Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1976 to 2000 of 4508 results

1976. God Is Like a Tiger

Illustration

John Catoir

A priest friend of mine went to the missions in Africa. It took him three years to learn Swahili. He was working in a small village when he could finally communicate to his community. They understood him, but one of the men came up to him afterwards and said, "Father, we thank you for all the sacrifices you've made to preach to us in Swahili, but you don't understand God the way we do. You speak o...

1977. Learning To Walk In The Fields

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The “yoke” Jesus refers to in Matthew 11 is well illustrated by the process of training a young bullock to plow. In some parts of the world, the farmer will have the young bullock harnessed to the same yoke as a mature ox. The bullock, dwarfed by the other animal, will not even be pulling any of the weight. It is merely learning to walk in a field under control and with a yoke around its neck; the...

1978. Lo, I Am With You Always

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

Purpose: To help understand how Jesus influences our lives. Materials: A ping pong ball or any type of small light plastic ball. A vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment and the ability to reverse the air flow so that the air is blown out rather than sucked in. Special Preparation: Practice this procedure before you attempt to do it before other people. Be sure the air is flowing out of the tube....

1979. Elephants in the Room: Abuse – I Have a Secret

Sermon

Charley Reeb

True Stories #1: He was one of my best friends in elementary school. We did just about everything together – rode bikes, played cops and robbers, had slumber parties, went to the movies. You name it, we did it. He had a younger brother and an older sister. They were all adopted and came from different biological families. They seemed to be happy with their adoptive parents. They lived in a ...

1980. Jesus' Vacation

Sermon

Will Willimon

I know that many of you are here on vacation. I admire you for your faithfulness. Even though you are on vacation, you have come to church. Vacations are wonderful opportunities to, as we say, "get away from it all." A period of time, set aside from life's daily difficulties, when we unburden. Where there are usually alarm clocks, there is sleeping in until ten. Where there were bran flakes at bre...

1981. Rest

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: In Christ there is rest from weariness. Props: A wrist watch. Lesson: How is everyone? (response) We are going to pretend like we are all sleeping. Everyone lay your head down. Let them rest for a few seconds. Ring, ring, ring. Look at your watch. Well, good morning it’s 7:00 and time to get up. Ok, everyone get up. Imitate the motions for them. Let’s Stretch. Everybody stretch....

1982. Sabbath Controversies with the Pharisees

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew portrays Jesus (versus the Jewish leaders) as the true interpreter of the Torah, who understands its center to be mercy and who keeps the Sabbath while also being Lord over it. Understanding the Text This passage, which focuses on Jesus as rightly interpreting the Torah, follows directly Matthew’s comparison of Jesus to Wisdom, whose instruction (yoke) is “easy” (11:28–30; cf. ...

1983. The Lord of the Sabbath

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

With the torah introduced, Matthew now narrates two controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees about the law; both controversies are focused on Jesus’s practice of the Sabbath (12:1–8, 9–14). The Pharisees (12:2) were a Jewish sect considered to be experts in the law and were zealous in their obedience to it. An important part of their focus was adherence in everyday life to purity regulations ...

1984. Lord of the Sabbath

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

Opposition Mounts: In chapter 12 Matthew relates a number of incidents that reveal the basis for Pharisaic opposition to Jesus and his ministry. Jesus vindicates his disciples’ plucking grain on the Sabbath (vv. 1–8), restores a paralyzed hand on the Sabbath (vv. 9–14), moves away when he hears of a plot against him (vv. 15–21), refutes the Pharisees’ claim that he drives out demons by the power o...

1985. The Well Watered Soul

Sermon

Lori Wagner

One of the strangest, mysterious, and most resilient trees in the world is the Pacific Madrona tree. The madrona is a tree that doesn’t know how to be a tree. It’s an evergreen that has cinnamon-red bark, twisting branches, and beautiful red berry clusters. It produces these berries when no other tree is bearing fruit. It’s one weird, but wondrous tree. The tree grows in western Washington, Orego...

1986. A Day for God

Children's Sermon

Object: a large calendar. Boys and girls, I have a calendar with me today. Can you help me figure out where some of the days of the weeks are? Who can show me where Tuesday is? (Let some volunteers help.) Right. And where does Wednesday come? That's right. Just next door to Tuesday. And how about Saturday? There it is, over at the end of the week. How many of you like Saturday to come? (Let them ...

1987. Jesus as the Isaianic Servant of the Lord

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew shows Jesus’ withdrawal from his antagonists and his admonition to secrecy to be signs of his identity as the Isaianic Servant of the Lord, who will proclaim justice to all the nations. Understanding the Text Following the Sabbath debates between the Pharisees and Jesus, Matthew narrates that Jesus withdraws from controversy and turns to the crowd, which needs and receives his ...

1988. God's Chosen Servant

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1989. Dry As Toast

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass. Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What they trust in is fragile. (Job 8:11-14) “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but t...

1990. Pharisees Reject the Divine Origin of Jesus’ Power

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Although Jesus is accused of healing by Satan’s power, Matthew shows him to be enacting the kingdom by God’s Spirit and so warns of judgment upon those who fail to accept Jesus’ identity and respond in obedience. Understanding the Text The controversy between Jesus and Galilean Pharisees intensifies in this passage. The Jewish leaders again accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the pri...

1991. Jesus and Beelzebub

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In Matthew 12:22–32, the healing of a demon-possessed man turns into a controversy over the source of Jesus’s power. While the people respond by wondering whether Jesus might be the Messiah (“Son of David”; 12:23), the Pharisees ascribe his power to the prince of demons (as at 9:34). Jesus’s response to this accusation centers on the impossibility of a kingdom warring against itself (so Satan coul...

1992. Jesus and Beelzebub

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1993. Minute Accounting

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

"I tell you, on the day of the judgment, men will render account for every careless word they utter." Really? A number of questions arise immediately when one hears that statement. One has to do with the logistics of accounting. A lot of careless words are spoken. Are we to believe that God (or some of his assistants!) keeps a verbatim record of all of these words and then confronts each person wi...

1994. Where Do Our Words Come From?

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

Concept: The words we speak come from who we are on the inside. Preparation: Be familiar with Matthew 12:34. Where do words come from? When you say something, where do you get the words? (Children respond. Repeat their answers, encourage further responses, and add to their list if necessary.) Someone said words come from our mouths, and our tongues. Somebody said words come from dictionaries, ty...

1995. The Sign of Jonah

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees continue in 12:38–45, where Pharisees and teachers of the law ask Jesus to provide a miraculous sign, presumably to authenticate his words (cf. John 2:18; also Matt. 16:1). In the context of Matthew, this request is highly ironic, since Jesus has just provided a sign (cast out a demon to heal a man; 12:22) and the Pharisees have questioned its auth...

1996. The Sign of Jonah

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1997. Why Should I Go On Living?

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

The question came to me again this past week, as it does again and again with almost monotonous regularity: "Pastor, this friend of mine has decided to commit suicide. I think he’s really serious about it. What can I do about him?" The story, too, was typical. Here was a young man twenty-two years of age. He had been married and divorced while he was still in high school. He joined the Marines an...

1998. How to Deal with Demons

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

There is an old story about Albert Einstein. He was going around the country from university to university on the lecture circuit, giving lectures on his theory of relativity. He traveled by chauffeur-driven limousines. One day, after they had been on the road for a while, Einstein’s chauffeur said to him, “Dr. Einstein, I’ve heard you deliver that lecture on relativity so many times that I’ll be...

1999. Parable of the Road Signs

Illustration

They were heading down the highway of life and the story of where they were going was written on the road signs they passed. Each was pursuing the pattern he had chosen with his own purpose in mind. As they passed a sign marked, "Three Die Here Daily" they began to think, "What am I doing with my life?" Does that road sign have any warning for me? Is God trying to say something to me?" The firs...

2000. Put Something in Its Place

Illustration

Howard Thurman

One day Jesus told a parable about a man out of whom a devil has been cast. When the job has been completed, he felt perfectly safe and secure. He may have said to himself, "Now that is done. He is gone and my house is at peace. I shall buy new furnishings, put up fresh curtains, and give to the entire place a new look." This was done. Late in the afternoon, largely by force of habit, the devil th...

Showing 1976 to 2000 of 4508 results