Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 176 to 200 of 797 results

Nehemiah 4:1-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... both. The ability of a leader can be judged by how he or she confronts crises and reacts to opposition. We can learn from Nehemiah’s example as he faces different kinds of opposition. This lengthy section depicts the progress in reconstructing the wall in ... within the community. 4:1–23 · The first attack is in the form of ridicule (4:1–6). Sanballat is angry when he learns that the Jews are rebuilding the wall. The world’s response to God’s work is often anger, for it makes people uncomfortable ...

177. Recognize that Bad Days Can Bring about Good

Ecclesiastes 7:1--8:1

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Here the author sets forth some basic assertions: (1) The world is unchangeable (6:10a; cf. 1:9; 3:15). (2) The limitations of human beings are well known, namely that one cannot successfully contend with God, who is mightier, as Job also learned (6:10b–11). Since multiplying words before him only serves to increase their vacuity, nothing can be gained thereby (similarly Eccles. 5:3, 7). (3) Disputing God’s actions is not only futile but also senseless, since one possesses insufficient knowledge of what ...

178. God’s Word of Hope to Israel

Micah 4:1-5, Micah 4:6-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... but everything to do with God’s choice of it as his place of earthly dwelling. When Zion is so exalted, it will be like a magnet for the nations. There will be a constant flow of people going to Jerusalem in order to learn God’s law. As the nations learn God’s law and apply it to their lives, the world will be transformed. Warfare will be a thing of the past; nations will engage in constructive activities. Individuals will live out their lives in security and with satisfaction, reminiscent of the high ...

179. The Calling of the First Disciples

Mark 1:14-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... The sea is a picturesque lake seven miles wide and thirteen miles long that is surrounded by hills and that lies seven hundred feet below sea level. Unlike other rabbis, who called students to learn torah, Jesus entered into the world of the disciples and called them to himself. What they need to know they will learn as they follow him. In order to become “fishers of men”—that is, to participate in the mission of spreading the kingdom of God—the fishermen must leave their nets and even families and ...

180. Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

Luke 22:66--23:25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Jews” (23:3). Jesus replies to Pilate’s question with another ambiguous answer; the Greek literally says, “you say,” which affirms that such is the charge raised against Jesus. The major point Luke wants to make is that Pilate is convinced of Jesus’s innocence (23:4). When Pilate learns that Jesus hails from Galilee, he sends him to Herod Antipas, who had jurisdiction over that region. The reason Pilate sent Jesus to Herod may have been to satisfy the latter’s curiosity, or he may have wanted to ...

181. Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the author? Some scholars argue that a certain symmetry should be seen: Jesus and John’s statements are followed by the beloved disciple’s additional remarks (3:16–21 follows 3:1–15 as 3:31–36 follows 3:22–30). In 3:16–21 we learn how this gift of spiritual birth offered to Nicodemus might be appropriated. Belief in the Son gains eternal life (3:15–16, 18). Disbelief gains judgment and condemnation (3:18–19, 35). This sums up the worldview characteristic of John’s Gospel: one is either ...

182. The Work of the Holy Spirit

John 16:5-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 19 and 20, the Spirit comes in the midst of Christ’s glorification. The Spirit is Jesus’s Spirit and is released in his death (cf. 19:30, 34; 20:22). The relation between the Spirit and the world has been gradually developing. In 14:15–16 we learned that the world cannot know the Spirit. In 15:26–27 we saw the Paraclete serving as a defense advocate before the world’s hostilities. Now in 16:8–11 the Paraclete passes to the attack. This too is a judicial description, for in Jewish courts accusers ...

183. Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos

Acts 18:18-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... on a native of Alexandria who has moved to Ephesus (18:24–28). The description that Apollos is a “learned man” (18:24a) can also point to him being an “eloquent man” (NRSV), but the statement that follows, “with a thorough knowledge of the ... Scriptures” (18:24b), confirms that he is indeed a “learned man.” The phrase “with great fervor” in verse 25 can also be translated as “with the zeal of the Spirit” (cf ...

184. Apostles of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in part. But its message is nonetheless generally clear, and the same as that of 3:5–9. The church is to learn “from us” (Paul and Apollos together) the “meaning of the saying” and is to apply it to their lives without taking “pride in ... attitudes and to urge them, as his children, to grow out of their immaturity by imitating their father. In order that they might learn to imitate in the way their father intends, Paul says, “I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful ...

185. Children and Parents

Ephesians 6:1-4

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... children with dignity and respect, avoiding unnecessarily provoking them to anger through capricious and unkind treatment. The point is not the children’s anger but the parents’ provocation. Children only gradually learn the meaning of mature behavior from loving and submissive parents; they learn it neither untaught nor badly taught. Second, parents submit to their children by carrying out the high privilege and frequently frustrating task of bringing up children in Christian discipline and instruction ...

186. Paul’s Charge to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Paul turns finally to those from whom the most serious issues at Ephesus have emerged: “those who are rich in this present world” (6:17). The women usurpers are rich (2:9–15). Prosperous household heads need to learn what is worthy of aspiring to and how to do so (3:1–10). Those with means must learn not to hoard for themselves but to care for family members (5:1–9) and for the church’s poor (5:9–16). Wealth presents both dangers and opportunities. Paul leads with the dangers. First, the rich ...

187. Preparation for Action

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the Christian faith, which Peter has just so eloquently and movingly summarized. Even though they wrote long before Christ came, they realized that they were writing about a grace to be given to someone else and eagerly sought to learn about the time and circumstances of its coming, the sufferings of the Christ, and his glories. The prophets became aware that they were writing for someone else, so that the gospel only needed to be “announced” (NIV “told,” 1:12) when the time came. The prophets had ...

188. The Man With Leprosy

Matthew 8:1-4

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

A Ministry of Healing: Matthew summarized the public ministry of Jesus as teaching, preaching, and healing in chapter 4 (v. 23; repeated in 9:35). In chapters 5–7 we were introduced to the teaching ministry of Jesus. In chapters 8–9 we will learn of his ministry in deeds. This second main section of the Gospel comprises three series of acts of miraculous power. Each series has three miracles—one in the realm of nature (calming a storm, 8:23–27) and the other eight connected with some form of ...

189. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 10:1-42

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... for important public announcements. It is often noted that Jesus’ words about the disclosure of hidden things are used by Luke to warn against hypocrisy (Luke 12:1–3), whereas in Matthew they call for a public declaration of the message the disciples have learned in private. The proverbial nature of the statements of Jesus makes them applicable to many situations. Second, the disciples are not to fear those who may kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul (v. 28). Rather, they should fear God ...

190. The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... less historical manner and see the influence of Exodus 24:16, where after six days God called Moses into the cloud of glory that covered Mount Sinai. In biblical times divine revelation often took place on a mountaintop. Elijah was sent to the mountain to learn that the Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire (1 Kings 19:11–12). The tradition that identifies Tabor as the Mount of Transfiguration is quite unlikely, because of its distance from Caesarea Philippi and because a castle and great ...

191. The Temptation of Jesus

Luke 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , or not” (Deut. 8:2, RSV). Part of this “testing” was letting the Israelites become hungry so that they would have to trust God for their bread (the manna) and learn that “man does not live by bread alone, but … by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3, RSV). Israel, however, found this lesson difficult to learn, for the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron and had to be humbled (see Exod. 16:1–21). By refusing the devil’s temptation to satisfy his needs (i.e ...

192. Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

Romans 5:12-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... Jewish legal pride and narrows the gap between Jews and Gentiles—a shot we trust was not wasted on the two quarrelsome factions in early Roman Christianity. Until we stand in grace we cannot see how we are mired in sin; and yet, until we learn what we lost in Adam we cannot appreciate what we have gained in Christ. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. This verse provided John Bunyan with the title of his autobiography, Grace Abounding. However prevalent, nay rampant, sin may be, grace is ...

193. Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... to himself. Paul is fond of this image of his person and work; he uses “weakness” in key texts such as Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:9; 13:4. Especially from Paul’s discussions of weakness in 2 Corinthians, one learns that he valued weakness not for its own sake (as if he were a masochist), but because in, through, and despite Paul’s weakness God’s power was at work in his ministry. The contrast of Paul’s weakness and God’s powerful, sustaining grace reveals that ...

194. Marriage

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... firm denial of the validity of divorce. The command from the Lord, however, is restricted to verse 10 and does not include or extend to verse 11. Commentators discuss and speculate about Paul’s source for this authoritative saying, suggesting either that he learned it from earlier followers of Jesus or that he had this teaching as a revelation from the risen Lord. In the current context, such a discussion is fruitless and distracts from the sense of gravity that Paul attaches to these words. Wherever and ...

195. The Rights of an Apostle

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... leads to a citation of Deuteronomy 25:4, in verse 9; and beyond this quoted material Paul builds a midrashic exposition in verses 9–11. That is, it is similar in form to the midrash, which freely retells a Bible story and makes applications of the lessons learned from the story to the situation of those to whom the midrash is addressed. In some critical editions of the Greek text, the words when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest are set ...

196. The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... is a strange, disturbing absence of reference to the appearance of the risen Jesus to the women at the empty tomb. The lack of this record leads to all kinds of speculations and interpretations. All these arguments, however, are from silence. One does also learn of the subsequent appearance to the Twelve, an odd note given that for a time there were only eleven disciples in the inner group after the demise of Judas Iscariot; indeed, Acts records the addition of Matthias as a replacement for Judas among the ...

197. The Death of Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus 10:1-20

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... . The mention in verse 10 of the priests’ task of teaching the distinction between clean and unclean prepares the reader for the Manual of Purity, which begins in chapter 11. In a jarring way, the deaths of Nadab and Abihu also illustrate the importance of learning what is to follow in the book. Chapters 17 and following attend to matters of holiness. In a sense, while the first two sections of Leviticus describe the tabernacle cult, the last two sections teach how to worship in that cult by attending to ...

198. David at Nob

1 Samuel 21:1-9

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... of Moab by presenting himself as an opponent of the Israelite king, was able to leave his parents in safe custody. He remained for a while at a fortified base until a prophetic instruction sent him into Judean territory. 22:6–10 Saul reacted predictably when he learned that David had surfaced and that a group had gathered around him. He took for granted that David’s main aim was to win the hearts of even more people and draw them away from Saul by bribery. He smelled conspiracy even among the members of ...

199. David's Lament for Saul and Jonathan

2 Samuel 1:17-27

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... oil stopped the leather from drying out and cracking. Perhaps Saul had had a reputation for keeping his armor ready, maybe related to his habit of always keeping his spear close by (1 Sam. 18:10; 19:9). 1:24 The men of Judah are commanded to learn the poem, but it is equally addressed to the women. 1:26 A. Cook (“‘Fiction’ and History in Samuel and Kings,” JSOT 36 [1986], p. 35) suggests that Jonathan’s love is contrasted with that of his sister Michal, who could accept David the warrior but not ...

200. Job's Second Reply to Zophar

Job 21:1-34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... of information from the distant reaches of the earth. Those who travel, who have extensive experience of the diverse cultures and peoples of the world, can expand radically the personal knowledge and experience of a single sage who is willing to ask and to learn. Job is saying that if the friends think retribution has brought about the destruction of all the houses of the wicked, then they simply have not looked far enough or listened carefully enough to the accounts of those who have intimate knowledge of ...

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