Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 476 to 500 of 1044 results

476. Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2:17--3:5

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Paul reflects “the kindness and sternness” of God as he moves from denouncing the Jews and defending himself against their slanders (2:1–16) to revealing his concern for the Thessalonians. He opens his heart, telling them how much they (the missionaries)—and none more than himself—long to see them. But he had been prevented thus far from returning (2:17–20). Therefore, to set their mind at rest and to “strengthen and encourage” them in what he knew to be difficult and dangerous times, he sent Timothy from ...

477. Crossing the Sea

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

13:17–22 These verses introduce the next major section (13:17–15:21) that takes the Israelites to the wilderness by way of the sea. We return to the story of the exit from Egypt with three brief notes. First, we look ahead to the geographical route. Next, we look back in history to an oath made about Joseph. Then we are brought up to date on a new manifestation of the Lord’s presence in cloud and fire. The first note (vv. 17–18) concerns the route to the sea. The name God occurs for the first time since ...

478. Testimonies About Jesus

John 5:31-47

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The discourse of verses 19–47 can be divided into two parts on the basis of a change from the third to the first person at verse 30. Instead of referring to himself as “the Son,” Jesus now uses the emphatic pronoun I (vv. 30, 31, 34, 36, 43). But part two of the discourse begins like part one with the insistence that Jesus’ authority is a derived authority. He does nothing on his own but acts entirely on his Father’s instructions (v. 30; cf. v. 19). If he does what he sees his Father do (vv. 19–20), he ...

479. “Unless You Repent . . .”

Luke 13:10-17, Luke 13:1-9

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: God requires repentance before it is too late, but people are more concerned with keeping the rules than with God’s agenda. Understanding the Text These are two separate pericopes, brought together here simply for the convenience of this commentary. First, repentance has been at the heart of the message of both John (3:3, 8) and Jesus (5:32), and Jesus has rebuked his contemporaries for their failure to repent in response to his preaching (10:13–15; 11:32). In chapter 15 he will illustrate God’s ...

480. “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 ...

481. Questions about the Collection and Paul’s Plans

1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 1 Corinthians 16:5-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

A final Corinthian question remains about “the collection for God’s people” (see also Rom. 15:25–28; Gal. 2:10). From the content of Paul’s reply, their questions seem to have been more concerned with the nature and timing of their own participation than with the collection itself or the rationale behind it. The Corinthians are advised to do as Paul has already directed the “Galatian churches” to do. (Paul’s reference must be to a message sent orally or in writing; the Letter to the Galatians contains no ...

482. A Light for All Nations

Isaiah 60:1-6, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

As far as our society is concerned, the Christmas season has long been over. The lights and the tinsel have been put away. For most of us Christmas is only a pleasant memory. In the Church year, however, Christmas begins on December 25 and extends for 12 days. You remember the silly little song that starts off, “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree . . . .” It details an array of gifts that a young woman received from her lover over a period of 12 days. Her true ...

483. The Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-10

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

The Resurrection: The resurrection stands as the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The crucial importance of this historic event is clearly set forth by Paul in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians. If there is no resurrection, then Christ has not been raised (v. 13), faith is useless (v. 14), the apostolic witness is false (v. 15), believers are still in their sins (v. 17) and are to be pitied (v. 19). The account of the events surrounding the resurrection is given in each of the four Gospels. ...

484. The Most Generous Gift

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Fanny Brice, was a well-known comedian, singer, theater and film actress in the first half of the twentieth century. Her second husband was professional gambler Julius W. “Nicky” Arnstein who, unfortunately, fell into trouble with the law. According to one source when Arnstein finally went to jail, Fanny kept the truth from their children, telling them that their father was working in Paris. For Christmas, the children wrote their father, telling him that they wanted a pair of rabbits for Christmas. Fanny ...

485. Actors

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

John Jamison

Whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and the streets.... We can almost see the people in the crowd leaning forward as they try to hear these things Jesus was saying that afternoon on the hillside. He had been talking for a while now, and although he started out talking about things that were theological, he was now getting to things that actually made sense to everyone. It was nice to hear him say how the poor are actually blessed, and the weak ...

486. A Difficult but Joyous Journey

Luke 1:39-55

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Melvin Newland tells about a man in Salt Lake City who decided to send out 600 Christmas cards to total strangers. He got telephone directories from several cities, addressed 600 cards to people he had never met, put his return address on the envelopes and mailed them. Amazingly, he received 117 responses from these total strangers. One lady wrote, “It was so good to hear from you. Your card arrived the day I got home from the hospital, and I can’t tell you what an encouragement it was to hear from ...

487. They'll Know We Are Christians by Our...

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Did you know that sometimes there is conflict in a church? It’s true. Churches are made up of people. And people, as we all know, have differing opinions about things. For example, there is evidence that the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church of Galatia because certain members of their congregation were stirring up trouble. Surely you would think that couldn’t happen in the church that early in Christian history, but it did. There was much disagreement. Here was the issue: many of the early ...

488. Are You Suffering from FOMO?

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

I hate to admit it, but I admire advertisers and their ability to sell us products we didn’t even know we needed. Some of these advertisers are geniuses at convincing us that if we just had their product, it would fill some hole in our lives and would bring us complete satisfaction. One of the more famous ads along these lines came out in the early 1970s. It was an ad for Schlitz Beer. The ad implied that Schlitz Beer was the ultimate beer experience. The tagline went like this, “You only go around once in ...

489. New Tendons for Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

What would be your dream job? Can you imagine having a job working for the Queen of England? In February 2018, Britain’s royal family posted a job ad for a Digital communications officer to manage the social media account for Queen Elizabeth II. For £30,000 per year—about $38,000 U.S.—the Digital communications officer will post articles, videos and photos about the Queen’s state visits and royal business on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. (1) The Queen has a worldwide following on social media. ...

490. The Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This morning, I want you to imagine with me for a moment. Close your eyes if you will. Sit back. I’m going to take you to another place. But first a warning: during a big chunk of this sermon, you will have your eyes closed. You can tell your friends that you went to church this Sunday and the preacher told you to shut your eyes and keep them shut for a long time. Where else can you go to church and be encouraged to shut your eyes? Are you ready? Let’s take a trip in time. [pause] You’re driving home from ...

491. Not Gullible; But Skeptical

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

We’re just ten days past April Fools’ Day, and I wanted to run a little poll this morning. Raise your hand if you fall into one of these camps: How many of you love to pull pranks on April Fools’ Day? How many of you have ever fallen for an April Fools’ prank? It’s hard to admit it, but some of us are just a little more trusting than others. And that can get us into trouble sometimes. There’s an old story of a man who walked into a local pub and introduced himself to the guy at the next table. The man said ...

492. Investing In The Lives Of Young Preachers

Sermon

Mark Hensley

The great Scottish preacher Peter Marshall once said “It’s not the duration of a life that counts but the donation”. How thankful Southern Baptist should be for the duration and donation of the life of Adrian Rogers. I had the opportunity to meet him on four different occasions, each time he looked intently into my eyes, and expressed genuine and heartfelt interest in my own ministry journey. Dr. Rogers reminds me of another great man of God the legendary George W. Truett pastor of the First Baptist Church ...

493. The Good

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

I always hold my breath on Sundays until I find out which texts are assigned by the ecumenical lectionary. Look, I realize that your high tuition pays my modest salary, so naturally I want to make a good impression on visiting parents. (And let me take this opportunity to thank all of you parents for your tuition payments. Without you, not only your Duke sons and daughters, but even this preacher, wouldn't be here!) At any rate, I want to look good for the visiting parents, to reassure you that your kids ...

494. For the Love Of God is Forgiving

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

The headlines, news reports and newspaper stories all make it very clear that there is something out of kilter in our world. Whether you agree with its content or not, the crime bill is the biggest of its kind. It's because dealing with crime is on everyone's mind. Who'll be the next victim of a drive by shooting or a drug problem. Who'll be the next victim of gang violence or a drunk driver. While the Peace Talks are going on in the Middle East between Israel and Jordan and the Palestinians, the fighting ...

495. The Richest Family in Church

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

King Duncan

It’s tough to preach your first sermon at a new church. Most pastors experience at least a few jitters as they head to a new church to preach. Can they remember the main points to their sermon? Will the sound system work? Will the congregation stay awake? It’s nerve-wracking. Not exactly on par with the stresses faced by police officers or brain surgeons or middle school teachers, but nerve-wracking in its own way. So I appreciate a story Pastor John Jewell shared about his first time preaching as a supply ...

496. By D Grace of God

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

I have a pop quiz for you this morning. How much money would you say Americans lost to Internet scams and online crime in 2020? Would you believe $4.2 billion? That’s billion—with a “b”! And that’s just in one year’s time. Internet scams are an increasing problem all over the world. (1) If I were to ask for a quick show of hands, how many of you have gotten an email or message on social media that you suspected was a scam? It’s a pretty common occurrence. I read an excellent story on the blog Now I Know! ...

497. Get Out of the Seed Box

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

Sermon

Mary Austin

Years ago, when my daughter was a tiny baby, just a couple weeks old, I could already feel the time zipping by. The five-pound newborn had turned into an eight-pound baby, and she already felt different when I held her. I looked into the future and could see the time zipping by. I lamented the speed of life to my dad, and he said, “Well, time only goes one way, honey.” It does only go one way. And it goes quickly. You know that experience from your own lives, or from the kids you know. From Christmas to ...

498. Get Out of the Seed Box

1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

Sermon

Mary Austin

499. A VIP Seat

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

In our society, we have a unique obsession with following the “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” There are TV shows and websites and magazines that focus on the homes and wardrobes and parties of the wealthy and well-connected. And so many of us like to take a sneak peek into this world that we will never experience in real life. Back before the pandemic, sociologist Ashley Mears wrote a book titled Very Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit that shared insider details on the ...

500. The Steady March Forward

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

Some people get distracted by almost anything. As focused as I can often be, I’m also one of those guys who can walk from one room to another and forget why I went in there. I remember once, when I was about twelve years old, my Dad gave me some money to go pick up a loaf of bread. I hopped on my trusty bike with the basket on the handlebars and set out for the convenience store a mile or two down the road. When I got there, I looked around to grab the… Uh oh! I couldn’t remember what my Dad had sent me to ...

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