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 1751 to 1775 of 2815 results

1751. Great Grace Was Upon Them!

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... ! The power of the risen Christ changed this congregation into a sharing congregation. The power of "great grace was upon them." This "great grace" empowered them to heed the teaching and example of their Redeemer Lord. Jesus gave his followers stern warnings in the strong parables of the rich man who ignored the beggar Lazarus at his gate, and the rich farmer who with his wealth could only build bigger granaries. He commended the widow’s penny and told the rich young man to sell all that he had. Here we ...

1752. Terminally Distracted Or Decisively Prepared

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

... story" that is unrelated to living.2 If one would look at the larger context in which this passage is found, one could see it from chapter 24:37f being yet another expression of the matter of "separation at the last judgment."3 The parable's theme is the importance of being ready for Jesus at his Second Coming, so one can enter his kingdom with him. Furthermore, "the bridesmaids represent the church ... The bridegroom's arrival represents the future aspect of God's kingdom. Having sufficient oil to ...

1753. Nazareth: The Hidden Years

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... , average home, in what we would probably consider a below-average town. He was taught the great prayers of his people, he went to a village school where he learned to read and write, and he helped in the carpenter shop. We see reflections of that life in his later parables and teachings. When he talks of a woman losing a coin in her house, or about putting leaven in a loaf of bread, or about not sewing a new patch on an old garment, we see pictures of the world in which he grew up. When he speaks of a ...

1754. Stewards and the Hungry

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... ; he judges in favor of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry" (Psalm 146:6). St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome: "... If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink ... conquer evil with good" (12:20, 21). Jesus told a parable about judgment and said that "... whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me" (Matthew 25:40)! So, the Bible tells us that the coming of God’s Kingdom, the arrival of the Savior, is ...

1755. Resurrection: From Burn-Out to New Vision

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... .* *William L. Stidger, Christ in Poetry, page 248, edited by Thomas Curtis Clark, Association Press, New York, 1952. Hymn Response "O Sabbath Rest of Galilee" (v. 4) Pastoral Prayer Eternal God, your spiritual guidance has come to us in many ways. There are commandments and parables and wise, wise sayings. There is preaching and example, words and deeds. We do thank you for all the guiding that is provided - even if we turn our backs to it or shut our eyes. The laws of the ancient ones guide us. We are ...

1756. A Man With a Scalpel and a Pen

Acts 16:6-10

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... not that I must be about my Father’s business?" (Luke 2:49). Only Luke tells us that as a child, Jesus grew and "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). Only Luke tells us some of the greatest parables that Jesus ever told. Only Luke, for example, tells of the lawyer who came to Jesus and asked, "Who then is my neighbor?" And Jesus replied with those memorable words, "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves ..." And he continued with ...

1757. 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 ...

1758. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... , 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 ...

1759. When Nothing Can Be Done

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

Thomas Long

... thrown was a starfish, still alive. "It may live," he said, "if the offshore pull is strong enough. The stars throw well. One can help them." As Eiseley left the man, he saw him toss another starfish back into the sea. Viewing this experience as a parable, Eiseley wrote: Somewhere, my thought persisted, there is a hurler of stars, and he walks, because he chooses, always in desolation, but not in defeat.5 "If you will," said the desolate and hopeless leper, "you can make me clean." "I will," said Jesus, and ...

1760. Goodness Is Not Good Enough

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... that is the root of all evil. We can be - we must be - delivered from that bondage. In Dickens’ tale, it was by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future that Ebenezer Scrooge was redeemed. Nevertheless, his story is a profoundly religious one. It is a parable of what God, through his Holy Spirit, can do, and does. In love, he comes to the rich person - or the would-be rich person - in that person’s poverty of spirit. He touches the heart and sensitizes the conscience in the manner of Dickens ...

1761. Inevitabilities and the Last Days

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... , the Gospel must be preached. Seldom in history has the storm of change descended more rapidly and radically than today. It makes the preaching of the Gospel all the more essential; for the Gospel helps us survive the havoc of change - confusion, doubt, anger, and fear. Jesus’ parable of the house built upon a rock contains the secret of survival (Matthew 7:24-27). The wise man built his house upon that rock. The winds blew and the rain beat upon it, but it stood firm. "So is he that hears these words of ...

1762. What Is God Like?

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... , then what this word says about David’s greater Son, Jesus, when you realize that Jesus called God Abba and taught his followers to do the same (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Christ told a story about a rebellious son who was like Absalom. In that Parable of the Prodigal Son, he sketched a portrait of another son who misused his freedom, rebelled against his father’s ways, left home, and spent his substance in riotous living in the far country. When that son came to his senses, he started back home. "He ...

1763. Everybody a Cinderella

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... , I would choose re-spect. What about you? God is always looking at us, ever more re-spectfully, and seeing the real person within. Our text today is a major instance of God’s re-specting his people. God had called Hosea to make out of his life a living parable. He was to take a harlot to wife and love her. He did; and, in due time, she was unfaithful. He took her back in love, again and again. Each time after her unfaithfulness he re-spected her in love and received her back. What came out of this ...

1764. Advent 1

1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Mark 13:32-37, Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... a people who are dedicated to your inbreaking Kingdom and who thus truly share in the life of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen Gospel: Mark 13:32-37 Theme: "Be prepared!" Exegetical Note Having uttered two parables that urge watchfulness, Jesus here issues an explicit exhortation on behalf of that same virtue. In so doing, he emphasizes the uncertainty of the time of cataclysmic eschatological events, and counsels, not speculation, but preparedness. Call to Worship Leader: God has called ...

1765. Proper 6

2 Samuel 1:1-16, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... learn to live in him and for him, whose death brings life abundant. In his name we pray. Amen Gospel: Mark 4:26-34 Theme: The growing reality of the Kingdom of God Exegetical Note Mark probably connected these two originally independent "seed parables" because of the similarity of subject and metaphor. Each speaks to the nature of the Kingdom, but with a particular nuance: the secretly growing seed suggests that the Kingdom’s growth on earth is beyond human comprehension or control; while the mustard seed ...

1766. Proper 7

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 2 Samuel 5:6-16, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Mark 4:35-41

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... recalls God’s authority over the unformed waters of creation in Genesis, Jesus is the very power of God; insofar as the event reminds us of Jonah (1:15), Jesus is an eschatological prophet; and because the whole story stands in close literary proximity to Jesus’ Kingdom parables, he is the agent of its in-breaking. Call to Worship Leader: We meet today in the name of Christ, who saved his disciples by stilling a great storm on a Galilean sea. People: WE MEET TODAY IN THE NAME OF CHRIST, WHO SAVES US BY ...

1767. Proper 18

Proverbs 2:1-22, Mark 7:31-37, James 1:19-27

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... you are their source. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen Second Lesson: James 1:17-27 Theme: A "hands on" kind of faith Exegetical Note The author’s exhortation here to be active doers of the Word rather than merely passive hearers is reminiscent of Jesus’ parable of the foolish and wise builders in Matthew 7:24-27. The point of both is that faith that is not practiced but only verbalized is shallow, insubstantial, and transient. Call to Worship Leader: We are charged by Scripture to be doers of the Word ...

1768. Which Self Are You?

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... common symptoms of the sick mentality, a person’s delusion that he is someone else other than he is. And we meet that tragedy more and more each day. There is a self, there is a self here that we all tend to forget. You remember the phrase in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It comes in chapter 15 of the Gospel according to Saint Luke, verse 17, and Jesus is speaking of what we call the prodigal son, and the prodigal son is out in the pigpen, and the narrative goes: "And when he came to himself, he said ...

1769. Behold the Blood of the Covenant

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

... coiling for the strike at his mention of establishing a kingdom. * We think of the religious authorities shaking out their robes against him when he calls them "whitewashed tombs." * We think of the disciples standing slack-jawed, unable to comprehend the parables of the last days. There was more, much more, and it seemed to all of them that the Nazarene was subtly tending the business of something beyond their grasp. To the disciples in particular, it was repeatedly apparent that he had presupposed ...

1770. Marduk? or Yahweh?

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... now looked like the tree trunks of a cut-over forest. In the streets of Jerusalem, scrub brush grew tall in the streets, its leaves rustling in the dry wind. The walls of the city had been a metaphor of the glory of Zion, but now they spoke a parable of the irony of a people chosen for judgment. Jerusalem looked like the morning after. The other sign of God’s wrath was the condition of God’s people ... those who had been taken into exile. Things were certainly a lot better there. The city of Babylon was ...

1771. Give Me Jesus!

John 6:60-71

Sermon

Richard Patt

... Andrew, "Follow me!" and Andrew dropped his nets and found a new Master to follow and serve; the kind actions of his hands as he reached out and healed a poor soul, or in simple language pronounced a word of forgiveness to a troubled heart. The parables of Jesus are unforgettable because of their directness, and who can mistake their meaning? Oh, yes, this walking epistle from God, who took up children in his arms, who walked the fields and spoke of their unlabored beauty. And then, the heart of the Gospel ...

1772. Return to Glory

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Richard Patt

... kind of invasion is allowed to continue. The accompanying story suggested that somebody must begin to act now, so that such an ecological breakdown is stopped, and the waters can be rehabilitated to their original glory. To me this newspaper account was a parable about another seepage going on. I’m talking about the spiritual breakdown that has invaded our entire human society. It has caused a loss of glory among us. It calls for a widespread rehabilitation and a return to an original glory. This little ...

1773. When The Cheering Stopped

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Brett Blair

... there are no miracles recorded in these chapters what you will find is a persistent call to commitment. Hungry one morning Jesus stops by a fig tree and finds no figs. He withers the tree because it is producing no fruit. Jesus demands fruitful committed lives. A Parable is told: Who is more committed? The son who says, “I will work” and then does not or the son who says, “I will not work,” repents, and gets the work done? It is the son who does the work. The greatest commandment is given: Love God ...

1774. Jesus Knows Everything! Jesus Is God!

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... . Better than to try to hide from our all-knowing God and Savior is to expose ourselves to him, to confess what he already knows about us anyway. To confess means, in its most basic sense, to expose oneself. The tax collector Jesus told about in one of his parables knew that God knew all about his sin and it was senseless to try and hide. So he confessed, "O God, have mercy on me, a sinner." God accepted him, Jesus tells us in his story, and forgave him and he was justified. The good news about our Lord ...

1775. How Can You Tell When People Are Religious?

Mark 2:18-22

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

... a tradition for most people. There came to be a great deal of fasting but it was not connected to a healthy fear of God. People fasted mostly to show off how religious they were. Our Savior told a story about a Pharisee who fasted for this reason. Remember the parable of the Pharisee who went to the Temple to pray? He prayed a proud prayer, Jesus tells us, in which he boasted to God of all the good things he did. As part of his self-righteous list he bragged, "... I fast twice a week! ..." (Luke 18:9-14 ...

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