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 1251 to 1275 of 2275 results

1251. The Monsters We Are All Afraid Of

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... called children of God – that is, those who have rejected this adultish world of status, possessions, and money; those who have instead embraced the childish practice of mercy for the oppressed and who have learned to love their enemies. By embodying the childish qualities of the age to come, these worthy men and women can begin to live now in the new, different reality of the resurrection. This is the significance of Jesus' proclamation that when God declares before Moses that he's "the God of Abraham ...

1252. The Shadow

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... see something, but what we see is obscured and distorted by the lights and darks of shadow-play to the point where we cannot easily discern what's real and what's imagined--what's true and what's false. It's this unknown, indistinguishable quality of the darkness that magnifies its malevolence and our misgivings about it. What hides in the shadows, and what may happen to us if we encounter these dim and quavering possibilities, is what haunts our fears. Psychotherapist Carl Jung argued that there's a deeper ...

1253. The King Who Died

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... to buy a rugged, off-road vehicle for driving through downtown suburbia. Hays tells about a product he found at Target that the SUV owner can buy to escape any such criticism. It is called “Spray-on-Mud.” It is an aerosol can filled with high-quality mud, and a glue-like substance that makes it stick to the vehicle better. Spray-on-Mud makes it look as though you’ve been camping, four-wheeling, driving up mountains and down into ravines. It makes it look as though you use your vehicle for more ...

1254. What's the Value of Your Life?

Genesis 28:10-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... years, its value will be in the neighborhood of 24 million. Not a bad return on a 3.5 million investment. Obviously the value of this, and other great violins, is not determined by any one factor. The value of the violin is not its age, not the quality of the tone it produces, not even the fact that it's one of only 150 or so del Gesu violins officially authenticated. The value of McDuffie's violin, and of some of the other great del Gesu and Stradivarius instruments, is determined by an ephemeral and ever ...

1255. What's Your Status Symbol?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... world of the invisible or the world of the visible? Is your status symbol the size of budgets or the number of baptisms? Is your status symbol the Book of Numbers or the Book of Acts? Is your status symbol the quantity of the crowds your draw in, or the quality of the disciples you send out?

1256. Son-burned, Wind-blown, Earth-Stained

Luke 12:35-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , beyond-our-imagining the presence of the Son in our midst will be. With such an unpredictable, seemingly unrecognizable master, how can we ever possibly be ready, be prepared, for the wholly unexpected? Faithful, watchful servants need to have three rather casual qualities. We need to be sun-burned or more accurately, Son-burned. We need to be wind-blown. We need to be earth-stained. Son-burned: As aging baby-boomers watch in horror as their once youthful, tanned skin inevitably wrinkles, spots and ...

1257. ASAP

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... manner, we'll begin to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the way. There's work to do, deadlines to meet, you've got no time to spare, But as you hurry and scurry, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer. In the midst of family chaos, quality time is rare. Do your best; let God do the rest, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer. It may seem like your worries are more than you can bear. Slow down and take a breather, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer. God knows how stressful life is; he wants to ease our ...

1258. Living Outside the Box

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... sharp-tongued. At first glance it doesn't appear to have any strength at all. Our sure-footed, smart-alecky, success-oriented culture considers our escape tool a frailty not a force for change. The way out of the box? HUMILITY. Humility is definitely not a popular quality these days. But it's only through the grace of a humble spirit and open mind that the keys to freedom to a life outside the box is accessible. A little girl returned home from her first day at school. "Did you learn anything?" her mother ...

1259. Building Bridges While Getting Shot at from Both Shores

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of particularity, of subjectivity." She declared herself an individual, with individual attributes, dreams, and aspirations that could never be taken from her. Derrick Jensen calls this particularity "tribal" and defines it in terms of a "universal resonance and quality [that] can only be achieved by a lived, creative attention to local context." Only the individual, the tribal, Jensen insists, can insure true humanity. "To love this particular tree, that particular person, this glint of sunlight off this ...

1260. Death by Chocolate

Hebrews 9:11-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... person of Jesus Christ to die for your sins. I know life is awesome, but it's only a passageway into my presence. I tried to describe to you in the Bible the life that is better than any life you have experienced on earth. It's a quality life. Although I've used my best descriptions, analogies, and metaphors to somehow help you anticipate it, it goes beyond anything you've experienced. Trust me." The old argument goes on the same way it did decades before when he was in the womb. "I don't understand what ...

1261. Squeaky Wheels

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... exceptionally virtuous lives, people who sacrificed their livelihood and even their lives in the name of Jesus. Some saints fit this job description. Some saints had extraordinary gifts of healing and insight, profound piety, or great intellect. But there is one saintly quality that is rarely sung, almost never recognized. Saints are persistent. Look back over the life histories of any saint and you will find that these were not people who took no for an answer. If they weren't bugging some institution or ...

1262. Maker's Mark

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... marked to determine ownership and keep mixed herds easily separable. Soldiers have long borne marks that identified them as members of elite squadrons or specially selected troops. But marks or seals were also used to prove the authenticity of goods and the quality of a product. Artisans placed unique symbols on their work, identifying pieces as genuine creations by a master craftsman. In pottery the first recognized marks were where the makers' thumbs were imprinted on a piece, set before it was fired so ...

1263. The Oneness of Twoness

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to participate in the “hope” Christ offers to his followers. Verses 5-6 create a “prayer-wish” to conclude the apostle’s exhortation. He identifies God’s mantle and mandate of “steadfastness” and “encouragement” as the very qualities that the faithful find “in Christ” (“kata Christou Iesouis”). The community that lives genuinely “in Christ” will not miraculously levitate above disagreements or multiple perspectives on the issues of the day. Rather, the “to auto phronein ...

1264. Patience

James 5:7-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... and indecisive, more easily upset by frustration, and more resentful about not getting enough. Most amazingly, the group of marshmallow-waiters had SAT scores that averaged 210 points higher than the group of marshmallow-grabbers! (4) Patience is an important quality in people. People who are not able to control their impulses, unable to withstand tedium, unwilling to allow others to progress at a different pace will make everyone around them unhappy and they will make many avoidable mistakes in their ...

1265. It Is Also Blessed to Receive

John 13:1-17

Sermon

James McCormick

... God, and from other people. We need to receive because that’s the way God made us. You have heard me say again and again that life is about relationships. When you boil it all down, life is either good or less than good depending upon the quality of our relationships. We are not to live in isolation, but in relationship. And we are not to be self-sufficient; we are to be inter-dependent. We receive and give. Others receive and give. And, in all the receiving and giving, the relationships grow and life ...

1266. Thanksgiving Is a Choice

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

James McCormick

... , if you believe that, nothing can defeat you. And you will have something to be thankful for - in every circumstance of life. My mother trusted that more strongly than anyone I have ever known. And, because her trust in God was so strong, it produced a quality of life which many people described as “saintly,” When mother was ninety-one years of age, living in a nursing home, her husband of seventy years died, and she was very lonely during her last year. She couldn’t get around very well, moving only ...

1267. Lifelong Disciples

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James McCormick

... life, if you want every day to be growing into mature, adult disciples, there are numerous experiences available to help with that. We have worship times, classes, prayer opportunities, retreat experiences, mission outreaches. You don’t have to travel very far to plug in to quality growth experiences. But it’s not going to happen for you and your family unless you make it a priority. You must be ready to say: “This is important. I want to grow up to maturity in Christ. I want to become all that God ...

1268. Mark 1:21-28

Mark 1:21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... scholars (scribes and rabbis) offered instruction and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. But when Jesus enters the Capernaum synagogue, those gathered there immediately discern a difference in Jesus' teaching. In fact, they're astonished at the authoritative quality of his words. This authority (exousia) makes Jesus' teaching distinctly different than that of the scribes. Scribes were part of the learned minority in the first century. They were Torah interpreters, teachers, legal and ethical experts ...

1269. Luke 2:1-14

Luke 2:1-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... component. David was himself a shepherd when he was chosen as king. Among the first divine directives he received was "be shepherd of my people Israel" (2 Samuel 5:2). Likewise, both Ezekiel (34:23) and Micah (5:4) speak of the shepherding qualities of a future Davidic ruler. For the third time in the infancy narrative an angelic messenger makes an appearance in verse nine. The glory that accompanies this angelic being verifies the divine presence at this announcement the Greek doxa being used to translate ...

1270. Under New Leadership

John 1:29-34

Sermon

King Duncan

... He’s not a bad guy. Like me, he takes on more than he can handle sometimes. Like me, he gets confused about what’s important. I see myself in his mirror. It’s less embarrassing to talk about how he runs his life than to talk about the cartoon quality of my own.” Fulghum closes this story with these words, “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own sou?” (1) The uptight, successful businessman in Fulghum’s story seems a world away from the figure of John the Baptist ...

1271. A Vision of True Love

Matthew 17:1-13

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

... were a newborn baby bird. As he put the melted ice cream into her mouth and patted her on the cheek, there was no haze, no fog, no trees. What was seen was the genuine love of God between a man and a woman. Their love was true and that quality of love was from God. It was a vision. True love…in the flesh…right before the eyes of anyone witnessing the moment. Holiness. Pure holiness. Goodness. Pure goodness. It's a love that anyone should want in their marriage.

1272. Advent 3

Psalm 146:1-10, Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-12, Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... a hymn of praise. The lectionary begins at v. 5 where the motif of hope in God is introduced. Even though the lectionary reading appears to have been made in order to accentuate the theme of hope, the preacher might use all of Psalm 146 for two reasons. First, the quality of praise is lost without the strong opening in vv. 1-2. And second, hope in God in vv. 5-10 is being contrasted to hope in human power in vv. 3-4. The contrast is important, for it underscores how trust or hope is essential to our very ...

1273. Easter 2

John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23, 1 Peter 1:1-12, Acts 2:14-41, Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... the faded dynamics of the arguments from scripture. The logic of the associations between the Christology and the Psalm texts would be an excellent topic for church school teaching, but it would most likely cause confusion (or boredom) in a sermon. There is a linear quality to this speech: (1) Jesus was attested by God. (2) Jesus was rejected by humans. (3) But God raised Jesus, showing God's power, God's plan, and God's presence. (4) To all this, Christians are witnesses. This linear logic may guide the ...

1274. Easter Vigil

Genesis 1:1-2:3, Romans 6:1-14, Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... freedom. In approaching this powerful but difficult text, we must remember that Paul is not evangelizing the Romans. He is standing alongside them and (1) calling up their past and (2) reminding them of their future, in order (3) to speak to them about the quality of their lives in the present. Grace, hope, and freedom are respectively the themes of these times. In preaching we may need to develop a temporal scheme similar to Paul's and, then, talk of the times using metaphors and images appropriate to the ...

1275. Epiphany 4

Psalm 15:1-5, Micah 6:1-8, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... people that God has brought into existence. Thus the prophet's call for Israel to do justice and to love steadfast kindness is not first and foremost a call for human actions that might atone us before God in a court. Rather, they are qualities that we acquire from God through salvation (and thus already know), and in living them out we walk with God. The setting in the cult should prevent any interpreter from asserting that Micah, as an eighth century "ethical" prophet, is against the covenantal demands ...

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