Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1576 to 1600 of 1795 results

1 Peter 5:1-11, 1 Peter 5:12-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... church seems to possess a conventional, earthly authority structure, it actually reverses the normal pattern, modeling its vertical relationships on the Son of Man, who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life” (Mark 10:45). This is the style of leadership that will bring the full realization of the glory known now but in part (5:4). Peter drives this point home beautifully in verse 5 by using the single word “likewise” (NIV “in the same way”). He implies that the young men ...

1577. Let Us Love One Another

2 John 1:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... here, as in his first epistle, the formerly “new commandment” (NIV “new command”) that they had known “from the beginning” (v. 5), challenging them to love one another. He then defines love as walking according to the Father’s commandments. This familiar style and content connects 2 John with 1 John, and both are connected to the love command of Jesus in John 13:34–35. To walk in the truth is also to love one another within community relationship. This implies staying in the community ...

1578. While You Wait

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... deep down you know you are the one who needs to ask your friend for forgiveness for something you did in the past and you have never done it. Maybe you are disappointed God doesn’t seem to be helping you get healthier when you are not making the life-style changes you need in order to get healthier. It could be that you are waiting on God to snap you out of your sadness and funk when the truth is deep inside you know that this funk you are in is about the guilt you feel about a sin in ...

1579. Does Prayer Make Any Diﬀerence?

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... our time? So much of our frustration with prayer has to do with a lack of understanding of what prayer is. Is it religious magic? Is it giving a cosmic Santa Claus a list? Is it putting our order into the universe? Is it crossing our fingers Christian style? What is prayer really? Until we understand what prayer is we will never understand the huge difference it can make in our lives. I want to help you understand what prayer is and how to do it. Prayer is the single most important act for anyone who seeks ...

1580. Why Are Christians So Judgmental?

Matthew 6:2, 5, 16, Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... and are curious about the topic of this message. But the majority of them are not here. You want to know the biggest reason they are not here? It is not because of Jesus. It is not because of theology. It is not because of worship style. It is because of the Christians they have known. Barna did an eye-opening study in 2007. Barna is like Gallup, but they cover religious issues. The results of this study came out in a book entitled “UnChristian.” Barna surveyed so called “outsiders,” people outside ...

1581. Death, Risk, and Confidence

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... security. This is the way of trying to save life that ends up losing it. You never discover for yourself that the waters of God's grace will hold you up because you have never lifted your foot from the bottom and dared to float. If this has been your style of life from day one, no wonder death seems such a terror, for remember, it is a stripping away of the material and physical aspects of personality — it is "going through the eye of a needle" where there is nothing left but you and God, and if you never ...

1582. Jesus and Beelzebub

Mark 3:20-30

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... , G. Vermes, and Samuel Sandmel, to name a few. 3:23 Parables: The word is derived from a Greek word (parabolē) that means a “comparison” or “analogy.” Such teaching devices were widely used by ancient Jewish teachers especially, and they are thoroughly characteristic of Jesus’ style of teaching. Mark 4:1–34 is wholly devoted to a collection of Jesus’ parables, and there are similar collections in Matt. 13:1–52 and Luke 8:4–18; 10:25–37; 12:13–21; 13:6–30; 15:1–16:31. The parables ...

1583. Introduction

Luke 1:1-4

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... that is, like Luke’s preface, somewhat detached from the narrative that follows. Luke’s preface is also unique among the Gospels (indeed, among all of the writings of the NT) in that it is written in a very sophisticated literary style that is reminiscent of the prefaces of some of the classical historians of antiquity, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Polybius (see Talbert, pp. 7–11). The most instructive parallel, however, may be the prefaces with which the first-century Jewish historian Josephus ...

1584. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... truth: Lit. “Amen [truly] I say to you.” This is the only Hebrew word that Luke retains from his sources. The word “amen” comes from a Hebrew verb that means “to be established,” “sure,” or “certain,” and its use is characteristic of Jesus’ style of teaching. no prophet is accepted: Jesus’ words here and in 13:34 reflect a Jewish tradition that Israel routinely rejected and persecuted the prophets (2 Chron. 36:15–16; Pss. 78, 105, 106; Lam. 4:13; Acts 7:51–53). According to the ...

1585. The Calling of Levi

Luke 5:27-32

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... implication is that for now at least it is the Pharisees who are Jesus’ real enemies. Tiede (p. 127) makes the valid point that the Pharisees were not motivated out of mean-spirited legalism in their quarrel with Jesus. They were critical of Jesus’ style of ministry because to them it did not seem to square with Scripture’s call to holiness (Lev. 10:10; 19:2) and separation (Neh. 10:28). his disciples: The hostile questioning addressed to Jesus’ disciples (instead of being addressed to Jesus himself ...

1586. The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... not necessarily “trap,” as some versions translate, for there is no indication of hostility in the balance of the episode.) The legal expert is interested in Jesus’ theology. He wants to know what, in Jesus’ opinion, is required to inherit eternal life. In rabbinic style Jesus answers the question with a question of his own: “What is written in the Law?” and, “How do you read it?” The expert then cites Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18 (see note below). He understands the chief requirement of the law ...

1587. Jesus at a Pharisee's House

Luke 14:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

Doing Good on the Sabbath This episode is part of a section unique to Luke (14:1–24); the section is loosely tied together by the setting of Jesus being invited to the house of a Pharisee. The episode is the fourth and final episode in which controversy over Sabbath laws emerges. Previously Jesus has been accused of breaking the Sabbath by doing what the Pharisees regarded as work, such as picking grain to eat (6:1–5) or healing someone (6:6–11; 13:10–17). This time the controversy revolves around the ...

1588. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... before God, but the doing of God’s will. God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth and impartiality (2:2, 11). Paul proceeds with the present argument in three stages. In 2:1–3 he adopts a style of argumentation called diatribe. Especially common among Stoics, a diatribe was a literary technique in which an imaginary heckler or opponent was engaged in lively argumentation. Paul’s opponents, of course, were not imaginary. In the synagogues and marketplaces of his missionary ...

1589. God’s Faithfulness

Romans 3:1-8

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... of God was, of course, for its benefit, but it was not limited to Israel. Israel was not to be a dam but a sluiceway, “a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isa. 49:6). The diatribe style again structures these verses, in which Paul raises two objections. The first objection concerns whether the advantage of Jews in salvation history has been annulled by the argument of chapter 2. The objection is discussed by a question (v. 1) and answer (v. 2), and by a ...

1590. Struggling with Sin

Romans 7:7-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... of shifting from a historical identification with Adam in verses 7–13 to a personal and existential lament in verses 14ff. The contrast between the spirituality of the law and the unspirituality of humanity dominates the thought until the end of the chapter. The style and mood evoke startling pathos We know, confesses Paul, that the law is spiritual. That is not an isolated opinion, but the summary judgment of Judaism: “And these are they that have no share in the world to come: … he that says that ...

1591. Living Sacrifices

Romans 12:1-8

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... conformed to the likeness of his Son” (8:29; also Eph. 4:13). Conformity, then, must be patterned after Jesus Christ. Modern society beams a collage of intense images at believers and non-believers alike through the media, advertising, polls, style, social and materialistic pressure, and ideologies. These images are often most effective when they are least recognized. The Christian life is an ongoing discipline of learning to be transformed by the lordship of Christ rather than being conformed to social ...

1592. Love, for the Day Is Near

Romans 13:8-14

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... to the personal ethics of agapē in verses 8–10 Paul recalls that good citizenship (13:1–7) is neither the sum of nor a substitute for true Christianity. Beneath civic duties and good causes, even beneath personal world-views and life-styles, lies the essential and indispensable characteristic of Christian faith, love for others. 13:8–10 Verse 8 begins with an emphatic double-negative in Greek, which might be rendered, “Owe nothing to anyone,” except the continuing debt to love one another. The ...

1593. Divisions In the Church

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... claim that God saves humanity in the cross of Jesus Christ demonstrates that God works in defiance of this world’s norms. Paul’s unstated point here is that the substance of the gospel—the message of the cross of Christ—determines the appropriate style of the proclamation of that message. Human wisdom is smooth and easy to hear, but the gospel confronts humanity with power that is real and urgent, even offensive. Paul’s statements here are an aggressive apology for the form of his work and ...

1594. On Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... one in antiquity, for the world was essentially an agrarian economy in which even city dwellers were closely connected with farming. Indeed, in the first-century Mediterranean world, the majority of persons were slaves or servants on large, plantation-style enterprises. The lowest-ranking slave was the field hand who was directly involved with planting, watering, tending, and harvesting the crops. For Paul to apply this image to himself and Apollos is remarkable, for the picture is far from flattering ...

1595. Expel the Immoral Brother!

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... ’s translation of the first declaration as “arrogant” (4:18) and the second as “proud” (5:2). Nevertheless, Paul’s choice and use of words indicate continuity of concern. From the mention of Corinthian arrogance in reaction to the apostles’ style of ministry in chapter 4, Paul specifies an instance of that arrogance by taking up the topic of immorality; thus Paul concretizes his criticism and illustrates the validity of his accusation. Moreover, behind the censure of arrogance in both chapters ...

1596. One Body, Many Parts

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... , however, this verse seems connected with v. 12 rather than v. 13 as Paul returns to the images of the body parts in forming his analogies and arguments. 12:15–18 The NIV translation of vv. 15–18 is accurate in its colloquial and vivid style of rendering Paul’s lines at this point. Paul’s energy and wit are both evident in his imaginative illustrations that the NIV brings over into excellent English translation. In this vein, the NIV correctly conveys the importance of Paul’s declaration in v. 18 ...

1597. The Resurrection of the Dead

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... naiveté that is as yet uninformed. Paul charges the Corinthians with active ignorance; thus he sees himself naming their shame. Additional Notes 15:29 The practical nature and logical tone of the series of illustrative arguments in vv. 29–34 are much closer to the style of vv. 12–19 than the materials in vv. 20–28. Paul seems to have come back to earth from his sighting of the end. The word “otherwise” signals this transition. The tense of the verb in Paul’s query is, however, striking: what ...

1598. The Resurrection Body

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... of the reality of the resurrection of the dead. Here, Paul offers a collage of data as he quotes the LXX, alludes to stories from Genesis, and develops analogies related to seed, flesh, body and glory, and Adam. The lines of the discussion open in the style of a diatribe with a dialogical argument, leading to Paul’s central point in verse 38, “God gives … as he wishes.” Above all, Paul’s point in relation to the issue of the resurrection of the dead is that the resurrection or spiritual body is a ...

1599. The Collection for God's People

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... he had found it fitting to go to Jerusalem, although he perceived difficulty and peril in making the trip (Rom. 15:23–28; Acts 20:22–24; 21:10–13). Additional Notes 16:1 On 16:1–2 in general see V. D. Verbrugge, Paul’s Style of Church Leadership Illustrated by His Instruction to the Corinthians on the Collection (San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press, 1992). 16:2 Although there is no way to be certain, the mention of the first day of every week probably indicates that the Christians in ...

1600. Final Greetings

1 Corinthians 16:19-24

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... of the scribe who had been taking down Paul’s words in dictation (see Rom. 16:22). That he does so here may indicate that he anticipated the reading of this particular letter to the assembled congregation. 16:22 Cf. Rev. 22:20, where the same style declaration is made in Gk. The cry is clear in basic intention, but still enigmatic; since the Aramaic could be read as a perfect (“our Lord has come”) or an imperative (“Come, our Lord”). The use of this declaration in the closing of this letter, near ...

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