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 426 to 450 of 655 results

426. God's Gift

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... even if our age does not believe in ultimate truth. Leo Cox said that our righteousness is conforming to the image of God by his grace and in childlike innocence and simplicity. When we are converted and become a child of God we have a positive inclination to do good deeds. It is more than just wanting to do good things. It is an inward righteousness by the grace of God on the inside manifesting itself outwardly in action toward others. We must be honest in our lifestyle. George Washington said, “I hope ...

427. From Slave to Brother

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... as it might be, friends of long standing, brothers and sisters."1 We rejoice in such beautiful insight about the meaning of love and the act of calling another person a brother or sister in Christ. Let us begin to see other people, even people we might not be inclined to love in this way. Let us allow this insight to change the way we do mission work and charity. We are not just givers in mission work, we receive as well. We gain new brothers and sisters in the process. We can push the idea of seeing other ...

428. Strengthening Your Grip On Prayer

1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... cally, or in the family, we go to God through Christ and help take on their burden. The second word is tehinna meaning "an earnest plea for mercy." At its deepest level, mercy is a combination of righteousness and love. Many Bible scholars are inclined to translate the word as "steadfast love," implying that God has entered into a covenant with his people. The results of this relationship are a readiness on God's part to relieve the oppressed and pardon the guilty ... Mercy is compassion in action ...

429. The Radiant Life

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... 5:17). There are some "new" things that occur. * New hope - with Christ there is a confident expectation of things seen and unforeseen! * New home - with Christ there is now a place to go for safety, love, and care. * New attitude - with Christ there is a new inclination to live right. * New heart - the sinful heart has been replaced by a clean heart! The newborn shakes his head, blinks, looks around at his first glimpse of new life, and he can hardly believe it. And the world? Why, of course, it rushes on ...

430. A Resume of Righteousness

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... think of Stephen being stoned or Paul on trial. There are so many marvelous statements of faith and faithfulness in the face of trouble. Yet here, presented with the generous promises of God, all Abraham can muster is two questions and a complaint. We are inclined to ask, "What's so great about Abraham? How is it that he ranks so high?" Simply this: Abraham believed God in spite of past disappointments and future uncertainties. In spite of all the questions and laments he may have felt in his own soul ...

431. That’s Why We Call It Good

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... in God's creation had become very bad, indeed. In stark contrast to what God saw at the end of each day of creation, the writer of Genesis reports that "the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). It is an emphatic statement of the human condition: a grim diagnosis, for which the only immediate prescription would be the flood. Then, some centuries later, in the passage we ...

432. A Stupid Question

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... know that I have often been guilty of thinking too small — underestimating either the power, or the love, or the will of God. Likewise, I have sometimes been impatient for him to act in some situation when, in fact, his will is for me to act. Routinely I am inclined to focus on my little kingdom and interests rather than on God's. So the disciples in this passage look very familiar to me. Do they look familiar to you? I know; that's a stupid question. Amen.

433. When We Are Tempted

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... effort, he succeeds in swerving the horses to one side, thus saving his own life and those of his animals. Plato says the moral of the story is this: the fiery steeds are the appetites, desires, lusts, and passions to which the heart of the human inclines from youth. The driver is the wisdom, understanding, and intelligence with which God has endowed human life that we might rule over our appetites and desires and have dominion over our self-destructive impulses. (4) Woe to us if we never hear the voice of ...

434. The Dirt on Jesus

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... throw anything away, their whole identity, and I mean every aspect of their life, is defined by their collected piles of stuff. Unless they are surrounded, indeed drowning, in their “stuff,” their lives have no meaning. Think you are not “stuff prone” or “stuff inclined?” Do you have an online automatic back-up system? Does your computer send everything you file to the all-knowing and all-saving “Cloud” so that you don’t ever lose any of your on-line “stuff?” Even if you don’t have ...

435. Grow Up!

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... as there was division in the congregation they were not mature or growing in their faith. “For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you,” Paul boldly wrote, “are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations?” With their fighting, jealousy, and quarreling they were living like everyone else — like much of the world. As growing, maturing believers they should have out-grown such behavior. The way they treated each other in the church should have been noticeably ...

436. A Faith that Does Not Quit

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... law, about morality or justice. He was out to fill his pockets and to gain honor and recognition from those who held position, power, and wealth. But there was a widow who needed his help. She was poor. She had no money to bribe him even if that were her inclination. She was a widow, a woman all alone in a man’s world. She had no man and no money to secure legal counsel to plead her case. She held no position or authority, none of the necessary clout to commend her to the judge. But she was being ...

437. The Faith of a Saint

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... for most people to swallow: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also . . .” These teachings go against every natural human inclination. The most natural response to hate is to hate in return. The most natural response to someone who curses you is to curse them in return. The most natural response to being slugged on one side of the face (which is what the original language ...

438. Family Re:Union - Inverting the Pyramid

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... should put God first in everything we do and show that we put God first by the way we live? It is not just for our sake, but for the sake of our children and our grandchildren. Moses said one chapter earlier, “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29, NIV) It is up to every generation to make the next generation better than their generation. Simple question, “Do you think we are ...

439. Prison Theology: Bait and Bail

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In a world more inclined to take up the sword than take up the cross, let’s begin today with a recognition of the power of the cross, the most recognizable symbol of Christianity. When you think of Islam you think of a crescent, even though technically Islam does not have a symbol – the crescent ...

440. Living “I Don’t Know” While “In the Know”

Matthew 21:23-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... vertically constrained, people of hair, the differently coiffed, the optically challenged, the temporarily sighted, the insightful, the out of sight, the out-of-towners, the Eurocentrics, the Afrocentrics, the Afrocentrics with Eurailpasses, the eccentrically inclined, the sexually disinclined, people of sex, sexy people, sexist pigs, animal companions, friends of the earth, friends of the boss, the temporarily employed, the differently employed, the differently optioned, people with options, people with ...

441. The Landlord's Dilemma - World Communion Sunday

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the entire Japanese nation was transfixed by his actions in that subway station. Most Japanese could not believe that a young Korean would selflessly give his life for one of their countrymen. Six years before, in the Kobe earthquake, many Japanese were inclined to help only those they knew. That’s the Japanese way. But this Korean showed them that it’s possible to love across lines of nationality. A few days after this tragic incident a host of dignitaries including the Japanese Prime Minister lined ...

442. Prescription on a Pole

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... our remedies — there is a traceable cause-and-effect relationship between our treatments and our cures. No such relationship can be detected here, however. There is no explaining how a look at a manufactured snake can heal a snakebite. In that sense, we might be inclined to give this remedy the label of “miracle.” We might also label it an act of faith: to trust and obey God’s inexplicable prescription. Moreover, God’s chosen remedy is a strange one not just in theory but also in detail. If we ...

443. God's Pattern for Sainthood

Psalm 24:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... faith. “I am a king,” was the answer. “And where is your kingdom?” asked the theologian. “In my soul,” answered the beggar, “for I know so well how to rule my faculties, both interior and exterior, that all the powers, inclinations, and affections of my soul are completely subject to me.” “Tell me, how did you learn such great perfection?” asked the theologian with great admiration. “By recollection, meditation, and union with God,” replied the beggar. “I was never able to find ...

444. God's Adopted Children

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... still loves you . . . and God loves me. Larry Crabb writes about a therapist who used to assemble a group and play a game he called “Top Secret.” He’d ask the people to write out the one thing about themselves that they were least inclined to share--the one thing nobody knew about them, and then to return the paper unsigned. Over the years, one answer consistently emerged as the most frequently admitted top secret. It was usually phrased something like this: “I feel utterly worthless. No one would ...

445. The Word According to Superman

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... Superman and apply them to God: “If I delivered you from the burning fire, what makes you think I am going to drop you when I’m carrying you to safety?” All of us have found ourselves in a troubling place. And then, just at that moment when we were inclined to give up, God has come through with some act of hope and promise. And for a while we felt a renewed sense of faith and joy. But, as time goes by, we forget. And then we find ourselves in a difficult spot again. We see no way out and ...

446. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... to offer sacrifices to the Lord. The last phrase of 1:5 states, So Solomon and the assembly inquired of him there. The verb used here, “to seek” (darash), refers to a very prominent concept in Chronicles. It expresses the basic cultic and religious inclination that the Chronicler wanted to foster among the postexilic community. 1:6 In this verse the Chronicler again resorts to the Deuteronomistic version in 1 Kings 3:4. He specifies, however, that the bronze altar stood before the LORD in the Tent of ...

447. Jehoshaphat King of Judah

2 Chronicles 17:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... to inquire (darash) of the LORD. The whole of Judah (from every town) gathered with him to seek (biqqesh) help from the LORD. This “seeking” attitude of the king is a very positive sign. To the Chronicler, darash and biqqesh express the ideal religious inclination. The seeking of Yahweh became material when Jehoshaphat stood up before the assembly gathered at the temple of the LORD (20:5) and started praying (20:6–12). The king introduces his call to God with the invocation O LORD, God of our fathers ...

448. Uzziah King of Judah

2 Chronicles 26:1-23

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. This is normally taken as reference to the eighth-century B.C. prophet Isaiah, who was a contemporary of King Uzziah of Judah (Isa. 1:1; 6:1). The change was probably made by the Chronicler in line with his inclination to involve prophetic voices in his history. Second, another well-known change was made to the note about the king’s burial place. Whereas 2 Kings 15:7 mentions that “he was buried . . . in the City of David,” Chronicles says, Uzziah . . . was buried near his ...

449. Jehoahaz King of Judah

2 Chronicles 36:2-4

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... internal differences between the two brothers, the sons of Josiah, could have resulted in Egypt’s getting a more favorable figure (from the Egyptian perspective) on the throne in Judah. Since Judah forms the land bridge between Egypt and the Mesopotamian empires, a favorable inclination in this part of the world would have been important for Egypt. 36:5–8 These verses also contain a much-abbreviated version of the royal narrative in the source text in 2 Kings 23:35–24:7. Not only is the information of ...

450. Jesus Taken Up into Heaven

Acts 1:1-11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... should be ready for the gift that the Father had promised. The fact that they were ready and had expressed their readiness in expectant prayer may have been a condition of their receiving the gift. The location seems also to have been important. Their own inclination had been to go back to Galilee (see John 21), but Jesus stressed that they should remain in Jerusalem—he gave them this command; in the Greek the verb is one that Luke often uses for particular emphasis. But why Jerusalem, we cannot say ...

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