Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 1 to 25 of 127 results

1. Strong Faith For Weak People

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon Aid

Clement E. Lewis

... . Those among us who are strong in the faith should seek to strengthen those who are weak, through association, sympathetic conversation and service, right example, and to stand firm when great decisions are at stake. Much good can be done by abstaining from doubtful practices. Little can be accomplished by entering into argument with either social or religious fanatics. We need to remember that seldom are we able to win people for Christ by magnifying their faults; neither should they be condoned for the ...

2. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... apathetic or hostile. Their true home is in heaven with their Lord. Nevertheless, Christians presently live among unbelievers. So how are they to behave? The comparative difference in their lives must be evident to unbelievers. To that end, Christians are to abstain from sinful desires, a somewhat delicate rendering of tōn sarkikōn epithymiōn, literally fleshly lusts. Already, in 1:14, Peter has warned his readers not to respond to “evil desires” (epithymiai), and later (in 4:3) he will give examples ...

3. Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

Zechariah 7:1-14

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... not immediately clarify the matter. And when you are eating and drinking, are you not the ones who are eating and drinking? We can interpret the point of this tautology two ways. If the eater eats for his or her own good, then he or she may abstain from eating for God. Or, just as eating benefits the eater, so fasting affects only the one who abstains. The Law is very concerned with what Israel eats and does not eat. Both forbidden foods and required feasts set the holy people apart from other peoples. This ...

4. The Council at Jerusalem

Acts 15:1-21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... ‘elders’ (cf. Acts 11:30; 12:17), the decline of the influence of the former disciples of Jesus, the ‘Twelve,’ and with it the decline in the direct tradition about Jesus in Palestine” (Acts, p. 113). 15:20 To abstain from food polluted by idols, lit., “to abstain from the pollution of idols”: In the light of v. 29, where the noun does refer to what was “sacrificed to idols,” NIV has probably understood this verse correctly. It is possible, however, that idols has a wider connotation and ...

5. Instructions to Timothy

1 Timothy 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... at least took a dim view of sex (7:1–7) and marriage (7:25–38), it is altogether likely that something very much like that is being given out as “Law” in Ephesus. Hence the road to purity was marked off for them through abstaining from marriage (to be like the angels after the resurrection [Matt. 22:30]?) and from certain foods. (See the Introduction, pp. 7–10, for further discussion.) We have already noted (2:8–15) how this teaching that forbids people to marry had probably affected some of ...

6. Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves

1 Timothy 5:1-6:2

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... certain foods (4:3), which apparently included wine. Thus he says, stop drinking only water. Every other known use of this verb in antiquity means to drink only water in the sense of abstaining from wine. Therefore, Paul is saying, by keeping yourself pure, I do not mean to live as an “abstainer.” Indeed the insistence on abstinence is a part of the hypocrisy of the false teachers, one of their “sins.” On the contrary, Timothy is to use a little wine, for the sake ...

7. At Mount Sinai

Exodus 19:1-25

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... to prepare themselves for the powerful event of the Lord’s descent to Mt. Sinai in their sight and hearing. God gave Moses three days to consecrate them. The text describes three elements of their consecration. They washed their clothes (vv. 10, 14). They abstained from sexual contact (v. 15; see also Lev. 15:16–18; Deut. 23:10–11). They established a boundary at the foot of the mountain that they did not cross (vv. 12, 21–24). This sort of consecration is external in nature. The boundary also ...

8. Keeping Promises

Numbers 30:1-16

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... the Israelite tribes” (Num. 32:28), who relay and carry out God’s instructions. 30:2 vow . . . oath. See “Historical and Cultural Background” above. pledge. This is a “binding obligation” similar to a vow, except vows involve giving something to God or abstaining from something for God, while a pledge involves commitments made in God’s name toward persons other than God,3 as when Abraham’s servant swears to his master not to acquire a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites (Gen. 24:9), or Saul ...

9. The Law of the Temple

Ezekiel 43:13-27, Ezekiel 44:1-31, Ezekiel 45:1-12, Ezekiel 45:13--46:24

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... :13–14, as well as 46:19–20). The separation of the priest from other persons is evident even without his vestments: his hair is specially trimmed (v. 20; compare Lev. 21:5; Deut. 14:1, 2), and during his time of service in the inner court, he abstains from wine (v. 21; compare Lev. 10:9). A priest can only marry a virgin of unquestioned bloodline, or the widow of a priest (v. 22; compare Lev. 21:7, 13–15). Since he must remain ritually pure the priest cannot come into contact with the dead unless the ...

10. Israel’s Ill-Placed Confidence

Amos 5:18-27

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... took place on the sixth day of the third month (corresponding to our May or June). This marked another occasion when all Jewish men were required to come to the sanctuary. They were to bring an offering of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, abstain from work, and devote themselves to rejoicing in God’s goodness. Early in the NT period, if not before, this festival also became associated with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. The Jews who assembled in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost as described ...

11. All Saints' Sunday

Jn 11:32-44 · Mt 5:1-12 · Isa 25:6-9 · Rev 7:9-17; 21:1-6 · Ps 24

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... 's paper, an article about holiday feasting stated that the average American puts on two to five pounds over the holidays. The author contended that it isn't good to abstain from all rich holiday fare; that would make us grumpy and lead to binge eating. Instead, pick the rich foods you really like and compensate by abstaining from some other fattening delectables. The kingdom feast that God has prepared for all his people centers around rich food and fine drink. "A feast of rich food, a feast of well ...

12. “Weak and Strong” Should Get Along

Romans 14:1--15:13

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... 1–11:1 in Romans 14:1–15:13.2To be sure, there are similarities between Romans 14:1–15:13 and 1 Corinthians 8:1–11:1: both address the “weak” (in faith); both center on the controversy of whether Christians should abstain from certain foods; both admonish believers in their decisions regarding that matter not to become stumbling blocks to their fellow believers.3 Most interpreters today argue instead that Romans 14:1–15:13 focuses on a divisive situation in the Roman congregations—whether to ...

13. Tastes Great, Less Filling - Sounds Good, Not True

Proverbs 23:29-35

Sermon

James Merritt

... late, and great President, also made this resolution: Whereas, the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is productive of pauperism, degradation, and crime; and believing it is our duty to discourage that which produces more evil than good, we therefore pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage.28 Dad, would you not only join me in taking that pledge, but leading your children to do the same? I can assure you, with God as my witness, you will never regret it if you ...

14. The Hidden Spiritual House

1 Peter 2:4-12, 1 Peter 2:13-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (2:14; cf. Rom. 13:3–4), but Peter is as aware as we are today of the possibility of corruption in high places. He even calls Rome “Babylon” in his closing greeting (5:13). Yet, just as we abstain from fleshly desires and still remain committed to ordinary human society (2:11–12), so we submit to worldly authority even though it is to pass away under the judgment of God. We know that God’s world is fallen, but we submit to his ordering of it, keen ...

15. Be Careful Which Entree You Choose

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... offered sacrifices to idols before giving their life to Christ. And most of their friends were still pagans. Suppose they were a guest in a friend's home and the friend served meat that had been offered in sacrifice to a pagan deity. Should the Christian abstain from eating the meat or was eating it permitted? This was a serious issue in the early church. They did not live in a land such as ours where most of their neighbors were at least nominally Christian. The pagan faith of the Roman Empire contained so ...

16. The Nazirite Vow

Numbers 6:1-21

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... his own teaching? Surely this means there are circumstances where longer hair on men is acceptable and other circumstances where it is not. Likewise, one might deduce from the Nazirite vow that spiritual people abstain from alcoholic drinks (Num. 6:3a). However, by this reasoning spiritual people would abstain from plain grapes, raisins, and unfermented grape juice as well (Num. 6:3b). It is true that the Bible condemns drunkenness (Prov. 23:29–35; Eph. 5:18), yet it speaks positively of wine as ...

17. Vows

Numbers 30:1-16

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... he must not break his word but must do everything he said. Keeping one’s word is here applied to vows and pledges. Vows (neder) are positive promises to give something to God, such as a sacrifice, while pledges (’issar) are promises to abstain from particular things, such as food. While this chapter apparently makes a distinction between vows and pledges, in other texts a vow seems to cover both types of commitments. Numbers 6 uses the term “vow” in reference to the Nazirite promises to abstain, and ...

18. The Path To Real Success

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... You are my dog. I'm not your boy." (4) We recognize that somehow we must, if we are going to be successful, control our desires and subjugate them to our goals. How else can we be all that we can be? We are told that our Jewish friends abstain from many pleasures on the holy day of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, not to punish themselves for their sins and win God's favor, but in order to symbolize dramatically that they are able to exercise control over their life. This is what separates us from animals ...

19. Judgment on Israel

Amos 2:6-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... . Nazirites, two of whom are named in the OT (Samuel, 1 Sam.1:28; Samson, Judg. 13–15), were those set apart by special vows for service exclusively to the Lord. As a mark of separation, they vowed not to cut their hair; as a mark of self-denial, they abstained from wine; and as a mark of purity, they did not go near the dead (Num. 6:1–21). They thus bore witness to Israel’s early life in the desert when it swore sole allegiance to the person and ways of its God at Sinai (cf. Hos. 2:15). Along ...

20. Romans 14:1-12

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... are performed “in honor of the Lord” is what Paul demands from both parties. This kind of conviction was described with the same verb used by Paul in 4:21 for Abraham’s faith in God. Whether observing days or not, eating or abstaining from meat, Paul emphasizes that what is important is that behavior arises out of “honor of the Lord” and are accompanied by public expressions of “thanks to God.” Paul likened faithful followers to “servants” in v.4. Now he returns to the subordinate status ...

21. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... , while in the latter, Daniel is commanded only not to pray, which in later Jewish law would not have been a sin. Halakah requires a Jew to be willing to die if ordered to perform a sinful deed, such as worshiping an idol, but not when ordered to abstain from doing a religious practice, such as prayer, even though commanded by God to do so (Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, vol. 4, p. 348; vol. 6, p. 435). However, the halakah was not written down until the Christian era, so it is hard to know what would have ...

22. Daniel’s Training in Babylon

Daniel 1:1-21

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... the world’s human wisdom but God’s secret, hidden wisdom, so that we have the very mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:7–16). Finally, we should ask ourselves what it means to avoid the defilements of this world. For Daniel and his companions that means abstaining from certain foods. The NT, however, discourages being overly concerned about diet (Acts 11:5–9; Rom. 14:17; Col. 2:20–23). John warns us not to love the world, which is characterized by “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the ...

23. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... to”—and then only “by mutual consent and for a time” (lit., “time of agreement”). Paul’s concern is those who, in the name of spirituality and on the basis of a Corinthian slogan, or for whatever reason, claim they have the right to abstain from sexual intimacy with their spouse. He is not arguing that either spouse has the right to force the other to fulfill whatever sexual fantasy can be dreamed up. The exception of an agreed-upon time connects to a purpose statement, “so that,” followed ...

24. Daniel’s Vision of a Man

Daniel 10:1--11:1

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... chapter, although similar expressions do occur elsewhere (Gen. 41:1: “two years [of] days”; Deut. 21:13: “a month [of] days”; 2 Sam. 13:23: “two years [of] days”). Daniel’s mourning includes fasting, though it is not a total fast. He abstains from choice food (Dan. 10:3): “delicacies” (RSV) or “rich food” (NRSV). The same word rendered “choice” here is used three other times in reference to Daniel, who is “highly esteemed” (Dan. 9:23; 10:11, 19). He also refuses meat and wine ...

25. Freedom From Human Regulations Through Life With Christ

Colossians 2:6-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... covenant were set aside by Christ (Mark 7:19) and declared nonbinding upon the Gentiles (Acts 10:9–16; 15:19–29). One gets the distinct impression that the regulations threatening the Colossians were all man-made traditions. People in the ancient world would abstain from certain foods for a variety of reasons (cf. Rom. 14:17, 21; 1 Tim. 4:3). The Colossians are not to be bound by rules with respect to food (what you eat or drink) or the religious calendar (a religious festival, a New Moon celebration ...

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