Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 2001 to 2025 of 2332 results

2001. Prologue

Isaiah 40:1-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... and earth. It is for this reason that Isaiah 40–66 is so important for the church of Jesus Christ; we too are the beneficiaries of the fulfillment of the promises of God’s word. The announcement of the coming salvation takes place in the desert (40:3), representative of the experience of alienation. Precisely where the people of God are in need of deliverance comes the announcement to them that the Lord is coming. All of nature prepares for his theophany, making a giant road through valleys and across ...

2002. The Glory of Zion

Isaiah 60:1-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , and ships of Tarshish will all be submitted to God. The tribute and labor of the nations will be used to rebuild Zion as an expression of God’s compassion and justice (60:10–14). The enemies and oppressors of Zion will receive their just deserts. The walls and gates symbolizing God’s kingdom are not for protection; the gates will always be open (60:11). The Lord will share the spoils of his victory with his people. Furthermore, he will reestablish his glorious presence in their midst. Zion will be ...

2003. A Marriage about to Break Up

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in the Baal cult. Courtroom language continues (2:29–37). God complains of breach of covenant, as exemplified by the way Israel handles correction, treats the prophets, and announces her independence: “I am free” (cf. 2:31). Her deliberate desertion is incomprehensible, since God and people, like bride and wedding gown, belong together. Four additional accusations undermine any protests of innocence: (1) Israel has sought other lovers, and in such an abandoned way as to teach the professionally wicked ...

2004. A Story of Two Sisters

Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the word “turn,” which in its various forms occurs sixteen times. The messages date early in Jeremiah’s ministry, during Josiah’s reign, possibly between 625 and 620 BC. Ever-turning Israel is accused of harlotry (3:6–10). Harlotry, with its overtones of desertion from the marriage partner and illicit sex, is a graphic way of describing Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. God’s harsh action in divorcing Israel by sending her into exile should have been a lesson to Judah, who not only saw all that ...

2005. Not One is Upright

Jeremiah 5:1-31, Jeremiah 6:1-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the seasons. Yet his people, unimpressed, have violated God’s limits and have no awe before him. Irreverently, their eyes and ears are closed to God’s wonders. Along with the evils of omission are evils of defiant action. In a rebellious spirit they have deserted their God, much to their own hurt, for the rains have ceased. Sinning people cheat themselves out of what is good. On the human plane there are likewise sins of action and sins of neglect. Evil persons, like hunters of game, fill their traps ...

2006. Much Bad News, Some Good

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the prophet withdraw his involvement. Cutting oneself to show grief, though forbidden (Lev. 19:28; Deut. 14:1), was apparently practiced (Jer. 16:6). Third, Jeremiah is to avoid weddings and all parties as a way of announcing the end of all joyful socializing. Judah has deserted God because of the stubbornness of an evil heart (16:12; cf. 3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 18:12; 23:17). Forewarned of the reason for the disaster, Judah would be able to survive. Placing promise oracles next to judgment oracles ...

2007. Keeping the Sabbath Holy

Jeremiah 17:19-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... religious commitment provide the setting for the good life. Appropriate sacrifices will be brought from the whole land. Verse 26 names the regions: Benjamin, a territory adjoining Judah to the north; the Shephelah, foothills west of Jerusalem; the hill country, the range from Ephraim south; and the Negev, in the desert south. In the gates, the very place of desecration, fiery destruction will begin should the Sabbath not be observed.

2008. Babylon

Jeremiah 50:1--51:64

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ’s grip. The Redeemer overpowers the opposition (as formerly in Egypt), and as an attorney, he takes over their case. His sword will cut into the political, religious, military, and economic segments of society. The picture of a depopulated city inhabited by desert creatures is traditional (50:39; cf. Isa. 34:13–14). Sodom and Gomorrah are the classic instances of cities in ruin. “An army from the north” (50:41) is also standardized language. In addition to the primary foe, a distant alliance and ...

2009. Lamenting a City in Shambles

Lamentations 1:1-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to slave status. Jerusalem’s greatness under Solomon was world-renowned (1 Kings 10). Once this city was the hub of activity; now she is a “feeder” into the Babylonian system. Her lovers, namely her allies, such as Egypt or Moab, have deserted her. The roads to Zion are without the pilgrims who would normally come to the worship feasts in Jerusalem. Religious, economic, and social life is nonexistent. The chief foe is Babylon, though ultimately the affliction is from the Lord. Jerusalem’s collapse ...

2010. Rebelliousness

Ezekiel 20:1-29, Ezekiel 20:30-49

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the people. Fortunately the chapter does not conclude with a “closed” sign hung in the window of the heavenly office. What God has in mind is a new exodus, this time from Babylon (20:34). Part of this process of deliverance will consist of judgment in the desert, but only so that God may purge his people and sift out those who will accept the bond of the covenant (20:38). The return of the people to the land will produce a sense of overwhelming shame (20:43) as they recall their impious behavior and ...

2011. God’s Glory Returns

Ezekiel 43:1-12, Ezekiel 43:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , is not ready for service until the divine glory returns. Similarly, the altar, although completed, is not ready for use until it has been purified. There are many notable omissions in Ezekiel’s temple when it is compared either with the tabernacle in the desert or with Solomon’s temple. Most obvious is the absence of any reference to the ark, the mercy seat, and the cherubim. The same may be said of the laver, the lampstand, and the bronze altar. The implications of these omissions are obscure. But ...

2012. Daniel’s Prayer and Vision of the Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9:1-19, Daniel 9:20-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... glory of the saints, and the complete subjugation of the nations of this world. While the details of the prophecy defy a unified explanation, the purpose of the revelation was to encourage Daniel and the book’s audience that the Lord purposed to bring sin and sinners to their just deserts and to explain that, while the opposition to God’s purposes would increase, Yahweh planned to bring it to an end. God’s redemption is an everlasting redemption.

2013. Unfaithfulness and Restoration

Hosea 2:2-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... lifestyle and look of a promiscuous woman. The threat to strip Gomer bare would be an act of shaming and humiliating her before the public, just as God’s curse of stripping the land bare of all fertility and turning it into a dry desert would humiliate his people Israel and expose their shameful dependence on the useless power of the fertility god Baal. These wives must realize that they have acted in unfaithfulness to their covenant relationship and have done a very disgraceful thing. If the unfaithful ...

2014. Lamenting the Death of the Nation

Amos 5:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... seems to most Israelites that Israel has a strong army and economy, God realizes that the nation is as good as dead because he knows what the future holds. Amos laments that the virgin Israel, a young nation in the prime of her life, is soon to be a fallen, deserted virgin that no one will help. He laments that her armies will go out strong but come back decimated, with few survivors (5:3). Her only hope is to seek God truly if she wants to live (5:4). It is useless to worship at Bethel or other sacred ...

2015. First Explanation

Habakkuk 1:5-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the cunning of a ferocious wolf that uses the gathering twilight to attack the sheepfold. The army covers vast distances with the speed of an eagle set for the prey. The image changes in verse 9 to depict the band of despoilers as a desert storm. Just as the east wind carried in its cyclonic winds untold amounts of sand, so the Chaldeans will gather numerous prisoners. In verse 10 the audacity and rapacity of the coming Babylonian host are underscored. A description is given of the siege methods typically ...

2016. Second Explanation

Habakkuk 2:2-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... were prized in the ancient world, and has spilled the blood of man and animal alike in her insatiable thirst for world domination. Surely such violence will be repaid. In the fifth woe (2:18–20) God proclaims that the Babylonians will be deserted. What little spiritual consciousness the Babylonians had was largely the result of thousands of years of pagan polytheism. They had foolishly followed their idolatrous predecessors in calling god that which was the product of their own hands. Worst of all, in the ...

2017. The Prophet’s Prayer and God’s Exaltation

Habakkuk 3:1-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... chief cities. The name comes from a grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:11, 15, 42; Jer. 49:7, 20) whose descendants entered into the area. Paran designates not only a mountain range west and south of Edom and northeast of Mount Sinai but also a broad desert area in the Sinai peninsula. The event described here is given in similar words in Deuteronomy 33:1–2 and Judges 5:4, where the term “Seir” is used in parallelism with Mount Paran and Edom, and the importance of Mount Sinai is underscored. Israel’s God ...

2018. Assyria

Zephaniah 2:13-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the small nations (Philistia, Moab, and Ammon). All kingdoms, whether great or small, will fall. The oracle against Assyria is in the form of a message of doom. The great Assyrian power will come to nothing. It will be like a “desolate” place, a “desert.” Assyria’s power will be dried up like a brook without water. The presence of animals (2:14) indicates that life is possible in Assyria; its climate is not altered. Flocks, herds, and wild animals will inhabit Assyria’s ruins. The fall of ...

2019. God’s Love for His People

Malachi 1:1-5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the time of the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC). The books of Obadiah and Lamentations speak of the hatred shown by the Edomites, who did not help Judah in her time of need but instead rejoiced in her tragedy. Later, the Edomites were displaced by desert nomads who had destroyed the mountain strongholds and devastated the land, forcing them to flee into the northern Negev. Malachi confirms the prophetic word of God’s judgment on the Edomites. Regardless of how long it may be, Yahweh himself will see to the end ...

2020. John Prepares the Way

Matthew 3:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:1–4:16 Review · Matthew moves from narrating the infancy stories to two preparatory events for the ministry of Jesus—his baptism and temptation. Both narratives are set in the wilderness (“desert”), tying Jesus’s preparation for his ministry to the identity of the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the land promised to them. Both stories are also marked by the Spirit, signaling that the time of eschatological promise has begun. John the Baptist is introduced in Matthew 3 ...

2021. Jesus’s Fifth Discourse—The Eschatological Discourse

Matthew 24:1-35, Matthew 24:36-51

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... briefly contrasts the destruction of the temple with Jesus’s parousia (“reappearing”; NIV “coming” in 24:27). Matthew has just indicated that the temple’s destruction will be accompanied by enticements to find the messiah in obscure places, such as the desert or inner rooms (24:23–26). In contrast, the “parousia of the Son of Man” will be as visible as lightning flashing across the breadth of the sky (24:27). Matthew’s Jesus gives three final pictures about the temple’s destruction ...

2022. Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-46, Matthew 26:47-56

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Matthew does not cite a particular scriptural text but refers to “Scriptures” (plural; 26:54) and “the writings of the prophets” (26:56), these statements likely indicate Jesus’s fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures generally. In contrast to Jesus’s command of the situation, his disciples flee the scene, deserting him as predicted (26:31).

2023. Jesus on Trial

Matthew 26:57-68, Matthew 26:69-75, Matthew 27:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , either by sight or by his Galilean accent. Peter in all three instances denies any association with Jesus. After his third denial, the rooster crows. Peter remembers Jesus’s pointed prediction and weeps bitterly (26:34, 75). All twelve disciples have deserted Jesus. After the brief interlude of Peter’s denial, Matthew continues narrating Jesus’s trial, with the Sanhedrin turning him over to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea (27:1–2), presumably to authorize and enact the death sentence they have ...

2024. Jesus’s Crucifixion, Death, and Burial

Matthew 27:27-31, Matthew 27:32-44, Matthew 27:45-56, Matthew 27:57-61, Matthew 27:62-66

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ’s representative, as well as the favored Son in intimate relationship with the Father (see “Theological Themes” in the introduction). Matthew concludes the crucifixion scene by portraying the many Galilean women who remain with Jesus, even as his twelve disciples have deserted him (27:55–56; cf. 26:56, 75). Some women continue attending Jesus after his death, holding vigil at the tomb (27:61; 28:1). The reader of Matthew’s passion narrative has seen other women providing a faithful contrast to ...

2025. The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man

Mark 7:31-37

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... that occurs only once elsewhere in the Greek Bible, in Isaiah 35:6. Use of this rare term indicates that Mark intends for readers to see the healing of verses 31–37 as a fulfillment of Isaiah 35, in which the glory of the Lord anoints the desert wastelands of Lebanon with joy. The regions of Tyre and Sidon are precisely the Lebanon of Isaiah 35, thus indicating that the eschatological redeemer of Zion promised to the Gentiles in Isaiah 35 is none other than Jesus. The removal of the man from the crowd may ...

Showing results