Showing 526 to 550 of 4508 results
Sermon
Brett Blair
The local sheriff was looking for a deputy, and one of the applicants - who was not known to be the brightest academically, was called in for an interview. "Okay," began the sheriff, "What is 1 and 1?" "Eleven," came the reply. The sheriff thought to himself, "That's not what I meant, but he's right." Then the sheriff asked, "What two days of the week start with the letter 'T'?" "Today & tomorrow....
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
(Note: I've chosen to wait until the end of the sermon to introduce the button images - EASY button versus REJECT and RESET buttons. You may choose to introduce them much earlier.) With the Super Bowl finally out of the way, we can now focus on something really important - basketball! In basketball things change so much more quickly than in football. Partly because there are three-point shots; par...
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Can you believe how early Ash Wednesday was this year? Early February and the first Sunday of Lent? You are right to wonder. An Easter this early is more than a once in a lifetime event. It’s a once-in-a century event. The earliest Easter can fall is 22 March, which occurs only once every two centuries. A 23 March Easter is a once-a-century event . . .the next one is 2160. We are as unaccustomed t...
Sermon
James Merritt
I was a freshman in college when what was billed then and still is known as "the fight of the century" took place. I was so excited, because I could only get updates on the radio. This was far and long before cable or pay-per-view TV. It was the talk of the entire campus. For the first time in history, there was going to be a match between an unbeaten, former, heavy-weight boxing champion aga...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
How many of you watched the Super Bowl religiously like I did last week? Some of you have told me that you watched so you could see the commercials and try and figure out which ones I'd use today. A number of you have told me you figured out which ones I wouldn't use. They were kind of obvious. Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is that season of preparation for the devastation of Good ...
Teach the Text
Jeannine K. Brown
Big Idea: Through the temptation narrative woven with Deuteronomy citations, Matthew compares Jesus’ faithful sonship to Israel’s lack of obedience in their wilderness time and highlights God’s protection of Jesus in the wilderness. Understanding the Text After narrating Jesus’ birth and baptism, Matthew concludes his introduction to Jesus’ identity (1:1–4:16) with wilderness temptations. The te...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
The temptation narrative follows Jesus’s baptism and continues the focus on the preparation of Jesus for his public ministry. On the level of Matthew’s communication with the reader, he continues to emphasize Jesus’s identity as God’s obedient Son—Jesus as Israel’s representative. God’s Spirit has descended on Jesus at his baptism. Now the Spirit leads Jesus into the desert, where he will be tempt...
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
4:1 The baptism of Jesus, which culminated with the voice from heaven declaring divine approval, is followed immediately (Mark 1:12 has “at once”) by a time of temptation. The parallel account in Luke indicates that Jesus was tempted by Satan throughout a forty-day period (Luke 4:22). Matthew describes the dramatic conclusion of this period (“after [Jesus fasted] forty days and forty nights … the ...
Sermon
King Duncan
The scene is the wilderness. Jesus has been led there by the Spirit. Not by the devil, please note, but by the Spirit. This is a necessary experience for Jesus if he is to fulfill God's plan. He must face the Temptor, for temptation is very much a part of human existence. Each of us must spend time in the wilderness struggling with Satan. After his famous expedition to the South Pole, Admiral Ric...
Sermon
King Duncan
Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote an unforgettable story about a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde. Most of you know the story well. Dr. Henry Jekyll was respected in his community--a gentleman in every respect. But Dr. Jekyll had some secret vices which he kept carefully hidden from public view. Thus Dr. Jekyll had a dilemma faced by some people today--he wanted to maintain his reputation in the communit...
Bulletin Aid
Frank Ramirez
Call To Worship Let us come together in worship, confident in the knowledge that there is no place we can go, no trial we can face, no temptation we might endure, where we will not find Jesus has been before. Collect Let us gather in worship today, prepared to hear anew the story of the temptation of Jesus, and to celebrate the daring idea from God to enter into history not in power, but in the m...
Bulletin Aid
Frank Ramirez
Call To Worship One: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? All: The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? One: One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: All: To live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. (based on Psalm 27:1, 4) Collect God of Glory, we accept your ...
Bulletin Aid
James Wilson
Call To Worship Leader: Let us come together all who would find favor in the eyes of the Lord. People: Together let us find strength to face the tests of this world. Leader: And let us lift each other up in prayer for God's strength in life. People: For only as we serve the Lord do we grow in genuine dignity. Leader: Then let us turn our hearts to God in joyful songs and praise! All: Blessed be th...
Bulletin Aid
"Don't tempt me" You've got to be kidding! Modern American life is built on temptation! Our communications Our entertainment Our information systems All depend on temptation! (We call it "advertising" But it's mostly "temptation") Advertising - Temptation Subsidizes television Radio Newspapers Magazines. It's a means of livelihood A way of life For millions of people! The background of a free ec...
Bulletin Aid
First Lesson: Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25--3:7 Theme: We are sinners by our own choice Call to Worship Pastor: We have each been to the garden, and have eaten freely of the forbidden tree in spite of God's commands. People: We seem unable to help ourselves when it comes to resisting temptation. Pastor: That is because we share the human nature of Adam. We know God's laws, but we choose sin. People...
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 (C); Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7 (RC); Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25-3:7 (E) The account of humanity's fall into sin. Today's Lesson is taken from the second Genesis account of creation by the Yahwist (J) school of authors. The first part of the pericope gives the setting for the Fall: creation of Adam from dust and spirit, the garden with the tree of life and the...
Bulletin Aid
Theme: Temptation as self-centered Exegetical note Although for Matthew the temptations of Jesus relate particularly to his messianic role, as a reading for the first Sunday in Lent, this passage speaks more clearly to the implications of the generic temptation that confronts every human where it touches us most closely: at the point of self-identity and self-definition. Call to Worship Leader: ...
Bulletin Aid
Dennis Koch
Gospel Notes Although for Matthew the temptations of Jesus relate particularly to his messianic role, as a reading for the first Sunday in Lent, this passage speaks more clearly to the implications of the generic temptation that confronts every human where it touches us most closely: at the point of self-identity and self-definition. Liturgical Color Purple Suggested Hymns God The Father, Be Our...
Sermon Aid
THEOLOGICAL CLUE The structure of the church year determines, in all three years of the lectionary, that this Sunday is, in part, a "pattern" Sunday; it shows that Lent is a forty-day retreat by the faithful, "patterned" after Jesus' solitary sojourn in the wilderness immediately after he had been baptized in the Jordan. As a spiritual journey, Lent is observed in public and in private, in corpor...
Sermon Aid
Liturgical Color: Purple Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11 Theme: The temptations of Jesus - keeping priorities straight. Bulletin Heading Suggestion: Revise the heading to fit the season, as for example: Lent, The Season of Renewal The Community Gathers To Examine Its Reason for Being As It Prepares for the Easter-event. Pastoral Invitation to the Celebration Try this: Place some contemporary pictures a...
Drama
If this play is performed in a church, it would be best to have the characters walk down different aisles from the back of the church to the chancel for their entrances. They should exit the same way. On a stage, any number of variations of this idea may be used. Three people are standing at different points, away from center stage. 1: I’ve been in the wilderness for forty days. 2: I’ve been in...
Drama
Craig M. Sweet
Reader 1: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards was famished. The tempter came and said to Jesus, Reader 2: "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Reader 1: But Jesus answered, People: "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word th...
Drama
Robert F. Crowley
Theme: Is it possible for the average Christian to fast or is it just for the super spiritual saint? And why do we fast? Summary: Two people talk about their struggle to fast as a preparation for Easter. They learn that they can be strengthened in the process. Playing Time: 3 minutes Place: Anywhere Props: None Costumes: Contemporary, casual Time: The present Cast: RON -- a struggler JAN --...
Children's Sermon
Wesley T. Runk
Object: Some aspirin and some liquid medicine that looks like real medicine. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever gotten up on a school day and thought to yourself, "I would surely like to stay home from school today. I think I will pretend that I am sick"? Have you ever thought that? Have you been tempted to try this on you mom and dad? I know that you have, because almost eve...
Children's Sermon
King Duncan
Object: A pack of cookies Good Morning, boys and girls.The Bible tells us that Jesus went into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. Have you ever been tempted? For some people these cookies would be temptation. To be tempted is to be attracted to something that is not right or is not good for you. For some school children, looking on somebody else's paper during a test might be a temptat...
Showing 526 to 550 of 4508 results