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 201 to 225 of 4959 results

201. Jesus Demonstrates Status Inversion in the Kingdom

Matthew 19:1-12, Matthew 19:13-15, Matthew 19:16-30

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... effective to indicate how difficult it is for those who are rich to enter the kingdom. Jesus’ call for this man to sell his possessions proves too great a cost, and he does not follow Jesus (19:21–22). This statement likely sounded odd to the disciples, since the wealth of a person (who was faithful to the law, as here) could easily have been viewed as a sign of God’s blessing. Jewish wisdom literature warns of inappropriate reliance on riches (Prov. 11:28), but it also shows that wealth comes from ...

202. The Resurrection of Jesus and the Promise of Victory

Mark 16:1-20

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... with Matthew 28:8–10, in which the women go out with fear and great joy, meet the risen Lord, and fulfill their mission? The key is to go back to Mark 6:52, where Mark alone (cf. Matt. 14:22–33) ends the story by centering on the disciples’ failure. He does the same thing here, zeroing in on the women’s failure and the fact that they were temporarily dumbstruck with fear. Matthew tells the rest of the story, centering on the awe that they felt. They said nothing to anyone. The first half of this ...

203. The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

Mark 8:14-21

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... include these symbolic meanings, and therefore this third interpretation of this account is the one favored here. In the same way that the yeast of 8:14–15 is a symbol with an inner meaning, the feedings teach a hidden meaning that Jesus expects his disciples to catch, a meaning hinted at by the numbers twelve and seven respectively. It is not strange for Mark to have seen symbolic meaning in the feeding incidents and to have seen this meaning as essentially being the secret of Jesus’ person, for it is ...

204. Scandal

Matthew 16:21-28, Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 26:1-5

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... that we throw at each other when our eyes are not on Jesus! [Make a motion as if to throw.] The Church, like Jesus’ early disciples, can sometimes be like a gun with the trigger cocked. It exists in a state of tension, and you never know when that trip ... the third day.’ [After the transfiguration], at a time when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, he said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the ...

205. With Peace for the Fearful

John 20:19-31

Sermon

April Yamasaki

... way to the temple. And here was their dear friend--the one who had been crucified and buried - greeting them in the traditional way as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Would a ghost or a mass hallucination behave like that? In that moment, the disciples might have also heard the echo of Jesus’ words shortly before his death: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John ...

206. Master Teacher

Matthew 15:10-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and felt. What on earth was he doing! They thought he was acting like a proper Jewish elder. But Jesus promptly turned the tables on them and healed this woman. Not only that, he proclaimed that she had great faith –something he had never said to his own disciples! Now perhaps, they got it. And if they didn’t then, they would now…because he proceeds after this to stay in that foreign territory and feed 4,000 men, women, and children, as he teaches them about God’s mercy, grace, and love. We too as ...

207. Prayer And Compassion Fatigue

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

... one that suggests that people in the crowd had brought food with them, but nobody wanted to bring it out and eat it because they figured nobody else had any and they would have to share and there wouldn't be enough for them and their family. When the disciples shared what they had, people were inspired to share their food, too and it turned out to be like one of our church pot-luck dinners. Everybody brings a dish large enough to feed their own family, puts it on the table and somehow we have so much food ...

208. Feeding the 5000

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... in Christian eucharistic practice.(2) Commentators generally agree that the feeding story in Mark 6 is a feeding of Jewish people and the feeding of the multitude in Mark 8 is a feeding of Gentiles. After the first feeding miracle Jesus gets in the boat with the disciples and goes "...to the other side, to Bethsaida ..." (6:45). Mark 6:46 places Jesus in Gennesaret. In 7:24 Jesus moves to the region of Tyre and Sidon followed by a stay in the Decapolis, 7:31. Throughout this section, that is, Jesus is in ...

209. Do Not Be Doubting But Believe!

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lee Griess

... us, we walk through life down a dead-end road. But doubt need not lead to death. Doubt does not have to destroy faith. Listen to what Jesus said to Thomas when on the week following Easter he appeared to him. In verse 26 it says, "A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side ...

210. Fish Miracle

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... only Son as the word of life for our eyes to see and our ears to hear." Hymn of the Day ("Lord, Speak to Us That We May Speak"). In this prayer-hymn, we ask God to speak, lead, teach and fill us that we may fulfill our call as disciples. EXPLANATION Pressed (v. 1) - Jesus was a popular preacher. He was almost always followed by a crowd. Once four men with a paralytic on a pallet could not enter a house because it was jampacked with people. In today's gospel, the people were so many that they were pushing ...

211. Being Set Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... in time almost automatic. The thing we are doing may distress and humiliate us, yet it carries us away like a swimmer helpless in the raging waters that toss him where it will" (Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. VIII). We try, but we cannot free ourselves. To become one of the disciples is to free us from that terrible load of guilt - to lift off the weight and to be free of those sins. We can be freed to be the person that God intended us to be. Put this up on your billboard of life: "We can break the slavery of ...

212. The Mission of Christ Church

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... it by faith. The most important task that all of us have is to share the good news of Jesus Christ. As part of your lifestyle, do you look for opportunities to share a word about Jesus with someone? That is our top mission. OUR SECOND MISSION IS TO MATURE DISCIPLES. In Ephesians 4:15 we are admonished to "grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ." The last word of St. Peter in his second letter is this: "…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (II Peter 3 ...

213. On the Beach

John 21:15-25, John 21:1-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... part of this story could be called, "the charcoal fire." This is the part of the story that I want us to focus on. The disciples get off the boat, and join Jesus on the beach. Jesus is standing by a charcoal fire. Now you are not to miss that detail. ... a few days later. Every one of them failed to deliver on their boasting. Every one of them failed. Peter is just the representative disciple. He is the most likable of all the bumblers, but he is still a bumbler, just like us. I believe what this means--this ...

214. Plain Talk

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... . "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled." "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." "Blessed are you when people hate you, and exclude you, and defame you, on account of the Son of man [on account of me]." He is addressing his disciples. He is not talking to the crowd now. Do you see what he is doing? He comes down to the plain, where the people are, and demonstrates what God's will for the whole world is. What he is doing is giving us a foretaste of the Kingdom of God ...

215. His Last Command ... Our First Concern!

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... to do all week is to wash the dishes or take out the trash, this comes as quite a jolt! I know of no other statement in the Bible that can give a man more of a sense of esteem, joy, and purpose than Christ's great commission to his disciples. It turns the farm, the assembly line, the office, the kitchen, the mill, the classroom, the truck, and the retail store into an artist's studio where we may fairly affirm, "I'm here on temporary assignment with God. My talent and time and money are needed. God has ...

216. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the first time Matthew uses “Christ” as a title for Jesus (Peter’s confession is not until chapter 16). At the same time the gospel author writes as though Jesus’ messianic identity was an undisputed fact for John, the question put to Jesus by John’s disciples begs the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (v.3). The debate among commentators over what this inquiry means is fun to read. Is John having doubts about Jesus’ identity because he is in Herod ...

217. Nothing Great Happens Without It

Luke 14: 25-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... because he was going to die. Jesus not only wants you to live for Him; He wants you to die with Him. That's why He goes on to say in verse 26 that you must love Him more "than your own life." If you're going to be His disciple, then your number one ambition must be to fulfill whatever His ambition is for your life. The cross always comes before commitment. The cross always comes before the crown. Jesus makes it plain. If you're not willing to die to yourself, to your ambitions, your goals, your desires, and ...

218. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... turns topsy-turvy with his words. Jesus' rhetorical question, "What can they give in return for their life?" leads his listeners to the conclusion that only "life itself" can be offered as an adequate response to the gift of life. For both the disciples and the crowds that had been enjoying a journey of triumph and miracles, Jesus' new message was both sobering and hard. The final eschatological scene offered here by Jesus reminds his listeners that whatever choice they make, for Jesus or against him, there ...

219. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in v.40) but in the realization of discerning divine power. It is this “fear” or “awe” that the Old Testament repeatedly asserts is the beginning of wisdom (Job 28:28; Psalm 1:7; 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 9:10) and the beginning of faith. As the disciples’ experience this awe and fear, they ask a question. This question is rhetorical, for as Jews they already know the answer: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (v.41). They know that such a power is always and only divine ...

220. God’s Grammar

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

John Jamison

... to remove the uncleanliness from you. If you had to pass through Gentile land, you did so quickly and without turning to the left or right. You did not enter the home of a Gentile, and you most certainly would not sit at a table with them. Each disciple knew that you just don't mix with non-Jews. Most despised among the Gentiles were the Samaritans. Now living in the area just below the Sea of Galilee, the Samaritans were descendants of the Jews who stayed in the land of Israel during the Babylonian exile ...

221. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... menu for the latest incarnation of chicken strips or burgers. Faced with a completely new situation, we instinctively try to make it as familiar as possible. That’s why one of the busiest McDonald’s in the world is in Times Square. Jesus’ disciples were no different. As they traveled along with Jesus, they listened to his new message of the Kingdom of God. They witnessed and even participated in some of his most astonishing miracles. They saw demons banished. They saw prophets appear on mountaintops ...

222. Luke 24:36-49

Luke 24:36-49

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... his readers. The first at the empty tomb has the two angelic figures remind the women witnesses how Jesus had predicted his own arrest, crucifixion, and resurrection on the third day (Luke 24:6‑7). The second event is experienced by the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, where the resurrected Jesus himself recalls for them the scriptural predictions of the Messiah’s suffering before entering into “his glory” (Luke 24:25‑27). Now in this week’s gospel reading, the third and final appearance of ...

223. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... promise is eschatological. Tannehill (p. 270) agrees, and correctly goes on to say that “mention of the twelve tribes also suggests Israel in its restored wholeness.” 22:32 But I have prayed for you: In Rom. 8:34 Paul declares that Jesus intercedes for his disciples (cf. 8:26–27 where the idea has something to do with praying). 22:36 sword: Compare the more elaborate metaphors of weaponry as spiritual armament in Eph. 6:11–17. 22:38 The NIV translation, That is enough, is misleading in that it could ...

224. The Gathering at Cana

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to be able to recognize authenticity, you have to know what the true wine is. For us to recognize Jesus in our lives, we have to know who The True Vine is! Once you have Jesus in your heart, once you know Jesus, are paying attention to Jesus (as the disciples did in our story today), then you will be alert to the miracles Jesus will do in your life. Once you know the scriptures, once they are a part of your life and your mind and heart, you will recognize the metaphors and signs of Jesus in the world around ...

225. Holy Goat!

Leviticus 16:1-34, John 20:24-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... and opened the door. A dryer has no latch on the inside. Only on the outside. You can climb in. But when you shut the door, you can no longer climb out by yourself. That’s what overwhelming chronic doubt does to our lives. It shuts us in, like the disciples in their locked down room, so that we can’t see any way to freedom, or way back into life. But Jesus is the ultimate rescuer. Jesus IS the way, the truth, and the life. When we get into that place of OCD doubt –Jesus is the one who opens ...

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