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 851 to 875 of 1153 results

851. Leaders Worthy of Imitation

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... became lay pastors in the evening, "reviving" their communities under the stars.3 Churches that did not emphasize professional, seminary-trained ministers were the churches that grew and spread throughout the New World. Pastor Paul is gentle, "like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children" (1 Thessalonians 2:7). The apostles' ministry resembles a family relationship more than it does an organization. They genuinely love the people to whom they minister. One crucial opportunity is for leaders to disciple ...

852. Mentoring Matters

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... for the first time at the age of 42, when the first of his and Katy's six children was born. This brought about another dramatic change in his outlook on God as a parental figure. "I had never imagined it possible that a father's heart can feel so tenderly toward his children," wrote Martin Luther in a letter in 1528. Luther had learned how it felt to bend down lovingly to lift a small child, only to find that he or she was in dire need of a diaper change.3 Luther had read in scripture that we are ...

853. Sometimes Love Does Not Count The Cost of Its Commitment

SOS 8; Luke 14:25-35

Illustration

... the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to keep her from choking to death. Rasping and struggling for her life, the child said, "Momma, kiss me!" Without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and some days thereafter she died. Real love forgets self. Real love knows no danger. Real love doesn't count the cost. The Bible says, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."

854. Create Him Not

Luke 15:1-32

Illustration

Brett Blair

... which is impure in your sight, and dishonor you to your face.' Then stepped forward the Angel of Mercy, God's most beloved, angel, and said; 'Create him, our Heavenly Father, for when he sins and turns from the path of right and truth and holiness I will take him tenderly by the hand, and speak loving words to him, and then lead him back to you.'

855. Back to Real Life

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... male student, six‑feet, eight‑inches tall, holding hands with a fidgety coed barely three‑feet tall. What a contrast, six‑feet, eight-inches tall and only three‑feet tall. His curiosity piqued, Jackson watched as the young man, dressed in a warm‑up suit, tenderly kissed the tiny coed, and sent her off to class. The president said that the student was a star basketball player. Both parents had passed away when he was a teenager, and he made a vow to look after his sister. Many scholarships came ...

856. The Effect of Insult

Matt 5:21-22

Illustration

David E. Leininger

... her 100th birthday. When she was a young girl, about ten years old or so, somebody told her that she had a terrible singing voice. Now, most of us, I guess, would not let that remark bother us particularly, but it DID bother this lady. Ten years old is a tender age. It bothered her so much that, for the remaining 90 years of her life, she never sang another note. No one had any idea whether she had a good voice or a bad voice; she would never take the chance of letting anyone find out, and all because of ...

857. There Are Other Worlds to Sing In

John 3: 1-17

Illustration

James W. Moore

... called “Information Please for everything. She helped him with his geography and his math. She taught him how to spell the word “fix." She told him what to feed his pet chipmunk. And then when Paul's pet canary died, she listened to his grief tenderly and then said: “Paul, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow that helped and Paul felt better. When Paul was nine years old, he moved with his family to Boston… and as the years passed he missed “Information Please" very ...

858. Family Resemblance

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’t a nurse and cannot leave the child, put it out in the backyard a large part of the day. Build a fence around the yard so that you are sure no harm can come to it. Do this from the time it is born . . . If your heart is too tender and you must watch the child, make yourself a peephole so that you can see it without being seen, or use a periscope . . . Finally, learn not to talk in endearing and coddling terms.” (5) That sounds like a spoof of parental advice, but I understand that Dr. J. B. Watson ...

859. In Our Own Language

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... classic Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street. A little girl is brought into a department store to visit Santa Claus. The girl’s guardian isn’t sure they should have come, for the girl speaks only Dutch. The worried woman doesn’t want the girl’s tender heart to be disappointed by a Santa who understands only English. But as Santa takes the little one onto his lap, he looks into her eyes and begins gently speaking to her . . . in Dutch! The little girl’s face lights up like a lamp, because Santa ...

860. A Word of Caution to Champion Weed Pullers

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Illustration

Richard Patt

... knew what a radish plant looked like. I quickly replied that I did, not wanting to be turned down for the job. So I went to work, and about an hour later, I stood before the farmer, expecting a shiny silver dime. But sure enough, I had picked all the tender young radish shoots and left the ignoble weeds standing there gloriously in the sunshine. Clearly it would have been better for this farmer and his radishes if I had never pulled his so-called "weeds" at all. A champion weed-puller indeed!

861. Cross-Bearing

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... aware of the discrepancy between her inner state and her outer demeanor. "The smile," she wrote, is "a mask" or "a cloak that covers everything." She wondered, too, about being blatantly deceptive. "I spoke as if my very heart was in love with God — tender, personal love," she remarked to an adviser. "If you were [there], you would have said, ‘What hypocrisy.' " Come Be My Light's editor said, "I read one letter to the Sisters [of Teresa's Missionaries of Charity], and their mouths just dropped open. It ...

862. Fred and Barney

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Smylie

... the sweeter images of gentleness, dependability, and trust with the more realistic images of strength, courage, and leadership. To only focus on the gentleness of our Lord is to make our Lord a Sunday school Jesus, one who is sweet without strength, one who is tender without tenacity. The gospel texts point to the difference between the hired man and a good shepherd. The hired man is there on a temporary basis and to receive some monetary gain. The hired man is not invested in the sheep and likely doesn't ...

863. Out of Control

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... alive and her mother and father, too. The town is still the same as she remembers it when she was a child. Except for one thing. The sheer beauty and wonder of everything she sees is overwhelming. Every sight and sound, every gesture of love, each tender grace between friends is almost too much for her to bear. She never realized the miracle of her life when she was living it. Faith is strengthened through the pleasure that comes from remembering the miracle stories. But not just that. When we choose faith ...

864. Right-Handed Sinners!

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... other belief system or philosophy can equal. Study this faith of the Bible and you will find goodness, love, holiness, compassion, and grace that is precious beyond description. In the family of God all people are welcome and all are promised love. There is a tenderness and compassion that is uniquely Christian. But the Christian faith is also severe, or harsh in ways that only a fool would deny. Here we find it is one-armed, one-footed, and one-eyed — not by accident at birth but by intentional excision ...

865. When God Says, “No”

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Steven Molin

... very same reasons. Not because God is mean, or because he wants to exert his authority, but rather, because God loves the little ones in his care, and our very lives are dependent upon him. Wherever you are on life's journey today, may you know God's tender touch upon your life ... in the days when prayers are answered ... and in the days when you think they are not. A good prayer would be: "Lord Jesus, we go through this life thinking that we know what's good for us. May you interrupt such self-sufficient ...

866. Jesus Would Do What?

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... an important one. St. Paul writing in Philippians almost requires us to ask the WWJD question. He writes, “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your ...

867. Jesus Will Lead Us Home

Isaiah 40:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , their failure to heed the numerous warnings resulted in their exile. Despite the situation, however, God would never abandon his chosen people and, thus, Isaiah was sent to proclaim the message of peace and new life. We hear, "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Isaiah 40:1-2). It will be a new day for Israel; God has forgiven the ...

868. You Are in Good Hands with God

Isaiah 40:21-31

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... that God's anger or frustration at the inability of his people to maintain the covenant would distance the Lord from his people. From the outset of their exile, God, through the prophet, spoke lovingly to them that they were not abandoned. The prophet proclaims, "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (40:2). In today's first lesson, Isaiah speaks of the close proximity of God ...

869. Reconciliation: The Heart of Love

Hosea 2:14-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... the land — still the people seek other gods than Yahweh. In today's lesson specifically, Hosea, after speaking of future punishment, proclaims another message from the Lord. God will give the people another chance; he seeks reconciliation with them. God will speak tenderly to Israel and give her new vineyards. God will provide hope. The people will be renewed as they were after their escape from bondage in Egypt. Additionally, God says through the prophet that he will once again be husband to Israel; the ...

870. Hope Lifted Up

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... down at the kitchen table with tears in their eyes and sighed, "Home." It was a moment of grace. The invocation of memory sometimes smooths down the rough spots and highlights the good times, the moments of laughter, the moments of family solidarity, the tender moments of forgiveness, obstacles surmounted, and challenges met. Perhaps that was the real purpose of the bronze snake in the temple, to remind the people of the hope God raised for them in the wilderness, their home for forty years. Hope Lifted Up ...

871. Ascension Answers

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... herself from the church some years before but the pastor went to see her frequently during the weeks of her lonely vigil at the side of her dying son. The pastor noticed how she nursed her son with quiet calmness and showered him with tender maternal love during his painful demise. She did not betray with a single sign how much she herself was consumed by pain and anxiety. One day, the minister spontaneously said to her, "I admire your attitude." She replied, "Attitude, yes, perhaps, but don't look ...

872. Having Trouble Sleeping Through the Night

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

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

... New York City. Even great preachers toss and turn in the night. Samuel woke up in a cold sweat and ran to Eli thinking Eli had called. Precious Samuel was born to Hannah, Hannah's gift to God. If God would just give her a child, when he reached a tender age she would give him up for the Lord's service. Like a scene from Bertolucci's movie, The Last Emperor, where the child is taken from his mother's arms to be the new emperor of China, so Hannah in tears gave up her only begotten child to the ...

873. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-8

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the “Christ card” and demanding special treatment, Paul reminds his Thessalonian readers that he and his companions did just the opposite. Far from being grasping and greedy or puffily self-important, Paul recalls, “we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.” There is a huge amount of debate among scholars on both the image and the grammar in this metaphor. While most translations render Paul’s image as “gentle” (“epioi”) there is equally good evidence to ...

874. Great Events On Small Hinges

Illustration

Unknown

... to whom he preached everyday on the text, John 3:16. The result of this work was the baptism of 10,000 converts in one year. The battle of Bennington was gained, it is said, because a little lame boy in Vermont set a shoe on Col. Warren's tender-footed horse, and thus enabled the Colonel to lead up his regiment just in time to save the day. The victory of Bennington decided the Battle of Saratoga, which decided the Revolutionary War. The hunger of the son of Columbus led him to stop at the monastery in ...

875. A New Law

Illustration

... law of LOVE. He used this to illustrate: In America there is a law stating a woman must take care of her child. So, a man comes to a new mother's home. He says "Are you taking care of your baby? The Law says you have to." The woman, tenderly holding her baby, said, "I don't need a law to make me take care of my baby." Why? Because she loves her baby! She feeds him, holds him, changes him because she loves him. I no longer need the Law because I'm under Christ a law of LOVE ...

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