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 51 to 75 of 2815 results

51. Nathan's Wise Parable

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Sue Anne Steffey Morrow

... of us all, and most especially to uphold the cause of those most vulnerable, the poor, the powerless, the little lambs. God is compassionate and God's judgment is upon us when we are not. David actually pronounces God's judgment first. After Nathan recites the parable, David's anger is greatly kindled and David says, "As the Lord lives, this one deserves to die. Because he has done this thing, because he had no pity." David knows the law. Then Nathan points out, "You are the one. Thus says the Lord, the ...

52. What Is a Parable?

Matthew 13:1-23

Illustration

Philip W. McLarty

... who, at the time, was one of the foremost New Testament scholars in the world, and I'll never forget the first lesson Dr. Farmer taught us. He said, "A parable is a simple story, using concrete imagery, to make a single point." Simple as that: "A parable is a simple story, using concrete imagery, to make a single point." Parables are not intended to be allegories (where one thing represents another). They're not to be interpreted metaphorically. They're not similes, or analogies, or paradigms, or riddles. A ...

53. The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Luke 15:1-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... God is like a shepherd who searches diligently for any lost sheep (15:3–7). The retrieval of the lost sheep brings joy to God (“heaven” [15:7] is another way of referring to God; cf. Matt. 18:14). Verse 7 adds a point not contained in the parable (cf. 15:4–6)—namely, that God’s joy comes from the repentance of the lost. The statement about the “ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” may be an ironic poke at the Pharisees; Jesus is not saying that some do not need repentance ...

54. The Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15:11-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... father says that the celebration was a necessity because of the return to life of the lost younger son (15:32). Notice that the father reminds the older brother of his relationship to his kin by saying, “this brother of yours” (15:32). The parable ends up in the air. Will the older son enter the party? Jesus is defending his association with tax collectors and sinners. The festive eating with them is a necessity, for it symbolizes God’s joy over their repentance. And his acceptance of them indicates ...

55. The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Luke 18:1-8

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... “give a black eye to” (NIV “come and attack me”). But the judge is not worried about a physical assault, nor is he worried about his reputation (he does not care what people think [18:2, 4]); he is tired of the bother. What is the meaning of the parable? Jesus asks his listeners to consider its meaning (18:6). Obviously it is not saying that God is like the unjust judge and that one has to pester him so that he will answer our requests even though he does not want to help us. Instead, it draws a ...

56. The Parable of the Growing Seed

Mark 4:26-29

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... he does not know how. An ancient Jewish prayer says, “Blessed are you O God, king of the world, who brings forth bread from the earth,” and this prayer reflects the basic attitude of wonder over the growth of crops that lies behind this parable. Jesus’ point is that the kingdom of God begins with the apparently insignificant action of “sowing” the message, but will finish as a great harvest. God, who gives the grain harvest, will also give a great result to the present ministry of Jesus and his ...

57. The Parable of the Choices

Matthew 21:28-31

Sermon

Shirley Gupton Lynn

... 've never gotten back the baby, much less the hat. So despair seems an easy and logical choice to make. The first son in Jesus' parable could have been paralyzed by despair. He soon saw he had made a grave error in talking back to his father and failing to go ... up. Others feel the past was so bad, our mistakes so ruinous, we limp shackled into the present. The repentant son in the Parable of the Choices had a blight on his past. He had been disobedient, rebellious. But this man refused to let his bad choice ...

58. Parables of Preparedness

Matthew 25:1-13, Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 25:31-46

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... servant and commands that he be thrown into the darkness (25:28–30; for similar language of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” signaling final judgment, cf. 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51). This parable points to faithfulness as the key to preparedness for Jesus’s reappearing and final judgment. The concluding parable of Jesus’s final discourse illustrates what faithfulness should look like by painting a portrait of the final judgment of humanity (25:31–46). Though this teaching is often called a ...

59. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , rather than the Pharisee, was justified in God’s eyes. Here Luke is indicating that the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith apart from works has its roots in the teaching of Jesus. Verse 14b also teaches Christian humility. The beauty and power of this parable are inescapable. Modern-day readers identify with the tax collector, but in the process we have unconsciously uttered the prayer, “Thank God I am not like that Pharisee,” showing that the heart of the Pharisee lives in all of us.

60. The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Matthew 18:10-14

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... to search for one who had wandered off. It is hardly necessary to envision a flock that belonged to the village and would therefore have several shepherds, thus allowing one of them to go after the lost sheep. The temptation to second-guess the details of a parable needs to be resisted. The essential point is the concern of the shepherd for every single sheep. God is like that: he is concerned about each believer. In this context, to be lost (v. 14) means to have got “out of right relation to God and in ...

61. The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... , they will be thrown outside into the darkness (vv. 14–30); and like the “goats” who do not respond to the needy, they will suffer the fate of the devil and his angels (vv. 31–46). The clear-cut distinction between the two groups reminds us of the parable with which Jesus closed his Sermon on the Mount (7:24–27, the wise man who built on rock and the foolish man who built on sand). Both the first and the last of the five discourses in Matthew end with the same emphasis. 25:14–18 Jesus provides ...

62. The Parable Of The Kindly Innkeeper

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... beaten up man to the local Holiday Inn and saying to the manager, "This poor fellow is going to need some looking after. You take care of it and I'll reimburse you when I return"? In fact, maybe we should call this parable "the parable of the kindly innkeeper" rather than the parable of the Good Samaritan. I read of a woman named Marjorie who resents jokes about the priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side. They remind her of the times, because of under-staffing at the hospital where she worked ...

63. The Parable of the Five Brothers

Luke 16:19-31

Illustration

Joachim Jeremias

... to warn men who resemble the brothers of the rich man of the impending danger. Hence the poor Lazarus is only a secondary figure, introduced by way of contrast. The parable is about the five brothers, and it should not be styled the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, but the parable of the Six Brothers. The surviving brothers, who have their counterpart in the men of the Flood generation [Jeremias' reference to Noah's generation], living a careless life, heedless of the rumble of the approaching flood ...

64. The Parable of the Tenants

Luke 20:9-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... they will inherit the vineyard. Commentators debate whether the thinking of the tenants on inheriting the vineyard is reasonable (20:14–15). Possibly some tenants did revolt against owners and try to take possession of the property in Jesus’s day. But the parable is not necessarily attempting to reflect the culture and practices of that time. Here the action is irrational, for the owner of the vineyard will come and execute the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others. The kingdom of God will be ...

65. The Parable of the Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... self-denial, and this is the reward allotted to him: when he says, ‘I have found rest, and now I shall enjoy my goods!’ he does not know how much time will pass until he leaves them to others and dies” (Sir. 11:18–19, RSV). 12:16–20 The Parable of the Rich Fool also surfaces in Thomas 63: “Jesus said, ‘There was a rich man who had much money’ ”. He said, “I shall put my money to use so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouse with produce, with the result that I shall lack ...

66. The Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Brett Blair

... “slothful” and “wicked.” Angrily he took the talent back and gave it to the servant who now had ten. It is interesting to note that in the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel there are three parables told in a row: The Parable of the Bridesmaid, The Parable of the Sheep and Goats, and the Parable of the Talents. Essentially the same phrase is used in each: after a long time. The bridegroom comes after a long time. The landowner returns after a long time. The judgment comes after a long time. Perhaps ...

67. Timebomb Parables

Matthew 21:33-46

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... exploded into a new awareness when the real meaning behind Jesus' homely stories about farmers and seeds and sheep and bread-making finally sunk in. Well, if all of the parables were like narrative time-bombs, then I think it's fair to say the Parable of the Tenants was like a proximity-fuse grenade! In this case, it did not take very long before this parable blew up in the faces of those listening to Jesus. In the end we are told that the Pharisees and other religious leaders in Jerusalem that day knew at ...

68. The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... . This is incorrect, for true faith always manifests itself in works (cf. James 2:14–26). The lawyer’s attempt at self-justification (10:29) probably stems from his realization that he is not fulfilling the twofold commandment, and his question leads into Jesus’s parable. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was 17 miles long, and a traveler would descend 3,300 feet. Jericho lies 770 feet below sea level. Lonely roads were a prime place for robbers to strike (10:30). Both a priest and a Levite pass by ...

69. The Parable of the Two Sons

Matthew 21:28-32

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... the way of righteousness, and they would not believe him. However, the social outcasts believed and repented. But the religious leaders, even after they had seen this, did not change their minds and believe. Additional Notes 21:29–31 The textual transmission of this parable is confused. The three principal forms are 1. First son says “No” but repents and goes. He is the one who does the father’s will (Codex Sinaiticus and many others). 2. First son says “Yes” but does not go; second son says ...

70. Parables are Signs of Protest

Mt 13:34-35

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Parables are not meant to pat us on the back, but to give us a kick in the pants. They are not intended to comfort us, but to challenge us and change us. Parables speak out against the status quo. . .Parables are demonstrators waving signs of protest, speaking out against our ways of thinking, our traditional ways of experiencing and obeying God, our spiritual institution.

71. The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Matthew 18:21-35

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , where Cain’s son Lamech claims that God will avenge him seventy-seven times (cf. Gen. 4:13–15). Jesus’s call to his messianic community is to live out a reversal of escalating vengeance through unlimited forgiveness. To illustrate, Jesus tells a parable of a servant who is released from an astronomical debt of ten thousand talents by a compassionate king (with a talent being roughly equivalent to six thousand denarii) only to refuse release of a debt of one hundred denarii for a fellow servant (with ...

72. The Parable of the Workers

Matthew 20:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In the parable (20:1–15), Jesus compares God’s reign to the payment of groups of day laborers working in a vineyard for a particular ... equal pay for unequal work. The landowner counters that he paid them an agreed-on and fair wage. They resent not his fairness but his generosity (20:15). Jesus’s parable warns against presuming reward and status in the kingdom (19:30; 20:16), especially for those who are “first” (in story context, the Twelve—who expect higher status in the kingdom; cf. 18: ...

73. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... amount to others that is certainly his right. After all, it is his money. The AV translation of verse 15b (“Is thine eye evil, because I am good?”) is rendered well by the NIV with its Or are you envious because I am generous? (v. 15). Jesus concludes the parable (as he began it) with the saying that the last will be first, and the first will be last. There has been a great deal of discussion among New Testament scholars regarding who is intended by the first and the last. In the context of Matthew’s ...

74. The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Matthew 18:21-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... The Greek basanistēs (“jailer,” v. 34) means “one who tortures.” Though torture was forbidden by Jewish law, the practice was widespread in the ancient world. Debtors could be tortured in order to make them reveal unacknowledged sources of money. Jesus concludes the parable with the stern warning that the heavenly Father will deal in similar fashion with anyone who will not from his or her heart forgive a fellow Christian. It expands the point made in 6:15 that those who do not forgive will not be ...

75. The Parable of the Lost Coin

Luke 15:8-10

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... point. When the woman lost one of her ten silver coins, she turns the house upside down in search of it. When she finds it, she is delighted. As in the case of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, there is joy in heaven whenever one who is lost (sinful) is found (repents). Both of these parables drive home the point that it is natural to respond with joy when something (or someone) is recovered. This joy stands in sharp contrast to the Pharisees and other “respectable” religious people who grumbled because ...

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