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 1026 to 1050 of 1065 results

1026. The Journey of Salvation

Luke 22:39-46, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Sermon

King Duncan

I want to begin with a fascinating story from the Middle Ages. It is about a pope named Gregory and a king named Henry IV of Germany. In those days popes not only had ecclesiastical power but political power as well. In a dramatic move, Pope Gregory excommunicated King Henry IV when he insisted on divorcing his wife Bertha of Savoy. This was not only devastating to Henry spiritually, but politically, for this made Henry ineligible to sit on the throne of Germany. The king, who well knew what the pope ...

1027. The Attitude of Youth

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind, a product of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure. Nobody grows old by living a number of years. People grow old when they desert their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, self-doubt, fear, and anxiety—these are the culprits that bow the head and break the spirit. Whether seventeen or seventy, there exists in the heart of every person ...

1028. Facing the Harsh Truth

Humor Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

A popular comic strip is "Momma" by Mel Lazarus. One of his strips shows Momma entertaining her perpetual suitor, Mr. K. Frankly, he's not much of a catch, but he is persistent. As the two sit on the couch, Mr. K. says, "Mrs. Hobbs, I am at a low ebb, psychologically. My ego is flattened." Mrs. Hobbs responds in an affirming way, "Mr. K., let me hasten to state that you're a fine, interesting and attractive man." Mr. K. perks up at this and asks, "Oh, Mrs. Hobbs, is that the truth?" Mrs. Hobbs says, "No. ...

1029. Attention to Health

Illustration

Erin Verkler

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that receiving loving attention in childhood leads to better emotional health in adulthood. But in a new study of 2,905 women and women ages 25 to 74, researchers at the State University at Albany School of Public Health found that it can help beat the odds of getting any number of diseases, too. People who said their parents were nurturing had fewer incidents of many chronic physical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, the ...

1030. The Wounds of God

Illustration

John Dickson

In his book If I Were God I’d End All Pain, John Dickson recalls speaking on the theme “The wounds of God” at a university campus. After his speech, the chairperson asked the audience for questions. Without delay a man in his mid-30s, a Muslim leader at the university, stood up and proceeded to tell the audience how preposterous was the claim that the Creator of the universe would be subjected to the forces of his own creation—that he would have to eat, sleep, and go to the toilet, let alone die on a cross ...

1031. Scrubbing Our Social Media Accounts

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

We’re about two months away from high school and college graduation season. It’s a very exciting and stressful time for students, teachers and parents. Our prayers are with all our young people as they make the move into jobs or college or some new chapter of their lives. There’s an online company called BrandYourself that claims it has the perfect graduation gift for high school and college students. It’s called the “Student Makeover.” It’s not a beauty and grooming service. It’s an online service for ...

1032. No Longer Home Alone

John 15:13-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving ...

1033. Do you need a Pharisectomy?

Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 12:15-21, Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed, and they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them they have no delight in it.” (Jeremiah 6:10) Props: Coffee and rolls Every home gets to set their own rules. Some are strange. Some are stringent. Some are strident. Some are just plain goofy. Ever been in a home with a white carpet? I bet you were required to take off your shoes before entering. Ever been in a home with all the ...

1034. Here I Am

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“Our deepest relationships are not defined by strength but by vulnerability.” --Rabbi Ari Kaiman Prop (Animation): youtube video [Show youtube video “Pass the Salt”] In the past, we laughed or sighed at the sight of a couple eating dinner with one of them reading the newspaper. It could have been a scene in the movies or an actual sighting in a restaurant—there’s always one person with a face in a newspaper, or one of them zoned out somewhere, leaving the other to dine alone in silence. Now, it’s become ...

1035. Secret Savior

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

"For the sake of His great name the LORD will not reject His people, because the LORD was pleased to make you His own." (1 Samuel 12:22) They call him (or her) “Benny” for the $100 bills that bear the photo of his namesake Benjamin Franklin. In Salem, Oregon, a mysterious philanthropist has been placing $100 bills (Bennys) inside of packages of diapers and cereal boxes, clothing and toilet paper. Each of the bills contains a simple signature –“Benny.” The unknown giver has been donating money well over the ...

1036. Turmoil Brewing, Herod Stewing, Prophecy, and Porridge

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: mustard seeds, brew pot [Optional beginning: stew.... adding one small anise seed, or garlic flower, or mustard seed can radically change the taste of your stew, can transform it in fact.] As we come into the new year, many of us have plans stewing, ideas brewing, and we mean to go forward with resolutions in hand and resolve in order. We want to change our lives. We want to alter our behavior. We want to make things happen. We want to move mountains. And yet, our scriptures for today would challenge ...

1037. Run Away Bride

Exodus 24:1-18, Matthew 22:1-14, Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred. Proverbs 15:17 If you are a fan of Facebook, you know that by looking at someone’s “status,” you can find out some things about a person: whether they are male or female, where they live, and most intriguingly, their “relationship status.” That is, of course, if they have filled in those blanks and answered those questions when they set up the account. Some status indicators say: “In a relationship.” Others simply say “ ...

1038. Wild Thing

Luke 4:31-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: Dream catcher I have here this morning what’s called a “Dream Catcher.” Have you seen one of these before? These are made by Native Americans for the purpose of keeping away evil spirits. They form a kind of protective amulet. Anyone have something from your own culture similar to this? [Allow people to share.] Some cultures have amulets. Some have rites or folk traditions, like throwing salt over your shoulder, or posting “hex signs” to ward off evil from farms. They are meant to be symbols of “ ...

1039. Job and the Mind Storm

Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6, Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Overthinking is one of the worst stress inducers in our lives. We all know the overthinker –the one who, no matter what the situation is, will make mountains out of molehills and declare tragedy the moment something doesn’t go as planned. Or that person who, when contemplating a change or an event, will worry about every detail so much that he or she derives no enjoyment whatsoever from the event itself. There are “go-with-the-flow” people. And the upright and the uptight. They overthink everything. And ...

The last step in parental love involves the release of the beloved; the willing cutting of the cord that would otherwise keep the child in a state of emotional dependence.

Lewis Mumford

1041. Christmas Snapshots

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

Sermon

King Duncan

We all know what a special evening this is—especially for our boys and girls as they await a visit from Santa Claus. I understand that some children let Santa know what they want for Christmas by e-mail. In fact, I have some actual e-mails that some boys and girls have sent to the North Pole. “I’m sorry, [Santa]” says Jon, age 7, “but I don’t have a chimney. I’ll leave the cat flap unlocked for you, but please watch out for the litter box!” Good advice. Here’s another e-mail: Writes Christian, age 8, “ ...

1042. Rising to New Life

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Akron, Ohio, in 1935 was the site of what many might call a miracle. That year Bill Wilson, a former New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob Smith, a surgeon in Akron, met. Both men for many years had been helpless and hopeless alcoholics. Their meeting, however, led to the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous, an international organization which over the last eighty plus years has literally saved millions of lives by assisting people to realize their own brokenness and their need to seek reconciliation and ...

1043. Imagine

Revelation 21:10, 22-26

Sermon

Will Willimon

''And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light…” Today's lesson speaks of the New Jerusalem, the Heavenly City. ''Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first...had passed away'' (Rev. 21:1). When God gets finished with Durham, there will be no sun or moon because the glory of the Lord, present among his people, will be so bright, no other light will be needed ...

1044. Happiness Full Stop

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Good morning, and Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers and mother-figures in our fellowship of faith. On this special day, we would like to thank all of you who shape our lives and build our families and serve as our safe place as we go out into the world. Mothers have a unique power to influence their children no matter how old those children get. Phil Keith, the former police chief of Knoxville, Tennessee, tells of receiving a call from his mother while he was in the middle of a televised press ...

1045. I Doubt It!

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Timothy W. Ayers

(This sermon requires previous set-up for the opening. The writer suggests a male member of the congregation is prepared ahead of time to call the pastor on his cell phone. They should follow the script below.) This morning will be a little different. I am expecting a call from a well-known person. I am taking the call during the service and will put it on speaker phone so everyone can hear. You’ll recognize who it is and I am sure it will impress you that I get calls from this high-level person. (Phone ...

1046. Shuttered

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Lori Wagner

In the last year and a half during the worst pandemic of the last two centuries, doors were shut, businesses closed, and communities became ghost towns. People became shadows of their former selves, as they hid away from a virus that could kill them and their loved ones and friends. The world drew in and shuttered itself from danger. And lethargy set in. Professionals are calling it covid burnout: malaise, lethargy, low-grade stress, depression, lack of focus, lack of energy, faulty memory, lack of ...

1047. Not Your Lips, but Your Life

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Sermon

King Duncan

I’ve got a pop quiz this morning for all you history buffs. What is something that was declared illegal 100 years ago, but is perfectly legal today? I’ll give you a hint: it inspired the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. In what was termed the Noble Experiment, the United States government made it a crime to manufacture, transport or sell alcoholic beverages. From 1920 to 1933—a period referred to today as the Prohibition Era—all the bars and saloons and liquor stores in the nation shut down. Or did they ...

1048. Like a Phoenix

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Almost every culture has, in its foundational mythology, a Phoenix or firebird. The one with which we westerners are most familiar is the Greek Phoenix which, like all such mythological creatures, is said to die in a burst of sparks and fire only to be born anew from its own ashes. Because this mythological creature lives in a constant cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, the Phoenix is, in most cultures, a symbol of renewal. While early Christians rejected any literal interpretation of the Phoenix myth, ...

1049. Desperation to Hope

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Roland Jaffe’s brilliant and beautiful film, “The Mission” (1986) tells the true story of the Spanish Jesuit missionaries who served the indigenous (Indian) populations of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay during the first half of the eighteenth century. The “Jesuit Reductions,” as history has dubbed them, were mission stations created by the Jesuits to bring Christianity to the natives through education and medical service. They were independent of the Spanish government — though protected by it. The plot ...

1050. Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Will Willimon

I had this man in my last church who frequently greeted me at the end of the service by thrusting into my hand some newspaper article, usually from the Wall Street Journal, which he thought to be of help in his never-ending battle to educate his preacher. One Sunday, he gave me an article by a national columnist, in which the columnist described how a young woman had been indicted in Chicago after her baby was found to have died from complications brought on by malnutrition and infection from rat bites. ...

Showing results

Showing 1026 to 1050 of 1065 results

1026. The Journey of Salvation

Luke 22:39-46, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Sermon

King Duncan

1027. The Attitude of Youth

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

1028. Facing the Harsh Truth

Humor Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

1029. Attention to Health

Illustration

Erin Verkler

1030. The Wounds of God

Illustration

John Dickson

1031. Scrubbing Our Social Media Accounts

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

1032. No Longer Home Alone

John 15:13-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

1033. Do you need a Pharisectomy?

Matthew 9:27-34, Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 12:15-21, Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1034. Here I Am

Luke 1:26-38, Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1035. Secret Savior

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1036. Turmoil Brewing, Herod Stewing, Prophecy, and Porridge

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1037. Run Away Bride

Exodus 24:1-18, Matthew 22:1-14, Hosea 1:1-2:1

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1038. Wild Thing

Luke 4:31-37

Sermon

Lori Wagner

1039. Job and the Mind Storm

Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6, Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

Lori Wagner

The last step in parental love involves the release of the beloved; the willing cutting of the cord that would otherwise keep the child in a state of emotional dependence.

Lewis Mumford

1041. Christmas Snapshots

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

Sermon

King Duncan

1042. Rising to New Life

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sermon

Richard Gribble

1043. Imagine

Revelation 21:10, 22-26

Sermon