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 1226 to 1250 of 3314 results

1226. The Advocate

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... Me Jesus said, "... When your Advocate has come ... he will bear witness to me. And you also are my witnesses" (John 15:26-27). Notice the personal way Jesus describes The Advocate: "... When your Advocate has come...." This personal reference applied to the apostles who first heard it. This personal reference also applies to us today. Your Advocate will bear witness to Jesus. How? By leading you to saving faith in Jesus Christ and keeping that faith alive. Martin Luther drives this point home in The Small ...

1227. The Agony And The Ecstasy Of The Family

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... head of the church at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13). James had gone a long way from wanting to put Jesus away to heading up the church. Like Peter who had refused to acknowledge that he even knew Jesus, but later repented and like the apostles who had fled for their own lives, but had seen the error of their ways and repented, James turned back to God. Jesus' family knew the joy of forgiveness through the power of the resurrected Lord. So did Harold's family. Harold was a recovering alcoholic. Some ...

1228. The Parables About Response

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... 's attitudes are like four kinds of soil in which the seeds are scattered. In ancient times, the sower threw the seeds in every direction. Some landed on hard soil, some on rocky soil, some on thorny soil, and some fell on good ground. Jesus was instructing his apostles about how people responded to the Gospel as he presented it and how people would respond to their preaching of the word after he was gone. Some seed fell on a path. A path is trodden down. Here the seed did not enter the soil. Soon the birds ...

1229. It Came To Pass

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

... that, by the grace of God, his troubles did not come to stay, but came to pass. Indeed, it is a reminder that when we are in trouble, God cares about us and is actually involved to deliver us and restore us. This is the witness of the apostle Paul when he says "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). This does not mean that all things automatically work together for good in every situation for everybody. It means that ...

1230. Look How You Listen

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... today fall short of your understanding. Let Herod be a warning. Perplexed, not persuaded, he let a foolish oath and a silly dancing girl destroy him. One cannot be saved even by much listening. He cut John off short and died short of believing. The apostle Paul was treated in the same way as John. And finally his testimony was cut short just as was John's. When Paul was arrested and testified before the Roman governor, Felix, "concerning faith in Christ Jesus," and about "justice, self-control, and the ...

1231. The Taught Can

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... time it is? There is a time to be taught and a time to do. Quite clearly for the disciples this was a time to be taught. Mark relates the call of some of the first disciples early in his book. He tells of the appointment of the twelve as apostles and tells of how Jesus sent them out two by two on a mission. But it is quite clear that Jesus regarded these days chiefly as classroom days. All the world's population was to become his pupils, but for the time of his ministry on earth he limited his ...

1232. It Is Blessed To Receive

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

William G. Carter

... '; if receiving, then the word is best translated 'gratitude.' Since the same term represents both sides of the act, it is natural to expect that grace as gift would be met with grace as gratitude."5 Gratitude is a genuine miracle of God. Like the apostle Paul, most of us would ascribe to Jesus the saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). 6 Good Christian people have often given themselves to selfless charity, and remained reticent to welcome any gift. As a result, churches are ...

1233. It's OK To Stir Up God

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Richard Patt

... 's Prayer sometime. What it expresses is an attitude about how we're going to think of God and how we're going to live our lives. Jesus is making it clear here that prayer is a way of living more than it is a daily ritual of words. The apostle Paul affirmed such an approach when he wrote the famous brief sentence, "Pray without ceasing." Part of what he meant by that involves the thought that all of our lives ought to be a prayer to God. The sense of living in God's presence should be an ongoing reality ...

1234. Rich In God's Sight

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Richard Patt

... you will -- escapes them. In theology it is called "sins of omission." In the liturgy we confess such sins of omission when we say, "We have sinned against you ... by what we have done and by what we have left undone." Whenever Christians say the Apostles' Creed they not only enunciate their Christian faith; they also proclaim their Christian values. For instance, when we say we believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, we affirm a gracious and loving God as the giver of the earth to ...

1235. Peace And The Peacemakers

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

Richard Patt

... Gospel in a hostile world. Back in the year 1170 Thomas Becket was literally murdered in a cathedral at the hands of King Henry II in England because he refused to tolerate Henry's cry of "peace, peace," where there was no peace. Most of the apostles of Jesus himself were martyred at the hands of those who became unnerved by these messengers of peace. Those whose mission was to bring the peace of God often brought the sword upon themselves through no fault of their own; they brought a fire upon the earth ...

1236. Clever Christians

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Richard Patt

... -- now. It is this fact that this parable is all about. Clever Christians know that now is the time for action, for doing, not the time for denial about the crucialness of the situation. Clever Christians know that not to choose is to choose; that the apostle Paul was right when he said, "Now is the day of salvation." With the Second World War behind him, the German Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemoeller, wrote his now famous confession called "I Didn't Speak Up," and it is apropos: In Germany, the Nazis first ...

1237. Love Your Enemies--It Will Drive Them Crazy

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... him the worst burden of his life. He forgives him right on the spot. Valjean's entire life is haunted after that by seeking to find that appropriate place where he can give away that kind of love. Most of the New Testament has been written by the apostle Paul. Have you ever stopped to think of what a gross character he was before his conversion? The one who gave us the most of what we call the "word of God" in the New Testament was killing and persecuting Christians. Later on he would give some terrible ...

1238. Advent Of Angels

Malachi 1:6-14

Sermon

Tony Everett

... is there to say that similar practices do not occur even now, even among folks who should know better? Sin abounds. Who is to say that we, too, don't need a messenger from the Lord? God has sent many angels to us as prophets, psalmists, and apostles. Their message is available in every chapter in the Bible. God still sends angels to us in the form of baptized sisters and brothers in our congregations, as friends and family members, or even as strangers. The angels God sends to us offer wisdom and guidance ...

1239. Roots Near The River

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Tony Everett

... By our own reason and strength we cannot completely trust in the Lord. No matter how hard we try, our will is not always one with the will of God. "The heart (will) is devious above all else," says Jeremiah. "It is perverse -- who can understand it?" (v. 9). The apostle Paul states it differently. "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate" (Romans 7:15). So then, what hope do we have if even Paul cannot help himself? Like the godly person described ...

1240. The Spirit Of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... sound similar in the other's language. Whatever the case, they find a common ground which allows them to communicate meaning fully. This is the Spirit of Pentecost! In reviewing your Bibles and studying the early Church, the work of the apostles and others, you will find numerous divisions regarding spiritual belief and practice. Paul speaks to it in Corinthians regarding the matter of spiritual gifts and speaking in tongues. He discusses conflict around circumcision and other matters of the faith. Paul ...

1241. A Christian With A Conflict Of Interest

Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon

James McLemore

... and not joyful. You looked like God's people, you even said the words that God's people should say, you sounded like God's people. But when it came time for godly acts, you acted ungodly. Maybe you are my people, but you have this conflict of interest." The apostle Paul identifies this characteristic in Romans 7:18-19: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good that I want ...

1242. Fear and the Farmer

Colossians 3:1-17, Colossians 3:18-4:1

Illustration

John R. Steward

... and I said, " 'I feel fine, just fine.' " Fear causes us to do things and say things that we might not do otherwise. Fear can be a powerful motivator in our lives. Too often fear is a destructive force with little redeeming value. In this scripture reading, the Apostle Paul encourages us to "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...." He even goes on to say that we have been called to this experience of peace in Jesus Christ. We were built and designed by God to be a people of faith, not fear. Faith ...

1243. Disney and the Owl

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Illustration

John R. Steward

... , was later able to turn a personal tragedy into a triumph. Some say that he eventually set all the animals free. For that young boy grew up to become someone you have probably heard of: Walter Elias... Disney. Radical transformation is what happened to the apostle Paul. He understood better than anyone how a leopard could change its spots. A transforming event happened to him as well on that road to Damascus, an event that would alter his life forever. As a result the world has never been the same either ...

1244. Tempted By Good

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Don M. Aycock

... . This was faith that is trust in God that asks for no proof. Jesus did not ask God to up the ante. He was content to use the right means for the right end, even if it meant bypassing the shortcut to success. Years after this event, the apostle Paul looked back on Jesus' life and proclaimed something about him that would have surprised the devil. In Philippians 2:9-11 Paul said about Jesus, Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name ...

1245. When Your Nets Are Empty

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... us will not take that kind of step. But each of us can decide that there is more to life than we have found, and that to follow Jesus means deeper water, more risk, new paths. Andrew, Peter, James and John left their nets to become fishers of men, disciples, apostles, martyrs and saints. It all started that morning, when after having worked all night and taken nothing, a man said to them, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." "

1246. How To Treat Your Enemies

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven." Then, in Romans 12:14 and following, the apostle Paul adds this: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them ... Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of ...

1247. How Good News Spreads!

1 Kings 8:22-61

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... told me! For, indeed, there is a God in Jesus Christ!" Involuntarily Come So, we may willingly or unwillingly go. But the gospel also spreads when we willingly come. And, finally, there is a fourth means of missions: unwillingly coming. Paul the apostle was imprisoned for his faith. Yet in jail he evangelized and mentored soldier converts and wrote many of the New Testament epistles. African tribes fought in the 1600s. Those defeated were delivered to Muslim traders who sold them to coastal slave merchants ...

1248. Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory!

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... ? Is this life all there is? Or is there more? And if there is, is it heaven or hell or somewhere in between? Maybe what we need to do is to stop thinking of heaven as a place somewhere "up there," above, in the sky. When we confess in the Apostles' Creed that Jesus "ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father," we don't literally mean that there is a specific place in heaven where Jesus is sitting or that God actually has a right hand, a left hand, a right foot, a left foot ...

1249. The Waiting Place

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

William L. Self

... ? Will God find us "paying attention to Jesus," as John the Baptist mentioned, or to the hundreds of lesser lights that dim the reality of the coming light? Will we, in other words, be open to an Advent discipline that is truly preparatory -- to experience what the apostle Paul wrote: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6)? One wonders just where and how ...

1250. Praying With Bloody Knuckles

Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

William L. Self

... and welfare of his family, friends, and larger community depended upon his praying. In fact, intercession is nothing more than love on its knees. When John Knox cried, "God, give me Scotland or I die!" he was praying intensely out of profound love. The apostle Paul, often misunderstood in our day, interceded for the churches out of a heart of love. "Unceasingly I make intercession for you always in my prayers" (Romans 1:9). This rugged missionary was an intercessor of the highest magnitude. (You may wish to ...

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