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 4653 results

4276. Searching for Happiness

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... of God. Some of you at Christmas time will go to Netflix and pull up the classic heartwarming movie starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, White Christmas. In that delightful motion picture Bing Crosby introduced another Irving Berlin song besides White Christmas that has touched many people over the years. It goes something like this: “When I am troubled and cannot sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings.” (4) That is still the best formula I know of for a ...

4277. Could the Pharisees Have Been Irish?

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” Traditions are important. However, for some reason this question asked at this particular moment touched a sore spot with Jesus. He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are ...

4278. Things a Child Can Teach Us

Mark 9:30-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... is really important in life like unrestrained joy, love and faith. What would we do without children--children to teach in Sunday school, and children to run through the halls on the way to worship? As we minister to them, we grow. They keep us in touch with what really matters. When we think that life is a matter of accumulation, domination and accommodation, the sound of a baby’s cry can bring us back to earth. A child’s laughter can brighten our entire world. A child’s love can give us something ...

4279. Hard and Soft Hearts

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... ago, are becoming much more common, especially among the middle and upper classes. In recent years the disastrous social consequences of being a single parent have been widely acknowledged. Yet, the mortality rate of marriage remains high. All of our families have been touched by the pain of divorce. We have come to accept it as a fact of modern life. The moral stigma of divorce has all but disappeared. Our divorce laws reflect a society in which divorce is no longer the exception. The laws assume ...

4280. Commitment Beyond Calculation

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

William G. Carter

... would be embarrassed by the recognition she has received in thousands of stewardship sermons. The fact is, this woman is one of the nameless saints in the Gospel of Mark. She stands in the same company with two other anonymous women. The first had a hemorrhage, and touched the cloak of Jesus to get well. The other anointed Jesus for death by breaking open a costly bottle of perfume. Like them, this woman comes out of the shadows for a moment and then disappears just as suddenly. We don't know much about her ...

4281. Patterns of Possibility

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... with both God and humanity. Sandwiched in between is this wonderful story about Jesus in the temple — a story about being rooted in a life of faith — rooted in God, rooted in tradition, rooted in spiritual discipline, rooted in something bigger than what we can see and touch and smell and hear. My friends, in the year that stretches ahead of us, let us too root ourselves in a life of faith, being curious and open to the new things God is doing in our lives. The promise is that like Jesus we will grow ...

4282. Sheepish Shalom

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... ago, a young man named Francis was living the good life. He was rich, handsome, pampered, popular. And though nominally a Christian, Jesus was a stranger to him. One day, Francis was forced to interact with a loathsome leper. In a moment of dreaded touch, the leper was transformed, literally becoming before his eyes the very image of Christ. And Francis was changed. From that day forward, he felt called to discover the Christ in each person and creature around him, no matter how poor or insignificant they ...

4283. Is God Invited?

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... and her husband. When I arrived Tom was curled up in bed snuggled into his blanket like a little boy content, warm, and cozy. Remembering his feisty, peripatetic, sometimes overwhelming presence just ten years ago, I was somewhat startled. But I was also touched by this new, diminutive Tom. We no longer could converse about philosophy or theology like we used to — about the cosmic nature of Christ and the intricate affair going on between religion and science in the post-modern world. Such exotic thinking ...

4284. Trusting the Other Side

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... his Don Quixote quest to catch people for God. Most everything they learn to do while wandering by his side turns conventional wisdom on its ear. Love your enemies, don’t hurt them. Focus on the poor, and let the rich fend for themselves. Touch lepers, don’t shun them. Invite women into the community of discipleship — don’t keep them barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Let the little children come, and bless them with all their noise and energy and interruptions. Honor the authority of Caesar, but ...

4285. Holy Happiness

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... the crowd and going up a mountain away from the hubbub to share these words with just a few chosen disciples. Luke, on the other hand, has Jesus coming down the mountain, onto the plain, where the crowds surge around him, trying to touch him. They are trying to literally suck into themselves the power coming out of him. Matthew has nine blessings. Luke has four. Matthew “spiritualizes” the beatitudes — blessed are the “poor in spirit.” Luke is much more blunt. “Blessed are the poor” — period ...

4286. A Remedy for Rejection

Luke 4:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... hold.” We have all been there in our own way. But there is another song. It’s in our hymnal. In it you will find these hopeful words: “Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore: Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.” (3) Don’t give up, regardless of your situation. God is with you. 1. https://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernews/famous-people-rejected/#.4xn2igugx. 2. “Least Wanted List,” by ...

4287. A GPS for Your Life

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... earlier in Luke 6, verse 7 that the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders, were watching Jesus, looking for some reason to accuse him. They weren’t really listening to him. Then we read in verse 19 that lots of people in the crowd were reaching out to touch Jesus because they’d seen healing power flow from him, and they wanted to take some of that for themselves. Some of them weren’t really listening either. They just wanted him to fix their situation. They’re not so different from many of us, are ...

4288. The Greatest Sin

Luke 13:6-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... , but it gave her a heart for helping others who were in distress, like she had been at that time in life. She said to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, “You see, doctor, the dying patients are just like old acquaintances to me, and I’m not afraid to touch them, to talk with them, or to offer them hope.” Dr. Kubler-Ross said that consequently they promoted this woman at the hospital. She was no longer a member of the maintenance crew. Her title became, “Special Counselor to the Dying.”(1) This woman with few ...

4289. What to Do With Human Failing

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... effect relationship? Was that just an accident, a serendipitous confluence of human behavior with the laws of nature or did God cause it to happen? And if God caused it, why did God do that? Without providing a comprehensive understanding, today’s gospel lesson touches on a tiny slice of causality. The topic is introduced in Luke 12:54-56. To paraphrase, Jesus said to the crowd, “Everyone knows the causes of weather. When dark clouds come from the Mediterranean Sea in the west, you know rain will likely ...

4290. What Will We Do When He Is Gone?

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... . I have often recommended people prepare a similar envelope of pertinent information. Of course John’s “should the need arise” envelope addressed only finances and funeral arrangements. As helpful as that was for the family, the information in that envelope did not touch upon deeper spiritual and psychological questions like “Oh, John, how are we going to get along without you?” “How are we going to fill the emptiness created by the loss of your presence in the midst of the daily life of this ...

4291. From His Arrest to His Crucifixion and Burial

John 18:1--19:42

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... in the Garden of Gethsemane to our Lord’s interrogation by the high priest to his trial by the Roman governor to his torment at the hands of Roman soldiers to his suffering on the cross to his death and his burial in a garden tomb. This reading touches on much of what is at the heart of the gospel. Because of its length, we are not going to take the twenty minutes required to read it all aloud. Instead, it is recommended that sometime between now and when you worship on Easter Sunday you read these ...

4292. Be Ready for the Possibility of the Resurrection

John 20:1-18

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... you are not in our plans. Your job has been eliminated. Here is a little severance pay. Good luck.” It is the feeling you have when the note on the refrigerator door reads, “I don’t love you anymore. I am leaving. My lawyer will be in touch.” It is being at the scene of the accident when the policeman tells you, “We have called the ambulance, but it appears your husband died of his injuries.” It is the feeling that overwhelms you when the doctor says, “The lab reports are back. The results are ...

4293. The Awesome Power of FUD

John 21:1-19

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... of the shipyard at Norfolk, Virginia, I crafted what I believed was a perfectly scaled drawing of a U.S. Navy battleship. The pictures with which I was familiar showed battleship decks lined with waving sailors, I decided to do the same. That added touch, I concluded would certainly result in extra credit for my art project. Before returning our artwork, the teacher took the opportunity to give a lesson. I do not recall everything she said that day. I do, however, distinctly recall that she held up my ...

4294. Known By Our Love

John 13:31-35

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.” A love that is as concerned for others as it is concerned for self is the most powerful force in the world. As an unknown poet puts it: Love changes everything it touches: It makes heavy burdens light, Long hours short. Ordinary faces beautiful, Houses into homes, Picnics into banquets, Wilted daisies into bouquets, God into sacrifice and sinners into saints. The poet ends with a challenging query. Doesn’t it make you wonder what might ...

4295. I Have the Peace

Illustration

Ralph Turnbull

A friend visited an elderly woman badly crippled by arthritis. When asked, "Do you suffer much?" she responded, "Yes, but there is no nail here," and she pointed to her hand. "He had the nails, I have the peace." She pointed to her head. "There are no thorns here. He had the thorns, I have the peace." She touched her side. "There is no spear here. He had the spear, I have the peace." That is what the atonement of Jesus Christ means for us—He gave of himself so that we might have the peace.

4296. The Release I Long For

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... in Indonesia. While serving in that area, fighting against Sukarno in the late 1940s he bought a young ape, a gibbon, who took to him, and Andy treated him as a pet in the barracks. He hadn't had the gibbon for many weeks before he noticed that when he touched it in some areas around the waist it seemed to hurt him. So he examined the gibbon more closely and found a raised welt that went around his waist. He carefully laid the animal down on his bed and pulled back the matted hair from this welt until he ...

4297. Christ and Buddha - The Great Difference

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... which one you choose, you have only to place side-by-side Buddha and Christ themselves. "Buddha sits enthroned beneath the Bo tree in the lotus position. His lips are faintly parted in the smile of one who has passed beyond every power in earth or heaven to touch him. 'He who loves fifty has fifty woes, he who loves ten has ten woes, he who loves none has no woes,' he has said. His eyes are closed. "Christ, on the other hand, stands in the garden of Gethsemane, angular, beleaguered. His face is lost in ...

4298. The Inn That Missed Its Chance

Illustration

Amos R. Wells

... , And who was He that should be born that night,– For now I learn that they will make Him King, A second David, who will ransom us From these Philistine Romans,–who but He That feeds an army with a loaf of bread, And if a soldier falls, He touches him And up he leaps, uninjured?—Had I known, I would have turned the whole inn upside down, His honor, Marcus Lucius, and the rest, And sent them all to stables, had I known. So you have seen Him, stranger, and perhaps Again may see Him? Prithee say for me ...

4299. The Spirit of Giving

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... in shape as a Christmas present to his mother, who had passed away several years before. His eyes brimmed with tears as he patted the old oak. "My mother was all I had. She loved her yard and her trees, so I do this for her at Christmas." His words touched the girls and soon they were down on their hands and knees helping him to weed around the trees. It took the three of them the rest of the day to complete the task. When they finished, Harry pressed a quarter into each of their hands. "I wish I could ...

4300. One Good Word for Santa

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

... Thomas Nast, the illustrator, made him big and fat and gave him a red suit trimmed by fur. And others have given him names—Belsnickle, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus. But what's important about him is that he had the mind of Christ. Because of his gentle selfless love, he touched the whole world. And this same mind of Christ is to be in us.

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