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 1301 to 1325 of 1964 results

1301. Brothers and Sisters of Jesus

Mark 3:31-35

Sermon

George Reed

... have the focus shift from the work of the group to the survival of the group. People are sought out not because the organization can help that person or because that person can contribute to the mission of the group but rather because they are a warm body who hopefully has some money to spare. There is a pastor who, when his congregation says that they need young families, is quick to assert that it is not true. "There are many congregations which survive with only older members" he says. "They demand fewer ...

1302. Denial Ain’t a River in Egypt

Isaiah 64:1-9

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... we use for this, of course, is denial. We all practice it to some extent or other. Some of us deny the fact that we're a few pounds overweight. Others of us deny the fact that the cars we drive contribute to the growing danger of global warming. Still others deny brokenness and wounds that occur in our most important relationships, leaving the untended hurts to fester and grow worse. Most of us deny some things, it's true, but have you ever known anyone who has lived their life in denial? Most commonly, we ...

1303. Write to the Heart

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... a chapel on Aldersgate Street in London. Someone there read from Luther's "Preface to the Epistle to the Romans." That evening while the reader was explaining the change that "God works in the heart through faith in Christ," Wesley remarked, "I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins ... and saved me from the law of sin and death."2 Catching the reformation spirit, "John Wesley gave real meaning to ...

1304. Would You Be a Saint?

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and bleed and fail. Because saints always love. Today is the day the Church should celebrate all those saints that stand in our midst. “Saints” are those people who keep the heart of the Body of Christ beating, who keep the Body of Christ warm, vital, and alive, for the whole world to see. Is there anybody here who doesn’t know “Joe the Plumber?” The Presidential candidates have made a big deal of imaging the problems plaguing this country by using “Joe the Plumber” as their specific “real ...

1305. A Small Act of Kindness

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

King Duncan

... a little cash into a New Testament. She found his backpack in the yard, and stuck the packet inside. She imagined him traveling that day looking for work and at the end of the day bedding down somewhere under the stars, weary and all alone. She was warmed by the thought of Floyd's surprise when he discovered her note, the New Testament and the cash she had planted in his backpack. This Christian couple never saw Floyd again. Four years later Floyd's sister wrote to the them, telling of his death. As Floyd ...

1306. Meeting God

Matthew 25:31-46

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... and just staring at some pigeons. She looked sad and lonely, so the boy went over and sat down next to her. He opened his suitcase, took out a package of the Twinkies and offered it to her. She gratefully took it and smiled at him. Her smile was so warm and wonderful that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a can of his root beer. Once again, she took it and smiled at him. The boy was delighted. They sat there all afternoon, eating the Twinkies, drinking the root beers and watching the pigeons ...

1307. John the Stall Cleaner

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... out with borrowed money and time) Failures of moral systems (as each new terrorists attack makes painfully evident) Failures of political systems (from Thailand to Pakistan to Bagdad to India) Failures of environmental systems (as the threat of global warming becomes the reality of global climate changes) But despairing is not an Advent attitude. Despairing is letting the fractures in this world cripple us, instead of embracing the Advent of God’s forever new, rebirthing, redeeming, fractal love in ...

1308. Break Free From the Scrooge Syndrome

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Gregory Knox Jones

... his future proves to be so dark and frightening, that it prompts within him a dramatic change. He undergoes a radical transformation and becomes an entirely new person. Rather than being cold and indifferent to people, he becomes generous and compassionate. It is a heart-warming story. But more than that, it is a hopeful story. It provides us with the hope that we too can make needed changes in our lives. We can break free from the ruts we have burrowed, and the negative behaviors we have cultivated. We can ...

1309. A John the Baptist Christmas Card

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Darrick Acre

... holy night many years ago. Mary, Joseph, angels, manger, shepherds, wise men; a child is born unto us. Glory to God in the highest! That is what Christmas is all about. Jesus is the reason for the season. So we honor sweet, little Jesus boy, get warm fuzzies, and hug our family members. What does John the Baptist have do with Christmas? For Mark, everything. Instead of Bethlehem and choirs of angels, he begins the story of Jesus' coming with a prophet blaring and baptizing in the wilderness of Judea. In so ...

1310. A Womb With a View

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Paul feels confident to cite Abraham as an example of faithfulness for new Christians. Full-blown, breath-taking faith set Abraham's feet on the road to the Promised Land. Jesus' attempts to induce labor in his disciples failed to push them from their warm, self-designed wombs to confront the approaching tomb. It was not until they had experienced the terror and the confusion of Jesus' death and the wonder and exultation of his resurrection that the disciples were able to smash the windows of their wombs ...

1311. Looking for Love in the Classifieds and All the Wrong Places

Ephesians 2:4

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Methodist Reporter reveals the kind of love it was looking for in their pastor: "Must have small family, if any, and be able to furnish a horse and come to church unassisted. Must not be afraid to work, have no hobbies, have a good clear head, a warm loving heart and big feet. " We are a people looking for love in all the wrong places: the classifieds, the small ads, the back pages of life. Little wonder that Henry David Thoreau observed that "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Part of our ...

1312. The Three Stages to Truth: A Biblical Philosophy of Education

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the wind blew, the tighter the man held on to his coat. Even at hurricane force, the man found ways to hold on to his coat. Finally the wind gave up. The sun took up the challenge and tried a different approach. The sun shone down warmly on the man, gently but persistently. Soon the man removed the coat. People will only accept the truth when they, and not anyone else, want the truth. That is why the indirect approach to evangelism is usually far more successful than the direct approach. Jesus' confidence ...

1313. The Bonds of Love

1 John 4:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... manifestation of God we can ourselves imitate. Unfortunately "love" has also become one of the most maudlin and meaningless words in our vocabulary. The American Heritage Dictionary defines love in terms of sex and sports: an "intense affection and warm feeling for another person; strong sexual desire for another person) a strong fondness or enthusiasm; or a zero score in tennis." The sacrificial, incarnational nature of Christ-like love has been lost amid our claims that we "love" our favorite ...

1314. Seeing the Elephant/Hearing the Owl

2 Samuel 18:24-33

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Today, as it has always, the church confronts problems that appear to dwarf both it and its abilities. In the face of issues as massive as war, global warming, the AIDS epidemic and economic recession, Christians face challenges to their personal faith so great that a kind of spiritual paralysis can set in. How can the church get people moving again and buoy up their belief that their individual attitudes and actions do make a difference? "How to Plan ...

1315. Christ the Apple Tree

Isaiah 11:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , and on the night that Jesus was born, this simple feed box became the cradle of the newborn Jesus. The second tree was built into a water vessel, but only a tiny simple fishing boat. But a man named Simon Peter bought the boat, and on one warm afternoon when the crowds pressed in, Jesus climbed aboard this small craft so that he might preach. The third tree was not only deprived of its dream to remain standing, but its wood was fashioned into a horrible instrument of torture, a cross. But it was on ...

1316. Is Your Christmas Spirit a Controlled Substance?

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to the Thessalonian Christians reminds us what the “Christmas spirit” really is a “Christmas spirit” that relates less to Santa and Frosty and more to the Christ born into this world, miraculously offered to each and every one of us. The Christmas spirit is not warm and cozy. The Christmas spirit is not safe and secure. The Christmas spirit is not out-dated or out-of-touch. The Christmas spirit is a free spirit and a freeing spirit. It frees us from what and where and when we were once living ...

1317. Take an Ember Day

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... will find 70 million hard-core insomniacs pacing their floors. That doesn't even begin to count those of us who spend a night or so every week mentally catching up on our office work, confronting annoying coworkers, solving the problem of global warming, second-guessing the motives behind adolescent behavior, and figuring out how to make a month's salary pay two months' worth of bills. Sometimes falling asleep is a challenge we're just not up to. Look at all the products consumer culture has developed ...

1318. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... our culture, our faith and the unique spirit that we are taking with us into the second millennium. Our "maintenance needed" light also alerts us to the lurking reality of an environmental Armageddon. AIDS, Ebola, flesh-eating bacteria, infectious microbes, global warming, ozone depletion, radioactive fallout, air pollution form only a short list of the plagues that threaten us and the plethora of Armageddon scenarios. Is our end-time anxiety justified? The majority of us think it is. According to a U.S ...

1319. Quenching St. Anthony's Fire

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and thus more valuable, making clergy vie for transfer to these parishes). In sum, to find favor is to be blessed by health, wealth and happiness. This is all that many Americans want in religion. They want a "Jacuzzi Jesus" an experience that will leave them relaxed, warm and bubbly and yet, at the same time, feeling fit and trim when they get out like they've just gotten in shape. But the favor of a "Jacuzzi Jesus," as we called it in an earlier Homiletics sermon, the favor of Christian hedonism, is the ...

1320. When Too Much Can Be Too Little

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is one of the most pinched and painful environments imaginable? There are many problems facing our world today: poverty, environmental pollution, world famines, world plagues, nuclear terrorism, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, global warming, global cooling, economic crashes, desertification, exhaustion of natural resources, dearth of leaders, energy shortages, asteroids, humankind's immunological deterioration, overpopulation. But the most vicious and voracious of all these problems is overconsumption ...

1321. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Mark Allen urges his athletes to train slowly, train easily, and be patient. "Go for long-term gain, not immediate gratification," says Allen. Building endurance, building up the stamina of your heart, depends on steady, incremental gains not flurries of heart-warming activities followed by weeks of uncaring sloth. The key? "Get faster by going slower." Building up the heart for feats of faith takes long, slow cardiovascular workouts and training. We must start our workouts slow. To bolt out the door and ...

1322. The Widow's Might

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... stories about the homeless, Rosen wanted to do something to help. "Almost every home has little balls of yarn. I thought if we could all knit 7-inch by 9-inch rectangles, we could stitch them together and make a lot of afghans." She started Operation Warm Up America in 1992, getting the word out to churches, retirement homes and craft shops. Last year, with help from other organizations, the group distributed 16,000 afghans! Evie Rosen's mite has might, and it's the might of love! Norm and Lori Nickel of ...

1323. What Are You Looking For?

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

In a world where spirituality has become a consumer item, we must confess Jesus as Lord. Why are you sitting here in church this morning? What possibly possessed you to climb out of your warm bed on a dim, cold and quiet Sunday morning and come to church ... again?! Christmas is over, remember? The tree is down, the ornaments put away, even the pine needles have pretty much worked themselves out of the carpet by now. There is no big liturgical holiday scheduled for this ...

1324. Easter Completes

Colossians 3:1-4

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... because he is quiet and soft and huggable and speechless, children eagerly flock to the sides of mall Easter bunnies. Sitting on Santa's lap is often a terrifying experience for small children. But hugging the Easter Bunny is a guaranteed "warm fuzzy." All the strange and seemingly nonsensical (to adults) traditions that go along with the Easter Bunny are kept alive and reinvented each year by children. How many households without children color eggs and hide nests around their living rooms? How many ...

1325. Celebrate Your Critical Mass

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... gathered together, there is no need for a standing committee. Before AIDS, one of the most terrifying diseases people lived in fear of was polio. It was the cruelest of diseases. Overwhelmingly targeting children, it would break out primarily in the warm, golden summer months, killing or permanently crippling its victims within days, or even hours. When, at last, Dr. Jonas Salk announced the possibility that a vaccine had been developed, the hoped-for cure went from experimental laboratory to the doctor's ...

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