Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 426 to 450 of 4957 results

426. We Are Not The Light

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

... plan or movement of history. With no credentials, just why anyone should listen or be interested in John at all seems a mystery. With so many ways to mark our days to Christmas why is John trotted out to be part of our Christmas preparation? John’s claim, echoing the Isaiah experience, is that he is one who is crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” Note that he does not say “the one,” rather just one. For the writer of the gospel, John the Baptist seems to reflect the role ...

427. An Announcement for a New Year

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... out his arms, Bandler measured the length of his arms and his height from head to toe. After that, Bandler left. The man claiming to be Christ became a little concerned. A little while later, Bandler came back with a hammer, some large spiked nails, and a ... God is no problem, but saying that we are sons and daughters of God may be problematic for some of us. Of course we are not claiming to be on Christ’s level. But neither are we worms of the dust. We are God’s elect, to use another term that Paul used ...

428. Satisfied Customer

John 6:25-59

Sermon

James Merritt

... Think about that. Only 1-out-of-108 billion (and that number increases every day) has ever made those bodacious, audacious claims. I would think just curiosity alone would drive people to ask the question generally, “Who is this Jesus?” and specifically, “ ... from one of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), which serve as the biographies, if you will, of this man. If what He claimed is true, it seems a great use of a year’s time spending it getting to know this man as well as we can. John, ...

429. The Right Connection

John 15:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Jesus had Spanish moss hanging on Him. His name was Judas. Of the twelve disciples Jesus had eleven were genuine branches that were connected to Him, but Judas was just Spanish moss. He “hung around” Jesus, but he never had a personal relationship with Jesus. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus this is a good question to ask yourself periodically, “When people look at me, do they see a religion or do they see a relationship?” You can attend a church, you can join a church and be baptized into a ...

430. Paul Speaks to the Crowd

Acts 21:37--22:21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... such that he came to see that the Jewish reliance on the “works of the law” had no part in the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. His revulsion from the Jewish position is entirely understandable. But for all that—and in confirmation of the claim made in this verse—his method of exegesis and argument retain the hallmarks of his rabbinic training and, indeed, of his training in the school of Hillel of which Gamaliel had been the head (see C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the Epistle to the ...

431. The Trial Before Felix

Acts 24:1-27

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... they call a sect (v. 14; see disc. on v. 5). There had been a time when Paul had shared his accusers’ estimate of the Way, but he regarded it now, not as a deviation from the Jewish religion, but as its fulfillment (cf. 13:32). Being a Christian, he claimed, did not make him an apostate. He was still a loyal Jew. He still worshiped the God of our fathers (v. 14; cf. 22:3)—a biblical phrase (cf. Exod. 3:13), but perhaps chosen deliberately for this occasion, for the Romans paid great respect to their own ...

432. Hagar and Sally

Galatians 4:21-31

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... present resides, as Lincoln has noted, within the apocalyptic framework. Lincoln comments, “as in the apocalyptic and Qumran references what is to be revealed at the end can be thought of as already existing” (Paradise Now and Not Yet, p. 21). Such a claim on Paul’s part corresponds to his affirmation that Christ’s death delivered believers “from the present evil age” (1:4). Paul is working with apocalyptic categories (see Isa. 65:17–25) and framing the life of believers within the birth of ...

433. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Colossians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... of the gospel,” see Gal. 2:5, 14. The concept of truth that is employed here is not something that is gained by logical analysis or empirical observation, as in Greek or Western thought. Rather, it conveys the idea of reliability in what it claims (Schweizer, p. 35). Thus the Colossians, in addition to hearing the truth, came to recognize it in all its truth. Paul places emphasis upon hearing and knowing the gospel. Paul’s Prayer of Intercession Following the words of thanksgiving (1:3–8), Paul turns ...

434. Israel's Sons

1 Chronicles 2:1-55

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... such a link would have been very valuable. 2:21–24 This subsection jumps back to Hezron, indicating his descendants from a later marriage. This later marriage was to the daughter of Makir the father of Gilead. Scholars agree that this phrase probably voices a territorial claim. According to Numbers 32:39–41 Moses gave Gilead to Makir. Makir is there called a son of Manasseh. Jair, who is presented as a grandson of Hezron here, is also mentioned in Numbers 32:39–41, also as a son of Manasseh. Since we ...

435. Tattenai's Letter to Darius

Ezra 5:1-17

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... being built on the same site (v. 15). The elders knew of a tradition that at an earlier time Sheshbazzar, whom the reader met in 1:8, 11, had been authorized to do the rebuilding and install the vessels, and he had actually begun the project. Their claim that the project had been progressing ever since conflicts with the narrator’s own view, expressed in 4:5, 24 and based on the evidence of Haggai’s text (Hag. 1:2, 4, 9). The discrepancy is a small indication that he was citing an independent document ...

436. I Have Come Into My Garden

Song of Songs 5:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... too much work to put on a robe. The city guards find her, as they did in 3:3. This time they are not so benign. They beat her and take her garment. Many interpreters suppose that they assume her to be a prostitute. There is no explicit claim of rape. In a culture that keeps tight reins on female sexuality, perhaps their response is not unusual. What is problematic in this narrative is not primarily the fact that an assault is described. After all, there are other negative notes in the Song. In a culture in ...

437. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

Habakkuk 2:2-20, Habakkuk 1:12--2:1

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... away, or gives insight to the prophet who is seeking it. The bidding to Write down what he sees links with the fact that it relates to events some time in the future. One aspect of this is that writing it down will make it possible to vindicate the claim that Yahweh has said this and that Habakkuk is Yahweh’s prophet. The commission to write it down then implies that Yahweh indeed intends to act, but in a while, not now. Yet Yahweh has a more specific point in mind, related to someone being able to read ...

438. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... living water (v. 10) to the woman. Whether she actually gave Jesus a drink before this turn of events we are not told. But what began with Jesus asking water from her (v. 7) concludes with the woman asking him for the never-ending supply of water he claimed to be able to give (v. 15). The reversal of roles is made possible by Jesus’ use of water as a metaphor for the Holy Spirit (vv. 10, 13–14). What he promises is nothing less than baptism in the Spirit (cf. 1:33). The identification of the living ...

439. The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

John 9:13-34

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... the people” (7:12); those who believed in him were called a crowd that “knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them” (7:49). It comes as no surprise, therefore, when we learn that the authorities tried to rid the synagogue of anyone who claimed to follow Jesus as the Messiah. Their fear of messianic movements is summed up two chapters later at a meeting of the ruling Council: “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and ...

440. Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1-26

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... boast because he had available to him new weapons forged by Tubal-Cain. In arrogance he had no regard for the standard of justice as expressed in the phrase “an eye for an eye, a life for a life” (Exod. 21:24; Lev. 24:19–20). He claimed to be his own law. This song reveals that with the rise of culture the human thirst for violence increases dramatically. The threat to human existence then becomes the abuse of human inventiveness. 4:25 At this point the narrative returns to Adam and Eve to introduce ...

441. Abram Rescues Lot

Genesis 14:1-24

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... nothing, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal from all the spoil. He had solemnized his oath by lifting up his hand to Yahweh, identified with God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. Abram did not want any earthly king to be able to claim that he had made Abram rich. He then restated that he would take nothing save what his own men had eaten. In this Abram followed protocol in a military effort; the party on whose behalf a military action was taken was obligated to pay for the necessary provisions ...

442. The Treaty of Beersheba

Genesis 21:22-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... between them. The outer frame (vv. 22–24, 27, 31) describes the making of the covenant. In the heart of the story Abraham lodges a formal complaint against Abimelech’s servants for seizing a well he had dug (vv. 25–26, 28–30). Pressing his claim, Abraham achieves a pretrial settlement. Both men swear that Abraham had dug the well, and then they seal the covenant. In God’s providence Abraham regains access to an important well in a way that increases his reputation. It is possible that two distinct ...

443. Love the Lord Your God

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... well give Pharaoh’s response, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey him?” (Exod. 5:2) The full answer, therefore, takes the same classic form as the Decalogue itself by stating the facts of redemption on which Yahweh’s identity and Yahweh’s claim on Israel were simultaneously founded. The LORD who commanded us (v. 24) is the LORD who delivered us (vv. 21–23). These are the additional reasons for these stipulations, decrees, and laws. Verses 21–24 provide such a concise but comprehensive summary of ...

444. Fear the Lord

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... :47; 4:25, 34f.). Yahweh, the God who owns the world (v. 14), is also the God who runs the world (v. 17). The affirmation of Yahweh’s universal ownership and universal lordship in vv. 14 and (especially) 17 clearly stakes out the dynamic and polemical claims of Israel’s faith. Israel lived in an ancient Near Eastern macro-culture as religiously plural as any era in which God’s people have had to live. Unless verses such as Deuteronomy 10:14 and 17 are dismissively relativized as cultic hyperbole or as ...

445. Offerings for Priests and Levites

Deuteronomy 18:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... falsehood are defined. First, anyone who spoke in the name of other gods (v. 20b) would be easily recognizable as a serious violator of the covenant and would be severely punished (cf. 13:1–5). But second, and this threat is much more insidious, the person who claimed to speak in the name of Yahweh but whose words were his own, not the Lord’s (v. 20a), was a false prophet. Verse 22 sets up a single criterion: fulfillment. A prophet whose words did not come true had not spoken God’s message. This shows ...

446. Exclusion From the Assembly

Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... early church (cf. Eph. 2:11–19). There is, perhaps, a touch of divine humor in the fact that among the earliest notable converts was one who was both a eunuch and a foreigner—and was reading Isaiah! (Acts 8:26–40). The claims of kinship (Edomites) and hospitality (Egypt) allowed the grandchildren of resident aliens from these nationalities to be included in the covenant community (vv. 7f.). It is notable that Israel’s historical memory extends back behind the oppression of the later years of their ...

447. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... our day of mind-numbing violence, from muggings, rape, and robbery in “civilized” cities, to horrendous war crimes around the world, it is difficult to know how to cope with such reality alongside our faith in the God who cares for the weak and claims to defend the defenseless. We know that the command to exterminate the Amalekites is no longer the way for the disciples of Christ. Yet we affirm the reality of God’s sovereign historical justice and the reality of judgment to come on those who persist ...

448. Solomon's Throne Established

1 Kings 2:13-46

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... . Even in the later monarchy (2 Kgs. 23:31–37), we find Josiah being succeeded by Jehoahaz rather than the older Eliakim (presumably, as in 1 Kgs. 1–2, for political reasons). At least some Israelites, however, may have regarded the eldest son as having a particular claim on the throne, as is seen in Adonijah’s threat to Solomon’s position. 2:27 Fulfilling the word the LORD had spoken at Shiloh: The reference is to 1 Sam. 2:27–36, where Eli is told that his priestly house is to be rejected and ...

449. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

2 Kings 18:17-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... all the trees? How did his feet come to have such absorbent qualities? The passage is not meant to be taken literally. It is the very point that Sennacherib has an exaggerated view of his own accomplishments, as Assyrian kings often did. He thinks of himself as a god. He claims to have brought judgment—as only the LORD can do—upon the cedars of Lebanon (cf. Ps. 29:5; Isa. 2:12–13; Amos 2:9; Zech. 11:1–3) and upon Egypt (Isa. 19:1–15). He ascends the heights so that he can look God straight in the ...

450. Judgment and Salvation

Isaiah 65:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... bold prayer. The fact that Yahweh declares the solemn intent I will not keep silent (v. 6) confirms this. As happens in the story of Job, Yahweh is at last goaded into a response, but the response might make the person regret ever having prayed. How dare anyone claim to have been seeking a Yahweh who had hidden (and making that an excuse for sin)? Yahweh has been standing there before the people (as once before Abraham in Gen. 18:22 mg.) waiting for a prayer to be prayed (vv. 1–2). The context again makes ...

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