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 1668 results

1026. Mark 8: 27-38

Mark 8:27-30

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the post-resurrection gift of the Holy Spirit. The first pop quiz Jesus poses was easy. He only asks for the disciples to report on what they’ve heard: “Who do people say that I am?” (v.27). It was a test of their listening skills. The one question doesn’t ask the disciples for any personal conclusions or speculations. It only required that they had been listening to the crowds and their reactions. This much, apparently, they had been able to do . . . although their response might have been cribbed ...

1027. Mastering the Virtue of Humility

Mark 9:33-37

Illustration

Our Daily Bread

"What do you think of the candidates?" That's what a reporter for a news magazine asked a young woman at Dartmouth University after a debate among presidential hopefuls. She didn't say a word about their positions on the issues or their skill at debate. She simply remarked, "None of them seems to have any humility." Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty ...

1028. Leaving Before the Invitation

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

... you and I'm going to give you some options: 1) I can hire an attorney to come and talk with you on how you can shorten your sentences, 2) I can hire a welder to come in and teach you to weld so that you can have a marketable skill when you leave the prison, or 3) I can hire a dancer and a painter to teach you how to dance and how to paint." Ninety-five percent chose the dancer and the painter because, as they said, "They always wanted to express themselves, but never had the chance." That ...

1029. No Intimidation

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... love becomes there for all to view. It was a time of poking serious fun at Herod Antipas. A pastor taught me long ago nothing succeeds quite like well-placed and intense humor. There is a real art to this strategy of ministry. One who is not skilled in this area and out of step with the Holy Spirit most likely will find he/she is on the agenda to be ousted! Acquiring such a method, hopefully on your knees, is truly valuable. We are prevented from becoming doormats for a good reason. If your superior ...

1030. A Frightening Friday

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... are only known by us and God. To be more focused, we have all been tempted to betray somebody. The evil one tells us that is not the way something should be and we are led into a trap. To correct the situation, the evil spirit skillfully sells us on betraying someone we have loved and supported. So, the question becomes one of accepting or rejecting the bait made to look necessary for all concerned. Simon Peter showed his cowardice. Peter invariably seemed to get the attention of the gospel writers. He was ...

1031. Fish and Sheep

John 21:15-25, John 21:1-14

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... ! The gospels again and again depict him as a bumbling sort of fellow who managed — at first — to botch most everything. Surely, a man who caught fish for a livelihood would have the good sense to try more than one side of the boat. Anyone with solid business skills knows one does not continue to spend time for very long in an area which is not profitable. But just maybe we should not be too hard on Christ's chosen leader. How often do you and I botch promising ventures? Do we need to elaborate further ...

1032. A Breadbasket Full of Goodies

John 6:25-35

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... a basket full of goodies, yet people want another example of his power. Notice in our reading that in the dialogue between Jesus and the crowds, Jesus uses the word, "work," in a crafty way. I use the word, "crafty," only to highlight his teaching skills. You see Judaism stressed the importance of righteous works, but Jesus signals out one work: faith in him. Another example would be the way that Jewish teachers would stress Abraham's "work" of faith in God. Jesus puts the emphasis on one "work," that "work ...

1033. Be Real

Colossians 1:3-8

Sermon

John Jamison

... search the internet to try and find out who is actually writing the information they are reading. Is it someone who has the real expertise to understand what they are writing about, or are they just some unknown person giving an uneducated opinion. It is an important skill to learn. The same approach works for our questions of faith, and this is the one thing that sets Paul apart from the other faith vendors we face each and every day. Paul is not asking us to follow some God that existed in Babylon, and is ...

1034. Boasting and Praying for You

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... good in every human encounter. Jujitsu is an ancient form of sumo wrestling from the sixteenth century. It relies on balance. The issue is not to dominate your opponent but to improve yourself. We do not operate through physical strength but the skillful use of balance. The element of surprise is key. In the jujitsu of Jesus, effective nonviolence exposes the limitations of adversaries so thoroughly that oppressors are caught off balance and stumble over their own shortcomings. We live by God's energy and ...

1035. Good News about Ambition

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

King Duncan

Back in 2003 Jim Hager of Oakland, California, earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. He accomplished this feat by eating 115 M&M candies in three minutes with chopsticks! I don’t know how long it took Mr. Hager to perfect this skill of eating M&Ms with chopsticks. And I certainly have no idea why he undertook this task, but I do know this all of us have our dreams. Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States says that when he was a small boy in Kansas, he went fishing ...

1036. The Three Poison Pills of Position, Prestige, and Power - Sermon Starter

Mark 10:35-45

Illustration

Brett Blair

... said, "Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I will come and help you again." With that George Washington got back on horse and rode off. Where did Washington learn such leadership skills? I have no doubt he learned them here. In these words of Jesus: Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. The young corporal had these words modeled to him from the man at the top. The disciples, likewise, receive from their leader a ...

1037. Called by a New Name

Isaiah 62:1-5

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... a change in our circumstances or status. We are also known by the names of what we do to earn a living, and where we belong. Teacher, salesperson, truck driver, coach, nurse, and guitarist are names we respond to, names that identify a particular skill, interest, calling, or talent that is ours. Some of you may also be called Rotarian or Kiwanian. Others are in Boy and Girl Scouts, on athletic teams or golf leagues, bands or choruses, fraternities or sororities. When you are a leader within an organization ...

1038. Risky Business

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... that starvation was a much more respectable excuse than simply being scared to death. Janet knew she was a person who deserved to be voted "most likely not to succeed" in the area of public speaking. But when God calls, God also equips us with the skills we need in order to answer that call. Today Janet is a successful pastor who gets up in front of her congregation every Sunday and preaches without notes. God has brought Jeremiah and each of us safely through birth, and rebirth. Our psalmist declares, "I ...

1039. The Possible Dream

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... from some unimpressive little country town to a magnificent city, the capital of Egypt, a formidable world power in the tenth century B.C.E. God is with Joseph and he prospers (Genesis 39:2-3, 21, 23). In Egypt, Joseph's intelligence and leadership skills are recognized immediately by the powers that be. Evidently, all those dreams are not a bunch of baloney after all. He becomes major domo at the home of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials. Unfortunately, Mrs. Potiphar takes a liking to him and tries ...

1040. Wisdom's Delight

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... could figure out what those ways were and then do your best to cooperate with them, your life would be happy and you would have well-being. That understanding of life was called "wisdom," and as the word is used in the Old Testament, wisdom can be a skill, a body of knowledge, or, as in the case of Proverbs 8, an attribute of God. Further, in those times, there were people who devoted their lives to discovering what God's wisdom consisted of. In fact, it became a career for some, so that moral guidance for ...

1041. Choosing to Believe

1 Kings 18:20-39

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... who decided that his daughter's miraculous recovery was a coincidence. Much later, after his wife started attending church, Strobel investigated Christianity and eventually became a believer, but it wasn't any kind of so-called proof that changed him. He actually used his skills as an investigative reporter to look at the evidence for faith in Christ, and he says that that cleared away some of his objections. But what happened after that was a pure choice. He says, "[I had] to overcome my pride ... to drive ...

1042. Tales of the Spiritually Stupid

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 18-22

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... Jerusalem and its people in the past, the city and its citizens remained inviolate forever. Not funny at all — but extremely foolish. God declares, "For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good" (Jeremiah 4:22). Such foolishness can only lead to tragedy and suffering. As Jeremiah looked toward his nation's future, he saw only death and destruction: the earth "waste and void," the heavens ...

1043. Good News about Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... odds and accomplishes extraordinary things. A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured a group of skiers being trained for slalom skiing. We’re talking alpine skiing here, not water skiing. For those unfamiliar with alpine skiing, the skill known as slalom involves skiing between poles spaced close together thereby causing quicker and shorter turns. You’ve seen skiers zigzagging between flags down a hill. That’s slalom. The unique thing about the skiers being trained for this ...

1044. Seeing for the First Time

Mark 10:46-52

Illustration

Max Lucado

For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn't see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. And then, he could see. A skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. "I never would have dreamed that yellow is so...yellow," he exclaimed. "I don't have the words. I am amazed by yellow. But red is my favorite color. I just can' ...

1045. A Squirrely Holiday

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Squirrels aren’t rocket scientists. But they use all their squirrely attributes to get to the prize. They dig in with their toes. They balance on precarious perches. They use their tails like anchors. They use their front paws like a surgeon’s skilled hands. The squirrel's tactics aren't necessarily perfect, but they are always persistent. All squirrels antics are centered on a single-minded purpose. NUTS! And because of that single-minded purpose, they find joy in every moment as though it is the ...

1046. The Whole Family Survival Kit

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... little sister who tagged along and got in the way. The sharp-witted, sharp-tongued litigator is forever the little boy who was too shy to go sit on Santa’s lap. We may work all of our lives to hone a certain image, to master certain skills. But in our relatives’ eyes, we will never entirely lose the clunkiness of our childhood beginnings. So why do we come together for the holidays? Why do we intentionally invite into our best days some of those who ignite some of our worst memories? If there is ...

1047. Turning Up the Religious Machinery

Illustration

William G. Carter

... you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and get you a reputation for wit and wisdom. Course 2: Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling. We would develop your own distinct style of Holy Joe intonation, acquiring the skill in resonance and modulation that conveys an unmistakable aura of sanctity. Course 3: Efficient Office Management. There is nothing that parishioners admire more in their pastors than the capacity to run a tight ship administratively ...Course 4: Image Projection. Here we ...

1048. Every Kiss Begins with K

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... mandated that upon opening their present the receiver must think of something nice to say about the gift, express interest in using it, and thank the giver for the gift. The kids caught on. Over the course of the year their gift-giving and gift-receiving skills were honed. After a few months “playing” this game they could find a good quality in practically anything. When the sister gave her brother one sock, the boy could say, “Thanks, this will come in really handy the next time Mom loses one of my ...

1049. Putting Ourselves into the Picture

Exodus 1:1-22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... are in situations where a new king who knew not Joseph has come into power. Maybe a new person has been elected president of your company and you’re not certain of your position in that company anymore. Modern technology is so phenomenally fluid, so dynamic, that your skills in your vocation may seem archaic, and you’re nervous about whether you’re going to be able to keep up or not. Or the change may be at other levels of your life – death has come to your family as it came to Israel in the death ...

1050. Every Day God Enables

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... the tires, check the shocks, start the engine and let's go for a test drive kind of practice. I'm talking about the kind of practice that athletes do to get ready for the big game; the kind of practice that accomplished musicians do to hone and strengthen their skills. The kind of practice that conditions us, heart, soul, mind and strength, as we seek to serve God Every Day. The kind of practice that Enables us to live in this world but not of this world. And that's hard to do without the help of God. B ...

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