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 4576 to 4600 of 4770 results

4576. Are You Ready to Wait?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

... time of wonder or of dread? Some Christians associate the second coming of Christ with the end of the world, a great cosmic battle, or a horrific holocaust in which God will save a small remnant but destroy everything and everyone else. From my point of view, that idea is both nonsense and really bad theology. God created the world and pronounced it good. God loves the world and everyone and everything in it. God sent Christ into the world not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved ...

4577. A Message To You from God

John 1:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far/And grace will lead me home. (7) Most of us want to start off a new year with clarity. If there is one area of your life where I hope you have total and complete clarity, it’s in your view of God. This is the one issue that will affect every other area of life, so it’s essential that you understand who God is and what God’s plans are for you. God has a plan for you, a plan to adopt you into His family and have a ...

4578. Are You Troubled by Demons?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... of Adolf Eichmann—a committed Nazi leader who helped Hitler carry out the Holocaust. From Arendt’s experience she penned a book titled Eichmann in Jerusalem, in which she spoke of “the banality of evil,” words contained in the subtitle. The popular view was the Nazi murderers were psychopathic, bloodthirsty monsters. Yet as Arendt observed Eichmann and listened to his defense before the Israeli court, she was struck by his apparent moral neutrality. He seemed not to be anti-Semitic but ordinary. The ...

4579. The Clues Are There

Luke 2:22-40

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... story about two elderly seekers who frequent the national shrine of the Jewish church. That in itself is a clue. Luke cares about vulnerable people. No one is more vulnerable than an aging man and an equally aged woman, nearing life’s end. One could view Simeon and Anna as has-beens, people whose years have nearly run out and who don’t matter anymore. Luke presents them to us as individuals who have something to contribute, even in — or perhaps, especially because of — old age. (This concern for the ...

4580. Beginning the Lenten Journey

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

... days of a progressive reevaluation and restructuring. We clean up our closets and rooms in preparation for presenting a clean house, or in the more biblical expression, a clean temple. If we use that as the basis for understanding this passage and for viewing what we are doing here on this Wednesday then we can begin a very important journey toward a spiritual wholeness. In our gospel reading, Jesus says, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others.” That seems to contradict our ...

4581. Celebrating the Virtue of Humanity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... removing old grudges and eliminating revenge from our hearts, but then the process moves to higher and deeper levels. Actually, compassion and mercy must begin with oneself. Low self-esteem is far too rampant in our contemporary society. People view themselves as insufficiently intelligent, attractive, athletic, or a host of other “necessary” attributes that contemporary society tells us are essential. Too often people cannot forgive themselves for actions or words in the past. Again, like the ball and ...

4582. The Cost of Discipleship

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... comfortably and I could support that new life.” The second tree looked down at a small stream that was flowing into a big river and said, “I want to be made into a great ship so I can carry useful cargo to all corners of the world.” The third tree viewed the valley from its mountain top and said, “I don’t want to be made into anything. I just want to remain here and grow tall so I can remind people to raise their eyes and think of God in heaven who loves them so much.” Years passed and the ...

4583. The Sign of Noah

Mark 1:4-11 · Song of Songs 6:9

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is John’s vision of Jesus’ receiving the Holy Spirit, that may not necessarily be the case, but it could have also been Jesus, who coming out from the water, sees the Holy Spirit descending upon him and hears the voice of God.” If John is viewing the phenomenon, then we can assume that this has occurred, so that John and those present can witness to Jesus’ identity and mission.[4] Similar to the healings Jesus does, with the purpose that people can witness to who he is and to God’s amazing glory ...

4584. Bloom Where You Are Planted

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... young pastor in Bavaria, the southeastern corner of Germany. He finished his theological studies in the early 1840s and began to think about where he might like to serve as a parish pastor. Loehe had some characteristics that were viewed by some as virtues, by others as liabilities. He was idealistic, determined, courageous, outspoken, and — in the minds of his detractors — brash. While studying theology, he had come to the conclusion that his expression of Christianity, the Evangelical Lutheran Church ...

4585. Imagine

Revelation 21:10, 22-26

Sermon

Will Willimon

... the facilities. The fence for mob control shouldn't have been built. But after it's all said and done and we have at last pinned the blame on somebody, we're still people who are capable of trampling, smothering to death our own kind to get a better view of a soccer match. And my preacherly exhortation to duty, to reform, to liberate, to crusade and to do, crumbles in my hands, to dust. Any preaching which is worthy, which is honest, has got somehow to get beyond what is and move on to what is not yet ...

4586. Where’s the Authenticity?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... capable of critical thinking, is to learn to discern what is to be believed and trusted and what is not. During the run-up to a recent presidential election, a cartoon appeared in a national magazine. It showed a flock of sheep grazing on a hillside. In view of the flock was a large billboard showing a wolf wearing a business suit, smiling and flashing sharp, white teeth. The message below the picture of the wolf read, “I am going to eat you!” Since it was a cartoon, the sheep could talk (as could the ...

4587. Homecoming

Hosea 14:1-3a

Sermon

Will Willimon

... all commitments, fiercely intolerant of everything but tolerance, open-minded rather than informed, no wonder we feel cut loose. We cut you loose from Mama and Daddy as First-year students in the hope that you will eventually come to view this as normal severance from family, neighborhood, tradition, story, home. IBM needs mobile workers. The modern world has given us our freedom, independence, autonomy but thereby made necessary bureaucracy, rootlessness, anonymity. We have nowhere even to lay our head. On ...

4588. Homecoming

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... -right, older brother in the story was such a miser. When he got word of the huge party going on at the big house to welcome his wayward little brother back, he sniffed, "A party! And on a Sunday!" We've got, in our worst moments, a miserly view of life. Life is a measured, finite, terminal, zero sum game. Three score and ten, says the Bible. Life begins with such potential, such vitality, then it wastes away to nearly nothing, just a few faded memories, and now the "hour of lead," and the journey into that ...

4589. Mutual Submission

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

Will Willimon

... people felt the same way. Yet in this same decade, from 1970 to 1980, the number of single households doubled, expanding so fast that many observers predicted that the conventional couple was doomed to extinction. Even marriage, the most intimate of human relationships, is viewed by many as a contract negotiated for the mutual benefit of autonomous individuals who relentlessly scan their feelings. Well, what do we want? Why are you here? What do you want? How do you propose to get it here at Duke? Those are ...

4590. The Eye of the Storm

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... rain, ice, and wind, named each year perhaps for their personal vendettas, wreak havoc upon homes and businesses, people and pets. They tend to be some of the most unpredictable, ferocious, chaotic, and powerful forces of nature. The hurricane is an interesting phenomenon. Viewed from above, they appear to be a spiral of white with a small hole in the center. Hardly small however, hurricanes can stretch to several hundred miles in diameter with winds exceeding on average of 150 mph. What we call the “hole ...

4591. Victorious, Victims

Luke 6:20-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

... . So, as a preacher, I can rejoice that Jesus had so much to say to the poor, the hungry, the persecuted and those who weep, because there are always so many of them here on Sunday. And what a good text on the first Sunday that this service is being viewed in the patient rooms of Duke Hospital. We welcome all of you victims in TV Land. But what did Jesus say? Blessed are you poor. Rejoice, those who weep. Love those who hate you. Blessed are you hungry. Pray for those who abuse you. Did he say, when your ...

4592. Thanks, but...

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... , 'whether or not I live or die, whether I stay in prison or I am set free, it is enough. I am content.'" "If you'll just read the whole letter, you'll find the theme repeating itself. His imprisonment, which seems to us like a setback, in Paul's view has, 'served to advance the Gospel.’ He can't witness outside of the jail, so he's busy witnessing inside the jail. 'Whether by life or death,' 'whether I'm near you or far away,' the cause goes on, whether or not Paul has material things, he's content. Paul ...

4593. How Does Your Garden Grow?

John 15:1-8

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

... learned in planting our gardens to this passage, it is much easier to get the spiritual point of Christ’s teaching. Apply your experience to the words and you will gain more from what Jesus has to say. Let’s look at this passage from that point of view. Jesus identified three players in the story. The gardener who was the Father; himself, who was the main branch that comes up out of the ground; and the branches, which are you and me. Let’s begin with the gardener, the Father, and his role in the story ...

4594. Love Is a Verb

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

Most of you may not remember Art Linkletter on television but he always had a section on his show titled “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” There is something so very honest and innocent about their views on the world’s toughest subjects. Following Linkletter’s example, a group of professionals gathered and asked a group of four- to eight-year-olds “What does love mean?” Here are some of their answers. “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toe nails ...

4595. Not Your Lips, but Your Life

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

Sermon

King Duncan

... on it. But what really disturbed me was the fact that people were judging me by what someone else with my name was doing. By his behavior he gave people the wrong impression of this Ron Dunn! I am afraid that is the reason the world has such a distorted view of Christ; it has judged Him by what others with His name have done.” (5) Ouch! Maybe we need some of Jesus’ tough love this morning too. Because the sin of the Pharisees is our sin too. We say we follow Christ, but all of us fall short of living ...

4596. Will the “Real” Jesus Please Stand Up

Mark 3:20-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... except non-acceptance and a live-and-let-live humanity, must be at the core of it. Tiktok is a cultural change-agent that not only reflects the mores of a new and for us foreign generation, but one that is changing the way culture views nearly everything. How? Analysts will tell you it’s by way of a very special algorithm, one that “watches” what you watch and then tailors suggestions to uniquely “your” preferences. Tiktok is “made for you.” It’s not simply about watching what other people ...

4597. Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Will Willimon

... with my experience or my needs (as I define my needs) then so much worse for the Bible. Not much shaking going on. I don't need to plug up my ears to the words of a little god who talks just like me. The foundation of a Christian view of ethics, or politics, or anything else begins in worship, in the sometimes dark, passionate, scary, fiery tempest of God and people colliding on Sunday. "For our God is a consuming fire." This God is a real God, not some pale, idolatrous projection of our ego. I've seen ...

4598. The Organic Gospel

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , that it will be worth the effort. Looking forward to the amazing destination, the latter climbs with his friend as they talk and spend time together. When they reach the top, the second man looks around wondering what all the fuss was about. The view is great, but nothing spectacular is waiting at the pinnacle. His friend then explains to him that the journey was not about the destination, but about the climb, their time together, their bonding, their talking, and his healing. The famous quote, “Life is ...

4599. Ordinary People

Ruth 1:1-16

Sermon

Will Willimon

... for this material from Ruth could be God's love for outsiders, the peculiar way in which God reaches out to outsiders through faithfulness among God's people. The birth of a son to Ruth and Boaz at the end of the story (4:13) has always been viewed by the church as a kind of foreshadowing of another unexpected birth of a son, Jesus. The son of Ruth and Boaz is in fact an ancestor of King David who was an ancestor of King Jesus. Three widows stand before us in a precarious, dangerous predicament. Their ...

4600. When You Know How It Ends

Mark 13:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... times is to stock up on guns and ammunition so they can protect themselves from unbelievers and do battle with “the great beast of Revelation” at the end of time. (3) There is nothing in the Bible, or in the history of Christian tradition, that would support this view. Nothing. Yet there are many passages in the Bible that tell us we should prepare for the end of time. So how should we do it? We do not want to be guilty of clock-watching this morning, but we want to take seriously Christ’s words about ...

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