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 526 to 550 of 2815 results

526. Proper 20

Exodus 16:1-36, Isaiah 55:1-13, Jonah 3:1-10, Jonah 4:1-11, Philippians 1:12-30, Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... . 21-23. 2. A Working Church (1:22, 27). Need: A church is meant to be a group of fellow-Christians working in and for the kingdom of God. Lesson 2 gives a model church in Philippi where it seems all members worked. This harmonizes with the Gospel's parable of the vineyard in which none was to be idle. Paul was not alone in his work, for he thanks the Philippian congregation for its "partnership in the gospel." He exhorts them to continue "striving side by side for the faith." Outline: A church is a working ...

527. What If the End Is Near?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... . A faith that hasn't grown since childhood isn't likely to fit a 47-year-old man! You know, when I used to read this parable I would read about those ladies in a panic who asked to borrow oil, and it really bothered me that the five women refused to share ... preached about their selfishness and encouraged you to share with those in need. But now I've come to see this portion of the parable a bit differently. In truth, if the women had shared their oil there might not have been enough for their lamps to light ...

528. God for Dummies

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... love extended to one who is outside your "tribe," your family, your circle of comfort. Even more, the Good Samaritan shows a love for the out-and-out enemy of your tribe, your family, your way of life. And what is even more than that, the "Good Samaritan" parable goes into extraordinary detail to recount all the life-saving, neighbor-loving risks we are to take for those who aren't one of us and don't even like us. Just by stopping to offer aid the Samaritan puts himself at risk. The evidence testifying to ...

529. Proper 27

Joshua 24:1-27, Psalm 78:1-72, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon Aid

Soards, Dozeman, McCabe

... the purpose of preparedness. We are not prepared by doing the right things simply so that we can get into the wedding banquet; rather the point of our preparation is so that we will be ready to participate in the joy of the banquet. We are told in this parable that prior to the coming of Christ we are to attend to tasks that anticipate the arrival of the bridegroom and the commencement of the banquet. We do not do "A" in order to get "B." Instead, here and now we are about the things of the banquet itself ...

530. The Family That Prays Together Stays Together

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... in what Jesus said after he told the story: "Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?'" (vv. 6-7) Now you won't understand this parable unless you understand that Jesus was not teaching by comparison, He was teaching by contrast. You see, we are not like the widow, and God is not like the judge. The widow was a stranger to the judge. We are God's chosen and God's children. The widow did ...

531. Pulling Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” Then Jesus left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows ...

532. Power Failures and Power Surges

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in the most powerful political, economic and personal agenda the best way to ensure your future? No wonder our power is grounded, tied to the ground and unable to soar in the Spirit. Sometimes I wonder how “wise” the bridesmaids in today’s parables really were. They hopped out in eager expectation of the bridegroom’s arrival and then snoozed away when he didn’t appear when they thought he should. What made these five “wise” bridesmaids “wise” is that they prepared for the unexpected and ...

533. The Tragedy of the Unprepared Life - Sermon Starter

Matthew 25:1-13

Illustration

Brett Blair

... have a wedding, I admonish those in the wedding to be ready, to make a special effort to be ready on the day of the ceremony. I plead with them to arrive early and be dressed and ready to go. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Jesus' parable about a wedding, is told not from the vantage point of the bride and groom, but of the ten young maidens who had been invited to the happy occasion, five of them were foolish, said Jesus, five of them were wise. What was the measure of their wisdom? In a ...

534. Matthew 25:1-13

Matthew 25:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 's violent destruction. Thus the "synagogue across the street" may have viewed the continued focus on a returning Christ as a politically dangerous and disruptive noise. Matthew's allegory-parable, which preaches preparedness and watchfulness, serves to distinguish sharply the expectations of the Christians from the Jews. The parable of the ten virgins describes a situation in which both belief and actions are crucial to a fulfilled outcome. "Watchfulness" is mandatory. No one knows when the "bridegroom ...

535. Luke 7:36-8:3

Luke 7:36-8:3

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the reason why Jesus can so confidently proclaim her forgiven state. This woman must be among the forgiven "because" she has indeed shown great love. Just as we never hear this woman's voice, we never hear Simon's response when Jesus applies his parable of the creditor and the debtors to the situation before them. Simon, the representative Pharisee, is not given a chance to voice either a forgiving view of this woman or a judgment against her. Instead Jesus now turns from his object lesson with Simon ...

536. Love that Kneels

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... ’t either-or. It’s not neat and simple. Rather it’s “both-and,” which means love makes life conflicted and messy sometimes. Being loving is not the same as being right. The Younger Son was wrong. The Elder Son was right. Well, until the end of the parable, when Jesus invites us to see both of them as wrong and the father as right, because love leads him to be concerned with who’s lost and who’s found, who’s dead and who’s alive. This kind of love requires humility, the sacrifice of one’s ...

537. Survivor

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... want you to hear that so many people miss when it comes to this area of stewardship and giving. God does not want us to give so that we become poorer; God wants us to give so that we might become richer. So Jesus reaches two climatic statements in this parable. “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ...

538. Putting Ourselves in the Picture

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the pearl of great price, and was willing to exchange all the pearls that he had collected through his years, in order that he might possess that one pearl. Jesus said, no entry price to the kingdom is too great. The second big lesson comes from the third parable – the parable of the fishing net cast into the sea. The net is brought in and the fishermen sit down and they separate the good from the bad, and the lesson from that Jesus says is this, there will be a day of separation. There will be a day of ...

539. How Does Your Garden Grow?

Matthew 13:1-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... -9, 18-23: [1] That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. [2] Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. [3] And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. [4] And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. [5] Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no ...

540. There Is a Price for Everything, Part 2

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... hidden in the field sold all that he had in order to raise the money to purchase the field. The man who found the pearl of great price, sold all his other pearls, plus everything else that he had, in order to buy the prized pearl. The third parable that of the fishing net case in the sea offers the second big lesson we need to consider: THERE WILL BE A TIME OF SEPARATION. In the famous words of Memphis’ most colorful preacher, Dr. R. G. Lee, there will be “payday someday.” The evil will be separated ...

541. Captive Free!

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... where right and wrong matter. This is the normal, typical human reaction to a story like this. It is so normal and so typical that we can't help but react any other way. Then we realize what Jesus has done to us. As in so many of his parables, Jesus "traps" the listener. He drags us into the story and before we realize it, we discover that the story is about us. Do you see what our natural, human reaction to a story like this reveals about us? We are the unforgiving servant! We, by nature, have unforgiving ...

542. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the word of God. He did not “repent” or turn away from his life of self-indulgence, and embrace the words and witness of God’s prophets. Abraham’s final response to the rich man’s requests clearly points beyond Jesus’ telling of this parable to his disciples. Indeed, it speaks to the post-resurrection community of faith. Luke’s text here uses the verb “rise” (“anistemi”), the same verb the gospel writer uses repeatedly to describe Jesus’ own resurrection (9:22:18:33; 24:9). It is not ...

543. Matthew 20:1-16

Matthew 20:1-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... are concerned with maximizing profits, not heeding the words of any prophet. Today’s gospel text is found only in Matthew. But it reminds us that some realities never change. Across the creation and across the centuries, we all need to work. The same scene Jesus’ parable depicts, a crowd queuing up at dawn in hopes of being chosen to perform some job for that day, can be found as easily in any community across the USA as it was in first century Galilee. It is the very familiarity of this ongoing human ...

544. Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is a reference to a talent of silver (the most common form of coinage) then one talent would be valued at approximately six thousand denariius, or about fifteen years of a common laborer’s daily wage. Clearly what this term suggests in this parable is that these three servants, whether given five, two, or one talent, are entrusted with a huge amount of money. Each is trusted with a true fortune. Although the master gives each of the three servants different amounts “according to his abilities,” we ...

545. How Do You Know the Good Guys from the Bad Guys?

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

... children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light." This may not be a parable so much about rich and poor people as it is a story that should wake us up to the realities of a post-Christian ... Mercedes ... oh, I'm sorry, I meant ministry. Perhaps it would be a good idea if we prayed about this: Dear heavenly Father, sometimes the parables that Jesus told are too much for us. It would seem that he is teaching us to be shrewd and crafty when dealing with ...

546. The Dirt on Jesus

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... barns.” As any farmer/agri-entrepreneur knows, a great harvest year is a double-edged sword. Yes, there is a lot more to harvest and sell. But with a glutted market the price for the commodity drops. Supply and demand. The rich man in Jesus’ parable not only needs more storage space because of the bumper crop; he wants more long-term storage facilities so that he can hold on to his harvest until a time when the “demand” will outpace the “availability” — thus earning him a better price for his ...

547. Lost, But Not the TV Show!

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... shared their values, people who were like them. Nothing could be more human than that. That is the way all humans design their society. People want to stay in their own comfort zone. But Jesus won’t allow us to stay where we are comfortable. He told them these parables: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home ...

548. Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and shakers” who daily passed through the gate. Yet this obviously indigent outcast, an individual who would have been declared “unclean” and so ostracized from any social contacts, is given a name by Jesus — Lazarus. He is the only individual in all of Jesus’ parables who is identified by a name. It is a name that means not only “God helps,” but is the name that is shared with a man who was Jesus’ best friend, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary. The first century Pharisees hearing this ...

549. The Landlord's Dilemma - World Communion Sunday

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... the Pharisees? They had come to Jesus asking him by what authority was he going about his work. In other words, they were asking him, “What are your credentials? Who licensed you to preach and to teach and to heal?” By the time he had answered with this parable, they suddenly realized that his story wasn’t about an owner of a vineyard at all. It was about them. They were the murderous tenants, and he was the son sent by the owner of the vineyard. He was the stone that was rejected who would one day ...

550. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... in Mark 1:39; Matt. 10:8; 12:28). The interest of this Gospel is not in a plurality of demonic forces but solely in the devil, Jesus’ one great Adversary and the prince of this world (cf. 14:30; 16:11). The passage is reminiscent of Jesus’ parable in the three other Gospels about his conflict with “Satan” or “Beelzebul, the chief [i.e., ruler] of the demons”: “No one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house ...

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