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 1951 to 1975 of 4967 results

1951. Skull Hill

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... into the final phase of his earthly ministry, is all about being strong even as the world sees Jesus as being broken. This week’s text starts with some Greeks coming to Philip (whose own name is Greek in origin — so he is a “brother”) and a known disciple of Jesus. These Greeks ask Philip “we wish to see Jesus.” This “see” (“eidon”) is not just a request to hang out with a new teacher. It is a hope to “see” truly the essence of Jesus, to experience Jesus as the one sent by God. These ...

1952. The Right Connection

John 15:1-17

Sermon

James Merritt

... you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, ESV) “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8, ESV) “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that ... is not organically connected to the tree. Jesus had Spanish moss hanging on Him. His name was Judas. Of the twelve disciples Jesus had eleven were genuine branches that were connected to Him, but Judas was just Spanish moss. He “hung around” Jesus, ...

1953. One-Way Street

John 14:5-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... to light, but today He makes the most controversial statement, not only of all of the seven statements, but the most controversial statement of His entire ministry. [Turn to John 14]. Jesus had just finished telling the disciples He was going to die and then He was going to leave. For three years, these disciples had followed Jesus 24/7. Everywhere that Jesus went they went. Now, He has told them that where He is about to go they can’t follow. They are both confused and somewhat frightened. So, Jesus ...

1954. Shall We Take the Escalator?

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... the shoulder. Instead he called them to go away with him for a brief but well-needed rest. This response is instructive to us. Everyone needs a time of rest, a time of leisure, a time to get away from the responsibilities of the day. Jesus needed it. The disciples needed it. Even in the best of work, even those who are serving others, even those who are working for God--need a break from time to time. The worse thing that can happen in ministering to others is suffering burn-out. It can happen, even in the ...

1955. When Is Enough...Enough?

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, says Mark, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” That’s a good question. If accumulating toys won’t bring you happiness and keeping the rules won’t buy you salvation, what’s it going to take? If we take everything we have ...

1956. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Acts 9:19b-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... Peter (Gal. 1:18), but neither Peter nor anyone else wanted to see him (cf. v. 13). They must have heard of his conversion, but since then may have heard little or nothing about him. They were unsure of him. Indeed, they did not believe that he really was a disciple and were naturally afraid of him. He brought no letters of recommendation (cf. 18:27). 9:27 In the end it was Barnabas who brought him to the apostles. How he and Paul made contact or why Barnabas should now have come to Paul’s aid we do not ...

1957. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... to make it on our own. Our lesson for the day comes from the Gospel of John. The setting is still Maundy Thursday. After the symbolic washing of his disciples’ feet, Jesus prays what has come to be known as his “High Priestly Prayer.” This is a rather lengthy prayer, in which Jesus first prays for himself; then for his disciples. In the final portion of his prayer which begins with this verse, he prays for future believers. Listen to how this portion of Jesus’ rather lengthy prayer begins: “My ...

1958. Exhortations

Philippians 4:2-9

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... , should show the same quality in their dealings with others. The Lord is near could mean “The Lord’s coming is near,” “The Lord is coming soon”; this is something Paul might very well have said (cf. 3:20), in the spirit of Jesus’ direction to his disciples to be like servants who are waiting for their master (Luke 12:42–48). But the words may imply nearness in place as well as nearness in time. “The LORD is close” is a recurring assurance to his people in the OT (cf. Ps. 34:18; also Pss ...

1959. Transition to Jesus’ Public Ministry

Matthew 4:12-17

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... for right responses to Jesus and his preaching of the kingdom. We will need to make explicit what is implicit yet clear to Matthew’s audience: the large majority of those first to believe in Jesus as the Messiah are Jews. In Matthew, these include the twelve disciples and other followers and seekers from the (Jewish) crowds who come to him for healing. And what we see here in the announcement of the scope of Jesus’ ministry is that he comes first to preach and enact the kingdom for his own people (see 1 ...

1960. Eschatological Discourse: Prediction of the Temple’s Destruction

Matthew 24:1-35

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? Two distinct questions are asked by the disciples. While Mark focuses Jesus’ eschatological discourse on the fall of the temple (cf. Mark 13:4), Matthew ties the second question of ... Thess. 2:19; James 5:7–8; 1 John 2:28). If 24:3 sets out the scheme for chapter 24, then it seems that Jesus answers the disciples’ first question about the fall of the temple in 24:4–35 and their second about his parousia at the end of the age in 24:36–44 ...

1961. Jesus Proclaims Judgment on the Temple and the Nation

Mark 13:1-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... , and evil is headed for destruction. Like the Christians in the first century, we often feel as if evil is in control of our world. Every decade that I have lived, we have said, “It cannot get any worse,” and then it did. Still, as Jesus told the disciples, the worst is yet to come. However, as in every natural catastrophe, the storm ends and peace returns. At the end of history the return of God’s peace will last for eternity. The powers of evil are doomed (Rev. 12:12), for God is sovereign and will ...

1962. The Messianic Anointing of Jesus

Mark 14:1-11

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... to give him money. This proves the pecuniary motives of Judas. Matthew 26:15 tells us that they paid him “thirty pieces of silver,” a great amount for Jewish peasants. They wanted someone to tell them when Jesus was alone with his small band of disciples, preferably at night, so Judas was the one to find such an “opportunity” to arrest Jesus by subterfuge. For the next two days he looked for his chance, and he found it in the late-night setting in the olive grove of Gethsemane. Theological Insights ...

1963. Peter Denies Jesus

Mark 14:66-72

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... . One can only imagine how mortified Peter felt as he realized the extent of his guilt. Jesus’s prediction was fulfilled to the very letter. In fact, all of his predictions about the betrayal of Judas (vv. 18–21 = vv. 43–45), the desertion of the disciples (v. 27 = vv. 50–52), and the denials of Peter (v. 30 = vv. 66–72) have come to pass. Peter’s weeping shows his deep-seated grief and remorse. He does not expect ever to be forgiven and likely thinks of himself as another Judas. However, like ...

1964. The Parable of the Sower & Weeds

Matthew 13:1-23, Matthew 13:24-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , 45, 47; cf. 13:52).Chapter 13 may be outlined to highlight the structural symmetry of pairs of parables and the two Old Testament quotations, as well as the focuses of the two halves of the chapter, one half on the crowds (13:1–35) and the other on the disciples (13:36–53). 13:1-9: Parable of the soils 13:10-17: Reason for parables: Isaiah quotations 13:18-23: Interpretation of parable of the soils 13:24-30: Parable of the wheat and weeds 13:31-32: Parable of the mustard seeds 13:33: Parable of the ...

1965. Jesus Walks on Water

Matthew 14:22-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... has previously tied “little faith” (Greek oligopistos) to anxiety about daily needs (6:30) and fear (8:26). Here he connects it to Peter’s “doubt” or wavering (Greek distazō; attributed to the disciples generally at 28:17). In spite of inadequate trust in Jesus’s power, the disciples recognize Jesus’s identity as “Son of God,” which points to their understanding of Jesus as the Messiah (see “Theological Themes” in the introduction). This is the first messianic confession from the ...

1966. The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... “come first” (17:10). The teachers of the law reflect Malachi’s prophecy that Elijah’s appearance would precede the “day of the Lord” (4:5–6; cf. Sirach 48:10 for an expectation that Elijah would usher in Israel’s restoration). Given the disciples’ recent confirmation of Jesus’s messianic identity and experience of him in glorified form, it is not at all difficult to see why they would be wondering about the imminent arrival of that final day (Matthew’s “end of the age”; e.g., 13 ...

1967. The Rich Young Man

Matthew 19:16-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... narrates a story illustrating how persons of great status, the rich, do not have priority in God’s reign or kingdom (19:16–26). In fact, the story of the rich man who comes to Jesus asking the way to eternal life concludes with Jesus teaching his disciples the difficulty the rich will have entering God’s kingdom (19:23–24). Jesus’s initial response to the man’s question is that obedience to God’s commandments brings life (19:17–19; with his examples drawn from Deut. 5:6–21). The man says ...

1968. Jesus Calms the Storm

Mark 4:35-41

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Mark now places two stories adjacent to one another, each interpreting the other. The first, in 4:35–41, describes a storm on the Sea of Galilee, the fury of which threatens to sink the boat in which Jesus and the disciples are sailing. The following story, in 5:1–20, describes a demon-possessed man who wreaks havoc on himself and on all who come into contact with him. Both stories display Jesus’s power to rescue lives from cataclysms and from the chaos of both nature and human nature. The ...

1969. The Request of James and John

Mark 10:35-45

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the ancient world—being “first” was as paradoxical as the idea of a camel going through the eye of a needle (10:25). Disciples must practice service rather than authority because it is Jesus’s posture: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve ... , and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). Jesus calls disciples not to an ethical system but to “the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:3), the very pattern of the incarnation. A servant is ...

1970. Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

Mark 14:27-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the theme of 14:17–21, where Jesus predicted “one of you will betray me” (14:18). Following the Passover, Jesus announces, “You will all fall away [Greek skandalizō]” (14:27). The Greek word is used in a passive sense, implying that the disciples will not willfully defect but fall away through weakness. Jesus supports his announcement by quoting Zechariah 13:7: “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” The “I” refers to God, the shepherd to Jesus, and the sheep to the ...

1971. Watchfulness

Luke 12:35-48

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... cannot predict with certainty when the Son of Man will come; therefore, they must always be ready. Peter inquires about whether Jesus is speaking specifically to the apostles/disciples or to all people (12:41). Jesus does not answer the question directly, although he implies that he is referring only to the apostles/disciples, because they possess authority over the other servants (12:42). In this third parable, Jesus focuses on the responsibility of managers to take care of their servants (12:43–46 ...

1972. Sin, Faith, Duty

Luke 17:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... –4). No matter how many times a person sins, if that person repents after being confronted, then he or she should be forgiven. The number seven here should not be taken literally; it symbolizes limitless forgiveness. (3) Perhaps the extent of forgiveness that is required of disciples leads them to say, “Increase our faith” (17:5); however, Jesus says that the problem is not the quantity of their faith but the reality of it. A small amount of faith can accomplish great things (17:6). (4) Last, obedient ...

1973. Jesus and Peter

John 21:15-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... his love for fishing? This is plausible since it was Peter who instigated the trip to sea (21:3), and Jesus will challenge the apostle to recommit his efforts to ministry with the new sheep metaphor. On the other hand, “these” may refer to the other disciples. If Peter’s love for Christ excels generally, then it should be followed by a coordinate care for God’s flock. Either way, Jesus’s challenge to Peter is that he consider carefully his love for his Lord and take up the task of shepherding. The ...

1974. Fulfillment of the Twelve

Acts 1:12-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to the eleven apostles” (1:26). The note that this group numbered “about a hundred and twenty” (1:15) points to the significance of the symbol “twelve,” and this was already emphasized by Luke earlier when he noted that the twelve disciples were to “sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). This use of “twelve” as a symbol of Israel is common in Second Temple (i.e., “intertestamental”) Jewish literature, and the organization of the community responsible for ...

1975. Live Spelled Backward

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... consider just now. Moreover, we must look briefly in the direction of the evil Judas to catch a deeper understanding of how far unrequited evil can carry a person. Have you ever wondered why Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, would choose a man like Judas to be a disciple in the first place? Has that question not crept up at least to the outskirts of your mind? Why would he choose a man in whom he surely knew there was a devil? Jesus knew what he was doing. I read of him asking, "Have I not chosen twelve ...

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