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 3601 to 3625 of 4456 results

3601. Get Ready

Matthew 25:1-13

Children's Sermon

Brett Blair

Exegetical Aim: Being a Christian takes preparation. Props: Things used to get ready in the morning: a wrapped bar of soap, toothbrush, an article of clothing, and an egg. Lesson: How many of you have to get ready every morning to go to school? (response) What do you do in the morning to get ready for school? (response) I have a bar of soap. What is soap used for? (response) What would happen in the morning if you ran out of soap? (response) Here is an egg. Do you eat in the morning before you go to school ...

3602. What Reasons to Betray the Savior?

Matthew 26:17-30

Drama

Joe Barone

[Note: During this Lenten season, we're trying to look at the happenings in Jesus' passion and death as several people in the story might have seen them. What would have been Peter's reaction to the portion of the story that we have today? Here's what I think it might have been.] Dramatic Monologue: Simon Peter I don't know why I couldn't have seen it at the time, but there wasn't anything in Jesus' life that didn't matter. Everything had some kind of kingdom meaning. Take that little scripture you heard ...

3603. The Law of the Spirit

John 13:34

Illustration

Brett Blair

We need our laws. Laws tell us what is acceptable behavior and what is unacceptable behavior. To be sure, society will fail if it's people reject law. But law can only go so far. It can dictate to us what we can and cannot do but it is powerless to dictate to us what we think and what we feel. When Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you," I want you to hear those words within the context of community law. When the disciples, or the Jews, talked about Commandments they were discussing laws for ...

3604. The Man Who Came to Dinner

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

To the thoughtful reader of this Gospel two questions jump out at once: Why was Jesus invited to a dinner with the Pharisees on the Sabbath? And why did he accept? In answer to that, there are three key sentences in this Gospel, and all three come across the centuries and speak Jesus’ word to us. I "They were watching him." (verse 1) Lo! Our two questions are answered. He was invited so they could watch him. What further evidence could they gather to feed the fire of their animosity toward him? Obviously ...

3605. Fixing The Fox!

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

The Bible says that there is no peace for the wicked. It is also true that there is no peace for the righteous, for the two are ever in conflict with each other. For this reason we refer to the church on earth as the church militant. It is ever at war with evil in the world. Jesus once said, "I have not come to bring peace but a sword ..." Paul thinks of a Christian as a soldier who is to put on "the whole armor of God" that he may stand up against the principalities and powers of the world. Among our ...

3606. Our Prayers, Not Questions

Sermon

Recall the Gospel, and St. Luke's words: "One of the criminals, who was hanged, railed at him saying: 'Are you - not the Christ? Save yourself - and us.' But the other criminal said this: 'Lord, remember me when you come to your kingdom.' And Jesus looked at him and said: 'I say unto you, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.' " Two condemned criminals, hanging on a cross, and each man is staring death right in the face. And both men have something different to say: The first criminal rails in his ...

3607. When God Says "Go"

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sermon

Several years ago Alvar Persson was elected mayor of Grove City, Minnesota. It was an unusual election, partly because of the size of the victory - Persson garnered eighty percent of the vote - partly because Persson is a Lutheran minister and not a politician, but mostly because Persson wasn't even running for office. No one was. Next to the word Mayor on the ballot was a blank space. Only write-in votes could be cast. Of the eleven people whose names were written in, Persson was the clear choice - 202 ...

3608. L’Chaim!

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Dean Lueking

Our Jewish friends have a beautiful phrase in Hebrew that all of us might well take into our vocabulary. "L’Chaim!" means "to life!" It is a toast to life, a salute to the incredible miracle of being among the living. It is a word which recognizes life, rejoices in it, affirms it, and does so in such a way as to include the all-important note of celebration and appreciation. Such a phrase suits us well as a title for this sermon on Jesus’ sentence which breathes that joyful, affirmative spirit of the life ...

3609. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

The mark of a great leader is the demands he makes upon his followers. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi offered his men only hunger and death to free Italy. Winston Churchill told the British people that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against their enemies. Jesus spoke of the necessity of total commitment -even to the point of death. He conveyed this in no uncertain terms when he said to his disciples, “You must take up your cross and follow me.” Why ...

3610. Deliverance by a Dream

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

It is a scene burned into my memory; I remember the death of the Cambodian child as though it had just happened. My granddaughter and I had just finished watching Cookie Monster do his stuff on Sesame Street, and the national news came on. My granddaughter immediately left, but another took her place, not on my lap, but on the television screen. I was whisked off to a refugee camp in Cambodia and, right before my eyes, a refugee mother began to mourn the death of her baby, who had just died. She invaded my ...

3611. A Noble Patriotism John D. Mauney, Jr.

Exodus 2:11-25

Sermon

"The first breath of freedom stirs the air." So exclaimed President Reagan in his address to the students and faculty of Moscow State University, as he commented on his talks with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the Moscow Summit of June, 1988. Mr. Reagan went to Moscow as an agent of peace and a champion of human rights. The people of the U.S.S.R., who are enslaved under the Communist regime, must have the opportunity to chart their own courses in life, and Mr. Reagan envisioned himself as their ...

3612. A Taste of God's Tomorrow

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Glenn L. Borreson

Fast food is a way of life for Americans. McDonald's hamburgers and Swanson's dinners have not yet replaced "mother and apple pie," but they are vying for position. When my family gets into our aging Pontiac to travel for the major part of a day or more, we want to get to our destination quickly. The time we have always seems too short. So we pause to eat along the way at our favorite fast food restaurants, expecting almost instant service, usually receiving it, and then being on our way again. For a brief ...

3613. The Divine-Human Nexus

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Like a magnet to a magnet, I am at once attracted to and repelled by this vision. I find its picture of the end time attractive because it so vividly depicts the transcendent and divine dimension of every earthly act of human mercy. With exquisite simplicity, our Lord says of visits to the sick and imprisoned, bread shared with the hungry and clothing given to the ill-clad, "as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." Here we are told that the divine-human nexus, so clear in Christ’s ...

3614. An Intimate Conversation and an Exclusive Covenant

Exodus 19:1-25

Sermon

It was on the Richard Roberts television program, Expect a Miracle, that I learned about the vision which Oral Roberts had a few years ago. Richard Roberts told how his father’s vision had to do with evangelism and mission, that it involved sending missionaries to the ends of the earth - doctors, first, to treat and care for the sick, and then evangelists to preach the gospel to people in countries where Christ is not known at all. Oral Roberts also spoke of the revelation: "God told me I am on the last ...

3615. Epiphany 2

Psalm 40:1-17, John 1:29-34, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon Aid

CSS

THEOLOGICAL CLUE A careful examination of the readings appointed for this and the other Sundays of Epiphany in the three-year cycle reveals that something is different; a radical change has been made; the three lessons are not in harmony, because the Corinthian letters make up the Second Lessons for virtually all of the Sundays after the Baptism of Our Lord. This same pattern of readings is picked up again on the Second Sunday after Pentecost, so that in the other Sundays of Epiphany and Pentecost the ...

3616. Lent 1

Genesis 3:1-24, Romans 5:12-21, Matthew 4:1-11, Genesis 2:4-25, Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The structure of the church year determines, in all three years of the lectionary, that this Sunday is, in part, a "pattern" Sunday; it shows that Lent is a forty-day retreat by the faithful, "patterned" after Jesus' solitary sojourn in the wilderness immediately after he had been baptized in the Jordan. As a spiritual journey, Lent is observed in public and in private, in corporate worship and in individual devotions and actions. But, in the use of the Gospel for the Day, again in all ...

3617. Lent 5

Psalm 116:1-19, John 11:38-44, John 11:17-37, John 11:1-16, Romans 8:18-27, Romans 8:1-17, Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Fifth Sunday of Lent has not only lost its name, judica, but it has also lost its liturgical function, which was quite positive in the pre-Vatican II liturgy; it used to announce the beginning of the holiest part of Lent, the two weeks of the Passion of Our Lord. Now it is simply part of Lent, and, practically, the Last Sunday in Lent, introducing the week before Holy Week. Again, the theological, and therefore the liturgical/homiletical, clue comes more from the Gospel for the Day ...

3618. Easter 7

Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47:1-9, 1 Peter 4:12-19, John 17:1-5, John 17:6-19

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The Sunday after the Ascension, as the Seventh Sunday of Easter previously was designated, was known as Exaudi Sunday and served much the same function as the Seventh Sunday of Easter does today. This Sunday is a time of reflection on the glory God has given Christ by lifting him up to his right hand on the completion of his work. It is also a period of expectation for the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church and the world to empower the church to do the work of Christ. It is also the ...

3619. Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

Matthew 5:17-20

Bulletin Aid

Theme: The inner demands of God's Law Exegetical note Here begins the section of Matthew's version of the Sermon on the Mount that contains the so-called "antitheses" of Jesus concerning the Law. Having asserted that he has come to fulfill rather than abolish the Law and the prophets, Jesus proceeds to quote the Law ("You have heard it said ...") and then to intensify it ("But I say ...") by extending its purview to cover inner motivation. The first antithesis, contained in this passage, is typical in that ...

3620. Proper 7

Romans 5:12-21

Bulletin Aid

Theme: The "living death" of sin Exegetical note Paul's juridical paralleling of Adam and Jesus is one of contrasts: the former's trespass (disobedience) brought condemnation and death to all under the Law; the latter's righteousness (obedience) brought them acquittal and life under grace. The point here is neither to blame Adam for death (see the "because" clause in v. 15) nor to treat physical death as a punishment, but to underscore the "living death" of being estranged from God that everyone's sin ( ...

3621. Proper 18

Matthew 18:15-20

Bulletin Aid

Theme: Handling conflict in a holy community Exegetical note The first few verses of this passage should serve as a reminder that, at least within the Christian fellowship, the inevitable conflicts that arise should be dealt with circumspectly. Rather than creating a cause celebre from the outset, a "wronged" party should attempt to resolve a grievance one-on-one with the perpetrator, and only then if not satistifed, and only gradually, attempt to seek resolution in a wider circle of consultation. Call to ...

3622. Proper 24

Ruth 1:1-22

Bulletin Aid

Theme: A God for all Exegetical Note The fact that the heroine of this story is not a Hebrew but a Moabite woman, and thus a traditional enemy of the Israelites suggests what, at the time of the writing, must have been an extraordinarily liberal idea, namely, that membership in God's chosen people should be open even to (hated) foreigners and that the God of Abraham could be their God, too. The fact that the book (named after this foreigner!) achieved canonical status suggests that the notion prevailed. ...

3623. A Glory Revealed in Liberty

John 8:31-41

Sermon

Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham, and have never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say, ‘You will be made free’!" They answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. So if the Son makes ...

3624. Sovereignty: God’s Domain

Zephaniah 1:4-13

Sermon

Christian unity kneels before the awesomeness of the sovereignty of God. Sin, more often than we admit, pushes us in directions that exceed anything resembling a belief in human freedom of the will. It is only by his grace we begin to understand, in the Book of Revelation, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (1:8) I have been brought to my knees by the God of all, who insisted he was before the beginning and after the ending, as we ...

3625. "Gone Fishing!"

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

If fishing is one of your passions, you will love our scripture lesson for today. Though I prefer hunting to fishing, I have a soft spot in my heart for fishing because of a childhood experience. I was about 10 or 11 years old. One Wednesday afternoon Papa took me with him to a nearby pond to do a little fishing. I was just learning to use a rod and reel. Papa caught a little bass weighing about half a pound. Then he had to leave for prayer meeting. He asked me if I wanted to stay a bit longer and make a ...

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