Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 3876 to 3900 of 4681 results

3876. A Special Child Promised

Luke 1:5-25

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... and invite the hearer to consider the implications of this for our understanding of Jesus as “God with us.” A subsidiary message may also be derived from the experiences of Elizabeth and Zechariah. Elizabeth, in the “disgrace” of her inability to bear children, represents human helplessness, which is to be joyfully overcome by the power of God; despair gives way to praise. Zechariah, whose big day is suddenly turned upside down by the appearance of the angel, represents human slowness to accept God ...

3877. The Baby Messiah Recognized

Luke 2:21-40

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... gospel: Christ’s salvation will bring joy as well as division and suffering. Literature: Shane, by Jack Schaefer. In this classic Western (1949), considered among the best in the genre, Shane is a startling Christ-type. Coming out of the east, bearing no last name, he immediately inspires respect, even awe, and changes everything before he leaves. In this novel, based on historical realities and set in nineteenth-century Wyoming, Shane comes to bring hope to the homesteaders who are being threatened by ...

3878. Hearing and Responding

Luke 8:19-21, Luke 8:16-18, Luke 8:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... of its original context in Jesus’s ministry. The religious leaders have rejected Jesus’s preaching. They have ears but do not hear and eyes but do not see. Others, however, are responding positively to Jesus’s message and so are bearing fruit. Of course, the parable also relates to the present-day proclamation of the gospel, and the teacher will want to identify contemporary examples of the different kinds of soils. Consider, for example, what the choking “thorns” of worry, riches, and pleasures ...

3879. An Encounter across the Lake

Luke 8:26-39, Luke 8:22-25

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... in a Siberian work camp, experiences on which Solzhenitsyn also partially based his novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Colson describes Solzhenitsyn’s plight: “a pattern of backbreaking labor and slow starvation” leading to a “hopelessness [that] became too much to bear.” He put down his shovel and sat down on a bench, knowing full well that such an action could cost him his life. Amid his dejection he suddenly felt a powerful presence. Beside him, hunched over, an old man was drawing a ...

3880. Ready for the Kingdom of God?

Luke 13:31-35, Luke 13:22-30, Luke 13:18-21

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... products, including multimixers, decided to visit a small but lively business run by the McDonald brothers, because they had bought several of his mixers. Seeing something unusual in their restaurant, he developed a vision for a nationwide chain bearing the brothers’ name. The corporation started in 1955 in California, and one hundred million hamburgers had sold by 1958. Now, besides the over thirteen thousand restaurants in the United States, there are some thirty thousand locations in 120 countries ...

3881. Jesus Takes the Initiative

Luke 21:5-38, Luke 21:1-4, Luke 20:41-47

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... ” are not identified, but the scope seems wide, including both Jewish (“synagogues”) and pagan (“kings and governors”) opposition. Acts will provide examples of both types of persecution of disciples in the decades following Jesus’s ministry. 21:13–15 you will bear testimony to me . . . I will give you words and wisdom. Note that Jesus not only is the subject of their proclamation, but also is still actively involved with his disciples after the end of his earthly ministry. The promise of ...

3882. “When Will These Things Happen?”

Luke 21:5-38

Teach the Text

R.T. France

3883. The Story of Israel and the Story of Gentiles

Romans 1:18-32

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... of God in the face of increasing loss. Larry cannot comprehend why he has been targeted for misfortunes that grow in intensity. The rabbi has no answer, and when there is finally evidence of transcendence, it comes in the form of a tornado bearing down on the house, what looks like a final judgment. After introducing your congregation to the premise, you could show or describe a film clip, and the audience could be prompted to defend Paul’s statement. Paul does not condone same-sex relations. Chart ...

3884. Paul Reinterprets the Story of Israel

Romans 2:17-29

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... , not works. Jesus summarizes this great reversal in Matthew 20:16: the last will be first (believing Gentiles in Rom. 2:25–29), and the first will be last (unbelieving Jews in Rom. 2:25–29). Bible: Philippians 3:4–9. Paul’s own testimony in this text bears out the truth of this passage in Romans. Before his conversion, Paul was a Pharisee who trusted in the works of the law (compare Phil. 3:4–6 with unbelieving Jews in Rom. 2:25–29), but after his conversion to Christ, Paul relied solely on the ...

3885. The Holy Spirit and the Blessings of the New Covenant

Romans 8:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... of Israel would include the restoration of Israel to the status of children of God.5For Paul, therefore, to apply the label “children of God” to Gentiles would have been dramatic: Gentile Christians are included in the restoration of Israel! The Holy Spirit bears witness with the spirit of Christians (the only instance where “spirit” in Rom. 8 is the human spirit) that they are the children of God (8:16). So incredibly intimate is the believer’s relationship with the heavenly Father that by the ...

3886. Introduction and “Hello”

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... the agency and the mode of being for Jesus’s apostle (one sent by Christ), indicates that Paul understands Christian calling in trinitarian terms. The Father’s will is recognized only in the life of the Son. Paul’s Jewish background brings to bear an understanding of apostleship that is rooted in the Hebraic notion of shaliah—someone’s personal representative who performs a specific task in the sender’s name and in a manner that represents the sender.3 Paul’s opening functions as a reminder ...

3887. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... is not a modern thing. Self-promoting Corinthians considered worldly success an important life goal, if not a principal life focus. But Paul says there is no such thing as being trapped in a certain circumstance. Any circumstance is suitable to bear witness to Christ and to share the gospel. In fact, Christians should consider their present circumstance a gift from God designed to enable a testimony to his power and grace in that particular situation. Present circumstances are opportunities that should be ...

3888. Trust versus Self-Reliance

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... or cane to recover from an injury. (Bringing some crutches as props and trying them out or having a volunteer try them out could add to this illustration.) We use crutches to buttress our own strength and protect injured or weakened legs until they can bear weight again. This passage teaches that dependence on God’s grace is the exact opposite of a crutch. It is not a prop that we use temporarily and then hope to discard when health is restored. Unending dependence on God’s grace is itself precisely ...

3889. Imitation and Role Modeling

1 Corinthians 10:23--11:1, 1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... brings guilt on us is our mission and behavior within the association. In other words, if we are there to get along and be liked, we will likely approve of (either actively or passively) things for which our consciences will condemn us. If we are there to lovingly warn and bear witness to the gospel, our presence can lead to salvation and blessing.

3890. Worship and Proper Attire

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... ’s opening line about headship relates directly to the issue of veiling in this context.[6] This is about worship and exclusive relationships, not about authority as such.[7] Paul’s theological argument runs something like this: God is the head of Christ because Christ bears the mark of exclusive relationship to God. Christ is the head of the Christian man for the same reason, and the husband likewise for his wife. A Christian man should not cover his head; when he does, he looks like a pagan and covers ...

3891. The Focus of Christian Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... more specific subject of how several of the questions he addressed in the previous sections relate to a public worship gathering. Since a primary objective of a Christian worship service is to honor Christ, Christ followers must make sure their gathering bears witness to the character and self-giving love of Christ. Pulling together his broader discussions on worship beginning in chapter 8, Paul now gives practical advice on how to accomplish the necessary order at church gatherings. His broader argument is ...

3892. The Four Horsemen

Revelation 6:1-17

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... s coming judgment on unbelievers at the end of the age (Matt. 24:43–25:46). Teaching the Text Revelation 6:9–17 offers substantive points of application for the contemporary Christian. 1. We should expect to suffer as a result of bearing witness to Jesus. As mentioned earlier, God’s people have always suffered opposition. This passage ties suffering directly to the act of witnessing. The martyrs’ most important act was not dying but witnessing faithfully. Revelation never encourages us to seek out ...

3893. The Protective Sealing of God’s People on Earth

Revelation 7:1-8

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... throughout Revelation (e.g., 1:1; 2:20; 6:11; 10:7; 11:18; 19:2, 5, 10; 22:3, 6, 9). The seal of God is also connected with all believers throughout Revelation (7:3–5; 9:4; 14:1; cf. also 3:12; 22:4), just as unbelievers bear the mark of the beast (13:16–17; 14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). Taking other details about the group literally becomes very problematic (e.g., does 14:4 really mean that only 144,000 male virgins from twelve tribes of Israel will be protected?).2 What ...

3894. The Celebration of the Great Multitude in Heaven

Revelation 7:9-17

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... I find him not.” Yet in the midst of all this struggle, Adoniram Judson found his faith sustained by the Lord who called him, sealed him, and sent him. He continued in another twenty-five years of ministry, sowing seeds that still bear fruit today. We are called to conquer as Christ conquered. Quote: Revelation, by Craig Keener… Some homeless teenagers who grew up on Philadelphia’s streets beat to death a Korean honors graduate from Eastern College doing graduate studies in medicine at the University ...

3895. The Woman, the Son, and the Dragon

Revelation 12:1--13:1a

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... trust in God’s sustaining grace and protection to see us through. After Jesus’s temptations in the wilderness, the angels attended to him (Matt. 4:11). Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians that “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). The same God who used angels and the earth and even an instrument of death to defeat Satan will also protect his beloved people in ...

3896. God’s Judgment of Babylon Calls for Celebration

Revelation 19:1-10, Revelation 18:1-24

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” Following the angelic revelation, John is tempted to worship the messenger, but he is rebuked and reminded that only God deserves worship. They have different functions, but both are fellow servants who hold to the testimony of Jesus. God alone deserves worship ...

3897. The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-27

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... the promised resurrection body for the believer (e.g., Rom. 8:11; Phil. 3:21) serve as the primary pattern for the “resurrection” of creation (Rom. 8:18–23). It is a new (kainos) creation in the sense of a new kind or quality, not that it must bear no resemblance whatever to the present creation. Our best guess as to what the new creation will be like is to imagine the present creation in all its beauty, glory, and power without evil of any sort. That image will fall short, but it remains the best way ...

3898. Unclean Animals

Leviticus 11:1-47

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... contributed to Israel’s health. The avoidance of carcasses or of eating animals that had died of natural causes plus the required washings to return to a state of cleanness contributed to hygiene. Certain unclean animals can transmit diseases: the pig bears trichinosis (tapeworm), and the hare tularemia; carrion-eating birds harbor disease; and fish without fins and scales attract disease because they are mud burrowers. However, health is at best a secondary reason for these laws. Not every animal was a ...

3899. Uncleanness Due to Childbirth

Leviticus 12:1-8

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... impure from time to time is arguably symbolic of the impurity of sin in the world, the sinful nature of humankind, and the need for people to be cleansed morally. But in this particular case, the mother committed no moral offense (sin) by bearing a child. Teaching the Text 1. God is associated with life and purity, not death. Why does childbirth result in uncleanness? The answer goes back to blood. Childbirth involves the discharge of the bloody placenta from the vagina. Loss of blood speaks symbolically ...

3900. Holy Days and Festivals

Le 22:17–23:22

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... gratitude and joy). On sacrifices required for each holy occasion, see Numbers 28–29. 23:40 branches from luxuriant trees. The Hebrew word peri normally means “fruit” (ESV, NKJV, NRSV), but “luxuriant trees,” unlike date “palms,” bear no fruit during Tabernacles. Rendering something like “branches” goes back to the Jewish sect of the Karaites1(cf. “boughs” [KJV], “foliage” [NASB], “product” [HCSB, NJPS]). The Karaites revocalized peri (“fruit”) to a variant spelling of ...

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