Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 101 to 125 of 1858 results

101. Thinking of Myself

Humor Illustration

... London newspaper about a famous painter and an equally famous writer: "James McNeil Whistler and Oscar Wilde were seen yesterday at Brighton talking, as usual, about themselves." When Whistler saw that little tidbit of gossip in the newspaper, he clipped it out and sent it to Oscar Wilde with a note that said, "I wish these reporters would be more accurate. If you remember, Oscar, we were talking about me." Oscar Wilde replied in a telegram that said, "It is true, Jimmy, that we were talking about you, but ...

102. Are You Doing Time On the Bench?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... .” But here you are on the bench, on the coach. Your gifts and your graces not being utilized as you know God intends them to be. I know there are some Jeremy Lin’s here this morning. You feel you are wasting time in the wilderness, and the presence of wild beasts is hovering near. You are not sure how much longer you can stay in the wilderness. The Christian life is more Jeremy Lin than Tim Tebow. Most of us have to do our time on the couch, on the bench. The question is how we will handle our bench ...

103. Anything to Declare?

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... have everything to declare. Irish playwright and poet Oscar Wilde conducted an “American Tour” in 1882. These eleven months were less a “lecture tour” (even though he delivered 140 lectures) than a publicity stunt, since Wilde was only 27 and had a track-record as ... a “distinguished author” of one failed play. The last thing you would call him was an international celebrity. When Wilde arrived at Staten Island, he was asked by a customs officer if he had anything to declare. His famous ...

104. Real Heros

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... and arrows.” We are more fortunate than those early followers of our Lord. Not only did their faith not protect them from suffering. They suffered because of their faith. We are not apt to ever be thrown into a gladiator’s pit or torn to death by wild dogs because we are a follower of Jesus. But life is tenuous. It can be terrifying. Hold on to God and prepare yourself for whatever life may send. Remember, you are not alone in life’s struggle. It is beautiful how the writer of Hebrews concludes this ...

105. Soiled Faith and Watered-Down Churches

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to look like our passport photos. That means one thing: we need to slow down. A second hindrance to true “growth” is related to the first. This is our factory model for growing things. Only plants that are home grown, organically fed in the "wild" are free to take on the unique characteristic of their location. Christ’s is a mustard weed gospel, not a Versailles-like topiary. I’ve stopped buying factory farmed strawberries. They all look the same: big, beautiful, and blemish-less red. But they are ...

106. Demons, Pigs, and the Economy

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... to lead a productive life as Jesus' disciple to the Gentiles. Think of it, from demoniac to disciple. But the herdsmen, thinking of the lost pigs, ran into the city to tell the owners. They in turn came rushing out to the scene. In disbelief they saw the wild demoniac they had rejected and chained now sitting peaceably and calmly in his right mind. They were amazed. Then another reality took hold of them — the reality of lost ham, bacon, and pork chops. I don't know how many of you trade in hogs and pork ...

107. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... , ought to be laden. But they are without fruit, barren. They have failed to fulfill their purpose. They are twice dead, since as a consequence of their fruitlessness, the farmer destroys them (Matt. 7:19). 13 Jude carries on with his vivid word-pictures. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame. Undisciplined, out of control, all they do by their feverish surging is to stir up rubbish and spew it on to the shore—never a pretty sight. Barclay (p. 195) describes how the waters of the Dead Sea ...

108. The Actions of the Triune Godhead Prove Jesus’s Divine Office

Mark 1:9-15

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... his story. It is God who is testing his Son, and Satan’s temptation is a tool to that end. The battle with the cosmic powers plays a critical role, and the forces of darkness are at all times opposed to the light. If the “wild animals” are indeed part of an Isaianic “paradise” theme (see above), the idea is that Jesus in his glorious presence transforms this world. Either way, the victory over Satan and his forces provides a powerful beginning to Jesus’s ministry. Illustrating the Text Heaven is ...

109. The Four Horsemen

Revelation 6:1-17

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... Rev. 1:18; 20:13, 14). Hades refers to the realm of the dead, not the final place of punishment for the wicked (i.e., “hell,” as in KJV). Death and Hades kill a fourth of humankind in four specific ways: sword, famine, plague (disease), and wild beasts (cf. the same four items in Ezek. 14:12–23). God has allowed human wickedness to do its destructive work, resulting in judgment through warfare, bloodshed, famine, disease, and death. But again, we see a measure of restraint in that only one-fourth are ...

110. Blood: Right and Wrong Uses

Leviticus 17:1-16

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... Leviticus 6:8–7:38. 17:10 eats blood. This means eating meat without first offering the blood to God (see “Teaching the Text” at Lev. 3:1–17). For fellowship offerings, that means pouring out the blood to God at the altar (v. 6 above), though with wild game it means pouring out the blood to God on the ground (vv. 13–14). 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood . . . it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. “Creature” is literally “the flesh.” Verse 11 is a crux ...

111. Balaam’s First Three Oracles

Num 23:1–24:14

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... out of Egypt. The Hebrew participle is better rendered as an act in progress, “God is bringing them out of Egypt” (cf. ESV, NASB, NKJV, NRSV). The process was not complete until the conquest. they have the strength of a wild ox. This verse is obscure. The NRSV has “[God] is like the horns of a wild ox for them,” which fits better with the theme of God’s presence and care in verses 21cd–22a, though the NIV fits better with the lion imagery in verse 24. A predator would be reluctant to attack a ...

112. Jesus or Niccolo?

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... animals around and angels waited on him (see Mark 1:13). Despite the concerns that come with extraordinary hunger and the presence of those wild animals, Jesus, surely physically weak was still spiritually and mentally strong. Forty days of fasting in the presence of wild animals would not and could not force him to succumb to Satan's fiery darts. The devil's darts were focused on three particular areas. Since we also face temptation in these three areas, let us consider each of them. Intellectually, Satan ...

113. While You Wait

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... interesting guy. He was the child of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth. If Rambo had been a prophet he would have been John the Baptist. John lived out in the wild. He wore camel hair and ate locusts and wild honey. But instead of carrying weapons to bring peace and justice to the world he carried words of warning and preparation. Crowds would go out into the wild and listen to him preach sermons with his hair on fire. Some would take him seriously. Others thought he was just entertaining. The truth is that God had ...

114. Eating Blood Forbidden

Leviticus 17:1-16

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... translated “soul.” It refers to the self, life, or being of a person or animal. These instructions in the first person with God speaking are of paramount importance. The instruction is quite practical; verse 13 applies the prohibition to hunting and thus to wild as well as domestic animals. Animal blood must also be properly disposed of, or buried, which action would protect the blood from any subsequent defilement. The term used for draining out the blood is the same one used for pouring the blood at ...

115. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... dust of this hidden world yield sapphires and gold, treasures unknown to those limited to experience above ground. 28:7–8 Even the wild animals who wander the hinterlands beyond human settlement have no experience of this world under the earth. No bird of prey or falcon ... wadis and stream beds that cut through the uninhabited regions. The animal imagery continues as the outcasts brayed like wild donkeys among the bushes and huddled in the undergrowth. These are indeed the most peripheral of humans, cast out ...

116. My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Psalm 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... petitions of the psalm are familiar ones. Deliver my life echoes the taunt or dare of the enemies in verse 8. The same images of the opponents are employed as in the preceding section, first as humans (the sword), then as wild beasts, here listed in reverse order (dogs, lions, and wild oxen). 22:22–26 As a typical vow of praise, verse 22 rounds off the prayer, but as a proclamation of praise it also introduces the thanksgiving (see the Introduction). In prayer psalms, the vow normally has attached to it a ...

117. The Destruction of the Temple and the Eruption of Chaos

Psalm 74:1-23

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... forget/ignore (vv. 19, 23). They call God’s attention to how fools mock you and to your afflicted people. Consistent with the passive role attributed to God in verse 11, the other negative petitions plead, do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts and do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace. And the only positive petition calling for divine action is, Rise up, O God, and defend your cause. To this point, he has been considered passive, but now the divine king, who also acts as the supreme ...

118. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... ” (v. 20) his servant. At the end, the king proclaims that God “rescues,” because he “rescued” Daniel from the lions (v. 27). The purpose here is that readers may infer something about the nature of God from the story: God rescued Daniel from the wild animals because that is his nature—he is a God who rescues and saves. This is further intended to engender hope for those who, like Daniel, are persecuted for their faith; God is able to deliver them. Finally, there is the root meaning “to harm ...

119. The Shepherd

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Jamison

... of a badge to let everyone know he was a shepherd. The stick was a perfect second line of defense against any intruder, like a wild animal or a thief, determined to steal a sheep or two. A quick, firm thump on the head with that solid piece of wood would ... to another, the shepherd had to lead them along some fairly difficult paths. Some of them went through dangerous forests where the wild animals hid so well. Some of them went up and down through really steep and dangerous canyons with trails that had sharp ...

120. The Year of the Woman

Genesis 2:18-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ “Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called ... in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he ...

121. Flying High

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... he let go of ol’ Zeek!” (1) That must have been a surprise to ol’ Zeke--to end his glider flight like that. But you have to admire him. For that one day at least he had been flying high. Ol’ Zeke was the exact opposite of a certain wild duck I heard about. This duck could fly high and far traveling hundreds of miles in glorious freedom above the landscape. But one day he landed in a barnyard. There life was less exciting but easier. He didn’t have to scramble for food and when the weather was bad ...

122. Grounds for Blessing

Matthew 13:1-23, Luke 8:1-15, Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of the black mustard, but also the other species of mustard that grow in Israel –the sinapsis arvensis and sinapsis alba—species of wild mustard that grow like wildfire once a single seed is fertilized. Germination of the embryonic root of the seed happens super-fast ... . All of the mustard plants have tiny seeds, but the sinapsis nigra most likely the tiniest. And while the other two wild mustards look more like short field weeds, the sinapsis nigra can grow up to 15 feet tall. Jesus may be talking ...

123. The Prophet of Locusts and Honey

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... But when we think of “John the Baptist,” or “John the Baptizer,” the first thing that comes to mind is not water, but probably something else: strange clothing and weird eating habits. At least they seem strange and weird to us. A diet of locusts and wild honey –that’s what we’re told by the gospel writers that John ate as his staple foods. [Show people the locusts and the honeycomb. You can have kids come up and look at them. Then point to the locusts.] Would you eat these? No? Some horrified ...

124. The Thorn of Discontent

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... s red wine; It has hope and health, and youth's rare wealth-- Oh rich is this heart of mine. Yet it is not glad--it is wild and mad Like a billow before it breaks; And its ceaseless pain is worse than vain, Since it knows not why it aches. It longs to be ... It springs from the soul that longs for its goal-- For the source from which it was sent. Then surge, O breast, with thy wild unrest-- Cry, heart, like a child at night, Till the mystic shore of the Evermore Shall dawn on thy eager sight. (Yesterdays. By ...

125. Faith is a River That Flows

Genesis 19:1-29

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... different kind of passage and one that we don’t often think of as a “call story.” But certainly, it is. Our “calls” are not always positive. And not always what we’d like them to be. And while often we think of our call as going into the wild blue yonder into God’s new adventure, sometimes too, our call is to leave behind a negative and dying place in our lives, and to move into a new place of livingness. The metaphor of the fig tree supports this idea. The fig tree is that place of well-being ...

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