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 3926 to 3950 of 4653 results

3926. A Lost Boy

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

... card!” Well, that’s a pretty good lesson, though perhaps not the one Jesus had in mind. Pastor Ronnie White of Midland, Texas tells a story that is like many you have heard before. Perhaps it is the original. I don’t know, but it is so touching, I believe you will appreciate it. It is about an itinerant preacher many years ago named G.W. Ravensbury. Ravensbury made his living preaching off of trains. He’d ride a train to a town, preach, get back on the train, and head to another town. Ravensbury ...

3927. Christmas

Illustration

John A. Robinson

... to the Christmas history (the birth of the man, Jesus of Nazareth), has to go. Are we prepared for that? Or are we to cling here to this last vestige of the mythological or metaphysical world view as the only garb in which to clothe the story with power to touch the imagination? Cannot perhaps the supernaturalist scheme survive at least as part of the “magic” of Christmas?

3928. God's Glory

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... and sit him on his throne. He has no intrinsic glory. That’s the point. The only glory that men have is granted to them. The glory that is God’s is his in his essence. You can’t de-glory God because glory is his nature. You can’t touch his glory. It cannot be taken away. It cannot be added to. It’s his being.

3929. God's Knowability

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Trying to explain God is like trying to explain a kiss. You can check the dictionary definition: “A caress with the lips; a gentle touch or contact.” But does that really capture the essence of what a kiss is? Does that describe what a mother does when she tenderly places her lips on the forehead of her newborn child? Is that what the young lover does when he says good-night to his girl? Just ...

3930. Plucked From The Burning

Illustration

Michael P. Green

An old Indian, after living many years in sin, was led to Christ by a missionary. Friends asked him to explain the change in his life. Reaching down, he picked up a little worm and placed it on a pile of leaves. Then, touching a match to the leaves, he watched them smolder and burst into flames. As the flames worked their way up to the center where the worm lay, the old chief suddenly plunged his hand into the center of the burning pile and snatched out the worm. Holding the worm gently ...

3931. Jonah Proof

Jonah 1:17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... passage of some sort that seemed to move and carry him forward. The sensation lasted but a short time and then he realized he had more room. He felt about him and his hands came in contact with a yielding, slimy substance that seemed to shrink from his touch. It finally dawned upon him that he had been swallowed by the whale.… He could easily breathe, but the heat was terrible. It was not a scorching, stifling nature, but it seemed to open the pores of his skin and draw out his vitality.… His skin was ...

3932. Fake Augustine Story

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Augustine was in Milan when God touched his heart and changed his life. He then left his former life of license (he even had an illegitimate son). When he returned home, his former girl friend called to him: “Augustine, Augustine, it is I.” He turned and said: “Yes, but it is not I.” Note: This story has ...

3933. Our King's Righteous Attire

Col 3:12-17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... Emperor’s New Clothes, an unscrupulous con artist, seeking royal favor, promises to provide the emperor with an outfit of clothing that would be very special. So delicate and rare would be the fabric that the clothes would be undetectable to the touch. More importantly, they would be invisible to anyone of poor character or inferior ability. When the emperor received the empty hanger on which his new outfit was supposedly displayed, he could hardly admit not seeing the clothes without impugning his own ...

3934. Studying Human Behavior

Illustration

Robert Coles

... the world, Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles remarked, “Nothing I have discovered about the makeup of human beings contradicts in any way what I have learned from the Hebrew prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos, and from the Book of Ecclesiastes, and from Jesus and the lives of those he touched. Anything that I can say as a result of my research into human behavior is a mere footnote to those lives in the Old and New Testaments.”

3935. Yours Is The Earth

Illustration

Rudyard Kipling

... and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”; If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch; If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you; If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run— Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And—which is more—you’ll ...

3936. Enough For Fifty Hopes

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... a verse about a certain young man who has determined that he is going to build his life without God. He has his philosophies all worked out, and none of them include God. But then he admits to an older friend: Just when we are safest, there’s a sunset-touch, A fancy from a flower-bell, someone’s death, A chorus-ending from Euripides. And that’s enough for fifty hopes and fears; The Grand Perhaps.

3937. When You Feel the Tug

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... it.” The boy replied, “Well, I know it’s there because I can feel the tug.” That’s like the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. We may not always see the evidence, but we feel a tug in our hearts constantly, letting us know that we are in touch with God.

3938. The Substitute

Illustration

Michael P. Green

During the Civil War, a company of irregulars known as “bushwhackers” was arrested by the Union soldiers. Because they were guerrilla fighters and not in uniform, they were sentenced to be shot. A courageous young boy in the Union Army touched his commanding officer on the arm and pleaded, “Won’t you allow me to take the place of one of the men you have just condemned? I know him well—he has a large family who needs him badly. My parents are dead and I have few friends. No one ...

3939. The Intelligent Application of Failure

Illustration

Michael P. Green

In August 1978, the first successful transatlantic balloon flight became a reality when Double Eagle II touched ground in a barley field in the small village of Miserey, France. But success in this accomplishment did not come easy. During the years from 1873 through 1978, thirteen attempts had been made—all ending in failure. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1977, in which Double Eagle ended up in ...

3940. The Trouble Tree

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... had made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup refused to start. As he rode home with a friend, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, as he walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. Then, opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Why the transformation? The tree in his yard was his ...

I do not admire the excess of some one virtue [valor, courage] unless I am shown at the same time the excess of the opposite virtue [kindness]. A man does not prove his greatness by standing at an extremity, but by touching both extremities at once and filling all that lies between them.

Blaise Pascal

3942. Uzziah King of Judah

2 Chronicles 26:1-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... incense (26:16). The reader of Chronicles would know that proper cultic behavior is of the utmost importance for this writer. This was already made very clear in the Uzzah narrative in 1 Chronicles 13. Uzzah (whose name remarkably resembles that of King Uzziah) touched the ark of the covenant while it was en route to Jerusalem, and the Lord struck him dead for this transgression. Improper behavior in the cult, such as a king performing the duty of a priest, is the extreme example of unfaithfulness. Azariah ...

3943. Ahaz King of Judah

2 Chronicles 28:1-27

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... took many of his people as prisoners . . . to Damascus; 28:5a). Then follows a description of a similar defeat by Israel (he was also given into the hands of the king of Israel, who inflicted heavy casualties on him; 28:5b). Two grammatical touches, the Hebrew particle gam (“in addition”) and the fronting of the prepositional phrase “into the hands of the king of Israel,” picture two defeats in a row. Following the Chronicler’s narrative portrayal, I therefore opt to treat these encounters as two ...

3944. The Fellowship of the Believers

Acts 2:42-47

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... ’s method in these early chapters to intersperse his narrative with little cameos of life in the early church, intended, no doubt, as models for the church of his own day (see R. J. Karris, Perspectives, p. 117). This section contains the first of these sketches. It touches on a number of matters: the teaching, the miracles, the fellowship, and the prayers. Other such summaries are found in 4:32–35; 5:12–16; 9:31; 12:24. Compare also 5:42; 6:7, and 28:30f., which are similar in effect but tied more ...

3945. Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... . The people recognized the man as the beggar, so that later there was no shortage of witnesses to the genuineness of the cure. This was to prove useful (4:16). The crowd’s own response to what had happened was one of surprise and amazement (cf. 8:13), touched perhaps with fear (so the Greek hints; cf. 2:43). Fear is not necessarily the same as faith, but in this case faith seems to have grown out of fear (cf. 4:4). Perhaps they remembered the words of Isaiah, “Then will the lame leap like a deer, and ...

3946. Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

Acts 3:11-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... is clear in Rom. 4:25; 5:19; 8:3f., 32–34; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:28; and 1 Pet. 2:21–25; 3:18. J. Jeremias concludes that “there is no area of the primitive Christian life of faith which was not touched and stamped by the Ebed (servant) Christology” (“pais theou,” TDNT, vol. 5, p. 712). It belongs, he says, “to the most primitive age of the Christian community” (p. 709) and indeed must be traced back to Jesus himself (pp. 712ff.). See further the notes on 8:32f. Before Pilate ...

3947. Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... was the result of long and careful deliberation. Indeed, the reference to Satan’s having taken control of his heart (lit., Satan had “filled his heart”) may even suggest that it had become something of an obsession with him. Like all sin, that of Ananias and Sapphira touched God more than anyone else: their lie was essentially to the Holy Spirit (v. 3), that is, to God himself (v. 4). The negative of verse 4 does not mean that they had not also lied to other people, but is intended to stress the most ...

3948. The Apostles Heal Many

Acts 5:12-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... to see verse 15 as a reference to the response of the nonbelievers to the growing fame of the apostles, Peter especially (cf. 19:12; Mark 6:56). That they should have sought Peter’s shadow was in line with the popular idea of the time that “to be touched by a man’s shadow means to be in contact with his soul or his essence and to be influenced by that, whether it be for better or for worse” (P. W. Van Der Horst, “Peter’s Shadow,” NTS 23 (1977), p. 207). It was downright superstition, yet out ...

3949. Simon the Sorcerer

Acts 8:9-25

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... faith and was baptized, after which he followed Philip everywhere (“he paid close attention,” see disc. on 2:42), being astounded at the great signs and miracles (lit. “powers”) that he saw being done (v. 13; see note on 2:22). This is perhaps another touch of Lukan irony, for Simon was supposed to be “the Great Power” and for a long time had astounded others (vv. 9–11). It was the power, not the holiness, of the new faith that impressed him (v. 23). 8:14–17 When news reached Jerusalem that ...

3950. Saul’s Conversion

Acts 9:1-19a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 19a Ananias overcame his reluctance to go, if not his fear, and went to the house in Straight Street. Here he laid his hands on Paul, announcing that he had been sent by Jesus that Paul might see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 17). A nice touch is found in his opening words, Brother Saul (v. 17). No word of reproach, but a warm welcome into the fellowship of the church (cf. v. 27). The laying on of hands should be seen as a token of his healing, not of his being filled with the Spirit—much ...

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Showing 3926 to 3950 of 4653 results

3926. A Lost Boy

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

King Duncan

3927. Christmas

Illustration

John A. Robinson

3928. God's Glory

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3929. God's Knowability

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3930. Plucked From The Burning

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3931. Jonah Proof

Jonah 1:17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3932. Fake Augustine Story

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3933. Our King's Righteous Attire

Col 3:12-17

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3934. Studying Human Behavior

Illustration

Robert Coles

3935. Yours Is The Earth

Illustration

Rudyard Kipling

3936. Enough For Fifty Hopes

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3937. When You Feel the Tug

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3938. The Substitute

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3939. The Intelligent Application of Failure

Illustration

Michael P. Green

3940. The Trouble Tree

Illustration

Michael P. Green

Blaise Pascal

3942. Uzziah King of Judah

2 Chronicles 26:1-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

3943. Ahaz King of Judah

2 Chronicles 28:1-27

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

3944. The Fellowship of the Believers

Acts 2:42-47

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

3945. Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar

Acts 3:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

3946. Peter Speaks to the Onlookers

Acts 3:11-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

3947. Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

3948. The Apostles Heal Many

Acts 5:12-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

3949. Simon the Sorcerer

Acts 8:9-25

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

3950. Saul’s Conversion

Acts 9:1-19a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

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