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 776 to 800 of 4455 results

776. Monologue: Silent Silas

Acts 15:22-35

Drama

Robert F. Scott

There was a man named Silas. We read of him in Acts and in several of the Epistles. Yet in the whole of the New Testament there is not one word from Silas himself: not a word that he said, not a scrap of a letter in his own name. Was he silent? We know he was not. He was a prophet for Christ; he exhorted, taught, preached, prayed, and sang. Of all that Silas said, what was it and what was it worth? The First Epistle of Peter was written by the hand of Silas. If we were to ask Peter, what might he say? ...

777. Is This Life All There Is?

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

The film "Amadeus" ends showing the funeral of the great musician Mozart. He was taken to his grave in a blizzard. There was a trap door in the end of his coffin. They dumped his body through that trap door into a giant hole in which there were several other bodies. The film takes several liberties with history, including the account of his death. Scholars have found that the weather reports for that day don’t mention a blizzard in Vienna, and they doubt it was a pauper’s grave - although Mozart did have ...

778. He Came to His Senses

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Jon L. Joyce

"At last he came to his senses," Luke writes in describing the dramatic turning point in the life of the young man whom we’ve come to call 'the prodigal son.' " That, in Today’s English Version, corresponds to RSV’s "But when he came to himself." Whatever else, this one thing is clear: the young man was obviously not himself before. His friends would have said of him, "He’s not himself these days." His grieving family would have claimed that he had flipped in an astonishing personality change. His ...

779. Reason for the Season

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: This drama is really aimed at the kids. It reminds them of the true meaning of Christmas. It's also good for the adults since it shows us how we can easily stress out and forget about God. The drama is divided into 3 parts. The first part is where everything is going wrong and the Christmas spirit is lost. The second part is where Teri asks the kids questions about what they heard and saw. The third part is where they 'turn back time' and do it all over again - same circumstances, ...

780. A New Look For A New Year

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

We all know that appearances matter. When officials at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachussets, wanted to advertise their college to high school students a couple years back, they found that they had a problem. It had been a snowless winter in Williamstown. However, the officials felt that snow would make their college look more inviting to prospective students. Hence, they imported 60 tons of manufactured snow and posed student models beside the "snowdrifts." A defensive director of admissions ...

781. Schadenfreude

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks

Co-Winner in the best Sermon Contest How many of you watch the Academy Awards? The coverage of the Oscars is a perennial ratings winner, and it's not hard to figure out why people tune in. Hollywood is on display in all its glitz and excess. The parade of rich and famous emerging from limousines in outfits that are worth more than many of us will see in a year is a fantasy brought to life. We strain for a glimpse of our favorite personality as they wave to the crowd in the stands and grant interviews with ...

782. How To Be Rich And Poor

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

One day, Herman and Clara were riding along in their shiny new car. Clara spoke up and said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this wonderful new car." Herman just sat there and didn't say a word. As they pulled into their driveway, Herman turned off the engine. They quietly admired their beautiful home and Clara said, "You know, Herman, if it weren't for my money, we probably wouldn't have this house." Herman just sat there and didn't say a word. That afternoon, a ...

783. Will You Be in that Number?

John 11:32-44

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I want to tell you about a grave in Peru. I shared this story with you about ten years ago when a grave of a warrior priest was discovered near the pyramids of the ancient Moche Indians. The Moche Indians preceded the Incas in Peru. Their graves have yielded a treasure trove of artifacts, and a thriving black market for the residents in that isolated, northern part of Peru. The inhabitants up there regularly loot the graves and sell the artifacts to collectors. The government decided to crack down on the ...

784. Proper 15

Genesis 45:1-28, Isaiah 56:1-8, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:1-20, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 45:1-15 Joseph reveals himself to his brothers. Because of a famine in Canaan, Jacob sent his sons to buy food in Egypt. None of them knew Joseph was the prime minister of Egypt and was responsible for selling food. In this passage, Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, gives God the credit for his being a top ruler, and urges his brothers to tell Jacob that he and his family and herds should come to Egypt so that Joseph could care for them. With this reading we ...

785. The Monster Under Megan's Bed

John 6:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A child saved the day for Jesus. Could it be that our children save the day for us? Is it time for us to sit at the feet of our children? Meet a 5-year-old girl named Megan. Like many kids her age for generations before her, Megan was terrified of a monster that lived under her bed. What to do? But unlike any previous generation before her, Megan did something about the monster under her bed. She sat down at her computer and used a software package for children to tell her story about how scary the monster ...

786. Choose Life

Exodus 20:13

Sermon

James Merritt

If you ever travel to Florida on vacation you don't have to look very long until you will see license plates with the message "Choose Life." Several years ago, Marion County Commissioner, Randy Harris, was driving behind a vehicle with a specialty license plate, when he envisioned a Choose Life specialty license plate. It took a while for this to finally get through the legislature and for a republican governor to sign it into law. When it was approved, the license plate took off. Since November of 1999, ...

787. Agony and Ecstasy

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Steven Molin

Mary and Martha; remember them? They are the sisters who were hosting Jesus for dinner one evening, except that Martha did all the work, and Mary sat at Jesus' feet for the Bible study. And when Martha complains to Jesus about it, Jesus corrects her! "Martha, Martha, you worry about so many things, but just one thing is necessary ... and Mary chose it." Ouch! Today's gospel lesson offers us another glimpse of the same sisters, and proof that the sisters were not so different from one another. Four days ...

788. Immediately, They Followed

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

"And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.' And immediately they left their nets and ·followed him." This is the sort of text which preachers love, this snippet of a story about the calling of Simon, Andrew, James and John, from the first chapter of Mark. "And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew…casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.' And immediately they ...

789. God Is Like...a Face

Genesis 33:1-11 · 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

Sermon

Kenneth L. Gibble

God is like …a face. What a strange idea. Of all the understandings of God we’ve explored thus far in this series, this is surely the most farfetched. What can it possibly mean to think of God as a face? To answer this question we must consider the breadth and the limitation of human imagination. You and I have minds that can take us beyond the time and place where we are. We can imagine what it might have been like to live a century ago, a millennium ago. We can move, in our minds, from where we are not, ...

790. Proper 27

Psalm 17:1-15, Psalm 9:1-20, 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5, 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17, Zechariah 7:1-14, 1 Chronicles 29:10-20, Job 19:1-29, Luke 20:27-40

Sermon Aid

George Bass

THEOLOGICAL CLUE The so-called "new" church year and lectionary make a significant contribution to liturgical and theological order in the last three Sundays of the year. Those churches, which employed lectionaries before the ORDO was developed, were not in agreement about the necessity for providing separate propers for these last three Sundays. The Roman Catholic Church had propers for 24 Sundays after Pentecost. In the years when there were 26, 27, or 28 Sundays after Pentecost, the propers for the ...

791. The Road To Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Brett Blair

A friend shared with me a beautiful legend about a king who decided to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject. When the big day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard. Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the winner. The first person presented was a wealthy philanthropist. The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the honor because of his humanitarian efforts. He had given much of his wealth to the poor. The ...

792. THE JOURNEY

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

Shortly after midnight; a grimy train station in a midwestern city. CAIN wearing a conductor’s hat, opens a thermos and pours a cup of coffee, adds to it from a flask he carries in his jacket. GRACE enters; opens a large handbag, her only luggage, takes out an apple, or some other fruit, and eats. As CAIN drinks, he turns to look at the woman. Finally she notices him, and she smiles. GRACE It’s a long night. CAIN Like usual. GRACE Are we waiting for the same train? CAIN I don’t know. Are we? GRACE I’m ...

793. What's This World Coming To Anyway?

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Randolph W. Barr

When Pastor Smith walked into the kitchen at church to get another bowl of soup at the mid-week Lenten soup supper he saw Hank on his knees pushing at the dishwashing machine and Wayne with a rag mop ready to swab the deck of the good ship St. John's Church. Both men were still dressed from the day's work, at the office for Hank and on the road, selling, for Wayne. Suit coats were off. Shirt sleeves were rolled up. Ties were now loose around their necks. Pastor Smith thought that he had walked into the ...

794. The Repentant Heart

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Timothy Smith

Mighty King David acted on his impulses when he saw Bathsheba bathing in the afternoon sun. David committed a sin. David had not given any thought to the consequences of his sin. He thought he could get away with anything. After all, he was the king. David knew right from wrong ” that was why he went to such lengths to cover up his sin. As you will recall, David had Bathsheba's husband Uriah killed in battle. After a period of mourning David took Bathsheba as his wife. David hoped that he could put the ...

795. Don't Make Me Come Down There

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

Jess Moody, pastor of the First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, needed a secluded place to study one night. He decided on the sound booth of the church. He was engrossed in his studies when suddenly he heard two boys talking loudly, laughing, cursing in the sanctuary. “Why don’t you go up into the pulpit where that blankety blankety preacher gives his sermon,” one of them said loudly, “and ask those blankety blankety deacons to take up an offering so you can buy a new car?” Pastor Moody was ...

796. A Matter Of The Heart

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

John E. Harnish

Wesleyan theology is, at the heart, a matter of the heart. John Wesley referred to the Methodist experience as "heart religion," and the spirit of Charles Wesley's music goes right to the nurturing of the heart, the depth of the heart in relation to God, the healing of the heart. 1. First, the diagnosis. Let's call it spiritual cardiomyopathy, the hard heart. Cardiomyopathy—the muscles lose their ability to relax and contract, become stiff and brittle, literally a "hard heart." I know a little bit about ...

797. Personal Politics

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

Thomas Browne said that "the vices we scoff at in others laugh at us from within ourselves." More than any other relational failure this is true of hurt and vengeance. When the great nineteenth-century Spanish General, Ramon Narvaez, lay dying in Madrid, a priest was called in to give him last rites. "Have you forgiven your enemies?" the padre asked. "Father," confessed Narvaez, "I have no enemies. I shot them all." Too often that is the story of our lives, and Jesus knows it. Lewis Smedes wrote a book we ...

798. Miscellaneous Laws

Deut 23:15–25:19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

With 23:15 we enter into a discussion of the implications of the eighth commandment, relating to theft. Five laws (23:15–25) are given in the second-person singular, perhaps highlighting the importance of individual responsibility within the covenant community. Even the rules on divorce (24:1–4) and kidnapping (24:7) represent a metaphorical and real theft of life. Other ancient Near Eastern countries required the extradition of runaway slaves, but Israel did not, for it would imply a covenant relationship ...

799. A New Kingdom Coming

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

A lot of people don't believe it -- but there's a new kingdom coming. Often, like a phoenix bird, it arises out of the ashes of the old. As a young sapling is germinated by forest fire, so the new kingdom is sprouted in the desolation of despair. Like tundra flowers and crab grass the new kingdom has irresistible life impulses and grows anywhere. There is a new kingdom coming. You may wonder where it is -- this new kingdom. You may look for advance press releases, television bulletins, screaming headlines ...

800. Proper 21

Matthew 21:23-27, Matthew 21:28-32, Exodus 17:1-7, Ezekiel 18:1-32, Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: God judges us not based on what we were but what we are. If a sinner turns away from his sin to the Lord, he is accounted as righteous. This is the point of Ezekiel 18. The Gospel makes a similar point, if the rebel turns to obedience, he is accounted as righteous. COMMENTARY Lesson 1: Exodus 17:1-7 (C) The Israelites complain loudly to Moses that they had no water. They question whether the Lord was really with them. In desperation, Moses cries out to the Lord, fearing that they might stone him. ...

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