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 2401 to 2425 of 3314 results

2401. Acts 1:6-14

Acts 1:6-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the disciples receive from their risen Lord echo the 40 days Moses spent on Sinai. Just as God spent 40 days with Moses to effect the creation of a people, so Jesus spent 40 days with his disciples in order to create the church. The apostles, like Moses, are fully instructed and informed. In Acts, Jesus' Ascension at the end of this period does not represent a glorious ending to his life here on earth. Rather, this reprisal of the Ascension inaugurates a new beginning - the beginning of Christ's church ...

2402. Matthew 10:40-42

Matthew 10:40-42

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of encouragement, empowering them with assurances of strength and ability. Having addressed the positive work and attitude the Twelve are to embody and the negative works and attitudes their enemies may turn towards them, Jesus now shifts attention away from the apostles to the actions of those who would host them on their travels. Despite the warning (vv.14-39) that nothing but suspicion and animosity lay between the synagogue and the church, verse 40 now suggests the possibility of some successful contact ...

2403. Romans 10:5-15

Romans 10:5-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... law as the old: "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart" (v.8). Paul's version of this text, introduced and highlighted by the scribal addition "what does it say," is an almost exact quote of that found in the Septuagint. The apostle does everything he can to make the gospel of the new law and covenant as appealing as possible for Jewish unbelievers, for he follows the recitation of these words from Moses' famous farewell speech with the claim that this same confession is "the word of faith ...

2404. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts in Romans 12:3-8 is immediately followed by the apostle's litany of true agape-inspired Christian characteristics. For Paul, Christ is fullness (pleroma). Agape love is the necessary component if the fullness of spiritual gifts is to be activated and exercised within the Christian community. Romans 12:9-21 makes up a unit of Christian "sententiae," similar to ones ...

2405. Romans 14:1-12

Romans 14:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

At the end of Romans 13, Paul had warned against giving in to "fleshly desires." This might have led some believers to assume the apostle was advocating an ascetic norm for life. But Paul's words in chapter 14 quickly dispel that conclusion, for here he makes clear that matters of food and drink and rigorously maintained schedules of discipline are actually matters of adiaphora - that is, "things indifferent" to the status of one's ...

2406. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , there appears to be a distinctly personal note flavoring verses 3 and 5-7. Although Paul does not specify any particular nemesis, his emphatic disclaimers "our appeal does not spring from deceit," "we never came with words of flattery" suggest that the apostle may have been seeking to distance his missionary work from that of some other traveling band of philosophers or preachers. But if verses 3, 5-7 are directed towards the Thessalonians and their personal experiences with Paul et al., verse 4 can ...

2407. Ephesians 1:15-23

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... on our behalf. This is the very same power, Paul insists in verse 20, that was capable of raising up Christ from death. If Paul's talk of "call" and "inheritance" made a point before of impressing on the Ephesians the abundance of God's gifts, the apostle now focuses on trying to get these believers to grasp how vast is this divine power exerted on their behalf. This is a power "above all rule and authority and power and dominion" (v.21). Yet this power is still something Christians can touch in the form ...

2408. Acts 19:1-7

Acts 19:1-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Reformer's problem was that the Anabaptists were having a field day with this text using it to support their call for the re-baptism by immersion of adults who had been baptized as infants. In his Commentary Upon the Acts of the Apostles, Calvin fudges his interpretation of 19:1 in a purposeful attempt to deny the Anabaptists any biblical basis for their heretical practices. But if the text clearly identifies this group as "Christians" or "disciples" (Luke uses a single Greek term interchangeably to refer ...

2409. 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... off if we do" (v.8). While Paul lets these "strong" Corinthians know that he agrees with every assertion they have offered in defense of their position, Paul also introduces completely new criteria that make their conclusions absolutely wrong. The apostle tips his hand in his initial comment in verse 1. For while he agrees that all believers share "knowledge," he simultaneously warns that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." The "strong" Corinthians focused on proving that their views about eating ...

2410. Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... version it is the evangelistic efforts of Hellenistic Christians that first extends the gospel beyond the borders of Judaism and offers it to the Gentile world. A different explanation is given in Acts 10:1-11:18. Here it is the apostles themselves, under Peter's direct leadership, who take credit and responsibility for beginning the witness to the Gentiles. According to the Hellenistic tradition, after opening the doors of expansion a crack by admitting the Samaritans (Acts 8:5), Philip then throws the ...

2411. Ephesians 2:11-22

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... " who are distinguished by a different set of rights and standards. Gentiles are now to be full "citizens with the saints." This membership is not only true for the present and future community, but extends backwards into the past "foundation" of the church. The "apostles and prophets" of old are now to be claimed as kin by Jew and Gentile alike. This new spiritual organism, this community of faith, is itself becoming a "holy temple" (naos) in the Lord that is, a new inner sanctuary. Finally, although this ...

2412. Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in prayer "for all the saints" that is, for all those who are members of the body of Christ the bond between individual Christians is strengthened and tightened and the armor of God protects all. The final exhortation to pray is prayer for this author who is identified as the apostle Paul. The plea here is for the right words, a faithful message, so that his gospel message might "speak"(or perhaps better, "make known") coherently about "the mystery of his will" (see Ephesians 1:9).

2413. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

After Paul and his teammates Silvanus and Timothy were expelled from Thessalonia, the apostle worried over the new community there like some anxious parent. Paul's fear had its basis not just in the usual vicissitudes of human nature, but in the disturbing reports of persecution these new Christians had already been forced to endure. It is against this anxious backdrop that Paul receives ...

2414. John 1:43-51

John 1:43-51

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... who ever had that zip code? . . . . No? Me either. The closest I ever came to knowing someone from that zip code was Jed Klampett of “The Beverly Hillbillies” when I was growing up. As John’s gospel begins narrating the start-up of Jesus’ public ministry, the apostle carefully keeps track of the zip codes — the days and the places. Where Jesus is and who Jesus hangs out with on these first days sets the tone for John’s entire gospel. Between verses 19 to 51 of chapter one there is a span of four ...

2415. Sinners Outside the Ark

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Glenn Pease

... . Repentance is only relevant to those sinners outside the ark. It is a message you can preach at the mission, but it has no place in the sanctuary of the saints. Billy Graham said, "I have been shocked to find that the theme proclaimed so emphatically by the prophets and apostles is scarcely mentioned by contemporary preachers."

2416. What an Understatement!

Mark 1: 21-28

Illustration

Brett Blair

... to know it, but it doesn't exactly hit the core of us, the things which most centrally define us as persons. It doesn't move us, change us, make us new persons. Christ's teaching, on the other hand, transform us. Just ask the demon-possessed man, ask the apostle Paul, ask Martin Luther, ask John Wesley. You could describe this as a new teaching but better yet describe it as God with us. For if God is with us, that changes everything.

2417. 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... it. That was nothing compared to the heated battles that kept tempers taut between Jews, Christians, and Gentiles in the first century. The key issue of these debates? Nothing less than the requirements necessary for salvation. As the most outspoken Christian apostle to the Gentile community, Paul was on the front lines of every battle, every skirmish, every fracas fought between and among the Jewish/Christian/Gentile faithful in these earliest years of the church. In many ways 1 Corinthians stands as a ...

2418. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... toward the sin of pride, God gave her his absence to remind her that whatever she accomplished and whatever accolades she received, including the Nobel Peace Prize, it was of God’s doing and not her own. She came to see her suffering the same way the Apostle Paul came to see his thorn in the flesh. He saw it as God’s antidote to his becoming spiritually arrogant over a mystical experience in which he was transported to the third heaven. He prayed 3 times that his thorn be removed. At last he heard ...

2419. Jesus Baptism and Ours

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... places” or “thin spaces.” They are where the heavenly penetrates the earthly. They are where people experience moments of a deep sense of God’s presence. They are when people “see the Light.” Or hear the Voice. They trust and obey what is revealed to them. The Apostle Paul uses the image of a veil that makes our minds hardened. He says that in Christ the veil is pulled back. We are able to see the Light of God in Christ. We are able to hear the Voice of God in Christ. When the biblical witnesses ...

2420. Blessed Assurance

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... that comes as we move from being “Little Faith-ers to being “Big Faith-ers.” It is such blessed assurance that allows us to pray Jesus’ prayer, “Not my will, but thine be done.” It is such blessed assurance that allows us to say with the Apostle Paul, “In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippines 4:12b-13). It is such blessed assurance that ...

2421. Divorce and Swearing

Matthew 5:31-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, God’s new world, where God’s love rules human hearts and behavior. So what does this higher righteousness look like? In that day the scribes and Pharisees set the bar extremely high. Even the Apostle Paul confessed that it was too high for him. Jesus offers 6 contrasts between the righteousness of the old world, the one they knew, and righteousness in the God’s new world, the one he was demonstrating, proclaiming, and describing. Today we hear ...

2422. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 1

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... . If life has dealt you one tragedy, one loss, one disappointment, after another, you don’t feel very blessed. Jesus says that in God’s new world such people are God’s top priority. Love can turn a curse into a blessing. I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what it is. Scholars have supposed it to be a number of physical, emotional, or mental ailments and limitations. Paul viewed it the way the world viewed it: as a curse, a hindrance to his witness to Christ ...

2423. What about Laws and Rules?

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... Holy Spirit. We can make the law an idol. The law can lead to self-righteous pride. Jesus tells his disciples, “Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” Is he saying we must know and obey more laws than they did?” The Apostle Paul confessed that he tried and failed. He concluded, “The written code kills. The Spirit gives life.” Paul came to view the law as a “schoolmaster” that brings us to faith in Christ. The law teaches us that our behavior matters. But the law can ...

2424. Bound to Earth, Destined for Heaven

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... prohibits the celebration of the Eucharist on Holy Saturday. It is the day of mystery on which all metaphors break down, the day of pause and silence in the narrative of Christ, but without pause and silence no story can be told. In the Apostle’s Creed it comes to us in these four words that are seldom commented on: “he descended into hell.” There are, of course, no first hand accounts of the depths Jesus encountered on that day when he “descended into hell.” Traditionally “Holy Saturday” a ...

2425. Overcoming Temptation and Spiritual Growth

Mark 1:9-15

Illustration

Fulton J. Sheen

... who wanted to send down lightening, a Son of Thunder. But some time or other in John's life, he seized upon the weak spot in his character, namely, want of kindness to fellow man, and through cooperation with grace, he became the great apostle of charity. The Temptations of the saints were for them opportunities of self-discovery. They revealed the breaches in the fortress of their souls that needed to be fortified, until they became the strongest points. This explains the curious fact about many saintly ...

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