Sermon and Worship Resources

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Drama

... you said the Messiah would be a King. That tiny little red-faced baby sure didn't look like a King to me. Lela: Well, yes, our Messiah will be a King, but even kings have to be born and grow up, don't they? And maybe Mary and Joseph are really a prince and princess who are hiding from the Roman government. Maybe they are really the parents of our Messiah. Claudia: Boy, you sure do have an imagination, don't you! Susanna: But, she may be right, you know. After all this is a strange night. Look at that star ...

2. Epilogue to the Law of the Temple: River, Land, City

Ezekiel 47:1-12, Ezekiel 47:13-23, Ezekiel 48:1-29, Ezekiel 48:30-35

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... center, 25,000 cubits to a side, is apportioned to the temple and the city, and the remainder of this portion belongs to the prince alone (v. 21). The square at the center of the land is divided into three strips. “The special portion you are to offer ... bears no direct relation to the twelve tribes in the land allotment, though a similar principle may be at work: the Rachel tribes Joseph and Benjamin, plus Dan, firstborn of Rachel’s maid Bilhah, are to the east, the direction of honor (see 43:1–7a; 44: ...

3. The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... Heli: According to Matt. 1:16 Joseph’s father was Jacob. 3:24–26 Matthat … Joda: Nothing is known about these persons. They are not to be confused with biblical characters of the same name (such as Levi, Amos, or Nahum). It is not likely that Matthat is to be identified with Matthan of Matt. 1:15. 3:27 Joanan, the son of Rhesa: Leaney (p. 112) and others have suggested that Rhesa is meant to be the Aramaic word for “prince” and that the original read “Prince Joanan, son of Zerubbabel.” If this ...

4. In Life Nothing Works but the Impossible

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , a prophetic pronouncement made during the reign of King Ahaz (735-715 BCE) promising the birth of a new young Davidic prince. This text is especially apt for Matthew because the Septuagint uses the word “parthenos” (“virgin”) for “alma” (“young woman”). In ... . In fact, this is the first declaration of the “gospel,” the “good news” to anyone, and it is the answer to all Joseph’s problems. Yet it was also all in his head. It came to him in a dream. There was no could of smoke ...

5. Forgiveness and Reconciliation at Last!

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... if in thinking you might steal from your friend, you begin to feel guilty." There is an oriental story of a prince who received from a renowned magician a ring set with diamonds, rubies, and pearls. "Great Master," said the magician, "that ... Genesis 50 where we see God's purposes completed in the return of family shalom in Jacob's family through reconciliation and forgiveness. "But Joseph said to them, â€˜Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended ...

6. The Pageant

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... shall a star come out of David." "He shall rule his people Israel." "He shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the prince of Peace." Such wonderful things did the prophets say. As our prophet comes forward, let us sing a song of such hopes, "O ... they come back to tell him what they find. (Herod comes down, removes his costume, and takes his seat.) (Mary takes the baby as Joseph puts the manger to the side and brings a chair for Mary to sit with the baby near the reader.) (The wisemen move over ...

7. Jacob Blesses His Sons

Genesis 49:1-28

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... of this tribe’s inheritance provided a solid basis for the economy of the tribal league. The blessings of the breast and womb empowered Joseph’s family to become numerous. Jacob asked for this blessing to rest on Joseph, whom he identified as prince (nazir) among his brothers. Because of Joseph’s high position in Egypt many interpreters identify this prince as Joseph himself, rather than as a future leader coming from his tribe. But given that the time orientation of these blessings is toward the ...

8. Keep Watching, Keep Warning, Keep Chasing

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... warning.” On that “Silent Night, Holy Night,” our Advent Watch turns into a Christmas Warning. The angelic message of the coming of the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, the one who brings “glad tidings of great joy to all peoples,” is also a warning message: ... child disturbed the peace. In Matthew’s gospel Joseph was engaged to Mary, a totally normal, everyday kind of contract. But suddenly something went terribly wrong. She became pregnant. Joseph had a visitation from an angel telling him ...

9. The Story of Christmas

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... with his wife Sarah, went off into a distant land to begin a new people. Then there was a remarkable son of Israel named Joseph who trusted God even when his own brothers sold him into slavery. In jail in Egypt he still believed that God was with him ... strongly infatuated with her. He desperately desired to ask her hand in marriage. But how should he go about it? Of course, as the prince, he could order her to the palace and command her to be his wife. But what kind of marriage would that be? Again, he thought ...

10. It's All About the Messiah

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... his government was bubbling up, he acted with vengeance. In Samaria he had the two Hasmonaean princes killed. Along with the princes he had three hundred officers faithful to the Hasmoneans assassinated. His eyes were on anyone who ... believe the message of the angels we go back to the ordinary with a new focus…a better focus…a spiritual focus on Jesus! Conclusion Joseph Bayly wrote a wonderful poem about the meaning of Christmas. The last two lines inspired me years ago when I read it. “I will sing ...

11. God Communicates in Humanly Understandable Terms

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Richard D. Campbell

... parable, reminds me of a famous fictional story called The Prince and the Pauper. Only in recent years has the truth dawned on me that this tale is also a parable of the Incarnation. A young prince is depicted as having exchanged his rich garments and ... have his special Son raised in a home like many others. He did not grow up in a wealthy home. We can tell Mary and Joseph were persons of small means by the humble thank-offering they brought to the Temple -- i.e., "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons ...

12. What Christmas Is About

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... is winning big! Mighty God? It does not seem like it. That first Christmas is a good example. If God is so mighty, why did poor Mary and Joseph have to make that long, agonizing trip to Bethlehem to be taxed? If God is so mighty, why did God allow the Roman Empire to oppress people in ... of a long-ago and far-away picture of peace, but to live among us. Christ came to live among us as the Prince of Peace. Christ came to give us the hope, and the way to find an everlasting ceasefire on this earth. Christ came to ...

13. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... . Isa. 7:1–16), Ezekiel is a sign of God’s absence, and Jerusalem’s abandonment. 12:10 The prince in Jerusalem. The term nasiʾ (“prince” in the NIV) appears most commonly in the Priestly material of the Torah, esp. in the book of Num. ( ... . Outside of Ezek. (5:17; 14:15, 21; 34:25), the Heb. phrase khayah raʿah (“wild beast”) appears only in the story of Joseph (Gen. 37:20, 33) and in Lev. 26:6, where among the blessings adherence to the covenant brings is God’s promise, “I will remove the ...

14. That Heavenly Call

Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26-38

Drama

Karren Boehr

... that also makes you an angel, just like you said ... just like Mary said. That also explains the light around you ... and the halo. ANGEL: Yes, again. I am an angel from the Most High, sent to declare the future coming of the Savior, the Prince of Peace. JOSEPH: (Bewildered, yet excited) I can't believe it! So Mary's bearing the Son of God? My fiancee, the mother of the long-awaited Savior? (Pauses, then begins to speak, almost frantically) But who will believe her? Who can she tell? Thank God for Elizabeth ...

15. Fit the Picture

Luke 4:21-30

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... to the section of the city where he had been raised. As he approached his home, he was recognized. "Look who's here! It's Joseph's and Mary's son, Jesus. It's good to see you. Where've you been?" Slapping Jesus on the back, they greeted him ... God was painting the picture into which Moses would be placed forever. Moses, the son of slaves, was placed in Pharaoh's court as a prince of Egypt. He could have had an "attitude." God does not want his servants to be "puffed up." God is noted for taking that which ...

16. A Small Town Is Blessed

Micah 5:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened . . .” The world ... June 21, 1982 when at 9:03 p.m. the future King of England came into the world. “His name was William, Prince of Wales, born to Prince Charles and his young wife Diana. This boy was a legitimate heir to the throne. He was of royal ancestry. Born to be ...

17. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... records that Antiochus had “a mouth that spoke boastfully” (7:8). He set himself “up to be as great as the Prince of the host” (8:11). “He will consider himself superior” (8:25). “He will exalt and magnify himself above every god ... qedoshim, “holy God,” occurs in Josh. 24:19. The same ambiguity as in Daniel occurs when another pagan king, the Egyptian pharaoh, says Joseph is “one in whom is the spirit of God,” or, as the NIV footnote says, “of the gods” (ʾish ʾasher ruakh ʾelohim ...

18. Mary's Witness

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

Sermon

King Duncan

... a controversial member of a royal family. We all share the joy when friends or family announce that they are expecting. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have become household names to Americans over the past couple of years, but their lives have not ... that God, the Almighty, the Creator of the universe, never forces anyone to accept Him? He sent an angel to speak to Mary and Joseph ahead of time. He came in the most unlikely manner to the most unlikely people at the most unlikely time so that we would not ...

19. Shalom Shattered

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... of his favored late wife, Rachel, a coat with long sleeves. The Septuagint calls it a coat of many colors. It is a coat reserved for royalty -- a mantle for a prince. The Yahwist writer of Genesis reports that the brothers saw that their father Jacob loved Joseph more than any other. Jacob even appeared to love Joseph more than the youngest brother, Benjamin, who was associated with Rachel's death. Favoritism, even the appearance of favoritism, strikes a deadly blow to the shalom of any family. Most every ...

20. The Family

Genesis 37:1-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

... to begin so early to disrupt what they may have told you in Sunday School, but it was not a ''coat of many colors." It was a long robe with sleeves (according to II Samuel 13:18), a garment fit for a prince. It's not only a fine present from a doting father (We are told that ''Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his other children, because he was the son of his old age''); it was not only a sign of the father's favoritism (You have a child when you are over seventy, you tend to be ...

21. What If It Is True?

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... in our experience up to that time that would have led us in any way to be prepared for what happened? The answer is, "no." Which was Joseph's situation, who was present at the moment of the second creation, and who could not imagine that God would ever act in this way. Is it ... matter if it is done with precision and technology, no matter the reason for doing it. This is the birth of the Prince of Peace. To see violence reigned upon people at such a time anywhere in this world is an abomination. And what is ...

22. The Bridge

John 1:1-18, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 1:26-38, Genesis 3:1-24

Drama

H. J. Hizer

... sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one the Lord ... to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace.' " Four: Hey! This isn't going to take any firmament at all! SCENE 2 DEVIL'S COUNCIL One: 1001 -- 1002 -- 1003 ...

23. Choices

Drama

J. B. Quisenberry

... government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." The Pageant (lights on manger) First Reader: When Caesar Augustus made his tax decree, it was a hardship ... s first cry. The Son of God, the Savior of all humankind, was lovingly and tenderly wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger. Joseph looked down with wonder at his new foster child. Would he be up to the great task that God had given him? He was ...

24. Dream Power

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... We inhabit a sphere that is not wholly physical. Our mind disconnects from our body in order to reach for . . . something more. Joseph’s Christmas dream-sequence reminds us that Christmastide is about all of us being open to our dreams. Yes, God speaks within ... disciples of all peoples.” God wants us to dream about loving one another. God wants us to dream about the Prince of Peace, the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God who is the Everlasting Father. These are the DreamScapes Christmastide calls us to ...

25. Advent's "Invisible" Man

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... . The men of great visibility. Men who stand up and stand out. Men whose profile is so great they can be seen at 100-yard distances in midnight fog. But here we have Joseph. He's not kicking behinds and taking names on the gridiron. He's not a member of Herod's imperial guard. He's not a prelate or a priest. Not a prince or a magistrate. Not a gladiator or a Roman terminator. Just a minimum wage worker, trying to take care of his family, trying to keep his baby boy from being murdered by a bloodthirsty ...

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