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 801 to 825 of 2815 results

801. A Bridge Between Two Worlds

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... with someone knocking him down every 4.6 yards. (2) Jesus knew that his followers were going to get knocked down over and over again. That’s just the way the world is. How could he convince them to get back up and keep running? He told them this parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up. This passage today about the persistent widow and the unjust judge is actually part of a larger teaching that is all about the kingdom of God. To understand this story in Luke 18, we have to go ...

802. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!

Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Pharisees were offended when they heard this?" He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Peter said, "Explain the parable to us." "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man `unclean ...

803. The Gardener

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... : The Lord Has Established His Throne Song of Songs (4): Garden of Love Isaiah’s Song of Zion’s Salvation (51) Ezekiel’s Vision of the Temple and Rivers of Water, Fruit Trees, and Abundance (47) Jeremiah’s Prophecy of the Redemption of Israel (31) Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32; Luke 13:18-19) John’s Witness to Jesus (The Living Water) With the Woman at the Well (4) Paul’s Witness to Paradise (2 Corinthians 12) God’s Restoration of Humanity to the Garden (Revelation 22 ...

804. The Writing on the Wall

2 Samuel 11:1-27, 2 Samuel 12:1-31, John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us in our sin, and to cleanse us with God’s ever-saving grace. May you be ever blessed to see “the writing on the wall” by the holy finger of God! Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text The Story of David and Bathsheba and Nathan’s Parable of the Lamb (2 Samuel 11 and 12) Jesus’ Encounter with a Woman Accused of Adultery (John 7:37--8:12) Minor Text The Potter’s Hand (Genesis 2) God’s Hand/Finger Strikes Egypt (Exodus 6-8) The Sotah Jealousy Ritual Given to the Israelites by God (Bitter ...

805. Metathesiophobia

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... want to pursue a relationship in a 21st century culture, you need to get over your fear of failure. If you want to be the church in a 21st century culture, you need to get over your fear of failure. Embracing failure is embracing the future. In Jesus’ parable for today, he describes a “master” who gives people various amounts of gold to invest. He bids them to do something with it, to make something of it. While several go out and invest in various ways, one man does not. Cowering in fear of making a ...

806. God’s HS Smart App is Always Watching

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that life on earth is a kind of practice ground that teaches us how to successfully navigate ourselves, our responsibilities, and our relationships. While the movie is fictional, it does sound strikingly close to some of Jesus’ most famous parables, particularly the parables of the vineyard. In scripture, the “vineyard” seems always to refer to the world, the earth, that reality in the here and now where we spend our conscious lives. The “Master and Landowner” is God. The Son and messenger ...

807. A Working God

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... our lives and turn them into great victories because in Christ “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). We are not in denial here. Not everything that happens to us in this life is good. Evil and sin are real. As the parable of the net teaches with the separation of the good and bad fish, there are and will be real dire consequences to our rejection of God’s gracious reign. But what scripture proclaims and we believe is that the final word God desires to speak over us is ...

808. The Gospel We Preach

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

... a neighbor or a Sunday school teacher who tried to scare the hell out of him. Maybe he had been reading some bad theology. Maybe he just grew up believing that God is mean, angry, and vindictive. Ironically, up to this point there is nothing in the parable that would lead to such a conclusion. Quite the opposite, in fact, this master was a generous and caring fellow who entrusted his slaves with large sums of money. He wanted them to succeed, not fail; he wanted them to thrive, not tremble in fear of his ...

809. How Did I Get That Job?

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... deserved to enjoy some of his returns, didn’t he? I’d like to think so, at least. But then, Jesus puts a capper on his parable that helps us get a handle on his main point. It’s not that it’s wrong to save. It’s not that it’s ... whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” And there’s the crux of the matter. We should remember that parables are generally told to drive home one particular tenet. The idea behind this one had nothing to do with the man’s shrewdness. It ...

810. The Accounting

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the “way” of Jesus. To embrace mitzvah in your life is to embrace an entirely different world view: not to serve yourself, the world,or its goals, but to serve God and God’s vision for self and others. This radically changes the reading of Jesus parable, doesn’t it? For what does the fired manager do? He cuts the prices and the bills of several of the company’s clients, forging good relationships instead with those he comes in contact with. He is then commended by the “Master” for what he has ...

811. Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

William G. Carter

... said he was going to start a new church. There would be a steeple, a sanctuary, and one pew large enough for only one person: him. “That’s the kind of church I want,” he said. “Just me and God, nobody else.” No weeds in the garden. In the parable that we’ve heard, the servants come to the owner of the house and ask, “Should we pull up the weeds?” It’s a reasonable question. The landowner is the sower who has cast about “the good seed.” It was pure and perfect as he threw it about. But ...

812. Kingdom Mystery

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

David Coffin

... scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how” Mark 4:26-27 (RSV). If the reader is discouraged by the previous parable that has only one of four groups of planted seeds producing fruit, this text is good news. The sower in this parable is fairly random in planting of seeds. The sower does get time to sleep and rest. Then in some mysterious way, the seeds sprout and grow. The sower does not know how. The good news for churches ...

813. Fox in the Henhouse

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... influence. And it comes out in the way these Jewish religious officials behave toward others in the faith. Jesus, the Lamb, the Hen, the Door, and so many other wonderful metaphors of scripture, will continue to call out predatory behavior in nearly every parable he tells, particularly in Luke. Most everyone in his path do not heed his warnings of danger and deceit until “fox-like” some of those very Pharisees, along with the Chief priests, will circle him, corner him, and devour him, all under cover ...

814. Weather Signs

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... fire as judgment. Acts 2:3 -- The Holy Spirit appearing as fire at Pentecost. 1 Peter 4:12 -- A fiery ordeal as a test for Christians. References to Peace: Luke 1:79; 2:14; 19:38; John 14:27; 16:33; Ephesians 2:14-18. CONTENT Precis of the Parable After warning the crowd of the way in which his message will create conflict within a family, Jesus asks them to read the signs of the times. People watch the clouds and wind. From those indications they can anticipate what kind of weather is ahead and can prepare ...

815. Something New, Something Old

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... to go to a foreign country to find those who are different; we draw boundaries all the time, often unconsciously separating those who are "insiders" and "outsiders," "winners" and "losers." Today's Gospel story ends on a cautionary note which serves as a kind of acted parable of Jesus' teaching. The hometown folks are so fixated on who Jesus had been that they could not see who he was! And the Gospel says, "And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief." If we bring out only the ...

816. Proper 20

1 Timothy 2:1-15, Jeremiah 8:4--9:26, Luke 16:1-15

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... As there is only one God, there is only one mediator who is Christ. He gave his life as a ransom for all people. To accomplish this Paul was appointed a preacher, apostle, and teacher of faith and truth. Gospel: Luke 16:1-13 The parable of the unjust steward. This parable is about a scoundrel who teaches us a lesson on the right use of wealth. Jesus teaches us that we should be wise, resourceful, shrewd, and clever as the unjust steward in our handling of mammon (money, property). The right use of money can ...

817. Christ The King

Ephesians 1:15-23, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... world through sin but the first born from the death, Jesus Christ, offers life to all who have faith. When Christ is totally victorious over the legions of sin and death, then he will deliver the kingdom over to God the Father. Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46 The parable of the sheep and the goats points to the glory of the future kingdom of God, when the Son of Man will separate the sheep from the goats. The shepherd-king gathers his sheep and culls out those who are not: the sheep on the right hand, the goats ...

818. Proper 28

Judges 4:1-24, Proverbs 31:10-31, Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18, Malachi 2:1-9, Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... the Lord gives him or her, pays no tax but is given a reward. On the opposite side of the coin, the person who makes no gain on that which is entrusted to him will be harshly penalized. Sermon Title: Christ The Gambler. Sermon Angle: The master in the parable is Christ and we are those to whom he has entrusted his substance. We are richly endowed with that which is his. What a chance he is taking! Quite a gamble! That seems to be Christ's way. In his earthly journey, he invested his love in those whose ...

819. Another Kind Of Success

6-16, 2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

Arthur H. Kolsti

... life as having the goods. Jesus took a traditional type of success story and put a different twist to it in one of his twin parables of the buried treasure and the pearl of great price. Listen to them. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field ... asked John D. Rockefeller how much money it took to make someone happy. He replied, "Just a little more." Note the way the parables veer from the traditional plot of the success story. The listener would expect the peasant to make a big splash with a ...

820. What Shall We Do With The New Wine?

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... the church could not face the truth of new discovery? His book appeared at last, and one of the first copies reached Copernicus on May 24, 1543. He was on his deathbed at the time. He read the title page, smiled, and in the same hour died. The parable teaches us that the value is not in the wineskin, but in the wine. There is the tendency to confuse the wineskin with the new wine. When the church became an institution rather than a movement (this happened at the time of Constantine in the fourth century ...

821. John Prepares the Way

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... the One who announces, "I am the Messiah. I am the Christ. I come to bring God's eternal kingdom. I come to bring you eternal hope." Story Three can introduce the Parable of the Sower. We pointed out in the Preface the importance of this parable in Mark's Gospel. Why not call it forth on this first Sunday in Mark's Gospel? Through this parable of Jesus, Mark indicates to us that there are at least four kinds of soil, four kinds of responses to Jesus' sowing of the seed; to Jesus' announcement that he is the ...

822. The Temptation of Christ

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... ." "Let anyone with ears to hear listen!" (Mark 4:9). Mark's whole Gospel is a plea to us to hear and believe, to see and understand! Another possibility is to make use of the Parable of the Sower if you have not already done so. (See the notes on this parable in the Introduction and in chapter 12.) Many people suggest that the Parable of the Sower is the plot summary of the first part of Mark's Gospel. Jesus has come preaching. The time is fulfilled. People are to repent and believe. But the soil of human ...

823. A Dead Girl and A Sick Woman

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... , sixtyfold and a hundredfold. Quite in contrast to Jesus' command to the Gerasene to proclaim what Jesus had done for him, this story ends with a call to silence. "He strictly ordered them that no one should know this ..." (5:43). We need to remember here the parables of the kingdom in Mark 4. "For there is nothing hidden, except to be disclosed; nor is anything secret, except to come to light" (Mark 4:22). (See also Mark 9:9.) Whatever else this charge of secrecy means, it is secrecy only for a time. The ...

824. Cut Down And Lifted Up

Luke 22:66--23:25

Sermon

Lee Griess

... have originally been intended to say little more than that bamboo is useful and to give praise to nature for its goodness, we know it has deeper meaning than that. And especially as we hear it this morning, we cannot help but understand that it is a parable about the sacrifice and suffering of Jesus. It is a picture of Christ and of you and me. In the book of Philippians Saint Paul recognizes the same picture when he writes, "Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who being in the ...

825. Life As An Investment

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Donald Dotterer

... . He therefore went to Apple Computer and helped it to grow into one of the most successful corporations in the world. Mr. Sculley's life was changed because he took the risk and decided to invest in himself and others, and to grow.1 In the parable, Jesus had aimed his teaching at the religious establishment of the day, those scribes and Pharisees who did not want to see any growth or change in religion and faith. They were content to maintain the status quo, to keep things comfortable for themselves, not ...

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