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 1051 to 1075 of 3314 results

1051. No Substitutes

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... of us who are in danger of bowing down at the altar of mammon. And like all idols, mammon can never satisfy our deepest needs. Only the real thing only God himself can satisfy those needs. As a pastor, I don’t have the same problem as the Apostle Paul had. I don’t have to worry about most of you living too biblically. Few of the women in this church are in danger of calling their husband “master” and following their husband’s every dictate. But there are other idols that some of us substitute for ...

1052. Unity and Hope

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... examples of faith are meant to encourage us in our faith walk. At those times when nothing seems to be going the way we desire, we turn to the stories of faith and are encouraged through the example of those who have gone before us. The apostle Paul, writing to the church at Rome, a church he had not yet visited, made an amazing claim, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” When ...

1053. Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... of God. The early Christians experienced the presence of God through their worship and singing. It is commonly believed that the first chapter of Ephesians contains words and phrases from hymns and liturgy that would have been familiar to first-century Christians. The apostle Paul might very well have been quoting a favorite hymn when he penned these words, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” God has ...

1054. Divided We Fall

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... they are immediately forced to take sides? When conflict rears its ugly head the mission and ministry of the church comes to a grinding halt. The final result is that nothing much gets accomplished. In the midst of these very serious problems the apostle Paul was contacted. Paul was the founding pastor of the church. The people were confident that Paul would be able to advise them and help them work through the problems that threatened the future existence of the church. Through correspondence Paul was made ...

1055. Lift High the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... us and meeting our immediate needs. Paul reminds us that not everything is about us. Paul draws our attention instead to the foundation of our faith. As we have discovered the Corinthians experienced more than their share of problems before they contacted the apostle Paul with the hope that he could set them on the right path again. They had lost their focus and were reduced to fighting with each other. Sides were drawn and harsh words spoken. The inevitable result was feelings were hurt, and the mission ...

1056. Refresh Your Heart

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... “refreshes” the lives of all “the saints,” all the disciples of Jesus whom he encounters. At the close of this personal message, Paul asks Philemon for a personal draft of refreshment — the gift of Onesimus’ freedom, and his return to the imprisoned apostle to help him continue to spread the good news of the gospel. Paul pleads: “refresh my heart in Christ” by giving me this gift of freedom. Paul’s “refresh” language brackets his private plea to Philemon. He asserts that the hearts of ...

1057. A Faith to Move Mountains

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... righteousness, the kingdom of peace and love. If you want to see mountains moved, or mulberry trees thrown into the sea, align yourself with the purposes of God. Again, it has nothing to do with the size of our faith, but the size of our God. The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Jesus replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” How about it, my friend? Could you have just ...

1058. Let Them Eat Cake

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the bad news?” The good news is that there is some gloriously good news. The bad news is that some genuinely bad news goes along for the ride. That is the good-news/bad-news message brought by Paul in this week’s epistle text. The apostle both prepares his protégée for what he might expect, and encourages Timothy, and future generations of Jesus followers, to persevere. At the beginning of this section of his letter, Paul implores Timothy, “my child,” to “be strong.” Now he gives his stalwart ...

1059. Where Is Jesus?

John 11:17-37

Sermon

David O. Bales

... , Jesus didn’t say that God directs the hurricane that drowns entire villages, nor does God fan the flames that overtake firefighters. If God does such things, then Jesus, God’s Son, was only going around fixing what his heavenly Father broke. In the Bible we hear the apostle Paul write that he’s having a hard time choosing between remaining in this life or succumbing to death in order to be with his Lord. We take that as a very pious statement — dying to see the Lord. But it’s not a cute quip for ...

1060. The Woman at the Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... Paul constantly reminded his hearers of what they had been before Christ touched their lives. Referring to the sexually immoral, idolaters, thieves, drunkards, swindlers etc. he says, “And that is what some of you were.” (1 Cor. 6:10-11). The apostle Paul also reminds his hearers of what he had been before Christ touched him an intolerant persecutor of Christians. In the military, we might hear the command, “As you were.” We never hear, “As you were” as a follower of Christ. Following Christ ...

1061. Right in Front of Our Eyes

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... explain it? We can’t explain it except to say . . . They were very much like us. They had faith like a yo-yo. “Sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes almost to the ground.” It was only about a week before the Transfiguration that Jesus had asked his apostles the question, “Who do people say that I am?” Who was it who answered him? It was Simon, of course. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus praised Simon, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and ...

1062. A Global Celebration

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... John’s account: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from its entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and another disciple, who seems to be the Apostle John, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and John started for the tomb. Both were running, but John outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the ...

1063. Voice Recognition

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ” kicked in and she realized who was standing before her. When she recognized the voice, she also recognized the miracle that was the resurrection. Jesus instructed Mary to tell them that she had encountered the resurrected Christ, making her the “apostle to the apostles,” as she is often called. But once again static interfered. Mary’s words did not appease the fears of the Jesus’ disciples, who remained huddled in the rooms they had used for their Passover meal, doors locked in fear. The ...

1064. Ignite: The Fire Burns Brightly

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

James Merritt

... there were added that day about three thousand souls. The Fellowship of the Believers and they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:41-42, ESV) The very first thing this early ... church decided they were going to do was “Devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” (Acts 2:42, ESV) They were going to build their lives around the teaching of God’s Word. They were going ...

1065. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... is addressed to the Christians in Corinth, and even though it is ostensibly about them, still there persists this theme that reveals Paul’s true orientation. One-fifth of all the words in this brief passage are nouns or pronouns referring to God. The apostle, who elsewhere said that for him to live was Christ (Philippians 1:21), bears witness to that fact by the way the Lord saturates his thinking and his language even when talking about other people. Paul’s language presents us, meanwhile, with a kind ...

1066. Dust Off The Throne

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, Luke 1:26-38, Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... , it may be that Paul, like many of us when leaving messages on answering machines and voice mails, spoke rapidly without apparent punctuation. Personally, however, I am most inclined to attribute this kind of sentence to a sort of childlike enthusiasm on the apostle’s part. We know how an excited child can babble on breathlessly with their enthusiasm flowing faster than their words can accommodate. That is how this closing passage from Romans reads to me. Not all of Paul’s writing is like this, after ...

1067. Full Immersion

Acts 19:1-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... lines, you’re in the right book. There are stonings and shipwrecks, prison breaks and spiritual breakthroughs, trials and betrayals, riots and revivals. That’s why a better name for the “Book of Acts” might be the “Book of Narratives.” The Apostle Paul warns elsewhere “The letter kills, the Spirit gives life” (2Cor.3:6). Most Christians may have gotten past the every‑jot‑and‑tittle‑of‑the‑letter stage in their faith. But the numbers kill just like the letters. That’s why ...

1068. TGFGF - Good Friday

John 18:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , was a member of the house of David. He was son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and Mary, his devoted mother. Jesus was born in a stable in the city of Bethlehem, Judea. He is survived by his mother Mary, his faithful Apostles, numerous disciples, and many followers. “Jesus was self-educated and spent most of his adult life working as a teacher. Jesus occasionally worked as a medical doctor and it is reported that he healed many patients. Until the time of his death, he was sharing the ...

1069. Determining Your Destiny

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

James Merritt

... we are saved strictly through faith in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead. Our salvation is based on a miracle, His resurrection, but it will only come through a message, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16, ESV) Salvation is not found in a miracle, but in ...

1070. Waiting Is So Hard to Do

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised . . .” Don’t you think that is interesting? Before they did anything else, they were to wait. It’s a little bit ironic. The Book of Acts is sometimes called, “The Acts of the Apostles.” It is a record of their activities the many things they did. But here in the first chapter of the book Christ is telling them to do nothing. First, they are to wait. But what is it for which they are waiting? They are awaiting the gift ...

1071. Shall We Take the Escalator?

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... We need to get away and let our barrels cool. Even Jesus needed to get away from time to time. We read in Mark 6: “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did ... to Capernaum, most likely from having been sent out by Jesus to preach the Kingdom of God (Luke 9:1-10a). The apostles return to Jesus, excited by what they have experienced in their ministry, the casting out of demons and healing of the sick ( ...

1072. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... of the previous verse was made to the very people who not long before had invoked the blood of Jesus upon themselves and their children (Matt. 27:25). But it was also made to those whom Peter described as far off. It is unlikely, however, that the apostle intended to include the Gentiles in this statement. More likely it was a reference to the Jews of the Diaspora. Had he meant otherwise, we might have expected a specific mention of the Gentiles, as in 22:21. It is true there is an analogous phrase in ...

1073. Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... :1–2 Two members of the community, a man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira (v. 1), conspired to deceive their fellow believers. Like Barnabas (4:36f.), they sold some land, but unlike him they kept back part of the proceeds before handing over the rest to the apostles (see notes on 4:35). The verb “to keep” (Gk. nosphizein) that occurs here and in verse 3 and again in the New Testament only in Titus 2:10 is used in the LXX of Achan’s keeping back some of the booty of Jericho that had been devoted ...

1074. Aeneas and Dorcas

Acts 9:32-43

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... into consideration, is no proof that the one is derived from the other (see notes). The raising of the dead was included in Jesus’ commission (Matt. 10:8), and we need not doubt that Peter exercised in this way the power and authority given to the apostles by Jesus. In any case, there are a number of dissimilarities between the two stories, such as Dorcas’ gradual restoration (v. 40; cf. Luke 8:54) and Peter’s care not to touch her (for fear of becoming unclean? cf. Num. 19:11) until she was fully ...

1075. Peter at Cornelius’ House

Acts 10:23b-48

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... no doubt that Jesus had risen, for they had eaten and drunk with him. This note of their drinking with Jesus adds to the information in the Gospels (Luke 24:30; 43; John 21:12, 15; but see Luke 22:18). 10:42–43 Finally, Jesus commissioned his witnesses (the apostles). This is the occasion referred to in 1:4, and Luke repeats the verb that he used there to express again the urgency of the command to preach to the people (v. 42). The people (Gk. laos) usually means Jews (see disc. on 5:12), but it was Jesus ...

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