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 26 to 50 of 612 results

26. A Baby Changes Everything

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the mold for the expected Messiah. Having offered an extensive genealogy to trace the Davidic roots, Matthew turns from the question of “who” Jesus was to “where” he came from. Matthew is primarily concerned with informing his first century Jewish audience that the Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee was born in Bethlehem, the scripturally predicted site of the Messiah’s birth. Matthew also invokes the cast of the mysterious “Magi” to further authenticate the messianic portents that accompanied Jesus ...

27. Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... narrative to show that Jesus, like us, faced threats to his own fragile humanity. Luke, however, has a different agenda. Seeking to address both the Jewish and Christian worlds, Luke's explicit reference to Jesus' "40 days" of temptation would surely ring a bell with his Jewish audience. Jesus' 40 days are like Moses' 40 days spent on Mt.Sinai (Exodus 34:28), or Elijah's 40 day journey to Mt.Horeb (Kings 19:4 8), and even the 40-year sojourn of Israel in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2-6). Luke has already ...

28. Matthew 5:13-20

Matthew 5:13-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the earth,” they must keep their original sharpness and flavor or they will be useless, something that might as well be thrown out on the ground. Jesus’ next images for the people are of those of light the city on the hill, the lamp illumined in the house. Jesus’ Jewish audience would certainly have heard in his words the echoes of Isaiah 2:2-5, where Israel is invited to “Walk in the light of the Lord.” In Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6, it is Israel herself who is to be a “light to the nations.” Jesus ...

29. A New Temple Shall Arise

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... seeks to explain this religious dimension of human life in his letter to the Romans. In chapter 2 of Romans he makes the point that every human being has sinned in the eyes of God, every human being has broken the law of God. His primarily Jewish audience would have understood that the law they broke was the law given to them by God through Moses on Mount Sinai. "But what law is it that non-Jewish people have broken?" they might have asked. Paul anticipates their question. He says that non-Jewish people ...

30. The Simplex Faith of 3:16

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and resurrection, crushed the power of death once and for all. But for first-century listeners, the divinely mandated restorative powers of a snake on a stick was far more comprehensible. For those listeners John 3:16 is full of unfamiliar ideas. A Jewish audience would feel comfortable with the notion that as God’s chosen people they were recipients of God’s love. But the assertion that God extended this divine love to “the world” or “the cosmos” in its entirety was strange and even unseemly ...

31. Proper 22

Hebrews 1:1-14, Hebrews 2:5-18, Job 2:1-10, Mark 10:13-16, Mark 10:1-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... the Lord and shall we not receive evil?" (v. 10). Job remains blameless. Lesson 1: Genesis 2:18-24 (RC, E) Lesson 2: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12 (C); Hebrews 2:9-11 (RC); Hebrews 2:(1-8) 9-18 (E) Hebrews was written for a Jewish audience, to keep them from abandoning their Christian faith in favor of returning to Judaism. The writer emphasizes that Christ is superior to the prophets (vv. 1-3). Christ holds the very nature of God and upholds the universe by his power. The writer also asserts Christ's superiority ...

32. Plain Talk

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... about the same incident. The authors were different, and so was the audience for whom each wrote. Matthew and Luke both record in their gospels a collection of Jesus' sayings. We know Matthew's version as, "The Sermon on the Mount." Matthew writes for a Jewish audience, and every good Jew knew that all important events happened on a mountain. The law came from Mount Sinai. Moses views the promised land from Mount Pisgah. "I will lift up my eyes to the hills," says the psalmist. The temple is built on Mount ...

33. Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Acts 2:14-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the people of God, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” In Joel’s text this saving activity comes immediately after the Lord’s promise to “pour out my spirit” (2:28-29), a reference Peter’s Jewish audience would doubtless recall. God’s promise has come true for those who hear and respond to Peter’s words with true repentance. This promise will continue to be available to all future generations. The disciples who had hidden themselves away “for fear of the ...

34. To Cross Over

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

Dr. Ronald Love

... not arbitrarily select Abraham as his example of faith, but he had some well calculated reasons for doing so. Abraham is considered to be one of the forefathers of Judaism. By discussing the faith of Abraham Paul would have the ear of his Jewish audience. Jesus came from the lineage of Abraham, which means Paul would have the ear of his Christian constituents. But most importantly for both congregations is that Abraham’s faith preceded his actions. Faith came before the law of Judaism. Faith came before ...

35. Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

36. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 5 and 6 create a kind of negative confession, a popular ancient confessional form. Note again that while we, and the Corinthians, naturally assume that the attributes Paul lists describe the character of Christ, the list is just as applicable to God. A Jewish audience subscribing to the affirmation that "God is love" could find Paul's list perfectly proper. The final style change in this unit takes place at verse 8. Paul now abandons the pedagogical format of Wisdom literature and picks up a more polemical ...

37. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

38. When It’s Time to Seek Direction

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Iraq or Iran, they were Gentiles in search of a Jewish King. They were people from a foreign religion come searching for this Christ. Matthew, writing to a particular population, starts it off in the 2nd chapter saying “I need to say to this my particular Jewish audience Christ who was born is Christ for all”. O’er field and fountain and moor and mountain they followed the star. In the heat of the day and the chill of the night, they traveled on. With saddle-chaffed legs, sun-burned skin, dust-caked ...

39. Matthew 6:24-34

Matthew 6:25-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... not occasionally turn their attention to the mere mortals of this earth. No wonder striving after earthly things is constantly on the minds and ruling the desires of those who live without knowledge of the one “heavenly Father.” For Jesus’ Jewish audience the goal of life was more than a struggle for physical necessities. What God’s children were to “strive” for, first and foremost, must be “the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” God’s “righteousness” had already been described by ...

40. John 1:6-8, 19-28

John 1:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to Judaism or the daily dunkings self-administered by the Qumran sectarians, John himself immersed those who came to him. Even more unsettling was that John’s demand of repentance and the need for baptizing was issued to a Jewish audience — those who were by definition already God’s chosen, privileged people. John’s baptizing practices were definitely problematic and those most concerned with issues of proper purification, the Pharisees, demanded some additional explanation. They didn’t get it ...

41. Bear the Light

John 1:19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

42. John 3:14-21

John 3:1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

43. Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

John 13:31-38

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... passion, from betrayal to empty tomb—a process that inaugurates his return to the Father. Hence 13:31 states that Jesus’s glorification has already begun. The onset of “the hour” is behind him; his departure is under way (13:33).As Jesus mystified his Jewish audience at the Feast of Tabernacles with this teaching (7:33–36), so now Peter is perplexed (13:36–38). He presses the question about departure, and unlike the Jewish leaders in chapter 7, he knows that it may involve death (13:37–38; cf ...

44. Mary Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

John Jamison

... sentence which tells Joseph he ought to see this thing through and try to work things out with Mary. And that even happens in a dream. But that seems to fit Matthew's purpose. Matthew isn't interested in the trimmings of Christmas. He wanted his Jewish audience to understand that old prophecy was being fulfilled, and had to explain the role of Joseph in this process. All that other stuff might confuse the facts and keep some Jews from seeing the Christ in Christmas. As for me, I've always preferred Luke's ...

45. John 17:20-26

John 17:20-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to the most high god without revealing for which god their prayers were actually intended. The most high god terminology thus meant something very different to the Gentile population Paul and Silas were trying to reach than it would have to a Jewish audience of that age or to Christian believers today. The ambiguity inherent in the slave girl's spirit-language was further amplified by the announcement that Paul and Silas were proclaiming "a way of salvation." To Gentile listeners this simply exacerbated the ...

46. John 17:20-26

John 17:20-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

47. Come and Find Rest

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

... LEAVE NEWS ITEMS OR ADVERTISING. This is a man who knows how to rest! But is this what Jesus really meant when he said: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest?" No, Jesus was referring to his Jewish audience that was burdened with all the observances of Mosaic law. These people had regulations on their food, clothes, how they farmed, and so on. The taxes were overpowering. To these people Jesus said: "Come to me. Stop being burdened by law and accept your salvation by ...

48. Christmas, Proper 3

John 1:1-18, Hebrews 1:1-14, Isaiah 51:17--52:12

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... the world that our God reigns, and that, as a result, we are redeemed, through the One who is born this day. In his name we pray. Amen Second Lesson: Hebrews 1:1-12 Theme: Words of prophets, Word of power Exegetical Note Addressing a Jewish audience, this epistle writer begins his letter by declaring the superiority of Jesus to the prophets of old: as Son, he was instrumental in the creation of the universe and, having completed his mission of redemption, he sustains it from on high. Call to Worship Leader ...

49. Is Anything Unforgivable?

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... these words are likely to understand Holy Spirit in the sense of the third person of the Trinity, and feel that, somehow, it is possible so to offend the Holy Spirit as to be forever unforgiven. I think that we need to understand the Holy Spirit as Jesus' Jewish audience would have understood it, for no idea of Trinity had yet been introduced. For them, the Holy Spirit of God had two functions. One was to bring God's truth to people, as when a person was inspired to speak a word in God's behalf. The other ...

50. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... this week's gospel text, Jesus is deserted by "many of his disciples" because of his refusal to tell the people what they wanted to hear. His flesh and blood imagery was both too gutsy and too graphic, too fantastic and too unreal for a large portion of his Jewish audience. The great irony of this text is that the very message that reveals how we may personally experience the intimacy of God in our lives is the message that leads us to turn our backs on Jesus the one who is the divine gift of life. For many ...

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