Sermon and Worship Resources

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 2815 results

1001. Gracious

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and in acts of service. In our scripture for today, we see Jesus telling his listeners another story (the third in Matthew 25) about what it means to be in true relationship with God. In the parable of the oil lamps, he emphasized faith in God, in the parable of the talents, he emphasized commitment to God. Now in this third parable, speaking about the way we treat strangers, Jesus speaks of how he knows a true disciple–by the state of the heart, and he notes that the state of the heart is revealed in the ...

1002. The Great Discovery

Luke 15:14b-18a

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

... (Matthew 13:44) Alexander Fleming Martin Luther John Wesley C.S. Lewis Lee Strobel Nadia Bolz-Weber (cf. Book Pastrix published by Jericho books) Personal witnesses from the community Narrator FARMER IN JESUS’ PARABLE: Hello. I am the farmer in one of Jesus’ powerful parables. I went out plowing one day in one of my fields. It was a hot day, a tiring day. Up and down, down and up the furrows I walked. It was monotonous to be sure. Then it happened! All of a sudden I heard the clink of metal on my ...

1003. God Is Like...a Parent

Hosea 11:1-4 · Luke 15:1-32

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... his son some proper clothes. All he could say was my boy was lost and now is found, he was dead but now he’s alive. Who is the father in the story? The gospel doesn’t spell it out, but it was clear that Jesus was comparing the parable’s merciful father to God, a merciful parent. It’s the God of grace who doesn’t demand an explanation for his wayward children. The Father-God Jesus told about was not a god who demanded reparations, or who found it necessary to inflict punishment. This was God the ...

1004. God Is Like...Fire

Malachi 3:1-4 · Luke 3:1-6, 9,16-17

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

1005. Eyes Like a Hawk

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... take first place in one’s life and God was the only host. It was a time when the gentleness of the Dove, not the predatory motives of the Hawk, became the eye’s entire focus! It’s hard to argue with Jesus when he tells these kinds of parables. It’s hard to dispute God when you’re receiving God’s blessings. Perhaps the greatest gift of the Sabbath itself is the command to keep your eyes on God, to train your heart and brain to guide your eyes toward loving embrace rather than hawkish critique. It ...

1006. Topsy-turvy Christianity

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... growth. People who seem to have everything going for them can easily glide into a sense of false security, which leads them to give scant attention to the future. Luke records some sayings of Jesus and a parable which speak to this attitude. "One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions" introduces the parable of the rich fool whose land produces a bumper crop. He boasts that he has ample goods laid up for many years. Therefore he can "relax, eat, drink, be merry." But that very night he dies ...

1007. The Joy Of God

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... the point. One day that all changed. The "scales fell from his eyes" we might say as he was reading Luke 15. It was the joy of God that really spoke to him. "My heart was caught with the fact that the parables portrayed the joy of God," he said to the hushed assembly. He recited a portion of the parables: "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of ...

1008. It's OK To Stir Up God

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Richard Patt

... in life seems worthwhile; much of life doesn't seem worth the effort. Some are not only resigned to the future, but they have also resigned from the future. Their forward thrust is gone. Faith has petered out. Prayer appears to be an anachronism. But this parable encourages us to keep stirring up God until he gives us an ear. Bil Keane, who draws the popular Family Circus cartoons, portrays a father who is fast asleep on the living room couch, his back facing outward and his face buried in the pillows ...

1009. Sabotaging The Sabath

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Richard Patt

... if the ruler of the synagogue had the high motive of guarding the sabbath day from abuse, there was no excuse to pass by human need when it faced him. All of this is similar to the situation we find in the famous parable of Jesus called "The Good Samaritan." In that parable you recall how two other representatives of true religion passed by the bleeding victim lying in the ditch. It took a man who was not considered religious to bring aid finally in that case of obvious human need. So Jesus was not about ...

1010. A Ministry Of Hospitality

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Richard Patt

... his letter, "Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus ... who humbled himself and took on the form of a servant and ... became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." In this great passage, Paul reminds us how Jesus fulfilled the lesson of the parable we are considering in this Gospel reading. Christ, who is the first, became the last, so that we, the last, might be first, having all our sins washed away by his obedience at the cross. So now, empowered by the cross of Christ, we each have our ...

1011. The Perisitent Noise Of Solemn Assemblies

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... example, in the fifth century, attached varieties of allegorical meanings to it. The fallen man was Adam. Jerusalem represented heaven, the thieves were the devil and his angels, and so on. Therefore, since such an auspicious figure as Augustine has tampered with the parable, I thought we might take a little liberty with it, to make its meaning as lucid as possible. Here is one way we might translate it. Behold, a white, middle-class Protestant deacon was going through an inner city neighborhood, when he ...

1012. Hold Your Peace

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

John G. Lynn

... walk in the paths he sets for us he wants us to speak out, just as little Luke did when he prayed for his friend who was ill. Some preachers think this gospel lesson was written by Emily Post or Miss Manners and not by Luke. The point of the parable is not proper etiquette, but faith. In his undying faithfulness to us, God goes out to the highways and byways where we live. He goes inside of our hearts, beyond the fences we put up when we hold our peace. There, at the core of our hearts, God says, "Come ...

1013. You Can Be A Livesaver

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... alive? Not just to take up space and breathe air and function, but to live? What must I do to count for something?" And Jesus answered by telling him a story. "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves ...." Then came the famous parable of The Good Samaritan. In Christ's story the traveler is stripped, robbed, beaten and left for dead "in a ditch by the side of the road." It so happened as time passed that a priest and later a Levite saw the wounded traveler but "passed by on ...

1014. Divine Naivet

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... ? Compare if you will the difference between our song about wonderful Santa Claus, before whom one must be perfect or tremble, and the Lord God, who embraces imperfect creatures, acting as though they had done nothing wrong. The parable of the Prodigal Son might better be called the parable of the Loving Father. It was Jesus' way of communicating the amazing love and forgiveness, even apparent naivet‚, of a loving father, a God-like father. He surely knew his son would waste his precious inheritance, yet ...

1015. Good News, Bad News, Good News

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Thomas Long

... of Jesus Christ for a little while. Unless Jesus gives us the work, unless he grants us his presence, unless he washes our feet, we have nothing. In this sense, the experience of having their feet washed by Jesus was, for the disciples, like the parable of the Good Samaritan for the cocky lawyer who asked Jesus, "And just who is my neighbor?" When Jesus, in response to this question, began to tell the tale, it was innocent enough, and the lawyer surely identified with the anonymous man traveling down that ...

1016. Yes, But How?

Sermon

Lee Griess

... we acquire them? As Christian people we know the kind of life we ought to live, and most of us have the best of intentions to do so, but how? We are afraid because we know where the road paved with only good intentions leads! This morning we hear Jesus' parable of the fig tree, telling us to repent and bear good fruit. We know what the Christian life requires of us and yet, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know how far short we fall. So the question that confronts us this morning is: "Yes, but how ...

1017. Professor Of Paradox

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

... handle contradictions. They are able to see the value in both the old and the new. They can stir the mud and not think of gold nuggets. We have to be professors of paradox in order to grasp what Jesus is saying about the kingdom of heaven in these parables. The first thing that Jesus says about the kingdom is that it is something we must find, yet we discover it accidentally. The poet, Robert Frost, once wrote to his friend Sidney Cox, "Our minds are so crowded with what we have been told to look for that ...

1018. Yearning For A Loyal Friend

Job 6:14-30 · Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... have been better off if he had kept his mouth shut. Job and Jesus, sitting on their ash heaps, were yearning for loyal friends. We are the same when life crushes in on us. We long for someone to support us. A little book titled Mr. Adams: A Parable is about a teenager reflecting on some of the things out of his childhood, especially the life and death of Mr. Adams. Mr. Adams was a 78-year-old man who had time to talk with children, who understood them, respected them, and was interested in their opinions ...

1019. When Life Seems Out Of Control

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... David could not see. Oftentimes when our lives are out of control we need someone else to point out what we ourselves cannot see. We are too close to examine our lives objectively. Like Nathan, this wise woman told David a parable. Again David was in the center of the parable and again David did not realize it. She asked David to forgive his son, Absalom, and allow him to return home to Jerusalem. David agreed and Absalom returned to Jerusalem. Unfortunately, father and son were not able to completely put ...

1020. Proper 12

Colossians 2:6-23, Hosea 1:1-2:1, Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 85:1-13

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... the forgiveness of our sins through Christ's nailing on the cross our debts (sins) owed to God. On the cross Christ canceled the power of evil forces and triumphed over them. Gospel: Luke 11:1-13 Jesus teaches his Disciples how to pray by example and parable. Prayer and Spirit are two emphases of Luke's gospel; both of these are prominent in today's gospel lesson. Seeing Jesus pray, a Disciple asks Jesus for a lesson in prayer. In response Jesus gives no lecture on prayer, but simply gives a model which we ...

1021. Proper 18

Philemon 1:8-25, Philemon 1:1-7, Jeremiah 18:1--19:15, Luke 14:25-35

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... would give up all his goods for Christ. 2. Look before you leap (14:28-32). Need: There is a common tendency to enter ventures without considering what is required. When this is done, many are unable to fulfill the conditions and all may be lost. In two parables Jesus urges us to count the cost. You buy a car, but can you make the monthly payments, pay the taxes, insure the car, and pay the gas bills? You jump into marriage, but are you able to pay the bills, make the sacrifices, educate the children, and ...

1022. Proper 22

Luke 17:1-10, Lamentations 1:1-22, 2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... honestly say, "I have all the faith in the world." If we really have faith, do we need more? Jesus in this text corrects the disciples' desire for more faith. He says the quantity or degree of faith does not matter. It is sufficient just to have faith. The parable of the mustard seed emphasizes that the smallest amount of faith can do wonders. The admonition of this sermon is "Have faith," not "Have more faith." Outline: A little faith is a lot. a. The fact of faith you do or you do not have faith v. 5. b ...

1023. Lent 4

Luke 15:1-7

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... about the prodigal son. For Jesus offers this story (along with the one in 4-10) in response to the criticism from the Pharisees and scribes that he associates with sinners. Thus the parable is about the kind of gracious love that bursts through both legal and social structures in order to forgive and accept. Liturgical Color Purple Suggested Hymns On My Heart Imprint Your Image God Loved The World I Trust, O Christ, In You Alone Lord Of Glory, You Have Bought Us ...

1024. Pentecost 27

Luke 19:11-27

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... 's travel account of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem. The episode adds to Luke's emphasis on Jesus' teaching to the disciples about the proper use of material possessions. Luke also refers to kingship, which prepares the disciples for Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. The parable is a corrective to the popular notion about the End: although the kingdom of God is "among" the disciples there is a sense in which the kingdom is not to appear immediately. Liturgical Color Green Suggested Hymns The Day Is Surely Drawing ...

1025. Proper 17

Luke 14:1-14

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

... a meal, but also the allusion to the messianic feast that is almost always implied by banquet imagery in Jesus' teachings. Further tying the two together is the implicit notion of status given by grace rather than gained by effort. For, in the case of the parable, it is the host who assigns the more honorable place at the table to the one who humbly has chosen the lower; and, in the exhortation, it is the host's invitation that brings the "undeserving" to the table at all. Liturgical Color Green Suggested ...

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