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 801 to 825 of 4952 results

801. Grace Is Not a Blue-eyed Blond

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... the church properly, sort of like Oliver Twist in the musical “Oliver,” asking with bowl in hand if he can have “some more.” I thought of grace as a substance. There was only so much of it to go around, and you were lucky if you happened to get some ... this people. There didn’t have to be a reason for it. God had to start somewhere. When the people became proud, and thought themselves God’s pets rather than God’s people, the prophets were sent to warn them: “You only have I known of all the ...

802. Let the Son Shine In

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... hear His coming, but in this world of sin; Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.” There is an old story of a father who, on a dark, stormy night in the midst of the thunder’s crash and the lightning’s flash, awakened and thought of his small son alone in his bedroom upstairs who might be scared of it all. So he rushed upstairs with his flashlight to check on the boy to see if he was all right. He was flashing the light around the room when the boy awakened, and said, with ...

803. Some Said It Thundered

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... the difference. In the twelfth chapter of John, the author tells us that Jesus was buoyed up by the voice of God speaking to Him. But not everybody in the audience heard what He heard. Some thought that it was only thunder. Still others thought that an angel had spoken to Him. I have always been fascinated by those folks who thought that it had only thundered. I think that during my years in the parish ministry I have met some of them. Sometimes I think that I have been one of them! I am talking about folks ...

804. Does God Give Out Blank Checks?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... concept of prayer in Jesus’ name changes our whole concept of what prayer is all about. In the popular mind, prayer is a sort of gimmick designed to get the Almighty over into our “corner,” over to our side, on to our team. It has been thought of as a device for overcoming the indifference and/or reluctance of the Almighty; for getting God to perform special favors for us, even sensational tricks on our behalf. But that is not prayer, that is magic. In a delightful little novel titled Heaven help Us ...

805. On Panicking Close to Shore

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... preacher, that he ought to go out in some stormy night and see if the same thing would happen to him. He told him to go out walking in the midst of a storm and see what would happen. Dr. Rice tried it one night, and reported back, “The only thought I had was what a fool I am!” “Well,” said the bishop, “just how much did you expect to learn in one night?” But many people, like St. John and Bishop Quayle, have found God in the midst of the storm. In this Gospel story the author is proclaiming that ...

806. When Compassion Overcomes Irritation

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.” (6:30) But as result of their doing and teaching, the crowds pressed in on them so closely that “they had no leisure even to eat.” (Mark 6:312) (And we thought that we invented the overcrowded schedule!) So Jesus said to them: I. “COME AWAY BY YOURSELVES TO A LONELY PLACE, AND REST AWHILE.” (6:31) The “lonely place” was undoubtedly part of “the deserted places of Bethsaida” in the northern corner of the Sea of ...

807. Who Is the Light of Your Life? (I am the light of the world)

John 8:12-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is no darkness at all. The darkness is the work of the one who works against God. Are you afraid of the dark? Probably not--if by that we mean physical darkness. But spiritual darkness--living a life apart from God--ought to make our souls tremble. There are some thoughts and attitudes that come into my mind that are so out of keeping with God''s will for my life that I constantly ask God by the power of the Holy Spirit to literally explode the darkness in my soul and pour the light of his love through. I ...

808. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... a cynic. She said she really did not have contact with anyone. She just removed herself from life. And then one day she was with a person who gave her a note that asked, "Why don''t you stop fighting it and start using it?" She said she had not thought of that. A short time later she began teaching deaf children. She said, "It took me ten years to learn to say three words: I am deaf." (First UMC Sermons, May 17, 1992.) "Listen up church!" Don''t waste or misuse any more of your life or time. Stop fighting ...

809. The Lord's Prayer: Deliver us from Evil

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... writes on page 114, "I met a man who kept two heads, And thus he really kept two minds. His heads fell into quarreling And bit each other very blind. He died a month thereafter Where teeth and bloody faces fought. So all duplicity brings death In quarreling, doubled thought." Simply put, you cannot serve God and Mammon. You cannot cooperate with evil in any possible way. You must focus on God to defeat evil. This is where the power is. A man saved his money for a long time to buy a Rolls Royce, one of the ...

810. The Day Jesus Asked the Question: The Fourth Word

Matthew 27:45-46

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... me, and carried me out to safety. Then he returned to try to find my mother. But he was too late to save her. The price of his love and commitment is his terribly disfigured face. To me, it''s the most beautiful face in the world! I just thought you''d like to know." That night the honeymoon couple reappeared at dinner. They discovered a whole new perspective, and a remarkably affable dinner companion. At the end of the meal the new bride got up from the table, walked around, and planted a kiss on the man ...

811. The Seventh Commandment: Indecent Proposal

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... physical realm. As a matter of fact there is a deep correlation between the two. In our New Testament lesson from Matthew 5:27-28 we see that our Lord Jesus once again expands our understanding of this commandment. We see the vital relationship between thought, word, picture, and deed. We need to restrain and redeem our heart and speech if our behavior is to be proper and pure. The great Christian writer and thinker C. S. Lewis wrote years ago that if our culture and moral climate continued in the direction ...

812. Blank Walls or Filled Lives (Part V)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... 't you hear me, Karl? Our house is gone." "Yes, I heard you," he replied, "but a few hours ago we were lost at sea, and death seemed mighty close. Our only guide to the shoreline, the light in the lighthouse on the cliff, went out. For an hour, I thought death would be our lot. Then something happened: a dim, yellow glow appeared in the distance. Then it grew bigger and bigger. We turned our boat and rowed with all our might to get in the path of that light. When we did, we followed it safely to the shore ...

813. A Full House

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... State walking all alone. Gone were the reporters, security teams, adoring public and the power of that office. His power, fame, and influence had evaporated. The headlines of the morning newspapers had faded. He was now just one solitary man alone with his thoughts. The alluring promises of "sin" also fade away and leave the person forever crippled and crushed without the renewing work of Christ in their lives. James A. Baker reminds us that there is a hill much higher and more important to life''s journey ...

814. A New You or a New Year

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... want to use such deadly power. But in 1888, when he read his own obituary, he discovered that the world thought far different of him than he pictured himself. As far as the public knew, dynamite was his whole life. There ... titled A Book of Un-Common Prayer. It was written for New Year''s Eve, and because it reinforces some of the ideas and imagery I have today, I thought it would be a good closing to our work today. Eternal God, before whom we are creatures of the day and children of the hours, I did not ...

815. He Came by Night

John 3:1-21

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... called the Son of Man. In identifying this saving person, Jesus again used a word with more than one meaning. He said, "The Son of Man must be lifted up." I took that to mean "exalted," "raised up so that all people could gather before his throne." I thought he was referring to the Messiah, who was expected to come in great power and glory, and I was ready to agree that the Messiah certainly would bring people to God. I have subsequently come to believe that the "Son of Man" in whom one is to put trust ...

816. Who Needs a Doctor?

Mark 2:13-17

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... with those people who were "bad" -- those who drank and smoked and caroused around. We were to keep company with people of good character, and that's the way we would be known. Now, that was good advice. But all of a sudden -- as I drove to the party and thought of the tribute I might pay to Pauline, it dawned on me in a very significant way that advice is wrong. It's wrong in the way that it was given and in the way that it is interpreted. Jesus would give that same advice -- but its meaning would be ...

817. Yes, No, Someone Else

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... want David to follow in Saul's footsteps. God wants David to know that God is Sovereign and that David's kingship will witness to that sovereignty. In his recital of all that he had done for David, God is the first-person subject of 23 action verbs. David, who thought he was going to do something for God, now has to listen to a detailed description of what God has done and will do for and in David. The issue that David had forgotten was that God is a God of freedom and grace. God is simply saying to David ...

818. Living With The Nitty Gritty

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... time. Clifton Fadiman has described our boredom as a special kind. Not unhappiness or fatigue, he says, but that odd stunned look that comes from a circuit of toys and a deficiency of thought. Isn’t that, isn’t that characteristic, and isn’t it descriptive. That odd stunned look that comes from a circuit of toys and a deficiency of thought. Because this is true, that we see and experience life in pieces and not as a whole, the nitty gritty gets us down and drives us to seek more toys, more play things ...

819. Proclaimers Of The Gospel

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... go to church. Since especially it would probably be hard to find. Then there came a knock on the door, and I opened it. There stood the student I had met the day before. His raincoat was dripping wet, and on his arm he had two umbrellas. He said, ‘I thought you might have a hard time finding your church, especially in the rain. I’ll walk along with you and show you where it is.’ As I dressed, I wondered what kind of fellow he was. As we walked along in the rain, with the two umbrellas, I said to ...

820. The Eternal Question

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... the scripture doesn’t say, I have an idea, I have an idea that the lamp burned late in that home for many nights, as the father and son talked of the son’s feelings and desires, as the father sought to assist the son in putting his thoughts into perspective and getting his longings all sorted out. But the son had made his decision – he took his part of the family wealth and hit the road. It was a freeway that he traveled, a road with no restrictive bounds, no confining limitations – he was his own ...

821. Leave Your Stuff Behind

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , promising to give them the goods of all the land of Egypt, and it is at this point that the power-packed verse is found. Do this, said Pharaoh, take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives, bring your father and come. Give no thought to your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours. I like the way the King James’ version translates that – regard not your stuff, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours. Regard not your stuff. There’s all sorts of ...

822. Saints In The Light

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... that identifies a person who is set apart. God had called these people, had offered them his grace. They had received that grace, and God’s love and forgiveness had made them new persons. Their sainthood was a gift from God. Let’s live with that thought — that image — “Saints in Light” — as a way for us to grow in our understanding and appropriation of the Gospel. I. First of all, let’s sound an overall truth here, then we will move to explore specifically the image of saints in light as a ...

823. The Game Is For A Team

Colossians 4:7-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to us, and before I go to sleep tonight, I'm going to say a very special prayer of gratitude just for you." Suddenly, John said, "I thought someday I'm going to be one of those two priests. Which one?" It's a good question for us to consider. We need each other -- and ... sanctuary. It has become a word that represents safety, acceptance, protection. It has a rich history in Jewish/Christian thought and experience. People could take sanctuary in the temple of Judaism, and not be harmed. People could find ...

824. Singing The Lord's Song In A Strange Land (ii)

Psalm 137:1-9

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... straining when it suddenly came to her that it wasn't important what song it was -- someone was waiting up for her. Someone who would deny fiercely that there had been any concern -- just a little indigestion from them fried onions that kept me from sleeping. Thought I'd pass the time by figuring out what you see in all this loose-life music. "Etta laughed softly to herself as she climbed the steps toward the light and the love and the comfort that awaited her." (Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place ...

825. Proclaiming The Gospel

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... , clear voice, "I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...". And then he praised God for his years in the cesspool. It was there, he said, God taught him that even a cesspool could be turned into a garden of prayer and praise! I thought of that story as I began to think about Evangelism Sunday here at Christ Church, and as I began to reflect on our scripture lesson, Paul would have liked that story. Let's call to mind what was happening in Paul's life when he wrote the words that we ...

Showing results