Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 3576 to 3600 of 4946 results

3576. John 14:15 21

John 14:15-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Our personal perspective affects everything we see and our perspective changes throughout our life. Ever re‑visit your elementary school as an adult? Isn’t it startling to see how those long hallways and big auditoriums you remember have shrunk in size? Giant and grandiose suddenly look small and shabby. The curvature of the earth creates a different horizon for everyone, depending upon where you are standing. Staring out to sea, from a personal perspective, the world seems to end in nothingness over the ...

3577. Waiting in Life's Waiting Rooms

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The season of Advent is a “waiting game.” Everyone is “waiting” for something. *Students anxiously wait for finals to be over and the start of Christmas break. *Some employees have the big wait, as they hold their breath and learn whether or not there will be a Christmas bonus. *Retailers count the days til they can count the bottom line from the season’s buying frenzy. *Kids of all ages can’t wait to open up the brightly wrapped presents starting to appear under the tree. Everyone is waiting . . . for the ...

3578. When the Unthinkable Happens

Mark 13:1-8, 24-32

Sermon

King Duncan

A priest and a rabbi from local parishes were standing by the side of the road holding up signs. The rabbi’s sign read, “The End is Near!” The priest, on the other side of the road, held up a sign which read, “Turn before it’s too late!” They planned to hold up their signs to each passing car. “Get a job,” The first driver yelled at them when he saw the sign. The second driver, immediately behind the first, yelled, “Leave us alone you religious freaks!” Shortly, from around the curve, the two clergy heard ...

3579. The Christian and the World

James 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Because he is aware of practical problems in the community, James makes an abrupt switch from peacemakers, the wise leaders of the community, to the actual situation of intrachurch conflict. 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? That is a good question, for if God’s wisdom is found in peacemakers, community strife does not come from them. A conflict with the pagan world or the synagogue might be the inevitable result of following Christian standards, but these are quarrels within the church (i.e ...

3580. Disobedience and Defeat

Judges 2:6-3:6

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

Survey of Israel’s Early History: Joshua to Judges · Here begins a new section, but not immediately a new subject. In fact, rather than carrying the story forward, the text looks back to the period immediately after the Israelites renewed their covenant with the Lord at Shechem (Josh. 24). The text picks up nearly where the book of Joshua left off. Joshua 24:28 almost word for word corresponds to Judges 2:6. The section that follows (vv. 10–19) points to the author’s special concern with Israel’s spiritual ...

3581. Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

Call for Mutual Consideration Paul’s concern for unity of mind and mutual consideration among the members of the Philippian church need not imply that there was an atmosphere of dissension there. The fact that two members are singled out by name and urged to agree in 4:2 could suggest (unless 4:2 belongs to an originally separate letter) that theirs was an exceptional case of conflict. We do not know what Epaphroditus had told Paul about the state of the church, but at this time Paul found sufficient ...

3582. Salvation for Others

Isaiah 56:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Back in Palestine: Yahweh’s Vision for an Open Community: We have come to another transition point in Isaiah, and to the opening of its last major section, traditionally known as Third Isaiah. The work of the Ambassador and the Poet give way to the work of the Preacher, whose account of being anointed for this task comes in the central chapter in 61:1. So far chapters 1–33 have focused on Yahweh’s dealings with Judah during the latter part of the monarchy. They have challenged Judah about the religious and ...

3583. Jesus Inaugurates the Disciple Band and Conquers the Unclean Spirits

Mark 1:14-20, Mark 1:21-28

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus reacts to two types of people: (1) those who are willing to commit to him, like the first four disciples, and who are re-created by Jesus to “fish for people”; (2) those who remain outside him and thus will experience his authority to vanquish the powers of darkness. Understanding the Text Jesus’s Galilean ministry (1:16–10:52) begins here. Mark will start with two cycles of Jesus’s ministry to the three major Jewish groups of Galilee: his disciples (1:16–20; 3:13–19), the crowds (1:21–45; ...

3584. Lessons on Devotion and Prayer

Luke 11:1-13, Luke 10:38-42

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: It is our personal relationship with God that should take priority in our lives; those who know God as Father can pray to him with full confidence. Understanding the Text Prayer, and especially Jesus’s practice of prayer, is a prominent theme for Luke. He has portrayed Jesus at prayer already in 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28–29, indicating that this was an important part of his way of life. Those passages record the fact of Jesus’s frequent prayer rather than its content. But in 10:21–22 we have ...

3585. The New-Covenant Ethic of Love

Romans 12:9-21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul, like Jesus, says that the new-covenant ethic is love. The thesis here is simple: love sincerely. Love should be shown toward God, fellow believers, and even nonbelievers who persecute Christians. Thus, Paul’s ethic continues the radical call by Jesus to his disciples to love one another. To love others is to sacrificially accept the new-covenant stipulation to love. Understanding the Text Romans 12:9–21 continues the theme of being a living sacrifice (12:1–2) by loving others. Romans 12:9 ...

3586. Message to Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7-13

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: Jesus commends his church for persevering in obedience under trying circumstances and reassures them with the promise of his eternal presence. Understanding the Text The message to the church in Philadelphia is the sixth in the series of messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3. To the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia, Jesus offers no rebuke but only praise as they endure rejection for his sake. Although this Philadelphian congregation has “little strength,” it has endured opposition, ...

3587. The Temporary Imprisonment of Satan

Revelation 20:1-7

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: In his sovereignty, God temporarily imprisons Satan for a time to keep him from deceiving the nations. Understanding the Text Following the return of Christ in 19:11–21, we read of the imprisonment of Satan in 20:1–3 in preparation for the millennial reign in 20:4–6. Throughout Revelation, Satan appears not as a “figure of power . . . but a figure of deception, and his only triumph is to deceive the ungodly masses into opposing God and worshiping the beast and himself.”1 The judgment of Satan ...

3588. The Census of the Twelve Tribes

Num 1:1–2:54

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God fulfills his promises. Understanding the Text Numbers begins with Israel still “in the Desert of Sinai,” where it has received the Ten Commandments (Num. 1:1; cf. Exod. 19:1–2). Numbers continues the story of Exodus and Leviticus. At the end of the book of Exodus, Israel constructs the tabernacle, or “tent of meeting.” The book of Leviticus gives rules for how Israel is to use the tabernacle. Now from that tent at Mount Sinai God gives further instructions. Centuries earlier God had promised ...

3589. The Nazirite Vow

Numbers 6:1-21

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Willingly dedicate oneself to God. Understanding the Text The Nazirite regulations continue the theme of purity from Numbers 5. The Nazirites are laymen and laywomen who in a special way have dedicated themselves to God. Amos lists the Nazirite with the prophet as a special kind of holy person (Amos 2:11–12). These regulations also continue the theme of oaths, for both the woman suspected of adultery and the Nazirite make oaths (Num. 5:15–31; 6:2). Historical and Cultural Background Nazirite ...

3590. Instruction for Temple Entry

Psalm 15:1-5

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Psalm 15 is part of a liturgy of temple entrance (see the Introduction for a fuller discussion of this momentous rite of passage). It shares with Psalm 24:3–6 and Isaiah 33:14b–16 the threefold pattern of a question of who may sojourn on Yahweh’s holy hill (v. 1), a reply consisting of the qualifications for worshipers (vv. 2–5a) and a promise (v. 5b). 15:1 A literal translation of verse 1, “Who may sojourn (Hb. gwr) in your tent (Hb. ʾohel); who may camp (Hb. škn) on your holy hill?” makes plain that the ...

3591. Paul's Vision and His Thorn

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

12:1–10 Up to this point in the “Fool’s Speech” Paul boasts that, as a servant of Christ, he is superior to his opponents (the so-called super-apostles) mostly in terms of his far greater sufferings (11:21b–33). In 12:1–10 the apostle goes on to boast of his surpassing revelatory experience. In contrast to the disgraceful descent from the wall in Damascus (11:33), Paul here recounts a glorious ascent into heaven (cf. T. Jos. 1:4 for a similar contrast between descent as humiliation and ascent as exaltation ...

3592. The Fall of Man

Genesis 3:1-24

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Fall: The interchange among the man, the woman, and the serpent provides dramatic movement, and captures how motivation to disobey God rises from an inversion of the order of responsibility that God had established. 3:1–5 Act 2 of the drama begins with the introduction of a new actor, the serpent, one of the wild animals the LORD God had made (2:19). The serpent is described as more crafty (’arum) than the other animals. ’Arum makes a wordplay on “naked” (’arummim), which occurs in 2:25, and thus ...

3593. Dream Weaver

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many know the 1975 song, “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright? Wright apparently took the idea for the song from John Lennon, who in his song “God” saw himself as the “dream weaver” of the 1960s, “breaking away from the influences and dogmas that informed his life.”* Lennon in fact spent his life trying to “break free” of the childhood traumas and psychological demons that plagued him, as well as cultural conventions. That “liberation” theme came out frequently in his music, and in his life. Lennon was ...

3594. The Heart's Deceit

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Rules. We need them. They are like guardrails for our safety, our well-being, and our peace of mind. What feels like a risky journey is made secure and free of worry by the guidelines, laws, and rules of our societies. When rules function as our boundaries, our structure to our otherwise aimless endeavors, they comfort us. But when our rules become our journey, our primary focus, the purpose for the trip itself, we have become prisoners of our own safety nets. How does this happen? It usually has to do ...

3595. Confidence, Joy, and Hope

Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever been the bearer of bad news? It’s tough, isn’t it? Nobody wants that job. You may have heard of the saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” It means, “Don’t take out your anger on the person delivering the bad news. It’s not their fault.” Did you know there are variations of this saying in countries all over the world? And that some form of this saying was found in writings from 446 BC—almost 450 years before the birth of Jesus Christ? The great playwright William Shakespeare was the one to coin ...

3596. God Is Like...

Isaiah 40:18-31 · John 1:1-14

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

With some things, once you get started, it’s hard to stop. Things like eating salted peanuts and reading a good murder mystery and doing a challenging crossword puzzle. Or, in my own case, preaching sermons in a series entitled “God is like…” In that first sermon of the series I said: My purpose is simply to help all of us appreciate and understand more about God and to discover appropriate responses to this Holy One. I hope our exploration will provide both comfort and challenge. And I expect some ...

3597. It's OK To Stir Up God

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Richard Patt

Sometimes you and I have to stoke up enough nerve to ask someone for a favor. We find it tough to ask for something -- for anything. I'm not thinking about asking someone for a large sum of money either. It can be as simple as asking for a ride when our own car is temporarily out of commission, or asking someone at a dinner table to pass us the potatoes. We are inclined to hesitate when it comes to asking favors of others, even small ones. This is probably the case for at least two reasons. First, we tend ...

3598. What To Do With A Self-willed Child

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

Rearing children is never easy. My worst nightmare is having to go back and do it again. Grandchildren are super. We love to have them visit. We can spoil them rotten, and in two or three days they go home! I spend a considerable part of my week listening to parents worry about their children. Either they are lazy, or they are into heaven knows what. They are stupid, or too smart for their own good. They have no initiative and are couch potatoes, or you never know what they are going to do next. They are ...

3599. Behold The Man Who Trained Disciples

Luke 10:1-20

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

In March of 1860 an ad appeared in many newspapers of the West. It read, "Wanted. Men, sturdy, young, not under 18, good riders, willing to face death. $25 per week. Orphans preferred." Many young men answered the call, and the Pony Express was born. A new chapter opened up in the history of this country. A new chapter is always written in the life of the church whenever Christian people dare to reach out into some new frontier and carry the good news forward. It was for this reason that Jesus chose ...

3600. Why Do We Ignore Warning Signs?

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

Recently the New York Times Magazine showed a series of photographs of a rock formation in Yosemite National Park near Bridal Veil Falls. A prominent sign in yellow plastic was attached to the rocks which clearly said: "Danger. Climbing or scrambling on rocks and cliffs is extremely dangerous. They are slippery when dry or wet. Many injuries and even fatalities have occurred." One picture showed a woman walking on the rocks in a tight dress and high heels. Another showed a couple walking on the rocks. The ...

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