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 3226 to 3250 of 3314 results

3226. No Turning Back

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God (6:67-69).” We’re so used to the way the other evangelists refer to the twelve apostles we may not notice that in John’s gospel this is his first reference to “the twelve.” Why is that? Perhaps because until they were tested, until they had this crisis of faith, until other disciples, facing the same difficulty, turned and left, they were not truly ...

3227. A Commitment to Righteousness

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... along with doing his holy will. Responding includes worship. In the New Testament and throughout the history of the church we state, “Jesus is Lord.” Because he is Lord, and sovereign, he is to be worshiped (Luke 4:4-8). As such: The focal preaching of the apostles was the Lordship of Jesus. It should be the focal point of today’s church. We must focus on Jesus. The central subject of the church is the leadership of Jesus. The church’s actions are under the direct order of the Lord’s leadership to ...

3228. It's All About the Messiah

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... born that very night! He was the divine Savior the very incarnation of God himself. We Christians firmly believe that the eternal second person of the triune Godhead joined himself with a complete human nature and was born as Jesus, the God-man. The apostle John wrote, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us!” (John 1:14). James Montgomery Boice’s chapter in his book, God the Redeemer, stated that Paul also wrote about the incarnation. According to Boice, Paul traced Christ’s life from ...

3229. An Unbreakable Christmas

Philippians 4:4-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... , peace within our homes, peace within our world. We long for the peace of God. We long for the God of peace. And the peace of God comes when we trust God with our present circumstances and thank God for our future. That’s what the Apostle Paul was teaching us in this passage. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in ...

3230. Joy on an Elephant

Philippians 4:4-7

Sermon

Mary Austin

... the middle of all that, Paul tells us, as people of faith, to rejoice. Always. No matter what. He’s a little nuts to ask this, but the man knows what he’s talking about. Paul has been beaten and jailed, criticized and mocked, as an apostle for God. He knows something about rejoicing always. Caroline Casey is another poster person for rejoicing always. In her TED talk, she says that her parents, knowing that she was blind, taught her to live with a kind of dogged determination. Her father taught her how ...

3231. Easter Fear

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Will Willimon

... Matthew says that the women ran back to town with great joy and began to tell everything that they had seen and heard. The risen Christ even met them on their way back. Luke says the women ran back and excitedly told everything to the apostles (who considered the women's testimony ''an idle tale'' until Jesus appeared to the men at the village of Eni1naus and again at breakfast). You see? Mark tells the Easter story differently, and perhaps more truthfully. Mark, believed to be the oldest of the gospels ...

3232. Beneath The Shadow Of The Cross

Mark 14:1--15:47

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

It was weird. It was really weird. The sky that afternoon had taken on a ghastly, ghostly, almost haunted hue. Ever since the mid-day bells had rung it had been like the edge of night. The darkness of the day seemed to reflect the way the apostle felt. It seemed to reflect the darkness of his soul and the darkness of the event taking place. John; one of the chosen twelve; one of the inner circle of leadership; the one who always seemed closest to Jesus, stood shrouded in his own sorrow. The lump in his ...

3233. For Men Only?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... had no rights, and relatively little value, until they were able to share in the family’s craft or agriculture. They were expected to work, and until they worked, they were a waste of time for someone like Jesus, at least in the eyes of the apostles. But Jesus told us that those on the margins of society — little children, women, women who have been divorced — are ones God favors. God’s law protects them. God’s people ought to encourage them. When Jesus said “Truly I tell you, whoever does not ...

3234. Pulling Our Punches

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... the Lord spoke when he once said to the rich young man: “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me” I have so loved it that I have indeed acted upon it myself, not by my own strength but by his assisting grace. The apostles were the first to follow in the practice of this complete self-giving. One who gives up both what one owns and what one desires to own, gives up the whole world. (Letters, 157, To Hilarius.) You’d think Jesus would turn to his disciples and give them some ...

3235. For the Glory of Christ

John 12:20-33 · Hebrews 5:5-10

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... a guy by the name of Joseph, a Levite and native of Cyprus. Joseph, the Levite from Cyprus was the kind of person you want all your friends and relatives to be like. He was a model of caring and compassion. His character was such that the apostles gave him the nickname, Barnabas. Barnabas means "son of encouragement." Through the Barnabas Ministry, we're all called to be, "sons an daughters of encouragement." And it's simple. All you have to do is to take a Barnabas Card, write a little note to someone: a ...

3236. Deliverance through adversity

Sermon

Willie Soler

... count it all joy when ye fall into various trials; knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV) The Apostle Paul had a very similar perspective on adversity when he said: “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance: and perseverance, character, and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3) What is adversity? Adversity is a state of hardship, difficulty ...

3237. Not Guessing

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... it the oldest continually inhabited city on earth. In recent decades Herod the Great had added a hippodrome and a royal palace, but Herod also died in Jericho. For him the city was a dead end. Jericho is also the last stop for Jesus and his apostles before he enters Jerusalem triumphantly for a week of glory, gory death, and resurrection. Soon the crowds will hail him with cries of “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna ...

3238. For the Love Of God is Forgiving

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:22-23) Jesus himself said, )"Those who are well have no need of a physician, only those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." (Mark 2:17) In the first letter to his protege, Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes: "The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the foremost." (1 Tim. 1:15) We don't like it but the Biblical witness is that we are sinners. So what does that mean ...

3239. New Creations

2 Corinthians 5:6-10; 14-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

This Sunday marks the beginning of a new Conference appointment. Even though I'm being reappointed as pastor of St. John the Apostle, each year is a new appointment. Preachers are only appointed one year at a time. That's part of our system for insuring that every church has a pastor and every pastor has a church. The final piece of business at every Annual Conference is the reading of appointments. It' ...

3240. Yes, You Can Work Yourself to Death

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... the Roman Empire, Africa and Arabia. Today, over 1 billion people from every race and nation call themselves Christians, and there are Christian churches in every corner of the world. And you and I are here today because of the work of Simon Peter, Paul, and the other apostles who committed their work and their lives to the message and ministry of Jesus Christ. Now it’s our turn. Commit your life to Jesus and see how he can give you a new sense of vitality and use you to make a difference in this world. 1 ...

3241. Big Boys Do Cry

Joel 2:1-2,12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... heart. Yes,” he now says, “I guess big boys do cry.” (2) Did you know that the Bible teaches us that it’s all right for big boys to cry . . . and big girls as well? In the King James Version of the Bible, (Romans 12:15) the Apostle Paul wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” References to weeping are found throughout the Bible. And it is not simply women who weep. In our lesson from Joel for this evening we read: “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me ...

3242. Don't Miss Jesus

Luke 2:41-51

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... gives us a peek into the childhood of Jesus. Luke, the physician, is analytical and an observer of life. Biblical historians believe that Luke had much of his research with first hand observers of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Not being an apostle or having first person knowledge, he relied upon others. One of those was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Someone said that Jesus’ childhood is like a walled garden — the inside of which no one has seen. Luke plucked one flower from inside that garden ...

3243. The Holy Spirit Brings Everyone To The Party

Acts 8:14-17

Sermon

Mary Austin

... Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate Jesus’ baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit that comes to him that day. The reading for today looks at the same gift — the coming of the Holy Spirit — to a community of believers. Listen for God speaking: Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had ...

3244. A Protestant (And Catholic) Way To Confess

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... Jesus confessing his faith (quoting scripture) in response to the devil’s temptations (in Luke 4:4,8,12). It is clear that confession in this biblical, catholic sense is about faith, the faith of the Church, not just the confession of sins. The Apostles’ Creed and The Nicene Creed are examples of confessing faith like Paul, the Hebrews, and Jesus did. They are summaries of scripture. (Note: If the preacher is of a Lutheran or Reformed background she/he might note that the denominational founders in the ...

3245. Hanging Around Jesus Changes You

Philippians 3:17 — 4:1

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before. [2] Martin Luther, “Sermon for Twenty-Third Sunday After Trinity,” in The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, Vol.4/2, ed. John Lenker. [3] John Calvin, “Commentaries On The Epistle of Paul the Apostle To the Romans” (1539), in Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. XIX/2, trans. James Anderson. [4] Ibid., p.175. [5] Martin Luther, “Lectures On Romans” (1515-1516), in Luther’s Works, Vol. 25, p.387. [6] Martin Luther, “Preface to the Epistle ...

3246. Giving It All Up For Jesus And What’s Ahead

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... like your beloved spouse. You share everything in common. Martin Luther once profoundly made that point. He wrote: The third incomparable benefit of faith is that it unites the soul with Christ as a bride is united with her bridegroom. By this mystery, as the apostle teaches, Christ and the soul become one flesh. And if they are one flesh and there is between them a true marriage... it follows that everything they have they hold in common, the good as well as the bad.[7] Luther elaborated on this point ...

3247. A Sympathetic High Priest

Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... the cross. Just like those who suffer with us become vulnerable with us, don’t act like they have all the answers since they are struggling with us, that’s the way God operates according to Martin Luther. God comes to console us. Luther once wrote: Therefore the apostle also introduces Christ here more as a priest than as a lord and judge, in order that he may console those who are frightened.[5] An appreciation that you have someone in your life (God in Christ) who has and will again go to the mat for ...

3248. Easter Makes Us One!

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... , by Cornelius, a devout Gentile who was also a commanding officer in the Roman army (vv.5-8,17-23). Meanwhile, Peter had had a vision teaching him that the Gentiles were not unclean (vv.10-16). This miraculous series of events had led the apostle to give up his Jewish practices of maintaining social distance from Gentiles lest such fraternization render him impure and displease God (v.28). He began socializing with his Gentile host Cornelius and his emissaries (vv.23,27-29). We pick up this story with the ...

3249. I Saw the Light

Luke 9:28-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Robinson lost both his vision and his hearing. On June 4, 1980, 62-yearold Robinson was unexpectedly struck by a bolt of lightning. After lying stunned and unconscious for about 20 minutes, he woke to find both his sight and hearing restored![1] Sounds like the apostle Paul, doesn’t it? Except in opposite! In the story of Paul’s conversion in Acts 22, Paul was on the road to persecute a group of Christians near Damascus, when right about noon, a bright light flashed around him. He fell to the ground and ...

3250. A Caring Woman

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... became sick and died, evidently before her time. The other disciples in Joppa were so upset about her death that they sent for Simon Peter to come to them from a nearby town. As you remember, after Jesus’ death, Peter became the leader of the twelve apostles. When Peter got to Tabitha’s house, he was taken upstairs to the room where they had lain her body. Among the mourners in that upper room was a group of widows. Widows and orphans were the neediest members of society in Jesus’ day. They were ...

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