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 1801 to 1825 of 4967 results
Sermon
J. Ellsworth Kalas
... to be compared with Jesus. Peter fumbled with the idea that they could build three tabernacles to honor them all; there could be no such equal honor. Jesus was the beloved Son, the Chosen One, utterly different from Moses and Elijah. As much as the disciples loved Jesus, I doubt that they saw his uniqueness. If anything, Peter may have felt he was stretching a point when he suggested three tabernacles, thus putting Jesus on a level with Moses and Elijah. Something in him may have said, "The Master will be ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... t seem to be getting an answer, but paying attention to God and how God may lead us in how to pray, and what He may be teaching us about the person or issue which is the focus of our prayer. So that’s the picture Jesus painted for the disciples in response to their desire for Him to teach them to pray. It is a picture of the essentials of the effective work of intercession: urgent need, willing love, a sense of helplessness, and importunity, that is, persistence. Let me share a story that may tie it all ...
Sermon
Phil Thrailkill
... as he will and when he will. We must also not separate the beatitudes from the story in which Matthew places them. A few disciples, four thus far, have said Yes to the challenge to tag along and observe as Jesus announces and enacts the kingdom of God. Simon ... A pure heart is a smudged mirror rubbed clear by God’s inward cleansing. And the fact that Jesus places it on the path of disciples right after mercy is a promise that he can bring it about. Real change starts at the deepest part of who we are. Let me ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... slings and arrows. What we hope for is to give them an inner peace in a world of turmoil. Isn’t that what we really mean when we say, “All I want is for them to be happy”? What we want for our children is what Jesus wanted for his disciples--inner peace, inner strength, inner confidence that will allow them to stand tall in the hour of testing. Now, how do we give them that peace that the world can neither give nor take away? First of all, we tell them who they are. If they have a strong sense ...
Sermon
Bill Mosley
... his power among us in the Holy Spirit. But on the other hand, it asks, "Why do you stand looking up into heaven? There is discipling to be done." You have been given the experience of the living Lord and the power of his Holy Spirit for a purpose. His purpose. ... and push or help lift to fix a broken wheel or whatever was needed because you only had a third-class ticket. The disciples of Jesus stood looking into heaven, Luke says, but then he lists their names like we should recognize them, and he names his ...
Sermon
James L. Killen
... a greater reality who is actually there in our real world, one who is alive, one who loves us and enables us, one who is always calling us out into a kind of life that is a real adventure, one who will relate to us like Jesus related to the disciples. When we live our lives in relationship with one who is like that, our lives will be different. But how can that happen? There is no easy formula for making it happen, no magic word that you can say and, presto, there will be God. Our lives are unique and ...
Sermon
Richard W. Ferris
... in a new way, with a new kind of body and a new spirituality. He represented what they would become. And he was telling them that it was the way of God, and that it was good. To borrow a word from John Edward, Jesus "validated" what the disciples believed, and what we would believe these many centuries later. That Jesus was indeed the Son of God, and that there is life after death, in another place, and Jesus is there waiting for us. Some years ago, Columbia University had a great football coach by the name ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... , 'This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.'" The season ends on this Sunday, where once again the heavens open and a voice from heaven says, "This is my Son." Then it adds this line, "Listen to him!" That is addressed to the disciples. There are three of them on the mountain with Jesus: Peter, James and John. They have accompanied Jesus up to the mountain where Jesus prays. While he is praying, his face is transfigured. There is a bright light. The appearance of his face has changed. That can ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... said, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God." In another scene just a few verses before this one in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus took a child and sat that child in the midst of the disciples. He said, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me but Him who sent me." That doesn't get any clearer. And the early Church understood perfectly what Jesus meant. The early Church also recognized that those words ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... tour leader, guiding us on this journey. If that is the case, then what Jesus is saying is, you don't need all this stuff for your journey. Which is exactly what he said in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount, incidentally, is a handbook for disciples. It's like a manual for Christians who are on a journey. This is the way we are supposed to live. Mark doesn't record the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew records the Sermon on the Mount. Luke has his own version of the Sermon on the Mount. So maybe ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... It is one of the last things that he did. The scene is the cross. At the foot of the cross is John, "the beloved disciple," and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jesus turns to Mary, and says, "Woman, behold, your son!" He is pointing to John. Then he turns ... meal. Now get this. In Jewish families, then and today, you celebrate the Passover with your family. Now look who is there. The disciples. A family is commanded to love each other. It is obligatory in the family. Who was it, Robert Frost, who said, "Home is ...
Sermon
Mark Trotter
... preparation is over, and the time of celebration has begun. Something new has happened to the world with the coming of the Messiah. The other guests, can't see it. They just have some curiosity about why it is that all this wine is here. But the disciples believed in him. They knew that this was the beginning of something new, something revolutionary, a whole new way of looking at the world. The time of preparation is over. This is it. The celebration, the party, has begun. What does that look like? On this ...
1813. Proper 17
Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:1-8, Romans 12:9-21, Jeremiah 14:1--15:21, Jeremiah 20:7-18, Exodus 3:1-22
Sermon Aid
John R. Brokhoff
... life is a creation of God. But, we have trouble understanding the fact that God made each for a purpose. He sent us into the world, as Jesus was sent, for a purpose, to accomplish some work for God. Jesus knew why God sent him. At Caesarea Philippi the disciples through Peter confessed that he was the Messiah who was sent to redeem the world. Today's Gospel tells us of the temptation not to fulfill the destiny and of the Christian's similar destiny. The need for this sermon is rooted in the fact that many ...
Sermon
Susan R. Andrews
... divinity. This isn't just a "thin place" where hints of the holy seep into the ordinary. This is a ripping of the barrier between God and us - and God comes flooding into our midst. An intriguing detail of Matthew's version of the Transfiguration is that the disciples do not seem all that amazed when Jesus suddenly turns into a pulsing light show, when all of a sudden he stands in the august company of Elijah and Moses. All of this they seem to take in stride. That is, until they hear the Voice, until they ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." This message - if brought to John the Baptist - would undoubtedly set fire to his imagination, whetting his appetite for the military messiah that Judaism had so long expected. No wonder John sent his disciples back out to Jesus, demanding once and for all if he was "the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" John was more than ready to be done waiting. Despite Jesus' straight-forward talk about bringing a sword, not peace, his ...
1816. Cross Purposes
Matthew 10:1-42
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... to the resurrected Christ? Will you take the Via Dolorosa, the road to Golgotha, the road to suffering and pain and even death? Crossroads: moments on the journey where a definite choice to go left or go right must be made - are a daily encounter for Jesus' disciples. In Matthew 5:37, Jesus told us that sometimes we would need to say "No," and sometimes "Yes." And that we ought to be firm about whichever one it was. Sometimes the signs at these cross-roads make it difficult to tell which direction is the ...
1817. Come Back
Luke 21:5-38
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... to offer, by letting life go by, and by, and by. One of the most famous paintings in Christian history is that of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper." According to tradition, Leonardo painted the scene to convey the exact moment after Jesus said to his disciples, "one of you will betray me." Have you ever looked at Jesus' eyes in this painting? I have this image of Jesus turning around and looking as his betrayer, both in the Upper Room, and when "the cock crowed." But his eyes aren't angry or condemning ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... to Inform You That..., 352-353). At least some of these girls could have chosen to live. But instead they chose to call themselves Rwandans. The church must likewise look our bloody history in the face and decide what we are? Are we converts or are we disciples of the Christ and Christ's kingdom. Jesus preached that the greatest honor comes to those who are known as "peacemakers"--for they will be called the "sons and daughters of God." How awful to realize that in the minds of the world, "religion" now is ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... as marks of his ministry ("foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" – Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58) refers to the sense of house and home in order to offer comfort and promise peace to his disciples. But the fact is that while Jesus may have been without a settled space to call his own, he was always at home in the house of his Father. Jesus, as the divine Logos, was eternally indwelling with his Father ("I am in the Father and the Father is in ...
1820. Let's Dance
Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... with God. As children of God we experience God the Father; as redeemed believers in Jesus Christ as Savior we receive the Son; as members of the Body of Christ we're gifted with the presence of the Holy Spirit. The baptism Jesus describes to his disciples on that mountain-top is an invitation for us to join in the movement and mystery of the triune God. Although this divine dance has existed eternally, it's only with the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we're now invited to join in ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... grow increasingly dim, 1 Peter proclaims that for those live resurrection it is always time to rejoice. Filled with the conviction that Christ is risen, Christians are eternally filled with a living hope (verse 3) for salvation. What is the ultimate turn-on for disciples, for those who have faith even though they were not present to see the risen Lord? 1 Peter states it simply: "You love him" (verse 8). This love brings with it an indescribable and glorious joy. For the Christian . . . · Love turns you on ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... Singer, "The Good-Deed Doers," State of Small Business 2000) At the end of this story, play the refrain only once: "Who Let the DOGS out? Who, who, who, who! Immediately at the end of the refrain, while the music is still dying down, start the next DOGS story. Disciples Of God like those who every year stand in the cold and rain and ring the Salvation Army bells. Play the refrain "Who Let the DOGS out? Here is where you will want to add some names and stories of people in your parish and community who have ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... in the Bible who comes across as the most knowing Paul, or as some might call him, "know-it-all Paul" admits that "I do not reckon myself to have got hold of it yet" (Philippians 3:13 NEB). If Jesus instructed his own hand-picked disciples to accept their limitations, to wait for wisdom from on high, to remain open to the new insights and knowledge that time and the Spirit would reveal, on what basis can we claim full disclosure or complete understanding for ourselves? On what basis can we be arrogant ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... are in need? That's the work of the church. (Paul A. Lowe Jr., "The Mission of the Church," The African American Pulpit, 5 [Summer 2002], 58-62.) United Methodists have lost 25% of their membership (from 11.1 million to 8.5 million members) during the last 30 years. Disciples of Christ has lost 31% of membership (from 1.2 million to 825,000) in the last 14 years. Could one reason for this decline be that we're wrapped up in church work and not in the work of the church? Maybe we're wrapped up in beliefism ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... Jesus, you may not author a best-selling book. But you will live out of a book that can turn the world upside down, or better yet, right-side up. As a disciple of Jesus . . . [add some more of your own here.] The beginning of summer is a good time for those of us who are underblessed and overburdened to remember that REAL LIFE awaits us now, but only if we choose the blue-highways blessings. Let's get off the superhighways this ...
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