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 476 to 500 of 2273 results

476. It’s a New Year: Take 7 Steps Forward

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ’t you lead the way.” Not, “”Let’s make this a team effort.” Accepting the forward step of faith in Christ require a concurrent “step down” of self. In today’s text, everything Jesus’ first disciples confessed was absolutely right. Yet absolutely wrong. The Twelve thought they knew who and what they were talking about. But it took their discipleship journey with Jesus to reveal to them they did not know, did not understand, did not have a clue, about the greater plan that God had going ...

477. Jesus Predicts His Death

Mark 8:31--9:1

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of the Jews in Jesus’ time. In 3:6 Mark told of a scheme to kill Jesus involving Pharisees and Herodians, but they are not mentioned in Mark’s account of the trial and execution of Jesus. This formal rejection of Jesus would have meant for Peter and the Twelve that Jesus’ mission was a failure. The reason why Peter takes Jesus in hand to rebuke him is Peter’s conviction that Jesus is the Christ means that God is with him and that he cannot fail. This is the irony of Peter’s rebuke of Jesus; Peter ...

478. What the Maid Said to the Fisherman

Mark 14:66-72, Mark 14:53-65

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... maid’s questions. Sometimes it seems as though Jesus called Peter “the Rock” not because of his standing qualities, but because of his sinking qualities. Actually, it took a great deal of courage for him to be there at all. None of the rest of the twelve were there. Gone were the crowds who, on Palm Sunday, shouted glad Hosannas!” Gone were the other two of Jesus’ closest friends: James and John. Jesus was alone during his ordeal in the house of the high priest. Except for Peter. Peter was there ...

479. Proper 7 & Pentecost 5

Jeremiah 20:7-18, Psalm 69:1-36, Psalm 91:1-16, Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon Aid

... one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven." He also added a warning: "... whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven." Tradition has it that eleven of the twelve were faithful - ten as martyrs and one, John, as a "confessor," who faced persecution, was willing to die, but was spared a martyr's death and lived long enough to die from natural causes. SERMON SUGGESTIONS Matthew 10:26-33 - "Marching Orders." In less than ...

480. Family Feud

Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... curtain comes down as the orchestra plays a patriotic medley while the off-stage announcer reads off the name's of the children who would be born to Jacob and his two wives (plus their personal handmaids) - familiar names, because these are the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. It would be nice if the announcer could conclude with, "And they all lived happily ever after," but everyone knows how the story goes. This would be the Battle of the Brides, just one more episode in the national ...

481. Gratitude and Coping

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... careful attention. Perhaps a word about the background of this event will set the whole picture in clearer perspective. At this particular moment, Jesus and his disciples were trying to get away by themselves so that they could reflect on the mission that the twelve had just completed. Galilee was a crowded, densely populated place by the Sea of Galilee to the more sparsely inhabited eastern shore. However, the crowds saw Jesus and his disciples in their boats and ran all the way around the northern end of ...

482. Thanks for the Memories

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... waste vital packing space on photographs and other items of family history and memories. One of the family members responds, "How will we know it''s us without our past?" In the Book of Joshua (4:1-7), the heir to Moses instructs the men from each of the twelve tribes of Israel to gather a stone and to lay them in a special place, "as these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever." The people of Israel must never be disconnected from God''s story and actions. The Old Testament lesson from ...

483. A World Without Easter

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up…' But not only is Jesus a liar, but that means Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the twelve disciples, and the Apostle Paul were all liars. That is the problem with a dead Christ; we must forfeit our message. II. We Must Forget Our Mission Now our mission is Mt. 28:19-20, which you all know as the Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of ...

484. Community Discourse: Lavish Forgiveness in the Kingdom

Matthew 18:21-35

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... emphases on taking sin seriously and forgiving without limit balance each other, as the members of the community seek to live well with Jesus and with one another. Interpretive Insights 18:21 Peter came to Jesus. Peter often functions as the representative of the twelve disciples in Matthew (14:28; 15:15; 16:16; 17:24–27; 18:21; 19:27). Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister . . . ? This verse introduces the last half of the Community Discourse, which focuses on forgiveness in the ...

485. Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

John 13:18-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... For Judas, the curtain of night had now fallen; having left the circle of the disciples to do his evil work, he was walking in darkness. Additional Notes 13:18 I know those I have chosen. These words must be understood as qualifying 6:70. Jesus chose the Twelve as a group, but Judas will shortly be seen not to have been truly chosen as an individual. He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me. Some commentators have noticed that shares my bread (lit., “ate my bread”) uses the same unusual ...

486. As a Fire Exists by Burning

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to people different from themselves. Rules for Guests Luke was the only gospel writer who told this story. It had some things in common with the stories in Mark and Matthew where Jesus sent out the twelve disciples. But in Luke’s mission story, the number of disciples was greater. He chose the highly symbolic and significant number: seventy. (The number is mentioned 61 times in the Bible. Sixty times in the Hebrew scriptures and once in the New Testament.) The ...

487. The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Zechariah 9:9-13, Exodus 1:1-22, Exodus 2:1-10, Romans 7:7-25, Romans 8:1-17, Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon Aid

... It is unique in that the church asks God: "Send us as peacemakers and witnesses to your kingdom," adding "and fill our hearts with joy in your salvation; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." The prayer would be fitting at the end of Jesus' charge to the twelve disciples as they embarked upon their first missionary effort, asking the Lord God to make us partners in the ongoing work of the church. It is, of course, appropriate for this Sunday, and for most others, too. The Psalm of the Day Psalm 145:1-2 ...

488. The Exorcism of a Child Develops a Humble Model for Faith

Mark 9:14-32

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... the Text This is a classic example of the mountaintop/valley experience. The innermost circle of disciples experienced the glory of God in Jesus, as great a spiritual “high” as anyone in history has known. Now they are about to join the rest of the Twelve as they descend into the valley and face one of the lowest of failures the disciples have ever experienced. This again parallels the exodus story—particularly when Moses came off the mountain to face the apostasy and idolatry of the Jewish people in ...

489. I Am The Alpha And The Omega

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

... said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (called the Twin), was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" Thomas said to them, "Unless I see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand in ...

490. The Week

Mark 14:1-15:47

Sermon

John Jamison

... whom they did not know, Jesus added that the one who would betray him was actually reclining at the table, eating the meal with him. Now they added their voices to their looking, each of them saying, “Surely, not I?” Jesus then added, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me” (14:20). The Passover seder was a unique meal, and the food was set out so that each bowl was shared between two people. This narrowed down who Jesus was referring to as the one dipping into the ...

491. To Who Can We Go?

John 6:60-71

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... purposes. When Jesus begins to talk about what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “The Cost of Discipleship” many of us, like those folks back in the synagogue at ancient Capernaum respond the same way: “This teaching is difficult. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60) Jesus said to the twelve, then, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69) This ...

492. The Things That Make for Peace

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... them. But Luke is a preacher, and there is something called "a preacher's count." You ask any preacher, "How many were in church last Sunday?" He will say, "A multitude." But we can assume that if Luke says they were all disciples there, then there was "the twelve," and maybe those who traveled with him, other disciples from Galilee, maybe a couple of dozen, we don't know. But the point is, there was no great crowd coming out of the city to greet Jesus with enthusiasm and with joy because he was the Messiah ...

493. Epiphany 3

Isaiah 9:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:10-17, Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... is a call to special discipleship. They are called to the ministry, not to a general ministry. It was a special discipleship with a special task, a special destiny, and a special promise. Jesus did not intend all followers to be full-time disciples like the twelve. There is a fundamental difference between the clergy and the laity. Old Testament: Isaiah 9:1-4 1. Light (v. 2). When Isaiah wrote these words, there was darkness in the land. Assyria conquered Zebulon and Naphtali and carried off the people to ...

494. The Temple Musicians

1 Chronicles 6:31-81

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... related in the literary structure to the genealogies of Judah and Benjamin. The community identity that the Chronicler fosters rests solidly upon these three pillars. This long chapter covers different aspects related to the lineage of Levi. Levi, being one of the twelve sons of Israel mentioned in 2:1–2, is credited with being the ancestor who delivered to Israel its priestly lineage. The very extensive genealogy therefore starts with the family list of the high priests who served in Jerusalem (6:1 ...

495. The Altar on Mount Ebal

Deuteronomy 27:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... here there is a selection of specific actions that are placed under a curse without the nature of the curse being spelled out, whereas in chapter 28 the content of the curse is described in graphic detail. Two points may be made about the twelve curses of this chapter. First, there is an interesting combination of the very public nature of the declaration of the curses with the generally private nature of the actions described (cf. Alt, “Israelite Law,” pp. 114f.). The list speaks primarily of offenses ...

496. The Risen Jesus Revealed

Luke 24:13-35

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... . 28:7, 10, 16–20; Mark 16:7; John 21) falls outside Luke’s deliberately selective scheme. Historical and Cultural Background Luke has already indicated (23:49; 24:9; cf. 24:33) that the circle of Jesus’s followers in Jerusalem extended well beyond the twelve (now eleven) apostles from the Galilee period and the group of women who were at the tomb. Here we meet two Judean residents who were fully accepted as part of the group (note the phrases “our women” [24:22] and “our companions” [24:24 ...

497. Spiritual Blindness and the Way to Overcome It

Mark 8:22-26, Mark 8:14-21

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... the Bible to “remember” means both to understand and to act upon that knowledge. In 6:52 and here their failure to “understand” is rooted in their “hardness of heart,” so Jesus directs their attention to the remarkable denouement to both episodes: the twelve and seven baskets left over after the lavish feasts. This points to God’s complete work of provision in the two feeding miracles. Realization of the true significance of Jesus should have resulted. 8:21 Do you still not understand? Mark ...

498. Blessings for a Defiled People

Haggai 2:10-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... begin on the day after this, on the 25th day of the ninth month (December), perhaps implying that the cleansing of the temple and the restoration of Judean independence on that occasion constituted a fulfillment of these promises (cf. Sweeney, The Twelve Prophets, Volume 2, p. 550). Yahweh here raises two issues that are superficially quite different from what has preceded in that neither relates directly to the building project, and they are quite different from each other—though both actually do relate ...

499. Jesus and the IRS

Mark 12:13-17

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... troublemaker in their usual efficient fashion, but his battle-cry never died out. “No tribute to the Romans” they said. They would rather die...and many of them did: at Gamla, Arbela, and Masada. It is interesting to remember that counted among the Twelve Disciples with Jesus was both a tax-collector (Matthew) and a Zealot (Simon)! They must have had some interesting conversations around the campfire in the evenings! Mark says that the Pharisees and Herodians tried to trap Jesus with a question about ...

500. Easter Power

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... State came at his task out of Christian traditions, and it is difficult to work with those peoples who do not have the same convictions. Yet how important it was that he tried. Faith As the Risen Christ bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the twelve, he also empowered them to believe. John's account of this meeting in the Upper Room is the Johannine version of what happened at Pentecost. The disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit that they might believe and understand how it was that Jesus was ...

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