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 3326 to 3350 of 4770 results

3326. John Had an Outlook

Matt 3:1-12; John 3:22-36

Illustration

Leonard Mann

... the wonderful things the world needs to have done, he says. "His winnowing fork is in his hand," and he will put everything where it belongs; he will set things right. John had a hope, an expectation. He had an outlook. In other words, he could see out. And the view was forward. He could see beyond himself, and beyond his day; and what he saw was good.

3327. Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew 2:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Whenever you are arguing a point, it adds power to your position if you can cite other sources that support your view. This is Matthew’s method as he presents his case for the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Matthew’s first chapter was devoted to the “who” revealing the “who” of Jesus and providing the child’s human genealogy and the truth about his divine conception by the Holy Spirit. Matthew’ ...

3328. Aha! An Epiphany!

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... him to read two books a week and write reports on the books. He didn’t realize at the time that his mother herself could barely read. Sonya’s disability did not keep her from putting marks on her son’s papers. She also limited his T.V. viewing. Soon Benny amazed his instructors and classmates with his improvement. “It was at that moment that I realized I wasn’t stupid,” he recalled later. Within a year he was at the top of his class. After this epiphany in Junior High School that he was not ...

3329. BAPTIZED IN SOLIDARITY WITH US

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Johnny Dean

... acknowledges the difficulty in understanding why Jesus submitted to a baptism of repentance. He also offers a simple explanation for it, one that had for some reason eluded me. I had dived deeply into the pool of the intellect searching for an answer that was floating in plain view on the surface. Cullmann says, "It was not a baptism of repentance for HIS sin; it was a baptism of repentance for MY sin, and yours. Just as Jesus died on the cross, not for his own sin, but for yours and mine, so also was he ...

3330. Back to Basics

Matthew 3:13-17

Illustration

Kevin Eckstrom

... poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which found that 78 percent of Americans saw religion's influence on the rise in public life. "It would, I believe, be very difficult for the average American not to believe that religion is increasing its impact on society, in view of the near total media coverage of the New York scene, including reports of record numbers of people flocking to houses of worship," Gallup said.

3331. Jesus Calls the Common Man

John 1:29-42; Matt 4:12-22

Illustration

Gary Inrig

... persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was his when he came into my Sunday school class. I think the committee of the church seldom met an applicant for membership who seemed more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of gospel truth, still less to fill any space of public or extended usefulness." Nothing happened very quickly to change their minds. The deacons decided to put him on a year-long instruction program to teach him basic Christian truths. Perhaps they wanted ...

3332. Better than Average Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

Illustration

Tim Pauls

... back, I read that 85% of all drivers in America consider themselves "above-average" drivers. Of course, this cannot be true: By definition, I believe only 49% of drivers are above average. However, the survey gives us an insight into human nature: People generally view themselves as better than others. And if they are better than others, then they are doing a good enough job. This transfers over into religion far more than we are aware, and it becomes apparent in how these Beatitudes are taught. Often one ...

3333. The Triumph and the Tragedy

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... this Messiah would say: “peace to the nations.” Zechariah foresaw it. Jesus fulfilled it. (3) No wonder holy week moves from triumph to tragedy. The expectations of the people had been dashed. They had voted for change, but change was nowhere in view. Besides, who can live with “peace to the nations”? Bring the troops home? Not when you have enemies who want to destroy you. Even Jesus’ disciples expected him to exercise his kingship by vanquishing their enemies. The two disciples on the Emmaus ...

3334. Was There No Other Way?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

King Duncan

... her life. Sin is not a familiar word to her. She explains that her upbringing had been “pretty conventional.” She had always been taught to disbelieve in sin. “Oh,” she says, “I don’t mean that it was never mentioned! But anything wrong, from our point of view, was either bad form, or was psychological.” (7) That’s true of many of us. For far too many, sin is a meaningless term it is merely bad form or a petty peccadillo. We do not perceive that there is an enemy within our gates, a betrayer ...

3335. Eyewitness News

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... go. It juts out just a bit from the bridge structure, then it is cut off as though sliced by a giant knife. The entrance ramp permanently blocked, the exit now goes nowhere except into the waters of the Willamette River far below.” (1) That’s how some people view the grave an exit off the freeway of life that goes nowhere. That is our fear but our hopes reside elsewhere. Deep in our hearts is the longing that the bridge of life has been completed. That life goes on. That those we have lost in this world ...

3336. Daring Thomas

John 11:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... like Afghanistan and Iraq. We salute them and pray that they will return to us safely. Patriotism is a powerful emotion in many lives. Evangelical researcher George Barna says that more people in this country are willing to die for their country than for their faith. They view themselves as Americans first and Christians second. That is a disturbing thought to those of us who believe that nothing is ever to come before God, but it is a noble thing to die for one’s country. What is it, or who is it for ...

3337. Act Quickly - Catch It Early

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... costs them their lives. The reason that they are called the Darwin Awards is that by offing themselves in such an absurd way, it is suggested that these misguided folks have inadvertently improved the gene pool for rest of humanity. It’s a cynical view of life, but it has led to a collection of stories that are both true and bizarre. For example, there is the story of a Darwin Award winner named Christopher, a nineteen‑year‑old man in Missaukee County, Michigan. Christopher spent an evening sometime ...

3338. All Shall Be Well

Matthew 6:25-34

Illustration

Daniel B. Clendenin

... nun Juliana of Norwich (1342–1414) had reasons enough to worry. She lived during the Black Death that killed 75 million people in medieval Europe. Many people interpreted the bubonic plague as divine punishment, but not Juliana. In her unapologetically optimistic view of life, she believed that God loved every person and that he would redeem every tear. In her book of visions called Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love — by some accounts the first book published in English that was written by a ...

3339. Like

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... hoisted high and calibrated. Let us give up that “against” attitude for Lent. Let us celebrate Lent as a season of “like.” There is plenty in the world that is frightening, and possibly going wrong. But during Lent we have a long-distance, focused view of the ultimate “right.” Paul’s momentary diversion in Romans offers us a telescoped vision of the miracle that is to come. From Adam to Jesus. From death to eternal life. From inescapable sin to the free gift of righteousness. What’s not to ...

3340. Matthew 28:1-10

Matthew 28:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... dead.” Not only does Jesus live again, but the angel declares that the disciples will see him again in Galilee, as he had promised in Matthew 26:32. Unlike the flash-frozen guards, the women respond to the angel’s directives. After viewing the vacancy, they leave the tomb to “tell his disciples.” Though understandably still fearful, the women are also filled with “great joy.” Those emotions are about to be mightily magnified. For “suddenly Jesus met them,” making these two Mary’s the first ...

3341. Loving Deeply (Mother's Day)

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

King Duncan

... exceptions. 1. Edward K. Rowell, 1001 Quotes, Illustrations, and Humorous Stories (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing, 2008), p. 330. 2. Charles Swindoll, Day By Day (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2000), p. 130. 3. http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=406. 4. 27 January 2006. Cited by The Rev. Peter Munson, St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado, http://www.saintambrosechurch.net/sermons/mainThingLove1_29.html. 5. Christianity Today, January 11,1999, P. 74. Cited by Tony Grant, http ...

3342. A Lesson from Dr. Seuss

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... a decision to alter his behavior. “Yes! I will do the opposite!” he declares. It turns out that Jerry was right. Whenever George does the opposite of his normal reactions, the situation always turns out in his favor. (3) You really have to have a perverse view of the world to make such an approach to life work for you, but that is why the comedy on Seinfeld worked. And yet, many of us will have to confess that there is something within us that invariably draws us toward making bad choices. A customer ...

3343. Cross Purposes

Matthew 10:38-39

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

... Puget Sound area. Although a tiny drop of museum putty helps give the glassware a bit of a foothold, we're ever mindful that any good shake could easily bring them all down. It would seem that our wish to keep the tumblers in clear view and the inherent instability of the land we sit on are at, well, cross-purposes. Cross-purposes keep the pet-lover with allergies continually sneezing and snuffling while joyously playing fetch with the dog. Cross-purposes keep the gardener moving slowly and cautiously on ...

3344. Answering Criticism

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Illustration

Kent Moorehead

... against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, then angels swearing I was right would make no difference. So with reference to Jesus, I myself am enormously grateful that I have some 2,000 years' vantage from which to view him. Had I lived back in his day, I hate to think how I might have misjudged him, considered him merely a disturber, a revolutionary, at very least a subversive influence. Who knows, I might have been just such a smug, ecclesiastically conditioned defender of the ...

3345. Up Into the Mountain

Matthew 14:22-36

Illustration

St. Chrysostom

For what purpose doth He go up into the mountain? To teach us, that loneliness and retirement is good, when we are to pray to God. With this view, you see, He is continually withdrawing into the wilderness, and there often spends the whole night in prayer, teaching us earnestly to seek such quietness in our prayers, as the time and place may confer. For the wilderness is the mother of quiet; it is a calm and a harbor, delivering us from all turmoils.

3346. A “No Surprises” Easter

John 20:1-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... have heard this story often enough so that it truly does not surprise us, but try to put yourself in her place. Your friend has died. You watched it. The body was taken to the funeral home for preparation prior to the service. You return prior to the public viewing, are greeted by the funeral director who stammers, "Uh, I don't know how to say this, but we have a problem. Come with me." He takes you back to the embalming room, points to the casket and, instead of your friend lying there, all you see is the ...

3347. My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... used to rescue one who had fallen from the path. Yes, it is a comfort to know that your protector has the tools at his disposal to do the protecting. My shepherd has done such a good job that I have been able to live with confidence even in full view of those who would bring me down. It is as though "You prepare a [banquet] table before me in the presence of my enemies" - they are powerless to do anything about it; all they can do is watch. Your care has been lavish: "You anoint my head with oil; my ...

3348. When Words Are Not Enough

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... are times when words are not enough. 1. Kemp P. Battle, Great American Folklore (New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1986), p. 281. 2. Kathleen Norris, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography (New York: Tickner & Fields, 1993), p. 91. 3. http://www.gavinbryars.com/Pages/jesus_blood_never_failed_m.html. 4. http://www.opuszine.com/album_reviews/?view=review&reviewID=28. 5. William Carter, "Singing a New Song: The Gospel and Jazz," Princeton Seminary Bulletin, Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1998, p. 46.

3349. Merry Xmas

John 1:1-9, 10-18

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... realized that, if Christ had not come, the beautiful philanthropies, the missions, the hospitals, the schools that have had such a magnificent influence both at home and abroad, would all perish, as if shaken down by some cosmic earthquake. It was a shattering view. I suppose there are those who would not find the sight so devastating. They would be willing to sacrifice some art, some literature, some history for the sake of argument. They would admit that it would be sad to lose these great masterpieces ...

3350. How Can This Be?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

... do their bidding. Before we find all this too encouraging, we need to remember that in the Bible, all angels are creations of God and they exist for the purpose of doing God's bidding. Much of our culture's fascination with angels violates this biblical view by conjuring angels who seem to be awaiting our manipulation. So we may rest assured that when Mary addressed her famous question to Gabriel — "How can this be?" — she was not speaking with an angel of her own bidding. Gabriel was in every sense a ...

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