Sermon and Worship Resources

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Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

King Duncan

... her mother and said, “Mommy, I want God to do for me what he’s done for Daddy.” It’s hard to argue with a testimony like that. Strobel says that God changed not only him, God changed his family and changed his world. Today he is a well-known author and pastor. Can you give the same kind of testimony? Saul was a big man with big plans. But he was an angry man who took out his anger on others. Christ humbled Saul and gave him a new name, Paul, a name that means small. Ironically, after becoming small ...

2. A Man Under Authority / A Centurion's Faith, An Elder's Love

Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ’Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ’Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said ...

3. A Strange Authority

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... . I might not be any smarter or braver, but I'd certainly know I had been blessed. I wouldn't be interested in standing in front of a mirror practicing someone else's smile. I'd have a new self-confidence because Jesus believes in me and gives me his authority. I just might begin to think maybe I can do this after all. Of course, it doesn't usually happen that way here. But it does happen. Every Sunday you are sent. At the end of the worship service, we say, "Go in peace. Feed the hungry." Or words like ...

4. The Authority of a Servant

Mark 12:41-44

Illustration

Brett Blair

... regalia of royalty. It is the picture of Mother Teresa, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize! Fulghum said he keeps that picture there to remind him that, more than a president of any nation, more than any pope, more than any chief executive officer of a major corporation, that woman has authority because she is a servant.

5. The Way Over Is Under

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... about a man who was talking to his wife, and they got into a heated argument, and he said, "I'm going to find out who is boss in this house." His wife quietly replied, "You'll be a lot happier if you don't." Well, God has placed an authority in the home, and that's why God calls the husband the head of the home. Wives, when you submit to your husbands you are really submitting to God. Paul said in Ephesians 5:22, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:22, NASB ...

6. Epiphany 4

Mark 1:21-28, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... knowledge and truth. Not all knowledge deals with truth. There is a knowledge that just puffs up the pride of man. The truth of God is authoritative and liberating. Truth is self-authenticating. It needs no defense nor apology. A knowledge of the truth brings the authority and liberation to the one who knows. Thus, we constantly emphasize the need for more and more education. 2. Idols (v. 4). An idol is a representative for a god. For a Christian, idols are non-existent, for there is only one God. But for ...

7. By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). And he adds a little farther on, “we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). What our author provides here is not so much a technical definition of faith as it is a description of what authentic faith does and how God provides evidence in the practice of faith that what he promises will eventually come to pass. The future and unseen realities can be made real by ...

8. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... a very common NT word found only here in Hebrews. Much of the actual wording of v. 11 is drawn from the LXX of Lev. 16:27. The present tenses of the verbs may again hint at the actual existence of the temple and its ritual at the time the author writes. NIV’s Most Holy Place translates ta hagia (lit., “the holies”). For the use of this expression in referring to the Holy of Holies, see notes on 9:8, 12, 25. Only the high priest could bring the sacrificial blood into the Holy of Holies, and that one ...

9. Who's In Charge Here

Judges 21:24-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." (Romans 13:1-7) b. Domestically God has set up a standard of authority in the home, both for husband and wife, and parent and child. Eph. 5:22-23 says: "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of ...

10. The Unclean Spirit

Mark 1:21-28

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... Evil is hard to put a finger on. I give you more power than you deserve by speaking as if you were a person. Unclean spirit, you sounded frightened when you spoke out to Jesus. Were you seriously challenged for the first time by someone with more authority than you? You are silent now. Listen, as I have some things to say to you. First, had you not broken the silence, Jesus might not have known you were there. Unclean Spirit: Evil brandishes no power by being quiet. It thrives on stirring up trouble. Asker ...

11. God Disciplines His Sons

Hebrews 12:1-13, Hebrews 12:14-29

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... in the description of the levitical practice (9:13f., 19, 21), and also once in the description of the work of Christ (10:22; cf. 1 Pet. 1:2). The blood of Jesus speaks a better word (lit., “speaks better”) than the blood of Abel. In 11:4 our author took note of Abel, writing that “by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Here, however, the reference appears to be to Genesis 4:10, where the blood of Abel “cries out to me from the ground.” This is the message of the blood of Abel. But ...

12. Warning Against Refusing God

Hebrews 12:14-29, Hebrews 12:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

13. The Son Superior to Angels

Hebrews 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... incarnation, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. The words of this final and climactic clause convey a sense of completion and fulfillment of God’s purpose. They are drawn from a messianic psalm of the OT (Ps. 110) that is exceptionally important to our author’s argument. Psalm 110:1 is cited or alluded to here and in 1:13 (more fully); 8:1; 10:12–13, and 12:2. Psalm 110:4, the Melchizedek passage, is cited or alluded to in 5:6, 10; 6:20; and throughout chapter 7 (vv. 3, 11, 15 ...

14. Jesus Made Like His Brothers

Hebrews 2:5-18

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... important title of Jesus, and one indeed that in the NT is applied to him only in Hebrews. A priest represents humanity before God (cf. 5:1), and in order for a priest to accomplish his task, he must be one with those whom he represents before God. When our author thinks of Jesus as performing a high priestly service to God, he has in mind, as we shall see in chapters 9 and 10, the all-important work of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. This work of this high priest, like those before him whose work ...

15. Melchizedek the Priest

Hebrews 7:1-10, Hebrews 7:11-28

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... 110:4 because he is the person described in Psalm 110:1. He who presently sits at the right hand of God alone can be the priest appointed forever. The anti-type is truly without beginning and without end, just as the type is apparently without beginning or end. The authority of Christ’s priesthood depends on his identity as the Son of God. On the quotation of Psalm 110:4, cf. the earlier use of this verse in 5:6; 6:20. 7:18 The statements in verses 18 and 19b are linked in the original (cf. RSV “on the ...

16. The Legitimacy and Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood

Hebrews 7:11-28, Hebrews 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

17. Authority Through Servanthood

Matthew 20:20-28, Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... the people dying of AIDS in our city. She is quiet in her manner, but fearless in her daily rounds of prayer, counsel, medical help, and spiritual support for men and women (and now children) who have this irreversible disease destroying their lives. She has an authority because her mind is Christlike and her life is not cheapened by plastic images of great numbers, great wealth, great power in ministry. She washes the feet of the suffering day in and day out. I know her and honor her as a person of great ...

18. God’s Love and Ours

1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... focus. While in v. 14 the community’s assurance rests upon the apostolic tradition’s witness to Jesus as God’s agent for salvation, in v. 15 it is their own response to God’s act in Christ that brings them into fellowship with God. That the latter is the author’s concern is shown by the repeated use of the language of mutual indwelling (v. 12: “God lives in us”; v. 13: “we live in him and he in us”; v. 15: God lives in him and he in God; v. 16: “lives in God, and God in him”). The ...

19. Faith in the Son of God

1 John 5:1-12, 1 John 4:7-21

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

20. Amazing Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... growing up, when my Dad whistled, you better come running and you better holler "Coming" as loud as you could. We were attuned to Dad's whistle. That was just one of the ways we knew that our parents ruled the roost. C. Then There's Boot Camp Authority: The Drill Instructor or Company Commander weren't just in charge, they were God. You didn't do anything without their permission. You ate, slept, walked, talked, went to the bathroom when they told you to. They even told you how long of a shower to take ...

21. The High Priest of a New Covenant

Hebrews 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... 23 the original sense is retained. See K. Hess, NIDNTT, vol. 3, pp. 551–53. On the importance of the word better (kreittōn) for our author, see note on 1:4. The word mediator (mesitēs) occurs first in this verse and reappears in 9:15 and 12:24 (cf. 1 Tim. 2 ... to them” are omitted by the LXX; and in v. 33 for the Hebrew “within them” LXX has “in their minds.” The author of Hebrews quotes the LXX very accurately, making what appear to be only stylistic changes. Although the new covenant is to be ...

22. The Author Who Wipes Away Sins

Acts 3:12-19

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... , the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life.... -- Acts 3:12-15a Let's look at this bad news. Let me paraphrase and summarize what happened. First, Peter said, "You misread the power you see. You think we have done this act of healing. We haven't done it. God, the God of our ...

23. Warning Against Falling Away

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... cannot digest solid food. 5:13–14 The metaphor of milk for the immature and solid food for the mature is common and is found elsewhere in the NT in 1 Corinthians 3:2 and partially in 1 Peter 2:2. Solid food is what the author is presenting in this epistle, and in this particular context it is the argument about Melchizedek. His concern that they may not be ready for it suggests a degree of apprehensiveness about how it will be received. The teaching about righteousness (lit., “the word of righteousness ...

24. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... a license to sin. Just because sin is an inevitable reality and forgiveness is available does not mean that the believer should take a lenient attitude toward it. (Paul faced the same concern in Romans 6:1: “Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?”) In fact, the author says that it is one of his purposes in writing (cf. 1:3–4) that the community will not sin, that they will completely reject sin as a way of living. The Christian ideal remains not to sin (John 5:24; 8:11; 1 John 3:6). He calls ...

25. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

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