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 1776 to 1800 of 4942 results

1776. Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

1 Kings 8:22-61

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Solomon’s Prayer: Solomon now turns to address God in a prayer that is of great importance for our understanding of the book of Kings as a whole. After further attention to the link between temple-building and Davidic promise (vv. 22–26), he offers us significant reflections on the nature of God’s “dwelling” in the temple (vv. 27–30; cf. v. 13), followed by a seven-fold petitionary prayer about the response of God to those who will approach through this new medium (vv. 31–51), and a brief summarizing ...

1777. Jehoshaphat King of Judah

1 Kings 22:41-50

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah: Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah, already characters in Ahab’s story (1 Kgs. 22:2 etc.; 22:40), now find a place of their own. Our expectations differ with respect to each. Jehoshaphat is a Davidic king, so we anticipate no major disasters in his reign (cf. 1 Kgs. 11:36), particularly since he is evidently pious (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:5). Ahaziah, on the other hand, is an Israelite and a son of Ahab. We anticipate wickedness, and disaster of the sort that has fallen upon all the successors of ...

1778. The Widow's Oil

2 Kings 4:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Elisha’s Miracles: The Moabite affair has further established Elisha’s credentials as a prophet in the line of Elijah. Both are now firmly associated with the God who provides water at will (cf. 1 Kgs. 18), whether by orthodox means (wind and rain, 1 Kgs. 18:45) or not (neither wind nor rain, 2 Kgs. 3:17). In this chapter we shall read of a number of further miracles, both of provision and healing, that remind us of Elijah in the same way. 4:1–7 The first of these is occasioned by a crisis facing the widow ...

1779. Manasseh King of Judah

2 Kings 21:1-18

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Manasseh and Amon: First there was a good king who went bad and lost most of his kingdom (Solomon). The remainder of the kingdom (Judah) was ruled by good kings mixed with bad (Rehoboam to Jehoshaphat). The LORD kept faith with the Davidic house through the bad times, because of the Davidic promise. He continued to do so even through the very bad times when that house was allied with the house of Ahab (Jehoram, Ahaziah). By the time of Ahaz, however, divine patience was wearing thin. Hints that Judah would ...

1780. God’s Judgment on Assyria

Isaiah 10:5-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

The Felling of Assyria and the Growth of a Branch: As 7:1–8:10 comprised two parallel sequences, so does 10:5–11:16. The immediately preceding section has come to a worrying end, but there now follows an unexpectedly encouraging reversal. Yahweh has been using Assyria to punish Judah, but Assyria’s own woe, or moment of punishment, is coming—as is Judah’s moment of restoration, the restoring of a remnant. We have been told that Yahweh’s anger is still unsated, but then we discover that it is being ...

1781. Woe to Ephraim

Isaiah 28:1-29

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Oh You Drunken Leaders: Introduction to Chapters 28–33: We return to the kind of material that occupied chapters 1–12—prophecies and stories directly concerning eighth-century B.C. Judah and Jerusalem. The difference is that much of these chapters relates to a subsequent period, the reign of Hezekiah and the period of his seeking help from Egypt in asserting freedom from Assyrian domination in 705–701 B.C. The fundamental issues in Judah’s life remain as they were a few years earlier. Centrally, the ...

1782. Judgment Against the Nations

Isaiah 34:1-17

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Streams Turned into Desolation, Desert into Pools: While chapter 33 looks back and reworks the message of the book so far, it does so in a way that points forward and emphasizes the wondrous reversal and restoration that Yahweh will bring about. Since the second half of the book is more renewal-focused, chapter 33 thus also anticipates this material. Chapters 34–35 then mirror chapter 33. They have one eye to what has preceded, but they more explicitly point to what will come, introducing us to themes to ...

1783. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

Isaiah 36:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Hezekiah’s Great Political Crisis Confronts Him: We may be surprised to find the introduction to the second half of the book in chapters 34–35 followed by four chapters of prose stories about Hezekiah, the last of the kings of Isaiah’s own lifetime. One reason for this surprise is that they also appear in 2 Kings. As with 2:2–4, we do not know which is the more original version. But Isaiah is prominent in the stories and they incorporate some of his prophecies, so it is reasonable enough that they should ...

1784. Sermonon the Mount: The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12, Matthew 5:13-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus begins this kingdom sermon by announcing the reality of God’s kingdom as reversal of fortune and restoration of right values and by calling his followers to live out their distinctive identity as God’s covenant people. Understanding the Text The narrative introduction to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (5:1–2) indicates that Jesus’ disciples are the more focused audience of the sermon, with the crowds as recipients who, in a sense, listen in (7:28–29). The first segment of the sermon (5:3–16) ...

1785. Sermon on the Mount: Praying, Not Judging

Matthew 7:7-12, Matthew 7:1-6

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus calls his disciples to discernment and loyal actions in their relationships as well as ongoing prayer that trusts in their gracious and good God. Understanding the Text This passage includes a number of topics that are picked up in other parts of Matthew. The prohibition of judging (7:1) is clarified in chapter 13, where disciples are to avoid judging the eschatological fate of others in the Christian community (13:27–30). Jesus’ disciples are also warned against hypocrisy, which has ...

1786. Sermon on the Mount: Final Warnings and Call to Obey Jesus’ Words

Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus’ final words in the Sermon on the Mount warn against those who claim to belong to God but are disobeying God’s will. Those who are wise will put Jesus’ authoritative words into practice. Understanding the Text The final section of the Sermon on the Mount focuses on putting into practice Jesus’ teachings and provides warnings about those who do not obey God’s will. Jesus speaks of bearing fruit being the mark of a disciple (7:15–20; see also 12:33–37; 13:18–23; 21:18–22, 43). Bearing fruit ...

1787. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Mission Discourse: The Twelve to Follow Jesus’ Lead (9:35--10:23) Big Idea: In the second major Matthean discourse Jesus calls the Twelve to lead in mission to Israel, following his model as an authentic shepherd of God’s people despite persecution. Understanding the Text The brief narrative transition between chapters 8–9 (9:35–38) and Jesus’ second teaching section in chapter 10 highlight Jesus’ Galilean ministry to a people who are without true shepherds (leaders) and Jesus’ call to pray for “harvest ...

1788. Parables Discourse: The “Already and Not Yet” of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Though the kingdom and people’s responses to it have a hidden quality in the present time, everything will be made clear in the end—both people’s responses and the great value of the kingdom. Understanding the Text The parables in this section of the Parables Discourse build upon the varied responses to the kingdom introduced in 13:1–23 by indicating the hidden nature of the kingdom in the present. What will be clear in the end is partially hidden in the present, so that it takes eyes of faith to ...

1789. Jesus Warns of Presuming Reward and Status

Matthew 20:1-16

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Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: While promising eternal reward to the first who have followed him, Jesus also warns against presumption of reward and status by telling a parable about the equalization of status that will occur in God’s kingdom. Understanding the Text Peter’s initial question in this passage about the rewards that he and the rest of the Twelve will have for leaving everything to follow Jesus (19:27) connects directly with the previous passage, in which a rich man chooses his wealth over the chance to follow ...

1790. Eschatological Discourse: Being Prepared for Jesus’ Return

Matthew 24:36-51, Matthew 25:1-13

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Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus predicts his return (parousia), which will usher in the end of the age and the final judgment, and warns that, because the time of his return is unexpected, his followers should be always ready for his return. Understanding the Text In the latter part of chapter 24 and the first parable in chapter 25, Jesus’ teachings turn from the signs portending the temple’s imminent destruction (24:4–35) to his reappearing (his parousia at the end of the age [see 24:3]), which will occur without warning ...

1791. Failing the Test and Spiritual Failure—Hardness of Heart

Mark 6:45-56

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: This episode illustrates the key contrast of this central section in Mark. Jesus has the power to take care of his followers, but the disciples fail to understand this because of their hardness of heart and spiritual failure. Understanding the Text God provides for the needy (6:30–44), and Christ heals all who come (6:53–56). True disciples place their trust in God and Christ, who watch over them. As the new Israel, Jesus’s followers must be tested with their own “wilderness” experience. In other ...

1792. Jesus Is Tested in Gethsemane

Mark 14:32-42

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: At Gethsemane Jesus battles with the disciples as they desert him, within himself over the “cup” of his passion, and with his enemies at his arrest. He wins the internal battle regarding his willingness to endure the passion and its suffering, surrendering to the will of his Father. Understanding the Text Chapter 14 follows a natural chronological progression, from the Wednesday event of Judas’s decision to betray Jesus (vv. 1–2, 10–11) to the Last Supper on Thursday evening, when Jesus makes the ...

1793. Testing in the Wilderness

Luke 4:1-13

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: The Son of God is tested in preparation for his mission, and he defeats the devil’s attempts to drive a wedge between him and his Father. Understanding the Text The devil’s proposals echo and depend on the declaration that Jesus is God’s Son, which has just been made in 3:22. This scene, still set in the wilderness where John has been baptizing, now completes Jesus’s preparation before his public ministry begins in 4:14. That ministry will take him back up north to his home province, among the ...

1794. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35, Luke 14:15-24

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: The kingdom of God demands our full commitment; you cannot be a half-hearted disciple. Understanding the Text Jesus’s table talk in the house of a leading Pharisee continues with a parable about a similar banquet, which picks up the theme of 14:12–14, the challenge to invite those who cannot reciprocate. In the parable, however, the host represents God himself, whose open-hearted generosity is the model that we are called to follow. But the parable also highlights the obverse of that free grace, ...

1795. The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Luke 17:20-37

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: The kingdom of God is already here, but there will be a future appearance of the Son of Man for which people will be unprepared. Understanding the Text The kingdom (reign) of God has been at the heart of the preaching of Jesus and his disciples since 4:43 (see note there). In 10:9, 11 it was said to “have come near” (cf. 11:20), while in 11:2 Jesus taught his disciples to pray for it as apparently something still future (cf. 9:27). Now a question from Pharisees invites Jesus to clarify this ...

1796. The Revolutionary Values of the Kingdom of God

Luke 18:31-34, Luke 18:18-30, Luke 18:15-17

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: In the kingdom of God accepted human values of status and importance are turned upside down. Understanding the Text As the journey to Jerusalem nears its end, encounters with others on the way illustrate the principle expressed in 18:14b, and in so doing they reveal how far those around Jesus still are from grasping the true nature of God’s kingdom and the necessary pattern of Jesus’s own mission. Their incomprehension focuses especially on the issue of wealth, and thus it provides an opportunity ...

1797. Getting Ready for the Passover

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

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: It is at Passover time that Jesus is to die, and he is determined to have a last Passover meal with his disciples before his death occurrs. Understanding the Text In 21:37–38 Luke rounds off the account of Jesus’s teaching in the temple courtyard, which began at 20:1. With the mention of the Passover in 22:1 the long-anticipated climax of the story (see 9:22, 31, 44, 51; 13:31–35; 18:31–33) begins, as these verses relate the plotting of the Jerusalem authorities, the fateful decision of Judas ...

1798. The Whole World Is under the Curses of the Covenant

Romans 3:9-20

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C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Israel fares no better than the Gentiles in being enslaved to sin, because sin stirs up disobedience through the law. In other words, both Jew and Gentile are under the curses of the covenant. Understanding the Text Romans 3:9–20 is the climax of Paul’s argument in 1:18–3:8, concluding that both Jew and Gentile are under sin (implied) because they try to keep the old-covenant stipulation of the law (Jews by way of the Torah, Gentiles by way of the overlapping of natural law / Noahic law with the ...

1799. God and Government

Romans 13:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul declares that government is a divine institution, and so Christians should submit to its authority. He provides two reasons why believers should do so: fear of punishment for wrongdoing, and obedience for conscience’s sake. The specific form that this submission should take is paying taxes. Thus, obeying the authorities is another expression of being a living sacrifice to God. Understanding the Text Even though Romans 13:1–7 is a part of general Christian exhortation (cf. 1 Tim. 2:1–3; 1 Pet ...

1800. Separation of Faith and Life

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: The desire to gain cultural acceptance, significance, and influence can lead a church to lose its Christ focus and make it blind to even the most blatant violations of the Christian message by its prominent members. Genuine disciple making, then, becomes impossible and even unnecessary. Understanding the Text A major shift occurs here. The theological discussion of the first four chapters dealing with the church’s cliquish behavior, pride, and attachment to secular culture now moves to a head-on ...

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