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 376 to 400 of 715 results

376. The Prodigal Son or The Merciful Father

Luke 15:1-7

Drama

Robert A. Lehmann

Theme: A parable of mercy and forgiveness Characters: Narrator Jesus The youngest son The Father, Four solo voices (Solo 2 doubles as the older son) Narrator: Dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus. Solo 1: Because Jesus was their friend? Solo 2: Well, they didn't have many friends; especially like Jesus. Narrator: They came, and the Pharisees and Scribes murmured, Solo 3: Because Jesus was an important man. Solo 4: And important ...

377. Jesus and the Women in His Life

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Thomas Blowers

... was is not nearly as important as who she became: a follower of Jesus, part of the larger group of people who followed him wherever he went. But Jesus sure did have some strange friends. Among the Twelve were a handful of fishermen, a tax collector, a political revolutionary. One of Jesus' closest friendswas a businessman by the name of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and prominent man who followed Jesus secretly for fear of ramifications which could ruin him.(Strange then that after Jesus died his body was ...

378. A Change of Direction

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

... ?" The answer is obvious - just as Jesus intended it should be, I believe. Now the occasion of this story was an encounter of Jesus with some of the priests and elders of his time. He was telling them that when John came preaching righteousness, the tax collectors and harlots received and believed him, but that they had not. And he was saying to those priests and elders that, even though they had not accepted John when he was preaching, they could afterward have repented and believed him - but this they had ...

379. Christ Is King

John 12:12-19

Sermon

... no royal robes. His associates did not include the upper echelon of royalty nor any of the hot shots people like to claim as friends. They were from the ranks of the poor, the oppressed, the captive. His attendants were selected from the fisher folk and tax collectors in a province the important people scorned. When he died, he had nothing but a rag to leave behind. But is there evidence of royal trappings in his reign today? Is there anything to suggest that Christ is in control - in the world of war, or ...

380. In Turning to God

John 18:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Picture in your mind Our Lord and His disciples at the Last Supper. They are now all gathered in the Upper Room, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. There are James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and also Philip, and Matthew, the tax collector, and Simon. And here also is Thomas, called the Twin, with Bartholomew and young Andrew. And alongside of them is James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus. Only two other disciples remain, and both of these men are seated beside one another. The first is Peter, ...

381. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

... all that you have. If you should chose to follow, there is no part of life immune to that call. Abraham gave up his Son. Moses gave up Pharaoh’s court. Peter gave up his family and their fishing business. Matthew gave up the lucrative profession of a tax collector. Paul gave up his prestigious position as a Pharisee. Now, unless you are called into full time Christian ministry you will not be asked to do as these men have done. But, none of us, clergy and laity alike, can escape the need to establish our ...

382. Training Session

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

The recruiting of the twelve disciples is now complete. Jesus has chosen a group of unlikely candidates - fishermen, tax collectors, unsophisticated Galileans, and others - to communicate the good news to the world that he is the Messiah. Training these people for their task is the second phase of this operation. Jesus takes the disciples away from the crowds for an educational retreat on the side of a nearby mountain. Their ...

383. The Cry for God

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

James G. Cobb

... and Transfiguration and Olives; through the Red Sea and the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan. We see the trail-markings through Cana weddings and funerals from Nain and preachings in Capernaum. We see power released in changed lives of tax collectors, prostitutes, soldiers, and children. We see trail-markings across dinner conversations and banquet feasts and last suppers. We see trail-markings in brutal executions and an empty tomb ... all trail-markings inviting us to faith! When the boat we are in ...

384. The Family Reunion

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

Glenn L. Borreson

... the very beginning, the family gathering of God was more than people "just like us." Jesus the Jew called other Jews, yes, but he planted the seeds of a new creation. Not only did his disciples include loyal Jews, but they included also Matthew the tax collector - one regarded as a traitor to his people. And there was John who had a way with words and gentle love, but beside him stood brash, foot-in-the-mouth, impulsive Peter. And there was Judas Iscariot who achieved a great reputation but at the expense ...

385. God of the Ordinary

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Sermon

... could mold him into a man of extraordinary character. True, God chose a learned Roman named Paul as a mighty spokesman for the new, struggling church he was bringing into existence, but more often than not he put his hand on plodders, like tax collectors, fishermen, and common laborers; unlearned men like Peter, Andrew, James, John, and others. When God wanted to make a spectacular change in the religious world he took a troubled priest, bothered by his sins and brash in his speech, to make him, ordinary ...

386. To Touch The Untouchable

Luke 5:12-16

Sermon

... the gospel narratives as performing healings in such a way as to open up participation in the covenant community for those who were for legalistic reasons denied acceptance. "He healed persons who were off-limits by the standards of Jewish piety...," such as tax-collectors, foreigners, lepers and even a woman with a menstrual condition.2 His hand went out to the ones whom everyone else avoided like the plague. There is a story about Saint Francis which may help us to understand how Jesus heals, and how we ...

387. The Master Has Come - And Is Calling For You

John 11:38-44

Sermon

... tomb of Lazarus, and called him out of the tomb, away from death to new life. Not only does he come to us; he also calls us, whoever we are. He speaks the words of life to us. Jesus called the most unlikely people to be disciples - fishermen, tax collectors, people in different political parties, of various dispositions, talents, interests. He still calls us today, whoever we are. It does not matter who we are. He is able to take us as we are, and make us into those people he wants us to become - the people ...

388. The Message of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

... nothing about modern medicine, science, or economics. He never went to a barbershop. He did not wear tailor-made clothing. He had no public holdings, save a tunic and some sandals. We know that his associates were simple people: fishermen, merchants, tax-collectors, and prostitutes. More than anyone else, the religious establishment stood against him. He was accused of "stirring up" the people or, as we would say, of being a rabble-rouser. He was often misunderstood. He was not followed by many, and ...

389. Responding to Christ's Birth

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

... , did not unfold like many had expected. In fact, Jesus was a complete reversal of what the world had expected from its kings. He ruled not with power, but with love. Self-surrender and service were his methods. He became the friend of hated tax collectors, flagrant sinners, the forgotten poor, and the misunderstood outcast. The gift of gold should serve as a constant reminder to us that we have been identified by God whose power is rooted in love and self-surrender. Frankincense, an aromatic gum resin used ...

390. The Nativity of Our Lord

Isaiah 9:1-7, Psalm 96:1-13, Titus 2:1-15, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon Aid

... possibly, even probably, inaccurate. But the symbolism of the story is valid, using the shepherds to portray how Christ came to minister to and save the lowly and despised of the earth. Shepherds, in that time, were on the same level as prostitutes and tax-collectors; little of the Good Shepherd image was evident in their lives and lifestyles. Some had given their business a bad name, because they were thieves and robbers. It is also fitting that Luke should speak of a whole host of angels announcing the ...

391. A Ewe Turn

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

... of the Soviet Union’s concentration camps, The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, the 1970 Nobel Laureate in Literature, tells a heartwarming tale. In 1929 whole masses of peasants were forcibly moved to Siberia. One of these peasants was named Timofey. One day tax collectors came and seized all of the family’s furniture. They soon returned and grabbed all the sticks of furniture in the hovel. At last, they came and took the three little ewe lambs which Timofey’s children loved as pets. The ...

392. Proper 5

Matthew 9:9-13

Bulletin Aid

Theme: God's medicine of mercy Exegetical note 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 ...

393. The Most Beautiful Sacrifice

Mark 14:1-11

Drama

... Because my father could not work, our family nearly became beggars. We worked all day and night for money for food and wool. Talk about sacrifice! Ha! I myself had two jobs, working fields at day and in the evenings scrubbing floors in the houses of tax collectors and Roman officers. Are you shocked? But since I, the daughter of Simon the leper, was already considered "unclean" by many, being in the homes of Gentiles and sinners didn’t matter to me anymore. But I made plenty of money and saved nearly two ...

394. If You Are A Disciple of Jesus Christ

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... all of them were from Galilee except Judas Iscariot, the band included fishermen, a fanatical nationalist-Simon the Zealot, and a man regarded as a traitor-Matthew. How do you suppose Jesus kept Simon the Zealot from slipping a knife between the ribs of Matthew the tax collector? As soon as Jesus named the twelve as apostles, he put them to work. Verses 17 through 19 tell us that Jesus did not even take them on a three-day retreat to learn how to be effective apostles. Jesus believed in on-the-job training ...

395. Grace That Cost

Luke 19:1-10

Illustration

Robert Beringer

... then said quietly, "Dr. Cronin, you won't have any more trouble with Paul's name. You see, he's Paul Adams now. We've adopted him." That is a wonderful story of costly grace, and that is exactly the wonderful gift that Jesus once gave to a heart-hungry tax collector named Zacchaeus.

396. Mugwumps

Luke 6:1-11

Sermon

... capabilities will be directed to human needs first and foremost - breaking a tradition in the manner of David, if necessary, to meet a human need." His entire ministry exemplifies this concern with human needs - a wayward woman at a well, a fast-dealing tax collector in a tree. Questionable people with questionable reputations. To put it another way, humans with human needs. As we change the dateline to the present, we notice the file on Mugwumps is still open. They are still around and are very much with ...

397. It’s How It Ends That Matters

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

... -then-Yes" types make the most enduring travelers along the way; they know the stakes; they know the other side of things; they know what it can be like to be lost. Jesus uses the example of this second son in the parable to show how tax-collectors and prostitutes can, after having brought pain and hardship on themselves and others, turn and come into the Kingdom, to the everlasting joy and celebration of the Great King. Jesus’ point, in part, seems to be that if such near-misses end up as success stories ...

398. Which Jesus? This Jesus!

Acts 17:1-9

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... of the death of Christ without also mentioning his resurrection. Christ’s death and resurrection are two sides of the same invaluable coin. "This Jesus" has redeemed some pretty rough people by his death and life: a thief on a cross, a tax-collector named Zacchaeus, a seven-demon-possessed woman named Mary Magdalene, murderers, thieves, drug addicts, alcoholics, liars, adulterers, prostitutes, people-in-love-with-only-themselves, and even YOU and ME! When we see the cross of "this Jesus," we know we have ...

399. Religion at a Minimum

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... committed - a great many whose consciences are stunted and quieted by an occasional contact with religion. The only real solution to their problem will be found in an encounter with Jesus Christ such as the one experienced by Zacchaeus, the wealthy tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). What took place during that meeting and the conversation which ensued produced some astounding results. First, the holiness and bearing of Jesus must have shaken Zacchaeus severely and deeply convicted him of his sin. It must have ...

400. Laborers Needed for the Harvest

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

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, 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; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep ...

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