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

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651. Listen!

Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

Sermon

King Duncan

... road ahead. It reminds me of something that happened to Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the best-known Russian novelists in history. Dostoevsky was arrested in 1849 for reading banned books. He was sentenced to die by firing squad. But his death sentence was a cruel trick. He was actually led out into the square to face the firing squad. Then he was blindfolded. The soldiers raised the rifles to their shoulders and fired. But the soldiers fired blanks instead of bullets. It took a few seconds after the sound of ...

652. What Is Truth?

John 18:1--19:42

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... were both ancient and achingly contemporary said, “What is truth?” I hear these words, and I cannot unhear all the cries swirling in our current malaise about “fake news” and “alternative facts.” The parallelisms here are stunning. It is a trick as old as time. Confuse, malign, and obfuscate by pretending that truth doesn’t actually exist. Dismantle the carefully woven constructs of consensus and covenant and pit the people against one another so that they will not notice what authority is ...

653. Christ’s Call to Discipleship

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... It would change Peter’s life forever. Jesus seeks an encounter with us. He patiently waits for our willingness to meet him. What is it that has our attention over Christ? Are we too busy making a living, investing in the stock market, looking for the tricks of life, or running in circles? Stop! Look up and see Jesus calling your name asking if he can get on board of your boat on life’s water. Center stage to our discipleship encounter are the disciplines of life. Reaching our greatest potential in life ...

654. When the Doors Were Shut

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... up to $360 to attend one of his services and asks attendees for extra donations. According to this report, Lukau owns a 12-seater jet and a Bentley, a Ferrari, and other luxury autos. The three funeral companies suing Lukau say they were tricked into participating in his resurrection stunt and suffered damage to their reputations. (2) Religious faith is based on trust but there will always be those twisted individuals who will seek to take advantage of unsophisticated believers in order to line their own ...

655. A VIP Seat

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... no grades, no awards, no Dean’s List, and no first or second place in the class at the school.” The American doctor wrote, “Some of us just couldn’t take it. We became almost paranoid. We thought there must be some kind of trick here.” A few American students transferred to other schools. But those who stayed learned to enjoy an environment in which all the students helped one another succeed. After his return from Switzerland, the American doctor was sharing stories about his experience with a ...

656. Peter Asks A Question

John 13:1-7 · 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... the question, "Who do people say that I am?" I can picture the other apostles hemming and hawing and looking at the ground, sort of like school children who do not want to be the one who answers the question for the teacher. Everyone is afraid it is a trick question, and no one wants to get the wrong answer. Not Peter. "You're the Messiah!" he says. Right answer! Then, when Jesus tells his apostles he will die, Peter is the one who pipes up and says, "Stop talking like that!" The others hold back. So of ...

657. I Need

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... In essence, it relays to us the following proposition. If our recognized need is for God, many benefits will flow our way as a result. We, of course, want these blessings to be handed out like candy at Halloween time. Just walk up to the door, say, “trick or treat,” and the Lord will turn into Santa Claus (please pardon the mixed holidays). He will then meet all our perceived needs — just because. While we don’t (and can’t) earn our salvation, many of the blessings that follow come with a cost ...

658. Bigger, Better, Basta!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... not to share it with those who need it. He simply wants to keep it for himself, thinking he can find “rest” with all of this “stuff” he has! In the story, the Greek word for “take it easy” is actually “rest.” This is the twisty trick to Jesus’ story (and he always has one). For we all know that only God can give us “rest.” Only Jesus can lessen our load and offer us true “rest.” Rest, peace, wellness, security, peace of mind, fulfillment, identity, solace, joy. We cannot make our ...

659. Faith or Folly

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... disbelief. Could God be deceiving him? Does God truly have his best interests at heart? Once again, the “devil” appeals to Jesus’ human side, desiring to make him “question” God and his entire mission. Jesus, however unlike Adam and Eve, does not fall for this trick either and responds: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Finally, Jesus’ humanness is tested a third time, as the devil urges him to take the easy way out. He could respond in just the way his earthly disciples and peers ...

660. Invincible

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... . And we all need a second set of eyes when our own see what we’d like them to see at any given moment. When our hearts are aflutter and hormone-soaked with glee, these loyal people keep our feet planted on the ground. When our minds play tricks on us and undermine our confidence and well-being, our “truthtellers” remind us of the unadulterated truth of our value and our gifts. When we go down a wrong pathway or fall for an easy lure, our “angels in disguise” point us back in the right direction ...

661. Wrestling with God

Genesis 32:22-31

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... (4) That sounds like Jacob. He was determined to be in control of his fate, even if it meant robbing his brother of his future. Jacob’s greatest desire was to claim the honors of the firstborn son. So he bribed Esau to get his birthright, then tricked their father Isaac into also giving him Esau’s blessing as well. He wrestled his brother’s birthright and his blessing right out of Isaac’s hands. And Esau was furious. The two brothers lived apart for a few years, until that day Jacob the wrestler ...

662. Jesus' Final Exam

Luke 20:19-40

Sermon

Will Willimon

... one. The resurrection is God's reworking of everything you've messed up. It's a whole, new, God-created ballgame to which your old rules don't apply! Again Jesus questions them. "What do you think of the Christ? Who do you think is the Messiah?" It's a trick question. He has asked them a question, the question. "Who is the Messiah? Who could deliver you?" "No one was able to answer him a word," says Luke. "For they no longer dared to ask him any question." In case you're keeping score, the score is: Jesus-3 ...

663. The Fearful Meeting

Genesis 32:1-20; 33:1-4, 12-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

... commands and enables meeting. Then in a curious turn, trusting Esau departs and invites Jacob to come with him to journey together. But Jacob begs off with a not very convincing excuse about nursing flocks. Is this the same old Jacob? Same old lies and tricks? Esau goes his way not knowing if his brother has really been changed or if he has again been duped. That's the way it often is in families, among brothers, sisters, races, nations. It's a mess, risky, uncertain, full of peril, our meetings. Nothing ...

664. Bearers of the Seed

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... why in the story of Tamar and Judah that Judah’s son Onan is so wrong in his “birth control” action. He has breached God’s covenant in refusing his wife a child and refusing God a carrier of the covenant. This is why even though Tamar tricks her father-in-law into making her pregnant, she is lauded as one of the blessed women in Jesus’ timeline according to Matthew’s genealogy. Tamar has upheld and valued the covenant. She took her command to bear a child seriously, and that child would become ...

665. Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

John 10:11-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... tales have creative roots in the stories of scripture. But the opposite is also true. In about 500 BCE, the ancient Greek literary ethicist, Aesop, told a story of a “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.” In the tale, a wily wolf tries to trick a flock of sheep by donning a fleece. However, a shepherd looking for a sheep to kill for sacrifice ends up killing the wolf instead. “‘The intended lesson was that “frauds and liars are always discovered, eventually, and pay for their actions accordingly.’ The ...

666. Schadenfreude

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... foiled in his attempts to catch the super-fast and super sly roadrunner. Time and again, the coyote’s efforts and plots come back to bite him, so to speak, as he blows himself up, plunges off of cliffs, and gets pounded by boulders. Every trick up his sleeve backfires, and he never does catch the Roadrunner! (Beep, beep). We may have laughed, but we also recognized in both of these characters something of ourselves. As in any kind of comedy, whether cartoon or otherwise,we caught a glimpse of some ...

667. Do You Believe in Miracles?

Mark 4:26-34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... conditions. But what God touches will bloom and grow. For Jesus, the kingdom of God, the people of God that his disciples are to heal and love in his name, will grow and flourish according to the will of God. We don’t need to force them, push them, or trick them into becoming what we imagine they should be. All we need to do is sow God’s seeds of love and grace, and God will work miracles in their lives. In today’s world, our churches must again learn to seed and dare to plant, without the need to ...

668. More Than Gimmicks

John 6:24-35

Sermon

David Coffin

... responded that God wished them to believe in the one whom he had sent, that being Jesus as the Messiah. The crowd wanted what would be seen today as “proof” or another magic act or gimmick. This is why some clergy do not like doing entertainment or tricks up in the pulpit during Sunday sermons. Once a pastor pulls one rabbit out of the hat, the crowds want a bigger rabbit pulled out the hat next week. So many clergy simply opt out, and often state this on their mobility form profiles when they seek ...

669. Bread for the Journey

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

... the resurrection, his response left them speechless. Then along came the scribe from today’s passage. This is the only story in the whole New Testament in which a religious figure sincerely approached Jesus with a question. The scribe was not trying to trick Jesus or trap him in a battle of words and wits. He was genuinely curious and wanted to know what Jesus believed was the most important commandment. Jesus’ answer was what Christians today call “the summary of the law.” It’s a combination ...

670. Who Is This Jesus?

John 2:1-11

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... . That is the quick version of the story, and on its own it creates a lot of questions. The obvious question is why did Jesus do it? Why did he use his powers to do something as mundane as turning water into wine? It seems more like a sideshow magic trick than a miracle from the Son of God. And while we are asking, why was Jesus at the wedding in Cana anyway? Hadn’t John told us that Jesus had just been baptized and had gone north to the Sea of Galilee? Why was he now in the little village ...

671. The Main Thing

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... much more true are they in our relationship with God? If we want to have a close, personal, loving, faithful relationship with God, we must commit to the relationship and attend to the maintenance of it every time an opportunity comes along. The trick is to be constantly watching so we recognize those opportunities when they present themselves because they often appear when and from where we least expect it. Distractions The witness of scripture and history, as well as our own experience tells us that the ...

672. Good News / Bad News

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

... decisive moment. What might my life have looked like had I not decided to swallow my anxiety and call Jean Herzog for a date 48 years ago? Which direction might my life have taken if, for our first date, I had decided to take her to a movie instead of trick-or-treating for UNICEF with the children of our church? How might my life have gone had I not, one day, apropos to nothing, asked my dad to teach me how to read music? And where might I have ended up, had I blown off that meeting at our church ...

673. The Spirit Blows Where It Will

John 3:1-10

Sermon

Will Willimon

... the night, seeking light. What have I got to do? How is it possible? And Jesus responds with surprising images: Birth. Wind. You want to get into the Kingdom? Simple. Just be born from above. “Well, how can you do that? Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Can you squeeze back into your mother's womb and be born a second time?” Jesus says, “You can squeeze through your mother's womb about as easily as you can squeeze yourself into the Kingdom. You must be born, not again, but from above. (The Greek ...

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