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 715 results

176. In the Mirror

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... Parable of the Prodigal Son until we look at the other two parables that it is built upon. • Second, we need to read the whole of Luke 15 to see the targets of Jesus’ stories. Jesus was with the rejects of Jewish society, we are told, the “tax collectors and sinners.” These were the lost people of that time, the outsiders who were not welcome at family gatherings or in places of worship. We might think that Jesus was telling these lost people that they could be found. That is what we would like to ...

177. The Seventh Meal

Sermon

Robert F. Scott

... life in Christ. People: Now has salvation come to this house. Now is the day of new life. Let the people of God give praise! Amen. Thanksgiving In JerichoLuke 19:1-10 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came ...

178. Proper 18

Romans 13:8-14, Romans 13:1-7, Ezekiel 33:1-20, Exodus 12:1-30, Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... the premise that the Holy Spirit offers guidance and effects healing when the whole people of God seek his will. If the whole church cannot bring about repentance or forgiveness, verse 17 states that the offender should be to them as a Gentile or tax collector. This verse is troubling. It seems to suggest that we should give up on people or exclude them. This does not reflect Jesus' attitude toward sinners. He was accused by his enemies of associating with such people rather than the good people. Thus, this ...

179. Count Me In!

Isaiah 56:1-8

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... them and by over-charging for the taxes to amass a fortune. How did Jesus treat them? He called one of them, Matthew, to be one of the Twelve. He applauded the prayer of a publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." When he saw a tax collector, Zacchaeus, up a tree, he invited himself to dinner in his house. As a result, salvation came to Zacchaeus and his family. And there were special sinners whom Jesus befriended. When a prostitute washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair at a ...

180. Is There Anything I Can Do?

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... . There were the poor, and there were the rich. The rich, in order to get ready for the Messiah, were to have compassion for the poor, to feed them and to clothe them. The powerful were to stop using their power for personal gain. A common practice among tax collectors, since their fee was taken right off the top of the taxes they collected, was to tax as high as they could and as often as they could, in order to get more money. And soldiers, carrying arms, all they had to do was walk into your house ...

181. Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... miracle stories. This week's gospel reading is found in the third set of these miracle groupings a set that is composed of three "double" healings plus two additional dispute stories. The lectionary reading chooses one of these disputes Jesus' call of Matthew the tax collector (9:9-13) and one of the double healing stories healing the woman with the hemorrhage and raising a little girl from the dead (9:18-26). The dispute detailed in verses 9-13 is over whether Jesus should associate with obvious sinners ...

182. Jesus and the IRS

Mark 12:13-17

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... -cry never died out. “No tribute to the Romans” they said. They would rather die...and many of them did: at Gamla, Arbela, and Masada. It is interesting to remember that counted among the Twelve Disciples with Jesus was both a tax-collector (Matthew) and a Zealot (Simon)! They must have had some interesting conversations around the campfire in the evenings! Mark says that the Pharisees and Herodians tried to trap Jesus with a question about paying taxes. “Pharisees” means “separated ones.” They ...

183. Failure Is Not Final

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

William L. Self

... of Achor. Failure is not final! Many of the disciples whom Jesus chose were not known for their successful lives. For example, Levi (Matthew) was lumped right in there with sinners and tax collectors (Mark 2:13-22). He was not the most respected man in the community. In fact, Matthew was a well-hated man. Even as Matthew was sitting at the tax collectors' table, his heart must have been aching. He must have heard about Jesus and tried to catch a glimpse of him as he passed by. He probably even tried to slip ...

184. Proper 25

Luke 18:9-14, Joel 2:18-27, Joel 2:28-32, 2 Timothy 3:10--4:8, 2 Timothy 4:9-18

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... good enough. The man who pled for mercy as a sinner went home justified because he put his trust in God's grace through faith. 3. Far off (v. 13). The tax collector in the temple stood "far off" from the holy of holies, the sanctuary where Yahweh dwelt. He did not feel worthy to stand in a holy place because of his sin as a tax collector who served a foreign government and who extorted tax money from his people. Society despised him as a traitor and a crook. Because of his sin, he did not even feel worthy ...

185. The Politics Of Love

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... it will matter. It will be relevant and carry consequences. For those who want a biblical precedent for such a model of the church, let me suggest the motley group of disciples. There, following Jesus along the dusty roads of Galilee, was Matthew, the tax collector. His income was dependent upon retaining the Roman political party in power. He was a company man and voted a straight ticket. There, too, was Simon the Zealot, trudging side by side with Matthew on those hot dusty roads. Like Matthew he was also ...

186. Jesus Calls Matthew, Jesus Heals The Leaders Daughter, Jesus

Matthew 9:18-26, Matthew 9:9-13

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, 2: "Follow me." 1: And he got up and followed him. 1: And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 3 and 4: "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 1: But when he heard this, he said, 2: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire ...

187. Proper 25

Lk 18:9-14 · 2 Tim 4:9-18 · Sirach 35:12-18 · Deut 10:12-22 · Zeph 3:1-9

Sermon Aid

188. Communion Is Remedial

Matthew 9:1-8

Sermon

... man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." One day three doctors were in a conversation about ...

189. WE ARE THE BELIEVERS: TESTIMONIES

Drama

Marcia Miller

... . Some even brought picnic lunches. I couldn’t see over them, around them, or through them. The harder I tried to get to the front of the crowd, the more determined I became, and the more frustrated. All of a sudden I found myself climbing a tree! Me! The chief tax collector for the entire city of Jericho. Me! The man who is so short I’m always having to look up at anyone over the age of twelve. I was climbing a tree, just as I had done as a child. About the time it occurred to me what this episode ...

190. The Jericho Road: Where the Action Is

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... saw it for myself. And when I did see it, it was just a little bit of a letdown. I thought of the Jericho Road as the place where Jesus was confronted by a blind beggar, or where, on the edge of the city, He met and changed a mean tax collector. And also, of course, the Jericho Road brought to mind Jesus’ great story of the Good Samaritan - a story of peril, violence, and mercy. That’s the kind of road it was in Jesus’ day. It was a major thoroughfare, and a hazardous one. Jerusalem is 2,300 feet ...

191. Will Names Never Hurt Us?

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... force, were despised by their fellow Jews who would not accept their testimony in court nor their money in the synagogues. When Christ spotted Zacchaeus, who had gone out on a limb to see this popular figure, our Lord invited himself to dinner at the tax collector’s home. When the townspeople saw Christ befriend this man, they put Zacchaeus down by placing on him the bad name of "sinner." But Christ, on the other hand, lifted this despised man up by the gracious gift of a good name. Christ said of ...

192. God Believes In Us, Too

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Dr. Chane M. Hutton

... we feel about ourselves overall. Apparently, Zaccheus didn't feel too good about himself. How do we know? Because he had taken a job with the Roman government as a district tax superintendent. Tax collectors in those days were among the most despised people in society. In fact, tax collectors were considered religiously unclean because they touched money that belonged to the emperor. They worked on a commission basis and became wealthy by collecting more than the required amount from people. They prospered ...

193. How to Motivate People

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... 's ministry. It happened at Matthew's place of business. Jesus called him to follow. The text says that Matthew got up and followed him and that Jesus then had dinner at Matthew's house. The Pharisees chastised Jesus because he was eating "with tax collectors and sinners." Clearly, Jesus was setting his agenda of calling all people, not just a select few. Jesus showed Matthew and those gathered with him how important they were to God. He Chose Now here is a key principle to establish in discipling. Christ ...

194. Luke 3:7-18

Luke 3:7-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... " no more than would be expected of any pious individual? Luke's literary gift for historical, economic and sociological details is evident in his further examples of "fruits worthy of repentance" (vv.12-14). Two obvious groups of "vipers" were tax collectors and soldiers. Here, these two universally vilified groups voluntarily approach John seeking specific instructions from him on how to bear fruit in their corrupt lives. The answers both groups receive are economic in nature to collect only what is owed ...

195. Are You Sorry Enough to Wash Your Face?

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... . Jesus told a parable of contrast about a Pharisee, the personification of the hypocrite in our Ash Wednesday scripture reading, who prayed with a high sense of himself and a tax collector who was filled with remorse. "God," said the Pharisee, "I thank you that I am not like other men. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of everything I get." The tax collector, on the other hand, dared not even to look toward heaven but beat upon his breast as he pleaded, "God have mercy on me. I'm a sinner!" One said ...

196. How Angry Are You?

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... his disciples when they try to keep the little children away from him. The most famous story of Jesus’ anger is the day he marches into the temple and turns over the tax collector’s tables, scattering the crowd with his razor sharp whip and excoriating them for their greedy behavior. The fact that these tax collectors are charging exorbitant rates for the doves and lambs required for faithful temple sacrifice simply enrages Jesus. This grab of resources by the privileged 1% at the expense of the poorer ...

197. Being Good

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... just obeying a few rules makes you right to the conviction that no rules are right. Learning that sometimes a rule must be broken, we now assume that anything goes. In a fight between legalistic scribes and Pharisees on the one hand and rule-breaking tax collectors and harlots on the other, you know on whose side we stand. Big deal that Jesus abrogates religious laws about how we keep the Sabbath holy, how we prepare ourselves for worship, the sort of company we keep, the sanctity of the marriage bond-we ...

198. Two Lives to Live

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... to. For example, imagine looking over at the front of the crowd near the water. We could see those priests, Sadducees, and Pharisees from Jerusalem. Standing with them were the others with some level of position or power. I imagine tax collectors, moneylenders, and business leaders mixed in with them. I can imagine some of those wealthy traders and merchants who were traveling the big highway nearby. They stood so confident and securely, wearing their expensive, tailored robes, and other clothing. They ...

199. Submission to the Authorities

Romans 13:1-7

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... by God, submission entails the practical duties of the paying of taxes, revenue, respect, and honor (v. 7). For Jews, census enrollments and taxation were two of the most onerous effects of foreign rule. In Roman-occupied Palestine, where tax collectors unscrupulously overcharged Jews, the populace was tempted to underpay (or withhold) taxes without compunction. Bitterness over taxes was not confined to Palestine, however. The Roman historian Tacitus reports mounting unrest over taxes in Rome in A.D. 58 ...

200. A Terrorist among the Twelve

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... . It is easier to cool down a fanatic than it is to warm up a corpse! III. FINALLY, I WANT YOU TO THINK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT THE VAST DIFFERENCES WHICH EXISTED WITHIN THAT APOSTOLIC BAND. Among the Twelve there was a former Zealot and a former tax-collector! There must have been many interesting discussions around the campfire. The Church is not a group of “like-minded” people. Just the reverse. It is a band of cut-throats who might well be enemies were it not for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Too ...

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