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 901 to 925 of 1259 results

901. About Face!

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

I’d like to take a quick poll this morning. If you could choose to visit a famous site around the world, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Colosseum in Rome or the Giza Pyramids in Egypt or any other place of your choice, which would you choose to see? That’s not an easy question to answer. There are so many beautiful places in the world to visit. British photographer Oliver Curtis has created a very successful career in films, television and fashion photography. His success revolves around capturing ...

902. Hanging Around Jesus Changes You

Philippians 3:17 — 4:1

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Writing to Christians in a Macedonian city of Philippi, Paul writes: “For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ...” (v.18). People don’t like this message, don’t want anything to do with the cross of Christ. No surprise. Who of us wants to mess with death and suffering? Why, it’s just common sense. Cross-bearing goes against the grain of what pop culture in America tells us about life. It goes against the grain of our desire for instant gratification. After all, we’ve been taught to follow our dreams ...

903. Death Shall Be No More

John 13:31-35 · Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

Every once in a while something happens that totally shifts the landscape of our perceptions. Every once in a while something profound takes place that makes all our old discussions and ways of understanding move to a new location. Examples abound in history. Life after Mr. Watt’s steam engine was different forever. The invention of the assembly line catapulted us into an economic world that, for good and ill, shapes our lives even in this moment. Even in the polarized climate in our nation today, we can ...

904. Into the Light

John 1:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

DNA is what we call the “building block” for life. It contains the genetic codes for all of life. And yet scientists know since the Human Genome Project of 2012 that we use only 2% of our DNA to maintain our daily lives. 98% of it operates something like a mass computer system to control that 2%. At given times and in certain circumstances, “switches” go off within that large DNA system that control what parts are “turned on or off.”[1] These millions of “switches” control how our genes are expressed, what ...

905. People of the Rolled Stone

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

A three-year-old little girl was just as anxious for Easter to come as she had been for Christmas to come. Mom and Dad took her shopping. They picked out a new dress and a new white bonnet and then stopped to buy her a new pair of shoes to go with her outfit. When they got home and laid out all the new things, the little girl said, "I can't wait for Easter, Daddy!" Dad asked her, "Well, do you know what Easter means, honey?" The little girl replied, "Yes." "Well, what does Easter mean?" In her own sweet ...

906. Division of the House

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

William G. Carter

The more we read the Bible, the more we see things we might wish Jesus never said. This passage is one of them: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Did any of us come to church today to hear him say that? This is the season for family reunions. Most of us have been in gatherings that include fathers, mothers, grandparents, and children. It it is somewhat disturbing to come to church today and hear Jesus say, “I have come to set a man ...

907. Glimpses of Eternity

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Will Willimon

''Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah'...and they were afraid. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" At the beginning of Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust remembers his childhood, not through conscious effort, but through revelation. As an adult, one day he casually bites into a madeleine, the little French cookie. And out of nowhere, the taste, the ...

908. God's Will for Your Life

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Some of you will remember a wonderful little Italian film that hit American box offices in 1998 titled Life is Beautiful. Italian actor Roberto Benigni won the Academy Award for this unconventional film that was set in the concentration camps of World War II. According to Newsweek magazine the exuberant Roberto Benigni, in his joy over winning the Academy Award, literally danced over the tops of chairs and leaped on stage to receive his award. Afterwards, when reporters questioned him about this display of ...

909. How About Some Applause for the Creator?

Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Author Fleming Rutledge tells about a time years ago when she was serving as pastor of a church in New York City. She says that during those days, she used to hang around with some people, “urbane literary types,” as she called them, “most of whom were somewhat disdainful of religion.” She remembers one man in particular. When he discovered that Rutledge was a pastor, he made a confession to her. He confessed very sheepishly that he had done something behind his wife’s back. Apparently, his wife had long ...

910. The Great Discovery

Luke 15:14b-18a

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Synopsis: Several people tell the story of a personal spiritual epiphany. Each gives testimony of their personal insight, discovery, rebirth, and new life. Characters: (In costume when possible and appropriate) Farmer in Jesus’ Parable (Matthew 13:44) Alexander Fleming Martin Luther John Wesley C.S. Lewis Lee Strobel Nadia Bolz-Weber (cf. Book Pastrix published by Jericho books) Personal witnesses from the community Narrator FARMER IN JESUS’ PARABLE: Hello. I am the farmer in one of Jesus’ powerful ...

911. Light in the Darkness

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Will Willimon

“In him was life, and the light was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4,5) Even as we gather on this night in this peaceful, beautiful Chapel, there is a certain tension, isn't there? It is the tension within tonight's gospel: Tension between darkness and light. The child at Bethlehem brought light, but he was light into the darkness. We gather here, illuminated by warm candlelight, but outside, cold December night is falling. The Carol we ...

912. Chief Among Sinners

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Jill J. Duffield

Zacchaeus’ parents must have had high hopes for their son. They named him Zacchaeus, after all, which means, “righteous one, pure one.” A name, as it turns out, which was rather ironic because he grew up to be the chief tax collector, not just a tax collector, but that person in charge of other tax collectors, the chief among cheats who extorted the exploiters and as a result got rich. I wonder if people rolled their eyes when they saw this short man coming to get the fees, fines, and burdens imposed by ...

913. Becoming A Faithful Witness

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

A family decided to send a playpen to their friend who had just given birth to her fourth child. She responded by writing this thank-you note to them. "Thank you so much for the pen. It is wonderful. I sit in it every afternoon and read. The children can't get near me." Wouldn't it be nice if we could shelter ourselves from the relational challenges of life? Someone has written that, for twentieth century Americans, our lawns are our moats. All too often we do seek distance from others. That inclination ...

914. Dinner Parties With A Difference

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

Religious leaders have had varying attitudes regarding dinner parties. Take John the Baptist, for instance. It is unlikely you would ever have gotten him inside a fine house around a beautiful table of exquisite crystal and china and gourmet food. That rustic, ascetic outdoorsman probably would have thought it a waste of time and money, an unnecessary frill to the essentials of life. Many men today call themselves "meat and potatoes" men. No fancy foods for them. Just the basics. Forget all the fuss and ...

915. Prepare The Way

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Traditionally, the second Sunday in Advent brings us face to face with the forerunner, John the Baptist. But John does not stand alone. He stands knee deep in history, and history is a part of the world Christ came to redeem. Let us look at the gospel lesson (Luke 3:1-6) before we turn to the Old Testament. It begins in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius. So who was Tiberius? He was born of noble parents, who then were divorced so that his mother could marry the emperor, Caesar Augustus. Tiberius had a ...

916. Arise! Shine! For Your Light Has Come

Isaiah 60:1-22

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

Doubtless you remember the television commercial in which a man steps up to a bar and says: "Give me a light." After he is blasted with every possible sort of light, from fire to laser beams, he sheepishly corrects himself: "Give me a Bud Lite." This is a modern parable. Like all living beings, we look for light, but often we are willing to settle for lite beer! It is just something to get us through the night, a little pleasure in a bottle, a little truth in a can. Give me a Bud Lite! It comes to us ...

917. You Need A Point Of Contact With The Lord

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

James McLemore

Let me describe how important a point of contact is. An experiment was performed on some baby monkeys. The baby monkeys were placed in a wire cage with two surrogate mothers: a wire imitation mother with a milk bottle, and a cloth mother with no food. The experiment was trying to determine to which of these mothers the infant monkeys would go. The monkeys fooled the experimenters. They went to the wire mother with the milk when they were hungry, but they spent the rest of their time with the cloth mother. ...

918. Have I Got News For You!

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

William L. Self

My favorite Christmas story is about the young boy who was given a very important role in the church Christmas play. He was to be the angel and announce the birth of Jesus. For weeks he rehearsed the line that had been given to him, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy." The grandparents got in on it and any time the family was together and the boy was there, they would dress him up in his costume and he would rehearse his part for them, "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy." They were ...

919. Cultivating Our Garden

Isaiah 58:1-14

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

I remember a news program which showed the release of a number of wild turkeys into the wilderness of southwestern United States. They were seeking to reestablish a strain of turkeys in that area. In order to track them and understand how they were doing, a little radio was affixed to the back of each of the turkeys. Can you imagine being able to sit at a screen and follow the whereabouts of all those turkeys? How would you like to have a tracking device affixed to your back, so that your family, and your ...

920. Where Are You?

Hosea 11:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Sheffield

Where are you? Do you know? It's actually possible to be sitting here, but still be somewhere else! It's also possible to live that way. Do you know where you are; are you where you need to be in your life? Occasionally at mealtimes at our house, especially when it's been a long and busy day and I'm distracted, Xavia will say "Dick! Where are you?" I'm sitting there. I'm eating there. But I'm not there. I'm still at my meeting, I'm still at the hospital, I'm anywhere but where I need to be at that moment. ...

921. From A Distance

Exodus 24:1-18

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

Heroes are a part of the human experience. They motivate, stimulate, encourage, and provide role models. There's something about looking up to the one who did something that is so far beyond most everyone's reach or ability. "Wow! I could never do that!" we say. All through the Olympics my wife and I joked about what we would look like if we tried to jump off the ski jump or leap into the air with skates on! It's remarkable what some people are able to do, and do it with grace and apparent ease. Can you do ...

922. Great Africans Of The Bible: The Shulamite

Drama

Pamela Urfer

Cast: SOLOMON and his BELOVED, the Shulamite Length: 6 minutes SOLOMON, a young white man, and his BELOVED, a young black woman, are seated on their stools. He gazes lovingly into her eyes. SOLOMON: How graceful are your feet in sandals, O queenly maiden! Your eyes are pools in Heshbron by the gate of Bathrabbim. Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon, overlooking Damascus. BELOVED: Oh, Solomon! You say the sweetest things! SOLOMON: You are black and beautiful. How fair and pleasant you are, O loved one, ...

923. Traveling Forgotten Mountains

Isaiah 49:8-26

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

Larry Crabb has written a book called Moving Through Your Problems Toward Finding God. In the foreword the author writes, I have come to a place in my life where I need to know God better or I won't make it. Life at times has a way of throwing me into such blinding confusion and severe pain that I lose all hope. Joy is gone. Nothing encourages me ... The rhetoric we're all 4used to -- " just trust the Lord, pray more, get counseling, follow God's plan more carefully" -- must give way to the reality of ...

924. The Sixth Meal

Sermon

Robert F. Scott

A Strange InvitationLuke 14:1-6 Worship Focus A toy animal and a doll. One of the fake sheep made for yard decorations would be ideal; the doll should be of comparable size. Or a challah, the large braided loaf of white bread that is often part of a Jewish Sabbath meal. A Litany For The Sixth Meal Leader: O God, we thank you for your matchless love, by which you sent Christ to be our savior. People: In love you call us to yourself and hold us in your hands. Leader: We confess that too often our hearts are ...

925. Pentecost -- A Wild, Weird, Wonderful Day

Sermon

John A. Stroman

The happenings on the day of Pentecost seemed so bizarre with the sound of a rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire resting on the participants, and the speaking in other languages, that it caused the onlookers to conclude, "They are filled with new wine." In other words, "They are drunk!" Peter observed that they were confusing inspiration with inebriation so he declared, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you ...

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