Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1 to 25 of 4498 results

Matthew 1:1-17

Eulogy

Arthur H. Kolsti

God Has a Purpose Ephesians 1:3-10 We can expect an increasing number of services involving families whose relationships have been stained or ruptured by divorce. Speaking to the complex pattern of hurts and feelings is an added challenge in such a situation. This meditation was addressed to such a context. The words of remembrance were delivered by a close family member and dealt with both the re...

2. Jesus the Messiah from Joseph’s Family Line

Matthew 1:1-17

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew, in the opening genealogy, emphasizes Jesus as the Davidic Messiah, whom God has sent to enact Israel’s restoration from exile and to include the Gentiles in God’s kingdom. Understanding the Text It may seem surprising to find a genealogy at the opening of Matthew’s Gospel, but genealogies were a common means for establishing and substantiating the identity of a person. Matthew...

3. Birth and Infancy

Matthew 1:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1:1–4:16 Review · In the first major section of Matthew’s Gospel, the author introduces Jesus of Nazareth by identifying him as the Jewish Messiah, son of David; the enactor of restoration from exile; hope for the Gentiles; the obedient Son who represents faithful Israel; and “God with us.” Moving from Jesus’s genealogy and his conception by the Spirit to the threat that his God-authenticated king...

4. The Genealogy of Jesus

Matthew 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

The Birth of Jesus: Genealogical records were important to the Jewish people of Jesus’ day. They were maintained by the Sanhedrin and used to ensure purity of descent. Josephus, the famous Jewish historian who served in the court of Rome, began his autobiography by listing his ancestral pedigree. Similarly, Matthew opens his Gospel by tracing the lineage of Jesus. It has often been noted that, fro...

5. Whose Child Is This?

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Here we are in December. The season of waiting has come. Children are waiting for Santa. Christians are waiting for Christ. Someone is waiting for a soldier to come home. All of us are waiting for something. Waiting is hard for me. I spent my days in the hospital reading the Pentateuch, the ceremonial laws of Leviticus, the census counts of Numbers, the speeches of Moses in Deuteronomy. Some of t...

6. The Masterpiece

Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-28

Sermon

James Merritt

From the time God created the first man, God began speaking to all men. For over one thousand years, God had been speaking and revealing Himself to different people at different times and different places. He spoke to Moses as he wrote the first five books of the Bible. He gave psalms to David, proverbs to Solomon and prophecy to the prophets. For over one millennia God had spoken practically nons...

7. Broken Pieces

Matthew 1:3, 5, 6

Sermon

James Merritt

Whether you are rich or poor, black or white, Jew or Gentile, male or female, there is one thing every single person on this earth has - we all have family trees, genealogies, ancestors and if we live long enough descendants, but family trees represent more than babies and bloodlines. They represent a mosaic. Remember the definition of mosaic? mosaic (mo-za'ik) n. 1. A picture or decoration made ...

8. The Greatest Gift

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

(Author's Note: The following description of an Advent worship experience is written by Sherri Van Houten (M.Div., STM), one of my students in a course I teach at Drew on worship and evangelism. While this makes an ideal Sunday before Christmas worship experience, which is how we are presenting it here, it could also be used the Sunday after Christmas. Your people will have opened one set of boxes...

9. Hope In A Hostile World

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

During these first two weeks of December, we are receiving lots of Christmas cards. Of course, many show photographs of the family sending the card. But others feature portraits of the holy family. A typical one shows the holy family in a peaceful stable surrounded by adoring shepherds and wise men. The entire scene is bathed in the heavenly light from a special star. Everything is so tranquil. T...

10. The True Story of the Magi

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

John Jamison

There is a beautiful old tradition about the star in the East. The story says that when the star had finished its task of directing the wise men to the baby, it fell from the sky and dropped down into the city well of Bethlehem. According to some legend, that star is there to this day, and can sometimes still be seen by those whose hearts are pure and clean. It's a pretty story. It kind of makes y...

11. Only Matthew…Only Joseph

Matthew 1:1-13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

If you only had Matthew's Gospel, what would you have? Last week we looked at the opening of Luke's Gospel and his version of the Advent narratives, his "orderly account." He begins with Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist who would come to prepare the way, then on to Mary and the miracle birth. But if you only had Matthew, what would you have? No Annunciation to Mary No v...

12. Lasting Impression

Luke 3:34-38, Matthew 1:5, 16

Sermon

James Merritt

We have all heard of the actress Brooke Shields. What you may not know about her is her family tree or what we would call her "mosaic" is pretty impressive. Hanging from her family tree are the likes of Charlemagne, El Cid, William the Conqueror, five popes and the royal houses of virtually every European country. Before you think there is something special about her genealogy think about this. E...

13. The Surrogate

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: Ring (engagement ring preferably) or letter from a prior wartime soldier (if you can find such) Have you heard the riddle? Question: In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what's the difference between the Chicken and the Pig? Answer: The Chicken is involved, but the Pig is committed! Commitment is sometimes a “dirty word” in our culture today. People are wary of making commitments that may not ...

14. Beginning the Lenten Journey

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

I read of a pastor, who confessedly tells that he is not the neatest person in the world, but discovered his daughter was on the way to becoming an even messier housekeeper than he. His approach was always to come at a problem not only with both self-confession and identification but with a bit of humor. When she came home from school one day, he caught her as she walked in the door and said, “I h...

15. Get Ready, Get Set, Wait

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Brett Blair

16. Advent's "Invisible" Man

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

The idea of-the invisibility in our culture is no new thing. The great H.G. Wells wrote a book called The Invisible Man. In it he imaginatively explores the development of a professor's ingenious use of science to effect his own invisibility. Invisibility becomes a metaphor for invincibility. His becoming invisible is by his own choosing. He literally disappears with the ingestion of a certain che...

17. The Man In The River

Sermon

John Jamison

One after the other they didn't show up. A whole string of appointments; a morning full of them. They didn't call and cancel, they just didn't show up! Every now and then I would poke my head out of the office door and my secretary would shake her head. Nothing. It was turning into one of those days. When I get frustrated I eat. I don't recommend it, but I do admit it. So, after the fourth appoint...

18. Mary Christmas

Sermon

John Jamison

So, where are the shepherds? And what about the "multitude of the heavenly host" shining their glory on everyone and breaking into song about God, and salvation, and peace? Sure, there is an angel. One angel, who sounds more like a meditating attorney in a three-piece suit, speaking in one long sentence which tells Joseph he ought to see this thing through and try to work things out with Mary. And...

19. God With Us

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: How it is that God is "with us" Prop: An empty manger (optional). Place it in front of you. Lesson: Are you excited? (response) Why are you so excited? (response) What happens on Christmas? (response) It is a very exciting time isn't it? I have a question for you this morning. Where is god? (response) Give them time to respond. Don't be afraid of some silence. Hopefully the talk ab...

20. The Stepfather of God

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

When I meet with a couple in preparation for their baby's baptism, I always ask this question: Have you prepared a will and have you specified in it who would rear your child if you were removed from the picture? Young parents don't like to even think about such a possibility, but life's uncertainties make it necessary. It's a tough question. Whom do you trust enough to rear your precious child? G...

21. The Names of the Christ-Child

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Christmas is finally here. In the minds of children it has taken forever. For them the last few weeks have moved as slowly as butter in a new frigidaire. This morning they discovered at least some of the items under the tree about which they wrote to Santa some weeks ago. I love children's letters to Santa and collect some of the more interesting ones. Several of my favorites are these: "Dear Sant...

22. All I Want for Christmas is Joy

Sermon

James W. Moore

Her name was Karen. She was the young mother of two pre-school children: Laurel, her daughter, age 5, and Matthew, her son, age 2. Karen wanted the children to learn the real meaning of Christmas so early in December that year she brought home a small manger scene. All the figurines in the manger scene were made of wood, so they were pretty much indestructible.., and also easy for little hands to ...

23. Would You Like To Hold The Baby?

Sermon

King Duncan

A four-year-old boy was watching his mother change the baby. When she overlooked sprinkling the baby's backside with baby powder and hurriedly put him into his diaper, the four-year-old hollered, "Hey, Mom, you forgot to salt him!" Have you ever noticed how babies can turn ordinarily intelligent men and women into complete morons as they make all those googley noises and funny faces? I've often wo...

24. Special Delivery

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

I read recently of a congregation where they did the usual Christmas pageant. The children from Sunday School played the parts. And they were all dressing for their roles: Mary and Joseph in bathrobes . . . the Shepherds carrying canes from their grandpas and Angels under tinsel halos and white sheets . . . One mother was trying to get an angel costume onto her squirming son, and his sister stood...

25. Welcome Home, Joseph

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Joseph is probably the most misunderstood participant in the Christmas drama. Like comedian Rodney Dangerfield, Joseph might righteously complain, "I don''t get no respect!" This week we pay Joseph some of the respect he surely deserves, for without his gifts of hospitality, acceptance and love, the story of Christmas would have no beginning. And with these gifts, Joseph is a model for all wh...

Showing 1 to 25 of 4498 results