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Sermon
Harry N. Huxhold
Great commotion was created in the holy city of Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of the Passover. On that occasion worshippers came from all over the Mediterranean world to fulfill their obligations at the Temple. A carnival atmosphere filled the precincts of the Temple with the commercial traffic that was created with the sale of animals for sacrifice and the exchange of foreign currency. To...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
Our text opens this morning with Philip, a disciple of Jesus, being recognized by someone from his home town.  He hadn't counted on that.  He thought that he could move around Jerusalem incognito at the time of the Passover, for the city was filled literally with tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world who had come to the Holy City on this most holy of seasons. Andrew is with him.  A...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
A few years ago, just before Thanksgiving, Tom Lind, a salesman from Montana, was making his rounds, traveling his regular route along the southern Oregon coast. As usual he was in his older model pickup, piggybacked with his small camper. Looking to continue his route south and east, Lind made a fateful spur-of-the-moment decision. He opted to take the scenic route. Only a few miles on this blue ...
4. Dying to Live
John 12:20-36
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
Two men went up in a hot-air balloon one May morning. Suddenly they were enveloped by clouds and lost track of where they were. They drifted for what seemed like hours. Finally the cloud parted, and they spotted a man below them on the ground. “Where are we?” one of the passengers hollered down. The man on the ground looked around, looked up at the balloon, looked around some more and then yelled...
5. Some Greeks
John 12:20-33
Sermon
John Jamison
Jesus was back in Jerusalem for another Passover. According to John’s gospel, this was the third time Jesus and the disciples attended the Passover festival and each time they were there they got in trouble. The first two times they somehow got out of town and made it back up north to Galilee to continue their ministry. It would be much more difficult to accomplish that this time. Everywhere Jesus...
6. Yada, Yada, Yada
John 12:20-36
Sermon
King Duncan
A man is watching television. His wife is trying to engage him in conversation: “Dear, the plumber didn’t come to fix the leak behind the water heater today.” Husband: “Uh-huh.” Wife: “The pipe burst today and flooded the basement.” Husband: “Quiet. It’s third down and goal to go.” Wife: “Some of the wiring got wet and almost electrocuted Fluffy.” Husband: “Darn it! Touchdown.” Wife: “The v...
7. Hope
John 12:20-33
Sermon
David E. Leininger
Word had begun to spread about Jesus. This was Palm Sunday afternoon now — crowds had already greeted his entry into Jerusalem. In John's chronology, this was hard on the heels of his raising Lazarus to life after four days in the tomb. Jesus was beginning to attract significant crowds, and they were even bigger than normal because this was a festival week, and folks had traveled from all over the...
Sermon
John Smylie
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (v. 21). This was the request of the Greeks who had come to worship at a festival in Jerusalem. These were Gentiles, non-Jews, who likely showed up at the Jewish Passover and other festivals because they intuitively felt that the God of Israel was the true God. Their own philosophies and religious systems must not have been satisfying to them for it seems they knew that...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
John 12:20-33 [20] Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. [21] They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." [22] Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. [23] Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] Very truly, I tell you, unless a grai...
Sermon
King Duncan
[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: “Jesus, Where Are You?” New Title: Teacher, Doctor, Savior, God? A pastor w...
Sermon
King Duncan
It was a once in a lifetime vacation trip for Robert Daley. He and his wife were driving through parts of Europe. While in France they stopped in the village of Colombey. The little town of about 350 people has gray stone homes lining the street with a gray stone church in the center. The town itself is indistinguishable from many other French villages. Something in the village caught the Daley's ...
Sermon
John Smylie
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (v. 21). This was the request of the Greeks who had come to worship at a festival in Jerusalem. These were Gentiles, non-Jews, who likely showed up at the Jewish Passover and other festivals because they intuitively felt that the God of Israel was the true God. Their own philosophies and religious systems must not have been satisfying to them for it seems they knew that...
13. Starting Over
John 12:20-36
Sermon
Wayne Brouwer
A college professor presented his class syllabus on the first day of the new semester. He pointed out that there were three papers to be written during the term, and he showed on which days those assign­ments had to be handed in. He said that these dates were firmly fixed, and that no student should presume that the deadline did not apply to her or him. He asked if the students were clear about th...
Sermon
Erskine White
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25) Years ago, when the Betty Crocker company first began selling their cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to the mix which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake every time. It bombed. No one bought ...
Sermon
Richard A. Jensen
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus." That is the request that we heard at the beginning of the biblical reading for this message. The inquiry came from the Greeks. That is a fascinating detail. John’s Gospel is filled with a variety of groups of people. There are the Jews and the Pharisees and the disciples, for example. These groups appear many times in John’s Gospel. Not so the Greeks. This is their one...
16. Skull Hill
John 12:20-36
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
What kid doesn’t love to splash in a mud puddle? Do you remember the squeal of delight as the wet, dirt-filled explosion splattered all over you? For how many of us was our first “culinary” experience creating mud pies — artfully decorated mud balls, frosted and festooned with leaves, grass, and weeds? But for most of us the love of mud quickly fades as we grow up. The biggest “tell” for this dir...
Sermon
Brett Blair
There seems to be little connection between the Greek's request and Jesus' response until you begin to speculate about why this leap in logic. Something appears to be missing. Why does Jesus seemingly ignore the Greeks request for an audience with him? Jesus knows that the Greeks "Seek Wisdom" and are only interested in debate and dialogue on theological philosophical issues of the day. Even if t...
Sermon
George Bass
Suddenly, right here in the middle of September, it is Palm Sunday again, the beginning of the week that we call Holy Week or the Week of the Passion of Christ. That strange procession, which must have been first seen by the guards on the city wall as it moved toward Jerusalem, takes shape before our imaginations again. The central figure - Jesus - is seated upon "a colt of a donkey," and people t...
Sermon
Donald B. Strobe
A number of years ago there was a television drama titled See How She Runs, which told the story of Betty, a 40-year-old schoolteacher who decided to run in the Boston Marathon.  Betty’s daughter Kathy was surprised, shocked, and not a little fearful.  The play contained the following dialogue between Betty and her daughter Kathy on the subject of fear: Betty: “There are worse things than being s...
Sermon
George Bass
Suddenly, we are a week ahead of our Lenten schedule. This story belongs to the Week of the Passion of our Lord, because it occurs sometime between the days we call Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday. It was during that interval that a group of Gentiles, who were simply called Greeks, approached Philip with the request to see Jesus. Jesus must have been in some sort of seclusion pondering, no doubt, ...
Sermon
King Duncan
On the way to the top of the highest peak in the French Alps there is a small inn. This inn provides rest and respite for mountain climbers.  It is called the Mediocre Inn, which in French simply means “halfway.” "Imagine coming off a day of climbing in the icy, windy French Alps,” says Dr. Jay Strack. “The cold has seeped into your bones.  You’re exhausted, and every muscle in your body hurts.  ...
Sermon
Brett Blair
Years ago, when the Betty Crocker Company first began selling their cake mixes, they offered a product which only needed water. All you had to do was add water to the mix which came in the box, and you would get a perfect, delicious cake every time. It bombed. No one bought it and the company couldn’t understand why, so they commissioned a study which brought back a surprising answer. It seemed t...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
The movie, Cinderella Man, takes place in the depths of the Great Depression. Boxer Jim Braddock's family, like so many others, is living in poverty. He gets up early one morning hoping to get a shift at the dock. He gets ready to sit down and eat a meager breakfast, prepared by his wife, Mae. Jim gets up and wonders where his wife has put his socks. Mae tells Jim that she "washed them last night...
Sermon
Robert Noblett
We could spend our sermon time talking with you about John's Christology and how our text indicates Jesus' understanding of his impending death, but after a brief period, I would begin to see in some of your eyes that glazed look that would tell me you had gone off to a faraway place. It's true; this text is about Christology, but a Christology that comes with our names on it too. Says Jesus, "Who...
Sermon
King Duncan
Jim French and a friend stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The meal was delicious, and French asked the waiter if he could have the recipe. The waiter was quick to oblige. A few minutes later, he returned from the kitchen with a piece of paper. All parties were satisfied. Until Jim French unfolded the paper. The recipe was written in Chinese. (1) This is not what Jim expected. That's lik...
Showing 1 to 25 of 33 results