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 2676 to 2700 of 3082 results

2676. Plea for Discipline

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

In a way, Christians are all in the Olympics! We are running the race that determines our eternal abode. We run to win and the prize is the most valuable we will ever seek. No money or property will purchase it. Only self-control under the banner of Christ grants a chance for winning. The apostle is very clear and speaks to all who would enter the race that leads to everlasting life with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is an old/new teaching to whom all Christians for twenty centuries can relate. It ...

2677. God Our Protector and Shield

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

James Gillis, a priest and writer in the mid-twentieth century, became well known as a commentator on American life. He saw himself as a champion for the cause of moral righteousness and absolutism against the forces of darkness that manifested themselves in various ways. This "war" continued throughout his life with battles waged on numerous fronts, all prosecuted to protect the American Christian way of life that was instilled in him from childhood. Gillis believed that truth should enwrap all decisions ...

2678. Our Ultimate Destination

Revelation 21:1-6a

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

On U.S. Route 40 just west of New Concord, Ohio, stands an S-shaped bridge spanning a creek on the old National Road. Standing uphill from that bridge a traveler can simultaneously observe five historic transportation links that helped to build a nation: •The original trail blazed by Ebenezer Zane, also known as "Zane's Trace." •The brick roadbed of the old "National Road" that followed. •The train tracks of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which nearly made that early highway obsolete. •U.S. Route 40, built ...

2679. Spite Houses

Matthew 18:21-35

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

There once was a millionaire who owned a lot in an exclusive residential area of New York City. This particular lot presented a very unusual problem. The lot was five feet wide and about a hundred feet long. He couldn't do anything with such an odd sized lot, so he decided to sell it one of the neighbors on either side. But when he went to the neighbors, they didn't want to give him anything for it. They basically said, "Look, you can't build on it and you can't sell it to anyone else. So take our offer or ...

2680. With Friends Like These ...

Job 38:1-7 (34-41)

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a favorite book of children and adults alike. Things are always going wrong in Alexander's life, and we can identify with his laments. Alexander goes to bed with gum in his mouth and wakes up with gum in his hair. His teacher likes his friend Paul's sailboat picture better than Alexander's invisible castle, which she can't quite see. At the lunch table, while others are enjoying various delicious sweets, Alexander discovers that his mother is ...

2681. The Sheep and the Goats - Sermon Starter

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Brett Blair

Like it or not, judgment is a fact of life. That is true whether we are talking about the histories of nations or the events of our own personal life. If we break the law, then society will judge us. If we live immorally drink too much, engage in sexual promiscuity, live a lifestyle of constant stress then our bodies will judge us. We simply cannot escape judgment in life. Jesus rarely spoke about the final judgment, but on one occasion he did paint a picture for us in one of his stories. The parable that ...

2682. LightWorks

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our children are our greatest resource, the hope of the world, the next generation. When we are "too busy" to explain a point of faith or theology, or are afraid they will find it "too boring," we are risking nothing less than the work and witness of all the saints who have gone before us. When a star explodes in a distant galaxy, we don't hear it. We don't feel it. We don't even see it for thousands and thousands of years. The great distance of the star means that even though the brilliance of the ...

2683. A Go-Ahead God

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

God goes ahead of us even to the point of death to roll away those stones that are blocking us from life. As kids we quickly learned that there were two basic types of situations we might find ourselves in at any time. There were the "me-first!" situations. If we had lots of brothers and sisters to contend with, of course, sibling rank usually determined which "me" actually got to be "first." "Me first" was a screech we learned to utter when ice cream was brought out, the pony rides came into view, someone ...

2684. A 24-7-365 God

Hebrews 7:23-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

God can be a 24-7-365 God because Jesus was a 1-time Savior. In football, the quarterback calls out a series of numbers before the ball is hiked. Sometimes these numbers are random. Other times they themselves are signals, letting the other players know what play the quarterback wants to run. Christians can also designate a series of numbers that represent how God's presence will be played out in their lives: 24-7-365. It's not a very complex code to crack. The God revealed through Christ's sacrifice is a ...

2685. Sleep Loose

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Relax and trust God's Spirit. It used to be that when we took a family member or visitor to the airport, there was plenty of time for formal, cordial good-byes. Saying good-bye was an art. You had to work up to a high point, a final message, a last hug, at just the right time. Too soon and you would have to endure those last minutes knowing everything had already been said. Too late and you would end up shouting crucial messages at someone's back down the jetway. Timing was everything. Curbside check-in ...

2686. The Four R's

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The Parable of the Sower and the Seed is a basic lesson in key survival skills for the 21st century: Roots, Rituals, Relationships, Realities. In the so-called 'good old days' wherever and whenever those were public schools used to boast that they taught the '3-Rs' 'reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic all to the tune of a hickory stick.' In the West Virginia holler from whence my family hails, there were '4-R's' taught reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic and the road to Roanoke (That is the fastest way out of West ...

2687. By Faith Living

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

To live "by faith" and not "by sight" means to live in the light of God's promises in the present. To step forward in faith is to live in the victorious peace of a war already won whether or not the particular battle you are fighting is being "won" or "lost." The pulse of postmodern life is created partly by our biological heartbeat and partly by the electronic circuitry of our technological partners. Unless we are out wilderness hiking (and sometimes even then), it is virtually impossible for us to ...

2688. Call the Tribe of Issachar Together

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Christians must become members of the tribe of Issachar, a tribe which had an "understanding of the times to know what ... to do." Edward L. Shirley, of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at St. Edward's University, has collected over the years actual, bona fide newspaper headlines. - Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say - Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers - Safety experts say school bus passengers should be belted - Drunk gets nine months in violin case - Iraqi head ...

2689. Acts 14:8-18

Acts 14:8-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In chapters 13 and 14 of Acts, Luke begins to document an exciting new phase in Paul's life - his mission to the Gentiles. The drama, close-calls and poignant moments of his activities read like a modern-day movie. And like any good on-the-road adventure story, Luke keeps reintroducing a persistent opposing force to Paul and his fellow travelers. The ongoing struggle between the synagogue and these new Christians - Jew and Gentile - repeats again and again. So many of the Gentiles we read about in ...

2690. John 11:1-45

John 11:1-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The raising of Lazarus is a remarkable story, and not only because of the event it records; the Johannine author's ability at weaving this lengthy story together is a wonder in itself. The story works on so many levels at once that any reader can look forward to exploring this text again and again in search of buried treasure. John perches the story of Lazarus' resurrection at the pinnacle of Jesus' miracles or signs. The first 12 chapters of John's gospel are referred to as the "Book of Signs." Within ...

2691. Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Matthew devotes all of chapter 13 to a compilation of Jesus' parables. Furthermore, he divides Jesus' parables into two separate formats public presentations of unadorned free-standing parables, and private 'explanations' of these parables. To explain this arrangement, Matthew's text includes a rather lengthy 'aside' in verses 10-17 that offers the rationale for this two-tiered, teaching technique. Scholars tend to view this whole construction as an answer to a felt need within Matthew's faith community. ...

2692. Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Isaiah 61:10—62:3

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Today's reading is found in the third major portion of Isaiah's scroll chapters 56-66. While the first two sections of Isaiah drop enough historical hints to locate them in the specific periods of Israel's history (e.g., chs. 1-37 during the reign of Ahaz; chs. 40-55 during the exile), this third unit is not so forthcoming. Some scholars have insisted that these texts represent post-exilic sentiments and scenarios. Others argue that the intentional dearth of datable references in this unit suggests that ...

2693. Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:41-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Despite all the miraculous pronouncements and portents surrounding Jesus' birth, Luke never allows his narrative to soar too far away from the essential Jewish roots of Jesus' heritage. Luke is never too shy to claim a miracle. But he also refuses to allow the occasion of miracles to be a shortcut around law and tradition. Thus it is that Luke's birth narrative celebrates and glorifies the extraordinary events that accompanied Jesus' nativity the special prophecies and messengers and guests only quickly to ...

2694. Luke 24:1-12

Luke 24:1-12

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Luke offers more empty tomb, post-resurrection information than does any of the other gospel writers. Ever sensitive to the Jewishness of his subjects, Luke carefully links the astounding newness of the Resurrection to a respect for such basic traditions as obedient Sabbath observance. Luke 23:56b, which may be included as part of 24:1, clearly states that, according to the Mosaic commandments, everyone rested on the Sabbath. Not until the "first day of the week," the day after the Sabbath, did any of the ...

2695. Genesis 9:8-17

Genesis 9:8-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Having survived the floodwaters of God's righteous wrath, Noah acts as the human representative for a series of covenant renewal rituals. Genesis 8:20-22 establishes the covenant between God and humanity despite any evil thoughts or deeds that human beings may enact in the future. In chapter 9:1-7 God reiterates the role of humans as the gardeners of Eden. The third covenant, the so-called "covenant of the rainbow," is the subject of this week's First Testament text. The text begins with God re-affirming a ...

2696. Acts 14:8-18

Acts 14:8-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

2697. Mark 3:20-35

Mark 3:20-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's gospel text is one of many Markan "sandwiches" (or "intercalations") that occur throughout his gospel. Mark's unique method of presenting two separate stories by slipping one complete unit in the midst of another unit, which is subsequently sliced in half, has kept scholars guessing. In fact, scholars from varied disciplines often find Markan sandwiches useful for satisfying their own particular appetites. What all these views have in common, at base, is the conviction that Mark's sandwiching ...

2698. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Everyone knows the traditional, time-worn but timeless definition of a parable: "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." That old saw still manages to buzz with the energy of the almost mystical ability Jesus' parables have to invite listeners in and to open their eyes and their hearts. Yet in the first of the two parables read in today's gospel text, Mark 4:26-29, we will see that such a definition may actually lead us away from the central focus of the parable itself. Just what that focus is remains a ...

2699. Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Mark's gospel lesson today begins where it left off in 6:13 by picking up the story of the disciples' missionary journey. Sent out by Jesus with the authority to cast out demons, heal the sick, and proclaim messages of repentance, the returning Twelve in verse 30 have been transformed. Only here in Mark's gospel are Jesus' disciples referred to as "the apostles." In part, the term reflects the role the Twelve had been given in 6:7, as those "sent out" or "missionaries." Yet it is also true that by the time ...

2700. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The disciples were not the only ones impressed with the stature and structure of the temple. The ancient world considered both Jerusalem and the temple in its heart to be magnificent. Dazzling white stone, intricate carvings, gold adornments, all made the temple building and its various courts a "wonder" to all, especially country bumpkin-types like most of Jesus' disciples. Marveling at the size and glory of the temple as it bustled with Passover crowds, the disciples must have been stunned by Jesus' ...

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