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 401 to 425 of 1065 results

401. Where's Dad?

Matthew 2:13-18

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Theme: Parenting, fathering (A preaching subject may be on Joseph as a fatherly role model.) Characters: Brad Nelson Bowling Alley Proprietor Stranger Tone: Thoughtful, emotionally painful Setting/Props: Bowling alley setting with bowling balls Table and chairs Soda Telephone Approximate time: 5-7 minutes (Brad Nelson is sitting at a table sipping a soda. Bowling alley noises are heard in the background along with recorded Christmas carols. Bowling Alley Proprietor approaches Brad.) Proprietor: Can I get ...

402. Cheating Spouse Statistics

Illustration

Marriage has been a time honored tradition in society throughout human history, but it's also a time honoered tradition that spouses will cheat on one another. How and why? Here are some statistics: The percentage of affairs that begin at work: 60%. Up to 60% of all spouses will take part in some form of infidelity at least once during their marriage. 56% of men who have affairs claim to be happy in their marriages. Women and men cheat at the same rate within a marriage, although the reasons why women ...

403. Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week’s gospel text offers yet another healing story — a healing that is both dramatic for the cure it manifests and for the impact that cure had on Jesus’ public ministry. The recipient of Jesus’ healing powers in this story is particularly problematic — he is identified as a “leper.” The diagnosis of “leprosy” was applied to many different skin disorders in the first century. But whether or not the “leper” in today’s text actually suffered from what we now call Hansen’s Disease, or some other skin ...

404. There’s Still Time

Mt 6:1-2, 5-6

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Nowadays the cost of a dinner and a movie keeps going up, and a vacation can be especially expensive, but if I really want to go somewhere I just take the change out of my pocket and lay it on the desk. It's like a time machine. Each coin has a year stamped on it, and just thinking about the year helps me travel back in my memory. 1979 is the year my first son was born and the year I started in ministry. 1981 and 1983 are the years my daughter and second son were born. 1990 was when I moved to Indiana from ...

405. The Golf Shot That Destroyed an Airforce

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

A little girl had been naughty, so she was sent to her room for a quiet time. Afterward, all smiles, she returned to her family, saying, “I prayed to God.” “That’s good,” said her mother. “Did you pray that God would help you be a good girl?” “No,” she replied. “I prayed that God would help you put up with me.” Many of us are like that little girl. We do wrong, but rather than repenting of our sins, we pray that God will put up with us. And why not? It’s our nature to sin; it’s God’s nature to forgive. ...

406. Born in Bethlehem — Light

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

Have you ever awakened in the early hours before dawn? Thick darkness covers the earth. Trees, rivers, and houses obscured. Silence reigns supreme. Chill, as cool as melting ice, fills the air. Then slowly a faint flush of gray begins to roll through the blackness, forms take shape. Hazy colors appear. Suddenly, as a rocket explodes into space, the sun rises on the horizon. There is a glow on the hills. The leaves on the tree sparkle as they flutter in the soft breeze. The birds greet the new day with ...

407. Making Ourselves At Home

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

In a scene from the romantic comedy, ‘While You Were Sleeping', "Ox" Callaghan is waxing eloquent at the breakfast table one morning about those rare moments in life when everything seems to be going just right and falling into place. "In that one minute," he says, "you have peace." But his son, Jack, who is Ox's partner in the family business, has finally decided it is time to break the news to his dad that he wants out to start his own business, and so he bursts his father's bubble, saying, "Pop, this ...

408. The Two Ultimate Questions of Life

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

Someone has made a list of what she calls “The World’s Worse Questions.” Are you ready for these? Will you promise not to get mad it I ask you something? Do you have any statistics to back up that statement? You don’t honestly expect me to believe that, do you? Haven’t you any sense of humor? You don’t remember me, do you? Have I kept you waiting? NOW what’s the matter? You asleep? So what? WHEN are you going TO GROW UP? (1) The World’s worst questions. A friend once asked Isaac Isidor Rabi, a Nobel prize ...

409. Your Home Page

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What used to be true for boats is now equally true for cell phones. The best day of your life? The day you bought your boat. The second best day of your life? The day you sold your boat. That kind of love/hate relationship is even fiercer when it comes to our most beloved, most bemoaned tech toy — the “smart phone.” Every time you “upgrade” from a version “3" to “4” to “5” . . . it seems that only minutes later there is a version “6.” Almost as soon as you can get out your credit card, you are the proud ...

410. The Right Reason

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

David O. Bales

Two mornings a week I drive from Ontario, Oregon, to Caldwell, Idaho, to teach at College of Idaho. When gas prices shot up I got into the habit of driving slowly and increasing my miles per gallon. Driving slowly isn’t a hazard while in the country between the two towns. However, when I draw near Caldwell, the signs reduce speed to 65. There, in order to stay up with the larger flow of traffic, I must increase my speed so I don’t jam up traffic. We all end up driving a safe speed, but we do so for ...

411. Named, Claimed, and Framed

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Tony Everett

So, here we are just over one week after Easter Sunday. Vigils are finished. Sunrise services are over. Dishes from the youth breakfast have been washed and put away. Brass and tympani fanfares have concluded. Flowers on the cross have begun to wilt and blow away. Fewer pews are filled. In most communities, spring break is over. Easter vacations have ended. The return of familiar routines begin. The joy of Easter is still there, but it has diminished somewhat with a return to “the real world.” Nevertheless ...

412. Follow the Directions

Psalm 119:9, 18, 89

Sermon

James Merritt

There is one thing in common with every single person on this planet who has ever been born and who ever will be. It has never been more illustrated than it has in the 21st century. We have an unquenchable thirst and an insatiable appetite for information and communication. We want to know who is doing what and we want to know what people are doing. We’ve never been more saturated with information and more soaked with communication than we are today. From cell phones, to television, to email, to radios, to ...

413. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

There are two topics a pastor can talk about that are guaranteed to generate emails, letters, phone calls, discussion, and debate. Those topics are money and marriage. I knew that this series we are doing on marriage would generate a lot of interest, reveal a lot of anguish, and strike a lot of nerves. There is an old joke about marriage that goes like this: “Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond. At the end you wish you had a club and a spade!” ...

414. An Announcement from Our Lord

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

It is always interesting to read what children write. Sometimes they are completely candid. This candor shows in a list someone has made of children’s letters to Santa: “Dear Santa, “Could you come early this year? I’ve been really super good, but I don’t know if I can last much longer. Please hurry. Love, Jordan.” Now there’s an honest young man. “Dear Santa, “Mommy says that you only bring presents for good little boys. That isn’t fair. (Signed) Brian.” Sounds like Brian has already failed the test for ...

415. Jesus Casts Out Impure Spirits

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Today we’re going to talk about casting out demons or, as Mark calls them in today’s lesson, impure spirits. It’s not a subject that we talk about very much in church anymore, even though it figures prominently in the New Testament. Maybe at the end of today’s service I will perform an exorcism and cast out a demon . . . or not. Perhaps you have someone in mind that you think could profit from such an exorcism. But enough about members of Congress . . . Some of you will remember a movie that caused quite a ...

416. The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

Most people have some awareness of the Ten Commandments as a set of rules or laws but are less familiar with the significance of their relational context. Interpreters have also frequently examined the commands (law) in isolation from the narrative of Exodus 1–19. In the biblical context the commands are not abstractions of ethical principles. They are woven into a specific account in which the Lord had delivered, forgiven, redeemed, and formed the people. In the preceding chapter, the Lord had invited ...

417. A Squirrel Crossing a Busy Street

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

There’s a ridiculous story going around about a man trying to cross the street. However, when he steps off the curb a car comes screaming around the corner and heads straight for him. The man walks faster, trying to hurry across the street, but the car changes lanes and is still coming at him. So the guy turns around to go back, but the car changes lanes again and is still coming at him. By now, the car is so close and the man so scared that he just stops in the middle of the road. The car gets real close ...

418. A Rebellious Nation

Isaiah 1:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Introduction--Jerusalem Judged and Restored: Chapter 1 introduces both the message of Isaiah ben Amoz over three decades and the book as a whole. The people have paid the penalty for abandoning their relationship with Yahweh (vv. 2–9) and need to own the fact that they have perverted their life with Yahweh by practicing religion but not justice (vv. 10–20); judgment can then be a creative purging that restores justice as well as the relationship (vv. 21–31). 1:1 The fact that the word vision always denotes ...

419. Jesus as Lord and as Archcriminal

Mark 2:23-3:6, Mark 2:18-22

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In Jesus the new age has come, and this new reality cannot be immersed into the old ways. Jesus the Son of Man has authority over the Torah and is Lord over the Sabbath. Understanding the Text The opposition to Jesus intensifies with each of the episodes in this section. The central story among the five in 2:1–3:6 tells why the conflict is occurring (2:18–22): in Jesus a new era has arrived, one in which he must challenge the old traditions. Those who cling to the old (symbolized by the issue of ...

420. Vows, Redemption, and Tithes

Leviticus 27:1-34

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Give to God both what is expected and more. Understanding the Text This chapter logically follows after the Jubilee regulations (Lev. 25), which it assumes (see 27:16–24). Leviticus 26’s grand theme of blessings for obedience and punishments for disobedience in some ways seems a more fitting conclusion to Leviticus than does Leviticus 27. Why does the content of Leviticus 27 follow Leviticus 26 rather than precede it? Did God reveal this material on vows and redemption subsequent to revealing the ...

421. “As the Deer Pants for Streams of Water, So My Soul Pants for You, My God”

Psalm 42:1-11, Psalm 43:1-5

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Even in adverse circumstances of place, atmosphere, and our own troubled thoughts, we can rally our hearts to joy and hope in God. Understanding the Text Psalms 42 and 43 are distinct psalms in the Hebrew (MT), Greek (LXX), Syriac, and Vulgate, which suggests that they were separate compositions. Yet the seamless relationship of the two poems is indicated by these factors: (1) they share a refrain (42:5, 11; 43:5); (2) Psalm 43 has no title (Ps. 71 is the only other exception in Book 2); (3) both ...

422. The Flood

Genesis 6:1-8:22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

6:1–22 · Few episodes in Scripture defy dogmatic interpretation as does Genesis 6:1–4. The sons of God marry the daughters of men; and Nephilim are said to be on the earth. Until this point Genesis has dealt only with the sins of individuals—Cain, Lamech, Eve, Adam. Now the emphasis is on the sin of a group, the sons of God. Who are these sons of God? The term “sons of God” elsewhere in the Old Testament designates angels (see Job 1:6; 38:7; Ps. 29:1; 89:7). The New Testament, however, teaches that angels ...

423. Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1:1 · Epistolary Greeting: In the ancient world, people believed that letters brought one into the presence of an absent person. Seneca (Moral Epistles 75.1) said, “I never receive a letter from you without being forthwith in your presence.” First Thessalonians and other apostolic letters fill the gap left by the separation of the founders from the church (2:17–18; 3:6, 10–11). Greek letters began with the name of the author, followed by a greeting and a prayer or thanksgiving. Although the form of 1 ...

424. Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2:17--3:5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

2:17–20 · Exit of the founders: The founders of the church were torn away from the new converts in Thessalonica, an experience Luke describes in Acts 17:5–10 and Paul recalls here (2:17). The Greek text indicates that the apostles were “made orphans,” an expression that in Paul’s day could indicate a child’s loss of parents or the tragedy of losing one’s children. The separation, however, was only physical—not mental. The longing for the Thessalonians prompted great, even extreme, efforts to return. The ...

425. When Lazarus Leaped and Laughed

John 11:1-45

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

This gospel according to John is filled with a series of vivid verbal masterpieces of the genius, glory, and grace of Jesus Christ, God's Son. Bible scholars have long believed that each of the four New Testament gospels is targeted at a particular group. Matthew writes his gospel to the Jews. We see that in his frequent references to the Old Testament. Mark writes his gospel with the Romans as his primary target. Hence, Mark is succinct and to the point. His is the first written among the four gospels. ...

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