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 5000 results

2551. Now, It's Personal

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Thirty years ago I was serving on the staff of a large church as the minister of Christian Education and Youth Ministry. The Education Commission and the Youth Council were made up, mostly of parents who worked with me on the programs for youth and children — Sunday school, Vacation Bible School, those kinds of things. One year, for Vacation Bible School, we decided to set up a large tent — a really large one under which you could seat 100 or more people — on the parking lot and use it for our opening ...

2552. It's Hard to Be an Atheist with Neighbors Like That

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

King Duncan

Patrick Greene was known by his neighbors in Henderson County, Texas as a professed atheist. He was notorious for threatening to sue Henderson County each year over the courthouse manger scene at Christmas time. The reason? Greene says his experience with Christians through the years was of narrow-minded individuals who treated him unkindly. “My wife and I had never had a Christian do anything nice for us,” Greene said. “Just the opposite.” That changed when the 63-year-old Greene learned he had a detached ...

2553. Not Such a Difficult Question

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

King Duncan

If you’ve ever sweated through a job interview, then you know what it’s like to hold your breath as you wait for that next question. Will it be something off-the-wall that you can’t possibly answer . . . Or will it be a perfectly reasonable question . . . but one that will cause your mind to go blank the minute the interviewer asks it? Maybe you heard the story of a young woman who was interviewing for admission into a top business school. The head professor began the interview. “We can ask you ten easy ...

2554. A Sure Path to the NFL

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

King Duncan

If I were to ask you to name someone whose character inspires you to be a better person, who would you name? Did a name pop into your head right away? I hope so. I hope we all know someone--a parent, a teacher, a colleague, a neighbor, a church member—whose example inspires us to live better lives. Here’s a little trickier question: How many of you thought of a Disney character as an influence on your life?? Last year, a British couple put an advertisement on a childcare website asking for a nanny. They ...

2555. Religious Rage

Psalm 137:1-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

Someday I may preach a series of sermons called "Bible Passages Too Hot to Handle." A preacher could get burned by getting too close to today's text. Those of you who are regulars here know that we believe it a good practice for preachers to take, as their texts, biblical passages assigned by the ecumenical lectionary. This links us with the practice of the majority of the church, it provides for continuity, and (usually) preserves you from exposure to the pet peeves and hobby horses of the preacher. But ...

2556. Metaphors Be with You

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

His name was John Davis, he was my neighbor, and he was a peculiar person. Don’t get me wrong. I liked him but even his wife said John was an “acquired taste.” I sometimes think that, had he been born thirty or forty years later, he would have been correctly diagnosed as having Asperger’s Syndrome or some other condition associated with the higher functioning end of the Autism spectrum. He was a gifted man, to be sure, a tool designer and metallurgist who worked for a big corporation, very smart and very ...

2557. For Men Only?

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

In the year 311 BC a marriage contract in Egypt was drawn up for Heraclides and Demetria, both from the town of Koan. The contract specified that the bride was bringing into the marriage clothing and bling worth a thousand drachmas. Heraclides, meanwhile, agreed to support Demetria according to what was fitting for a freeborn woman. As to where the two of them would live, that would be whatever they both agreed to after consulting with each other. This marriage, like some that we read about, also had ...

2558. How Does Prayer Work?

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

Sermon

Charley Reeb

If you grew up in the church, I am sure you were taught that prayer is important. Even if you don’t have much of a religious background, there is a good chance you have heard about the benefits of prayer. If you need something, ask God for it. If you need guidance, ask God for it. If you are worried, pray about it. If you need strength, pray for it. But maybe you struggle with prayer because you never seem to get the results you are looking for. You pray and never seem to get an answer. You are frustrated ...

2559. The Mud Room

John 9:1-41

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Homes built particularly in rural areas and on farms in the early part of the 20th century often had within them, usually coming in from the back or side door of the house, a special room called a “mud room.” Has anyone here seen a mud room? Perhaps some of you had one in your homes at some point? A mud room had pretty much one single purpose: it was a place for “messiness.” Farmers coming in out of the fields, work-folk coming in from a hard day’s labor in mines, rivers, farms, or creeks, would shed their ...

2560. Immediately, They Followed

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

"And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.' And immediately they left their nets and ·followed him." This is the sort of text which preachers love, this snippet of a story about the calling of Simon, Andrew, James and John, from the first chapter of Mark. "And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew…casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.' And immediately they ...

2561. 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 ...

2562. Steadfast Change

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

When I first looked at the texts for today, I immediately thought of the difference between change and transformation. I realized that I’m probably looking too closely at words again, looking more deeply at them than anyone cares about. But in the context of this congregation, it seems to me that change is inevitable and transformation is coming. I’ve felt it for a while. People fear change and even resist it, but the fact is that as long as we are alive, we are changing. That means that when we proclaim ...

2563. Gratitude and Coping

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Tom Garrison

Nothing in recent years has been more upsetting than the sharp increase in the use of drugs among young. People have become so traumatized by the subject that any reasonable discussion of it has become well-nigh impossible. This is why I was particularly impressed with a speech made not long ago by a public health official at a large university, for he wisely avoided histrionics and went straight to the heart of the problem. He openly acknowledged that "the jury was still out" as to all of the physical ...

2564. The Sign of the Servant

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: on screen images of the pictographs for shepherd’s staff, ox, and yoke (both together) What do you get when you cross a shepherd’s staff and an ox? A yoke, of course! At least, that’s what you get in Paleo-Hebrew, the pictographic forerunner of the Hebrew language and image-rich metaphorical roots of the Hebrew scriptures. [Put the symbols on screen if you can. Show people the symbols for staff and ox….together they mean "yoke."] So, a Yoke is something that "guides" and "harnesses" the ox –two oxen ...

2565. But When God ...

Galatians 1:11-24

Sermon

April Yamasaki

In the early Christian church, there were no pulpits. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that pulpits were first introduced in churches and not until the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s and 1600s that the pulpit became a central symbol for the authority of scripture and the preaching of the word. But it hasn't always been that way. Instead, the very first Christian churches were house churches, where there were no pulpits, and everything was done face-to-face without a piece of furniture in between. The ...

2566. "Hands Off!"

Exodus 20:1-21, Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

No one ever painted Americana with more accuracy and charm than did Norman Rockwell. Some of us who are older than most of us can remember his classic paintings which adorned the covers of The Saturday Evening Post. One of them focused on the buying of the Thanksgiving turkey. The turkey is lying on the scales and the butcher is standing back of the counter, apron pulled tight over his fat stomach, a pencil tucked behind his ear. The customer, a lovely lady of about sixty, is watching the weighing-in. Each ...

2567. Miracle Three: Healing A Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

BACKGROUND MATERIAL There is considerable variety to the miracles performed by Christ. One was performed in a synagogue (curing the demoniac), another in a home (healing Peter's mother-in-law), and this one he performed on a public thoroughfare. While Jesus and his disciples were walking, a man afflicted with the terrible disease of leprosy approached them. Fear of leprosy was so great that strict laws had been passed concerning the actions of one so afflicted. The law demanded that lepers should isolate ...

2568. The Promising Invitation

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Marc Kolden

Our gospel reading today contains one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. Most of us probably know it in words of one of the older translations, but most of us do know it. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28, KJV). For centuries this passage has been used for comforting the grieving, encouraging the struggling, and giving hope when all else seems to have failed. We read it; we underline it; we memorize it. We trust these words when nothing ...

2569. Growing In The Lord

1 Samuel 2:12-26

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

A human birth, as the beginning of life, is representative of most beginnings that occur in life. Like birth, all beginnings are full of promise. Like birth, all beginnings are hard. The major moves of God's dealings in history seem to be marked by births. The story of the patriarchs is begun with the birth of Isaac (Genesis 12). The beginning of the history of Israel as a people is marked with the birth of Moses (Exodus 1). Here, the beginning of the history of the kings is marked by the birth of Samuel ( ...

2570. Reversing The Flow

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

One of the greatest challenges of life is to stay in touch with reality and hold on to hope at the same time. And let it be said, clearly and unequivocally, that precisely just such a stance describes the committed Christian. Some would boast of a strong faith, but would build it by ignoring the realities of the world around them. Others see clearly the reality of the world around them and therefore are unable to hold on to faith or hope in God at all. The biblical faith to which you and I are heirs does ...

2571. Grampa Noah And When The Flood Came

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Genesis 9:1-17, Genesis 9:18-29

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: One of the difficulties of telling the Genesis stories is that they are a slushing together of variant religious traditions and stories of the Hebrew tribes. Some stories do not lend themselves to a singular telling. The story of Noah is an excellent example. To open it up to the variations within it, I imagined a family reunion many years after the flood and after Noah's grandchildren had heard the stories a hundred times from their own families. At the reunion, the children finally have a chance ...

2572. Come Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

Charles Wesley began one of the Methodist Church's favorite hymns with this line: "Come Holy Ghost, Our Hearts Inspire." Of course, tradition now uses the alternate term, "Holy Spirit." Wesley called it the "fountain of life and love." And so it is. Once we experience the Holy Spirit, we know it is exactly that: the source of life and love. The giving of that Spirit into the lives of us all is the point of this passage. Actually, there's a bit of politics indigenous to the time and place involved here, ...

2573. Tough Faith In Tough Times

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

Two qualities which we Americans value highly and in which we take pride are speed and efficiency. Think of how many products or services which all of us use that are built principally around one or both of these qualities. Hundreds of thousands of microwave ovens have been sold, not because they make food taste better, but because it's possible to cook much faster in them. Since so many people lead such busy lives, anything that shortens time in the kitchen has an instant appeal. A colleague told of ...

2574. When Christians Disappoint

Acts 5:1-11

Sermon

Erskine White

How is it you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to us but to God. (Acts 1:4) We would like to think that we Christians are always theChristians we are supposed to be, but of course, it isn't true.We would like to think that the church is always the faithfulChristian community it is meant to be, but of course, that isn'ttrue either. Sometimes it's awfully easy to be disappointed inChristians and in the church as well. It's awfully easy to findChristians and churches which give ...

2575. The Significance Of An Insignificant Man

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Erskine White

They seized one Simon of Cyrene ... and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26) We might call Simon of Cyrene a rather insignificant man in the larger sweep and sway of scripture. He's not a major figure; in fact, the Bible mentions him just once, almost in passing: "They seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus." It is worth noting that Simon was an African, from the city of Cyrene in what is now northern ...

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