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 2101 to 2125 of 2815 results

2101. Sadness in the Heart of God

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

John Claypool

There is a Jewish parable that both parallels and illumines Jesus' story, and it has helped to clarify my understanding greatly. This one is about a "farmer who lived in Poland. For generations before him, his family had been very poor. One night he was awakened by an angel of the Lord, who said: "You ...

2102. When Our Only Measure Is Fairness

Matthew 20:1-16

Illustration

Joel D. Kline

Some years ago The Christian Century included some reflections on this parable by a Congregational Church pastor named Anthony Robinson. Robinson writes of working hard in his garden throughout the spring and summer, only to discover that the most productive part of the garden was a surprise patch of pumpkins and zucchini he never knowingly planted, apparently the result of some seeds ...

2103. Hand Me My Green Dress

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

King Duncan

... . A bellhop came immediately and got them. Five minutes later, Mrs. Downs stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Dear," she asked, "would you please hand me my green dress?" We're not told how the Downs resolved this dilemma, but it reminds me of one of Jesus' parables. "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son," Jesus began.

2104. The Duty of Preparedness

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

William Barclay

... . The wise were ready to sit down, and the king rejoiced over his guest, and they ate and drank. But those who had not arrayed themselves in their wedding garments had to stand outside, sad and hungry. They could only look on at the joy they had lost. This Rabbinic parable tells of the duty of preparedness for the summons of God, and garments stand for the preparation that must be made.

2105. Forgetting What the Voyage Is All About

Matthew 22:1-14

Illustration

... whistles blowing and flags waving, the Lee steamboat arrived in the port of Memphis far ahead of its rival. But, alas, when the merchants came for their cargo of pork, they found that it had all been destroyed in the furnace to win the race. Is this not a parable of our human predicament. We are in a race to see who comes in first, and in the process we are forgetting what the voyage is all about. Our mission is to deliver the payload, our mission is to be in service to the Master and everything in life ...

2106. Accepting the Unconventional in Life

Mark 2:13-22

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... that compassion was more important than law and convention. When Jesus encountered lepers he cured them despite the stigma associated with this dreaded skin disease. When the woman with the hemorrhage touched Jesus' clothes she was instantly made well. In the famous parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 15:11-32), one reason given by scholars for the failure of the priest and the Levite to stop and aid the injured traveler is that such action would render them ritually unclean and, thus, necessitate a ...

2107. On Trusting the Work of God

Mark 4:1-20

Sermon

George Reed

Jesus spoke to the people in parables about the reign of God. He compared it to the plant life that was all around them, to wheat fields and mustard plants. The growth of the reign of God in the world is like a plant that may start out small but can grow and become a magnificent place ...

2108. Where Is Your Trust?

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

George Reed

... are not in touch with reality. And yet Jesus asks the question, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" Jesus was a master teacher. He used the common, everyday things that people were familiar with to teach them about God and spiritual realities. When he told parables about sheep and seed sowers and fig trees they were probably in sight of the people as they listened. Even though this was a terrifying event for the disciples, Jesus used it to teach them about the things of God. In the midst of a terrible ...

2109. Claiming a Do-Over Faith

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... brought us the notion of the jubilee in The Lord's Prayer, where we are admonished to "forgive debts" (Matthew 6:12). Jesus, however, goes deeper than the Levitical concept of jubilee and incorporates it into a new way of life described powerfully in his parables. Rather than waiting fifty years to redistribute property and wealth and to forgive debts, Jesus calls us to forgiveness as a way of life. For Jesus, it's a do-over world. We get to have second chances, third chances, and beyond (Matthew 18:21 ...

2110. Ashes for Remembering

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... our Lord Jesus" (2 Corinthians 1:14), and "the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6, 10). In addition, the numerous references in the New Testament to the kingdom of God (or the kingdom of heaven) are about the day of the Lord. Remember, Jesus started most of his parables with, "The kingdom of God is like...." Acts 1:3 says that Jesus' last forty days on earth were spent teaching his apostles about the kingdom of God. The one to whom we belong is the Lord of all. That makes all the difference in the world ...

2111. Does Easter Make a Difference?

Acts 4:32-35

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... asserted one day. "It's good that we study God's word, but we need to put that word into action." The group agreed that they needed to put their faith into action with joy. They took on the name "Go And Do Likewise," from the good Samaritan parable and started out cutting lawns and trimming trees and bushes for widows in the community who could not afford to pay for this work. Soon they were doing more. They were painting houses and run-down church buildings. They got donations of paint and raised money so ...

2112. Matthew 22:34-46

Matthew 22:34-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 5:43-48 and 19:19 Jesus had already established that the love of “neighbor” meant more than simply those who stand alongside you in faith and practice. The definition of “neighbor” was even more widely identified in Luke’s “Good Samaritan” parable (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus’ selection of love as an internal core and an external activity, the “greatest commandment”, does not negate any of the other 611 Torah laws found in scripture. Instead, Jesus uses these two “love” commandments as the ...

2113. Prepared The Moment

Matthew 25:1-13

Illustration

Brett Blair

... reform. His conversion is truly a genuine one and I affirm that. But the tragedy will always be there that when his great opportunity in history came, he was not prepared, and he missed it. Oh the tragedy of missed opportunities. Jesus is telling us in this simple parable of the tragedy of the unprepared life, that we are at all times to be prepared, for no man knows the hour. My friends, the best way to get ready for tomorrow, is to be ready today. A time will come when no further preparation is possible.

2114. Spiritual Investment

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

David Beckett

Financial planners will tell you that you don't need to wait until you have a lot of money. You can begin investing even with a little. Some of the principles we are asked to follow might shed some light on our understanding of this parable. The first principle is to learn about the companies you are considering for investment. For many busy folks this means leaving the research to professional financial managers. A second principle of investment is to diversify. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Don' ...

2115. A Priceless Gift

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

King Duncan

Lois Cheney in her book, God is No Fool, tells a revealing parable about a man who was touched by God. God gave this man a priceless gift the capacity for love. The man was grateful and humble, and he knew what an extraordinary thing had happened to him. He carried this capacity for love like a jewel and he walked tall and ...

2116. Tomorrow Will Be Anxious for Itself

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Eric Ritz

An ancient Chinese parable tells of Old Tan Chang who had a small farm overshadowed by a towering mountain. One day he got the notion to get rid of the mountain. With the help of his wife and sons, he began to hack at the rock around its base. A neighbor walked by and ...

2117. No Comment

2 Kings 2:1-12a

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that "And there was silence in heaven for about the space of half an-hour" (Revelation 8: 1). Perhaps the greatest master of the "no comment" response was Jesus himself. His ministry was a mastery of understatement. His message was communicated in parables. His mission was cloaked in commonness. The "temptation of Christ" is usually defined as that period of wilderness wanderings following Jesus' baptism, yet it was at the conclusion of his earthly mission that Jesus confronted what was surely one of the ...

2118. Outgrowing the Truth Fairy

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... crowd, entered with the people into their daily lives and then, in the evening, in the mead hall, retold the stories and struggles of the people. We need storytellers rather than strategists, Wangerin argues, chroniclers rather than census takers. We need parables more than programs and planning. This sermon presupposes you have lived with your community; you have not shut yourself off from the surprising ways God is working in the capers and cavortings of your people. To adequately deliver this sermon you ...

2119. ...More...

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to the nation as the South's secession in 1861. (See Mead, "The Democrats' Dilemma," Commentary 93 [January 1992], 44.) Like the rich man and Lazarus, these two groups are separated by a chasm predetermined by their economic status. Jesus told his parable to scandalize the Pharisees, forcing them to recognize the essential injustice of such an economic system. Unstated but implied is an imperative for action - encouraging the "haves" to reach out across the gap to the "have nots" before it is too late ...

2120. Chutes or Ladders

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... mobile, forward-reaching service, not upward-struggling success. "Successes" are those things that can be calculated, calibrated, counted-up. Service is never quantified. The point of serving is to offer yourself without counting the cost or tallying the results. In Jesus' "parable of the sower," he speaks only about our responsibility to sow, to be out there spreading the news. It is God's responsibility to reap. We are called to plant the seed, but we cannot guarantee the harvest. As mere humans ...

2121. Take an Ember Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... site. It is time for a change of scenery. Both these decisions are made with supreme assurance. Jesus doesn't worry over what he may miss by going "across to the other side" or what will become of the crowd when it discovers he has traveled on. Through parables, Jesus knew he had fed the crowd the meat of Good News. He could leave well-assured that they had nourishing images to chew on for some time to come. Jesus' decision to leave is immediately followed by the image of a Jesus sound asleep in the boat ...

2122. How Do You Sell A Vacuum Cleaner?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... The one thing you must be sure not to do is to present the drama by itself. It is not intended to be a stand-alone presentation, and if you stage it without some sermonic commentary, you will likely confuse people. Think of the sketch as an "infomercial parable about evangelism" and your sermon as the "voice-over" that goes with it. In that regard, there are two ways you can mesh the drama with your preaching. The first is to run the entire sketch and then follow it with your sermon, in which you comment on ...

2123. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... processed, time-ticking daily schedules. When Jesus turned and confronted John the Baptist's two disciples as they began following him, they were startled by his question and its directness. "What are you looking for?" Jesus asked. No pithy parable, no gentle discipling. More an interrogation than anything else. During the course of Jesus' ministry, it would become blatantly evident just what some of his so-called "followers" were looking for. - As his reputation spread, there were the throngs ...

2124. Tabloid Testaments?

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... crucifixion is not just a historical event, it is something we do to each other daily. We crucify one another when we "cut each other down to size," when we "drag people down into the mud," when we "castrate one another psychologically and emotionally." In the parable of the prodigal son, or the loving father however you decide to focus on it the older brother is the gossipmonger. As soon as his father comes out to him, the older brother can't wait to "tell" on his younger sibling. Elements of the prodigal ...

2125. On Being a Hot-Fudge-Sunday Church

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... have all listened when we told our children that it's just not safe to play in the middle of the road. Jesus didn't have much use for middles either. He delighted in putting extreme opposites together. He ate with the poor but told parables about the rich. He preached the highest ethical standards and hung out with the riffraff. In John's Revelation, Jesus declares he is the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end. Jesus never claimed, "I am the middle ground." Elsewhere in Revelation, the judgment ...

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