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 5000 results

2851. Professional Angel

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Ronald Love

... along with the requirements of the occupation of being a shepherd, and we will articulate the meaning of a Christian’s calling to sacrificial service. Recorded in the tenth chapter of John’s gospel is the best overview that Jesus provides of his self-understanding of fulfilling the role of being the good shepherd. A shepherd would remain with each sheep in his flock for a lifetime, developing an eight to nine year relationship. In that time the shepherd would come to know each sheep by name and the ...

2852. The Cost of Commitment

Genesis 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... to their prayers. And now, God was putting Abraham to the test, asking him to kill Isaac, his only son, whom he loved, as a sacrifice to God. Believers have wrestled with this story for thousands of years. I’m not sure it will ever be easy to understand. It raises as many questions as it does answers. But there’s one particular question I’d like us to consider this morning: what do you have to believe about God in order to submit your whole life to Him, as Abraham dedicated his life to God? What ...

2853. Good News/Bad News

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... a third time. “Joshua.” “Yes Father.” “Go bring the sheep into the pen, for darkness is coming and the wolves will get them.” Then the boy went and brought the sheep in. Then the angel said to the wise old woman: “Do you understand?” And the wise old woman said, “Yes, I understand! The Messiah will do as he is told.” (4) Jesus was obedient to God. He did what the Father told him to do. There was an amusing story on the Reader’s Digest website from a woman named Patricia Nihill who said ...

2854. Rest

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

... productivity of the living world, the most essential work, continues while we rest. This work is entirely independent of our work, and is far more complex and wonderful than any work we have ever done or will ever do. It is more complex and beautiful than we will ever understand.20 The world doesn’t revolve around us. It would be better for us to orbit around the one who made it all, the one who fills it with life and brings it to such abundance. “Come to me ... and I will give you rest.” That’s why ...

2855. In-Between People

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... from home and wrote this letter back, “Dear Mom and Dad, I hate you, but I love you. I need you and then I despise you. I wish you would die, but then I would feel guilty like I always do. Why can’t I understand you like I want you to understand me?” A woman agonized in a recent counseling session, “But I don’t want a divorce. Please help me!” The need and the plea are loud and clear. Estrangement, not only between individuals but the ruptures in our society, are all so obvious. The Cottonpatch ...

2856. Glimpses of Eternity

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

... a fact, but now a future fact grasped as present reality. It makes a difference. The transfiguration of Jesus, which we ponder this day, is also a glimpse into the future. The event occurs right after Peter's confession. That location is important to understanding this strange episode. Jesus asks, "Who do people say that I am?" Peter gets the question right: "You are the Christ of God.'' Here, standing before them, is the long-awaited Messiah of God. But then, Jesus shocks them by telling his disciples that ...

2857. Stay—Tuned

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... us a broader and larger reality. Perhaps that is a good way of looking at the water of John’s baptism. It is a symbol on a map to point us to the fact of God’s forgiveness even though there are times when we might not quite understand all that has gone on. But John’s preaching was not done. The crowd had heard the preacher and responded, but John said, “Hold on just a minute. You have experienced something wonderful, then (just like a TV pitchman), he added, “But wait. There’s more. You think ...

2858. The Window Of Time Is Closing

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Sermon

Ronald Love

... the globe telling stories of what she has seen of the destruction caused by climate change. She maintains that the only way to stop this devastation is for everyone to get involved. Goodall said in the interview, “My job now is to try and help people understand every one of us makes a difference. And cumulatively, wise choices in how we act each day can begin to change the world.” To make her point clearer, she enjoys telling this story: “I mean, there was a little boy in Burundi. He was seven — a ...

2859. Human Things

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... s thoughts! Your place is not up ahead leading the way by your own judgment and mission, your place as a disciple and my kind of leader is always behind me, in step with God’s mission and vision, and in obedience to God’s wisdom, whether you understand it fully or not, whether you agree with it fully or not. God’s wisdom is greater and wiser than yours –and always will be. Know your place! Get in step. Strong words for Peter and the others –but vitally important, because their loyalty needed to be ...

2860. Trouble in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... We will only yield “wild grapes,” as we are spending all of our time bickering and complaining and none of our time cultivating and growing. How do we stop this kind of comparison thinking? We need to focus on our relationship with God, our role in God’s mission, and understand in the depths of our hearts that our worth comes from knowing we are God’s cherished child. We are no better or greater than any other, but we are of great value to God, each and every one of us. When we know we are loved and ...

2861. Walk the Talk

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... honor God. They get it! God desires us to “repent” –to change our minds, turn our heads toward God, and get in line with God’s mission! This is the key message of Jesus story and God’s desire for us: God knows we’ve all pretty much failed at understanding what God wanted from us. But Jesus is giving us a new chance to “get it.” All we need to do is turn around and make it right. Change our minds. Alter our direction. Decide to follow Jesus and engage with God in order to make the world right ...

2862. Ambassadors For Christ

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... stood quietly and stared out the window. Thoughts were racing through his mind. He paced across the room, then went back to the window. He replayed the memories over and over in his mind. His memories of Corinth. And as he looked out the window he tried to understand what had happened. Paul had visited Corinth years ago during one of his early trips. It was a busy city even then. Corinth sat on a narrow strip of land separating two seas. Seven hundred years ago they had built a stone road across the land so ...

2863. Who The Heck Is Melchizedek?

Hebrews 5:5-10

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... Hebrews, where he is mentioned nine times altogether. It just makes you wonder why, after all this time, the writer of Hebrews talked about him — and so much? Just who the heck is Melchizedek and what does he have to do with us here today? It might help to understand who the book of Hebrews was written by and who it was written to. First, it’s not like many of the other books we have that were written as letters to one specific church in one specific location. Hebrews was more of a sermon than a letter ...

2864. Come and Rest

Matthew 5:3-10 · Matthew 11:28-30

Eulogy

George Reed

... our worst fears were not realized and that things are going to be alright is a lifting of a burden of the soul. We all long for those moments. Jesus understood the burdens and labors of the folk he encountered as he taught and he understands our burdens and labors, as well. He not only understands, but he offers to take our burdens from us and welcome us into a time of rest. He takes our heavy burden and offers one that is light as we yoke ourselves up with him. When we walk together with Jesus in God’s ...

2865.

Psalm 97:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... Josh. 3:11, 13). (On righteousness and justice as the foundation of his throne, cf. 89:14, which alludes to a ritual procession of the cherubim-ark.) It is understandable how the heavens proclaim Yahweh’s glory, but modern readers might be puzzled how they proclaim his righteousness. This expression is certainly problematic if we insist on understanding God’s righteousness strictly as a moral term. But if we consider the usage of the Hebrew term ṣedeq in the Psalms, we discover its moral sense derives ...

2866. “I Will Sing the Lord’s Praise, for He Has Been Good to Me”

Psalm 13:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... long” of part one and puts his full weight of faith on the tether (“lest”) of part two. We meet this “but,” says Westermann, “somewhere or somehow in every psalm of lament,” and he observes: “Only with this ‘but’ is it possible to understand what trust really means; only in this movement, this clinging to God’s goodness, which the facts seem to contradict, can it be seen for what it truly is.”5 Historical and Cultural Background The general background for this psalm, as for most of ...

2867. Toil is Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... to take the former view. Later, when it becomes clear that people have little control over (or even knowledge of) whether they are pleasing to God, this provisional decision may need to be revised. Additional Note 2:24 Nothing better than: The comparative understanding depends on supplying one additional Hb. letter, a mêm. This addition is reasonable, given the similar expressions later in the book, and because the preceding word ends with a mêm it is plausible that one was lost in transmission. The Hb ...

2868. David's Mighty Men

2 Samuel 23:8-39

Teach the Text

... . Everyone around him is destroyed, as is so often the case today when sexual sin (pornography, adultery, homosexual behavior) invades a marriage or a family. This novel has powerful effects on those who read it, especially on men. Pieter’s aunt, the novel’s narrator, understands Pieter best: And if I write it down, people may know that he was two men, and that one was brave and gentle; and they may know, when they judge and condemn, that this one struggled with himself in darkness and alone, calling on ...

2869. Blessings for a Defiled People

Haggai 2:10-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... and the clearing of debris, and to think of the 24th day of the ninth month as marking the ceremonial beginning of the restoration proper. It is thus a significant day and one that illuminates and is illuminated by the three prophecies. But whether we understand Haggai to be referring to the earlier beginning of the work, or to a ceremonial event on this day, does not affect the import of his question; either way, he goes on to look behind this to the ongoing situation before people committed themselves to ...

2870. Dancing in the Wind

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... stress and fear when the boat hit storms that tossed the boat and waves that crashed against the stern. Yet, they were astounded in hearing the Moravians calmly singing hymns. This would be a turning point for John in his quest to find not just an understanding of Jesus’ salvation but a personal knowledge, trust, and assurance of Jesus in his heart, body, and soul. Storms are frightening. But our peace does not come from an absence of storms. It comes from the presence of Jesus within us and around us as ...

2871. The Case of the Hardened Heart

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... need Jesus, who says to us this: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus’ miracle of the loaves, which his own disciples did not understand, assures us that the little can become many, as long as you trust in the miraculous power of Jesus to multiply and feed people in dynamic and spiritual ways. Faith. You only need a little to move your confirmation bias from fear and immobility to trust and openness ...

2872. Living Bread

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... 1500 BCE, Ancient Egyptians started inserting yeast into bread in order to make it rise. This discovery would carry on through our current time, but it wasn’t until the 1600s that we understood what yeast really was. Today, we still don’t entirely understand the full impact of yeast on our health, but we are starting to realize that it makes a huge difference for our “second brain” –the gut. The scriptures use “yeast” as a common metaphor. Many times, in the Hebrew scriptures, yeast pops up as ...

2873. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

Mark 9:30-37 · Proverbs 31:10-31 · Psalm 1

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... sit on either side of Jesus in glory. This indicates to me that they still didn’t get what Jesus was talking about. Jesus told them, repeated the message again, and repeated it a third time. Each time he told those closest to him and each time they didn’t understand. I take a great interest in helping and mentoring people who are new to the ministry. The way I see it, I learned so much from my mistakes that it’s a shame to waste them, so I try to teach others from my experiences. One bit of advice I ...

2874. The Legacy

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... group. In the end, Jesus would not be betrayed by some lone ranger. He would be betrayed by one from his trusted leadership group. At this point, he already knew. As for the others, he needed them not only to listen to what he was saying but to understand the true meaning of leadership. This would be his legacy. Jesus, as he most often does, hears them arguing and takes this key opportunity to invest in a “teachable moment.” He stops, calls them to pause and sit down, and he calls over a child from the ...

2875. Badger or Bonobo?

Mark 9:38-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... of Jesus but to accept those who may work beside them and join them in their mission, be open to expanding their disciple group to anyone who shares their mission and reverence for God. To do this, he must help them to understand themselves. But more importantly, they must understand him, God’s mission, and their role in carrying it out. They must learn that their stories are a small part of God’s Story, and that their role as leaders is not to entertain status, hierarchies, or stake territories but to ...

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