Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 41 results

Psalm 103:13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... is in some bibles. It's a collection of writings that didn't make it into the Old Testament, but they considered important enough to be gathered in a separate collection called the Apocrypha. And in the Apocrypha is a book called The Wisdom of Sirach. It's also called Ecclesiasticus. And in it is this famous line, "Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers in their generation." For the Jews, the "fathers in their generation" meant the heritage, the tradition they passed on to their ...

2. The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... die in the fire they prepare for the three Jews. However, this story in chapter 3 is also different from the others in that the Chaldeans who denounce the three Jews are not burned, at least not in the MT. The Greek version, preserved in the Apocrypha in the Prayer of Azariah, elaborates on the fate of those outside: “And the flames poured out above the furnace forty-nine cubits, and spread out and burned those Chaldeans who were caught near the furnace” (Pr. Azar. 24–25 NRSV [= 3:47–48 LXX]). Of ...

3. Advent 2

Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 3:1-20, Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... on Easter morning. Renew the wonders of your power in the church, so that, after the sorrow of our exile, we may come home to you in gladness and praise you now and forever." THE READINGS Baruch 5:1-9 (RC, E) This selection from the Apocrypha, which is not accepted as a canon by the Protestants because it is not an integral part of the Hebrew Bible and is classified as non-canonical, was written by Jeremiah's assistant/secretary, Baruch, purportedly in conjunction with the Babylonian exile. The book is ...

4. When Thomas Doubted

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... , nothing is impossible. Let’s learn from Thomas: Give ourselves completely to the Lord.Admit our doubts and work through them.Keep in the company of the rest of the believers. “We do not know for sure what happened to Thomas in afterdays -- there is an Apocrypha book called the Acts of Thomas which gives us some history. After the Ascension of Jesus, the disciples divided up the world, so each might go to some country to preach the gospel. India fell by lot to Thomas. The Christians of India do trace ...

5. The Battle of the Wisdoms

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... constant companionship of God, or wisdom, to help all of us in our efforts to avoid the dreadful attrition rate that besets Christians. Early Christians knew their wisdom literature tradition quite well. From the Old Testament (Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes) and the Apocrypha, to the circulated letters of Paul, wisdom as a gift of God's spirit was held before them. In like manner, they were familiar with the teachings of Aristotle. The initial readers of James' words were familiar with the law of logic ...

6. Romans 8:12-25

Romans 8:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of Israel stood in a unique relationship with the divine as “God’s chosen people.” But when Israel ceased to exist as a political reality the notion of “sonship” became more eschatologically oriented (see Hosea 1:10). In post-biblical apocrypha it is eschatological Israel that is promised its rightful “inheritance” as God’s children. With this eschatological relationship in mind Paul now applies the status as “children of God” to all who live according to the Spirit. This is a status ...

7. Epiphany 8

Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15, Isaiah 55:10-13, Luke 6:39-49, 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

Call To Worship Leader: It’s Sunday again! So soon! It’s good to be together. It’s a good day to praise God and to catch up with one another. In our scriptures today, there are verses from Sirach in the apocrypha that describe conversation: “Never praise anyone until you hear that person talk!” People: We talk with each other often, and we are aware that our words indicate our characters and our attitudes about life. Leader: We can be honest with one another about our thoughts, and we can be ...

8. Ambassadors of The Lord

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... as you did it to one of the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it to me." Artaban's face grew calm and peaceful. His long journey was ended. He had found his king! This popular story, taken from the apocrypha of Christian tradition, powerfully presents the Epiphany message. The three magi of whom Saint Matthew speaks in his gospel brought their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, recognizing Jesus as priest, prophet, and king. Additionally, their presence in Bethlehem demonstrated how Christ ...

9. Live the Lullaby

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of deliverance sung by Hebrew women which the “Magnificat” culminates beginning with the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15:19-25 sung by Miriam (another Mary, this one Moses’ and Aaron’s sister); the Song of Deborah in Judges 5:1-13; the Song of Judith in the Apocrypha; and the Song of Hannah in First Samuel 2:1-10 as she presents her son to the priest. Mary’s song may be celebrating and praising a completely new work of God in the world, but its form and content clearly connect this praise hymn to all ...

10. Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Luke 1:39-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

11. The Certainty of God's Promise

Hebrews 6:13-20

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... any NT book except Matthew. For this verb, see H.-G. Link, NIDNTT, vol. 3, pp. 737–43. God’s having confirmed his promise to Abraham with an oath is noted elsewhere in the NT (Acts 2:30; Luke 1:73) as well as in the Apocrypha (Sirach 44:21: “Therefore the Lord assured him by an oath”). The closest parallel, however, to the argument here is in Philo, Allegorical Interpretation, 3.203, 205f. I will surely reflects the emphasis of the Hebrew infinitive absolute, often translated as the phrase here but ...

12. By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... For intertestamental references to Enoch, after whom a corpus of literature was named, see Wisdom of Solomon 4:10; Sirach 44:16; 49:14; Jubilees 10:17; and 1 Enoch 71:14 (these are writings originating in the intertestamental period and later, known collectively as apocrypha and pseudepigrapha). 11:6 The concept of “pleasing” God is taken up from the LXX and applied generally to righteous living in the Christian church. Our author can use this language in a similar way (see 12:28; 13:16, 21; cf. Rom. 12 ...

13. Trials and Temptations

James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... , one sees that the impressiveness is that of a soap bubble. Death is coming and the wealth will disappear and the rich will descend stripped naked to the depths of Hades (as shown by Job 15:30 and Prov. 2:8, in the Old Testament; in the Apocrypha, Sirach 14:11–19; 2 Baruch 82:3–9; or in the New Testament, Matt. 6:19–21). Again the proper perspective is critical. Only with God’s perspective, the perspective of the coming age, can one recognize this truth and the bitter irony it contains. 1 ...

14. The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly (Lev. 19:15). Never show partiality: if a family member or close friend entices you to evil, you must bring them to court (Deut. 13:6–11). 20:17 For a survey of the law against covetousness in the OT, Apocrypha, rabbinic sources, and its use in Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler, see Bruckner, “On the One Hand.”

15. Invitation of Wisdom and of Folly

Proverbs 9:1-18

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... involved with them and their observations about life. Their ways are to become her ways. God’s gift and human experience are the two levels of Wisdom explored in the book. The life of Woman Wisdom is extended even more and her contours made sharper in the books of the Apocrypha (esp. Sir. 1:1–10; 24:1–22, and identified by Ben Sira with the Torah in Sir. 24:23; Bar. 3:9–4:4; and Wis. 7:1–9:18). For a succinct portrayal of the growth of the figure of Woman Wisdom in later literature, see Murphy ...

16. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to the Greeks and Jews is old. But we are Christians, who as a third race worship him in a new way”; Preaching to Peter, cited in Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis VI, 5.39–41, translated in Hennecke-Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964], vol. 2, p. 100). Playing on the woman’s reference to her fathers, or Samaritan ancestors who worshiped on Gerizim (v. 20), Jesus subtly introduces the title Father in connection with the worship of God (vv. 21, 23), making ...

17. Testimonies About Jesus

John 5:31-47

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to accuse you to my Father. Moses, in whom you have put your hope, is the very one who will accuse you.” (cf. vv. 39, 45; the fragment continues with a saying parallel to John 9:29). See E. Hennecke and W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964), vol. 1, pp. 94–97. 5:43 If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. The someone (Gr.: allos: lit., “another”) is not definite like the “another” (allos) of v. 32. There is no reference here to antichrists ...

18. A Prophecy Against Tyre

Ezekiel 26:1-21

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... some 29 times in Jer. 21–52) use consistently for the Neo-Babylonian conqueror of Jerusalem. The NRSV, like the KJV, stays with the Heb. The NIV chooses to use “Nebuchadnezzar,” the more familiar form of the name, found in Kgs., Chr., Ezra, Neh., Dan., and the Apocrypha, as well as seven times in Jer. (27:6, 8, 20; 28:3, 11, 14; 29:1, 3; perhaps suggesting that a later editor composed Jer. 27–29, a prose account of three events in Jeremiah’s career). In Akkadian, the king’s name was Nabu-kudurri ...

19. “Weak and Strong” Should Get Along

Romans 14:1--15:13

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... need to bear with their Jewish Christian brothers and sisters by affirming the latter’s Jewish heritage. For example, for some time now in biblical scholarship Christian scholars have rightly focused on Jewish literature of the Second Temple period—the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, and more. This literature is enormously important for a proper understanding of ancient (and modern) Judaism, not to mention the New Testament. For their part, Jewish scholars have made their own strides toward ...

20. The Daughters of Zelophehad (Part 2)

Numbers 36:1-13

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... are clearly bound by context: Israel is about to take and divide up the land, so tribal rights are especially important at that moment. Once that element ceases to exist, there will be no reason to limit inheritance within tribes. Note, however, that in the Apocrypha, Tobit 6:12–13 makes the practice of such a girl marrying her nearest relative into a “decree of the book of Moses” in which noncompliance is a capital offense, though this appears to go beyond the law itself. 36:13 These are the ...

21. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is “born” “before the hills” with access to God’s council. Eliphaz is likely alluding to a cultural mythological tale, remnants of which possibly undergird Ezekiel’s depiction of the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28), and are found in Psalms, Philo, the Apocrypha, the Midrash, the gnostics, and the patristic writings (Gordis 1936, 86). Eliphaz’s point is clear: Job is arrogant. Age and communal consensus are the pillars of wisdom and understanding. How dare one lone mortal take these on, and do so by ...

22. The Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... .” As they emerge from the tomb, a voice from heaven mentions Jesus as having preached to the dead, and the cross is heard to answer “yea” (the text can be read in translation in E. Hennecke, W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, trans. R. McL. Wilson [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963], vol. 1, pp. 185–86). It is evident that, compared with these examples of the attempt to supply descriptions of the resurrection, the canonical Gospels are quite reserved and place emphasis upon the declaration ...

23. The Twelve Apostles

Luke 6:12-16

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... name writings after him. The so-called Petrine epistles are probably examples within the NT, while the apocryphal Gospel of Peter is one of the better known extracanonical works. For the text of this writing see E. Hennecke and W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1974), vol. 1, pp. 185–86. Peter’s name has also been associated with some of the gnostic writings: the Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles (Nag Hammadi Codex VI, 1), the Apocalypse of Peter (NHC VII ...

24. Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:1-19

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... Lord our God, . . . we have done wrong” (9:15). “Now” signals the change from penitence to petition for deliverance, as in other biblical passages (Exod. 32:32; 1 Sam. 12:10; 15:25; 1 Chron. 21:8; Ezra 9:8, 10; Neh. 9:32; see also, in the Apocrypha, Bar. 2:11; Pr. Azar.; Sg. Three vv. 10, 18). The supplicant appeals to history with hope for the future: You brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand (Dan. 9:15). Just as God delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt and brought them to the ...

25. The Appointing of the Twelve Apostles

Mark 3:13-19

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of the popularity of this writing even among orthodox circles of Syrian Christians, this idea must be regarded as a peculiar sample of pious imagination. For information on the writing, and an English translation, see E. Hennecke, W. Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha, trans. R. McL. Wilson [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1965], vol. 2, pp. 425–531.) Judas Iscariot is called son of Simon Iscariot in John 6:71; 13:26, and many suggest that Iscariot is a transliteration of a Hebrew term meaning “a man ...

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