Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 6:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... with his wallet." It happens in families, in communities, in the workplace, in churches. No respect. James S. Hewett once gave an apt example of people not getting the respect they deserve. Especially young people. He tells about his son, who was using one of ... have a purpose for you. Believe in me and never question your self-worth again." Here is where it all begins. Like Michael, our lives can be turned around, by trusting ourselves to Jesus. 1. Roy Fowler in "Can We Limit God?" 2. Illustrations Unlimited ...

2. Prologue to the Law of the Temple: The Lord Comes Home

Ezekiel 40:1--43:12

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... . 40–48) traditionsgeschichtlich untersucht [BHT 25; Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1957], pp. 110–14). Similarly, Michael Konkel (Architektonik des Heiligen, pp. 349–50), who sees only 40:1–43:10 as original, identifies two levels ... to sacred space, marked off by concentric circles of diminishing sanctity—from the intense holiness of the shrine’s innermost room (aptly called the Most Holy Place), to the main room of the tabernacle, to the court, and then outward through the camp ( ...

3. You Are God's Child

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... whatever pain it takes to be transformed, to receive a new identity. (4) You see, if you don’t know who you are, you are apt to take on a false identity. You take on the identity of any group that you are with. And before long you define yourself by ... think of me.” Can anyone relate to those two lies? Vickie says that in her group there was a young Nigerian pastor named Michael. Michael later told her that, as a black man, when he sat in meetings with all-white pastors, he struggled with the same lies ...

4. Be Wise In The Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Richard Hasler

In Michael Lindvall's delightful book, The Good News From North Haven, he tells the story of a young pastor named David accepting a call to ... that God's Spirit is trying to reach us not just through our minds but also through our feelings too. To be wise in the Spirit we need humor. We who take life too seriously are apt to miss the working of God's Spirit in the world and in our own personal experience. People with a sense of humor often discern the Spirit's manifestation when others are not aware of what ...

5. No Confidence in the Flesh

Philippians 3:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... 3:1 goes closely with the warning of 3:2 and refers to a similar warning given in an earlier letter, now lost (cf. J. H. Michael, ad loc.). On the whole, in spite of some difficulty, it seems best to understand the same things as the call for joy in 2:18 ... dogs, he was perhaps throwing back at them a term of invective by which they described uncircumcised Gentiles; it was all the more apt if he pictured them as prowling round the Gentile churches trying to win members to their own outlook and way of life. It ...

6. Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

Daniel 8:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... none could rescue from his power (8:4). The picture of this ram butting other animals out of its way is compelling and apt. Although initially no army was able to “stand against” Persia, they eventually succumbed to Greece. A few verses later the text records ... itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host (8:11). Who is this figure, “the Prince of the host”? Because Michael the archangel is called “prince” (10:21) in the book of Daniel, some would say that he is in view here. However, he is ...

7. Veiled Glimpses of God's Glory

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Robert S. Crilley

... the Golden Calf -- not one of locating the Holy Presence, but of attempting to localize it -- evidently believing along with the rest of humankind, as Frederick Buechner so aptly puts it, that a God in the hand is worth two in the bush any day of the week.2 This was the problem the chief priests ... 's Afterglow," Protestant Radio Hour, Atlanta, Georgia, March 14, 1965. 4. Michael E. Williams et al., The Storyteller's Companion to the Bible, Volume Two: Exodus-Joshua (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992), p. 110.

8. Wade In The Water

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... money, or their influence, or the adulation of the people who crowd around them. How nice it would be to have the athletic prowess of Michael Jordan, or the good looks and acting talent of a Tom Cruise or Geena Davis, the voice of Luciano Pavarotti or Natalie Cole. Is there ... artists have sometimes painted. The Jordan is only a few yards wide in most places, and rather sluggish. One is not apt to be swept away by its current. So, to wade out and bathe in this torpid tributary was beneath Naaman’s dignity ...

9. A Christmas To Remember

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... first view there was nothing striking about this man. His simple, well-worn clothes revealed him to be a man of small means. He was a person of few words, much more apt to show his feelings by arriving at your door with his tool chest to fix that stool, table, or door latch. This man was a doer, not a talker; he was an ... -197. 7. Jack Dean Kingsbury, MATTHEW AS STORY (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986), p. 45. 8. Michael Vitez, "Paying his Debt to the Divinity," THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, December 13, 1991.

10. Jesus Goes To School

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... different languages, customs, and modes of dress. And because Jerusalem was then, as it is now, a hot-bed of political intrigue, there were apt to be eruptions of rioting and tight security. And then there was the temple itself. The center of all Judaism. It was a strange ... a sixth grade math teacher and having Einstein for a student. Imagine being a junior high school basketball coach and having Michael Jordan on your team though my memory is that Jordan didn't make his junior high school team. Still, the ...

11. A Time of Transition

Joshua 5:9-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... and forever.’” (8) Someone has noted that the Bible contains more than 7,000 promises to cover almost any situation you and are apt to encounter. One of my favorites is this one: “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by ... Y H E A R T. 3. Summit Books, New York, 1986, p. 252. 4. (Northfield Publishing). Cited in PreachingNow, Vol. 3, No. 16, Michael Duduit. 5. Tom Peters, The Brand You 50 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999), pp. 149-154. 6. Tom Dooley, Eight Habits of Highly ...

12. The Curriculum of God’s Kingdom

Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... had this swirling, like somebody had set a load of car tires on fire.’” What happened to London in December of ‘52 is an apt image of our world as it must appear to God. We don’t see the situation accurately because it’s all we’ve ever known ... The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, 2' toward the sea, across the Jordan, 1 ‘Galilee of the Gentiles‘— 8. Michael Green, editor, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1990), 394. 9. John 5:19. 10. For the image of the ...

13. The Good News about the Future

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... mentally and emotionally. We want to be strong in order to be able to meet any unexpected challenges. The only place we are apt to shortchange ourselves in our preparations is spiritually, and this is just the place Mark 13 focuses. It may irk us as we ... 021302.html 2. The Rev. William D. Oldland, http://www.stthomasreidsville.org/sermons/20031116.htm 3. (Random House, 1937). 4. Michael W Hopkins, http://www.twosaints.org/Sermons/2006‑08‑06.htm. 5. “Second Coming,” 1991. 6. “The Orchestra,” cited ...

14. You Provoke Me...and That's Good

Hebrews 10:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... who is complimentary? Someone who encourages and gives you praise? What is that likely to do for you? Doesn’t it make you more apt to encourage someone else? There is a commercial on television. I’m sure you’ve seen it. A man walking on a sidewalk ... . Of course, Christ set the example of love and kindness for us. “We love because he first loved us,” says I John 4:19. Michael J. Gelb, in his book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci notes that da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” one of the classic ...

15. The Coming of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 2:10; Homer, Iliad, 11.241), but it is the characteristic way in which the NT speaks of the Christian dead and a most apt expression on the lips of those who believe in the resurrection of the dead. Without that hope, people must view death only as a ... of the archangel is literally, “a voice of an archangel.” No specific archangel is meant and perhaps no archangel at all is in view (Michael is the only one named in the NT, Jude 9; Gabriel is mentioned in Luke 1:26 but not as an archangel). Paul might only ...

16. The Impending Departure II

John 16:5-16, John 16:17-33

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The second farewell discourse runs most closely parallel to the first precisely where it is most properly a “farewell” (i.e., where it addresses directly the question of Jesus’ impending departure; cf. 13:33). Here, inevitably, is also where the differences between the two discourses become most noticeable. Whereas the first discourse was largely structured around a series of questions by various disciples, here the question-and-answer method seems to be consciously abandoned. The earlier discourse began ...

17. The Disciples' Grief Will Turn to Joy

John 16:17-33, John 16:5-16

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

18. John the Baptist's Testimony about Jesus

John 3:22-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

Jesus’ interest in “water and the Spirit” (3:5) as the way of initiation into his new community is now explained. As soon as he leaves Jerusalem, Jesus himself takes up a baptizing ministry in Judea. Verse 22, along with 4:1–3, has the appearance of a transitional passage summarizing a stay in Judea of indefinite length (cf. the brief stay at Capernaum in 2:12). But certain details in the summary require further explanation. For example, did Jesus actually baptize people? No, but his disciples did (4:2). ...

19. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The transition begun in 3:22 is continued in 4:1–4. Jesus moves from Jerusalem to the Judean countryside and from there to Galilee by way of Samaria. The intervening material (3:23–36) enables the reader to make sense of this cumbersome introduction to chapter 4. That Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John (v. 1) has already been intimated in 3:26. That the Pharisees noticed this is suggested by the fact that John’s disciples seem to have been reminded of it by a Jew (3:25). What has not ...

20. Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

John 13:1-17, John 13:18-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The new division in John’s Gospel is marked by a long, loosely connected, almost breathless comment by the narrator (vv. 1–3) in which he tries to gather up the themes of chapters 1–12 and 13–17 alike and use them as his stage setting. The first element in this setting has to do with time and circumstances: The notice that it was just before the Passover Feast (v. 1a) brings the temporal notices of 11:55 (“it was almost time”), 12:1 (“six days before”), and 12:12 (“the next day”) up to date. The further ...

21. The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

John 4:27-38, John 4:1-26, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels