Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1326 to 1350 of 1858 results

1326. Don't Give Up Now!

2 Corinthians 4:16 - 5:2

Sermon

... caused Stephen to look up into the face of those who were about to murder him for his faith, and rejoice. It is that hope that caused believers in the early church to willingly allow themselves to be hauled into coliseums and be fed to lions and wild beasts and be set on fire and used as streetlights all because they would not recant their faith in Christ. Hope says, “Though I walk through the Valley of Death, I will fear no evil.” Hope says, “This, too, shall pass.” Hope says, “I will not give ...

1327. The World's Largest Covered Dish Lunch

John 6:1-15

Sermon

... that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). John refers to all of Jesus’ miracles as “signs” signs that Jesus was the Messiah. This particular sign was a spectacular one, for it made Jesus wildly popular with the crowd. They even wanted to make him king. I’m not sure that just getting the crowd to share with one another would make that large of an impression. Of course, none of us knows how he performed this miracle. Or how he changed the ...

1328. Blessed Are the Abnormal

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... security to Yasuko. After Yasuko became a Christian, she struggled to understand and accept God’s love for her. One day, Yasuko ran into one of her father’s old friends. He began sharing with Yasuko one very special memory. Her father had often thrown wild parties when she was a child at which he became quite drunk. Whenever he got drunk, he would start giving away whatever food he found in the pantry. This was right after the war, when jobs were scarce and hunger and poverty stalked their town. Most ...

1329. A Voice Calls in the Wilderness

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... responsible for how we live our lives. The last thing we want to think about at Christmas is repentance. Even if it weren’t Christmastime, it is hard to combine a vision of a prophet out in the wilderness dressed in animal skins, eating locusts and wild honey and calling people to repentance with a vision of our modern day society that doesn’t even acknowledge the concept of sin. “What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas,” trumpets the television commercial. We’re not even sure what sin is any ...

1330. Peace Comes to Our Hearts

Philippians 4:4-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... their fears, resentments, and hurts. They shut themselves off from others and live as little islands unto themselves. They cannot experience the joy of Christmas because they will not let Christ set them free. They need to be like the quiet young writer who came to the wildly uninhibited Zorba the Greek and said to him, “Teach me to dance.” If there was ever a time for dancing, it is at Christmas. The Lord of all the heavens and earth has come into our world as a tiny babe. What a supreme cause for ...

1331. An Unforgettable Baptism

Luke 3:21-22

Sermon

King Duncan

... he began to get his strength back, he heard in a canyon below him the sound of a horse, the horse that would come to be known as Silver. He surmised that Silver could help him escape a difficult situation. The only problem was that Silver was a wild stallion. The whole first episode was about Silver being brought under the control of the Lone Ranger. Silver would throw him off; the Lone Ranger would get back on, only to be thrown off again. The Lone Ranger rode Silver until Silver got the message that he ...

1332. Second Chances

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’” And who can argue that the owner had the right to cut down the nonbearing tree? Look around you. That is how all of life is ordered. It is part of the law of sowing and reaping. Sow all the wild oats you want to, but eventually there will be a harvest. What kind of harvest can you expect under such circumstances--certainly not a good one? “Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” The need for a second chance implies that something we’ve done is ...

1333. A Lost Boy

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... in store for me so give it to me now”? His heart was broken, but he let his son go. The younger son gathered his belongings and inheritance and went off to a far land, away from his father’s house. And, Luke tells us, he squandered his money in wild living. It was party time all the time, and he was living it up. Until . . . the money ran out . . . and all the fun ended. The younger son had spent all that he had and then there was a recession and jobs for people under 30 dropped off the radar and ...

1334. Appealing Orange

1 Cor 6:13

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... Then music begins to play, lights begin to flash, and all of a sudden, after some rather enticing maneuvers, the veil is lifted and there on the tray is an orange. Next, in a teasing way, the fellow begins to peel the orange while the crowd goes wild! Wouldn’t you think that in this country something had gone wrong with the people’s appetite for food? The Bible clearly speaks regarding the proper use of the body. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the ...

1335. Stephen Seized

Acts 6:8-15

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... L. W. Barnard “St. Stephen and Early Alexandria Christianity,” NTS 7 [1960–61], pp. 31–45, esp. pp. 44f.). Cilicia: The area to which the classical name of Cilicia applied is geographically bipartite. The western part, known as Tracheia, is a wild plateau of the Taurus range, reaching to the coast in steep and rocky terrain. Promontories form small harbors that sheltered pirates from prehistoric to Roman times. The second part of Cilicia, the region east of the Lamus River known as Cilicia Pedeias ...

1336. The Church Persecuted and Scattered

Acts 8:1b-3

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... on these dark days, verse 3 plunges us back into the darkness. Here was a very different expression of zeal for the law. The word used of Paul’s activities (he began to destroy the church) can describe the devastation caused by an army or a wild beast tearing its meat. It conjures up a terrible picture of the persecutor as he went from house to house—perhaps every known Christian home and at least every known place of Christian assembly (see note on 14:27). The relentlessness of the pogrom is underlined ...

1337. Peter’s Vision

Acts 10:9-23a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air (v. 12)—the three categories of living creatures recognized in the Old Testament (Gen. 6:20, RSV; cf. Rom. 1:23). When Peter told this story later, he added to the menagerie “wild beasts” (11:6), but the all of this verse had already included them. The point to notice is that the contents of the sheet encompassed creatures both clean and unclean according to the law (Lev. 11). Then came the command, Get up, Peter; kill (sacrificially ...

1338. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... thoughts than the one they made now. The floods of the Pisidian highlands are mentioned by Strabo, who wrote of the Cestrus and Eurymedon rivers tumbling down the heights and precipices to the Pamphylian Sea, and the Romans were still far from suppressing the wild clans of Pisidian robbers who made these mountains their home. Antioch lay on the lower slopes of the mountain now known as Sultan Dagh and on the banks of the river Anthius—a commanding position well protected by natural defenses, as it needed ...

1339. The Riot in Ephesus

Acts 19:23-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... deliberately searched for the missionary team and took these two when they could not find Paul. 19:30–31 When Paul learned what had happened, he wanted to face “the demos” himself (so the Greek), though they were less like a citizens’ assembly than like a wild mob (cf. 1 Cor. 15:32). But the disciples would not let him (v. 30), and some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, added their voice to the others, begging him not to venture into the theater (v. 31). These officials were the ...

1340. The God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... to ascertain from the rather sketchy description in verses 8–10 exactly what kind of tribulation Paul suffered. He is sometimes indefinite when recounting profoundly personal experiences (cf. 12:2–4). The event described in 1 Corinthians 15:32 (“If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus”) is probably not referred to here, for the Corinthians had already heard about that in a previous letter. Many interpreters adduce the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:23–20:1) to explain the background of Paul’s remarks ...

1341. Trials and Temptations

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

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... their mischief, but a parent is about to turn the corner, and the very object of their joy, the evidence of their disobedience, will humiliate them within seconds. They are rich—rich fools (Luke 12:13–21). The fact is the rich will pass away like a wild flower. Wealth is very impressive, and the rich seem very important now, but if one looks at them from God’s perspective, one sees that the impressiveness is that of a soap bubble. Death is coming and the wealth will disappear and the rich will descend ...

1342. To Elders and Young Men

1 Peter 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... fresh pasture. The task can involve not simply the personal inconvenience of putting the sheep before his own comfort, but hardship and danger, even at the risk to his own life (John 10:11). The appropriateness of the metaphor is apparent in the harsh and wild rural economy of Bible days, even if the city-dweller of today may have to make a special effort to appreciate its application to a modern situation. The flock of church members is described as God’s. The flock belongs to him: it is his property ...

1343. Samson's Vengeance on the Philistines

Judges 15:1-20

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... other—or both. Also, the word sab means either “return” or “repent.” Was Samson in some way returning to the Lord in calling upon him? Another intriguing possibility is suggested by the dual meanings of the Hebrew root ’yn, “spring” or “eye.” Was this wild man with an eye problem beginning to see at En Hakkore? We can see that Samson’s life had some high points of spiritual insight as well as low points, the implications of which we will discuss in the next section (pp. 252–59). The ...

1344. More Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 28:1-28

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... God, it probably carries the same connotation. The verse is, as it were, a commentary on verse 14b, the hardened sinner. 28:15 An implicit comparison by means of juxtaposition. A tyrant’s affliction of poor subjects is compared to the instinctive roar and speed of wild beasts (cf. 29:2b). 28:16 Antithetic. The text is uncertain; see Additional Notes. The NIV understands verse 16a as a kind of continuation of verse 15. On verse 16b see 10:2. 28:17 Synthetic. The NIV supposes that a murderer will be driven ...

1345. Sayings of Agur

Proverbs 30:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... a group of observations with no moral directly intended. 30:17 Synthetic. See verse 11. The eye (“the lamp of the body,” Matt. 6:22) seems to express the attitude of the total person. Perhaps it is chosen in view of the punishment inflicted by wild birds (pecked out). The NIV inexplicably puts the last two verbs in the passive voice. 30:18–19 Another numerical proverb, on the 3/4 pattern, that singles out four marvels that surpass the sage’s comprehension. All of them are united by the Hebrew word ...

1346. Sin and Punishment

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... , the the result of God’s judgment, which took the form of an incursion of the Babylonian army. At the end of the oracle God states a determination to destroy Jerusalem as well as the surrounding countryside (Judah). It will be made such a heap of ruins that wild animals like jackals will take up their homes there. Why? (9:12-16): 9:12–16 This prose oracle asks the question, Why? Why has the land been punished so thoroughly? Who is so wise to give an answer? The Lord finally gives the answer, but not ...

1347. Coming Destruction

Jeremiah 10:17-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... of coming war from the north. While the enemy is not specified, the fulfillment of this prophetic oracle comes when the Babylonian army sweeps down on Jerusalem from the north. It will eradicate the towns of Judah, making it desolate, a place fit only for the habitation of wild animals like jackals. Additional Notes 10:19–22 The form of this passage is that of a woe oracle, a common linguistic vehicle for a judgment speech in the prophets (see also Isa. 5:18–19; Amos 5:18–20; 6:1–7; Mic. 2:1–4 ...

1348. The Fall of Jerusalem

Jeremiah 39:1-18

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... and southeast of Jerusalem, that is, to the Jordan River valley or to the small wadis that drain into it. It may be significant that the text specifies that he departed from his garden (a cultivated and pleasant natural environment) to the Arabah (a wild and inhospitable area). They may have been seeking refuge in the many caves in the area that have served as hiding places for refugees through the centuries, or planning on going further. We cannot know, because the Babylonians caught them in the plains of ...

1349. Gedaliah Assassinated

Jeremiah 40:7--41:15

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... not seem likely that we should understand Ishmael as a kind of Jehu figure who was killing to purify Israel from false worship. The stance of the text seems decidedly anti-Ishmael. It does not extol him, but portrays him as a wild-eyed murderer. His killing of defenseless worshipers, even if they are misguided in their practice, was a further cause for condemnation. 41:4 The worshipers came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria. These were three cities important to early Israelite history. Shechem and Samaria ...

1350. How the Gold Has Lost Its Luster

Lamentations 4:1-22

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... speed (39:18), he has deprived her of wisdom and good sense. Interestingly the latter is illustrated by her callous attitude toward her young: She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain. . . . (39:14–16) Verse 4 then describes the sorry plight of the babies and children of God’s people who have experienced the ...

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