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 2815 results

176. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... are present. This is the setting for the allegorical explanation of the wheat and weeds in verses 36-43. In this second rendering of the wheat and weeds story, the focus shifts to the end time the time of "harvest" to which the original parable only alluded. Now the force of the illustration is to demonstrate events that will occur at the "end of the age," instead of describing any present reality. Many scholars argue that these verses are the Matthean community's attempt, less to understand the wheat ...

177. Things to Come!

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... the gentiles. As in the book of Jonah, God was extending his love beyond Israel to the Ninevite, yet Jews were slow to understand. God was intent on a relationship with the gentiles and he was willing to give everything on the cross for it. Dragnet The final parable is in verses 47-50 where Christ says his kingdom is like a dragnet pulled beneath a fishing vessel and catching all sorts of creatures. The day is coming when the net is hauled in and the catch is sorted, good and bad. One sees here men dragging ...

178. Jesus Warns of Presuming Reward and Status

Matthew 20:1-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... on God’s generosity is highlighted. 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out . . . to hire workers. Once again, Jesus provides a parabolic comparison to “the kingdom of heaven” (13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47; 18:23; 22:2; 25:1). This parable draws on the scenario of day laborers during harvest time hired to work in a vineyard. 20:2 a denarius. The offer of a denarius is equitable, given that a denarius is a day’s wage for a day laborer. 20:3–6 About nine in the morning ...

179. What Are We Protecting?

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Roy Howard

... has occurred from generation to generation. Yet there may come a time when the Son — the living word of God — comes to us, confronts us, and calls us to a new understanding. That moment — and how we respond to it — will be the moment when this parable is fulfilled. If we have ears to hear, our rage and our conviction will be the moment the gospel comes alive for us. Amen. 1. Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus (San Francisco: Harper/One, 2014). 2. Ibid., p. 4. 3. Cynthia Jarvis, Feasting on ...

180. Sowers Of The Seed

Psalm 119:1-176, Romans 8:1-17, Genesis 25:19-34, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... of the word, we may have some concern about where it is deposited. The main responsibility for creating the results lies with the Holy Spirit at work in those who listen, but we must do the best in our ability to make the word understood. Jesus used parables so that people would remember the story even if they did not immediately grasp its application. Later at an appropriate time it might hit home with them. 2. The Harvest of Fruit. Our concern should not be how great the harvest of fruit is, to get caught ...

181. Thistles Among The Wheat

Genesis 28:10-22, Psalm 139:1-24, Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, Romans 8:12-25

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... in God's hands, or do we take some actions against evil, but refrain from seeking final solutions to evil in history? When do we set bounds on our actions and leave the harvest to God's wisdom and power? 3. Are the Weeds Only in the World? Does the parable only have reference to how we deal with sin inside the church, or does it have reference to the world and the church? If it only has reference to the church, or both to the world and the church, what are the implications for the actions of the church in ...

182. The King's Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... to lead lives worthy of the grace offered in the invitation. Membership in the church was not sufficient guarantee of salvation. A life had to conform to the demands of the kingdom once a person responded and claimed to be part of the kingdom. Key Words in the Parable 1. "King." (v. 2) If the message is about the kingdom of heaven, then God is the King. It is reminiscent of the time in the Old Testament when Israel had no king but Yahweh, before the anointing of Saul as king under Samuel. Thus the wedding ...

183. Lent 4

Psalm 32:1-11, Joshua 5:1-12, 2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... was eating with the tax collectors and sinners. That has a double thrust. On the one hand Jesus would be contaminated religiously by the contact. On the other hand he would seem to condone their behavior by associating with them in a feast. The first part of the parable tells of a son who demands his portion of the inheritance in advance of his father's death. He proceeds to waste it on loose living. He ends up taking care of pigs and approaching starvation. He decides to go back home and ask to be a slave ...

184. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , it develops to full grain in the ripe ear. But a closer look at the seed's activity suggests that the seed itself is wholly dependent upon others. Until it is sown by the farmer, the seed is inert. During the seed's growth process, the parable emphasizes that "the earth" is responsible for the transformation from a seed to a plant to a crop in the field. Woven throughout this cycle is the presence of the farmer. The farmer sows the seed, waits for its growth, and finally, at the correct time, harvests ...

185. Seeds And The Kingdom

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... farmer sows the seed. Then he waits to allow it to germinate, sprout, grow to maturity when it puts forth the heads for grain, and then the head ripens. Only at that point does the farmer again become active by cutting the plants to reap the harvest. A second parable about the nature of the kingdom of God also comes from agriculture. The kingdom of God begins so small that it is like the smallest of seeds. The seed has within it the coding that results in the growth of a plant large enough so that birds can ...

186. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of joy. The father's concern is the radical notion of joyous acceptance of the one who was "dead," who was "lost." The need for watch-dogging, holier-than-thou attitudes is not an explicit focus of Luke's text. The body of this lengthy parable contains numerous fascinating nuances that testify to Luke's storytelling prowess and finesse. A brief overview can catch only a few of the author's juicy tidbits. Note how Luke uses Hellenistic images and information to add realism to the story. He uses Greek legal ...

187. Community Discourse: Lavish Forgiveness in the Kingdom

Matthew 18:21-35

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Jesus’ compassion toward the crowds or particular people who come to him seeking healing (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34). At 18:34 the master will be moved by anger (orgizo). 18:28 he found one of his fellow servants. The second scene of the parable provides a powerful contrast to the first. In spite of receiving mercy, the first servant searches for and finds a fellow servant who owes him a fraction of what the first servant owed the king. The imagery of the scene is graphic: “He grabbed him and began ...

188. Service And Reward

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... Mark 10:35-45, but not in Luke.) Jesus used the question to assert that greatness in the kingdom is by servanthood. He also asks them if they are willing to face the same difficulties which Jesus anticipated for himself and his followers. Context of Matthew The parable is bracketed by two variations of the statement, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 19:30), and the inversion of it, "So the last will be first, and the first will be last" (Matthew 20:16). According to ...

189. Eschatological Discourse: Being Prepared for Jesus’ Return

Matthew 24:36-51, Matthew 25:1-13

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” It is doing God’s will (7:21)—here, being ready by being faithful—that will bring about kingdom life. 25:12 I don’t know you. With these words of pronouncement, the parable shifts from metaphor to meaning, since a bridegroom would know the identity of the bride’s attendants. The import of the declaration seems to be a severing of relationship (or a statement of a lack of relationship), as in the parallel at 7:23: “I never ...

190. Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... as that of the shepherd, though since the loss of the coin need not be as public as that of the sheep, the extravagant public celebration is more striking in this case. 15:11 There was a man who had two sons. In the third “lost and found” parable the stakes are much higher: the shepherd lost one sheep out of a hundred, the woman one coin out of ten, but this man one son out of only two. The story is much more fully developed, and in particular the son who stayed at home features strongly alongside ...

191. The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the relation of the name Lazarus to the raising of Lazarus in John 11 see note on v. 20 below.) Additional Notes Evans (p. 49) suggests that the injunctions regarding the treatment of the poor and the needy found in Deut. 24:6–7, 10–15 parallel Luke’s Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The rich man’s lack of concern for his poor neighbor would surely violate the spirit of the laws of Deuteronomy. 16:19 In most of the oldest manuscripts there is no name given to the rich man. However, in the very ...

192. Proper 12

Genesis 29:15-30, Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52, Romans 8:28-39, Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... ? Probably toward the defiance of expectations. What you see is not what you expect, and it won't fit neatly with normal piety. Thus our religious assumptions are challenged by the negative force of these images. In brief, the Kingdom may offend us! In turn, the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl both underscore that some things demand our all. Such is the Kingdom, which requires us to arrange our priorities, so that all that we have and all that we are, are oriented toward God's reality or will ...

193. Work Like the Who?

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... the light.” Jesus was not praising his dishonesty, but his ingenuity and his initiative. That’s the plain meaning of this parable. This man took hold of his life and got himself out of a tight situation. He didn’t sit around flogging himself ... to righteousness and justice and love and peace. He needs us to be sold out to changing the world. It’s a strange little parable. Maybe it is a call to radical forgiveness. Maybe it is one more of Jesus warnings about the corruptive power of money. Or maybe, ...

194. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35, Luke 14:15-24

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... and responded to the message of the kingdom of God is not enough if we then turn away from its demands and allow other concerns to supplant God’s claim on our lives. The sayings about the cost of discipleship in 14:25–35, though separated from the parable by a change of scene, have a similar focus and also envisage the possibility of ultimate failure. The kingdom of God is for the committed, not for the dilettante. For Luke’s stress on this theme, see also 9:57–62; 18:24–30. Teaching the Text ...

195. Lazarus

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of the dignity that God would afford them. They must be part of our communities and part of our worship. They must have a place at the table. And most of the all, they must be shown the salvation of Jesus. As Jesus told the Pharisees in his first few parables that day, the lost are not to be banned. But the lost are to be brought home and their homecoming celebrated. We are not to avoid those who are troubled, lost, sick, or alone. We are to introduce them to Jesus, so that they too can be part of God ...

196. Christ the King

Psalm 100:1-5, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... 's work. A. Surprised Saints B. Surprised Sinners C. No Surprises for Us 5. The Trash Heap of History. (v. 41) Gahenna was the trash and garbage dump of Jerusalem. With its smoke, smell and flames, it became the vivid image for hell. Jesus proposed in the parable that those who ignore the need of fellow human beings are destined for the trash heap of history. A. Who Does the World Honor? B. Who Does Christ Honor? C. Do We Honor Who Christ Honors? D. Who Ends on the Trash Heap Without Honor? CONTACT Points ...

197. A Good Thing To Know

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken (Isaiah 40:5)." Seldom were the gifts more obviously hoarded, bound in handkerchiefs and buried in the ground, than in the Old Testament's story of Jonah. For most, the story never moves beyond a curious parable about a whale with indigestion. Instead, it has to do with Israel's need to do God's business with the gifts of its priesthood. It was a difficult lesson for a reluctant Jonah who had no will whatsoever to share the God of Israel with Israel ...

198. Imagine a World

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... They weren't interested in making people pay. They learn that from adults. But Jesus reverses that. He puts a child in their midst. Can you imagine a child not forgiving? "Unless you become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of God." Then he tells the parable, "A man has a hundred sheep. One goes astray. Does he not leave the ninety-nine and seek the one who is lost?" Matthew offers practical advice on how to deal with the sinner in that local church. The most important part of the advice is that he ...

199. Just Grace

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

James Merritt

... don’t work in the way of God. Years ago I was taking Joshua one morning to high school. I asked him to read this parable and after he read it I said to him, “What stands out more to you than anything else about this story?” He looked at me ... . We ought to be glad that God is generous, not just to us, but to everybody else. Do you see the lessons that come out of this parable? Do you understand why when it comes to God and the way He relates to us it is just grace? Lesson #1 – God doesn’t owe us ...

200. Wicked

Luke 20:9-19, Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... betray, but actually kill the messengers, and then the son of the owner. Jesus’ message is clear. The Pharisees in question represent the worst of Israel, who throughout history has killed God’s prophets and now plan to kill God’s own Son. Not only is the parable accusatory, but again, Jesus declares Himself the Son of God. Not only is it wicked to refuse to give praise to God, it is also wicked to deny and persecute God’s own Son. Our relationship with God, like that of Israel, is a contract, in ...

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