Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 751 to 775 of 5000 results

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Holy Communion. The setting for our scripture is the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples. They had planned a kind of secret rendezvous. The disciples had gone into the town, and they found a little upper room, and they have prepared it for this gathering. Mark is very brief in telling the story. He doesn’t talk about the audacious hypocrisy of Judas. He doesn’t record the story of servanthood that is central in John’s telling of the story – Jesus taking the basin and the towel and washing the ...

752. Peter, Our Folk Hero

Mark 14:27-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... him down to Atlanta, put him up in a nice hotel, and celebrated the day that Roy Riegels ran the wrong way in the Rose Bowl. So no matter what Roy Riegels does, the world won’t let him forget that 50 years ago he made a mistake. (Mark Trotter, “How to Forget the Past”) I thought of Roy Riegels as I began preparation of this sermon, because we’re focusing our attention today on Simon Peter. Peter was a blunder often running off on his own, and many times in the wrong direction - doing those things ...

753. Should America Repent?

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , not religious at all. They think they have to get everything right every time. When they fail, they have no place to go except to wallow in their guilt." Oh, what relief it is to know we can repent. Did you mess up this week? Did you miss the mark? Did you fail to do something you should have done? Did you do something, that in the long run, you regretted and you are sorry about? You have come to the right place. This is where these things get dealt with, even in the middle of December. III. REPENTANCE ...

754. Being Open to the Impossible

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... became hungry again - it had been awhile since they had eaten. But, they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. Now this is hard to believe, but it’s in the Book — it’s right here in the 8th chapter of Mark. The disciples began to talk about the fact that they had only one loaf of bread and that was not enough for them all to lunch on. Already they had forgotten, and Jesus confronted them with it. “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Don’t ...

755. Looking Up: Looking Out

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... future, that death would not be the end, no matter how final it seemed. They glimpsed the future of a world in which Jesus is Lord. But they were only granted this vision after first learning that the Messiah must "suffer many things, and be rejected ... and be killed" (Mark 8:31). I don't know if you ever talk to people who tell you they have visions. I suspect not many of you do. In our culture we have grown distrustful of people who make such claims. But pastors get to hear this from time to time, and ...

756. The Unsilenced Voice

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... and his niece at the same time. This was a clear violation of Old Testament law. John the Baptist publicly denounced the marriage. Herodias was furious. Herod was angry, too, but at least he had a conscience. He genuinely did not want to kill John. Mark tells us that Herod was confused by John's preaching but he liked to listen to him. Herod respected John and feared him because John was a righteous and holy man. Unfortunately, Herod chose cowardice over courage. Rather than stand up for what he believed ...

757. Right-Handed Sinners!

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."— Mark 9:42-48 If it is gentility you desire, you can find it in Jesus and if it is severity you desire, you can find it ... sin, cut it off ... And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off ... And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out"(Mark 9:43-47). What does he mean? Let it be remembered that Jesus Christ, who never sinned, is nevertheless no stranger to temptation for "We do ...

758. After the Parade

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... Holies from the rest of the Temple the curtain that would be mysteriously torn in two at his death? Perhaps he was focused simply on what would happen to him in the next few days the betrayal, the mockery of a trial, the scourging, the agony of crucifixion. In Mark 10 we read that some days prior, while they were on their way up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to ...

759. Are You Doing Time On the Bench?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , and kept on going. Jeremy Lin is now being lauded as some kind of amazing superstar. He is called Super-Lin-tendo. His fans are caught up in Lin-sanity. His story is dubbed Lin-derella. But in reality Jeremy Lin is a ditch digger. He has made his mark by continually working, chipping away at that which blocks his path, by getting on with what he had to do, despite what others told him. Jeremy Lin is a wilderness survivor. The week before he became a household name Jeremy Lin slept on the couch of both his ...

760. Sit Up and Speak!

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... a young man, a rich man, politically ambitious, and a talented man, fell to the bottom. He ran for the US Senate in 1982 and lost. Soon thereafter his marriage to Alida Rockfeller collapsed, and he endured a bout with alcoholism. One day, Mark Dayton found himself in the balcony of Westminster Church in Mineapolis. He found himself there in the balcony often struggling to find a sense of God. He bounced back and forth between the poles of desolation to consolation, and then that insightful day he found ...

761. Life In the Valley

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , one whispered to the person next to him, "He has cured him, but he has killed him! That boy is dead!" The others looked wonderingly down on the lad and at length, speaking openly now, exclaimed, "The boy is dead! He has cured him, but he has killed him!" (Mark 9:26 cf). Then a scribe, recovering his old boldness and arrogance, remarked to one of his fellows, "Yes, he has cured him, but he has killed him. What sort of a cure is that? We could have done that ourselves. We could have knocked the boy on the ...

762. Kintsugi Vessels

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... discussion of “who is best” has no standing, no importance, in the new body of Christ. Paul was urging the Corinthians, was urging all Christians, to notice that the most broken within their community were the ones who could most beautifully bear the marks of healing they had experienced at God’s hands. The more damaged and repaired, the greater the width of the golden gleams of salve and sealant the lives of those who had been transformed could reflect to the world. The healing life-altering power ...

763. The Full Advent: Whoa! No Way? Wow!

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... hierarchy and the old time nomadic lifestyle of shepherds. Suddenly tending sheep was shoddy. Being itinerant and “on the move” in the first century became as low-brow and suspicious as not having an e-mail address or party dress in the twenty-first century. Mark’s gospel proclaims that the “son of man” will come in “clouds with great power and glory.” This is the gospel writer’s description of the new Messiah. And yet at the beginning of Advent we are also faced with a gospel message about ...

764. It Was a Dark and Stormy Evening! Father's Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... times he’s brought us through the storm in the past. We forget in the dark times of our lives what he’s said to us in the light. I am always amused by how this story ends. Jesus has stilled the storm, the wind and the waves. Now, says Mark, the disciples are really terrified and ask each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Before they were terrified by the storm; now they are terrified by the knowledge that they are in the presence of One who has the power over the storm. We ...

765. Poem: In Memoriam

Eulogy

Alfred Lord Tennyson

... And labour, and the changing mart, And all the framework of the land; When one would aim an arrow fair, But send it slackly from the string; And one would pierce an outer ring, And one an inner, here and there; And last the master-bowman, he, Would cleave the mark. A willing ear We lent him. Who, but hung to hear The rapt oration flowing free From point to point, with power and grace And music in the bounds of law, To those conclusions when we saw The God within him light his face, And seem to lift the form ...

766. When the Unthinkable Happens

Mark 13:1-8, 24-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... world may be around for many more centuries or even millennia. But here’s the most important thing you need to know. Jesus made it very clear that nobody knows when the end of time will be. Jesus said even he didn’t know. We read in verse 32 of Mark, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” It might be tomorrow. It might be 10,000 years from now. Nobody knows! Foolish people keep setting dates, but so far they’ve been totally wrong ...

767. I Don't Get No Respect

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... of self-esteem or worth and feel dishonored as a person. Some of us are granted that respect. Others of us are not. Maybe you will find encouragement from this: even Jesus had difficulty finding respect from those closest to him. There is a bizarre statement in Mark 3:21 at the beginning of Christ’s ministry. I’m going to paraphrase it just a little bit, to fill in the context: “When his family heard about [Christ’s teachings and his casting out of demons], they went to take charge of him, for they ...

768. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... has exalted me,” the same verb as in this verse. But the point remains that Jesus had been exalted to a place of power and authority, marked by his receiving from the Father the promised Holy Spirit to give to human beings (v. 33). There may be yet another allusion to the Psalms in ... (Matt. 22:43ff. and parallels; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 1:13; 10:13) and is often alluded to (7:55, where Jesus stands rather than sits; Mark 14:62; Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20, 22; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22). C. H ...

769. Paul in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... adopted the same superstitions and magical aids as the heathen (Dialogue 85). It need not surprise us, then, that these men were willing to try any formula that seemed to work, though they owed no allegiance to Jesus (for the use of Jesus’ name by Jewish exorcists, cf. Mark 9:38ff.; later, the rabbis condemned such). 19:15–16 In the end, the result was far from what the sons of Sceva had hoped for. The man (or the spirits that possessed him) declared: Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you ...

770. The Credibility of the Gospel Paul Proclaims

Galatians 1:11-24

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... Nevertheless, since our translation equates Cephas with Peter we will do so in the commentary. Hengel and Schwemer also observe that fifteen days is a substantial visit (Paul between Damascus and Antioch, p. 149). 1:19 Paul describes James as the Lord’s brother (see Mark 6:3) and as one of the apostles; in his other letters Paul mentions James only in 1 Cor. 15:7. James is an acknowledged leader of the Christian movement (see also Acts 12:17), and Paul sees him as having a powerful role in the Jerusalem ...

771. Final Greetings

Colossians 4:7-18

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... the return to his hometown must have included some mixed emotions, for he is the slave who ran away from his owner, Philemon. The details of this case, however, are dealt with in Paul’s personal letter to Philemon. 4:10–11 Aristarchus (Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2), Mark (Mark 14:51; Acts 12:12, 25; 13:13; 15:37, 39; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24), and Justus are identified by Paul as the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God. One can almost detect a note of pathos in Paul’s statement, since he ...

772. Timothy’s Encouraging Report

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... hagiasmos, the process of becoming holy). The identity of his holy ones (hoi hagioi), who accompany Jesus, is uncertain. A number of OT passages suggest angels are in view (cf. Deut. 33:2; Ps. 89:5, 7; Dan. 7:10; Zech. 14:5; cf. also Matt. 13:41; 25:31; Mark 8:38; 13:26f.; Luke 9:26; 2 Thess. 1:7; Jude 14f.; Rev. 19:14). But in the NT, “the holy ones,” does not appear to be used of angels. Rather, the term is commonly applied to believers. In 2 Thessalonians 1:10, “holy ones” (NIV “his holy people ...

773. Personal Remarks

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... 2 Cor. 4:1), is ambiguous here and may refer to personal service (cf. 1 Cor. 16:15). Perhaps a little of both is intended, but the context suggests that at least ministry to his personal needs is involved (cf. 1:16–18 on Onesiphorus). The reason for wanting Mark to help him is that his former helper, Tychicus, had been sent to Ephesus—at least such is implied by the Greek de (“but”) that joins verse 12 to verse 11 (and therefore does not go back to v. 10 as a memory lapse). Tychicus (cf. Titus 3:12 ...

774. Titus' Task on Crete

Titus 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... head the list. God’s household manager must be a servant, not stubbornly self-willed, since it is God’s household, not his own (cf. Mark 10:41–45; 1 Cor. 3:5–9; 4:1–2). On the next two, not given to drunkenness, not violent, which also form a ... 29:13 (LXX: “In vain they worship me, teaching commandments and doctrines of men”), a passage cited by Jesus about Pharisaic regulations (Mark 7:7/Matt. 15:9) and alluded to by Paul about ascetic practices in Colossae very similar to these (Col. 2:22). ...

775. Jesus Made Like His Brothers

Hebrews 2:5-18

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... temporarily lower than the angels, and the purpose of the incarnation is to make possible his death on behalf of all, for everyone. Taste death means simply to suffer death, as the preceding clause makes clear, and not merely a partial experience of death (cf. Mark 9:1). The incarnation and its goal, the cross, are the glorious expression of the grace of God, God’s free mercy and favor. The exaltation of Jesus, his being now crowned with glory and honor, is because he suffered death. Since it was from ...

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