Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 551 to 575 of 1795 results

Exodus 4:18-31

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

The first half of Exodus 4 continues with Moses’ last three protests. Having responded to Moses’ first two excuses by Exodus 3:15, God pressed on with instructions for Moses’ leadership without giving him a chance to speak. As soon as another opportunity arose, Moses voiced his third objection: “What if they don’t believe me?”; his fourth, “I am slow of speech;” and, lastly, his simple plea: “Send someone else.” In the second half of Exodus 4 Moses has five short encounters: with Jethro; with the Lord for ...

552. The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... creativity when it came to rhetorical imagery for Yahweh, drawn vigorously from the created and human order. Israel’s language imagery for Yahweh made him very “visible” to the mental eye through a rich and often daring anthropomorphic and metaphorical style. The affirmation that Yahweh is personal seemed more urgent than fear about his invisible spirituality. This point gives us perhaps a more significant clue to the rationale of the second commandment. Yahweh is the living God, and any carved statue ...

553. The Treasures and Other Officials

1 Chronicles 26:20-32

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

The Gatekeepers: 26:1–19 The gatekeepers, who are also part of “the rest of the Levites,” are now presented. The same bipartite presentation as in the previous subsection is used: first, the genealogical list of the “gatekeepers” (26:1–11), and second, the different positions that were assigned to them (26:12–19). The position of Obed-Edom is uncertain, since it seems that 26:4–8 and probably also 26:12–18 were later insertions. Obed-Edom had been mentioned in earlier lists as a Levitical singer (15:21; 16 ...

554. The Temple's Furnishing

2 Chronicles 4:1-5:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

Solomon Builds the Temple: It is clear that 2 Chronicles 3:1–2 serves as introduction to this episode in the Solomon narrative, with 5:1 concluding the account. The structure of the description between the introduction and the conclusion, however, is difficult to unravel. The description starts with a basic overview of the ground plan of the temple (3:3), then moves to a description of the portico in front of the temple (3:4–7), and then provides a detailed account of the Most Holy Place, its contents, and ...

555. The Dedication of the Temple

2 Chronicles 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

The Dedication of the Temple: 7:1–11 Solomon’s prayer in 6:12-42 is followed here by the report on the glory of the LORD taking possession of the temple. This section draws strongly on 1 Kings 8:62–9:1, but with significant deviations. First of all, the three verses (2 Chron. 7:1–3) describing how “the glory of the LORD” filled the temple are from the Chronicler’s own hand. The phrase “the glory of the LORD” occurs three times in these verses, emphasizing that Yahweh’s presence has now become visible in ...

556. The Lord Appears to Solomon

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

557. In Search of Heroes

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... that the world doesn’t revolve around us. Think of it: some of us have chosen for our heroes people who have devoted their lives to one thing and one thing only. It might be making money. It may be perfecting a golf swing. It may be crafting a style of singing, getting elected to a political office, or a host of other flashy endeavors. It’s understandable that we should admire them . . . as long as we remember that what they are doing is not at all important in God’s eyes. In God’s eyes the only ...

558. Rebirth

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... in a very simple language. Originally it ended at chapter 16:8 when Mary ran from the tomb after the angel told her Jesus had been raised and that the disciples should go to meet him in Galilee. The rest of chapter 16 is written in a different style and language, added in perhaps the second or even fourth century. Matthew was written sometime around 80 CE, after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. The author was very familiar with Judaism and kept a clear focus on Jewish history and the law ...

559. Spelling Integrity

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

In the fourth round of a national spelling contest in Washington Rosalie Elliot, then an eleven-year-old from South Carolina, was asked to spell avowal. In her soft Southern accent she spelled it. But did the seventh grader use an a or an e as the next to last letter? The judges couldn't decide. For several minutes they listened to tape recording playbacks, but the critical letter was accent-blurred. Chief Judge John Lloyd finally put the question to the only person who knew the answer, "Was the letter an ...

560. A Loving Parent

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... do almost anything to communicate their love to their children. Some even try desperately to keep up with the changing styles popular with young people nowadays. Good luck with that. Reader’s Digest magazine recently published some amusing texts from mothers ... wo, wo.” Mrs. Robinson was an adulteress. Mrs. Robinson was morally bankrupt. She was representative of a bored and dissolute modern style of living. But that’s all right. “Jesus loves you more than you can know, wo, wo, wo.” Whoa right there. ...

561. Hosanna! Please Save Us!

Matthew 21:1-11, Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... ://www.southwoodsbc.org/sermons/matthew26b.htm. Some information from “William Tyndale,” Christianity Today, https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/scholarsandscientists/william-tyndale.html. 4. Mike Tucker, http://www.faithfortoday.tv/article/651/blog/2015-blog-archive/when-the-cheering-stopped. 5. “The unusual management style of one of the most highly rated CEOs in tech” by Jeff Kauflin, Forbes, August 10, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2017/08/10/the-unusual-management ...

562. The Death of John the Baptist

Matthew 14:1-12, Mark 6:14-29, Luke 9:1-9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... how? How can your apps help you do that? What will your organic architecture look like? Will it pass the test of MRI? Will your style pass the test of fMri? What kinds of apps can pump up your semiotic sermon so that it connects with people on multiple levels and ... Up The Sermon With Apps Once you have exegeted your text and have built your organic architecture, and decided upon your style, you can choose apps that will further bring out the images and metaphors in your narraphor. Below are some of the types ...

563. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!

Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6) Animators (Props): cornucopia….apples…..pumpkins As we enter the fall season, we prepare for a lot of celebrations. Halloween, All Saints Day, Thanksgiving, Advent. In the midst of all that, there are festivals for families and celebrations for children too. It’s the ...

564. Beautiful

John 20:19-23, Song of Songs 4:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... kind, and thoughtful, and pleasant? Who just looks happy with life? Beautiful, right? In fact, that person may not be the most comely person, may not be built like an athlete or model, or dressed in expensive clothing, or coifed in the latest style, or have naturally beautiful features. But when someone smiles, something happens. Smiles turn any face into someone beautiful. Because your face, your eyes, your smile –they reflect what’s in your heart. What does it mean to be beautiful? The author of the ...

565. Scroll Bread and Honey

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... find all kinds of delicacies made with the delicious meat of the locust. Now, before you start gagging, I’m not advocating trying the locust diet. But as a metaphor, locusts were natural delicacies. Like honey, they weren’t man made or cooked up human style. They were eaten from the land, and often dipped in honey to sweeten them. They were better even than the staple of bread, because they were a meat pie! John was eating heaven food, all found in nature, and all exquisite delicacies. Now, between you ...

The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue seems completely different from the style of the natural universe.

Alan Watts

Montesquieu had the style of a genius; Buffon, the genius of style.

Baron Grimm

No change in musical style will survive unless it is accompanied by a change in clothing style. Rock is to dress up to.

Frank Zappa

569. The Rabbi's Apprentice

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , learn. Year after year, you sit beside the teacher until you begin to sense the music on your own. This is apprenticeship. Faith in praxis at the feet of a master. Because of the practice part of learning in an apprenticeship style, it’s not enough to sit with books. Discipleship is a “practiced” behavioral and relationship learning experience. It begins by building a relationship with the master, watching, listening, imitating, learning. It continues until the apprentice becomes a master. Even then ...

570. You're Never Too Old

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... about it. We need to let God show us how to see the world’s difficulties, so that we might know what we can do about them.” (2) It is important for us as Christian people to see that Christian faith is not a static, passive, non-threatening style of life. Jesus was a doer. He was a person who was so outspoken that he aroused envy, bitterness and hatred. If he were a quiet, nice little person sitting in the corner doing no harm, he would never have been crucified. Somehow, though, the Christian faith is ...

571. Together In One Place

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Today, Pentecost Sunday, is the day upon which we traditionally celebrate the birth of the Christian church. But before we light the candles and sing, “Happy Birthday,” perhaps we should take a few moments to talk about what the church is and what it isn’t. What, exactly, is a church? How shall we define it and how shall we define its purpose? The Internal Revenue Code uses the word “church” but it doesn’t actually define what it means by that word. Certain attributes of a church have been developed by the ...

572. Promises to Keep

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... 93-94 CE. By the mid to late 1800’s the story of the palace intrigue that led to John the Baptist’s execution was the stuff of much fascination for artists and writers in Europe. It was in1891 while visiting France and experimenting with the styles of the symbolist and decadent movements that Oscar Wilde wrote his play, Salome which was loosely based on the biblical account. It was also Wilde’s version of the events which dubbed Salome’s dance the “Dance of the Seven Veils,” a kind of seductive ...

573. In the Wilderness of Temptation

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... more beautiful than I could ever describe. But there was one really strange aspect about heaven. Everywhere you looked there were clocks. They were all different. Some were huge old grandfather clocks, some were small mantle style clocks. There were modern, post modern and antique clocks. I've never seen so many clocks or so many styles of clocks. Then as I was looking at the clocks, I noticed something else. Each clock had a solid gold name plate on it. And on each name plate was the name of some person. I ...

574. Ready!

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... forward a bit and we find the book of Revelation coming from the end of the first century when Christians were being persecuted because they refused to worship the Roman emperor. While this style of literature is definitely strange to us, the word apocalypse itself simply means “unveiling” or, in fact, “revelation.” The style of writing wants to convey a message of hope in “code” that would not be understandable to those who are outsiders. That way the author would hope to get his or her message ...

575. Casters and Menders

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... mission together for years to come. Because he taught them that something larger united them than any of those other differences: God, faith, and making the world a better place, a kingdom-like place. Jesus did not just teach his disciples his style of interacting or how to love, he taught them how to be an alternative community, a harmonious community of diversity and difference. In today’s often divisive world, we need Jesus’ lessons about personality, diversity, and differing opinions more than ever ...

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