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Showing 176 to 200 of 4977 results

176. Spiritual Marines

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

James Merritt

... me the most problem. I’m going to tell you the church member that is my biggest headache. Now I hate to call his name because, quite frankly, I really like him. As a matter of fact, I think he is one of the best people I know, and I really love being ... you’re going to have to do to follow me.” That crowd began to murmur, “Did I hear what He just said? I believe He has quit preaching and gone to meddling if He said we’re going to have to die.” Well, that is exactly what He said. You know we are ...

177. Is the Doctor in Today?

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... citizen, “and so did my right foot, my neck and my back. Then I went to the doctor and he tapped my knee with a little hammer.” “So how are you now?” asked a friend. “Now my knee hurts too!” he exclaimed. One doctor noticed his patient was quite concerned about the impending surgery. In an attempt to calm him, the doctor began to share his own problems--to show his patient he was not alone. “I’m under a lot of stress, too,” the doctor said. “I’m trying to figure out how I will pay for ...

178. Blessed Are the Abnormal

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... struggled to understand and accept God’s love for her. One day, Yasuko ran into one of her father’s old friends. He began sharing with Yasuko one very special memory. Her father had often thrown wild parties when she was a child at which he became quite drunk. Whenever he got drunk, he would start giving away whatever food he found in the pantry. This was right after the war, when jobs were scarce and hunger and poverty stalked their town. Most of the men at these parties would have starved if it hadn ...

179. Michael Corleone and the Widow

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... have issues with God as well as the temple. After all, she was a widow. She could easily have blamed God for taking her husband away from her. Have you ever known anyone who blamed God for taking away a loved one? That happens sometimes too. It is quite understandable and very human. This widow also could have been angry with God over her poverty. That happens as well. In fact, people get angry with God over many things large and small. One man tells about an incident that occurred when he was about 7 years ...

180. Our Father Who Art in Heaven

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... Woman: True, but you forgot to mention the women. Abraham's Sarah went with him on the adventure. So did Moses' wife, Zipporah. Don't forget they also left the comforts and securities of the past for risky adventures into the new future. Man: You are quite right. However, we can urge boys and men to pray to God as Father so they have a heavenly role model for adventure, discovery, explorations, risk-taking, and the promise of new worlds and new realities. They are encouraged to leave home in the best sense ...

181. I Don't Get No Respect

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... these amazing words, “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.” That’s quite a remarkable response to his first sermon by a young rabbi in his home synagogue. They were going to kill him because they didn’t like what he was saying. He escaped, of course, but the lesson is clear: Among his own people Jesus couldn’t get any respect ...

182. Accusations

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... of God in Christ, that is, the throne of God and Christ in heaven (see below on 2:14, 17; 12:2–4). When Paul states that he has forgiven the malefactor for the sake of the Corinthians “in the presence of Christ,” he probably means this quite literally. The image is possibly that of Moses making intercession for the Israelites in the presence of God (see the allusion to Num. 16:1ff. above and Additional Notes on 2:17 [the allusion to LXX Exod. 32:11A] below). If Paul’s forgiveness of the malefactor ...

183. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... , due to their new relationship in the Lord through faith and baptism. 5:9 Just as a seed, plant, or tree fulfills its true nature by producing fruit, a believer, who is light in the Lord, will produce the virtues of goodness, righteousness and truth—quite the opposite of the fruit of darkness in 5:3, 5. By insisting on the moral implications of light, the author would be opposing any false theories, such as those in the Gnostic system, that made enlightenment a mystical experience and viewed the ethical ...

184. Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves

1 Timothy 5:1-6:2

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... for them (“for they are their brothers”). D-C argue that agapētoi should be translated “beloved by God,” on the grounds that “slaves who must be admonished to serve cannot, in the same injunction, be expected to act out of love for the masters.” But besides taking quite a low view of the power of grace, that argues for a meaning of the word not found elsewhere in Paul. 6:2b NIV makes this exhortation conclude vv. 1–2. Far more likely, as in 4:11, it is intended to start a new paragraph by ...

185. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

Habakkuk 2:2-20, Habakkuk 1:12--2:1

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 2:4 More literally in v. 4a, “There: his spirit has been swollen [or made heedless or made weak], it is not upright, in him.” The verb ʿafal occurs only here and in Num. 14:44 and its meaning is uncertain. Paul is inspired to give v. 4b a quite different significance when he quotes it in Rom. 1:17 and Gal. 3:11. Hebrews 10:38a is closer to Habakkuk’s own meaning, though Heb. 10:38b adapts the text to make its own point. Habakkuk could also be understood to be promising that “the righteous will live ...

186. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

2 Kings 18:17-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... all the fortified cities and captures them. This is not a very promising beginning. It seems that Hezekiah may indeed be about to suffer the same fate as Hoshea, regardless of his trust in God (v. 5). For all that Hezekiah has been lauded as a king quite unlike anyone who preceded him, his first reaction to foreign attack is a familiar one; he raids the royal treasuries and the temple, even stripping the gold from its doors and doorposts (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:18ff.; 2 Kgs. 12:17–18; 16:7ff.). The opening verses ...

187. Herod and Hometown Misunderstand Jesus’ Identity

Matthew 13:53-58, Matthew 14:1-12

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... messianic identity but does not guarantee acceptance and reception. The accounts of how people respond to Jesus and his kingdom actions (see 11:2–5) make it clear that although they see the same thing when they observe what he does, they construe it quite differently. In each of these stories people see Jesus’ miraculous deeds (13:54; 14:2), but in each case they come to different conclusions about who Jesus is. In neither case do they come to the right conclusions, according to Matthew. The people of ...

188. Jesus’ Compassion and Authority to Feed and Heal

Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew 15:29-39

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Jesus’ death and resurrection. And the corresponding truth is that we who follow Jesus have the privilege and responsibility to be a light to the nations today. In the end, we do not need to domesticate Jesus in these particular moments where he does not quite fit our stereotypes or to make him more palatable to our audiences. In this story Jesus does provide healing for a Gentile in spite of missional constraints. And he does so because he sees an amazing display of faith from this Canaanite woman. And ...

189. The Risen Jesus Revealed

Luke 24:13-35

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... Jesus, incognito. . . .“What are you talking about?” he asks. They stand there looking sad. Then one of them says, “You must be about the only person in town who doesn’t know what a traumatic time the twentieth century has been. Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx were quite right. We had a war to end wars, and we’ve had nothing but more wars since. We had a sexual revolution, and now we have AIDS and . . . ended up with half the world in crippling debt. . . . Our dreams have gone sour, and we don’t ...

190. Introduction and “Hello”

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... Christian speakers that we should be thinking about our legacy—the clear knowledge of our contribution after our time on earth. On the other hand, we are told by countless other Christians that ambition is always wrong; synonymous with egotism, it is selfish and quite un-Christian. Both of these positions are wrong. In fact, they are the opposite way around. For as followers of Jesus we can and should be ambitious, but we should never be concerned with our legacies. And the reason lies in the character of ...

191. Elihu Makes His Appearance

Job 32:1--37:24

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... God’s wonders in nature. How God rules in nature, however, also has profound implications for humans like Job. Elihu speaks directly to Job as he urges him to stop and consider God’s wonders. It is one thing to observe God’s power in nature, but quite another to live in the light of that observation. All around us God gives tangible evidence of his greatness, and we need to consider how the great God who has revealed himself in the physical world can fully meet the needs of our lives. Elihu accurately ...

192. “Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit”

Psalm 31:1-24

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... In this case, Psalm 31 seems to have arisen out of some personal setback, most obviously illness, that led the psalmist’s friends and enemies to attribute his trouble to moral failure (although this is more assumed than explicit; see 31:11–13). It is quite likely that his eventual recovery led him to the temple, where he celebrated with fellow worshipers (31:23). The form-critical approach intercalates a prophetic or priestly answer between 31:18 and 19, though it is not heard, and this leads David to a ...

193. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Luke 9:10-17

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... 22:14–23). This can be seen most clearly in the words found in v. 16: Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. These words are quite similar to those found in Luke 22:19: “And he took some bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them [the disciples]” (see also 1 Cor. 11:23–24). Moreover, the eucharistic-like discourse that follows John’s account of the feeding of the 5,000 ...

194. Jesus at a Pharisee's House

Luke 14:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the matter further by putting a second question to them, a question which recalls 13:15 (the saying about helping one’s ox or donkey on the Sabbath). The answer to this question (unlike the first one) is more readily apparent, even to his opponents. They would quite naturally rescue a son or an ox (see note below) that happened to fall into a well on a Sabbath. Such a rescue operation would in most cases involve far more work than any healing involves for Jesus. Moreover, such a rescue is very much the ...

195. Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

Romans 15:14-22

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... . If advice is nothing more than one person speaking to another, then well ought restraint or silence be observed; but where advice is prompted by grace and is thus more than human speech, there it has a higher responsibility to God and can be spoken quite boldly. If in his advice Paul treads on the limits of propriety, he quickly adds that it is only to remind you … again (v. 15) of that which the church everywhere teaches and takes for granted. Verse 16 provides a window into the consciousness of Paul ...

196. Daniel’s Vision of a Man

Daniel 10:1--11:1

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... 12) is the content of Daniel 11:2–12:4, as referenced in Daniel 10:1 and 14. The line-by-line description of his very evident physical reactions to the sight shows how overwhelming such encounters are for humans. The sudden, close proximity to deity is, quite simply, a shock to Daniel’s system. He has no strength left (10:8). Saul likewise was enervated after seeing Samuel brought up from the grave by the medium from Endor (1 Sam. 28:20). Daniel’s face turns deathly pale (10:8), a frightening, ghostly ...

197. Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold

2 Kings 19:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

198. Hezekiah's Prayer

2 Kings 19:14-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

199. Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

2 Kings 19:20-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

200. The Baby or the Window?

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... But everyone cheered for her anyway. It was her team’s last game and Tracy came up to bat. She swung at the ball and quite miraculously hit it. Her coach yelled for her to run to first base. Then he yelled for her to keep going toward second, then ... , life sometimes plays cruel tricks on us. Some of you are old enough to remember the name Euell Gibbons. Gibbons became quite a celebrity during the 1960s for advocating natural diets featuring wild berries and nuts. Some of you will remember him as a ...

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