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 1526 to 1550 of 2815 results

1526. When All Is Said And Done

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... in the death and resurrection of Jesus, that the same Christ is coming to judge the world and give birth to a new creation. And so, people lose hope. As Hamilton puts it: This substitution of an image of nuclear holocaust for the coming of Christ is a parable of what happens to Christians when they cease to believe in their own eschatological heritage. The culture supplies its own images for the end when we default by ceasing to believe in biblical images of God's triumph at the end.3 The good news of the ...

1527. The Power Of A Rumor

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... text carefully states: "He was teaching the word to them." The people listened because he was not like the scribes and the Pharisees, but he taught as one who had authority. His message was earthy, human, timely, and relevant. He used images, symbols, stories, and parables they could understand. They came to hear what he had to say. Others came to be healed. An illness, which today we would consider minor and incidental, was life-threatening in the first century and there was little hope of a cure. When a ...

1528. The Highest In The Lowest

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... , hard conditions of the ancient world. We must not forget the stark realism of the brutally human aspects of this birth. This loving and heavenly atmosphere faced tragic and difficult times. Look closely, for this that surrounds Mary and Joseph is a parable about life with all of its heavenly and human qualities. It is much like our lives, where there is the blending of the heavenly and the earthly, joy and sorrow, anticipation and disappointment. Heaven Touches The Earth Look where heavenly glory touches ...

1529. The Sponge And Wine

Mark 14:1--15:47

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... cross. No one can tell if that was said in the form of a taunt or as a change of heart in one who had taunted him. What is important for us is to note that Jesus accepts this offer of sedation. As Jesus did, we think back to a parable he told about the rich man and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. In hell and in torment the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus with a drop of water to come and cool his tongue. Now as Jesus has completed his suffering of our hell and death upon the ...

1530. God's Discrimination

Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:24-30

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes One of the most disturbing slogans to come out of America's recent war experiences was "Kill them all, and let God sort them out!" The parable of the tares (or "weeds") offers a much more positive angle on divine discrimination, both in its original form (vv. 24-30) and in its (almost certainly later) allegorical interpretation (vv. 36-43). The suggestion is that in God's Reign (and in the Church) no artificial human "weeding" is ...

1531. Limitless Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes The saying of Jesus about forgiveness and the loosely connected parable of the unforgiving, forgiven servant work together in this setting to suggest that forgiveness should be both limitless and contagious. Not only should one forgive without ceasing, but one who is forgiven should multiply the mercy by forgiving as well. Liturgical Color Green Suggested Hymns Let Me Be Yours Forever ...

1532. Proper 27

Matthew 23:1-39

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes On the lips of Jesus this parable was probably about the coming Reign of God and the urgency of preparedness. But for Matthew it is about the delay of the parousia experienced by the Church of his own day (some half-century later), which by the twentieth century looks more like a non-occurrence. The challenge today, ...

1533. Preserving vs. Promoting the Gospel

Matthew 25:14-30

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Notes Exactly what Jesus' original intent was for this parable is uncertain, but the fearful, "protectionist" mentality of the third servant is universal and timeless: he timidly decides to protect what he has rather than to develop it, and because of his subsequent actions he is pronounced "wicked and lazy." This story could be applied to a myriad of cases, ...

1534. The Peacemakers

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

John A. Terry

... . The nature of God, as we know that through Jesus, is love, forgiveness and reconciliation. It is our God who is the creator of this peace. When the great Swiss theologian Karl Barth visited the United Nations, he said, "The international organization could be an earthly parable of the heavenly kingdom, but real peace will not be made here although it might seem as an approach. Peace will be made by God himself." To go out making peace we go out bearing the nature of God and living as members of God's ...

1535. Feeding the 5000

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... we see in the flow of these stories is the hardening of the hearts of the disciples (Mark 6:52). The description of the disciples' hearts as being hardened fits Tolbert's assignment of the disciples as the rocky ground in Mark's version of the Parable of the Sower. (See also 8:17-21.) Tolbert is convinced on these grounds that the hardening of the hearts of the disciples and the general blindness of the people to the true identity of Jesus begins to make it difficult for Jesus to perform miracles. Where ...

1536. Table Manners

Mark 2:18-22, Mark 2:13-17

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... 3:6 we find Jesus mired in constant controversy. These stories end on an ominous note (Mark 3:6). The leaders of the Jewish people come off in these stories in such a way as to suggest to some that they are the hearers of whom Jesus spoke in the Parable of the Sower when he said: "... when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them" (Mark 4:15). Mary Ann Tolbert had noted for us that the section of Mark's Gospel which covers 1:16--2:12 begins with the calling of ...

1537. Speaking Truth to Power: The Ministry of Nathan

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... . First I shoot at the fence, and then I take a piece of chalk and draw circles around the holes.” The rabbi chuckled for a moment, “Now you know my secret. I don’t look for a story to answer a question. I collect every good story or parable I hear and then store it in my mind. When the right occasion or question arises, I point the story in its direction. In effect, I simply draw a circle around a hole that is already there.” (William R. White, Stories For the Journey, p. 30) Basically, this ...

1538. Wisdom for the Living of These Days

Proverbs 2:1-22

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... Jesus at the time of his birth are known as the Wise Men. As the babe grew up, “he increased in wisdom.” His words of teaching were so wise that even his enemies said, “No man ever spoke like this man.” His wisdom came through in his parables. His answers to tricky questions, like “Shall we pay tax to Caesar?” were products of wisdom to the point that toward the end of his ministry no one dared ask him any more questions. He expected his followers to be wise: “Be wise as serpents.” To follow ...

1539. Read the Directions

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... a source like that. He was never fairly convicted of any wrong. In generosity and concern for others, Christ is also the perfect example. He only lived for the good of others. What the prodigal son’s father said to the disgruntled elder brother at the end of Jesus’ parable is what the Lord says to us, “All that is mine is yours.” No one can be more generous than that. We are in debt to God through Christ his Son for every breath that we draw, every beat of our hearts, every ounce of our strength ...

1540. Can We Love Too Much?

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... is that he gave us minds with which to think, reason, evaluate and decide. When we use our minds, we show our love for God. We love God by using our heads. Think things through. Use common sense. Not to use our minds is foolishness. The virgins in the parable were foolish because they did not think that they would need more oil for their lamps. The rich man who built bigger barns and then retired was a fool because he did not think of his mortality. When a person turns to astrology to get direction from a ...

1541. The Banquet Bowl

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

... us is for us." It turned out that upon auditing Bill's tax records and bank statements the IRS found he had given well over $2 million to various churches and charities during his last 20 years of life. He died possessing very little. A parable: Micah rubbed his forehead in utter frustration, in anxious expectation of the upcoming Kingdom Banquet Bowl. As God's agent, poor Micah was getting tired of taking a licking from Conrad, Lucifer's agent. The Kingdom team had never, even once, defeated the Powers and ...

1542. The Robe

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

... will not die. The bread that if anyone eats it, he/she will live forever. The bread is Jesus himself, which he gives so that the world may live. Thus Jesus invites us to consume him, to put him on, to wear him so that we will receive life. A parable: Joshua scooted quickly out of the office building where he worked. As the elevator brought him down to the first floor of the glass and steel complex Josh couldn't wait to get over to The Hub. The Hub was an upscale men's clothing and fashion store in the ...

1543. The Spiritual Organ Of Corti

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

Jonah went in the opposite direction of that in which God wanted him to go. Jonah was jealous of God's unbounded desire to include even the evil city of Nineveh in his kingdom. Like the older brother in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, Jonah wouldn't hear or speak of God's gracious redemptive sweep, which included even prodigals and foreigners. So, through a great fish, God opened up Jonah's ears so that he would be able to speak God's word of repentance and redemption. "He even ...

1544. Absalom, Absalom

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Sue Anne Steffey Morrow

... , all the bloodshed, all the violence, all the grief. Why did it all fall apart for David, Israel's beloved king, chosen one of God? And speaking of God, where was God through it all? We left David last week looking in the mirror of Nathan's parable, recognizing that he was the one who had sinned against the Lord. David's life is spared graciously but God's judgment is pronounced and secured. "The sword will never depart from your house." And since last week, that judgment has played itself out. There has ...

1545. When Something Is About To Happen

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Thomas Long

... wanting to know too much, we are still left with too little. We still have the question of how to hope in the meantime, when nothing ever happens. And that is why the writer of Mark remembered the other word which Jesus said. This word was a story, a parable actually, about a man who went on a trip and left his servants to manage the house while he was gone. That, of course, is a description of the situation of the church, left in charge of the house while the Master is absent. What Jesus said about the ...

1546. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... spontaneously, joyously, and loudly shout, "The Messiah is here! The Messiah is back!" Every head in the library turned toward the voice, but, alas, as the Times reported, "A few minutes later everyone went back to work."4 A wry story, but also a parable of the often dashed expectations of those who wait for God. Someone cries, "Peace, peace," but there is no peace. Another says, "Comfort, comfort," but there is little comfort. "Come, thou long-expected Jesus," goes the prayerful hymn, and heads turn in a ...

1547. Lent 2

Mk 8:31-38 · Rom 4:13-25; 8:31-39 · Gen 17:1-7, 15-16; 22:1-18 · Ps 22

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... , shame and death. Peter was so opposed to the idea of a suffering Messiah that he rebuked Jesus. The disciples would understand the deeper concepts of Christology only after the resurrection. Plain talk. Prior to this point in Jesus' ministry, he had spoken primarily in parables. Now it was time for plain talk; after all, these were matters of life and death. It seems that when it comes to the subject of death, we try to escape the painful realities by talking in riddles and metaphors. We even prefer to ...

1548. Maundy Thursday/Holy Thursday

John 13:1-17, Exodus 12:1-30, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, John 13:31-38

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... . Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 John's version of the Last Supper. The Words of Institution are not cited by the fourth gospel. Rather, John uses it as a springboard for Jesus washing his disciple's feet. The footwashing becomes a living parable which teaches humility. It illustrates the hymn to Christ's humility found in Philippians 2, our Second Lesson for Passion Sunday. Jesus, the Master and teacher, assumes the role of the servant. This action serves as a great teaching moment. The disciples of Jesus ...

1549. Proper 13

Ephesians 4:1-16, 2 Samuel 12:1-31, John 6:25-59

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... God is gracious. God was gracious in forgiving David and he is gracious to us as well. Though we must suffer the consequences of our sins, God saves our lives through the reconciliation offered to us in Christ. Outline: 1. David judged rightly the man in Nathan's parable deserved to die, but so did David. 2. Paul says: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). 3. God offered forgiveness to David and pardon to all through Jesus Christ. "The free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 2 ...

1550. Epiphany 5

Job 7:1-7, Isaiah 40:1-31, Mark 1:29-39, 1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... sit in the back of the bus is an image we can all relate to. Jesus proclaimed the inbreaking of the kingdom of God, a theoretical construct. However, Jesus created hundreds of images of what the kingdom of God might look like through his parables and healings. An essential aspect of Jesus' mission was to concretize, first for himself and then for his hearers, the kingdom. His mission of mercy was a concrete expression of his prayer vision. Sermon Title: Love Lifted Me. Sermon Angle: When Jesus healed Peter ...

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