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 4935 results

376. One Life To Live

Isaiah 42:1-9

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A pencil Good morning, boys and girls. Everyone knows what this is, don't they? It's a pencil. What do we use a pencil for? That's right. We write with it. Did you know that there isn't a single person in the world who can make a pencil? It takes lots of people to make a pencil. Somebody had to chop down a tree for the wood. Maybe that happened right here in our country. But then somebody had to mine the graphite for the "lead" part of the pencil. That might have happened in South Africa. Then ...

377. The Father And Son Are One

John 10:22-42

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

Call To Worship Leader: Lord, open our hearts and minds to hear again the message of salvation. People: God sent his Son into the world, that the world might be saved through him. Leader: Lord, tell us right out: Are you the long-awaited Messiah? People: Jesus said: "The deeds I do by my Father's authority speak for themselves. The Father and I are one." All: Praise be to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Collect Lord God, we are your sheep, part of your flock. We know your voice and we ...

378. Using the Word as a Blunt Instrument

Matthew 23:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship Hope in Christ. Hinder no one who wishes to worship with us. Have faith. Collect Father in heaven, gather us in, the haughty and proud, the meek and the lowly, the saint and the sinner, the winner and loser. Gather us as one people who have come to realize that all of us are loved and wanted by you in your kingdom. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Alas for us when we exalt ourselves at the expense of others. We ask your forgiveness for those occasions when we have forced burdens on others that we ...

379. The One Wish

1 Kings 2:1-12, 1 Kings 3:1-15, Proverbs 9:1-18

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. (Proverbs 9:9-10) Collect Giving Lord, we pray that we might use your good gifts this day for the praising of your name and the work of your kingdom. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord we pray for the wisdom you granted Solomon, and the resolve not only to receive that wisdom, but to ...

380. One Step Closer to Success

Illustration

Charles Kettering

The great inventor Charles Kettering suggested that we must learn to fail intelligently. He said, "Once you've failed analyze the problem and find out why, because each failure is one more step leading up to the cathedral of success. The only time you don't want to fail is the last time you try." Here are three suggestions for turning failure into success: Honestly face defeat; never fake success. Exploit the failure; don't waste it. Learn all you can from it; every bitter experience can teach us something ...

381. Teaches One Thing, Practices Another

Illustration

Francis Schaeffer

John Cage, a contemporary American composer, believes that the universe is impersonal by nature and that it originated only through pure chance. In an attempt to live consistently with this personal philosophy, Cage composes all of his music by various means of chance. He uses, among other things, the tossing of coins and the rolling of dice to make sure that no personal element enters into the final product. The result is music that has no form, no structure and, for the most part, no appeal. Though Cage’ ...

382. Tablets Like the First Ones

Deuteronomy 10:1-11

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

God's Response to Moses' Intercession: 10:1–5 The outcome of Moses’ intercession in Chapter 9 is made clear by the report of the renewed covenant in 10:1–5 and of the resumed journey in 10:6–11. The main focus of verses 1–5 is on the rewriting of the Ten Commandments and the storage of the two tablets in the ark as the tangible sign of a renewed covenant. Verse 5 is like calm after the storm of God’s anger is averted by Moses’ intercession. Having the commandments in the ark in the midst of the people was ...

383. It Only Takes One

Illustration

King Duncan

Christian therapist and author Everett L. Worthington, Jr. describes forgiveness like this: “People use the term “forgiveness” loosely and mean different things . . . It is more than just relinquishing judgment to God or simply accepting the hurt and letting it pass. True forgiveness occurs when those cold emotions of unforgiveness are changed to warm, loving, compassionate, caring, altruistic emotions resulting from a heartfelt transformation. Forgiveness is both an act and a process. It could be compared ...

384. Stick to One Model

Humor

A reporter asked Henry Ford when he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary: "To what do you attribute your fifty years of successful married life?" Ford replied, "The formula is the same I've used in the making of cars...stick to one model!"

385. The Napkin in the Grave

John 20:7

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A linen napkin. Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about some of the things that the followers of Jesus found when they went to the place where he was buried and found him risen from the dead. We talk a lot about that day a long time ago, but I want you to pretend that you were there the first day when it all happened. You are going to think about how sad you are to know that your very favorite person has died and was put into a grave on Friday. Today is Sunday and that means ...

386. Watch Out! He's Coming!

Mark 13:33

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: The pose of someone on a ship keeping watch, with binoculars. Good morning, boys and girls. Today is the first day of Advent and that means it is the first day of a new year. Did you know that in the church we don't wait for January 1st to begin a new year? We start with the first Sunday in Advent. (Let them answer.) That's right, we start all over again and begin by looking forward to the coming of Jesus. This morning we are looking forward to the time when Jesus will return and that means we ...

387. One Final Meeting

Sermon

Carroll Gunkel

Henry Senkiewicz, in his novel of the early days of Christianity, QUO VADIS, relates a poignant meeting. Simon Peter, having faced persecution, and believing he can endure no more, decides to leave Rome and, in so doing, save his life. While on the Appian Way, Peter has a vision wherein he meets the Lord Jesus walking toward him and Rome. Falling on his knees, humbly before the Lord, Simon Peter asks, "Quo vadis, domine?" "Where are you going, Lord?" To which Jesus responds, "If thou desert my people, I am ...

388. Uses of the Past

Philippians 3:4b-16

Sermon

Mark Trotter

There is a man in New York who has gained notoriety because he refuses to join the 20th century. In a few months he will refuse to join the 21st century. He wears high button shoes, and Prince Albert coats. He has mutton chop sideburns, and a handlebar mustache. He lives in a garret in Greenwich Village. He reads Dickens and Jane Eyre, only 19th century novels, and shuns all the things he can that have been manufactured in the 20th century. Now my children, and certain members of this staff, accuse me of ...

389. Using Persuasion to Change People's Minds

Illustration

G. Collins

Effective Communication and Persuasion People are more likely to change their opinions if you state your beliefs than if you let the audience draw their own conclusions. Pleasant forms of distraction can increase the effectiveness of a persuasive appeal. Information, by itself, almost never produces permanent changes. In time, the effects of oratory and persuasive communication wear off. People are more likely to change when the message is repeated more than once, and when the desired conclusion is ...

390. One Forgetful Day

Illustration

Lewis Timberlake

It was a beautiful summer day and Clarence was enjoying a row in the boat with his lovely girlfriend, anticipating the picnic they would have when they got to the island in the center of the lake. These were days when young men and young ladies wore more than shorts and t-shirts when out in public. Clarence had donned a spiffy suit with a high collar, and his female companion had on a long dress with billowing petticoats underneath. Clarence masculinely pulled on the wooden oars as his date sat coolly ...

391. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream and Daniel’s Interpretation: Part One

Daniel 2:1-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

2:1–13 · The king and his astrologers:In Nebuchadnezzar’s second year (2:1; 604 BC), he has a dream that disturbs him greatly. He turns to the traditional wisdom of his time by calling on his sages—“the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers” (2:2)—to tell him what his dream means. They are all too ready to please the king, and ask for the particulars of the dream. Their request is “in Aramaic” (2:4), the official language of the Babylonian Empire. (Here begins the Aramaic section of Daniel, ...

392. Come Clean

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Charley Reeb

There is an old story about a mother of eight who walked into her house after visiting with a neighbor and found her five youngest children huddled together in the middle of the living room. On closer examination, she discovered that her children were gathered around a family of skunks. Utterly shocked, she screamed, “Run, children, run!” Responding to their mother’s command, each child grabbed a skunk and ran.[1] This story is a poignant parable of our sinful nature. Like giddy children huddled together ...

393. Trials and Temptations

James 1:1-18, James 1:19-27

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Wisdom for Life’s Tests 1:1 The letter from James opens with a simple and direct greeting. The writer identifies himself simply as James, a servant of God. There was only one James so well known in the early church that he would need no other form of identification, and that was James the Just, brother of Jesus, leader of the church in Jerusalem. The readers are expected to recognize the name. Yet for all his prominence and important position in the church (so important that the letter from Jude begins, “ ...

394. Listening and Doing

James 1:19-27, James 1:1-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

395. The Law and the Promise

Galatians 3:15-25, Galatians 3:1-14

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

3:1–2 The apostle begins this section of his letter by addressing his readers as foolish Galatians! This designation appears to have been a common one for the Galatian tribes who were often considered barbarians and “foolish.” The ancient Greek writer Callimachus (c. 305–c. 240 B.C.), for instance, uses the word as if it were a standard epithet, writing: “the foolish tribe of the Galatians” (Hymn 4, To Delos [Mair, LCL]). Paul uses this epithet to remind the Galatians that they need not be as they once ...

396. Faith or Observance of the Law

Galatians 3:1-14, Galatians 3:15-25

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

Paul’s Appeal to the Gospel the Galatians Have Known and Experienced 3:1–2 The apostle begins this section of his letter by addressing his readers as foolish Galatians! This designation appears to have been a common one for the Galatian tribes who were often considered barbarians and “foolish.” The ancient Greek writer Callimachus (c. 305–c. 240 B.C.), for instance, uses the word as if it were a standard epithet, writing: “the foolish tribe of the Galatians” (Hymn 4, To Delos [Mair, LCL]). Paul uses this ...

397. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Prejudice and the Poor In chapter 2 James expands upon the theme of worldliness and the care of widows. Worldliness shows up not only as personal ambition but also in a church’s paying regard to someone’s worldly power and position rather than dealing only on the basis of that person’s spiritual position in Christ. This issue, in turn, leads to the statement of the need for generosity and to a warning against a complacent orthodoxy that stops short of gospel obedience (2:14–26). 2:1 My brothers recognizes ...

398. Faith and Deeds

James 2:14-26, James 2:1-13

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

399. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Sarcastic Introduction Job’s response to Bildad’s third speech is extended (six chapters long)—even for the usually loquacious Job! Many commentators divide up the chapters attributed to Job to supply an extension to Bildad’s brief speech, as well as to wholly reconstruct a missing third speech for Zophar. Such reconstruction, however, can only proceed on a presumptive assumption of what each speaker would have said—and is thus controlled ultimately by the reconstructor’s theory rather than challenged and ...

400. Marriage

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

The seventh chapter of Paul’s letter to Corinth is a complex and challenging series of related observations and directions that have often lost or puzzled later readers of the epistle. Paul’s statements in these verses are more often misunderstood than grasped and appreciated for what they say. The commentary that follows will focus on smaller segments of the writing in an effort to elucidate and explicate Paul’s thinking and teachings. Verse 1 states the Corinthians’ position. Verse 2 states Paul’s ...

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