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 612 results

176. God, The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: In Volume 2 of this set, there were two sermons on the Trinity: "God the Father," which was a telling of a meeting of two old friends; and "God, the Son," which was an interview with John the Baptist. These were done at Faith United Methodist Church in Milwaukee. The third in the series on the Trinity is this use of the "You Are There" format. After feeling successful using it two years earlier for the Tower of Babel story, the story that is the Old Testament antecedent to the story of Pentecost ...

177. The Curriculum of God’s Kingdom

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We can do startling new things because God has drawn near enough to enable them." Matthew 4:17b It was an awful time in London. In December of 1952 a toxic mix of dense fog and thick black smoke killed four thousand in four days. Coffins ran out, as did funeral flowers. It was one of the deadliest environmental disasters in English history. Here is what happened: “As smoke pouring out of London's chimneys mixed with fog, the air turned colder. In response, ...

178. The Way Up Is the Way Down

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Potato chips, cheese curls, and candy may be some of your favorites, but for twenty-four mule deer in the Grand Canyon National Park, these indulgences proved deadly. Park rangers were forced to shoot more than two dozen mule deer who became hooked on junk food left by visitors. It was death by Cheetos and suicide by Snicker bar! Why eat twigs or chew bark if a Twinkie is nearby? Once deer taste the sugar and salt of snack foods, they develop an addiction and will go to any lengths to eat only junk food. ...

179. Obedience Really Matters

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

It is because we are a people of such high intelligence, and perhaps the threat of product liability litigation, that the following warning labels were recently found on consumer products? On a Duraflame fireplace log: "Caution - Risk of Fire." On a children’s Batman costume: "Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly. On a bottle of hair coloring: "Do not use as an ice cream topping." On a cardboard sun shield for a car: "Do not drive with sun shield in place." And, for the first time parent, this label ...

180. Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In the final chapter of Hebrews, both the eloquence and the wisdom of the author are coupled with genuine pastoral concerns. Although some scholars identify this final chapter of the epistle as a later, unrelated postscript of behavioral advice, it seems logical for this writer, who has spent so much time teaching and admonishing, to close with simple, straightforward ways his readers may apply the lessons of this epistle to everyday life. Some scholars view the list of exhortations in verses 1-6 as a ...

181. Journey To The Heart Of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

Characters (in order of appearance) Narrator Miriam Hamid David Aaron Joy Harmony Gloria Mary Joseph Mark Jordana Ruth Faith Props Name tags Lectern Chairs Logs, piled up to simulate a fire Large, fancy bottle Tied-up bundle filled with clothes and a blanket Small notebook Pen/pencil Three pairs of dark sunglasses Dish cloth Apron Blanket Soup pot and two bowls Loaf of bread Telescope Notes “Journey To The Heart Of Christmas” speculates on stories of the youngest witnesses to Christ’s birth. It offers a ...

182. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

While Mark 13 is often referred to with the oxymoronic tag of the “Little Apocalypse,” it is probably better to look at these verses as part of Jesus’ ongoing teaching about the failure of the Temple and all those who served in it. While the end of all the world might not be the focus of these pronouncements, the destruction of the Temple and the ravaging of Jerusalem that Jesus proclaims would certainly be experienced as an apocalypse for the Jewish faith. Indeed, when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, ...

183. Judgment on Israel's Enemies

Zechariah 9:1-8

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

The First Oracle: The arrangement of the various prophetic sayings in Zechariah 7–8 has opened up a space between the return to the land and the promised age to come. God has reaffirmed the cherished promises but moved them into the future relative to the fourth year of Darius, thereby encouraging the waiting community to hold on to its hopes. Meanwhile, God makes clear to them that the Law and the earlier prophetic preaching still define their relationship to God. Even after coming through the experience ...

184. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The brief exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees in 9:39–41 is only the beginning of a discourse extending (with one interruption) through most of chapter 10. The pattern found in chapters 5 and 6, a miracle followed by a discourse interpreting it, is maintained here as well. What chapter 10 interprets, however, is not the healing of the blind man as such but the events that followed the healing, that is, the former blind man’s expulsion from the synagogue and his confession of faith in Jesus. Two ...

185. Jesus’s Manifesto

Luke 4:14-30

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Back in Nazareth, Jesus sets out on his mission of deliverance, but his own townspeople in Nazareth reject him because of his vision for the salvation of all people everywhere, which includes the Gentiles. Understanding the Text Jesus’s return from the wilderness area marks the beginning of his public ministry, which will be focused in his home province of Galilee until he sets off for Jerusalem in 9:51. Mark and Matthew record a single visit to Nazareth, which they place later in their ...

186. God and Mammon

Luke 16:16-18, Luke 16:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Our heavenly well-being depends on how we have handled the possessions entrusted to us here on earth. Understanding the Text Two more parables (16:1–8a, 19–31) follow the three in chapter 15. In the light of the interpretive comments on the first parable in 16:8b–9, both parables make a connection between life on earth and life in heaven, and the focus in both is on wealth and how we use it, a prominent theme in Luke that has already been given sustained attention in chapter 12 (summed up in the ...

187. 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 ...

188. Witnesses of the New Covenant

Romans 12:1-8

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul challenges believers to be witnesses of the new covenant by distancing themselves from this age and by being transformed in their minds so that they can fulfill the will of God. Understanding the Text Romans 12:1–2 is, in genre, parenetic (exhortational) material. The basis of Paul’s challenge to the Roman Christians (and us as well) is the mercy of God—that is, the blessings of the new covenant delineated in 3:21–11:36: justification, sanctification, glorification, and so forth. Thus, the ...

189. The Rider on the White Horse

Revelation 19:11-21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

Viewed in a macroscopic way, the main body of John’s book of visions narrates the three decisive moments of salvation’s history. Sharply put, John’s message to the seven churches is this: what has already transpired (5:1–11:19) together with what has not yet taken place (14:1–19:10; 19:11–22:6a) must inform the believing community’s response both to God and to its present tribulation (12:1–13:18). This section of Revelation, then, clarifies the community’s eschatological point of reference toward the ...

190. The Parable of the Tenants

Luke 20:9-19

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

20:9–19 The Parable of the Wicked Vineyard Tenants follows the preceding exchange between Jesus and the Jerusalem authorities (20:1–8) and makes exceedingly clear Jesus’ indictment of the religious establishment (see v. 19). This parable in effect summarizes the whole of the biblical history, including the gospel story. Servant after servant is sent, but the tenants refuse to hand over the fruit of the vineyard. Finally, the son of the owner of the vineyard is sent, but he is murdered. This outrage ...

191. What To Say When You Roll Out Of Bed

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

William G. Carter

Several years ago, a radio station ran a contest. Disc jockeys invited their listeners to tune in their clock radios. "Just for fun," they said, "when you wake up to the sound of FM-106, call and tell us the first words you spoke when you rolled out of bed. If you're the third caller, you'll win $106." It didn't take long for the contest to grow in enthusiasm. The first morning, a buoyant disc jockey said, "Caller number three, what did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?" A groggy voice said ...

192. Metaphors Be with You

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

His name was John Davis, he was my neighbor, and he was a peculiar person. Don’t get me wrong. I liked him but even his wife said John was an “acquired taste.” I sometimes think that, had he been born thirty or forty years later, he would have been correctly diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome or some other condition associated with the higher functioning end of the Autism spectrum. He was a gifted man, to be sure, a tool designer and metallurgist who worked for a big corporation, very smart and very ...

193. Possession Is Nine-tenths Of The Law

Daniel 7:1-14, Daniel 7:15-28

Sermon

Robert P. Hines

The book of Daniel belongs to that strange genre of biblical literature we call "apocalyptic." To the modern ear it sounds very different, and its language is somewhat bizarre. Some interpreters have tried to use this literature to predict with certainty the future, but some find this to be an inappropriate use of scripture. Apocalyptic literature is much easier to understand, and more helpful to us in our daily living, if we avoid trying to use it as a detailed outline of future events and simply try to ...

194. Be Careful What You Call Me

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

King Duncan

A Jewish comedian tells about two men of his faith who met on the street. "Abe, why are you looking so sad?" asks Isaac. Abe answers: "It's my son. I sent him off to college, and now he has come back home all full of Gentile ideas. Where did I go wrong?" Isaac says: "FUNNY YOU SHOULD MENTION IT! My son, too, has come home from college, with his head all messed up, filled with Gentile ideas. There is but one course open to us. We will ask the Rabbi." So they go to the Synagogue and obtain an audience with ...

195. Matthew 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Once again, Jesus has been accosted by Pharisees for failing to strictly follow the traditional rituals for washing and eating. Once again, Jesus patiently explained the larger concept of “defilement” to a clueless crowd and even denser disciples. Little wonder an exhausted Jesus decides to “get out of Dodge.” Leaving Galilee and heading northwest, Jesus’ departure took him to the Mediterranean coast, the pagan territory of Tyre and Sidon. Both these cities have to their scriptural record several ...

196. Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:24-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The healing stories in today’s gospel reading put meat on the bones of Jesus’ long argument with the Pharisees over what is “clean” and “unclean,” and where the true source of “defilement is found (7:1-23). Having declared that defilement is not from things outside the body, Jesus demonstrates his unconcern with ritual purity by journeying into Gentile territory. The region of Tyre, west and north of Galilee, had vigorously fought against the Jews during the Maccabean Revolt and was dubbed by first century ...

197. You're a Treasure!

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“I want to be alone.” That was the famous declaration made by the early Swedish film star and glamour girl Greta Garbo (1905-1990). But it was that declaration that jinxed her search for solitude. A vast cast of has-been, over-the-hill actors and actresses struggled to stay in focus but swiftly faded out of the limelight and into obscurity. But Garbo, by her very insistence on alone-time, was hounded by media hangers-on until her death in 1990. To get a picture of Greta Garbo remained a paparazzi “holy ...

198. The Plot to Kill Jesus

John 11:45-57

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The public ministry of Jesus, which began with the cleansing of the temple (2:13–22), exhibits throughout features that in the Synoptics had been associated with Passion week in Jerusalem: first, his practice of teaching in the temple (e.g., 7:14–8:59; 10:22–39; cf. Luke 21:37–38), and second, the theme implicit within that teaching that both he and his audience are involved in a trial, calling their respective witnesses and seeking vindication (e.g., 5:30–47; 8:12–20). Compared to the synoptic records of ...

199. The Supernatural Witness to the Significance of Jesus’s Death

Mark 15:42-47

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The taunts from the onlookers, soldiers, and leaders are overturned by God’s supernatural intervention in the tearing of the veil and the unconscious testimony of the centurion to the true nature of the one crucified. Understanding the Text The events in verses 38–41 and the burial in verses 42–47 provide the aftermath of Jesus’s death and a transition to his resurrection. The mockery and horror of his crucifixion lead to the divine affirmation of the actual significance of his death, and both ...

200. The Baptism of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Jesus is anointed as the Messiah at his baptism, and God publicly declares that Jesus is his Son. Understanding the Text This is the first appearance of the adult Jesus in Luke’s narrative. This and the following passage record his preparation for public ministry, which will begin in 4:14. The sequence from 3:20 is not strictly consecutive, in that John is here apparently still at liberty to baptize Jesus. Luke has rounded off John’s story, and now he goes back to locate the beginning of Jesus’s ...

Showing results