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 4968 results

1226. The Choosing of the Seven

Acts 6:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... problem, largely because they had too much to do. 6:2–4 No sooner was the complaint made by the Hellenists (and it was never denied) than the matter was taken in hand. The Twelve—the only place in Acts where the apostles are given this title—gathered all the disciples together and, in effect, made confession that they had not run the fund properly; nor were they able to do so. Time was the problem, for they had to give first priority to the ministry of the word of God (v. 2; cf. v. 4) and to prayer (v ...

1227. Timeout at Tiberias

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... it keeps us from seeing him. It might be that we are too distracted by the cares of our own lives. That is why he said, “Cast your cares upon me; I care for you.” Let’s pause here for a few moments and reflect on the disciples’ situation. Could it be that failure is a necessary part of a believer’s spiritual growth? One of the myths nurtured by many immature believers is that following Christ should see us move from victory to victory--that failure means that God is not blessing our lives. What ...

1228. A Grayhound and a Kite

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... and it continues today. Today it is in our hands. Is the fire still burning? Is the wind of the Spirit still blowing? Are the waters still being parted? The Spirit is still willing to do its part if we are faithful to Christ’s call to make disciples of all people. May Pentecost 2016 be a time when God’s Spirit fills each of us and helps us become what God has called us to become. Amen. 1. (New York: HarperBusiness, 1999), pp. xvii-xx. 2. Rev. Dr. David Sapp, http://day1.org/2754-salvation_by_faith. 3 ...

1229. Jesus the Bread of Life

John 6:25-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Mark 8:34–35). Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus will speak simultaneously of his own death and of what it means to be his disciple; “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if ... v. 53) is not merely to partake of the benefits of Jesus’ death but to participate in the death itself by becoming his servant and disciple. It is to follow him and (in one’s own way) to share his mission and destiny. The point is not that actual martyrdom ...

1230. Jesus Goes to the Feast of Tabernacles

John 7:1-13

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... or a general characterization of his ministry, acknowledging the truth of the synoptic witness that Galilee was indeed the location of most of Jesus’ teaching and healing activities. The narrator probably assumes that Jesus lived in Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and disciples (2:12; cf. 6:59), using that town as the base for his Galilean travels. Yet, ironically, Jesus is never in Galilee again from verse 10 of this chapter until after his resurrection (chap. 21). John’s Gospel is less interested ...

1231. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... –16 thus comprise an unmistakable, though partial, summary of Jesus’ mission from its beginning (as the Father knows me and I know the Father) to its full realization in history (one flock and one shepherd, cf. 11:52; 17:20–23). This summary comes, not from Jesus’ disciples in the form of a creed, but from his own lips as revelation. Yet there is a certain illogic in all this. How can Jesus die and still be able to gather his sheep into one flock? A crucial link in the chain of redemptive events is ...

1232. The Raising of Lazarus

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... she had indeed “believed” (v. 27). But there had been no explicit promise of the glory of God. He had mentioned the glory of God in v. 4, but not to Martha. An intriguing possibility is that verse 4 was not intended as a word spoken to the disciples who were with Jesus east of the Jordan, but actually as a response sent back to the sisters in answer to their message about Lazarus’ illness (v. 3). If so, verse 40 may refer specifically to verse 4. Though verse 4 is not explicitly said to be a message ...

1233. Sermon on the Mount: Giving, Prayer, and Fasting

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... drawing close to God by demonstrating one’s commitment.”3There is evidence that some Jews fasted as a regular practice, twice a week (Luke 18:12; see Did.8:1; according to Genesis Rabbah76:3, Mondays and Thursdays). In Matthew, John’s disciples ask why Jesus’ disciples do not fast like the Pharisees do (9:14–15), and Jesus himself has fasted prior to the time of his public ministry (4:2). Teaching the Text 1. Jesus calls his followers to practice their covenant loyalty with God as audience rather ...

1234. Sermon on the Mount: Final Warnings and Call to Obey Jesus’ Words

Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Jesus’ authoritative words into practice. Understanding the Text The final section of the Sermon on the Mount focuses on putting into practice Jesus’ teachings and provides warnings about those who do not obey God’s will. Jesus speaks of bearing fruit being the mark of a disciple (7:15–20; see also 12:33–37; 13:18–23; 21:18–22, 43). Bearing fruit means doing the will of God (7:21) rather than doing evil, a topic to which Jesus will return (12:46–50). The sermon concludes with a parable about ...

1235. Parables of the Kingdom

Mark 4:1-20

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... of him but not committed (1:21–45; 3:7–12), and the leaders who have rejected him and plotted his death (2:1–3:6; 3:22–30). The four soils correspond to these groups: the leaders (first soil), the crowds (second and third soils), and the disciples (fourth soil). This parable discourse (4:1–34) consists of an introduction (vv. 1–2) and a conclusion (vv. 33–34) framing five parables, with the key one (vv. 1–20) stating the theme of the whole: the sowing of the kingdom truths in this world and ...

1236. The Supernatural Witness to the Significance of Jesus’s Death

Mark 15:42-47

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... rejected. The statement that he “was waiting for the kingdom of God” could mean that he was a pious Jew or that he was a follower of Jesus.[6] Given the explicit statements of Matthew 27:56 and John 19:38–39 that he was a “disciple” of Jesus, he certainly was a believer. 15:44–45 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Pilate’s surprise is natural because death by crucifixion normally took two days or more, and we must remember that even though the three crucified prisoners ...

1237. True and False Discipleship

Luke 6:46-49, Luke 6:43-45, Luke 6:37-42

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... may be rotten or malformed apples among a good crop, and good people sometimes do bad things. But the focus is on the crop as a whole, and thus on a person’s whole lifestyle. The way one lives testifies to what sort of a person one is. Disciples should stand out as different by the way they live. Christian profession must be validated by Christian living. For the metaphor of “fruit,” see John the Baptist’s message in 3:8–9 and its practical elaboration in 3:10–14. 6:45 A good man brings good ...

1238. An Encounter across the Lake

Luke 8:26-39, Luke 8:22-25

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear.” This uninvited visitor from the Jewish side of the lake spelled trouble, and he was not welcome. 8:39 Return home and tell how much God has done for you. To add a Gentile member to Jesus’s disciple group would perhaps have been a step too far as a challenge to the Jewish sense of propriety. In any case, the man’s place is as a witness among his own people. We are not told what success he had, nor whether pagans from this area turned to ...

1239. Lessons in Discipleship

Luke 17:11-19, Luke 17:1-10

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... alternative to the judgment that it incurs. 17:2 one of these little ones. The reference is not only to children, though of course it includes them. For God’s people as “little children,” compare 10:21. In Matthew 18:6–14 (and 10:42) disciples are “little ones” and are to be treated with special consideration. In the kingdom of God the “little ones” are the ones who really matter. See above on 9:47–48. 17:3 So watch yourselves. This clause could be either the conclusion of 17:1 ...

1240. Use It or Lose It

Luke 19:11-27

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... theme of the story proper. To the question whether the kingdom of God was to appear at once, the answer seems to be no. The absence of the one who is to be king in “a distant country” provides a period of delay, during which it is the responsibility of disciples not to calculate and watch for his return, but rather to get on with the job that he has entrusted to them. They must also, of course, resist the overtures of those who dispute his kingship. All this will be food for thought in a period when the ...

1241. The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Matthew 16:5-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... little faith (cf. 6:30; 8:26; 14:31) and in their inadequate appropriation of their own authority to participate in Jesus’s ministry (10:1; cf. Jesus’s expectation for their fuller participation in the miraculous feedings at 14:16–17; 15:32–33). The disciples are portrayed as those who understand at some level (cf. 13:11, 51; 14:33; 16:12) but lack fully adequate understanding of Jesus’s authority (e.g., 15:16–17; 16:8–11). Because of their mixed portrayal, they are not ideal examples for ...

1242. Jesus Walks on Water

Mark 6:45-56

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 3:14, and may further evince Jesus’s divinity. As in earlier calming of storms in nature (4:41) and in human nature (5:15), the revelation of Jesus’s person and exhibition of his power causes fear, misunderstanding, and even hardness of heart in the disciples (6:49–50, 52). Mark reminds readers, however, that following Jesus is not measured by perfect or complete understanding, but by being in the boat with him. Chapter 6 concludes with a summary report (6:53–56; see also 1:35–39; 3:7–12) of ...

1243. The Healing of a Boy With an Evil Spirit

Mark 9:14-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the life of his son and the existence of his faith. While Jesus and the three principal apostles, Peter, James, and John, were on the Mount of Transfiguration, a man brought his son who was “possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech” (9:17) to the remaining disciples for healing. The boy’s condition is identified by the parallel story in Matthew 17:15 as epilepsy, a diagnosis that Mark’s further descriptions amply confirm (9:18, 20–22, 26). The ...

1244. Love of Enemies

Luke 6:27-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the tunic the garment that is worn next to the skin. In verses 29–30 Jesus does not suggest the capricious and arbitrary sharing of possessions with lazy people; rather, he emphasizes the spirit by which disciples should live—a revengeful, demanding, and grasping spirit is forbidden (6:31). Last, disciples should show a higher quality of love than sinners (6:32). The love of nonbelievers for one another is based on mutuality and repayment, but the love that marks the “children of the Most High” (6 ...

1245. The Resurrection

John 20:1-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... story of Jesus’s appearance to various women (see Matt. 28:9–10) has a parallel in the account about Mary Magdalene, a woman who dramatizes the grief of the apostolic company and their joy upon seeing Jesus again (John 20:11–18). Finally, Jesus appears to his disciples and during his visit breathes on them the Holy Spirit (20:19–29). Mary’s arrival at the empty tomb (20:1–10) is before morning (20:1; on Mary see 19:25 and Luke 8:2), and although John mentions her alone, the Synoptic Gospels say ...

1246. The Time Is Now!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... people who follow him expect the kingdom to be fulfilled when Jesus reaches Jerusalem. These parables should have dispelled those hopes but it seems they do not for: They asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). The disciples fail to understand that each of those parables speaks of work to be done by the servants of the king. Even though the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), the national deliverance of Israel must wait. In the ...

1247. Mission Possible!

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... influence is multiplied through us and we can reach the whole world together! This is what Jesus means by doing greater works than him. We have been given power through the Holy Spirit to be like Jesus in this world. This is why our mission to make disciples is possible! Jesus not only spoke about the power to be like him in John. It is also mentioned in the synoptic gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We give a lot of credence to his last words. We believe what people say is important before they leave ...

1248. The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... ). The radiance of Moses’ face when he came down from Mount Sinai (Exod. 34:29ff.) anticipated in a partial way this transfiguration. Apart from this scene, the Greek metamorphoō occurs in the New Testament only in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. The three disciples now see Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus (v. 3). Luke 9:31 tells us that they were talking about his “departure” (his exodos, used regularly in the LXX for the departure of God’s people into the unknown en route to the land of ...

1249. Divorce

Matthew 19:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... man who commits adultery by remarriage. The point is that in God’s sight the man who divorces his wife for any cause other than her unfaithfulness is still married to her. If that’s the case between a man and his wife, respond the disciples, then it would be better not to marry at all. The difficulty of achieving a perfect marriage becomes an argument against marriage itself. Tasker writes that “this is the voice of the perfectionist, and the ascetic, who because the best is unlikely to be attained ...

1250. The Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-10

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... an “angel” speak to the women whereas Mark (16:5) says it was a “young man” (Luke 24:4 has “two men”); and fourth, that Matthew (28:8) says the women departed, “afraid yet filled with joy” and “ran to tell his disciples,” whereas Mark (16:8) says that “trembling and bewildered,” they “said nothing to anyone.” All such variations are of little significance in parallel accounts of an event as unprecedented in human history as the resurrection. Had they been carefully harmonized in ...

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