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 3226 to 3250 of 4947 results

3226. Don't Worry--Give Thanks

Matthew 6:25-33

Sermon

King Duncan

... they fail to worry, that which they fear will happen. Thomas Borkovec, a professor of Psychology at Penn State University, is (like many of us) an expert in the field of worry. He points out that the worry habit is reinforcing in the same sense that superstitions are. “Since people worry about many things that have a very low probability of actually occurring—a loved one dying in a plane crash, going bankrupt, and the like—there is, to the primitive limbic brain at least, something magical about worry ...

3227. One Life-Changing Word

Isaiah 9:2-7 · Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Sermon

King Duncan

... . He could digest only milk and crackers because of a stomach ailment and couldn’t sleep at night. He had the best doctors in the world. They told him that he would not live one more year. Then one sleepless night John D. Rockefeller came to his senses and realized that he could not take one dime with him into the next world. Since he knew he couldn’t take his money with him, he started giving it away. He did wonderful things with his wealth. He helped churches and needy people. He began the University ...

3228. Hope Rises

Mark 9:30-37, 42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... had are the ones we were born with. Every single human being is born and blessed by God with an innocent spirit. From there, our life experiences form us with attitudes, joys, sorrows, fears, and goals. For human beings, the older we get, the more our original sense of sense becomes colored by the world we live in. As we age, we unlearn what it means to be the original kind of human being God created us to be. Oddly, adults most often think of themselves as the wiser and the greater. The older we get, the ...

3229. Devour And Conquer

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... Scripture recognized that widows were an especially vulnerable population. In that society they did not work outside the home, so they depended upon financial support from a male relative — a spouse, a child, or another relative. Why did she give? Was it out of a sense of obligation or because she wanted to give, and wanted to be part of something larger than herself? The average life span at that time was 25-35 years, but that did not signify how long a person lived. Many died much younger. Disease took ...

3230. Touchdown in the Wilds

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... making change, and God wants to make that kind of change within us. Just as in our baptism, we commit ourselves to God, repentance is a time when we remember our baptism and in a time of communion with God, we recommit our lives to Jesus. In a sense, God gets in touch with the wildest place in our soul and interrupts our lives in order to change our hearts, our minds, our intentions, and our actions for the future. God’s touchdowns are always places where covenants are formed, whether in the desert or in ...

3231. I Shall Rise Again!

I Corinthians 15:19-26 · Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... were stricken with the same kind of grief. They had forgotten Jesus’ promise that, on the third day, he would come back to them. All they knew was that their Lord was dead—and with him all their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. They were overwhelmed with their sense of loss. But that, of course, is not the end of the story. If it were, you and I would not be here today. According to Luke’s account of the resurrection, a group of women made their way to the tomb early that Sunday morning to prepare ...

3232. The Hiddenness Of Life’s Truths: Christian Life As Surprise

2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... are true; as unknown, yet are well known; as dying, and see — we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything (6:8b-6:10). It does not make sense, does it? How can we be imposters and yet the real thing, sorrowful but full of joy, poor but able to enrich others? Are you comfortable with these tensions in life? Why can’t God simply will an end to death, sadness, suffering, and poverty, so we ...

3233. A Protestant (And Catholic) Way To Confess

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... to confess the faith on that day.[2] We need this kind of confession of the church’s faith especially today. We need it to counter the loneliness and self-serving individualism which is growing in America today. We are living in a world in which a sense of loneliness is growing in America (especially since the 1980’s). A 2016 Harris poll indicated that 72% of us say that we are lonely.[3] We even do our religion more and more on our own. That’s why although the number of Americans not religiously ...

3234. God Doesn’t Always Behave Like We Think He Should

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... : God hides himself and does not seem to answer our prayers, so that we experience unfaith and realize we are not so good that we “deserve” good treatment. We get our false gods and false sense of security destroyed in the midst of our doubts Psychologist M. Scott Peck thinks it takes a self-emptiness to hear or care for another. He wrote: “We cannot let another person into our hearts and minds unless we empty ourselves. We can truly listen to him or truly hear ...

3235. Jesus Meets Our Needs

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... to help them to work together for the good of the church, the kingdom of God, society, and family. How is your action helping to make that happen? Mary knew the answer to the need (John 2:5) Mary knew her son. Thirty years of living with him instilled a sense of who he was in life. There would be a time when she questioned his focus (Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21). That was later, but for now she knew the answer to the need of making everyone satisfied…Jesus! There are moments in life when everything ...

3236. Christ’s Call to Discipleship

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... , for most of them, die for him! They were men who left their occupations, parents, families, friends to follow him. They learned from him the spiritual and social lessons that led to an unfolding of the drama of the redemption story. Secondly, in the broadest sense of the word a disciple included all who believed in Jesus’s words (John 8:30-31) and grappled with the truths he proposed. Luke 6:17 relates that there was a large number of disciples who represented a cross section of society. Unfortunately ...

3237. Playing Outside the Rules

Luke 6:27-38 · Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... nessed midda.” It translates “measure for measure.” It means that what you do will return to you in like fold. It’s the way Jewish thinking had been for thousands of years. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. It was the Jewish sense of equity that said, if someone does something to you, you do it back in even measure. What goes around, comes around, we say. The punishment should meet the crime. This for the people meant fairness, justice, equity, retribution. But now Jesus comes along and says ...

3238. I Saw the Light

Luke 9:28-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... so is Jesus. But what were they to do with that experience? They weren’t sure. This was something so far out of their comprehension that they almost seemed confused by the encounter, wanting to do something, not being sure what. They were in a sense blinded by the light, stunned by the transfiguration they saw in their master and messiah, dumbstruck by the realization that their God was there in front of them very real and present in the person of Jesus. Everyone present that day was literally God-struck ...

3239. The Green-Eyed Monster

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... ’s heart, mind, spirit, and body, it can be extremely destructive. It can ruin relationships, destroy the heart, and in fact even can turn one into a killer. The “green-eyed monster” is a nasty, uncontrollable beast, a vicious predator.[2] But in a sense, the green-eyed monster is just another name for a creature identified in scripture from the beginning of time when God admonishes Cain: “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do what is right ...

3240. The Long and Dusty Road

Luke 19:28-40 · Psalm 31:9-16

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the bones of that creation waste away, God’s presence will endure. The body may decay. But stones do not die. Our bones may fall away to dust in our grief and our distress, but God’s will will prevail. God’s voice will not be silenced. In a sense, Jesus is saying, “you can kill me. You can torture my body and crush my bones. My breath may fail and my body decompose. But my message, my mission, and my movement will prevail. Because my Word is God’s Word. My soul is God’s Spirit.” Jesus knew ...

3241. The Voice

John 10:22-30

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... watch not just the singers but the bantering between the judges and the reactions of the crowds. What do we love most? Those heartfelt moments when someone’s dream comes true. With tears streaming down their faces and ours, we celebrate with them. In a sense, their big moment is also the confirmation of our own hopes, the belief that anyone’s dream really can come true. The “Voice” is that voice which stands out from the crowd, the one that’s unique, heart-wrenching, and moving and uplifts us with ...

3242. A New Heaven And A New Earth: Our Problems Are Fading Away!

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... whole world, the universe. From that point of view, God is tearing us away from ourselves, tearing us away from the petty personal anxieties, form the latest trend, tearing us away from your personal hang-ups so we’re really free to recognize that God has in a sense already begun creating the new heaven and the new earth. In so doing God makes it possible to begin to see the new thing he is creating, setting out to wipe every tear from our eyes. When you have been set free from yourself in this way, set ...

3243. Life Between the Times

Revelation 22:7-21

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... , for I have seen yesterday and I live today.” We have already talked about Rudolf Bultmann (the great New Testament scholar). He also says that a faith that has you living between times calls you away from yourself and the ways of the world. In that sense it’s a rebellious lifestyle. He wrote: It is the word of God which calls man away from his selfishness and from the illusory security he has built up for himself... Faith is the abandonment of man’s own security and the readiness to find security ...

3244. Unbound

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... may be at least in some way limited, or that what is “real” or “true” lies far beyond our human abilities to fathom. This kind of open minded curiosity allows us to imagine, envision, and allow for truths that lie far beyond what our minds currently can make sense of. It allows us to have faith! This is why metaphors are so important to us. They give us an imaginative idea of what something might be like, even if we can’t directly experience it or know it. What God might be like! Throughout our ...

3245. Three In One

John 16:12-15

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... . Adam and Eve existed in close communion with the Lord. But it doesn’t end there. We are also called to be in community with each other. When we read the early chapters of the book of Acts, we get a sense of what this can be like. The early Christians took their sense of community very seriously. They looked out for one another, worshiped together, and broke bread in each other’s homes. They were a force to be reckoned with because they were a force for love. Their love was generated and fulfilled ...

3246. Lamb and Wolves

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... , too, should be praying for workers in the harvest field — for workers like ourselves and for others as well. People need to hear the basic message that the kingdom of God is near to them. They need to sense the love of Christ in us rather than any condemnation we might otherwise feel toward them. They need the sense that we are sent from God out of his love for them rather than as an object of some personal victory for us personally. If our name is written in heaven, it should be our desire that others ...

3247. Brush It Off

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... just as challenging. When was the last time you were alone in an unfamiliar place late in the evening and that sense of fear deep within your stomach wells up, because your “trust” alarm is going off? Have you ever experienced a fear of someone ... whom you thought you could trust but suddenly threatens your sense of well-being or safety? Have you ever experienced betrayal from someone in a religious institution whom you thought you could trust ...

3248. Shameless!

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... them a form of prayer we now commonly call “The Lord’s Prayer.” A lot has been said about the prayer he gave them (particularly the version recorded in Matthew 5:9-13). In fact, entire books have been written to explain its nuances and meanings. My sense is that it’s less a prayer than it is an outline for prayer. If Jesus was praying in an extemporaneous way, as it seems he was, he would be reticent to give them another memorized formula for reaching out to God Almighty. They already had those. If ...

3249. Bigger, Better, Basta!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... nervous habits. Some go to the gym obsessively. Some hoard. Even if one is not a true hoarder, some people can get caught up in having more, more, more of everything, not only more but better, the best of everything! Some people derive their sense of identity from the flashy things they own: the big house, the name clothing, the fancy car, the sparkling diamonds. Their life becomes something of a status symbol in itself for how much “they” are worth. Whether from self-esteem issues or simply loneliness ...

3250. Disabled

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... . I know we like to refer to him as “the Great Physician,” but he was in a class all his own (for obvious reasons). As it was, it could be argued that he was not doing any work in healing the woman (at least, not in the same sense as an ordinary physician would do). I often wonder why preaching and expounding on the scriptures was not considered work, but laying hands on a disabled woman was. Maybe that’s why the rabbis sat down when they preached and taught. I suppose they looked more relaxed in that ...

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