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Showing 101 to 125 of 4963 results

101. The Need for Transfiguration

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... and Elijah (remember how closely the latter two also were connected to God ... Moses being buried by God in an unknown site and Elijah being taken to God in a fiery chariot). It was not only a sacred site, but a place at which the disciples longed to remain. Why should they want to return to the plain when the very presence of God was so openly visible to them on the mountain? Here the veil of fallen reality was drawn back to show the glory of the transcendent presence that far surpassed the limitations of ...

102. The Vine That Lives Forever

John 15:1-17

Sermon

George Bass

... to his Word, by worship and prayer, and by receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion, which renews the gift we received in Holy Baptism. For it is in baptism that we are first joined to him, and he to us. Through the Word and the Eucharist we remain in him, and he remains in us. It is he who renews and maintains this vital relationship between himself and us, not anything that we do to establish or sustain it. It is a matter of hearing the Great Word and responding to it, to the "he is risen" - and clinging ...

103. There Could Be, Couldn't There?

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... nobody deserves, things nobody can earn. They had been given so much and yet they strayed so far from the one who had blessed them so. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? You would think some would have known better. You would think some would have remained faithful. The priests, perhaps (2:8)? The professional holy people, the religious authorities, the clergy? After all, wasn’t it their job to remember the tradition, to hold fast to the story, to cling close to God? How could they wander? How could they stray ...

104. A Long Line Of Love

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... would be a place for her somewhere among her relatives. And thus she and her two daughters-in-law set out for the land of Judah. As the three widows began their journey, it occurred to Naomi that it might be better for her daughters-in-law to remain in their own country. So she encouraged them to go back to their mothers' house. They were still young; they could find new husbands and have the security she could not give them. Naomi loved her daughters-in-law, and she wanted to see them happy. Naomi kissed ...

105. Matthew 24:36-44

Matthew 24:36-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... be ready for an unexpectedly expected intrusion of the Son of Man, and to be busy performing acts of Christian love and obedience. Regardless of which horn of this dilemma one chooses to perch upon, the outcome for those caught unprepared in deed or spirit remains the same. Verse 39 recalls that the unbelievers who were living unconcerned lives up until the moment Noah entered the ark all suffered a common fate: They were all swept away by the flood. Verses 40-41 continue this image, heightening the fear of ...

106. Exodus 24:12-18

Exodus 24:12-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... step of Moses' ascension seems to say that Joshua, "his assistant," went with him. The Hebrew text definitely records that both Moses and Joshua "rose up" together but then states that only Moses went up (v. 13). Yet in verse 14, Moses clearly tells the remaining elders to wait there until "we come to you again" - implying Joshua is accompanying him. The early Greek Vaticanus text also maintains the plural verb and Joshua's name in verses 13a and 15a - suggesting that Joshua ascended at least partway up the ...

107. Matthew 24:36-44

Matthew 24:36-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

108. God Is Rock Solid

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... to him. The writer of Hebrews reminds his audience that it was on the mountain of God that the first words were given. When we want to know what God expects of us, we can open the scriptures. They do not change. Our understanding may grow, but the truth remains. When we look for God, there is no better place to find him than in his word. When we turn on the television or open up the newspaper, we find a lot of messages couched in politically correct language. No one wants to offend anyone, so we water down ...

109. From “Uh-oh” To “Ah-hah!” — An Axe, A Stump, And A Shoot

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Tony Everett

... of Christus Victor Lutheran Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was a large poster proclaiming "Katrina was an act of nature. What we do here is an act of God." "Ah-hah!" Destruction of the gulf region was immeasurable. Nevertheless, a "stump" of hope remained strong in this God-given vision of promise and encouragement. Today, this second Sunday of Advent, God gives us "discouraged stumps" a vision of God's promised love as we view the cross, the altar, and see God's gathered people surrounding us ...

110. Love Each Other (Mother's Day)

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... struggle with aging. Now it’s your turn to make sacrifices. Again, it’s not easy. Christ never promised that it would be easy. But love is sacrificial. Love is what life is about. In I Corinthians 13 St. Paul summed it up like this: “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Author J. Allan Petersen tells about a flight he once took on a 747 out of Brazil. He was awakened from sleep by a voice announcing, “We have a very serious emergency.” Three engines had ...

111. Jesus Taken Up into Heaven

Acts 1:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... ; cf., e.g., Luke 17:21). But, if Jesus was right (and the evidence of his life, his miracles, his resurrection, and the Pentecostal outpouring assure us that he was), then the kingdom clearly had not come in the manner expected. For the time being, it remained a personal and partial experience (though certainly a real one) for those who submitted to God’s rule in Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12). Only when Jesus returns will the kingdom be fully established and God’s rule become all in all (see disc. on ...

112. Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

Acts 3:11-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... ). But the thought here is of the consummation of the kingdom on Jesus’ return (see note on 1:3). This had been announced by God long ago through his holy prophets (cf. v. 18; Isa. 34:4; 51:6; 65:17; etc.). 3:22 The fulfillment of Scripture remained Peter’s theme, with a reference now to Deuteronomy 18:15–19. The quotation from the LXX is not an exact one (Bruce, Acts, p. 113, thinks it is a conflation of several verses), but nothing hangs on the differences. For Luke, as for Peter himself, a general ...

113. The Church in Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... (“The Origin of the Name Christian,” JTS 9 (1958), pp. 26ff.). But the name “Christian” may well be older than the institution of the Augustiani, and certainly so if we think that by this note Luke meant that the name originated at this time. However, the possibility remains that it was coined as a joke, and it may have been in that sense that Agrippa II used it in 26:28 (cf. 1 Pet. 4:16). The second matter is the provision made by the church in Antioch, as famine threatened, for the relief of the ...

114. Freedom In Christ

Galatians 5:1-15, Galatians 5:16-26

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... they already have in Christ—righteousness—and so they effectively cut themselves off from Christ (cf. 4:19). The choice is the Galatians’ to make. They are in Christ and in God’s grace as they are. They will not lose the benefit of Christ through remaining as Gentiles, as the agitators are asserting. But if they choose to adopt law they will fall from grace, for they will have chosen to refuse God’s gift of Christ’s self-offering (cf. 2:21, “if justification comes through the law, then Christ ...

115. Trials and Temptations

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

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... times. But James is not trying to encourage believers to stuff their doubts deep within and to drum up an emotional feeling of certainty, but to commit themselves. Faith for James is a single-minded commitment to God that trusts in God because God is God. Thus faith remains resting in God despite doubt and holds on through testing. Faith is the “but if not” of Daniel’s friends (Dan. 3:18); the “though he slay me yet will I trust him” of Job (Job 13:15). It is a confident trust in God or a resting ...

116. Allotment for Judah

Joshua 15:1-63

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... towns in the list may indicate that the list originated at a later time, when the cities were a part of Judah. It may be a district list from the time of Josiah, or the list may be an ideal gift that includes area and cities that remain to be conquered. Both the boundary and city lists begin with brief introductions pointing out that the inheritance of the tribe of Judah extends clan by clan (lit. family; 15:1, 20). 15:63 The allotment concludes with a statement pointing out land not conquered. Judah could ...

117. Saul Takes His Life

1 Chronicles 10:1-14

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... among readers of this commentary that the tribe of Judah, as part of the kingdom of Judah, was taken into exile by the Babylonians after the latter conquered Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Jerusalem with its temple and royal palace was destroyed, and a dismal village remained in its stead during the years of the exile. What might not be so well known among readers, however, is that the tribe of Benjamin was much less affected by the exile. We read in 2 Kings 25:22–26 that the Babylonians appointed Gedaliah as ...

118. Bringing Back the Ark

1 Chronicles 13:1-14

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the ark to Jerusalem (in 1 Chron. 13), followed by the further preparations and final bringing of the ark (in 1 Chron. 15). However, since there is no additional support for such a textual order in any of the other versions, this proposal remains hypothetical. What remains plausible, however, is the explanation of the present position of 1 Chron. 14 as a deliberate attempt by the Chronicler to present the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem and the capturing of the city as David’s first acts as king after ...

119. Two Baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24:1-10

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... figs) and those who stayed in Judah (the bad figs). The text only mentions that the vision came to Jeremiah, not that he actually reported it to the people. If he did (which is likely) inform the people of this vision, it would be to make the people who remained after the 597 B.C. exile feel badly about their condition. While there is no indication that the hope of the vision was the repentance of the people, it may well be implied. 24:1–3 The chapter begins by setting the context for the vision that the ...

120. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... by likening it to his continual commitment to keep his creation working according to its normal rhythms (Gen. 8:22; 9:8–17). A similar oracle follows which also connects creation to God’s commitment to Israel. God will not reject Israel as long as the heavens remain unmeasured and the foundations of the earth be searched out. The point is that that moment will never come. God makes such a statement in spite of the fact that he is aware of their rebellion. All that they have done is surely a reference to ...

121. Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

1 Kings 12:1-24

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... heavy yoke. Jeroboam appears as a kind of second Moses, implicitly taking a leading role in the approach to Rehoboam. The similarity even extends in the MT (cf. the NIV footnote to v. 2) to a certain reluctance to take on such a role (cf. Exod. 4:1–17). He remains in Egypt, we are told, and has to be sent for. 12:5–15 As Jeroboam is Moses in this replay of the exodus story, so Rehoboam is Pharaoh. The elders—who had, no doubt, had the benefit of Solomon’s own wisdom (cf. 1 Kgs. 10:8) and had ...

122. Signs and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 4:1-5:17, Ezekiel 6:1-14, Ezekiel 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... the meaning of the sign-act itself (v. 12). A third of Jerusalem’s population will die of the plague or . . . famine in the city during the course of the siege. Another third will fall by the sword once the enemy has breached the walls. The remaining third will be scattered to the winds, lost to the exile as the northern tribes had been lost. Some of the people of Israel will escape death and assimilation (the “few strands of hair” from v. 3), but none of the people will escape judgment. Indeed, even ...

123. Tyre, Sidon—and Israel

Ezekiel 26:1-21, Ezekiel 27:1-36, Ezekiel 28:1-19, Ezekiel 28:20-26

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... two Exodus texts. The order in which the stones appear is particularly intriguing. In Ezek. as in Exod., the stones are arranged in groups of three, so the last three stones in the Exod. lists correspond to the second three in Ezek. Ezekiel’s remaining six stones have been disarranged, but comparison to the Exod. lists shows that a broken threefold order, relating to the Exod. sequence, prevails here as well. The first three stones in the Exod. list appear in their same order in Ezek.; however, the first ...

124. Ezekiel a Watchman

Ezekiel 33:1-20, Ezekiel 33:21-33

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... , 21–22) and 18 (vv. 10–20). This section reaches its climax with the word concerning Jerusalem’s fall and the opening of the prophet’s mouth (vv. 21–22). The second part (vv. 23–33) deals with the significance of the fall of the city for those remaining in the land (vv. 23–29) and for Ezekiel’s community in exile (vv. 30–33). 33:1–22 The familiar divine word formula, The word of the LORD came to me (v. 1) introduces this summary of Ezekiel 1–32. The Lord again addresses Ezekiel as Son ...

125. Christian Success and Christlikeness

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... 4:8). He is dressed like the poorest[11] and treated like a slave;]12] they strive for prominence and honor. Like Christ, he blesses when abused, endures under persecution, and returns kind words (lit., “encourages”) when slandered. In spite of hard work, he remains like an outcast without a place to call home (cf. Matt. 8:20). We work hard with our own hands. Paul’s somewhat awkward reference to his personal participation in manual labor is likely designed to contrast him with the sophists and others ...

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