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 1668 results

476. Becoming What You Are

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Carl Jech

... here, we had better go somewhere else. But no one else has it either. We need to deal with the fact that we are imperfect and yet are in love as community. The community cannot save us from anything and we cannot save anyone else, not on our own skills and not on our charms. But trusting in God we become more trustworthy to each other, and more available for the authentic community that is grounded in God's power and not our own." We are not perfect. We are not know-it-alls. We are merely becoming. But ...

477. Jesus Meets Buddha and Confucius

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Carl Jech

... disease that causes a person to go into uncontrollable spasms of shouting obscenities and insults. How many folks will moralistically rush to judgment when they encounter Saul? I think also of the down-to-earth hard work done by skilled psychiatric social workers to rehabilitate emotionally disturbed children. They have remarkable success precisely because they avoid naive moralizing and instead help children to work through their feelings. Once the child begins to understand his or her feelings, then ...

478. A Baptism of Blood

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... , present to us a prophetic portrait of what kind of a Messiah was needed to accomplish the salvation of a disobedient, an unfaithful, and a sinful people. Today, when we are preparing to call a pastor or to hire a person for a position of skill and responsibility, we develop what we call a "job description." This written description contains an inventory of the desirable personality traits and a list of the tasks to be done. This is what Isaiah does for us. He does not point seven hundred years into ...

479. The Symphony of God

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... heroes, or for the militant, or for the quarterbacks who carry the ball; rather, it is a word for the hesitant, the timid, and the spectators of life. It is a word to those of us who recognize that we do not have the courage, the talent, or the skills to assume leadership in the church and to do something spectacular for the Lord - which, more than likely, includes most of us here this morning. We are ordinary people who live ordinary lives. We go to work at the office, or at the factory, or at the mill, or ...

480. Counterfeit Faith

Acts 14:8-20

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... the miracle Paul performed, they remembered the legend, and they were certain that their visitors were gods in disguise. Barnabas with his white hair and muscular build was identified as Zeus, the head of the pantheon of pagan gods. Paul, because of his speaking skills, was declared to be Hermes, the god of eloquence and rhetoric. The positive response of the people to Paul's preaching was really the reaction of a counterfeit faith. It was a faith-reaction, not resulting from the heard Word of God. It was ...

481. Trust in God, Not in Man

Jeremiah 17:5

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... loving care; that we may enjoy the blessings of your providence even into eternity. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Confession Forgive us, Father, for the confidence we have placed in the outstanding achievements of our fellow humans. We are skilled in great demonstrations of power, but that power does not protect us. We sentence ourselves to a dry and thirsty land where life becomes lifeless. Forgive us for our misplaced trust. Lead us to the living water which flows from the quiet streams ...

482. The Foolishness of the Cross is the Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... to suffer humiliation and death on a cross. In his name we pray. Amen. Prayer of Confession Our Father, intelligence has such a high priority in our society, so even though we are not geniuses, we pride ourselves on our knowledge. With skill, we debate, argue, and disagree, giving little consideration for the necessity of faith. Forgive us for such foolish wisdom that restricts your power to save us. Reclaim us through Christ, our only source of strength and wisdom. Amen. Hymns “Ask Ye What Great ...

483. Our Social Practices Must Conform to Our Faith

Amos 8:1-14

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... Pastor: As we worship God today, are we aware of any neighbors who may be suffering from our unjust dealings with them? People: God forbid! Yet we confess that the pressures of the business world, and the attitude of society, confuse us as to what is skill and what is dishonesty. Pastor: Then we ought to listen closer to God than to our social structure, because God will not accept our worship if we take unfair advantage of those who depend on our honesty. People: We pray for knowledge and strength to put ...

484. Commitment to Christian Living

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... to live our lives each day in full commitment to you, that we may not allow ourselves to be weakened by inactivity in the Christian life. We pray in our Savior's name. Amen. Prayer of Confession We are a people who enjoy athletic skills, Father; but when it comes to the competition between Christian living and religious indifference, we lose interest. Forgive us for not wanting to get too involved in the most important challenge of life. Bring our spiritual inactivity to an end, and urge us on, equipped ...

485. Don't Just Stand There! - Get Involved!

Luke 3:1-20, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Dr. John Thompson Peters

... lights, the shadows of the things you have prepared will come to you, yes, inveterately, inevitably as bees to their hives, and there in your mind and spirit they will leave with you their distilled essence, sweet as honey or bitter as gall ..." Cleverness may select skillful words to cast a veil about you, and circumspection may never sleep, yet you will not be hid. No. As year adds to year, that fact of yours, which once lay smooth in your baby crib, like an unwritten page, will take to itself lines, and ...

486. What Makes Us Human?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... privilege of being critical of the music of the choir or the soloist, a favorite Sunday noon occupation in some homes, I am sure - as though the choir were singing for them or to them. Supposedly, if the choir has failed to impress them with their musical skills, then the choir has failed. When the choir sings, we merely have the privilege of sharing in their act of worship, vicariously, as spectators joining with them in our hearts. The anthem is not meant to praise or please or impress any one of us. We ...

487. Is Christianity Practical?

Jeremiah 17:19-27

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... then, as a refuge." Would it surprise you if I told you that there is something very dangerous about worshiping in a Gothic cathedral-like church such as this? No, I don't suppose we often think of it in that way, but it is dangerous. The skill and the experience of the architects through the ages have found the secret of raising human eyes and human minds with the use of stone and wood, mortar, glass, and steel. Anyone entering this sanctuary will automatically feel the lift that it gives. The eyes travel ...

488. Take Up Your Cross

Luke 8:1-15

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

... . To many people the sower's haphazard way of sowing would appear wasteful. Couldn't he have been a little more careful? Couldn't he have waited until the conditions were a little more favorable? Couldn't he have waited until he gained a little more skill at sowing before undertaking such a task? Rather than risk failure or looking foolish, some people choose to do nothing at all. Their fear of what others will think paralyzes them. But I have a question for people who are preoccupied with "playing it safe ...

489. The Peace that Jesus Gives

John 14:15-31

Illustration

Lee Griess

... to an apartment that houses a family of ten -- a grandmother, her two daughters and their seven children. Anyone who has climbed those stairs and shared in the experiences of that family this past year has made an ascent to hell. Unemployed, with few or no job skills, the family subsists on welfare payments and the meager wages one daughter brings home from work at a fast-food restaurant. Often the heat does not work and there is no hot water. Many days there is no food, for alcohol and drugs often eat up ...

490. A Community of Love

John 14:15-31

Illustration

Carl Jech

... perfection here, we had better go somewhere else. But no one else has it either. We need to deal with the fact that we are imperfect and yet are in love as community. The community cannot save us from anything and we cannot save anyone else, not on our own skills and not on our charms. But trusting in God we become more trustworthy to each other, and more available for the authentic community that is grounded in God's power and not our own."

491. Overlooked, but Not Forgotten

John 14:15-31

Illustration

Lee Griess

... have changed and my outlook is different, I still remember how I felt -- completely forgotten and totally unappreciated." Friends: if one of the greatest basketball players of all time can feel forgotten, how about the rest of us who are not blessed with the talent and skill that he has? We know how it is to feel forgotten and unappreciated. We've been down that road. But the good news this morning is that God will not forget us. God tells us that we are somebody -- and in baptism God calls us by name ...

492. Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... know our gifts and use them for You. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, You have touched our lives in so many wonderful ways and we have failed to see You and failed to give You thanks. Too often we have taken for granted the talents and skills You have given us and we have failed to use them to bless the world around us. Forgive us, Lord, and help us accept You have called us all to serve. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "I Am Thine, O Lord" "More Love To Thee" "I Need Thee Every ...

493. Sermon Opener - So Much To Say, So Little Time

John 16:5-16

Illustration

Alexander H. Wales

... would have been more sophisticated, but we have to remember that these were commoners, men of passions, used to living lives of intensity on fishing boats, on farms, in workshops, and in tax offices. They were the blue-collar workers of their time, skilled and yet not educated, used to the basics, not interested in what the future might hold because they found life difficult enough in the present. In other words, the disciples were like you and me. Our educational levels might be different, our cultural ...

494. The Role of the Father (Father's Day)

Matthew 7:7-12

Sermon

Brett Blair

... to Jerusalem for the three week long festival. That was a father-son affair only. No mothers allowed. And the very fact that Jesus later assumed his father’s profession lets us know that Joseph must have spent many hours with Jesus patiently teaching him the skills of the trade. Of course, by the time Jesus was thirty and started his ministry, his father was dead. Although this is never mentioned in scripture, I cannot help but think in my own mind that Jesus must have thought of his father often during ...

495. Christ Has Set Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

... who have the freedom to flick the wrist and cast the bait in the exact spot they want it to go. But no accomplished musician just sat down and began to play. No expert swimmer just fell out of a boat and began to paddle and breathe with ease. No skilled fisherman just bought the best reel on the market and then went out to lay his bait "on the money." First there was discipline. The master musician had to start by learning to count and run through the scales and then to drill and to drill and to drill. Only ...

496. Jesus and the Rascal

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... our Bibles with the same diligence and persistence as the computer operater and the insurance man study their manuals? Do we devote time and patience to our prayers and our witnessing like the investor to his accounts or the sportsman to his skills? Jesus said, "In the world you shall have tribulation." (John 16:33) When our calamities come - illness, sorrow, injustice, disappointment or misfortune - we are to handle them with the same wisdom and foresight with which the crooked steward handled his calamity ...

497. Formula for Life

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

... on artificially contrived activities for which badges and trivial rewards were offered. The 4-H programs, on the other hand, involved youth in real life activities with built-in compensations. No less important than the immediate returns were the development of skills and capacities directly related to lifetime activities. Whether or not this is a fair appraisal of the two programs, the point made is quite relevant to our discussion. The Christian religion is not something to be artificially imposed on life ...

498. Proper 6

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

... from the reading of these verses. First, a business transaction in the Near East - while always subject to certain legal restrictions - from ancient times, has been looked upon as a sort of game. It is a process in which contestants match wits with one another. Skill in bargaining is something looked for and prized, and it is part of the fun of the transaction. There are many places in the world where this is still true, where a certain delight is taken in such gamesmanship. Second, the main thing Jacob's ...

499. Good News for the Multitudes

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Thomas C. Short

... apprenticeship as a carpenter. For months and months he had labored in his uncle’s carpenter shop learning the trade, and now it was time for him to be a carpenter. His days of preparation were past. He had paid the price. Now, he was excited about putting his skill to work. He was not going to turn his back on all of this to be a disciple of Jesus. From that moment he knew his service to this traveling preacher would be limited. An older man heard the warnings and did not try to play tricks on himself ...

500. God Is a Mystery

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

... had some contact with the tax collector. On occasion most of them had begged him for mercy and understanding, but he always had a deaf ear to them. His heart was made of steel, and his eyes were fixed on profits. He was not bad by nature hut by cunning skill. Be had learned through the years how to eke out more and more money from his people so he could line his own coffers. Many times the people had wanted to tell him what they thought of him and put him in his place, but since he was backed by ...

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