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 4201 to 4225 of 4455 results

4201. Road Rage

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

When our children were small, a nice church lady named Chris made them a child-friendly creche. All the actors in this stable drama are soft and squishy and durable - perfect to touch and rearrange - or toss across the living room in a fit of toddler frenzy. The Joseph character has always been my favorite because he looks a little wild - red yarn spiking out from his head, giving him an odd look of energy. In fact, I have renamed this character John the Baptist and in my mind substituted one of the ...

4202. Don't Fit In, Fit Together

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In every culture there are radically different standards that define beauty. For some its a neck elongated by brass rings feet bound up into crippling smallness pumped up biceps and six-pack abs cinched up, hour-glass waists Yet across the world researchers have found there's one standard, one constant that universally defines beauty: symmetry. When individuals from dozens of different countries and cultures were asked to identify the most beautiful faces, it was the most symmetrical faces that were ...

4203. How Can Religion Go Bad Doing Good?

Matthew 7:21-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Public art. If ever there were fight'n words, these two simple words, "public art" would certainly qualify. The moment the intention for any new public artistic display is announced, the public outcry begins - an outcry that only reaches its full volume when the new piece is unveiled. The opening of the new Holocaust Memorial in the heart of Berlin is no exception. From the moment the memorial first became a topic of discussion seventeen years ago, the fur began to fly. Battles began between the German ...

4204. Straw Polls and Soul Quakes

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Anyone who has ever lived in a small town can tell you the meaning of MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction. At the height of the Cold War, it was MAD that kept the United States and the Soviet Union from blowing each other to bits. You unleash a nuclear weapon on me, and I'll push a button that will send your way an equally devastating nuclear weapon. It is this same MAD-ness – Mutually Assured Destruction – that keeps every small town together. There are no secrets in small towns. When everybody knows ...

4205. Learning the Three Step Faith Walk

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The January 2004 edition of Trail magazine has got some 'splaining to do. Trail is a British publication that provides maps and suggests particularly beautiful or challenging hiking trials to the growing number of devoted hill-walkers throughout Great Britain. Unfortunately if anyone had followed the seemingly precise, detailed directions given by the magazine to reach the summit of Britain's largest mountain, Ben Nevis, they would have hiked straight off a sheer cliff and ended up in a broken heap at the ...

4206. A Sign or a Son?

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

If you've ever driven across this great country of ours, you've undoubtedly heard of a place called Wall Drug Store. Not Wal-Mart Drug Store. Wall Drug Store. Though located in Wall, South Dakota (pop. 800), this little business starts advertising its distant presence while you're at least a dozen states away. Especially on interstate 90 somewhere around Idaho to the West and Iowa to the East, strange little signs start popping up every couple hundred miles. "Only 2314 miles to Wall Drug." Or "Just 829 ...

4207. Are You Running?

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

One of the most striking things about Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are the big crowds. We love big crowds and we welcome big crowds. Dressed in new spring clothing (and probably freezing in it!), those who aren't quite regular attenders will swell our numbers next week as the church celebrates the spring miracle of Easter. It's exhilarating to be part of a big crowd, a great gathering of happy, expectant worshipers reaffirming our faith and refilling our spirits with the hopes and promises of the ...

4208. A New Calling

Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Comedian Garry Shandling once commented on the phenomenon of wake-up calls in hotels. He says: “Here’s a little tip from me to you as an experienced traveler: Wake-up calls--one of the worst ways to wake up. The phone rings; it’s loud; you can’t turn it down.” Then with impeccable timing Shandling adds, “I leave the number of the room next to me, and then it just rings kind of quiet, and you hear a guy yell, ‘What are you calling me for?’ Then you get up and take a shower. It’s great.” (1) True story. A ...

4209. Epiphany 2

Psalm 40:1-17, Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-34, John 1:35-42

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS As the Gospel lesson for this week indicates, the baptism of Jesus remains the point of focus, and thus the theme of commissioning continues to play a central role in this Second Sunday After Epiphany. The continuity of theme in the Gospels is also carried through in the Old Testament lessons, because Isaiah 49:1-7 is the second of the Servant Songs. Both Isaiah 49:1-7 and Psalm 40:1-11 explore what it means to be commissioned as the people of God. Isaiah 49:1-7 outlines the character ...

4210. Joy Unbounded, Glory Fulfilled

John 11:1-45

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

Pastor/Bishop Kenneth Ulmer (Inglewood, California) envisions the animating, life-fulfilling power of the Holy Spirit as 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 those balloons, they begin to rise, stand up, and stand tall. They become individuals, people and creatures that we recognize and love. Once on ...

4211. Qualities Needed In All Moms

2 Timothy 1:5

Illustration

Brett Blair

A panel of experts was asked to complete some sentences about their moms. What made them experts was the one thing they all had in common. They were all kindergarteners. Even though these are the words of 6 year olds I think the qualities they recognized in their moms are they qualities needed in all moms. Here are the sentences and the answers: My mom is best at: "feeding the dog," "making my bed," "driving," "cleaning," "running," "riding a two-wheeler," "watering the garden." If I had enough money, I'd ...

4212. God Is Like a Father

Mt 6:25-34

Illustration

King Duncan

For many of us the injustice of this world, combined with the love of the Father, is the best assurance we have of a world beyond this one. Someday, somehow, somewhere accounts must be settled. In Marjorie Rawling's beautiful novel, The Yearling, set in rural Florida, there is a scene in which friends and family gather around the grave of a little handicapped boy named Fodderwing. There was no minister present so one of the men of the community offered up this simple but moving prayer: "Almighty God, it ...

4213. Is Sunday Just a Fun Day?

Exodus 20:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

It was an ad in Newsweek magazine that caught my attention because of the first two words: In bold print it said, SUNDAY MORNING; but listen to the ad in its entirety: "SUNDAY MORNING: Time to kick back, get comfortable, and perfect the art of doing absolutely nothing. The ideal companion? Pioneers new PD-M710, 6-disc CD player. Now you can enjoy up to six hours of your favorite music without lifting a finger...all of which means you can spend less time changing your music, and more time enjoying it, but ...

4214. Preach the World and Reach the World

2 Timothy 4:1-5

Sermon

James Merritt

A young preacher just out of the seminary had been called to pastor a church in a college town. Most of the college professors were members of the church. As he thought about that cultured congregation, he became very intimidated in preparing his first sermon. He called his dad, who was a wise and godly pastor, and said, "Dad, I'm having a hard time preparing my sermon. If I talk about geology I will be looking at a Ph.D. in geology. If I talk about sociology I will be staring at a Ph.D. in sociology. If I ...

4215. Courage Under Fire

Jude 1:22-23

Sermon

James Merritt

As you know, the Louvre is one of the most famous art museums in all of Europe. They once ran a contest in a newspaper, providing a prize to the person that gave the best answer to this question: "If a fire broke out in the Louvre, and you could save only one painting, which one would it be?" Well, Tristan Bernard, a French novelist, won the prize with this reply: "I would save the one nearest the exit."1 That is not quite the type of courage I want to speak about today. I am speaking about the courage we ...

4216. Joy to the World

Luke 2:8-12

Sermon

James Merritt

If you were to ask anyone on the street what is the most joyful time of the year? Without any question, it would be practically unanimous that Christmas is the most joyful time of the year. One of the carols you will hear everywhere you go is one entitled, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." In 1719 Isaac Watts wrote a hymn that came to be entitled, "Joy to the World." Now the interesting thing about this song is, the only stanza that is related to Christmas and the birth of Jesus, is the first one ...

4217. The Law of the Harvest

Psalm 126:5-6

Sermon

James Merritt

Recently while being on a mission trip in Romania, I had the privilege of staying overnight in London, England. While touring that beautiful city, I was standing in front of Westminster Abbey, the beautiful church where all of the monarchs of England are crowned, and the site of the funeral of Princess Diana. I thought about an elderly lady who was in a group of tourists visiting London, and the guide was explaining the history behind Westminster Abbey. She interrupted him and said, "Young man! young man! ...

4218. Guilt: How to Keep Your Conscience Clear

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

Ogden Nash once wrote this little couplet: There’s only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, And that is to have either a clear conscience or none at all.1 Perhaps the most powerful and poisonous of all human emotions is the emotion of guilt. Guilt can make a person afraid of their own shadow. There is a story told of the time when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the English writer, who created the character Sherlock Holmes, decided to play a practical joke on twelve of his best friends. He sent ...

4219. High Noon

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Ah, the changing seasons, the unfolding of each new day, like the seasons of a life. This week we were up north for Judy's birthday - the first day of summer, the longest day of the year - and experienced once again: The glory and freshness of dawn, which comes so early right now in the north country, like the eager excitement of early life - first child, first grandchild, first steps, new experiences. The seasons of life. Then the steady stability of the afternoon of life when much has been accomplished, ...

4220. Secret Revealed

Romans 16:25-27

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

At last it happens! Jesus the Christ is born of a woman and is here for all to see in flesh and blood. Paul, as is often the case, is in a celebrative mood. It is as though all of creation is pulsating with his entrance into history. Human nature has a way of enjoying secrets and naturally wants exposures to occur. We are fascinated by the possibility of something or someone being revealed. In this case it is far more than fascinating. It is thrilling beyond adequate words to depict. History seems to stop ...

4221. Are You a Taker or a Giver?

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

It was quite a picture — on the front of the New York Times magazine. There were the "Little Big People" as the cover article names them — "little big people" who are precocious, even out of control, with affluent parents who have only themselves to blame. The picture shows a yuppie- dressed eight- or nine-year-old boy, stylish, cool with his own cellular phone in hand. In the center is a modishly over-dressed twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl, stylish, sexy, and eating high priced Chinese take-out food. ...

4222. Our Prayers Are Our Thanksgiving

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands — one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands — one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. How many of us memorized these words as part of our morning classroom ritual in elementary school? Probably most folks gathered here. Some of us still recite ...

4223. Truth And Action

1 John 3:11-24, Acts 4:1-22

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship One: This Jesus is "the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone." Two: There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved. (Based on Acts 4:11-12) Collect Lord, Lord, we say, Lord, Lord, with our eyes to the heavens, but you are not to be found in the skies, Heavenly Father, but in the unloved, the suffering, the marginalized, the oppressed, the forgotten. We turn our eyes away from the ...

4224. A Deserted Place

Mark 1:29-39

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship Slow down. Slow ... down. Hear ... the ... Lord. Collect Deserted. Desert. Arrested. Arid. Spare. Bare. Stranger. Danger. Strife. Life Life? Life in deserted places and spaces. Retreat! And stay. Pray. In the midst of God's mission and the cares of the world we carve out a niche, kneel with our Lord, and pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession We gather together as sisters and brothers, Lord of all life, to pray for your presence. Speak to us and in us, through us, and all around us. Nothing ...

4225. You Just Don’t Know

Mark 10:35-45

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

Call To Worship Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers. Praise the Lord! (based on Psalm 104:1-4, 35c) Collect God of fire, God of wind, God of rain, God of growing, your power is ...

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