Sermon and Worship Resources

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Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... on the rock. The elements are not given magically but have to be installed through a series of behaviors until they become a reflex of character. A. Developing right habits B. Developing right attitudes C. Engaging in right actions 2. Testing Authority. (7:29) Persons need to test authority so as not to become dupes of the fanatics who seek power and glory for themselves and their movements. A. Founded in Christ B. Manifesting integrity through word and deed C. Glorifying God and not self 3. Life Founded on ...

2. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... its object is a person, and obeying or observing when its object is God’s or Jesus’ word(s) or commands (cf. John 14:15, 21–25). “Keeping his commands is the sure test that we have come to know God” (Culpepper, 1 John, p. 25). One’s claim must be validated by one’s conduct. The evidence is obedience. What commands does the author have in mind? In the context of 1 John it can only be faith in Jesus and love for other Christians (1 John 3:23). There is no substantial evidence anywhere in the ...

3. Walking in the Light and the Problem of Sin

1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 1:5--2:14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

4. Visit

2 Corinthians 13:1-10, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... . 8:32). 13:3 Paul explains the reason he will not spare the unrepentant Corinthians when he comes. Paul claims to speak in the authority of Christ. He presents himself as an “apostle of Christ Jesus” (1:1), an “ambassador for Christ” through whom God himself speaks (5:20; ... in the east (to say nothing of the lost prospects for the west), if they consider that he has failed the test of apostleship. In the process, their own faith will be nullified. 13:7 In this dire situation, in which the legitimacy ...

5. Test the Spirits

1 John 4:1-6

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... 5, 11). It is out of his deep love for them that he writes to warn and encourage them. Two commands, one negative, the other positive, form the heart of the author’s teaching in v. 1 and in the section as a whole: do not believe (lit., “do not be believing,” perhaps implying that some already were) and test (lit., “be testing,” dokimazete; a continuous examining is called for). The objects of these verbs are every spirit and the spirits. As the end of v. 1 reveals, the Elder has in mind occasions ...

6. When is Patriotism An Idol?

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

George Johnson

... side of God, and in essence say - In some things I follow Caesar, in some things I follow my conscience. It is the temptation to serve God and Caesar at the same time with equal or shared authority over our conscience. And let me tell you, it's seductively tempting; it's powerful. Sometimes you don't know you are being tested until it's all over. When Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread, when he was tempted to fall down from the temple, to prove the power of God, when he was tempted to bow down ...

7. Trials and Temptations

James 1:1-18, James 1:19-27

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... doubting God’s goodness, which would be fatal to faith. 1:17 In contrast to a view of God as sending a test stands the view that God gives good things: Every good and perfect gift is from above. The phrase itself is poetic and may ... particular, some identical phrases are used. The saying appears to have been widely and loosely used within the early church, which means that each author felt free to adapt it to make his own point. The basis of the structure is probably some statement of Jesus similar to that ...

8. Listening and Doing

James 1:19-27, James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

9. Disobedience and Defeat

Judges 2:6-3:6

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... as their King and their readiness to do his will. In this regard, note the parallel phrases in the Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done” (Matt. 6:10). 2:22 I will use them to test Israel: This new point is rather strange, since the author has just told us that the Israelites did not obey God. Why does God need further proof of their disobedience? Many interpreters have wrestled with this question, and some have found a satisfactory answer in identifying underlying sources and redactors ...

10. By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... ). Although Abraham had bound Isaac and, in obedience to God, was about to slay him as a sacrifice, God intervened at the last instant. NIV’s offered is to be understood in this sense. When God tested him is an expansive translation for the simple “being tested.” As our author points out, the testing took on an unusual significance since Abraham was the one who had received the promises. This is emphasized by the quotation in verse 18 that explicitly names Isaac as the one through whom the promise of ...

11. God’s Love and Ours

1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... v. 15 it is their own response to God’s act in Christ that brings them into fellowship with God. That the latter is the author’s concern is shown by the repeated use of the language of mutual indwelling (v. 12: “God lives in us”; v. 13: “we live ... does (4:10–11). Verse 2 adds: by (lit., “whenever,” at the same time, we are) loving God and carrying out his commands. One test of true Christian love is whether it comes from a heart that loves and is obedient to God. This, of course, is the reverse ...

12. Faith in the Son of God

1 John 5:1-12, 1 John 4:7-21

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

13. Testing in the Wilderness

Luke 4:1-13

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... his own benefit. God fed his people with manna in the wilderness (Exod. 16). So surely God’s Son need not be hungry. The temptation is for him to use his undoubted authority as God’s Son simply to satisfy his personal need. 4:4 Man shall not live on bread alone. Israel’s hunger had been part of God’s scheme of testing (Deut. 8:2–3). Jesus too must keep his priorities clear and accept God’s plan for him rather than use his miraculous power to escape that plan and thus assert his independence ...

14. The High Priesthood of Jesus

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... introduced are now brought together again and associated with the title of high priest: his humanity, his unique sonship, his exaltation, and as we are about to hear, his consequent ability to help Christians under testing. The faith we profess is literally “the confession” as in 3:1 (cf. 10:23). 4:15 The author makes the same point negatively and positively. Our high priest is not impassive, unable to share our feelings of weakness and vulnerability. He too lived as a human and thus as one who has been ...

15. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... is the kingdom of God. While the full glory of this kingdom is still future, the Christian has already entered it and stands under its authority. The law of the kingdom is the Old Testament as interpreted and edited by Jesus, as in Matthew 5–6. To say that one is ... to him far more frequently this way, e.g., Isa. 51:2; 4 Macc. 16:20; Matt. 3:9; John 8:39; m. Aboth 5:2). The tests of Abraham are referred to in a variety of late Jewish literature, e.g., Aboth de. R. Nathan 32; m. Aboth 5:3; Jubilees 17:17; 19: ...

16. Faith and Deeds

James 2:14-26, James 2:1-13

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

17. Gideon

Judges 6:1-40

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... and Horeb, which represented the Lord’s revelation of his nature and will in the Torah and Israel’s covenant with the Lord to hear (obey). Finally, by repeating the phrase that night (6:25, 40; 7:9), the author indicates the importance of this testing by tying it together with Gideon’s tearing down of Baal’s altar and his later attack against the Midianites. Furthermore, “that night” also thematically links the impending deliverance to Passover (Exod. 12:8, 12, 42; Deut. 16:1), underscoring ...

18. Jesus, Messiah and Lord, Is True Interpreter of the Torah

Matthew 22:15-22, Matthew 22:23-33, Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 22:41-46

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... 22:46 from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. After answering with wisdom, and some opacity, the questions and tests of various Jewish leaders, Jesus poses a climactic question that silences them all. This provides a fitting conclusion to the questioning of Jesus’ authority in 21:23–27. Matthew has portrayed Jesus as ably answering tests through his superior knowledge of the Torah and the Prophets (Exod. 3; Lev. 19; Deut. 6; Pss. 110; 118). Theological Insights: The Love Command ...

19. Two Sons: A Parable

Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:23-27

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... Jesus has for them. If they acknowledge that Jesus is Lord as well as Savior, their lives should show it in their actions. They should be doing the work of the kingdom he proclaimed and lived. The final test of the acceptance of the authority of Jesus as coming from heaven and not from human sources is in the conformity of life and works to his commands and example. Points to Ponder 1. Does the church spend too much of its efforts and attention on those who have already committed themselves to Christ ...

20. Abraham Tested

Genesis 22:1-19

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... 1988], p. 307). The text offers no clues as to the location of Mount Moriah save the three-day journey. The author of Chronicles may have understood Mount Moriah and the Temple mount as possessing the same sacred identity in God’s purpose ... The tie between the command for Abraham to offer up Isaac and God’s offering his own Son on the cross provides insight into why God tested Abraham in this manner. It informs us that God was just in making this request of Abraham, for God asked him to do what God would ...

21. Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Jesus is not swayed. Returning to the Deuteronomic testimony from the wilderness experience, Jesus cites Deuteronomy 6:16, a text that demonstrates his absolute obedience to God and his refusal to try to usurp authority in the Father-Son relationship. Jesus' faith is such that he does not need to "test" his Father's grace with foolish actions. Luke's conclusion to Jesus' triumph over the Devil's temptations is more ominous than in either Mark or Matthew. Instead of disappearing without comment, the Devil ...

22. Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

23. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... a rebuke of Job’s attempt to place God in the wrong do not note the clear connection this final statement makes with the view of Job in the opening chapters. The author of Job leaves very little to chance, and so it is probable that this postscript, with its word choice, is intentional. This reaffirms for the reader that Job, who survived the initial tests and did not sin, either by putting God in the wrong (1:22) or by what he said (2:10), remains tam, “blameless,” in all that he has said to the end ...

24. Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Matthew 4:1-11

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... authorized by Matthew as true: Jesus is explicitly referred to as “son of David” and “son of Abraham” (1:1) and is implicitly identified as God’s son at 2:15. Jesus has also been affirmed as God’s son at his baptism, where God says, “This is my Son” (3:17). So the reader will hear the devil’s test ... about humanity’s role in ruling over creation; Jesus now rules as our representative. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews also draws on this christological category to assure believers of ...

25. On Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... . Early Christians heard this promise of judgment and understood the message to be good news of God’s concern with and authority over what people did in the life of the church. The promise of retribution too often overshadows the equal or more ... lives obviously made a difference in God’s eyes. Only the one whose work built on the foundation of Christ and survived the test of eschatological fire on the day of judgment received a reward. Grace brings salvation for both persons who built on the foundation of ...

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