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 351 to 375 of 715 results

351. Which Ones Were Lost?

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

Sermon

Merle G. Franke

... thousands of Asians Ä and in the process sacrificing thousands of our people. The hippies said it was all wrong. And when they sat in our beautiful stained glass church on week days and sang their sad songs, some of our people were upset. "The tax collectors and sinners were coming near ..." Luke tells us in his gospel. And he continued, "And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, 'This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.' " Perhaps the saddest part of the story is that there is ...

352. Lent 4

Luke 15:11-32

Bulletin Aid

Craig M. Sweet

Reader 1: Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So Jesus told them this parable: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, People: ' ...

353. Lent 1

Luke 4:16-30 · Psalm 103:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Jack Brownlee

... , I'd be the first one to say, 'Hey, Jesus, good to see you, welcome back, want to say a few words?' But for Pete's sake Mary, with the talent he has working with wood, he's wasting himself. Walking around the countryside with fishermen, Zealots, tax collectors, and who knows what else." "What did he say in the synagogue?" "Oh! Well he read from the prophet Isaiah, and then made it sound like he was the fulfillment of the prophet's words. Can you believe it, a carpenter from Nazareth the Messiah? For Pete ...

354. Lent 4

Luke 13:18-22 · Joel 2:12-19

Bulletin Aid

Jack Brownlee

... most of the trouble in larger towns such as Capernaum, he was said to have close personal friends as near as Bethsaida. It had been reported recently that he and his followers were now stopping in small towns and making friends, as usual, with tax collectors and publicans, and casting a strange influence on women and children who had no appreciation for the law of God, and had no way of discriminating between debate and error. "We must take care," he continued, "to keep our loved ones from the influence ...

355. Words As Images

Sermon

Michael Rogness

... when he wrote in the sand (John 8:6, 8), Jesus never wrote a word, and even in John 8 we don't know what he wrote. In speaking with people, he knew the power of imagery. When he was criticized for eating with sinners and tax collectors, he could have responded by explaining, "God considers everybody precious and receives even the worst sinners with mercy and forgiveness when they come to him." That would have been correct, but abstract. Rather Jesus responded, "There was a man who had two sons; and the ...

356. Living The Alternatives

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... world are not finally settled. The definitions that fetter us are not forged in steel. Jesus looks at life from a different and radically imaginative perspective and therein lies the kingdom of God. Consider, for example, his perception of Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector, who made his living by cheating everyone. When Jesus came to town, Zacchaeus, being very short of stature, decided to climb a tree for a better look. Jesus noticed him out on his limb but the question was, what should he, as Messiah ...

357. Jesus, The Mad Man

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

Erskine White

... as when He spent forty days alone in the desert). Judging by His appearance, people may well have looked at this Man and said, "He is beside Himself." See also the people around Him. There are simple, uneducated fishermen. There is a tax collector, despised by every patriotic Jew. There are prostitutes and other women of questionable reputation. These are the disciples of a holy man? Jesus gathered such people together and said that they would enter heaven before the respectable people, the priests and the ...

358. When Christians Disappoint

Acts 5:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

... must have said: "Look at those Christians! They claim to love one another so much that they share everything together, but look at how they really are! They pretend to be generous, but really they are hypocrites. They aren't any better than the soldiers and tax collectors who rob us blind." Yes, the hypocrisy and immorality of Christians does incalculable harm to Christ's church. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people talk like this, and they have a hundred different reasons for it. "I don't want ...

359. Advent 3

Zephaniah 3:1-20, Philippians 4:2-9, Luke 3:1-20, Isaiah 12:1-6

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... against God and other people. He tells them, in answer to their "What then shall we do?" question: "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." He said similar things to the tax collectors and the soldiers, who obviously were in the crowd of people gathered at the Jordan. That sounds like an ethical exhortation, "Correct your lifestyle and do good to others, and all will be well with you." When I was quite young, my grandparents heard the lay ...

360. Straight Talk, Due Process and Grace

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

William J. Carl

... to the elders. Try to settle it out of court with a few wise, patient, and loving friends. If that doesn’t work, if the persons still refuse to listen, then be done with them. Show them the door. Treat them as gentiles or tax collectors. Treat them as you would a Saddam Hussein: no diplomatic relations. There’s only one problem with this approach. Jesus would never have said it. Practically all the commentators agree that this is the early church talking, working off the old rabbinical saying, “Love ...

361. The Strength of the Master

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... out of doors. The master, as a human, was a friend of humanity. Such a popular speaker was he that people left their homes and work to hear him. From the best of those who came he chose twelve to be his closest friends. Four fishermen, one tax collector and seven others -- these were the best friends of the former carpenter. As his life drew to a close, the Master nourished his friendships with almost desperate eagerness. It was for his friends that he served the Last Supper. It was with his friends that he ...

362. Who Holds the Keys to the Kingdom?

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Steven Burt

... people? Whom would he turn away?” That look of understanding, of sudden awareness, came over his face, and he said, “From what I know of Jesus, he wouldn’t turn anyone away. After all, we’re talking about a person who ate with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners.” “That,” I said like a wise old supervisor, “is what you must base your decisions on -- the knowledge which comes out of your relationship with Jesus Christ -- not by the books or creeds or tradition. Speak out of that ...

363. Teaching About Revenge And About Loving Enemies

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... may be children of your Father in heaven; 7: for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteousness and on the unrighteous. 8: For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 9: And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the gentiles do the same? 10: Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

364. Ka-Chang

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

John Jamison

... Those "sneerers" are some of the Zealots who have come down from Mount Arbel and are enemies with anyone who is a friend of Rome. Keep in mind, they carry daggers. The rest of the crowd is crowd. There are some fishermen, some farmers, some tax collectors, some teachers, some prostitutes, some cancer patients, some women, some children; just good common folks. They are just hoping to hear a little hope. This is Jesus' congregation. Now, let's try to keep score. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." First of all ...

365. A Good Thing To Know

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... one had its impact. There is the calling of Zacchaeus from the tree. How did Jesus know this was the very right time, the "kairos" for Zacchaeus? There is the conversion of Zacchaeus, no small wonder in itself, given the fact that he was a tax collector, a collaborator with the foreign government of Rome. There were the immediate and sacrificial "fruits" of that conversion. "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold (Luke 19 ...

366. Spirit Full Or Foul?

Isaiah 44:1-5

Sermon

Justin Tull

... full. She embodied the Spirit of the one who said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” What is the difference between people who are Spirit full and Spirit foul? You probably can tell by the prayers they pray. Remember the prayer of the tax collector: “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner?” That was a Spirit-full prayer. I also remember a youth who seemed to think of herself as being very spiritual as she told us about the power of God working in her life. She told how during drill ...

367. Serving With Water: The Washing

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Steve Swanson

... be your slave." (Matthew 20:26) Or: If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. (Mark 9:33) Or, he might tell them the parable of the seating arrangements at the banquet, or the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Again and again, Jesus taught them lessons of humility and service. But what did they do after they ate that beautiful, meaningful, and mystical Last Supper? They began once again to argue and bicker about who was going to be the greatest. (Luke 22:24-27) By ...

368. Monday Morning Faith

Matthew 21:23-27, Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... , our faith examined, our lifestyle called into question. We sometimes take pleasure in seeing that happen to somebody else, as when Jesus says to the chief priests and elders in today’s text who have called his authority to preach into question, "Truly I tell you the tax collectors and prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God before you." But it doesn’t feel so good when he turns to us and says, "I’m talking to you, too, sinners." Once there was a father who had two children. One day he said to ...

369. The Women

John 20:1-9

Drama

William Grimbol

... want it. He made me want to live it. He made me want to love with all my heart and mind. KAREN: To me, what is truly miraculous about this man is that he lives it. He actually lives with the poor, he actually communicates with tax collectors, lepers, even Samaritans. PATTI: He is a living - walking - talking miracle. CAROL: To live fully in the name of truth. To live a life of love. How marvelous! SHIRLEE: How utterly sentimental. This all just an emotional high. This is just feeling good about being good ...

370. The Men

Drama

William Grimbol

... claiming God is a fool. Yahweh made a mistake in granting blessings. He was wrong in punishing the sinner. He just got fouled up, and Jesus is here to correct it all. REED: Haven't you sinned? BILL: Of course. JOHN: But I don't compare to a tax-collector, a Samaritan, a prostitute ... REED: Why not? JOHN: Why not? Why not? Why you ... BILL: Why not? Because we believe. We follow. We have faith. Past. Present. Future. REED: We all sin equally in the eyes of Yahweh. ARNOLD: Then what is the Law for? REED: To ...

371. Monologue: Mary Magdalene - Liberated Woman

John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18

Drama

Robert F. Scott

... to praise God for salvation; freedom to live, to live again and really live! He is liberating me from all the old barriers between people. It began with his little band in Galilee: Jesus himself, a carpenter's son, Joanna from the royal court, fishermen, a former tax collector. Jesus set me free to welcome people for their own inner worth. He opened me to welcome rich and poor, slave and free, men and women, all equally set free to praise our Savior. Gentile and Jew now share the bread of the Lord's supper ...

372. What Reasons to Betray the Savior?

Matthew 26:17-30

Drama

Joe Barone

... on the side of God, but of men." I had never really understood. Dear friends, Jesus' whole life was a battle for the kingdom. After he healed the paralytic and then went and called Matthew, the Pharisees were heard to ask, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Just an innocent question, the kind of question you all ask around the card table or the coffee table sometimes when you want to stick a knife in someone's back. Dear friends, all of life is a battle for God's kingdom, and every ...

373. The Impossibility of Neutrality

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Robert Allen

... either choose Jesus' God or some other. For or against the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ -- on that issue no convenient fence exists where we can sit undecided. Whenever an individual faced Jesus, he or she was confronted with the God-question. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, was confronted by Jesus. He could not remain neutral. Jesus wanted a yes or a no for an answer. Would he or would he not make restitution for his ill-gotten gains? Would he or would he not clean up his life? Would he or would ...

374. Monologues: Disciples Redeemed

John 20:10-18, John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Drama

Raymond I. Keffer

... further blessed by being able to witness to my fellow men in many nations of the world. Worldly riches were nothing. I knew firsthand that riches stored up in Heaven were greater than any riches stored up on Earth. For until Jesus changed my life, I was a tax collector. Riches were everything. "My death came by an act of a jealous king. He was jealous of my security in Christ. He wanted my security, but he wouldn't surrender himself to Jesus. This king tied me up, placed me on sticks of wood, and covered my ...

375. Don't Just Stand There! - Get Involved!

Luke 3:1-20, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Dr. John Thompson Peters

... As for the third delegation, the military, (Jesus had all three groups in His audience also) the master was not content with John's "Do violence to no man." Rather, we hear Him saying, "If you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:44, 45, 47) These contrasts between the message preached by John and the true "word ...

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