Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 926 to 950 of 2844 results

926. The Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Problems in the Assembling These few lines are vitally related to the verses that follow, verses 23–26 and verses 27–34, although the weighty traditional nature of the ensuing verses distinguishes verses 23–34 from verses 17–22 and suggests the separation of the discussion of the Lord’s Supper into smaller, more manageable parts. Paul’s words and his concerns are straightforward, nearly self-evident, although the energy of his argument causes the discussion to shift about in a way that might be difficult ...

927. The Resurrection of the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Controversy in Corinth These verses move from the foundational issues to a controversy in the Corinthian church, and the verses articulate a tough-minded logic that proves the error of the position taken by some of the Corinthians. The problem was that some of the Corinthians said there is no resurrection of the dead. The statement as Paul reports it could mean that they said there is no resurrection at all, or they advocated “immortality” (survival of the spirit) rather than “resurrection” (new creation ...

928. The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-19

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

The seventh trumpet blows a note of rejoicing in heaven. The heavenly chorus resumes its praise of God’s reign and God’s Christ, continuing the doxology sung at the Lamb’s coronation (cf. Rev. 5:13). Together with the great hymns of chapter 5, John brackets his vision of divine wrath and global devastation (6:1–11:14) with dissonant images of praise (5:13; 11:15–18) for rhetorical effect—to make it even more clear that God’s judgment of a sinful world is grounded in the triumph of the Lamb. The twenty-four ...

929. The Rider on the White Horse

Revelation 19:11-21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

Viewed in a macroscopic way, the main body of John’s book of visions narrates the three decisive moments of salvation’s history. Sharply put, John’s message to the seven churches is this: what has already transpired (5:1–11:19) together with what has not yet taken place (14:1–19:10; 19:11–22:6a) must inform the believing community’s response both to God and to its present tribulation (12:1–13:18). This section of Revelation, then, clarifies the community’s eschatological point of reference toward the ...

930. The Burnt Offering (II)

Leviticus 6:8-13

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

Verse 8 initiates a new section of the Manual of Sacrifice that deals with the priestly administration of the sacrifices and so proceeds from that perspective. The material, which may seem repetitious to the contemporary reader, complements what has come before. The text moves from practical instruction for the worshipers to practical instruction for the people who administer the offerings. This final part of the Manual standardizes sacrificial practice and answers the important question: Which parts of ...

931. Various Laws

Leviticus 19:1-37

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

This chapter contains a variety of instructions regarding worship and other relationships in life. There is unity and diversity here, and connections to the Decalogue in Exodus 20 as well as to Deuteronomy. Themes characteristic of the Holiness Code appear at the beginning and at the end of the chapter, suggesting that the Priestly editors have subsumed a variety of legislation in this context as part of the divine revelation. Most of the instructions are apodictic, or universal, in form. The parallels ...

932. The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

15:21–28 Departing from Gennesaret (cf. 14:34), Jesus goes in a northwesterly direction to the area around the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon. The journey of approximately fifty miles took him into gentile territory (although Jeremias cites evidence that the eastern Tyrian region was largely Jewish, Jesus’ Promise to the Nations, pp. 31–32, n. 3; pp. 35–36). A Canaanite woman of that district came to him crying out on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter. During the time of the Judges the Canaanites ...

933. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The King Becomes a Beast-Man and Then Recovers: In terms of form, chapter 4 starts out as a letter from King Nebuchadnezzar addressed to all people everywhere. It begins in the first person with praise to God (4:1–3). Next, the king relates in his own voice the story of his dream (4:4–18). Then the account shifts to the third person for Daniel’s interpretation (4:19–27) and for the narrative of how the dream was fulfilled (4:28–33). Finally, the text reverts back to the first person as Nebuchadnezzar ...

934. The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

11:1–2 Many stylistic and thematic elements of this second part of the interlude differ from its first part. For this reason, most commentators think this difficult passage, which centers on the ministry and fate of the “two witnesses,” is derived from some discredited Jewish apocalyptic midrash on Daniel and adapted here by John for his Christian audience (Beasley-Murray, Revelation, pp. 176–81). However, unless John thought it contained an authentic prediction of a temple siege and the ultimate ...

935. The King Who Exalts Himself

Daniel 11:36-45

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation--The Body: We enter now into the body of the last main revelation of the book of Daniel. There has been some progression in the visions of the book from a more general scope, encompassing larger blocks of history, to a more narrow focus on shorter periods of time. So, for example, Daniel 2 spans four and a half centuries by outlining the four human empires of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece, which are swept away by the fifth—the eternal kingdom of God. Aside from the fact that the ...

936. “I Am from Him and He Sent Me”

John 7:25-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The temple discourse begins anew with a notice that Jesus cried out. This second announcement (vv. 28–29), like the first (vv. 16–19), initiates an encounter with the crowd, yet itself comes as a response to something already expressed. As verses 16–19 addressed the question that perplexed the religious authorities in verse 15, so verses 28–29 address the debate among the people of Jerusalem in verses 25–27. Specifically, they address the objection that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because everyone knows ...

937. Jesus Appears to Thomas

John 20:24-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

20:24-29 In John, the unbelief of the disciples as a group is not mentioned explicitly, only their fear of the Jewish authorities. The unbelief is attributed instead to one disciple, Thomas, in particular (vv. 24–25). The appearance to him in verses 26–29 is really an extension of the appearance to the gathered disciples in verses 19–23, even though it takes place a week later. Verses 24–25 link the two incidents together, so that in effect what is said to the disciples in verses 19–23 is said to Thomas as ...

938. Two Kinds of Wisdom

James 3:13-18, James 3:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Wisdom for the Tongue Like the Pauline churches, James’ church was a church of the Spirit. Though there were formal offices, such as elder (5:14), there was no ordination process or schooling needed to teach and preach. As a result it was relatively easy for people with some ability, but worldly motivation, to put themselves forward as teachers. (Our modern seminary-ordination process makes this take longer, but it is not successful in preventing it; rather, it makes such a person a more permanent fixture ...

939. The Plague of Darkness

Exodus 10:1-20

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

God Hardens Pharaoh’s Heart: Locusts and Darkness: The Lord begins actively to harden Pharaoh’s heart late in the plague cycles, and more frequently in the last three plagues. God’s hardening functions alongside the choices Pharaoh himself made to “self-harden” his heart. The Hebrew has two different words, both generally translated “hardened,” that the narrative uses interchangeably (without pattern). Khazaq refers to physical or political strengthening, as in “making tough” or uncompassionate. Kabed ...

940. Ministers of Baal Killed

2 Kings 10:18-36

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

The Destruction Continues: Elijah had prophesied that the LORD would consume Ahab’s descendants and cut off from him every last male in Israel (1 Kgs. 21:21; cf. the previous prophecies against Jeroboam and Baasha in 1 Kgs. 14:10; 16:3). It comes as little surprise, in view of the literal fulfillment of such prophecy in 1 Kings 15:29 and 16:11–12, to find that Jehu is not content with the deaths of Jehoram and Jezebel but now looks to wipe out Ahab’s family in toto (2 Kgs. 10:1–17). Nor is it any surprise ...

941. Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

Ezra 4:6-24

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

A Temporary and Typical Setback: So far, so good. The return home, the construction of an altar to get worship started, and the laying of the temple foundation had marked the first phase of fulfilling the mission given through Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The second phase, building the temple itself, was to last longer than twenty years. We have to wait until 6:15 to read of its completion. This second phase, with its long delay and fresh start, is narrated in 4:1–6:22. Echoes of 4:1–5 in 6:21–22 reveal ...

942. Where Did He Get Such Authority?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Today’s lesson from Mark’s Gospel is one that troubles many modern Christians. Jesus and his disciples are in Capernaum. Capernaum was a fishing town located on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was a fairly large city of about ten thousand people and lay along a major trade route. When Jesus began his public ministry he made Capernaum his home. Our story 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 ...

943. Six Days to Make a Decision for Christ

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

Whether they knew it or not, the disciples were about to begin an intensive seminar on discipleship. It was time for Boot Camp. As Mark implied in his repetitive use of the word, "immediately," there was an urgency about Jesus and he was running out of time before he handed over the reins to the twelve. He needed to know what they understood and what they didn't; how much remediation was this bunch going to require? Were they able to see beneath the signs that he had performed to the deeper, richer message ...

944. Parabola

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

[This is an interactive sermon. In order to preach this well, you need to allow your congregants to take part, answer questions, imagine themselves as part of the story.] Prop: ostrich egg I have here an egg. [You can pass around the egg.] This egg belongs to an ostrich. Let me tell you a story about the ostrich, who one day took her eyes off of the place in the sand where she buried her eggs. Lo and behold, when she finally remembered where she had hid them, a predator had come in the night and stolen her ...

945. Soul Food

Luke 9:10-17, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am the Bread of Life.” (John 6:35) Prop: a puppy or kitten; recipe for barley flat bread I have with me a little friend today [allow for the oohs and aahs]. Who would like to come and pet him? I know last Sunday was World Animal Sunday. But every Sunday should be World Animal Sunday, our pets are such an important part of our families. [No rushing, give people time … especially children to come up front or walk about the congregation with him….allowing people to see him and touch him. Consider letting ...

946. Redeemed

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Animation: paycheck (month) or $2000-$3000 in cash [Hold up the check or cash.] I’m holding here a paycheck for $3,000. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that’s an approximate month’s take-home salary for an average American today. $4,000 gross. $3,000 net. Some of you probably make more than that, some less. But that’s the national average for 2015. At the dawn of the first century, an average wage for an Israelite would have been the equivalent of about 7 or 8 silver shekels per month (in ...

947. Be Like Dad

John 17:1-5

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

You and I were born. We were part of a plan. Perhaps it was just a plan to make love that went awry. Perhaps, it was intentional thinking, an intentional decision, to continue the generations. Some generations have a call to have as many children as possible, others claim a responsibility to limit ourselves to one or two. In the beginning for all of us, there was a perception of a plan, even if the plan was only about having a moment of passion. Let’s assume the plan was purposeful; the plan was, for ...

948. The First Sign of Civilization

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

I have an important question for you this morning: what is something that is essential for human life, is highly contagious, yet most of us take it for granted? Any ideas? It’s kindness. You might think I’m exaggerating when I say it’s essential for human life and highly contagious, but I believe I can back that up. A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a society. What separates an uncivilized collection of people from a true ...

949. A Young Man's Vow

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

Richard Hasler

A young man awakens in the morning and hears the birds singing. He realizes how fortunate he is. It is summer time and he is back home in his father’s parsonage in Gunsbach, Germany. Recently, he has been reading about Jesus’ call in the gospels: “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” “From everyone to whom much is given, much will be required.” Whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel shall save it.” What do ...

950. Bible Wagon

Ephesians 5:8-14

Sermon

Dr. Ronald Love

“Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Paul concluded this section of his lesson to the church in Emphasis, which was our reading this morning, with a quote from a hymn. As it is with us today, the hymn stanza would be instantly recognizable along with the message that was associated with the hymn. If anyone in the congregation was uncertain of the message that Paul was trying to convey, there would be immediate clarification when they heard the words of a very familiar hymn. ...

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