Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: touch, feel, sense of touch, tactile sense, tactility, contact, using one's hands, sensation, sense, suspicion, sneaking suspicion, notion, inkling, hunch, fancy, apprehension, presentiment, premonition, foreboding, love, care, affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, warmness, emotion, sentiment, emotional state, compassion, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, understanding, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, brotherly love, sensibilities, sensitivities, self-esteem, ego, pride, opinion, belief, view, impression, intuition, instinct, estimation, guess, theory, hypothesis, thought, way of thinking, point of view, atmosphere, ambience, aura, air, mood, climate, character, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, flavour, colour, aptitude, knack, flair, bent, talent, gift, skill, art, trick, faculty, ability, propensity, inclination, sensitive, warm, warm-hearted, tender, tender-hearted, caring, soft-hearted, sympathetic, compassionate, empathetic, responsive, receptive, intuitive, thoughtful

Antonyms: bad feeling, acrimony, animosity, animus, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, bitterness, detestation, disgust, dislike, disrelish, enmity, friction, grievances, grudges, hatred, hostility, loathing, malevolence, malice

Showing 226 to 250 of 387 results

226. Baptism: The Light Shatters the Darkness

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... never existed. Baptism, the premier sacrament that unites us as Christians, is a celebration of one's movement from the darkness into the light. When we are born we enter into the human community — our family, national origin, racial background, and ethnic sensibility. While, as the book of Genesis says, we are made in the image and likeness of God, still something significant is missing from human birth alone. Baptism supplies what we need. We no longer are simply members of the human community. Through ...

227. Weekly Resolutions

Illustration

Jonathan Edwards

Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), from the Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 1 Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humble entreat Him, by His grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to His will, for Christ's sake. [I will] remember to read over these Resolutions once a week. ...

228. The Duty of Prayer

Illustration

John Bunyan

... urgency is genuine prayer in God's account. Alas, the greatest number of people are not conscious at all of the duty of prayer. And as for those who are, it is to be feared that many of them are very great strangers to sincere, sensible, and affectionate emotional pouring out of their hearts or souls to God. Too many content themselves with a little lip-service and bodily exercise, mumbling over a few imaginary prayers. When the emotions are involved in such urgency that the soul will waste itself rather ...

229. Matthew 25:1-13

Matthew 25:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... protected by a shade.” Since the sticking point of this whole parable rests upon the lack of “oil,” these “lamps” must be oil burning lamps, or perhaps, given their intended processional purpose, an oil-soaked torch. The “wise” or “sensible” young women bring refills for their lamps. The “foolish” ones do not. Even though there is no stated reason to expect the need for additional oil supplies, half of these “bridesmaids” look firmly enough towards the coming celebration to make ...

230. Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... fortunes. Instead it is only the actions of the third servant that are described: he “dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” No matter how much “Occupy Wall Street” fervor is floating about, it still shocks our fiscal sensibilities to consider doing something so seemingly foolish with such a huge fortune. To “bury the talent” is today’s equivalent of stuffing the money under the mattress. But in Jesus’ day burying large sums of coinage or other treasures was a well accepted ...

231. Seven Years of the Common Cold

Humor Illustration

... go to bed like a good girl, just for me, please?" Third year: "Maybe you'd better lie down, honey. Nothing like a little rest if you're feeling bad. I'll bring you something to eat. Have we got any soup in the house?" Fourth year: "Look, dear. Be sensible. After you've fed the kids and washed the dishes, you'd better hit the sack." Fifth year: "Why don't you take a couple of aspirin?" Sixth year: "If you'd just gargle or something instead of sitting around barking like a seal." Seventh year: "For heaven's ...

232. Answers to Life's Mysteries

Humor Illustration

... philosopher of the comic strips, Charlie Brown, once deduced that it was. Lucy is saying to him, "Life is a mystery Charlie Brown . . . Do you know the answer?" Charlie Brown answers, "Be kind. Don't smoke. Be prompt. Smile a lot. Eat sensibly. Avoid cavities and mark your ballot carefully . . . Avoid too much sun. Send overseas packages early. Love all creatures above and below. Insure your belongings and try to keep the ball low…." Before he can get out another platitude, Lucy interrupts: "Hold real ...

233. Prophesy Your Way Forward

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... lies ahead. But they knew whom to ask. They came seeking something huge and transformative, so they acted accordingly. They went to the religious capital and the seat of power for the Jews. They brought with them, not protein bars for themselves or sensible shoes for a baby. They brought gifts that befitted a royal birth, a king. But you know: these clueless pagans, these zodiac inspired Zoroastrians, these star-struck astrologers — they had it right. They knew that if they wanted to move forward, if they ...

234. Better Angels of Our Nature

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or not they take seriously, Friday the 13th. Be honest: we notice black cats when they saunter in front of us — not so much the tabbies or calicos. Be honest: after two pieces of bad news, we brace ourselves for a third. Of course, it is just plain sensible not to walk underneath a ladder. As little or as much as we may allow superstitions to nudge us this way or that, consider how the actions and attitudes of men and women in the first century would have been hemmed in and honed down by an absolute ...

235. 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

236. The Reluctant Celebrity

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... picture or command the obedience of my daughter. It doesn’t even seem to keep fleas off our dog, and if being a celebrity doesn’t give one an advantage over fleas, then I guess there can’t be much in it after all.” Disney was a sensible man who was able to put life into perspective, but I suppose celebrities serve their purpose. They make life more interesting for those who identify with them. A few years ago there was a 310-pound defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears who suddenly became a national ...

237. Acts 8:26 40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Even stranger, the term translated as “south” or “southward” (“meembria”) can also mean “noon” or “mid‑day.” In other words, Philip was being called to make this lonely trek out into the middle of nowhere in the heat of the day when all sensible people would be off the road and waiting for a cooler time to travel. Yet Philip does exactly as he was told. Following those strange instructions to an estranged place puts Philip directly in the path of danger. The key character is an exotic ...

238. Practicing the Presence

Acts 8:26-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

239. No Pleasing Some People

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... instill fear in those elements of a white population who want justification for their lack of sympathy. Fortunately most Christians, even while practicing some measure of discernment in their stewardship, are more likely to err on the side of charity than sensibility. If you want to know the truth, sometimes it is the people who have the least who are the most generous. I know people with very little money, limited mobility, and difficult lives, who practice effortless discipleship and limitless charity ...

240. Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:24-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is it any wonder that this woman has a child who houses an “unclean spirit.” The woman and her family are ideal poster children for the term “defiled.” As shocking as is this woman’s genealogy and boldness to first century Jewish sensibilities, twenty-first century Christian readers are also shocked by the seemingly callus and insulting response Jesus first makes to her request. Nowhere else in the gospels does Jesus respond to a plea for help with such an apparent outright dismissal. Nowhere else ...

241. You're a Treasure!

Mark 7:24-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

242. The iPod Vs. The Larynx

Revelation 5:11-14

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... to God. If we applaud, it is not for a good performance done well but because we are thanking God for making possible such marvelous music. But I suspect that, when worship is done "well" and honors God, we will also find it pleasing to our sensibilities. It will have been something that was a pleasure to "experience." Most of all weekly, corporate worship is something the "community" does. It is something that we do together as a group. That is certainly reflected in John's glorious picture of this massive ...

243. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the pagan idols was a consistent criticism in Hebrew literature — where the God of Israel is perennially presented as a God who speaks and acts through the prophets to communicate with the people. So remedial is the spiritual sensibilities of the Corinthian Christians that Paul deems it necessary to instruct them on the spiritual significance between declaring Jesus as a curse (“anathema”) or as “lord” (“kyrios”). In certain pagan rites “anathema” referred to lighting a votive candle to ...

244. In the Service

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

245. Be a Bethany

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that Lazarus and his sisters held a Sabbath meal in Jesus’ honor. Mary’s gift of the spendy and scented perfume added yet another layer to the celebrity feeling of the evening. Food. Family. Friends. Fragrance. The nose knows. There is no human sensibility that awakens deeper feelings and memories than the sense of smell. Jesus stayed in Bethany to engage with and enjoy the company of his great friends. Jesus accepted the gift of Mary’s anointing, of the fragrance that dispelled all the miasma of ...

246. Anything to Declare?

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... tells this third group, however, sounds like his previous instructions to The Twelve: carry no purse, no bag, no sandals. In other words, there is no safety net. Still Jesus does add a parental-sounding “Never talk to strangers” rule, reflecting his sensibility to the potential hostility that now haunts the mission. And Jesus also gives this third group of missionaries a kind of “open-sesame” key to detecting the receptivity of a household to the message of the kingdom. He instructs them to declare ...

247. Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Luke 10:1-24

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

248. Let It Go

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... let go” of his former worldview with its boundaries and barriers. “Letting go” is not just a mantra for college kids on Spring Break. “Letting go” is what Christians need to embrace every day of their lives. Instead of trusting in “make-sense” reason and sensible logic, we need to trust equally in our sense of awe, our sense of mystery, our sense of beauty, our sense of the divine. “Letting go” is what disciples of Jesus should do best. For those who profess faith in Jesus as the Christ ...

249. The Ice Bucket Challenge

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Challenge" was the cross, where he demonstrated his utter commitment to bringing all of humanity back into the Father’s embrace. What overwhelming love. What redeeming power. Paul’s own "Ice Bucket Challenge" happened on the road to Damascus, shocking his senses and sensibilities sideways. He was left blind for days, and more so, after being blind-sided by the presence and power of Christ’s love and forgiveness. But that was not the end, only the beginning, of Paul’s faith journey. It is not enough ...

250. Learning to Live Like Jesus

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... a car wreck and left her with four children. He said, “I know this is a very difficult time for you.” She said, “It is. So I won’t be at the services tonight, but I’ll be there tomorrow night, and I’ll be there Sunday morning.” Like any sensible and caring person, Craddock said, “Oh, you don’t need to.” “Yes, I do,” she said. He said, “Well, what I meant was, I know it’s a very hard time.” And she said, “I know it’s hard. It’s already hard, but you see, this is my church ...

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