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 176 to 200 of 326 results

176. Dreaming Impossible Dreams

Genesis 37:2-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , our Old Testament hero, whose story comprises the last third of the book of Genesis. I. TO DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM Catch this picture with me for a moment. It is breakfast time in Jacob’s tent. Leah is there with her sons Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, all seated in their customary places. Jacob’s four sons by concubines have arrived. So has little Benjamin who always makes Jacob think of Rachel, the true love of his life. The blessing is offered. The milk is passed. Bread is ...

177. Matthew 5:38-48

Matthew 5:38-42

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus depicts, that of being slapped on the “right cheek,” if done by a right handed person, would mean a back-handed slap. This was the most insulting, “shaming” kind of slap that could be dished out. Any fine or retribution levied on a straight-forward slap could be doubled for such a back-handed insult. Jesus’ demand, however, is startling. He first announces, “Do not resist an evildoer.” This denied his listeners any possible qualifications for meeting the violence of an evildoer with ...

178. Riff-Raff

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... of this world. Scribes and Pharisees have not changed much, have they? They had the same problem in the gospel story as we would have with our president. This Jesus was a well-known and respected rabbi who should have known better than to be seen with Levi and his crowd, the first-century equivalent of the group we have just envisioned. Decent people would have avoided them like the plague, and would never have sat down to eat with them. It is no wonder Jesus got into trouble. He refused to play by society ...

179. Historic: The Declaration of Independence

Illustration

Staff

... ; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge ...

180. John 2:13-22

John 2:12-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... three days I will raise it up.” Despite the fact that his audience obviously did not “get” what Jesus was referring to in that statement, its very oddness stuck with them. The accusation that Jesus said he would destroy the Temple was one of those levied against him at his trial (Matthew 26:60,61; Mark 14:57-59). Stephen, the first Christian martyr, had that accusation flung at him as well (Acts 6:14). Anyone who has ever lived through a renovation project can appreciate the incredulity of “the Jews ...

181. No Cleansing, No Refreshment

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

182. Celebrate the Small Stuff

Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... no one who celebrated the “small stuff” quite so well and publically as Jesus. Jesus went to weddings and banquets. He dined out with friend and strangers and sinners. He kept company with respected authorities like Nicodemus and despised tax collectors like Levi and Zacchaeus. Jesus took time and he took exception. He took time to play with the “little ones” and included little children in his work and words. He took exception to the dismissal of “outsiders” — the cursed, the criminals, the ...

183. Fit the Picture

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... ?" Slapping Jesus on the back, they greeted him heartily. Statements like, "My, how you've grown. I remember when you were only this high," and "Hey, Jesus, remember when we ..." and then compliments like, "Jesus, that chair you made us? It's still in good shape. Levi's weight hasn't broken it like so many before." Little did these people know that when Jesus returned to Nazareth, he knew his true identity. He was not Joseph the carpenter's son; he was God's Son, descended from the royal line of King David ...

184. Rally or Rail?

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Pilate confronts Jesus personally. He asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Pilate’s question reveals that although John’s text does not report it, the Sanhedrin members had clearly identified the “politically correct” charge they were levying upon Jesus in order to involve the Roman government in this “Jewish” business. Instead of the non-specific answer recorded in the Synoptic gospels, “You say so,” here in John Jesus engages more personally with Pilate. Jesus’ response is ...

185. Luke 3:7-18

Luke 3:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ’s baptism included two particularly problematic groups, who now specifically ask what they need to “do.” 1) The tax or toll collectors identified here were private entrepreneurs who contracted with the Roman rulers to collect the indirect taxes levied upon the populace — tolls, customs charges, duties upon goods and services. Obviously the profit margin for such collecting services increased exponentially if the values of goods and services were inflated, or if special fees were assessed to certain ...

186. Turning Potholes into Mud Puddles on the Bethlehem Road

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

187. What Do You See?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... other robbers in the area? The priest, too, might be robbed. Since discretion is the better part of valor, it might be better just to go your way. Hope sinks. Then a Levite comes by. Now a Levite was a royal blue blood. He belonged to the tribe of Levi and he was an assistant to the priest. In fact, there is a probability he was an assistant to this particular priest. Maybe knowing that the priest had passed by and had done nothing, he felt in his mind, since the priest didn’t do anything maybe he knows ...

188. Jehoahaz King of Judah

2 Chronicles 36:2-4

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... international politics of the time: the king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz probably preferred his father’s anti-Egyptian policy, and that would explain why Neco removed him after only three months. The Egyptian removal of the Judahite king was accompanied by a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold that was imposed on Judah, and thereby Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. We also hear in 36:4 that Neco took . . . Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt. The Kings version ...

189. Gift

2 Corinthians 8:16--9:5, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... Paulus. Studien zur Chronologie, Missionsstrategie und Theologie (WUNT 71; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1994). 8:2 In A.D. 51, a severe famine was felt throughout Greece. Perhaps it affected Macedonia as well. 8:3a The expression beyond ability (para dynamin) is used elsewhere of levying tribute that was beyond the people’s ability to pay (Josephus, War 1.219) and of contributing to the repair of a war-torn city (Ant. 14.378). 8:9 According to texts like Deut. 28:15–68 and 29:20–29, poverty would be ...

190. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:1-15, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... heaven. Although Jewish and Christian apocalypses often presuppose a cosmology of seven heavens (cf. A. Y. Collins), some texts do speak of three heavens, the third of which is the highest, the dwelling place of God himself (cf. 1 En. 14:8–25; T. Levi 3:4). Since Paul goes on to characterize his revelatory experience as exceptional (v. 7), he probably has in mind an ascent to the highest of three heavens, for otherwise his opponents could claim to have penetrated a higher heaven. The preposition used here ...

191. The High Priest of a New Covenant

Hebrews 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... character of his high-priestly work. The argument that if Jesus were an earthly priest (in contrast to one whose work is “heavenly” or ultimate) he would not have anything to offer harks back to the admission that Jesus was not a member of the tribe of Levi—of which alone Moses spoke when he instituted the sacrificial ritual (7:14). If then he is a high priest, his offering must be of an entirely different order. 8:5 The word for copy (hypodeigma) and the word for shadow (skia) sound like the language ...

192. The Old Testament Ritual Described

Hebrews 9:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... the incense altar was in the Holy Place with the lampstand and the table. The reference to Aaron’s rod may be seen to have special importance, given the argument of chap. 7. The budding rod demonstrated the sole legitimacy of Aaron and the tribe of Levi in priestly service at the altar (cf. Num. 18:7). But that uniqueness has now been displaced—indeed, canceled—by the high priest of the order of Melchizedek. Technically the jar with the manna and the rod of Aaron were put alongside the ark rather than ...

193. Trials and Temptations

James 1:1-18, James 1:19-27

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... Chron. 12:33). Jewish tradition was constantly calling people to a clear choice: It cannot be God and Baal or God and Egypt; it must be either one or the other. The sharp contrast continues in Sirach (e.g., 33:7–15) and later literature. Testament of Levi 13:1 calls, “Fear the Lord your God with your whole heart, and walk in simplicity according to all his Law.” One notices how simplicity (haplotēs from James 1:5) is important. Testament of Benjamin 6:5 adds, “The good mind hath not two tongues, of ...

194. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... employs the imagery (1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16). A holy priesthood echoes Exod. 19:6. There the entire nation of Israel is addressed. But as a consequence of the golden calf idolatry (Exod. 32:8), the priesthood was restricted to the tribe of Levi as a reward for its loyalty (Exod. 32:26). Under the new covenant introduced by Jesus Christ, the priesthood is once again the privilege of all believers. Offering: the verb anapherein (lit. to carry up) is commonly used in the LXX for the offering of sacrifice ...

195. The Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... by Greek writers to express shrill rushing sounds, such as the hissing of a snake, the whir of a bird’s wings, the whistle of an arrow or a spear through the air, or the crackling of flames in a forest fire. The elements (stoicheia): In T. Levi 4.4, invisible spirits are said to “dissolve” on the day of judgment. In modern Greek stoicheia still denotes spirits, angels, or demons. See also NIDNTT, vol. 2, pp. 451–53; TDNT, vol. 7, pp. 670–87; Turner, pp. 88–91, 392. The earth and everything in ...

196. The Israelites Oppressed

Exodus 1:1-22

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... names indicates the ongoing nature of the struggle of a people to become the family in which God rules: through the exodus, in the wilderness, and at Sinai. Jacob’s sons are listed not by birth order, but as follows: Leah’s sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun), Rachel’s son (Benjamin), Rachel’s maid Bilhah’s sons (Dan and Naphtali), and Leah’s maid Zilpah’s sons (Gad and Asher). The order of these names reinforces the sequence in Genesis 35:23–26, where Jacob accepted God ...

197. Division of the Rest of the Land

Joshua 18:1-10

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... our God (18:6). The Tent of Meeting symbolizes God’s presence, and the casting of lots reveals the will of the people’s personal, covenanted God. The narrative repeats information about the inheritances of Judah, the tribes of Joseph, the tribe of Levi, and the east bank tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The Levites do not receive an allotment because the priestly service of the LORD is their inheritance (18:7). Priestly service is inheritance enough for a tribe of priests. Next ...

198. Towns for the Levites

Joshua 21:1-45

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... three from Naphtali, for a total of thirteen cities (vv. 27–33). Descendents of Merari receive four cities from each of the tribes of Zebulun, Reuben, and Gad (vv. 34–40). Together the tribes provide forty-eight cities with pasturelands for the clans of Levi. The passage asserts the priority of the Aaronic priesthood and reports the completion of orders given in Numbers 35:2–8. The tribes are listed geographically from the south to the central tribes to the north and then to the east. The list appears ...

199. The People in Jerusalem

1 Chronicles 9:1-34

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... and cities. In presenting all this information the Chronicler contributes to the process of the self-definition of All-Israel in the late Persian time. This map not only shows the contours of the All-Israel that the Chronicler has in mind (with Judah, Levi, and Benjamin forming the elevations, and the other tribes the lower landscape). It also sketches the breadth or extent of the Chronicler’s concept of All-Israel: all those tribes in the Transjordan, the very south, and the very north are included in ...

200. The Genealogy of Saul

1 Chronicles 9:35-44

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... describe the community in Jerusalem who returned from exile. He develops his prototype of what this community should entail and who should be included in this understanding. c. Although the Chronicler’s emphasis is very much on Judah, Benjamin, and Levi in the genealogies, he does not exclude the tribes that used to live in the southern, eastern (Transjordanian), and northern areas. His understanding of All-Israel includes those tribes that formerly belonged to the northern kingdom of Israel. By showing ...

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