Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 701 to 725 of 3099 results

2 Samuel 9:1-13

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... , involving total commitment as well as deep love and affection. In v. 3 David makes it explicit he is talking about this kindness, God’s ḥesed. 9:2 Both Ziba and Mephibosheth (v. 6) refer to themselves as David’s servant, or, in modern terms, his loyal subject. This is probably a polite response to the king’s greeting but may be a deliberate attempt to set themselves apart from any group that might oppose David. 9:6 21:8 speaks of Mephibosheth as Saul’s son by Rizpah, one of the seven who were ...

702. The End Times

Daniel 12:1-13

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... through suffering as they stumble or fall victim to persecution (11:33–35). In that context the “wise” ones instruct the “many” (11:33), indicating two different groups. Here in chapter 12, it is not just the wise ones who are purified; the subject is the “many.” Purification is open to all the righteous Jews, not just the teachers (Hartman and Di Lella, Daniel, p. 313). Another difference is that Daniel 12:10 does not mention suffering. In fact, it is possible to translate the first two ...

703. The Glory of the New Covenant

2 Corinthians 3:7-17; 4:1-6

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... veil taken away, Paul elaborates on this point in verse 16, explaining more about the process by which the veil is taken away. The text alludes to Exodus 34:34a, where Moses is said to remove the veil whenever he speaks with the Lord. Hence, the understood subject of the verb in our text is not anyone but rather “he,” that is, Moses. Whereas a veil continues to be laid upon Israel’s heart whenever Moses is read in the synagogue (2 Cor. 3:15), whenever “he” (namely, Moses) returns to the Lord, the ...

704. Visit

2 Corinthians 13:1-10, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... as an apostle, while the rest of the church did nothing to intervene. Thus, according to 1:23, the apostle calls upon God as witness, asserting that “it was in order to spare (pheidomenos) you that I did not return to Corinth.” The whole church could have been subjected at that time to divine judgment, but Paul opted for a period of grace. Paul made up his mind not to make another painful visit (2:1). The purpose of his absence was to give the church a chance to repent, which it had now done in part ...

705. Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... milk can be deduced from the context, which of course is not to be limited by our chapter and verse divisions, a relatively modern device. The “therefore” of 2:1 looks back to the end of chapter 1, where after a reference to “purification” (1:22) the subject is the living word of God (1:23–25). Peter and his readers would be familiar with the biblical notion that the spiritual food provided by the Scriptures (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4) is pure (Ps. 12:6; 119:140; Prov. 30:5), and they appropriately ...

706. Faith in the Son of God

1 John 5:1-12, 1 John 4:7-21

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... with assurance not only “in this world” (4:17) but in the world to come. Additional Notes 4:13 The author feels the need to return to the subject of assurance frequently: 2:3–6; 2:12–14; 3:1–2; 3:19–24; 4:4–6; 4:13–18; 5:13–15; 5:18–20. It ... Scriptures (v. 39), and Moses (vv. 45–46) are all witnesses to his identity and authority. 5:10 Verse 10 continues the subject of God’s testimony begun in v. 9 and focuses on the human response to it. The passage contains three comparisons. First ...

707. Materials for the Tabernacle

Exodus 35:4-29

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... 31 was the Sabbath, and the Sabbath command is now the first word after the golden calf crisis (35:1–3). The middle portions of both Exodus 31 and 35 list the components of the tabernacle to be built (31:7–11; 35:10–19). The first subject in Exodus 31 was Bezalel, “filled with the Spirit of God,” which is the conclusion to Exodus 35 (vv. 30–35). The Lord’s forgiveness had taken them back, to begin again. The remaining chapters of Exodus (36–40) will describe, again in detail, the building of ...

708. The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... that they were not to make any image of Yahweh in the form of anything in creation. For what reason was the faith of Yahweh to be imageless? One view (e.g., Mayes, Deuteronomy, p. 166) is that the use of an image of deity makes the deity subject to human manipulation, and so is an attack on divine freedom and sovereignty. This may well be so, but it is perhaps more an explanation of the prohibition on misuse of the divine name in the third commandment, which is concerned with such human attempts to tap the ...

709. The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon

1 Kings 10:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... s warnings about kingship (1 Sam. 8:10–18). We wonder, in the midst of the silence of 1 Kings 10 about happenings elsewhere in the land, whether this particular king is also now living in luxury (cf. 1 Sam. 8:13) at the expense of his subjects. Do the Queen of Sheba’s fine words about justice and righteousness (v. 9) have any relation to social reality outside the court? Solomon clearly knows all the answers (1 Kgs. 10:3), but is he any longer asking the right questions? Have “wise words” playfully ...

710. Solomon's Splendor

1 Kings 10:14-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

711. David's Officials

1 Chronicles 18:14-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... Yehud from its neighbors. First Chronicles 18:2 shows an interesting example of the Chronicler’s omission. Whereas the source text in 2 Samuel 8:2 tells of David’s very ruthless killing of some “Moabites,” the Chronicler mentions only that they became subject to him and brought tribute. The reason for the omission remains a mystery, but one may assume that once again this information did not fit the Chronicler’s purpose. His aim was to present a quick overview of victories and not to go into ...

712. The Battle Against the Ammonites

1 Chronicles 19:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

713. The Capture of Rabbah

1 Chronicles 20:1-3

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

714. War with the Philistines

1 Chronicles 20:4-8

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

715. A Prophecy Against Assyria

Isaiah 14:24-27

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Yahweh. Yet it lives in the world. Insofar as it operates by the world’s methods (its own inclination), Yahweh treats it in the same way as other peoples, and so it can tellingly appear sandwiched between Damascus and Cush or Arabia and Tyre. The subjects of all the poems thus make sense in the context of Isaiah’s ministry. Nevertheless their perspective is not confined to those decades. Like chapters 1–12, they also refer to contexts beyond Isaiah’s day. These include at least the decline and fall ...

716. A Prophecy About Tyre

Isaiah 23:1-18

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... , pp. 204–6). Once more the poem gains its effect not by describing the city’s fall but by speaking from the perspective of its aftermath, here the awed reactions that will be appropriate from Tyre’s neighbors and trading partners. Again the title names the subject but the poem itself does not initially do so. So the audience is left in suspense as to who needs to be bewailed. NIV adds “Tyre” in verses 1b and 3 to clarify the meaning (contrast NRSV), but dramatically Isaiah’s own audience has to ...

717. The Fall of Babylon

Isaiah 47:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 1–4 The book called Isaiah quickly introduced us to Ms Zion (1:8), the personified city abandoned and desolate. As further background to the prophet’s ministry, Lamentations 1–2 has comprehensively bewailed her fate. She has been taken from honor to the dust, subjected to loss and grief, covered in humiliation and weeping. Isaiah 47 imposes the same fate on the agent of her suffering. Ms Babylon takes Ms Jerusalem’s place. Like 14:3b–21, these verses go through the motions of mourning the death of ...

718. Restoration of Israel

Isaiah 49:8-26

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... of those verbs, and vv. 8–9a need to be translated along the lines of “I will make you to be a covenant for the people, restoring the land, reassigning its desolate inheritances, and saying . . .” (so, e.g., GNB, NEB). 49:23, 26 The imagery of subjection and defeat may be less humiliating and repelling than it first looks. Joseph and Ruth bow with their faces to the ground before Jacob and Boaz (Gen. 48:12; Ruth 2:10), and licking the dust may then be simply another way of saying the same thing ...

719. Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern

Jeremiah 38:1-13

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... to see that his will is carried out. He may not be certain that these four powerful officials will simply do what he says. But for now, he in essence allows the imprisonment of Jeremiah, though perhaps he did not anticipate the rough conditions to which these men subjected the prophet. He was lowered into a cistern (at the home of Malkijah, see Additional Notes). A cistern was a huge pit dug in the ground and typically plastered on the sides so the water would not seep out through the walls. It was to hold ...

720. Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

Jeremiah 38:14-28

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... him to reimprisonment in Jonathan’s house (37:15). The chapter ends with a note that Jeremiah remained under restricted movement in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. That story is the subject of the next chapter. Additional Notes 38:22 Jeremiah anticipates that the women who will be brought out to the Babylonians will sing or recite a poem. They will mock Zedekiah for trusting deceitful men, probably thinking of officials like those listed in 38:1. As a result, Zedekiah ...

721. Like Fighting a Giant Tuna

Romans 7:14-25a

Sermon

King Duncan

... me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s ... go ahead and do them anyway. St. Paul cries out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” Can there be a more relevant passage of Scripture for many of us? Doing good and avoiding evil is the primary battle of ...

722. What Will It Take to Make You Happy?

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... to take the sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene . . . you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount . . . For nearly two ... a lot like Jesus. Psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Martin Seligman has himself spent decades studying the subject of happiness. In his experience, the recipe for happiness contains three “ingredients”: pleasure (that is, the sensations of ...

723. A Keen Justice

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... government over the Locrians was severe but just. In one of his decrees he forbade the use of wine unless it were prescribed as medicine; and in another he ordered that all adulterers should be punished with the loss of both their eyes. When his own son became subject to this penalty, the father, in order to maintain the authority of the laws, but to show parental leniency, shared the penalty with his son by ordering one of his own eyes to be thrust out along with one of his offending son. In this way, the ...

724. Happiness and Brilliant Minds

Illustration

King Duncan

... earning power, but it won’t necessarily make you happy in your old age. A study of 416 senior citizens found that intelligence had no relationship whatsoever to happiness late in life. The study subjects underwent intelligence tests at the ages of 11 and 79. At age 80, the subjects were also quizzed about their “satisfaction with life.” Researcher Alan Gow of the University of Edinburgh found “no association between levels of mental ability and reported happiness, which is quite surprising because ...

725. Christ's Monarchy

Luke 23:33-43

Sermon

Molly F. James

... . His vision is so much bigger and broader than ours. He knows what we need before we do. He has our best interests at heart and is seeking to help us to mature into the beautiful, gifted people he has called us to be. In a true monarchy, subjects are required to swear an oath of faithfulness and obedience to the king. We do this too — we do it in the vows we say (or our parents and godparents say on our behalf) at baptism. We promise to follow Christ as our Lord and Savior — repenting and returning ...

Showing results