Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 151 to 175 of 340 results

Matthew 1:18-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... we know as "Matthew" wrote his version of the gospel. The style and grace of his writing tells the story of Jesus' birth, life, crucifixion and resurrection with a unique kind of sophistication and artistry. Luke is a master storyteller, John a consummate theologian, Mark an emotional eyewitness, but Matthew is the creation of a closely woven literary masterpiece. Yet Matthew's genius is only interested in one thing - presenting a written version of the gospel story that will work to change everyone who ...

152. Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... any modern notion of an "engagement." Betrothal was a definitive legal state, contracts had been signed, dowries exchanged, binding agreements set in place. While a legal marriage did not exist until the husband had taken his wife into his home and consummated their union, a betrothed couple was, nevertheless, a legal entity and already bound by the strict Hebraic codes of conduct. Just as a woman whose betrothed husband died was considered a widow, a betrothed woman who had sexual relations with another ...

153. Acts 10:44-48

Acts 10:44-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the Ethiopian eunuch, progressing through the conversion of a Gentile soldier, Paul's conversion, and Cornelius' and Peter's dreams, Luke's recitation of events has gradually widened the circle of believers. In this week's installment the circle is completed with the consummation of the mission to the Gentiles. As usual the Holy Spirit's timing is impeccable. In Acts 10:43 Peter reaches the climax of his speech before the crowd of Gentile believers by proclaiming that with Jesus everyone who believes in him ...

154. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... implications. The translation we deem best - "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new Creation" - brings out most clearly the cosmic scale of spiritual transformation. The redemption Christ offers is radical. It gets down to the roots of God's first purposes in creation and works toward the consummation of that creation. To be "in Christ" promises not just a new person, or new community, but a new heaven and earth, a refashioned cosmos.

155. Luke 21:25-36

Luke 21:25-36

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as the rightful heir to the Kingdom of God. As the Son of Man, Jesus bridges the gap between the present and the future - the realms of the now and not yet. In verses 27-28 Jesus describes the final fulfillment of the Kingdom. While awaiting its consummation, the Kingdom of God cuts across time - it is present in part without being fully arrived, kingdom come and kingdom coming. The Son of Man is therefore the perfect title for Jesus, since he is the one who participates in the Kingdom as it is present now ...

156. Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to Samaria to preach the gospel (8:5). It is after witnessing before the Samaritans that Philip, while traveling toward Gaza, encounters the Ethiopian eunuch. Without hesitation or question, Philip further obeys the Spirit and proclaims the Good News to a consummate outsider. Peter, on the other hand, was a much harder sell. In Acts 10, it takes a lengthy, complex vision and the unending persistence of the remarkably saintly Cornelius to get Peter to consider welcoming Gentile believers into the baptized ...

157. Matthew 26:14-27:66

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 27:3-10 give special insight into the motives and mistakes of the disciple Judas Iscariot. Matthew provides us with a fuller glimpse into Judas' mind and soul than do any of the other Gospel accounts. All single Judas out as the consummate betrayer. But only Matthew returns to him after Jesus' arrest to reveal his fate. (Acts, of course, does carry a slightly different version.) Jesus' identity as the prophetically predicted deliverer is one of Matthew's most consistently repeated themes. Hence the Gospel ...

158. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... become when doubts are given full rein. Thomas' demand might be better understood as illustrating John's parody of doubters who want to be able to feel and see every tenet and tendril of their faith. Yet despite his literary image as the consummate doubter, Thomas can still convey a positive image. First, consider his very presence. Absent at the moment of Jesus' first appearance, Thomas missed not only the joy of the resurrected Christ but the personal commissioning and the breathwork of the Holy Spirit ...

159. Are You Better at Wearing or Bearing Crosses?

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -for, looked-for end-times, not the here and now. As G. Elton Ladd first reminded us, and many other biblical scholars since, there is an already-not yet quality to the kingdom. The kingdom is something that already is conceived, but not yet consummated. And those who exhibit kingdom living have an already-but-not-yet quality to their lives. Kingdom people live the future in the present. Kingdom people live the not yet in the here and now. Kingdom people are constantly blowing past barriers and barricades ...

160. Seeing the Light

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... and an angel tells some shepherds on the hillside outside Bethlehem where to find the infant savior. I. Matthew’s version Matthew begins his gospel with Joseph’s quandary: the woman to whom he is betrothed is pregnant. Since their marriage has not been consummated, he knows the child isn’t his. He assumes Mary has been unfaithful. The law gives him the right to terminate their relationship. Because he is a righteous man, he decides to do it without drawing attention to Mary, for the community would ...

161. Epiphany 3

Jonah 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 7:1-40, Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:14-20

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... him. The kingdom is where Christ is, where the church as the embodiment of Christ is, and where people live under the rule of God. In this sense the kingdom of God is present reality, but the kingdom is also in the future when the kingdom of God will be consummated at the end of time. 2. Repent (v. 15). To repent is more than to be sorry for mistakes. To repent is to turn about, to make an about-face, to change one's mind and way of life. This calls for a radical change in the direction of one ...

162. Proper 26

Mark 12:28-34, Hebrews 9:11-28, Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... The Day: Psalm 146 "I will praise the Lord as long as I live." (v. 2); Psalm 119:1-16 Prayer Of The Day: "Lord, when the day of wrath comes we have no hope except in your grace. Make us so to watch for the last days that the consummation of our hope may be the joy of the marriage feast of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Hymn Of The Day: "Lord Of Light, Your Name Outshining"

163. Proper 21

Psalm 91:1-16, Jeremiah 32:1-44, Luke 16:19-31, 1 Timothy 6:6-19

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

READINGS Psalter—Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 First Lesson—A real estate deal is consummated as a sign of hope for the future in a time when Jerusalem was under siege. Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Second Lesson—Paul commends the genuinely good life with contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Gospel—Jesus tells another provocative parable about the eternal hazard of greed. Luke ...

164. Proper 25

Psalm 65:1-13, Joel 2:23-32, Luke 18:9-14, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... course you have set before us. Help us to recognize our constant need of your grace, even as we grow closer to you. Grant us the resurrection to final joy as you did your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING Initiating Spirit, Consummating Being, you never leave your people in the lurch. You have done wonderful things which your people Israel saw with their own eyes. You are the refuge of all who come to you and their relief. You give your people strength. Your church has suffered ...

165. Until He Comes

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... exactly when that appearing is going to take place. I agree once more with C. S. Lewis who said, "As a Christian I take it for granted that human history will some day end; and I'm offering Omniscience no advice as to the best date for that consummation."[6] There's one thing that matters and that is that we love His appearing. I just want to add a parenthetical statement. I have a lot of friends who are pre-tribulational in their eschatology; I have friends who are post-tribulational; I have friends who ...

166. Live and Let Die

Galatians 2:20

Sermon

James Merritt

... ; when you look at your work, your love affairs, your marriages, your children, your pain, your happiness—when you examine all that closely, what you really find out is that the only person you really go to bed with is yourself...the only thing you have is working to the consummation of your own identity, and that is what I've been trying to do all of my life."1 I wanna talk about me Wanna talk about I Wanna talk about number one Oh my me my What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what ...

167. Broken Pieces

Matthew 1:3, 5, 6

Sermon

James Merritt

... have children to carry on the family name and preserve the inheritance. One of her brothers in law, a man named Onan, was given this duty and this responsibility. The problem was he refused to fulfill what the law required, would not have relations with Tamar and consummate the relationship, so God took his life. Now, Tamar is back to square one. Judah had a very young son, named Shelah and he promised Tamar that when Shelah grew up, he would give him to be her husband, so that she could raise children in ...

168. Joseph – The Promise Believed

Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... to our engagement. It lasted usually about one year and it was a binding contract that could only be dissolved by divorce. Then would come the marriage itself (which believe it or not) usually lasted for about a week before the marriage was consummated. c. Marriage Even though the couple was bound together morally and legally, they could not have sexual relations until they were actually married. That is why verse eighteen is clear in saying, "Before they came together" -that is as man and wife. Now ...

169. No Intimidation

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... comes to this field, we are nudged to keep in mind that even Jesus admits only his Father knows when the Second Coming will occur. Praise God from whom all blessings flow Jesus the Christ reveals to us all we need. His ministry was announced and consummated. We are not among the most privileged people — we are the most privileged people! Jesus is set on finishing his work or ministry. Are we set on finishing ours? It is an inquiry of colossal proportions. It speaks to our destiny and the understanding of ...

170. History Hangs in the Balance

Luke 23:1-49

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... be sure, something more was on the horizon. What did the Lord have in store for us? Time would tell. Yes, as they walked home beating their breasts, and the Master's followers watched at a distance, a new day was at hand. Oh, it was not yet consummated but just wait and see! We believe Luke narrates the story well and reliably. Those present did not know whether or not the worst had come and gone. There were those who remembered. He said that death and resurrection were a part of the fabric of his mission ...

171. A "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong" Song

Hosea 1:2-10

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... discerned God's handiwork in these events after the fact. That God would orchestrate such a fiasco is difficult to accept. That Hosea would oblige should raise an eyebrow, as well. Still, we must admit that, in our own day, marriages are consummated and children "begat" for reasons that are equally questionable. Some have contemplated this story from the perspective of Gomer or her progeny in an effort to make sense of it. Such speculation can provide useful insights into our modern domestic relations but ...

172. Mary and Joseph: His Obedient Servants

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... strict, stern justice which considers only the letter of the law; it was tempered with the gentler feeling as mercy and compassion. He could not bring one whom he loved so dearly into the danger of shame and death. But under circumstances so suspicious he could not consummate the marriage either. He was minded to put her away privately…he thought on these things. We may be sure that he prayed. It was misery for him to mistrust his betrothed; it was misery to be doubtful about the path to be pursued in a ...

173. History Is Going Somewhere

Mark 13:1-31

Illustration

William Barclay

... used. We need not think of a physical coming of Christ in the clouds, or a physical trumpet blast. But what the doctrine of the Second Coming conserves is the tremendous fact that there is one divine, far-off event to which the whole creation is moving; there is a consummation; there is a final triumph of God."

174. I Am the Alpha and the Omega

Revelation 1:1-3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... resurrection. Jesus is Lord. The New Testament faith carries forward the assertions of Christ’s present sovereignty to the further assertion that Christ will come again. He came once in humiliation, he will come again in glory. He came once to initiate, he will come again to consummate. When he came in the flesh, he came to share man’s life to suffer with him, and to die. But when comes again, he’ll come as risen and ascended Lord and he will come to bring the human story to its end. Having said that ...

175. Batman: Driven By Guilt or Grace?

Romans 5:1-11; 8:1-2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the man of steel. Bullets bounce off of him. Batman has also honed his intellect and skills of perception, training hour after hour until he is the best strategist around, which also gives him insight into the criminal mind. He has become the consummate detective and scientist through reading and training. All through his own efforts; driven by his guilt and the obsession of avenging his parents death. He is what Neitsche calls the "ubermensch." The true super human. But still, Batman hangs in the dark. Oh ...

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