Sermon and Worship Resources

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John 10:1-21, Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Earlier this month in some parks, farms, and yards of the UK, British sheep have been experiencing a new sense of freedom. Even as parks and open spaces are shut down due to coronavirus, and people are secluded in their homes, sheep have taken to roaming about the newly open spaces. But rather than wandering aimlessly through the fields, it seems, sheep have been seeking out children’s playgrounds, and have begun [wait for it] to play! It appears, their favorite activity is to take turns riding the “ ...

2. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Ephesians 1:15-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... Martin’s “The Composition of I Peter in Recent Study,” Vox Evangelica, 1 (1962), pp. 29–42. See also J. Coutts, “Ephesians 1:3–14 and 1 Peter 1:3–12,” NTS 3 (1956–57), pp. 115–27; F. L. Cross, 1 Peter: A Pascal Liturgy (London: Mowbray, 1954); F. W. Beare, The First Epistle of Peter, 3d ed. (Oxford: Blackwell’s, 1970). The reference for identifying enlightenment and baptism is in Justin’s Apology I, 61, 65. Additional discussion is in Ysebaret, Greek Baptismal Terminology, pp. 157ff ...

3. One in Christ

Ephesians 2:11-22

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... quality and character; E. K. Lee, “Unity in Israel and Unity in Christ,” in Studies in Ephesians, ed. F. L. Cross, pp. 36–50; Martin, “Reconciliation and Unity in Ephesians,” in his Reconciliation, pp. 157–98. Martin offers ... Interpretation,” EQ 54 (1982), pp. 163–69. For understanding the nature of Jewish and Gentile Christianity in the early church, see L. Goppelt, Apostolic and Post-Apostolic History (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1970), esp. chap. 3, pp. 61–107. 2:17 A thorough discussion ...

4. Melchizedek the Priest

Hebrews 7:1-10, Hebrews 7:11-28

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... on 1:5. The Greek words that underlie forever (eis to diēnekes) occur only in Hebrews in the NT and the LXX (the same phrase is found in 10:1, 12, 14). For helpful studies of Melchizedek and the present passage, see F. L. Horton, Jr., The Melchizedek Tradition, SNTSMS 30 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976); M. Delcor, “Melchizedek from Genesis to the Qumran texts and the Epistle to the Hebrews,” JSJ 2 (1971), pp. 115–35; B. Demarest, “Heb. 7:3: A Crux Interpretum Historically Considered ...

5. The Legitimacy and Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood

Hebrews 7:11-28, Hebrews 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

6. “Bad Form” and Bad Jesus

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... : (Circle the proper items): Run errands, Drive my car, Fix food for volunteers, Clerical work, Make phone calls, Answer phones, Mimeograph, Type, Print Signs, Distribute leaflets. ALABAMA CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Birmingham Affiliate of S.C.L.C. 505 ½ North 17th Street F.L. Shuttlesworth, President What do you think? Is that something that would keep you being Jesus if you lived those 10 Commandments every day? Should more people know about this “Commitment Card,” which I’m calling one of ...

7. Bad Form and Bad Jesus

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

8. FaithRace

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... seconds left on the clock. The coach then sent Tom Dempsey, an uncertain place-kicker born with a deformed right arm and hand and with half a right foot, to try a field goal. It was a 63-yard attempt. The longest field goal ever kicked in the N.F.L. to date had been 57 yards. But the athlete with the deformed foot kicked the ball through the uprights and the Saints won. When asked after the game how he did it, Dempsey attributed his success to high school and college coaches and the pros who "spent so much ...

9. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... portents are meant—those that point to God’s presence (see Dunn, Jesus, p. 163). On three occasions (4:16, 22; 8:6) the term “sign” (Gk. sēmeion) occurs without any other accompanying word for miracle, very like the usage in John (see F. L. Cribbs, Perspectives, pp. 50ff.). As you yourselves know: The criticism has sometimes been leveled at the speeches of Acts that they contain little factual material about the life of Jesus. But one would hardly expect it—in the early speeches at least. Many of ...

10. The Apostles Persecuted

Acts 5:17-42

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... and the gift of the Spirit, which would “seem to be in substantial conceptual agreement with John 14:15–16, which teaches that if a man keeps Christ’s commandments, the Father will give him ‘another Counselor’ who will remain with him forever” (F. L. Cribbs, Perspectives, p. 50; cf. v. 29, and see notes on 2:4). 5:33 Peter’s rejoinder did nothing to appease the council. Already sensitive to blame for their part in Jesus’ death and suspecting that the apostles were deliberately attempting to ...

11. Unity in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... , pp. 688–89; Mitton, pp. 146–49; Stott, God’s New Society, pp. 156–59. On the theory of Christ’s descent at Pentecost, cf. G. B. Caird, “The Descent of Christ in Ephesians 4, 7–11,” in Studia Evangelica, vol. 2, ed., F. L. Cross (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1964), pp. 535–45. 4:11 An old but valuable discussion can be found in J. B. Light-foot, “The Christian Ministry,” in Philippians (London: Macmillan, 1898), pp. 181–269. On the offices, cf. K. H. Rengstorf, “apostolos,” TDNT ...

12. Working Together with One Heart and One Mind

Illustration

Staff

I've never lifted a barn, but Herman Ostry, a farmer in Bruno, Nebraska has. Shortly after buying a piece of land and a barn, a nearby creek rose, and the barn was under twenty nine inches of water. He half-jokingly said to his family, "I bet if we had enough people, we could pick up that barn and carry it to higher ground." To his surprise, one of his sons, Mike, started thinking about it, and by counting the number of boards, timbers, and nails, he estimated that the barn weighed about 19,000 pounds. ...

13. Christ, Our King

John 18:33-37

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

Today is the last day of the church year. The church year starts four Sundays before Christmas, so next week when I wish you all a happy new year, I hope to get a better response than blank stares. The last Sunday of the church is called both “Christ the King” Sunday, and “Reign of Christ” Sunday. This festival goes all the way back to 1925, when Pope Pius XI added it to the calendar. It was set as the last Sunday of the church year in 1970. When I learned this I was a little surprised. I love looking into ...

14. Burning Bridges and Scuttling Ships

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Many men of the world have understood the necessity for commitment if they are to accomplish great things. For example, when Spanish explorer Cortez landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with a small force of seven hundred men, legend has it that he purposely set fire to his fleet of eleven ships. Presumably, his men on the shore watched their only means of retreat sink to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. There was now only one direction to move—forward into the Mexican interior to ...

15. The Unlocked Brain

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Look at the image. Tell me what you see. Our brains are amazing vehicles for informing us of the world around us, but they can also limit us and impede us when we believe that what we see defines everything that’s real and true or that what we see defines the entirety of the universe. Can we truly know based on only our sensory experience? Or is there something more, another kind of knowing, that lies outside of our empirical knowledge? Christians believe there is. In fact, most people believe there is, ...

16. The Hidden City

John 3:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Caspar David Friedrich: Wanderer in a Sea of Fog The artist Caspar David Friedrich is known for his ethereal, spiritual, otherworldly-looking paintings. In order to grasp the meaning of his art, one needs to contemplate the visuals, noting the colors, shades, objects, and the location of the figure, among other noticeable details. For example, the painting above, called “Wanderer in a Sea of Fog,” lacks clarity. The fog, in the title and in the painting, obscures vision with misty white. The man appears to ...

17. Who is That Crouching at Your Door?

Genesis 4:1-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“If thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” — Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Envy is perhaps the deepest root of all evils. Envy is the desire to have what someone else has, to be like someone else, to be given what someone else has received, to obtain what one perceives one deserves. Envy is the opposite of satisfaction in and surrender to God. And it’s at the core of human nature. It’s stimulated by the eye, and desires of the gaze. The gaze here is not the feminist concept of ...

18. Guiding Star

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not near: A star shall appear from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. . .” Numbers 24:17. “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 [1] In the Catacombs of Priscilla you will find one of the oldest paintings of the early church –a depiction of Mother Mary with the Christ child, and beside her, Balaam the gentile prophet, who is pointing to a “star,” the sign of the ...

19. A Poor Image for Pastors

Illustration

Staff

The following survey took place in 2018 and the results for clergy are not that great. There are 7 people Christians trust more than their pastors. Fewer than half of American Christians (42%) believe clergy have “high” or “very high” standards of honesty and ethics, according to breakouts provided to CT. Self-identified Christians were about as likely to rate clergy’s ethical standards as just average (43%), and about 1 in 10 (12%) considered them “low” or “very low.”

20. Keeper of the Keys

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” Isaiah 22:22 Remember those old, beautiful “master keys” that used to unlock every door in the house? The old doors had a large, fish shaped opening filled with secret crevices, and the master key was a large, ornate device with unique edges that would somehow activate each one. I’m including an image of one here: Because it could open any door, the master key was ...

21. Raising Power

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Power fascinates us. The powers of nature both terrify us and intrigue us. Tsunamis, storms, lightning, hurricanes, the devastation of a tornado, the movement of glaciers. These and other events remind us that we humans are no match for nature’s power. But these are not the only powers that threaten to overwhelm us. The advent of technology has unleashed new realizations of how limited we are as human beings. AInow harbors the potential for power that we can’t really comprehend. We really have no idea what ...

22. Schadenfreude

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many of you grew up watching either the originals or the re-runs of Wile-E-Coyote and the Roadrunner? Throughout the series of cartoons, we laughed, as Wile E Coyote was continually foiled in his attempts to catch the super-fast and super sly roadrunner. Time and again, the coyote’s efforts and plots come back to bite him, so to speak, as he blows himself up, plunges off of cliffs, and gets pounded by boulders. Every trick up his sleeve backfires, and he never does catch the Roadrunner! (Beep, beep). ...

23. Imitating Christ's Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... : Eine Untersuchung zu Phil 2, 5–11. The predominant judgment on its authorship is that it was composed by someone other than Paul (see R. P. Martin, Carmen Christi, pp. 42–62). Pauline authorship, however, has been defended by M. Dibelius (ad loc.), W. Michaelis (ad loc.), E. F. Scott (ad loc.), L. Cerfaux, “L’hymne au Christ—Serviteur de Dieu (Phil. 2, 6–11=Isa. 52, 13–53, 12),” pp. 425–37; J. M. Furness, “The Authorship of Philippians ii. 6–11,” ExpT 70 (1958–59), pp. 240–43 ...

24. Marketplace Christianity

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Do you employ a “market mentality” or a “relational mentality”? What does this mean? Put simply, a market mentality sees things in terms of transactions and commodities, resources, and dispensability. A relational mentality however sees things in terms of developing partnerships, relationships, long-term collaborations that benefit both parties and share a vision. The former can easily fluctuate. The latter, however, requires time and effort to develop and cultivates trust, loyalty, and commitment over ...

25. Wrapped in a Cloud

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

The approaching wintry days and nights means cuddling up in your warmest, cozy fleece, as unexpected snow wraps the earth in a thick, opaque, and silent blanket of white. Ever go outside after foot upon foot of snow has obliterated everything familiar from sight? All you see is white. Everywhere white and a kind of strange glowing haze in the frosty, still air. When the sun peers through the haze, it casts an eerie kind of glow. The crystalline particles of snow glisten, almost blinding you with their ...

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