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Showing 4176 to 4200 of 4914 results

4176. Final Exhortations and Greetings

1 Peter 5:1-11, 1 Peter 5:12-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

5:1-9 · The final chapter begins with a resounding “therefore,” which both NIV and NRSV have failed to translate. This makes the connection clear: in times of suffering and trial, special responsibility rests on the leaders of the churches to support and be shepherds of God’s flock (5:2). Peter turns to this vital practical concern to round off his letter. But in fact his concern is not just pastoral, for there remains a theological question, raised by what he has said about submission to earthly powers ...

4177. No Longer Orphans

John 14:15-21

Sermon

King Duncan

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Hayner was the president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. Dr. Hayner told a beautiful story about a young teacher he met several years ago in Uganda by the name of Christine Nakalema. Christine grew up in a rural village in Bokeka. When she was five years old and her sister Harriet was seven and her little brother was four, their parents both died within three months of each other of AIDS. The three siblings lived for nearly two years on their own. They had no parents, ...

4178. Before the Sanhedrin

Mark 14:53-65

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

14:53–65 Each of the four Gospels gives an account of the trials of Jesus before Jewish and Roman authorities, but the variations in their accounts make it difficult to construct a complete and detailed picture of the events. In addition to the variations among the four Gospels, there are also questions about the nature of the sources of information available to early Christians in constructing their accounts of the trials, since obviously no Christians were present. We cannot tackle fully these questions ...

4179. Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-two

Luke 10:1-24

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

Luke 9:51–18:14 represents material that Luke has inserted into his Marcan narrative (often called Luke’s “Big Interpolation”). C. F. Evans (see abbreviations) observed that the teaching part of the Central Section (10:1–18:14), beginning with the sending of the Seventy-two (10:1–20), corresponds to the teaching section of Deuteronomy (chaps. 1–26). Several compelling reasons support this observation. (1) In Luke 9:52 and 10:1 Jesus sends messengers “before his face” (the Greek rendered literally) as he ...

4180. Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

In chapters 6–7 Paul discusses the Christian life using four metaphors: baptism (6:1–14), slavery (6:15–23), marriage (7:1–6), and psychology (7:7–25). The present section on slavery continues the interplay between indicative and imperative: what God has done leads to what we ought to do. Paul presents his ideas in a series of antithetical statements: “under law / under grace” (v. 15), “sin which leads to death / obedience which leads to righteousness” (v. 16), “free from sin / slaves to righteousness” (v ...

4181. The Three Angels

Revelation 14:6-13

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

14:6–7 The function of angels throughout Revelation is to facilitate God’s redemptive program; this is the role, then, of another angel that John saw flying in midair (cf. 8:13; 19:17). In particular, this first of a triad of angels proclaims the eternal gospel … to those who live on the earth. John uses the technical word for gospel only here in Revelation; its use is made more striking since the angel intends it for the lost inhabitants of earth rather than for the saints who have trusted its claims and ...

4182. The Lord is God

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Obedience and Loyalty to Israel’s Unique God: These verses are the climax, not just of chapter 4, but of the whole first discourse of Moses in the book. They are fittingly exalted, in content and style. As mentioned earlier, this whole section mirrors the opening eight verses but elevates the theme tremendously. The stylistic device of rhetorical questions that expressed the incomparability of Israel in verses 6–8 is employed again to affirm the incomparability of Yahweh, and for a similarly combined ...

4183. A Prophecy Against Egypt and Cush

Isaiah 20:1-6

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Poems about the Southern Powers: For three chapters we turn to the far south. Cush covers an area corresponding to the very south of modern Egypt and the northern part of Sudan. A Cushite dynasty ruled Egypt itself at the end of the eighth century, so this poem about Cush is as much a poem about Egypt (cf. 20:1–6). 20:1–6 This final section of chapters 18–20 brings together Egypt and Cush, the two peoples who have been the subject of chapters 18–19, and completes the calamity-promise-calamity pattern that ...

4184. When I AM Speaks, You'd Better Listen

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

It appears that somebody got into the front window of life and changed the price tags. The expensive things now have cheap labels. The cheap things have expensive labels. What has happened is that today we have what might be called a transvaluation of values. Everything is turned upside down. Important values have become unimportant for many people. Unimportant values have been turned into seemingly valuable categories. Just look at the ads on television, the movies, or the magazines being produced today. ...

4185. What Will It Take to Make You Happy?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

“Who do you think is happier?” asks Marc Reklau in his book Destination Happiness, “people who [have] won the lottery or people who [have become] paralyzed after an accident?” You may be surprised at the answer. “Yes, the lottery winners were very happy, but not for very long,” Reklau continues. “After six months they went back to their previous levels of happiness.” On the other hand, “the accident victims were sad, but surprisingly after six months, they [also] went back to their previous levels of ...

4186. The Ascension Day Experience

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The official ecclesiastical designation for this day is “The Feast of the Ascension.” In keeping with its name, it commemorates the day the risen Christ ascended into heaven. Saint Augustine contended this holy day was first observed in the apostolic era. That would make it one of the earliest Christian holidays. By tradition, the date was established as the 39 days after Easter. That means it should always fall on a Thursday. In many European nations, Ascension Thursday is widely celebrated as both a ...

4187. A Child of the Resurrection

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to test how awake you are this morning. I’ve got a riddle for you: What question can you never answer “Yes” to? Are you ready for the answer? The answer is, “Are you asleep?” (1) It’s tough starting the morning with a riddle, isn’t it? Especially a groaner like that one. It reminds me of the story of a game show contestant, Bob, who’d made it to the final round, and he just had to answer one more question to win the million-dollar prize. “This is a two-part question on American history,” the emcee ...

4188. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

“Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!” Many of us can still remember television’s Jim Nabors as Private Gomer Pyle, USMC, his eyes closed, a broad smile creasing his face, weaving his head and shoulders back and forth as he said that phrase. Surprises always pleased Gomer. He accepted them as gifts. Maybe that’s because Gomer was easy to surprise. He was naïve and rather simple. His heart was pure and he always assumed the best in, and expected the best from, people. Even when people, or the world, for that ...

4189. The Cure

Luke 4:31-37, Luke 4:38-44

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am the Lord who heals you.” (Exodus) Prop: Symbol of Medical Oath and/or Hippocratic Oath on screen (you can also use a rod or staff and rubber snake) And the Lord said unto Moses, Make a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live. And so Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers) In that ...

4190. Trust in Me

Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: Youtube video of Kaa’s Song from the original Jungle Book There are so many impossibilities that become realities in the Christmas story that one hardly knows where to begin. But here’s one that you may not have thought of before. Mary is too young, and Elizabeth is too old, to have a child. The word we translate as “virgin” really means pre-pubescent maiden. So here we have a post-menopausal woman, Elizabeth, and a pre-pubescent woman, Mary, that God chooses to use to bless the world with good ...

4191. The Prophet of Locusts and Honey

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: locusts in a small aquarium or a plastic locust / honeycomb or bowl of honey We call him “John the Baptist.” Some prefer to call him “John the Baptizer” just to be clear that John isn’t seen as baptizing Jesus into the Baptist church, making Jesus a Baptist. Some of you Baptist may disagree on this. But when we think of “John the Baptist,” or “John the Baptizer,” the first thing that comes to mind is not water, but probably something else: strange clothing and weird eating habits. At least they seem ...

4192. Plucked from the Blaze

Zechariah 3:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

We are shaped by our experiences. You are who you are because of what has happened to you and your response to those happenings. At least in part. Every one of us has memories of times in our lives that we can identify as crucial milestones –moments that became momentous, moments that changed us in some way, made of who we are, shaped our thoughts, branded our memories, imprinted our feelings. What is your most vivid memory? Often, the experiences we remember the most are those that were most traumatic. ...

4193. Marinating in the Spirit

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

What soil does your spirit soak in? How do you nourish and ensure that your spirit is secure, peaceful, confident, and satisfied? In today’s day and age, your answer might probably be a default to “physical” or “emotional wellness.” Exercise each day. Eat a good diet. Do yoga. Meditate in nature. Accumulate sufficient wealth. Attain job security. Foster good relationships and reject toxic people. Take a bubble bath. Buy yourself something nice. Take a trip. Do something you love to do. I’m sure you’ve ...

4194. Get the Picture?

John 18:1; 19:42

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

Each one of us is either a mother, a brother, a sister, a father, or a friend to someone. We have all felt the loss when a relationship or a relation passes from this life to the next. We know the pain, the depression and grief of that loss. (You may wish to insert a personal loss here.) I know and you know it. Try to imagine the pain of Mary, Jesus’ mother; Peter, his disciple; John, a faithful follower; or even Mary Magdalene, a wretched soul saved by his loving spirit. Can you feel their horror as the ...

4195. Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

As a young man, about the age of some of you, Jesus was met and tempted by Satan in the desert. This is the Sunday the church always remembers this fateful encounter. I want you to note what Satan offered Jesus, offers which Jesus rejected. 'Turn these stones to bread," suggested Satan. ''Don't you believe in feeding the hungry?'' Jesus refused. Social justice doesn't appeal to you? Well you've got your point. Feed a hungry mouth for a day, what lasting good is that? Think locally, act globally. Help the ...

4196. God's Bouncer or God's Ambassador?

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

If I were to start a sentence with the words, “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” how would you finish that sentence? “There are two types of people in the world . . .,” Somebody once said, “There are two types of people in the world—those who divide the world into two types of people and those who do not.” What say you? I think if I were to divide people into two types, I would say, there are rule keepers and rule breakers. Some people just have an internal compulsion to follow the rules, ...

4197. Constant Companion

John 14:23-29

Sermon

Lori Wagner

If there’s anything we learned about the pandemic is that the virus wasn’t the only one. We are living in a pandemic of loneliness like we’ve never seen before. Even in our current semi-post-pandemic world, loneliness continues to plague our psyches. “Isolation, grief, and loneliness which continues even in this phase of the pandemic has “changed our brain” and will continue to do so.”[1] Although necessary, social distancing along with fear of the virus has put us into an almost continual “fight and ...

4198. You Can't Handle It!

John 16:12-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

One of the most famous lines in film history comes from Rob Reiner’s 1992 film based on Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 play, entitled “A Few Good Men.” In the movie, a military court scene plays out in which Navy lawyer Tom Cruise (Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee) pushes Colonel Nathan Jessup on the stand (played by Jack Nicholson) to admit that he ordered a “code red,” a hazing, violent disciplinary measure that allowed two marines, Dawson and Downey, ultimately to kill fellow peer, Private First Class William Santiago. ...

4199. John and Frank

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

John Jamison

Have you ever had doubts about what you believe? I mean really had doubts? You were so certain of everything, but over time questions started arising. Or maybe something happened that shook you really hard, and you began to wonder if all that you believed in was real? Can you relate to that at all? That’s where we find John in today’s scripture. He had spent so many years being the powerful preacher, the one proclaiming his faith that everything was about to change for the better. His beliefs had given him ...

4200. Moksha

Romans 8:6-11

Sermon

Dr. Ronald Love

Evagrius Ponticus, also known as Evagrius the Solitary, was a Christian monk and ascetic who resided in a monastery in the Egyptian desert. Concerned with the temptations that besought people, in the year 375 AD he compiled a list of the eight terrible thoughts, also referred to as the eight evil temptations. The eight patterns of evil that Evanrius listed are: gluttony, greed, sloth, sorrow, lust, anger, vainglory, and pride. The list was not to be one of condemnation; rather, it was to raise awareness to ...

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