Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1401 to 1425 of 1533 results

Esther 6:1-14

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

Haman Honors Mordecai: Chapter 6 recounts a series of ironic coincidences that provide just deserts for the antagonist of the story. The coincidences include the king’s insomnia on a particular night; the reading of the annals at just the point where Mordecai had uncovered the plot; Haman’s appearance in the court at this moment; the king’s choice of a riddle-like question; and Haman’s choice to assume that this riddle was an invitation for him to authorize his own honor! These coincidences highlight the ...

1402. All Night Long

Song of Songs 3:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

Dream and Vision: This chapter presents a surprising mix, unlike what has come before, although it is clearly linked with the context. The opening section (3:1–4) apparently reports a dream in which the woman seeks her lover and finds him, followed by another instance of the adjuration to the daughters of Jerusalem (3:5). The next verse (3:6) is an enigmatic question or exclamation, perhaps functioning as a transition from the adjuration to the following section. The closing verses form a descriptive ...

1403. A Message About Babylon

Jeremiah 50:1--51:64

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

50:1 The superscription that begins the final oracle against the nations identifies the object of this long section as Babylon. It introduces not only the last grouping of oracles but also what are by far the longest in the oracles against the nations. The prophet pulls out all the stops to articulate the destruction that was coming Babylon’s way. Jeremiah understood that the Babylonians were being used by God as an instrument of his judgment against Judah and the other nations, but this fact did not ...

1404. Timeout at Tiberias

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Since this is that time of year for major league baseball to be getting under way, I want to begin with a story New York Yankees Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle once told on himself. It was about a game in which he struck out three times in a row. He says, “When I got back to the clubhouse, I just sat down on my stool and held my head in my hands, like I was going to start crying. I heard somebody come up to me, and it was little Timmy Berra, Yogi’s boy, standing there next to me. He tapped me on the knee, ...

1405. The Healing at the Pool

John 5:1-15, John 5:16-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

At this point the narrator’s interest in Jesus’ itinerary begins to wane. The events of chapters 5, 6, and 7 are introduced by the vague connective phrase, meta tauta (some time later, 5:1; “some time after this,” 6:1; “after this,” 7:1). The transition from chapter 4 to chapter 5 is a natural one in that a person appropriately goes to Jerusalem from Galilee for a feast of the Jews (v. 1), but the transition between chapters 5 and 6 is more awkward. Jesus is assumed to be still in Jerusalem at the end of ...

1406. Spiritual Blindness

John 9:35-41

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

To complete the story, it remained only for the former blind man to meet Jesus in person. Like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, Jesus took the initiative in this reunion. He found the man after his expulsion from the synagogue (v. 35), just as he had earlier found the sick man in the temple after the healing at Bethesda (cf. 5:14). He merely warned the sick man he had healed against further sin, but here he makes a serious attempt to elicit faith: Do you believe in the Son of Man? This is the only ...

1407. Jesus Prays for His Disciples

John 17:1-5, John 17:6-19, John 17:20-26

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

If chapters 15–17 are viewed as an expansion in reverse order of the three pronouncements found in 13:31–35, then chapter 17 is built on Jesus’ solemn reference to glorification in 13:31–32. Glorification is at any rate the theme of verses 1–5. In verse 1, Jesus prays, Father, … Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. In verse 5, he prays again, And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Superficially, it appears that these two petitions ...

1408. Clean and Unclean Foods

Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Israel’s Distinctiveness Mirrored in the Home and Farm: It might seem at first sight that the destruction of a whole apostate community and all its property (13:12–16) is worlds away from the question of what you were allowed to cook for lunch, but in fact a common principle governed both—the distinctiveness of Israel as a people wholly and exclusively committed to Yahweh. This principle, which underlies all the preaching of chapters 4–11 and finds its most succinct expression in 7:6, is repeated at the ...

1409. Cities of Refuge (II)

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Manslaughter, Murder, and Malice: The whole section 19:1–21:9 may be thematically linked to the sixth commandment, “you shall not murder.” This is clearest in 19:1–13 and 21:1–9, but there are some links in the intervening laws as well, particularly 19:15–21. The organization is not overly tidy, however, and other commandments can be detected; the eighth and tenth, for example (19:14), and the ninth (19:16–19). Israel needed structures of authority and leadership that would preserve their societal ...

1410. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Ezekiel’s Message of Hope and Restoration: Ezekiel 34–48, the second major part of this book, is concerned with a message of hope for the exiles and with the promise of Israel’s future restoration. That message has broken through in a muted sense in chapters 1–33 (11:14–21; 16:53–63; 20:33–44; 28:25–26), but it now becomes the central theme. These fifteen chapters fall into three sections. The first, chapters 34–37, is a series of seven oracles dealing with the restoration of Israel. The second section ...

1411. Jesus, Messiah and Lord, Is True Interpreter of the Torah

Matthew 22:15-22, Matthew 22:23-33, Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 22:41-46

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: When his authority is tested, Jesus is shown to be the true interpreter of the Torah, amazing people with his answers, calling people to absolute loyalty to God and love of neighbor, and showing himself to be Messiah and Lord. Understanding the Text In response to Jesus’ three provocative parables, various groups of Jewish leaders initiate confrontations with Jesus (see 22:15, 23, 34). These revolve around Torah adherence and how to live out faithful allegiance to Yahweh, similar to earlier ...

1412. Jesus Calling and Accepting the Outcasts

Mark 2:13-17

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus’s purpose is to bring sinners to forgiveness (2:1–12), and that includes inviting a tax collector to join his apostolic band. Levi uses the occasion to invite other social outcasts to meet Jesus, and that brings opposition from the religious leaders. Understanding the Text This section is all about forgiveness (2:1–12) that leads to discipleship (2:13–17), and this is set in contrast to the intransigence of the religious leaders. There is a reversal, for those who think they are healthy ...

1413. Jesus Turns to His New Family

Mark 3:31-35, Mark 3:20-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Opposition to Jesus takes a new turn as his family thinks that he is insane and the religious leaders accuse him of being demon possessed. Jesus’s response is twofold: he cannot be under the control of Satan because he has already bound Satan, and his true family consists of those who have joined him in the household of God. Understanding the Text Jesus’s ministry to sinners and his call to several outcasts to be among the Twelve will now get him in trouble with the authorities. This is the first ...

1414. Gentiles Exemplify True Discipleship

Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Salvation and the kingdom blessings, heretofore experienced primarily by the Jews, are now extended to the Gentiles. A Gentile woman of Tyre shows remarkable faith and humility, and a deaf mute in the Decapolis experiences messianic healing. Understanding the Text Mark now turns to examples of faith, as the Syrophoenician woman is one of the “little people” in Mark, characters who appear only once but carry the theme of what a true disciple should be. As such, she gives a lesson to the disciples ...

1415. The Resurrection of Jesus and the Promise of Victory

Mark 16:1-20

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The victory of God and the vindication of Jesus are anchored in the reality of the resurrection. Yet the women, who symbolize faithful discipleship, struggle with inadequate understanding and failure. We as disciples can overcome our failures only by joining the disciples and the women in encountering the risen Lord in our “Galilee.” Understanding the Text In God’s sovereign plan, suffering also leads to victory, and persecution to vindication. The resurrection of Jesus concludes not just the ...

1416. Testing in the Wilderness

Luke 4:1-13

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: The Son of God is tested in preparation for his mission, and he defeats the devil’s attempts to drive a wedge between him and his Father. Understanding the Text The devil’s proposals echo and depend on the declaration that Jesus is God’s Son, which has just been made in 3:22. This scene, still set in the wilderness where John has been baptizing, now completes Jesus’s preparation before his public ministry begins in 4:14. That ministry will take him back up north to his home province, among the ...

1417. “Who Is This?”

Luke 9:10-17, Luke 9:1-9

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Jesus shares his mission with his disciples, but his unique authority is further recognized and is demonstrated in another astonishing nature miracle. Understanding the Text The Twelve disciples chosen by Jesus in 6:13–16 have hitherto been merely his companions and audience; now they become his agents as he extends the scope of his mission. In 10:1–12 that delegation of his mission will be further expanded. The reader is thus prepared for the eventual continuation of the movement after Jesus’s ...

1418. The Faithfulness of God and the Covenantal Curses on Israel

Romans 3:1-8

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: God’s faithfulness is actually demonstrated through the covenantal curses on Israel. Understanding the Text In Romans 2 Paul showed that Israel’s attempt to obey the law is, ironically, the reason that they are still in exile and under divine judgment. Romans 3:1–8 therefore anticipates, in diatribe fashion, three Jewish objections to that notion: (1) there is no advantage to having the law, (2) God has broken his promise, and (3) God is unfair to punish Israel (see table 1). Historical and ...

1419. Freedom from the Law through Christ, Enslavement to the Law through Adam

Romans 7:7-25, Romans 7:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul focuses on the Mosaic law’s relationship to new dominion in Christ. A stark contrast emerges: freedom from the law because of union with Christ versus enslavement to the law because of union with Adam. This relationship is paradoxical: union with Christ and with Adam both pertain to the Christian (7:13–25 will expound on this). Understanding the Text Romans 6:23 pronounces that the Christian is in union with Christ and therefore free from the law. This is illustrated in 7:1–6. But things are ...

1420. Paul the Apostle of the New Covenant to the Gentiles

Romans 15:14-22

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Here Paul presents himself as the apostle of the new covenant to the Gentiles. Two ideas therefore inform this text. First, Romans 15:14–16:27 corresponds to the document clause of the covenant format. Second, Paul is the eschatological apostle to the Gentiles who offers them membership in the new covenant through faith in Christ. Understanding the Text Many commentators rightly argue that Romans 15:14–16:27 completes the epistolary frame of Romans. Thus, like the conclusions in Paul’s other ...

1421. Christian Maturity

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: Mature Christians recognize that Jesus Christ must remain the church’s only foundation. The existence of church cliques testifies to infantile behavior, and God will expose those practicing it. Understanding the Text Although Paul has made it clear that those who rely on human wisdom and rhetorical inspiration are doomed to become nothing (2:6), he is not opposed to effective communication. Paul’s use of metaphor and simile to drive home his point aligns well with ancient rhetorical conventions,[ ...

1422. Message to Ephesus

Revelation 2:1-7

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: Jesus commends his church for contending for a pure faith but challenges them to do so out of love. Understanding the Text Following the prologue (1:1–8) and the introductory vision of Christ (1:9–20), we find messages to seven particular congregations in Asia Minor (2:1–3:22). The focus in chapter 1 was on Jesus Christ, who is now the risen and glorified Lord over all. The seven messages are part of Christ’s “revelation” through John to his servants. Since every church is charged to “hear what ...

1423. The Beast from the Earth (The False Prophet)

Revelation 13:11-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: Believers are called to discernment so they can distinguish true from false worship in order not to compromise with satanic powers. Understanding the Text Revelation 13:11–18 introduces the second beast, the final member of the unholy trinity. This beast appears as the “false prophet” elsewhere in Revelation, pointing to its religious role (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). Mounce summarizes the workings of this evil triad: “As Christ received authority from the Father (Matt. 11:27), so Antichrist receives ...

1424. The Vision of the Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: John is astonished when he receives the vision of Babylon the Great, the mother of the prostitutes, in all her power, opulence, and adulterous depravity. Understanding the Text At the conclusion of the bowl judgments, Babylon the Great is split into three parts and is made to drink the full cup of God’s wrath (16:19). Now one of the seven angels from chapter 16 invites John to witness in greater detail the judgment God will bring on the harlot. As a result, the judgment of Babylon the Great in 17 ...

1425. Victory and Serpents

Num 21:1-9

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God helps his people overcome enemies and their own mistakes. Understanding the Text Most of the narratives up until now in Numbers are of a negative tone, filled with rebellion and sin and death. These events include the rebellion and sin of the leaders Moses and Aaron (Num. 20:2–13) and the deaths of Miriam and Aaron (Num. 21:1, 22–29). But as the old generation disappears, the tone of the narratives becomes increasingly positive. Numbers 21:1–9 shows progress, regress, and progress. The people ...

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