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 4776 to 4800 of 4951 results

4776. A Man Who Wanted to Burn a City

Luke 9:46-50

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... The greatest concentration is in chapter four, where "love" is used twelve times between verse 7 and verse 12 - and then another fourteen times between verse 16 and verse 21! But more important than the actual use of the word "love" is the way in which the presence of the spirit of love permeates all of the writing of John. Let me remind you of just a few of the familiar passages which flowed from the pen of John: God is love. (1 John 4:8, 16) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and ...

4777. John Calvin, God’s Man

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... in the world, not to force our way on others, but to be the ones through whom God coaxes and loves and invites sinners to repent and change their minds. Every person’s ministry is to be that tool of God’s Spirit who invites, encourages, and sets an example of allowing God’s choice to be active and convincing in the life of another. It certainly is relevant right now to look at what Calvin tried in Geneva, with new right fundamentalists advocating electing people who promise: change in abortion laws ...

4778. Mother Teresa and the Dying Poor

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... your religion you think you ought - listen further. Something leaps out at me when I study the lives of the saints who shaped the church. The more spiritual they were, the closer they allowed God to come to them; and the more their lives were permeated with the. Spirit, the more the poor and down-and-out were on their conscience. The more they rolled up their sleeves to help, the more they felt a certain joy and peace in their own lives. We have already seen that in the lives of St. Augustine, St. Francis ...

4779. Knowing the Secret

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas Long

... hidden truth is confirmed in the story’s opening episode, when Jesus, coming up out of the waters of baptism, sees the Holy Spirit descending upon him like a dove from the heavens, which have been torn open like a piece of cloth, and hears the very voice of ... God telling the secret: "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased" (Mark 1:11). Only Jesus sees the Spirit; only Jesus hears the voice. This is, in the words of one commentator, "a secret epiphany."1 God knows the secret. Now Jesus knows ...

4780. A Tempting and Lonely Place

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Thomas Long

... of a place where crucial and risky decisions are being made. It is out in the heramos that John the Baptizer fills the air with a cry for repentance. John is, in Isaiah’s words, the "voice of one crying in the heramos." Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the heramos to be tempted, and the heramos is inhabited both by angels and wild beasts. The heramos is the place where God’s will is made clear and where the demand for obedience becomes urgent. It is also the place where the temptation to disobey is ...

4781. Repentance and Forgiveness

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... were saying this, Jesus himself stood among them. But they were startled and frightened, and supposed that they saw a spirit. And he said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, ... and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." (Luke 24:35-39) Then we read some incredible words. We read that the ...

4782. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... Agrippa (Acts 2:2) and while John was spared from making the supreme sacrifice, he too suffered much for his Lord."2 Impulsive, impatient, and impertinent they may have been, but they were able! "Are ye able? Still the Master whispers down eternity, and heroic spirits answer, To the death we follow thee." So runs the familiar old hymn, and so responded pastor Stanley Scott, when he decided to enter the chaplaincy. The war in Vietnam had heated up, and some young people Scott knew had died in the conflict ...

4783. When Things Don’t Work Out, What Then?

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... second volume, The Acts of the Apostles, we see that Paul, too, had to face this fact that things don’t always work out as we had planned. Luke wrote this: "When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go into the province of Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." In some way, circumstances made it clear that this was not what Christ wanted. Imagine Paul’s disappointment. He wanted to take the Good News of Christ into Asia Minor. Instead, he had to make a left-hand turn and go to ...

4784. What Is God Like?

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... of death as he hung on the cross, his mind went back to that childhood prayer. Again, he quoted those words, but with one significant addition. He prefaced those words with his favorite name for God, the name Abba, dear Father: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." When we look at David and hear his plea, "Deal gently with the young man Absalom for my sake," we have a glimpse through a father’s heart at the great heart of God as father. When we see David dealing with his fatherly love and his son ...

4785. Waiting

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... to day give and take of life together; it is also true in what we call "higher religion" - the regulations of the Spirit, the conditions for lovers, prophets, and saints. Our text today has buried within it a marvelous verse which is the heart of ... in nature’s creation had come to appear in the life of Jesus, bringing a new order for human salvation. In his incarnation of the Spirit of God, we come to know how to live out God’s order faithfully. Through his grace we receive power and wisdom to wait ...

4786. The Remnant Year

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... of my Christmas from which God might fashion a useful article in the year ahead? What is that bit or piece of the Spirit of the newborn Christ that captured my heart so that God can shape it into life abundant as the days go by? I ... remember an event which happened in the early minutes of Christmas morning as the congregation began to leave the church. The spirit of the holy hour was hanging over the people, filling our hearts. "Merry Christmas" rang out as people greeted each other before going out ...

4787. Everybody a Cinderella

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... the counterpart of himself that he sees and begins to build upon it. As Cinderella heeded the call of love and left the prison of her attic, so we receive the love of Christ and step forth from situations that would enslave us. As she turned loose of the spirit of slavery which had begun to claim her, so we, in Christ’s love, look deep into the deadends that prevent our forward motion. We find them to be illusions brought about by the slavery of self that had begun to imprison us. When the slavery of the ...

4788. Advent 2

Isaiah 40:1-31, 2 Peter 3:1-18, Mark 1:1-8

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... still exiled people from Babylon, to return them to their own land, and to reestablish the covenant with them. Call to Worship Leader: Let us prepare a path for God in the wilderness of our hearts!} People: LET US CLEAR A HIGHWAY ACROSS THE DESERTS OF OUR SPIRITS! Leader: Thus shall the glory of the Lord be revealed, People: AND ALL HUMANKIND SHALL SEE IT! PRAISE GOD! Collect O God of power and might, who have entered into history in dramatic ways to free your people, invade our age anew to set free all who ...

4789. Christmas 1

Isaiah 9:1-7, Titus 2:1-15, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... AND GIVES US HOPE. Collect O God of grace and glory, whose wondrous gift makes us altogether new, prepare us to receive again the great gift of your Son; that, having first received, we may then give of ourselves in unselfish ways, and with your Spirit of mercy and compassion for all humankind, may help to realize in part the Kingdom that you surely will establish in full glory through Jesus Christ. Amen Prayer of Confession Almighty and compassionate God, we regret that we have not lived graceful lives in ...

4790. Christmas 1

Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 62:1-12, Galatians 3:26--4:7, Luke 2:21-40

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... name we pray. Amen Second Lesson: Galatians 4:4-7 Theme: God’s child, God’s children Exegetical Note Paul here plays upon the offspring image: because Jesus is God’s "natural" Son (child), so are we God’s adopted sons (children) who, having the Spirit of Christ, may have a heart-felt sense both of the Fatherhood (Parenthood) of God and of our rightful share in God’s promises. Call to Worship Leader: Rejoice, people! For because God sent a child into the world, we are now children of God ourselves ...

4791. Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-22, Ephesians 3:1-13, Matthew 2:1-12

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... by petty alliances and allegiances - of race, color, creed, and class - and let these stand in the way of our accepting those unlike ourselves as our brothers and sisters in your sight. Forgive us our narrowness and pettiness; inspire us with your greatness of Spirit; and teach us to follow the example of Jesus, who lived out your eternal purpose by drawing all humankind to himself. Amen Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12 Theme: From a royal city, a royal child Exegetical Note Matthew’s main concern in this familiar ...

4792. Epiphany 5

Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:29-34, 1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Job 6:1-7:21

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... ? People: YES! NOT TO CALL ATTENTION TO HIMSELF, BUT TO ENHANCE AND ILLUSTRATE WHAT POWER GOD’S COMPASSION HAS, EVEN IN A FALLEN WORLD. Collect God of power and might, whose Son Jesus worked wonders as signs of your dawning Kingdom, fill us with your Holy Spirit; that, like Christ, we may work miracles out of our compassion for others, and in so doing may point others to you, your Son, and your Gospel. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession God of boundless mercy, we confess that we often ...

4793. Transfiguration

Mark 9:2-13, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Kings 2:1-18

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... master’s authority and power. The connecting thread is Elisha’s persistence in his vow to accompany Elijah to the end (despite discouragement from both his older colleague and other prophets encountered along the way) and his receiving a "double measure" of Elijah’s spirit as a result. Call to Worship Leader: May the God who calls great men and women to service be with us this hour! People: MAY THE GOD WHO GRANTS AUTHORITY AND POWER TO MERE MORTALS BLESS US THIS DAY! Leader: May the God who rewarded ...

4794. Lent 1

Genesis 9:1-17, 1 Peter 3:8-22, Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:14-20

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... between the ark and the church. Call to Worship Leader: Hear the good news, church: the righteous Christ died for the sins of the unrighteous once and for all. People: THAT HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD, DEAD IN THE FLESH BUT ALIVE IN THE SPIRIT. Leader: As in ancient days, God saved some from the destruction of wickedness in an ark made by Noah. People: SO TODAY GOD SAVES PEOPLE FROM UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IN A CHURCH BUILT BY CHRIST. Collect Almighty and everliving God, whose waters of judgment lifted to safety ...

4795. Lent 2

Genesis 17:1-27, Romans 4:1-25, Mark 8:31--9:1

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... responsive in faith to you, your Kingdom, and your Son. In his name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession O God of grace, we confess that we are guilty again and again of trusting in our own merit and efforts at holiness rather than your grace and your Spirit. Forgive us our attempts to be our own saviors. Teach us to trust, not in our righteousness, but in yours and Christ’s, and to live lives of Christian responsibility and service as a result. Trusting in Christ and his name, we pray. Amen Gospel: Mark 8 ...

4796. The Resurrection of Our Lord

Isaiah 25:1-12, John 20:1-9, John 20:10-18, Mark 16:1-20, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... AND GRACIOUS GIFT: OUR FAITH IS NOT IN VAIN! Collect God of life and hope, who raised a son from death to life, cause in us this day a resurrection of the heart; that we who are dead within may know the reality of resurrection and the spirit of new life in our daily lives, and may yield in our works and deeds the fruits of your grace. In the name of the risen Christ we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Forgiving God, we confess our nagging preoccupation with death, despair and disease, and our reluctance ...

4797. Easter 3

Acts 3:11-26, 1 John 2:28--3:10, Luke 24:36-49

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... God, who have graciously made us your children in Christ, stir our feelings, thoughts, and actions to true righteousness; that, with your Spirit as our enabler, we may lead lives that more nearly conform to that of our brother Christ, the righteous one, in whose ... worthy family members of yours. Forgive us, we pray, and enable us through the example of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit to live as though Christ really were the model and inspiration we claim him to be. In his name we pray. Amen Gospel ...

4798. Easter 4

Acts 4:1-22, 1 John 3:11-24, John 10:1-21

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... his sacrifice; that, by your grace, we too may be moved to give ourselves in love for him, and you, and one another. In the name of the Good Shepherd we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession All-compassionate God, we confess with sorrow our failure to appreciate the spirit of self-sacrifice that lies at the heart of Christianity. In the name of the one who sacrificed all in love, we manage to be selfish and self-serving. Forgive us, we pray. Instill in us the image of the Good Shepherd as a guide and inspiration ...

4799. Proper 13

2 Samuel 12:1-31, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:25-59

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... ; GOD CALLS US TO BE WHAT WE ARE. Collect Gracious God, who have eliminated the demands of the Law as requisites for our salvation, make your grace active in us; that the salvation that we have as your gift may yield all the fruits of your Spirit, and that our lives may thus reflect the new beings we have become. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession Merciful God, we confess that we do not always understand the economy of your salvation plan, and either continue to try to earn our salvation ...

4800. Proper 15

2 Samuel 18:19--19:8, Ephesians 4:17--5:21, John 6:25-59

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... delivered, we prefer to let somebody else do it.\ People: LET US PRAY TO GOD FOR THE COURAGE AND FAITH TO TAKE LIFE AS IT IS: THE GOOD AND THE BAD. Collect God of wisdom, who give the strength of faith to move mountains, empower us with your Spirit to face life as it is; that, especially when trials and tragedies confront us, we shall be able face them with honesty, courage and sensitivity. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen Prayer of Confession God of mercy, we confess that we like to avoid the darker sides of ...

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