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 826 to 850 of 2699 results

826. The Lord's People Together

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

... exactly. But I am quite sure it is saying something to us about the very great importance of our being together with one another as disciples of our Lord. Second: again and again in his teachings, Jesus promises always to be with his people. We get the impression that wherever one of his people is, the Lord Christ will be there also. In this passage, however, we have a most fascinating variation of this promise. Jesus says, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Two ...

827. A Change of Direction

Matthew 21:28-32

Sermon

... believed him - but this they had not done. The parables of Jesus, of which this story is one, usually have to do with ordinary types of situations and events, happenings that are typical on our human scene. Two such common circumstances appear in this parable, impressing upon us possibilities which are open to us in the course of our living. First is the possibility of saying "yes" and acting no. Sometimes people promise and do not perform. "I will", they say, but then they don't. When the general calls for ...

828. Full Barns and Empty Hearts

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... physically poor. We have our modest amount of bread and we do not really think about going hungry. Our barns are full. But are our hearts full, too? Could we "Job" it? Job had it all: his barns were full. He had a lovely wife and family. Even God was impressed with Job. Then he lost it all, and what did he say in that agony? Do we catch a confession of a full heart when he cries, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him"? If our barns are full, then let us be certain that our hearts are ...

829. Mission to Unbelievers

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... adopted a Social Creed to be companion to our other theological statements. This was an attempt to specify the meaning of the gospel as it relates to economic, industrial, international and family concern. As an outgrowth of the Social Gospel Movement, it is an impressive contention that our faith has irrefutable social meanings. It would be nice to be able to say that the struggle for the recognition of the social implications of the gospel has been won since that 1908 effort. But the fact is that in no ...

830. Faith Bridges the Gap

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

... , and in more ways than one. He not only - and rather miraculously - believed in Christ, but he had a deep sense of personal unworthiness that you and I quite often lack. Rather, it is our sense of worth - before God, and because we believe in Christ - that impresses us, prompting us to protest to God when tragedy enters our lives with an "I don’t deserve that" kind of attitude. We can resent God and blame him for pain and suffering, or even the lack of financial security and wealth, as though faith in ...

831. The Beginning of the End

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

... not take the city captive, as countless kings and armies have done over the centuries. His would be no grand entrance like some of theirs had been. His was not a pilgrimage to be undertaken with the pomp and ceremony of near-modern secular power "to impress the inhabitants of the city and create a climate favorable to the illustrious pilgrim’s native land," writes J. Boudet in Jerusalem: A History (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Son, 1967, p. 262.) A road was prepared for Emperor Franz Joseph in 1864, who ...

832. Booby Trap

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

... something good will come out of the difficult and changing times we live in. It just may be that as we respond more to the call for voluntary service to perform many works of mercy and neighborliness, that we will learn the lesson that Jesus sought to impress upon the lawyer. A few months ago, Robert T. Smith did a feature story on an eighty-two-year-old man, Al Couillard, who "has never had any particular public recognition in his long life (Minneapolis Tribune, 9/25/81). Until now. He’s never flown in ...

833. Time to Get Ready

Luke 12:32-40

Sermon

... , everybody’s story - and everybody’s business if we call ourselves Christians. Early in life, Bunyan says that he had four sins: dancing, bell-ringing (in church towers), a game called "tipcat," and reading the life of the English martyr, St. Bevis. They are not very impressive sins by our standards, are they? But they were serious to him, and he gave them up when he was converted and concentrated on the business of the gospel. He once believed that he had "sold his soul to the devil" and in that had ...

834. Lord, I Believe - Or Do I?

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

... willing to await the revelation of his kingdom in his time and in his way, we seek to build our little kingdoms now. When we read the publications, bulletins, releases, and whatever flows from printing presses of the churches, we must be impressed. They speak with hype and hoopla, using words like "lively, joyous, and renewed." Every past event is termed momentous. Every listing on the calendar ahead is called a happening that no one can afford to miss. "Growth has been phenomenal, interest has heightened ...

835. How to Stay on Top of It

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

... that will not be thrown down." It had to shake his followers! That this temple where they sought the presence of the living God would be destroyed, this place that was the bulwark of the Hebrew faith, or these attractive churches that we build, the impressive organized religion we are proud of, the budgets we raise and the numbers we gather in with our crusades - that all of this goes down the pipes, has to shake his followers. These are the measuring tools of our effectiveness. But it seems that his ...

836. Remember Me?

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

... next year was a little better, and the three of us became a nucleus for the team that was striving to do well and to attain some meaningful goals. We dreamed dreams, saw visions and pressed on toward our goal. Our record was a little more impressive. The following year we were seniors, and some good things began to happen to our basketball team. Striving and sweat and pain were still there, but the victories began to come. That year we won the Maryland State Basketball Championship in our class. It was the ...

837. Dead or Alive?

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

... old-style posters proclaiming that someone is wanted "Dead or Alive"? The Scriptures for today suggest we should have before us a series of posters with our pictures on them, each proclaiming in the boldest of print: "WANTED! Alive; not Dead!" This is the impression one gets from the whole biblical message. Moses in his farewell address reminded the people that God had set before them blessing and cursing, life and death, and he pleaded with them to choose life. John reported that God’s concern in sending ...

838. Formula for Life

Amos 5:1-17

Sermon

... reward than all the medals and accolades that could be heaped upon him. To have failed to respond with the strength he possessed would have been to deny meaning in his existence. A professor in a course on character education made an impressive comparison between scouting and the 4-H Club program. Both, he said, are aimed at developing character in young people. Scouting, in his opinion, however, was less effective than the 4-H program. His reasoning was that scouting relied on artificially contrived ...

839. Of Preachers and Preaching

Micah 1:8-16

Sermon

... comfortable. If Micah were teaching in one of our theological seminaries today, or speaking in one of our retreats for pastors, we can imagine the direction of his challenge. It is not at all likely that he would leave the impression that ministerial responsibility is adequately discharged in the stereotyped processes that have been described as "hatching, matching, patching, and dispatching." An especially insightful and frustrated preacher of whom I know must have taken his cue from Micah. What the people ...

840. Counsel for Discouraged Disciples

Habakkuk 1:1-4

Sermon

John Bunyan had a remarkable ability to represent everyday truth in impressive allegory. One of the most vivid representations in his story, Pilgrim ‘s Progress, has to do with what happened in the Valley of Humiliation. No sooner had Pilgrim entered this valley than he saw the foul fiend Apollyon bearing down upon him, breathing fire and smoke. Pilgrim’s first impulse ...

841. Everybody Pray!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

... Jesus ever left the country of Palestine. Never was he found outside Jewish territory except in this incident here. There are, of course, other reasons why Jesus went to this foreign place. But surely part of the impact of this whole incident is to impress us about the universality of prayer practice. Prayer is for everyone because the Gospel is for everyone. Christ Jesus came into this world to be savior of all the world. The message of the cross, the glories and satisfaction of Christian prayer, are meant ...

842. The Way He Taught

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

... what the people of old noticed here as they observed an itinerant preacher from Nazareth, Jesus by name. The Bible reads this way: "Jesus finished saying these things, and the crowds were amazed at the way he taught." That is to say, the way Jesus taught was as impressive as what he taught. In fact it was hard to separate the two. We have to agree with that, don't we? We have to agree with this challenging biblical guideline - the way we do God's will is as important as the deeds themselves. So our guiding ...

843. The Challenge of God's Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

... the harvest right now. What a vast number are in the so-called "formative years." About one-half the population in our country is considered to be young people. These are the harvestable years, these years of being young. These are the years in which impressions are made, values jelled, and a direction for life sought. Young people, as always, are looking for a star to which they may hitch their wagons. They will latch onto that promise which appears most inviting. Look out at our schools across the country ...

844. Jumping to Conclusions

1 Corinthians 4:5

Children's Sermon

... it seems that they don’t want friends. Did you know that Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians that God had told him to tell others that they should never jump to a conclusion about someone, as to whether he is good or bad? Our first impressions of some people might not be correct. Sometimes our hearts and our minds play funny tricks on us just like our eyes. Do you know what I mean? Never say you dislike someone after just meeting him the first time. You never can tell but what the person ...

845. Fasting: Foolish or Fruitful?

Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

... pride! Suppose one says that he is fasting from cigars. His friend says, "But I am fasting from my lunch every day." What is a cigar to a lunch? The one fasting from lunches feels he is doing so much better, is a better Christian, and leaves the Impression that he is holier than the other man. It is possible, also, to use fasting in terms of works righteousness. If we are hard on ourselves and really sacrifice through fasting, we may get the idea that this ought to count with God on our behalf. It should ...

846. If Only We Would Let God Mold Us ...

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... into objects of beauty. Jeremiah must have wondered why the artist would often start over again with a pot or jar that looked perfect to the observer. We can imagine that the sensitivity of the potter’s eye and fingers awed the prophet, and that he was deeply impressed by the potter’s control over the clay as he molded and remolded it over and over again. As Jeremiah watched, he recognized the parallel between the potter and God, the clay and the people of Judah. "Don’t I have the right to do with you ...

847. The Day of Pentecost

Isaiah 44:1-5

Sermon

... or like a jar marked by the name of its owner. The fourth non-believer will be baptized into the people of God with a new name that will show her new condition. All of this will come about because foreign peoples and nations will be impressed by the saving power of Yahweh. Therefore, they will take his name and will adopt the name of his people. Theologically speaking, this passage is most interesting. The children of Israel are born into their heritage, but non-believers will enter and become the people of ...

848. Proper 4

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

... are creatures of a moment, a day, a few years at most. Besides, can we really expect God is going to take the time and trouble to speak to one human being, to influence the details of one person's daily life?" Twentieth century people, impressed with the unimaginable magnitude of space, ask themselves how one finite person can count for anything amid the immensity of the solar system. Yet, as the Anchor Bible points out (Vol. 1, page 87), this story commences with one individual. It then involves his family ...

849. Proper 9

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

... in the society of the time, a baby boy was not normally weaned until the age of three, and sometimes, was even as old as five. At any rate, it is certain Moses stayed long enough with his parents to have his people's identity and hopes impressed upon him. There is a Hebrew word for hope whose root means to twist, to twine, and, in Moses' life, a hundred little strands of events came together, became entwined, and, eventually, made a cable of hope which proved to be strong enough to pull the Hebrew people ...

850. The Passion of Our Lord

2 Corinthians 5:21

Sermon

... steep climb to Calvary: either the full cross, or the patibulum, weighing over 100 pounds. Exhausted now, in shock, bleeding, in searing pain, He drags the cross along the "Street of Sorrows," stumbling and falling. Along the way, the women weep; Simon of Cyrene is impressed to help Him; and, as tradition has it, Veronica wipes His face with her veil, and a picture of His face miraculously appears on it. Arriving now at Golgotha, He is stripped of His clothes, except for a loin cloth allowed for the Jews ...

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