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 2326 to 2350 of 4967 results

2326. Are You Living the Three Advents?

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the Spirit, where the faithful are transformed individually and communally. “Understanding the present age” (v.11), Paul insists, requires disciples learn how to harmonize these two simultaneous realities. Many scholars surmise that Paul has used an established baptismal hymn ... promote casual “pajama days,” like our kids get occasionally at school. In the dawn of a new “day,” disciples need to dress for the occasion. The supplanting of the old age with a new age involves conflicts between the ...

2327. The Naked Christian

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to know and recognize the ABC's. [Hold up some beginning to read books . . . "Run Scott Run"]. Simple is best! In today's gospel lesson Jesus offers his brand new disciples their first lesson in the Jesus message and mission the new reality of the kingdom of God. Here too, Jesus starts out his disciples with simple and straightforward teachings, even as they are utterly radical and revealing. The crowd Jesus addresses is declared by Luke to be impressively diverse: "people from all Judea, Jerusalem and ...

2328. Learning the Three Step Faith Walk

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... I will not excuse I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal and to hasten the resurrection of the dead." Jesus doesn't call disciples to wade in the waters. Jesus calls disciples to launch into the deep with this promise: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). 3) LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND: GIVE GOD YOUR FUTURE. Leave your old ways behind. Let God create in you a whole new way ...

2329. Are You a Leg-Grabbing Christian?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , talons or teeth. God has provided for each creature. Given that degree of divine oversight will God "not much more" provide the necessities to sustain the lives of the most uniquely favored of all creation, those created in God's own image? Jesus disdains for his disciples a fretful, fearful existence. There's nothing we can experience on this earth that can knock us down or out as long as we grab on to the assurance of God's love. God wants us to be leg grabbing children. Are you hanging on to the ...

2330. The Longest Distance in the Universe

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in the house at the right and left hand of the Messiah himself? Jesus' rebuttal to the brothers is not so much "You asked for the wrong thing" as "You used the wrong yardstick" or "You've got the wrong parameters." The role of disciple doesn't require an agile, always alert mind, skillfully discerning the best and quickest way to glory. And contrary to many make-'em-feel-bad-to-feel-good evangelistic techniques, neither does discipleship require a broken, bleeding, guilty heart. Heart-felt faith in and ...

2331. Drop It!

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to bring their dogs to church and go through the drop it routine with them. Experiment with a variety of items that become increasingly difficult to drop, ending with a steak bone.] Jesus' entire teaching was punctuated with one Drop it! after another. Jesus said to the disciples, "DROP IT!" "Don't worry about what you will eat or drink. Is not life more important than food? Look at the birds of the air; they do not so or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." (Matthew 6:25 ...

2332. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

John 16:17-33

Sermon

James McCormick

... a question comes out of a rose garden picture of life. A better question is, “Why not me?,” because the experience of difficulty in life is normal! One of the things that impress me about Jesus is that he is a realist about life. In talking with his disciples, he said, honestly, “In the world you have tribulation.” That’s the way it is. He never promised them and he never promised us a rose garden. He never promised that life would be easy or that it would be painless. In fact, almost from the day ...

2333. Cha-cha-cha Christians: The Dance that Advances

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ‑legs got some. Anybody remember the answer? [Fish on a table, man on a stool, cat gets the scraps] “Two legs sat near on three-legs:” “Man on a stool” is one way of talking about the sources of authority that disciples of Jesus can rest their weight on. Some traditions argue that the stool has three legs: Scripture, tradition, reason. Others say the stool has four legs: Scripture, tradition, reason, experience. (Methodists call this the “Wesleyan quadrilateral.”) But whether your stool has ...

2334. Epiphany 5

Psalm 112:1-10, Isaiah 58:1-14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... Palestine was harvested in an adulterated form that contained other natural substances that could and did "go bad," so that the salt became useless. Worthless salt, Jesus says, is thrown out—his point: Faith gone to pot is worse than useless, it is deplorable. Disciples also are charged to be "the light of the world." The words are suggestive, for Israel commonly referred to itself as "the light of the world," and the Gospel according to John calls Jesus "the light of the world." The phrase designates the ...

2335. Proper 17

Exodus 3:1-22, Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:9-21, Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... tempted Jesus in the wilderness, now Peter tempts Jesus by attempting to turn him away from the hard road ahead. Second, Jesus orders Peter, "Get behind me." This is not a dismissal, "Get lost!" but a call to Peter to assume his proper place as a disciple. The same words in Greek formed the call of Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4:19. Third, Jesus tells Peter he is a stumbling block, because Peter's call away from the cross sets before Jesus the scandalous possibility of not suffering, dying, and being raised ...

2336. Getting a Handle on Our Faith

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... off from all its programs and pageants and plans in order to rediscover why we are what we are. And who are we? And why are we here? What was our original pump handle? The reason we are here is because we are in love. In fact authentic disciples of Jesus are always in the passionate throes of “first love.” That “first love” is the love we have for Christ. It was that “first love” that brought us to our Savior’s feet. It was that “first love” that emboldened us to ask Christ to make us ...

2337. Matthew 21:1-11 - Roll Out the Green Carpet

Matthew 21:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... first time in the holy city, the official center of Jewish life and faith. In fact this “new to Jerusalem” theme explains much of the Palm Sunday/Passion Week tensions as described by Matthew. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus’ Galilean identity, as exemplified by his disciples and by the geography of his teachings and miracles, is what sets the stage for many of the conflicts he will face in Jerusalem. It is fitting that in church tradition Palm Sunday is a bit of a spectacle day. According to today’s ...

2338. What in the World Are We Doing?

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... chance… and to give us a job! He puts us to work as His missionaries. He passes the torch to us. He sends us out as His representatives. He sends us out to be ministers of redemption for a needy, broken world. He sends us out to make disciples of all nations, to continue His ministry, to take to the world His caring, loving, healing, helping redemptive touch. Recently, I ran across the story of the Good Samaritan as Jesus did not tell it. The Samaritan sees a man lying beside the road half dead and this ...

2339. What's So Great about Going to Church

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

James W. Moore

... the way some people relate to the church. They think the ministers and staff are supposed to do it all… while they stand by and watch… but, that is certainly not Biblical. Think about it, Jesus did not call a single Priest or Rabbi to be one of His disciples. He called Lay people to help Him do His work… and listen! He is calling you right now. He has a special job that only you can do. Can you hear His call? And can you say with Isaiah”: “Here am I, Lord, Send me.” Going to church… supporting ...

2340. Wide Enough for All (Mother's Day)

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... look to all the rest of the world like they have taken leave of their senses--saying such things as “kitchey, kitchey koo” and making distorted faces. It’s sort of like what happened on the first Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples they started to act strange, so strange that outsiders accused them of being drunk, the same way in which the parent of an infant might be accused of being crazy making baby sounds and using exaggerated expressions on his or her face. Even more peculiar ...

2341. The Play's Playbook for the Game of Life

1 Peter 4:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . After all, 1Peter reminded these first-century Christians that they were not alone in their struggle: “know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering” (5:9). Even Jesus traveled and huddled with a “team.” Disciples of Jesus today must also be team players. The only way California’s last ditch effort worked was because of team play. When one player could no longer make forward progress he trusted and tossed the ball to a teammate who was prepared ...

2342. For Those Who Have Received Much (Father's Day)

Matthew 10:5-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Cal asked Rachel, “What’s wrong with trying to be like Dad?” When he had finished telling this story, Cal Ripken, Jr. looked at his father and said, “That’s what I’ve always tried to do.” (6) And that is what Christ expects out of his disciples. He expects us to try to be like Dad. To be like our Heavenly Father who gave Himself so completely for the world. “Freely you have received, freely give.” That’s our challenge. Let’s get with it. 1. http://www.fathers.com/research/essays.html ...

2343. What's Your Hospitality Quotient?

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... by reaching out to Christ’s little ones. That’s who we are and what we’re about. Kindness to the visitor. Generosity to the down and out. “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” 1. Cited in John Ortberg, Everybody’s Normal Until You Get to Know Them (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003). 2. “Second Thoughts,” by Carey Winfrey, Smithsonian, March 2005 p. 8. 3. Donald E. and ...

2344. The Love of the Harvest

John 4:34-38

Sermon

James Merritt

... the living water that would satisfy her thirst, and in a few short moments brought her into the kingdom of God. When the disciples returned, they saw a totally different Jesus. They left him tired, but they found him invigorated; they left him hungry, but when they ... refreshed and thirsty no more. He said to them in v.32, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." At first the disciples, as usual, did not understand what he meant. Then Jesus went on to explain in v.34, "My food is to do the will of Him ...

2345. How to Rub People the Right Way

Acts 4:36-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... that time the church considered Saul of Tarsus the most dangerous man in the world. Nobody would speak to him. In Jerusalem he was the most hated and most feared man in all of Israel. The Message translates v.26 this way: "Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn't trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing." In the Greek language the tense of the verbs indicates that Paul tried time after time after time to get into the church and to win the ...

2346. The Only Guide You Need

John 16:12-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... Holy Spirit. In John 14:26 He said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." You see, how do we know that the disciples remembered correctly what Jesus said, and told us everything that He did say that He wanted us to hear? Well, it is because the Holy Spirit guided them to remember the truth. Have you ever forgotten anything? You know the truth is, most people cannot even remember what ...

2347. The Compassionate Christ

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... out into the wilderness. Evening was approaching. Jesus knew that the crowd would be getting hungry. “Send them away,” advised Jesus’ disciples. “Let them go into the villages to buy food for themselves.” “That is not necessary,” Jesus replied, “we can supply them with food.” ... more than half a year’s wages to feed a crowd like this. It was out of the question. But another disciple, Andrew, had noticed a young boy in the crowd. And this lad had five barley loaves and two fish. Now, please ...

2348. A Purse and Two Swords

Luke 22:35-38

Sermon

... in this strange little passage in Luke 22:35-38. I don't know why things keep leaping out of the predictable passages of the Bible, saying: "Look at me, Ritter. You've never pondered or preached me before." But they do. Jesus turns to the disciples and says: "Remember when I sent you out without a purse….without a knapsack.…without sandals. Was there anything you lacked?" Well, even Jesus didn't remember it perfectly. He got the words right. But he didn't get the audience right. He is presently talking ...

2349. The Revelation Code III: The Mark on Harry's Forehead

Revelation 13:11-14:7

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... a birthmark on the sole of my foot." (I will spare you a display of the evidence.) It was the mark that set me apart as a unique individual. But more important, I remember the day Rev. Ralph Richardson placed his hands on my head and confirmed me as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I remember the night at Cherry Run Camp when I responded to an altar call and the invitation to give my life to Christ, and Daddy Ross put his hands on my shoulders and prayed over me. I remember the weight of their hands and I ...

2350. Are You Ready for the Journey?

Mark 8:27-9:1

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... quite different. The good news is we never make the journey alone. Mark records the moment, the invitation to the journey. The story is repeated in all three of the synoptic Gospels as the critical turning point in the life and ministry of Jesus and the journey of the disciples. And in some ways, it reads like an act of utter foolishness. (Read Mark 8:27-9:1) Listen...do, da, do...do you want to know a secret; Do you promise not to tell? Whoa...oh...oh...closer. Ay, you are giving away your age! Those "of a ...

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