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 1876 to 1900 of 2273 results
Sermon
David E. Leininger
The three wise men. "They opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense (or frankincense, from the King James Version) and of myrrh" (Luke 2:11b). Simple words, but if we analyze them carefully (as an email that my wife forwarded to me attests), we discover an important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper. If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so: "And lo, the gifts were inside 600 square cubits of paper. And the ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
"Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never, never give up!" Of course, you know who gave that advice ... Winston Churchill. It was Churchill's dogged determination during World War II that saved his nation from Nazi destruction. In a speech following the retreat from Flanders before the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, he thundered, ... we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seasand oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
All four gospels tell us that Jesus was rejected by his hometown and home synagogue. They all say that a prophet (or a preacher — the two words are more or less interchangeable in biblical understanding) has no honor in his own hometown and among his own relatives. According to Mark's chronology, Jesus comes home to Nazareth accompanied by his disciples after the remarkable healing of a woman who had suffered debilitating hemorrhages for twelve years and after the raising of the dead daughter of Jairus. He ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
One Monday, a couple of years ago, my wife and I crossed the driveway from the manse to the church to give blood — the regular bi-monthly Red Cross drive. It was the first time either of us had been permitted to donate in over a year because of the restrictions on donations from anyone who had been in Mexico within the preceding twelve months, and we had been there on a mission trip. There was the danger of Malaria. We went through all the preliminaries — sign in, read the instructions, blood pressure, ...
Sermon
Robert J. Elder
Today is a good day to say a good word about baptism. I suppose any Sunday is really an appropriate day for a favorable word about baptism, but today we have heard scripture loaded with images of baptism, so it is a good day to speak about that which is often so close at hand that we may sometimes miss its significance. Psalm 29 is among the psalms that use the imagery of water to declare the tremendous power of the word of God: The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord ...
Sermon
Kristin Borsgard Wee
In any list of unusual animals, you are likely to find the sloth. The sloth lives in trees, much of the time hanging from a limb by its four strong feet. The encyclopedia says, "Sloths sleep, eat, and travel through the forest upside down." It's a strange thought ... the idea of living upside down. If we did it, we would certainly see things differently. In a world where flowers grow down and balls fall up, anything seems possible. And, if anything were possible, maybe we would even see the ways in which ...
Sermon
Kristin Borsgard Wee
Last week I was reading a newspaper article on family values. The gist of the article was that everyone wants strong family values but few can agree on what they are. Then I heard Roger Rosenblatt on public radio being cynical about family values. Rosenblatt said that there are plenty of perfect families around like yours and mine. But, there are so many others that fall short, families like the Walker spy family or the Medicis in Italy or the Macbeths of Scotland or the Oedipus Rexes of Greece. Rosenblatt ...
1883. Soul Bread!
John 6:24-35
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
Someone who grew up in Europe immediately after the devastation of World War II writes about the two staples that were not on ration and that could be home produced; one was potatoes and the other was bread. "We could grow our own potatoes and we could make our own bread," he writes. "And sometimes we would even make bread out of the potatoes. So, while we may have lacked many things we always had sufficient potatoes and bread." Earlier in John chapter 6, we read about food rationing of another kind. Then ...
1884. The Inconcealable Christ!
Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
In this amazing passage of two miracles, we find just one message. The first miracle is the healing of the daughter of a Greek woman, born in Syrian Phoenicia. In many ways, it is among the most significant of Jesus' miracles not just because the child received healing. Syrophoenicia is not a candidate region for the zip code 90210. The "pretty people" do not take up residence there. In fact, they do all they can to avoid going that way. It is a remote place sustained by commercial fishing and, if we can ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
The gospel of Jesus Christ is for our children! "The promise is for you and your children" (Acts 2:39). It always has been. Since the dawn of the grace covenant, God has spoken of his interest in and love for our children. He tells Abraham, "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you ... to be your God and the God of your descendants after you" (Genesis 17:7). Children always have been, and are, a vital part of God's covenant plan for his world ...
Sermon
Scott Suskovic
During this Christmas season, we usually get together with some other families and spend a couple of days together. Someone always brings out a jigsaw puzzle. We set up the card table and scatter the pieces. It's not like we spend all day huddled around the puzzle. We walk by, we eat, we grab a piece, connect it, eat, and finally, after much fanfare, celebration, and food, the puzzle is completed when that last piece is slipped into place. Then we eat. What a life! Except those times when you come down to ...
Sermon
Scott Suskovic
Integrity means that your words have meaning. Paul writes, "... am I like people of the world who say yes when they really mean no? As surely as God is true, I am not that sort of person. My yes means yes" (2 Corinthians 1:17-18b NLT). That is extremely important today because more and more we are surrounded by meaningless words. You can't turn on the radio without an announcer yelling at you that there has never been a better time to buy a car. Infomercials have products that if you act now, they will ...
1888. A Plea from The Heart
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Sermon
Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe
After Paul's lofty rhetoric on reconciliation that closes out chapter 5, he now returns to his struggles with the Corinthians. From inspiring and lyrical sentences in chapter 5 such as, "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new," Paul shifts back to the earthbound and ordinary struggles with the Corinthians. He once again asks them to come around, to recognize him and his authority, and most of all, to respond to the gospel of Jesus ...
Sermon
Thomas Lentz
Today's lesson is from the book of James. James identifies himself only as a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." In the early church it was thought by some to have been written by the Lord's brother. It was written later than most of Paul's letters because, James says, of "foolish fellows" whom he describes as the "ignorant and unstable." They had distorted Paul's message of love and faith. They were twisting Paul's words to justify their own lack of hard work in the mission of the church. James ...
1890. Make a 119 Call
Romans 14:1--15:13
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
“God hath not promised Skies ever blue, Flower-strewn pathways All our lives through; God hath not promised Skies without rain, Joy without sorrow, Peace without pain. “But God hath promised Strength for the day, Rest for the labor, Light for the way, Grace for the trials, Help from above, Unfailing sympathy, Undying love.” Annie-Johnson Flint When I went to seminary, we were required to learn “active listening” skills. One required exercise was to interview another student and draw out of them a conflict ...
1891. Is God Fair?
Matthew 20:1-16
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
An old “Family Circus” comic strip shows the two boys Jeff and Billy squabbling over the size of the slices of pie their mom has placed before them. “They aren’t the same,” Jeff pouts. Mom tries again, evening-up the slices. Still Jeff is upset. “They still aren’t the same!” he whines. This time Mom uses a ruler and absolutely proves that both slices of pie are the exact same size. “But Mom,” Jeff complains, “I want mine to be just like Billy’s . . . only bigger!” We all tend to think we deserve a bigger ...
1892. Matthew 20:1-16
Matthew 20:1-16
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
More often than not, the scenes and scenery described in the Bible are foreign to our twenty-first century lives and lifestyles. How many of us herd goats and sheep for a living? How often do we offer lambs or calves or doves as bloody sacrifices to God on a regular basis? Corporate leaders and government officials are concerned with maximizing profits, not heeding the words of any prophet. Today’s gospel text is found only in Matthew. But it reminds us that some realities never change. Across the creation ...
Drama
Arley K. Fadness
Theme: Be watchful and alert for Christ’s coming Characters: Narrator 1 Nod 1 Nod 2 Nod 3 Nod 4 FEMA Agent (nonspeaking) Narrator 2 Lert 1 Lert 2 Lert 3 Lert 4 Offstage Voice 1 Offstage Voice 2 Tone: Humorous, cautionary Setting/Props: Ball Book Large “elephant-sized” ears Flappers Approximate time: 6-7 minutes (Music, such as a lullaby, plays in the background.) Narrator 1: Once upon a time, there lived a clan of humanlike creatures who had some rather unusual physical and mental features. The people of ...
1894. Three Taxes
Matthew 22:15-22
Illustration
Jerry L. Schmalemberger
There were three taxes the Romans extracted from the Jewish people: A ground tax - a man must pay to the government one-tenth of his grain and one-fifth of the oil and wine which he produced. An income tax - one percent of a person's income. A poll tax - every male person from age fourteen to 65 and every female from age twelve to 75 must pay one denarius or one day's wages per year. The tax mentioned in Matthew 25 is the poll tax – one denarius, one day's wages a year. The Jews resented the tax, not just ...
1895. Jesus Rescues Us
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Sermon
Richard Gribble
Oskar Schindler, immortalized in Steven Spielberg's 1993 prize-winning film, Schindler's List, was a man who rescued the oppressed and brought them new life. He was born on April 28, 1908, in Moravia, Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic. After completing his education, he worked as a commercial salesman, changing jobs many times during the 1930s. He tried other businesses, but soon went bankrupt due to the Great Depression, which gripped Europe at the time. Though a citizen of Czechoslovakia, Schindler ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
On a warm and sunny early June day in 1943, John Francis Laboon, "Jake" to his friends, stood with his Naval Academy classmates on Warden Field; it was graduation day. These men were the class of 1944, but because of World War II raging in both the Pacific and European theaters, and thus need of their presence in the fleet, the class was "accelerated" one year in its training. A rough and tumble young man from the steel town of Pittsburgh, Jake had come to the academy in the summer of 1940. He excelled in ...
1897. God Never Gives Up on Us
1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20, (11:14-15)
Sermon
William J. Carl, III
Have you noticed that no matter how much of a mess we make of our lives, God never gives up on us? We try to do the right thing, but fail over and over again. Paul talks openly about the fact that he knows the right thing to do, but just keeps doing the wrong thing. He can't seem to help himself. I guess it all started with the first Adam who got to work early one morning and parked on the line between two parking places so that everyone who came after him has parked on the line ever since. What a mess we ...
1898. Dedicating Temples
1 Kings 8:1- 6, 10-11, 22-30, 41-43
Sermon
Donna Schaper
So much is happening in chapter 8 of 1 Kings that we almost want to get dressed up for an amazing celebration! The Ark of the Covenant is moved into the new temple, the temple is dedicated, a cloud of glory arrives, people have a mystical experience, and Solomon explicitly takes on the mantle of his father David. Then he begins to "preach" a kind of wisdom that is just amazing. While I am tempted to stay with the spectacle of the service of dedication, the sights and sounds and smells, I am compelled to go ...
1899. Bible Ignorance
Illustration
Staff
A candidate for church membership was asked, "What part of the Bible do you like best?" The man said: "I like the New Testament best." Then he was asked, "What Book in the New Testament is your favorite?" He answered, the Book of the Parables, Sir." They then asked him to relate one of the parables to the membership committee. And a bit uncertain, he began... Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; and the thorns grew up and choked the man. And he went on and met ...
1900. No Price Too High
Illustration
Leslie B. Flynn
A wealthy woman who was traveling overseas saw a bracelet she thought was irresistible, so she sent her husband this cable: "Have found wonderful bracelet. Price $75,000. May I buy it?" Her husband promptly wired back this response: "No, price too high." But the cable operator omitted the comma, so the woman received this message: "No price too high." Elated, she purchased the bracelet. Needless to say, at her return her husband was dismayed. It was just a little thing, a comma, but what a difference it ...
Showing results