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 401 to 425 of 2815 results

401. Monday Morning Faith

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

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... that this is a story about someone else, usually one of THEM – an outsider. We sniff and eagerly follow the bait. Then, all of a sudden, BANG! The trap springs shut and we discover that the story is NOT about someone else – it’s about US! Look at today’s parable: A father had two sons, and he said to them, "Come and help me harvest the grapes." The first son said, "Yeah, right, Dad. You go on ahead and start without me. I’ll be out in a little while." Then he kicked back on the couch, tuned in the ...

402. Dear Mrs. Day

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Thomas C. Short

... . God knew the truth. I was lost. And now the good news! God reaches out to save those who are lost. God reaches out to bring the stray children back into the fold, back into a right relationship with their Creator. Isn’t that the great, good news in this parable in Luke’s gospel? The shepherd knew what was right and best for the sheep even before the sheep knew it was lost. In love, the shepherd reached out to the sheep to save it from a life of separation from the shepherd. That’s the way it is with ...

403. Proper 10

Lk 10:25-37 · Col 1:1-20 · 2 Ki 2:1, 6-14 · Deut 30:9-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... this order. Note also the intensity of the love of the two. We are to love God with our "all" compared with our love of neighbor as "yourself." How much we love the neighbor depends upon the love of self. 3. Neighbor (vv. 29, 36). In this parable Jesus teaches that our neighbor is one in need. This need transcends all national, racial, and religious obligations. The neighbor may be ten thousand miles away. He/she may be of another nation, race, or religion. This is who your neighbor may be. But, are you a ...

404. Lent 4

Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 · 1 Cor 1:18-31 · 2 Cor 5:17-21 · Isa 12:1-6 · Jos 5:9-12

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... you take an ex-murderess into your house to care for your youngest child? Really? Then you identify with the Father. 3. Glad You're Back! Luke 15:2-24. Are you really glad when a wicked person comes back home to God, to church, to family? In the parable, the prodigal was received with a party: a banquet, a robe, a ring, shoes, friends, music, and dancing. It was a festive time. Does the church have such a party when new members are received? Are we glad when a person is baptized or are we irritated that it ...

405. No Appeal

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

... two days before his death is true for our whole life before God, "We are beggars, that is true." And for one beggar to complain that another has received a larger slice of bread is shameful. Have you ever wondered what problem in the early church this parable may have addressed by the time Matthew included it in the writing of his gospel? The year may have been A.D. 85, more than fifty years after Jesus' death and resurrection. The disciples of Jesus and all his first followers were now old, very old. New ...

406. The Housing Problem

Luke 11:14-28

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... of the cross and the resurrection. Locate yourself away from people who at their best are trying to transform their lives and build their characters. Where is your life going to live? You've got to live somewhere. It's a housing problem of the first order. What a wonderful parable this is. It has two great meanings for us: 1) we have to be responsible for our own lives every day and 2) we can't rent ourselves out to other values for a time and then try to go back to our best selves and later find the house ...

407. Proper 10 & Pentecost 8

Isaiah 55:1-13, Psalm 65:1-13, Romans 8:1-17, Romans 8:18-27, Exodus 2:11-25, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

... . It picks up the theme of the Old Testament reading that speaks of the Word of the Lord, what might be called "the seed of salvation," which will not return "empty" after it has been sown in the hearts of people. It makes a solid connection with the parable of "the Sower and the Seed" in the Gospel for the Day. The Word of the Lord will grow and bear fruit, therefore the workers in the kingdom may rejoice and give thanks. The Lutheran usage includes the first part of the Psalm, which emphasizes that it is ...

408. Proper 11 & Pentecost 11

Isaiah 44:6-23, Psalm 103:1-22, Psalm 86:1-17, Exodus 3:1-22, Romans 8:18-27, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43

Sermon Aid

... me there is no god.... Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any." At best, it is an introduction to the parable of the wheat and the weeds taught by Jesus - "Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be ... why the wicked seem to get away with so much in this world. The addition of verses 36-43, which explain the parable by giving it an allegorical twist, does not make the problem too long; it does, however, create some problems for the preacher while ...

409. It’s How It Ends That Matters

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

... . Simply making a resolve to go to where the highway leads is no assurance that we’ll actually persist in getting there. It isn’t how the journey starts that counts. It’s how it ends that matters. The text from Matthew for this day is, once more, set in parable. Jesus tells the story of two sons. One of the two said to his father, who asked him to do a task, that he would faithfully perform it. He began by saying "yes." But then he changed his course and failed to do it. So his final answer was as ...

410. Listening or Hearing?

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... last day to reap his harvest? Will he find a harvest, or will he find a slick street that lies empty and deserted because there was no time for spiritual growth to take place? Or supposing we’re not the "hustle and bustle" type of person. What does our parable have to say to us? Let’s look at the second soil. "A sower went out to sow. And ... other seeds fell on rocky ground ... but since they had no root, they withered away." Here is reference to another type of listener, and many of us most likely are ...

411. The King's Reception (What Are You Wearing to the Wedding?)

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Brett Blair

... badly enough they could have managed. It is really amazing to me how quickly people can clear their calendars to do the things that they want to do. But these three men had no real desire to go, so they let other things keep them away. Well, this parable is being reenacted everyday in the lives of people and in the life of the church. The great enemy of faith and salvation even to this day is preoccupation. God is simply crowded out. We do not disbelieve in him. Nor do we despise Him. Not really. We simply ...

412. Moving on Up

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to count. The only thing that counts in the Kingdom is humility. For at that banquet, at that time, the appropriate place for all of us is at the foot of the table. At that banquet, in that Kingdom, the appropriate stance for everybody is humility. It is a judgment parable. Nobody knows what is going to happen at the banquet. I get impatient with people who seem to know what is going to happen. They seem to know who is going to heaven and who is going to hell, as if they were privy to the guest list, as if ...

413. Where Can I Find the Church?

Acts 2:1-8; 4:32-37

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... to terms with that. There is another passage of equal importance and relevance to us, and that is the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It is a series of parables in the 25th chapter: the bridesmaids waiting for the bridegroom, the parable of the talents, and concludes with the parable of the Last Judgement, the so-called sheep and goats parable. Pentecost is the beginning of the Church. It tells us how we should organize. The 25th chapter of Matthew is about the end of the world. It tells us how we ...

414. Proper 10

Genesis 25:19-34, Isaiah 55:1-13, Romans 8:1-17, Romans 8:18-27, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... -9, 18-23 1. Crowds (v. 2). Jesus was a popular preacher. Crowds came to hear him. In this case so many came that Jesus was pushed into the sea and had to preach from a boat. His method of preaching made him popular; he used homiletical materials - parables. He put the truth of God in stories and images that people enjoy. No doubt, most of the people said as they left the scene, "I enjoyed it!" How many of the crowd were going to do anything about the sermon? This is the frustrating experience of a preacher ...

415. Proper 23

Exodus 32:1-33:6, Isaiah 25:1-12, Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 4:10-20, Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... kill the king's servants. The angry king destroys the invitees. The servants are then sent out to invite all, good and bad, to the feast so that the wedding hall is filled. If the Jews refuse to come to Christ, they will be replaced by Gentiles. The second parable is not necessarily related to the preceding one. If the guests have just come from the streets, how could they have a wedding garment? When the king sees a man without a wedding garment, he is thrown out. The point is that it may be too easy to ...

416. Proper 19

Exodus 13:17--14:31, Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 14:1--15:13, Exodus 15:1-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... It is the genuineness of the forgiveness, not merely the act of excusing that concerns Jesus. But, how can we do more than try to live out the call to forgiveness? How can we possibly guarantee that our forgiveness will be from the heart? At base level this parable, as v. 35 makes clear, is about the true experience of grace. God is a God of grace. Like the king in the story, God has compassion on our human failures, and like the king, God acts even more graciously than we could ever expect. The servant who ...

417. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this is one story about a father who had two sons (v.11). The reaction of the second son should not be viewed as some later insertion into the story (vv.25-32), but is the critical second half of the whole truth contained in this parable. Admittedly, when the parable opens, all the focus is on the younger son. As the most active character in the story at this time, the younger son goes to his father and demands "the share of the property that will belong to me." There is considerable debate over whether ...

418. Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to define Epicureanism as the license to "eat, drink and be merry." These are the exact words, and that is the precise attitude, that the rich farmer uses to describe his future as he sees it. Not until verse 20 does the rich man relinquish narration of this parable. A neutral narrator now records that God spoke to "him," the rich man (in the third person), and reveals that God's plans for his life are profoundly different from his own. The fact that the rich man's life will come to an end "this very night ...

419. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... overtones about the dual role of the tradition and the Resurrection in the lives of believers. Luke 16 is a chapter whose structure and themes seem to be fairly diverse. Yet the chapter begins with another story in which money plays a key role - the parable of the dishonest manager. Money, and especially the untempered love for it, is also the focus of Jesus' word to the Pharisees in verses 14-15. The fact that God does not necessarily share the loves and hates of these Pharisees is stated strongly in ...

420. RSVP—By Invitation Only

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... our wonderful Heavenly Father have the right to be hurt and angry when proud sinful people refuse to accept His gracious offer of salvation and fellowship. But thank God that he doesn't take the "no" of many for the "no" of all. Because we also learn from this parable there are those who will say yes if given the opportunity. There are those who will respond to the invitation if they will just hear it. Why was the servant told to bring in the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind? Well Jesus was ...

421. Watch!

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , live more urgently than ever before, take each moment and cherish each moment and experience it to the fullest. I hope he finds me hoeing cotton when he comes. For your prayers and patience, I will be eternally grateful. The second parable Jesus tells following this teaching is the parable of the talents. You know it well. A man planning a journey called his servants together and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability ...

422. Matthew 25:1-13

Matthew 25:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... first. The celebratory feast, the joyous wedding banquet, took place only after the bridal party arrived at the new couple’s home. A “lampades” literally described a “candle protected by a shade.” Since the sticking point of this whole parable rests upon the lack of “oil,” these “lamps” must be oil burning lamps, or perhaps, given their intended processional purpose, an oil-soaked torch. The “wise” or “sensible” young women bring refills for their lamps. The “foolish” ones do ...

423. How Big of a Risk Would You Take?

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... had received one bag, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money . . . in the ground! This was quite a common practice, by the way, in that part of the world for people who did not trust banks. Remember the man in another of Jesus’ parables who is digging in a field and finds a treasure buried there. This may well have been some person’s life savings that they had buried in that field and never retrieved. After some time, the master of the servants returned to settle accounts. The man who had ...

424. How Firm a Foundation

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... rock upon which to build. It may have been harder to build on, but it was worth it. When the storms of winter came, he would be rewarded for all the hard work. His house stood strong and firm and secure. In form, Luke's or Matthew's, this parable teaches the importance of laying the right foundation for life; the understanding that the only true foundation is obedience to the teaching of Jesus. "So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?" (Luke 6:46 NLT). Obeying God is like ...

425. Everything Must Go: If I Were a Rich Man

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... , water, and electricity, to the bank for your mortgage, and in death to your estate. The question I want to raise to you today is this, “Since everything must go, because one day you will go, where will everything go before you do?” Today, we are going to study a parable that Jesus told about a man that God calls a “fool.” My dad used to say to me all the time, “Son, a fool and his money soon part.” We are going to study today about a man who was a fool, not because he would part with his money ...

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