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 326 to 350 of 5000 results

326. Speaking Truth to Power and Hope to the Powerless

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

Let's get this story straight; Jesus and his disciples were making their way to the town of Capernaum, and as they were walking along three things happened: First, Jesus told his disciples that things were going to go downhill in a big hurry, that he would be betrayed, killed, but three days later, he would rise again. That's the first thing that happened. The second thing that was going on was that the disciples didn't understand what in the world he meant, and they were afraid to ask him. It makes sense ...

327. Easter Jogging

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

He is Risen. "He is Risen, indeed," we respond. We sound the trumpet. We decorate the altar in gold. We sound the bells. We sing out the alleluia's in the loudest crescendo we can. We turn out in larger numbers than any other time of the church year to celebrate this Queen of Feasts. And well we should. No matter how large the observance and how great the celebration we cannot make it grand enough to capture the fullness of its meaning for us. We are always going to have trouble with Easter because, no ...

328. On Getting Out Of The Way

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

Americans are fascinated with being the best. Young people in warpaint and costume are regularly seen running up and down the sidelines at sporting events, index fingers thrust in the air, shouting, "We're number one! We're number one!" Who, after all, wants to be less than the best? But wait a minute! I know people who love to sing, but won't utter a note because they don't sound like Pavoratti. I admire the chap who said, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." There is a place in this world for ...

329. A Thimble Full Of Ocean

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Larry Powell

A prominent magazine recently featured a story about a Russian family whose dramatic escape from the Soviet Union attracted world-wide attention. It was not a pretty story. The family’s pentecostal beliefs first brought down hatefully-pronounced warnings from Communist party officials. Soon following, however, the family’s persistent prayer and Bible readings angered the authorities to the point that threats gave way to incidents of violence and persecution. Harassment, repeated interrogations, public ...

330. It Doesn't Have to Be That Way - Sermon Opener

Luke 8:26-39

Illustration

James W. Moore

The noted author, John Killinger, tells a powerful story about a man who is all-alone in a hotel room in Canada. The man is in a state of deep depression. He is so depressed that he can't even bring himself to go downstairs to the restaurant to eat. He is a powerful man usually the chairman of a large shipping company but at this moment, he is absolutely overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of life… and he lies there on a lonely hotel bed far from home wallowing in self-pity. All of his life, he has ...

331. Thinking about the Unthinkable - Ash Wednesday

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I came home from work last evening, greeted the family, changed clothes, and began reading the mail. This week's Newsweek was there, so I began flipping through. Early on I came to this rather striking ad: it said, "It's 1998. You're DEAD. What do you do now? Just for a minute, think the unthinkable. Think about when suddenly you're not there." And then the ad goes on to try to sell life insurance. (1) Years ago, a friend of mine who was an insurance agent would approach potential clients on the street and ...

332. Is Jesus The Only Way?

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

It may surprise you to know what many Americans consider to be the most serious sin. No, it’s not murder. Even murder can have mitigating factors. According to an article by Daniel Taylor in “Christianity Today,” many Americans consider the worst sin to be intolerance. And guess who are the worst sinners, in the minds of many Americans.... We evangelical Christians! One writer said, "Christians are seen as the pit bulls of culture wars small brains, big teeth, strong jaws, and no interest in compromise." A ...

333. The Way Things Are

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

John N. Brittain

The other day I stumbled onto a Discovery Channel show about underwater archaeology (not basket weaving). The archaeologist described the process of identifying the probable location of an underwater wreck site, the grueling work involved in beginning the process, and the same kind of methodical work that characterizes all scientific archaeology. But then her eyes twinkled as she described the joy of uncovering the first artifact, or recognizing a significant discovery. And that of course is what it is all ...

334. The Narrowness Of The Christian Way - 1950 (date estimated)

Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

It is perfectly possible to tell a lie without saying anything untrue. As a matter of fact, the most effective liars are those who never deliberately say anything that is not so; they simply tell a piece of the truth and refuse to tell all of it. Let me illustrate the lying power of partial truth. I know a man who, with two other men, deliberately planned to get a fourth man in a particular situation where he would be utterly at the mercy of the three men. It would then be possible for them to kill their ...

335. Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Johnny Dean

How we read the Bible has a lot to do with what we get out of the Bible. If, for example, we read it as a rule book which governs the playing of the game of life, then what we get out of the Bible is a view of life that says, "Everyone who plays by the rules wins, and everyone who does not play by the rules loses." Based on your personal experience, is that an accurate representation of life? Most of us read the Bible in order to get information that helps us understand our lives in relation to God. We ...

336. Who Does He Think He Is?

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

"Who in the world does he think he is?" was the question buzzing around in the threatened little minds of the scribes in our Gospel lesson. Jesus had just spoken forgiveness of sins to a man and he had said it as if he really meant it! The scribes immediately took offense. "Only God can do that!" they said to themselves. "Who does he think he is, anyway?" As our Lord carried out his ministry of healing, teaching, forgiving, and loving, that came more and more to be the question about him. The people were ...

337. You Are Bigger Than You Think

Matthew 13:31-35

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A mustard seed or any tiny seed that can be passed out to the children. Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever thought about how small you are when you compare yourself to the whole world? Just think: there is only one of you in this whole world, and God thinks that you are important. You are more important than a big building or a jet airplane or a mountain or even an ocean! To God, little you are more important than the stars in the sky or the coal in the ground. But if you think that you ...

338. Good and Bad "Magical Thinking"

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

We live in an age where incredible scientific advancements take place everyday. Take GRIN, the acronym for (G) genetic engineering, (R) robotics, (I) information technology and (N) nanotechnology. The human genome has been mapped. Nano-technology is constructing miniscule machines that can deliver inter-cellular messages or make molecular level repairs. Astro-physicists have mapped the curvature of the universe, delved into black holes, listened to the echoes of the Big Bang. Scientific inquiry and ...

339. Three Ways to Know a Saint

Sermon

King Duncan

The Rev. Miles Brandon of The Episcopal Student Center, Austin, TX notes that our culture is captivated with making lists. It all started in 1955 when Edgar Smith of Fortune suggested that the magazine publish a list of the largest U.S. companies. At that very moment, the Fortune 500 was born. Today Fortune not only prints up the 500 list, but “The Forty Richest People Under 40,” “The Fifty Most Powerful Women in Business,” “The 100 Best Companies to Work For,” “The 25 Most Powerful Lobbyists in Washington ...

340. God Think

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Leadership is a widely celebrated quality in our culture. Our educational institutions love to train leaders and to fete the success of their alumni. Companies applaud and reward their best leaders, whose minds and spirits forge new pathways, sell products, and make tons of money for boards and stakeholders. Leadership qualities like initiative, innovative thinking, risk-taking, and analytical skills fill countless resumes. We have a mixed sense of both fear and admiration for out of the box thinkers and ...

341. Did Jesus Say What I Think He Said?

Mark 7:24-37 · James 2:1-9 · Isaiah 35:5-6 · Psalm 146

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

This morning’s gospel lesson may be the most troubling passage in the gospels because Jesus said a lot of provocative things to the religious authorities. The crowds were delighted with the clever ways he always seemed to best them in battles of wits. This morning’s gospel passage is different — very different. Jesus and his disciples needed a break. Just before today’s passage begins, Jesus had a controversy with some Pharisees. It appears that the Pharisees had traveled from Jerusalem to Gennesaret ...

342. Clear The Way!

Luke 3:1-20

Drama

Pamela Urfer

Cast: John the Baptist Usher First Church Official Second Church Official Length: 6 minutes There are three stools placed at the front of the sanctuary. JOHN the BAPTIST, wearing clothing made of camel's hair or animal skins with a leather belt around his waist, his hair wild and unruly, comes into the sanctuary through the back door. His first speech should be memorized and his script could be waiting for him on his stool. The USHER must also memorize his few lines. JOHN: (In a loud voice) Prepare the way ...

343. Am I Eating Manna or Bread from Heaven?

John 6:35, 41-51

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

When I was very young, being reared in another denomination, my mother and I, for reasons I cannot remember, were at church together without the rest of the family. In my memory it was evening; also for reasons I cannot remember. What I do recall is that my mother had a very traumatic experience at that service of Holy Eucharist. We were seated in back instead of in our customary pew halfway up on the left side of the sanctuary and so were among the last to receive communion. We followed the instructions ...

344. You Are What You Eat

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

Rick McCracken-Bennett

The Pharisees were grumbling -- doesn't it seem like they were always grumbling? Of all the things they could be concerned about, they were upset that Jesus' disciples weren't washing their hands before they ate. As I read this passage over earlier in the week I could hear my mom asking me and my brother and sisters before a meal, "Did you wash your hands?" This was an appropriate question for parents trying to teach their children good hygiene. But, at first glance, a strange concern for a religious ...

345. Walking in the Way of Love

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

King Duncan

I’ve got a pop quiz for you today: how many steps does it take to walk around the world? Since we aren’t Jesus and can’t walk on water, we are excluding oceans and major bodies of water. Well, there is a website that measures such achievements as walking around the world. According to their calculation, it takes the average person around 20 million steps to make that walk. Can your Fitbit register 20 million steps? Or would it melt down after about 10 million? Among the handful of people who have proof ...

346. Choosing the Way to the Cross

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

James W. Moore

Recently I ran across a story that absolutely amazed me… and yet it’s a story that may well represent the “cater-culture-give-‘em-what-they-want world” in which we now live. A church wanted to improve attendance at their major worship services, so they hired a powerful advertising agency to come in, study their situation, and make recommendations. The ad agency did their research… and then suggested to the church that they should get rid of all the crosses in the church… because the crosses might send a ...

347. The Presence Of The Spirit

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Charles Curley

Occasionally, while flipping through the channels on my television, I pause for a moment at a network sponsored by a consortium of those churches called Pentecostal. They are a loosely related confederation of individual congregations and denominations held together by their belief in the active presence of the Holy Spirit in the church today, just as the active presence of the Holy Spirit was with the disciples of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem for the minor Jewish festival of Pentecost, little more ...

348. There's A Better Way Than Shooting Somebody

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

There is a story that Alfred, Lord Tennyson once invited a Russian nobleman to his estate to do some hunting. The nobleman went off by himself one morning and returned later in the day. "How did you do?" asked Tennyson. "Not too well," replied the nobleman. "I shot two peasants." "You mean two pheasants," Lord Tennyson said with amusement. "We pronounce it with a ph. Pheasant." "No," the nobleman said, "I mean two peasants. They were insolent to me, and so I shot them." The story is outrageous, of course. ...

349. Beware Of Your Piety

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

Whatever happened to Lent? It has been some time now since church attendance was swollen during this season. Congregations also conducted weekday services that were well attended. Lenten reading was popular, and people talked a great deal about their Lenten fasting. "What did you give up for Lent?" was a common question. Very often that was done with little thought. In the Chicago area in the '50s, where and when Lenten piety was quite prominent, a woman was shopping at the bakery. While she was waiting ...

350. Prayer Many Ways

Ephesians 1:16

Children's Sermon

Object: a rosary or prayer rug Good morning, boys and girls. I brought a special rug today and some special beads for you to see. We're going to talk about prayer today. You're probably wondering what rugs and beads have to do with prayer. These are two things that some people use when they pray. The beads and the rug help some people when they pray. There are lots of ways to pray. Can you think of some different ways? (Let them respond.) You can pray kneeling down on a rug. You can pray standing up. You ...

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