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 51 to 75 of 513 results

51. Turning Up the Pressure

Job 2:1-13

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... her question, “Are you still maintaining your integrity?” as a statement (“You are still maintaining your integrity”), but that does not explain Job’s sharp reply to her in 2:10. It may be best to view her words as proceeding from her understandable sympathy for her husband, and as expressing her desire that he not have to suffer longer. Nevertheless, even if this is what has prompted what she says, she is then willing to have Job surrender his commitment to do what is right, so that his pain can ...

52. Six Woes

Luke 11:37-54

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... burdensome and tiring, yet they are not willing to help those they burden (11:46). (2) In an ironic statement (11:47–48) Jesus says that by building the tombs of the prophets, the lawyers show their sympathy with those who killed them. They wanted to keep them in the grave! The lawyers’ sympathy with those who killed the prophets of old is clear because they will kill the prophets and apostles who are now God’s spokesmen (11:49–51). (3) Last, the interpretation of Scripture practiced by the lawyers ...

53. Weeping at Christmastime

Matthew 2:13-23, Hebrews 2:10-18

Sermon

James L. Killen

... all of the other inner and outer oppressions of our lives. God has drawn near to us as we experience those things to put loving arms around us and comfort us. But there is more to what God did in this special event than just to pay a sympathy call. God has reached out to make life, even fullness of life, possible under our circumstances. There are aspects of the meaning of the birth of Christ that cannot be fully understood except by looking back on the whole story that began with that birth and reflecting ...

54. Paying What's Due

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... . Their means of entrapment was to be a catch-22 question: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" If Jesus said "No," he could be accused of sedition and turned over to the Romans. If he said "Yes," he would at once lose the sympathy of many of his supporters, who naturally hated the Roman tax and expected that if Jesus were the Messiah he would break the yoke of the Roman oppressors and not urge tribute to them. Either way, the religious leaders would achieve their end. Jesus asked for a coin ...

55. Jacob Flees to Laban

Genesis 27:41--28:9

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... his mother, is cautious and cunning. Rebekah is a perceptive, domineering mother who looks out for her favorite son. The deceit of Rebekah and Jacob hardens the audience toward them; the sense is that they deserve the pain they get for their conniving. The sympathies of the audience gravitate toward Isaac, a weak, aging figure whose fatherly desire to honor a loved son is thwarted. The outcomes of this act of deception are harsh. Esau weeps bitterly for the lost blessing. Jacob has to spend twenty years in ...

56. Are You in the Right Place?

Matthew 6:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the Pharisees to make these tassels as conspicuous as possible, not to remind themselves of God’s law but to remind others how righteous they were. Jesus had no sympathy with such foolishness--whether it was with ostentatious dress, or loud and lengthy prayers, or flashy shows of charity. I doubt that any of us have any sympathy for such blatant hypocrisy either . . . and yet it happens. Actually, acts of hypocrisy are usually counter-productive in the long run. Most people come off as ridiculous when ...

57. Pilate's Ruse

Matthew 27:1-26 · Luke 22:66--23:25 · John 18:28-40; 19:1-16 · Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... him to dispose of their problem. On top of it, they wouldn’t even come inside, for fear of “degrading themselves” before the Passover by allowing their feet to touch his “desecrated” palace. No, Pilate held no sympathy, only sneers for this group of “officials.” But he held no sympathy for Jesus either. He did however have to pacify his wife. Asking the Jewish authorities therefore if they wanted Barabbas or Jesus was a clever game. Both, Pilate knew, were threats. But Barabbas was small time ...

I do not believe in Belief. But this is an Age of Faith, and there are so many militant creeds that, in self defence, one has to formulate a creed of one's own. Tolerance, good temper and sympathy are no longer enough in a world where ignorance rules, and Science, which ought to have ruled, plays the pimp. Tolerance, good temper and sympathy – they are what matter really, and if the human race is not to collapse they must come to the front before long.

E. M. Forster

59. Now

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Will Willimon

... in charge, each with his work.” Here is a parable about masters and servants, employers and employees, about those who have and those who don’t have, and those who work for those who have. You know where our sympathies lie. In stories, we are always for the little guy, the have-nots. Our sympathies are not with absentee landlord, but rather with his servants. Where was the master going on a journey? It was December, the days were getting short and cold. Each day it was a longer walk to the barn to feed ...

60. God Is Like...a Comforter

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

... better that the divine shepherd’s rod and staff could “give strength to” the psalmist. We realize that when the early church is described in Acts as living in “the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it is a reference, not to the Holy Spirit’s sympathy, but to the Spirit’s empowerment. In the King James Version of John’s gospel, when Jesus announced he would be leaving the disciples, he said, “If I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you” (John 16:7). More recent translations substitute ...

61. "No Contest"

1 Kings 18:16-46

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... do it for him. The man was very weak and could hardly make the trip, but did manage to see the doctor who sent him home with other 37medication. Two days later John got the word that the man had died, so he went to visit the wife and offer sympathy. After visiting a while, John asked her, "Would you like me to have prayer with you and for you?" He did not know they were of the Jewish faith, until her response. She said, "Oh, yes! I would be so glad if you would pray. I need it so much ...

62. The King On A Cross

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

J. Will Ormond

... symbol of a royal garden with cooling streams and lush trees bearing delightful fruit. Whatever its literal reality, it is in radical contrast to the present scene where three crosses stand beneath a merciless sun, where a milling, hostile mob watches without sympathy and soldiers laugh and gamble for discarded clothes. Jesus promises the repentant criminal that he will be removed from such a scene and join Jesus himself in Paradise. Nor is this something that will come in the far distant future. "Today you ...

63. Who's The Neighbor

Luke 10:25-37

Drama

Robert F. Crowley

... HE EXITS) MILTON: Let's get on with it, Johnny. ANNOUNCER: But a despised Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where the man lay dying. (SAMARITAN IS ACTUALLY CONTESTANT NUMBER THREE, WILLIAM BRANDIOGGAN. HE ENTERS) And when he saw him, he was moved with pity and sympathy for him. SAMARITAN: The robbers have done this, I guess .. ANNOUNCER: He went to him and bandaged his wounds ... (THE SAMARITAN WHIPS OUT A FIRST AID KIT AND BANDAGES THE CERTAIN MAN) ... then he set him on his own donkey and brought him to an ...

64. Beware Of Your Piety

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

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... calls for self-denial. Jesus certainly was not opposed to the practice of fasting. Fasting is a wholesome practice if pursued properly. What Jesus criticized was the custom of going through such rigorous fasting ordeals that the one who fasts can draw the sympathy and applause of others. Again Jesus says that such fasting will not go unrewarded. People will notice. However, there may be a price to pay. Not only will the one fasting derive some benefit from the purgation that fasting does provide, but the ...

65. It Came To Pass

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

... . No wonder the psalmist said, "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). As Job's troubles came to pass, we are told: "Then there came to him ... all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning ..." (Job 42:11-12). Let us rejoice that our troubles ...

66. Tears At The Tomb

John 11:17-37

Sermon

William G. Carter

... , put it this way: When Jesus wept, the falling tear In mercy flowed beyond all bound; When Jesus groaned, a trembling fear Seized all the guilty world around.2 The world was put on notice when Jesus arrived in Bethany that day. He wept tears of sympathy, choosing to associate himself with those who mourn. He wept tears of indignation, affirming death as our common enemy. Yet the good news is Jesus wept tears of action. It was not enough for him to weep over the world's pain, or to distinguish between ...

67. How to Rise above Discouragement

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... ages is contained in that statement. In a patriarchal society orphans, such as this young man, and widows, like his mother, were regarded as vulnerable, weak and without much opportunity for economic support. Nonetheless, a great crowd followed the procession, indicating sympathy and support at least for the time being. That's drama enough -- a large crowd of caring people -- but now there is more. Jesus approaches, apparently coming from Capernaum where he just healed the Roman Centurion's slave. He saw ...

68. Flatliners

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... a nineteenth century soldier who saw with the lens of Jesus. On a memorial that was dedicated to him at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, it says, "To Charles George Gordon, who always and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering, and his heart to God." What a marvelous tribute! What a marvelous description of the lens through which we are invited to see the world. Jesus' pain in the midst of all of us is the pain of putting all of these things in ...

69. Love Your Enemies--It Will Drive Them Crazy

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... your life make sure to create two cells. Any clergy who would be honest with you will tell you that people often come to them. We clergy know the bottom line when they come into the office: "I just hate this. I just can't do it." A lot of sympathy needs to be given to them, both in primary and secondary emotions. I sat in a courtroom with parents whose daughter was accused of murder and found guilty. I have sat with the parents of children who were killed. There is intense pain in both places that is not ...

70. What Money Can't Buy

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... the answer has come. Money did not buy the servant girl. Money did not buy her desire to end her master's suffering. Money did not buy her willingness to share valuable information which would ultimately save Naaman's life. Money did not buy her sympathy, empathy and concern for another human being. In this world of the Faustian impulse, where people will sell their souls to the devil on a whim for momentary pleasure, the fact that people are still willing to share something that money cannot buy gives us ...

71. The Sponge And Wine

Mark 15:33-41

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... she said, "I did the best I could for him." We all like to be able to say that when we say our farewells to our friends or dear ones. It Was Our Best Whoever it was that offered the sour wine to our Lord undoubtedly did it out of sympathy and eagerness to do something for Jesus. Luther did not think much of that. He thought poorly of the idea of someone helping in this manner. For Luther it was an insult that someone would offer the Savior sour wine, or vinegar, in that moment when the Savior was exhausted ...

72. Miracle Three: Healing A Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... he came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give himself as a ransom for many. In the instance of this miracle, Christ went against the self-protective attitude of society in his day. Remember, a leper was considered to be beyond human sympathy. But Christ went against the grain, not hesitating to touch the leper, and so to heal him. Christ's pity was in stark contrast to the condemnation of society. Should we not follow Christ's example today? There is a crying need for pity and understanding ...

73. Miracle Five: Healing A Withered Hand

Mark 3:1-6

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... as simple as dialing 911. But they did not do so, offering the lame excuse that they did not want to get involved. Because of their refusal to help, is not the blood of the woman who died on their hands? It is common for people to offer their sympathy to people in trouble. But Christian service demands that we take action when it is called for. Is it possible that we have withered hands and do not realize it? "Come Here" The man with the withered hand had to respond to Christ's invitation and approach him ...

74. Lighting A Fire In A Cold Room

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... of Canada, "He lit so many fires in cold rooms."1 What a beautiful eulogy to have earned. There are so many cold rooms in life. Some are cold for lack of wood and coal, like Dominic's forced impoverishment. But most are cold for lack of sympathy, meaning, humility, friendship, and hope. Today we find our inspiration in thinking of a young Isaiah who went into the temple at Jerusalem with a dejected spirit. Fearful problems faced his world and the man who was supposed to deal with them, King Uzziah, had just ...

75. Till Death Do Us -- Unite

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... to the other side. A bank in Binghamton, New York, had some flowers sent to a competitor who had recently moved into a new building. There was a mix-up at the flower shop, and the card sent with the arrangement read, "With our deepest sympathy." The florist, who was greatly embarrassed, apologized. But he was even more embarrassed when he realized that the card intended for the bank was attached to a floral arrangement sent to a funeral home in honor of a deceased person. That card read, "Congratulations on ...

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