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 4276 to 4300 of 4339 results

4276. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... most famous works of medieval English literature is The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer’s novel, which he began in 1387, showcases 27 people on a pilgrimage. They create a storytelling contest to entertain themselves along their journey. Each of the characters was supposed to tell two tales on their way to Canterbury and two on the way back home. Sadly, Chaucer only completed 24 tales before his death in 1400. His greatest work was never completed. (7) When Moses looked down on the Promised ...

4277. Trick Questions

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Steve Molin

... mind, fill it with questions of reason and rationality,” he tells Wormwood. “Make him ask questions like, ‘Why is there war’ and ‘Why does God permit suffering’ and ‘What about all the religious hypocrites?’”1 In truth, C.S. Lewis is not describing fictional characters in a novel; he describes his former life, and people in our world yet today who want to keep Jesus at arm’s length. Like the Pharisees, perhaps they are afraid too, so they ask questions ranging from the ridiculous to the ...

4278. Cast in the Image of God

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . Even the Pharisees recognized that Jesus taught the “truth”––although in the interaction told by Matthew today, we can’t exactly tell whether the Pharisees and their disciples and Herodians are being sarcastic or stating a fact about Jesus’ character. I suspect some sarcasm lay beneath their syrupy introduction. The quest for “truth” telling marks the clue for today’s interaction. The scripture for today show Jesus in dispute once again with several colleagues –some Pharisees and some ...

4279. A Restless Lad

Luke 15:11-32

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Setting: Counselor’s office Characters: Dr. Fad A Lad (Chad) Lad knocks timidly. FAD: C’mon in. I’m Dr. Fad. Thanks for making this appointment and coming in. I see your name is Chad. LAD: Yeah. Oh hi. I, I, aah decided to come in for a little talk with you Dr. Fad. FAD: ...

4280. The Great Discovery

Luke 15:14b-18a

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Synopsis: Several people tell the story of a personal spiritual epiphany. Each gives testimony of their personal insight, discovery, rebirth, and new life. Characters: (In costume when possible and appropriate) Farmer in Jesus’ Parable (Matthew 13:44) Alexander Fleming Martin Luther John Wesley C.S. Lewis Lee Strobel Nadia Bolz-Weber (cf. Book Pastrix published by Jericho books) Personal witnesses from the community Narrator FARMER IN JESUS’ PARABLE: Hello. I am the farmer in ...

4281. How Will Dad React?

Luke 15:18-21

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Character: Disheveled sixteen-year-old lad (Music) LAD: Oh no, am I in trouble! Took Dad’s car without asking him and then – idiot me – decided to give the Lexus a good old Nascar run. Does that Lexus have guts? Smooth machine! Wow! (sits down, gets up, sits down nervously) I ...

4282. 2 Boys at Doc's

Luke 15:25-32

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Setting: Medical doctor’s examining room Characters: Nurse Nelson Dr. Bone Brake Brother One Brother Two (Nurse Nelson ushers two brothers in for their exam. He/She gives each a sheet to wear.) (As Doctor Bone Brake enters the room Nurse Nelson begins to speak.) NURSE NELSON: Doctor Bone Brake, I have two brothers who have come ...

4283. A Child of God

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Ronald Love

... that majestic edifice of glass is now St. Callistus Roman Catholic Church. Today we have megachurch pastors who are theological charlatans. Rick Warren seems to have twisted theology when he wrote we suffer “because God is developing within us the character of Christ,” as opposed conventional theology that Christ suffered to be one with us. Yet, his charisma and business acumen, like most mega-church pastors, is able to fog heterodoxy. Megachurches are great theatrical productions that foster a flimsy ...

4284. If I Had Only Known

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... in the cry, "If I had only known." After the horse is stolen, we lock the barn door. After a fatal accident, we erect a stop sign. After a disastrous flood, we build a dam. After the damage is done to our friends, our families, our character, then we begin to shed copious tears for the actions and attitudes that did the damage in the first place. How much more sensible to take the forward look - before traveling further towards some destination With foresight to forsake it rather than hindsight to regret it ...

4285. Being Hello People

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

Herb Gardner's most famous play is "A Thousand Clowns." One of his other plays which only lasted about three weeks on Broadway was entitled, "The Goodbye People." There's a marvelous scene in that play where the lead character is trying to get financial help for his failing business. He calls his friends one after the other. As soon as they discover what he's after they grow very cagey. They back off, get cool, and say goodbye. After several such goodbyes, he says to one of them, "You' ...

4286. Into The Valley Of Despair

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Ronald Love

... refreshment. So, the question again is, “Where is your high mountain?” Jesus went up onto the high mountain to pray. There is no disputing the fact that prayer is a central theme in the Bible. In fact, it would be near impossible to find a biblical character who did not pray. Prayer is so important it is the only thing that the disciples asked to be taught. In Luke’s gospel we read where the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Then the scriptures ...

4287. On Rendering to God and to Caesar

Mark 12:13-17, Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Will Willimon

... me by the lapel and said, “There's not a dime's worth of difference between the way she lives her life and the way you and I live ours. That little 'godless communist' could pass for you or me any day.” One of the characters in Dostoevsky's, The Brothers Karamazov says, “If God is dead, then everything is permissible.” The picture of our society grows clearer. Without God, everything is cut loose. There are no absolute, inviolate values -- the Palestinian airport terrorist bombing for a dreamed of ...

4288.

Psalm 73:1-28

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... —after all—is the one who can resolve our dilemma, whether by changing circumstances or by changing our understanding and redirecting our expectations. As a result of this encounter, our relationship with God is enhanced, not diminished. Other OT characters, such as Habakkuk and Job, have taken similar pilgrimages. Psalm 73 also attests to the value of liturgy and worshipers’ need for constant participation. It sheds revelatory light into our own limited understanding and embittered confusion (vv. 16 ...

4289.

Psalm 86:1-17

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... sîd, v. 2), and Yahweh is described as “abounding in loyal love” (Hb. ḥesed, vv. 5, 13, 15). Similarly, the psalm presupposes all that a covenant relationship entails. We must keep in mind here that these self-descriptions do not follow from the character of the actual composer; they are to be adopted by worshipers if they wish the psalm to have its desired effect. The fourth motif on which the psalm is founded is that of historical precedents. As noted above, the psalm quotes confessions well rooted ...

4290.

Psalm 97:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... might wonder what possible connection there might be between “clouds and thick darkness” (Hb. ʿarāpel) and his throne. Yahweh’s throne and footstool were symbolized in Israelite worship by the cherubim and the ark (see the Introduction). Because of their winged character, the cherubim could symbolize both a chariot and a throne, in which the outer wings provided mobility and the inner wings formed the throne. At the temple’s dedication after the ark entered the darkness of the Most Holy Place (1 ...

4291.

Psalm 101:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... the LORD.” As a psalm of temple entry, Psalm 101 presents Yahweh’s pilgrims with “instruction” about what the God who inhabits the temple desires of his worshipers. For the purpose of clear instruction Yahweh’s expectations are embodied in two character profiles, “the righteous” and “the wicked.” One’s loyalty to Yahweh is measured, in part, by the company with which one aligns oneself. These psalms, including Psalm 101, do not advocate a separate community (a ghetto, if you will), but ...

4292.

Psalm 129:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... me free from are added by the NIV), thus disabling them from plowing the speaker’s back with the harnessed oxen (on “cords,” Hb. ʿabôt, as a harness for plowing, see Job 39:10; cf. Isa. 5:18). This act exhibits Yahweh’s righteous character, thus exemplifying for us that “righteousness” is not a limiting quality (as popularly conceived) but is a liberating one. In verses 6–8, all who hate Zion are likened to grass on the roof, which withers before it can grow. This reversal is key to the ...

4293.

Psalm 138:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... the future. His recent deliverance (v. 3) gives confidence for future protection: Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. Yet the ultimate basis for this confidence lies not in this historical precedent, but in the character of Yahweh himself: your love, O LORD, endures forever. To confirm this future relationship, this thanksgiving psalm closes with a petition that Yahweh not abandon the works of his hands. Surprisingly, Yahweh’s exaltation above all does not entail his distance ...

4294.

Psalm 143:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... –9), and his resultant claim, I am your servant (v. 12). Corresponding to this last claim, he confesses, you are my God (v. 10), which entails that Yahweh should protect him. Hence, Yahweh is to act for your name’s sake and in your righteousness, that is, according to your character that puts things right (v. 11). The psalm also twice appeals to Yahweh’s unfailing love (vv. 8, 12).

4295.

Psalm 146:1-10

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... ” (49:25). 146:10 The closing verse addresses Zion directly with a summary statement: The LORD reigns forever, your God . . . for all generations. (Unlike the acclamation familiar from the psalms of Yahweh’s kingship, “reigns” is a Hb. imperfect verb.) The character of his kingship is to care for the powerless in society, a responsibility that human authorities generally fail to deliver. The same issue of trusting in God or humans underlies 33:16–19. This psalm also acclaims Yahweh as one who is ...

4296. “I Will Sing the Lord’s Praise, for He Has Been Good to Me”

Psalm 13:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... , foreign and domestic. Kidner astutely observes that the two poles of David’s psalms are God and David’s enemies.6 Twice in Psalm 13:4 David mentions his enemy and his foes. Yet, while David’s love for his children was a mark of his character, his indulgent attitude toward them sometimes had ill results. One could say that the sorrow of Absalom’s rebellion always lurked in David’s soul and was never far below the surface. Psalm 13 does not exhibit the weaponry and brutality of warfare, but those ...

4297. More Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 28:1-28, Proverbs 29:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 28:3), and badly skewed values (28:4–6). A discerning child also avoids those who are self-indulgent (28:7) and exploitation of the poor (28:8), enjoying instead answered prayer (28:9), good things (28:10), and keen insight into the true character of others (28:11). 28:12–28 · The second subsection is framed by descriptions of the contrasting responses of citizens to the righteous and wicked leaders (28:12, 28; cf. 11:10). A close relationship with God and moral uprightness are crucial, especially for ...

4298. Pleasures Are Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... the implied persona of Solomon, undertakes to explore “all that is done” (1:13). “All” includes gaining wisdom, amassing possessions, building monuments, and engaging in celebrations. Solomon is an effective choice as speaker: he is the one character in Israelite tradition who can take wisdom, wealth, and extravagance to their extremes. This section records an experiment: a project that involves engaging in particular behaviors, recording the results, and analyzing them. Results include both the ...

4299. Wisdom and Folly are Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

4300. Toil is Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

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