Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 876 to 900 of 4957 results

876. The Focus of Christian Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... even replaced) God’s word (14:36a),[7] acting as if they were the only believers it had reached (14:36b). By this they had placed themselves outside the fellowship of Christian churches (14:33b; cf. 1:2b), putting in doubt the very spirituality in which they claimed to excel (14:37–38). They proved to be ignorant in the things of the Spirit (12:1). 14:37–38 what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. These verses answer the objection Paul anticipates from his rhetorical question in verse 36 ...

877. Message to Thyatira

Revelation 2:18-29

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J. Scott Duvall

... to be socially accepted by pleasing the right people. This presents a choice about which audience matters most: powerful people who claim to guarantee our financial security or Jesus Christ? Little wonder that this message also stresses the uniqueness of Jesus as the ... dabble with false teaching, we are playing with fire. As in the case of the Corinthian congregation, where those claiming superspirituality were causing much of the trouble, false teaching within the church often comes from those who are ...

878. Korah’s Rebellion

Numbers 16:1-50

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... example, Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the deity of Jesus Christ. They take John 1:1 to mean that “the Word [Jesus] was a god” rather than “the Word was God.” But they ignore the passages, even in John’s Gospel, that indicate that Jesus was God: Jesus claimed equality with God (John 10:30, 33). John 12:37–41 says that Isaiah saw Jesus’s glory when Isaiah saw God (Isa. 6:1–10). Thomas, upon seeing the resurrected Jesus, cries out, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28), indicating that Jesus is ...

879. Balaam’s Donkey

Numbers 22:21-41

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... greedy diviner intent on cursing Israel, or is he initially honorable, perhaps even a true prophet? Balaam, despite his non-Israelite background, seems to show respect for Yahweh, the God of Israel, whom he even calls “my God” (Num. 22:18), consults (Num. 22:8, 19), and claims to obey (Num. 22:13, 18; 24:13), and whose words he speaks (Num. 23:5–12, 16–26). That said, it was common in the ancient Near East to show respect for all gods, since it was believed that any, if annoyed, could lash out. This ...

880. A Prodigal Son Comes Home in Body, but Not in Spirit

2 Sam 14:1–15:12

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... restore the murderer Absalom, like his earlier one regarding the murderer Joab, proves that he does not possess such discernment. (For fuller discussion, see under “Theological Insights” below.) 14:20 he knows everything that happens in the land. Again the woman’s (really Joab’s) claim is ironic, for the narrator depicts David as one who is ignorant of what is going on around him and who discovers the truth only once it is too late. 14:25 In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for ...

881. Zophar Rejects Job’s Complaints

Job 11:1-20

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Daniel J. Estes

... words to God, he adds to what Job said in 9:20–21 and 10:7, and he ascribes negative motives to him. Job has said that he is tam, blameless, but Zophar substitutes the term bar, which refers to sinlessness (NIV: “pure”). By exaggerating Job’s claim, Zophar renders a portrayal of him that is inaccurate, careless, and even cruel. 11:5–6 God has even forgotten some of your sin. Zophar speaks as though he can read God’s thoughts. He predicts that if God were to speak as Job desired, then he would ...

882. Eliphaz Turns Up His Criticism of Job

Job 15:1-35

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Daniel J. Estes

... he cannot be righteous before God. According to Eliphaz, all humans deserve only divine judgment. 15:17–18 Listen to me and I will explain to you. Drawing on what he himself has observed (v. 17) and what he has learned from tradition (v. 18), Eliphaz claims to be the spokesperson for wisdom. By exhorting Job to listen, Eliphaz assumes the role of the learned teacher, and he places Job in the role of the ignorant student. If Job would just stop talking, then he could listen to Eliphaz and learn from one ...

883. Yahweh Speaks as the Master Teacher

Job 38:1--41:34

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Daniel J. Estes

... tentative, Yahweh follows up with a second round of questions and observations in 40:6–41:34, which prompts Job’s final response in 42:1–6. Job describes himself as unworthy or insignificant, rather than as right or wrong. He does not reiterate his earlier claim of innocence, but neither does he retract what he has said before. He says that he will not add to what he said previously, but he does not take it back either. Job is starting to feel the cumulative effect of Yahweh’s questions, which he ...

884. “I Will Not Fear Though Tens of Thousands Assail Me”

Psalm 3:1-8

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C. Hassell Bullock

... him (see “Historical and Cultural Background”). The rebellion of his own son Absalom is the backdrop, and he laments the opposition organized and perpetrated by this uprising. Admittedly, his foes are many, and they have penetrated the media of their time with the claim that God will not deliver David. Here the sermon/lesson may point out the principle that in honest prayer we may and should lay out the circumstances of our lives, as we understand them. This pattern repeats itself in many places in the ...

885. “In the Lord I Take Refuge”

Psalm 11:1-7

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C. Hassell Bullock

... world to come. “Lord” is the Hebrew word ’adon (“lord,” “master”), sometimes used as a substitute word for the divine name YHWH. Hakham suggests that there is “a hint of blasphemy” in the use of this term. In effect these deceivers are claiming they have no master, not even Yahweh (which the Jews later pronounced as ’adonay, a form of this noun).8 12:5 are plundered . . . groan. The word for “plundered” refers to the exploitation of the oppressed, which elicits the groaning of the ...

886. “When I Awake, I Will Be Satisfied with Seeing Your Likeness”

Psalm 17:1-15

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C. Hassell Bullock

... of the verb “to totter, be shaken, stumble,” expressing the psalmist’s confident faith in God (15:5; 16:8; 17:5; see the comments on 16:8). In our discussion of Psalm 16, we noted a progression from the atheistic claim of the fool in Psalm 14, to the searching spirit of Psalm 15, to the confident claim that there is no life apart from God in Psalm 16. Psalm 17 seems to lead the reader down the other side of a bell-shaped collection to consider the wicked again, as in Psalm 14. But this time in the ...

887. “The Lord Most High Is Awesome, the Great King over All the Earth”

Psalm 47:1-9

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C. Hassell Bullock

... now, the King of kings and Lord of lords; the President of presidents and Prime Minister of prime ministers. Jesus rules. Jesus is in charge—whether people know it or not, whether they like it or not. Ascension Day is not a day for modest claims!”10 Worship is God-focused. Quote: J. I. Packer. Psalm 47 provides wonderful expressions of God’s sovereign reign and is a great reminder that worship flows from that truth. Theologian J. I. Packer once reflected, Worship—in the sense of telling God his ...

888. “Human Help Is Worthless”

Psalm 60:1-12

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C. Hassell Bullock

... –83), which sometimes contain a direct word from God (50:7–15, 16b–23; 75:2–5; 81:6–16), Psalm 60 also contains such a word, spoken by a prophet or priest, or perhaps even the king, who is the psalmist, giving assurance that God’s claim on Canaan still applies and that his intention to make the conquest complete is still in effect (60:6–9). This cadre of miktam psalms (Pss. 56–60) concerns the psalmist’s enemies, both personal and national, and is written out of the conviction of innocence ...

889. “When You Ascended on High, You Took Many Captives”

Psalm 68:1-35

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C. Hassell Bullock

... a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.God is Father to those who have none, and the Judge who defends the claims of their widowed mothers. Since the verse describes God’s work on behalf of the helpless in this world, we might assume “his holy ... , this tribe still has the honor of leading the procession, perhaps because the city of Jerusalem was located in its tribal claim. The Davidic monarchy came from the tribe of Judah. The “princes” of Judah are the leaders of the tribe. Zebulun and ...

890. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... better. Job’s own words and his rage against God (15:13) convict Job (15:6). 15:1–16 · Opening each point with rhetorical questions, Eliphaz challenges Job’s right, in light of the latter’s words, to speak as a wise man (15:2–6). Eliphaz claims that he and the friends have the reliable authority of age-tested wisdom on their side (15:7–10), shaming Job for his rage-filled words (15:11–13) and pointing out once again the intrinsic crookedness within humanity. We hear the echo of yirah (NIV’s ...

891. Agur’s Message: Relying on God’s Word, Learning from His Work

Proverbs 30:1-33

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 3:13). The following confession shifts the focus from God’s work to God’s word (30:5–6). These verses quote both Psalm 18:30 (= 2 Sam. 22:31; cf. Ps. 119:140) and Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32 (cf. Rev. 22:18–19), by implication claiming the same “flawless” status for Agur’s wisdom as that invoked by the use of the word “oracle” in verse 1a. The section concludes with a simple but earnest prayer (and the only one expressed in the book), invoking divine aid in avoiding empty and deceitful speech ...

892. Everything is Ephemeral

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... with a title that attributes these “sayings” to “Qoheleth.” Deuteronomy 1:1; Nehemiah 1:1; Proverbs 30:1; 31:1; Jeremiah 1:1; and Amos 1:1 introduce their books similarly as containing the words of a specific individual, without necessarily claiming thereby that this person wrote or edited the present canonical book. Although often left untranslated as the proper name Qoheleth, this word is more likely a professional title, literally “the Assembler” of the people. The same Hebrew verb is used in ...

893. A Marriage about to Break Up

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... word for idols (8:19; 10:8, 15; 16:19). Disregard for God, departure from God, and courtships with another god spelled deep trouble for the covenant. In 2:9–13, a court lawsuit gets under way. It is the Lord Yahweh versus Israel. God the prosecutor claims that Israel’s behavior is unprecedented. Were one to go west to the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean or east to the Kedar tribes in Arabia, one could not find an example of a pagan people switching allegiance to another god. Israel’s action is ...

894. Judgment on Jewish Leadership

Matthew 23:1-39

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... part in their deaths (23:29–30). Jesus accuses them of being descendants of those who murdered the prophets in two ways. First, they have called those murderers their “ancestors” (23:30) and have thus testified to their own complicity (23:31–32). Second, Jesus claims that they will persecute and murder those of his followers that he will send to them (23:34). Jesus sums up the Old Testament martyrs from the first (Abel, Gen. 4:8) to the last (if Zechariah of 2 Chron. 24:20–21 is being referred ...

895. Jesus Before Pilate

Matthew 27:11-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (along with the Jerusalem leaders) as primarily responsible for Jesus’s death. The political reality is that only Rome can legally execute Jesus. Pilate, as Rome’s representative in Jerusalem, authorizes Jesus’s execution (27:1–2, 26). Though in 27:24 Pilate claims that he is innocent of Jesus’s blood and transfers responsibility to the people, he is no more able to do this than the Jewish leaders who say the same words to Judas (27:4). Unless he transfers his authority to the people, Pilate ...

896. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 13:5) and “be on [their] guard” (13:9) against false teachers and messiahs. Such people will work “signs” (13:4—the word is used negatively here, as it was in 8:11–12); indeed, they “will come in [Jesus’s] name, claiming ‘I am he’ ” (13:6), but they nevertheless “deceive” and lead astray. The first and gravest future danger is not external but internal, inside the household of faith. Second, disciples are warned of external dangers—wars, natural calamities, famine—that will ...

897. Jesus Before Pilate

John 18:28-40, John 19:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 3), but Pilate hopes that the severity of Jesus’s pitiful condition and profuse bleeding will permit him to be released. Instead, Pilate is met with calls for death, which would usually give a governor no hesitation. But now the crowd offers a new title for Jesus: Jesus claims to be the Son of God. The round closes differently than the previous one. Pilate is afraid (19:8). When Pilate reenters the praetorium, it is evident that the glib tone of 18:38 has disappeared. “Son of God” was a metaphysical ...

898. Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Acts 4:1-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... : “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (4:12). The phrase “under heaven” underlines this exclusive and universal claim. Death is but the process through which Jesus can be enthroned as the king of all. This exclusive claim directly challenges the Jewish leaders, who see the temple cult as their base of power. Peter and John make it clear that one can no longer rely on the sacrificial system in seeking approval in ...

899. Conversion and Call of Paul

Acts 9:1-19a

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... gospel that these apostles are preaching. It is precisely in situations where Jesus’s disciples are persecuted by the Jewish leadership that one finds the use of this label for the church. In a sense then, this becomes an identity claim, and the polemic against competing claims to be God’s faithful sons cannot be missed. Saul’s Damascus Road experience (9:3–9) contains a number of significant details. First, this is an encounter with the risen Jesus. The question, “Why do you persecute me” (9 ...

900. The Trial Before Festus

Acts 25:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in the plot to have him murdered. Luke’s account of Paul’s appearance before Festus (25:6–12) again emphasizes the failure of the Jews to prove their charges against him (25:7). Luke’s summary of Paul’s defense (25:8) repeats his earlier claims that he has not done anything “against the Jewish law” (cf. 22:23; 24:14) or “against the temple” (24:12). In this context, however, Paul adds that he has not done anything “against Caesar” (25:8). The focus on Caesar in this account is enhanced ...

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