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 601 to 625 of 1499 results

601. Anointed and Appointed

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

This is the time of year in which we begin to celebrate graduations! Graduations are not just endings but beginnings. They signal the end of an era of learning and the start of an era of adulthood or maturity in one’s course of study that allows graduates to launch in dynamic and hopeful ways. High school and college graduates will now have the opportunity to become vital members of their communities. They will take part in the workforce, in politics, in the world of ideas, and they will take on the ...

602. A Call To Community

Acts 16:6-10

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

Years ago, this advertisement appeared in the classifieds of a local newspaper: "Husband says either he or puppies must go. Puppies are playful and cute. Husband is grouchy and unsympathetic. Your choice free." It just may be that our biggest challenge in life is relationships. At home and in the community, we struggle to make positive contributions to our relationship with others. Even within the community of faith, relationships require effort. In today's passage of scripture we see three states in our ...

603. No Freudian Slip!

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

It's late afternoon but it is still several hours before supper is served. You are hungry. You remember that cookie jar in the kitchen and decide to indulge yourself in a little afternoon snack. You open the jar already imagining the taste of those chocolate chip cookies. But the cookie jar is empty! No cookies! Who ate them? You turn around, and standing there behind you, looking up at you with a funny look on his face, is your six-year-old. "I didn't do it, Daddy. I didn't eat those last four chocolate ...

604. Christ the King

Psalm 100:1-5, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Actions Determine Judgment The parable brings us to the end of the parables in Cycle A of the lectionary. It is also the end of the last block of teaching material in the Gospel according to Matthew. It is appropriate that the parable points to the final judgment, the outcome of all that Jesus was trying to teach and demonstrate about the meaning of the kingdom of heaven. The parable contains some rich contrasts in the imagery it uses. On the one hand is the image of the king and the hosts of heaven. It is ...

605. Advent 2

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

Sermon Aid

E. Carver McGriff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 40:1-11 This poetic oracle begins what is generally thought of as "Trito-Isaiah," apparently addressed to returnees from the country of Babylon. While in exile there, many of the Jews remained firmly faithful to their own culture, having nothing to do with the Babylonians. Many others, though, had allowed themselves to be integrated into the local culture. But there was a third group, those who didn't quite fit into either group. These people were confused, unsure of their ...

606. Moving At The Speed Of Light: At The Jordan

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Frank Luchsinger

Peter had long practiced a religion which required the separation of Jews and Gentiles, and following Christ's ascension Peter continued to be a practicing Jew. Through the example of Christ, Peter began to think differently about those who were considered ritually unclean and unacceptable to God. Earlier in Acts 10, Peter has been staying in Joppa in the home of one who practiced an "unclean" profession, Simon the Tanner. From there he receives the call from God to travel to Ceasarea to the home of ...

607. Easter 3

1 Peter 1:13-2:3, Acts 2:42-47, Luke 24:13-35

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: The risen Christ is revealed as believers gather together and break bread. The First Lesson describes the resurrection community in Jerusalem as having everything in common. They broke bread with glad and generous hearts, praising God. The Gospel tells how Christ was revealed to the two strollers on the way to Emmaus, when Christ blessed and broke bread with them. COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 2:14a, 36-47 This is the ending of Peter's Pentecost sermon. He confronts his listeners head-on with their ...

608. Good Friday

John 18:1-11, Isaiah 52:13--53:12, Genesis 22:1-19, Hosea 6:1--7:16, Hebrews 10:1-18, Hebrews 4:14-5:10, John 19:17-27

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme For Lenten Series: Christ Confronts Death. Theme: The passion and death of our Lord. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 52:13--53:12 This sublime poem of the Suffering Servant lifts up an idea that is featured prominently in Christian theology: suffering, pain and sorrow can be redemptive. Biblical interpreters have traditionally identified the servant in this poem with the nation of Israel. The nation had undergone profound humiliation and disfigurement through their ordeal in Babylon. Yet, the ...

609. I Am Coming Soon

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

See, I am coming soon... -- Revelation 22:12 (NRSV) ____________ Clyde Schmidt was a member of First Lutheran Church. His family had belonged there for four generations. His grandfather was a Lutheran minister. Clyde and his wife, Ida Mae, were pillars at First Lutheran. Clyde's faith was shaken one day when Ida Mae asked him for a divorce. It had been a difficult year. His lumber business was quite demanding. He had not spent as much time with his wife and children as he had desired. In addition, Clyde's ...

610. Repentance: A New Relationship

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

There's a story about a convention of psychiatrists who had gathered in a large auditorium near Grand Central Station in New York City. Somehow, a pigeon got in the room and was swooping back and forth above the gathered men and women. However, no one mentioned the bird. It seemed no one wanted to be the first to ask if anyone else saw a pigeon. I mention this to remind us that we each have an inward life of thoughts and perceptions about which no one else knows. It's a private world where we pretend, ...

611. Standing Firm

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

Some years ago, a Methodist Bishop of national reknown was asked to speak at an annual conference of that church. It so happened he had recently taken a strong stand on a very controversial issue and was being criticized rather widely among some of the brethren, not always with a lot of charity. So the Bishop spoke on the text of Jonah and the Great Fish. After acknowledging that others had a right to their own opinions on the issue so long as they were expressed in a Christian way, he then made this ...

612. Path To A New Life

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

The city darkness is very different from the hillside darkness. Out on the hillside, where the shepherds work, the darkness gently settles upon the landscape. It is a quiet dusk that melds into deeper shadows and finally, after so long a stretch of time, becomes the dark in which the stars are the only light. But in the city, the darkness comes as if some giant curtain was suddenly pulled tight, blocking out all illumination. It was in that darkness that Ely slowly made his way home through the maze of ...

613. For Goodness Sake

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon Aid

Clement E. Lewis

Instrumental Meditation Something Worth Thinking About: There is so much good in the worst of us, And so much bad in the best of us, That it ill behooves any of us To find fault with the rest of us. -- Anonymous Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good .... Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. -- Romans 12:9, 21 The heart of a good man is the sanctuary of God. -- Madame Anne Germaine de Stael Hymn: "I Would Be True" Scripture: Mark 10:17-22 (NRSV) As he was setting out on a ...

614. The Story Of The Scandalized Neighbors

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

John M. Braaten

I don't know what this world is coming to. It seems to me that parents don't do as good a job raising their kids as they used to. Consider my neighbor. His punk kid ran off with a wad of money last year. A couple of days ago he came back looking like death warmed over and what are they doing? They're throwing a party for him. From what I've heard they are going to spend a bundle on it. Sounds like the affair will be bigger than a wedding bash. If you ask me it's scandalous, celebrating as though he was a ...

615. An Our Good Works And Generosity

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Jesus was giving his famous Sermon on the Mount. In the middle of it he looked at the disciples from his sitting position (as was customary for Jewish rabbis of the first century when they were teaching). And Jesus said: "Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 6:1)." To whom was Jesus referring with these words? He was probably talking here and at other points in the sermon about the Pharisees. ...

616. The Invisible God?

Colossians 1:15-23, Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Johnny Dean

In pastoral counseling courses at seminary my fellow students and I learned that people only make big moves or major changes in their lives at times when they feel they are in a secure, stable environment. Someone who feels threatened, or is holding on for dear life, is not likely to risk very much. (What a revelation that was!) So, in pastoral counseling, the counselor tries to create a secure, affirming, non-threatening environment. (Again, no surprise.) So today, in this secure, non-threatening ...

617. The Clanking of Coins

Matthew 27:1-10

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

Suppose that I tingled a batch of coins in my pocket or dropped some quarters on a marble floor. If you were to close your eyes and listen to the sound that money makes, what would it remind you of? ... A bank teller spilling out a deposit for counting?... A child shaking a piggy bank in hopes that a coin will slip through the slot?... A clerk dropping the money from your purchase into a register?... An expectant gambler at the fair, trying to make a penny land between the lines?... A woman searching ...

618. The Crowing of a Rooster

Matthew 26:31-35, Matthew 26:69-75

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

I sat with a farm family a few weeks ago for the noonday meal. The scene outside the kitchen window was typical of rural eastern North Carolina. There were open fields where this particular farmer grew corn. Leftover husks lay where he had broken the land for spring planting. While we were eating, one family member called our attention to a flock of birds that had landed in the field out back. We all turned to look, and the area was covered with blackbirds. "I'll bet there are five thousand birds out there ...

619. In Quest of a Treasure

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Larry Powell

The Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon's obsession with discovering the fountain of eternal youth led him eventually to the land of flowers, or as we know it, Florida. Even now, there are those who claim that the bold adventurer did, in fact, discover such a fountain and that its perpetual waters contain the treasure of agelessness, or the much pursued "ever young" potion. Several years ago, somewhere in Florida, I took a drink from a fountain which was allegedly the genuine source designated by Ponce de Leon ...

620. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

Religious authorities in Jesus' day pressed the matter of Sabbath observance to the extent of ridiculous extreme. In addition to those regulations which had long been entrenched in tradition, others were continually being produced by ambitious rabbis. The list of prohibitions was exhaustive. Ploughing and reaping were disallowed on the Sabbath (Exodus 34:21), as was pressing wines and canning goods (Nehemiah 13:15), bearing burdens (Jeremiah 27:21), carrying on trade (Amos 16:26), gathering wood (Numbers ...

621. What Children Owe Their Parents

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked him, "Why is it that your disciples disobey the teaching handed down by our ancestors? They don't wash their hands in the proper way before they eat!" Jesus answered, "And why do you disobey God's command and follow your own teaching? For God said, 'Respect your father and your mother.' and 'Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.' But you teach that if a person has something he could use to help his ...

622. Let God Be God

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

The concern of the prophet Zephaniah, from whom one of the lessons was read this morning, was with a society of people who had drifted into a condition of moral and religious chaos. On the one hand, they were pretending to worship both Baal and the Lord. On the other hand, they were in reality a rebellious, defiled, and oppressive people who listened to no voice and accepted no correction from any source. What Zephaniah saw as essential for them to do was to get their act together by learning to "call on ...

623. The Sixth Sunday of Easter

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

"Sometimes I feel like a motherless chile," the weary black slave would sing to the hot southern night, giving expression to the condition of having been taken from home and family and subjected to the power of death. Although none of us has known the bitterness of that dehumanizing experience, the sung lament has surely expressed our own agony of soul from time to time, as we confront isolation and alienation and the world becomes too much with us. "The dark night of the soul" is a fact of the religious ...

624. Prayer in a Pinch

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Did Jesus pray when he was "in a pinch"? Have you ever thought about that? You probably have done such praying in the middle of a family crisis, or facing a decision, which could change your life, or feeling overwhelmed by the world's problems - or even getting into a spot because you did not do your homework. In any one of these instances, you may have prayed, "God, have mercy!" Even people who have a reputation for being non-religious will utter a prayer in a pinch or a jam, and so there is the line, " ...

625. Parking Lots and Traffic Jams

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Richard L. Thulin

I don't know how you feel about bumper stickers. We don't happen to have any on our family car, but I must admit that I enjoy looking at them. There seems to be an almost endless variety, more than enough to match any mood or occasion. Some provoke thought or laughter, others advertise, and still others attempt to persuade. I don't need to share my favorites with you. No doubt you have yours just as I have mine. The other day I saw a bumper sticker that I could not remember having seen before. I had ...

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