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Showing 126 to 150 of 2844 results

126. Woes and Judgments

Isaiah 5:8-30

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Judgment Missed and Demonstrated: In length and theme chapter 5 pairs with chapter 1 and closes a bracket around 2:2–4:6. Chapter 5 comprises a mock love song; a series of woes that will be completed in 10:1–4; and a warning about Yahweh’s outstretched hand that will continue in chapter 9. In contrast to 1:1–2:1 and 2:2–4:6, no positive note is struck at the beginning or the end. Chapters 1–5 come to a close as bleak as their opening. Rebellion and darkness ultimately bracket them.In length and theme ...

127. Have a Very Messy Christmas!

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

John Jamison

I’ll tell you, this had to be something to see. The Jordan River is not a big river like many that we might think of. At its widest, you could still easily thrown a stone across it, and in many other places, you could just step from one side to the other. The wide and deeper spots usually became places where people would gather to fill their water jugs, wash clothes, bathe the children… or just escape from the heat and dryness of the land around the river. Most of the land was a wilderness; narrow paths ...

128. Moving At The Speed Of Light: In Corinth Or Cana?

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

It is hard to know what more can be said about marriage. Weddings are stressors. The planning, the showers, the many opinions, the money, the lists, the social pressures ... who can survive a wedding? The summer before my teenage bride and I were wed in our September nuptials, we worked as lifeguards at a local swimming pool, making buckets of money. We were between our sophomore and junior years in college and had all the worldly possessions that one would expect from two who had partially furnished two ...

129. The Surprise of Absolute Victory

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

In this day of overwhelming defeatism, we look longingly for the absolute victory. Paul declares it in today's Scripture: "Nay, (even) in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Do you believe that? If you do, you are more steady in the midst of the collapse all around you. A great pessimism has to be conquered by a great faith. Edith Lovejoy Pierce uncovers a challenging insight: Even though we escape now We shall not escape Turning a key in a lock, Dropping a well-placed ...

130. Last Words

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Last Words New Title: Before It's Too Late, Turn Around A lawyer was trying to console a weeping widow. Her husband had passed away without a will. "Did the deceased have any last words ...

131. The Vocation of Leadership: A Prophet Among Them

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

The original invitation to deliver this Johannaber Lecture included the general instruction that the lecture theme have something to do with spirituality and/or spiritual formation. The more I thought of that in the context of a “ministers week,” the more certain I was that I wanted to focus on leadership – the vocation of leadership. Pastors are leaders, but they are specifically Christian leaders. So that’s my focus: leadership from a Christian perspective. I begin with three pictures. The first is out ...

132. On the Road with Jesus

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

David O. Bales

Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove is about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in about 1880. The novel includes the preparations for this 1,000-mile journey and a myriad of adventures along the way. A woman is taken on the drive: Lorena. This isn’t just out of the ordinary. It’s unique. She’s brought along by a man who abandons her. She’s then kidnapped and terribly abused by outlaws. Finally, Lorena is rescued and continues with the cattle drive, but she’s deeply traumatized ...

133. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The missionaries cross to Asia Minor, where Paul’s first recorded sermon is preached in Antioch. The speech is given at length, so that on other occasions Luke needed only to say that Paul “proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues” (13:5; 14:1; etc.) without feeling obliged to give the content of the preaching each time. And like the speech, the response was also a paradigm, with some Jews believing but many rejecting the gospel. It is possible to see in the pattern of ministry outlined in this ...

134. Body

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

This section continues the theme of Paul’s earthly apostolic existence and his heavenly expectation. While this much-discussed passage is crucial for understanding Pauline eschatology, it admits of various interpretations, depending on which religious background is seen here (Jewish apocalyptic, Hellenistic dualism, or Gnosticism). The interpretation of the passage is also beset by the tensions within the text and by the question of its relation to 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15. In ...

135. Jephthah

Jud 10:6–11:40

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

Jephthah: Ammonite Oppression · Jephthah is not mentioned by name, but this section sets the stage, both generally and specifically, for his entrance on the scene. The author describes Israel’s deteriorating spiritual condition and interaction with God about their circumstances (vv. 6–16); more specifically, he begins to focus attention upon the events that directly led to Jephthah’s rise to leadership (vv. 17–18). The obvious emphasis in this section is upon the general, spanning as it does eleven verses ...

136. Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

In chapters 6–7 Paul discusses the Christian life using four metaphors: baptism (6:1–14), slavery (6:15–23), marriage (7:1–6), and psychology (7:7–25). The present section on slavery continues the interplay between indicative and imperative: what God has done leads to what we ought to do. Paul presents his ideas in a series of antithetical statements: “under law / under grace” (v. 15), “sin which leads to death / obedience which leads to righteousness” (v. 16), “free from sin / slaves to righteousness” (v ...

137. The Kings of the South and the North

Daniel 11:2-35

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation--The Body: We enter now into the body of the last main revelation of the book of Daniel. There has been some progression in the visions of the book from a more general scope, encompassing larger blocks of history, to a more narrow focus on shorter periods of time. So, for example, Daniel 2 spans four and a half centuries by outlining the four human empires of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Greece, which are swept away by the fifth—the eternal kingdom of God. Aside from the fact that the ...

138. Vetted

Luke 3:21-38, Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) Back in 1984, when Sting was with the Police, he had a stalker. So Sting wrote an ode to his stalker called “Every Breath You Take.” For those of you who never heard of Sting, or the Police, or the year 1984, it went like this: [either play a stanza of the song or read out these lyrics] Every ...

139. A Man Who Laughed at God

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

The Bible begins, as we all know, with the beginning - the story of creation, of God’s making his universe. But following the impressive story of the creation of the world, and then the majestic story of the creation of man (God "breathed into his nostrils, and man became a living soul"), sin was introduced into God’s beautiful world. The man, whom he had created, disobeyed and fell into sin; the image of God was tarnished; and fellowship with the Creator was interrupted. Eden became a "Paradise Lost." In ...

140. Man Of Sorrows

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Larry Powell

The fourth Servant Song of Isaiah, included in our text, preaches itself. Remarkably, it provides the prophecy, biography, and epilogue of Jesus of Nazareth. We will not engage here in the arguments of higher criticism which raise sophisticated questions as to whether Isaiah was speaking of an actual person, or of Israel as a whole, or of one yet to come. We consign those arguments to the scholars whose devotion to research leads them to search out those kinds of things. We shall proceed, rather, under the ...

141. Good News for Tenant Farmers

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A true story - an incident from the 1930's when the Tennessee Valley Authority was building its many dams on the Tennessee River.(1) To do that, they had to relocate a number of people who were living in the area that would be flooded when the dams were finished. One family in particular lived in an old, ramshackle cabin. The TVA built them a beautiful split-level ranch home on the hill overlooking the location of their former home. But when the Authority came to help the family move, they refused to go. ...

142. That Would Be Some Miracle!

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

The Feeding of the Five Thousand may well be the most difficult miracle in the Gospels with which we have to deal. And yet it is the one miracle that is most firmly anchored in the Gospels. Of all the miracles which Jesus performed, only this one appears in all four of the Gospels! There must be some strong tradition behind it. The least one can say is that Jesus was the kind of Man about whom His friends could hardly talk except in terms of miracles. Presbyterian Kenneth Foreman, commenting on this ...

143. Constantly Abiding

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

As I grow older, and hopefully wiser, I’m more convinced that despite the limitations of my early life, the soil in which my roots originally grew was rich and fertile. The richness of love in our home was more powerful than material poverty. The warm concern, the gentle care, the self-sacrificing for their five children gave us a heritage dollars can’t buy. Though glaringly limited, the faith we shared in the little country church had an expansive simplicity to which I return often. On a visit to that ...

144. From Hurting to Helping

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

Two psychiatrists were at a convention. "What was your most difficult case?" one asked the other. "Once I had a patient who lived in a pure fantasy world," replied his colleague. "He believed that a wildly rich uncle in South America was going to leave him a fortune. All day long he waited for a make-believe letter to arrive from a fictitious attorney. He never went out or did anything. He just sat around and waited." "What was the result?" asked the first psychiatrist. "It was an eight-year struggle," ...

145. What If the End Is Near?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

Someone handed me a note at the door of the church building a few Sundays ago. Here is what it said: Absolute knowledge I have none, But my aunt's washer woman's sister's son Heard a policeman on his beat Say to a laborer on the street That he had a letter just last week Written in finest classical Greek, From a Chinese coolie in Timbuktu Who said the Negroes in Cuba knew of a man in a Texas town Who got it straight from a circus clown, That a man in the Klondike heard the news From a gang of South ...

146. He Leadeth Me

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There was a story being circulated back in the days when President Carter was in the White House. He was meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel about the negotiation of a peace in the Middle East. Since both were religious men and worshiped the same God they thought it would be a good idea to consult God on the matters that were before them. Carter offered to use his private phone to do it, pay the charges. So they placed the call, talked to God for five minutes. When the call was completed Carter asked ...

147. Reasons for Rejoicing

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

We Christians can disagree over some of the smallest, most ordinary things. Group therapy is now available for congregations who want to learn skills for getting along peaceably within the body of Christ. A congregational therapist tells the story of a church that almost split over the issue of mashed potatoes. I know it sounds a little trivial, but to the people involved, it was a most significant matter. The problem at hand was a proposed change at church fellowship dinners — whether to continue making ...

148. Distracted by Disappointment

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

King Duncan

Karl Barth, one of the twentieth century’s most famous theologians, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lived and lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on the streetcar and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. “Are you new to the city?” Barth inquired. “Yes,” said the tourist. “Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?” asked Barth. “Yes,” he said, “I’d love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?” Barth ...

149. Risky Business

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Many of you have seen the delightful animated feature, Shrek. You may remember Eddie Murphy as a mouthy, arrogant, tactless donkey who can’t shut up to save his life. In one scene, Shrek, the big green ogre, travels to rescue Princess Fiona, while Donkey tags along with him. While Princess Fiona is trapped in a castle surrounded by boiling lava, Shrek and Donkey cross a wobbly, unstable bridge, and Donkey, out of fear, wants to turn around. In great trepidation, Donkey yells, “I’m not going!” Shrek replies ...

150. Jesus Eats with Sinners and Heals the Sick

Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 9:14-17, Matthew 9:18-26, Matthew 9:27-34

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew encourages his readers to trust and follow Jesus, whose healing power and mercy toward sinners signal the arrival of God’s kingdom. Understanding the Text The final section of chapters 8–9 continues to accent themes of Jesus’ authority to heal—with three healing accounts in this section—and faith as the appropriate response (9:22, 29). The call narrative of the tax collector Matthew includes a paradigmatic meal scene in which Jesus eats with “tax collectors and sinners” (9:9–13; see also ...

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