Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1401 to 1425 of 4999 results

Isaiah 38:1-22, Isaiah 39:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 721 to 710 B.C., was then removed by the Assyrians, but regained power in Babylon in the period of the widespread revolt against Assyria in 703 B.C. of which the events in Judah in Hezekiah’s day were part. His embassy to Jerusalem was the kind of event that provoked the invasion. All this makes it natural to see the events that lie behind chapters 38–39 as a whole as preceding those that lie behind chapters 36–37. One can see more than one reason for the stories being arranged out of chronological ...

1402. The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... and iniquity (or at least the prophet knows it on their behalf). They know that their history up to the state’s fall demonstrates an inclination to go their own way rather than to follow the direction Yahweh lays before them. They know that they are the kind of people for whom there is therefore no shalom, no peace or well-being or wholeness. They (or the prophet) now affirm that this servant is the key to their becoming that sort of people, and that this has come about through his being afflicted just as ...

1403. The Jewish Leaders as Negative Foil for Jesus’ Followers

Matthew 23:1-39

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... the judgment that will come upon Jerusalem and the temple. Matthew portrays Jesus as the Messiah who expresses grief over what will come upon the temple and the people of Jerusalem at the time of its destruction (AD 70). He longs instead for a different kind of relationship of protection and care. Jesus as a mother hen protecting her young under her wings evokes pictures of Yahweh caring for Israel: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge” (Ps. 91:4 [see also Deut ...

1404. The Story of Israel Now and Later

Romans 2:1-16

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... after the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, the notion of Israel’s inviolability persisted. One of the most famous expressions of this, and one that many commentators believe is alluded to by Paul in Romans 2:4, is Wisdom of Solomon 15:1–2: “But you, our God, are kind and true, patient, and ruling all things in mercy. For even if we sin we are yours.” It is just such a notion that Paul rejects in Romans 2:1–11. 3. Romans 2:4–5 announces a “double whammy” on Jews: the wrath of God has already ...

1405. The New-Covenant Ethic of Love

Romans 12:9-21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... ; Matt. 5:38–44).5The lex talionis—the law of proportionate judgment (“Only an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”)—is taken to a new and different level by Jesus and Paul. When persecuted, the Christian is to respond not in kind (curse them) but in love (bless them). The new covenant’s stipulation of love eclipses the old covenant’s law of retaliation. 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Verse 15 uses Greek infinitives to express admonitions to love fellow ...

1406. Introduction and “Hello”

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... have used them for self-promotion. It is likely that the influence of the Corinthian sophists, who considered their ability to speak with conviction and fervor a point of pride and prominence, lies behind Paul’s words. Paul probably does not have a specific kind of speech in mind at this point, like tongues or prophecy, but refers more generally to those who use mere eloquence to gain spiritual prominence (1:17; 2:1; 13:1). The same holds true for knowledge. Rather than referring to a specific spiritual ...

1407. Being Wronged versus Claiming One’s Right

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... and deprived of his rights; the Corinthian Christians have not. Rather, they have thought nothing of actively causing the same kind of harm to others as was caused to Christ, even to members of their own Christian household (adelphoi). 6:9 ... grand story. An example of a grand story (metanarrative) is the “survival of the fittest” narrative—it is a “winner takes all” kind of story. The biblical story runs contrary to that—it is a story of redemption and restoration. It is this exact contradiction ...

1408. Cities of Refuge

Numbers 35:6-34, Numbers 35:1-5

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... this was deliberate murder, and then seek blood vengeance. Only at the trial could the ax wielder’s story be collaborated by the lack of any history of hostility between the two men and the ax wielder be exonerated of deliberate murder. This illustrates the kind of case where a trial at a city of refuge could come into play. Bloodshed requires penalty. Popular Culture: At the heart of countless blockbuster movies is a simple premise: the good guy needs to get justice by getting the bad guy. In most cases ...

1409. “If I Were Hungry I Would Not Tell You, for the World Is Mine, and All That Is in It”

Psalm 50:1-23

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... during Josiah’s reign (622–609 BC), it seems that this practice had not been observed for some time (2 Kings 23:1–3). In form-critical mode, Wilson considers the psalm a covenant lawsuit, in which Yahweh presents a legal indictment against Israel, the kind that one would expect in a court of law (e.g., Hosea 4:1).2As a rule this form is identified by the term “dispute” (rib), which does not appear in this psalm. Further, the psalm is more a corrective to Israel’s understanding of sacrifice ...

1410. It Makes No Difference Where You Belong

Matthew 15:21-28, Romans 11:13-16, 29-32

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... Word deals with prejudice against other people. Have you ever noticed how some people can't stand persons who are not like them? Maybe it's because their skin is a different color or they belong to another religion or they are handicapped or they don't wear the right kind of clothes. Isn't that about the dumbest thing you ever heard of? A blind man was with a friend who didn't like persons of another color and the blind man asked, "What's the big deal? There are only two ...

1411. How Do You Get Rid of Evil without Destroying Good?

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... is counseling patience. The question, ‘Shall we be patient with evil?’ admits of only one answer when held in the light of the Christian ethic: “Yes, as patient as God is with sinners like us and the evil in our lives.” “What a different kind of home, church, community, and world we would have if the human point of this parable could get through to our calloused consciences and hard hearts. No more snap judgments! No more hurrying from headline to headline in frantic haste! No more execution of ...

1412. Claiming Hope

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

James L. Killen

... a good gift day by day. It was fairly easy for Bill to take hold of hope and meet life expectantly. Then things changed. There was a routine medical examination with a surprising discovery, a biopsy, and an announcement: "Bill, you have cancer, one of the bad kinds, and you need to get it attended to right away." Suddenly Bill had more things to cope with than he was able to name. There was fear, anxiety for himself and for his family, and anger. Bill was wise enough to recognize those things and deal with ...

1413. Separating Defilement from Sanctuary and Community

Leviticus 16:1-34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... But on the Day of Atonement, as a result of the sanctuary’s purification, people who have already been forgiven receive another kind of expiation that now purifies them from all their expiable sins (16:30). This is a second stage of expiation for the ... taking on himself a burden of judicial responsibility (cf. 2 Sam. 14:9). The fact that God bears this kind of responsibility when he forgives (Exod. 34:7; the phrase translated “forgiving wickedness” is literally “bearing culpability”; see commentary ...

1414. The Resurrection Body

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... will sprout. The form of the seed and that of the plant differ because God gives the latter a bodily form according to his own plan, and that he is able to do this is demonstrated repeatedly in the present by his power to give each kind of seed its own body. Similarly, divine activity in the present also explains why “all flesh is not the same” (15:39). But just as “earthly bodies” now manifest God’s splendor differently than do “heavenly bodies” (15:40), “so will it be with the resurrection ...

1415. You Shall Be My Witness

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... that provides salvation. It means that we are open and vulnerable, willing to confess that we are pilgrims on the road, not yet made whole, but trusting Him to complete the work that he has begun within us. If we can have that kind of attitude, that kind of stance about the faith, that we are pilgrims, growing, struggling to incorporate the life of Christ in our life, then we’ll always have something to offer. Lewis Grizzard was a sophisticated Georgia newspaper columnist who pretended to be a redneck ...

1416. The Womb of Amazing Grace

John 4:5-42

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... was not just a Samaritan, but also a woman. On top of that, she was a woman with a deeply scarred past. So, it is fair to say that to the Pharisees' way of thinking, she had three strikes against her and was unworthy of redemption of any kind. Given her history and current lifestyle, the law of the Pharisees had one response for her if she ever was caught in Jerusalem: Stone her to death! Jesus looks at her situation from an entirely different perspective. He sees in her something worth saving. He turns a ...

1417. Dead Hearts and New Beginnings

John 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... peace and wholeness. I don’t want you to hold up your hand, but I wonder if there is anyone here today who needs that kind of heart transplant? Is there anyone in this room who deep down knows that you need to make a new beginning in life? A ... make a new beginning? It is possible for that to happen, thanks to the love which Christ poured out on the cross of Calvary. And some kind of new beginning is even necessary if you are to ever be the person God created you to be. And if you have truly come to worship ...

1418. Called to Bigness

Isaiah 58:1-12, Matthew 5:13-20

Sermon

James L. Killen

... wire. There is another group of people who go to a city park once a month to take sack lunches to street people. These are all people who have discovered that God wants his covenant people to be salt for the earth and light for the world. This kind of commitment has its rewards. A few years ago, Tom Brokaw wrote a book titled The Greatest Generation (New York: Random House, 1998). It told how the self-sacrificing commitment required by World War II caused our country to rise to a level of greatness that it ...

1419. Need a Lift?

Acts 9:36-43

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... are shared. It can literally elevate a life far beyond its potential. Do you know anyone who is dead? Oh, they may still be breathing, but they have no life. Perhaps it is someone like Ted, a person who has been beaten and bruised by life and is only a kind word away from succeeding. Maybe it is someone like Tabitha, who has worked herself to death, and all she needs is someone to watch her children for a little while so she can get some rest. Maybe it is a neighbor who lives alone and doesn’t receive any ...

1420. The Cost of Discipleship

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... a mountain for a spiritual retreat. Jesus started to glow and Elijah and Moses appeared to them. Peter thought it would be a good idea for all of them to stay up on that mountain and he even offered to help build a house for all of them. It’s kind of funny when you think about it. Peter must have thought it was cool to be up there with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Why not stay there forever and not deal with the realities of life? What Peter did not realize was that the special moment on that mountain was ...

1421. Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... activity on the Sabbath was unlawful. Had not God said, “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest” (Exod. 34:21)? In order that the Torah not be broken, the scribes and Pharisees had developed a precise code of regulations. Thirty-nine different kinds of work were prohibited on the Sabbath (m. Shab. 7.2). According to the Book of Jubilees a man is to die if on the Sabbath he goes on a journey, farms, lights a fire, rides a beast, travels by ship, kills a beast, or catches a fish ...

1422. Why Are Christians So Judgmental?

Matthew 6:2, 5, 16, Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... rest of the world? Today, we have a myriad of denominations. We also have some churches that can’t agree on any of the denominations and so they sit alone as non-denominational churches. We have churches that determine who is in who is out by the kind of language people use about the inspiration of scripture, or how they worship, or how they read the bible, or how they pray, or how they baptize, or, Lord have mercy, how they vote! While all this nonsense is going on, Christians are forgetting that Jesus ...

1423. Giving and Receiving

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... call us to a greater sense of humility and interrelatedness than ever before. We do need others if we are going to survive in our kind of world, and the willingness to receive help and be acted upon is an utterly crucial capacity, but many folk have some real growing ... thought their one skill was enough by itself, when it was not. It may have even been so with Peter since he had been in all kinds of seas and when he asked to "come to Jesus" he stepped outside the boat. I am not sure if that was all faith on ...

1424. Who Cares?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... the kingdom, even when they don't realize what an impact their actions have. As we are involved in these little acts of kindness, we are helping to make the kingdom of God more visible. Donald Shelby reminds us (Santa Monica Sermons, The Church in Overalls, September ... , helped me with the chores. I don't know if he has sense enough to make it in medical school, but I do know he'll be the kind of man I'd like to come here to take care of me and my folks"[5] Jesus would say "Amen!" to that. "As you did it to ...

1425. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... the end; verse 13, endurance over the long haul is what is needed (cf. vv. 21–23, and comments on these verses). That is, the disciples’ questions in verses 3–4 do not really tell us what the teaching of Jesus is about here; instead, they illustrate the kind of excitement that Jesus (and Mark!) wishes to replace with a sober and disciplined life necessary for the trying times to come. In verses 5–13 the repeated warnings (watch out, v. 5; do not be alarmed, v. 7; be on your guard, v. 9; do not worry ...

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