Search Results on A Plain Account

A Word of Hope in Exile

A Plain Account

In this commentary on Isaiah 55:10-13, a pastor reflects on rain and snow as metaphor for God's word of hope given to a people in exile.

Isaiah 55:10-13

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Hope, Water, Drought, Promises

A Sacrifice of Love

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

A commentary on Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18. God calls for and enters the covenant with Abraham, and there would be no covenant without sacrifice. This covenant renewed in Jesus calls us to a life of living sacrifice.

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

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Covenant, Sacrifice, Abraham (biblical Patriarch), Lent

A Better Yoke

Jason Buckwalter | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This Bible study on Matthew 11:20-30 considers how Jesus invites us to abandon what we think we know about following him in exchange for a spot beside him, to participate in proclaiming the kingdom of God.

Matthew 11:20-30

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Discipleship, Kingdom Of God, Repentance, Yoke

A Thrill of Hope

Maggie Mraz | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration, Prayer for Illumination

In this Advent meditation on Matthew 1:18-25, Maggie Mraz invites us to engage in the hope of the nativity story.

Matthew 1:18-25

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Advent, Hope, Nativity

A Matter of Life and Death

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

Colossians 3:1-11 addresses the question: Is holiness about spiritual experience or character change? Paul answers this question by defining our new spiritual life in terms of a total transformation of our character in Christ.

Colossians 3:1-11

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Change, Holiness, Faith

A Kingdom of Priests

Michael Jackson | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

In this commentary, Michael Jackson provides two directions for preaching 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26: to read this as a story of making and keeping promises or to explore the Hebrew word, šārat, usually translated “to minister.”

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

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Priest, Promises, Ministry

A Psalm of Descent

Matthew Jones | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

An Advent sermon starter on Psalm 122. As we turn our gaze toward his appearing, Psalm 122 invites us to hear Christ singing the song of his people, and it’s a song of peace and joy.

Psalm 122

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Advent, Second Coming

A Community of Love

Tim Hahn | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

Tim Hahn provides commentary on Matthew 28:16-20, reminding us that this passage is more than a "proof-text" for the Trinity. Rather, the Trinitarian community of love shows us what the church should look like.

Matthew 28:16-20

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Community, Great Commission, Love, Trinity

A New Dynamic at Play

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on Hosea 11:1-8 invites us to pay attention to a new dynamic in God's relationship with his people. The new measure of this relationship is fidelity and the presence of our divine parent.

Hosea 11:1-8

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Parenting, Poetry, Relationship, God's Presence

A Faithful Life

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

In 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5, we see that Paul’s idea of a faithful life is one that picks up on the faithfulness of God’s people in the past and then moves that faithfulness forward into the future.

2 Timothy 3:14-17, 4:1-5

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Faithfulness, Daily Living, Self-deception

A Poetic Reprimand

Melissa Wass | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 explores Isaiah's focus on a worship, which goes in an unexpected direction. For worship to be acceptable to God, we must take care of the hungry and the poor.

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

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Worship, Acceptance, Poor, Social Justice

A Flicker of What Is to Come

Hunter Thrasher | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

In this sermon starter on John 11:45, Hunter Thrasher sees Jesus' restoring Lazarus to life as a brief foreshadowing of Christ's resurrection.

John 11:1-45

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Grief, Incarnation, Kingdom Of God, Lazarus Of Bethany

Search Results for "A Plain Account" on Hymnary.org

Thou Lord, by strictest Search hast knownPD
The Field is the WorldPD
That steward accus'd to his LordPD

A Participatory Process of Justification

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on Galatians 2:15-21 describes the basis for belonging in a covenant with God and discusses Paul's argument for justification through participation in the crucifixion of Jesus.

Galatians 2:15-21

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Faith, Covenant, Justification, Crucifixion

Light Is What Light Does

Tyler Waters-Smith | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

In this commentary on Ephesians 5:8-14, Tyler Waters-Smith highlights Paul's metaphor of light and darkness, sharing, "When faced against light, darkness doesn’t have a chance."

Ephesians 5:8-14

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Darkness, Knowledge, Light, Relationship

In the Face of Fear

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

"God has instructed fearful people to take steps of faith toward seemingly irrational action." This commentary on Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 frames the text in a narrative: a people choosing faith amidst adversity and the unknown.

Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15

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Fear, Promises, History Of Redemption, Suffering

A Revelatory God

Danny Quanstrom | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

Danny Quanstrom connects Psalm 29 to Christ's baptism through the glory of God. At Christ's baptism we see a theophanic story of (re)creation: the voice that spoke creation into being speaks over Christ too.

Psalm 29

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Baptism, Creation, Glory, Theophany

Good Managers

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on Luke 16:1-13 draws out a variety of angles and insights for preaching, such as the myth of multi-tasking, serving as if our lives depended upon it, and the meaning of "dishonest wealth."

Luke 16:1-13

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Faithfulness, Management, Wealth

Practice This First

Levi Holland | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on 1 Timothy 6:6-19 focuses on the potential preacher, warnings for misreading the text, and the need to face the desires in our hearts for money, etc. as a means of gaining understanding.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

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Money, Desire, Materialism, Spirituality

A Centurion's Faith

A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on Luke 7:1-10 observes that the Jews of Capernaum were not deterred by purity laws from pleading the case of a Roman centurion to Jesus, and Jesus was impressed with this gentile's faith.

Luke 7:1-10

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Faith, Faithfulness, Jesus Christ, Purity

Rushing Into "Why"

Charlie Lyons-Pardue | A Plain Account

Sermon Preparation or Illustration

This commentary on Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 describes the context as one of national tragedy and devastation, then examines God's and peoples' responses. Herein is a call to lament like Jeremiah before attempting to make meaning of tragedy.

Jeremiah 8:18-22, 9:1

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Lament, Identity, Babylonian Exile