Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1526 to 1550 of 1795 results

Luke 20:9-19, Luke 20:1-8

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R.T. France

... ’s version, which speaks of a new “people” inheriting the vineyard (Matt. 21:43)? Or is his version intended to speak only of a change of leadership in Jerusalem? (Consider here what will happen in Acts.) Following on from the “in your face” style of Jesus’s arrival at Jerusalem, these two pericopes show him in confrontational mood, prepared to antagonize powerful people. Is this a model for our own presentation of God’s truth? When is there a place for the “gentle answer that turns away ...

1527. Jesus Takes the Initiative

Luke 21:5-38, Luke 21:1-4, Luke 20:41-47

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R.T. France

... of his Gospel from the infancy narratives on. The messianic role has come to expression in a variety of ways in Jesus’s own words and actions and has been recognized by his disciples. His recent arrival in Jerusalem has been in an unmistakably messianic style, and a royal, Davidic status has been a prominent element in that. Jesus’s questioning here of the title “Son of David” therefore forces the reader to rethink the nature of Jesus’s messiahship. He is not just a son of David; his authority is ...

1528. Getting Ready for the Passover

Luke 22:7-38, Luke 22:1-6

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R.T. France

... reflects little credit on Jesus’s closest followers, whose “commitments remain surprisingly unreconstructed.”2 22:25–27 you are not to be like that. The kingdom of God reverses the conventions of human self-importance (cf. 13:30) and the world’s style of leadership. The disciples’ model must be Jesus, their acknowledged leader, who is willing to take the place of a servant. Luke does not record Jesus’s washing of his disciples’ feet at this meal (see John 13:2–17), but it vividly ...

1529. The Trials of Peter and of Jesus

Luke 22:66--23:25, Luke 22:63-65, Luke 22:54-62

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R.T. France

... (such as Jesus often used [cf. 20:3]) can expect to be taken seriously. The overall effect of this first part of Jesus’s response is therefore “No comment.” In Luke Jesus has not explicitly spoken of himself as “messiah,” but in view of the blatantly messianic style of his ride to the city (19:28–40), it may seem surprising that he does not now declare that messiahship openly. But he is well aware of how “messiah” language can be used against him (as it will be in 23:2), and he prefers to ...

1530. New Dominion as a Blessing of the New Covenant: Dead to Sin

Romans 6:1-14

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C. Marvin Pate

... only after those actions are completed that Christians come to realize that God was with them all along, empowering their every step. In driving home the lesson that discipline is the key to the Christian life, the teacher could read in staccato-like style the imperatives in verses 11–13: “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God!” “Do not let sin reign” in your present life! “Do not offer” your body to sin! “But rather offer yourselves to God!” Uttering these commands in that way ...

1531. The Reversal of the Deuteronomic Curses and Blessings: Replacing Law with Faith

Romans 9:30--10:21

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C. Marvin Pate

... appear remote or from the ancient past; they were my own generation. Because they were naked, they were not imprisoned in their own age by time-bound fashions,” says Peter. “On the contrary, their hair and the set of their faces were entirely in the style of my own time. They were me, and people I knew. I had a sudden strong sense of religion being a thing of the present day, not imprisoned under thick layers of time. My large catalogue of misdeeds replayed themselves rapidly in my head.” Then came ...

1532. Being Wronged versus Claiming One’s Right

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

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Preben Vang

... plot of which will be familiar to a majority of your listeners. (You could do this illustration with only one example, but the point gets stronger if you have time to cover a small variety.) Pick ones that are vastly different in genre and style, like an action/adventure or war movie, a romance or moody drama, and perhaps a comedy or children’s adventure. If you have projection capabilities, consider creating slides with the logo or poster from each, or even consider short clips or soundtrack snippets to ...

1533. The Focus of Christian Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

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Preben Vang

... and hope, then it is very likely to have been from God. “Worship wars” is an oxymoron; if it comes to war, we have ceased to worship. Christian Worship: This would be a great time to explain your congregation’s chosen worship style and the way it fits with your stated mission and theology. Teach people the differences between having personal preferences in worship and appointing themselves the official arbiters of what is “good” or “bad” worship. Explain how your church’s commitment to unity ...

1534. The Coming Judgment Calls for the Saints to Leave Babylon

Revelation 18:1-24

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J. Scott Duvall

... to care for the poor, Stott comments: In light of these . . . biblical truths, and of the contemporary destitution of millions, it is not possible for affluent Christians to “stay rich,” in the sense of accepting no modification of economic life-style. We cannot maintain a “good life” (of extravagance) and a “good conscience” simultaneously. One or the other has to be sacrificed. Either we keep our conscience and reduce our affluence, or we keep our affluence and smother our conscience. We have ...

1535. Holiness of Priests

Lev 21:1–23:2

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... discouraged for all Israelites (see Lev. 19:27–28), but abstaining from them is especially important for priests in God’s sanctuary. Joy, rather than mourning, is usually more appropriate to being in God’s presence (cf. Deut. 12:12), and pagan-style rites are doubly inappropriate. Self-inflicted blemishes would make priests unfit to carry out priestly duties, just as blemished animals are unfit for the altar (Lev. 22:22). 21:7–8 They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced. All ...

1536. Impurity, Repentance, and Jealousy

Num 5:1-31

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... is taken from the laver (so Rashi). The clay jar, being a simple container rather than a beautiful cup, emphasizes the somberness of the ritual. The dust is holy, being from the immediate presence of God. 5:18 he shall loosen her hair.Loosed rather than ornately styled hair shows her humbled before God. curse.She swears on pain of divine punishment that she has not committed adultery. 5:19 the priest shall put the woman under oath.The oath is a self-curse. 5:19–20 If . . . you have not gone astray ...

1537. The Nazirite Vow

Numbers 6:1-21

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... a vow to avoid wine/beer and the dead in their period of separation to God. Some orders of monks have adopted the distinctive hairstyle of tonsure, in which the back of the skull is shaved leaving a circle of hair. This was a style used on Greek and Roman slaves, and indicates that the monks are slaves of Christ. Similarly, Nazirites adopted a distinctive hairstyle of uncut hair. Most Nazirite vows were temporary, though one could become a permanent Nazirite. Most monks and nuns intend to be permanently ...

1538. The Ark Finds a Resting Place

2 Samuel 6:1-23

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... contemporary worship—but what she argues for is God as “infinite center”: I think our churches need to do much deeper thinking about what it means to worship God, what it means to nurture and to live the life of faith. . . . We have to stop asking which style of music to use and ask instead what will help us keep God at the center. The truth leads to many questions that we who plan worship and the worship space must ask. Does the order of worship clearly reflect that God is the Subject? Is there too ...

1539. “The Lord Watches over the Way of the Righteous”

Psalm 1:1-6

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C. Hassell Bullock

... refers to the collection of Scriptures that we know as the Pentateuch (or Torah). and who meditates. The noun form of the verb “to meditate” is higgayon, found in other psalms (9:16; 19:14; 92:3). Perhaps it is the singing of a text in a meditative style. In any event, the activity causes the psalmist to rejoice (19:8; 112:1; 119:92). Joshua’s description of this activity produces the same results (Josh. 1:8; note the word “prosperous,” from the same Hebrew verb as “prospers” in Ps. 1:3). 1:4 ...

1540. “Lord, Who May Dwell in Your Sacred Tent?”

Psalm 15:1-5

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C. Hassell Bullock

... to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13–14). There is only one way to the Father, and that is through belief in Jesus (John 3:16). And we should be aware that believing in Jesus is underwritten by an ethical style of life that authenticates our faith. Get a spiritual checkup. Health: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regular checkups are important: “Regular health exams and tests can help find problems before they start. They also can help find problems early, when ...

1541. “You Will Fill Me with Joy in Your Presence”

Psalm 16:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

... term also occurs in the headings of Psalms 56–60. Here and in Psalm 60 it is literally “a miktam for/to David,” while in Psalms 56–59 the order is “for/to David a miktam.” Rashi leans toward the idea of a literary style,[4] and Delitzsch moves in a similar direction, noting that the miktam has two literary features: (1) memorable expressions are sometimes introduced by the verbs “he spoke,” “and he said,” and “I said”; (2) and sometimes these expressions are used as a refrain (Pss ...

1542. “Blessed Is the One Whose Transgressions Are Forgiven”

Psalm 32:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

... 30:22, where this participle describes skilled Levitical service in worship (“And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord,” ESV), and suggests that the word has something to do with skillful and artistic style.[7] Perhaps this is the best our understanding can do. 32:1 Blessed is the one. The word “blessed” (’ashre) begins the whole Psalter (see the comments on Ps. 1:1). This is the person who is favored by God’s forgiveness, which is ...

1543. “Taste and See That the Lord Is Good”

Psalm 34:1-22

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C. Hassell Bullock

... generally strong enough to get the prey they want, but even if they cannot, by analogy, the Lord is strong enough and willing to supply the needs of “those who seek the Lord.” 34:11 Come, my children, listen to me. The teacher, in wisdom style, addresses his students as “my children” (lit., “sons”; cf. Prov. 5:7; 7:24). 34:12 Whoever of you loves life. The Hebrew begins with an interrogative pronoun: “Who is the one who desires life, [and] loves long life [lit., “days”] in order that ...

1544. “The Lord Most High Is Awesome, the Great King over All the Earth”

Psalm 47:1-9

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C. Hassell Bullock

... Israel’s acts of worship (“God has ascended amid shouts of joy,” 47:5), but these are celebrations of God’s timeless reign. Since the other psalms of the heavenly King are contained in Book 4 (Pss. 93; 95–99), Psalm 47, which shares their style and content, is obviously separated from those psalms (see the sidebar “The Lord Reigns: Psalms of the Heavenly King” in the unit on Ps. 93). But the content of Psalm 46 helps us understand why these two psalms occur together—not, of course, to imply ...

1545. “Truly My Soul Finds Rest in God”

Psalm 62:1-12

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C. Hassell Bullock

... , included in God’s “unfailing love.” This is the baseline of divine justice. Mercy exceeds the baseline. Theological Insights The structure of a psalm generally arises out of the sentiments of the psalmist. That is, subject matter demands the service of structure and literary style. Often the main idea of a psalm is found in the first verse or two, as it is here: “Truly my soul finds rest in God” (62:1). This sets the tone for the entire poem and calls literary structure into service by the use ...

1546. “Endow the King with Your Justice, O God”

Psalm 72:1-20

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C. Hassell Bullock

... . In the following table the reader will see the connections between and among the last four psalms of Book 2, which may suggest more an editorial viewpoint than an authorial one. The reuse of Psalm 40:14–16 as Psalm 70 is an illustration of the reprocessing style at work in the Psalter as a whole. Teaching the Text To begin our lesson or sermon, we may observe that David, in his prophetic voice (cf. Ps. 71), prays for his son Solomon, asking God to make him the ideal king who will defend the afflicted ...

1547. Nebuchadnezzar’s Testimony and Tree Dream

Daniel 4:1-18

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Ronald W. Pierce

... the thirty-fourth year (571 BC) of his forty-three-year reign (605–562 BC). The insertion of his “eighteenth year” (586 BC) into the Old Greek is less likely.5The emphatic first-person introduction is unique for a king. This style continues throughout the chapter, except for Daniel’s comments in 4:28–33. Nebuchadnezzar’s portions of the narrative tell the story through his eyes, with boastful language about his impressive rule (cf. 4:28–30).6The specific imagery of “prosperous” (literally ...

1548. Triumph of God’s People and Kingdom

Daniel 7:15-28

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Ronald W. Pierce

... ) was a New York City abolitionist, social activist, and poet during the tumultuous American Civil War in the 1860s. She also penned the patriotic classic “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” an anthem proclaiming the victory of God’s kingdom in the style of a Union Army hymn. Apart from a purely nationalist misuse, its repeating chorus, “Glory, glory, hallelujah!” and these familiar verses capture the privilege of sharing in the ultimate victory of God’s heavenly kingdom at Christ’s return and ...

1549. How Do You Get Rid of Evil without Destroying Good?

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... not win someone to a good life, ostracism certainly will not. [5] So how do we get rid of evil without destroying good? The Master said, “Let both grow together until the harvest.” We can take it that Jesus is suggesting for us a remedy, a style of dealing with evil. Two things seem to be clear. First, Jesus is counseling patience. The question, ‘Shall we be patient with evil?’ admits of only one answer when held in the light of the Christian ethic: “Yes, as patient as God is with sinners like ...

1550. Voluntary Sacrifices

Leviticus 1:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... a portable bronze altar with them and rely on priests, who are entitled to sacrificial portions, to officiate for them at a tabernacle that serves as the earthly residence of the deity. Leviticus 1:2 introduces the first overall topic of the book in the style of case law: “When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord . . .” The first subcase, prescribing the burnt offering of herd animals (1:3–9), sets up a pattern of activities that must be performed if the offerer chooses to offer that kind ...

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