Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 501 to 525 of 4999 results

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... pictures but imaginative poetry and metaphor that make it almost seem as if the author, Saint John, the evangelist, was on some kind of psychedelic drug when he wrote it. In today's reading John gives us another picture of what it will be like ... not only Jesus but also (and this is the shocker!) ... heaven on earth! In their love for one another, they will reflect the new kind of world that Jesus has made possible. That same gift is ours. In the midst of lives that are often confusing and painful, in a ...

502. Thicker Than Blood

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... or doctors or teachers or take care of their own baby doll children. Some of this make-believe is pure fantasy — the child will never really be a dinosaur or an airplane. But some of this pretend play is actually rehearsal for their future lives as adults. It's a kind of practice for when they really will have children of their own or become a teacher one day. In a similar way, we can also "live as if" we are one in Christ Jesus even if we sometimes don't feel that way or it may seem awkward at times ...

503. Look Who's Talking

Acts 11:1-18

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... other people. Then, having been prepared by God, Peter set off for the home of Cornelius. Again, it was Peter who did the talking, and the talking he did was the simple sharing of the gospel message. That, in turn, gave rise to yet another kind of talking. Peter's Gentile audience began to speak — in tongues! This clearly came as a surprise to Peter and the believers who were with him. Beyond just surprising, though, the event was confirming. Now Peter recognized how certainly God was including the ...

504. Put on Some Clothes

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... me, line by line, as we pray it together: this day is a new day that has never been before this year is a new year, the opening door. Open the door... Open the door. But wait . . . Before you do, put on some clothes -compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. COMMENTARY The week between Christmas and New Years is a festive time, with plenty of holiday parties and get-togethers. It is the perfect time to show off all the new clothes opened up on Christmas day. Whether it’s ...

505. Pet Peeves and Pet Pleasures

Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... you here this morning has a pet peeve. [You might want to make this an interactive moment, revealing one of your pet peeves and then asking for theirs. For example, one of my pet peeves is rudeness. Why are People So Rude? Why can’t people be gracious and kind to one another? Here are some of my pet peeves of rudeness . . . In a store, the checkout people don’t talk to you because they’re talking to one another. When you hold the door open for someone, and they blast by you, and don’t even look at ...

506. Cure for an Aching Back

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... was teaching in a synagogue. A woman was there who was severely disabled. Her body was all bent over.” Even with her pronounced deformity she was in the synagogue on the Sabbath. I admire her. I wonder if I would have that kind of courage to be in public with that kind of condition. Even more important she had not allowed her physical condition to impair her relationship with God. She had been this way for eighteen years all bent over and unable to rise up. The pain was sometimes severe. Yet, her habit ...

507. A King Like No Other

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... help. Christ didn’t wait until we were worth saving. Paul put it this way, “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, RSV). What does our text say, first of all, about this man Jesus? What kind of king was he? “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals one on his right, the other on his left.” But look what it says next: Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are ...

508. An Announcement from Our Lord

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... of compassion for others that Christ longs for in us. The person was Emery’s father. Emery tells about a trip his family took on a train when he was a boy. There was a kindly porter on that train, an African-American gentleman. As the porter moved about, young Allan noticed he walked with a limp. The porter told Allan that he had had an ingrown toenail. A chiropodist had worked on it the previous day, but it had become infected. Obviously he was in ...

509. Shockproof

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

James Merritt

... forgiveness. How can you get there? Why should you even try? The secret is found in two words in the next verse. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32, NIV) The two most ... irritated, because she did not want to forgive the murderer of her sister, but then this verse came to her heart, “Be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32, ESV) Before that man was electrocuted she ...

510. The God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... or “verdict of death”) on himself, accepting his imminent demise as the providence of God (cf. 1 Cor. 4:9). He saw in the situation the divine purpose that he should trust solely in the God who raises the dead and not in himself. Paul expresses the same kind of resolution to life or death in Philippians 2:19–26. Paul employs the perfect participle of peithein to mean “have confidence in, trust in” (cf. 2:3; 10:7; Phil. 3:3). Is there a question that the apostle would rely on himself rather than on ...

511. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... at that time distinguished between Christ and Jesus. This, however, is speculative, and it could be that the apostle simply wishes to remind his readers that truth is embodied in Jesus—who, of course, is the Christ. 4:22–24 In 4:22–24 the author refers to the kind of instruction that new believers would have received at the time of their baptism (cf. Col. 3:8–12). The Greek text has no new sentence at the beginning of 4:22, so the exhortation to put off your old self and put on the new self must be ...

512. Rules for Holy Living

Colossians 3:1-17

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... 3:14 and 3:15 respectively. A third characteristic of these virtues is that they are “godly qualities,” which are used to describe either God or Christ. Many references in the NT, for example, talk about the mercy or compassion (Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 1:3), kindness (Rom. 2:4; 11:22; Eph. 2:7), humility (Phil. 2:5–11), meekness (2 Cor. 10:1), and long-suffering (Rom. 2:4; 9:22) of God and Jesus. The application of these virtues to the Christian would follow naturally from the call to imitation, union, or ...

513. Personal Remarks

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... along the way (vv. 14–15); and concludes with information as to how things have been going with him (vv. 16–18). On its own all of this is so ordinary as to elicit no surprise from anyone. It would be one more among thousands of letters of its kind from the Hellenistic world. The element of surprise, of course, comes from the fact that it is not on its own. Rather, it has been preceded by a long appeal for Timothy’s loyalty, which concludes with a solemn charge to keep at his task of ministry and a ...

514. God Disciplines His Sons

Hebrews 12:1-13, Hebrews 12:14-29

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... lie before us (6:18, using the same verb; cf. the same verb in describing the joy set before Jesus in v. 2). 12:2 The exhortation let us fix our eyes on Jesus continues the metaphor of a race, where the runner must avoid distraction of every kind (cf. “looking unto God,” 4 Macc. 17:10; cf. Acts 7:55). In this case, however, Jesus is appealed to not merely as another example, but as one whose whole existence revolves around faith. NIV’s our faith is better taken literally as “the faith” or “faith ...

515. Warning Against Refusing God

Hebrews 12:14-29, Hebrews 12:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

516. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... work as high priest, has been expounded at length by our author. That is the very basis of Christianity. Today his work continues in the intercession he makes for us at the right hand of God (7:25; cf. 4:14–16). It is also true, as a kind of surplus, that the future of the readers remains secure. The faithfulness of Christ in the past and present will find its counterpart in the future when he returns to consummate the saving purposes of God (9:28). The faithfulness of Jesus Christ is unchanging (cf. 7:24 ...

517. Staying Close to Christ

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... who mistreat you . . . If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? . . . But love your enemies . . . Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” This is, indeed, a new kind of love. It is a love that is usually only manifested by those who have given their lives entirely to Jesus. And the first place this love should be made manifest is within the body of believers ...

518. Not Far from the Kingdom

Mark 12:28-34

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... mask and so the doctor removed it. His beautiful wife stared with amazement as the man's real face was revealed. But guess what? The evil man had been acting so good and so loving to please his wife for so long, that now his real face was pleasant and kind to look at as well. Our lesson for the day is about loving God and loving one another. Sometimes we may not feel very loving, but if we act loving, even when we do not feel like it, a change will take place in our lives. We will become the ...

519. Thanks for Their Gifts

Philippians 4:10-20

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... modern commentators get, that Paul is saying, “Thank you for your gift, but it really wasn’t necessary,” Paul removes any impression of ungraciousness on his part by assuring them again of his grateful appreciation. They had renewed their kindness both by helping him financially and by sharing his troubles. By his troubles he means primarily his current imprisonment; in showing him practical fellowship in that situation they were also showing him practical fellowship in the apostolic ministry that he ...

520. Judges

Deuteronomy 17:8-13

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... on the honor due to parents, who are the first form of social authority encountered in life. Parental authority, however, is a model for other forms of authority and leadership in society (as is seen in the use of “father” for various kinds of honored or important persons in many societies). The way Deuteronomy sets four offices of authority and leadership in Israel side by side in this section (judge, king, priest, and prophet) gives us an insight into its “constitutional” intentions. The clear ...

521. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... in its final clauses in verse 4: a man may not remarry a wife he has divorced if she has subsequently been married by another man and then divorced or widowed. The practical effect of this rule is to protect the unfortunate woman from becoming a kind of marital football, passed back and forth between irresponsible men. It is likewise for the woman’s protection that a certificate of divorce is to be given to the woman (lit. “into her hand”), since it proves her status as free to marry the second man ...

522. Jehoahaz King of Israel

2 Kings 13:1-9

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... that the real chariots and horsemen of Israel are not of flesh and blood (cf. 2 Kgs. 2:11–12; 6:8–17). He is therefore able to promise Jehoahaz—whose repetition of Elisha’s words from 2 Kgs. 2:12 only reveals his lack of perception—victories of the kind won by Ahab (1 Kgs. 20:13–34). Ahab had also been reduced to a remnant (20:15) and had also faced Aramean forces vastly superior in horses and chariotry (20:13, 21, 23–25, 28–30). Given that Elisha has in mind a series of victories in 2 Kgs ...

523. The Future Glory of Zion

Isaiah 54:1-17

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... resuming abuse. Yahweh seeks to win trust by several means. The first reaches behind the story of Abraham and Sarah to the story of the great flood. Yahweh can claim to have kept the oath taken there, and associates the commitment to Ms Jerusalem with that kind of commitment. It is from the flood story that the image of a covenant comes. Genesis might have described that as a covenant of peace, but it does not. In Isaiah, the word makes for another link with the description of the servant’s work (see ...

524. Through His Faithful Death, Jesus as Messiah Redefined Brings Life

Matthew 27:27-31, Matthew 27:32-44, Matthew 27:45-56, Matthew 27:57-61, Matthew 27:62-66

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... is that in the final day death itself will be swallowed up by life. The final two lines of the poem read, One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die. Scripture: In the face of death and losses of all kinds, Jesus’ followers can have hope of resurrection to come. As Paul reminds the church in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14 (CEB), Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about people who have died so that you won’t mourn like others who don’t have any hope ...

525. Separation of Faith and Life

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... ’s body claim to be above laws they have received from their divine Lord and master? Anyone who does so must be disciplined for God’s honor and even for one’s own healing. News Story: This text provides an opportunity to talk about the kinds of breaches in trust that have plagued many churches and denominations. Sadly, there is ample fodder to illustrate the fact that excessive power and influence can tempt or corrupt leaders, even in the family of God. When this happens, it highlights the fact that ...

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