Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 1501 to 1525 of 4968 results

1501. Finding Plenty in the Midst of Scarcity

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... in the neighborhood of 20,000 people present on that Galilean hillside when Jesus fed the multitude. At least we know it was a large crowd and that Jesus had compassion on them. Come, let us take a closer look. I. THE HUNGER IS REAL As evening approached, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a remote place and it is already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Every few hours I have a habit of saying, “I'm starving to death." As I make ...

1502. The Cost of Discipleship: Get Lost!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the sermon this morning. I am talking about the cross today because I’m talking about the cost of discipleship. The cost of disciple ship is to “get lost!” I’m not using that in the vernacular. The vernacular will get us into trouble. I shared with ... the way I use the term. I’m being scriptural. Jesus said you’ve got to get lost if you’re going to be his disciple. “He who would save his life must lose it.” So that’s what we’re talking about today, the cost of discipleship and Jesus says ...

1503. The Road No One Wants to Travel

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... happened next astounded the fledgling reporter. The pastor shook his head and said, "Son, I can't do that. We've already prayed to God. We can't do it again. It wouldn't be right." But that's what Peter wanted, wasn't it? That's what the other disciples desired as well. With Phil Donahue they wished the moment of truth to linger. They craved for the passion to last. They wanted to hold hands and speak kind words and sing those songs of love. They begged for the cameras to roll, and then they hoped to play ...

1504. True Blood

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... eternal life. Jesus banished the need for blood-letting by breaking the power of death. The gift on the other side of the cross is eternal life. Eternal life does not feed off lifeblood. Eternal life lives on the love of God. Through Christ, the new lifeblood of all his disciples IS love. So what will it be? Will you be washed in the blood of bulls? Will you be washed in the blood of vampires? Or will you be washed in the blood of the Lamb? Only the blood of the Lamb is true blood. [A great way to end ...

1505. At Cross Purposes

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... ) Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." And in Acts we find that the early church was known simply as the WAY Acts 9:1-2 (NRSV) "Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." You and I are people of the Way. We ask "What ...

1506. Matthew 17:1-9

Matthew 17:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of any encounter between God and humans, the normal response is to be terrified (see Exodus 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 4:33; Hebrews 12:18-21). Falling prostrate on the ground was a respectful, expected posture before any king or master. Little wonder the disciples take this position as they recognize the presence of the ultimate king of creation and master of the universe. It is Jesus himself who comforts his cowering cohorts and reassures them “do not be afraid.” All signs of the vision, of the cloud, of ...

1507. Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... will see him again in Galilee, as he had promised in Matthew 26:32. Unlike the flash-frozen guards, the women respond to the angel’s directives. After viewing the vacancy, they leave the tomb to “tell his disciples.” Though understandably still fearful, the women are also filled with “great joy.” Those emotions are about to be mightily magnified. For “suddenly Jesus met them,” making these two Mary’s the first to see the risen Lord. They respond to him as “Lord,” bow down before ...

1508. Disillusioned Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... his dead friend being raised from the dead? “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands,” Thomas said adamantly, “and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” But still he went to be with the other disciples. He still went to church. I see it happen all the time. A person goes through a difficult time when they feel God has let them down and the first thing they do is drop out of the fellowship. They miss one Sunday, then a second, and before very long ...

1509. When Christians Pray

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... do you suppose that was? What is there about prayer that they knew, but we’ve forgotten? Let’s begin here: they prayed to receive God’s power. Jesus had given them an impossible task. They were to go to all the nations of the world and make disciples of all people. They knew there was no way this could possibly be accomplished without God’s help. Years ago, speaker Mark Sanborn was on a cruise with his wife. This was a new experience for them and he was curious about the workings of this great ocean ...

1510. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Matthew 13:1-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... from Matthew, we read the familiar “parable of the sower.” Actually, the “parable of the sower” isn’t about either the sower or the seed but is rather about the soil. Then the lectionary has us skip over Jesus’ discussion with his disciples about why he speaks in parables to the people. We rejoin the text at the extended (allegorical?) explanation of what the sower-parable means. Surprisingly, this unit uses vocabulary more commonly found in the epistles than the gospels. In fact, it seems to ...

1511. The Elephant in The Living Room

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

John Smylie

... better to simply work at compliance and keep the peace, contorting himself and his soul, his heart, his whole being, in any direction to avoid the violence that would ensue when reality was named. Jesus is the one who names the elephant in the living room. Peter and the disciples are the ones who want to avoid the truth at all costs. Some truth we want to hear and some truth we don't want to hear. Lent is a season when we are challenged to face all truth, particularly the truth that we don't want to hear ...

1512. Living Upside Down

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... flowers grow down and balls fall up, anything seems possible. And, if anything were possible, maybe we would even see the ways in which we get our lives upside down. That was the challenge on that sabbath when Jesus went walking through the cornfields with his disciples. As they walked along, the disciples picked some of the ears of corn and ate them. On any other day of the week that would have been just fine. Travelers were permitted to take corn as long as they did not use a sickle in the field. But the ...

1513. This Gospel Is for Our Children

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... entrusted to us exists on the edge of extinction. It is always just one generation away from disappearing from the face of the earth. To kill the message of Jesus in your family, all you have to do is simply not tell it to your children. The disciples, it seems, are momentarily, at least, unaware of this truth. Our primary responsibility as Christians is to testify to the power of Jesus; not to argue about Christian faith, but to simply tell the things that we have seen Christ do in our lives. There is no ...

1514. Romans 13:8-14

Romans 13:8-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and paying debts and taxes. Now that seemingly odd interruption is neatly used to return the reader to the theme of “love” begun in 12:9. Christians are to “pay to all what is due them” (v.7). But Paul contends there is one “debt” that disciples of Jesus can never stamp as “paid in full:” the debt of “loving one another.” Paul’s next statement may seem to be yet another distancing of Christians from the rule and rigors of Mosaic Law. But it also reinforces the new state-of-being that ...

1515. Be Prudent or Productive?

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... .” As our economy struggles and our individual bank accounts get more anemic, we are continually told that only if we spend more, will things get better. Ours is a culture based upon one mantra: “consume, consume, consume.” Jesus demands something different from his disciples. Jesus demands “fruitfulness.” Our faith is not defined by what we are able to consume. Our faith is expressed by all that we can conceive. We are to bear fruit. We are to bear witness. We are to bear Christ into each new ...

1516. Be Hatched or Go Bad

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”) Jesus has not been “raised” as some ghostly creature to some ethereal plane. Jesus’ body was not in the tomb because he had been resurrected and was on his way to Galilee to meet up with his disciples once again. These women, who remained loyally at the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion, who had accompanied his broken body for its hasty burial, and who had returned in daylight to offer their respects, are not told to go and find the eleven remaining ...

1517. Stand by Me

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the waves; no one calms the weather, except the one who created them all, the Lord God, the Creator of the universe. Because Jesus could keep climates in the palm of his hand, he had no fear of the forces of nature. Among the twelve disciples there were four professional fishermen. Everyone else had grown up and lived alongside the Sea of Galilee. Yet here they were, all fearful of the deep, unknown, the uncontainable force of the periodically wild wind and water that defined their world. Fishers, those who ...

1518. Quitters

John 6:60-71

Sermon

King Duncan

... want to leave too, do you?” It was a logical question. The comparatively easy days of his ministry the days of his immense popularity, the days of his wondrous miracles, the days when people hung on his every word were drawing to a close. Jesus knew it and the disciples probably sensed it. Jesus wanted to give them a way out. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” It was, of course, Simon Peter who spoke up, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and ...

1519. Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... who extends an all-inclusive invitation to the world. There is more than a hint of pride and self-congratulation in John’s report to Jesus of the actions taken against the un-named exorcist casting out demons by using Jesus’ name. The disciple declares he tried to “stop” or “hinder” (“kolyein”) the exorcist because “he was not following us.” John has not only been deaf to Jesus’ pronouncement in v.37 about welcoming all who use his “name,” but he also appears most disturbed because ...

1520. It’s a Good Thing He’s Gone!

Ephesians 1:15-23, Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... for millennia has commemorated the ascension of Jesus. The first reading reports that memorable day when Jesus took his disciples to a hill outside of Jerusalem where he ascended into the clouds and disappeared from their sight. It used ... much at stake. He gave us no other choice. It was the right thing to do. And then all this foolish talk about an empty tomb? His crazy disciples just wouldn't admit that they had lost, that their dreams were in vain. Well, it's a good thing he's gone!" There are people like ...

1521. Be a Bethany

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... engage with and enjoy the company of his great friends. Jesus accepted the gift of Mary’s anointing, of the fragrance that dispelled all the miasma of Lazarus’ death (remember how the KJV put it: “He stinketh”?), to celebrate his life with his friends and disciples. Jesus sought out Bethany as a place of friendship and acceptance. As we go into these final days of Lent we need to ask ourselves, not if we have “given up” enough for Jesus, but if we have “given enough” for Jesus. Have we given ...

1522. Collections or Connections?

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... from the hostile crowd that had demanded Barabbas be freed and Jesus be crucified. Those gathered close enough to hear Jesus’ final words and watch his final breaths are a crowd of strangers. When Joseph of Arimathea claims Jesus’ body none of Jesus’ disciples step forward to help. Luke notes that only “the women who had come with him from Galilee”(23:55) cautiously followed — getting just close enough to see in which tomb Jesus’ body was laid. The final act of these women, before the Sabbath ...

1523. What the Ascension Tells Us

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. There is no one above him. In his presence one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10). All this was confirmed in the event of the Ascension. No wonder the disciples were filled with joy and worshiped him and stayed continually at the temple praising God. They now knew without any more doubt they had been in the presence of the Son of God. Henry Sloane Coffin once told of 3 young Englishmen who, in April 1848, found ...

1524. Revelation 22:12-14; 16-17; 20-21

Revelation 22:1-6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony . . .” Only in this verse, in this vision, does Jesus refer to himself to another by using his own personal human name. “It is I, Jesus” speaks directly to John, his “beloved disciple,” affirming the authenticity of “This message for the churches” (v.16). The message Jesus proclaims is both familiar and fresh. Jesus proclaims his connection to the Davidic lineage and divulges his precedence over it. He is both “the root” and “the ...

1525. The Keys to Effective Praying

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... to Jesus praying are numerous just within the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke. Jesus prayed at his baptism (Luke 3:21). He prayed during his temptation (Luke 5:16). On one occasion he prayed all night (Luke 6:12). On the day when he asked the disciples, “Who do the people say that I am?” he had been praying alone (Luke 9:18). Afterward he went up onto a mountain to pray (Luke 9:28). And now, on this occasion, Luke tells us, “He was praying in a certain place.” Prayer was important to Jesus ...

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