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 326 to 350 of 715 results

326. Week Three Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... less acceptable. It's the attitude that one takes which matters. The Pharisee is trying to impress God. God, however, is not impressed. God knows the Pharisee; he knows us as well, better than we know ourselves. God knows the heart; he knows our intent. The tax collector is a sinful man. He is broken and realizes the errors of his life. This man, as Jesus says, went home justified, because he was honest and made no attempt to impress God. Hosea says in the First Reading that there are only two things that ...

327. The Second Meal

Sermon

Robert F. Scott

... meals with such varied people that often there were strong emotional overtones.Luke brings us ten of these table scenes, and we find some indication of the importance they must have had to Jesus. The first dinner was at the house of Levi, a despised tax collector, and at once the Pharisees severely criticized Jesus, saying no decent rabbi would associate with such an outcast.Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have come not to call the righteous ...

328. The Seven Last Words Of Pilate

Sermon

Thomas Long

... a cast of supporting actors, and to put the story into dramatic motion. It is one thing, for example, to hear the story of Zacchaeus; it is quite another actually to see him -- this tiny man swallowed by the always-taller crowd; this lilliputian tax collector lost in a sea of NBA centers; this diminutive bureaucrat flexing himself up on his tiptoes, craning his neck in vain as he tries to find a decent sight line, finally lifting his skirts and shinnying immodestly up the nearest sycamore tree. Or again ...

329. Details

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Marc Kolden

... that he is the son of Alphaeus. The point for us is that Christ's mission is carried out by sinners transformed by grace, not by saints without any problems. Only one name includes his former occupation: Matthew the gospel writer calls himself the "tax collector," as if to underline God's amazing grace. Small details, but reassuring to those of us who don't think that God could have any use for persons like us. Our passage finishes with just the beginnings of Jesus' instructions to his disciples before ...

330. Prayers for Epiphany

Bulletin Aid

Rolland R. Reece

... Bethsaida, a shrieking blind man, a hassled homemaker, an unknown sinner begging for mercy, a poor woman giving her last coin to the temple, a father who was desperate to have his child healed, and a crazy man living in a cemetery. Your Son recruited a tax collector and a fisherman and transformed them into religious leaders. He raised a friend who had fallen into the sleep of death. He continued to love a disciple who denied him. He took time to provide for his mother's care as he hung dying on the cross ...

331. Sometimes It's Simple

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... asked what they were to do to live up to God's demands. John took them on one at a time. To those who had two coats, he told them to share one with someone who had none. Those who had plenty of food were invited to do the same. Tax collectors were told to take no more than was legal. And soldiers were asked not to rob or extort. Right living wasn't complicated after all. People were to be kind and compassionate to one another, and the more powerful were to live simply, realizing that the less powerful were ...

332. Defining The Mission

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... . His ministry was not to be directed to the proper, the well, the pious, but to the improper, the sick, the pariahs. If how he put it wasn't bad enough, the rest of the gospel of Luke describes how he did it. His friends were prostitutes, sinners, tax collectors and drunks. In his best stories the heroes were a no good son, a Samaritan, and a beggar whose sores the dogs licked. The shock comes when we realize that his mission then is our mission now. How do we define the essential work of the church? What ...

333. Moving At The Speed Of Light: Unknown Apostles

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

... mission two by two in the tenth chapter of Luke? In some cases we have names but little else: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, and James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanean and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him. In Acts Peter is the dominant leader of the church in the early chapters and while undoubtedly "the twelve" were active and faithful, only three of them are ...

334. On The Cross-Road

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... went around playing with children, and said, "Look here, this is what God is all about: Unless you have the faith and love and trust of these little people, you can't grasp really well who I am." He went around talking to winos, prostitutes, cheats, tax collectors, and said, "Look here, God loves you and cares about you. You are an important person because you, too, are one of my children." And Jesus went around telling stories about sons who take up their inheritance and go out and blow it on wine, women ...

335. The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:1-7

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading. Readers: 5 male voices. Read in a storytelling manner. Key: 1 = young adult male 2 = boy in elementary school 3 = boy in junior high school 4 = boy in senior high school 5 = a dad 1: Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." 2: So he told them this parable: 3: Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons ...

336. You Can Be Happy

1 Chronicles 13:1-14

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... but rather with a small leadership circle that was perverting the faith. And so he said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered you to myself as a mother hen her brood?" But he also loved the Samaritans and harlots and publicans and tax collectors who were the antitheses of faithful believers. He loved children (even when the disciples thought they were too busy for kids). When the rich young man came to Jesus, the story says the Savior "looked upon him and loved him." He also loved a ...

337. Proper 19

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... Oh, Sing Jubilee To The Lord The King Of Love My Shepherd Is Amazing Grace, How Sweet The Sound Proper 19 -- Pentecost 17 -- OT 24 Lord, we have trouble adding up what your Grace means! The Pharisees and the scribes had the same trouble. Sinners and tax collectors should not be included! By our calculations, you are not being fair with us! Upon taking a closer look, however, we realize that if you were to be fair, we would get what we deserve rather than the gracious gifts we have received from your hand ...

338. Proper 25

Luke 18:9-14

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note The parable of the pridefully pious Pharisee and the sinful but suppliant tax collector is an object-lesson in God's grace. Apparently, trying to achieve divine acceptance with one's own righteousness is a fruitless exercise in self-confidence and pride, while acknowledging one's own unworthiness in humility and relying on God's mercy yields justification and even exaltation. Liturgical Color Green ...

339. The Power of Faith

Luke 7:1-10

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... Suggested Hymns To God The Holy Spirit Let Us Pray My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less Holy Spirit, Truth Divine Lord Jesus, when you walked on this earth, you discovered faith in people whom we might consider rather unlikely candidates! Prostitutes and lepers, Tax collectors, party people, and occupation soldiers. This is not what our list of the "chosen" would look like. Lord, it is a good thing you do the choosing! Our "list" would be more restricted. Your kingdom did not stop growing when we became a part ...

340. The Wheat Among The Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon

Marc Kolden

... judge too soon. Salvation is by grace through faith, not by accomplishments. Righteousness is not visible; God's ways and ours are not necessarily the same. Jesus is portrayed over and over in the New Testament as reaching out to all sorts of people: tax collectors, lepers, foreigners, all those called "least." Our task is to go and make disciples, to proclaim the gospel to all people, not to sit in judgment over those who are not like us. This is hard to manage sometimes. We want to know now, especially ...

341. Pride: The Deadliest of the Seven Deadly Sins

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

R. Curtis Fussell

... .4 Someone has said we would do well to wear our talents like a pocket watch -- to keep them hidden and only pull them out when someone is in need. Jesus tells the story of two men who went to the Temple to worship God, a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee was a model of faith. He worshiped regularly, served as an elder and teacher in the church; he was a devoted husband, he was honest in all his business practices. He tithed his earnings to the church. Here was a man who was everything we want in ...

342. Essential Personnel!

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

... and I will show you a place where you can make a difference. Bring your love and hope and watch them change lives." Jesus' disciples were not a panel of experts. Jesus took people whom the world had labeled in many ways non-essential -- fishermen, tax collectors, notorious sinners, women who were never considered essential before -- and used them and their gifts in doing the work of love and issuing the call to others to follow in the way of Jesus. People who before never felt wanted found a place. People ...

343. Easter 5

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, Acts 7:54--8:1a, Acts 17:1-9, 1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... , rather than exclusive, state of being? Many people think of the heavenly home as hemmed in by all sorts of zoning regulations. Only those who believe as I do will enter the gates of glory, they think. It makes sense that the One who ate with sinners and tax collectors, will welcome many whom we have deemed wanting. What the Lord seeks above all is a repentant and trusting heart. The way to the Father. Yet the way to God is very specific. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to ...

344. Proper 7

Mt 10:16-39 · Rom 5:12 – 6:11 · Jer 20:7-13 · Gen 21:8-21 · Ps 86

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... is just so much pious prating. That's why Jeremiah's prayers are so refreshing; he just bares his soul to the Lord. God accepts us just as we are. It's pretending that puts him off. Recall the parable told in Luke's gospel of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. We need to hold up the example of such honest to God prayer. Outline: 1. When's the last time you had an honest to God prayer? 2. Actually, there is no other kind 3. Jeremiah is a prime example of such authentic prayer 4. Principles of honest to God ...

345. God's Medicine of Mercy

Matthew 9:18-26, Matthew 9:9-13

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes Jesus' association with the despised (here, tax collectors and sinners) and his pronouncements about the need of the sick for a physician and God's desire for mercy all direct the reader's attention to the point that God's interest is not in the self-righteous (who may also be termed "the supposedly-righteous"), but to those ...

346. Only The Messiah

Mark 8:27-30

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... and because Peter had the courage to listen to what his heart said. Peter had been with Jesus and had seen how Jesus treated other people. He had seen the unconditional nature of the love Jesus offered to the sick, to the poor, to social outcasts, to tax collectors and sinners; he had seen how Jesus accepted people he met just as they were -- and offered them his friendship, his love. Peter had seen all this and had received the gift of Jesus' love himself. And in return, Peter's heart was filled with love ...

347. Jesus Heals A Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... Jesus which seems to be a critique of his ministry in the light of Jewish tradition. The four questions in this series are: "Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:7). "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Mark 2:16). "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" (Mark 2:18). "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" (Mark 2:24). Jesus' reply in each case is a ...

348. Jesus: The Ultimate Ordinary

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... deserves respect and equality, and is of infinite worth. What in Jesus was ordinary in this way? He found and persisted in respecting the inestimable worth in every person. No one of privilege got special treatment; no woebegone person received inferior treatment. The tax collector, the woman at the well, the prostitute, the Pharisee, and the rich young man all had ordinary worth in his sight. Being ordinary in this way did not downgrade others but upgraded all he met. To be ordinary like Jesus we must rid ...

349. Investing God's Gift

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... has come to seek and to save the lost. So wherever else our passage today may lead us, it cannot be separated from the story which precedes it, the story of a Savior who seeks out the lowest, the most despised, and even the wicked tax collectors like Zacchaeus. The parable which follows comes "as they were listening" to the story of Zacchaeus. The second clue Luke gives us is the latter part of that introductory sentence: "He went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed ...

350. Easter 4

Psalm 23:1-6, Acts 4:1-22, 1 John 3:11-24, John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... Good Shepherd. (v. 11) The sermon could deal with how Jesus exemplified the Good Shepherd. A. How Jesus Related to His Disciples Inviting to follow Teaching and supporting B. How Jesus Related to Those Outside the Flock Healing the Syro-Phoenician woman Forgiving the tax collectors Healing the Roman nobleman's child C. How Jesus Related to God Perfect understanding of God's will Obedience even unto death on the cross 2. I Know the Father. (v. 15) Examine the issue of how we know the Father. A. Through the ...

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