Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 976 to 1000 of 1131 results

976. “You Are My Son; Today I Have Become Your Father”

Psalm 2:1-12

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... sits in the seat next to us and serves as our assistant. In Psalm 2 we are reminded that God is in control of all things, and our role is to submit and obey. As we read in verse 11 (“Serve the Lord with fear”), we are to fully surrender to him and allow him to lead and guide our lives as we follow his direction. The Lord reigns! Music: Christ’s resurrection is proof of God’s sovereign reign. While the historical sense of Psalm 2:7 seems to reference the founding of the Davidic dynasty, in Acts 13 ...

977. “God Is Our Refuge and Strength, an Ever-Present Help in Trouble”

Psalm 46:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (46:10 KJV). It is not a call to a quiet and serene lifestyle but a summons to stop fighting the Lord’s battles for him. Stop trying to be God, and let God be God. It is a summons to surrender, not to our enemies, but to God, and to let God himself build his kingdom (see 2 Chron. 20:15). While the plural imperative of verse 8 is obviously addressed to the nations, this summons (also plural) may be addressed to them also. Yet, like so many other instances ...

978. “Truly My Soul Finds Rest in God”

Psalm 62:1-12

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... playwright Eugene O’Neill and journalist Dorothy Day. O’Neill began to quote Francis Thompson’s poem “The Hound of Heaven,” which talks about our tendency to run from the God who pursues us. Day was deeply moved by this poem, and sometime later she surrendered her life to the Lord, choosing to live a life of poverty and care for the homeless. Day later wrote in her autobiography about Thompson’s poem: “It is one of those poems that awakens the soul, recalls to it the fact that God is its ...

979. “Come and See What God Has Done”

Psalm 66:1-20

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... s obeisance in 66:4 may also have a tinge of hypocrisy. Paul’s quotation of Isaiah 45:23 in Romans 14:11 implies, as does Isaiah, that not all knees that bow to God in ultimate submission are bowing in believing faith, but some bow in forced surrender to the omnipotent God. 66:4 they sing praise to you.The verb “sing praise” (zmr) can mean to make music or sing to the accompaniment of an instrument. 66:5 Come and see what God has done.Having addressed the whole world, the psalmist now turns to ...

980. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... this text occurs October 12, 539 BC (Herodotus, Hist. 1.191; Xenophon, Cyr. 7.5.15–25), two days after the Persians conquered Opis (modern Baghdad, about fifty miles north of Babylon) and nearby Sippar. Nabonidus fled at first, then later surrendered to Cyrus in Babylon. Praising Babylonian gods with Judean temple vessels may have brought to Belshazzar’s mind victories of Nebuchadnezzar, invoking the pagan gods’ protection during this military threat. In addition to Marduk, Nabu, and Sin (the moon god ...

981. How to Deal with Demons

Matthew 12:38-50

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.’ (v. 42) Jesus is calling for commitment to his Lordship. He is the one greater than Jonah and Solomon. He is the one God has sent to bring his people back to him by repentance and surrender to his lordship. While Jesus was still speaking, still sharing this parable, his mother and his brothers stood outside and desired to speak to him. But he replied to the request, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And then he pointed to the ...

982. Eli and Samuel

1 Sam 1:1-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... over to Eli (1:21–28). On this occasion she also sacrifices a bull in fulfillment of her vow (Num. 15:8–10) and reminds Eli that she has prayed for a child in his hearing. Here the emphasis is not on the Nazirite vow (1:11) but on the surrender of the child for a “whole life” of service.

983. Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh

1 Sam 11:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... errors. Before this scroll was discovered, the received text of this episode had long been puzzling. What are the reasons for the Ammonites’ sudden aggression against Jabesh Gilead? Why would Nahash, the Ammonite king, demand mutilation as the terms for surrender? Such mutilation was only appropriate for rebels or escaped prisoners of war, not for the subjects of newly conquered cities outside one’s domain. The text of 4QSama provides the necessary material to make sense of the rather abrupt beginning ...

984. The Siege Lifted

2 Kings 7:3-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

If Elisha’s utterance is implausible, the instruments used for delivering such a word are even more unlikely (7:3–12), as four lepers have their march to surrender turned into a discovery of an empty Aramean camp. This group of outcasts must be as hungry as the mothers in 6:29, and so we can appreciate their joy at this find. Their pricks of conscience introduce an important word: good news (7:9). In the biblical economy, good ...

985. Ahaz King of Judah

2 Kings 16:1-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... previous kings were censured for not removing the high places, but Ahaz goes a step further by actually worshiping at these installations. Even worse, he adheres to the terrifying practice of child sacrifice, and such conduct presages a litany of compromises and surrenders in this chapter. Ahaz follows the ways of the nations that the Lord drove out, and his egregious conduct paves the way for such nations to return. Ahaz’s deal with Assyria is prompted by the so-called Syro-Ephraimite pact of aggression ...

986. Kings of Judah

2 Kings 23:31–24:17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , bouncing back and forth before Babylon forcibly won the day. When Jehoiachin assumes the throne (24:8–17), Babylonian hostility has reached the point of a siege on Jerusalem. No doubt aware of the kind of exigencies created by a siege, the king and company surrender and are taken into exile. During the visit of the Babylonian envoys way back in 2 Kings 20, Isaiah warned that all the valuables would be taken from the treasury, and that word begins to be fulfilled during the days of Jehoiachin. With the ...

987. Judah’s Captivity

2 Kings 24:18–25:30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is fierce: Jerusalem becomes a city under siege, and the siege is a long one. Finally, the wall is breached (historians point to a date of 586 BC for this event), resulting in the worst day in the history of God’s people. Rather than surrender like Jehoiachin ten years earlier, Zedekiah and his sycophants flee, but they are duly overtaken, and the last thing Zedekiah ever sees is the execution of his sons. Blinded, he is marched to Babylon; in retrospect, he should have changed his name to Ichabod ...

988. The Lord Speaks

Job 38:1--41:34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... from Job. 40:3–5: Job · One might expect the disputation to begin here in earnest. Job has wanted this moment to stand and to plead his case before God. Four words are all Job needs to signal his complete and utter withdrawal (40:4). The white flag of surrender is buoyed by the action of clapping his mouth shut with his hand. 40:6–14: God · God’s second speech begins with a challenge. Job is again told to brace himself in the face of what will be a second wave. God, through the rest of his speech ...

989. How Beautiful Your Feet

Song of Songs 7:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... as the mutuality of the sexual experience. The “grasping” and “climbing” and the breast/genital orientation of the king’s speech (7:6–9) invoke images of conquest, self-indulgence, lust, and self-gratification. Again, the gentleness, tenderness, willing surrender, and reciprocation in lovemaking as a shared experience by the lovers seems absent. Thus the passage provides an effective foil for the two kinds of human love, contrasting the purity and genuineness of one-to-one love of the Genesis ...

990. If Only You Were To Me A Brother

Song of Songs 8:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... didactic purposes of the poem and serve as the climax to the foil of the maiden’s one-to-one love and Solomon’s one-to-many love. Genuine human love is as permanent as death, and the righteous jealousy of this affection will never surrender possession of the loved one, just as the grave tenaciously clings to the dead. True love burns bright and intense, “a raging flame” (8:6, NRSV). This phrase literally reads “flame of Yah” and has puzzled translators and interpreters. If this is a reference to ...

991. Addressing Rulers and Governments

Jeremiah 21:1-14, Jeremiah 22:1-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... God who fights not for her but against her. “Outstretched hand” (21:5) is holy-war language. The fate of Zedekiah and his officials—death by the sword of Nebuchadnezzar—is fulfilled in Jeremiah 52:8–11. Jeremiah’s counsel for the people to surrender peacefully to the Babylonians (also called Chaldeans) brands him a traitor. The passage about God-pleasing government (21:11–22:9) is in two symmetrical parts (21:11–14 and 22:1–9): Instruction – 21:11-12 – 22:1-3 Announcement – 21:13-13 ...

992. Jeremiah versus the People

Jeremiah 26:1-24

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Numerous accusations against the kings, prophets, and people in preceding chapters are confirmed in the incidents that follow. A sermon on repentance brings a near lynching (chap. 26). A yoke with its sign message of surrender serves to unmask a false prophet (chaps. 27–28). A letter discloses sinister power plays (chap. 29). It has been argued, quite plausibly, that Baruch compiled these vignettes from Jeremiah’s life. Chapter 26 supplies details surrounding the temple sermon recorded in 7:1–15. ...

993. Going Back on One’s Word

Jeremiah 34:1-7, Jeremiah 34:8-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the burning of Jerusalem. Zedekiah’s gruesome fate (34:3; cf. 2 Kings 25:7) stops short of a violent death. A funeral fire, perhaps the burning of spices, indicates the citizenry’s goodwill. The promise of verse 4 is conditional on Zedekiah’s surrender to Babylon. Persons in poverty or in a crisis of debt made themselves available as slaves. Mosaic law called for the release of slaves every seventh year (Exod. 21:1–11). The seriousness of siege apparently brings compliance with God’s law, perhaps ...

994. Troubling a Prophet

Jeremiah 37:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (37:1) is Zedekiah’s reenslavement of freed slaves (chap. 34). Intercession is understood to belong to the prophet’s ministry. Prayer could ensure the Babylonians’ permanent departure. Jeremiah’s message is simple: the Babylonians will be back! Jeremiah’s message to surrender to Babylon (27:12) causes suspicion about his patriotism. The charge in the arrest is that Jeremiah is defecting to the enemy (37:13). Others have already defected (38:19; 52:15). From a vaulted cell in a dungeon at Jonathan ...

995. Jeremiah Thrown into a Cistern

Jeremiah 38:1-13, Jeremiah 38:14-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... as another version of the earlier visit (37:17–21), but divergent details (two different dungeons; two different precipitating occasions) argue for two accounts. The place is in the temple, where state officials would have little reason to go. Jeremiah paints the consequences of a refusal to surrender (38:21–22). Palace women will become the property of a conqueror. The city will be burned down. The king, habitually indecisive, is isolated. Jeremiah is under no obligation to disclose full information.

996. Babylon

Jeremiah 50:1--51:64

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... –58): the destroyer, the destruction, the motivation of God’s retribution, drunkenness, death, and the futility of resistance. The “leveling” of the walls of Babylon is to be understood as a figure of speech for capitulation, for when the Persians attacked in 539 BC, surrender came quickly and without a battle. In 485 BC, however, Xerxes I laid waste to the walls. The symbolic action (51:59–64; cf. chaps. 13, 19, 27, and 32) is a fitting conclusion to the oracle and to the entire book, even though ...

997. The Execution of the Idolaters

Ezekiel 9:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the departure of God’s presence from the temple. He moves from the Most Holy Place to the threshold (9:3). The only thing that makes the temple a holy place is the presence of a holy God. When he leaves, the temple becomes like any other building. It surrenders its sanctity. There were seven thousand in Elijah’s day who did not bow the knee to Baal. And there are those in Ezekiel’s day who grieve and lament over all the detestable things (9:4). The heavenly scribe is to put a mark on the foreheads of ...

998. The Sword of Judgment

Ezekiel 21:1-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , is the direction to head. This idea is powerful and unorthodox. Through a magical, heathen operation, legitimate divine guidance is given. Nebuchadnezzar is on the correct road. The prince of Israel (21:25) must be Zedekiah. He is on the verge of surrendering all the symbols of royalty. There will be no more kings after Zedekiah, “until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come” (21:27). The messianic thrust is difficult to miss The chapter concludes with an oracle against the Ammonites, who gloated ...

999. Second Explanation

Habakkuk 2:2-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... . They had foolishly followed their idolatrous predecessors in calling god that which was the product of their own hands. Worst of all, in the hour of God’s judgment, Babylon will be forsaken by her idols and perish with none to help her. Had Babylon only surrendered to the will of God rather than living for self and taking her endless plunder and numberless captives, how different it all might have been. Now she must learn forcibly the full truth of the next verse. Verse 20 stands both as a final word to ...

1000. The Prophet’s Prayer and God’s Exaltation

Habakkuk 3:1-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... commodities speaks of deep spiritual principles upon which the basic covenant between God and his people has been established. Habakkuk’s closing words are vastly different than his opening ones. In contrast to his harsh questions and accusations, the prophet now surrenders to God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. God’s patient answers and the further revelation of God’s person and power have been sufficient to humble the prophet. In yet another striking simile Habakkuk declares that he will ...

Showing results