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 101 to 125 of 635 results

101. Jesus' Countercultural Sermon

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... and the way life works. As idealistic youths in Sunday school and Luther League, for instance, my friends and I vexed and perplexed our ultra-orthodox pastor by arguing against the doctrine of original sin. We were convinced that people were innately and instinctively good. And then we grew up and were "mugged by reality": stung by the selfishness that lies hard by the heart of each and every mortal being, including ourselves. Some among us once believed in some form of elemental fairness and justice in ...

102. Light From And For The East

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... and the tenets of their own religion, follow a star in the belief that it will lead them to the birthplace of an important ruler. They follow that star all the way from their homeland -- possibly Persia, modern-day Iran -- to Jerusalem. That is, their native faith and instinct bring them a long way in the right direction. But then they must do that thing that males -- ancient as well as modern, I think -- hate the most: They must stop to ask directions! "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews ...

103. Main Features And Coming Attractions

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... on the youth who were left behind, struggling to become a group themselves. That booth may as well have had the shape of a coffin, because it effectively killed youth ministry in that congregation for about a year or so. Nobody meant to do that. It's just that our instincts, like those of Peter, make us go for the glory and revel in it and hope it will go on forever, and be disappointed when it passes -- as inevitably it must -- to make way for God's new thing. It is a perpetual temptation for the church to ...

104. When Jesus Arrives Late

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37

Sermon

Thomas Long

... a friend lies dying? What could possibly have kept Jesus where he was while Lazarus, whom he loved, sweated out his last few breaths on his death bed? What Jesus did seems to be a violation of basic human compassion not to mention a scorning of the elementary instincts of pastoral care. Why in heaven's name, we ask, was Jesus late? And that, it turns out, is precisely the question the author of John wants us to ask. Why in heaven's name was Jesus late? John knows that if we keep asking that question, we ...

105. Christ The King

Ephesians 1:15-23, 1 Corinthians 15:12-34, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... . He replied, "Just as you did it to the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (v. 40). The service of their king was not an affair of the head, but of the heart. They responded to the needs of those around them instinctively. It was not that compassion was a function of their genes, but they had been transformed from within by the love of God. The danger of doing nothing. The verdict of guilty was pronounced by the king not on the basis of what they had done but, rather, on what ...

106. Easter 5

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, Acts 7:54--8:1a, Acts 17:1-9, 1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... , which has further muddled their sense of direction. Someone needs to show them the way to go home. Jesus offers himself as the way, the truth and the life (v. 6). Outline: 1. We all need to be at home with others and God 2. Sin has disturbed our homing instinct 3. Jesus offers himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life 4. Come home to God through him

107. Christmas 2

Mt 2:13-23 · Jn 1:1-18 · Eph 1:3-14 · Jer 31:7-14 · Is 61:10--62:3 · Ps 147

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... warm our hearts feature happy faces gathered around a blazing fireplace, faces aglow, or families assembled around the Christmas tree packed with gifts, a table laden with holiday fare, or worshippers massed together in church pews singing "Silent Night." At Christmas there is a homing instinct, but what is it that we desire to come home to? It is not particularly a house or merely a place but a community of love that draws us. In our waywardness, God scatters us or allows our sin to separate us one from ...

108. Those Who Mourn

Sermon

John A. Terry

... never know this blessing. The popular blessing sought today is not mourning but "peace of mind." Saying "Happy are the sad" appears to be an oxymoron, a nonsense statement. In contrast to those who say, "Go, enjoy," Jesus says, "Go, mourn." In contrast to our instinct to avoid pain, Jesus is telling us to face it. You may have heard of Father Damien who for thirteen years was a missionary to the lepers on Molokai. In time, he too contracted the dreaded disease. He learned of it one morning when he spilled ...

109. Rules For A Happy Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

E. Carver McGriff

... New Testament is filled with admonitions as to how a Christian is to act in a variety of situations. If these admonitions are not laws as such, they certainly serve a similar purpose. Clearly, if we could all embody the love of Christ in its fullness, we'd instinctively do what is right. But as yet that's not the case. Most of us still need guidelines for the practice of our faith in the arenas of life. The Ten Commandments are a good start, kind of a moral backbone. But good intentions need some sort of ...

110. Reach Out And Touch Someone

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Brett Blair

... in that situation unless there was direct contact—a touch. The Menninger Institute in Topeka, Kansas once had a fascinating experiment. They identified a group of crib babies who did not cry. Let me explain. It seems that babies cry because they instinctively know that that is the way to get attention. Crying is their way of calling out. These babies, however, had been in abusive situations. Their parents let them cry for hours on end and never responded. Do you know what happened? The babies ...

111. Those Who Mourn

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

John A. Terry

112. Peter's Confession, Christ's Prediction

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... of Peter's so-called confession can only be maintained if one stops reading at this point ... Whatever Peter's concept of Christ, it is in conflict with Jesus' concept of Christ ... Mark sets it up in such a way that the reader almost instinctively identifies with Peter and his Christ confession. He teases the reader, as it were, into accepting Peter's confession at face value. But then Mark unfolds the drama by emphasizing increasingly the negative aspects of Peter until in the end he shatters the veracity ...

113. The Dream For Wisdom

1 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Sue Anne Steffey Morrow

... self and the soul. The heart is the place of thinking and feeling. The heart is the place for discipline and will. Solomon's request implies the desire for a reason that understands, a heart with the skill to listen, the ability to judge, an instinct for integrity. And it pleases the Lord that Solomon has asked it. The Lord grants what Solomon asks and adds to it. The Hebrew word for wisdom - hokmah - distinguishes wisdom in three ways, all three of which are granted to Solomon. First and foremost, wisdom ...

114. The Unclean Spirit

Mark 1:21-28

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... a definition of the heart. We see a miracle in Jesus' extraordinary capacity to discern the source of a person's suffering. We recognize a miracle in the creation of the human body and spirit. We find a miracle in human resilience, the capacity to heal, the instinct of the body to respond by healing and being as whole and well as possible. Willingness to consider a miracle fills us with a mixture of doubt and curiosity. The reality of a miracle awakens us and introduces us to the words and emotions of a ...

115. The Healing Of Simon Peter's Mother-In-Law

Mark 1:29-34

Drama

Dallas A. Brauninger

... did upon rising was to get back to your work, your duty, of serving those who had come into the household. Mother-in-law: You speak accurately about my household duties, but my returning to work was more than duty. Whenever we are freed from what ails us, our first instinct is to return to doing whatever we love most. This is the freedom of health. I guess I would also say it is honoring God's creation of us, of the holy within us. You may also see my actions as a directive, that is, we should put an ...

116. Lent 5

John 12:20-36, Jeremiah 30:1--31:40, Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... life. In the same way, Jesus teaches that we must first lose our lives before we can find them. What to pray in time of trouble (v. 27). The prospect of the cross caused a very human response within the soul of Jesus. He was troubled. The first instinct when confronting trouble is to run, to escape. Jesus did not pray that God would spare him suffering or remove the cross. No, he prayed for the strength to carry through the Father's will. We would do well to pray in the same manner, asking not for escape ...

117. Proper 25

Hebrews 7:11-28, Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6, Mark 10:46-52

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... what was happening. Jesus of Nazareth is passing through, he was told. Bartimaeus had heard about this Jesus. He had restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. Maybe he would do the same for him, if only he could let Jesus know of his need. Instinctively, he shouted at the top of his lungs "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Those around him found his shouts annoying and so they told him to shut-up. But life was passing him by, Jesus was passing him by. He might never come this way again ...

118. If I Live To Be A Hundred

Psalm 30:4-5

Illustration

John E. Sumwalt

... when Sam could tell you what had occurred the day before, or even the hour before. He had little memory for what he had eaten for dinner Tuesday or breakfast Saturday. He seldom knew the day of the week or the correct month, although seasons were still instinctively evident. The minutia of every day had ceased to have meaning for him even before his nursing home days had begun ten years earlier, and he felt no concern or remorse over loss of interest in such trivia. But if you asked him if he remembered ...

119. A Patriot · Dysmas

Mt 27:38 · Mk 15:27 · Lk 23:32

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... of the Lord who had introduced him to the promise? IV The world has always respected the testimony of dying men. Accordingly, when Dysmas affirmed his faith in Jesus from the arms of a cross the calloused centurion charged with carrying out the crucifixion, instinctively fixing his eyes on the Master, cried above the clamor of the crowd, "Truly, this was the son of God." (Matthew 27:54 KJV) It was a cry of commitment evoked by Dysmas' dying declaration and profoundly significant to Jesus' cause. For as J ...

120. Words As Images

Sermon

Michael Rogness

... .19 Richard Jensen goes a step further and argues for a "paradigm shift" in preaching from "thinking in ideas," characteristic of a literate print culture, to "thinking in story."20 Good speakers have always spoken with color and imagination by instinct.21 But in today's age of visual communication it has become doubly crucial for preachers to create concrete pictures in the minds of their listeners. Biblical Imagery Long before television, the Hebrews used pictorial language. They thought in metaphor ...

121. Delivery

Sermon

Michael Rogness

... television broadcasters continued the universal style of reading to the audience. Remember when newscasters had papers in front of them and would look up and down? Very soon they learned that the audience found that style distracting and impersonal. They realized instinctively that they had to return to direct, eye-to-eye communication to be effective. Fancy new teleprompting devices were developed, which restored the oral style of direct eye contact. The fact that they are still reading every word may be ...

122. The Beauty Of Holiness

Psalm 96:1-13, Psalm 29:1-11

Illustration

Clement E. Lewis

... God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." (See John 4:19-24) All of us yearn for the experience of "worship in the beauty of holiness." The psychiatrist, Von Frankl, held that the urge to worship is instinctive in children in much the same way as the urge to nurse. He suggested that the ages of four and five are the times when children are most desirous and accepting for the experiences of worship. Esthetics and quality appreciation are important to the development and ...

123. Seed Time

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Children's Sermon

Kenneth Mortonson

... was buried in the ground. In the words of the poet: "We drop a seed into the ground, A tiny, shapeless thing, shriveled and dry, And in the fullness of its time, is seen A form of peerless beauty, robed and crowned Beyond the pride of any earthly queen, Instinct with loveliness, and sweet and rare. The perfect emblem of its Master's care. This from a shriveled seed? Then may man hope indeed! For man is but the seed of what he shall be, When, in the fullness of his perfecting, He drops the husk and cleaves ...

124. Advent 1

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31, Psalm 80:1-19

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... about who you are, but about who we are, for you have declared yourself to be our kin, One who has ransomed us. In some ways you are like a permissive parent, who allows us enough room to get ourselves into trouble when we follow undisciplined instincts. Too often we are more like people who claim no affinity to you than like a people who bear your name. Forgive our tendency to slough off responsibility for our decision. Excuse the incompleteness of many of our confessions. We trust you still because of ...

125. Living The Alternatives

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

... of death. Faith's vision is destructive as well as creative. There is a dark side to faith. It may be compelling, but it is frightening. It calls on reserves of imagination that see beyond what is. Its vision threatens to disrupt the status quo. Instinctively we know that the comfort and security of our vested interests are in jeopardy. So we try to ignore it, discredit it, or destroy it. Jesus was not only cruicified as a political threat to the Roman empire, but as a spiritual threat to the religious ...

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