our lives--an erosion of values and principles and relationships--and all that will be left will be a desert. All we ...

310. What Did Jesus Do?

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... Judas who would betray him, Peter who would deny him and Thomas who would doubt him, as well as the rest of his disciples who would desert him, but that did not distract him from his mission. These twelve men were the ones on whom he was counting to continue his work. He had spent three years teaching them, correcting them, and at times simply putting up with them. They were not perfect men, but they were chosen men, chosen to be his body when he was no longer physically on earth. Even Judas had his part to ...

311. The Fall of Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... it lies desolate . . . ; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it” (Lev. 26:34–35). This idea is continued in Leviticus 26:43: “For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them.” The terminological similarities are again obvious. The question remains how the Chronicler could interpret the “desolation” and “sabbath rest ...

312. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... rule this out. But some were not prepared to wait and followed the two missionaries from this meeting to hear more at once. These included Jews and Gentiles (see note on 6:5 on their description as devout converts). Paul and Barnabas urged these people to continue in the grace of God (v. 43; cf. 11:23). Does this mean that they were already persuaded that Jesus was the Messiah? That gives the best sense, though it could mean that having known something of God’s grace (say, through the history of their ...

313. Accusations

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... toward him (cf. 10:2; 12:21; 13:2). Paul can already boast in the Corinthians (cf. 7:4; 8:24; 9:2), and he expects to continue to be able to do so until the day of the Lord (cf. Phil. 2:16; 1 Thess. 2:19). Paul expects that by the day of ... anoints” believers with the Spirit at baptism to become sons of God (cf. Gal. 4:4–6; Rom. 8:15). In verse 22 Paul continues his description of God. God has everything to do with the security of the present relationship that believers enjoy in Christ and with its ...

314. Body

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... plight. 5:8 Paul again expresses here his earnest desire to be with the Lord. For the apostle, death (being away from the body) is preferable to life in the body, for it means being at home with the Lord. He realizes, however, that may be necessary for him to continue living in order to carry out God’s purposes (cf. Phil. 1:21–24). 5:9 Paul draws an inference (So, dio) from the fact that he has both the hope that he will dwell with the Lord and the knowledge that he must presently carry on in his mortal ...

315. The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... , although mention of the coming evil day (6:13) brings in an element of the future as well. The author indicates that this is his final exhortation to the readers (6:10). Thus, they who are already in Christ by virtue of their baptism are to continue to find strength for their new life “in the Lord” (6:10). The numerous references to “stand” (6:11, 13, 14) emphasize the theme of watchfulness and steadfastness that characterizes this early catechism (cf. 1 Cor. 16:13; Col. 4:12; James 4:7; 1 Pet ...

316. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Colossians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... has come to you”). Hope is the basis of their love and faith and thus assures them of the adequacy of the gospel they have received. This should preclude any desire to supplement the gospel with additional speculation from the false teachers. 1:6 Here the emphasis continues to be on the truthfulness of the gospel. In 1:5 it was linked with hope; here the association is with the grace of God. From this, one could conclude that Paul is concerned to show that the message of the gospel is true with respect to ...

317. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... (2:14–26). 2:1 My brothers recognizes the readers’ status as church members. Don’t show favoritism: Despite the fact that God shows no partiality (Deut. 10:17; Gal. 2:6), human beings who serve under his authority and supposedly copy his character must be continually warned against being partial (e.g., Deut. 1:17; Lev. 19:15; Ps. 82:2; Prov. 6:35; 18:5). A glance at who is elected to office in the church and who sits on denominational committees would quickly indicate that despite the very negative ...

318. The Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... the same element: by … waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed (Gen. 6:17; 7:23). The moral of the event is that God is not only creator but also judge, for the sins of the occupants of his world will not continue to go unpunished. Jesus himself used the incident to point out that lesson, and at the same time linked it with his own future return (Matt. 24:37–39), a possibility that the false teachers were ridiculing. 3:7 However regular and unchanging conditions may appear, however ...

319. Jephthah

Jud 10:6–11:40

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... to the LORD. Do to me what came out of your mouth after the LORD worked vengeance for you against your enemies, [that is] from the Ammonites” (v. 36). I have translated the verse literally in order to indicate the force of the Hebrew, particularly the continued repetition of the word “mouth.” Jephthah’s daughter did not specify what came out of her father’s open mouth, but it is clear that she knew exactly what he had vowed. Her reluctance to speak openly about the content of the vow reveals her ...

320. Tattenai's Letter to Darius

Ezra 5:1-17

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... nothing of earlier attempts to fulfill a long-standing mission. The narrator wove the work of these prophets into his larger story. They represented for him the voice of the God of Israel, whose people were the postexilic group of returned exiles who claimed continuity with the preexilic religious community. The phrase recalls 1:3; 3:2; 4:3, and it will reappear in 7:15. The civil and religious leaders, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, now set in their proper chronological niche in line with the prophetic texts, set ...

321. At the Potter's House

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Jeremiah 20:1-6

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... avert the coming judgment. However, Judah will have none of it. They persist in their sins. In language surely put into the mouths of the inhabitants of Judah in order to state what their actions demonstrated, we hear them say: It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart (v. 12). 18:13–17 The next section begins with therefore (laken) indicating that the following divine oracle is in reaction to the refusal to repent of the previous verse ...

322. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... to lie outside of his sphere of holiness and were therefore ritually unclean. In many ways, illness and death were considered alien and evil intrusions into God’s sphere of life-giving vitality. Israel Lost to Exile (9:5-6): 9:5–6 This little independent piece continues the thought of 9:1–4 by describing Israel’s situation after its conquest and exile by Assyria. But the way Egypt is used here is very different from the way it is used in 9:3, and this is a brief oracle that has been attached ...

323. Israel’s Ill-Placed Confidence

Amos 5:18-27

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... . 2:13–16 or Matt. 5:23–24 or James.) 5:25–27 This prose passage (RSV) is probably the most difficult pericope to interpret in the book of Amos, and it is a real question as to whether or not it belongs to the prophet. It seems to continue Amos’s condemnation of Israel’s false worship in verses 21–24, yet it shares in the Deuteronomic view that Israel offered no sacrifices in the wilderness (cf. Jer. 7:21–23), and its mention of forty years is traditional with that source (cf. Deut. 2:7; 8:2 ...

324. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... in any case, the exchange in verse 34 serves to remind the readers of the Gospel that Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries had as much difficulty with the idea of a crucified Messiah as did the Jews with whom they themselves came in contact. Jesus’ last words to the crowd continue to emphasize his impending death. He uses the familiar imagery of light and darkness in much the same way as in 9:4–5 and 11:9–10; that is, the light is the time during which Jesus is on earth, and the darkness is the period after ...

325. Test the Spirits

1 John 4:1-6

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... ’s larger project to strengthen the Johannine Christians and to assure them of their right standing with God (4:4, 6) in the face of the continuing attacks on his community by the secessionists (2:19; 4:3; 2 John 7–11). 4:1 For the fourth time in 1 John, the Elder ... 7. First John 2:19 states that they “went out from us,” but they were never true members of the community. Yet they continue to try to win over the remaining Johannine Christians who are loyal to the Elder (2:26; 3:7; 2 John 10). Given this ...

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