Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4726 to 4750 of 4937 results

4726. The Flood

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Increase of Wickedness on Earth: This passage explains why God had to judge the inhabited earth with a deluge (6:9–8:22). It has two distinct sections: a description of the rapid increase in population, when the sons of God married daughters of men (vv. 1–4), and God’s response to human violence (vv. 5–8). The first section reports the population explosion, presumably spurred by the extraordinary marriages between the sons of God and the daughters of men. During that era superheroes are said to have ...

4727. The Model of Jesus for Discipleship Service, Not Self-Seeking

Mark 9:33-37, Mark 9:38-41, Mark 9:42-50

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Discipleship demands becoming like Jesus in self-sacrificial service to others. His people must embrace diversity in the group and defeat sin and temptation in their lives. Understanding the Text The disciple-centered movement of Jesus from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem continues in this section. The series of interactions carry on the gradual uncovering of the disciples’ inability to understand and their self-seeking responses to the various stimuli that they receive. Structure This passage is ...

4728. “Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave”: Power Poisons the Conscience

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord’s chosen servants cannot hide their sins from him. Understanding the Text Empowered by the Lord, David has experienced great success militarily and made Israel more secure than it has ever been. He obeyed the Deuteronomic regulations pertaining to the accumulation of chariot horses and wealth, promoted justice for all, and tried to model God’s faithfulness in his relationships. But suddenly the story takes a shocking downward turn as David’s blatant violation of God’s law brings chaos ...

4729. “The Earth Is the Lord’s, and Everything in It”

Psalm 24:1-10

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Entering the King’s presence is an awesome privilege, and in worship we join the psalmist in preparation for that tremendous experience. Understanding the Text Psalm 24 is titled “Of David. A psalm [mizmor].” First occurring in Psalm 3, the term mizmor is generally understood to mean a poem that is sung to musical accompaniment (see comments on the title for Ps. 3). While the order of the words is reversed here (not “A psalm of David,” as it usually is), the order does not seem to have much ...

4730. “Do Not Drag Me Away with the Wicked”

Psalm 28:1-9

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The menaces of leadership are myriad, sometimes posed by cordial faces with malicious intentions, and we pray that God will be the real Shepherd. Understanding the Text Gunkel lists Psalm 28 among the individual complaint songs, the genre that, in his view, forms the basic material of the Psalter.[1] Gerstenberger, based on the elements of petition, thanksgiving, and intercession, agrees and considers this psalm a model representative of the individual complaint psalm,[2] commonly referred to as ...

4731. “Ride Forth Victoriously in the Cause of Truth, Humility and Justice”

Psalm 45:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Great value is put on leaders who, by their own lives, exemplify the virtues of truth, humility, and justice. Understanding the Text Psalm 45 belongs to the genre of royal psalms, which celebrate the king and his reign, not as a lone-standing king, but as a stand-in for Yahweh as king. It is better to think of these psalms as constituting two subgenres, psalms of the heavenly King, which celebrate Yahweh as king, providing the model for all kingship, and psalms of the earthly king, which shine ...

4732. Questions about Marriage, Divorce, and Celibacy

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

7:1–16:9 · Paul’s Response to Questions from the Corinthians: In the first verse of chapter 7, Paul moves from oral reports about the church and begins to address questions posed by the Corinthians themselves in a letter. The letter is now lost but originally was perhaps carried to Paul by the three Corinthians mentioned in 16:17. The recurring expression “now for” or “now about” introduces Corinthian questions throughout this section. 7:1–40 · The questions to which Paul responds in 7:1–16 probably had ...

4733. Towns for the Levites

Numbers 35:1-5

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

Special Cities for the Levites and for Refuge: 35:1–8 The issue of the distribution of the land to the tribes continues in the first part of chapter 35 with provision for the Levites. This pattern of attending to the tribes first and then the Levites is familiar from the census counts in Numbers. The instruction, which comes in a divine command on the plains of Moab, is to give the Levites towns to live in and pasturelands around the towns. They will need pasture because the Levites receive offerings of ...

4734. Cities of Refuge

Numbers 35:6-34

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

Special Cities for the Levites and for Refuge 35:1–8 The issue of the distribution of the land to the tribes continues in the first part of chapter 35 with provision for the Levites. This pattern of attending to the tribes first and then the Levites is familiar from the census counts in Numbers. The instruction, which comes in a divine command on the plains of Moab, is to give the Levites towns to live in and pasturelands around the towns. They will need pasture because the Levites receive offerings of ...

4735. David's Officials

1 Chronicles 18:14-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

David’s Wars: In 17:10 the Chronicler made a small change to the verb of his source text. The result was a promise of Yahweh that he would subdue David’s enemies. The narratives that follow in the next three chapters provide proof that Yahweh did indeed fulfill this promise. These chapters emphasize that it is not David’s valor or his political aspirations that drove these military victories. It is rather Yahweh’s initiative in preparing the way for the dispensation of peace and rest that will prevail ...

4736. The Battle Against the Ammonites

1 Chronicles 19:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

4737. The Capture of Rabbah

1 Chronicles 20:1-3

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

4738. War with the Philistines

1 Chronicles 20:4-8

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

4739. Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

Ezra 4:6-24

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

A Temporary and Typical Setback: So far, so good. The return home, the construction of an altar to get worship started, and the laying of the temple foundation had marked the first phase of fulfilling the mission given through Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The second phase, building the temple itself, was to last longer than twenty years. We have to wait until 6:15 to read of its completion. This second phase, with its long delay and fresh start, is narrated in 4:1–6:22. Echoes of 4:1–5 in 6:21–22 reveal ...

4740. To Us a Child is Born

Isaiah 9:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Isaiah’s Significance, and the Fall of Darkness: We come to the close of the material that focuses on the crisis presented by the pressure of the northern allies (6:1–9:7). Isaiah speaks further about his ministry and its significance for Judah (8:11–22) and Yahweh offers a vision of light dawning the other side of the coming darkness (9:1–7). 9:1–7 To close 6:1–9:7, light replaces darkness (v. 2), joy replaces death (v. 3), and deliverance replaces oppression (v. 4). An earlier vision pictured weapons ...

4741. How It All Began

Luke 2:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A child’s letter to God: “Dear God, Did you think that Christmas would turn out like this when you started it? Love, Wendy, (Age 7).” (1) That is a profound question. Did God foresee crowded malls, raucous office parties, people congratulating themselves on giving and receiving extravagant gifts—people acting much like Little Jack Horner sitting in a corner, eating his Christmas pie . . .” You remember the rest of the poem, don’t you? “He stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plumb and said, WHAT A GOOD BOY ...

4742. When Your Life Is Put On Hold

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

An intriguing story appeared sometime back in USA Today. It seems that a Miss Candy Postlethwaite received a sizeable check from the Veteran’s Administration. That’s not the strange part. The strange part is that the check was not made out to her, nor did she know the person to whom the check was made out, nor had she ever been in the military. She put an envelope containing the check back outside for the postman to pick up on his next round. Five days later she got it back in a different envelope. She ...

4743. Things a Child Can Teach Us

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you of a certain age will remember when Roman Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen was one of television’s brightest stars. For those of you who were not even born when Sheen was giving his televised talks, you might be amazed that he twice won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and was featured on the cover of Time magazine. He also received thousands of letters from his viewers. One mother wrote that her son was under her feet while she was working in the kitchen. She said to ...

4744. Is God Invited?

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

We could always count on it. Every year, on the second Sunday of January, my dad would preach his drinking sermon — or, I should say his anti-drinking sermon. Having seen firsthand in my mother’s family the deathly cost of drunkenness, having spent more nights than he could remember offering pastoral support to families dealing with the fall-out of alcohol, Dad was convinced that alcohol was a demon. It was all too often the destroyer of the abundant life which God gives us to cherish. His message was ...

4745. Jesus Destroys the Power of Sin

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

There is a story of a Vermont farmer who was sitting with his wife one evening on the porch, looking at the beautiful valley laid out before them. Everything about the moment was filled with peace. At last the farmer spoke quietly, as if reluctant to break the spell. “Sarah,” he said, “we’ve had a lot of ups and downs together during these forty years, and when I’ve thought of all you’ve meant to me, sometimes it’s been almost more than I could do to keep from telling you.” Sometimes things just “leak” out ...

4746. Listening 101

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

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

Somewhere in my life I heard someone say something like, “The challenge with John (the gospel writer) is he is better at theatre than at writing.” The implications of this comment were about passages such as this one about Jesus and the woman of Samaria. Today’s reading is long enough that when read you begin to lose your place. But as drama (theatre) you can remember it well. You remember a woman coming to a well and an encounter with a strange man at a historic landmark of faith. You recognize that this ...

4747. Deep Faith

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Genesis 5:1-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“If we were logical, the future would be bleak, indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope.” (Jacques Cousteau) “Deep waters call out to what is deeper still; at the roar of your waterfalls all your breakers and your waves swirl over me.” (Psalm 42:7) "For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me.” (Jonah 2:3) “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Now ...

4748. Priceless!

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a news story on AOL.com earlier this year about an unnamed U.S. Air Force veteran who bought a Rolex watch in 1974 through the Air Force base exchange while stationed in Thailand. He bought the watch, a Rolex Oyster Cosmograph after hearing it was good for scuba diving. When he received the Rolex, he decided it was too nice to wear in saltwater and decided to lock it away in a safe deposit box. There it remained for nearly five decades At the time he bought it, the watch cost $345.97, which was a ...

4749. Well of Wisdom, Water of Life

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Water is our most important commodity. Without it, we cannot live more than a few days. Our bodies would quickly dehydrate without water, affecting our organs, and our brains. The human body is made up of about 60% water, and this life-source must be constantly replenished through drinking and eating foods that contain water. One doesn’t need to be a scientist to figure out that water is our main life source. People long ago knew this as well as we do. That’s why it was so important for biblical people to ...

4750. Survival

Luke 21:5-19

Sermon

Will Willimon

365 Days a year you can see them, tourists from all over the nation, all over the world, come to admire the beauty of this place. Why do you think that so many thousands come to see this Chapel? I'll tell you what I think. In a world of disposable diapers, nonreturnable soft-drink bottles, throw away cartons, bio-degradable shopping bags, and plastic everything, it is good to encounter something substantial. So much that surrounds us is so transitory. Everything changes, decays, is tossed on the garbage ...

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