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 2551 to 2575 of 4947 results

2551. What Would Jesus Say About War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... outer region of darkness in Ephesians, Chapter 6, says, “Put on the whole armor of God!” That’s a hard message. Put on the armor of God. How much do you believe as a Christian about prayer? What if, by the power of prayer, Saddam Hussein came to his senses and went into exile? What if by prayer, President Bush became as patient as he is persistent? What if on 3-3-03, as some of you have e-mailed me, the world united in one voice with one prayer asking for God’s intervention into our troubled world ...

2552. The Forgiving Christ

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... People are going to hell if they don't turn from their wicked behavior." Praise God for prodigals who finally come to their senses. Poet Carl Sandburg writes, “There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and a hippopotamus in me that wants to ... C. Go Home. Don't stay for the rest of the sermon, don't wait for the benediction. Go home. When the prodigal son came to his senses, he got up and headed home. It was time for this weary paralytic to go home. Henri Nouwen in his book Finding My Way Home reminds us ...

2553. Develop Leaders—Humbly

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... God. What does ego mean to you? Does ego mean edging God out? Does ego mean exalting God only? Whether or not it is clear to us, most of us are influencing somebody, a child, a friend, a neighbor, a co-worker, a company, a community, a church. In that sense we are all leaders. Somebody's destiny is being determined by our thoughts and actions. Wouldn't you like to be the kind of spiritual leader that God wants you to be? Like Simba we might find ourselves saying, “Who me? Now you have to be kidding. I'm ...

2554. The Loving Friend

John 4:1-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to go through Samaria? Well, you figure it out. I'm not sure I've got the answer. But as the story unfolds we sense a spiritual significance to that decision of Jesus to travel through Samaria in order to get to Galilee. At Jacob's well, outside the ... you are the subject of the rumor mills. Then it's another matter. It hurts. It's painful. It's a problem. You've got to sense that somehow, some way this woman has finally given up coming at the normal time to draw her water. She comes at high noon when she ...

2555. Loving Our Enemies, Christian or Crazy?

Matthew 5:43-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... lights. Finally A.D. who was driving, said, ‘I have had enough' as he powered his lights back on bright. I said, ‘Don't do that, you are going to cause a wreck and get us killed. Somebody must have sense enough to dim their lights, to break the cycle of hate. If somebody doesn't have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful lights of love, we are all going to plunge into the abyss."' So a suicide bomber blows up a crowded bus in Israel. Israel responds by destroying an entire Palestinian village ...

2556. Sexual Ethics for the 21st Century

John 8:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... rage, malice, slander, lying and put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." As I was surfing the Internet looking for sermons on this text, I discovered a sermon delivered by a colleague of mine in which he said, “Sexual sin is different and in a sense worse than any other kind of sin." While I respect my friend, I just can not find that in the Bible. We ministers who preach grace need to be careful less we practice judgment. Romans 8:1 says, “There is now no condemnation for those ...

2557. The Gentle Healer

John 9:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . There are all kinds of movements in our day, many of them sponsored by New Age adherents promoting the power of touch. One group encouraging parents to touch their children says touch is the most important of all the senses. It stimulates all the other senses. It stimulates language and communication. It promotes bonding and attachment. Hugged children are happy children and for a price, they will come and teach you how to hug your children. Another promotional item says, “Touch unlocks compassion and ...

2558. When the Winds Are Against Us

Mark 6:45-56

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... some fun. In the deepest voice he could muster, he said, “Can you let a man enjoy his grave in peace? You can’t get out of here.” But he did. He thought he couldn’t get out, but he discovered quite suddenly that he could. There is a sense in which that’s the difference between belief and faith. It enables you to do what you normally could not do. Some time ago there was a cartoon in a The New Yorker magazine that depicted Moses leading the children of Israel across the Red Sea. The waters were ...

2559. Mulliganeers, All

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... getting Patrick kicked out of school. It seems the “zero tolerance” policy about bringing “weapons” on school grounds extended to include that Lego ornament, that toothpick-sized armament. Sorry, but sometimes “zero tolerance” makes “zero sense.” At least zero common sense. A “zero tolerance” policy is what the synagogue leader was advocating in today’s gospel lesson. Charged with keeping the reading and reflection of the Torah on the straight and narrow, this officious official couldn ...

2560. Center Stage

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... God with us. The quote, almost shoehorned in by Matthew, helps us to see who Jesus is. The proclamation that Jesus is God with us — God in human flesh — may seem strange to us. We may struggle to think of any words to express it so that it makes sense. Nevertheless, that affirmation is at the heart of our faith. Jesus is God with us and for us. As one theologian puts it, "According to the witness of the New Testament, the very basis of our salvation, the very ground of our hope consists in the fact that ...

2561. Who's Who

John 1:29-42

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... always seems to happen in John, the conversation doesn't quite follow. Jesus asks the potential disciples, "What are you looking for?" We can think of a number of answers that would make sense. "We're looking for spiritual fulfillment." "We're looking for a deeper connection to God." "We're looking for a way to make sense of our lives." Instead, they answer Jesus' question with another question, "Rabbi, where are you staying?" What in the world do they mean by that response? Are they trying to avoid Jesus ...

2562. Those Who Most Need a Blessing

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... him to a meeting of those trying to address Jacksonville's crime rate. Now Curry and Mitchell speak at schools, reaching out to at risk youth. Curry praises Mitchell's spirituality. Mitchell is among the merciful. He hungers and thirst for righteousness; he is a peacemaker. The sense of meaning he derives now from his work is a taste of the first marshmallow. In the dominion of God, he will be among those who inherit the earth.2 Let us choose the values of the dominion of God. Let us keep our faith if we ...

2563. God’s Weather Report

Matthew 5:38-48

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... . The bullies insult the Amish man, but didn't threaten to physically hurt him. The progression of the scene in the movie, from the taunting to the ice cream in the face to Book punching out two of the bullies was designed to create in the viewers a sense of catharsis, a release of emotions. Watching the bullies pick on the Amish man creates a building anger inside of us. Something inside of us doesn't want them to get away with what they did. Something inside of us resists hearing and acting out what Jesus ...

2564. A God Who Suffers with Us

John 9:1-41

Sermon

Lee Griess

... full, but after a few words of explanation, the salon owner said, "Send him right over. I'll work him in." Exhausted from a night of no sleep, Jim settled into the chair and began to reflect on the events that had happened, desperate to have them make sense. How could this have happened? The questions kept coming; the pain was still there. Just then Jim remembered the words of the hospital chaplain, "Sometimes we just don't know what part we have in God's plans. Perhaps Joshua's part was already done." The ...

2565. The Road No One Wants to Travel

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... so taken aback that he didn't know what to do with himself. What could have caused this sudden tirade? Everyone stood around for a bit, looking kind of dumb. Then Jesus broke the silence, but with a different demeanor. He poured out his heart. He gave them a sense of what was ahead for him, and for them. And in those moments of conversation Jesus spoke to them about the meaning of life. It is a strange and paradoxical word, but one of the truest things they would ever come to know, and we with them. Don't ...

2566. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... where a partnership is forged among those who would accompany Frodo on his journey to destroy the ring of power. The movie version makes for a very gripping visual illustration, and the original literary text is equally as moving. What comes through is a sense of selflessness as the bond that unites these creatures. Furthermore, each subsumes his will to the greater cause, and trusts an unseen and transcendent good for an outcome that will bless all of Middle Earth, even if the trek itself causes the demise ...

2567. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

2568. Testing, Testing

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... of his or her life, and wondering if that is available in your own tradition. The local Jehovah's Witness buttonholes you and you wish you could put into words what it is you believe. Moments like that test us — not so much in the sense of knowing the answers, passing or failing, but more in the sense of what we mean when we're setting up the mikes for a concert, and we go around to each one and tap on it to see if it makes a noise; and then we lean in close and we say, "Test ... test...." We ...

2569. To Be Passed Over

Exodus 12:1-4 (5-10) 11-14

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... are we to gauge this God? How are we to understand this holy presence that requires sacrifice? It seems to make no sense. For twenty-first-century North Americans, sacrifice is an unfamiliar thing. Few people living in the United States today have been asked ... . Sacrifice is woven into the fabric of how we understand God. Throughout biblical literature, of course, we see a maturing sense of this understanding. From the blood sacrifices of old to the "living sacrifice" that Paul calls the church to become ( ...

2570. Being a Witness

Acts 2:14, 22-32

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... . Why? He was there. He was a witness. It was a step closer to the real thing. A witness brings authenticity and passion; a witness brings us closer and allows us access to what really happened. This text from the book of Acts give us this same sense of witness. It is the testimony, if you will, of one who was there. These are not ephemeral descriptions, or vague mis-remembered sharings. These are the sharp, poignant memories of someone who was present on the scene: a witness. But there is more to this than ...

2571. Are We There Yet?

Acts 1:6-14

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... valid query. Today, more than two millennia down the road, few people ask any more about the destination. Few people can conjure up a sense of immediacy after more than 2,000 years. Even those who find the second coming as a deep piece of their faith have ... from a surplus of gifted ministries. Teachers? Preachers? Donors? Leaders? We can, I think, look to Paul's writings and make some sense of things. Could it be, when we, who are Christ's body, come together in unity, faithfulness, and fullness, that this is ...

2572. The Three Dimensions of Life

Genesis 6:1-22

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... , I mean the relationship we have built with that which is higher than ourselves, our Creator and Lord. The fact is, this is the only dimension of the three over which we have a good measure of control. You see, almost all of us has some sense of a larger entity in life, something beyond and above ourselves that is the source of meaning. But many people choose not to cultivate this vertical relationship. Have you known anyone who is an alcoholic but is in recovery thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous? AA has a ...

2573. Breakdowns and Breakthroughs

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... he was a Christian, for a while after 1738, he thought he had not truly been a Christian in 1725; by the 1770s, he was willing to admit that perhaps his middle views were wrong, and that he could understand himself as having been in some real sense a Christian in 1725.2We must assume that what [Wesley] believed about himself at any given time is true for him at that time. Later reflections upon his earlier conditions must be accepted for what they are, an indication of his self awareness at that later time ...

2574. God’s Providence: The Long and Short of It

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... the back seat: How much farther? Are we there yet? But that standard fare from children is not limited to children. When something we hope for as adults seems a long way off, we get discouraged and wonder if we'll ever get there. When we sense that it's close — that we're close, that we're almost there — then we take heart and feel encouraged. The only reason children are always asking, "How much farther?" is because they can't calculate it for themselves. As adults, however, we are always calculating ...

2575. Show Me What’s Real

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... her at some point in our lives. Other people sometimes challenge what we believe. We wrestle with how we can live in the world while maintaining our faith. This same young woman writes, "I do not want to live a secluded lifestyle from the rest of the world." We can sense her pain when she writes, "I'm frustrated with some of the Christians I know whom I feel I have to hide some things from." She then pleads, "From the small details of my life to the big — show me truth in how you desire this life of mine ...

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