Sermon and Worship Resources

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1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... as the incarnate body of Christ. Understanding the Text After giving a theological basis for unity in diversity, Paul now turns to a most memorable explication that stands out in a special way in the Corinthian situation. The multiplicity of spiritual gifts is designed to enable Christ’s members to function as parts of Christ’s body. Paul’s thought flows naturally through this section. A physical body has many parts (12:12–14); these parts are all different (12:15–20), yet they all depend on ...

102. “When I Awake, I Will Be Satisfied with Seeing Your Likeness”

Psalm 17:1-15

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... , and the Psalms often compare the psalmist’s enemies to lions (e.g., Ps. 7:2).[7] Interpretive Insights Title A prayer of David. “Prayer” is the Hebrew word tepillah, which occurs in Psalm 72:20 to designate the first two Davidic collections (Books 1 and 2, Pss. 1–72). “Psalm” is the traditional translation. As the designation of a single psalm, it occurs in the titles of Psalms 17; 86; 90; 102; and 142, and once as “A prayer of Habakkuk” (Hab. 3:1), suggesting perhaps that this word ...

103. “Show Me Your Ways, Lord”

Psalm 25:1-22

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... a code word formed by the initial letters of the first, middle, and final verses (25:1, 11, 22), forming a Hebrew word that means “to learn” or “teach” (’lp, used in Prov. 22:25; Job 15:5, etc.), suggesting that this psalm was designed to “teach” one to pray.[13] Theological Insights With reference to our “Key Themes,” Psalm 25 outlines two modes of prayer as the psalmist seeks God’s guidance. The first employs four different verbs to convey the idea of seeking God’s instruction and ...

104. “Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit”

Psalm 31:1-24

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... to life in this world, there will be times when we will feel like we are on Insanity, times when life is frightening and we do not feel as if we are in control. It is in these times that we must remember we can trust the One who designed us and maintains our lives. Our ability to live with joy in these moments is a function of how well we know and trust God. Belonging to God Church History: Soon after the introduction of Protestantism into the Palatinate in southern Germany in 1546, the controversy between ...

105. The Creation of the World

Genesis 1:1-2:3

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... .” The productive power of the earth is a God-given gift. For a specific reason the moon is called (only here) the lesser light, and the sun is called (also only here) the greater light (1:14–19). Among Israel’s neighbors sun and moon were designations for deities. Not so in God’s world! In fact, they are not light proper, but carriers of the light. They are lamps, and their duties are spelled out to show their status as servants. They are not arbiters of humanity’s destiny. Day five parallels day ...

106. Proverbs of Solomon

Proberbs 10:1--22:16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the highest concentration of references to Yahweh and the king, the same verbs being used with reference to both subjects. On the basis of these seven features, we will seek to point out, where possible, striking indications and implications of compositional design in the following chapters. 10:1–15:33 Review · Proverbs 10–15 is characterized by the predominance of contrasting (i.e., antithetical) parallelism within the individual proverbs and an emphasis on the righteous/wicked (e.g., 10:3, 6–7, 11 ...

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

Habakkuk 3:1-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... The two localities mentioned in verse 3 mark the Transjordanian southland. Teman is the name of the southernmost of Edom’s two chief cities. The name comes from a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:11, 15, 42; Jer. 49:7, 20) whose descendants entered into the area. Paran designates not only a mountain range west and south of Edom and northeast of Mount Sinai but also a broad desert area in the Sinai peninsula. The event described here is given in similar words in Deuteronomy 33:1–2 and Judges 5:4, where the term ...

108. Before the Sanhedrin

Mark 14:53-65

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... and Son of the Blessed One (Son of God) together shows that Mark regarded them as somewhat synonymous (cf 1:1). 14:62 I am is probably to be taken as both a directly affirmative answer to the question of the high priest and as an allusion to the self-designation of God familiar to readers of the Greek OT (see note on 6:50). Thus, Mark’s readers can see that Jesus’ answer is on a deeper level an affirmation of his divine status! Cf. the answers recorded in Matt. 26:64 and Luke 22:67–70; the differences ...

109. The Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... human reaction to a wondrous event, a miracle, or revelation of divine power, e.g., 2:12; 5:42; 4:41; 5:15, 33; 9:6. An Old Ending to Mark 16:9–20 As indicated in the discussion of 16:1–8, nearly all scholars believe that the material designated 16:9–20 is not a part of the original text of Mark (and that the same must be said for the other variant endings attached to Mark in some ancient manuscripts). However, because for many centuries the form of Mark known to most readers included 16:9–20, we ...

110. Apostles of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... ? Some have suggested dropping the words from the translation, arguing they are either incomprehensible or a gloss or both. Others suggest that the words refer generally to Paul’s citations of Scripture(s) in his epistle. Still others take the phrase to designate the OT or Scripture in general. Some interpreters understand the words to be a popular maxim that referred to established norms of behavior rather than to any particular writing or set of writings. Others argue that Paul is referring to what he ...

111. The Believer's Freedom

1 Corinthians 10:23--11:1

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... be read as if Paul were offering polite advice (Nobody should seek); in fact, he speaks commandingly, “Let no one seek …!” 10:25 The reference to the market is striking; Paul uses a Gk. word, makellon, that has a Latin origin, macellum, designating an area with enclosures where various merchants would offer a variety of food- and meatstuffs. The Latin ring of this term is highly appropriate for the city of Corinth, which was located in Achaia, but as a refounded, reconstituted Roman city. An article ...

112. One Body, Many Parts

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... of the church, Paul still wants to emphasize the overall or transcending purposeful unity of God’s activity: there are many parts, but one body. Therefore, as he continues, Paul again develops his thinking about this subject as he declares that unity reflects divine design. Paul develops the assertion that unity is necessary by relating his thought to the motif of mutual care in the church. One part of the body cannot say to another, I don’t need you! Paul makes this point in a striking way. He writes ...

113. Listening and Doing

James 1:19-27, James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... creative word of God (Gen. 1) or to the veracity of all he says (e.g., Ps. 119:43), but surely in this passage something more is meant. What word in the New Testament era was more “the word of truth” than the gospel? The phrase is a semitechnical one designating the proclamation of God’s action in Christ (2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 1:25). God purposely sets his second creation, his re-creation, into motion by sending out the word of the gospel. The result of this act ...

114. The Fall of Man

Genesis 3:1-24

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... be realized in the Messiah, when a representative of all humans would strike the serpent, the representative of the forces that oppose God, with a fatal blow. That victory would put an end to the enmity between the serpent and humankind. As Scripture unfolds God’s design, it becomes clear that the one to achieve such a major victory is the Messiah (Rom. 16:20), but it would take centuries before any audience would see that meaning in this text. 3:16 To the woman God said that he would greatly increase her ...

115. Witnesses

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... to God’s Torah. However, even in a nation living with the ideal standards and patterns of life of 14:28–16:17 and with the ideal leaders of 16:18–18:22, things could go wrong. Premature deaths could happen, by accident (19:5–7), by design (19:11–13), in war (ch. 20), or through causes unknown (21:1–9). It was all very well to have the fundamental rule, “You shall not kill,” but not all killing was the same. Certain crucial distinctions were needed for the purpose of protecting the innocent ...

116. The Temple's Furnishing

2 Chronicles 4:1-5:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... in all its glory. In the previous episode, however, Huram-Abi was explicitly offered to Solomon by King Hiram of Tyre to perform these duties. In 4:11 the name Huram occurs twice (in both variations: Huram and Hiram). It is thus clear that he was the designer of all the artful decorations mentioned in the next verses. In 4:18 Solomon becomes the explicit subject of the verb again in accordance with the source text in 1 Kings 7:47. At this point it becomes clear that, although the Sidonian artisan Huram was ...

117. To Us a Child is Born

Isaiah 9:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 6, too, to be a statement about God—and not a statement about this son. And this fits the meaning of the name. Wonderful Counselor (lit. “wonder-planner,” i.e., “wonder-working planner”) immediately recalls Isaiah’s emphasis on Yahweh as one who effectively designs and implements a purpose (see on 5:19b, 26). It more specifically anticipates the description of Yahweh as wonderful in counsel (28:29; see also 25:1; 29:14). Mighty God recurs as a description of Yahweh in 10:21, but we have already ...

118. Pop Star Madonna and the Cross

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... books ever written. People who succeed in almost anything in life deny themselves. It is true. You don’t get to be the best in life by staying in your comfort zone. You do it by working till you sweat blood. You sit at your computer or your designing board or your blueprints or your lesson plan or whatever, long after everybody else has gone home. That’s what it means in a secular sense to deny yourself. And it works! Some of you who are baseball fans remember a man named Cal Ripken, Jr. Ripkin entered ...

119. The Infiltrator

John 10:1-21, John 10:22-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . God’s role with Israel is as a Shepherd. God wants to be in relationship with His sheep. God goes with them wherever they may roam. God will follow each and every lamb to restore it to the flock. God will never leave a lamb behind. God’s designated “shepherds” were chosen to care for the sheep, to feed them, to nourish them, to guide them, to love them. Just as God loves them. When God’s shepherds go astray, all havoc breaks out in the sheep pen. And God is not happy. In identifying himself as ...

120. Dressed for Success?

Luke 24:36-49, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... differently if you are a pastor. You dress differently if you are fixing a car than if you are headed to church. In our minds, there are “dress codes” for the various functions that we fill in our lives. And that designate our various identities. We can change our clothing to designate the various functions or identities that we want to display in our lives. But there is one dress code that we never take off. And that’s what our scripture is about today. Before Jesus ascends to heaven after spending ...

121. To Us a Child is Born

Isaiah 9:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

122. The Seventy “Sevens”

Daniel 9:20-27

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... high priest, Onias, will be murdered without anyone to assist, defend, or deliver him (9:26). 9:27 The term abomination that causes desolation is shiqquts meshomem (cf. 11:31; 12:11), which is a wordplay on Baʿal Shamem, “Lord of Heaven,” a Semitic designation of Zeus Olympios. (See the Additional Note on 8:13.) The phrase thus cleverly refers to a pagan deity in relation to the Jerusalem temple, an outrage that only Semites were likely to catch from the wordplay. The NIV uses brackets in the phrase on ...

123. Meeting Jesus At The Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... planners to ask what people want out of a church, but that it might not hurt also to ask what God wants out of the church. There is the control issue again. Does God have any control over the church, or is the church simply an institution designed to meet the articulated desires of its members? The woman at the well felt comfortable turning Jesus down. Sometimes we do too. Now, someone may be thinking, in fairness to that woman we have to acknowledge that she had almost no chance of understanding what Jesus ...

124. When God Has Other Plans

Drama

Karren Boehr

... weeks, lay a bunch of stupid eggs, and then die happily ever after. Now, that's what I call a real career, a real trip. Nope, I'm going to be a fish. 2ND CATERPILLAR: (Insistently) But God wants you to be a butterfly! It's what you are designed to be. You wouldn't last twenty seconds in the water. You'd drown! 1ST CATERPILLAR: I'll adapt. Look (Pretends to swim and hold breath) I've been practicing even before I got stuck in this stupid cocoon. (Finds magazine under stool) This magazine tells me all about ...

125. Changes

1 Corinthians 7:31

Children's Sermon

... and girls. I brought something to look through this morning. You may have seen one before. It's a kaleidoscope. When you look through it into the light, and then turn the bottom of it just the tiniest bit, the design changes. How many of you have seen one before? (Wait for show of hands.) Some of you might even have one at home. What makes the design? (Let them respond.) Sometimes different shapes and bits of colored glass are inside and there are mirrors at different angles. All I know for sure is that the ...

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