Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1426 to 1450 of 4999 results

Num 8:1-26

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... their clothes (see Lev. 14:8–9). Because the Levites carry the holy tabernacle, and they camp around it as a kind of buffer for the other tribes, their purification is important. Next the Levites are to bring sacrifices—two young bulls with ... that representatives of the people pressed their hands on the Levites to indicate that the Levites are a gift from the people, a kind of living sacrifice. The Levites are now specifically dedicated to God. The Levites then press their hands upon the two bulls, one ...

1427. Job's Second Reply to Bildad

Job 19:1-29

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... his tent. Again the “tent” is the symbol of life (see Bildad’s comments in 18:6, 14–15). Additional Notes 19:7 “Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered.” The word is the Heb. khamas, “violence that sheds blood.” This is the kind of violence that characterized the extreme evil of human beings that brought on the flood in Gen. 6:11–13. 19:12 The noun gadud, troops, often has the more negative connotation “bandits, rebels, band of raiders.” Loathsome to My Brothers 19:13–15 ...

1428. The Setting Apart of the Levites

Numbers 8:5-26

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

1429. Israel Routs the Philistines

1 Samuel 14:15-23

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... storytelling and should not be seen as evidence of different sources. 14:18 This reference to the ark is obscure. There is no other evidence for the ark being removed from Kiriath Jearim by Saul, and the order for the priest to withdraw his hand, implying some kind of ritual involving touching the ark, is also unclear. The LXX refers to bringing the ephod, which was at that time worn (by the priest) before the Israelites, and 23:9 and 30:7 use the same phraseology when the priest is called upon to bring the ...

1430. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... his stance on boasting (v. 30), an oath formula (v. 31), and a concrete illustration of the persecution he endures (vv. 31–33). 11:30 The apostle emphasizes his stance on boasting carefully phrasing the sentence as conditional. He would rather not boast, since any kind of boasting, other than boasting in the Lord (cf. 10:17), is foolishness (cf. 11:1, 16–17). But if the apologetic situation in Corinth requires it (lit., “If it is necessary to boast”), then he will boast in such as way as to reveal ...

1431. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... v. 9: people who do not love brother and sister Christians are lost and blinded in the darkness, despite their claim (v. 9) to be in the light. Note the continuing use of pairs of contrasting words in this passage: light/darkness and love/hate. This kind of moral and spiritual antithetical language is used throughout the letters of John. The Elder sees the world and his community’s part in it in black-and-white, dualistic terms. He prefers to state situations in language which leaves no middle ground, no ...

1432. Gideon's Death

Judges 8:28-35

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... deserved nothing more than annihilation. But even amazing grace has its limits. Not by accident is this the last time the book of Judges refers to the land’s having peace. From here on, it was nothing but increasing disintegration of all normal order of every kind (shalom) and the triumph of chaos. Gideon was busy during the following years; he fathered at least seventy plus one sons. We are not told of any of his other activities, because they were not important to the author. He wanted to move on to the ...

1433. Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

2 Kings 2:1-18

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... heard by the Arameans (it is implied) in 7:5–7. It now becomes even clearer than before why the Arameans can never depend on having any advantage over Israel on the plains (1 Kgs. 20:23–25). Israel has chariots and horsemen after all—even if not the orthodox kind (cf. Exod. 14:9ff.; Deut. 20:1). 2:12 Tore them apart: It may well be that at least part of the explanation for this action is to be found in mourning ritual. At the same time, when taken along with the picking up of Elijah’s cloak that ...

1434. Healing of the Water

2 Kings 2:19-22

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1435. Elisha is Jeered

2 Kings 2:23-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

1436. David's Officials

1 Chronicles 18:14-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... . First Chronicles 18:3–6 narrates the campaigns in the far north and northeast; 18:7–8 gives an account of the booty taken from Hadadezer and his men; 18:9–11 recounts the friendly approach by Tou king of Hamath, who brought David all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze; and 18:12–13 reports on the victories over the Edomites. First Chronicles 18:14–17 stands somewhat outside the line of the battle narratives, although these verses were taken over from the source text in 2 Samuel ...

1437. The Battle Against the Ammonites

1 Chronicles 19:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

1438. The Capture of Rabbah

1 Chronicles 20:1-3

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

1439. War with the Philistines

1 Chronicles 20:4-8

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

1440. Sin, Confession and Redemption

Isaiah 59:1-21

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... from the teaching of the wise (e.g., Job 9:16; 15:31, 35; Prov. 1:16; 2:15), and the metaphors in verses 5–6 are the kind the wise used (e.g., Prov. 1:17; 6:6–8; 30:15). The conclusion (v. 8) at first seems simply to reinforce the charge of legalized wrongdoing ... these included Yahweh’s anger at prayers that were made without effective action to ensure that the society was the kind of which Yahweh approved. Suppose that the community consisted of the sort of people we have been reading about, living in ...

1441. In Search of Heroes

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... gave himself up for the salvation of the world. The heroes in Christ’s galleries are not the Hildas of the world, but persons like Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (4) This is the kind of hero Christ is calling you and me to be. The world doesn’t revolve around us. Our first priority is to Christ and his kingdom. That means more than simply keeping the commandments. It means leaving the world a better place because we’ve ...

1442. Some Greeks

John 12:20-33

Sermon

John Jamison

... bit out of control because people did not really understand him yet, and even his disciples were not ready for what was about to happen. In my imagination, when he was told about the Greeks, Jesus took a deep breath and said, “The hour has come” (v. 23). I hear kind of a surrender, a recognition on his part that he had done everything he could do to prepare but it was now time for the big test. He said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” His ministry had come to its end and the ...

1443. What a Friend

John 15:9-17

Sermon

John Jamison

... children who have no food, no bed — nothing. Based on what John said, if our prayers haven’t been answered, some would argue that it means we’ve not lived up to our part of the deal: to go out and bear fruit. But isn’t that pretty subjective? What kind of fruit? And how much fruit? Some of us have spent a lifetime doing everything we can to bear fruit and love those around us; yet when we ask in Jesus’ name, nothing happens. Some find an answer to this by creating a bunch of rules that have to be ...

1444. Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... causes bad things to happen to good people. He doesn’t have to send bad things into our lives. A fallen world will send enough trouble on its own. But it does say that God can use any difficult event that occurs in our lives to help us become the kind of people He has called us to be. So, friend, there is another question besides, where is your fruit? That question is, have you been pruned? It is only after we have been pruned that we can bear the most splendid fruit of all. This is what the writer of ...

1445. Everything You Need to Know about Love

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... our primary caregivers and then from those around us? C.S. Lewis, the famed English scholar, in his study of the various Greek words for love came to distinguish between what he called “need love” and “gift love.” Need love should be self-evident. It is the most common kind of love in our world. I love you because you meet my needs. It might be that my self-esteem is boosted when I am with you or it might be simply my need to be loved. Most of us have a need for companionship. Need love is always ...

1446. The Mighty Wind of God

Acts 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... and Andrew experienced. Or be beheaded like St. Paul. Or be stoned and then clubbed to death like James, the son of Alpheus. Those early believers understood what it was to be persecuted. The church through the ages has dealt with all kinds of persecution. Dale Rosenberger tells of meeting a Catholic priest from Poland and learning of his struggles under a communist regime. The priest gave an example from the early 1980s. Churches in Poland were overflowing with new believers. The Communist government kept ...

1447. Chaos and Solitude

Mark 6:30-44, 53-56

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... love he showed to the woman with an issue of blood, Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:21-43), and the 5,000 hungry people who were fed with a few leftovers (Mark 6:1-12). Jesus fed the multitude like a caring mother feeds her beloved children. Jesus showed that same kind of love to hundreds of other people. You could see the love in his eyes as he moved among people. You could also see hope in his eyes. He was the most hopeful man that anyone had ever seen. Hope radiated from his words and from his being. He helped ...

1448. Do You Believe in Miracles?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... not cured but he was healed.” (4) What a grand testimony. Those prayers did make a difference. Perhaps the anointing oils did as well. Healing did take place even if being curing from cancer did not. This should say to us, never give up on prayer. God uses all kinds of means to offer help to His people just as Jesus used different means to heal people. Sometimes it is the prayer of a pastor. Sometimes it is just the presence of a loved one in times of crisis. Nurse Susan M. Bottoms tells of the night she ...

1449. How Angry Are You?

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... of moral instinct that makes us want to be the people God created us to be. “Anger,” on the other hand, is that most primitive drive that empowers us to push ourselves away from danger, discomfort, or pain. Anger is also a kind of moral instinct that identifies obstacles to the good, and provides energy to strive against those obstacles in our desire for a good and whole life of love. The “chariot” of the Christian life is moving toward a goal, and that goal is the love of God, love of neighbor, ...

1450. A Remedy for Rejection

Luke 4:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... of security--an inner strength that will not fail? It was in the Ravensbruck Work Camp that Corrie ten Boom discovered that the Lord was indeed her refuge--as she put it, her “hiding place.” My friend, God offers each of us that same kind of security, that same kind of refuge when we are rejected. Rejection hurts. It is a universal hurt. But we can go on. There are two remedies for rejection that will not fail us, time and God. Hang in there when things get tough and trust Him. A popular little song ...

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