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 1176 to 1200 of 1259 results

1176. The Logical Conclusion

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

John Smylie

For several years, I had the privilege of serving a congregation in upstate New York. There were many wonderful, faithful people who were part of that congregation. Before I arrived, the membership had decided to build a columbarium. Unlike many churches that create niches inside the church for burial, this group decided to create a rather elaborate and visually attractive outdoor columbarium. The church was blessed with land. It was a fairly narrow plot that extended a great distance from Main Street down ...

1177. Actions Speak Louder than Words

John 17:6-19

Sermon

John Smylie

Actions and words are both important, but sometimes actions do speak louder than words. Jesus is coming to the end of his ministry. He knows his time is short. He is aware that before much longer his days of teaching and preaching with his disciples will come to an end, a brutal and terrifying end, as he will be handed over, tortured, harassed, mocked, and finally crucified. As our Lord approaches the end of his life, he draws near to the source of life and in a way he summarizes the work that he has done ...

1178. Stable Talk

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Theme: The loving couple discuss the amazing events Characters: Mary Joseph Elizabeth Baby Jesus Nosey Donkey (optional) Tone: Mellow, warm Setting/Props: Stable setting with manger Bench Doll or actual baby Note: Two people in a donkey suit could add a little comic relief by standing nearby taking in every word. This would have to be done delicately so as not to detract from the dialogue. Approximate time: 5-6 minutes Scene 1 (This scene takes place in the stable near the manger. Mary is half lying on the ...

1179. Baptism: The Light Shatters the Darkness

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Winston Churchill, the famous British statesman who led England as prime minister through the horrors of World War II, was a man who prepared the people for future joy. He was born in 1874 to a British Lord and an American heiress. His heroics during the infamous Boer War in the last days of the nineteenth century made him a national hero and greatly aided his election to Parliament in 1900. In only four years he renounced his aristocratic background and joined the Liberal Party. During World War I and the ...

1180. Remember the Lord

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Debbie Farmer, in her book Don’t Put Lipstick on the Cat! shares a hilarious essay which she calls “What a Mother Is Thankful For.” She lists many things a Mother learns to be thankful for after she has children. I want to read just a few of them. I believe that some of you will relate to her words. She writes, BEFORE CHILDREN: I was thankful to have been born in the USA, the most powerful free democracy in the world. AFTER CHILDREN: I am thankful for Velcro tennis shoes. As well as saving valuable time, ...

1181. Words From a Father

Illustration

John Trent

Recently, I heard a touching story which illustrates the power that words have to change a life. A power that lies right in the hands of those [reading this article]. Mary had grown up knowing that she was different from the other kids, and she hated it. She was born with a cleft palate and had to bear the jokes and stares of cruel children who teased her non-stop about her misshaped lip, crooked nose, and garbled speech. With all the teasing, Mary grew up hating the fact that she was "different". She was ...

1182. Anything For a Friend

Illustration

A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of this truth. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the ...

1183. Twain's Christmas Wish

Illustration

Staff

Mark Twain was once asked to record a Christmas message on an early gramophone. This is what he said, "It is my heart-warm and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, and admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage every man and woman of us all throughout the whole earth may eventually be gathered in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone."

1184. How Big of a Risk Would You Take?

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Are you a risk taker? Do you know someone who is? A young man enlisted in the 82nd Airborne Division. He was assigned to their jump school. He eagerly asked his recruiter what he could expect at jump school. "Well," the recruiter said, "it’s three weeks long." "What else?" asked the young soldier. "The first week they separate the men from the boys," the recruiter said. "The second week, they separate the men from the fools." "And the third week?" the soldier asked. "The third week," the recruiter said ...

1185. Forgetful Funeral

Illustration

Bruce McIver

Author and retired pastor Bruce McIver tells of a lovely funeral he once attended. The pastor leading the funeral was eloquent and full of emotion. He had quoted extensively from Scripture and preached a comforting and beautiful message. Now he was closing the message by quoting John, imprisoned on the island of Patmos when he wrote Revelation. "I can see old John now," the pastor intoned dramatically, "I can see old John now, on the isle of Patmos, looking out from that dungeon cell . . . into yon distant ...

1186. The Unwanted Christmas Gift: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Survivor” is a reality tv game show that has proven to be one of the most successful franchises in television history. Starting in 1992 as the brainchild of a British tv producer, Survivor has spread throughout the world to play in over 50 countries as diverse as Chile and China. If you’ve watched CBS’ “Survivor” with its $1,000,000 prize, you notice how quickly the sixteen to twenty strangers separate out into two groups, no matter how many “tribes” there are. In one group are those who, in the face of ...

1187. No Time for a Sermon

Hebrews 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Merry Christmas! Christmas Day is “No Time For A Sermon.” No, it is not that there is no time for a sermon because the choir sang so many beautiful Christmas songs. It is not because there is no time for a sermon because it took so long to seat the “Christmas crowd.” It is not because the critters in the “live” nativity scene got loose and ate all the Christmas cookies for coffee hour. The reason that on this Sunday, on Christmas Day, there is “no time for a sermon” is because on Christmas Day there is ...

1188. I Am Baptized!

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Because of their age and relative inexperience, children and young people rarely get asked for advice by adults. This is sad, since the young tend to have amazing powers of observation, as well as the free time to ponder the strangeness of human nature. In his book Wit and Wisdom from the Peanut Butter Gang, H. Jackson Brown, Jr. interviews children and young teens to get their ideas on subjects like families and school. Here is a sample of their wisdom: “You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.” Patrick, ...

1189. Blah, Blah, Blah, Love

John 12:20-33

Illustration

King Duncan

Dr. James B. Lemler was preaching one time about the Trinity. He told about a couple of parents who had gone home from his church and during Sunday lunch were talking about his sermon. In the midst of their conversation, their second-grade daughter sitting at the table chimed in. "Oh, Father Lemler's sermons, they're always the same," she said, "You know . . . blah, blah, blah, . . . love . . . blah, blah, blah . . . love." Dr. Lemler said he was amused and thought to himself, "Hey, this little girl really ...

1190. Let the Gospel Run Its Course

Mark 4:26-29

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

For me, one of the classic interpretations of this Biblical passage about the seed growing automatically (Mark 4:26) was written by Martin Luther when he said about this text: "After I preach my sermon on Sunday, when I return home, I drink my little glass of Wittenberg beer and I just let the gospel run its course." I like that. Luther said that after he pounded on the pulpit and expounded the gospel, he would go home and pull out the Sunday newspaper, and pull out his glass of warm Wittenberg beer and ...

1191. Love Walked Across the Field

Luke 4:14-21

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

The ministry of Jesus was on a roll. After his baptism and time in the wilderness, he went forth to proclaim God's gospel of love. Following his preaching in Galilee, he entered his hometown. Although born in Bethlehem, his parents had fled to Egypt to protect their son from the wrath of King Herod. When Joseph heard of Herod's death, he brought his family back to live in Nazareth. As a young boy, Jesus attended the synagogue with his father where he participated in community worship regularly. Attentively ...

1192. Reformation Day

Psalm 46:1-11, Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 8:31-41, Romans 3:19-28

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

Call To Worship Leader: It’s Sunday again! As before, we gather here because we believe that truth sets us free. We are followers of Jesus and children of God. People: In Christ, we are set free from the power of sin. Leader: The Holy One promises to write divine law in our hearts and to be our God. People: We will be forgiven and freed from guilt. Leader: This is cause for rejoicing! Let us sing beautiful words, praising God! Thanksgiving Prayer Living God — what a day! Autumn is everywhere! And we are ...

1193. God as a Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Every pastor sees the damage that is done to people by too heavy an emphasis on God's judgment. The damage often begins in childhood. Because children can be rambunctious, adults too often try to frighten them into obedience. The church is no exception to this practice. Parents sometimes report that their children have come home from Sunday school or vacation Bible school in tears and trembling because some misguided adult had tried to frighten them into faith with horrifying images of the punishment that ...

1194. From Slave to Brother

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

We often shortchange love. We think of it as sweet and sentimental, something that is good for children and family members. We think of love as sort of soft and cuddly, nice in its place, but not very useful in the things that really matter. Do we think of love as tough, transforming, powerful? This little book of Philemon, tucked into the back of the New Testament at the tail end of Paul's letters, teaches us about the potential of love. Thomas Long, who teaches preaching at EmoryUniversity in Atlanta, ...

1195. Help From Habakkuk?

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

It can be really depressing to listen to the news anymore. It doesn't matter which network you watch, everywhere you turn it's the same old bad news: natural and manmade disasters, the continuing conflicts in the Middle East and in Iraq and Afghanistan, medical miscues, entertainers gone wild and self-destructive, sports heroes disappointing us. Then there's a federal government that often seems to be, at best, incompetent or, at worst, corrupt. What makes it even more depressing is that at least 51% of ...

1196. In the Service

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Anyone here remember what they used to call places where you put gas in your car? They weren’t called “gas stations,” or “fueling centers,” but “service stations.” When you pulled in, someone (or sometimes even more than one) raced out to greet you, ask what you needed, and proceeded to fill your gas tank with fuel. While you sat, warm and comfy in your car, the “service station” attendant washed your windows, checked your oil, even checked your tire pressure. After filling up the tank they took your ...

1197. Jailhouse Rock

Acts 16:16-40

Sermon

King Duncan

I’m not certain that I have ever titled a sermon after a song by Elvis Presley before. That may be surprising to you considering the timeless quality of some of his early hits like “Hound Dog,” “All Shook Up,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” and “Hard-Headed Woman.” I guess I could have derived a sermon from some of those, but somehow it seemed a stretch. Today’s lesson from the Book of Acts, however, is a different story. The story really does at least fit the title of Presley’s 1957 hit record “Jailhouse Rock.” ...

1198. Two Sinners

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

To learn how Americans feel about prayer, Life magazine once interviewed dozens of people. One person they talked to was a prostitute, age twenty-four, in White Pine County, Nevada. “I don’t think about my feelings a lot,” she said. “Instead I lie in my bed and think [about God]. I meditate because sometimes my words don’t come out right. But he can find me. He can find what’s inside of me just by listening to my thoughts. I ask him to help me and keep me going. A lot of people think working girls don’t ...

1199. Everyone Is Invited

Romans 1:1-17

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Every summer Kaitlin joins her youth group on mission trips. One summer the group traveled to New Orleans to help with the Hurricane Katrina relief. Their job was to clean out houses that had not been open since the hurricane. “As I entered the first untouched home,” Kaitlin remembered, “the idea of caring and reaching to others really kicked in.” Her first thought was to complain about the conditions but she said, “I knew if this were my own home that would be the last thing thought crossing my mind. I ...

1200. O Holy Night

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

You are probably familiar with the story of the woman who went to the post office to buy stamps for Christmas cards. She said to the clerk, “May I have 50 Christmas stamps?” The clerk said, “What denomination?” The woman said, “God help us. Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran and 22 Baptist.” It never ceases to amaze me that around this world on this night among Christians of every nation, and yes, every denomination, people of every age and race and language are bowing ...

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