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 1913 results

601. Propriety in Worship

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

This section of the letter takes up a disruptive situation in the life of the congregation at worship. Paul addresses the men and the women in the congregation concerning their manner of dress, although he comes to that point via a complicated route. While the issues are practical—dress and behavior at worship—Paul frames the matters in genuinely theological terms, not only mentioning God and Christ but also bringing into consideration the meaning and implications of creation and nature. In brief, Paul ...

602. The Trumpets

Revelation 8:6--9:21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

8:6 The significance of the seven trumpets has been variously appraised (Beasley-Murray, Revelation, pp. 152–56). According to John’s Bible (OT), Israel’s liturgical trumpets were sounded for a variety of reasons. They were used to convene the worshiping community (Num. 10:3), to begin pilgrimages (Num. 10:5), to call warriors for war (Num. 10:9), to celebrate the sacred feasts (Num. 10:10), to install new kings (1 Kings 1:34), and to summon Israel to repentance and renewal (Jer. 4:5). Seven trumpets were ...

603. The Beast out of the Earth

Revelation 13:11-18

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

13:11 John then saw another beast, coming out of the earth, completing the trinity which rules over the evil kingdom. While John perhaps recognizes this second beast as Behemoth, the evil monster who occupies the primeval desert regions according to Jewish myth (Job 40:15–24; 1 Enoch 60:7–10; 4 Ezra 6:49–53), it is not clear how or if he then intends to use particulars of that myth to interpret the evil role of this second beast. John could have utilized the Behemoth/Leviathan myth simply as an aid in ...

604. The Disciples' Grief Will Turn to Joy

John 16:17-33, John 16:5-16

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The second farewell discourse runs most closely parallel to the first precisely where it is most properly a “farewell” (i.e., where it addresses directly the question of Jesus’ impending departure; cf. 13:33). Here, inevitably, is also where the differences between the two discourses become most noticeable. Whereas the first discourse was largely structured around a series of questions by various disciples, here the question-and-answer method seems to be consciously abandoned. The earlier discourse began ...

605. Where It Ends

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

John Jamison

All of the plans and preparation had been completed and they were all gathering together in the room. As they entered, they each paused to look at the long, horseshoe-shaped table with the cushions spread out around the outside, and could not help but show a brief smile. Even with everything that had happened and with the risks they faced out in the streets, the sight of that table and cushions took all of that away for a few seconds. Before they were disciples, they had all been part of good Jewish ...

606. Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Discipleship

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

April Yamasaki

Where's Waldo? In this series of children's books by Martin Handford, Waldo is a cartoon-like young man wearing a bright red and white striped shirt and a matching cap. On each set of facing pages, Waldo appears in different colorful situations, and each time, children are asked to find him. Sometimes there are other characters wearing caps, or other objects that might be striped red and white designed to fool young readers, but that's all part of the fun of finding Waldo. In this part of Mark's gospel, if ...

607. Lost in Plain Sight

John 1:29-34, John 1:35-42

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

What are you looking for? What are you looking for? A seemingly innocent question, asked to elicit information. But when Jesus asks it, it becomes so much more. It becomes not just a question, but the question, the existential question that defines, to a large extent, exactly who we are. What are you looking for? Percy Harrison Fawcett was looking for El Dorado. Not the city of gold, the city of myth and legend. He wasn’t looking for that, per se, but he believed, as did many of his colleagues in the Royal ...

608. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 5:33-39, Luke 6:1-11, Luke 7:18-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“If you call the Sabbath a delight then you will find your joy in the Lord.” --Isaiah 58:13-14 “Happy is he who is aware of the mysteries of his Lord.” --Abraham Joshua Heschel Visuals: Have Hubbel Space Images scrolling on screen during your sermon / Psalm 92 may be spoken with a musical background or sung You may also opt during or after your sermon to have people sing the psalm (you can find tunes with words on youtube) https://youtu.be/1I_X2bxfAq8 (This version by James Block is particular beautiful.) ...

609. Mending Fences

Luke 16:1-15, Luke 16:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) It’s almost Halloween, the time of costumes, candy corn, and above all, creepy movies. One of the movies that made a life-long impact with me came out at Halloween in 1990 --Joel Schumacher's horror-thriller, “Flatliners.” “Flatliners” followed the lives of four young medical students, who manually induced “near-death” experiences in order to find out what lay beyond the grave. What they found was ...

610. Joey and Nicky at Skull Mountain

Mark 15:42-47

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Anointing oil (preferably frankincense or myrrh) Joey and Nicky at Skull Mountain -- It sounds like a mystery like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, doesn’t it? Or for those with a slightly more sinister flair, a story by E. L. Stine. Intrigue, Mystery, Mayhem, and a good dose of the gruesome. And slightly Spooky. The events surrounding Jesus’ death were certainly strange and unusual. The High Priest and his family of former and future high priests had been pushing to get something done about Jesus ...

611. Deep Faith

Genesis 6:1-8:22, Genesis 5:1-32

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“If we were logical, the future would be bleak, indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope.” (Jacques Cousteau) “Deep waters call out to what is deeper still; at the roar of your waterfalls all your breakers and your waves swirl over me.” (Psalm 42:7) "For You had cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the current engulfed me. All Your breakers and billows passed over me.” (Jonah 2:3) “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Now ...

612. The Power of the Unseen

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Do you ever wish you were invisible? Ever wish you could be that “fly on the proverbial wall” listening to what others say about you? Ever imagine what it would be like to be able to attend your own funeral? What would people say about you? How would your friends react? Would they be sad? Would they reveal things about you that you didn’t know they knew? What would it be like to hear how people really feel about you? Or hear them say the wonderful and meaningful things about you that most of us never work ...

613. More

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Sermon

Will Willimon

There is more to life than meets the eye. There is more in our past than history can tell. There is more going on in the present moment than we know. There is more to our relationships with one another than we are aware. And the more we explore the mystery of our lives, the more we learn about ourselves, the more mysterious our selves become. Seldom have we been content with what appeared on the surface; we know there is more. Seldom have we felt fully at ease in the present moment, sensing, however ...

614. Called To Pull Down; Called To Rebuild

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

This text is a narrative of the call of Jeremiah; but before the call narrative, we have a preface by the editor of the tradition, placing the call in its historical context (1:1-3). The word of the Lord does not exist in a vacuum and it does not work only in some spiritual realm. It is rooted in our history and related to our chronology. It came in all its specificity to Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah (1:1), during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah (1:2-3). In what seems to be a simple ...

615. The Sponge And Wine

Mark 15:33-41

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

Our age has been called a drug culture. Offhand, it would be impossible to estimate the amount of drug abuse in our society. At times we believe that our intense efforts and huge expenditures to curtail drug abuse are successful only to discover otherwise. However, today we are also engaged in a national debate about the medicinal use of drugs as an important part of the health care delivery system. The drug industry is under scrutiny, because of the high cost of the society's reliance upon their products ...

616. All-Surrounding Grace

John 3:14-21

Sermon

Elaine M. Ward

As swimmers dare to lie face to sky and water bears them, as hawks rest upon air and air sustains them, so would I learn to attain freefall, and float into Creator Spirit's deep embrace, knowing no effort earns that all surrounding grace. (Denise Levertov, Oblique Prayer) God so loved the world ... that love, that unconditional love, is the foundation for our faith. John wrote, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life ...

617. The Bread That Endures

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

Perhaps you did something this morning that many others do each morning as well -- you had a piece of toast or a bagel for breakfast. Perhaps you put strawberry jam or honey on your toast and spread some cream cheese on your bagel. Around the world, this simple human ritual is repeated in a variety of ways. In Malaysia, that same piece of toast might be smeared with kaya, a thick jam made from coconut milk. In Taiwan or in Beijing, instead of toast, it may be a steamed bun filled with bits of roast pork ...

618. Proper 28

Judges 4:1-24, Proverbs 31:10-31, Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18, Malachi 2:1-9, Matthew 25:14-30, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Being ready for Christ's kingdom. To be prepared, a person need only walk in the light of God's love and invest her/his talents. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Judges 4:1-7 The Israelites were oppressed by the Canaanites. The Hebrews cried out to God, who sent Deborah as prophetess and judge. Deborah sent Barak and a horde of Hebrews against the Canaanite king, Jabin, and his general, Siera. The Hebrews triumphed over the technologically superior enemy army. Old Testament: Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 ...

619. I Am The Light Of The World

Sermon

Ronald Lavin

"I am the light of the world." -- John 8:12 (NRSV) "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." -- John 9:5 (NRSV) "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven." -- Matthew 5:14-16 (NRSV) ____________ Imagine that ...

620. Learning to Live Without Jesus

John 16:5-16, John 15:18--16:4

Sermon

William G. Carter

Everywhere you looked, you saw people in tie-dyed t-shirts. Mothers gave drinks of apple juice to their children, while men in gray pigtails sipped Budweiser and tossed the empties beneath somebody's car. Teenagers spread blankets on the asphalt and took naps in the summer sunshine. Middle-aged hippies danced freely throughout the Philadelphia parking lot. Hundreds of mourners spontaneously gathered outside the Spectrum to bid goodbye to rock guitarist Jerry Garcia. Whenever Jerry Garcia and the Grateful ...

621. The Sponge And Wine

Mark 14:1--15:47

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

622. David and the Devil

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

Robert Noblett

We can be thankful that the Bible is brutally honest about the people whose stories it tells. Because of this, we are able to see the power of God at work in the lives of very human people. What’s more, if this were not the case and instead the Bible whitewashed its personalities, we would begin to wonder whether it seriously addressed the very real brokenness and moral failures that can mark all our lives. No question about it, the story of David and Bathsheba is an exceedingly human story. It easily ...

623. Swansong as Themesong

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Sermon

Robert Noblett

Have you ever fantasized about what you might say, if given the opportunity, on the last day of your working career to your friends and colleagues who had gathered to hear you? The room is full, a hush has fallen over the group, and your moment has come. What might you say to your fellow teachers, or factory workers, or business associates? I”m not thinking so much of the retirement party, because they tend to be lighter affairs. Rather, I am thinking about your last full and authentic day on the job. In ...

624. Advent 3

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28, Isaiah 61:1-11, John 1:19-28, John 1:1-18

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme For The Day: Joy and anticipation concerning what God was about to do. Isaiah promises the oil of gladness (Isaiah 61:3) as God brings the captives of Israel back to their homeland. In Thessalonians, Paul charges the church always to rejoice (v. 16). In the Gospel, John delineates his message as pointing to the One who was to follow him: the One who would be much greater than he. All of these messengers were filled with a sense of joyful expectancy. The third Sunday in Advent has in some traditions ...

625. Christ the King

Jeremiah 23:1-8

Sermon

George Paul Mocko

Trying to See; Three Kings Who Failed and the One Who, in Failure, Succeeded (All About Shepherds, How Justice Comes and God Working Secretly With a Secret Christian). All three of the lessons we read today are straining for something beyond their ability to understand. The Gospel is at the center, and, in the Gospel, the question is how can it be that the One Most Beloved by God, the Chosen, the Anointed, the One in whom the heart of God delights, the Faithful One - how can it be that this One hangs there ...

Showing results