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 2426 to 2450 of 2815 results

2426. Tarzan He Was Not

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s no fool like an old fool. Our lesson today from John’s Gospel is not about a vine suitable for swinging. It is about a vine that is absolutely essential for life at least our spiritual life. Throughout Jesus’ ministry he used many parables to illustrate his teachings. His lessons were tailored to suit his audience. He didn’t talk over people’s heads and he used things which were familiar to those he taught so that they could understand. Vineyards were plentiful in Palestine. Visualize Jesus ...

2427. You Are God's Child

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... of God. It means, first of all, that God will forever watch over you. There will never come a time when God will ever stop loving you. Even if you are prone to wander far, far away, God’s love for you is secure. Jesus makes that clear in his parable of a lost son in Luke 15. The son’s real indictment was not going away from his father but in the great disrespect he showed his father. He didn’t want to wait until his father was deceased to get his inheritance. He wanted his inheritance now! This was ...

2428. It Was a Dark and Stormy Evening! Father's Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... of it all filled his eyes with tears. He held his breath and listened closely for he knew that at any moment some great choir would break out in Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” There was peace in the midst of the storm! Isn’t that a powerful parable of a spiritual reality? Sometimes we are caught in the thunder and power of life’s perplexities . . . it seems we can’t bear much more . . . then suddenly peace breaks in upon us. It is difficult to see rainbows from the backside of the cloud. We are ...

2429. Don't Worry! Give Thanks!

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... she does not know. One day she happens to encounter her unknown benefactor, but she does not recognize him. He does not look like she had imagined he would look. But she finally learns his true identity and loves him--her longtime unknown friend. Is this not a parable of our lives? We can all think of times when Christ has blessed our lives and we were not even aware of it and we love Him for it. In our scripture lesson Jesus points out that God has been and will continue to be extremely generous toward ...

2430. A Man Named Many

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... us when we continue to do wrong when we know what right is: we become torn. One of the greatest stories of English literature is Robert Louis Stevenson’s, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It is not simply a horror story. It is the parable of a soul tossed by conflicting currents. A distinguished gentleman and physician has a vicious alter ego that wants to go out at night to a life of crime. Dr. Jekyll develops an elixir that can bring his depraved self forward as Mr. Hyde and then restore him ...

2431. A Fig Tree Sprouts Leaves

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... is going to win. And that has to be good news. No one loves us like Jesus loves us. “When these things begin to take place,” Jesus says to us, “stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Then he told them this parable: “look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near.” Wow! I can’t wait. When we see ...

2432. When Walls Shift and the Ceiling Collapses

John 8:31-36

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... this country is headed in the wrong direction. Even the most casual observer must admit that the church of Jesus Christ is also in a time of great transition. The church and its ministry are not what they used to be. Tom Troeger offers a parable to describe the church's circumstances[2] that also has application to the nation. Troeger's story is about church building with a significant problem. The walls of the old structure have shifted from the rain, strain, and various unknown factors. The roof has given ...

2433. The Challenge to Forgive

Luke 7:36--8:3

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... them. We seem unwilling to confess our complicity with deception and our easy acquiescence to evil. If the truth be known, many of us, like Simon the Pharisee, have a secret fascination and lust for the prostitute at Jesus' feet. In his famous parable, Jesus asks Simon which of the debtors would love the Master most. Simon is no theological or ethical moron, so he answers, "The one forgiven most will love the most." "Right," said Jesus. Ironically and strangely, we first answer the challenge to forgive ...

2434. Shall We Waddle or Fly?

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... world, working through each of us, doing our part, giving our best. It’s not enough for us to simply sit in our pew each week and listen attentively, at least I hope you’re listening intently. That amazing philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once told a parable of a community of ducks. Each Sunday these ducks would waddle off to duck church to hear the duck preacher. The duck preacher would speak eloquently and passionately about how God has given the ducks a special gift. The gift was wings with which to ...

2435. Second Chances

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... young black male from a poor family and had committed the same offenses? Would he have been given the same second chance or would he still be rotting away in prison many years later? I’m just wondering. Do you believe in second chances? Thankfully, God does. Jesus told a parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this ...

2436. Daily Manna

Illustration

Michael P. Green

One of Rabbi Ben Jochai’s pupils once asked him, “Why did not the Lord furnish enough manna to Israel for a year, all at one time?” The teacher said, “I will answer you with a parable. Once there was a king who had a son to whom he gave a yearly allowance, paying him the entire sum on the fixed date. It soon happened that the day on which the allowance was due was the only day of the year when the father ever saw his ...

2437. When Your Struggles Subside, You're Ready

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A parable is told about man who fell into the water. It was obvious that the poor fellow couldn’t swim, as he thrashed about wildly. A man on the banks, a strong swimmer, watched until the wild struggles subsided. Then he dove in and pulled the man to safety. When the ...

2438. Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

Acts 1:12-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the men who have been with us (v. 21). This was the second “necessity” of Peter’s speech (see disc. on v. 16). When Jesus had chosen the Twelve, it was obviously with the twelve tribes of Israel in mind. The apostles were to be a living parable of the new eschatological Israel that he was establishing. His intention must have been clear to his followers, and for the present, they saw it as important to maintain the number as a witness to the Jews. But once the church was firmly established and itself ...

2439. Saul’s Conversion

Acts 9:1-19a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... As he fasted he prayed. As a devout Pharisee Paul must often have prayed. But perhaps for the first time he was learning the difference between “saying prayers” and praying (the believer’s response to God’s grace to him in Christ). The proud Pharisee of Jesus’ parable had taken the other man’s place (Luke 18:9–14). This passage brings home the importance of prayer both for Paul himself and in the mission of the church. At every critical point in the story, we find people praying (10:2, 9; 13:2 ...

2440. Wives and Husbands

Ephesians 5:22-33

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... this verse has a secondary reference to Christ and how he left his heavenly home in order to be joined with his bride, the church. Moule, for example, writes: “We may reverently infer that the Apostle was guided to see in that verse a divine parable of the Coming Forth of the Lord, the Man of Men, from the Father, and His present and eternal mystical union with the true Church, His Bride” (p. 143; cf. other examples in Abbott, pp. 173, 174). Such an interpretation, however, is highly speculative and ...

2441. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Colossians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... a select few (exclusive) as the heretics are teaching (2:8–15). Second, the gospel is bringing blessings (lit., bearing fruit) to the whole world, even as it is to the Christians in Colossae. The true word of God is something that reproduces and grows (cf. the parable of the sower in Mark 4:1–20 and parallels); it does not sprout and then die out quickly (1 Pet. 1:23–25) as the false teaching was prone to do (2:14–15, 19). Paul is establishing criteria by which the Colossians can counter the claims ...

2442. Final Instructions

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... and the utter dependability of God in all circumstances. Prayer as much as joy is the product of God’s grace. For the adverb, “continually,” adialeiptōs, cf. 1:2 and 2:13, and for the injunction to pray continually, compare Jesus’ intention in telling the parable of the Persistent Widow: “that they (the disciples) should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). See also Romans 12:12, where the thought is again of persistence in prayer. Paul’s own letters are a case in point. They are full of ...

2443. Thanksgiving and Prayer

2 Thessalonians 1:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... uncomfortable with this proposition. They can accept that God is love but not that he is just and will condemn. And yet God’s justice as much as his love saves us; only as we refuse his salvation do we see the other side of the coin. As in the parable, if we will not have him as king, we will have him as judge (cf. Luke 19:27 and see disc. on 1 Thess. 1:10). Trouble translates the Greek word rendered “trials” in verse 4 (thlipsis, see disc. on 1 Thess. 1:6), suggesting that there is an element ...

2444. A Workman Approved by God

2 Timothy 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... he wants to make following verse 19. Thus, as verse 21 and the context make clear, Paul’s point is neither that of 1 Corinthians 12:21–24 (though of differing kinds and uses, both vessels are useful to the master of the house) nor that of the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 36–43, where the church is pictured as containing both the elect and false teachers, who will be separated at the End), interpretations that are often given to this passage. 2:21 Paul’s own application of the ...

2445. Paul’s Request for Onesimus

Philemon 1:8-25

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... since he owes Paul so much he should not think of asking for or receiving any remuneration. It was through Paul that Philemon became a Christian, and in the spiritual realm there is no way that outstanding debts can be paid. Paul’s statement reminds one of the parable of the unforgiving servant, in which the Lord faults a servant who was forgiven of a large debt by the king but who, in return, would not forgive a fellow servant a small debt (Matt. 18:21–35). 20 The intimacy between Paul and Philemon is ...

2446. Warning Against Falling Away

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... not (i.e., cannot) apostatize. This is the urgent message of the author for his readers. 6:7–8 The preceding passage now finds an illustration in the metaphor concerning fruitful and unfruitful soil. In a way that must have reminded the readers of the parable of Israel as God’s vineyard (Isa. 5:1–7), the author points to the judgment that may be expected to come upon the unproductive soil. To abandon one’s faith is equivalent to producing only thorns and thistles, to being worthless, and hence leads ...

2447. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... 5:10; 20:6). A holy nation is another phrase from Exod. 19:6; 23:22 LXX. A people belonging to God (laos eis peripoiēsin). The sense of peripoiēsin suggests a collector who has set his heart upon a rare prize of great value, as in Jesus’ parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl (Matt. 13:44–46). Peter’s phrase recalls Isa. 43:21; Mal. 3:17 LXX; cf. Ps. 134:4 LXX: “For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, and Israel for his special property.” Israel was distinguished from all other nations ...

2448. Prophecy of Scripture

2 Peter 1:12-21

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... individual freedom to interpret the Bible, implying that it must be left to some hierarchical pronouncement. Interpretation (epilysis): solution, explanation (lit. an unravelling), found only here in the NT, although the corresponding Greek verb epilyein occurs in Mark 4:34 (of the understanding of parables) and in Acts 19:39 (of a case being settled in court). 1:21 Were carried along (pheromenoi): as a ship by the wind (Acts 27:15, 17). Here the Holy Spirit is the wind (Acts 2:2; John 3:8). “The prophets ...

2449. The Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... is transient and can be no sure foundation for life. By contrast, a life based on the truths of holy living and trust in a loving God concerned for his people’s welfare here and hereafter is the one eternal reality. The principle is like that of the parable about building on sand or on rock (Matt. 7:24–27). 3:13 The dramatic events associated with the second coming have long been foretold. But they are not an end in themselves, however desirable the destruction of all that is evil may be. God has a much ...

2450. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... ’s absence (Luke 19:13). 3. It is used to summon someone to a law court to give an account of his actions (Acts 4:18; 24:2). 4. It is the regular word for calling friends to a meal, inviting them to a pleasant social occasion, as in the parable about the wedding guests (Matt. 22:3). It is the word used for those who are “called” to the wedding supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). In short, it is the term for a hospitable invitation. “The called” (ho klētos), the corresponding noun from the verb kalein ...

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