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 701 to 725 of 2273 results

701. When the Doors Were Shut

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... steadfastness of that small band of believers, the word got out, “He is risen from the grave.” Of course, it cost most of them their lives. One of those who gave their lives was a man name Thomas. Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the other disciples on that Easter Sunday evening when Jesus made his first post-resurrection appearance. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put ...

702. The Day and Hour Unknown

Mark 13:32-37

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... his followers are to go on with their mission, preaching and living for the gospel, ready for the return of their master at any time, so that he will find them “on the job.” The final word in verse 37 extends the exhortation beyond the Twelve (you) and includes Mark’s readers (everyone), again demonstrating how Jesus’ words were transmitted by the evangelists with the intent that they be applied to their own readers. Whether the fall of Jerusalem had occurred or not by the time Mark was written, the ...

703. Parables of Growing Seeds

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... of the Sower that has been omitted. Mark 4:21-25 has also been omitted. We commented on the theme of these verses in chapter 12. In his words to the disciples Jesus had said some things about who will hear and believe that are difficult to grasp. The Twelve, the insiders, can know the secrets of the kingdom. Those who are outside cannot figure it out. They see but they do not perceive. They hear but they don't understand (Mark 4:10-12). Mark 4:21-25 helps to interpret these hard-to-grasp verses. This ...

704. John 21:1-19

John 21:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... The author’s assertion that this was the “third time” Jesus had appeared before his disciples is only accurate if the first of Jesus’ resurrection appearances recorded in John’s gospel, before Mary Magdalene, is discounted because she was not one of the twelve. The remainder of this week’s gospel text focuses closely in on the special relationship and responsibilities that come with being a follower, a disciple, of the risen Christ. Although Simon Peter’s key role was not specified as much in ...

705. Paul Called by God

Galatians 1:11-24

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... James” (1:19), Paul apparently counted the “Lord’s brother” (likely half brother, the son of Joseph and Mary after the birth of Jesus) among the apostles. While some scholars have sought to deny this, it does seem that the traditional designation of only the Twelve plus Paul as apostles is far too limited. This seems to be a crucial point for Paul. In all this time of being a Christian, he had extremely limited contact with the Jerusalem leadership. He certainly makes it clear that he and Barnabas ...

706. On Not Being First

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... , they are remembered. Stop in any bookstore and see how many books there are having to do with winning, with success, with coming in first. Consider this man Joseph who, along with Matthias, was a finalist for inclusion with the other eleven as one of the twelve apostles. Luke's report tells us there were about 120 people present when the choice was made and announced. Bible stories leave out almost all details and come right to the point. There are times, though, when it would be interesting to know more ...

707. Damaged In Transit, But Deliverable

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... words about loss. He notes that when the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in Paris in 1911 and was missing for two years, more people went to stare at the blank space in the museum than had gone to look at the masterpiece in the twelve previous years it had hung there unmolested. Greenberg says this intriguing bit of information tells us something important about ourselves. "It points to our alltoo human tendency to fail to take adequate note of precious things while we have them. But let one of them be ...

708. The Longest Distance in the Universe

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... our hands to bring our thoughts and feelings to fruition in this world. The disciples in today's gospel text definitely have their thinking caps on. They have been puzzling out how best they might improve their status, their standing among the twelve when their master is at last recognized as Messiah and given the glory he so richly deserves. Their plotting and planning appears almost embarrassingly transparent to our twenty-first century savvy sensibilities. Quite obviously James and John could never have ...

709. Loving Our Enemies, Christian or Crazy?

Matthew 5:43-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... enemy every day. Some were religious authorities who called followers heretics and heathen and stirred up riots against them. For the early Christians the enemy was Rome who insulted them, injured them, jailed them, and fed them to the lions. For the twelve, maybe the struggle was more subtle. Sometimes we forget that the disciples had families. They had wives and children. Imagine Philip explaining to his family why he was leaving again. Picture Peter convincing his wife that being faithful meant traveling ...

710. "It’s Time to Send Christmas Cards"

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... I want you to do." I couldn’t miss that message. How would you feel if your name were written in the stars right across the Heavens? Frightened? Yes! But God doesn’t act that way. God works through people. God sent the prophets, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the twelve Minor Prophets. God sends the church to speak to us in human terms. God tells us through ordinary ways, this is how we are to live the life that has been given to us; this is where we find meaning, and this is where we find purpose ...

711. Would A Loving God Really Let Anyone Go To Hell?

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... turned into a rubbish heap where fire burned continuously. Everything there had been consigned for destruction. Thus, the "city dump" came to be identified in the Jewish mind as the perfect symbol of God's final rejection of wickedness. This was Jesus' description. Of the twelve times in the New Testament that we run across the word Gehenna, eleven of them are on the lips of Jesus. How much of the descriptions Jesus gave are meant to be taken literally is an open question. After all, the pictures are self ...

712. Rising to New Life

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). He goes on to say that Christ appeared to many others, and ultimately to Paul himself, even though because of his former way of life as a persecutor of Christ and his followers, he did not deem himself worthy of such an ...

713. New (Testament) Math

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... to me. What do you think, Jesus?" Jesus got that mischievous gleam in his eyes – the one he always got when he was about to teach something profound in a very down-to-earth style. "I am so glad I picked you as one of the twelve, Peter," Jesus said. "Why is that, Lord?" Peter asked, hoping he was about to receive praise but remembering that humiliating incident at Caesarea Philippi. "Because you provide me with so many teachable moments," Jesus answered. As Peter scratched his head and tried to figure out ...

714. The Suffering Servant

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

... might be of interest to you. Caiaphas: Send him away! What information could he have? Guard: He said to tell you that he knows the Nazarene’s moves and would be willing to help you. He said his name was Judas, and something about being one of the twelve. Annas: Send him in immediately! (The guard leaves.) My son, you have such little faith. Didn’t I tell you that Yahweh would provide for us? Judas: (He enters.) Good evening, my Lord Caiaphas. What a fine opportunity to also be in the presence of the ...

715. He Is Who He Says He Is

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... Revelation testifies, "...he is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth." FOR ONE THING, WE HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF THOSE CLOSEST TO HIM. It was difficult even for those in the select company of the twelve to deal with Christ's resurrection. Such things just don't happen in this world. Thomas, particularly, found it hard to accept. He was not with the other disciples when Jesus made his first appearances. When the other disciples told Thomas, "We have seen ...

716. Looking Down on God

John 13:1-17

Sermon

David O. Bales

... has nothing to do with us; but, with a thump the Bible story lands right here in this room where we gather for worship. Tonight the whole text from the Bible is transferred here — Jesus, Peter, Judas, and the entire crew. Peter, always spokesman for the twelve, continues that function here. However, tonight he not only represents the other eleven, but us also. We’d do the same as he did. Jesus comes to wash our feet and we squirm away. When we talk about such lofty things as Jesus’ loving us, that ...

717. No Longer Home Alone

John 15:13-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... we discover loneliness. We need others physically, emotionally, intellectually; we need them to know anything, even ourselves" (The Four Loves, p. 12). We were created to belong. It is not good to be alone. Jesus modeled such belonging behavior for us. He called the twelve to be with him. The New Testament Greek word is koinonia. It is more than fellowship -- it is "life-sharing." That's why joining a church is one thing, but belonging to a church is another. When we belong we share life, we connect ...

718. Welcoming Christ

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Marc Kolden

What is this passage about? Is it about the disciples, the twelve? Yes, of course, it is about them; these are Jesus' final words of instruction to them and astonishing words they are! "Whoever welcomes you guys welcomes me," Jesus says, "and whoever welcomes me welcomes the Father who sent me" (10:40). Their mission was God's mission; their words were ...

719. A Labor of Love - Labor Day

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... " incorrectly sometimes. As you may have noted when we read our scripture lesson, we covered a good deal more material than just this part about sacrifice and self-denial. As Matthew lays it out for us, first we have this conversation between Jesus and the Twelve concerning the divine identity - Peter pipes up, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Then Jesus offers a wonderful compliment: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah." He calls him a ROCK, a solid foundation for the church. Ta Da! Then ...

720. A Lady With A Listening Ear · Mary Of Bethany

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... anything she might have said to them. It was not that she would have been content merely to sit mutely before Jesus. On the contrary. She would undoubtedly have lost no opportunity to share with her neighbors the gist of her conversations with him. Granted, there were always the Twelve to whom she might expect the Master to turn when he felt the need to talk. But they were so involved in what was happening that they frequently lost sight of the forest for the trees. (Mark 9:30-32; Luke 18:31-34; John 10:6 ...

721. A Big Fisherman · Peter

Mt 16:13-20 · Jn 1:35-42

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... , their work perishing with them. Peter was determined that Jesus and his mission would never suffer that fate. One of the first things he did in attesting his faith following the crucifixion, therefore, was to seal the breach Judas' defection had created in the ranks of the Twelve. He had the disciples cast lots to determine a successor to the man from Kerioth. The lot fell on Matthias. (Acts 1:15-26) It was both a spiritual act and a practical stroke, for it put the world on notice that Jesus' ministry to ...

722. Mark 10:35-45

Mark 10:35-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of Jesus come across as nothing less than “Mean Girls.” Biblical historians suggest that the origin of this week’s exchange between James, John and Jesus finds its source in Peter. James, John, and Peter were the unofficial “inner circle” within the Twelve — noticed and present at such momentous events as the Transfiguration. Yet in the exchange in today’s text it appears that “blood is thicker than water.” The request James and John make of Jesus makes no mention of Peter. The third ...

723. The Final Questions

John 6:60-71

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... asks, "Do you also wish to go away?" Think about it as asking you, "Will you? Will you, too, go away?" It is a potentially frightening fact that while only the heavenly Father can draw us, every one of us can withdraw. Go away. After one of the twelve betrayed him, all the remaining eleven fled. It is an equally comforting fact that all eleven were drawn back and were thereafter faithful unto death. Of course, most of them were martyred. If the question is phrased, "Will you also go away?" we would have to ...

724. WHEN MORNING GILDS THE EASTER SKIES

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon Aid

John W. Rilling

... and say, "Just as we expected." They expected a corpse and encountered a live angel who asked, "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" The disciples returning home to Emmaus were chided by their Companion with "Oh foolish men and slow of heart to believe." The twelve, huddling behind closed doors in the Upper Room were in no better case. The common refrain of the disciples was not, "I told you so," but "This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes." 2. WHEN MORNING GILDS THE EASTER SKIES ...

725. Mary of Nazareth

Isaiah 7:1-25

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... the young mother? Who was this her child? What was his destiny? How terrifying the flight into Egypt as she became a refugee in a strange land, because her child was threatened by a malevolent dictator. How proud Mary and Joseph were when the twelve-year-old walked in Jerusalem, possibly celebrating his bar mitzvah. What anxiety when they could not find him in the returning caravan. They spent three frantic days searching the city, only to discover him in the Temple. She reprimanded him, just as any ...

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