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 4967 results

3226. It’s Anybody’s Guess

Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... , like whether a certain book will sell well or a new Broadway play will make it to a second season. But, there are some other things in the moral and spiritual realm that are not a guess at all. The kingdom of God is one. Jesus' disciples were feeling discouraged. Sure, crowds were gathering to hear their teacher, but there was little evidence of progress and a lot of evidence of resistance. The upper classes were rejecting Jesus and the capitol city acted as though he didn't exist. The Greek and Roman ...

3227. Out of Control

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... she can live." Then the worst that can happen happens. Word comes that she is dead. Jesus says to this devastated father, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." Only two things: don't be afraid and have faith. This isn't just a word for Jairus or for the disciples in the storm. It's a word for us. It's a word for us when we have our noses smashed up against the things in life we cannot control. We want to control our lives and we'd like to control God. If we controlled God, we could get ...

3228. When The Baker Becomes the Bread!

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... would die. What we become spiritually we will be because of taking Jesus into our lives. So, I ask you, are you ready to give up your perceived freedoms and benefits to become his? Are you ready to take on the additional responsibility that being Christ's disciple brings? Are you willing to share your life with him? If your answer is, "Yes! Yes! And Yes!" then in his name, I invite you to taste this living bread. What Benefits Do We Receive From Taking The Living Bread? Jesus says, "If anyone eats of this ...

3229. Celebrate This!

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Steven Molin

... is a biblical principle: we can never celebrate what we give until we celebrate what we have. That little girl on the Pine Ridge gave that pastor a nickel — joyfully gave him a nickel — because she recognized that she had two. Jesus and his disciples were sitting one day across the street from the temple treasury, as people were giving their gifts. In front of the synagogue there were large receptacles into which they placed their tithes and offerings. But they were not mere collection boxes with coin ...

3230. Doing Christ’s Work

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

... had something that my sisters and I didn't have after our mother died. After Jesus ascended to heaven, they weren't forced to find their own way by trial and error as we were. God came to live with his disciples in another way, through the Holy Spirit. So, they didn't have to fumble around in the dark as they were figuring out how to be Christ's body in the world. The Spirit came to them and gave them a special kind of wisdom that transcended the conventional wisdom ...

3231. Commissioned for Christ

2 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , had run his leg of the race well. Now it was time for him to pass the baton and Elisha was ready. As we heard in the reading, three times Elijah tells his young protégé that he is to stay while the master moves on, but the young disciple wants to share with his master, the prophet, in all respects. His devotion to Elijah is laudable, but possibly more importantly is his desire to follow in Elijah's footsteps. He requests a double portion of the prophet's mantle, a sure sign of his desire to continue the ...

3232. What a Way to Start a Church!

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... those with the faith and the heart to recognize God in their midst. Look at how God comes in the oddest forms — a burning bush, a tongue-tied stutterer named Moses, a child with a slingshot, and a babe in a manger. Here is this little band of frightened disciples whose leader has gone off and left them; they are stunned, confused, and unable to figure out what to do. They're about to give up, saying things like, "We're never going to get this thing started, never going to get it off the ground. It's never ...

3233. The Reason Why

Illustration

Staff

... tomb's mouth. In the face of his grief, Joseph carried on. He did what he knew he had to do. None of Jesus' relatives were in a position to claim His body for burial, for they were all Galileans and none of them possessed a tomb in Jerusalem. The disciples weren't around to help either. But there was another reason for Joseph's act of love. In Isaiah 53:9, God directed the prophet to record an important detail about the death of His Messiah. The One who had no place to lay his head would be buried in ...

3234. Matthew 23:1-12

Matthew 23:1-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... “out to get” Jesus, even as Jesus continues publicly and pointedly to denounce their brand of piety. In today’s text Jesus has finished being peppered with questions by these Pharisees. He turns now to address his audience, comprised of his own disciples and the crowds of observant Jews who had come to the temple to meet their obligations of prayer and sacrifice. At first Jesus appears to be acknowledging the rightful role of the Pharisees as teachers and leaders in the Jewish community. He observes ...

3235. Better Angels of Our Nature

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the gods and lords of human creation. The sacrifice of Christ, offered once and for all, is served up on the same plate as the daily demands of local gods and small time lords. When the singular faith in Christ is so undermined, those beloved disciples, the very ones “for whom Christ died” (v.11), are “destroyed.” That is, their pathway to salvation is excavated out from underneath them. In this way, Paul asserts, actions which are of no consequence one way or another for those who are knowledgeable ...

3236. After the Parade

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” These were not words the disciples wanted to hear. In fact, in many ways they refused to hear them. They still cherished dreams that he would overthrow the ruling powers and set up a new kingdom in which they would have favored positions. But they were in Jerusalem now, and his prophecy about his ...

3237. A Table Like No Others

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... something else even more important the Master did not turn him away. The Lord’s table is a table of grace. Judas didn’t deserve to be there at the Last Supper, but neither did Simon Peter. Peter denied Christ, and he was closer to Jesus than any of the disciples. If Simon didn’t deserve to be there, who did? None of them. Neither do any of us. That’s all right. This is the Lord’s table. It is a table of grace. In his book, Letters to a Young Evangelical, Tony Campolo shares a story about grace. He ...

3238. Crying at the Tomb

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... characters, Mary Magdalene is the only person mentioned by all the gospels as having been at the cross until the very end. She saw his agony, heard his cries, watched all hope drain from Christ’s face. She heard his last words, his final gasp. The men disciples were mostly in hiding. Even Jesus’ brothers and sisters were nowhere to be found at the end. But there at the foot of the cross, Mary stayed faithful to the very last. Now it’s the morning of the third day and it’s Mary Magdalene, of course ...

3239. Let Your Diamond-Light Shine

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... greatest challenge to the Corinthians, and to the world. Christianity is not to be a “no guts, no glory” enterprise. Instead it is about “no glory, all God.” The sacrificed Savior is not just a gift. He is a model of a sacrificial life that all disciples must embrace. Finally, Paul recalls the power of Genesis, the story of Creation itself to buoy up the bogged down faith of the Corinthians. Light, the light of creation itself, (Genesis 1:3; Isaiah 9:1-2) is declared by Paul to be the source of the ...

3240. Romans 8:12-17

Romans 8:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... “according to the flesh,” there is only one certain outcome — death. Faith is the first action that must be taken in this life and death struggle — the faith that accepts Christ and invites the Spirit to become an active presence in the disciple’s life. But a second action, a life-long, on-going action, is required: that of putting “to death the deeds of the body.” Paul’s nomenclature here surprises many. His use of “soma,” “body,” instead of “sarx,” “flesh,” seems at odds ...

3241. Go, Johnny, Go, Go, Go!

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God" (John 1:34 NCV). And so, the end of Act One. In the first scene of Act Two, John the Baptist reappears. The audience sees Jesus passing by and hears John say to two of his disciples, "Look, the Lamb of God." The two disciples heard John and without looking back at their teacher followed Jesus, God's Lamb. Why? Because that's what John wanted them to do. He knew the script. Jesus was selecting his cast of twelve, whose roles in life would never be the same ...

3242. Another Mary, Another Martha

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... to, but there's no denying one thing — Mary of Magdala, a woman of substance and status, was the first apostle, the emissary of Jesus to proclaim the overwhelming news that Jesus is risen, Jesus is risen indeed. Mary and the other women, the faithful disciples, the ones ignored by the church in later centuries, marginalized in the histories, are represented in the gospels as the ones who proclaimed the risen Lord. The best part is their testimony wouldn't have been accepted in court. Not in their day ...

3243. Believing Thomas

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... autonomy. That's getting it — that a war, however justified, is not a long-term solution, and that sacrifice and love, even for one's enemies, is the true work of Jesus. This passage closes with these words: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. — John 20:30-31 I find these some of the ...

3244. Life In the Valley

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... a fog, a cloud had settled around them — scary. Suddenly, a voice projected from the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him" (Luke 9:35). As quickly as they had come, the cloud, Moses, and Elijah were gone. The event confirmed for those disciples (if they had any lingering doubts) that this Jesus whom they had come to love and trust was more than a man — he was divine. This was a mountaintop experience if there ever was one! Now Peter really wanted to stay. If at all possible, we want ...

3245. The Judas Gene

John 18:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... echoing Peter saying, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you" (Matthew 26:35). But beneath the surface we know they had their doubts. "We're behind you, Jesus ... far behind." One of the messages of Holy Week is that sooner or later every disciple has the capacity to betray Jesus. We betray him at home when we hurt those who depend on us and trust us; we betray him in the workplace when it costs too much to think and act like a Christian; we betray him before the world by our indifference ...

3246. A Time To Laugh

John 20:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... version of "Wha'ssup?" Can you imagine their reaction? Something akin to Fred Sanford's, "This is the big one, Elizabeth." But they must have gotten things together quickly because, once they saw that this really was Jesus, scars and all, as the text has it, "The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord" (John 20:20). I'll just bet. What a party that would become! Holy humor writ large. And I guarantee you that Jesus joined in. In fact, Jesus himself said that he came "that my joy may be in you ...

3247. Rich Man, Poor Man

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” Wallis notes that Jesus was speaking to his disciples. The reason Jesus’ disciples will always have the poor with them, says Wallis, is that this is their job: to minister to society’s rejects. “You will ... always have the poor with you because you are my disciples.” Jesus assumed that his followers would be continually ministering to the poor and the down trodden. Oh, but that were true ...

3248. Epiphany 2

Psalm 36:5-10, Isaiah 62:1-5, John 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... in your bulletins. Then name for yourself and God the unmerciful and inhospitable, the unrighteous attitudes and behaviors that block your wholeness. Community Confession Living God — we want to be good people. We want to do what is right. We want to be known as disciples of Christ. Yet we do not do what we ought. We do not love you with our whole selves nor care for our neighbors as we care for ourselves. Straighten our thinking; inspire our actions; free us from last year’s errors. Let us exhibit ...

3249. What Does the Bible Really Say about Divorce?

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... was even more pointed, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” In other words, he was saying to his disciples, “Forget everything you’ve ever heard about marriage and divorce. Here is how it is. Marriage is a sacred event. Divorce is a sin.” Those are strong words. I know they make me uncomfortable. But notice this: if anybody ever asks you, “What does the Bible say ...

3250. The Lost Five Commandments

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... not so worthy or rewarding. Our culture of “too much is never enough” believes in “piling it up,” no matter what the cost to people, to the environment, or to our souls. In today’s gospel reading Jesus specifically warns all his disciples about the inherent dangers in “piling.” The Scribes he lambasts parade a puffy parody of piety. Instead of working to examine and explain the daily importance of the Torah for pious, observant Jews, these Scribes were all about the “walk” — and nothing ...

Showing results