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 1001 to 1025 of 1499 results

1001. Understanding Outrageous Grace

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Let me ask you a tough question this morning: how many of you have been accused of being a poor listener? Or should I call it “selective listener”? We hear what we want to hear. Most of us have been guilty of this at one time or another. Maybe we’re easily distracted. Publisher Thom Rainer has collected stories over the years from his pastor friends of some of the strangest distractions they’ve dealt with while preaching. For example, one pastor had a bat fly into the sanctuary during his sermon. In ...

1002. Oh, That You Would Come Down?

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

King Duncan

The Guinness Book of World Records keeps track of some very unusual records. The 1999 edition contains one entry titled “The longest time living in a tree.” It seems a man in Indonesia named Bungkas went up a tree in 1970 and has been there ever since. He lives in a crude tree house he made from the branches and leaves of the trees. No one knows exactly why he took up residence in a tree, but 29 years later he was still there. Neighbors, friends and family have repeatedly tried to get him to come down, but ...

1003. The Gospel We Preach

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. — Matthew 25:24 A number of years ago my wife and I and several of our friends went on a sailing vacation in the Caribbean. One day we went ashore on the island of Dominica, hired a taxi, and took a tour of that tropical paradise. While making small talk with the taxi driver, one of my friends casually mentioned that I was a ...

1004. Now

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Will Willimon

Our parable takes place in Galilee, in a world of absentee landlords and servants who are left on their own for years at a time. “You do not know when the time will come,” says Jesus. “It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work.” Here is a parable about masters and servants, employers and employees, about those who have and those who don’t have, and those who work for those who have. You know where our sympathies lie. In stories, we are ...

1005. Homecoming

Hosea 14:1-3a

Sermon

Will Willimon

When my mother died, for the longest time thereafter, I had a dream. Same dream almost every night. In my dream, I was home, in the house where I grew up, the same house which my mother had designed and had built. My dreams were memorable, even startling for me, for I hardly ever dream, or if I do, I can never remember my dreams. But in these dreams of home, everything was so vivid, so particular, so specific as to be unnerving. Sometimes I would be in the basement, dragging out the old lawn mower to cut ...

1006. Holding On

Job 1:1; Job 2:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

High above a small village in the French Alps towers a famous mountain named Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc serves as a permanent challenge to mountain climbers. Nearby is an even more difficult and dangerous crag, called in English, “Fool's Needle.” That mountain sounds appropriately named to me. “Fool's Needle.” Why do mountain climbers tie themselves to one another? asks the old joke—to keep the sensible ones from going home. That’s Fool’s Needle. Standing 11,487 ft. high—only the more experienced mountaineers ...

1007. Sustaining Faith

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“You are worth your weight in gold!” We use this phrase to indicate someone who is extremely useful, helpful, or valuable to someone else. It can refer either to a person or to a thing, but we most often use it to refer to a person. The idea behind the phrase is gratitude –that “we” could not manage without that person, because he or shehas become so valuable to us and to our process or goal in what he or she is able to accomplish on our behalf. While we might say this about an old refrigerator that has ...

1008. Big Boys Do Cry

Joel 2:1-2,12-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Bob Laurent, in his book, A World of Differents, tells of sitting in the living room reading when he heard a terrible scream just outside his front door. Like most parents, he could distinguish his own child’s crying, and so he flew out the door to the scene of the accident. There was his three-year-old son, Christopher, upside down and bawling, the victim of a hit-and-run collision with a Big Wheel 16 inch toy Tricycle. In one fell swoop, Laurent scooped his son up and had him in the house and up in his ...

1009. A Protestant (And Catholic) Way To Confess

Romans 10:8b-13

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Confession: Most Protestants are inclined to say that confession is Catholic and stop there. Or we hear it said, “Confession is good for the soul.” Even then, we are likely to hear it like Roman Catholics[1], to suppose it means that we are to recount our sins. We don’t need confession in our church! Or do we? Paul gives us a model for confession of the faith in the Book of Romans. Recall that this book is a letter of introduction to the church in Rome. How does he make his introduction? With a confession ...

1010. Moving Heaven and Earth

Acts 16:16-34

Sermon

King Duncan

The story’s told about a Chinese gentleman who was visiting the United States. His hosts took him to play golf. This was a new experience for him. When he returned to China, a friend asked what he had done in the United States. He replied, “I played most interesting game. I hit a little white ball with a long stick in a large cow pasture. “What’s this game called?” asked his friend. The Chinese gentleman thought for a minute and replied, “I think it’s called, ‘Oh, no!’” Some of us may have played the game ...

1011. Rejoice: Hints Of Heaven Are Here On Earth!

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Heaven: Have you ever wondered what it’s like? The majority of Americans (72% of us in 2014) believe in heaven, according to a Pew Research poll. Our second lesson from the book of Revelation has some insightful, comforting and refreshing clues. They will shatter our misconceptions as well. What do you think of heaven? It does not seem to be a very exciting or fun place to be, does it? Oh it seems like a nice place. What could be better than to live in the presence of God? But on the whole, it seems like ...

1012. Persistence And Prayer

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Richard Hasler

“Abraham Lincoln once told a story about a blacksmith who stuck an iron bar in the coals until it was red hot. Then on the anvil, he pulled at the iron intending to make a sword. He was dissatisfied with the end product and put it back into the hot coals determined this time to make a garden tool. Once again, he was not pleased with what he had; therefore he tried making a horse shoe. That too did not please his fancy. “As a last resort, he put the iron bar in the hot coals one more time. He removed it ...

1013. A Pep Talk for a New Year

Matthew 2:13-23

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

I’d like to start this morning by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. I can’t think of a better way to start this New Year than gathering with other believers and worshiping God. Most of us try to go into the New Year with a positive attitude. Sometimes it helps if we get a little encouragement, maybe a “pep talk” to get us in the right mindset. If so, we’re in luck. There is a kindergarten class in Healdsburg, California, that runs their own free hotline which they call “Peptoc,” P-E-P-T-O-C. The ...

1014. Do You Know the Gift of God?

John 4:5-42

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Would you say you’re a good conversationalist? If you were plunked down in a room full of strangers, how quickly could you start up a conversation with someone? Would it all be chitchat, or are you better at meaningful conversations? Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science, studies communication and human interaction. In his studies on conversation, he and his colleagues compiled a list of “shallow” vs. “intimate” conversation starters. Some of the shallow conversation starters are: What do you ...

1015. Who Am I?

Matthew 3:13-17 · Isaiah 42:1-2

Sermon

Will Willimon

"And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending ....a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." As a pastor on a university campus, I spend a good deal of time with people who are trying to figure out who they are and what they ought to be doing. Behind ninety-percent of the questions, that is the real question: Who am I? The way I figure it, on any given day, walking ...

1016. What's the Next Best Thing

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

The fellow was tired and weak all the time, drained of energy. Finally he decided to pay a visit to his doctor. “Doctor,” he said, “I feel drained and exhausted. I’m always tired. I don’t seem to have any energy. I have a chronic headache. I feel worn out all the time. What’s the best thing I can do?” The doctor knew something about the man’s wild and fast-paced lifestyle. “What’s the best thing you can do? You can go home after work, eat a nutritious meal, get a good night’s rest, and stop running around ...

1017. If There Isn’t Enough To Go Around

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

William G. Carter

Nobody could blame the disciples for their concern. It had been a long and exhausting day. People from all over the countryside had followed Jesus with their aches and pains. Rather than retreat or rest, the gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus sat there and saved all of them, one at a time. Meanwhile his twelve followers were overwhelmed by the need. It was getting late, and all they could see was a long line of needy people who would not go away. “Lord,” they said, “there isn’t enough food to go around ...

1018. Fine Tuning

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

As little as fifty years ago, televisions looked radically different than they do today. They were heavy, square monstrosities topped often with what looked like the antennae of a super-sized cricket. When you turned the TV on, by means of a knob on the front of the device (there were no remotes and no cable service), you’d get either a grey, fuzzy screen with wavy lines or the faint outline of a show in progress. You’d choose the channel you wanted, and then you’d have to “fine tune” the reception by ...

1019. Remember...

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Recently a man was released from prison at the age of 65. Why was he released? Because the DNA and the investigators assigned to his case found him innocent of all charges. In prison for something he didn’t do. Sixteen thousand days in jail. What were the first words he spoke when he stepped outside the prison walls? He lifted his hands and he said, “God is so good. God is so good. God is so good.” (1) The Hebrew people had spent forty years wandering in the Sinai desert after escaping slavery in Egypt. ...

1020. Taking the High Way to Heaven

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Lori Wagner

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. --Genesis 28:12 I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. --John 14:6 MAX (formerly HBO) has seen huge success recently with its show scripted by Julian Fellowes (author of the popular Downton Abbey), called The Gilded Age. Set in late 19th century New York, the show’s season two finale featured the opulent opening of the newly constructed Brooklyn Bridge. ...

1021. Which Kingdom Do We Serve?

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

David Coffin

Imagine a middle-sized company or organization who had an upper manager who was soon going to retire. This person’s position would need to be replaced. There were workers in the back shop and office areas who would very much like to be considered for this opening position. One particular employee had put in much time and effort in his spare time — even off the clock — to be considered for this position. It was a raise in pay and the worker had been loyal to the company for a number of years. The worker had ...

1022. The Art Of Transition

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:61-62) Someone once said that people do not voluntarily change until their level of discomfort is greater than their level of fear. I have a good friend, a fellow baby-boomer, who was required by the company he worked for to move to a different part of the state. The move meant a promotion and a sizable ...

1023. What is Love?

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Illustration

John R. Steward

What is love? It is difficult for most people to define love very well other than it is a feeling that they experience. Someone has said that love is a verb. That is what Beno Fischer found out many years ago. Beno Fischer is a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. During that terrible ordeal, Beno encountered a man who begged him to "trade my cold soup for his cube of bread." He really did not want to do it because he himself was very hungry. But it was apparent that this other man was ...

1024. We Cut the Coal

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Illustration

John R. Steward

Sometimes people do not think that their work is very important or significant. They go through each day believing that what they do is of little value or importance. They need to see the larger picture and how their job fits into the bigger picture. They need to discover, as Martin Luther said, the ministry of vocation. During World War II, Winston Churchill as Prime Minister was traveling around his country. He was trying to motivate and inspire his fellow citizens. He was willing to go almost anywhere ...

1025. Tempted By Good

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Don M. Aycock

Have you ever noticed that almost every mountaintop experience in life is followed by a valley experience? You graduate from school with the great expectation of making your mark in the world, but you find out that the world doesn't exactly welcome you with open arms. You get married with the full expectation that your new spouse will relieve your loneliness and solve your problems, but you find out you are still you. Life's high moments are often followed by low times -- depression and bewilderment. If we ...

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