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 151 to 175 of 4943 results
151. Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Today's gospel text is a remarkably detailed tour of temptations given Jesus by an articulate, Torah-toting, Scripture-quoting devil. Mark's short form of this confrontation is elongated and elaborated by both Luke and Matthew, suggesting that the shared source of these two gospel writers held this longer version, which each then adopted and adapted to fit his own gospel form. Luke opens by affirming the coherency between Jesus' experience at his baptism and his journey into the wilderness. The Holy Spirit ...
152. Romans 12:9-21
Romans 12:9-21
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts in Romans 12:3-8 is immediately followed by the apostle's litany of true agape-inspired Christian characteristics. For Paul, Christ is fullness (pleroma). Agape love is the necessary component if the fullness of spiritual gifts is to be activated and exercised within the Christian community. Romans 12:9-21 makes up a unit of Christian "sententiae," similar to ones found in Hebrew wisdom literature. Some scholars have suggested that Paul even had at his disposal a kind ...
153. Romans 14:1-12
Romans 14:1-12
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
At the end of Romans 13, Paul had warned against giving in to "fleshly desires." This might have led some believers to assume the apostle was advocating an ascetic norm for life. But Paul's words in chapter 14 quickly dispel that conclusion, for here he makes clear that matters of food and drink and rigorously maintained schedules of discipline are actually matters of adiaphora - that is, "things indifferent" to the status of one's salvation. Instead, Paul's words reveal that the attitude Christians should ...
154. John 12:20-33
John 12:20-33
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Preceding this week's gospel text is the stunning miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Yet as amazing as Jesus' ability to bring Lazarus back to life was, for John that event is simply an introduction to the real heart and power of the gospel. The climax of the Lazarus drama does not come when the bound figure stumbles out of the tomb. The punch line of that story is here in chapter 12, where the true miracle yet to come is disclosed and the scope of Jesus' mission is revealed. Ironically, it is in ...
155. Proper 12
Colossians 2:6-23, Hosea 1:1-2:1, Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 85:1-13
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Hosea 1:2-10 God orders Hosea to marry a prostitute and have children. Hosea preached in the same eighth century to Israel (North) as did Amos. His ministry extended over a period of 38 years. Hosea lived in the final days of the northern kingdom during the reign of six kings following Jeroboam. Assyria captured Israel and deported the 10 tribes in 722 B.C. Hosea 1:2-10 is an allegory. His adulterous wife and three children symbolize the fate of Israel because of a broken relationship ...
156. Matthew 23:1-12
Matthew 23:1-39
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
In today’s gospel text Jesus is still in the temple, teaching and speaking before his disciples as well as a mixed crowd of casual listeners. Certain scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees had been badgering Jesus with questions designed to make him look bad. They now have physically retreated from the scene. But these opponents are still the focus of Jesus’ words in 23:1-12, for they offer both examples of possibilities and pitfalls. As Jesus begins addressing “the crowds” and “his disciples,” he initially ...
157. 2 Samuel 12:1-14
2 Samuel 12:1-14
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
The Old Testament text from 2 Samuel continues to relate stories of David and his unique brand of kingship over Israel. This week for the second time the prophet Nathan appears on the scene. There is some suggestion that Nathan's sudden appearance should be seen as a later insertion into the continuing story of David's scandalous behavior with Bathsheba and its consequences. Nathan's presence serves to reveal the shameful nature of David's sin and explains the punishments that follow. Although only ...
158. Mark 12:38-44
Mark 12:38-44
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Jesus' teachings from Mark are part of a longer section beginning in chapter 11 that confronts and challenges the "organized religions" of his time. One by one Jesus engages in debate, discourse, and sometimes diatribe against the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Herodians, and Temple religion in general. His overarching indictment of the religious-political-economic establishment is summed up when he accuses the leaders of having transformed the Temple into a "den of robbers." (11:7) This whole ...
159. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Paul's letters to the church at Corinth present some of the most pertinent, preachable ideas available to pastors. Perhaps this is because the Corinthian church sounds so much like a typical modern congregation - squabbling amongst itself, undecided about its path and purpose, theologically confused, at times enthusiastic but rarely in agreement over what to be enthusiastic about, and generally struggling with that same challenge that still confronts the church today: how to be the body of Christ on earth ...
160. Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Deuteronomy gets its name from the Septuagint's translation of 17:18, wherein the king is called to prepare "a copy of this law" literally in Greek deuteronomion touto (a second law). The book itself is organized into three addresses given by Moses to the people 1:1-4:43; 4:44-28:68; 29:1-30:20. The conclusion of Deuteronomy, therefore, is rather theologically surprising. Instead of Moses, the great mouthpiece of God and motivator of Israel, triumphantly leading the people into their new life in the ...
161. Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Although the book of Revelation is filled with mysterious messages, magnificent visions and astounding, even inexplicable portents, it remains at its heart a letter. In its most basic form, Revelation is simply a letter sent out by a prisoner-preacher, intended to be read aloud to the small and struggling churches scattered throughout the Asian region. Like Paul's letters, John's Revelation begins with a standard formula of greeting and introduction. After all the fireworks and surprises, John's work ...
162. Hebrews 12:18-29
Hebrews 12:18-29
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
This week's epistle text focuses on the final section of the homileticist's long exhortation to his community. The central concern of the writer throughout Hebrews is that Christians realize how their membership in the new covenant gives them special privileges as well as special responsibilities. The fierceness with which this writer demands Christian fidelity to the new covenant suggests that there may have been some backsliding or at least some questionable behavior manifesting itself in the community ...
163. 2 Samuel 12:1-14
2 Samuel 12:1-14
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
The Old Testament text from 2 Samuel continues to relate stories of David and his unique brand of kingship over Israel. This week for the second time the prophet Nathan appears on the scene. There is some suggestion that Nathan's sudden appearance should be seen as a later insertion into the continuing story of David's scandalous behavior with Bathsheba and its consequences. Nathan's presence serves to reveal the shameful nature of David's sin and explains the punishments that follow. Although only ...
164. Mark 12:38-44
Mark 12:38-44
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Jesus' teachings from Mark are part of a longer section beginning in chapter 11 that confronts and challenges the "organized religions" of his time. One by one Jesus engages in debate, discourse, and sometimes diatribe against the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Herodians, and Temple religion in general. His overarching indictment of the religious-political-economic establishment is summed up when he accuses the leaders of having transformed the Temple into a "den of robbers." (11:7) This whole ...
165. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Paul's letters to the church at Corinth present some of the most pertinent, preachable ideas available to pastors. Perhaps this is because the Corinthian church sounds so much like a typical modern congregation - squabbling amongst itself, undecided about its path and purpose, theologically confused, at times enthusiastic but rarely in agreement over what to be enthusiastic about, and generally struggling with that same challenge that still confronts the church today: how to be the body of Christ on earth ...
166. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Among all the disputations and misconceptions that plagued the prickly Corinthian church, Paul took extreme care with one in particular: the spiritual gifts phenomenon. New Christians encounter within the faith community varieties of spiritual gifts. Part of the difficulty with the Corinthian Christians was their inability to see the substantive differences between living as a Spirit-based Christ-body community and living as part of one of the dozens of other pagan cultic communities which also claimed to ...
167. Luke 12:13-21
Luke 12:13-21
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Today's pericope, unique to this gospel, recounts Jesus' response to an interruption injected by a nameless individual in a question-and-answer session which takes place in the midst of a raucous crowd of thousands (12:1). The statement, in context, seems banal and hopelessly petty. Jesus has been encouraging the crowd to be fearless and faithful witnesses even in the face of persecution "before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities" (12:11). At this point, Jesus is interrupted with the words: " ...
168. Matthew 5:1-12
Matthew 5:1-12
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
The crowds gathered to hear what is in Matthew Jesus' first major teaching discourse (5:3-7:27) probably expected the familiar, comforting guidelines of traditional wisdom sayings. Conventional Jewish wisdom taught that right behavior resulted in rewards, that certain human actions would guarantee specific outcomes. Earlier beatitudes (e.g. those in Proverbs or Psalms) testified to this predictable equation of divine rewards and punishments. Wisdom Psalm 128:1-2 illustrates the characteristic beatitude ...
169. Mark 12:28-34
Mark 12:28-34
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
This week's gospel text concludes a series of challenges Jesus met when he returned to the temple in Jerusalem for a third day. Since Jesus had asserted his personal authority by ousting the moneychangers and animal-sellers from the temple courtyard on his second visit, it is not surprising that the religious authorities, the Sadducees, Pharisees and scribes, banded together to try to discredit Jesus when he appeared at the temple a third time. The first three of these confrontations (Mark 11:27-33; 12:13- ...
170. Proper 12
Genesis 28:10-22, Psalm 139:1-24, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43, Romans 8:12-25
Bulletin Aid
B. David Hostetter
READINGS Psalter - Psalms 139:1-12, 23-24 First Lesson - The dream of Jacob will be identified for thousands of years as Jacob's ladder. Genesis 28:10-19 Second Lesson - Paul defines our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit as that of adopted children. Romans 8:12-25 Gospel - Matthew continues his reporting of the parables Jesus told in preaching to and teaching the multitudes and also gives the follow-up explanation to the disciples. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 CALL TO WORSHIP Let us bless God from ...
171. The New Road
Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets. Among his finest words are these: “I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged into a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." Here we are at the threshold of a brand new year. It's not hard to find a seat on the Sunday after Christmas. The crowds have gone home, but like wise men from the East we have come to worship Christ the new-born King. For us, Christmas did not come to pass ...
172. Romans 8:12-25
Romans 8:1-17
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Just as Jesus used familiar images, activities, and relationships in a new way in his unique parables of the kingdom, in today’s epistle text Paul uses the familiar practice of adoption to describe a wholly new possibility that is now available to those who are “in Christ Jesus” (8:1). We focus our exegesis on the first part of this week’s text in order to explore how Paul uses this well-known term as a way to describe the totally new status in which those who follow Christ find themselves. The first ...
173. 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
2 Corinthians 4:1-18
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
“Transfiguration.” What does this big, fifteen letter word mean? It is the gift of being able to look at the familiar and yet see the extraordinary, to see something wholly new and fresh in the normal. Although we usually think of the traditional “Transfiguration” scene presented in the gospels (Luke 9:28ff; Matthew 17:2ff; Mark 9:2ff) as the source of all transfiguration imagery, Paul extends that concept in two different ways in this week’s epistle text. First, Paul “transfigures” the familiar scripture ...
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
Lots of people lament the “long goodbye.” They find lengthy leave-takings overly sentimental, or maudlin, or awkward and uncomfortable, or even just bad luck. For those who want to say goodbye as swiftly as possible, the post-911 security rules at airports that require kicking your loved one to the curb, instead of lingering and waving at the gate, were a blessing. But Jesus was a “long good-byer.” In all four of the gospels, Jesus spends much of his time talking with his uncomprehending disciples about ...
175. Proper 12
Luke 11:1-13
Bulletin Aid
Dennis Koch
Gospel Note Hard on the heels of a very abbreviated Lord's prayer (vv. 2b-4), Luke inserts two quasi-parables framed as rhetorical questions. Their point is that prayers should be approached in a positive frame of mind, based on the assurance that God may be relied upon at least as much as a friend asking an inconveniencing favor or a parent responding to a child's request for food. Liturgical Color Green Suggested Hymns Handel Hymns Joy To the World Thine Is The Glory Bach Arrangements Let The Whole ...
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