Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4051 to 4075 of 4681 results

4051. How Much Are You Worth?

Matthew 10:29-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... lawful universe in which unfortunate tragedies do occur. But listen, here is the good news. The little sparrow never falls beyond God’s watchful eye. The child of God who knows that he or she is under the watchful eye of the Father can, by His grace, bear any burden, triumph over any tragedy, get on top of any circumstance because he knows that he is not alone. Remember St. Paul’s litany of his misfortunes? “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with ...

4052. The Cost of Discipleship

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

James L. Killen

... up and there stood Jesus alone, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid. It's time for us to go. And just keep this experience to yourself until its time for you to share it." It was important for the disciples to get the message about the necessity of bearing the cross. It is important for us to get it too. God's love is freely given to us. So is the possibility of fullness of life. So is the possibility of a new world. But the gospels tell us those gifts are bought at a great price by God ...

4053. The Great Omission

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... of life with passion and authenticity and they will come from all over to taste it. Does the sweet smell of Christ emanate from your life? Are you sharing your witness? Are you let-ting your light shine? The unavoidable truth is that as Christians we are called to bear witness to the hope that is within us — to tell people about Jesus — to make disciples. This may scare some of you to death. But take heart. By the grace of God, you are able to preach. You don’t do it on your own power. This is why ...

4054. The Visit of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... astrologers from the East. The AV calls them “wise men” (NIV Magi, translating magoi) indicating that they were thought to possess secret wisdom concerning the movement of the stars and the influence that this would have on the course of human history. Beare notes that although astrology was a dominant influence at that time (“the real religion of many of the most elevated and clearminded spirits”), it was a pseudoscience, for it depended upon the theory that the earth is the center of the universe ...

4055. The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... that we are to make is (in this context) the establishment of right relationships between members of the human family. As we work for reconciliation, we will be called sons of God (hyioi theou). This refers to those who, by acting as God acts, bear a family resemblance to their heavenly Father. The final beatitude has to do with those who are persecuted for upholding by their confession and life the righteous requirements of God. To them belongs the kingdom of heaven. Jesus promised his followers the same ...

4056. Judging Others

Matthew 7:1-6

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... not to judge is often taken incorrectly to imply that believers are not to make moral judgments about anyone or anything. That this is not what was intended is clear from verses 15–20, which warn of false prophets who can be known by the fruit they bear. Jesus does not ask us to lay aside our critical faculties but rather to resist the urge to speak harshly of others. The issue is serious in that God will judge us by the same standard we apply to others. This rather frightening truth should change the ...

4057. Clean and Unclean

Matthew 15:1-20

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... revolutionary concept would undermine the entire system of Jewish ritual practice. It threatened their basic idea of religion. In the parallel account in Mark we find the added parenthetical remark, “In saying this, Jesus declared all foods ‘clean’ ” (Mark 7:19). Beare represents those who feel that Jesus’ statement annuls in principle the entire corpus of laws of ritual purity (p. 338). On the other hand, Tasker suggests that Jesus may have done no more than to emphasize that evil coming out of ...

4058. The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... transfigured before them. There is no particular reason why this account should be considered “a creation of mythopoetic imagination” that leaves us without “the slightest hope of recovering any element of historical fact that might conceivably lie behind it” (Beare, p. 361). We take it to be a reliable account of a supernatural transformation, the purpose of which is entirely appropriate to the ministry of Jesus the Messiah. That Matthew locates the event after six days (following Caesarea Philippi ...

4059. The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 18:1-9

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... , vv. 21ff.; and forgiveness, vv. 23ff.). Jesus’ warning to those who lead others to lose their faith is severe. It would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Beare notes that skandalizomai verges on the meaning “to lead into apostasy” and that the warning is probably aimed at “false teachers who lead simple Christians into error or unbelief” (p. 376). The admonition reminds us of Paul’s caution in 1 Corinthians 8–10 ...

4060. The Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-10

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... and running to tell Peter and John. Jesus then appears to Mary and later that evening to the eleven disciples who had gathered behind locked doors. The synoptic accounts run parallel, but several differences are found. It is hardly correct, however, as Beare contends, that Matthew has “radically revised the Markan story” (p. 541). The major differences are, first, that Mark (16:1) has Salome go with the two Marys to the tomb; second, that Matthew (28:1) says they “went to see the tomb,” whereas ...

4061. What Do You Bring to the Table?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... a person brings to a sanctuary, this is an incredible offer. The Son of God says, "If you will share with me, I will share with you. If you will openly acknowledge the things that you have brought with you, and turn them over to me, I will help you bear them. Nothing is unacceptable, too dirty for me to handle. No grief or guilt or anger or boredom disqualifies one. If a person will own it and then disown it — share it with me, then I will yoke myself to you, I will get under the load alongside you and ...

4062. What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

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

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... to everyone and doesn't deserve this treatment.' " So they quietly inquired and searched in all the region round about, but they could find no one. One of the servants came privately to the chief steward at night, saying, "Sir, forgive me, but I can no longer bear to conceal my secret. I know the enemy who sowed the tares. I saw him do it." At this the chief steward was astonished and full of anger. But before punishing him, the steward demanded of the servant why he had not come forward sooner. "I dared ...

4063. The Gift of Failure

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... really looked like a failure when he went limping home to ask his brother's forgiveness. Jesus, too, was regarded as a failure. Jesus of Nazareth staggered on bleeding feet toward the cross. Then he stumbled forth from the tomb, lurching toward the resurrection, bearing on his body the signs of the defeat that was victory for all. The world would call all of these people failures. However, they had something very important in common. They knew they needed God. Failure didn't matter because they knew God ...

4064. Always Ready

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... London, Ontario, Canada, there is a sign in the tree section that reads: "The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago..." a sobering jolt that reminds one that trees take a long time to mature. Some oak trees, for example, are sixty years old before they bear any acorns. But that isn't the whole story of that sign in the Canadian nursery. The complete message is: "The best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. The second best time is today." That sign is a reminder that the opportunity is still open. A ...

4065. Being a True Disciple

John 8:31-36

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... was full of phosphorescent light and every time a wave broke it showered the night with brilliance. He said he felt as if he were immersed in a fireworks display. Then, having gone out further than he intended, he looked up to the sky to get his bearings. But the sky was like the water — full of the spectacular confusion of the northern lights. No star was visible. Then panic overtook him, for in all that glittering display there was no fixed reality. He could not tell the way to shore. He started back ...

4066. Paying What's Due

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... of the '30s gave up their freedom to Hitler as eagerly as their forefathers had fought for it. Out of his inquiry into how this could be so, came the realization that many people find that the freedom to choose is too much of a burden to bear. They would rather escape from freedom and rush to find some authority that would decide for them and allow them to be children again or even slaves. It is a constant temptation for all of us to abdicate moral responsibility and allow the government to decide for ...

4067. Before the Sanhedrin

Mark 14:53-65

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... to carry out capital punishment is disputed by some scholars, but there is reason to accept it as correct (see IDBSup, pp. 917–19). 14:56 Many testified falsely: literally, “many gave false witness,” alluding to Exod. 20:16, the commandment against bearing false witness. Here the witnesses are themselves shown to be breaking the OT law. Jewish practice required that any charge be supported by at least two witnesses, and that their testimony had to agree perfectly. This is what is alluded to in the ...

4068. Jesus Before Pilate

Mark 15:1-15

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... witnesses to the original text of the Gospels. Nevertheless, it is possible that this was his full name, for Jesus was a common name among Jews of the time (being simply the name sometimes rendered Joshua, the great hero of the conquest of Palestine in the or book that bears his name). See “Barabbas,” IDB, vol. 1, p. 353; Lane, p. 554. 15:9 The king of the Jews: This is the second use of the title by Pilate (cf. v. 2), and in both cases he probably intended it as a mockery of Jesus and of all things ...

4069. The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

Luke 1:5-25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... (Gen. 30:1), the mother of Samson (Judges 13:2), and Hannah (1 Samuel 1–2). Also, like Sarah, Elizabeth was beyond childbearing age. In the next paragraphs (vv. 8–17) Luke reports the announcement of the angel Gabriel to Zechariah that his wife Elizabeth will bear … a son who is to be named John (v. 13). The angel further tells Zechariah that his son will be a cause of great rejoicing (v. 14), since he signals the beginning of God’s redemptive work. He then summarizes the key features of his future ...

4070. The Birth of John the Baptist

Luke 1:57-66

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... seclusion), for when they hear of the birth of her son (v. 57), they then realize that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy (v. 58). This rejoicing fulfills the prophecy of v. 14. Because of her advanced age and history of infertility, her bearing a child would no doubt have amazed everyone who heard of it. Although it is not a Jewish custom to name a child at the time of his circumcision, a formal announcement of the child’s name at that time was not unusual. It appears that in the ...

4071. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... out these two figures is particularly appropriate since Elijah was regarded as the prophet of the last days who would prepare the way for the Messiah (see Mal. 3:1; 4:5–6). If the last days are truly at hand, then the Elijah/Elisha tradition would surely bear some relevance. Jesus recounts in vv. 25–26 the incident in which Elijah provides an unending supply of food for a Gentile widow and her son (1 Kings 17:8–16) and yet makes no such provision for any Israelite. In v. 27 Jesus tells of the incident ...

4072. The Man with Leprosy

Luke 5:12-16

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... a contagious and incurable disease, were quarantined from society as directed by the law of Moses (see Leviticus 13–14). For these poor unfortunates life was lived in hopelessness and despair. Not only were lepers socially ostracized, but they were forced to bear the awful religious stigma of being “unclean.” Many would have reasoned the condition was because of some particular sin or moral deficiency. Indeed, according to some rabbis, lepers were regarded as dead (Lachs, p. 153). It is no wonder then ...

4073. The Twelve Apostles

Luke 6:12-16

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... be inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:14; which twelve names he has in mind is anybody’s guess; see also the other references to twelve in Rev. 21:12, 16, 21), while in heaven there will be a “tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month” (Rev. 22:2). The most insightful reference, however, comes from the sayings source (“Q”) utilized by Matthew and Luke. Luke 22:29–30 reads: “I confer on you a kingdom … so that you may eat and drink ...

4074. Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

Luke 7:36-50

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

7:36–50 The episode of the sinful woman who anoints the feet of Jesus bears some interesting similarities to the accounts of Jesus’ anointing just prior to his arrest and crucifixion (see Matt. 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; John 12:1–8). Since Luke does not have a later anointing episode and since there are several specific parallels between the Lucan episode and ...

4075. Jesus' Sorrow for Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... nevertheless, Ellis [p. 190] believes that Luke’s readers would have seen an allusion to the resurrection.) Jesus will not be distracted or intimidated. He must be on his way for the time being (the meaning of today and tomorrow), for surely no prophet—one who bears God’s message for God’s people—can die outside Jerusalem. Jesus has “set his face” for Jerusalem (see 9:51) and it will be in that great city of biblical history that Jesus’ destiny will be worked out. As a true prophet, that is ...

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