Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4251 to 4275 of 4936 results

4251. Wanderings in the Desert

Deuteronomy 3:21-29

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Reminder of Past Victories: The first three chapters of Deuteronomy not only warn the people from past failures but also encourage them from past victories. The words to Joshua near the end of the section (3:21f.) give the point of the whole: God can do again what they had seen God do before, even for other nations. Their God did not lack experience! The structure of the section can be presented as follows: 2:1–8 – Encounter with Edom 2:9–18 – Encounter with Moab 2:19–23 – Encounter with Ammon 2:24–37 – ...

4252. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

1 Kings 3:1-15

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Solomon and Wisdom: Wisdom (Hb. ḥoḵmâ) has already played an important role in the narrative, guiding Solomon in his treatment of those who were a threat to him (1 Kgs. 2:6, 9). It will play an even more central role now in 1 Kings 3. Solomon has a dream wherein he confesses a lack of discernment before God and is promised (among other things) a “wise and discerning heart” (3:4–15). He then hands down a legal judgment in which his use of this new gift is of crucial importance (3:16–28). The major question ...

4253. Jesus Adopted by Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew confirms that Jesus belongs to Joseph’s genealogy by adoption, showing Jesus to be the Davidic Messiah and the embodiment of God’s presence to save. Understanding the Text Matthew concludes the genealogy from Abraham to Joseph by connecting Jesus’ birth to Mary, not to Joseph (1:16). In 1:18–25 Matthew “solves” this conundrum by emphasizing that Joseph names Jesus (1:21, 25), thereby adopting Jesus as his own son. This birth story also moves seamlessly into Matthew 2, where Jesus’ birth ...

4254. Jesus Is God’s Faithful Son in Gethsemane and at His Arrest and Trial

Matthew 26:31-35, Matthew 26:36-46, Matthew 26:47-56, Matthew 26:57-68, Matthew 26:69-75

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Although Jesus predicts and witnesses the disciples’ desertion and prays for God to change his fate, he as the Messiah, the Son of God, proves himself faithful to God’s will even to the point of suffering and death. Understanding the Text Matthew’s passion story continues with Jesus’ prediction of the disciples’ desertion and Peter’s denial (26:31–35), Jesus’ time of prayer in Gethsemane and arrest there (26:36–56), and Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin (26:57–68) followed by Peter’s denial (26: ...

4255. Jesus as Lord and as Archcriminal

Mark 2:23-3:6, Mark 2:18-22

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In Jesus the new age has come, and this new reality cannot be immersed into the old ways. Jesus the Son of Man has authority over the Torah and is Lord over the Sabbath. Understanding the Text The opposition to Jesus intensifies with each of the episodes in this section. The central story among the five in 2:1–3:6 tells why the conflict is occurring (2:18–22): in Jesus a new era has arrived, one in which he must challenge the old traditions. Those who cling to the old (symbolized by the issue of ...

4256. Applying God’s Wisdom to Life’s Issues

1 Corinthians 2:6-16, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: God’s wisdom is understood only through the Spirit’s revelation. Spiritual maturity comes from applying God’s wisdom to all aspects of life. Understanding the Text Not only did the reality of the church members’ inclusion in the Christ community directly demonstrate how God’s wisdom was unusual (1:26–31), but Paul’s own life and preaching were living proof that God’s wisdom easily superseded any of the human wisdom being offered in Corinth. Although Paul avoids calling himself an idi?t?s, a term ...

4257. Balaam’s Final Prophecies: The Star and the Scepter

Num 24:15-25

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God and Israel’s coming king will overcome Israel’s enemies. Understanding the Text The prophecies of Numbers 24:14–25 conclude the Balaam cycle (Num. 22–24). Three times Balak king of Moab brings the Mesopotamian diviner Balaam to a mountain height to give Israel the evil eye and curse it. Three times God makes Balaam bless Israel instead. Now Balaam foresees how Israel under its star-and-scepter king (Num. 24:17) will crush Moab and how other enemies of Israel will suffer calamity. As before, ...

4258. “Lord, Who May Dwell in Your Sacred Tent?”

Psalm 15:1-5

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Our worship and life in God are grounded more in ethical behavior than in liturgical correctness, though this does not suggest that the latter is unimportant. Understanding the Text Form critics often identify this psalm as an entrance liturgy (also Ps. 24), spoken perhaps to the temple gatekeepers (2 Chron. 23:19) before the worshiper entered the sanctuary.[1] Mays moves the discussion in another direction by pointing out that both Psalms 15 and 24, as well as Isaiah 33:14–17 (which is a similar ...

4259. “Blessed Are Those Who Have Regard for the Weak; the Lord Delivers Them”

Psalm 41:1-13

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Irrespective of the cause of our illnesses, the Lord cares for us in our vulnerability. Understanding the Text The literary type of Psalm 41 has been the topic of much discussion, since the poem does not seem to fall easily into any single type. Perhaps Kraus’s “prayer song of the sick”1 is appropriate for this psalm, although we might simply designate it as an individual lament. The psalm, in fact, begins with a benediction on those who “have regard for” the sick (see the comments on 41:1). ...

4260. Daniel's Prayer

Daniel 9:1-19

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

Jeremiah’s “Seventy Years” (9:1-6): Big Idea: Yahweh faithfully fulfills his prophetic word and keeps his covenant with his people, whether for blessing or for judgment. Understanding the Text Daniel 9 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in several ways. First, it advances the chronology of chapters 8–12. Second, it forms the middle of Daniel’s final concentric Hebrew section, which is framed by the parallel units of chapter 8 and chapters 10–12. Third, it covers the same long-range time ...

4261. The Time Is Now!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Unlike John or Peter, the gospel writer Luke was a cool-headed intellect. Luke was a physician. As a physician, he was trained to keep his emotional distance from the events he saw. Nobody wants a physician who lets emotion run ahead of intellect. We want our medical doctors to be able to confront the most remarkable experiences and stay calm; to analyze, decide the best course of action, and prescribe whatever it takes to get the patient well again. Above all else, "Keep calm and carry on." That is, do ...

4262. How Much Are You Worth?

Matthew 10:29-31

Sermon

King Duncan

A large train pulled by two engines was making its way across America. While crossing the Western mountains, one of the engines broke down. “No problem, we can make it to Denver and get a replacement engine there,” the engineer thought, and carried on at half power. Farther on down the line, the other engine broke down, and the train came to a standstill in the middle of nowhere. The engineer needed to inform the passengers about why the train had stopped. He didn’t want the passengers to get too upset and ...

4263. Pop Verses: Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Today I continue our series “Pop Verses.” We are taking a closer look at some of the most popular Bible verses. We are finding out why they are so popular and how they apply to our lives. Quite often our favorite verses are just that – they’re verses. They’re not read in context. This can lead to a misunderstanding about the meaning of the verse. I believe this series is going to give us a lot of food for thought about these popular verses. Today our focus is another verse from the prophet Jeremiah. You ...

4264. Eli’s Wicked Sons

1 Samuel 2:12-26

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

Eli’s Successor: Eli’s sons come back into the picture in verses 12 and 17, another inclusio emphasizing that they misused their position and, in contrast to Hannah, had no regard for either the power or the judgment of God. The sons showed contempt for God, his offerings, the people who brought those offerings, and their own calling. As priests, they had power and misused it. 2:12–17 Priests had a right to a portion of certain offerings. Leviticus 7:28–36, for example, speaks about the share of the ...

4265. At the Intersection of Heaven and Earth

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

It is said to be a true story from the old West. It is about a group of Apaches who attacked a Cavalry unit and successfully captured the paymaster’s safe. They had never seen a safe before. But they knew it contained precious gold. They tried to open the safe but were unsuccessful. They beat it with tomahawks. They dragged it over the ground with their horses. They heated it on a fire. They tried to blast it with gunpowder. Finally, they dropped it off a cliff into a great ravine. In spite of their best ...

4266. Blago and Radnan, Two Lost Sons

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The topic of today’s gospel reading is the very familiar parable of the prodigal son. It is found in Luke 15 and immediately follows the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. In the first few verses of this chapter, Luke gave us the context. The scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ audience were grumbling. “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” To paraphrase Jesus’ response, “Well, of course, I welcome and associate with sinners. They are the ones lost to God. When a woman with ten silver ...

4267. No One Over 12 Inches Wide Need Apply

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Jonathan Romig tells about a place he likes to go caving near his home town of Estes Park, Colorado. Someone has defined caving as the art of safely moving through a natural cave to a destination and returning to the surface without hurting yourself or the cave. Caving is also known, of course, as spelunking. Many people find caving challenging and enjoyable. However, it is definitely not for those who suffer from claustrophobia. The place Pastor Romig tells about is a mountain in Colorado called ...

4268. Understanding Outrageous Grace

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Let me ask you a tough question this morning: how many of you have been accused of being a poor listener? Or should I call it “selective listener”? We hear what we want to hear. Most of us have been guilty of this at one time or another. Maybe we’re easily distracted. Publisher Thom Rainer has collected stories over the years from his pastor friends of some of the strangest distractions they’ve dealt with while preaching. For example, one pastor had a bat fly into the sanctuary during his sermon. In ...

4269. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!

Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) Animators (Props): cornucopia….apples…..pumpkins As we enter the fall season, we prepare for a lot of celebrations. Halloween, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, Advent. In the midst of all that, there are festivals for families and celebrations for children too. It’s the ...

4270. The Gardener

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7) “Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden.” (John 10:41) Prop: seeds This is the first Sunday after Easter. It is sometimes called “Low Sunday,” partly because of the low number of people historically attending church this day. It is sometimes celebrated as it was in the past as “Holy ...

4271. Fleeced

Judges 6:1-40, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8) Prop: Fleece / lamb’s wool Shalom! Peace of the Lord be with you! I have here some genuine lamb’s wool. The wool of a lamb is called “fleece.” And it’s very soft, and very thick. Would anyone like to touch it. [Some can come up…..or you can walk it around and allow people to touch it.] We see something soft, or interesting. We want to touch it. It’s ingrained in us as humans to want to see, to touch, to feel, to ...

4272. The Raising of Paul

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: you may want to bring a prop of a human brain or have people put their hands on their heads as you explain the parts of the brain Did you ever hear people speak about the wonders of the human mind? We don’t use even a fraction of what our brains are capable of. When you think of it this way, we house in our own persons a valuable untapped resource of brain power, enough capable of solving all of the problems in the world, if only we knew how to tap into it. So say some theorists. But we also know ...

4273. Unfettered Faith

Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:40-45, Exodus 15:22-27

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am the Lord who heals you.” --Exodus 15 One of the most dangerous forms of infection today is something called sepsis. Sepsis is caused by bacteria which invade the body through an open wound, then cause an inflammatory response within which quickly attacks the body, shuts down organs, and can even cause death. It’s a frightening and debilitating experience. It literally binds up one’s bodily systems and breaks down the body from the inside out. And it can all start from one small wound. But physical ...

4274. The Suffering Servant

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Shiva is the Jewish custom of mourning. From ancient times, families sat together to mourn those who passed on. It’s clear that Jesus’ disciples understood their responsibilities in these customs. And yet Jesus, while honoring the dead in grief, defies these customs, even while defying death itself. Jesus knows that it is not the custom that defines mourning, but the way one uses grief to honor the dead. We see this already in Matthew 8:22 when one of his disciples feels compelled to sit shiva for his ...

4275. Beyond Fairness

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Roy Howard

I’ve run enough long-distance races to take joy in this passage — including the 200 mile Ragnar Relay; not the first shall be last; that has never been my burden, but the last shall be first. Now that gives me hope! As well it should even though I’m confident this parable has absolutely nothing to do with running or any other athletic endeavor, unless one considers gardening to be such. It should be noted too, for the sake of honesty, that I may well be misreading the parable by taking hope instead of ...

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