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 2851 to 2875 of 3285 results

2851. Surprised by Joy

Luke 2:8-14

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... ’t happiness, exactly. It’s more than happiness. It is deeper, heavier, more substantial and important. Happiness is a commodity that is sold in television commercials. Buy this and you’ll be happy. Buy her this and she’ll be happy. We have, we are told, the ability to make other people happy by the things we give them and the things we do for them. This ring, that toy, this car, that gift card. These are the things of happiness. And no one is saying they aren’t. I have things and there are other ...

2852. Future of the Internet

Illustration

Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie

... skill for this hyper-connected, “always on” generation, others believe. “The essential skills [of 2020] will be those of rapidly searching, browsing, assessing quality, and synthesizing the vast quantities of information,” said Microsoft researcher Jonathan Grudin. “In contrast, the ability to read one thing and think hard about it for hours will not be of no consequence, but it will be of far less consequence for most people.” (These responses came from the fifth “Future of the Internet ...

2853. A Healthy Church

Illustration

Kevin Harney

... in which every single person has a passion to serve others. Think about what God could do through a group of people who are committed to sacrificial ministry to each other. These people know that the Holy Spirit has given each of them unique abilities (spiritual gifts) that are to be used for building up people and bringing glory to God. So they are purposeful about discovering their gifts and developing and using them. What could God do through such a church? We are either on the stretcher or helping ...

2854. No Role Model

Illustration

Jason Cole

... in 1995. He was 63. The former New York Yankees center fielder and a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, just before his death, said at a news conference that he had squandered a gifted life and warned admirers he was no role model. “God gave me the ability to play baseball. God gave me everything,” he said. “For the kids out there, don’t be like me.” Can you imagine? A name that was legendary long before he passed away and he felt shame. Why? Because he took the gifts he was given and he threw ...

2855. Counting the Cost

Luke 14:25-33

Sermon

George Reed

... mis-order the events, people, and things in our lives and then we are in trouble. We put our jobs before our families and soon we find ourselves in divorce court and our children have become strangers to us. We become fixated on our physical appearance and abilities only to find that the steroids and weird diets have ruined our health. We decide we can be popular if we just do the things that someone tells us to do and find ourselves regretting our decisions as we carry a criminal record with us for the ...

2856. A Shrewd Christian?

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

George Reed

... live in both realms at the same time. An old adage in the spiritual literature of the church acknowledges that there is no neutral gear for the Christian. We either move forward or backward — and we can’t do both at once. So let us embrace the intellect and reasoning ability that God has given us and use it with all its power for God.

2857. Speaking with Prophetic Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , Georgia, in January 1929. He followed the path of his father and was ordained a Baptist minister at age 18. He was a brilliant student, graduating from Morehead College in 1948. He then attended Crozer Seminary in Philadelphia where he developed his ability as a public speaker and eventually achieved a doctorate in theology from Boston University in 1955. The rocky road of service that King would travel began rather harmlessly. He left Boston with his new bride, Coretta Scott, and settled in Montgomery ...

2858. I Forgive You, Brother!

Luke 17:5-10

Illustration

Donald Deffner

... out his hand to her, asking for her forgiveness. For a moment, says Corrie, she hesitated, recalling his cruelty to her sister and those around her. Then, knowing God's warning to forgive or we cannot be forgiven (Mark 1 1:26) and yet still not feeling the ability to lift her hand towards him, she prayed silently: "Jesus help me!...I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling" (p. 55). And as she woodenly thrust out her hand the current: of God's healing warmth flowed through her and out ...

2859. Keeping the Faith

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Molly F. James

... to exemplify faith, who is the public persona of faith, who gives her life in service to God and the church has trouble keeping the faith, how is she going to preach about it? Well, you are right to be concerned, but I actually think the key to my ability to offer some wisdom on this subject is exactly in the fact that I struggle with it. First and foremost, the church is in a whole lot of trouble if there is great chasm between the standards we have for our leaders and the standards we have for Christians ...

2860. Recognizing Who God Is

Job 42:7-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... encounter with the Almighty God? For an answer, I want to turn to the movie Rudy. Rudy is based on the true story of a young man named Rudy Ruettiger whose only goal in life was to play football for Notre Dame. Rudy is small and he lacks athletic ability. He is repeatedly rejected by the team. Rudy enlists a caring priest as his spiritual advisor during this time. The priest hurts for Rudy, and wants very much for his prayers to be answered. In this clip, Rudy has run out of options. He is desperate. So he ...

2861. An Invitation That Went Astray

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... —and I don't mean to get our names in some history book, but to be known as a generation that did something for God, cared for the poor, and totally stopped slavery.” (6) God’s calling is not limited by age, socioeconomic status, gender or ability. The only limit on God’s calling is our obedience. Our willingness to use every resource we have to share God’s love and truth with others. Jesus was without sin, completely righteous. He didn’t need to undergo a baptism of repentance. He did it to ...

2862. The Problem with "Fawneys"

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... a show of our faith. Jesus wants us to be authentic in our commitment to him. That’s what Ash Wednesday is all about. That’s what Lent is all about. It’s about dropping the pretense. It’s about living the Christ life to the best of our ability and not worrying about what the rest of the world thinks. Even though we are in this treasured fellowship, in a sense it’s just us and God. We are humbling ourselves in the presence of complete holiness and praying with the Psalmist, “Search me, O God, and ...

2863. You Have a Story to Tell

John 9:1-41

Sermon

King Duncan

... underlying belief here is that all of life should be just and happy and under our control, so injustice and suffering must have a root cause. We must deserve it in some way. Because if the blind man didn’t deserve his disability, then we don’t deserve our ability. We don’t deserve our blessings and comfort and safety and health and happiness if he didn’t deserve his blindness. And if none of us deserves our lot in life, then none of us can boast or complain if our lot in life changes. Whether we win ...

2864. But What of Lazarus?

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... breathe and have our being. This death we know, recognize, mourn, and celebrate into eternal life beyond the grave. But there are other deaths not so recognizable such as the death of dreams, of hopes, and of plans. Or the death of careers, of abilities, or of options. There is the death of relationships, of identity, of esteem, and the death of one’s own inner self. These deaths, though tormenting and anguishing, often go unmourned and uncelebrated for they are to us without any promise of life beyond ...

2865. Should We Wash One Another's Feet?

John 13:31-38, John 13:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... father in Seoul, Korea. All six of Pastor Yu’s brothers and sisters were present for his father’s last hours. He says that all of them could feel the pain of his struggle as he tried to communicate with them. But their father had lost the ability to speak. Finally, says this pastor, their father motioned toward their oldest brother as if to say, “Get me a glass of water.” So the oldest son went over to the sink and filled a glass with water and brought it to their father. Interestingly, he wouldn ...

2866. Blessed

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... tradition as Jesus and the prophets that went before him. Indeed, these eight beatitudes are, to a large degree, just paraphrases or rephrases of Isaiah 61. This transitional ending reminds us that our greatest witness, our greatest testimony, is to be found in our ability and our willingness to suffer for our faith in Jesus Christ. I recently heard a Quaker colleague of mine lamenting the direction that Quakerism has gone in the past few years. There was a time, she said, when Quakers were willing to go ...

2867. Broken Yet Sincere

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... they see what? They see his wounds. “THEN” they recognize him. When they see the wounds, “THEN” they recognize him. Their eyes are opened, and they recognize the living, present Jesus there at their table. Their doubt is healed, their despair is dispelled, and their ability to see the truth is empowered. Their faith has kicked in. But wait. As they see the risen Lord, the bodily presence of Jesus disappears. Once he has taken his place in their hearts, “it is good for you that I go away.” First ...

2868. Lost in the Wonder of God

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... not conform to “our reality.” When self-determination underwrites one’s assumptions and definition of reality, the result will be to doubt the wonder of God, deny dependence on God, question God’s authority and power. We will “hesitate” or “falter” in our ability to accept what falls outside of the realm of our definition of truth. Faith however allows us to bathe in the mystery of God, to be “lost” in the wonder of God. To be found by Jesus, we must first “lose” our measuring stick ...

2869. Cloak of Power

Psalm 5:1-12

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... us that Elijah had been glorified in Jewish scriptures and legends more than any other biblical prophet or person. And he was said to fore-announce the Messiah. The prophet’s mantle or cloak was a “cloak of power,” similar to Moses staff. It had the ability to part the waters, to heal, to ordain. The cloak wrapped Elijah in God’s power and authority and anointed him to perform miracles in God’s name. It was a power far greater than he, and therefore the cloak also represents a humility for the ...

2870. The Surrogate

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... insecure about something. Some of us more insecure than others. But we’re all insecure. Perhaps you’ve grown up in a home that lacked unconditional love. Perhaps you’ve recently gone through a divorce that shook up your sense of self, your ability to feel loved and wanted. Perhaps you’ve lived life second-guessing yourself, trying to live up to an unattainable standard set by other people. Perhaps you were bullied or teased for some incapacity throughout your life. Jesus’ “arrabon” to us, his ...

2871. The Proof is in the Roof

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to “walk with God” goes all the way back to Genesis, and it refers to the state of being in close relationship with God, to be dependent upon God and in joy with God. To reduce one’s relationship with God to mere rules and regulations would cripple one’s ability to function as the kind of human God intended us to be. One that can dance, praise, honor God in one’s life with actions and love. As we see at the end of the story, the man does just this! He praises God loudly and carries his pallet away ...

2872. God Gives the Pharisees the Finger!

John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is why Jesus explains to the Pharisees at one point that even thinking about taking another man’s property (a woman) is wrong! It’s covetousness. And this is the definition of “adultery” that offends God! It is the robbing of another man’s livelihood, his beauty, his ability to have children and pass on the covenant, his pride as a man, his woman! Now if that man were dead, and she were a widow, there is no crime. Then it would be held in favor to take in the widow of another and make her your ...

2873. Here I Am

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... advent season. Or in any season. But being “available” to others, in fact being “available” to God is what God desires of all of us as true human beings. Just as Jesus’ sacrificial “I Am” revealed who he was and whose he was, for all of us, the ability for us to be “truly present” for God and for others in our lives is what allows us to be fully God’s children. In the scriptures, one of the most badly translated words is to “fear” God. As English speakers, we take that to mean that ...

2874. Trust in Me

Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... with footsteps. Trust has the potential to change reality, because there is a prophetic dimension to trust . . . . you are making a down payment, an advance on a future return. And the whole Christmas story is based on Elizabeth’s, Zechariah’s, Mary’s, and Joseph’s ability to “trust.” But that’s a little hard for us, isn’t it? [Show the video of the Song of Kaa the Snake from the Jungle Book.] “Trust in me.” “Just in me.” “Shut your eyes. And trust in me.” That’s what Kaa the ...

2875. Stargazers

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in new ways in the world. The star is meant to develop the “potential to shine brightly.” Are you a dreamer? Like Walt Disney or those who attain the Sign of the Star, do you use your imagination avidly? Try new things? Push yourself to discover new abilities? See new things? Do new things? The prophets of the Hebrews ….at least many of them….were dreamers. The Jews themselves, at least many of them….were dreamers….wanting a new life, a new world, a new way to be the people of God. But above all ...

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