Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic
Showing 1001 to 1025 of 3314 results
Sermon
John N. Brittain
... of Christian backgrounds and from all around the world. Of course it may well be that few, if any, share exactly the same faith journey, but how exciting it is to see how others have experienced God, how Jesus Christ is made real in a whole variety of ways! The apostle Paul calls all of us "to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours" (1 Corinthians 1:3). If you feel too alone, he reminds us, it may be that you are not counting ...
1002. Dust and Ashes Wednesday
2 Corinthians 5:11 – 6:13
Sermon
David O. Bales
... up in the question, "If you're so smart, how come you ain't rich?" Apply that to Jesus as well as to Paul, the apostle. They weren't rich. Paul makes a point of stating Jesus' poverty on our behalf and mentioning his own poverty for the sake of ... and also we encounter the great dignity and destiny God created for us. In Lent, we're allowed and encouraged to study under the apostle Paul and to imitate his service by giving more of our time and possessions to help others. In Lent, we're invited and commanded ...
Sermon
Larry Lange
... groaning in labor pains" waiting for "the revealing of the children of God" (Romans 8:19-23). That's how the apostle Paul might have described what Larry showed me that wintry March day. But now Larry had no money and no time ... accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered. (Romans 8:36) The apostle Paul must have had moments like Larry had in which it was hard to see how God could be working in all things for good. Yet, we hear ...
Sermon
Larry Lange
... the meeting and declared he could have nothing to do with people who had so little regard for God's commands, so little regard for mission, for discipleship, for sacrificial giving, and for love for one another. Reading the letter, I grieved as the apostle Paul grieved for his people in today's lesson. Jim was absolutely right about everything. His reasoning was flawless. I had no argument against it. His eloquent, articulate prose intensified my grief over losing Jim as a partner in the gospel. We needed ...
Sermon
Larry Lange
... about the way Michael was limping away from the fight, the more I felt ashamed. I felt those hot coals heaped on my head that the apostle Paul wrote about in today's lesson. Little Mikey's mother had a German accent and a very high voice. When she was mad, you ... thing as good (Romans 12:21). Although it might be unrealistic to expect such mature, loving Christian responses from children, the apostle Paul did expect such responses from adults. And for good reason. It is how our Lord responds to the snowball ...
Sermon
Mary S. Lautensleger
... were completely silent. As the organ accompaniment died down, Marshall stepped to the pulpit and made his final point. It's okay for this to make us stop and think, because giving really matters and we must take it seriously.2 Both Peter Marshall and the apostle Paul recognized that our giving is itself an act of thanksgiving to God. It will also produce thanksgiving in those who receive. We give because of all God and Christ have first given to us. Giving enriches the giver as much as the receiver. What a ...
1007. LENT: The Passion of Christ: "Betrayed"
John 13:21-30; Matthew 26:14-16; 45-50
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
... of God. FAILURE ISN'T FINAL, FAILURE ISN'T FOREVER. And in the case of Judas, FAILURE ISN'T FATAL. Or shouldn't be. The Cross of Christ made the noose unnecessary. All Judas had to do was put the rope in Jesus' hands. In the very early church, the Apostle's Creed had an extra phrase in it. One that we don't use very often. It says that after Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, "He descended into hell." There are all kinds of theological reasons why we don't include that in the Protestant version of the ...
1008. God Is Patient
Mark 13:1-37; 2 Pet 3:8-9
Illustration
Stephen Muncherian
... of the church was growing in severity false teaching was tearing at the heart of the church believers were beginning to doubt that Jesus was returning the question of the day was, "How can we continue to trust God?" During this period of doubt and uncertainty, the Apostle Peter writes in 2 Peter, "Don't let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness but God ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... under Rome’s domain? A few members of Jesus’ disciple community did venture out. The first group, the women who went to the tomb, was rewarded with the first resurrection appearances of Jesus. In fact, Mary has the official title of “apostle to the apostles.” The disciples who decided to slip away to Emmaus were also joined by the risen Christ, instructed in the scriptures and Jesus’ presence in them, and finally graced with the revelation of Jesus himself at their table. All these first witnesses ...
1010. Wrong!
Acts 2:1-13
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... the prophecy of Joel was about an “end” found they were wrong, for the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy was about a new “beginning” — the beginning of the age of the Holy Spirit and the Church of Christ. Yet no matter how right the disciples-now-apostles got it on the Day of Pentecost, the first birthday of the Church, our wonderful human gift for error has led us down some very wrong paths over the past two millennia. Martin Luther told a group gathered around his kitchen table in 1533: “Girls ...
1011. Romans 8:26-39
Romans 8:18-27
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... his arguments in Romans 3:1 and 4:1, here Paul’s query is specifically tied to a question: What are we to say about “these things?” Paul does not here itemize what “these things” include. This has led some scholars to be convinced the apostle refers only to the context of the immediately preceding verses (28-30). Yet as Paul continues, the scope of his language recalls the force and flavor of his whole ode to assurance as expounded from chapter 5 through 8, in which case “these things” would ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... Thursday night as Jesus hosts the Last Supper. He announces that Peter will deny him and another of the twelve will betray him. Judas confronts him, telling Jesus that he knows very well that Judas is the one that will be the betrayer. Judas leaves and the other apostles go to sleep. Jesus stays awake and prays. He wants to know why he must die, why he must go through with his Father's plan. Judas returns and betrays Jesus with a kiss. Following the arrest, Caiaphas asks Jesus if he is the Son of God, and ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... it seems, leaves all its possessions behind and is therefore no different from losing. How can winning and death be mentioned in the same sentence? Yet, there are many people, including some in the church, who live their lives by this measure of success. Long ago, the apostle Paul spoke to those who are committed to this way of life when he wrote, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men" (1 Corinthians 15:19). There is a fourth belief system. It is reincarnation ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... commonly called the Mormons, incorporates the Lord's name in its title but its beliefs about Jesus are fatally flawed. A basic compendium of the Mormon gospel is titled Mormon Doctrine. It was written by apostle Bruce Redd McConkie, an influential Mormon theologian and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for many years. According to McConkie, Mormons believe that "Lucifer, the son of the morning, is our elder brother, and the brother of Jesus."3 ...
Sermon
Patrick J. Rooney
... Over and over he addresses the role of Jesus who intercedes for us without ceasing. As we enter into worship, in a place and at a time, we enter into this timelessness and this holy place of which the author speaks. Working with confirmation students on the Apostles' Creed always gives me a chuckle as they try to get their minds around this understanding that God is not just eternal but that he lives always in the eternal present. Asked by Moses who he was, God simply answers "I am." The very phrase we use ...
1016. Romans 12:9-21
Romans 12:9-21
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... or the Holy Spirit. But as this spirit is called to be zealous for serving the Lord, it is not hard to imagine that both of those spirits are at work. Lest one think Paul had a rose-tinted view of daily community life (hardly!), the apostle next lists a series of imperatives that acknowledge the ups and downs, the hopes and horrors experienced by all people of faith. There will be times to “rejoice” in the hope of faith. There will be times that call for “patience” or “steadfastness” in the face ...
1017. Philippians 3:4b-14
Philippians 3:1-11
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... in the Law Paul declares himself to be “blameless,” or “without fault.” Now there is something to brag about! It is precisely at this moment when Paul has proven how great his confidence should be in himself and his status that the apostle turns the tables. Using the language of accounting, Paul now declares all that which had been counted as “gain” is a dead loss “because of Christ.” The person of Jesus Christ changed everything. The “loss” and “gain” sheets have been exchanged for ...
1018. Jesus Rescues Us
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). Through his example, teachings, and charismatic personality, Jesus gave us a formula for life today and the path that will lead to eternal life tomorrow. Jesus died to set us free. The apostle Peter wrote, "For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit" (1 Peter 3:18). As God rescued the Jews from exile ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... the Sea of Galilee. Clearly, Jesus made every effort to reach out to all peoples; his message was universal. That is why Saint Paul could proclaim: "In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Ephesians 3:5-6). The fact that God has recognized us mandates that we, in turn ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... 's great faith was the reason for his action (Matthew 15:21-28). Jesus broke all the taboos of his day by speaking not only to a foreigner, but a woman. His conversation with the Samaritan woman surprised even his apostles, but, as always, Jesus used this incident to teach his apostles the value of being inclusive (John 4:1-42). Again, Jesus demonstrated that he had no specific test that a foreigner must pass in order to gain his attention or help. Jesus reached out to his own people, but most especially ...
1021. Having a Good Name
Proverbs 1:20-33
Sermon
Donna Schaper
... in 325, took 56 years to be solidified later at the Council of Constantinople. It was often sung or chanted and thereby memorized by a transnational people who called themselves Christians. The Nicene Creed replaced the Apostles' Creed, which was used primarily at baptisms before 325. The Apostles' Creed was an answer to one historical movement, gnosticism, which denied that Jesus was fully human. The Nicene Creed responded to the so-called heresy of Aryanism, which denied that Jesus was fully divine. We ...
1022. Jingle Bells at a Funeral
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Sermon
King Duncan
... “joy” and “jewel” come from the same root words. Like a jewel, joy is of great value and beauty, and greatly prized. But unlike a jewel, it can neither be purchased nor possessed. It is a gift. We cannot make joy happen and we cannot own it. As the Apostle Paul says, it is one of the primary gifts of the Spirit. Joy comes from God. Joy is God’s will for us. Joy does not come from having life figured out. Joy comes from relaxing oneself in the knowledge that we are loved. There is a charming story ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... believe they have knowledge of gnosis that is not available to all the other member of their community. That gnosis puts them in some sort of a superior position. Paul pounces on that “puffed up” spirit. Instead of congratulating them on their insights, the apostle pulls the plug on their inflated egos. In its place he offers that which is available equally to all — love. It is love, not unique knowledge, that “builds up.” It is in loving God that disciples know and are known by God. Knowledge of ...
1024. John 20:19 31
John 20:19-23
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
In John’s gospel that first Easter Sunday was filled not with rejoicing and relief among Jesus’ disciples, but with confusion, confinement, and concern. Despite “apostle to the apostles” Mary Magdelene’s prompt reporting of her experience of the risen Jesus at the tomb, those she tells do not seem to grasp the meaning of an empty tomb. Instead of running to see the tomb themselves or even going out to search for this risen Jesus Mary claims to ...
1025. Touched
John 20:24-31
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... you live that touchstone moment, and believe that touchstone passage, you’re “touched.” COMMENTARY In John’s gospel that first Easter Sunday was filled not with rejoicing and relief among Jesus’ disciples, but with confusion, confinement, and concern. Despite “apostle to the apostles” Mary Magdelene’s prompt reporting of her experience of the risen Jesus at the tomb, those she tells do not seem to grasp the meaning of an empty tomb. Instead of running to see the tomb themselves or even going ...
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