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 726 to 750 of 2817 results
Sermon
King Duncan
... making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." Now there are some things that are evident in this parable. The farmer is God. And the seed is the message of the Kingdom. But today I want to focus on the good soil that yields a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Because, friends, that good soil is you and me. We are those who have received ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... out sooner would have been impossible, and attempting to do so would have destroyed valuable grains. (3) Weeds and wheat. Kind of a scary parable, if you think about it. It's easy to talk about God's grace--God's loving acceptance of the unworthy. But we are ... know about you, but I want to be wheat. I don't want to end up in the furnace with the weeds. You can do with this parable what you will. I. Fighting the Weeds in Our Own Life. I do know that I am continually fighting weeds in my own life. Aren't you? ...
728. Bearing The Right Fruit
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Sermon
King Duncan
... , his eyes caught the lettering on the side of the van: Standard Oil Company of Kentucky, Lubricants Division. The trucker had burned out a bearing--while hauling grease. (2) It is a shame that he didn't put some of his cargo on his dry bearing. That is another parable of Christian life today. Our crisis is not in our head but our heart. We know that Jesus came into the world to save the least and the lowest. And we know that he calls us to be his people in the world today. But somehow that knowledge has ...
Sermon
Edward Inabinet
... in a dark world through the consecration of our attitudes and aptitudes. He depends on us. He is counting on us. Our lives are important to His work. God gives us different gifts. HE ALSO REWARDS US FOR USING OUR GIFTS. This is what the master of the parable did. He settled accounts on his return. Two servants were rewarded for using their gifts in increasing what they had. The master''s reply was, "Well done, good and faithful servants." And that''s the kind of God we have. His world is set up to reward ...
730. The Total Steward
1 Chronicles 29:1-9
Sermon
Edward Inabinet
... enough and strong enough and free enough to take it. All are wrong. The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord''s." That''s not good advice--it''s a great truth. We must adjust to it. Without acknowledging that, nothing else will come out right. Luke 12 records the parable of the rich fool. This man felt all he had was his own, but Jesus called him a fool. Fay Summers says the person outside Christ will look at the world and laugh and say, "Mine." The Christian will look at the world and his own life and say ...
Sermon
Eric Ritz
... not like that drunken no-good homosexual over there with AIDS.'' However, Saddam Hussein''s Commander-in Chief, screamed and shouted, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.''" You would be outraged at me for making up this story. This is what is taking place in this parable. I remember once preaching on this topic and I had a dear saint of our church declare to me after the service, "Thank God I am not like that dumb Pharisee." When the Lord''s own disciples said so honestly in Matthew''s gospel, "Lord, teach us ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... "Building a House." What could be a better theme for Mother's Day? It is the concluding parable of three parables that Jesus told in the last part of Chapter Six. The first was about the blind leading the blind, and the other is about bad trees being ... unable to bear good fruit. It's the third of those parables at which we look today -- the parable about building a house. Jesus tells us that there is only one way to build a house that will be secure against ...
733. The Waster
Luke 15:11-32
Sermon
Frank G. Honeycutt
... do. The story ends but it doesn't end. You can almost hear the voice of Walter Cronkite saying, "YOU ARE THERE." Will we RSVP to a party thrown by an unfair God? Or will we stubbornly remain outside? In a world where God does not play fair, this parable forces us to make a choice. Who is the real "prodigal" here? Who is the real "waster"? From the beginning Jesus says that this is a story about two brothers. Which one is the authentic prodigal? Which one has yet to come home to the Father's extravagant love ...
734. Let's Get Serious
Matthew 21:28-32
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... gospel lesson for this morning, you heard it, makes it hard to do that. It is anything but non-direct. It is one of Jesus' shorter parables, just a few lines. It begins with the question, "What do you think? A man had two sons." He told one to go into the field ... it safe for you while you were away." The master asked, "Why did you not invest it?" "Because I was afraid." That parable ends with the poor guy getting punished. So the message is clear. Jesus expects from his followers a little courage. He expects ...
Sermon
James L. Killen
... also important to remember that same one became one of us and one with us. He came to identify with us. Like the track coach in the parable, he came saying, "I am with you. I am committed to you. I am one of you." The text says that Jesus was not ashamed to call ... the life that we are called to live and did it under our circumstances to show us that it can be done. Like the track coach in the parable, he ran the obstacle course that is set before us to show us how to do it and to show us that we can do it. He ...
736. Get a Charge
Matthew 21:28-32
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... we have a chance to be a part of that. I have another text for this morning. You heard it read as the New Testament lesson, the Parable of the Two Sons. A man went to his son, and said, "Go to the field and work." He said, "No." But afterwards he repented and went ... who says "yes" to the call of sacrificing his life for others. Let me point out another insight about this parable. Jesus was also condemned for associating with sinners and publicans, the irreligious, the people who were outside of the religious ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... in our time, public humiliation has been a way that Pharisees point out that there are sinners among us, and that we are different than them. “The scribes and the Pharisees were grumbling, saying, `This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” So he told these parables to proclaim something new to scribes and to Pharisees, and that is that God doesn’t wait for us to bridge the gap between us and God. God bridges it. God takes the initiative and comes to us. It is like this: Which one of you ...
738. Plain Talk
Luke 6:17-26
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... . He lives on the doorstep of the rich man. The rich man steps over Lazarus everyday as he enters his house. He does nothing for this poor man. He doesn't even see him. He just steps over him. Then he dines "sumptuously." That is the adverb used in the parable. He dines "sumptuously" in his house and thinks nothing about the poor man at his doorstep who is hungry. The rich man dies and goes to hell. The poor man dies and goes to heaven, and lies in the bosom of Abraham. That is the source of the Negro ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... in the sea, and it will obey you, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed." This is the message. The problem is not that you don't have enough faith. The problem is you aren't using what you have. It is the same message in the Parable of the Talents. The master goes away. He gives talents to the servants. Talents, I remind you, is money. The first two servants get a certain amount of talents. They are supposed to invest it. They do. They make some money off of it. The third servant, instead of investing ...
740. The Cathedral Within
II Corinthians 9:6-15
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... . Scrooge is given a glimpse of what his fate will be if he doesn't change, if he continues living the way he is living. It is reminiscent of Jesus' parable, entitled, "The Rich Man and Lazarus." I am sure that Dickens used that parable as the model for his story. The parable is about a rich man who dined sumptuously at his table every day, and a poor man, covered with sores, who camped outside the door of the rich man. Each day, to enter his house, the rich man had to step over the poor man. The poor ...
741. Two Harvests
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Sermon
Stephen M. Crotts
... and the devil, good and evil. That is the message of the two sowers. Two Seeds The "son of man" plows his field and sows "good seed" (v. 24). They are the "sons of the kingdom" (v. 38). In the first parable of the four soils, "seed" was interpreted as "the Word" of God. Now, in the second parable, the seed has taken root in certain persons so that they, like Jesus, are further incarnations of God's Word. Colossians 3:16 bids us, "Let the word of God dwell in you richly." By trusting in his word, doing it ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... , have treasured their starters, so did the simple households and small rural villages of first-century Palestine. In the first century, as in the Alaskan frontier, if you lost your leaven, you lost your ability to make bread for your family, for your community. Jesus' parable of the leaven calls attention to that simple but life-sustaining element that was such a necessary part of the people's everyday existence – leaven, yeast, a starter that added life and lift to their daily bread. In Jesus' leaven ...
743. Set Life Free
Matthew 13:1-23
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... the apples. Some lives will respond with only a little fruit. Some lives will bear great amounts of fruit. Some who respond will produce no fruit at all. Other lives will produce just enough to see them through day-to-day. Jesus himself is the sower in today's parable. But each one of us who takes up and takes in the Word Christ plants in us – each one of us who takes seriously the life-task of nurturing that Word into a fruitful life – each one of us will ourselves take on the identity of sower. Sowing ...
744. Proper 29
Psalm 100:1-5, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46
Sermon Aid
Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe
... have tried to use Matthew to preach Luke. Matthew, however, suggests that our attitude towards the world is to be that of "the least," not United Way. This is not to say that the Church has no concern for the social ills enumerated in the parable, but for this parable that is not the point. The point is that because Christ rules, a lot of people will experience salvation not because of what they say but because of what they do. Having Christ in charge can be a very disturbing business, but never dull. This ...
Sermon
James W. Moore
... the Southwest Conference Champion with an 11-0 record. There we see it. The power of encouragement. We in the church should be first and foremost the sons and daughters of encouragement. And as Christians we have a lot to be encouraged about. The point of this parable in March 4 is wrapped up in encouragement because in the end against all odds, there was a great harvest. So, the lesson is: Be faithful, broadcast the seed and God in the end will bring a Great Harvest! The church is our hearing-aid enabling ...
Sermon
James Merritt
... likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with him." (vv. 16-19) The master in the parable returns, and we're simply told in v.19, "he settled accounts with them." Now to settle an account simply means to call for an accounting. That is, you ask for accountability. You see, what you have God gives you. What God gives you, you are to use. You ...
747. Jesus Startles Us
Matthew 18:21-35
Illustration
Joel D. Kline
... shocking. As Donald Kraybill writes in The Upside Down Kingdom: Again and again in parables, sermons, and acts Jesus startles us. Things are not like they are supposed to be. The stories don't end as we expected. The Good Guys ... mathematics" at the heart of the gospel. Writes Yancey, "Jesus' story makes no economic sense, and that was his intent. He was giving us a parable about grace, which cannot be calculated like a day's wages. Grace is not about finishing last or first; it is about not counting."
Sermon
King Duncan
... . . .” That’s the first reason Jesus was upset with the Pharisees. Just because you are super religious doesn’t mean you know God. Here is the second thing we need to see: the life of faith is about bearing fruit. In fact, Jesus explains this parable with these words, “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit . . .” It’s interesting. Earlier in this chapter we encounter that strange little story of Jesus cursing a ...
749. Commentary
Matthew 25:14-30
Illustration
Archibald M. Hunter
... of gratitude that his master trusted him with so great a sum. Respect for his master is limited to a grudging acknowledgement of power. If we are correct in taking the phrase "to each according to his ability" as indicating that for Matthew the parable challenges Christians to make full use of the gifts that God has entrusted to them, the portrayal of the third servant reminds us that love for our master must be demonstrated in faithful and untiring service to other people. It is routine for Christians ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... . We don't really expect products to transform us and our lives in the ways they are advertised. But we do expect truth from God. Part of the confusing nature of the unjust steward story is that we expect truthfulness to be present in all Jesus' parables. But the story of the dishonest manager rattles us by appearing to praise dishonesty, conniving shrewdness and a kind of anything-goes morality. There is truth at work in the story of the unjust steward but it is not the truth of accurate accounting or the ...
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