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 4151 to 4175 of 4981 results

4151. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... force: hunger (v.17). The son decides to return home and throw himself on his father's mercy only because he feels he is starving to death. The father's reaction is so overwhelmingly joyous, so unexpectedly elated, that the reader is rightly ... as the father's love had driven him out of his house and down the road to welcome home his younger son _ so the love the father feels for his older son again pulls him out the door and into the fields to be with him in his anger. For quite a while, the father "pleads ...

4152. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... for Christ's sake, which is for the salvation of others, will find themselves securely part of an eternal relationship with God. The rhetorical questions in verses 36-37 highlight the fragile mortality of humanity and emphasize our dependency on the divine. Whatever gains we may feel we have made in this life, the old truism remains that "you can't take it with you." The value of our life was established before we were born. It is a gift we receive with our first breath, a gift we can never repay. Following ...

4153. Galatians 6:7-18

Galatians 6:7-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of Christ, boasting and persecution are all sandwiched into these terse lines. The "marks of Jesus" he bears (v.17) are most likely the scars Paul has earned by preaching the truth of this "new creation" to an old and corrupt world. And despite the sternness of verse 17, Paul feels enough unity and camaraderie with those in the Galatian community to add the vocative "brother" (the NRSV adds "sisters" as well) to his usual closing blessing. Perhaps because of their foibles and follies, Paul ...

4154. Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in this text the work of the Father (vv.3-6), the work of the Son (vv.7-12), and the work of the Holy Spirit (vv.13-14). The glorious language and almost run-on nature of the thoughts perhaps reflect the spiritual joy and excitement the writer feels at relating what he has discovered "in the heavenly places" (v.3). These "heavenly places" are referred to four other times (1:20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12), but the phrase is found nowhere else in the New Testament. The exalted tone and vocabulary have led commentators ...

4155. Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to live in harmony and justice with one's neighbor. At first the young man is delighted with Jesus' words. He feels confident he has kept all these commandments "since my youth" (v.20). Mark's gospel, unlike Matthew's and Luke's ... already given up their past lives and livelihoods in order to follow him, Jesus refuses to let Peter and the others bask in a "feel-good" moment. The cost of their discipleship is not yet revealed. Awaiting them are "persecutions" as many and as varied as the people and possessions ...

4156. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... her home and struggled to juggle career, family and personal growth. Marita had found strength in her church; Arianne felt isolated and alone. Marita invited Arianne to join her because the people, she said, are welcoming and affirming. "You won't feel lost," she said. "You'll feel found!" Now they laugh as they meet new friends. Arianne goes with Marita to a prayer group, and they work together on a project to provide garden plots where inner-city people can grow produce. And once, when Arianne showed up ...

4157. Luke 7:36-8:3

Luke 7:36-8:3

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... with the environment his host has provided, Jesus offers a parable as a means of corrective teaching. The parable of the canceled debts leads Simon and Luke's readers to conclude that the greater the debt forgiven the more love the debtor will feel towards the creditor. There is some difficulty in making the actions in Jesus' parable and Jesus' actions in the story itself agree. In the parable, forgiveness precedes love. In the story, however, the woman seems to love before Jesus offers her forgiveness. The ...

4158. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that Paul himself had not visited the Colossian Christians. His relationship with them has been through other ministers of the Word he had witnessed to and sent out on the road. Perhaps because he is not personally known by this congregation, Paul feels it necessary to present himself in this letter's salutation with clear credentials. He is "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus" (v.1). While he spends considerable effort in this letter upholding the validity of the teaching the Colossians had received from ...

4159. 2 Timothy 1:1-14

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... gentle reprimand. In verses 6-7, Paul first "reminds" his coworker in ministry of the empowering touch, the laying on of hands, that transformed this young man into a church leader, administrator and spiritual mentor for new fragile Christians. The fact that Paul feels the need to "remind" Timothy of this suggests that the apostle had some evidence that his friend was slipping back into old habits, or allowing the reins of church leadership and spiritual enthusiasm to slip from his grasp. But if this is a ...

4160. Learning to Love Ourselves

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

James McCormick

... many problems that causes! The world is full of people with low self images who get up in the morning and go off to work feeling that they must prove their worth. They must earn the approval and acceptance of others. I tell you, that is a hellish way to live. ... in life, for me, is to be able to go into the bathroom at the end of the day, look at myself in the mirror, and feel pretty good about the person I see there. That’s important! If I can’t like him, I will have difficulty loving him over time. I ...

4161. Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew 3:13-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of even carrying out Jesus' wish. Jesus' response in 3:15 dispels John's anxieties while demonstrating the Matthean theme of acceptance. Just as Jesus seeks baptism out of obedience to his Father's call to "fulfill all righteousness," John must overcome his feelings of inadequacy and carry out the baptism as a sign of his obedience. Jesus submits to John's baptism and John submits to Jesus' command that he baptize him. Both embody the posture of acceptance. The baptismal rite that John practiced was not ...

4162. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to sound a solo note. It is much more likely that John chose Thomas as a convenient foil for his dramatization of the doubtful spirit that characterized the earliest days of the church. Thomas' petulant demand that he must physically see and feel the gruesome wounds from Jesus' crucifixion might serve as intentional hyperbole - pointing up how ludicrous the demands of doubters can become when doubts are given full rein. Thomas' demand might be better understood as illustrating John's parody of doubters who ...

4163. Romans 13:8-14

Romans 13:8-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... compelled to make clear just what kind of love he means. This love has nothing to do with sexual appetite or legalized licentiousness. Agape love is not an emotion or a spontaneous upwelling of good feelings. Just as Torah law was established and maintained through rigorous, disciplined practice, so the command, the "law" of agape-love, will also be instituted and vitalized through intentionally cultivated attitudes and carefully carried out actions. In verse 10 Paul uses a chiastic sentence structure to ...

4164. 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... more personal and more evocative of the nurturing, loving, selfless, even sacrificing attitude Paul is trying to convey to the Thessalonians. The image of a mother tenderly nursing her child also makes Paul's words in verse 8 more familiar and comprehensible. The depth of feeling treasured by Paul for these Thessalonians leads him to want to do anything he can, offer anything he has to them for their well-being. Paul knows that the most wonderful gift he has to offer is, in fact, what God sent him to bring ...

4165. Mark 16:1-8

Mark 16:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you" (v.7), the ending of Mark's gospel might be more palatable if it concluded at that point. Undoubtedly it is the final verse that leaves such a gnawing feeling of incompleteness to his narrative. The women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome the only ones who stood by their teacher and witnessed his crucifixion and death, the ones who watched him be buried, the ones who faithfully came to his tomb to tend ...

4166. Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:24-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... him to cure the man of his dual malady. A common chorus of stubborn, demanding insistence colors both these encounters perhaps because those who compassionately speak for another feel the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. In both instances, those begging Jesus for healing personally know how great the need for healing is and feel called to seek relief for the other. Jesus' presence in Tyre may indicate his realization that occasional readjustments in one's trajectory are necessary. While he was ...

4167. Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ," "soul," "mind" and "strength" are stipulated. The original Hebrew had no need to designate both "heart" and "mind," for the Hebrew concept of heart included both the emotional and intellectual center of an individual. The heart was both a thinking and a feeling organ. "Soul" in Hebrew is less than "spirit," more than "self", including as it does the human will, needs and desires. Mark's use of "strength" (Greek ischus) instead of "might" is also more literally muscle-bound than the original Hebrew for ...

4168. Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... pittance this woman puts into the treasury is hard to calculate, but estimates range from 1/4 to 1/96 of a denarius. Obviously, the point is that this is an extremely small sum. But it is not the woman's poverty that makes her gift significant. Jesus feels compelled to comment on this woman's gift because she, alone among all the contributors lined up to give their offering, gave her all. The very rich, who had put in much; the moderately well-off, who had put in a decent amount; the struggling, who sneaked ...

4169. Philippians 4:4-7

Philippians 4:4-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... gentle attitude is one that is non-retaliatory, an attitude where promoting peace, not keeping score, is the dominant goal. "Gentleness" counsels a certain amount of give-and-take. We know that Paul is hardly one to back away from a fight when he feels important theological and/or ethical issues are at stake. But there are other times when a "stiff neck" is not necessary. The simple phrase "The Lord is near" could suggest a number of different interpretations. In conjunction with the thrust of the rest of ...

4170. Out of Nazareth

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... can never properly see Nazareth. Our vision will forever be squeezed and squinted through Nathanael’s dismissal. So why did John feel it was so important to preserve this rotten reputation for poor old Nazareth? What does a bad rep for Jesus’ “hometown ... of Nazareth?” is the verbal intensive care we all need to hear. It tells the truth to all of us, because we all feel like we are from Nazareth. The best evidence that proves America is not yet quite a cleanly classless society is our across-the-board ...

4171. God Loses, So We Can Win

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... hair would be used to put on Jacob’s hands and neck. In his latter years Isaac had grown blind. So Jacob goes into his father. He takes the stew his mother had made. He wears the goat’s skin. Isaac says, “You don’t sound like Esau, but you feel and smell like him. And so he blessed him.” When Esau returned, it didn’t take long for them to figure out what had happened. Esau cries out, “ But Father, don’t you have a blessing for me too?” Isaac answered No. In that Father’s Day sermon, I ...

4172. Facing the Wild Beasts Within

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... about it. We learn to love by being with people who love us and each other. C. “Dependent faith” The second style or expansion of faith is “Dependent faith.” This is often the faith of the elementary and middle school child. It is characterized by feeling and emotion rather than the intellect and analysis. There’s a strong need to belong, to be known by name, to have a role to play in the group, and to be missed when absent. There’s identification with an authority figure, who is admired and ...

4173. Memories of Home: The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... rather than sweet. The Younger Son creates for himself a world in which everything he thinks will satisfy can be had by becoming homeless, disconnected. No one will tell him what to do. No one will measure him by his Big Brother’s yardstick. No one will make him feel bad for being who he is and for not being who he isn’t. The younger son travels to a far country. He has a good time. Until his money runs out. Then the perfect storm strikes. Just when he becomes broke, a famine hits. There’s no food ...

4174. No More Static Cling!

John 20:10-18

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... Church.” III. The Resurrection Conspiracy The Risen Christ is moving the stones that keep people in the cave tombs, sealed from life. We all have in our lives something that we believe to be fixed, unchangeable. It feels like we’re in a cave tomb with a stone at the door. The stone feels immovable. We can’t get out and nothing can get in. It is slowly killing us. What afflicted people in Jesus’ day still afflicts people today. Think about those who received Jesus’ ministry. Think about the stones ...

4175. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 1

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... will prevail, because it is eternal. Let’s consider the first three of Jesus’ teachings. I. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. If you’ve ever been depressed, it doesn’t feel blessed. If life has dealt you one tragedy, one loss, one disappointment, after another, you don’t feel very blessed. Jesus says that in God’s new world such people are God’s top priority. Love can turn a curse into a blessing. I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh. We ...

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