Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2226 to 2250 of 3099 results

2226. Pride Is a Noxious Weed in the Garden of Life

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... Pride has an insidious quality. It germinates a healthy self-confidence. Then, if left to grow, unchecked and unexamined, it spreads and transforms into the worship of self. In doing so, pride masks reality. No matter how capable we might become, we remain mortals, subject to all the faults and frailties of humanity. Pride deludes us into thinking we are God's equal. In his work, Ozymandias, the great English poet, Percy Shelley,[3] writes of the traveler who returns from an “antique land” to tell of a ...

2227. King Jesus

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... Zedekiah, Yahweh remained faithful to the divine promise, and the nation survived international threats that beat down many more powerful neighboring kingdoms. In fact, Judah was never really destroyed. While the Assyrians obliterated the Northern Kingdom, and Judah was made subject to Babylon for a while, a good portion of the nation survived intact as exiles. Eventually they returned to their patrimony and began hoping anew for the return of the Davidic monarchy and national restoration. That's when good ...

2228. What Are You Seeking?

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

What is it that you are seeking? Everybody is seeking something. That is why Google is one of the most profitable companies on earth. People go to Google every day to search for information about an astounding array of subjects. People are seeking more info on the latest crisis in the news. They are seeking gossip about their favorite celebrity. They are seeking information about a specific model of car that they are considering buying. Even terrorists go to Google, we are told, to find terrible new ways ...

2229. I Don't Get No Respect

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... course, but the lesson is clear: Among his own people Jesus couldn’t get any respect. Just remember that, if you happen to be a person who doesn’t feel others respect you. Jesus understands. He’s been where you are. Let’s talk about the subject of respect for a few moments. Jesus didn’t need to earn people’s respect, but you and I do. How do you become a person who is respected? After all, positions don’t necessarily guarantee respect, titles don’t guarantee respect, age doesn’t guarantee ...

2230. Painting The Face Of Christ

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... a certain man. Losing his temper, he lashed the other fellow with bitter words. Returning to his canvas, Leonardo attempted to work on the face of Jesus but was so upset he could not compose himself for the painstaking work. Finally he put down his tools and sought out the subject of his wrath and asked his forgiveness. The man accepted his apology and Leonardo was able to return to his workshop and finish painting the face of Jesus.

2231. A New Status

Acts 19:2

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... asked the mountaineers what they thought about “the Republic” and the policies of “Congress.” The isolated ones answered, “We have not heard anything of a Congress or a Republic.” Then they went on to explain that they thought of themselves as loyal subjects of the British king. When told all about the nation’s independence and how it came about, they entered into an understanding of their new status, and became “American citizens” in that hour by knowledge, as they had been for some time ...

2232. Facts And Figures Not Enough

Illustration

Michael P. Green

There is a story about a teenage boy who was deeply interested in scientific subjects, especially astronomy. So his father bought him a very expensive telescope. Since the young fellow had studied the principles of optics, he found the instrument to be most intriguing. He took it apart, examined the lenses, and made detailed calculations on the distance of its point of focus. The youth ...

2233. Six Interrogatives

Illustration

Michael P. Green

In one of his Just-So Stories, Rudyard Kipling pulled together all of the interrogative pronouns of the English language in a bit of poetic doggerel, and these probing pronouns will open up any subject thoroughly: I keep six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

2234. Examining Ourselves with the Lord's Prayer

Illustration

Staff

... not into temptation” if I deliberately place myself in its path. I cannot say “deliver us from evil” if I do not put on the whole armor of God. I cannot say “thine is the kingdom” if I do not give the King the loyalty due him from a faithful subject. I cannot attribute to him “the power” if I fear what men may do. I cannot ascribe to him “the glory” if I’m seeking honor only for myself, and I cannot say “forever” if the horizon of my life is bounded completely by time.

2235. The Psychiatrist On The Mount

Matthew 5-7

Illustration

James T. Fisher

If you were to take the sum total of all the authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene—if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out the excess verbiage—if you were to … have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount.

2236. Revelation

Rev 22:7-21

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... seminarians to finish their basketball game. While he waited, he would study his Bible. One day, as the seminarians were leaving the gym, they noticed the janitor carefully reading the text in his lap. One young man asked which biblical book was the subject of the janitor’s study. The old man answered, “The Book of Revelation.” The ballplayer was surprised and asked the janitor if he understood the complicated book. “Oh, yes!” the man answered. “I understand it. It means that Jesus is gonna win ...

2237. The Limit Load

1 Cor 10:13

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The large tractor-trailer trucks that travel the highways of the nation are subjected to a load limit. This means that there is a limit as to how much weight each truck is allowed to carry. There is a good reason for establishing such limits. If the trucks were allowed to exceed their weight limit, the roads would eventually fall apart, because a given ...

2238. Will of God by Reason

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Just before Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, a group of ministers urged him to grant immediate freedom to all slaves. “It is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter,” Lincoln wrote. “And if I can learn what it is, I will do it.… I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect a direct revelation; I must study the plain physical facts of the case … and learn what appears to be wise and right. The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree.”

2239. The Ark Brought to the Temple

2 Chronicles 5:2-6:11

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the dedication ceremony is reached when Yahweh responds in a divine revelation (7:11–22). 5:2–14 There are numerous similarities between this section and the account in 1 Chron. 15–16. The same verb was used in 1 Chron. 15:3—with David as subject—to refer to the convening of All-Israel to bring the ark to Jerusalem. In the present section Solomon performs this role. The role of the Levites is also very similar in these sections. Particularly the Chronicler’s additional material in 2 Chron. 5:12 ...

2240. Abijah King of Judah

2 Chron 13:1–14:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... When it became clear to Abijah and his troops that Jeroboam had relied on good battle tactics in the meantime, they cried out to the LORD (13:14). Therefore, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah, with God himself being the subject of the routing/striking (Hebrew nagaph, repeated in 13:20). The difference between Judah and Israel, as illustrated by this battle, is that the men of Israel were subdued (kana?) on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied (sha ...

2241. Asa King of Judah

2 Chronicles 14:2-15

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... (or rely on worldly powers such as foreign kings or doctors!) will experience war and unrest, as well as disease and death. The narrative communicates its theological slant by the organization of actors. Yahweh (who never acts in the Deuteronomistic version) is always the subject of nuach (“give rest”) in the Chronicler’s narrative. When Asa relies (shaʿan) on Yahweh, Yahweh wins the battle on Asa’s behalf; when Asa relies (shaʿan) on Ben-Hadad of Aram for his battle, wars (plural) are the result ...

2242. Uzziah King of Judah

2 Chronicles 26:1-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... :15). The Hebrew word for “help” (heʿazer) is a sound play on the name Azariah (ʿazaryahu), which means “the LORD helped.” This is the name given to Uzziah in Kings. The insinuation is clear that, although the Lord is not explicitly mentioned as subject here, Uzziah’s fame was given to him by the Lord. The phrase “until he became powerful” uses the well-known word chazaq again, which could be a double entendre here, leading to the dark period in the king’s history. This verb resonates with ...

2243. Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

2 Chronicles 29:1-36

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... B.C. prophet, who was a contemporary of King Hezekiah. How did the Chronicler recast and restructure this narrative in order to shift its focus? The temporal organization of the Chronicler’s narrative, as well as the constellations of acting subjects and indirect objects, shifts the narrative focus from the Deuteronomist’s emphasis on political events to the Chronicler’s emphasis on cultic events. The temporal focus in Chronicles is on year one of Hezekiah’s reign, established by an elaborate ...

2244. The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

Acts 2:1-13

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... from the depths of their subconscious, individual or collective, but from beyond themselves, outside themselves. It was the experience of divine power unexpected in its givenness and in its accompanying features” Jesus, p. 148). 2:4 But it was nonetheless also a subjective experience. Luke says as much with his expression all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. To be “filled” (as distinct from being “full,” see disc. on 6:3) expresses the conscious experience of the moment (see disc. on 4:8 ...

2245. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... . Jesus had once been accused of working miracles by the power of Satan (Mark 3:22). 2:23 But there was more to God’s purpose for Jesus than the working of miracles. It was his set purpose that Jesus should die. When Jesus himself had first broached this subject with the disciples, they met it with revulsion (Mark 8:31f.). To them it was unthinkable that the Messiah should die. But with new insight (see disc. on 1:2; cf. John 16:13; 1 Pet. 1:10–12) Peter now understood that Jesus had to be handed over ...

2246. Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... reflection (illuminated by the Holy Spirit). Again, it may well have been the case that the apostles were now under much closer scrutiny by the authorities than they had been at first, due to growing official resentment of their preaching, both concerning its subject (see disc. on 4:2) and its success. The authorities were certainly quick to step in on this occasion. 3:1 The principal feature of the daily routine of the temple was the offering of the morning and evening sacrifices, the former soon after ...

2247. Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

Acts 3:11-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... .” A number of suggestions have been made to account for the difficulty of this sentence: first, that an Aramaic phrase has been misunderstood; second, that the second mention of “his name” is a later addition—without it, God would naturally be understood as the subject of the sentence and this makes good sense—third, that Luke made several attempts at drafting the sentence and forgot to tidy it up in the final editing, so that his various attempts are all muddled up in the present text. 3:18 His ...

2248. The Believers Share Their Possessions

Acts 4:32-37

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... church (see disc. on 2:42–47). In this, he takes up again the theme of their fellowship. Of the other matters dealt with in the earlier sketch, he has already had something more to say about prayer (4:23–31) and will shortly add something on the subject of miracles. 4:32 For the expression all (Gk. plethos) the believers, see note on 6:2. One of the most remarkable features of life among the early believers was their unity. This is expressed here in the words they were one in heart and mind, a typically ...

2249. The Apostles Heal Many

Acts 5:12-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

In this further description of the inner life of the church, the emphasis is now on the power that was at work among them, especially through the apostles. The effectiveness of their witness in both word and deed explains the attack made upon them, which is the subject of the section following this one. 5:12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders (see notes on 1:26 and 2:22). It would appear from this, as from the earlier passage (see disc. on 2:43), that the gift of miracles was confined ...

2250. The Apostles Persecuted

Acts 5:17-42

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... of Deuteronomy 21:22f. (which, however, spoke of the hanging of an already dead body on a tree; cf. Josh. 10:26; see note on 9:4 for Paul’s use of Deut. 21:22f.). The effect of this would have been to highlight the guilt of those who had subjected Jesus to such a death and at the same time to set the act in sharper contrast with the action of God in glorifying his Servant. To this contrast Luke has made his own contribution by choosing a verb that pictures the leaders’ part as though they had done him ...

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