Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 201 to 225 of 5000 results

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... was alive. They have Moses and the prophets. In other words, they have the Word of God. So do we. They had an opportunity to believe in the Son of God for salvation. So do we. A story about a wealthy man and his son may help to illustrate the importance of the place of the Son of God in salvation. The father and son loved to collect works of art. They had everything in their collection from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When the Vietnam conflict broke ...

202. Matthew 6:25-33

Matthew 6:25-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in v.25 points up the inability for any one person to serve the “two masters” spelled out in v.24, “God” and “mammon.” Jesus calls his listeners to focus on a “life” that extends beyond mere physicality . . . beyond food, beyond drink, beyond the life of the body. To illustrate his point, Jesus, the open air preacher, need do no more than look to the sky. “Look” is a more usual rendering of the Greek than the more cerebral “consider.” Jesus is simply using the natural world to ...

203. Believing Important Messages

Luke 1:39-56

Illustration

Brett Blair

... We shall never know. We learn in our lesson that she did not turn a deaf ear. She believed (Lk 1:45) what she had been told and as a result she is called blessed. Extra note to the above illustration: You might want to compare the excerpt from the song Jack Binns (1909) to the song of Mary. This illustration was drawn form a documentary about wireless technology aired on PBS. Here is the opening of that song: There's a hole in the side of the ship "Jack Binns," The Captain above him cried; Give a message at ...

204. The Short List

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... us. Remember Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Justice is getting what we do deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. DO, LOVE, WALK. Live God's Short List. 1. Amazon.com descriptions of content of books 2. Bible Illustrator for Windows 3. Bible Illustrator for Windows 4. The Autoillustrator, P.O. Box 336517, Greeley, CO 80633 1-877-970-AUTO (2886) 5. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), May 2001 6. George MacDonald in Discovering the Character of ...

205. The True Shepherd

John 10:1-10

Sermon

Lee Griess

... there is nothing else scheduled — if we do not set aside time in our daily living for prayer and Bible reading — the voice of Jesus will always be the voice of a stranger and the promise and blessing of the shepherd will never be ours. That's what Jesus' illustration of the gate is all about. It is by following the true shepherd into pastures of blessing that we truly find peace. It is by hearing his voice and following his leading that we go the right way. That's why Jesus says, "All who came before me ...

206. Luke 14:25-33

Luke 14:25-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , which might well be one’s own life. Jesus wanted his disciples to know this final cost before they make a decision to follow him so that none should bail out from mediocrity and half-heartedness midway through their faith journey. Jesus’ second illustration uses a military image, highlighting both notions of cost and conflict. The “cost” the king must consider before engaging an approaching enemy army is the cost in lives. Like the tower builder, the king must assess the long-term costs of the ...

207. Daring Thomas

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... their faith for granted. We probably will never be asked to die for Christ, but we are asked to go forth from this room living for him. That is our challenge. Can Christ count on you? 1. Rosenthal, Leon S., “Blackbeard: Cardboard Corsair,” American History Illustrated (June, 1968), pp. 5-9, 46-47. 2. George White in The United Methodist Reporter, 1-15-88, p. 2. 3. Robert H. Spain, How to Stay Alive (Nashville: Dimensions, 1992), p. 13. 4. Jan Goldstein, Life Can Be This Good (Berkeley, CA.: Conari Press ...

208. The Fake Stanford University Story

Illustration

Brett Blair

... about the founding of Stanford University as a warning. It is almost all incorrect. Stanford itself has rebutted the story. Perhaps it can be used as an anti-illustration to your congregation on being careful what you hear and read. Here it is followed by the actual facts: In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of ...

209. An Angel On Wheels

Illustration

The following story appeared in the newsletter Our America: Dodie Gadient, a schoolteacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento in rush-hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping. Leaning up against the ...

210. Appointed and Sent!

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... , "I wish Walt could have seen this." Lillian stood up, walked over to the podium, adjusted the microphone, and said, "He did." And then she sat down. That simple statement said it all.2 E stands for Engage and develop others. Blanchard and Miller illustrate E. One of my favorite historical examples of this is the story of Spartacus. Spartacus was a slave who led an uprising against the Roman government ... but the slaves are all captured by the Romans. The Roman general tells them if they reveal Spartacus ...

211. Work Like the Who?

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... to?” the little girl questioned. “They vanish,” her mother told her. “But where do they vanish to?” the child insisted. The mother used all the words she knew to explain but she could not make it clear to the child. This story, says Donald Grey Barnhouse, illustrates what God has done with our sins. God goes so far as to say that He will remember our sins against us no more. (3) God’s forgiveness is extravagant. In one of his novels Frederick Buechner depicts a scene in which a man is begging ...

212. Tarzan He Was Not

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... as he says thoughtfully to the people, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Beautiful illustration, but what is he saying? It seems quite straightforward. Jesus is the vine, God is the gardener and we who are Christ-followers are the branches. Our task is to bear fruit. And sometimes, according to this passage, God prunes us to make us more fruitful ...

213. Instructions on Worship

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... is similar to what is given here. They should marry (ct. 4:3), have children (cf. 2:15), and take care of their homes (5:14). Within that context, both the instructions on modest dress and on neither teaching nor having authority over men, as well as the illustration of Eve, who was equally deceived by Satan, plus the final instruction in verse 15 on bearing children, can all be shown to make sense. Whether any of this is also related to the predominance of women in the local Artemis cult (see disc. on 1:3 ...

214. The Old Testament Ritual Described

Hebrews 9:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... old covenant and at the same time pointed inescapably to the future. That future has now come for the author and his readers. 9:9–10 The continuing necessity of an “outer tent,” itself symptomatic of the problem of the old covenant, serves as a illustration (lit., “parable”) for the present time. By this the author means, as he will begin to show, beginning in verse 11, that the significance of Christ’s work, as now known and proclaimed, is that the way has been made clear for us to draw near ...

215. Trials and Temptations

James 1:1-18, James 1:19-27

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... the critical point. It is not what one knows, but what one does that counts. True knowledge is the prelude to action, and it is the obedience to the word that counts in the end. 1:23–24 Having stated his thesis in the previous verse, James illustrates the merely listening position with a metaphor from daily life. It is like someone who carefully examines his or her face in a mirror in the morning. The beard is trimmed, the hair carefully combed into place, or the make-up applied. For the moment looking at ...

216. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... oppression and even slavery. But the Greek despotes is morally neutral: one in absolute control can be good or bad. Three Warning Reminders 5 Sooner or later divine justice will catch up with those ungodly men, just as it did in OT times. To illustrate his point, Jude quotes three examples of divine judgment that his readers will recall (you already know all this). Although the men who were corrupting the church are described by Jude as “godless” (v. 4), they would not have regarded themselves in that ...

217. Day of Disaster

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... like a bush in the wastelands. In other words, they languish and are not fruitful. On the other hand, those who trust the Lord are like a tree planted by the water. In language reminiscent of Psalm 1’s description of the righteous man, this image illustrates how these people thrive and are fruitful. The purpose of this wisdom saying is to encourage people to trust God and not themselves. In light of the military danger facing Judah, those who took this lesson to heart would turn to God for protection and ...

218. The Recabites

Jeremiah 35:1-19

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... to be human laws. Whether their mode of life was right or not is not the issue in this chapter, however. It rather has to do with the quality of their obedience. About the latter there is no doubt. The obedience of the Recabites is illustrated when Jeremiah invites them to one of the side rooms of the house of the LORD. He brought the whole family together with the leader of the present generation, a man named Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah. The historical concreteness of this episode ...

219. The Unbelief of the Jews

John 10:22-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ”) to refer to a prayer of anticipation. Here the idiom is somewhat different. The element of anticipation is still present, but the anticipation is not a good thing; it connotes uncertainty and is a state that needs to be corrected (for an example illustrating the transition from the LXX to John’s Gospel, cf. Josephus, Antiquities 3.48). The image is of lifting up, or holding, someone else’s breath (i.e., keeping someone in suspense). Walter Bauer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (2nd ...

220. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... gleaning provisions of verses 19–21 are also rights, not hand-outs. Thus, by putting together the gleaning law (cf. Lev. 19:9f.) with the general law against oppressing the alien, orphan, and widow (cf. Exod. 22:21–24), Deuteronomy makes the former a practical illustration of the latter. To harvest in such a way as to leave no gleanings would be to deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice. This message is strengthened by the repeated phrase for the alien, etc. The NIV’s Leave it for . . . is not ...

221. The Glory Departs

Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 9:1-11, Ezekiel 10:1-22, Ezekiel 11:1-15, Ezekiel 11:16-25

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... adultery: Jerusalem appears as the unfaithful wife, and the Lord as the wronged husband (as chs. 16 and 23 will graphically depict). 8:7–13 For a better understanding of the temple gate complexes, and the likely location of the chambers described here, see the illustrations in Zimmerli, Ezekiel 2, p. 353, as well as Ezekiel’s description of the eastern gate complex of his visionary temple in Ezek. 40:5–16; see also the description of the chambers associated with the inner gates in 40:44–46. 8:8 Now ...

222. Jesus Begins His Ministry to Israel

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... (18:1–35). And it is a mission that will be summed upat the end of the gospel in the call to disciple (Gk. verb matheteuo) people from all nations, teaching them to obey all Jesus’ teachings as Jesus himself lives among them (28:18–20). Illustrating the Text Jesus’ message and activity center on the imminent reign of God. Quote: N. T. Wright, addressing how we might live in light of the arrival of God’s kingdom in Jesus, writes the following: The church, the followers of Jesus Christ, live in the ...

223. Sermonon the Mount: The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12, Matthew 5:13-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... the pictures that Jesus provides here (and others that help them to understand their new identity) can give them a deeply connected sense of who they are in Christ and why who they are matters for the world that God has created and loves. Illustrating the Text The beatitudes are a pronouncement of blessings and reversals. Children’s Book: Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne. The beatitudes provide an important balance of the “already and not yet” of the kingdom. One might compare the tendency in some ...

224. Sermon on the Mount: Jesus Teaches on the Torah

Matthew 5:17-48

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... In the title sentence (5:17) Jesus claims to fulfill rather than abolish the Law and the Prophets and then calls his kingdom followers to obey the commands of the Torah. Their righteousness should surpass even that of Jewish leaders. In Matthew 5:21–48 Jesus illustrates how this complete covenant loyalty is to be accomplished. Across his Gospel, Matthew will continue to highlight Jesus as fulfillment of the Torah, and even its embodiment (11:2–19; 12:1–13; 15:1–20; 19:1–26; 22:34–40; 23:23). The ...

225. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... be with them, providing words for them in their defense. Later in the chapter Jesus provides a word of comfort for disciples: they need not fear those who oppose them, since God cares for them deeply and personally (10:29–31). Illustrating the Text Disciples of Jesus follow in his footsteps for their mission and ministry. Human Metaphors: Various leadership books draw attention to Jesus as a leader using various metaphors of CEO, life coach, mentor, entrepreneur, and even the corporate turnaround expert ...

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