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 1276 to 1300 of 4988 results

1276. The Ultimate Soul Food

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... bring to your own spirit. "Access." In order to be continually fed by the Bread of Life, we must keep in constant touch with the source of life's true energy supply. Living out of the stored power of the Spirit enables us to be fed by Christ's gift any time we need it. We can access this always available power reserve in various ways. For some of us, direct intercessory prayer brings us the closest to God's Spirit and God's love. For others, music opens the soul and sets it resonating with the Spirit. For ...

1277. Just Showing Up Doesn't Get the Job Done

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the second is, no one has yet discovered." God has called us to "show up" and "be present" because God has need of the unique gifts and strengths each one of us has to offer to this place and time. God wants you to be just like you. God wants you ... oven, but it won't come out a biscuit." Each of us must make our own biscuit from scratch using the energy, talents, skills, guts and gifts God has given us. To "be yourself" requires that you first know who you are and that takes a lifetime of work. You don't " ...

1278. What Jesus Wants for Christmas (Part 2)

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Christmas. We intimated that the Savior's wish list had two entries. The first was that Jesus might have his birthday back. The second entry on Jesus' wish list is of a more personal nature. Before Jesus' birth, God required from two ordinary people similar gifts - the gifts of their very beings. Mary was chosen to participate in a singular and intimate way in this divine drama. She was elected to be the mother of this savior-child. It was within her body that human flesh grew together with the divine spark ...

1279. Christmas Surprises

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

King Duncan

... rabbi spoke excitedly about the wonders of North America in comparison to the bleak conditions in his homeland. When they had finished eating, the waiter brought the check and presented each of them with a small brass Christmas-tree ornament as a seasonal gift. They all laughed when Abramsky's father pointed out that the ornaments were stamped "Made in India." But the laughter subsided when they saw that the rabbi was quietly crying. Concerned, Abramsky's father asked the rabbi if he was offended because he ...

1280. Ephesians 2:4-25

Ephesians 2:4-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... up for some future use, it is being poured out on us at this very moment. Verse 10 provides a safeguard against any moral or ethical slackness that might infiltrate our still all too-human hearts in response to the completeness and immediacy of God's gift. The only appropriate action we can take in response to God's saving grace is to claim our heavenly heritage. We are God's "workmanship" created for the purpose of performing "good works." Therefore it is our genetic destiny to strive to mirror God's love ...

1281. Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit" (v.13). This is a reference to baptism, an act of faith that reflects the commitments of both the human and the divine. While believers respond to the gospel by seeking baptism, God responds by giving the gift of the Holy Spirit - the "pledge of our inheritance" (v.14). The pledge manifested by the seal of the Holy Spirit is an "earnest" - a kind of advance payment - of the inheritance to come. Just as some churches offer infant baptism as an initial introduction ...

1282. Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew 2:13-18, Matthew 2:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the child by going on a kind of pilgrimage journey. When they find Jesus, these stately, royal personages do not hesitate to bow down and worship the tiny baby. They also pay homage to the infant's foretold greatness by offering fantastic, indeed extravagant, gifts to this child born in poverty. Finally the Magi put loyalty over royalty by once more listening to an angel messenger whose counsel warns them of Herod's evil intentions. Having traveled hastily and wearily under a secret night sky to get to the ...

1283. Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... after the people have been in the land for a while. Only after the Israelites have had the experience of living in and on the land long enough to settle, plant and harvest, can they be expected to really know and appreciate firsthand the richness of this gift they have been given by God. A maturity of outlook, then, colors the first fruits offering. This is not an offering of blind belief, but is based on the experience of a people who have lived and loved the land and reaped its benefits. The first fruits ...

1284. John 14:23-29

John 14:23-29

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... should best be understood as "everything you need to know about what I have said." Jesus also reveals just how this Holy Spirit "teaches" by making his disciples remember all that Jesus had already taught them. Twice in this farewell discourse, Jesus focuses on the gift of peace (14:27 and 16:33). In both instances, John's gospel discusses peace in connection with a reference to "the world." The two seem to stand in direct opposition to each other. Jesus' peace is offered while the tribulation of the world ...

1285. Luke 11:1-13

Luke 11:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... "indebted"-ness of all others. For a disciple to utter this prayer with a clear conscience, the reality of living at the dawning time of God's kingdom must be assured. The kingdom will itself be made up of those who participate in its gifts of grace and forgiveness gifts which must be extended to all. The almost-but-not-yet quality of the coming kingdom is a signal to the disciples that there may yet be moments of "testing," or "temptation," before them. The kingdom will not come into its fullness without ...

1286. Ephesians 2:4-25

Ephesians 2:4-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1287. Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1288. Matthew 2:13-23

Matthew 2:13-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1289. Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... his will"(v.5). In love, we are all chosen by God in Christ. Our adoption rests wholly upon God's "good pleasure." God's "glorious grace" (v.6) is the only official stamp on our adoption papers. Verses 7-10 enumerate three of God's great gifts now made available to us through Christ. First is the redemption we have received from the sacrifice of Christ's own blood. All the goodness, all the excitement, all the joy depends first and foremost on the centrality of faith in Christ. Without that faith, we stand ...

1290. Mark 12:38-44

Mark 12:38-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... there were 13 trumpet-shaped receptacles that stood up against the wall of the Court of Women that functioned to gather the gifts of the faithful for the temple treasury. The setting of verses 41-44 is apparently within easy sight of this temple ... the destruction of the temple and the religious establishment that depends on it is linked to Jesus' observation of the widow's sacrificial gift. The widow may give out of obedience, but she has chosen the wrong recipients for her devotion. She has given her all to ...

1291. Acts 5:27-32

Acts 5:27-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Israel and the risen Christ. Peter' s bold declaration of this triune nature of God, of Jesus' full participation in the divine, results in a typical reaction from his Jewish listeners. Despite Peter's insistence that God's miraculous redemptive act the gift of Jesus Christ was for Israel's salvation, the high priest and the council are "enraged" and "wanted to kill them" (v.33). Although the apostolic witness grows, the rift between their Jewish audience and the newly formed Christian churches continues to ...

1292. John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to touch the wounds. Instead he blurts out a confession of faith that must have stood as a faith expression for the entire Johannine community: "My Lord and my God." Verses 30-31 closed out John's Gospel at one point in this book's history. If the gift of the Holy Spirit (vv.22-23) did not have a clear Christological intent, John now makes the message of Jesus' messiahship the resounding final chord in his book. The doubts of the hesitant have been played out for everyone to see in the story of Thomas. Now ...

1293. Romans 8:1-11

Romans 8:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in the domain of flesh. Thus, for Christ to be in flesh meant that he joined in full solidarity with the fleshly, sinful world. Through this identity with sin and flesh, Jesus the Son was able to break their powers and offer the gift of a new way of living. In order to experience this gift, however, believers must "walk according to the Spirit" (v.4). The Spirit is that which makes the resurrection of Christ real in the life of believers (see Romans 5:5 and 8:9-11) and thus makes it possible for the law to ...

1294. Ephesians 2:1-10

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... were created "a little lower than the angels" (Psalm 8:5, KJV) have gotten so low we are now found groveling in the dust, bowing at the feet and doing the will of the evil "ruler of the air." But instead of well-deserved condemnation, there is a wondrous gift offered to all the children of wrath. Out of rich mercy and fathomless love, God has given life to all who were already dead. The author uses "love" both as a noun and a verb here, emphasizing as strongly as possible the enormity of this divine love, a ...

1295. James 1:17-27

James 1:17-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... doers" on the other hand need only to glance into the "perfect law, the law of liberty," in order to be changed for life. The vision they catch stays with them, they "persevere," and become "doers who act." This "perfect law" recalls James' mention of the "perfect gift" in verse 17. This perfect law James speaks of is the law as now perfected by Jesus' own ethical demands the "law" according to Jesus. This also makes the law now a "law of liberty" for as an internalized law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31 ...

1296. Death Has Been Conquered

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... rapidly placing upon us the intolerable burden of Tithonus. Do you remember that tale from Greek mythology? Aurora, the goddess of dawn, fell in love with Tithonus who was a mortal youth. In other words, he would die like all other humans. Zeus, the king of gods, offered Aurora any gift she might choose for Tithonus. Naturally she chose that he might live forever. However, she forgot to ask that he be forever young. And so Tithonus grew older and older and older, and could never die, and the ...

1297. Your Money or Your Life?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... did the martyr Stephen. We make our offering out of a different motivation. We give because we love and we trace our ability to love to the One who first loved us. True life, abundant life, eternal life, kingdom of God life, we believe, comes as a gift from a gracious God – not from our bank account or investment portfolio or what our assets are worth. Churches spend a lot of time each year getting people to give. The reason is that when the church fails in nurturing people’s lives in Jesus Christ, then ...

1298. Pentecost

Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 104:1-35, Acts 2:1-13, Acts 2:14-41, John 15:18--16:4, John 16:5-16

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... own convictions. It is the Spirit who moves and works within the mind and heart to bring a person to faith, which is one of the gifts of the Spirit. 4. Guide (v. 13). The Spirit guides us "into all the truth." He is an enlightening Spirit. He throws light on a ... -34; Psalm 104:25-37 Prayer Of The Day: "God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you sent upon the disciples the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, look upon your church and open our hearts to the power of the Spirit. Kindle in us the fire of your ...

1299. Advent 1

Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... . The gospel calls upon us to be on the alert for the sudden, unannounced coming of Christ. The world's cry for God to come to his people is heard in Lesson 1. Paul refers to the parousia in Lesson 2 by assuring his people that they have every spiritual gift as they wait for Christ's return. The Psalmist calls upon Yahweh to return to help and save his people. The Advent Hymn of the Day is a prayer for Christ to come with his grace and salvation. The Prayer of the Day petitions Christ to come and save us ...

1300. The Ride of Your Life

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . I thank God Dads are optimists. Dads take chances based upon skills and knowledge they know they possess and they trust they have taught to the next generation. I thank God for all Dads who offer this gift of confidence. A gift of conviction. A gift of risk and courage based on trust. It is a gift every child needs from someone. In the context of the culture of his day, Jesus loved like a mother, and taught like a father. He didn’t have his disciples sit in a yeshiva learning Torah tidbits. Jesus ...

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