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 3026 to 3050 of 4340 results

3026. Becoming Good Trees

Matthew 5:17-30

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... ! Jesus can command us not to lust, but he never had to go the grocery store and see eight models on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition! The passage speaks specifically of male lust, but women are not exempt. One of the characters on Grey's Anatomy is nicknamed Dr. McDreamy! Jesus seems to have reinterpreted these commandments so that we need superhuman strength to fulfill them. We fight all the time for control of our emotions, especially anger and lust. After Jesus makes what seems like ...

3027. Sneak Preview

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... a drawer and hands the precious letter to the inspector. At first, the inspector is speechless, but then he stumbles out the door in what Poe calls, "a perfect agony of joy."1 Dupin's friend is as astounded as the inspector. Dupin then explains that he knew the character of the letter thief, and suspected what he had done with the letter. Under the pretense of a social call, Dupin had gone to his apartment. He had hired a man to fire off a musket at an agreed upon time. When the letter thief ran to the ...

3028. With a Firm Foundation, Application Is Second Nature

Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... , 2005), p. 370. 13. For such an analysis of American social dynamics, see my Blessed Are the Cynical: How Original Sin Can Make America a Better Place (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, 2003), esp. pp. 22-23, 114-115; Richard Sennett, The Corrosion of Character (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), pp. 55-63, 101-102; Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), esp. pp. 241-245. 14. Martin Luther, Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (1532/1533), in Luther's Works ...

3029. Masks

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... dared to live in the kind of intimacy and transparency with his congregation that allowed them to see who he really was all the way through. The thing is, though, that is what eventually happens whether we intend it or not. Sooner or later, our real character becomes apparent, mask or no mask — just as we can recognize our close friends even in costume, or our children in hockey gear. We recognize the whole build and manner of moving, and are not fooled by the mask. Jesus was not fooled by the Pharisees ...

3030. Investing in God’s Future

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... ' buried the whole thought. I had the power and wouldn't use it. That's the evil. That's what God condemns. If the kingdom comes, it's going to come by our doing business with what God has turned over to us. The resources of our own individual character and gifts that God has created in us and that experience has shaped; the resources of faith and love and Christian virtues, given us by the Spirit of Christ; the central resource of the vision of God's kingdom, and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to ...

3031. From “Uh-oh” To “Ah-hah!” — An Axe, A Stump, And A Shoot

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Tony Everett

... . For Isaiah, this new king from David's line and his descendants will be bearers of the Spirit of God ... a spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2). These are not simply qualities of character. The gift of God's Spirit is intended to result in practical actions. This new king will discern and do God's will. He will not be deceived by false claims of morality, contrary to the corrupt and unfaithful actions of previous leaders. He will act ...

3032. Sleeping through the Alarm

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... together, pastor, and give us a word that puts a smile on our faces!" A smile will come. But first we really do need to heed the prophet's voice. This passage from Joel isn't about personal piety. It's not about individual morals, it's about the character and behavior of a people. The word here has to do with the fact that God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7), and that while we may slip blithely — even unconsciously — away from God's calling to us, God does notice. God does care. Judgment, it turns out, is ...

3033. To Say Elohim

Genesis 1:1-2:4a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... 's an affirmation we sometimes forget. When we get mired down in daily problems, it is easy to forget that the world God placed us in is not a sinister place in itself. The creation, Elohim's world, is good, and that is a reflection of Elohim's character, goodness. John Greenleaf Whittier stated it this way: Yet in the maddening maze of things, Yet in the maddening maze of things, And tossed by storm and flood, And tossed by storm and flood, To one fixed trust my spirit clings; To one fixed trust my spirit ...

3034. A Man of the Moment

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... plot of the movie, the mental picture of those two actors standing side-by-side as twins is itself pretty funny. The setup for the move is that the brothers are the result of an experiment to grow a perfect man, who is the Schwarzenegger character, named Julius. But in the course of manipulating his genes when he's in the prenatal stage, the scrap that is not used develops into the smaller brother, Vincent. Thus Julius is planned and grows to athletic proportions. Vincent is an accident and develops from ...

3035. The Ladder from Our House

Genesis 28:10-19a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... with his grandfather Abraham. When Jacob awoke, he realized that he had had an experience that is granted to only a very few. That ladder had been his own hotline to God. It seems remarkable to us that God would choose to extend a vision to such an unsavory character as Jacob, but the point is, the only way such direct access to God can be had is if God himself offers it. There is nothing we mortals can do to establish this link. There are some points where we can identify with Jacob's story. In the first ...

3036. A Match Made in Heaven

Genesis 29:15-28

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, ‘Thus the man spoke to me,' he went to the man" (Genesis 24:29-30). It's easy to be suspicious of Laban when we see how prominent the jewelry adornments were to him. Like the cartoon character whose eyes become dollar signs, Laban seems always to see the profitability of relationships. Still, in spite of the cynical Laban, love prevailed. The Bible says that Jacob's seven years of labor "seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for [Rachel ...

3037. God’s Providence: The Long and Short of It

Genesis 45:1-15

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... much hope for justice when the master's wife brings an accusation against the foreign slave. Joseph was arrested and put in prison. This part of the story, of course, is half of the reason why Joseph became one of the favorite characters for the children of Israel. Throughout their history, they identified with his experience of unjust suffering. They understood the righteous being wronged. When Jews through the centuries looked back and saw the honorable young man suffering, the innocent young man being ...

3038. Endless Line of Blunder

Exodus 1:8

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... is one of the calling cards of racist propaganda. "We" are warned about what "they" are like; what "they" can do; and what "they" could become. Their physical prowess, their financial shrewdness, their conspiratorial connectedness, their duplicitous character; even their quiet, workmanlike ambition: Whatever their broad-brush characteristics may be, we can paint it as a suspicious and treacherous trait. So it is that this large community of dangerously prolific and mysteriously strong Israelites haunted ...

3039. A Change of Mind

Exodus 32:1-14

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... own people. They were the very people God "brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand." Even though the people complained and grumbled against him, Moses had the people's best interest in mind, which reveals much about his character and leadership. He certainly had the best interests of the people, God's own people in mind. In spite of great risk, Moses stood before God pleading on behalf of the people who obviously were sinning at that very moment. In addition Moses asked God ...

3040. Show Me What’s Real

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... It frequently takes much more effort to climb out of that place, and rebuild our lives than to fall into such a place. But God remains with us and will never desert us as the ancient Israelites would discover. The present situation would build Moses' character. In spite of their complaining, the people looked to Moses as their spiritual leader. Moses spoke directly with God, telling God what he thought at a considerable risk to his own safety. Again, he had the best interests of the people under his charge ...

3041. For Example

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Sermon

David O. Bales

... with God is others being blessed by our faith. That's Abraham's example in the Old Testament. David Livingstone demonstrated a faith that blessed others in his mission to Africa. It's the central message Paul writes as he instructs new Christians in Rome. Faith, character-transforming, life-centering, gratitude-producing faith is what scripture commends to us today. Let's give thanks to God for the grace of our Lord Jesus. Let's place our faith in God's promises. Let's now live as those bound to show our ...

3042. A Friday We Call “Good”

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

David O. Bales

... God's renewing grace to surge through us like a hurricane across the Florida Keys, because there's so much that needs to be blown out and refreshed, so much — like a moth-balled ship — that needs to be ripped out, scraped clean, polished, and recommissioned, because our character and relationships suffer terribly without God, until our inner lives look like No Man's Land during World War I. You can't get across it, but you fear what might come from it. How can we truly return to God? How can we face God ...

3043. So, Explain It to Me

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... of the most famous authors of this style of mystery. Some years ago, the television series, Murder She Wrote, was a similar adaptation of this style. A crime was committed. The suspects were examined. By the end of the story, Inspector Poirot (or similar character) solved the mystery by identifying the culprit. The butler did it! Suppose you came across a murder mystery you had never read before. You bought the book or checked it out of the library, and, when you got it home, you cheated. When nobody was ...

3044. Freedom and Slavery

Romans 6:15-23

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... failure. Divorce was seen as something to be avoided, if at all possible. Today the social situation has changed. Divorce is no longer something to ashamed of or even avoided. Rather, divorce can be one more positive step in the development of one's personal character and freedom. It can be a liberating act of self-expression. Or as Whitehead calls it, we are now in the age of "creative divorce." That is what happens in a society whose defining value has become personal freedom. Let me tell you the story ...

3045. We Are the Champions

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Larry Lange

... not to be conformed to the world and its way of telling stories. There is more than sound advice in the lesson. The apostle Paul offers us hope when we are caught up in good guys versus bad guys stories. In these kinds of stories, the characters are conformed to and locked in to pretty established roles; the plot is pretty predictable: The good guys are the heroes and champions and the bad guys lose. The Christian story is infinitely different. According to the apostle Paul elsewhere in his letter to the ...

3046. The Armor of Light

Romans 13:8-14

Drama

Larry Lange

Characters Harry Christian Margaret Christian (Harry's wife) Fed-Up Express Man Accompanist (nonspeaking) Props Stuffed chair Newspaper Table Lamp Bible Dressing mirror Large box (containing the following items) Silver shirt Silver gloves Silver sunglasses Silver light saber Silver-wrapped instruction book Small box (containing the following item) Huge, foil-covered ...

3047. God’s Doing

Philippians 1:21-30

Sermon

Larry Lange

... still angry about not being able to ski or scuba and loiter on the beaches in Aruba. And, he was deeply ashamed that he kept wishing it were all over for both of them. Don was quite sure God didn't want anything at all to do with an evil character like himself. It was nice to be forgiven every Sunday, but what good did it do when such a monster still lurked in his heart? One Saturday night, Donna told him that they had to go to the church the next day and the meeting following to approve the plans ...

3048. Just a Crazy Story

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Larry Lange

... 't a movie. It was reality. Because computers ran all the car's systems (which God had not created), Zack couldn't get the car started. After Zack had slammed the hood of the car down in disgust, he noticed he was surrounded by some extremely creepy looking characters who had slunk out of the woods behind him. "Dude," they said, "what are you doing out here at two o'clock in the morning?" Zack explained his life-long wish to see the Olympic Mountains and asked them if they might have a place where he could ...

3049. A Vision Vanished

Philippians 3:4-14

Sermon

Larry Lange

... , he saw them all jump when he slammed the door. They heaved a collective sigh of relief when he had gone, and again when the pastor actually stuck his head out of his office assuring them he was still alive after an encounter with such an unsavory character. He twirled his finger around his ear and shook his head and went back into his office. The ladies continued their discussion of the redecoration of the church kitchen. Arnold showed up at the bar for the first time in many months. "Haven't seen you for ...

3050. How, Then, Shall We Live?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... through the exhibits. Shopping on-line, Ben had acquired a few period costumes, complete with white wigs. He delved into the lives of these figures, sharing their trials, tribulations, and achievements with the visiting students. Benjamin Franklin was Ben's favorite character, possibly because they shared the same first name. One morning, Ben was guiding a group of first graders when one small girl asked Benjamin Franklin how he could live so long. She remarked that Ben must be very, very old indeed ...

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