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 251 to 275 of 673 results

251. Good News for the Multitudes

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Thomas C. Short

... about putting his skill to work. He was not going to turn his back on all of this to be a disciple of Jesus. From that moment he knew his service to this traveling preacher would be limited. An older man heard the warnings and did not try to play tricks on himself. "First to thine own self be true." he thought. He knew himself and his fear of pain and suffering. He did not want to hear of any requirement that included taking up a cross, carrying a cross, and laying down his life. He did not want to hear ...

252. The Time Is Coming

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

... eliminates the prestigious difference, the lust for the exclusive. How much do we experience that which is applicable for all? Those who breathe, those who face death, are all included. What’s new in this new vision? It sounds too good to be true. What’s the trick and the treat? The vision is powerful, yet its power can be easily lost. "No longer need they teach one another to know the Lord; all of them, high and low alike, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and remember ...

253. The Second Sunday in Lent

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

... , you and I, are addressed. We are assured this is the very Son of God in our midst. Here is no wonder-worker, seeking to gain followers by meeting all their physical needs for bread. Here is no sensationalist attracting converts by clever advertising and cute tricks. Here is no opportunist willing to accommodate any philosophy for the sake of a following. Here is a Son who seeks to live in obedience to a loving Father, and to remain in the communion of prayer in order to know God's will. Someone greater ...

254. Christ's Passion Portraits

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Paul Hegele

... of the Bible - which records Christ's words in red - will show our Lord was never that quiet. Rather, he was a dynamic man. He mentally and emotionally wrestled with the devil for forty days in the wilderness. In debate, he cleverly threw parables and trick questions at the Pharisees, who had tried to trip him up with their own clever questions. And Jesus threw anger at them, too. He called them snakes and broods of vipers and growled, "You are like tombs covered with white-wash - nice looking on the ...

255. Where Does One Go When Darkness Floods One’s Life?

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

James Cobb

... to his call and his son Isaac continued the heritage with courage and faith. A family was born to Rebekah and Isaac among whom were the twins Jacob and Esau. Esau the first born inherited the birthright according to the law of the tribe; but Jacob tricked his brother out of the inheritance. Naturally jealousy and bitterness caused Jacob to leave home and seek a life apart. Years passed and Jacob was married and had amassed a great fortune. Now, as the scene of our text occurs, Jacob is on his way back ...

256. Fog-Clearing Moments

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

... Jesus to Jerusalem are those who have experienced the certainty of his revelation to us. If we do not understand this revelation, it is because we do not see clearly yet. But, just because we do not fully understand it, does not mean that it is any less real. The trick to living the Transfiguration story is to stake our lives on those fog-clearing moments.

257. Red, the Color of Sacrifice

Genesis 22:1-19

Sermon

... sins of mankind. In the second reading, we find that this baby Jesus has been spared. The Wise Men had been warned not to return to Herod, so they didn’t. Instead, they departed for their homeland by another way. Herod, realizing that he had been tricked by the Wise Men, decided to do away with Jesus himself. He sent his soldiers to Bethlehem, and the slaughter was underway. Herod sacrificied the blood of hundreds of youngsters for his own selfish gain. Again, just as at the Cross, red blood was shed and ...

258. The Secret Story of Gabriel

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

... ; he was ready to roll. "I thought we might start off low-key, and then go to an all-out media blitz. We start by printing millions of T-shirts and bumper stickers that simply say, ‘He’s coming!’ Isn’t it great! It’s the oldest marketing trick in the book - you get people’s attention and make them curious to learn more. "Then we get someone to ghost-write a book for Joseph and Mary. It doesn’t matter what’s in the book - no one actually reads anymore. The important thing is that with a ...

259. THE FINAL TRIUMPH

Drama

... to face Annas.) people are beginning to believe them! The danger of revolution is greater now, with the Nazarene dead, than it was when he was alive! ANNAS: But what has happened to the body? Didn’t Joseph and Nicodemus bury it Friday night? Have the old weasels tricked us? (He sits.) CAIAPHAS: No, I saw them take the body myself, and my spies watched as the old fools and a few women buried him as though he were a faithful Jew. They laid him in the tomb Joseph had prepared for himself. (During this speech ...

260. Sunrise Surprise

Drama

... the miraculous things he did ... impossible things like walking on the water? Super-human things! I believe he could come back to life! Peter John, John ... go home and get some rest! Your body and mind are tired. Your emotions are high, and your imagination is playing tricks on you. (Mary runs up and Peter speaks to her) It is as you say, Mary. His body has been stolen! So, now we’ll face more persecution and embarrassment as they humiliate him the more! Mary (In great anquish) What is to happen to us ...

261. A Zealot’s Greatest Battle

Drama

... for a good while! It’s so good to see my most promising young officer again! Simon And it’s good to see my old captain once more. (Motions to Matthew, who still half lies on the ground) Looks like you’re still up to your old tricks ... you almost did in one of my best friends, Matthew! Barabbas Matthew? I mistook him for Levi, the dirty traitor of Capernaum. They are dead ringers for each other! Simon The traitor, Levi, died three years ago. This is the born-again Matthew! Barabbas (A bit confused ...

262. Success: Ultimate and Unlimited

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

... which would indicate the amount of money poured into such schemes. From a cursory observation, it would appear substantial. If that were the only problem, we might overlook the seriousness of it. A much bigger problem is at the point of knowing one has been tricked into believing Christ did not mean, "My kingship is not of this world ..." John (18:36) Some of the finest affections and motivations can be drawn into techinques and promises that, at best, lead to an acquaintance with a smidgen of what our Lord ...

263. Faithful People in a Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... or have you just had "spiritual goose bumps?" Here is the second life-lesson: God's People Don't Give in To Peer Pressure The Hebrew boys didn’t and neither should we. Some years ago the TV program "Candid Camera" played one of their famous tricks on people. They placed four actors in an elevator. These actors were all turned facing the back of the elevator. Guess what most people did who boarded the elevators. They turned and faced the back also. Other people have a huge influence on us. You say ...

264. Leading a Friend to Jesus

Luke 5:27-32, Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... deliver on that miracle. Don’t expect just one miracle. Ask for at least two! Here is the second life-lesson: GOD CANNOT CURE YOU UNLESS YOU ACCEPT HIS DIAGNOSIS. Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:3) The devil’s greatest trick is to blind people to the fact of sin and their need for a Savior. Jesus taught that the basic difference between people is not that some are good and some are bad. The difference is between those who know about their badness and those who refuse ...

265. Misleading Questions

Luke 20:27-38

Illustration

Brett Blair

Misleading Questions: Luke 20:1-2 Chief Priest and Elders question Jesus about his Authority Luke 20:20 Spies are sent to catch him in a slip of the tongue Luke 20:27-33 Sadducees All are insincere tricks but Jesus proves to be more than a match for his adversaries. With the third misleading question, the Sadducees try to expose the resurrection as a ridiculous theological concept by posing an impossible scenario and thereby trap Jesus in his thoughts: A woman is married seven times to a series ...

266. Friendship

Illustration

Albert Camus

... increased; they are the whole human race. And within the human race, you first of all. Whoever is at hand is always the first. How do I know I have no friends? It’s very easy: I discovered it on the day I thought of killing myself to play a trick on them, to punish them, in a way. But punish whom? Some would be surprised, and no one would feel punished. I realized I had no friends.

267. Let Yes Be Yes!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... that threatened to destroy her. At first her mother probably sought out her Canaanite god. Knowing what we do of her persistence, she likely kept it up for a long time. She probably made promises and hoped against hope that they would do the trick. She probably waited and made still more promises, and begged and pleaded, and asked her neighbors and herself and possibly her god why things were not improving. Perhaps, she came to the conclusion that she had no right expecting that some tragedy would not ...

268. Do It For the Joy of It!

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

... city and hand out one-dollar bills to passers-by, simply to observe how they reacted. Some people accepted the money, some people would not. But to a person, all of them wanted to know, "What’s the catch? What do I have to do? Is this a trick? Am I on Candid Camera?" Their responses were predictable. We don’t expect to receive anything for nothing. The world is not constructed like that. We must get a return on our investment. Otherwise we spend ourselves and end up poor. Except in the economy of God ...

269. Bitter-Sweet Recollections

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... with his Son! In this world, truth and justice and love - ever incarnate in the wonderful Jesus of Nazareth, can be defeated and even trampled down. Trouble, despair, and death, in spite of our loving, come to us all. Romantic optimism fails us. The rope-trick of positive thinking breaks under heavy pressure. But our hope is in God’s power to begin again, to renew destroyed life. We are often defeated, just as it seemed Christ was defeated on Calvary’s lonely hill. But God was not conquered, and neither ...

270. No Other Way To Be Happy

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... for every A on their report cards. Then, we dropped the rewards because we were told they were poor motivation. Nevertheless, rewards express appreciation for obedience, and they encourage future obedience to assignments and laws. To give a reward to animals for doing their tricks - a piece of candy or a cookie or a piece of meat - is general practice. God knows it works for humans, too! In our first Lesson, God through Moses tells us that if we obey the Decalogue, "Your days and the days of your children ...

271. Forgive To Be Forgiven

Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... . At the same time, you broke our father’s heart because you told him I was killed by an animal." If there is going to be a proper settlement of accounts between people, there must be total honesty. Yes, you have sinned against me. Yes, it was a nasty, dirty trick. The rumor you spread about me was a vicious lie which ruined my reputation. To deny the seriousness of the sin, to make light of it, or to say it was only a joke is not to tell the truth. Face up to it - it was a terrible, horrible thing ...

272. Jacob’s Jabbok

Genesis 32:22-32

Drama

Richard F. Bansemer

... was a skillful hunter and man of the field, but JacobS was quiet and lived in tents. Isaac, the father, loved Esau. Rebekah, the mother, loved Jacob. One day after a long hunt Jacob got Esau to sell his birthright for a bowl of soup. Many years later he tricked his own father, blind and near death, into giving him the blessing due Esau by pretending he was his brother by dressing in animal skins and lying to him. Esau then vowed to kill his brother Jacob, and Jacob had to flee the country. That brings us up ...

273. Stephen’s Stones

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Richard F. Bansemer

... he did forgive the unforgiveable. He did ask God to forget the sin they did. He asked God to do what he would be unable to do, not because he didn’t want to, but because he was dying, and there was no more time. That is the little trick Christians play on themselves. We, through great effort, finally manage to ask God to forgive our personal sinner - the person who harmed us, but we don’t forgive him ourselves! And we wonder why the anger still lingers - why the poison still burns. It is because we have ...

274. A Glimpse of God

John 14:5-14

Sermon

George Bass

... could have the same experience. To most, the death of a patient seems to represent such a personal failure that they strive not to become emotionally involved. The fact is they are identifying themselves not with their patients but with their patients’ diseases. The trick, as Bizazzero knew, was to separate the two, and to regard death as something that can at times be not only welcome but even sacramental. As the theologian P. T. Forsythe once wrote: "Don't die with the others, die with Christ." That ...

275. Lift High the Christ!

John 12:20-36

Sermon

George Bass

... that Satan has been defeated and cast out; his hold on humanity has been broken by Jesus’ refusal to fall down and worship him, and especially by his acceptance of the cross and death. The devil may still be around to work his wiles upon people and trick them - to try to deceive them into thinking he is lord of the earth, but Jesus destroyed his powerful hold on humanity and released God’s children from Satan’s grip so that they - we - could be God’s again. There’s another Ray Bradbury story which ...

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