Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 851 to 875 of 1679 results

851. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The brief exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in 9:39–41 is only the beginning of a discourse extending (with one interruption) through most of chapter 10. The pattern found in chapters 5 and 6, a miracle followed by a discourse interpreting it, is maintained here as well. What chapter 10 interprets, however, is not the healing of the blind man as such but the events that followed the healing, that is, the former blind man’s expulsion from the synagogue and his confession of faith in Jesus. Two ...

852. Jesus Prays for His Disciples

John 17:1-5, John 17:6-19, John 17:20-26

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

If chapters 15–17 are viewed as an expansion in reverse order of the three pronouncements found in 13:31–35, then chapter 17 is built on Jesus’ solemn reference to glorification in 13:31–32. Glorification is at any rate the theme of verses 1–5. In verse 1, Jesus prays, Father, … Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. In verse 5, he prays again, And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Superficially, it appears that these two petitions ...

853. Offerings for Priests and Levites

Deuteronomy 18:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Leadership in Israel: Priests and Prophets: After the two sections on “secular” leadership (the judge and the king 16:18–17:20), we now have two sections on the “spiritual” leadership provided by the priest and the prophet. Priests and Levites The responsibilities of the tribe of Levi were broadly twofold: the service of the sanctuary, especially the role of the priests at the altar; and the preservation and teaching of the law (cf. Lev. 10:11; Deut. 10:8; 33:10; 2 Chron. 15:3; 17:8f.; 35:3; Neh. 8:7–9). ...

854. Woe to the Obstinate Nation

Isaiah 30:1-33

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Oh You Obstinate Nation: It has made sense to read much of chapters 28–29 against the background of Judean assertion of independence from Assyria and alliance with Egypt in the latter part of Isaiah’s ministry, but only in chapter 30 does reference to Egypt become explicit. While the setting might be the independence movement during the reign of Sargon in 713–711 B.C., alluded to in passages such as 14:28–32, we have separate reference to alliance with Egypt in the context of the similar events of 705–701 ...

855. Divided Loyalties

Luke 12:1-12, Luke 12:13-21

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Those who are preoccupied with immediate concerns are in danger of missing what ultimately matters. Understanding the Text The latter part of chapter 11 has been dominated by the theme of opposition to Jesus. That theme is now continued, but also it is developed to speak of the opposition that Jesus’s disciples too must expect to meet, and that will challenge them to stand up for God in a hostile environment. A collection of sayings of warning and encouragement spells out the uncomfortable ...

856. God and Mammon

Luke 16:16-18, Luke 16:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Our heavenly well-being depends on how we have handled the possessions entrusted to us here on earth. Understanding the Text Two more parables (16:1–8a, 19–31) follow the three in chapter 15. In the light of the interpretive comments on the first parable in 16:8b–9, both parables make a connection between life on earth and life in heaven, and the focus in both is on wealth and how we use it, a prominent theme in Luke that has already been given sustained attention in chapter 12 (summed up in the ...

857. The Whole World Is under the Curses of the Covenant

Romans 3:9-20

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Israel fares no better than the Gentiles in being enslaved to sin, because sin stirs up disobedience through the law. In other words, both Jew and Gentile are under the curses of the covenant. Understanding the Text Romans 3:9–20 is the climax of Paul’s argument in 1:18–3:8, concluding that both Jew and Gentile are under sin (implied) because they try to keep the old-covenant stipulation of the law (Jews by way of the Torah, Gentiles by way of the overlapping of natural law / Noahic law with the ...

858. A Jiffy for Eternity

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Character Sometimes Who's Who doesn't know for sure just what's what! Consider the character of this man who comes to Jesus at night. Nicodemus clearly was a well-connected man yet it is clear he lacks some very vital information. He is remembered here as a "Pharisee," the highest sect among the Jews. We often think of the Pharisees as harsh, hypocritical, and uppity (and certainly there were moments when Jesus heaped scorn on them). Here, however, is a Pharisee, Nicodemus, who does not fit that mold. He ...

859. Live Spelled Backward

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

In a CBS News 60 Minutes interview, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was asked why she had resigned as an Assistant District Attorney for the Bronx. She replied, "Because for the first time in my life I saw evil first hand and I felt that if I stayed that close to it, it just might rub off on me."[1] Come think with me about an age-old human affliction that has impacted the life of every person ever born and the two people who were not born but created in the Garden of Eden, a thing called evil. ...

860. What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Tom Garrison

Each year, there is a Senior Recognition Sunday for our high school and college graduates. We do this because graduation is a significant milestone for all of us — not just for the graduates themselves, but also for their families and friends and all those who have contributed in some way to the educational processes of our community. The event of graduation can be described in many ways. For one thing, it is a proud time, for it represents the completion of a long and arduous process. No matter how one ...

861. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

Abraham as the Model of Faith Chapter 4 is a test case of righteousness by faith. In 3:21–31 Paul presented a position statement on salvation through faith in Christ’s sacrifice of atonement. In chapter 4 he sends the class to the laboratory, as it were, to test that thesis. Here we find the compressed and nuclear thesis of 3:21–31 developed in the discursive style of Jewish midrash. Midrash was the name given to a form of rabbinic exposition in ancient Palestine which sought to penetrate the meaning of ...

862. Jesus Walks On the Water

Mark 6:45-56

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

6:45–52 Mark ties this incident closely to the preceding account of the feeding of the five thousand by noting in 6:52 that the disciples’ fearful collapse here was caused by their failure to understand that the feeding miracle revealed Jesus’ true significance and power. Since Mark thus ties together these two incidents, it is likely that he wants his reader to see them both as complementary revelations of Jesus. This means that this sea miracle is another manifestation of the divine significance of Jesus ...

863. Detestable Practices

Deuteronomy 18:9-13

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Leadership in Israel: Priests and Prophets: After the two sections on “secular” leadership (the judge and the king 16:18–17:20), we now have in Chapter 18 two sections on the “spiritual” leadership provided by the priest and the prophet. The Prophet: The prophet comes last in the listing of Israel’s different leadership roles. Almost certainly this is deliberate and significant, like the putting of the judge before the king. Maintaining justice was a higher priority than having a dynastic monarchy. Judge ...

864. The Prophet

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

The Prophet: The prophet comes last in the listing of Israel’s different leadership roles. Almost certainly this is deliberate and significant, like the putting of the judge before the king. Maintaining justice was a higher priority than having a dynastic monarchy. Judge and king must both submit to the law of God, just as the priest must faithfully teach it. But what if those entrusted with such forms of leadership were themselves to go astray? Then the last word was God’s. And God would put that word in ...

865. Everything You Need to Know about Love

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Our theme for today is love. Of course, ultimately every one of our messages is about love: God’s love for us and our love for one another, and the love we are called to have for the world for which Christ died. However we are going to focus a little more intently than normal on the meaning of love today. In our lesson from John’s Gospel we read these words: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my ...

866. When I Am Weak, I Am Strong

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Sermon

King Duncan

I read something interesting recently about one of the world’s most revered religious leaders. He is the Tibetan Buddhist leader known as the Dalai Lama. It seems that, though the Dalai Lama may be what the Buddhists call an “enlightened being,” he has his weaknesses. According to a report in The Week magazine, it’s said he sneaks chocolate chip cookies when he’s supposed to be fasting. And he uses an air gun to scare away irritating birds. Anybody identify with that? Here’s a good one: While the Dalai ...

867. Blessed

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

We hear it all the time. We hear it in church, in interviews with sports and movie stars, and we hear it a whole lot around the Fourth of July. “I’ve been blessed.” “We’ve been so blessed.” But what does it mean? What does it mean to be blessed? Usually we associate it with plentitude. It means that we have a lot of something: money, property, talent. Certainly, in that sense things haven’t changed much over the past 2,000 years. Ask any first-century Jew who the blessed people were in their community and ...

868. Precocious

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: mouth tape / songbird (if you can bring a real bird…it’s best) [Come into the aisle wearing a tape across your mouth. Pull it off before speaking.] Silence. Sometimes after a day of screaming co-workers, or busy shopping, or upset children, or loud music, you name it, all we crave is….silence. In fact, how many times have you wished your partner, or child, or friend….would just be….silent. There’s something called “noise fatigue.” In fact, studies say that emotional exhaustion can also make you ...

869. All the Pretty Horses

Luke 12:13-21, Luke 12:1-12, 1 Kings 3:16-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Storing up! When we hear that parable that Jesus told, we immediately think of silos and cornfields and harvest and grain. And that’s exactly the metaphor Jesus uses to describe “storing up” to the man in the crowd who approached him about help to get his deserved portion of inheritance. But it’s too easy merely to say, don’t put your security into money but into God. “Be on guard against all kinds of greed!” warned Jesus. “This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you ...

870. A Father's Influence

Illustration

Dr. George Rekers

A positive and continuous relationship to one's father has been found to be associated with a good self-concept, higher self- esteem, higher self-confidence in personal and social interaction, higher moral maturity, reduced rates of unwed teen pregnancy, greater internal control and higher career aspirations. Fathers who are affectionate, nurturing and actively involved in child-rearing are more likely to have well- adjusted children.

871. A Quantum Decision

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you will remember that, on April 18, 2006, a new word entered our lexicon when President George W. Bush made a comment referring to himself as “the decider” during a press conference. A fine, decent man, Mr. Bush was simply asserting that he was the one who ultimately made important decisions in his administration. Let me ask you something: do you consider yourself a decisive person? I’m not talking about routine decisions like what to wear in the morning or which restaurant to choose for lunch. ...

872. Celebrating the Virtue of Humanity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Many years ago on one very bitterly cold evening in Northern Virginia, an older man waited for a ride across the Potomac River. The wait seemed endless; his body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind. As he waited, he heard the faint steady rhythm of approaching horses. Anxiously he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed by and still another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat ...

873. The Law of the Serpent

John 3:14-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

That which bites you can also heal you. God’s ultimate promise is to heal an ailing creation. Yet there is no healing without hurting. To experience God’s salvation, we must first experience “sinsation.” The very word, “salvation” comes from the word “salve” meaning health. In Jesus’ salvation, God restores his sin-sick creation to perfect health. He does so by first embracing death. What the first “Adam” spoiled, Jesus, the “second Adam” will heal. The first Adam in his soiling of God’s perfect ...

874. Will the “Real” Jesus Please Stand Up

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Who is the “real” Jesus? How hard is it for us to see Jesus as a real person who felt sadness, happiness, grief, joy, who experienced laughter, who joked with his disciplines, who got angry, who could wrestle with his own pain? And yet, if we don’t recognize this Jesus, we lose the gift that God gave to us in the reality of the fully human (not just divine) Son. Watching the way Jesus handles his own struggles, reveals his own humanness, can help us to recognize and accept our own. Today, nearly every ...

875. Through the Heart of Jesus

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, just in case any of you men need something to panic about. Just a friendly reminder for any procrastinators who might be in the house. Tomorrow’s big day reminds me of an article that came out last year about candy hearts. You know those candy hearts that are bright pink and orange and yellow, and they have sappy sayings stamped onto them—“Kiss Me,” “Hot Stuff,” “Be Mine,” etc. The original candy hearts with sayings—their official name is “conversation hearts”—were the ...

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