Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 301 to 325 of 3852 results

Romans 6:15-23

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... story of Jesus of Nazareth, his death and resurrection, proclaims a glorious message to all of us who are trapped and enslaved to sin. Because of what God did in Jesus Christ and continues to do every time his story is proclaimed, we are free! Our slavery to original sin is broken. God forgives us our sin and breaks the hold of those fears, anxieties, and false gods on our souls. There is a great irony that comes with being set free in Jesus Christ. We are still enslaved! We are still owned. Now, instead of ...

302. Red, White and Pink

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... become “martyrs” — we sacrifice our dreams; we don’t take “the road less taken;” we martyr our uniqueness to live predictable, conventional, acceptable versions of our lives. We martyr our energy to collecting baubles and trinkets. We martyr our originality to the pink aisles of consumer culture and celebrity worship. Some of the worst pink martyrs? Pastors and priests, who martyr their calling to save the institution, and prop up the church’s bureaucratic interests. A gospel that wears pink ...

303. The Awesome Power of a Mustard Seed (Father's Day)

Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... group of people has had upon our world cannot be overstated. Many of the values of Western civilization are rooted in Jesus and the Scriptures. For example, all the hospitals in America were originally Christian hospitals. All the colleges in America were originally Christian colleges. The civil rights movement had its origin in the Scriptures. We are continually reminded of how male-oriented the scriptures are, but tell me any religion on earth that has freed as many women as Jesus has. As one observer ...

304. Joshua's New Diet

Joshua 5:9-12

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... it was taken). This morning I'm picturing another man bowing his head to pray before he eats. He, too, is an old man, with perhaps the same sort of white beard and weathered face as the subject of the famous Enstrom portrait. This man's prayer is not original with him; rather, it is a customary prayer of his people. "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God," he begins, but then he pauses. He says nothing. Nothing. Has he forgotten the next line? We open an eye from our seat across the table to see what is wrong ...

305. Galatians 1:11-24

Galatians 1:11-24

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... before is gone, overwhelmed by a new trajectory. Now all Paul claims as his is the transforming experience of the risen Christ and his call to proclaim Christ to the world. In this week’s epistle text Paul begins by asserting that the gospel he received was “not of human origin” (“kata anthropon”). It is not clear whether Paul was specifically being accused by some in the Galatian community of preaching a message he had learned from some other source. But the apostle is adamant about the ...

306. Between a Rock and a Hard Rock Thrower

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

307. Can You Hear the Music?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , signed” pieces of his art. The price for each canvas was $60.00. Despite this sale happening in a supposedly art-savvy New York City, despite the cache of his name, Bansky (manning his little kiosk in disguise) only managed to sell eight original works during the course of a long, hard day on the sidewalk. Set up on a bench outside the park, no one appreciated what he had to offer. Because of where he was, he was seen as worthless. Because of who he looked like, his work was seen as valueless. ...

308. Soiled Faith and Watered-Down Churches

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... refuse to allow it to venture into larger spaces, if you won’t give it room for its roots to expand deeper and broader so that its limbs can reach higher and further, it will begin to choke itself and die. The very comfort zone of its original pot will eventually inhibit its growth. And this is not just true of plants. Some years ago a tornado hit the Camden, Arkansas environs and did some serious damage. One chicken farmer in particular found that part of his farm was virtually untouched, and part was ...

309. Breaking News: The Middle East

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’” (Genesis 12:1-3, NIV) God chooses a man by the name of Abraham (I am going to call him “Abraham” though originally it was Abram) and tells him that from him is going to come a great nation that is going to be his chosen people and will be a blessing to all other nations. We are never told why Abraham was chosen, but he is specifically told the way he is ...

310. Get Off Your

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... century followers of Jesus in our world. Don’t be "conformed" to the world but be "transformed" by the power of the gospel to transform the world. But "transformation" is not an act of pride, but an act of humble service. Followers of Jesus were the original "Transformers." Faith in Christ "transforms" us, not conforms us. Face it. If you claim to be a Christian, you are claiming to be something more than you are. You are claiming to be more than the sum of your parts. You are claiming to manifest Jesus ...

311. Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Some books are music. Some books are straight forward teaching. Some books, like the Gospels, are biography. Much of the New Testament is personal correspondence (letters written from an individual to a church) and parts or all of some books are prophecy. In their original form, the books had no chapter or verse divisions. These slowly evolved over a period of about 700 years and the first complete Bible to have chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible published in 1560. At least, when we refer to ...

312. Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

Acts 1:12-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , but it also saw them finding a replacement for Judas. In this connection, we have the first speech in Acts. Like most of the speeches in this book, it is probably only a summary of what Peter said. Nevertheless, behind Luke’s report we can still catch the original tones of the apostle. 1:12–14 As instructed, the apostles retraced their steps from the Mount of Olives to the city, there to await the Father’s gift (cf. vv. 4, 5). They were quartered in an upper room. This would have given them a degree ...

313. Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

Acts 3:11-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... all that was intended. The text comes from a context in which Moses was warning against the use of divination as a means of ascertaining God’s will. “God has not permitted you to do so,” he said, but “will raise up for you a prophet.” The original sense was that he would send them a prophet from time to time as occasion demanded, but the use of the singular, a prophet, led to the view that one prophet in particular was intended, a second Moses, who would appear at the end of the age, either ...

314. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:1-53

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... that is, modern eastern Syria and northern Iraq. It included Haran. But Greek and Roman writers from the fourth century B.C. extended the use of the term to describe the whole Tigris-Euphrates Valley, that is, the modern state of Iraq. Thus Stephen speaks of Abraham’s original home of Ur in Babylonia as being in Mesopotamia, before he had gone to live in Haran (v. 2). Moreover, he cites God’s call of Abraham as coming to him in Ur rather than in Haran, as Genesis 11:31 has it. None of this presents any ...

315. The Church in Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... The Name of Christians,” HTR 42 (1949), pp. 109–24). But the evidence of the New Testament is that this was not a name by which Christians called themselves at that time, though by Luke’s time it probably was, hence his antiquarian interest in its place of origin. 11:27 Some prophets: If 1 Corinthians is any guide, it may not have been unusual to find a number of men and women in a local congregation exercising the gift of prophecy (see 1 Cor. 11:4f.; 14:29; cf. also Acts 13:1). But besides these ...

316. Gift

2 Corinthians 8:16--9:5, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... subsistence—not more and not less. 8:16–24 Having exhorted the Corinthians to complete the collection that they had begun (8:7–15), Paul recommends the emissaries he will send to take it to Jerusalem (8:16–24; cf. 1 Cor. 16:3–4, where Paul’s original plan was different). In doing so, Paul takes up where he left off in verse 6, with the sending of Titus. Paul wants to send Titus back to Corinth with two companions in order to bring the collection to a fitting conclusion. Paul did not need letters ...

317. Sons of God

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... of Genesis 1:27: God created man “male and female.” Perhaps early Christians chose this phrase deliberately so as to signify that in baptism a new creation occurs (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17), one that redefines even the most basic features of the original creation. The inclusion of the phrase “male nor female” in Galatians may be because of the issue of circumcision. In this regard it is interesting to read Justin Martyr, whose comments indicate the positive way that the church’s rejection of circumcision ...

318. The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... the girdle of his loins” (RSV). This imagery is carried into the apocryphal literature, where it states that the coming of the Lord and even all of creation will be armed for battle (Wisdom of Solomon 5:17–20). The idea of the heavenly armor originates in these OT sources and reaches its fully developed form in the NT picture of the Christian warrior. Apart from the idea that the Christian life can be considered as a battle or a fight, it is likely that these exhortations were particularly useful when ...

319. Rules for Christian Households

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... rules are part of the apostolic response to such questions. By including them in his letter to the Colossians, Paul reminds his readers of the need to maintain religious and social order. Additional Notes There are many valuable studies on the origin, nature, and teaching of the “household rules” in the NT. In commentaries, see esp. Lohse, pp. 154–57; Schweizer’s excursus, “The Household Rules,” pp. 213–30. Other sources include: P. R. Coleman-Norton, “The Apostle Paul and the Roman Law ...

320. Instructions on Worship

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... good, Paul says; that is, prayers “for everyone” is good, and pleases God our Savior, precisely because the God who has saved us (our Savior) wants his salvation to reach all people. The appellation God our Savior (see the note on 1:1) emphasizes that God is the originator of the saving event (cf. Phil. 1:28; 1 Thess. 5:9) and that Paul and the church have already experienced it. But neither our salvation, nor that of an elitist few, satisfies God, for God wants all people to be saved and to come to a ...

321. Melchizedek the Priest

Hebrews 7:1-10, Hebrews 7:11-28

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... again contrasting what is true according to the law with the greater truth found in the one to whom the Melchizedek passage in Psalm 110:4 points. The law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath … appointed (NIV adds this verb; the original assumes the verb appoints from the first clause) the (lit., “a”) Son (cf. Ps. 2:7) … forever. These last two words, which occur together in the Greek text, allude to Psalm 110:4, but the word “Son” from Psalm 2:7 is substituted for “priest ...

322. The Legitimacy and Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood

Hebrews 7:11-28, Hebrews 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

323. The High Priest of a New Covenant

Hebrews 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... is described as the true tabernacle (lit., “tent”), one set up by the Lord, not by man (NIV changes the original active voice to a passive construction). The same point is made in verse 5, where the levitical priests are said to ... word is generally spiritualized in the NT to refer to Christian ministry (see 2 Cor. 9:12; Phil. 2:17, 30), but in Luke 1:23 the original sense is retained. See K. Hess, NIDNTT, vol. 3, pp. 551–53. On the importance of the word better (kreittōn) for our author, see note on ...

324. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... edify his readers was overtaken by events. News suddenly reached him that his Christian friends were threatened by a dangerous heresy. The report made him snatch up his pen there and then to write (grapsai, aorist infinitive) a very different letter from the one he had originally proposed. I had to write (anankēn eschon grapsai): The compulsion (anankēn) to write at once was as clear as if he had been given a verbal order to do so. In obedience to that inner constraint, and out of love for his Christian ...

325. Allotment for Judah

Joshua 15:1-63

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... in the hill country; and six towns and villages in the desert. As northern settlement lists also indicate, the town list shows that the tribe settled primarily in the hill country of the land. The inclusion of Philistine towns in the list may indicate that the list originated at a later time, when the cities were a part of Judah. It may be a district list from the time of Josiah, or the list may be an ideal gift that includes area and cities that remain to be conquered. Both the boundary and city lists ...

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