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 4301 to 4325 of 4339 results

4301. Where's God?

John 16:12-15

Sermon

David Coffin

... .” However, secular historians of the time, such as Flavius Josephus, do not paint them in such a negative manner. Quite often they are asking legitimate questions that many people of faith are also asking. Nicodemus might be in this category. Not all of John’s characters in his gospel are flat or single minded. Some are complex and are in a growing process. Joseph of Arimathea is another such person in John, as is the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. Nicodemus attempted to speak well of Jesus by ...

4302. The Interpretation of the Dream

Daniel 7:15-28

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... approaches (8:16; 9:21). In Daniel 1–6, Daniel does not need angels to interpret dreams and visions. Rather, he is the interpreter, getting insight directly from God. In chapters 7–12, however, there are intermediaries. This shows the more apocalyptic character of the second half of the book. The tendency in classical prophecy is for God to speak directly to the prophet. The development of apocalyptic literature begins in the exile, where angels are prominent, such as in Ezekiel 40–48. Zechariah, in ...

4303. Judgment on Israel

Amos 2:6-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... to walk in their life with their God and with one another, verse 11a–b. To all of these facts of its history, Israel surely has to agree, verse 11c. The question is rhetorical. And yet, to all of the gracious history that has clearly revealed the character of the Lord, Israel has said “no.” And its “no” is symbolized by the fact that it has debauched the Nazirites and silenced the prophets, verse 12. Nazirites, two of whom are named in the OT (Samuel, 1 Sam.1:28; Samson, Judg. 13–15), were those ...

4304. Schadenfreude

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... him, so to speak, as he blows himself up, plunges off of cliffs, and gets pounded by boulders. Every trick up his sleeve backfires, and he never does catch the Roadrunner! (Beep, beep). We may have laughed, but we also recognized in both of these characters something of ourselves. As in any kind of comedy, whether cartoon or otherwise,we caught a glimpse of some of our crueler and baser motivations as human beings. In fact, looking at “ourselves” and laughing is one of the ways that we allow ourselves ...

4305. The Lord Will Appear

Zechariah 9:14-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... a fulfillment of Isaiah 62:8. Because they will have plenty of food, vigorous young adults, young men and young women, will thrive. This rare verb implies offspring. The people will continue to fill the land, as will the fruits of their work and characters (Prov. 10:31; Ps. 92:14). Additional Notes 9:15 Slingstones: These stones could also be the object of the verb, “they [the sons of Zion] will tread down the slingstones.” Such stones were thrown from city walls against attackers. If those stones were ...

4306. Prophet Without Honor

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

David Coffin

... to keep a close eye on her. Their little sister wandered off and fell into an underground mine shaft. The only hope they had of retrieving the little girl was from a drunken mining engineer who knew the coal mines quite well. But his character remained suspect throughout the episode until the little girl was rescued. Quite often until a traumatic event occurs, we might overlook those people within our community who do have abilities to further the mission of our church. Walnut Grove, the little town in the ...

4307. More Proverbs of Solomon

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 ...

4308. Yada, Yada, Yada!

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... in Gennesaret! Land of both Jews and Pagans alike, the former tribe of Naphtali, some of the lost sheep of Israel. They knew him. They looked at him and truly saw him, saw who he was and what he could do. They understood his character, his identity, and his spirit with a knowing that goes beyond rational thinking. They knew him as they knew God –relationally and intimately. For the word “yada” or “ginosko,” to know fully, is a relational word in the Hebrew language. Languages are interesting this ...

4309. Living Bread

John 6:51-58

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... into your food, it was hard to get it out! Jesus interestingly used the metaphor of yeast in both negative and positive ways. He warned against emulating or reproducing the “yeast” of the Pharisees –the prolific negative, internal character they represented with their exclusive and hypocritical tendencies. But on the other hand, he advocated for internalizing and reproducing the “yeast” of the “kingdom”! Both could multiply prolifically. Whether one chooses to reproduce negative or positive ...

4310. Uncommonly Good

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

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... makes you unique? What makes you different and sets you apart from others? While obviously we all look different –we have different features, different noses, eyes, hands, body shapes, coloring, or hair texture –we also have a unique personality, a character all our own, our own motives, dreams, and aspirations, our own fears, inclinations, likes, and preferences. In scripture, the word meaning different or “set apart” from others is “holy.” To be holy for Jews and later for Christians meant to ...

4311. Beloved

Mark 7:24-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . Discipleship was meant not to merely be a series of “lectures” or “book study.” Discipleship in Jesus’ time meant observing and engaging with the master as he interacted with others and demonstrated and acted out the precepts and character-building and faith-forming theses that he wanted his disciples to understand. Jesus was not interested merely in imparting knowledge; he was interested in changing peoples’ entire “worldview.” This required a kind of holistic understanding that needed to ...

4312. Recush

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... another. I am preaching to myself today as much as anyone else. I grew up in a family that was shaped by The Great Depression. I expect many of you did too. Some of you grew up during The Depression. In my family, thrift was a virtue, a strength of character, which was valued as highly as honesty. We hated to see anything go to waste. My wife’s family had a similar mindset. Her mother had a sampler hanging in her kitchen that read: “Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do. Do without.” I know I am not ...

4313. A Portion of Thyself

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... . In fact, one of his biggest supporters was the Athenian philosopher Aristedes. Aristedes couldn’t seem to write enough verses in praise of Antonius. He lauded the government, and the beauty of Rome. He praised the magnificence of its buildings and the character of its citizens. Aristedes was a one-man ministry of propaganda, telling the world of the pomp and splendor of Antonius Pious and his great government. But Aristedes wrote about other things as well. One day, he sent a letter to Antonius, telling ...

4314. Love Lives

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... with the people, wanted to love people more than judge them. The parables and stories, the healing, and praying, the miracles in our midst throughout the public ministry of Jesus, these were well-documented and gave us a peek at the loving character of God. The acceptance of those on the outside of the society, those who were shunned and marginalized was a key component of Jesus’ public ministry. But there was also anger ― the turning over of the money-changers’ tables, the naming as hypocrites ...

4315. Starting Over

John 21:1-19

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... re-empowered to take initiative again. Yes, he was a good fisherman, and this was a noble calling in life. But he had been transformed by Jesus to a new career, one that involved tossing his nets into an even greater sea. Third, the missionary character of John’s gospel is reinvigorated by the story of this morning meal on the beach. The prologue to the gospel makes the whole story of Jesus a divine missionary enterprise: Jesus is the word, the light penetrating the blackness of our world, the radiance ...

4316. Spirit Struck

Acts 2:1-21 · John 14:8-17, 25-27

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... wine” meant it was not yet fermented. The wine had no substance. It was weak-bodied, unmatured, and considered of low quality –basically cheap juice. The remark was meant as a debasing insult. It wasn’t just insulting of the quality and veracity of their experience, but also the disciples’ character, as though they are “putting on a cheap act,” as obviously people don’t get drunk on unfermented juice.

4317. Why Pass By?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... He was the leader of another band of desperate survivors who planned to attack the good guys, kill them all, and take over their camp and their resources. Herschel was the old man among the good guys and he was as kind, good, and decent as any character ever written for fiction. His daughters were back at the camp that the Governor intended to attack and he said to the Governor, “You are a father of a daughter. I know you love her. So how can you contemplate killing my daughters?” The Governor steeled ...

4318. For Someone Who Will Be Terribly Missed

Isaiah 43:1-5 · Job 19:23-27

Eulogy

Richard E. Zajac

... dying, they’d come to realize what a blessing health happened to be and how fortunate they were to be free of the infirmities and pains that plagued so many people’s lives. Amy made mention of how, when reading books with her, she’d often cite a character with a problem and ask her feelings towards them, all in an effort to teach the importance of empathy. Tessie also made it a point to enroll Amy and Gail in programs and activities, doing so to expose them to as many things as possible with the hope ...

4319. For Someone Who Filled Their World With Laughter

Zephaniah 3:14-18 · Job 8:20-22

Eulogy

Richard E. Zajac

... in a Florida hotel, the husband decided to send his spouse an e-mail. As it turned out, he had misplaced her e-mail address. Trusting his memory, he typed in what he believed was her address and with it a message. But unfortunately, he was one character shy of the exact address, and the message went out instead to an elderly widow of a preacher who had died the day before. When the grief- stricken woman checked her e-mail, she screamed, then fainted. Her family members rushed into the room and discovered ...

4320. The Mother of All Yard Sales

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... by what he owned. He was a fool because he had confused who he was with what he had. He was a fool because he had confused the well-supplied life with the well-lived life and the contents of his wallet with the contents of his heart and his character. The authentic life, said Jesus over and over again, throughout the gospels, was the life lived in the midst of things but not enslaved to them. It is the life lived by those who own their possessions and are not owned by them. It is the life lived by the ...

4321. The Main Thing

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... stories we see the importance of being awake, alert, and aware, focused on the task at hand. In the first story, those who were focused were rewarded. In the second, those who were unfocused suffered painful loss. As is always the case with parables, the characters and the events which inhabit them are metaphors for life in and out of the kingdom of God. To understand the message of the parables, we have to unpack their symbolism so that it can speak to our lives and times. Clearly the stories are speaking ...

4322. Last Things First

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... me to check out the Nero Wolfe mystery “A Family Affair.” You guessed it. With 33 novels and 41 novellas to choose from, I picked the very last one in the series, where — no spoilers here — I learned something crucial about one of the main characters. It didn’t matter. I hunted down and devoured all the books and stories. I couldn’t read them fast enough. I mention this because in Advent we do something equally counterintuitive. We tell the end of the story before the beginning. We describe the ...

4323. God Is Like...Fire

Malachi 3:1-4 · Luke 3:1-6, 9,16-17

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... on, God ought to pay a visit to Egypt or Syria or Babylon. We’re angels compared to them. Then a few centuries later, one day of one year in the reign of one Caesar named Tiberius, there appeared in the wilderness of Judea a scroungy looking character named John. He preached fire and smoke, and he said the Lord is coming ― soon! ― and the mountains will be leveled and valleys filled up and the Lord will put things straight. Trees that aren’t bearing fruit will be cut down and tossed into the fire ...

4324. God Is Like...a Face

Genesis 33:1-11 · 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... A haunting musical theme introduced the distinctive voice of the host, Rod Serling, who welcomed viewers to a “world of enchantment,” to a dimension of sight, a dimension of sound, a land of shadow and substance. In one especially memorable episode, the characters, whose faces remained shadowed, are having an animated discussion about a strange-looking creature that had come from an unknown place. The head of this creature was kept covered because it is said to be so hideously ugly that seeing it would ...

4325. Eyes Like a Hawk

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... .” (Mark 8:25) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22) Your eyes are your soul’s window. The idea of our eyes betraying our innermost thoughts, emotions, and character goes back to biblical times. Later similar phrases are attributed to Cicero, da Vinci, and William Shakespeare. But it’s truly Jewish thought that pays close attention to the way our eyes can deceive us, lure us away from God, or cause our hearts to lust ...

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