Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3451 to 3475 of 4943 results

3451. Everlasting Salvation for Zion

Isaiah 51:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... God can do what is now needed. The evidence no doubt encourages the congregation, but using it in a challenge addressed to God implies that it should also encourage God to gird up his loins and act. Verse 11 then affirms that God will, as it continues on from 35:10 as if to say, “You know that visionary, imaginative portrayal of Yahweh’s act of deliverance and renewal and restoration? This is a moment when you will see it become reality.” But who speaks in verses 9–11? Commentators usually assume ...

3452. The Cup of the Lord's Wrath

Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... as if Yahweh was not reigning. Events will now demonstrate that Yahweh is acting as king. When the NT in turn says of the significance of Jesus that the moment of God’s reign has now come (e.g., Mark 1:15), it is thus continuing a process of using Scripture to illumine events as they happen. The restoration of the Judean community constituted a foretaste of the full implementation of Yahweh’s reign rather than its final implementation, and the same will be true of the coming of Jesus. The foretastes ...

3453. Sin, Confession and Redemption

Isaiah 59:1-21

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... ourselves paying such costs when we fail to read Scripture according to its historical meaning and confine ourselves to reading it in the light of its reapplication in the NT. The Prayer That Needs to Be Prayed (59:9-15a): 59:9–15a The section continues the theme of verses 1–8 which the opening words of chapter 56 first introduced, but the subjects are no longer “you” or “they” but we. The community itself speaks. Whom is it addressing? Is it simply reflecting to itself? Is this an expression of ...

3454. New Heavens and a New Earth

Isaiah 65:17-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... with the great victory in the heavenly battle (Rev. 12:9–10). On the other hand, that only relocates the problem, for they remain unfulfilled. In another sense the battle is not yet over (Rev. 12:12–17). The martyrs and the rest of the church thus continue to ask “How long?” along with those who prayed the prayer in 63:7–64:12. When their prayer is granted, then they will see the fulfillment of God’s original creation vision, of a full human community life with God in which joy replaces grief (v ...

3455. Jeremiah Buys a Field

Jeremiah 32:1-44

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... of idols that they worshiped in the place of the true God. Again, the whole spectrum of society (they, their kings, and officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem) has participated in this wickedness. The sin is so extensive, continuous (from the day it was built), and profound that God must remove it from his sight. Rather than facing him in worship, they turned their backs on him. And it was not as if they were not warned. Verse 35 says that he taught them again ...

3456. Like Fighting a Giant Tuna

Romans 7:14-25a

Sermon

King Duncan

... haven’t seen you much. And I just wanted to tell you that I love you.” And with that she threw her arms around her father’s neck, gave him a big hug, wheeled around, and was gone as quickly as she had come. When she was gone, Carter Jones continued in prayer. “Father,” he said, “I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had much time for you. I just want to tell you again that I love you.” (6) It is amazing how much strength we gain for our battle with temptation when we spend time every ...

3457. Deathbed Confessions

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... not satisfy. “I was the prodigal son. I left the house, achieved fame and fortune, and found out that that was not what I wanted,” he said in an interview. “Now I read the Bible every day, I pray every day. That’s really what I’m about.” He continues: “I was one thing at one time, and I’m something new. I’m a new creature now. Don’t judge Alice by what he used to be. Praise God for what I am now.” In describing the importance of his Christian faith, he says, “It’s everything. It ...

3458. You Are Invited to a Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... from every station and condition of life. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they look like. It doesn’t even matter whether we approve of them or not. All that matters is that Christ died for them--just as he died for us. Enough said. Let’s continue our celebration in honor of the King of the banquet who has brought us in from the highways and by-ways to be his guests. Amen. 1. Keith Miller, The Scent of Love (Waco: Word Books, 1983). 2. From a sermon by James E. Rimmer. 3. John Killinger, Christ ...

3459. The Sacred Power of a Listening Heart

1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19

Sermon

King Duncan

... read because we don’t talk,” said the wife. There was a pause. “And we never go out,” said the wife. “I thought you liked to stay in,” said the husband. “I only stay in because I’m waiting to go out,” said the wife. The counselor continued to take notes. “He’s also very mean to me,” said the wife. “In what way?” asked the counselor. “Well, at breakfast, three times a week for fifty-five years, he always serves me the crust of the loaf, and I hate the bread-crust!” The husband ...

3460. Before You Start Ripping Your Clothing

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... he came upon a nurse dying of a disease she caught nursing a child back to health. God said, “The selfless devotion of one who saved the life of a child is very precious, but it also is not the most precious thing on earth.” The downcast angel continued to wander. One day he saw a farmer prepared to kill a man who was stealing his cattle. The farmer, his gun ready, stood at the window of the thief’s cottage, watching as he kissed his children goodnight and tucked them into bed. At that moment the ...

3461. You Are God's Handiwork

Ephesians 2:10

Sermon

King Duncan

... back their first graded paper, I give them a little speech: ‘This grade is not for you. This grade is for a piece of work you turned in.’ Then I ask them if they want to know what I think of them, and usually they want to. So I continue, ‘I think you’re made in the image of God and of inestimable worth . . .’ Then Virginia Mollenkott adds these words: “For me, the meaning of life is to share with people the wonderful news that we are the daughters and sons of God.” (8) St. Paul writes: “For ...

3462. Faces of Failure: Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Don Tuttle

... ’s, they still stung. The Bible is full of people who failed. In fact, it starts with the failure of Adam and Eve and continues from one generation to the next. And failure didn’t stop with the coming of Jesus. Many of those around him failed, and over ... policemen, we will be blind to his graciousness. Or if we see God as an Old Man on a Throne, we will not grasp the way he continues to work in the world. In essence, we put God in a box. We define what God can and cannot do. But that God is too small. ...

3463. Actors

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... how faithful you are in your heart. This was new. It was very clear to that little group from Judea that this teacher was also far more dangerous than any of the others who had come before, even if it was happening in Galilee. So, as Jesus continued talking, while most of the people in the crowd listened closely, those guys from Judea, the Sadducees and the priests, had slowly moved to the back of the crowd where they were huddled together, talking about just what they were going to do about this preacher ...

3464. Simple Faith?

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

John Jamison

... us that he could have stood there thinking as much about going back home as going into the water, and it should not appear to be discrediting who he was to suggest that he might have had questions, fears, and doubts. Throughout the rest of his ministry, Jesus continually reminded people of just how difficult it actually was to have real faith. It was like passing a camel through the eye of a needle. All of this is just to say that when Jesus took that first step into the muddy bank of the River Jordan and ...

3465. Zeal!

John 2:13-22

Sermon

John Jamison

... meant a time for families to get together for huge feasts and celebrations, the center of the holiday was the moment they went to the temple and offered their required sacrifice to the temple priests. It had been a practice since the time of Moses, one that continued in the temple of David’s time, and in Jesus’ generation in the temple high on the hill overlooking the city. The specific type of sacrifice you had to make depended on many things: where you were from, how old you were, what your job was ...

3466. The Shepherd

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Jamison

... that there was a distinction between those who were clean and those who were unclean. There was not “one flock” and there never would be. They were the leaders of the true flock, and they had the power and authority behind them to make sure that it continued to be that way. They looked at the shepherd and still saw him as harmless, meaningless, and of no real threat. The threat was in front of them. With the look of blood in their eyes, they glared at this preacher who now called himself the “good ...

3467. From Fear to Overflowing Joy

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... is one of the greatest fears of childhood. Parents leaving children in the church nursery for the first time have to give the children a lot of reassurance. Deep in the hearts of many children is the fear that their parents are never coming back. That fear continues with us over a lifetime. This is one of the most crippling results of divorce on some children. “Why has Daddy abandoned me? Doesn’t he love me anymore?” Teenagers have much of the same devastation when called upon to handle the death of a ...

3468. Everything You Need to Know about Love

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... fullness. The goal of gift love is to enrich and enhance the person whom we love rather than to extract value from them. “Gift love moves out to bless and to increase rather than to acquire or to diminish. Gift love is more like a bountiful, artesian well that continues to overflow than a vacuum or a black hole.” Lewis concludes that is what God’s love is all about. In other words, God’s love is gift love, not need love. (2) This, of course, is the meaning of agape love. Are we capable of agape love ...

3469. Some Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... " who didn't know much of anything. I was all puffed up with myself. As Dad predicted, life came tumbling in on me with my divorce, my self-pity, the loss of my job, and a problem with drinking that I mistakenly thought I could handle, but which I continually messed up. The hardships and hard knocks of life often teach us some things we can never learn in school. One of the things I've learned since my sophomore year in college when I thought I knew it all is that small, quiet beginnings can often lead to ...

3470. Am I Eating Manna or Bread from Heaven?

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... Holy Communion in this church." So most of the time you will hear the invitation given something like this: "All baptized Christians are welcome to receive communion at this table." Then a word or two of instructions are given before the service continues. On the surface this sounds very open and inclusive. I have, however, adopted a slightly different wording, but with a significantly different meaning. I say, "All are welcome to receive communion at this table." I came to this understanding and practice ...

3471. A Cross-Shaped Life

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... served as a reminder to love God with their whole being -- heart, soul, mind, and strength. In almost the same breath, Jesus continued, "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' " These words appear in Leviticus 18:19, and there they are ... , a symbol of life and joy in the Lord. As we return to our homes, to our schools and places of work and play, as we continue to be the church wherever we are, may we live a cross-shaped life, reaching up to God and reaching out to one another with a ...

3472. The Lazarus Experience

John 11:17-44

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... of Lazarus' illness, then goes on to describe Jesus finally arriving in Bethany only to discover that Lazarus had already died days earlier. His body had already been placed in the cave that served as his tomb. But that was not the end of Lazarus, for the story continues with Jesus raising him to new life and releasing him from the grave in 11:44. This is a rich text with much to say about family and friendship; it is about prayer and waiting for God to answer; it is about suffering and grief, about faith ...

3473. Sheep Without a Shepherd

Mark 6:30-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... a shepherd. It saddens Him to see us flounder about with no sense of direction, no sense of purpose, no sense of hope. Sheep are prone to wander. Sheep are also quite fragile. Sheep are naturally defenseless. They must be watched continually. They need protection at night. Predators continually try to infiltrate the flock to kill the sheep. Sheep are short sighted. They can only see 6 feet ahead. “No matter how many times you bring wayward sheep back,” says one writer, “they are prone to wander off ...

3474. Sheepish Shalom

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... other soldiers in order to shield them from the fire that pummeled his body instead. At one point a bullet entered his hip, traveled up his spine, and exited by his shoulder. His face was hit and blood poured from his nose and his eyes. But he continued to do his work, protecting soldiers, binding up wounds, even running into direct fire to remove a machine gun from enemy reach. Rascon saved lives that day at a tremendous cost to himself, and his buddies kept on trying to get him the proper recognition he ...

3475. It's Not About Me

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... of the Israelis and in the eyes of Hamas. And yet their feelings, needs, and fears are the same — as is their yearning for security in a land of their own, with freedom and prosperity and a future for their families. And yet the death toll just continues to grow. The vast majority of them are innocent civilians and a horrifying number of them children. The conflict is so bitter and the hatred is so deep that any chance of resolution seems impossible. And it is impossible as long as each side fixates on ...

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