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 1226 to 1250 of 2747 results

1226. From Mountain to Mission

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , and John are terrified. Of course, a little terror never stopped Peter from speaking up; for lack of any other ideas, he suggests erecting three shrines to commemorate the event! A big enough deal so far, but now, a cloud overshadows the mountain. The damp air closes in and all the world slips away into a grayness. Then the voice of God echoes around them saying, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" Glowing face and clothes, visits from famous figures of the past, hovering clouds and heavenly ...

1227. The Apostles' Creed: "God...Almighty"

Mark 15:33-41, Mark 15:21-32

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , "BINGO, Job! And there are some answers you will NEVER have." I like the way Dr. Albert Winn, a wonderful pastor and former President of Louisville Seminary, deals with this issue.(3) He notes that at the heart of biblical faith we do not find air-tight arguments sealed with a "therefore" - all is right with the world, therefore, let us have faith; therefore, let us praise God. Rather at the heart of biblical faith we find things that do not logically follow at all, sealed with a "nevertheless." Much is ...

1228. Beyond Despair

Psalm 43:1-5, Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... wine may be more than just a perfunctory exercise. They hope that all those who come to church faithfully week after week may find at least as much to feed their spirits there as they would find staying at home with a good book or getting out into the fresh air for some exercise. At the heart of all their hoping is the hope that God whom all the shouting is about really exists.(5) Well, I DO hope all that. But what I draw on is more than "hope" - it is something I know down in the depths of my ...

1229. Who's The Boss?

Psalm 50:1-23

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... to be shared with all), and finally money (the least important of the three, but still very necessary). God does not NEED any of them from us. As the Psalmist affirmed, God owns "every wild animal of the forest...the cattle on a thousand hills...all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field...the world and all that is in it..." (Psalm 50:10-12). All we have belongs to God already anyway, and God can take it all right back, literally in a heartbeat. No, we do not give because God needs; we give ...

1230. There's No Such Thing as Too Much Sugar

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , the cynic proclaims it was really one forward but two BACK. There is no hope in the cynic's soul. And they probably cannot make decent lemonade either. Sometime back, someone wrote that some folks "walk into a room and their ill-humor sucks the air out of it. Their presence weighs down on everyone. They have not a kind word for anyone or anything. They are not curmudgeons, for that implies some wit, but rather they are simply disapproving people full of black thoughts and dire predictions, critical of ...

1231. The Language of the Heart

Psalm 100:1-5

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , I rescue the soul from the depths, I open the lips of lovers, and through me the dead whisper to the living. One I serve as I serve all; and the king I make my slave as easily as I subject his slave. I speak through the birds of the air, the insects of the field, the crash of waters on rock-ribbed shores, the sighing of wind in the trees, and I am even heard by the soul that knows me in the clatter of wheels on city streets. I know no brother, yet all men are my brothers; I ...

1232. Salvation

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... their circumstances today were no different from yesterday, they could now endure the suffering because they KNEW the victory had been won. (3) Do you know that old Southern gospel song, "Turn Your Radio On?" Turn your radio on, and listen to the music in the air, Turn your radio on and glory share. Turn your lights down low and listen to the Master's radio; Get in touch with God, Turn your radio on.(4) In a sense, we are like those prisoners, incarcerated in a world of injustice, unfairness, misery, and ...

1233. Grace and Golf

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... my heart, so that I may not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11). Move to the New Testament and find St. Paul saying, "Athletes exercise self-control in all things." Runners do not run with no sense of direction; boxers do not simply flail about in the air. If Paul knew anything about golf, he WOULD have understood the concept of beatin' balls and beatin' balls. If someone wants to WIN, the effort is disciplined. Golf is a game that one cannot play well unless works at it. And one cannot play extremely well (as ...

1234. Theology in Snow

Psalm 147:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... structured so as to make it fun. Some years ago our Presbytery youth had a project to gather food for the needy; they kidnapped three ministers and held us for a ransom of canned goods...they called it "A TON OF FOOD IN EXCHANGE FOR 600 POUNDS OF HOT AIR." Fun...in the name of Jesus Christ! One does not normally expect a lesson on theology from a blizzard. But I learned a good one. As the snow came down, the thought came up: "Why can't we all become nine-years-old again?" Why? After all, Jesus said ...

1235. Hope for Hurting Hearts

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... in Afghanistan goes on. Families that lost loved ones on September 11th are preparing for a holiday that, a year ago, they could have never imagined. There is a certain dissonance to the season. Trips to malls and stores with the sacred Muzak in the air singing of "Joy to the World" or "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" mock the harsh realities. Did you happen to see "Ally McBeal" Monday night?(1) The program opened with Ally slowly making her way home after some Christmas shopping when she spies a man standing ...

1236. John the Baptist

Matthew 3:1-12, Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A time to put your imagination to work this morning. The scene is a large, ornate room in the palace of Herod the king. In it, you and others who comprise the best and the brightest in all of Judea - religious leaders, politicians, courtiers. There is an air of expectation in the hall, for you are about to meet a man whose reputation has spread across the land. The king's men have arrested him after reports that he has denounced Herod's marriage to Herodias, until recently the wife of Herod's brother ...

1237. Do You Hear What I Hear?

Luke 1:46-56, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... . "Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky, little lamb, Do you see what I see? A star, a star, dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite, With a tail as big as a kite"(2) Something new and unexpected in the air. Think about the texts. First, Isaiah 61. It comes from a period a bit more than 500 years before the birth of Christ. It was directed to a people who had grown up in exile; their grandfathers had lost the war with Nebuchadnezzar and had been marched off to Babylon ...

1238. Going Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... at a moment of transition. Perhaps a birth or a death, new home, new job, NO job. One cyber friend of mine writes, The dedicated fishermen in my parish...are ever watchful and sensitive to change - they watch the currents in the water, sniff the air for moisture, aware of changes in weather as lows and highs invade the atmosphere, watch the terrain under the boat looking for habitat that contain the fish. And they change - when the circumstances change going deeper in the water, switching lures when light ...

1239. In Praise of Petunias

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... month when everyone goes blissfully astray."(2) Finally. After more Winter than we needed. Now the April showers bring May flowers, and I am ready. You, too? A beautiful time of the year in western Pennsylvania, isn't it? The colors, the textures, the scents of Spring are in the air. I love it. I know many of you are gardeners. I have no talent for that sort of thing (as my wife will attest) - I work well from the neck up, but when it comes to hands and knees, forget it. But I can talk, and this morning I ...

1240. The Nightmare before Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... political leaders to stop the partisan "mud wrestling," to raise the level of political discourse, and begin treating one another with civility. We know there can and even should be honest disagreement regarding policies and practices, but incivility frustrates the airing of those honest differences. The call to our politicians is STOP DEMONIZING THOSE WITH WHOM YOU DISAGREE! The call to the media is to stop relying on ten-second sound bites to frame political debate, because they encourage people to jump ...

1241. The Lord's Prayer: Hallowed Be Thy Name

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... to be "God's people" live immoral or unethical lives, and they are turned off. One of the worst results of the scandals of the televangelists a few years ago was the negative effect they had on those outside the faith - for all the pious pronouncements over the air, the preachers appeared for all the world to be going out to sow their wild oats then coming into the tv studio to pray for a crop failure. People were not stupid - they saw what was going on, and thought, "Ha! Why bother with the church?" The ...

1242. The Lord's Prayer: "Thy Will Be Done"

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... gravity would keep us on the floor. We would not construct buildings of iron and steel because, on one particular day, feathers might be stronger. We most certainly could never fly in a plane because the laws of aerodynamics would not guarantee our safety in the air. But we do not worry about things like that because we DO live in an ordered universe. THAT is God's will. What about disease? We know that our bodies are very intricate and finely-tuned organisms. As the Psalmist says, "We are fearfully and ...

1243. Regis and Jesus

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the parent Disney Company's stock price has been boosted by 30 percent. There are now local versions of the show in 70 countries around the world. Of course, the creative geniuses at the other networks hardly missed a beat in getting copycat products on the air. NBC dusted off the format that was at the heart of the quiz show scandals of the 50's, Twenty-One. The Fox network, not known for its reluctance to push the boundaries of taste introduced "Greed," no one apparently concerned that Greed has long been ...

1244. What Is Truly Important

Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... this idolatry of "stuff." If it is any consolation, the problem is not new. The folks who heard Jesus on that Judean hillside had the same problem. Jesus said do not worry about "stuff" - God knows what you need and will provide for you just as the birds of the air are fed and the lilies of the field are dressed. And if God will take care of the birds and flowers so well, think how well YOU will be taken care of. "What it boils down to is this:" Jesus went on, "if you are going to be concerned about ...

1245. Winning over Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... with it. Otherwise, he never would have brought it up. But, as was typical of his teaching, Jesus put the problem into perspective by pointing out some things that all could understand. He pointed toward the sky and said, "Look at the birds of the air (those little insignificant sparrows); they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" That made sense. It has always been true that the God who has provided life also provides ...

1246. No Holding Back

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... the kind of discipline that sees that Sunday morning has arrived and has no question concerning what is in store - CHURCH...and any alternative would be unthinkable. That prayer time among our Pentecostal friends requires that kind of attention - all hands in the air, everyone praying aloud and with FEELING. No way anyone's mind could be wandering to next week's grocery list. Time, talent, treasure are all put into the service of God. Nothing is left out. All is concentrated and consecrated. Those who can ...

1247. Tell It Again, Daddy

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe, 1960 2. (1958) The Once and Future King is the collective volume of works, loosely based on Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur (c.1469), which includes The Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness (formerly The Witch in the Wood), The Ill-Made Knight, and The Candle in the Wind. 3. Thanks to Ken Kesselus, Rector of Calvary Episcopal Church, Bastrop, Texas for the creative blending of the Camelot story with the beginning of Advent. Via Ecunet ...

1248. A Date with Destiny

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... times during the show to go out to the car for the latest. Larry Krespan was lying on the living room floor reading the Sunday paper. "We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin: The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by air, President Roosevelt has just announced. The attack was also was made on all naval and military activities on the principal island of Oahu."(2) It was a devastating day. Navy Chaplain Howell Forgy, aboard the New Orleans, was flat on his back in the rack ...

1249. Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... caught rather than taught, so that sounds like it could be a meme. But Klan violence, or random mayhem in angry crowds, or anti-Semitism, or vandalism could be equally successful memes. Watson goes on to suggest there may be already enough bad news in the air to infect anyone, anywhere, at anytime. The theological way of describing that phenomenon is called Original Sin. As the Council of Trent in 1546 said, the sin of Adam "is one in origin and is passed on by propagation not by imitation." In other words ...

1250. Ban the "Buts"

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... along who indicated an enthusiastic desire to accompany him: "I will follow you wherever you go." There is the hint of a raised eyebrow in Jesus' reply: "You want to follow me? Really? Really? Do you know what that might mean? 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' In other words, are you ready to do without? Just to follow me? Really?" Another joined the march. Jesus invited him, "Follow me." BUT he said, "first, let me go and bury my father ...

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