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 5000 results

1276. The Dynamics of Being a Dad

Ephesians 6:1-4, Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

The idea of Father’s Day was first proposed by Mrs. John B. Dodd, in 1909. She wanted to honor her father, William Smart, a civil war veteran who raised six children on his own when his wife died at child birth. So the next year at her Methodist church in Washington state, Mrs. Dodd led the first known celebration of Father’s Day honoring the “father’s place in the home and his role in the training of children.” This religious celebration, however, did not stay religious very long. The associated men’s ...

1277. Positive Living

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar calls it “stinkin’ thinkin.’” He’s talking about people who approach life with a negative attitude. Do you know anyone like that? Whether or not it’s justified, New York cabdrivers are notorious for having a bad attitude. A man approached one such driver in New York. “Take me to London,” the potential fare said. The cab driver told him that was not possible. He couldn’t drive across the Atlantic. The customer insisted it was possible. “You’ll drive me down to the pier; we’ll ...

1278. Set Free for Life

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Lee Griess

When the famous agnostic, Robert Ingersoll, died, the printed funeral program left this solemn instruction. It read: "There will be no singing." For without faith, few feel like singing in the face of death. Running, perhaps. Crying, certainly. But not singing. Not in the face of death. For without faith, death steals our reason to sing. Death takes the song off our lips and leaves in its place stilled tongues and tear-stained cheeks. We know that is true, not only because we have experienced it, but also ...

1279. Rich In His Poverty

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

One of my favorite memories is the summer of the treasure hunt. A number of years ago, when my wife's nephews, Chris and Matt, and our son Joshua were around seven or eight, we decided that the two families needed to take vacation at the same time so the boys could get to know each other. So we all met at the farm where my wife's parents live. It's a great place for kids. Well, there were no video games or cable TV to keep them entertained and the boys were starting to get bored. I was out in great- ...

1280. The Place beyond Revenge

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

Donna Schaper

A custom is begun! Because of the vengeance that the king took against Haman for Esther, the Jews are to remember their salvation. On the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month they are to send gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor. Oh, God, help me to understand violence! Help me to understand vengeance. I am pretty good at the other sins, like lust and greed, pride and gossip, but violence I just don't understand. I also don't really understand the tribalism that is beyond it. Is that ...

1281. The Good

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Will Willimon

I always hold my breath on Sundays until I find out which texts are assigned by the ecumenical lectionary. Look, I realize that your high tuition pays my modest salary, so naturally I want to make a good impression on visiting parents. (And let me take this opportunity to thank all of you parents for your tuition payments. Without you, not only your Duke sons and daughters, but even this preacher, wouldn't be here!) At any rate, I want to look good for the visiting parents, to reassure you that your kids ...

1282. Being Good

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

Let's say that we're all here today because we want to be better people. We are here to be good, to become more righteous. After all, surely this is one of the main functions of religion, the Christian or any other, to make us better than we would have been if we had not gotten up on a cold February morning and gone to Chapel And let's agree that, even if we have not arrived, we are at least on our way toward goodness because we did get up and go to the Chapel, which in no way is meant to detract from ...

1283. More Certain Than a Tom Brady Pass

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

King Duncan

We all know what it’s like to wake up from a frightening dream and think, “Wait a minute! Was that real?” And once we get a little more alert, we realize that it was just a dream, and we hopefully fall back to sleep. Psychologists say there is one type of dream that is nearly universal. Can you guess what it is? It’s the dream of being unprepared for an exam. It’s awful, isn’t it? School children all over the world report having this dream, or I should say, this nightmare, for that is what it truly is. In ...

1284. Christmas Is Out of Control

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

John Jamison

After hearing the scripture reading, the thought going through your head may be, “What the heck does that have to do with Christmas? Isn’t this the first Sunday of Advent? Why are you talking about Noah? And didn’t Jesus say those things during holy week, like on Palm Sunday? Where is the Christmas story?” Let me try to explain. There is a thing called the lectionary; some of you are probably familiar with it. The lectionary is a list of scriptures for each Sunday of the year, and other special days as ...

1285. Master Teacher

Matthew 15:10-28

Sermon

Lori Wagner

The Christian Testament scriptures are the most fascinating set of inspired and brilliant stories we can possibly read and learn from. The scriptures are amazing. But too often, we miss the best parts. This can happen when we read either from habit and read over clues that we’ve never noticed before or when we don’t see the entire picture and have a hard time imagining what’s happening in real-time. I like to employ two “clues” or “helps” therefore when reading scripture. These can deepen our understanding ...

1286. Investment Choices

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Steve Molin

I started reading crime novels about fifteen years ago. Like any pastor, so much of what I read relates to theology or ministry that I needed to find some genre of reading that would take me away from what I do twelve hours a day; something to capture my imagination. I started with John Grisham and read everything he has written. Then I moved on to Swedish author Henning Mankell and read all of his stuff. More recently, I have been reading the murder mysteries of Lee Childs. There is nothing like a good “ ...

1287. Good News

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

When you and I think of “fruit” we probably think about apples, oranges, mangoes –and even tomatoes! But we seldom think of wheat. When we read about “fruit” in the scripture, however, the most common definition of fruit is wheat! Either wheat of the field or grapes of the vine! In today’s scripture, when John issues a warning to the crowds coming to repent and be baptized, he tells them, they must produce “fruit.” In this metaphor, John is talking about wheat! How do we know? Because the second part of ...

1288. In Those Days: The Voice Of The Time Keeper

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

A second is a second is a second, right? But if you’re at the big game it’s amazing what a difference it makes once there’s less than a minute left. Suddenly the scoreboard screams those seconds in fractions. Suddenly the clock moves maddeningly fast if you’re behind and agonizingly slow if you’re ahead. But that’s a product of our digital technology. Sundials, or solar clocks, in the time of Jesus measured time slowly, imperceptivity, even majestically. Complicating things further, the hours weren’t the ...

1289. The Art of Living Until

Matthew 24:36-51

Sermon

Leonard Mann

There are many things about your life which I do not know. But one thing I do know: you are living in an interim. And so am I. We are in time-in-between; we are between what has happened and what will happen. We know a great deal about the former and very little about the latter. What has been is past, and we are moving away from it, going on to what is to be. How we make this journey is very important, the attitudes with which we travel, the guiding stars we follow. So I want to speak with you about The ...

1290. The Wisemen

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Jerry Eckert

I hate it when Christmas is over. There's so much good music, such tasty foods, so much color and warmth. And presents! I love presents! I wish we celebrated all twelve days of Christmas. I could be dissuaded from that last enthusiasm if it meant that I would be given all the presents from that funny Christmas carol: 22 turtle doves 30 French hens 36 calling birds 40 gold rings 42 geese a'laying 42 swans a'swimming 40 maids a'milking 36 ladies dancing 30 lords a'leaping 22 pipers piping 12 drummers ...

1291. Living The Alternatives

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

W. Robert McClelland

"Christ" is the Greek word for Messiah or King. To believe in Jesus Christ, therefore, is to affirm more than certain doctrinal statements about his divinity or the assurance of eternal life. To believe in Christ is to refuse to acknowledge anyone else in this life as King. It is to insist that the powers and principalities of this world do not have authority over us, even when they appear to be in charge. The New Testament writers boldly portray Jesus meeting the powers of this world head on in a showdown ...

1292. Hope Against Hope

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Erskine White

In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told. (Romans 4:18) Sometimes, as we get to this point in the year, it seems that winter will go on forever. It’s been cold for so long that you can hardly remember the last time you put on a pair of shorts and basked in the warmth of the sun. You are so sick of shoveling the driveway that you would almost rather go to the dentist with an impacted wisdom tooth than go through another snowstorm. The trees have ...

1293. Moving Words

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

On the surface, this reading from Matthew’s gospel is a strange sounding, and somewhat puzzling passage. It is one we could easily dismiss since it is specifically addressed to the original 12 disciples. The text is part of a lengthy chapter detailing the instructions Jesus gives to those 12 prior to that first “missionary” effort. Since this appears to be a private tutoring lesson for Jesus’ small class of first century followers, we excuse ourselves from paying attention to the words. What could they ...

1294. The Cross And Our Shadows

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

Many of us grew up singing the hymn "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" with it's memorable line: "I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place ..." This image of "the shadow of the cross" has been used in many different ways by poets and writers. In the hymn, it refers to a place of refuge and rest "from the burning of the noon-tide heat and the burdens of the day." The hymn also refers to the strength-giving character of the cross by comparing it to "the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land." Surely ...

1295. God's Push

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Most of us, when we are pushed, will push back. When we are pushed harder, we will resist even more. A mother says to her teen-age daughter, "I'd like you to clean your room before you go away for the weekend." "Do I have to?" she groans. "Yes, you must." "I don't want to." "Do it," said the mother, "and that's final!" "No, I won't." And Slam! Bang! go the doors. Very few of us like to be pushed - and that's true of adults, not only youths. Sometimes, however, God pushes us. God nudges us toward something ...

1296. This Grace In Which We Stand by Dr. Gene E. Bartlett

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Mann

Anyone who has browsed through a gift shop sooner or later has come to a polite but insistent sign, "Please Do Not Touch." It was refreshing, therefore, to come recently upon a sign of different tone. In the gift shop at O’Hare Airport the word above some African wood carvings said, "Please touch. You can’t appreciate these until you do." There are many evidences that this in fact was the mood in which the New Testament writings first came into being. Those writers were sure they had come upon something ...

1297. God’s Hand on You

Luke 1:57-66

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: Shake hands with several children. Then take one child and show special attention by putting your arm around his shoulder. Good morning, boys and girls. I want to try a little experiment with you to see if you can help me solve a problem. I want to try out a little greeting with a number of you and then I want you to tell me which one you think is the most special kind of greeting. If you think that one way shows that I am a little closer and care a little more, then I want you to tell me. First of ...

1298. Hungry for Anything?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

One time I was having lunch with a man in a Chicago Loop restaurant. The waitress came to our table, offered him the menu and asked: "Well, what would you like for lunch;" "I don’t quite know," replied my companion, "but whatever it is, I’m sure that you won’t have it." We never quite get over that kind of childishness, do we? How many people know what they want in life? Try asking them some time, and you will hear a hodgepodge of half-formed, ill-defined ambiguities. The simple truth is that most people ...

1299. Going Hard against the Grain

Matthew 5:33-37

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Perhaps you have heard the story of the star-thrower, first published by Loren Eiseley in his 1969 book The Unexpected Universe. He tells of walking along a beach "littered with the debris of life.... Along the strip of wet sand that marks the ebbing and flowing of the tide, death walks hugely and in many forms. In the end the sea rejects its offspring. They cannot fight their way home through the surf which casts them repeatedly back upon the shore. The tiny breathing spores of starfish are stuffed with ...

1300. Obedience Really Matters

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

It is because we are a people of such high intelligence, and perhaps the threat of product liability litigation, that the following warning labels were recently found on consumer products? On a Duraflame fireplace log: "Caution - Risk of Fire." On a children’s Batman costume: "Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly. On a bottle of hair coloring: "Do not use as an ice cream topping." On a cardboard sun shield for a car: "Do not drive with sun shield in place." And, for the first time parent, this label ...

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