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 476 to 500 of 3285 results

476. Overcoming Fear

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... us his heart, a heart that was not terrorized by cancer or anything else. Jimmy V said, “Today I fight a different battle. You see, I have trouble walking and I have trouble standing for a long period of time. Cancer has taken away a lot of my physical abilities. Cancer is attacking and destroying my body. But what cancer cannot touch is my mind, my heart, and my soul. I have faith in God…and hope that things might get better for me. But even if they don’t, I promise you this—I will never give up ...

477. Whose Side Are You On?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... can be more wonderful than myself.” Or as the old L’Oreal commercial summed it up, “I’m worth it!” No wonder that a recent study of one million senior high school students revealed that, on leadership ability, 70 per cent thought they were above average, only 2 per cent below. In the category “ability to get along with others,” none of the students rated themselves below average, 60 per cent rated themselves as being in the top 10 per cent and twenty-five thought they were in the top 1 per ...

478. Parades and Crosses — The Challenge of Ministry

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... be good experience for him to work for someone else for a while. But eventually, he dreamed of the day his son would join him in the business. He knew his son had the ability to do almost anything with his high grades and positive, hard-working attitude. The son had spoken some of medicine and law. He had the rare ability to excel in both science and literature. The father contented himself with the thought the son might enter one of the professions. But beyond all that, he longed for the day the son would ...

479. Jesus Is the Recipe for Eternal Life

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 18:24-25). In essence Jesus is saying that the recipe for eternal life is not about me only, but rather our ability to give of ourselves for others. This message is dramatically presented in Matthew's famous vision of the final judgment in chapter 25. Interestingly, here Jesus tells his disciples, and all of us as well, that it is not right belief that gains us the eternal life we ...

480. Living the Word of God

James 1:17-27

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... of our lives must be filled with lives of faith that not only speak but live God's Word. Sometimes things get in the way of our goal. Pride, laziness, preoccupation with other things, and feelings of inadequacy can all get in the way of our ability to live the Word of God. Thus, we must remove all obstacles so that we can hear the word clearly and then actualize what we hear. Mahatma Gandhi came to his vocation in life rather suddenly and unexpectedly by observing injustice in South Africa. Seeing injustice ...

481. Engage Mind before Putting Mouth in Gear

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... The laws of nature govern the reality that apple trees do not yield grapes nor do seeds for squash yield carrots, but the tongue is under our control; it is not governed by the laws of nature. Personal choice, one of the two ideas (along with the ability to think) that separates humankind from the rest of God's creation, is operative with the tongue. We must choose to use the tongue to build up, praise, and challenge, rather than ridicule or condemn. Thus, the choice is ours. The choice is always ours! The ...

482. Transformation to the Light

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... pour over him he felt a great sense of relief. The women told him, "Not only can you enjoy the light, but you have the ability to reflect the light to many others." So the woman handed him over to the gem cutter. Although it was a bit painful, he could ... went to the poor. When the diamond realized the sale would benefit the poor, his tears were dried and he gave thanks for his ability to share the light with others. The transformation of the diamond from being a child of darkness to a child of the light is ...

483. Power Failures and Power Surges

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... by kilowatts or killing scores? Is power wielded by nation-states or anti-statist terrorists? Is power measured in dollars and cents, body counts, bad dreams, or the ability to forfeit futures? It is time Christians reclaimed a biblical understanding of power. Power is not found in expulsions from hydrocarbons. Power is not found in the ability of one ideology to dominate another ideology. Power is not found in the strong lording it over the weak. For Christians the greatest power surge ever to occur ...

484. Beware the Crest of the Wave

Mark 1:4-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , when we are riding the crest of the wave, is also the moment we are most likely to be subjected to the severest temptations, gnawed by our most debilitating insecurities, and seduced into believing the most grandiose visions of our own abilities. In today's text Jesus celebrates perhaps the most exhilarating and confirming episode of his entire ministry. Everything is going right. John baptizes Jesus, carrying out his appointed role in the drama of salvation. The experience is so moving and powerful ...

485. The Bonds of Love

1 John 4:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... all those nasty children you were hurt by as a child when they wouldn't let you play with them, or when playing fair meant you lost, or when you failed to become a part of the most popular clique? All these experiences affect your ability to be a friend, accept friendship, or maintain a friend-relationship over time, even with someone you love. The third bond Grunebaum speaks of is the bond of sexuality and desire. An obvious component of any marriage relationship, this bond typically runs hot and cold ...

486. Be Happy!

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... by. The obstacle to Bartimaeus' happiness was obvious - as a poor blind man he had nothing to look forward to but a life of roadside begging, subsisting on charity and hand-outs. Bartimaeus refused to be silenced because his trust in Jesus' ability to heal him was so pervasive. He expected great things from God - indeed nothing less than total healing - trusting in what his heart told him was possible. Fueled by this trusting faithfulness, Bartimaeus responded with enthusiasm to Jesus' command that he be ...

487. A Lovehope Faith

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... The experience of this indwelling Christ - our faith made possible by God's love - reveals something more to us as well. The very presence of Christ's love and our ability to respond to it makes the partial, piecemeal nature of our experience more evident. Paul does not despair over this condition, however; in fact, it is our ability to recognize this "not yet" quality of our faith which enables the quality of hope to spring forth. Brunner ties faith and hope together by asserting that " . . .faith believes ...

488. Scissors, Paper, Rock

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to be soft makes the leader a leader. This is another paradox: What is soft is strong. (As printed in John Heider, The Tao of Leadership [Atlanta, GA: Humanics New Age, 1985], 155.) Fluidity, the ability to "flow" and "yield," has been weakened and degraded in recent times by confusing this strength to bend with a rootless, undirected, "anything goes" ideology. God never intended us to drift about in a water world without purpose or perspective. Twentieth-century mystic David Spangler rescues the concept ...

489. Home Alone

Revelation 21:10, 22-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Father are part of my family." Here is a family with a love more deep, a forgiveness more wide and a compassion more broad than any human relationships can offer. A Christian family, then, is one whose security and unity is not assured through its own abilities or efforts. Its "key log" is shored up by a faith in something larger than itself - Christ. The church makes a mistake when it idealizes the home as a self-contained spiritual oasis in the midst of the dangerous desert of secular culture. In "Family ...

490. Speak Up for Forgiveness

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , there needs to be an enormous flow of forgiveness between the two. Faithfulness coupled with forgiveness is the best any human relationship can hope to achieve. Few old saws have been more used, and gone more unsharpened, than "forgive and forget." Our ability to recall old injustices, dredge up insignificant slights and reopen old wounds is masterful. How many of us can remember our parents' anniversary date? How many of us can remember well the day we were punished for something we did not do? Though ...

491. Get a Life!

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Is this the peace that passes all understanding? What happens when we consider each one of these peace-inducing traits in the light of the gospel? Absence of suspicion: On the face of it nothing could seem more reflective of a Christian consciousness than the ability to let go of all those painful, paranoidal perceptions we pin on people, relationships and institutions. If we are not suspicious of others and their motives, it is easy to greet them in love and trust them with our hopes and dreams. But there ...

492. Three Wise Gifts

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a door just might be walking out of your life. Forever. So pay a compliment. Say something nice you've been meaning to say to someone. Tell them that you think they're a good, talented person; that you value their friendship; that you admire their ability; that they make you happy... It's a notion that you'll never regret. (Mike McGrath, "In Memoriam," in Robert Rodale's Save Three Lives, (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1991), xvi-xvii.) Guerilla Love: Amy Grant calls this kind of love "Love of Another ...

493. The Inner Peace Virus

John 1:1-18; 14:27

Illustration

Sharon Moon

... to enjoy each moment. A loss of interest in judging other people. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others. A loss of interest in conflict. A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.) Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature. Frequent attacks of smiling. An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen. An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the ...

494. God's in Charge (so shut up!)

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... someone who has just lost a job, each inappropriate remark is accompanied by that same sinking-into-the-floor feeling and the distinct taste of shoe leather. "How," we wonder, "could I be so stupid!" "God's in charge, so shut up!" The human ability to say remarkably stupid things and to make completely unintended connections is profound. In fact, there are now scholars who are studying "error-making" as a cognitive science which reveals much about how the mind works. The good thing about "using mistakes as ...

495. Dr. God

Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the cause of any healing that takes place, it is the only environment in which it can occur. Faith Heals: In today's gospel text, Matthew reworks the stories he shares with Mark and Luke in order to emphasize that faith in Jesus' healing abilities, not some magical healing "aura" surrounding him, is what makes healing possible. The hemorrhaging woman's faith is both demonstrated by her actions and then declared by Jesus himself when he says, "Your faith has made you well." The synagogue leader's faith is ...

496. What Gift Do You Have For Us?

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... mind of a mind freed from the old restraining conformities of our past is the power that opens us up to the presence of all God's gifts already at hand in our lives. This is a gift we can take home to our families every day. It is the ability to rise above the behaviors and attitudes that are forced upon us by the demands of the world and to allow ourselves to be transformed by the unpredictable power and presence of the Holy Spirit. There are a lot of new books out now on spiritual gifts, on the whole ...

497. The Cream of the Crop, or The Skimmed Milk of the Earth

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... years ago: "We are great by exclusion, grasping and egotism. Our success takes from all what it gives to one. It is a haggard, malignant, careworn running for luck." Emerson went on to note three qualities he deemed marks of true "success:" the ability to discern and appreciate beauty; the ability to see the best in other people; a commitment to leaving the world a better place, either by doing one's own work better or by making it easier for others to do theirs. Are these our goals when we make scrambling ...

498. Out of the Box Gifts

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... box. Gifts with the purchasing power of gold that can provide sustenance and shelter for the hungry and needy. Gifts with the healing power of frankincense that can provide wellness and wholeness and joy for the sick and diseased of the world. Gifts with the restorative abilities of myrrh that can release God’s resurrection energies on new life and on a dying person or planet. Let’s give out of the box gifts this Christmas. Gifts that only come to life when taken out and set free. Gifts that bloom and ...

499. Acts 9:1-20

Acts 9:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... enemy of his people as "Brother Saul" - demonstrating with his words his trust in the Lord's transformative abilities. Saul is no longer an outsider persecuting the Church - he is now a true brother in Christ. And while his vision's words did not make the ... source of Ananias' healing ability clear, Ananias himself knows better than to take credit for such a miracle. The Holy Spirit, Jesus' presence here on earth, is ...

500. Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... trying of integrity which stands up and comes out true, is the positive outcome of meeting these challenges head-on. Lest we begin to think that we are wholly responsible for creating and maintaining this quality of virtuous character, remember that the ability to suffer and endure is still a divinely given gift, dependent upon grace. We cannot "build" our own Christian character through dint of good works and better intentions. We are able only to open ourselves to a more complete (compleat) understanding ...

Showing results