Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 826 to 850 of 5000 results

Luke 22:66--23:25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , and people will have none of this, crying out, instead, for Jesus’ death (a fact of which Peter will remind the inhabitants of Jerusalem in Acts 2:23, 36; 3:13–15) and the release of Barabbas. Although v. 17 is probably a later scribal addition based on Mark 15:6 (Now he was obliged to release one man to them at the feast; see footnote in NIV), Luke knew this verse from his Marcan source and so presupposed it in writing his account. The people are not interested in Jesus, the man of peace. They want ...

827. The Next Two Days: The Call of the Disciples

John 1:43-51, John 1:35-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... is no definite time at which the disciples literally saw Jesus re-enacting the dream of Jacob, any more than there is a definite time at which the Jewish high priest saw Jesus “sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:62). Nor do angels play any significant role in the fourth Gospel (cf. only 12:29; 20:12). Yet angels … ascending and descending on the Son of Man is just as much a reality as Jesus seated at God’s right hand and coming to earth again. It ...

828. The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

John 4:27-38, John 4:1-26, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... she is from the Jewish standpoint an outsider, a hated Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans, the writer explains, will not even touch the same utensils (v. 9). In reaching out to her, Jesus in this narrative is recognizably the Jesus of the Synoptics (cf., e.g., Mark 7:24–30; Luke 7:36–50; 10:25–37), the one who came to show mercy to tax collectors, prostitutes, and all such outcasts of Jewish society. The encounter begins surprisingly, not with Jesus granting mercy to the woman, but with him asking mercy ...

829. The High Priest Questions Jesus

John 18:19-24, John 18:15-18, John 18:25-27

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... interrogation of them one by one, was necessary. The high priest could question anyone who had heard Jesus on any number of occasions—his own priestly associates in fact—and draw his own conclusions. The exchange ends, like the Sanhedrin trial in Mark (14:65) and Matthew (26:67), with Jesus being subjected to physical abuse (v. 22). The reasons, however, are different. There is no “mocking” scene here. Instead, one of the guards, interpreting Jesus’ response as a refusal to answer the high priest ...

830. Jehoash King of Israel

2 Kings 13:10-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... between the two, however, are frequent in the Gospels. Jesus heals lepers, just like Elisha (2 Kgs. 5; Matt. 8:1–4; 10:8; 11:5; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16; 7:22; 17:11–19; cf. also John 9:1–12 for a different kind of healing story ... than are the great. He mediates salvation, but he also brings judgment. He utters prophetic curses (2 Kgs. 2:23–25 and Matt. 21:18–22; Mark 11:12–14, 20–21, noting also Matt. 25:41). He comes so that those who see will become blind, even as those who are blind ...

831. Where Did He Get Such Authority?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... takes place on the Sabbath. Jesus has gone into the synagogue and begun to teach. The people are amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. While he was teaching a man in the synagogue who, Mark tells us, “was possessed by an impure spirit,” cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!” What in the world is an “impure spirit?” Is this the ancient world ...

832. Who Does Jesus Belong to Anyway?

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... his ministry to be about healing but rather about proclaiming and bringing about the reign of God. In the end it did not matter since, despite Jesus' orders, they told the world "he has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mark 7:37). In those two stories it is a third party who asked Jesus to help. Same thing with you and me. We are often asked by people to pray for others. In our bulletin we have nearly a hundred names of people who have requested our prayers. And ...

833. Six Days to Make a Decision for Christ

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

... ? It was time to heat things up. Jesus began by asking an easy question. A safe question. "Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27b). What are they saying out there? What do you hear as you serve food to the hungry? They answered that some are ... and they aced it. But before they could pat each other on the back he got right to the point, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:29a). Peter piped up and answered that he is the Messiah. Jesus then ordered them to tell no one. Let them go on believing for now ...

834. Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Success

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... a ransom for many" (10:45). The Greek word for serving that appears twice in this verse is found only in three other places in Mark's gospel. After Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, angels came to serve him (1:13). After Simon's mother-in-law was healed by ... that? How are we to become people who are successful at service not just with our words but with our lives? At the beginning of Mark's gospel, Simon's mother-in-law was unable to serve. She was sick with a fever, so severe that she couldn't even get ...

835. No, We're Not There Yet

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... he said that all these things are only the beginning of the end. Throughout the chapter, he also made it clear that no one knows when the end will be. He couldn't fully answer the disciples' questions because even he did not know. As he said in Mark 13:32: "But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." On one level, Jesus was talking about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Just as the prophet Jeremiah had predicted the destruction of the ...

836. The Value of Doubt

John 20:19-31

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... This is the statement that earned him the “Doubting Thomas” nickname. He was either unwilling or, perhaps, even unable to accept something as important as faith in the resurrection purely on the testimony of others. He needed some evidence. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” I may be going out on a limb on this, but I think we can be fairly certain that Thomas did not have a sticker on the side of ...

837. Broken Yet Sincere

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and repair” that makes kintsugi so beautiful and rare. How many of you have an antique in your home? What about an heirloom perhaps, a piece of furniture, or a piece of glass that has been passed down in your family for many generations? Does it bear the marks of someone in your past? In your family’s history? Recently, a woman in the news received a letter written to her from her husband many years ago in WWII, before he was killed on the front lines. The letter, which she now keeps in glass, not only ...

838. Syrophoenician Lives Matter!

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

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , freely bestowed on all who believe; you that are longing to see his face, will you this moment his grace receive? [Refrain] Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing of a Canaanite Woman’s Daughter in Tyre (15:21-28) Mark’s Witness to Jesus’ Healing of a Syrophoenician Woman’s Daughter in Tyre (7:24-30) Minor Text The Story of Tamar (Genesis 38) –Loyalty is not as it may appear A Raining Down of Manna (Exodus 16 and Numbers 11) Elijah’s Healing/Raising of ...

839. The Apothecary

Isaiah 40:1-31, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... all of us into the covenant of God. For HE is your king. And YOU are His people. There is a miracle that marks the beginning of a Jewish holiday called Hanukkah. When the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem after it was destroyed by heathens, they lamented ... ; he gently leads those that have young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in ...

840. Sealed and Sanctified

Matthew 2:1-12, Genesis 14:1-24

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... who follow Jesus. Today, I invite you to the altar to receive a “seal” of anointing. Today, you will be anointed with the oil of frankincense and myrrh, to signify the Light that was born into the world, God with us “face to face.” And as you receive the mark of Christ upon your forehead, and smell the fragrance of Christ’s presence, I invite you to stand before Him, to repent of your sins, and to invite Him to sear His holy image upon the flesh of your heart. For when He lives in you, and you in ...

841. Written on the Palms of His Hands

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... written on the resurrected, forgiving, loving palms of God’s hands, as an ever-sure reminder of God’s eternal vow. I like to call these nail marks, “grace marks.” For that is what they are. Once the marks of sin, even these have been resurrected and atoned into marks of grace. Forever inscribed upon the “body” of God. And when we look at those grace marks, when we realize the depths of God’s love for us, and Jesus’ atoning message, the doors to our hearts are opened and unlocked, and we are ...

842. Caesar or God?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... and Katharyn had been reading the book The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision. The book created in them a passion to contribute to international missions. As Mark Richt said, “You know what? I don't want to pour money into a home like that when I can use it for better things, for eternal things.” (7) Most of us don’t have a $2 million house to sell to give to missions, but that doesn’t mean ...

843. Be Healed

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... . Jesus guaranteed his growing fame and celebrity by offering healing to those needing it within a large crowd of seekers. It is a fair question to ask: When Jesus healed people, what exactly was going on? There is no good evidence to suggest that the writer of Mark believed Jesus was divine. At the outset he calls Jesus ‘The Son of God,’ but he does not explain what he thinks this means, and may have thought Jesus was adopted by God for special service, as the kings of Israel seem to have believed they ...

844. Call It Like You See It

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... say just when dogs and humans became boon companions. Archaeologists who examine the campfires of human settlements notice that around ten thousand years ago dogs found a place around the fire. Some of the bones of the animals found in ancient trash heaps have bite marks that fit the mouth of a dog, not a human. So at some point dogs and humans began to share their lives together. It’s not clear if humans invited the dogs into their homes, or if some dogs invited themselves, providing protection and help ...

845. Are Ye Able?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... see Acts 12:2). We don’t know if John the apostle was martyred, but it seems likely from the tone used in the gospel of Mark that the prophecy came true. Actually, if you think about it, the first two given places at his right hand and left hand at his ... must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:42-45).” In the Roman world the great ones so-called not only lorded it over others, but lesser people went out of their way to ...

846. Dynamic Preaching January 2024 Sermons

Sermon

King Duncan

... raised to this. Actually, the letter X was used repeatedly by early Christians as a coded sign for Christ. In Greek, the letter X is the first letter of the word Christ. In the early days when Christianity was an outlawed religion, Christians would often take a stick and mark the letter X in the dirt alongside the road as they walked. Anyone who saw it knew what it meant: "A Christian has passed this way." You and I do not need to scrawl Xs on sidewalks now. There is no law against being a Christian. But I ...

847. Ashes at Starbucks

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Mary Austin

... that our lives are ashes, as well as joy, and that the ashes are not the final word. When we look in the mirror today and catch sight of our foreheads, when we wash our faces tonight, as we go through Lent and remember the shadow on our foreheads, the mark on the outside reminds us of who we are on the inside. Even in the ashes, we belong to God. We belong to the God who comes into the ashes and brings out life. The God who has the last word over our limitations, over death, and sin, and everything ...

848. Bearers of the Seed

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Psalm 128: The Fruit of Blessing Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Parables of Seeds and Weeds (13:1-32) Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Commissioning of His Disciples (28:16-20) Paul Explains the Fruits of the Spirit (The Letter to the Galatians 5) Mark’s Witness to Jesus’ Commissioning of His Disciples Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had ...

849.

Psalm 73:1-28

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of verses 18–26 (concluded in vv. 27–28) is not that Yahweh will bring the unjust to ruin, nor that God guides his people and can be their strength and portion. These claims are widely attested elsewhere. The breakthrough concerns two qualities of God marked by two conjunctions: yet in verse 23 and but in verse 26, both of which contrast divine and human qualities. First, we see divine persistence in that although one may be embittered and a brute beast before you, yet . . . I am always with you; you ...

850. No Box Seats In The Kingdom

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

William G. Carter

... your left. But keep it quiet. Don't make it too obvious. Others may become offended that we asked first." By telling us this story, Mark knows what you and I know: we are prone to the same desire for privilege and protected status. We want a Jesus who will ... key is Jesus himself, who comes with a kind of paradoxical, left-handed power. Recall what Jesus does in the Gospel of Mark. One minute, he screams away the demonic forces that torment human minds, telling them to hush. The next minute, he gathers little ...

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