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 4401 to 4425 of 5000 results

4401. Loving Our Enemies, Christian or Crazy?

Matthew 5:43-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... Our Enemies? A. Seek the truth. Some of you were obviously nervous about this sermon. You sent me emails warning me not to go soft on sin, weak on wrong, passive about the problems of our day. I appreciate that, but it also tells me how little we understand the nature of Christian love making; it's something as sentimental as Valentine candy, or the smell of Mother's Day flowers, or apple pie, or the 4th of July. Jesus resisted evil with all his might and taught his disciples to do likewise. On the day evil ...

4402. Sexual Ethics for the 21st Century

John 8:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... I was curious," says David, “so I asked her what they said." “Well," she replies, “we relax in each others arms and my husband says, ‘For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.'" May their numbers increase! To understand the vital connection between our spirituality and our sexuality is a link that the Church needs to help people make. III. OUR SEXUALITY IS EMBRACED BY GOD'S GRACE Our scripture lesson today takes place in the Temple courts where the Pharisees drag in ...

4403. Conversion or Credentialing?

Acts 9:1-5, 10-12, 17-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... OF SURRENDER. In Acts 9, Verse 6 we read, “Jesus said to Paul, ‘Get up and go into the city and you will be told what to do.'" I've read that verse about twenty times this week trying to catch the power and the image of it. Do you understand what is happening? Can you imagine this scene? Paul, with power and might has been terrorizing Christians and controlling the high priest. Nobody tells Paul what to do. He is a man on a mission with the power to execute it. But Jesus had a better idea. Never mind ...

4404. Sharing God’s Blessings

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... be. I found myself praying that day. Lord, never let me complain again about my lot in life. Let me use what little talent you have given me to help people believe in themselves like that. I am a promise, I am a possibility. Do you understand the possibilities of your life? Jesus said the meek, the merciful and the peacemakers are blessed by God. Meekness is neither shyness nor self defeat. Meekness is having your feet planted firmly on the ground. The earth belongs to the meek. I got to thinking the other ...

4405. Work, For the Night Is Coming

John 9:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... who claim to be “helpers of the hurting" bear some responsibility even though we are human and capable of being overwhelmed. Perhaps the worst thing we can do is get on television and say to people sitting on their rooftops, “We understand; we know how you feel!" We don't understand. We don't know how they feel. So let's stop pretending we do. A group called Repent America issued a statement this week, “God's responsible for this storm." They equate the destruction of New Orleans with the leveling of ...

4406. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... surfaces now is the issue of false teachers and the textual insinuation that some are being led astray by incorrect teachings about ritual and worship. No wonder Paul’s prayers now focus on promoting right understanding of the gospel’s purpose and power in human lives. “Knowledge,” “wisdom” and “understanding” are Paul’s prayer-wish for the church, prayers that would seem to indicate a certain lack of depth and maturity in the faith of his readers. This spiritual immaturity has led to a ...

4407. The Cost of Discipleship: Get Lost!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , and is unrepeatable. ‘We are to take up our own cross — to deny ourselves as we have already stated — but more, we’re to see our sufferings as a sharing with Christ in his redemptive activity and victory. I don’t understand this: it a mystery. I don’t understand it, but I’ve experienced it — however faintly — and I’ve seen it shiningly portrayed in others. On reflection, most of us know the truth of that old poem. “I walked a mile with pleasure, She chattered all the way, But ...

4408. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... relationship between himself and God. The focus of Jesus’ message on his journeying is the same as the focus of this prayer Jesus offers his disciples: he invites the swift arrival of God’s “kingdom.” Ironically what the disciples have yet to understand is that the very presence of Jesus before them, teaching them to utter this prayer, is itself the first evidence of that kingdom’s arrival. From the universal to the highly personal, Jesus’ prayer next centers on the response of each individual ...

4409. You Do Have a Prayer - Sermon Opener

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

James W. Moore

... from new arguments about it, but from a new exhibition of its power. Here, before their very eyes, they saw a personality in whom prayer was vital and influential! The more they lived with him, the more they saw that they could never explain him or understand him unless they understood his praying and so not at all because of new arguments, but because of amazing spiritual power released in him by prayer. They wanted him to tell them how to pray." The disciples sometimes were slow on the uptake, but at this ...

4410. Ruining the Christmas Spirit

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... think that the image of God here comes disturbingly close to the real life case of Andrea Yates, the Texas woman who drowned her children in the bathtub [eventually found not guilty by reason of insanity]. Matthew has Jesus say that this terrifying story helps us understand the coming of the Son of Man. In just a few sentences, Jesus paints a scene of real terror. Jesus focuses on the part of the story that Genesis ignores: what it was like for the people caught in the flood. People were simply going about ...

4411. Hard Words to Hear at Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... holds out this hope for God's continuing work in creation. We may not quite be ready to put John's sermon on a Christmas card, but a promise of the complete destruction of evil is cause for joy and celebration. Let us be thankful to John for helping us understand what we celebrate this season. Let us hold on to the promise of a time when the evil of the world has been chopped down and burned up. Amen. 1. Geza Vermes, ed., The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, IQM XIX, 2-8 (New York: The Penguin Press ...

4412. Brought Together and Sent Forth

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

Lee Griess

... servants. When we come to receive holy communion, we are sent forth to serve the lowest and the least. Pastor Bill Hybels is the pastor at one of the largest churches in America — Willow Creek Community Church. He is also a servant of God, someone who understands reaching out to others with God's love. Where did he learn that? At school, at seminary? Well, perhaps. But he also learned it at home. For Bill's father was not only a highly productive and successful businessman, he was also a Christian. And as ...

4413. The Rest of The Message

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Lee Griess

... Jesus to grieve his death. The spices and embalming items indicated her intention. Her tears spoke her anguish. The message on her heart was: Jesus defeated. Death had done him in. Death had won over the Savior. For he was dead and gone. Now, I suppose that's an understandable feeling. I suppose we can forgive her mistake. Religion says that death is a passage to a new life. But when death comes to a loved one, when death visits someone near, when it is the death of a friend we cherish, it's hard to see the ...

4414. Always with Us

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Lee Griess

... , there is no comfort. That is what Jesus says. "If you love me...." For all too many of us, our Christian faith is centered eighteen inches too high, for that is the distance between our head and our heart, between knowing about God and knowing God, between understanding the presence of God and experiencing it. You see, ideas are powerful things. But an idea has no power to heal a broken heart. An idea cannot take away the pain of heartache or fill the void of a loss. An idea can bring no comfort in the ...

4415. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... intervention. Winning, for Jesus, means playing by a set of rules that has not been used for a long time on planet earth. It is like the "deep magic" of Aslan in C. S. Lewis' great tale, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Most don't understand it, but without it the game becomes a never-ending cycle of violence in which there are only losers. For that reason Jesus gives a brief exhortation about the characteristics that mark those on his team. It is not self-preservation but service that counts. It is ...

4416. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... intervention. Winning, for Jesus, means playing by a set of rules that has not been used for a long time on planet earth. It is like the "deep magic" of Aslan in C. S. Lewis' great tale, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Most don't understand it, but without it the game becomes a never-ending cycle of violence in which there are only losers. Forging A New Team For that reason Jesus gives a brief exhortation about the characteristics that mark those on his team. It is not self-preservation but service ...

4417. Investing in God’s Future

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... , Lord, I was scared, I was scared of the whole proposition and I buried this idea of brotherhood." [And Jesus says,] "I gave to you the idea of peace." [And some of us say,] "Yes, Lord. But you don't understand the civilization we live in. You gotta talk force. Force is the only language most folks understand today. Really, it's the only language people know how to talk. So, Lord, I had a chance to witness for peace, but I was kind of scared somebody might identify me with those flower children, and I jes ...

4418. Is It Time Yet?

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Tony Everett

... with other nations against Assyria. In the first chapter of Isaiah, God declares, "I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know; my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:2-3). God's people simply did not see the reality of God's continuing presence and guidance. Is it time yet? For them it was only time for the "same old, same old thing"... no real change, no real hope, just a collective group ...

4419. The Holy Way

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Tony Everett

... . There appeared to be no hope, no help, and no way to be restored and renewed. You know, sometimes it may seem as if we are also living in a wilderness — a barren desert bereft of all hope for deliverance. Our families and friends don't understand our fears. Our world is in chaos. If anything can go wrong, it does. Even the little things of daily life become insurmountable obstacles for our fainting hearts and feeble knees. One Advent season, while shopping in a crowded mall, I noticed a group of young ...

4420. The Porch Light's On

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

Tony Everett

... various short, sarcastic sayings that describe people and groups who seem to lack plain, old common sense. These folks appear to understand what's happening in their lives. However, when it comes to coping with reality, they just don't seem to get ... glistens in the eyes of the people gathered. God's light of wisdom and power and understanding glows within the word of promise proclaimed here. Arise, shine; our porch light is always on. Why? Because Christ is always home right here, right now, and forever. Amen ...

4421. Losers, Weepers

Isaiah 49:8-16a

Sermon

Tony Everett

... :13). Sadly, the losers-weepers didn't get it, yet. In the very next verse (v. 14), the whining complaint of the loser prevailed. They still saw themselves as helpless and hopeless, forgotten by the Lord. They seemed to be unwilling and unable to understand and accept what God had already done to change their perspective from loser to victor. If they could not see God's past actions for them — answering, helping, saving, comforting — it would be very difficult for them to see God acting in their present ...

4422. The Ladder from Our House

Genesis 28:10-19a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... for God to listen to us. We may think that we can't come to God until we've "cleaned up our act." We may not understand that God calls us to come just as we are, and that Jesus is the way. How would you feel if, in the midst of a ... attachments with others for fear of being hurt again. Resentment and rebellion churned in him. He became difficult to live with and hard to understand. He was so impossible to deal with that he was expelled twice from school before he was in the seventh grade. He began drinking ...

4423. Appointment with Thunder

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... the mountain. That boundary was a line not to be crossed — not by priest, not by people, not by animals — not until the trumpet sounded. Frankly, the whole process and scene there at Sinai may be unappealing to us. For you and I have cultivated a very different understanding of our access to God. We cherish the picture of a God that we can talk to any time and any place; and in this matter we have surely gained much over the ancient Israelites, who trembled at a distance. But it is not all gain, for we ...

4424. Set Apart at Christmas

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... to the Romans, he often assumes that there were not only Jewish converts within the Roman Christian community, but that non-Jews had somehow been educated in the basics of biblical (for him Old Testament) theology. So for Paul, it is not just the secular understanding of "slave" but the biblical one that is important, and in the Old Testament "slave/servant" is the most common expression for serving God. When Moses is referred to as "the servant of Yahweh" at the time of his death in Deuteronomy 34:5, it ...

4425. A Disconcerting Sight

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... in Jeremiah. There is the house built on the rock in the Sermon on the Mount. (Anyone who thinks a house is not a work in progress has never owned one.) We can see Paul using the analogy of a master builder. Paul wants us to understand that the Christian life, both at the individual and the collective levels, is very much a work in process. Paul is able to come back to the untoward problem of divisions within the Christian community. It is unreasonable, ludicrous in fact, to quarrel about which apostle ...

Showing results

Showing 4401 to 4425 of 5000 results

4401. Loving Our Enemies, Christian or Crazy?

Matthew 5:43-47

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

4402. Sexual Ethics for the 21st Century

John 8:1-11

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

4403. Conversion or Credentialing?

Acts 9:1-5, 10-12, 17-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

4404. Sharing God’s Blessings

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

4405. Work, For the Night Is Coming

John 9:1-5

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

4406. Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

4407. The Cost of Discipleship: Get Lost!

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

4408. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

4409. You Do Have a Prayer - Sermon Opener

Luke 11:1-13

Illustration

James W. Moore

4410. Ruining the Christmas Spirit

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

4411. Hard Words to Hear at Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

4412. Brought Together and Sent Forth

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

Lee Griess

4413. The Rest of The Message

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Lee Griess

4414. Always with Us

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Lee Griess

4415. Kingdoms in Conflict

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

4416. Dressed for the Banquet

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... intervention. Winning, for Jesus, means playing by a set of rules that has not been used for a long time on planet earth. It is like the "deep magic" of Aslan in C. S. Lewis' great tale, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Most don't understand it, but without it the game becomes a never-ending cycle of violence in which there are only losers. Forging A New Team For that reason Jesus gives a brief exhortation about the characteristics that mark those on his team. It is not self-preservation but service ...

4417. Investing in God’s Future

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Chris Ewing

4418. Is It Time Yet?

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Tony Everett

4419. The Holy Way

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Tony Everett