Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Roy Howard

... considerable challenge of listening to this parable with the hope that we will be sufficiently unsettled to learn from it. In fact, Amy-Jill Levine, the Orthodox Jew who teaches New Testament at Vanderbilt University, argues that we should welcome the discomfort of the parables, particularly this one. Reminding us of Mark’s comment that Jesus would speak only in parables (Mark 4:33-34), she says, “What makes the parables mysterious, or difficult, is that they challenge us to look into hidden aspects of ...

2. The Burnt Offering

Leviticus 1:1-17

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... to God. The themes of Leviticus 1 appear throughout Scripture. The crucifixion as the ultimate atoning sacrifice is central to the NT text (Mark 10:45; Eph. 5:2; 1 Pet. 1:18–19), and subjects such as forgiveness (1 John 1:5–10) and total commitment ... , that God’s favor has to be earned. The other rendering of “make atonement” fits the context better: “to wipe clean” (Levine, Leviticus, p. 23). Other options are “to cover,” “to atone,” or “to expiate.” It is difficult to make a clear ...

3. Spiritual Hypocrisy—Living by the Rules, Not by the Heart

Mark 7:1-23

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... 5:21–43). Structure This is a complex story. It is best to divide it into two major sections: 7:1–13, containing the challenge and Mark’s explanation of it (vv. 1–5) along with Jesus’s two countercharges (vv. 6–8, 9–13), and then 7:14–23, with Jesus’ ... will determine what we do. Illustrating the Text Lip service rather than heart worship Literature/Film: The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin. This novel was twice made into a movie (1975, 2004). In the town of Stepford the wives are submissive and ...

4. Sabbath Controversies with the Pharisees

Matthew 12:1-14

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... –20; 19:1–12; 22:34–40). Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. Matthew follows Mark in clustering the Sabbath controversies here (see Mark 2:23–3:6). In this first account (12:1–8) it is Jesus’ disciples who are accused of ... time of the kingdom has begun; something (and someone) new has arrived. Quote: In her book The Misunderstood Jew, Amy-Jill Levine notes how often we make Judaism a “fall guy” in the Gospels. Warning against this tendency, she writes that Christians often ...

5. Jesus Is Tried before Pilate and Sentenced to Death

Matthew 27:1-10, Matthew 27:11-26

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... festival to release a prisoner. While there is no external corroboration for this custom attributed to Pilate, we also hear about it in Mark 15:6 and John 18:39, which add the detail that Pilate was deferring to local custom in offering to release a prisoner ... been used not only to focus blame (exclusively) on Jews but also to inflict harm on them. As Amy-Jill Levine suggests, “The failure to understand the Jewish Jesus within his Jewish context has resulted in the creation and perpetuation of millennia ...

6. The Priestly Portions of Sacrifices

Lev 6:8–7:38

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... is very limited in the Pentateuch. This is why the Sadducees can deny any belief in the resurrection (Acts 23:8). Baruch Levine, perhaps for this reason, has a more general understanding of such verses: “If the community failed to punish the offender or ... this implies that these patriarchs are still living in the afterlife since God is the God of the living not the dead (Mark 12:24–27). The warning that offenses against God can lead culprits to be “cut off from their people” by divine punishment is ...

7. The Master's Voice

Matthew 13:53-58, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... Thy glory share. **The image today was taken from Wikipedia (public domain). Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Matthew’s Witness to Jesus’ Rejection in Nazareth (13:54-58) Mark’s Witness to the Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth (6:1-6) Luke’s Witness to Jesus’ Rejection at Nazareth at the beginning of his career (4:14-30) Minor ... have rejected God! Jesus’ comment declares Nazareth a disappointment. *See The Historical Jesus in Context, Amy Jill Levine, Dale C Allison, Jr, John Dominic Crossan.

8. More Than a Bad Day?

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Mary Austin

... . Of our four gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are strongly similar, but John always has a different take on things. Only a few stories make it into all four gospels, and this is one of them. Matthew, Mark, and Luke remember it happening ... system. Just like the people around Jesus, we get tied down to a place, and think God belongs there. Scholar Amy-Jill Levine, who has added greatly to my understanding of Jesus in his Jewish context, says that “recognizing Jesus within his Jewish context means recognizing ...

9. Your Money and Your Life

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... entire blockhead. Yes, we are blockheads, but we are not "entire" blockheads. In Tolstoi’s Anna Karenina, an old peasant explains to Konstantin Levin why a certain man is good with the words: "He lives for his soul, he remembers God." At least we know how perishable ... must have thought to himself: What will happen to this poor man if I do not help him? This, I think, is the mark of people who lay up treasure in heaven. They are willing to risk themselves for others, even as God himself became vulnerable by ...

10. Liberating the Possessed

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... , the devil, and evil spirits. Then in 1968, a movie, Rosemary's Baby, based on the novel by Ira Levin, leaped from our culture and into our collective consciousness. Soon an otherworldly craziness shocked and horrified thrill seekers, the ... raised to feed the Roman occupying troops, who had no qualms about eating pork chops or ham. We see 2,000 swine, according to Mark 5, who are idly eating and grunting in the countryside. The demons knowing their fate with Jesus, cannot stand to be disembodied. They request ...

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