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 3001 to 3025 of 4340 results

3001. Let Go of the Stone

Mark 16:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... now I feared she was going to turn into some sexually repressed prude who would trade our upwardly mobile lifestyle for all night prayer vigils and grimy soup kitchens." Instead, I was pleasantly surprised and even fascinated by the fundamental changes in her character, her integrity, her personal confidence." “A skeptic myself, I finally decided I'd use my training from Yale Law School and my experience as a legal affairs editor of the Chicago Tribune to examine this God phenomenon which appeared to be a ...

3002. Whose Child Is This?

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of Christmas. It's been said no one gets a second chance to make a first impression. Either Matthew didn't know about first impressions or didn't care, for he opens his gospel with 41 names that are hard to pronounce and seldom read. Yet, among these characters I discovered a plot that I want to share with you during these waiting days of December. I. The Genealogy of Jesus Christ A. Jesus Christ, the Son of Abraham By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance ...

3003. Finding the Courage to Believe

John 20:24-31

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , and receiving the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus. I told him that with his help I wanted to follow him and his ways as best I could. Some people feel a rush of emotion. For me it was a rush of reason. My character, values, attitude, priorities, world view, philosophy and relationships began to change. So much so that my five-year old daughter Alison said to her mother, “Mommy I want God to do for me what he's done for Daddy." Sometimes the experiences are more subtle and hidden ...

3004. Stepping Into the Stream

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... financial resources if we trusted him enough to be generous? What might God do with our giftedness if we trusted him enough to be daring? What might God do with our relationships if we trusted him enough to be loving? What might God do with our character if we confessed our sin, acknowledged our temptation, and pursued holiness in thought, word and deed? What might God do with our time if we became passionate about rescuing the perishing, caring for the dying, and hearing the cry of the needy? What is God ...

3005. When You Are Up And Out

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... were about 6.6 million of them in the United States in 2002, at an average cost of $20,000. Better than a new look is a new you. The transformation that I am talking about is from the inside out. I am talking about a change of disposition, heart, character. Join yourself to Christ and from that togetherness, there will come forth a new creation. That is the promise of the Gospel. That is what happens to a little man who is up a tree who dares to encounter Christ one day. The place to start is with your date ...

3006. Finding Our Reason For Being

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... former slaves and the sons of former slave owners would be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. He had a dream that one day his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. With this faith he believed people could turn the mountain of despair into the mountain of hope, and transform the jungling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony. We are better people because Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream. A few years ago a handful ...

3007. The Door of Forgiveness

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... it in a little jingle: “One door and only one, and yet its sides are two. Inside or outside on which side are you?" The problem was that sin got on the inside too. It expressed itself in prejudice, gossip, bullying, and rumor mills that destroyed the character of others. Some say sin is excusable. “We ain't done anything wrong, we've just been lonely too long," says the country song. Two mothers have daughters on drugs. One mother sticks her head in the sand and pretends that nothing is wrong. In the ...

3008. The Power of a Personal Commitment

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Luther once observed, there are three conversions necessary in every life. They include the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the pocketbook. I think he is right. There are distinct conversions that happen to us in our lives. In a B.C. cartoon one prehistoric character asks the other, “How much should I give to charity?” His friend replies, “I don’t know, give until it hurts.” With that the guy tosses a couple of coins into the basket which causes his friend to comment, “Man you have a low ...

3009. Positive Living

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... was so over the top with his grouchiness that they actually went to the restaurant looking forward to what he might do or say next. Call it an exercise in masochism, I guess. The result was that the waiter’s attitude was forever immortalized on Sesame Street in the character of Oscar the Grouch. (2) I thought of Oscar the Grouch when I read St. Paul’s words to us in verses 22 and 23 in our lesson for today from Galatians 5: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness ...

3010. From Anger to Courage

Mark 11:12-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... and we will continue to love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws, but be assured we shall one day win our freedom." Carefully planned government leaks called him a communist. Investigations revealed the flaws of his moral character. When that is not enough, what then? Dr. Jerry Deffenbacher, Professor of Psychiatry at Colorado State University says, “The underlying message of highly angry people is that things ought to go my way." Angry people tend to think that they are morally ...

3011. Esther: The Problem of Opportunity

Esther 4:11-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... defer it nor neglect it; do it now. If you can help somebody as you travel along, if you can cheer somebody with a word or a song, if you can keep somebody from traveling wrong—then do it now. I'm told the Chinese characters for crisis are two. One means danger; the other means opportunity. While life threatens us with danger, it also affords us wonderful opportunities. Some of our finest opportunities come in the most difficult of circumstances in our lives. I was standing on an elevator at Centennial ...

3012. David: The Problem of Family

2 Samuel 18:28-33

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... burdened with a lot of problems. He was a leader. He was a lover. He was a man after God's own heart. Today, I want us to catch a glimpse of the life of this great king of the Old Testament about which more is written than any other character in the Bible. All of I Samuel, all of II Samuel, most of Chronicles and throughout the New Testament you hear his name called, King David. I. DAVID: A MAN OF GREAT POTENTIAL When it came time for Samuel to anoint a new king from the sons of Jesse, David ...

3013. From Laziness to Passion

Psalm 51:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

In Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, which I did not read in preparation for this sermon, the main character, Pierre, is forced to face himself and make an honest analysis of his life. What he concludes is something I hear often from reluctant confessors. "Yes, Lord, I have sinned, but I have several excellent excuses." I plan to focus our attention this Lenten Season to something the Church calls " ...

3014. The Power to Do Good

Acts 10:34-38, 44-48

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... all of us who call him Lord could do the same. How might we do that? May I suggest some ways? I. FOR GOODNESS SAKE, DEVELOP YOUR CONSCIENCE. The Bible calls the conscience a law written on the heart. It is an inward principle which determines the character of one's actions. The conscience is a guiding light, a moral compass, an internal road map designed to lead us through the twists and turns of life to our purposeful destination. Just as there is a law of gravity, there is a law of goodness. The world ...

3015. Pray

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... come, let me learn to live by Kingdom values. If I pray for peace, let me be a peace maker. If I ask to be shielded from temptation, let me not play around with it on my own. Did you see the B.C. cartoon where one of the prehistoric characters says, “God, please grant me one request. Destroy my worst enemy." The request barely got out of the guy's mouth when a bolt of lightning strikes him and incinerates him on the spot. In the final frame, a voice comes from the ashes saying, “Let me rephrase that ...

3016. Luke 10:1-11; 16-20

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Like a parent he admonishes them to eat and drink whatever is offered to them, a directive that also suggests this will still be a Jewish mission. He instructs these messengers to stay in one home for the duration of their visit. Unlike some shady characters whose motives might be less than honest, the people of the village would always know where to find Jesus’ emissaries while they were in town (see Matthew 10:11; Luke 9:4; 2 Timothy 3:6). Jesus assures his emissaries that receiving hospitality is not ...

3017. Embracing Christ—The Light of the World

John 8:12-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... characteristics of Christianity is that we find the revelation of God primarily in a Person. Jews have the Torah (Law of Moses). Muslims have the Koran (revelation of Mohammed). Buddhists have the teachings of Buddha and Christians have Jesus Christ. He is the revelation of God's character and passion. He is God with us; He is the love of God made visible. In our very midst, He is the word of God, the revelation of God in a human form. So the first question at the door of any Christian Church is, “What ...

3018. The Shocking Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Ben Squires

... town, put him up at the inn, and care for him. There's an unwritten shock in the parable of Jesus, a shock only heard by people living in the context of the story, a shock lost on us, but when Bailey changes the location and races of the characters, we today might have a better sense of the impact Jesus meant to have with this parable. Bailey writes that the Good Samaritan is like "a Plains Indian in 1875 walking into Dodge City with a scalped cowboy on his horse, checking into a room over the local saloon ...

3019. Dancing with the Saints

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ever dance like you. Whatever is your unique technique and talent is what makes your dance your own. It is the solitary strength of self that God’s power gives to each and every dancing saint. Strength of faith, strength of character, strength derived from family, friends and the faithful, make each one of us unrepeatable, irreplaceable originals. TRUST: If dance partners don’t trust each other, nothing works. Without trust, timing is hesitant. Technique is stilted. Teamwork is impossible. Trusting one ...

3020. Mary, Martha, and the Martha Stewart Church

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Billy Crystal asks the usually tight-lipped cowpoke what his secret is. What makes his life so strong and centered and sure. Curly smiles, raises his grubby, gloved index finger and proclaims, “It is just one thing,” then he rides away. Billy’s character spends the rest of the movie frantically trying to figure out what Curly meant. What IS that “just one thing?” Psychologists, marriage counselors, relationship gurus of all stripes, warn us not to expect one person to provide for all our emotional ...

3021. Sisters

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship. As a result, their meanings and values are distorted. Their relationships disintegrate faster than they can keep them in repair and their lifestyles resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot.” There is more truth to that than we would like to admit. Worship is an essential part of a successful life. Regular worship produces satisfying lives. Regular worship produces healthier families. People who worship regularly live ...

3022. Luke 12:13-21

Luke 12:13-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ” becomes the reason for living. To illustrate the God-giftedness of life and the transitory nature of possessions, Jesus tells a parable. As soon as he begins to speak any attentive listener would recognize that the “rich man” was to be a negative character in Jesus’ story. Already in Luke’s text to be “rich” has bad implications (see Luke 1:52-53; 6:24) and greediness has been clearly coupled with “wickedness” (11:39). In Jesus’ parable the rich farmer’s first reaction to his bumper ...

3023. Staying Ready

Luke 12:32-40

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... who is ready when the Lord returns, and He is going to return. We don't know when or how, but you can't read the New Testament faithfully and miss that message. Do you remember that hilarious scene in one of Peter DeVries' novels? A character named Stan Waltz is terrified by the deafening night-time explosion of a fireworks factory in the town. Persuaded by his wife, who belongs to a fundamentalist Christian sect, that it is the second coming of Christ, Stan hastily baptizes himself under the cold water ...

3024. Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . So instead of actually reading such heavy-weight tomes as Moby Dick, Oliver Twist, War and Peace, or Lord of the Flies (naming that classic is making my confession), a quick perusal of a twenty-page Cliff Notes compression gave you the plot, characters, themes and influences. Now you could at least sound like you had read the whole book . . . for 3 minutes. Unfortunately, relying on Cliff-Note knowledge was never enough to get you through any thorough essay exam. In today’s epistle text, the Hebrews ...

3025. We Need God

Lk 12:22-34, 49-53

Illustration

King Duncan

Jimmy Stewart was one of Hollywood's most loved and most respected actors. According to all accounts, Stewart's character and integrity were byproducts of being raised by loving and honorable parents. He himself once wrote of his father's wise and loving advice to him before Jimmy went off to fight in World War II. In a letter, Alex Stewart wrote, "My dear Jim boy, Soon after you read ...

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