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 1259 results

476. Christmas 1

Lk 2:41-52 · Col 3:12-17 · 1 Sam 2:18-20, 26

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 Hannah gives her first child, Samuel, to the service of Yahweh under the high priest, Eli, at Shiloh where Samuel grew physically and spiritually. Samuel was the answer to Hannah's prayer for a child. When she weaned him, she took him to Eli at Shiloh to serve Yahweh permanently. Each year when Hannah came to worship, she brought Samuel a handmade robe. The little lad, wearing a linen apron-like vestment, an ephod, ministered to Yahweh. In this service Samuel grew physically ...

477. He Lights Up My Life!

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

When this narrative begins, it is about as lacking in optimism and hope as the story my brother, B. J., tells about a farmer in southern Missouri who hired a man to split some post oak for his farm. Post oak is notoriously hard to work with, but it makes excellent fence posts and rail fences. It is so tough, that it's like trying to split rock. The farmer hired a man who was not too fast at thinking, and told him he'd pay him three dollars a dozen for the posts. After two or three days the farmer came to ...

478. When the Poor Become Rich

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Bumper sticker philosophy would have us believe that there are many sources of happiness. Some say, "Happiness is surfing," or "Happiness is a glass of cold milk," or even, "Money can’t buy happiness, but happiness can’t pay the bills." Unfortunately, bumper stickers seldom capture the whole truth. Nobody can say for certain what formula of circumstances guarantees happiness. If we could, given the market for such a product, we could ...

479. The Gathering, The Scattering

Hebrews 10:19-39

Sermon

Various Authors

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean ... (v. 22a) ... Stir up one another to love and good works. (v. 24b) It’s right there, in the name itself: communion - that which makes for unity, oneness. But if this Christian sacrament of unity has been anything through twenty centuries, it has been a sacrament of division. Let’s move backward quickly through those centuries, taking snapshots as we go. Frame 1. Christians visit in the parish of a sister ...

480. Some Assembly Required

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

But who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears? (Malachi 3:2) Some of you might know from your own experience that there are three words which can give a parent serious nightmares. Three words can drive real fear into a parent’s heart. I’m talking about mothers and fathers cringing in abject terror at the mere sound of three simple words: "Some Assembly Required." How well I learned this on Christmas Eve when I engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with a hobby horse! It came ...

481. The Joy of Being a Caring Person

Mt 25:31-46 · Lk 16:19-31

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

Being a Christian is really a matter of spirit, but this spirit, when acted out in life relationships, becomes a many-dimensioned thing. You are not a Christian if you are not a caring person. Jesus put the emphasis here. He shocks us a bit in Matthew when he tells those that have neglected the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the lonely, the sick, and those in prison, that they have totally missed life. He puts it bluntly - "Depart from me." Then he turns around and says to those who had cared for the ...

482. In Debt Forever!

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

It seemed as though the bishop was looking straight at me "Are you in debt so much as to embarrass you in your work?" What an incongruous question to ask of a candidate for ordination. It seemed so mundane, so inappropriate for such a hallowed occasion, even if it was one of the questions asked of ordinands ever since the day when John Wesley first posed it. "Are you in debt so much as to embarrass you in your work?" "Of course, I’m in debt, Bishop! Who wouldn’t be after three years in seminary on a ...

483. To Be Perfectly One

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

One of the most meaningful experiences of my life took place in the Philippines. In the remote village of Lubuagan, high in the mountain provinces of northern Luzon, is a small mission school of some 250 students. The school and its sister church are on the main highway to Manila, which at this point is a narrow, treacherous dirt road, built on a mountain ledge. This little town literally clings to the mountains. It is half surrounded by graded rice terraces which give the impression of a thousand ...

484. An Invitation to a Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

Did you ever hear such a story? The Gospel for the day tells it: a man gave a marriage feast and no one showed. He sent his servants out and found everyone too busy. Some even treated his servants badly when they were invited. So he went out into the streets and dragged in anyone who would come, and finally the wedding reception was full. To those who heard the story from Jesus’ own mouth, there was special meaning: The guests who had been invited and didn’t come were the Jewish people. They had been ...

485. MR. CAIN

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

CAIN and his wife, JAREL, in their early forties, have just returned from a gala banquet in CAIN’S honor; now they are preparing for bed. CAIN undresses slowly, still savoring his delight in being named "Rotarian of the Year." JAREL wears a sheer and obviously expensive negligee, but she hasn’t yet removed her jewelry. She is doing this now and she has quite a bit to remove, perhaps a bit too much. CAIN (Singing, off-key) "Happy days are here again, No more skies of gray again, Happy days are here again." ...

486. A Large Fish Story

Jonah 1:1-17, Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Someone please explain a great mystery to me. Why is it that a person who is generally honest in all things cannot give you an accurate description of the fish he has caught? I mean, if you asked this person to tell you his net financial worth, he would tell the truth. If asked to describe his wife he would do so objectively, noting her strengths and weaknesses. But for the life of him he cannot give an honest, accurate description of a fish he caught. When showing you the length of the fish, he cannot ...

487. The Birthplace Of Humanity

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Susan Hedahl

In the Hebrew, Bethlehem means the house of bread. What a wonderful poetic description of a dwelling place. I remember frequently coming home from school and smelling the aroma of baking bread, creating for our entire family a house of bread. It awakens memories of good food, a warm kitchen, conversation, fulfillment. Everyone who entered the house gravitated towards the kitchen for a piece of bread with melting butter and to enjoy that delicacy in the company of others. At Bethlehem, at this house of ...

488. Merry Kurtzman

Sermon

Erskine White

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a wee, small country the rest of the world had never heard of called Cornucopia. It was a beautiful little country with sparkling cities and quaint rural towns, lush, rolling hills and rich farmland fed by streams of the cleanest water you ever saw. It was a prosperous country as well, where even the poorest of Cornucopians felt blessed with "the good life" and considered themselves better off than most other people in the world. People sometimes ...

489. Great Grace Was Upon Them!

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

Let us pray: Lord, help us to be faithful in our devotion and worship during these tempting days of spring and summer. Light within our hearts the flame of gratitude that in this complaining and selfish world our light may shine. In the power of your love, enable us to tell the difference between desires and necessities; between enough and too much; between making a living and making a life. Help us to follow your Son in the freedom from the idolatry of things. In Christ’s name. Amen. I am glad you are ...

490. Finding the Truth That Makes Us Free

John 8:31-41

Sermon

James W. Robinson

I sat one morning at a table in a fast-food restaurant, facing a window coated with a film of dirt and grease. An employee appeared outside with a bucket of water and sponged the grime away. It was like the raising of a curtain on a stage. Now I could see clearly the scene outside. In the immediate foreground was an asphalt parking lot; beyond that a stretch of winter-browned grass, relieved of monotony only by a cluster or two of leafless shrubs. An ambulance pulled away from a diner on the far edge of ...

491. OUR LORD DENIED

Sermon

E. Jerry Walker

In the depths of the night, pilgrims still moved along the streets of the Holy City, streets which normally at this late hour would have been deserted to a lonely Roman guard. But now, for the religious festival of Passover, Jews had come from all the world, more than the city could absorb, and the large, tall man, his robe hooded about his head, attracted no more attention than any other. Peter drifted without direction, a shadow moving among shadows on the dark streets. A few short hours before his life ...

492. Not Far From the Kingdom

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"You are not far from the kingdom of God." (v. 34) It was a discussion on the Great Commandment. We call it the "controversy source." An unnamed scribe, one of the straightforward individuals in the gospel narrative, came to Jesus asking a question. It was a candid inquiry, asked by a guileless person. Let us recall, first, that the man was a scribe. His business was recording the scripture. Long before the invention of printing by the Chinese, all documents were executed by hand. What a tiresome, ...

493. Clear and Clean and Good

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

T. A. Kantonen

A television commercial advertising a soft drink says, "Sprite is what you want the world to be - clear and clean and good." Whether or not Sprite deserves such praise, certainly that is what we want the world - and our own lives - to be, clear and clean and good. And it is precisely in these terms that the apostle describes what the coming of Christ means to us. The apostle uses the word epiphaneia, the original for our word epiphany, to describe both the first and the second coming of Christ. He tells us ...

494. Rejoice

Philippians 4:2-9

Sermon

King Duncan

William Everett, a Congressman from Massachusetts in the late 1800s, told the story of a congregation in England that needed new hymn books but lacked the money to pay for them. The churchgoers learned that a large company, a maker of patent medicines, would furnish hymn books at a penny each if the books could carry some advertising. The congregation saw no harm in making that concession, and so they ordered the books. The new hymnals arrived at the church on the day before Christmas. On Christmas morning ...

495. I Have Been Baptized

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Three pastors got together for coffee one morning. Much to their surprise they discovered that all their churches had problems with bats infesting their belfries. The bats were making a terrible mess. "I got so mad," said one pastor, "I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but did nothing to the bats." "I tried trapping them alive," said the second. "Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church." "I haven't had any more problems," said the ...

496. You Shall Call His Name Jesus

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

You may remember that story of the man hearing a choir sing "O Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world," and he thought to himself, "If only he COULD take away the sins of the world. What a tremendous and joyful thing that would be “no more wars, no more broken homes, no more abused children, no more hatred, envy, bitterness and strife. If only he COULD take away the sins of the world." Christmas has become more of a secular holiday than a sacred one. It has become an occasion for blatant ...

497. A Song, A Star, A Savior

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

In the Family Circus cartoon, the little girl sits her baby brother on her lap and tells him the story of Christmas. It goes something like this: "Jesus was born just in time for Christmas up at the North Pole surrounded by 8 tiny reindeer and the Virgin Mary . . . Then Santa Claus showed up with lots of toys and stuff and some swaddling clothes . . . The 3 wise men and elves all sang carols while the Little Drummer Boy and Scrooge helped Joseph trim the tree . . . In the meantime, Frosty the Snowman saw ...

498. Freedom!

Romans 6:3-11

Sermon

King Duncan

In his book Talking Straight Lee Iacocca shares some interesting stories about raising funds for the 100th birthday celebration of the Statue of Liberty. For example, there was a man from Poland who sent $2 for "this beautiful symbol." He never expected to see the statue himself, but at least he could dream about it. There was a money order from a refugee camp in Thailand. Seventy-eight homeless Vietnamese had passed the hat and come up with $114.19 as "our humble share for the rehabilitation of her ...

499. A Long Line Of Love

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of the most popular music today comes out of places like Nashville, Tennessee and Austin, Texas. I am referring, of course, to Country and Western music. Country music is known for its colorful lyrics. We're told that Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas was a country music fan. He delighted in recounting the titles of his favorite songs. Among them were, "When the Phone Don't Ring, You'll Know It's Me," "Walk Out Backwards, So I'll Think You're Coming In," and "My Wife Ran Off with My Best Friend ...

500. Passing The Baton

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Sermon

King Duncan

Denis Rainey, in his book THE TRIBUTE, has some wonderful stories about family life. One of the best is an Associated Press story datelined Grand Rapids, Michigan. At age 2, Robin Hawkins already is a home wrecker. When she is old enough to ask for an allowance, her father intends to show her a bill for almost $2,300 worth of family belongings she has destroyed in a two-month rampage. It all started when Alice the Cat went down the drain. "I heard her saying, Bye-bye, fluff-fluff, bye-bye,'" her father, ...

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