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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826. The Glory of God

Romans 11:33-36, Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... time to gather answers. What can one do? You may think this a ludicrous suggestion, but may I suggest that you follow Paul's method and, in the face of whatever doubts, uncertainties, or questions you have, simply, sing? In this faith, practice always precedes theory. Sing it before you think about it. Just be here, in this great church, with all its majesty, complexity, and mystery, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses to the greatness of God, join with others who know and don't know and, with Paul ...

827. The Lord Is With Us

Luke 1:26-38, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Romans 16:1-27

Sermon

Will Willimon

... penchant for keeping everything tied to particular places and people, and revelation coming to us through particularity rather than in spite of it. I'm not just talking about the human difficulty to accept the gap between the real and the ideal, between theory and practice. In most areas of life, we come to terms with this discrepancy. We realize that every vision is expressed within certain limits. The Freshman zeal for "dear old Duke'' eventually becomes tempered in the day-to-day reality of mashed ...

828. Is This All There Is?

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

... the unbridled, untested aspirations of twenty-year olds. These are the words which are read at most funerals. And well they should. For funerals encapsulate all those moments in life when we discover that this life, and all our schemes for betterment, our most noble social theories, our plans are not enough. If this is all there is...As Paul says, “If for this life only we have hoped, we are, of all people, most to be pitied.” When your back is against the wall, and you have been as honest about life ...

829. The Great Reveal

John 12:20-33

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the philosophies of his day, enough to use them, debate them, and illustrate metaphors that can help people understand his unique message. This technique was carried on also by Paul, and John Wesley. Note that Plato’s idea of “God’s blueprint” (his theory of forms) saw the soul as the immortal “true seed” sown inside of the mortal body is in stark contrast to Jesus’ Jewish, later Christian, theology of a holistic creature inbreathed by God who must die and be resurrected. To pursue Truth is ...

830. Jews and Christians: All in the Family

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

... Christian doors would open to a poor Jewish carpenter and his pregnant wife who had no where to stay during Caesar's taxation? How many of us would risk our families to save some Rachel and her Jewish boy-child from Herod's sword? This is only my theory, but I believe that one reason why there is animosity between Christian and Jew is that we Christians know, in our moments of deep honesty, how miserably our religion failed when it needed to be laid on the line for Jesus' family. We had our chance to show ...

831. Schadenfreude

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Lori Wagner

How many of you grew up watching either the originals or the re-runs of Wile-E-Coyote and the Roadrunner? Throughout the series of cartoons, we laughed, as Wile E Coyote was continually 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). ...

832. What He Said!

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... brains. The only thing we have he doesn't have is sin. Here he arrives, right off the boat, and discovers us. Some of us have the sheep's biggest problem -- not recognizing the shepherd. Some of us refuse to acknowledge our servanthood. Some scorn or ridicule the theory that gasoline makes the car go round. What did he do then? And now? "He began to teach them many things." What can we learn? Today's Second Lesson (Ephesians 2:13-22) spells out a great deal of the "many things" Jesus revealed. He surely did ...

833. The Possibility Mindset

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... .” Or better, “thinking outside of the box.” Thinking outside of the box means we first have to identify our boxes, break them open, and then step outside of them in order to get a different perspective on life and the world. It sounds simple in theory. It’s not so simple in practice for most of us. Why? Because our “Acquisition” and “Achievement” mindset keeps us conveniently locked up in a multitude of “boxes.” And they are hard to break out of. [Show a ruler.] Here in front of you I ...

834. Faith and Fury

Luke 19:28-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

A brand-new book came out in the past couple of months that immediately hit the #1 New York Times Bestseller List and has remained on the list for 14 weeks straight. It’s called “The Let Them Theory.” Written by Mel Robbins, who researched and developed its premise in response to her own personal journey from feeling “stuck” and hopeless in her life’s situation to becoming one of the most successful behavioral experts in the country, the book helps people and organizations alike battle ...

835. The Rhythm of Your Heart

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... echo God’s voice and intent for Creation. No matter how much wealth that may bless our doorsteps, when our hearts stay rooted in Christ’s love and mercy, our actions then will follow. Our hearts determine our treasure. So simple in theory. So difficult in praxis. We so easily would rather blame wealth than look inward at our own true inclinations. But remember…many wealthy people supported Jesus’ ministry, and many wealthy people have done magnanimous and generous deeds within the Church. Jesus does ...

836. Bare Stage

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... against diseases such as the flu. Church authorities spoke out against the practice but there has always been a conflict between what church leaders say and what ordinary believers do. Obviously, people in ancient times didn’t have knowledge of germ theory or access to modern medical procedures. Still, while wearing a Bible verse might not actually prevent disease or cure headaches, it was kind of like chicken soup — couldn’t hurt! One amulet published recently included the words from Matthew 1:20 ...

837. An Up-Close Nativity

Titus 2:11-14

Sermon

Heather Sugden

... quiet and subdued, the parents of the baby protective, the baby himself never crying. The characters are supposed to stay still — never moving, never breaking. We have in our minds the places of how and where faith is supposed to go, too. We determine, in theory, what our faith is supposed to look like, where the characters stand in relation to one another, how they form a scene that will look perfectly beautiful to the eye. Each of us has imagined the rites of passage that mark our faith journeys and ...

838. The Unknowing Evangelist

Luke 16:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the compassion, love, mutual respect, and understanding that Jesus taught and modeled. Often Christians can get so caught up with doctrine, rules for behavior, religiosity, and selfish motives, divisions, and judgments that they can end up as Christians in theory but not in practice. Jesus is not commending the dishonest manager for being dishonest. He’s noting that, though inadvertent and with selfish intent, he has taken the “dishonest money” that he scammed initially and has ironically ended up ...

839. The Dangers of Going to Church

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sermon

Will Willimon

... in church just going through the motions, there is a voice, we hear our named called, and like little Samuel, our world changes. If you don't want to risk such disruption, that you had better avoid hanging around the temple. Some of you have heard my theory of church design: I think the reason why we pad our pews, and bolt the furniture down to the floor, print up the service in a bulletin, carefully, deliberately plod through the prescribed acts of worship out of an inner: fear. We tie everything down, we ...

840. To Be Alive

Luke 20:27-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... important for us to note. For it defines what it means to follow Jesus and to be a Christian in our modern world. While it’s fun to imagine philosophical, futuristic, and scientific models of life, while it’s tempting to resort to a practical theory that aligns only with our own human limitations and sensory logic, the Christian faith is grounded in just that: faith. And faith in Jesus means that we believe God is greater than our minds can discern, more vast than our imaginations can perceive, and more ...

841. Faith over Time

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Eugene Winkler

A biographer of the Duke of Windsor, Alistair Cooke, remarks, "The Duke was at his best when the going was good." Aren't we all? Is that true of your faith? We believe in God when things are going well, but give us a few problems, a disappointment or two, and we begin to doubt. But the parable is saying to us: God is in charge of the harvest, hang in there, because things will work out in God's way and in God's time. Our faith cannot depend just on the good times and good health. It just may be that our ...

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