Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 1647 results

Revelation 8:6--9:21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The Seven Trumpets: Why History Belongs to the Intercessors · Prelude of prayer: During a time of silence and prayer, the priest usually made an incense offering as part of the daily sacrifices of the Jerusalem temple (Mishnah Tamid 5.1–6; 6.1–3; 7.3). The priests typically sprinkled sacrificial blood on the altars of the outer temple courts (cf. Lev. 1:5) and later entered into the inner sanctuar...

2. A Blind Beggar Receives His Sight

Luke 18:35-43

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The healing of the blind man (18:35–43) occurs while Jesus is leaving Jericho (cf. Mark 10:46–52). Jericho was near to the city of Jesus’s destination, namely, Jerusalem. Despite being discouraged by the crowd, the blind man hails Jesus as the Son of David, referring to his messianic status as he begs him for help. The implication is that the blind man is one of his disciples since he puts his fai...

3. A Brother Who Sins Against You

Matthew 18:15-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The theme of restoration initiated in the parable finds further emphasis and clarity in 18:15–20, where the restoration of a sinning community member is paramount. The goal of the process described in 18:15–20 is to win over one’s brother or sister (18:15). The restorative process involves (1) bringing the purported sin to the person privately; (2) if the first action does not result in restoratio...

4. A Call to Christlike Obedience

Philippians 2:12-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

After ending the hymn, Paul continues with another “therefore.” In light of the example of Christ, Paul explicitly calls the Philippians to a life of obedience following the example of Christ. In light of his current situation of imprisonment, Paul calls them to obey while he is away, as he has known them to obey when he is there (2:12). Yet this obedience is even more important because Paul is no...

5. A Call to Repentance

Joel 1:13-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1:13–14 · The Lord’s call for Judah’s repentance:The first of two formal calls for repentance is introduced with a command to the priests to don sackcloth in penitence and remorse for the absence of produce for sacrificial offerings (1:13). The lack of offerings signifies the breach in the relationship between the Lord and his people, who no longer have a means for repairing their sinfulness befor...

6. A Cedar in Lebanon

Ezekiel 31:1-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

God gives a message to Ezekiel about the Pharaoh. The king of Egypt and his people are told to think about Assyria, which once was like a mighty, impressive cedar of Lebanon. Handed over to a greater power, the Babylonians, it fell. Ezekiel says to his people and to Egypt, “Look at Assyria and learn.” Ezekiel begins by addressing the cedar directly: Who can be compared with you? But from verse 3 o...

7. A City of Blood

Ezekiel 22:1-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

There are no fewer than eight references in this chapter to Jerusalem as a city filled with those who shed blood (22:2–4, 6, 9, 12–13, 27). That phrase is as old as Genesis 9:6. There are no new sins, just new sinners. It is a city marked by violence and brutality, with a soaring crime rate. All this is noted to justify God’s intended annihilation of the city. There are three sections in this orac...

8. A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath

Luke 13:10-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In the next section (13:10–17) we see the saving power of Jesus at work. Still, the synagogue ruler maintains that healing on the Sabbath is wrong. God made weekdays for work, never intending that work be done on the Sabbath (13:14). Using a typical rabbinic method of arguing from the lesser to the greater, Jesus accuses those who hold this position of hypocrisy. If one cares for the physical need...

9. A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

Matthew 9:18-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The final set of three miracle stories again highlights Jesus’s authority to heal and also focuses on faith that often precedes healing (9:22, 29) as well as Jesus’s growing notoriety in the Galilean region (9:26, 31, 33). The first miracle story involves the healing of a bleeding woman and the raising of a dead girl. A ruler approaches Jesus, asking him to come to his daughter who has just died a...

10. A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

Luke 8:40-56

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The next two stories are deliberately interwoven; Luke begins with the request of Jairus for his dying daughter, inserts the story of the bleeding woman, and then returns to the story of Jairus (8:40–56). The ruler of a synagogue (8:41) arranged synagogue services. The accomplishment of Jairus’s request is delayed by the throng that surrounds Jesus and is then interrupted by the woman who “touched...

11. A Dead Girl and A Sick Woman

Mark 5:21-43

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

This healing story is another example of Mark’s sandwich technique, in which the story of the healing of Jairus’s daughter (5:21–24, 35–43) is interrupted by that of the woman with a hemorrhage (5:25–34). Having crossed the lake, Jesus and the disciples disembark on the western (Jewish) shore. A synagogue ruler named Jairus emerges from the crowd and begs Jesus to heal his daughter, who is deathly...

12. A Dirge for Israel’s Kings

Ezekiel 19:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Almost all of this chapter is poetic; it is a lament in two parts over the fall and collapse of monarchs in Judah, here styled as “princes of Israel.” In the first part (19:2–9), reference is made to a lioness (Judah?) who sees two of her cubs captured and carried off. One of the cubs is taken to the land of Egypt, the other to the land of Babylon. It is more than likely that the two cubs represen...

13. A Foundling Turned Harlot

Ezekiel 16:1-63

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Few chapters in the Bible provide a more forceful illustration of the love of God than this one, which, incidentally, is the longest chapter in the book. The Lord finds a female child abandoned by her parents, who are described in verse 3 as an Amorite and a Hittite. This may be understood as a reference to the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem. This child the Lord rescues, raises, and eventu...

14. A Further Description of Judgment

Ezekiel 6:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Ezekiel addresses the mountains (6:1). Perhaps the reason Ezekiel is told to speak to the mountains is that the majority of the people lived in the highlands rather than in the valleys. For a completely different emphasis (restoration), when for a second time Ezekiel prophesies to the mountains, see Ezekiel 36:1. The high places God will destroy are not the mountains (though juxtaposition of the t...

15. A Lament for Egypt

Ezekiel 30:1-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Ezekiel predicts that a sword will come against Egypt (30:1–19). Egypt will take six of her supporters with her to her doom: Cush, Put, Lydia, Arabia, Libya, and the people of the covenant land. This last expression refers to foreign mercenaries serving in the Egyptian armies. The general declaration of Egypt’s demise (30:1–9) is followed by a specific announcement of how this demise will occur (3...

16. A Lament for Pharaoh

Ezekiel 32:1-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The lament for Pharaoh (32:1–16) is dated to the twelfth year, twelfth month, first day (March 585 BC), after the capture and destruction of Jerusalem. Two figures of speech in verse 2 describe the Pharaoh. He is compared to a lion and to a sea monster. God himself throws his net over the beast, rendering him immobile. Then he hurls him on the land and leaves him as food for the birds and animals....

17. A Lament for Tyre

Ezekiel 27:1-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In chapter 26 Ezekiel uses the metaphor of an offshore rocky island to talk to and about Tyre. In chapter 27 he shifts the metaphor and compares Tyre to a ship. The appropriateness of these two back-to-back metaphors should be obvious. What an island and a ship have in common is that both are surrounded by water. Tyre likes what she sees when she looks at herself: “I am perfect in beauty” (27:3). ...

18. A Lamp on a Stand

Luke 8:16-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In 8:16–18 we have three different sayings of Jesus that are combined. The main point is revealed in verse 18: “Consider carefully how you listen.” In other words, this paragraph resembles the preceding one; Jesus stresses the need for faithful obedience to the preached word. The significance of putting one’s lamp on the stand (8:16) is probably that the hearers must bear fruit in their listening,...

19. A Levite and His Concubine

Judges 19:1-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

19:1–21:25 · Areas of Social Norms and Political Decisions:How appropriate, then, that as the first extended narrative ends and the second begins, the refrain “In those days Israel had no king” appears again in 19:1, bridging the two stories and subtly reminding the readers that those were days when “everyone did as they saw fit” (17:6; 21:25). 19:1–29 · The second extended narrative begins with t...

20. A Lifestyle Appropriate to Sound Doctrine

Titus 3:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

3:1–2 · Responsibilities in state and society: In 1 Timothy 2:2 Paul urges prayer for civil authorities. Now—as at Romans 13:1–7—Paul provides instruction for living under civil authority. The instructions in Romans 13 are simply to submit and be willing to pay taxes. Here the instructions are more active. The Greek term translated “be obedient” (3:1) indicates readiness of persuasion—an attitude ...

21. A Lifestyle in Accord with Sound Doctrine

Titus 2:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

2:1–10 · Relationships among believers: Paul indicates that, if the false teachers deny God by their actions (1:16), the faithful teacher must see to the confirming of God’s character in the lives of Christ’s followers—that is what he means by “what is in accord with sound doctrine” (2:1). The antidote for the sickness of soul Paul just diagnosed in Cretan culture and in the false teachers lies in...

22. A Man with Leprosy

Mark 1:40-45

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Jesus is then approached by a man with leprosy (1:40–45). Leprosy, a widespread and dreaded skin disease in the ancient world, robbed a victim of dignity as well as health. Fear of its contagion required lepers to make themselves physically repulsive and to be quarantined from society (Leviticus 13–14; Mishnah Nega’im), thus depriving them of their occupations, homes, families, and worshiping comm...

23. A Marriage about to Break Up

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The Prophet's Sermons: Warning of Disaster (2:1–10:25): The prophet’s opening sermon, dated prior to Josiah’s reform in 621, is direct, even abrupt. The first scene (2:1–3) shows God with his people, who are like a new bride on a honeymoon. But almost at once there is trouble. The last scene (3:1–5) puts divorce talk squarely at the center. It is a case of a ruined marriage. God does not want a di...

24. A New Basis for Appeal

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In this section Paul resumes the autobiographical narrative that was broken off in 2:13 to allow for the inclusion of the reflective apologetic of 2:14–5:19 and the appeals for reconciliation found in 5:20–7:4. The break in the narrative may reflect Paul’s desire, having heard the “comforting” news Titus brought back from Corinth, to convey to the church both his immediate and his considered react...

25. A Pastoral Letter

Jeremiah 29:1-23, Jeremiah 29:24-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Jeremiah’s letter to the Judean captives in Babylon advises them to adjust to the new circumstances and warns about false prophets and manipulators. A brief explanation of the letter is given first (29:1–3). A full title for God opens the letter before Jeremiah exhorts the people to work and pray (24:4–9). God is the ultimate agent of the exile. Jeremiah counsels the people to resume work because ...

Showing results