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 1 to 25 of 520 results

1. The Testimony of a Tax Collector

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... about as hopeless as his ” in spite of my financial success. If Jesus hadn't been walking by my table that day, I don't know what would have happened to me. But he did walk by, and he spoke those simple words, "Follow me." Imagine that. Me! A despised tax collector . . . an outcast among my own people. But he called me to follow him. I didn't know at the time why he would show interest in someone like me. It was only a short time later that I found out though. Ironically, it was when some of the religious ...

2. A Tax Collector Becomes Rich

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... received by the IRS a few years ago: "Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping, I will send you the rest." Zacchaeus was an enthusiastic tax collector. In fact, he was so enthusiastic that he figured a way to skim a few bucks here and there from those who paid up as they were expected to do. He was like our friend in the joke; he could squeeze that lemon for all that it was worth. The ...

3. Can You Hear the Music?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that tabulating debts is sin. The Pharisee is also one who "tabulates" but not the debts of others. He tabulates points for himself. He tallies up his merit badges, his “Attaboys!” and declares himself deserving. The Pharisees are merit badge collectors, yet it is the tax collector who ends up wearing the "red badge of courage,” the evidence of his sin on his sleeve. If we treat God as though God is a collector of points or will deal out favors like badges for all to see, then we insult the Creator ...

4. Matthew

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... He spotted Matthew, came over, and said, "Come, follow me." And he just left. I didn't know about it until that night. We all met at Matthew's as usual, only this time, he had Jesus with him. Was that a shocker, a rabbi eating with all the tax collectors in the area! Local lawyers and rabbis heard about it and interrupted our dinner. When they got done calling Jesus and us all kinds of names, Jesus quietly told them, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick." He shut them up with ...

5. Come One, Come All

Luke 5:27-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... the same way we are to do it. I. We Are To Ask Everyone To Follow Jesus “After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, ‘Follow me’”. (Luke 5:27, ESV) The disciples thought they were just out ... grandfather were all priests and he was to follow in their line. For any Jew to abandon his heritage to become a Roman tax collector was one thing, but for a member of the tribe of Levi to do it was just beyond comprehension. While everyone else would ...

6. A Taxing Encounter

Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17, Luke 5:27-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... believe that Levi is the brother of James son of Alphaeus. We can’t be sure. But both James and Levi are listed as sons of Alphaeus in the scriptures. This is all interesting, but the true stunner of the scriptures is that Matthew (or Levi) is a tax collector –a customs official. Did he pay attention when Jesus was teaching by the shore? Did Jesus pick him out of a crowd watching him in Capernaum? Did he see him outside of the Synagogue? We don’t know. But we do know that Jesus walked up to the ...

7. An Unpopular Profession

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... with him. He and his family received no invitations to dinner. In fact, he was well advised to avoid large crowds and dark alleys. Can you see why the crowds were scandalized with Jesus’ words and actions? He not only ate and drank with “sinners and tax collectors,” but He even made a tax collector the hero of one of His most famous parables. We find it in Luke 18, where Jesus talked about the two men who went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee (one of the good guys), and the other was a ...

8. Oh, Lord, It's Hard To Be Humble

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... was so different. The Pharisee used prayer as a means of getting public recognition, not to seek fellowship with God. In fact, the Pharisee stops just short of congratulating God on what a great job God did in creating him! He sets himself apart, not just from the tax collector, but from all other men! Every time I read this parable, that old song comes to mind, "Oh, Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way." But have you ever TRIED to be humble? You can’t be humble on purpose. I ...

9. The Last Coca Cola in the Desert

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... true, then why did Jesus say, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matt. 16: 24-25)? The tax collector stood in the presence of the holy God and didn’t try to hide his sin and his brokenness and his shame. He recognized God’s holiness and his own helplessness. So he confessed his sin and cried out for mercy, and he received the fullness of God ...

10. Lost, But Not the TV Show!

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... who has ever gone astray. St. Paul writes in his letter to Timothy, “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.” That is the heart of the Gospel, and it is great good news. Why is it good news? Because we are all sinners. The tax collectors and the murderers and the prostitutes were sinners. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were sinners. And you and I are sinners. We look at ourselves and think to ourselves we’re pretty good folks, and compared to some people, maybe we are. But that ...

11. Who Is Right

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... one else is. Only God is Holy, no one else is. Where the Pharisee said, “I thank God I am not like you.” The tax collector said, “I thank God you are not like me either.” There is only one person who receives mercy and that is the person who ... have mercy on me. That is why I am here.” The Pharisee replies, “Really? That is why I am here too!” The tax collector amazingly says, “Wait a minute! You are religious. You are spiritual. You are a Pharisee. You’ve never done any of the things that ...

12. Understanding Outrageous Grace

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... right in life, keep all the rules of our religion, and still not know God. The second thing Jesus is trying to teach his hearers is when we compare ourselves to God rather than with others, we realize we don’t have anything to offer Him. What does the tax collector in this parable do? He doesn’t even look up to heaven when he prays. Instead, he looks down at the ground and beats his breast in sorrow, and he prays simply, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This ...

13. A Faith that Will Transform You

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... represent the attitude of Jesus toward people who are self-righteousness and judgmental. This is not to say that Zacchaeus was without blame. As we noted Zacchaeus was a tax collector the chief tax collector. As you know, tax collectors were bitterly hated by the Jewish people. Tax collectors served the Roman conquerors. Most tax collectors were Jews, but in the people’s eyes they had denied their Jewish heritage and betrayed their country. They were thus ostracized, completely cut off from Jewish society ...

14. Thanks, But No Thanks

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... that, then you don't know where the finish line is." (4) Two men went up to the temple to pray, one gave "Thanks." And one gave "Thanks," that was really "NO Thanks" at all. And as a consequence, God said, "Thanks, But NO Thanks." Be like the Tax Collector. 1. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), FEB, 1993 2. Gleaned from online research but I forgot to copy or bookmark the links down. My apologies. 3. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box ...

15. The Reject

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... . They weren’t paid a salary. They made money by adding a surcharge or a user’s fee if you will. That surcharge could be as high as they wanted it to be and you had to pay it. Zacchaeus wasn’t just a tax collector. He was the chief tax collector. In other words, he had tax collectors working under him. In effect, he was the CEO of a tax-collecting corporation and he had people under him who went out and did the dirty work and then they paid him the greatest part of the profit. He was the “Godfather ...

16. Pride Is a Noxious Weed in the Garden of Life

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... it is so familiar that some of the surprising edge has worn smooth with the retelling. To grasp its meaning more fully, we need to listen again with fresh ears and open hearts. A little background information might be helpful. In the first century, tax collectors were considered the dregs of society. Taxation in the far-flung Roman Empire was not regulated by a system of fair and agreed-upon rates. Rome wanted to wring as much money from their conquered people as possible. Those who collected taxes were not ...

17. Why Jesus Likes Sinners

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... . The Pharisee wasn't like the riffraff of society, and thank God for it! I am thankful for the kind of values that have been instilled in me, aren't you? Some of us could pray the Pharisee's prayer with some justification. But listen to the prayer of the tax collector. Standing far off, he would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." I can almost see him, can't you? No illusions. No pretense. He knows what he is and what he has done. He is so ...

18. The Signs Of Salvation

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... been wisely said that "we can never attain the self-containedness we so impiously desire. We can live in forgetfulness of him, but not with peace of mind. We can live without his blessing, but not without his judgment."2 Zacchaeus had alienated himself from God. Just as the tax collector in Jesus' parable, he is trapped by his profession and by his wealth. Even Jesus had said it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it would be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. So here ...

19. Are We On Speaking Terms With The Almighty?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... right when he said, "We must lay before God what is really inside of us, not what ought to be in us." The Psalmist says in Psalm 145:18, "The Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth." This is why God heard the prayer of the tax collector. It was an honest declaration. He had called upon God in truth. The Pharisee could not go home justified for he had not confessed his sin and his need. When we talk with God, we need to be totally honest. The Pharisee talked at God, not with God. The Pharisee ...

20. What Impresses God

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... Jesus said, "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other." (v.14) A highway to heaven is paved with humility. Now on the outside you would have thought the Pharisee was much closer to God, but on the inside it was the tax collector who was close to God. Because the Bible says in Ps. 34:18, "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." What impressed God so much was this man was willing to humble himself without waiting on God ...

21. A Lesson From Prayers Overheard

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

... of a pass. "How did you stop him?" "We watched his eyes!"1 These words may hold the key to our discovery of the "central luminous truth"2 of the parable about two men who went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The key to this parable has to do with the direction of each man's eyes. But more about that in a moment. On first reading there seems to be no great mystery here. Blinded by our stereotypes, we have long "known" that the Pharisees were insincere and self ...

22. The Gift Of Inadequacy

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... powerful little about its customs." (1) May I say to you, friends, there are a lot of folks who have been in the kingdom a long time who know powerful little about its customs. Two men went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was praying, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people." Then he listed the sins of other people. The Pharisee reminded God of all the righteous things he did on a regular basis, "I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my ...

23. The Good, The Bad, And The Justified

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

... better had he had Gregory Peck there to whisper in his ear that if he had to remind God who he was, then he wasn't. The tax collector, on the other hand, didn't have to tell God who he was. He knew who he was and he knew that God knew who he was ... is this man who went home justified." To be justified means to be declared "not guilty." It means to be declared right. The tax collector is declared to be in the right relationship to God while the Pharisee, who is so certain of his own righteousness, is shown to ...

24. Saving Sinners

Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon

... spent the past several minutes mentally in applying the sermon to some other wretched soul who really ought to be here this morning listening to all of this. To us it's quite obvious that the sermon isn't very relevant or meaningful personally. Jesus calls a tax collector here. He says he's come to deal with people who need a doctor, not with those who are well. He says that the call is out to those considered outcasts, not the respectable people. This I say is sobering, for there's nothing most of us are ...

25. Children

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

... he very tall. So he climbed up in a tree to at least have a look at Jesus, and to wave to his friend as he went by. Well, Jesus saw him and invited himself to supper. The next day, the rabbi at our synagogue denounced Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. The day after that, the revolutionaries killed two of my dad's workers and tried to make it look like bandits had done it. My dad called all of his workers in for their safety and kept us at home. We heard later that Jesus had proceeded to ...

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