Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 4726 to 4750 of 4963 results

4726. Cut Down--Lifted Up

John 12:12-19, Philippians 2:1-11

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... , at the end of those seven years, the people would kill the king and choose a new king. Now that's something to think about. Would you want to be a king if you knew it meant you would be killed seven years later? I think I would be happier remaining one of the common people. That reminds me of Jesus. He was king of kings. Yet he also had to die. But he didn't die for selfish reasons, did he? He didn't die so that he could be a king. He was already a king. No, he died ...

4727. Can It Be Sin to Be Shy?

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... man in Maine named Ike who was exceedingly shy. Ike fell in love with a beautiful young maiden named Anna. Anna seemed to Ike to be too wonderful for him to ever ask her to be his wife. So, he went on loving her in silence for ten years. He remained single, as did she. During this time, he built a fine house, with a barn and outbuildings, and a beautiful rock garden. Still, though he was very much in love with her, he hadn’t yet dared to propose. Finally, after ten years went by, all the improvements to ...

4728. Unnoticed at Your Own Party

Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-11, James 5:7-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... mother described to Ogilvie the time of exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve. Her son opened all of his presents except the one from his father. It was a tie-shaped box, carefully wrapped with a card saying, “To my beloved son--Dad.” The box was never opened. It remained under the tree unopened all Christmas day and the next, when the son left. What the son did not know was that the father had neatly folded the deed of the property that the son wanted so badly and placed it in the box as his Christmas gift ...

4729. The Fall

Genesis 3:1-24

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to the father’s house. It is important to note that God covers the couple before he expels them. Here is grace before law. The Lord banishes Adam and Eve from Eden (not because of what they have done, but because of what they might do if allowed to remain in the garden) and restricts reentry to Eden via cherubim and a flaming sword. Adam has indeed become “like one of us” (3:22) but not in the sense the serpent said he would. Anytime a person believes he can decide for himself what is right and wrong ...

4730. Abram and Lot Separate

Genesis 13:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... have so much that the land cannot support them both. This leads to quarreling among their respective employees (13:7). This incident demonstrates that the blessings of God can create either possibilities or problems. How we handle these blessings determines whether they remain blessings or become sources of friction. Abram moves quickly to settle the strife. He foments strife in 12:10–20. Here he settles it. As the elder person, Abram would have been fully within his rights to decide who gets what portion ...

4731. Esau and Jacob

Genesis 25:19-34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , it becomes apparent later that Isaac was overly fond of Esau.) If she had, she would not have had to urge Jacob to pretend to be Esau to get his father’s blessing in chapter 27. As they grow older Esau becomes an excellent hunter, while Jacob remains a quiet man. Esau’s strength is his weakness. Famished from a hunt, he is willing to abandon his birthright in return for some red stew (on which see Heb. 12:16). His stomach overrules his conscience. Jacob wants more than a gentleman’s agreement. He ...

4732. The Plague of Frogs

Exodus 7:25--8:15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in the bed of Pharaoh himself is the height of humiliation. As with the bloodred waters, however, the Egyptian magicians repeat the phenomenon. Nevertheless, at this point Pharaoh begins to negotiate through Moses, and God responds to Moses’s prayer. The frogs are removed the next day, although the stench remains.

4733. Ten Commandments and the People’s Response

Exodus 20:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ). 20:18–21 · Having seen and heard the manifestation of God’s presence, the people are afraid and ask Moses to mediate. Moses attests to the protective value of fear, as it will keep them from sin (20:20). While the people remain at a distance, Moses approaches the thick darkness. Evidence of God’s overpoweringly dreadful presence and continuing mystery, the thick cloud shrouds his manifestation, so often portrayed as blazing fire. From this point forward, all of God’s revelation will be mediated ...

4734. Hebrew Servants

Exodus 21:2-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... attachment to his wife and might leave by himself. Becoming a permanent slave was a major step, and thus an oath was taken in the presence of the judicial authorities, who represented God. If freedom means freedom in poverty, the slave may choose to remain secure in the master’s household. Women were in a different position (21:7–11). In that social context it was not possible for a woman to live independently apart from the protection of father, husband, or master. When a father sold his daughter ...

4735. Covenant Ratification

Exodus 24:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... :13–14). Moses is called into the cloud, leaving the human sphere and venturing where no one has ever gone. The glory of God appears to the people as a fire that is consuming (24:15–17). It is no wonder they question if Moses will ever return. Moses remains on the mountain for forty days and nights to receive the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and the preparation of the priesthood (24:18; cf. 25:40; 26:30; 27:8). When the glory of the Lord covers the mountain, it is a prelude to his ...

4736. Separating Defilement from Sanctuary and Community

Leviticus 16:1-34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... while placing both hands on its head. Then he banishes the goat as a ritual “garbage truck” into the wilderness to Azazel, thereby permanently removing the moral faults of the Israelites from their camp (16:10, 21–22). Azazel, the meaning of whose name remains mysterious (certainly not “[e]scapegoat”), is a party capable of owning a goat (16:8, 10), but he is not the Lord. The Lord treats him in a hostile manner by sending Israel’s toxic moral waste to be “dumped” in his territory, implying ...

4737. Additional Instructions Regarding Sacrifices and Impurity

Leviticus 17:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to eat meat in the days of Noah (Gen. 9:4), long before Israel existed. So it is not surprising that in the New Testament, abstaining from blood and what has been strangled is treated as timeless moral law (with prohibitions against pollution from idols and immorality) that remains in effect for Gentile Christians (Acts 15:20, 29). Draining blood does not apply to animals that died in other ways, whether naturally or by predators, but an Israelite who eats such meat incurs ritual impurity (17:15–16).

4738. The Nazarite and Priestly Blessing

Num 6:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (purification offering [so-called sin offering] and burnt offering) to receive expiation for the inadvertent sin of violating the prohibition (6:10–11). In addition, a reparation offering (so-called guilt offering) expiated for inadvertent sacrilege: depriving the Lord of the remaining days of the vow and the dedicated hair that was to grow during that period (6:12; cf. Lev. 5:14–16). Having rededicated his or her head (of hair) and the same duration of separation as before, the Nazirite begins ...

4739. Departure from Sinai Wilderness

Numbers 10:11-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... tabernacle have departed earlier (10:17). This makes it possible for the Gershonites and Merarites to reach their destination and set up the tabernacle before the Kohathites arrive (10:21). Then the sacred objects can go directly into their places rather than remaining on the shoulders of the Kohathites while the tabernacle is reassembled. Moses seeks the assistance of Hobab, his Midianite brother-in-law, to locate good camping places and be the “eyes” of Israel (10:29–32; cf. Exod. 2:18, 21). This ...

4740. Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

Numbers 12:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the repulsive living death of his sister. He is the appointed ritual mediator for all Israel, but he confesses their sin to Moses and begs for Moses’s intercession (12:11–13; cf. Job 42:7–9). The Lord implicitly agrees to heal Miriam but requires that she remain outside the camp for seven days to bear her shame (12:14–15) and presumably because she is ritually impure (cf. Lev. 13:46; Num. 5:1–4). A person healed of skin disease is permitted to enter the camp (but not his or her tent) after the ...

4741. Balaam's Donkey

Num 22:21–24:25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Israelite monarch (“star,” “scepter”) will conquer Moab and its neighbor, Edom (24:15–19). King David will fulfill this (2 Samuel 8). In the second oracle, Amalek will perish (24:20). Samuel and King Saul will accomplish this (1 Samuel 15). The remaining oracles (24:21–24) are against the Kenites and Ashur (Assyrians or another group?) and mention ships from Cyprus (NASB, RSV “Kittim”; Isa. 23:1, 12; Jer. 2:10; Ezek. 27:6) afflicting Ashur and Eber. These verses present serious interpretive ...

4742. Itinerary

Numbers 33:1-56

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... journey from Egypt (cf. Exodus 12) to the plains of Moab. Some sites in this list are associated with events briefly mentioned here and detailed elsewhere in Exodus and Numbers, but other places appear only here. Many of the locations have been lost and remain unidentified. Numbers 33 lists only one stop at Kadesh (33:36–37). The Israelites arrived there early in the wilderness period (Num. 13:26) but came to the next place in the fortieth year (33:37–38). They spent a long time at Kadesh (Deut ...

4743. Instructions for Conquest and Settlement of Canaan

Num 34:1–36:13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... does not ban the institution of blood vengeance, but ensures justice. He is realistic concerning human feelings and does not attempt to set up a conflict of interest by obliging avengers to protect those who kill their relatives. By requiring manslayers to remain in cities of refuge, God emphasizes the gravity of taking human life. Even accidental killing causes moral pollution of the land, except cities of refuge, until the high priest’s death (35:32–34). If Israelite moral pollution of the land (also ...

4744. Warning against a Premature Conclusion

Deuteronomy 3:12-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is used in Moses’s reference to the victory over Egypt in the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 11:4 (not rendered in the NIV) and in Joshua 9:27 about what happened to the Gibeonites. This expression, then, may well mean something like “and so it remained” or it was “irrevocable” (Harman, 51). While some of the tribes worried that this early distribution would excuse these two and a half tribes from the battle for Canaan on the west side of Jordan, that was a premature conclusion; in 3:18 Moses tells ...

4745. Denying Entrance to a Failed Leader

Deuteronomy 3:21-29

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... people. Despite Moses’s repeated request for God’s overruling his judgment against his role as leader (Deut. 1:27; 3:26; 4:21; cf. 31:2; 32:48–52; 34:4), God would not relent. Moses surely was forgiven, but the consequences of his act as a leader still remained.

4746. Keeping the Faith Vital

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... —the Canaanite god of rain, fertility, and agricultural fecundity—is responsible for the fertility of Canaan. While we are not taught that prosperity always proves obedience to God, neither can we prove that suffering necessarily implies personal guilt. Nevertheless, God does remain in control of even the climate, fertility, and all that affects human life (11:16–17). Verses 18–32 conclude this section of chapters 5–11 and draw the major themes of this section together. Moses’s teaching is to be ...

4747. Cancelling Debts, Servants and Animals

Deut 15:1-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... land is to be left fallow, but here the debts also are to be remitted. This year of release is part of the symbolism of the Jubilee year, wherein personal freedom is restored and alienated property is recovered. The only exception is the foreigner’s debt: it remains (15:3). Despite the ideal that “there need be no poor people among you” (15:4), the existence of the poor (15:7, 11) shows there is an incomplete obedience to God’s rule or remission of debts. Jesus’s words at his anointing in Bethany ...

4748. Circumcision at Gilgal

Joshua 5:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... taken place during the forty years when Israel was wandering in the wilderness. Now that the generation who was of fighting age when they left Egypt has died under the Lord’s discipline for unbelief, the generation born during the wilderness years has remained uncircumcised. But why is it important for the Israelites to be circumcised at this point? To begin, circumcision is a concrete sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 17:9–14). More significantly, it is precisely on the basis of this covenant (cf ...

4749. The Sun Stands Still

Joshua 10:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... occurring monthly alignment of the sun and moon happening on the wrong day. To the Canaanites, this would signal a bad omen and would thus deflate their morale. The problem with this interpretation is that the language of 10:13b, taken at face value, seems to affirm that the sun remains in the sky without going down for a full day, not that its alignment with the moon is off by one day. Thus, the traditional, literal understanding is still to be preferred over all other options.

4750. Southern Cities Conquered

Josh 10:16-43

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to Lachish’s aid, only those who come are destroyed. As Gezer is located some distance north of this cluster of southern cities, Joshua apparently does not take a detour to attack Gezer. That is why, according to 16:10 and Judges 1:29, Gezer remains among the cities to be dispossessed. With the Lord fighting for them, Joshua and the Israelites thus succeed in taking control of the entire region south of Gibeon by decimating its major cities (10:40–42). They then return to their base camp in Gilgal.

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