Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 51 to 75 of 208 results

51. Let Me Tell You about the Birds and the Bees

Sermon

James Merritt

A little third grade boy named Johnny came in from school one day, walked up to his daddy and said, "Daddy, there's something I need to ask you." "What is it son?" "Daddy, where did I come from?" Well, the father very nervously reached over and picked up some diagrams and pictures, because he had been planning for just this moment. He spent the next forty-five minutes explaining the process of ...

52. Warnings Against Folly

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The next lesson, in 6:1–19, treats several topics related to financial affairs (6:1–5), work (6:6–11), and negative character traits (6:12–19), followed by another lesson on sexual morality (6:20–35). A common tone unites the chapter, as the father warns his child, either explicitly or implicitly, against loans (6:1–5), laziness (6:6–11), evildoers (6:12–15), a catalog of detestable actions (6:16–...

53. Warnings Against Folly

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

The first 19 verses of chapter 6 have the appearance of an errant block of exhortations. They interrupt the theme of sex, and they seem to be a miscellany of proverbs. 6:1–5 There is an almost frantic tone to this command against going surety for a neighbor. Such a warning against standing pledge for another is not rare (see 11:15; 17:18; 22:26–27, etc.). Ben Sira had a more relaxed and realistic...

54. What Do I Do When I Can't Get Started?

Sermon

James Merritt

Today, I am going to deal with a problem that I freely admit that I have and I am absolutely convinced everyone has this problem to one degree or another. I am going to be honest with you. Sometimes, I have a problem with procrastination and starting tomorrow I am going to do something about it! The truth of the matter is everybody in this room has at least one thing that you haven't yet done in y...

55. Manual Labor Is Not the President of Mexico

Sermon

James Merritt

"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?" Ronald Reagan1 Two teenagers were talking, and one said to another, "I'm really worried. Dad slaves away at his job so I will never want for anything, pays all of my bills and sends me to college. Mom spends every day washing and ironing and cleaning up after me, and even takes care of me when I am sick." "So, what ar...

56. FOWLER

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Proverbs 6:5 - "Save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler." Jeremiah 5:26 - "For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men." Although I don’t suppose that most of us ever use the word "fowler" in the course of your daily conversation, still this is a legitimate term to use for persons wh...

57. HUNTER

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Genesis 25:27 - "When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents." Proverbs 6:5 - "save yourself like a gazelle from the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler." The hunter or fowler was one of the earliest of occupations. Although the strictly hunting phase of man’s cultural development had been long gone before the ...

58. Warnings against Infidelity

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

This next lesson resumes the typical instructional form, with an extended call to heed the parental counsel (6:20–23) preceding the specific warnings (6:24–35). It also takes up the topic of Proverbs 5, developing the grave consequences of sexual immorality more fully. Presumably one ties the commands of both parents “around your neck” (6:21) in order to keep them plainly in view when deciding whi...

59. Warning Against Adultery

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

6:20–35 This section is introduced in the NIV by the heading, “warning against adultery.” Verse 20 continues the admonitions of chapter 5 with an opening reminiscent of 1:8. The command in verse 21 is found with variations in 1:9; 3:3, 22. The forever of the NIV is better rendered “continually.” In verse 22, the NIV glosses over the third feminine singular, “she will guide you,” by assuming that c...

60. Warning against the Adulteress

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The extensive warning against the “wayward” or “adulterous” woman concludes with a final lesson in chapter 7, which focuses on the temptation. Its structure is quite similar to that of the preceding lesson, consisting of a call to heed (7:1–4), a nearly identical purpose statement functioning as a warning (to “keep you from . . . ,” 7:5; cf. 6:24) and an extended illustration (7:6–23), and an expl...

61. Warning Against the Adulteress

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

The title given to chapter 7 in the NIV does not really differ from that which begins both 5:1 and 6:20. The present chapter, by its vivid description of the “adulteress,” makes the admonition very concrete. The structure is quite symmetrical. In verses 1–5, the sage opens with the familiar exhortation to listen and obey (cf. 2:1; 3:1) and resumes this style at the end (v. 24) when he draws his co...

62. Adultery, Cure and Prevention

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Sometime ago a lady wrote to the famous advice columnist Ann Landers and asked this question, "Do all men cheat on their wives? I have been suspicious of my husband for some time. I even hired a private detective to trail him, but he couldn't come up with a thing. I went to a lawyer. He told me to grow up and accept the fact that all husbands fool around. Do they?" Ann Landers very wisely replied...

63. When Wisdom Cries Out

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

This text of Proverbs, attributed to Solomon but most probably written by sages, teachers, and bureaucrats of the intellectual elite of Israel and Judah, reflects an urgent cry for wisdom throughout the land. The people are in need of wisdom, and wisdom is in search of people who will practice its virtues and extol forever the higher principles of courage, justice, righteousness, and truth. The ab...

64. The Secret Of Effective Living

Sermon

Robert Allen

Jack was a big man who always seemed to have a smile on his face. In fact, joy and happiness seemed to bubble in his life. His happiness was so genuine that others discovered that joy and happiness increased in their lives when they were around him. But, why shouldn’t he be happy? He had a good family. He had a lovely wife and two college-age daughters. He had a large home in the country. He was a...

65. God's Playful Wisdom

Sermon

Stephen P. McCutchan

If I mentioned Sophia to you, what memories would it evoke? Would you think of a movie called Sophie's Choice? Or perhaps you know of someone whose name is Sophia. Some of you might think of a controversy stirred up several years ago at a women's conference that was exploring feminine images for God. Some who objected to their ideas accused them of pagan worship when they used Sophia to refer...

66. Wisdom’s Final Appeals

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

8:1–36 Review · In Proverbs 8–9, personified Wisdom makes her final appeal, speaking again in the first person to her young audience. Chapter 8 offers a lengthy discourse commending wisdom, which can be divided into four sections. In verses 1–11, wisdom’s surpassing value is asserted, while verses 12–21 portray wisdom’s “associates” and attributes. Wisdom’s worth is then further affirmed in a desc...

67. Wisdom's Call

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

The personification of Wisdom reaches new heights in this chapter that is entitled “Wisdom’s Call” in the NIV—an understatement, if one truly considers the claims Wisdom makes about herself. There is a superficial similarity between the opening verses and 1:20–21, but the tenor of Wisdom’s proclamation in this chapter is unique. She appeals to all, including the simple and the fools. They are to l...

68. Wisdom Personified as being Pre-existent

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

Call to Worship Pastor: All that God does reflects his marvelous wisdom with which he acts. People: Whether we look through a microscope or a telescope, we are amazed at God's creation!Pastor: For that reason wisdom itself has been personified as being the first of God's creation, working by his side. People: We praise God for his wisdom, especially for the wisdom he shares with us through his Son...

69. In Praise Of Wisdom

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world! People: Your praise reaches up to the heavens. Leader: You made human beings inferior only to yourself. People: You crowned them with glory and honor. All: O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world. Collect Almighty God, Creator of the universe, when we look at the sky, at the moon and stars which y...

70. Trinity Sunday

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Wisdom was with Yahweh when he created the earth. Before the earth was created, Wisdom, a female figure, was created and observed Yahweh's bringing the world into shape: the earth, heavens, the boundaries of the sea, and the foundations of the earth. According to this passage, Yahweh did not create out of nothing, but ordered creation. The climax of...

71. Now That School's Out...

Sermon

David E. Leininger

School is out. "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks..." Somewhere I read of the last day of classes being marked by yelling and cheering, bells, whistles, cartwheels in the halls...and that was the TEACHERS! Of course, this is the time for Baccalaureate services and Commencement exercises. It was a delight to watch my own son march with his high school graduating class o...

72. Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The book of Proverbs is a repository of short, didactic sayings, a fountain of proverbial wisdom of both a religious and secular nature. These maxims are intended not only to advise the conscientious person in the true and proper path to God, but also to instruct one in the ways of the world and the affairs of humankind. As a genre, proverbs are common to every spoken tongue and offer universally...

73. Building the Temple of God

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

Haggai is what has been labeled as the first of the restoration prophets, and he has no recorded history. We are told in verse 13 of chapter 1 that he was "... the messenger of the Lord." As is the case with all of the prophets, those listed as major and minor, the message, not the messenger, is of prime importance. God, not God's prophet, dominates the message. Apart from this book, Haggai is men...

74. Wisdom and the Trinity

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Perhaps no doctrine of the Christian Church is more obscure in the minds of church-goers than is the doctrine of the Trinity, the fact that God is One in three Persons. The early church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. debated long and hard before they arrived at a satisfactory statement of the doctrine, and still today, persons misunderstand or distort the teaching. The doctrine o...

75. Wisdom's Delight

Sermon

Stan Purdum

I have a question for you, but let me tell you right up front that it is a trick question. The question is, "What did God create first?" If you are like most Bible readers, your mind will immediately jump to the first chapter of Genesis, and then it is a matter of trying to recall which part of the world God called into being first. In case you can't immediately bring that answer to mind, I'll te...

Showing 51 to 75 of 208 results