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 576 to 600 of 4968 results

576. Jesus Light

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... weary commuter train-traveler was seeing someone the way Jesus saw everyone. Not just as a focused beam of momentary interaction, but as a whole person, the whole spectrum of good-to-bad that makes up all of our lives. The light Jesus calls his disciple to shine out into the world is a light that equally illumines sin and suffering. It is a light that knows judgment, yet offers love. It is a light that sees deserved condemnation, yet extends the commitment of divine comfort. The Rev. Dave Stone is Senior ...

577. Have You Had Your Caffeine Today?

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... as the Christ and clearly articulating his gospel. “A fisherman?” they thought. How does he know how to articulate this good news so well? It was the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit. There is no other explanation. But so it was with all the disciples. Men and women who had been hiding behind locked doors became unstoppable witnesses for Christ and his kingdom. And it was all because they heeded their Master’s words to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. I want the Holy Spirit to be experienced ...

578. Wanna Fight?

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... . If, rather than bringing light, we bring more darkness, what hope then is there for the world? “. . . if gold rust, what then will iron do? For if [Christians] be foul in whom we trust/ No wonder that a common man should rust. . . .” Jesus said to his disciples, “For whoever is not against us is for us . . .” The church of Jesus Christ is called to be a unifying force in human society, not a divisive one. Our nation and our world seem to be more and more fragmented. We see it everywhere we look ...

579. Staying Close to Christ

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... and they will not be able to find him. This is not the first time he has tried to prepare them for this eventuality (Matthew 23:29; John 8:21; 12:8). Soon, they would be on their own. But this separation would be a temporary one. In time, his disciples would be able to go where he’s gone, to that place he has prepared for them (John 14:2). But first, they must endure a treacherous journey before reaching the summit of the mountain. Then he speaks these words to them: “A new command I give you: Love one ...

580. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... the future (cf. 4:35). He has already formed a plan (v. 6) in anticipation of a problem that in the other Gospels arises only later: How will the crowd be fed? (cf. Mark 6:35–36 and parallels). He elicits from Philip and Andrew, two of his first disciples (cf. 1:40–44), that it would be virtually impossible to provide food for so many (vv. 7, 9b). Andrew mentions in passing, however, a boy who has brought five barley loaves and two fish (v. 9a), and with these Jesus feeds the whole crowd (vv. 10–13 ...

581. Parables Discourse: The “Already and Not Yet” of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... a hidden quality to God’s revelation (see 13:12–13). 13:36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. This verse acts as a hinge in the Parables Discourse. According to 13:2, Jesus has been teaching the crowds; now he turns to teach his disciples and interpret the parables for them (13:37–43, 49–50). 13:37 Son of Man. What is left unidentified in the interpretation of the parable of the soils (13:18–23) is made explicit here: the Son of Man (Jesus himself [see comments on 8:20]) is the ...

582. Realizing the True Nature of Jesus the Christ

Mark 8:27-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... will come via the sacrificial suffering and death of the Messiah. Next, this suffering is the path to glory (see 1 Pet. 1:11), for God will vindicate this suffering Messiah by raising him from the dead. The secondary thrust is discipleship. The failure of the disciples in 6:52; 8:17 is continued by Peter, whose mind is centered on human ideas rather than divine truths and so cannot accept that Jesus must be the suffering Messiah before he can be the royal Messiah. Peter had become a tool of Satan, trying ...

583. The Messiah and His Glory

Luke 9:28-36, Luke 9:18-27

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... and on the third day be raised to life. Here and in 18:33 Jesus links resurrection to his predicted death. In 24:6–8 the women will be expected to remember this prediction, but it is clear in 24:11–12 and in the Emmaus story that the disciples had not grasped it. 9:23 take up their cross daily. Jesus has not specified crucifixion as such, but Jews knew what form Roman execution was likely to take. So “take up the cross” meant to face the prospect of a shameful death. Luke’s addition of “daily ...

584. Discipleship and Mission

Luke 10:1-24, Luke 9:57-62

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... be maintained by those who benefit from it. But all that is needed is basic support; they should not “shop around” for better accommodations. 10:9 Heal the sick. As usual, healing is linked with proclamation as an essential element in the mission of Jesus and of his disciples (as in 9:1, 6). Exorcism is not mentioned at this point, but in 10:17 we will see that this too is part of the mission of the seventy-two. The kingdom of God has come near you. This slogan, repeated in 10:11, sums up their ...

585. Rejecting or Responding to Jesus

Luke 10:1-24

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... king or other dignitary who is to be treated with the same respect as the king himself. The Mishnah states, “A man’s agent is as himself” (m. Ber. 5:5). But the final clause of the verse extends the idea of delegation to a new level: the disciples’ message comes with the authority not only of Jesus but also of God himself. That is why people’s response to their preaching is of ultimate importance. 10:17 even the demons submit to us in your name. Jesus gave the Twelve power to cast out demons (9 ...

586. Priorities

Luke 12:35-48, Luke 12:22-34

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... But material security is to be subordinated to spiritual priorities, as the parable in 12:16–21 has underlined. See further on 18:22. treasure in heaven. The idea is not that giving to the poor automatically “buys” a heavenly reward, but that the disciples’ orientation away from mere earthly security means that they are “rich toward God” (12:21). This is the only wealth that lasts. Compare 16:9. 12:35–36 servants waiting for their master to return. This is a parable from everyday life in a ...

587. Come and See

John 1:29-42

Sermon

James L. Killen

... two masters.... You cannot serve God and wealth" (Matthew 6:24) and "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:44). If we sit at his feet long enough, we may eventually be able to hear him say to us as he said to his disciples: "I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father" (John 15:15). Learn the things he said so well ...

588. Gratitude and Coping

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... events of his entire ministry — the time he fed the 5,000 in the wilderness. This episode must have made a deep impression on his disciples, for it is the only miracle in the whole ministry of Jesus that all four of the gospels record. I imagine the outline of ... eyes to the vastness of God's nature, he also opened our eyes to the vastness of human nature. Did he not say to his disciples: "Greater works than I have done, you shall do"? His way of doing life and collaborating with God is a way that is open ...

589. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Mark 6:7-13

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... by the empowering of the Twelve (3:13–19), so here, after the second rejection, Mark gives us an account of the empowering of the Twelve, who conduct an itinerant ministry in extension of Jesus’ own work. Here again (6:7) as before (3:15), the disciples are given authority over evil spirits; and by this term, so important in Mark’s description of Jesus (1:22, 27; 2:10; 11:27–33), we are to understand that the Twelve are actually given an extension of Jesus’ own power and ministry. This is another ...

590. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Luke 9:10-17

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... had received the authority to “drive out all demons and to cure diseases” (9:1); now they are given the opportunity to meet the needs of the hungry crowd. The Twelve wanted Jesus to send the crowd away to find their own supply of food. But Jesus wanted his disciples to feed them. For them, however, the task seemed impossible, since all they had were five loaves of bread and two fish (in John 6:9 we are told that this food belonged to a young lad). But for Jesus this was sufficient, for with it he was ...

591. Jesus Walks on the Water

Matthew 14:22-36

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... rise about 1200 feet above the surface of the water. When evening came Jesus was still there alone, and the boat with the disciples was a long way off shore (lit., “many furlongs,” each furlong being just over two hundred yards) battling a strong head wind and ... the Romans divided the period from 6:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. into four equal periods of time) Jesus went out to the disciples, walking on the sea. It is sometimes suggested that since the Greek for on the lake differs in verses 25 and 26 (in v. 25 ...

592. Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-3:6

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... off the chaff, and eating the grain (a tasty snack, as those growing up near grainfields can attest). On the one hand, the OT law allows the poor and hungry to do this (Lev. 19:9–10), and the mission instructions given by Jesus to his disciples in 6:7–11 may reflect his own practice, meaning that they would have carried no supplies with them and would have been constantly dependent on the hospitality of others and provision from God (cf. Matt. 10:5–15). On the other hand, the Pharisaic understanding ...

593. Jesus the Way to the Father

John 14:5-14

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... assuming reality, like “now that you know these things” in 13:17), and with the added assurance that from now on, you do know him and have seen him (v. 7b). These words shift the thrust of the argument decisively from the future to the present. To Jesus’ disciples, the fact that he will be with them only a little while longer (13:33) makes it imperative to realize what his presence on earth has already meant (I have been among you such a long time, v. 9), and to respond in faith to his revelation in ...

594. Faces of Failure: Peter

Matthew 26 (selections)

Sermon

Don Tuttle

... . “Though they all fall away because of you,” he says, “I will never fall away.” You have to wonder how the other disciples feel about it. After all, he disses them. He says that James, John, Andrew and all the rest will abandon Jesus, but that he ... will break his promise three times. But this is Peter, and Peter doesn’t lack self-confidence. He is, after all, first among Jesus’s disciples as well as the group’s spokesman. He’s the one who hops out of the boat to walk on water, at least for a ...

595. Jacob's Well

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God ...

596. Do(n't) Rock the Boat

Mt 14:22-36, Mk 4:35-41, Lk 8:22-25, Jn 6:16-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Luke’s Witness to Jesus’ Stilling a Storm One day, he [Jesus] got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to ...

597. A Piggy Pudding

Matthew 8:28-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... found the man sitting at Jesus’ feet. What a beautiful vision. He was sitting at Jesus feet, which means he had become Jesus’ disciple. He was clothed (in God’s presence), and calm as the waves that Jesus had just soothed the night before. You know, this scripture is ... Him. He has been in their lives all along. They just don’t know it yet. Today, I ask you to renew your pledge as a disciple of Jesus to go where He calls you, to proclaim Him to those who have failed to see Him in their lives, to point to Him ...

598. The Balm of Gilead

Mark 8:1-13, Mark 8:14-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread ...

599. Lazarus Rising

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44, John 11:45-57, John 12:1-11, John 12:12-19

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of ...

600. Pilate's Ruse

Matthew 27:1-26 · Luke 22:66--23:25 · John 18:28-40; 19:1-16 · Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... innocent even as he sentenced Jesus to death. He had been approached by the High Priests in the early morning hours. They had a favor to ask. It was more a demand than an ask in fact. And he was in no mood. Jesus’ ended his time with his beloved disciples with a foot washing. Pilate ended his time with those annoying priests with a hand washing. That hand-washing ritual? What did it mean? We’ve seen it each year. We’ve talked about it many times. But what was really going on in Pilate’s mind? Was he ...

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