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 551 to 575 of 744 results

551. Parable on Love and Friendship

Hebrews 13:1-25

Illustration

"I consider him to be my friend, even though he never met me and wouldn't know my name." "What kind of a friend is that?' said Dick. "Well," explained Bill, "it's a friendship of a good man for all humanity. That fellow is always doing good for our community. He helps provide the parks which we enjoy. He worked on the financing of our community playground and he stands for good government. He is my friend because the world is better for his presence." "It seems good to me to count my friends among those ...

552. God's Passion

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

There is a short ditty, hardly good enough to be called a poem, but fun nevertheless. Death reigns; With furrowed brows and sad eyes, All men live under darkened skies. Cold and lonely the days crawl by; In depression and doubt we all lie. Then the wind picks up, the sun breaks out; Come laughter and joy of which all men shout. In only days Winter dies, And in its wake Spring arrives. Such a flirtation with spring is upon us now. And with it comes an amazing transformation of spirits - spring fever. The ...

553. Loosed from the Pangs of Death

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes." This week we would not question the validity of what he said. The difference, however, is that April 15 and the time for paying our income taxes comes around once a year. Death comes only once in a lifetime to each of us as human beings. So we look at them and we deal with them differently. It seems to me that we also deal with death differently than we did when I was a child. Medical science was not as advanced then as it ...

554. The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

The mark of a great leader is the demands he makes upon his followers. The Italian freedom fighter Garibaldi offered his men only hunger and death to free Italy. Winston Churchill told the British people that he had nothing to offer them but "blood, sweat, toil, and tears" in their fight against their enemies. Jesus spoke of the necessity of total commitment -even to the point of death. He conveyed this in no uncertain terms when he said to his disciples, “You must take up your cross and follow me.” Why ...

555. Walk in Light

Isaiah 2:1-5

Sermon

Far above the cool, clear waters of New York State’s Lake George, looms Black Mountain, the highest of the mountains guarding that deep, clear lake. I spent five summers on that lake as a seminarian, traveling many times, as the Iroquois once traveled, under the shadow of that awe-inspiring peak. The winding trail from the lakeshore to its summit has felt the rough leather boots of hikers of a century ago and the soft deerskin moccasins centuries before that. Along the trail runs a brook filled with ...

556. Burning Torches

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

My friend, Bob, recently bought a wood stove. It gives out that thick wrap-around heat which only such stoves can give. How he loves his stove, basking in the comfort and warmth which were not there before. Of course, he has to clean out the ashes every once in a while. If he doesn’t, no air circulates from beneath to keep the fire going. One day he took out half a bucket of ashes and threw them in a trash can outside his house. That night a strong wind blew up the creek, stirring the ashes. About two o’ ...

557. An Easier Way?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

(Author's note: this sermon was preached as a first-person monologue by Jesus' disciple Peter. To help the congregation grasp the time difference, I costumed a bit by wearing the khafia, the common headdress of the Mideast. I also wore a cross, which I used as a "prop" near the monologue's end. At the same time, the sermon incorporated a "time warp, " with Peter speaking at one point as if he could see through the centuries.) I was asked the $64,000 question. The big question where "winner takes all." The ...

558. The Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Most of us would say that the Beatitudes are well known and greatly loved by Christian people. They are beautiful. They dance and sing on the lips of those who say them. They have an unparalleled syntax that only the Jewish mind can capture and express. They are immortal. Hymns, anthems, songs, prayers, and liturgy have reflected upon their meaning and beauty. Although we read them in our personal devotion because of their beauty, most of us do not get very excited about poverty of spirit, mourning, ...

559. Settling Our Differences

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Joe Pennel

On the surface "Tribute" is a motion picture about a man who is diagnosed with cancer and about his response to that disease. But at a much deeper level, "Tribute" is about a man who is not reconciled to his own son. "Tribute" is about a father and son who needed to settle their differences. Like those characters in "Tribute," one of the persistent needs of our life is to settle our differences. There are many ways that we try to settle our differences. Some of us try to settle our differences by taking ...

560. Promising Words

2 Samuel 7:18-29

Sermon

A photo album is a magic carpet ride into the realm of memory. Like leaves of October tinted with the auburn and golden hues of autumn, snapshots are colored with the rich pastels of previous events. Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins has written of his feelings about snapshots in his book, Human Options, A man (woman) comes to know himself through the pictures he takes ... in ... reviewing the hundreds of pictures I have taken ... in many parts of the world ... I learn ... the camera is more than a box ...

561. The Annunciation

Drama

Light! That’s what I remember most about that night. It’s been many years ago, but I remember as though it were yesterday. I was sitting on the edge of my cot in the small house my parents owned. The rest of the family was outdoors where it was cooler. I was lost in a daydream which was not unusual for me since I was 14 and experiencing the moods, conflicting thoughts and emotions of a teenager. It was dusk, and I was faintly aware of birds calling outside my window. Soon, I would lie down to sleep. ...

562. If You Are A Disciple of Jesus Christ

Luke 6:17-26, Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We are blessed to have many deeply committed, very capable people on our church staff. One of them is our chief of security, Reggie Johnson. He does so much more than just keep the church campus safe. Reggie learns and remembers the names of our worshippers. In fact, he knows your children and what kind of cars you drive. When a funeral takes place, Reggie grieves with the family. If your left front tire is a bit slack, Reggie will notice and let you know. If a soccer ball is kicked over a fence, Reggie ...

563. Paul in Chains

Acts 21:27-36

Sermon Aid

CSS

Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem was inauspicious. Although "the brethren received us gladly," the elders were fidgety and fearful. Not one word of gratitude is recorded for the gifts which Paul and his companions brought with them to alleviate the poverty of the church at Jerusalem. One wonders why? Perhaps those who came with Paul to bring the gifts were too evidently "Gentile Christians." These Gentiles must have felt rebuffed, finding prejudice against them where they might have anticipated brotherly ...

564. Who Has Everything?

Matthew 5:5

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Some years ago the News and Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, published an article entitled, "Do You Measure Up As a Man?" The article stated that some extensive research had been conducted on the twentieth century standards for measuring a man. The eight criteria are quite interesting: his ability to make, conserve, and amass money; the cost, style, and age of his car; how much hair he has or has not; his size and strength; the job he holds and how successful he is at it; what sports he likes; how many ...

565. Being Faithful Servants

Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:23-27

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

Call To Worship Leader: Come, let all who would serve the Lord gather now for worship. People: But there are some who would silence the message of God's love. Leader: Even Jesus faced those who would keep God's love from the Temple. People: Then let us walk with Christ and share God's love with all we see. Leader: For the Gospel of Christ cannot be stopped once in a believer's heart. All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, in Your infinite wisdom You have called us to walk with Jesus and share ...

566. On Being a Beautiful Christian

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

To have courage without pugnacity, To have conviction without bigotry, To have charity without condescension, To have faith without credulity, To have meekness with power, and emotion with sanity, To have love for humanity without mere sentimentality - that is Christianity. (Charles Evans Hughes) Being a "beautiful Christian" is that second mile that a true experience of Christ produces in us. There are no "ugly Christians" not really. When I was a student at the Duke Divinity School the bells were just ...

567. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR LENT

Drama

Tom Eberle

Lent In its historical development, Lent was an outgrowth of the fasting prior to the annual observance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. In addition, those who were to be baptized into the Christian faith on Easter Sunday underwent a period of disciplined training before their baptism. With the ascendancy of the Christian Church in major areas of the Roman Empire during the fourth century, a new problem was encountered. Discipline was no longer imposed upon the church from the outside in the ...

568. Lazarus Rising

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

John 11:1-46 (suggested reading of only 32-44) The story for this morning begins with a certain sense of urgency. It is easy to stand here now and talk about it with some sense of calm, but I can assure you that there was no calm for Martha and Mary. They were beginning to panic. Lazarus, their brother, was slipping fast. Indeed, it looked as though he would not make it. Now, I want you to envision a person in your mind. I want a face to appear in your mind’s eye. Who would you turn to if you faced a ...

569. Mary of Bethany and Jesus’ Mother

Drama

Jon Joyce

Setting Imagination - in the actresses and in the audience - is the only requirement for a setting for this drama. The scene is Jerusalem, a city crowded with pilgrims attending the Festival, not far from the Temple, which is the center of Festival activity. A bench or two shall be provided, stage left, for the women to sit upon during part of their conversation. You may wish to use extras to show the audience there is a crowd in the city, although the dialogue will tell them that. If you do use extras, ...

570. Marantha: Come Lord Jesus

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A brand new pastor, fresh out of seminary, was preaching his first sermon in his first church. In seminary he had been taught to repeat his text numerous times for emphasis, and to pound on the pulpit occasionally. His text happened to be that promise of our Lord: "Behold I come quickly." At the beginning of the sermon he slammed the pulpit rather smartly and declared, "Behold I come quickly." Then about five minutes into the sermon he did the same thing. About ten minutes into the sermon he did it again. ...

571. The Words We Speak

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Chuck Swindoll in his book, "Flying Closer to the Flame," tells about a married couple who attended a seminar taught by a male demagogue. I refer to that type of man who uses scripture improperly to make husbands domestic autocrats and to turn wives into lowly doormats. Well, the husband just loved everything this man said! But his wife sat there fuming. When they left the meeting that night, the husband felt drunk with fresh power as he climbed into the car. While driving home he said rather pompously, " ...

572. A Favored One

Sermon

James Bjorge

An angel appeared to Mary and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" (Luke 1:28). Again the angel said, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" (Luke 1:30). Chosen to give birth to God’s only begotten Son is no small thing. A human vessel to house the embryonic Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit, was a privilege of unmatched magnitude. And in our Christmas manger scenes with softly glowing lights, neatly arranged animals and shepherds, everything seems too cozy and ...

573. No Withdrawal

Sermon

James Bjorge

Christmas is a time to get "hooked" on Jesus. And that is a condition from which you will need no withdrawal. A Catholic Sister, who is blind, told me she has an incurable disease. I thought she was going to elaborate on her blindness which came as a result of diabetes. Rather she said, "I have the Jesus disease." Then she went on to say that she wanted no cure for that state of being. However, we will often have to admit that there is a post-Christmas slump. It is a bit of a let-down after a season’s high ...

574. Episode III: Birth of the Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

In 1977 teenagers all over America walked into movie theatres to watch a movie that was virtually unknown. The director was unknown, the characters were unknown, the soundtrack was unknown, the robots were unknown. The name of the movie was Star Wars. It was not expected to be the biggest grossing movie of all times. It’s hard to believe that was 28 years ago. But even then some of us could read the handwriting on the wall. It was more grand than anything else we’d had ever see. For the next two months in ...

575. Humankind: The Climax of Creation

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

We live in a culture in which many things are disposable. Do you remember when basketball games were routinely interrupted because a player had lost a contact lens. Not any more! Now most players wear disposable contact lenses. If one is lost, just go to the bench and pop in another. Nowadays we don't have to worry about our cameras. Just take 24 pictures, remove the film, and throw the camera away. It's disposable. Just consider all the disposable things in our culture: diapers, (hallelujah!) Paper plates ...

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