Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 551 to 575 of 655 results

551. Keep Watching, Keep Warning, Keep Chasing

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When you turn sixteen, what’s the most important thing in the world? Any 16-year-olds here? Anyone want to take on that question? That’s right. Getting your driver’s license. In most states, if you are under the age of eighteen, you now need to take “Driver’s Ed” before you can qualify for a driver’s license. That means students have already had to learn all the “rules of the road,” those traffic signs and signals that foretell and forewarn about what lies ahead on the highway. Reading the signs — those ...

552. Hagar and Sally

Galatians 4:21-31

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

4:21 Paul’s tone changes somewhat at this point, turning from a personal appeal back to an argument from Scripture (cf. 3:6–9) and to teaching what he and the Galatian believers already have in Christ. Paul begins with a direct address, Tell me, you who want to be under the law. The wording of the question critiques their desire, for Paul presents the law as something under which people are held. The passage beginning in this verse and extending to 5:1 works with several themes that have already been ...

553. Jesus Made Like His Brothers

Hebrews 2:5-18

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

Christ is Superior to the Angels Despite His Humanity Without question the greatest obstacle to the author’s argument about the superiority of the Son is the authentic humanity of the Son, which involved him in both suffering and death. For the first time our author uses the name of the man from Nazareth, Jesus (v. 9). The humanity, the suffering, and the death of Jesus all seem to point with unmistakable clarity to his inferiority in comparison with the angels. The matter obviously demands attention, if ...

554. How Deserted Lies the City

Lamentations 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Lament for and by Jerusalem: 1:1–2 Alef/Bet. The poet does not name Jerusalem at the start, but simply speaks of the city. The name of the city does not have to be spoken; poet and readers would know the identity of the now deserted city of Jerusalem. As today there is no doubt when a New Yorker refers to “the city,” so there is no secret concerning the identity of the city among Judeans. This once bustling place (a city “closely compacted together” [Ps. 122:3]) is now eerily deserted. The poet engages the ...

555. Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

Genesis 19:30-38, Genesis 19:1-29

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Rescue of Lot from the Destruction of Sodom: God finds it necessary to execute judgment again, and as was the case in the deluge, God rescues those who are righteous. The great difference in these two accounts of judgment is that this time God punishes only a small region where wickedness had increased intolerably, rather than the entire inhabited land. The narrator tells about Lot’s fleeing Sodom (vv. 1–29) and the children of Lot’s daughters (vv. 30–38). In the first section there are five scenes, in ...

556. Jesus as God’s Wisdom Is a Hidden Reality

Matthew 11:20-24, Matthew 11:25-30

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Rejection of Jesus as God’s wisdom both deserves judgment and fits a divine pattern in which truth is hidden from the wise and revealed to unexpected ones. Understanding the Text In this passage Matthew’s Jesus critiques various Galilean towns for failing to respond to his message of repentance (see 4:17). As in 11:2–5, the miracles that he has done are directly linked to this message and his identity (11:21–24), so their rejection of his miracles is an implicit rejection of his message and self ...

557. “Love Your Enemies”

Luke 6:27-38

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: We should treat other people as God treats us, looking not to our own advantage or satisfaction, but to what is good for them. Understanding the Text This is the middle section of the sermon that began at 6:20. Its first section set out the choice between two ways of life and commended that of discipleship. This section now explores some of the ethical implications of discipleship, with special reference to how we should treat other people and to the effect that this may have on our own ...

558. The Fifth Trumpet (First Woe)

Revelation 8:6--9:21

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: God sometimes allows evil powers to serve his purposes of judging wicked human beings. Understanding the Text The fourth trumpet ends with a plague of darkness, a regular symbol of judgment and destruction in the Bible (e.g., Isa. 13:10–11; Joel 2:1–2; Amos 5:18; Mark 13:24). Now we see how dense and thick that spiritual darkness can be with the final trumpet judgments. After the first four trumpets, where God’s judgments are poured out primarily on creation (8:7–12), now an eagle warns of three ...

559. The Lamb and the 144,000

Revelation 14:1-5

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: One day believers will stand in the presence of God and the Lamb and celebrate with a new song of redemption. Understanding the Text In chapter 13 the dragon stands on the seashore and calls forth the two beasts to wage war against the saints (13:1–10, 11–18). Chapter 14, the last part of the extended interlude of 12:1–14:20, opens with the Lamb standing victorious with his faithful followers on Mount Zion. The war and struggle of chapter 13 appear in bold contrast to the victory and celebration ...

560. A Lifestyle of Holiness and Love

Leviticus 19:1-37

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: The basis of biblical ethics is God’s holiness and love. Understanding the Text Leviticus 19:2 emphasizes the theme that gives the laws of holiness (Lev. 17–27) their name: “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy” (v. 2). Leviticus 19 marks a conceptual center of Leviticus. It is surrounded by chapters with similar themes (Lev. 18; 20) to highlight the centrality of this passage.1 It is hard to see an organizing principle in the disparate laws of this chapter, save that each encourages ...

561. Punishments for Sin

Leviticus 20:1-27

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God holds people accountable for their sins. Understanding the Text Leviticus 20 is another chapter in the laws of holiness (Lev. 17–27), making its own explicit call to holiness (vv. 7–8) and, near the end of the chapter, issuing a concluding call to holiness (v. 26). Holiness in this chapter revolves around idolatry and sexuality. The chapter overlaps considerably in content with Leviticus 18 (sexual offenses, Molek worship) and to some degree with Leviticus 19 between the two. Leviticus 20 ...

562. Balaam’s First Three Oracles

Num 23:1–24:14

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God’s will is to bless his people. Understanding the Text Balak king of Moab hires the sorcerer Balaam to curse Israel (Num. 22). Yahweh informs Balaam that Israel is blessed, not cursed (Num. 22:12), and that trying to curse Israel will place Balaam himself under God’s judgment (Num. 22:22–38). Nevertheless, God allows Balaam to go to Balak on condition that he say nothing other than what God will tell him (Num. 22:20, 35). What follows are three oracles. Three times the angel of the Lord has ...

563. A Prodigal Son Comes Home in Body, but Not in Spirit

2 Sam 14:1–15:12

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: One’s failure to do what is just can have serious personal repercussions. Understanding the Text After the murder of Amnon, Absalom found asylum with his maternal grandfather, the king of Geshur (13:37–38; cf. 3:3). After three years, David calmed down and no longer desired to take hostile action against Absalom (13:39). Sensing an opening, Joab now works hard to persuade David to let Absalom come home. David agrees, but he does not reinstate Absalom to the royal court right away. Eventually, ...

564. “The Lord Watches over the Way of the Righteous”

Psalm 1:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: We begin the spiritual story of Israel, and ours as well, with the psalmist’s search for and delight in God’s Word. Understanding the Text Psalm 1 is often viewed as a wisdom psalm because it puts forth the merits of the moral life as two “ways,” the “way of the righteous” and the “way of the wicked” (1:6), which is characteristic of wisdom thought. For the psalmist the matter was very simple: one must choose between the two ways. When the final edition of the book of Psalms was forming, Psalm 1 ...

565. “The Lord Is Great!”

Psalm 70:1-5

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: The message of this psalm, applied to the waiting community in exile, is that “the Lord is great!” proclaimed as a word of hope and deliverance not yet realized, even as they pray, “Come quickly, Lord.” Understanding the Text Psalm 70 is a duplicate of Psalm 40:13–17, with minor variations (see the unit on Ps. 40), and has features of a psalm of lament. Psalms 69 and 70 have common linguistic links (see table 1). It is quite possible that Psalm 69 was written with Psalm 40:13–17 in view in order ...

566. Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

Luke 22:66--23:25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Jesus’s trial begins with an interrogation before the Sanhedrin (22:66–71). This council, which functioned as the official court of the Jews, meets to examine Jesus. They immediately address him with their central concern (22:67): does he claim to be the Christ? Jesus, however, refuses to answer the question, maintaining that it would be useless to give an answer to such an audience, presumably because they understand the messiah in a way different from Jesus. Nevertheless, Jesus proceeds to conflate ...

567. Timothy’s Encouraging Report

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:6–10 · Timothy’s return:The event that prompted Paul to pen this letter was Timothy’s return from his trip to Thessalonica (see 1 Thess. 3:1–2). He had departed from Athens, and upon his return from the Thessalonian church, he caught up with Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5). We can only guess how he traveled (by road or sea?) and how long the trip and stay with the church lasted (up to a month or so?). The wait must have been agonizing for Paul. “But Timothy has just now come to us from you” and, contrary to ...

568. The Hidden Spiritual House

1 Peter 2:4-12, 1 Peter 2:13-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

2:4-10 · Peter began his letter with the themes of God’s elect and his mercy (1:1, 3). He ends this first section on the same note (2:9–10). He also returns to his central theme of hiddenness, though his treatment is different here. In 1:3–9 his thought was angled entirely toward the future, to the coming inheritance and the coming Lord, both now veiled, yet objects of love and joy. But now Peter turns to the past and the present. The hidden but coming Lord was rejected by humankind (2:4), who did not see ...

569. Jesus Again Predicts His Death

Mark 10:32-34

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

10:32–34 This third prediction of Jesus’ death forms the climactic prediction in the series. Every item in the passage serves this purpose. The geographical note, on their way up to Jerusalem (v. 32), indicates that Jesus’ ministry is taking him to the city of his destiny. The description of the disciples’ attitude, astonished … afraid (v. 32), heightens the tension. In the actual prediction itself, there is the most specific description yet given of the events of Jesus’ arrest and execution. For the first ...

570. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

4:14–15 This brief summarizing section, probably derived from Mark 1:14–15, represents the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry (so Fitzmyer, p. 521; Ellis [pp. 33, 98–99] and Schweizer [pp. 96–97], however, see the beginning at 4:31). Luke wishes to make it clear that Jesus’ ministry begins in the power of the Spirit as he taught in their synagogues (see 1:35; 3:22; 4:1), which parallels the inauguration of the apostolic preaching and teaching in Acts 2. These verses establish the context for an expanded ...

571. My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Psalm 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

This is an extraordinary psalm that takes us to the extremes. Its haunting words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” were quoted by Jesus on the cross. It develops from an individual in the dust of death (v. 15) to universal acknowledgment of the kingdom of God. In the lament we read “all who see me mock me” (v. 7) and “all my bones are out of joint” (v. 14), but in the praise sections we hear, “All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!” (v. 23), “All the ends of the earth will . . . turn to the ...

572. The Destruction of the Temple and the Eruption of Chaos

Psalm 74:1-23

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

The Destruction of the Temple and the Eruption of Chaos With the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah in 587 B.C., the people of God experienced not only a national crisis but also a religious one. They lost three tangible symbols that marked them as the people of God: the land, the Davidic king, and the temple. This psalm laments the temple’s destruction, and it takes on the seemingly impossible task of appealing to the God who has apparently rejected the temple’s “congregation” (Hb. ʿēdâ, not ...

573. Leadership in Israel: Judges and Kings

Deuteronomy 16:21--17:7

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Leadership in Israel: Judges and Kings: Some scholars regard the section 16:18–18:22 as related to the fifth commandment, just as the previous section (usually defined as 14:28–16:17) is based on the sabbatical rhythm of the fourth commandment. The fifth commandment focuses 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 ...

574. Law Courts

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Leadership in Israel: Judges and Kings · Some scholars regard the section 16:18–18:22 as related to the fifth commandment, just as the previous section (usually defined as 14:28–16:17) is based on the sabbatical rhythm of the fourth commandment. The fifth commandment focuses 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 ...

575. The King

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

The King: It may seem strange that in this section on leadership in Israel the king comes second rather than at the head of the series. The reason is that whereas sound judicial administration by impartial judges is at the very heart of Israel’s covenant theocracy, monarchy as a particular form of political authority is not. The nation can and does survive without kings both before and after the centuries of actual monarchic government. Although in other OT traditions the king can be seen as the human ...

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