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 376 to 400 of 2747 results

376. What Names Are You Naming?

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with wings), some of the most ordinary, unappreciated avians are able to perform virtuoso performances that still defy complete comprehension. Without a real language, with brains so small and simple we jeer them ("bird-brained"), these speckled clouds, these crowds in the air, whirl and swirl, dip and dive, twist and turn in perfect synchronicity. Never do you see some slow-poke sparrow forget to turn and cause a twelve bird smash-up in the sky. It's almost like an exquisitely choreographed ballet, with ...

377. But Wait! There's More!

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

Recently I heard about a man who had spent his life in the Air Force. One of his friends suggested that the family play the Air Force theme song at his funeral. His wife vetoed that idea. With a laugh, she said, “At your father’s funeral, we are not going to play a song that begins, ‘Off we go into the wild blue yonder!’” Arthur Schiff died last year at the age of 66. You ...

378. Dead Man Walking

Psalm 130:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the wind starts whipping up inside those balloons, they begin to rise, stand up, and stand tall. They become individuals, people and creatures that we recognize and love. Once on the parade route, these balloons take on even more life, for they're animated not just by the air within them, but by the winds that buffet and bolster them down the street. [If you can get a big balloon – like the ones they have at car dealerships – and blow it up at this point in your sermon, that would be ideal. Or if you're ...

379. God's Original Seatbelt (Mother's Day)

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... child car seat is in your car. For slightly older kids there are booster seats. With the mandatory installation of airbags, no kids under the age of 12 are supposed to be allowed in the front seat at all – for fear of the force of the exploding air bag causing them more injury than any crash. Before all these mechanical safety devices, however, some of us no doubt grew up with a different kind of child-restraint system. Judith Viorst reminded me of this when she wrote: "This year I received a Mother's Day ...

380. Saved by the Bell

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... deceased chest would move the glass sphere and stretch the spring and which caused the lid of the box to fly open to admit air and light. The spring would also activate a flag, a light, and a loud bell to attract attention of anyone in the graveyard. But ... of bell choirs? Might this not be another form of "preaching to the choir?" It's not a love for the church that burns bright in the air of Christ's love. It's a love for the world. Don't show me the number of people who are interested in this church. Show ...

381. Straw Polls and Soul Quakes

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... stand. The Holy Spirit's power is felt with an intensity of licking flames of fire. The voices that fill the disciples' mouths fill the air, overflow the house, and call out to the crowds that line the streets. In reading the Pentecost story, one of the things that jumps out ... way of words or emotions. · The Straw Knot-Tier is determined, precise, intellectual, a planner. · The Straw Puffer puffs air into the straw to create bubbles in a drink, and is ostentatious, young in spirit. · The Straw Spooner uses ...

382. What's Your Status Symbol?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... movin' on up. · For vegetarians, status is eating it all raw. If you have to cook it, you can't eat it. Real vegetarians eat it raw. · For Las Vegas gamblers, status is getting the heave-ho. · For Navy fighter pilots, status is an air-to-air-kill. · For Arab immigrants, status is taking care of the folks back home. · For surfers, status is a key to California's best private beach – Hollister Ranch. · For gourmet cooks, status is a Viking Range. · For Catholic priests, status is heavenly cuff links ...

383. Prayer

Matthew 24:36-51

Bulletin Aid

Stephen Brown

... come. We do not know when you are coming. We gaze into our sky with anticipation with fear...with trepidation. We do not know when you are coming. We wonder if you will. The skies appear clear, but our vision is blurred. The air is choked with smoke and flame a poison in the air. Would we see you coming, Lord? Could we see you coming, Lord? We do not know when you are coming. We wonder if you will. Our wounded litter battlefields around the globe. They lie in the streets in Kirkut and Kabul. They starve ...

384. The Good Life vs. The God Life

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of us could learn to pack kid-lunches without individually wrapped string cheeses. But don't ask us to do without a washing machine. It's hard for most North Americans to imagine things like plumbing and electricity as luxuries. Or central heating as luxury. Or air conditioning as luxury. Or clean water as luxury. Or a local grocery with fresh meats and vegetables as luxury. But as James B. Twitchell reminds us in his book on luxury called Living it Up: Our Love Affair with Luxury (2002), almost every labor ...

385. The Four Marks of Failure

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... us grounded, they are always there. Conversely, if you're not being taken for granted it stands to reason that you're not reliable, trustworthy, dependable. Your word isn't your bond. It is just something that flies out of your mouth and disappears into thin air. So if no one is taking you for granted, get concerned! Your body is in danger. 2. When everybody says nice things about you. Early in today's gospel text Luke records that when Jesus first began to teach in the synagogue he was praised by everyone ...

386. Can You Jump for Joy?

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Snow lies in quiet beauty outside. I hear someone downstairs turning on the tree lights while another admires. I lie very still in the dark. Form the church in the village on the far side of the woods, carillon notes fall faint and sweet on winter clear air. "Silent night," my heart repeats softly. Holy night. All is calm All is bright. "As I take the stairs lightly going down, no bones weary now, my whole self is thankful; once again, I am flooded with the certainty (call it faith) that there's goodness in ...

387. Salted with Fire

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... night light offers comfort and companionship amidst the big, burly darkness. Since we grown-ups are usually less than upfront about our still scared-of-the-dark queasiness, we try to disguise our security-blanket night-lights. Why do you think some of these plug-in air fresheners glow in the dark? Some light switch plates and light-switches stay illuminated after being turned off. Have you seen advertised the glow-in-the-dark toilet seat cover to guide us to the right spot at 2 AM? In the boy's bathroom at ...

388. Blue Highway Blessings

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... no concept of planet Earth's diverse and unique terrain . . . mountains are blasted through with tunnels, multi-laned bridges span rivers and lakes (always with the guardrail at the exact height to block any window-gazing), deserts are viewed through air-conditioned windshields frosted with cold air, the same ambiguous shrubs and grasses dot the median strip and line the off-ramps, and the fast food chains at exit 230 in Washington State are identical to the ones found off exit 196 in Washington, D.C. As ...

389. A New Vision

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... worship him.’” No wonder we call them wise. They were looking for the King of the Jews, the Messiah, so that they might worship him. So many people are taking destructive journeys in our world today, following so many false stars. A few years back our Air Force built a sophisticated unmanned jet called the Global Hawk. With no pilot aboard, this plane can fly for more than a day, scouring terrain and relaying video to a ground station 3000 miles away. A few years back one of these planes was lost in a ...

390. Cha-cha-cha Christians: The Dance that Advances

2 Peter 1:12-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... for me to watch. But millions of people are glued to this dance marathon, a competition which pairs a real dancer with an out-of-(other)-work, over-the-hill “B list” actor. The competition goes on for months and takes two hours a week to air. But, unlike in our painful junior high memories, these couples really dance. They move, twirl, leap, spin, swoop, and dip. They salsa, mambo, waltz, and tango. Each distinct dance form comes to life, and showcasing its own unique grace is the goal of each dancing ...

391. Joy Unbounded, Glory Fulfilled

John 11:1-45

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

... like the transformation that comes over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon figures as they're inflated. Without any air these huge balloons lay flat on the floor, limp, and featureless figures. But when the wind starts whipping up inside ... that we recognize and love. Once on the parade route, these balloons take on even more life, for they're animated not just by the air within them, but by the winds that buffet and bolster them down the street. In today's gospel text, Jesus doesn't appear before ...

392. Hi ho Silver, Away!

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

Roger Griffith

... of people gathered to see what the commotion was all about, Jesus mounted his horse and pulled on the reigns. The stallion stood on its hind legs, neighed loudly, and pawed the air with its front legs. When it stood as tall as it could stand, Jesus leaned forward in the saddle. Holding the reigns with one hand while lifting his white hat in the air with the other, He shouted with a loud voice, "As Jesus road off into the sunset, you could hear the William Tell Overture in the background. Isn't that how you ...

393. The Magic in Easter

John 20:1-18

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... stone sealing off the only way in or out. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, and the surprise of Easter morning, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus' first words when he came bursting out of that tomb alive." A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. It belonged to a most excited little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly, "I know, I know, I know." "Good," said the teacher, "Tell us." Extending her arms high in the ...

394. Now I Can Go on Living

John 20:1-9

Illustration

Erskine White

... cold, stone slab, swaying a bit on wounded feet and then walking out into the garden. He described the smell, "the whiff of strange scents which must have drifted back to the Man from that tomb, [the smell] of linen and bandages, spices and myrrh, close air and blood ...(Peter Marshall, The First Easter). By the time Peter Marshall finished that sermon, the people in that church felt as if they had been there in the garden to witness the first Easter themselves! When the service was over, the young widow ...

395. Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... Red Sox, of course!” They sat down just across from us and performed a fascinating ritual. The dad held his fork in the air and said, “Who eats better?” And then in unison, all three of them said: “Thank you, Lord, Amen.” I said, “Tell us ... of a can… or a baloney sandwich on stale bread and he would always do the same thing. He would hold his fork up in the air and say, ‘Who eats better?’ And, we would all say, ‘Thank you Lord, Amen.’ It was his way of saying thanks to his wife and ...

396. Life in the Living Stone Age

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... with our own efforts, too enamored of our own voice—-we need to be able to get the whiff of brimstone breath such self-centered narcissism brings with it. The only way to get the smell of sulfur out of the house is with open doors and fresh air. When brimstone wafts under your nose it is time to get outside yourself and search out a fresh breeze. Can we turn over the brimstone and get outside of ourselves? 8. Eighth, let’s turn over The White Stone: There is a passage in Revelation that highlights the ...

397. Don't Worry! Be Happy!

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... My guess is that there is someone in this room today who needs to heed these words of our Lord. You are literally worrying yourself sick over some situation over which you have no control. You need desperately to stop for a moment and consider the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and turn your worries over to God. You see, worry is a needless burden that keeps us from being all God created us to be. That is the conclusion of well-known author and teacher, Dr. Eric Butterworth. If you have a real ...

398. Our Value in God's Eyes

Matthew 11: 16-19, 25-30

Illustration

... . "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the ...

399. America in the Mirror

2 Kings 17:5-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... day of battle, but deliverance is of the Lord." So here was a once proud nation where golden dreams had turned to filthy ashes, triumphs had turned to tears, glory had turned to guilt, blessings had turned to burdens, the fresh air of liberty had been exchanged for the foul air of captivity. But thank God the story does not have to end there. III. The Solution of Revival from God This story could have had a happy ending, because even though rebellion brings ruin, revival brings rejoicing. This nation needed ...

400. How to Connect With God

1 John 5:14-15

Sermon

James Merritt

... going to go to the left or the right? The hobo said, "Well, I have a stick I carry with me. I throw it up in the air and then I watch and see which way it lands. If it lands pointing to the right I go to the right. If it points to left I go ... to the left." Then he said, "You know sometimes I have to throw that stick up in the air as many as nine times to make it land just right." Now there are many people who have made up their mind who they are going to marry, what ...

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