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 276 to 300 of 480 results

276. Refusing to Quit

2 Timothy 4:5-8

Sermon

James McCormick

... . And, if you were honest, you would say that, by and large, you have quit. It’s not difficult to start, is it? We’ve started good things over and over again. But then the hours get long. The going gets tough. Some new interest strikes our fancy. And suddenly, the thing we started so enthusiastically has been abandoned. And, of course, we can always find “good” excuses when we want out, can’t we? We can repeat them often enough that we even begin to believe them. I remember hearing about a man who ...

277. Back To Basics: The Three R's of Baptism - Sermon Starter

Mark 1:4-11

Illustration

Brett Blair

... to the basics. Perhaps in our lifetime the most public statement of repentance was that of President Bill Clinton's. The one he made before a Prayer Breakfast on September 10, 1998. He summed up the task perfectly when he said, "I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned." Then he quoted from a book given him by a Jewish friend in Florida. The book is called "Gates of Repentance." Clinton read this passage from the book: "Now is the time for turning. The leaves are beginning to turn from ...

278. An Unpopular Preacher

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... with a parable of two houses. I can see one being a mansion. It is big and luxurious, everyone’s envy. It is featured in Southern Living magazine. It is on the Christmas home tours. I can see the other house being non-descript. Nothing fancy. Middle class neighborhood. On the outside it’s, well, just a house. Jesus asks, “Which house do you want?” “Of course, Jesus, I want the big, luxurious, expensive house. Who wouldn’t?” Jesus goes on: “A storm came. The winds blew, the rains poured, and ...

279. The Irony of the Resurrection

Luke 24:36-49

Illustration

Brett Blair

... resurrection. He says, "I can tell you this: that what I believe happened and what in faith and with great joy I proclaim to you here is that he somehow got up, with life in him again, and the glory upon him. And I speak very plainly here, very un-fancifully, even though I do not understand well my own language. I was not there to see it any more than I was awake to see the sun rise this morning, but I affirm it as surely as I do that by God's grace the sun did rise this morning ...

280. The Comforts of "Thy Rod and Thy Staff": Rulership or Relationship

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... sheep, to nudge them in directions they may not wish to go, to rescue them from cliffs, to steer them lovingly and to bring them home. The “staff” was a symbol of friendship, of care and tenderness. The “crozier” is a fancy ecclesiastical name for a “staff.” Bishops don’t carry “rods” to beat people into line, or to enforce conformity, or to symbolize a high-handed rulership. Ecclesiastical officials carry “staffs” to symbolize the relational nature of their office, staffs [like this ...

281. On-Beyond-Zebra Living

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... That I never could spell if I stopped with the Z. I’m telling you this ‘cause you’re one of my friends, My alphabet starts where your alphabet ends! Dr. Seuss’ story goes on to offer up twenty new letters, each one a beautiful, fanciful design. In fact, I’m convinced with no more evidence than a hunch, that when the musician “formerly known as Prince” changed his name to some unpronounceable moniker, he was inspired by this book and in fact picked out one of Dr. Seuss’ extra alphabet letters ...

282. It’s Humble or the Umbles

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... God’s armor keeps us alive — alive in Christ, alive to love, alive to hope, alive to peace. The armor of God is not visible so that you can take your kids to see it. It doesn’t come with all the ornate metal work, the fancy scrolling, gold inlay, or weighty wealth that medieval armor offered. But there is a life-sustaining, life-giving protection that God’s armor provides. God’s armor layers us with the love of Christ, the faithfulness of our church community, the closeness of family, the loyalty ...

283. How to Preach a God-Sized Message to a Media Filled World

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

... the way Eugene Peterson, in his tremendous translation, The Message, translates this verse. "You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages."[[4]] (II Timothy 4:3-4, MSG) There are a lot of people who do not want to hear sound doctrine. They want their preaching perfumed, chloroformed, and covered with velvet. They want to ...

284. Close Up Parents: Be Cheerleaders, Not Jeer leaders

Colossians 3:21

Sermon

James Merritt

... to inflict penalty. Discipline is intended to promote growth. Punishment makes someone bitter. Discipline makes someone better. One of the unexpected legacies of the affluent nineties that we just came through are parents who could not learn to say, "No." From fancy cell phones, to Ipods, to expensive cars, kids simply seem to get anything that they want and the problem is they always want more. Now, many psychologists, educators, and hopefully parents, realize it is time to start teaching kids something ...

285. RSVP—By Invitation Only

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... excuse of all. Here's a man who has just gotten married. His problem was his wife, or so he said." Now you talk about one excuse that won't stand up. Who ever heard of a wife who did not like to be taken out to dinner to a fancy banquet? Most women would kill to get all dressed up to be taken to a formal dinner and to hobnob with the rich and famous, and to wined and dined free of charge. In fact, too many women are like the one I heard about who was in a house ...

286. April Love

Sermon

Stan Purdum

It's a bit odd that the lectionary committee placed this reading from the Song of Solomon in late summer, for it seems like a springtime text. Springtime, according to the poet Tennyson, is that time when "a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,"1 but I guess summer love is pretty exciting, too. Some recent research, however, suggests that what actually may be going on in the young man may have more to do chemical molecules than with seasonal madness. The researchers recruited a bunch of ...

287. Guided by the Spirit

John 16:12-15

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... what he had to say when he was here on earth. In due time, the Spirit will unfold for us what it all means. Equally important, the Spirit will prevent us from going off the deep end, and coming up with all kinds of wild things that might capture our fancy. This is the test. Wherever the Spirit leads, it is always consistent with what Jesus taught about God the Father when he was here on this earth. That's the standard and the measuring stick. "All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he ...

288. A Puzzling Parable with a Sharp Point

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... . There is also a little old lady in Lebanon, Indiana, who is worthy of our consideration. Ada Gleb was a widow who lived in a run-down house on the south side of town ("the other side of the tracks"). Her clothes were clean, but certainly not fancy. She drove an old car. She never talked much about stewardship, but her actions spoke louder than words. She put faith into action by using money for God's work and for other people. When her new pastor, right out of seminary, arrived in Lebanon, he was faced ...

289. Putting Eternity to the Test

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... a cloth to make it look nicer! One of the first things we need to do to overcome the misgivings of the Sadducees is admit that death is inevitable. You see, the Sadducees, and many people today are living for death. In Jesus' day, there were no fancy funeral parlors. The body was anointed, if the family had the money, but generally death was quite stark and quite painful. There were no hospitals where people went to die. There was no special make-up to make the dead look like they were only sleeping. Death ...

290. The Hard Sell

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... each head will run amuck and he will have a free-for-all on his hands because we could never think in any other way. Perhaps we will then come begging to enter the heavenly gates, being freed from our secular mindset. Is this an excursion into a fanciful and unrealistic world? Frankly, that is doubtful and it is time for clergy to confess. Our Lord gives a glimpse of where lasting riches are. It comes down to a choice, doesn’t it? If we but look carefully at our passage of holy scripture, the obvious is ...

291. "Others"

Mark 10:35-45

Illustration

King Duncan

... reluctantly and grudgingly. Booth said to Brengle, "You've been your own boss too long." So in order to instill humility in Brengle, he made him work by cleaning the boots of other trainees. Discouraged, Brengle said to himself, "Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?" Then, as in a vision, he saw Jesus bending over the feet of rough, uneducated fishermen. "Lord," he whispered, "you washed their feet; I will black their shoes." Samuel Brengle went on to establish the ...

292. The Possible Dream

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... There's a famine back home, so Dad sends them a little farther this time. They approach Joseph, Egypt's head grain grocer, who recognizes them right away. They had written him off a long time ago and have no idea who he is, dressed in that fancy military uniform and speaking a foreign language. Joseph can't resist messing with his brothers a little, and pretends they are foreign spies up to no good. He questions the brothers about the family and discovers his father is still alive, he, Joseph, is dead, and ...

293. Star-spangled Justice

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... must be who we say we are, practice what we say we value, and put our money where our mottos are, or we will cease to be. "If you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword," God said to Judah and says to us. Fancy worship that dazzles and entertains won't cut it. Neither will strict dispassionate adherence to doctrine and regulations. Worship without service is as useless as service without worship. What is required is radical trust in God's faithfulness (Love God) that finds its way into radical ...

294. Saintly Visions!

Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... around sixteen. He won't be thrown into the lions' den for another fourteen years. Daniel has previously interpreted a number of Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, now it is his own turn. The book of Daniel is a part of what is called, "apocalyptic eschatology." That is a fancy way of saying that it is part of what is known as end times theology. The book is filled with symbols and numbers and images and the purpose of these symbols, numbers, and images is to encourage the faithful to continue in the faith and to be ...

295. Satan’s Talking Points

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... your life’s journey. We don’t have time to do this with every one of Satan’s Seven Talking Points, but here is the danger of gluttony from the perspective of Evagrius, not Gregory. For Evagrius gluttony was not over-eating, or even a desire for fancy food, but an anxiety about one’s future health and where one’s food was coming from in a fearful future. Satan’s talking points bring up scenarios of illness, and scarcity, and force us to solve problems which have not yet arisen and need not arise ...

296. It Wasn’t The Hilton, You Know

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

... this special child. Child 1 (Lead Shepherd): What are we waiting for? Let’s find the child. Shepherd 2: I bet he’s in Bethlehem. It’s the closest town to here. Shepherd 3: I wonder where in the city he’ll be? Child 1 (Lead Shepherd): Someplace fancy, I bet. Look, that funny star we saw before is moving. Maybe it will take us to the baby. (Assistant Director hands cardboard star to one of the Angels, who marches down the center aisle of the church. The Shepherds follow. They loop around the back of ...

297. God Is Not Far Away

Luke 21:5-38

Illustration

Keith Wagner

What anxious people need more than anything is peace, especially peace of mind. On Black Friday I went into one of those fancy stores that sells watches. The store was crowded and I could barely make my way to the counter. I was on a mission. I had a watch that needed a battery. I was certain that the last thing any clerk wanted to do on the busiest shopping day of the ...

298. Pick Up the Baby

Luke 1:39-45

Illustration

King Duncan

... at Christmas time. We have the mistaken notion that good parents give their children lots of things. Wrong. In a survey done of fifteen thousand school children the question was asked,"What do you think makes a happy family?" When the kids answered, they didn't list a big house, fancy cars, or new video games as the source of happiness. The most frequently given answer was "doing things together." Notice the joy with which Mary and Elizabeth greeted the news of their pregnancy.

299. The Boy Jesus

Luke 2:33-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

... the shadow of the cross is cast on the wall. The other picture is a popular engraving which depicts the boy Jesus running with outstretched arms to his mother, the shadow of the cross being cast on the ground by his form as he runs. Both pictures are fanciful in form, but their underlying message is true. If we read the Gospels just as they stand, it is clear that the death of Jesus Christ was really in view almost from the outset of his earthly appearance. At first sight there seems little in them about ...

300. Every Day God Encourages

Acts 4:36-37; 11:22-24

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... glorify God. And life itself becomes holy. And that encourages us. And we need all the encouragement we can get. Every Day God Encourages Us To Be Reverent. III. Every Day God Encourages Us To Be Absolving Third: Every Day God Encourages Us To Be Absolving. That's a fancy word for forgiving others and for wiping away the guilt of sin and wrong doing. For us, it's forgiving those who have sinned against us and letting go of the hurt and pain cause by others. Personally, I think the best way to do that is not ...

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