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 5000 results

3926. Fire Falling from Heaven

Luke 12:49-53

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... and New Testaments use fire as a metaphor to talk about how God punishes, purifies, and strengthens the world. Those folks believed that God worked through fire as well as various fire-like disasters. With a little poetic imagination, even modern folks like us can understand that God works with "fire." Loren was only fourteen years old when he entered a life of petty crime. By the time he was seventeen he had become one of the regulars in the county juvenile justice system. At eighteen, the judge gave him a ...

3927. Discipline

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... that reflects Jesus Christ. Blessing #5--Pain teaches us what we need to learn, increasing our wisdom and understanding. Blessing #6--Pain makes our lives richer as we experience the outcome of living fuller lives in appreciation of God’s gifts. Blessing # ... 7--Pain helps us develop compassion and understanding for others experiencing pain or loss. (6) If you’re battling with a terrible hardship right now, whatever it might be ...

3928. Spiritual Perception

Mark 1:11

Illustration

Gary Preston

... from the inner office escorted by the interviewer, who announced to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has been filled." The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and then one spoke up, "Wait a minute. I don't understand. He was the last one to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That's not fair." The employer responded, "While you have sat there the telegraph has been ticking out the following message: "If you ...

3929. Seeking the Lost

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Richard J. Fairchild

... lost their way are found. And that God celebrates when he can once again sustain and nourish those who for one reason or another have wandered away from him. Jesus wants us to identify with both the shepherd and the poor widow in their sorrow and their joy, and to understand that each of us is valued - no matter what our color our how many stripes we have.....All of us are valued. The 99 and the 1. The coins in the purse - and the one under the floor. The son at home - and the son who wanders. Without all ...

3930. A Messianic King

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... also the picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose birthday we remember in this Advent season and whose second coming we look forward to. From the Spirit, states our text, the messiah will receive a six-fold gift (v. 2). He will be given the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, so he will know the right thing to do. But he will also be given the Spirit of counsel and might, so that he has the power to put his wisdom into effect. The wisdom of human beings is distorted by sin, and though we think we can proceed ...

3931. The Witness of Being

Genesis 1:1—2:4a

Sermon

James L. Killen

... on a tour of something miraculous and were caught up in awe of the creation and of the witness that the creation makes.1 It is true that a person with too small a concept of God might be forced by the findings of science to stretch his understanding. An astronomer gazing into his telescope might well remember the words of the psalmist, "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you ...

3932. Can You Hear Me Now?

Exodus 3:1-15

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... a numinous moment. One pastor who was raised and trained to think of God as a chummy buddy, a close private friend, grew, spiritually, a mega-mile at seminary when he first read Rudolf Otto's The Idea Of The Holy. His understanding of God expanded with a new profound respect and reverence for the Almighty when he read of God as the "Mysterium Tremendum" and the "Wholly Other." God is holy fire, awesome, transcendent, immeasurable, and beyond all human approaching! Unfortunately, much shallowness and ...

3933. Free Living Water for All

Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. ... so that all may see and know, all may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it. -- Isaiah 41:17-20 The Psalmist cries metaphorically, "O God, you are my God, I see you, my soul thirsts for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no ...

3934. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-14

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... As Psalm 20 says, "Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses." Our military muscle can become a kind of idol. I know how hard it is for some of us to hear that. Our military protects us; soldiers risk their lives for our safety and freedom. I understand that, but anything can become an idol, and we always have to be careful. As needful as our military is, we cannot allow it to become an idol. We have to trust in God more than in our fighting ability. God knows our anxiety. With Moses' persuasion, God ...

3935. Preaching to a Stone

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... want the community of Israel to break up or forget its mission. So, in one sermon he wants to bring the tribes together as a unit, to impress upon them their role in God's plan for creation, and to motivate them to exclusive worship of the Lord and an understanding of their identity. Now that the long journey is over and the battles have been won, the passion might fade out. Joshua knows he won't be around to provide leadership, so he has to preach the sermon of his life to try to mold the tribes into a ...

3936. Jesus' Most Perplexing Parable

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... two masters. You cannot serve God and wealth" (v. 13). My guess is that very few of you here this morning have ever heard a sermon on that parable. It ranks as one of the least known in the Bible. It doesn't take any particular insight to understand why. The story praises a scoundrel. That message does not seem in keeping with the other teachings of Jesus. Julian the Apostate went so far as to cite this parable as evidence of the inferiority of the Christian faith and its founder.1 I hope this does not ...

3937. A Gift for You

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

James L. Killen

... the Christmas tree with your name on it. It is all part of the calling to be saints, people set apart for the service of God. But it will require commitment. Commitment is an essential part of answering the call. Things just won't work without it. I can understand that when you have guessed what is in that package some may not want to open it. But I hope you will. 1. Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), p. 132. 2. Robert A. Raines, New Life in ...

3938. Someone Is Trying to Get Through

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

James L. Killen

... church. But don't stop "tuning in" when you leave the church building. Remember, God is in the church, but God is everywhere else, too. Remember the things that you heard in church and keep watching to see if any of them will give you a new way of understanding the things that happen to you in your daily life. God really is there in and behind all of the other things that surround you in life. God is trying to get through to you through the experiences of your daily life. God may finally get through to you ...

3939. Light Is as Light Does

Ephesians 5:8-14

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... not put it on again. At the conclusion of the service, the four frustrated people waited for the man at the rear of the church. The senior warden approached him and said, "Sir, about the hat: perhaps you don't understand, but in the Episcopal church men do not wear hats at worship." The man replied, "Oh, but I do understand. I've been Episcopalian all my life. As a matter of fact, I've been coming to this church regularly for two years and I've never met a soul. But this morning I've met an usher, the head ...

3940. Sheep that Count

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... think for myself, make my own choices. I'm sick and tired of following someone else's footsteps all the time." Edgar's mother didn't understand this talk, or where it had come from. All she knew how to do was what she had always done. And that was to follow the ... always positive experience. Throw in the fact that Peter's audience for this particular text included slaves, and you can understand why the writer felt especially compelled to offer words of support and encouragement. Peter doesn't tell them to find ...

3941. Beautiful Feet

Romans 10:5-15

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... of rhetorical questions about the way in which people will hear about God and the good news of Christ. For Paul this reference to the words of Isaiah is both an answer and a call to those who hear his words. Even though this helps us understand the way the statement is used, it still leaves us with that odd image of "beautiful feet." While feet are not usually seen as beautiful today, and in fact are often the subject of jokes, and derogatory comments and frequently regarded as a subject unfit for polite ...

3942. Irrevocable Gifts

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... ! No!" Because the gifts of God are irrevocable. So irrevocable, that even the threat of taking them back doesn't happen. It is sometimes hard to accept, but the gifts of God are given forever. There is a need to be careful here, however. We have to understand these gifts quite well, and quite properly. They are given forever, but that does not mean the gifts are always available for our use. The gifts are irrevocable, but that does not mean that we always use them properly, or even use them at all. Many of ...

3943. Body Parts and Pride

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... Soon he will catch up with himself and there will be a great rear-end collision. And Man will never know that what hit Man was Man." Not only are the ostriches rather unclear about their own place, but the old ostrich also has an interesting understanding of the eventual fate of humanity. As humorous as the image is, and as physically impractical as it sounds, it is philosophically and metaphorically quite a challenge to avoid exactly such a fate. Whenever we lose sight of Paul's image of the Body of Christ ...

3944. Heaping Coals and Virtues

Romans 12:9-21

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... heightened our concerns about these issues and greatly reduced our willingness to extend hospitality to the strangers we find around us every day. Perhaps such concerns are not completely new or limited to the modern world, however. It is possible to understand the remainder of this lesson as a further comment on how to go about extending this hospitality, especially in the face of the dangers that increase our natural reluctance. Paul encourages those who hear his words to "live peaceably with all," at ...

3945. Struggles, Death, and Christ

Philippians 1:21-30

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... get older, some grow to be more like the old man, welcoming death as an end to the struggles and pains of this life. Some few even pray that they will be released into death. This attitude is sometimes difficult to cope with, even if it is possible to understand the situation of someone who seems to be nearing the end of their life, praying for a quick end to the struggle and pain. What is very difficult is to grasp what Paul is saying in the first sentence of today's lesson. "For to me, living is Christ ...

3946. Thanks Be to God

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Rick Brand

... heart is, is where will we put our treasures. We all have our share of blessings, gifts, resources, time, energy, interest, and power. They are who we are and we give them away to the things and causes we love. Jesus, Paul, and the Christian community all understand the same thing. Until a change of heart has gotten into a person's checkbook, it has not gotten into the person's heart. We direct our resources toward what we love. Paul asks for help in the collection for the saints in Jerusalem because Paul ...

3947. A More Perfect Union

Habakkuk 2:1-5

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... book, Judge Learned Hand wrote these words that are so appropriate for living happily in an increasingly diverse nation. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests along side its own without bias. The spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded. The spirit of liberty is the spirit ...

3948. A Radical Faith

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... helped to create, which was called the modern world, and has been here four hundred years, is being superseded by a new era in history called the post-modern world. That may be, but we will understand neither who we are as people living in the 20th century, or looking into the 21st century to who we ought to be, if we do not understand the heritage given to us by this great man. I will talk about Luther in two parts. Today I want to talk about the young Luther, and then next week the mature Luther and the ...

3949. Get Lost

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... the only way that they will be saved is to forget the self, to lose the self. There is a phrase that has become very popular recently, "This is not about you." I have heard it as a mild rebuke, but I want to suggest that it is necessary for understanding the gospel. The gospel means "good news." That means that Christian faith should be about good news. The good news is that this is about God, it's not about us. The good news of Christian faith is not about what I have done, nor is it about what I ...

3950. I Thought You'd Never Ask

John 1:35-46

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... of things. Then finally the conversation came around to what was on everybody's mind, the terrible suffering of cancer. And I heard the bishop confess, "I don't know why this happens. I really don't. But I believe someday I will." We know in part. Someday we'll understand everything, even as we have been fully understood. But in the meantime, what we have is faith, and hope, and love. And that's all we need. I saw that. I saw an old man, his heart breaking with his own loss, hear of a friend's pain. So he ...

Showing results