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 4051 to 4075 of 4952 results

4051. Fulfilling the Vision

Acts 2:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . Of course, they were complimentary. However, the Chinese pastor who was among the group said, “You know, if I jumped around like Dr. Olds does in the pulpit on Sunday morning, they would think I was drunk with whiskey". You realize that the bystanders on Pentecost Sunday thought the Disciples were drunk with cheap wine. But Peter said, “These people are not drunk as some of you suspect. It is just 9:00 o'clock in the morning." I need to tell you, I'm not drunk on Kentucky bourbon but I am high on ...

4052. Doing What Disciples Do

John 15:12-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... always seeks to get, is immature, at best, and unbearable, at its worst. Paul said, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put away childish things.” Have you? Have I? Abide in love ... twist of tobaccey.” Old Lemm Forrester smelled something suspicious. “I never heard a man run his own dog down that way,” thought Lemm. “Must be something special about that dog.” So the next day Lemm came over to Penny’s place with a ...

4053. Unusual Joy

Psalm 126:1-6

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... -feet, ice cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags! And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, is a whole lot more. Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! Joy is much more than pleasure or fun. Joy is divinity dancing ...

4054. Building Boats That Float

Genesis 6:1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . Never underestimate the power of one faithful person. As Bonaro Overstreet wrote: You say the little efforts that I make Will do no good. They never will prevail To tip the hovering scale where injustice hangs in the balance. I don’t think, I ever thought they would But I am prejudiced beyond debate In favor of my right to choose which side Shall find the stubborn ounces of my weight. One man saved humanity. The Lord, smelling the sweet aroma of Noah’s acts of worship says, “Never again will life ...

4055. Embracing an Endless Line of Servants

1 Corinthians 3:5-23

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... auditorium. To his complete surprise the place is packed with former students who have assembled to honor him. In what he thought was marking time, he had made a lasting impression upon the lives of others. Their lives had been shaped and formed ... it, you and I, for twenty, forty, sixty, eighty, or ninety years; we have lived and moved and had our being. There were times we never thought we would and nearly didn’t make it. There were times we almost hoped we wouldn’t make it and we were ready to give ...

4056. Finding Our Place In All Creation

Job 38:1-18

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... the poet. We decide our place in the rhythm of the universe. “My grandpa says you learn most everything after you think you know it all," says Dennis the Menace in a Hank Ketchum cartoon. What have you learned since you thought you knew it all? What have you discovered about life since you thought you had it all nailed down and figured out? Sometimes we learn the most after we think we know it all. Somebody asked the American historian, Charles A. Beard, if he could write down the great lessons of life in ...

4057. Foundations are Critical

Matthew 7:24-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of Jesus become in the 21st century what Paul described in the 1st century as a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks? I just want to say, as one whose life has been something less than a rose garden, I take great comfort in the thought of a Savior who suffers along with me. When the woes of life o’er take me, Hopes deceive and fears annoy, Never shall the cross forsake me, Lo, it glows with peace and joy. Bane and blessing, pain and pleasure By the cross are sanctified. Peace is there ...

4058. What Power Has He?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... and personal extravagance. Then I saw the spider hole where he spent the last days of his life. I watched the endless running of the tapes as a doctor searched his head for lice. I thought how he more closely resembled a homeless man on a street than one of the most powerful men of the world. Then I was drawn back to Christmas. And I thought about Jesus born in a manger. He was a simple man, this Jesus, but didn't He love and didn't He shine? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus Let all heaven and earth proclaim Kings and ...

4059. Come to Bethlehem and See

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, God has been with me. His rod and staff they comforted me. Lord, you are worthy of our praise. You deserve to be worshiped. Let us pause and worship and praise God. Former NFL star, John Borrough, said, “I thought the highlight of my life would be to play in a Super Bowl. Then in 1998 I got my chance with the Atlanta Falcons. In the middle of all the explosions and hoopla and happening, all I could think was, is this it? Is this all there is? Why ...

4060. About Whose Business Was He?

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... they did because they practiced their religion to the max. On the way home, Jesus gets lost. Parenting is a little like bungee jumping; you don't know what will happen until you reach the end of your rope. It was one of those “he thought-she thought" family misunderstandings. You have been there. Men walked on the outside of the caravan for safety purposes. Women walked in the middle. Children played back and forth, as children do, so nobody really noticed that Jesus was not with them until an entire day ...

4061. What Would Jesus Say About the Media?

Mark 9:1-9

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , stories that are important to individuals, the people that we call our audience, people that live in Middle Tennessee. We make judgments on a daily basis. What’s important right now? Probably all of our thoughts and prayers are with the service men that are being deployed. Last year I was in Afghanistan for two weeks because we thought it was important to tell the story of the men and women who were serving over there. Today we are sending a crew to Iraq because we think it is important again. Dr. Olds ...

4062. The Bread We Daily Need

Luke 11:1-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , knock for it until the door opens to it. Give us bread. DAY BY DAY. Give us this day our daily bread. When the children of Israel were delivered from the slavery of Egypt they thought they had it made. Their songs of freedom, however, soon turned to murmurs of complaint. Water and food were scarce in the desert. Some thought they had it better back in Egypt. Out there in the desert the Lord provided. At twilight quail landed. At dawn manna descended. This white-like wafer with a honey-like taste kept them ...

4063. The Calling of Our Baptism

Luke 3:21-22; Matthew 28:18-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... gold watch, set you on the shelf, and let you draw social security. Out we go. We get our names on diplomas, awards, books and buildings. We come home and still wonder who we are. When I earned my doctorate degree, my father who was a farmer said, “I always thought those little initials after people’s names were kind of like a tail on a pig. They are kind of cute to look at but they don’t necessarily make any more hog.” So we look for an identity. We long for a name. By the waters of baptism we ...

4064. Finding Our Reason For Being

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... a plaque hanging on the wall dedicated to members who had lost their lives in military service. The pastor walked up to Alex, put his arm around him and said, “Do you know what that is? That is a memorial to all our members who died in the service.” Alex thought for a moment and asked, “Which one, the 8:30 or the 11:00 a.m. service?” I suppose there are those who think worship can bore you to death but I beg to differ. Worship is the heartbeat of a congregation. As worship goes, so goes the Church ...

4065. What is the Future of Marriage?

Mark 12:18-27

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . First you need to know that I am not a politician, not even a very good church politician, and it’s certainly not my intent to make a political statement today. Furthermore, it would not be correct to classify me as a theologian. The deeper caverns of religious thought I have gladly left to those more scholarly than I. What I try to be is a local pastor who lives among the people and climbs the steps of this pulpit every seven days on trembling knees trying to make sense out of my life and the lives ...

4066. The Door of Prayer

1 Timothy 2:1-8

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... We pray for others because it's often hard to pray for ourselves. Grief and disease attack both body and soul. When you are down in the valley, prayer becomes difficult. The soul becomes numb. As I struggled in the hospital last November, I was comforted by the thought of thousands holding me up in prayer. At one of my lowest moments, I asked the Lord to remind me that I was not alone. The next morning there appeared at my window a tiny sparrow. It came back the next day and the next. Slowly the scriptures ...

4067. The Power of a Helping Hand

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... . I could get sued. “Before I could come to my better senses, other people came to this man’s aid, picked him up and carried him out of the street and I went on to make a speech about sensitivity and caring for the needs of other human beings. I thought when I finished my talk, how hypocritical can you be?” A religion that passes by on the other side is really no religion at all. Who is my neighbor? A robber says nobody, what’s yours is mine and I’ll take it. The religious people say some people ...

4068. What Can Christians Learn from Buddhists?

Romans 8:18, 28

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... painful for a mother. Growing up is painful for a child. Losing the things we love is painful for us all; disease and death happen. Life is just one pain after another; we understand that. As I prepared this sermon I kept getting distracted by the thoughts of persons for whom I am presently praying: a woman waiting for a stem cell transplant, a ten-year-old and a six-year-old fighting leukemia, a businessman reduced to disability, a newcomer recovering from surgery, a member who lost his father, a friend of ...

4069. Why Am I a Christian?

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... being. He knitted us together in our mother's womb." I don't believe in predestination. I don't easily march to the beat of anybody's drum. I like the concept of free will. But recently I've come to realize that I am not as free as I thought I was. I didn't ask to be born. I didn't choose my relatives. While my parents were far from perfect, they believed in God, and dedicated themselves to the mission of making their children believers. People ask me how I became a minister. Jokingly I reply, “If you ...

4070. What Can Christians Learn from Hindus?

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... with a Hindu guru. I ask, “Is your religion monotheistic or polytheistic? Do you have many gods or one God?" The guru thoughtfully replies, “Yes." “Is your God transcendent or immanent? Is God up there or down here?" I ask. He replies, “Certainly." Feeling ill ... . Some have success– others are constant losers. Galatians 6:7 says, “A man reaps whatever he sows." Hindus take that thought to its ultimate extreme. For Christians it's grace, the law of pardon. “Because of His great love for us, God ...

4071. From Pride to Humility

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... is simple: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner." You can remember that, I can remember that. It's a prayer any of us can pray: Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. God forgives sinners. A soldier asked an Abba if God accepted repentance. The old man thought a moment and then replied “Tell me, dear friend, if your coat is torn, do you throw it away?" “No," replied the soldier, “I mend it and use it again." “Ah," said the Abba, “if you are so careful about your coat, will not God be equally careful ...

4072. From Lust to Love

1 Corinthians 13: 1

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... ago, Mark said his normal 11-year-old curiosity about nudity became for him a compulsion that led him to stealing magazines at the local drug store, which he used for a sexual high to numb the loneliness and emptiness he felt inside. When he got married, Mark thought the compulsion would stop. It got worse. It led to the secret life of massage parlors and strip joints and cyber-sex. Eventually he crossed the line with a client and all of his life fell apart. He lost his job; he had to deal with his wife ...

4073. Make Disciples—Intentionally

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... of girls. You know how it can be with seventh grade girls. People can be cruel. They are not being very receptive as girls can be. They shun her, tease her. One day on the way home from school she asks her mother “Are all people like that? I thought God told us to love one another. How come no girls at the school love me at all?" Checking out the scene, searching around the edges, trying to find out what a disciple might really be. Sam Shoemaker some years ago jotted down this creed for his life entitled ...

4074. In Prayer’s Way

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... fell to my knees. In the privacy of my room I begged for help. I had no notion who I thought I was talking to, I just knew that I had come to the end of my tether. I had nothing left to fight with. Then I remembered what I had heard about surrender, something ... I thought I could never do, my pride just wouldn’t allow it, but I knew that on my own I wasn’t going to make it, so I ...

4075. Reconsider

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... cannot handle it alone that we ask God to handle it for us. Self-sufficient people are reluctant to do that. They need to do it anyway. Sometimes we need to look so deeply into a problem that we discover a possibility. When Goliath came against the Israelites, the soldiers thought ‘He's so big we can never kill him.' David looked at the same giant and thought ‘He's so big, I can't miss him.' With God's help we can turn problems into possibilities.

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