Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: responsibility, obligation, commitment, obedience, allegiance, loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity, respect, deference, reverence, homage, job, task, chore, assignment, commission, mission, function, charge, part, place, role, concern, requirement, tax, levy, tariff, excise, toll, fee, imposition, impost, exaction, tithe, payment, rate

Showing 1 to 25 of 471 results

1. Titus' Task on Crete

Titus 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... makes the title a permissible one. Therefore, he continues, rebuke them sharply. This is the only time in the letter that Titus himself is called upon to address the false teachers (cf. 1 Timothy everywhere). The word rebuke (elengchein) occurred in verse 9 as the task of the elders (refute; cf. 1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 3:16; Titus 2:15). Used with the adverb apotomōs (sharply) the imperative more likely means “correct them rigorously” (Goodspeed), since the intent is so that they will be sound in the faith ...

2. The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 49:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Jacob is, after all, a rather small-scale responsibility (!): I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, so that my salvation comes to the ends of the earth (v. 6). Nothing in the aim here is new. Being a light to the nations has been the task of Yahweh’s servant since 42:6. Yahweh commanded Jacob-Israel only a few verses previously to proclaim to the ends of the earth that Yahweh has redeemed servant Jacob (48:20). And in between these two passages Yahweh urged the ends of the earth “turn to me and ...

3. Isaiah 42:1-9

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... biblical "servants" of God are not necessarily groups or individuals who please God - such as Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 27:6). But this servant brings "delight" to the divine heart. He is chosen, not just because he can perform a function, but also because he is loved. The task for which this servant is chosen consists of a three-fold call, outlined in verses 1-4. First, once he is anointed with the Spirit of the Lord, this servant will embody God's mishpat, God's justice, which is the essence of the Torah ...

4. Paul's Charge to Timothy

2 Timothy 3:10--4:8

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... loyalty: first, to recall the past, especially Paul’s teaching and example, learned through long association, and second, to give heed to the Scriptures, with which he has also had long association, and which both lead to salvation through Christ and are useful for all the tasks of his ministry. 3:10–11 This new section begins with an emphatic su de (You, however; cf. 2:1; 3:14; 4:5). After the ringing exposure and indictment of the false teachers (vv. 1–9), who not only teach falsehood but also live ...

5. The Lord Commands Joshua

Joshua 1:1-18

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... with three). The supremacy of Moses, however, diminishes in no way the accomplishments of Joshua. The book of Joshua pictures him as a prophet, speaking for God (Josh. 1:1; 3:7; 4:1, 15; 8:18; 20:1). Though he needs the mediation of a priest to do some tasks (Num. 27:15–23; Josh. 14:1; 19:51), he speaks for God using the formula “thus says the Lord” (Josh. 7:13; 24:2). Kings treats Joshua as a prophet in telling about a fulfillment of his words coming “in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken ...

6. The Levites

Numbers 3:1-51

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... the Levite clans. Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Gershon and Merari each had two descendants, while Kohath had four. 3:21–26 The text now numbers the Levites according to the three sons of Levi and organizes them according to placement, task, and leader. (Note the diagram on p. 185.) The Gershonite clans were numbered at 7,500 (v. 22). They were stationed on the west of the tabernacle and were responsible for all the tent coverings, curtains, hangings, and ropes for the hangings. The ...

7. The Lord Speaks

Job 38:1--41:34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... same phrase found at the beginning of chapter 38, signifying that this is a continuation of the original storm of words after a brief pause. Brace yourself. Again, as in 38:3, God challenges Job to face head-on into the torrent of divine words. The difficult task for which Job is to prepare himself by girding his loins is not over yet. The use of the term geber, man, emphasizes the inequity between God and his human creations, who can only prepare themselves like human beings and not as God. I will question ...

8. The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Isaiah 61:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... together (see 1 Sam. 16; 2 Sam. 23). In effect, then, this prophet claims to be a David-like figure for the community, anointed (metaphorically) like David and endowed like David. The prophet is thus saying something parallel to 55:3–5. As David’s task there passes from king to people, so David’s commission and equipping here passes from king to prophet. The claim stands in the context of that other assumption that the prophet also stands for the people (see 59:21). Given that the king in particular ...

9. Signs and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 4:1-5:17, Ezekiel 6:1-14, Ezekiel 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... on a sense of unworthiness or inability in the one called, or on anxiety about what the call implies. So Moses protests that he is not eloquent (Exod. 4:10) and begs God to send someone else (Exod. 4:13). Jeremiah objects that he is too young for the task (Jer. 1:6), while Isaiah exclaims, “I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). Jonah, called to bear God’s message to the despised Assyrians, votes with his feet by heading in the opposite direction, toward Tarshish (Jonah 1:3; 4:1–3). Yet we have to ...

10. Personal Rights and Christian Testimony

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... is not one of equal status; rather, Paul is a household manager (oikonomos) entrusted with a task—a task normally given to a highly trusted slave (Luke 12:42–48).5 Such a slave would have a high degree of freedom and trust from the master, but woe unto the ... slave if the task was not performed as charged and the trust was broken.6 What then is my reward? With extraordinary finesse, Paul draws his argument to ...

11. The Census of the Twelve Tribes

Num 1:1–2:54

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... six hundred thousand men by sheer numbers could overwhelm a few hundred chariots. Exodus 18 indicates that Moses sat from morning to evening judging the people, leading Jethro, his father-in-law, to advise him to appoint judges under him to reduce the task (Exod. 18:13–23). That Moses would have single-handedly attempted to settle all the disputes of two and a half million people seems unimaginable. The Israelites were emotionally devastated by the defeat at Ai in which thirty-six Israelite men died (Josh ...

12. David’s Mighty Men

2 Samuel 21:15-22

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... was dependent on the Lord’s protection for survival and success. In the accounts of David’s mighty men, we discover that these brave and loyal soldiers were often the instruments of divine protection for David. The Lord gave David a challenging and dangerous task to do, and he did not leave David alone. Behind the remarkable exploits of David’s men, one can see the Lord himself. On at least two occasions recorded here, Israel’s armies retreated, but a lone warrior stood his ground and defeated the ...

13. On Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... that he and Apollos are fellow workers, and he recognizes that as fellow workers they both belong to God. They do not labor with God; they are God’s servants, and they labor with each other. Paul’s syntax emphasizes God and God’s priority in the tasks and the doing of ministry. The church is God’s field, God’s building, so that to claim allegiance to or status from one or another of God’s servants is nonsense. With the alteration of images—from field to building—Paul sets up the lines that ...

14. The Death of Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus 10:1-20

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... to remove the bodies of Nadab and Abihu, still in priestly garb. They are to remove them from the front of the sanctuary, . . . outside the camp. They must be removed by members of the family of Aaron and cleared away from the holy place. This task was important so that no further harm would come. The cousins obey Moses. Aaron and his other two sons stay in the holy precincts and thus cannot remove the bodies. As newly ordained priests, they could not risk contact with the unholy. The sixth verse concedes ...

15. The Kohathites

Numbers 4:1-20

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... the most holy things will preserve them as part of this Levitical work force moving the tabernacle. 4:21–28 The command to take a census also of the Gershonites comes next. Verses 24–28 then detail the work of this Levitical family. The task of the Gershonites is to carry all the curtains and hangings of the tabernacle. Their service is under the direction of the Aaronide priests also, in particular Ithamar, Aaron’s younger son. The description in verses 25–26 includes the hangings making up the ...

16. The Gershonites

Numbers 4:21-28

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

17. The Merarites

Numbers 4:29-33

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

18. The Numbering of the Levite Clans

Numbers 4:34-49

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

19. Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

Acts 20:13-38

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... given the responsibility of watching over the church, Paul calls the elders overseers (v. 28), a term that is also found in his letters (Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1f.; Titus 1:7; the same word is used of Jesus in 1 Pet. 2:25). The nature of their task is drawn out by a pastoral metaphor. The church is the flock (v. 28), a familiar figure for the people of God in both the Old Testament and the New; the elders are the shepherds (v. 28); and the danger threatening the flock is savage wolves, which will not spare ...

20. Paul's Labor for the Church

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... from Epaphras was somehow deficient or incomplete. Paul probably has the scope of the gospel in mind (Rom. 15:19). He already has alluded to the universality and the growth of the gospel (1:6); now he claims that God has appointed him to share in that task as well. The word of God will be fulfilled when it has been preached “to every creature under heaven” (1:23). However, given the situation at Colossae, it is not impossible that Paul is thinking of the content of the gospel. Both the NIV (to present ...

21. Overseers and Deacons

1 Timothy 3:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... was). More likely, this became for Paul a kind of reinforcement formula: “What I am about to say has special import” or “can be generally accepted as true.” The saying itself, if anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task, appears to lend some credence to the commonly held view that people were “running for office.” But there is no other evidence in the NT that people “aspired to” positions of leadership in the church. The little evidence we do have implies that ...

22. Encouragement to Be Faithful

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... the concern is not with Timothy’s need for discipline as such but with his taking his share “in suffering.” The “noble contest” (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12), like the “noble war” (cf. 1 Tim. 1:18), requires wholehearted devotion to the task, as well as full compliance with the rules of the contest, which in this case includes suffering. However, although the accent falls upon according to the rules, the metaphor also reflects the eschatological emphasis recurrent in this letter (see esp. vv. 11–13 ...

23. A Call to Build the House of the Lord

Haggai 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... . The book therefore begins in the middle of things. There is no account of Haggai’s “call,” and these first words, together with the verses that follow, may imply that Haggai has been trying for some time to get the people to take up the task of restoring the temple. But his personal history before and after the ministry recorded in this little book is irrelevant; all that matters is the role he played and the words he delivered at this key moment. The further preface This is what the LORD Almighty ...

24. Comfort for God's People

Isaiah 40:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... )? What were the contents of the proclamation (vv. 6–8)? Verses 9–11, which bring to a climax the introduction to the Poet’s ministry, answer all of these questions. The proclaimer who is addressed is now feminine singular. She is fulfilling the women’s task of proclaiming good news to her community after a victory (e.g., Ps. 68:11). The city’s sovereign is returning home victorious. What victory has he won? This is not yet explicit: it is characteristic of this Poet to unfold themes gradually and ...

25. 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

... prince in Israel” [v. 16]), it certainly looks like a tax. To put this another way, the temple that 43:10–46:24 depicts is a state-supported institution—a state church, if you will. Provision for the temple liturgy is also a prominent task of the nasiʾ elsewhere in Scripture. In the priestly material of the Pentateuch, it is the nesiʾim (translated “leaders” in the NIV) who provide the precious stones for the ephod and the priestly breastplate, as well as spice, anointing oil, and incense for ...

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