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 1351 to 1375 of 1499 results

1351. Adopted! Thank God!

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Missionary James King tells the true story of an African woman in one of his churches who attended every service accompanied by an old, mongrel dog. The dog would enter with the lady and sit beside her during the service. She always sat on an outside seat beside the aisle. At the conclusion of the service, the woman would always come and kneel at the altar for prayer, and the dog would faithfully take his place beside her. The woman’s husband was a cruel man who deeply resented her devotion to Christ, and ...

1352. The Loss of Memory

John 17:1-26

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

One of the most memorable sections in Gabriel Garcia Marquez' prize-winning novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude concerns a strange disease that invaded the old village of Macondo from somewhere in the surrounding swamp. It is a lethal disease of insomnia that attacks the whole town. The initial effect is the inability of people to sleep, although the villagers do not feel any bodily fatigue at all. A more critical effect than that slowly manifests itself: loss of memory. Gradually the victims realize they ...

1353. Wrong!

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the church. The symbols of the Pentecost gift are wind and fire. Every birthday is accompanied by a cake over which there is the ritual of wind and fire. But in the course of blowing out candles in your lifetime, have you ever missed one? Ever miscalculate the amount of wind needed to get it 100% right? [To make your sermon more EPIC, you might want to showcase a birthday cake, and blow out some candles. You could even have some fun and include some gag (magic re- ...

1354. Send Her Away!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

Those of you who are of a certain age might remember a little song from the 1960s. It was a tune by the Kingston Trio with the misleading title, “Merry Minuet.” It was anything but merry, but it was a satirical song that describes some of the turmoil in the world today. It went like this: They’re rioting in Africa. They’re starving in Spain. There’s hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain. The whole world is festering with unhappy souls. The French hate the Germans; the Germans hate the Poles. Italians ...

1355. Expressing The Inexpressible

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

What can we ever say about God that is adequate? How can finite minds and mouths ever adequately describe the infinite? Ancient Israel understood that better than most. Those folks were not even allowed to utter God's name out loud for fear of misusing it. Still, every theological tradition, in its own way, tries to give expression to the inexpressible. Perhaps that is a foolish enterprise given that the word "theology" is a bit of a stretch. What is theology - the study of God? Really? God is not like a ...

1356. Grand Opening

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Robert J. Elder

Carefully the plans are laid. The property is purchased, the foundations are poured, the combination of bricks and sticks are put in their proper places, so that, after weeks of work and waiting, the building begins to take shape. Then, when the building is completed, a merchant makes his appearance on the scene, having long since made his purchasing plans and placed his orders for the first selection of goods to be offered to his anticipated customers. The empty store shelves and racks fill with ...

1357. Tough Talk for Tentative Disciples

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Many years ago, a missionary society wrote to David Livingstone, a Scottish Presbyterian pioneer medical missionary in Central Africa, and asked, "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to send other men to join you." Livingstone wrote back, "If you have men who will come only because there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all." Every ministry and every ministry leader in the history of the Christian faith has faced tough times. Usually ...

1358. Welcome to the Center of Life

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

"The thickets, I said, send up their praise at dawn."1 I thought of this line from a poem by Wendell Berry as we sat with one of our church elders who was dying of leukemia. We had driven up to visit her in her rural mountain home in North Carolina where she had moved several years ago. She was in bed, looking out her window, and she said that she appreciated the trees each morning because they praised God every day. Her testimony, as she faced death, was to give thanks to God for all levels of praise in ...

1359. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-8

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

An old “Peanuts” cartoon showed Linus asking his sister Lucy to check out the shine job he had done on his shoes. She says his shoes look great, but as he turns around to leave Lucy informs Linus that he forgot to do the backs of his shoes. They still are all scuffed. “Oh I didn’t forget,” Linus explains. “I just care what people think about me as I come into the room. I don’t care what they think of me when I leave.” That is the kind of attitude Paul is forcefully arguing against in today’s epistle text. ...

1360. Merciful Anger

Matt 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-19

Illustration

James Packer

Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath and saw a man with a crippled hand. He knew that the Pharisees were watching to see what he would do, and he felt angry that they were only out to put him in the wrong. They did not care a scrap for the handicapped man, nor did they want to see the power and love of God brought to bear on him. There were other instances where Jesus showed anger or sternness. He "sternly charged" the leper whom he had healed not to tell anyone about it (Mark 1:43) because he ...

1361. Ten Commandments of Relations

Illustration

Staff

Ten Commandments of Human Relations Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting. Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile. Call people by name. Music to anyone's ears is the sound of his/her own name. Be friendly and helpful. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure, and if it isn't, learn to make it so. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost everybody if you try. Be generous with praise, ...

1362. Being Prepared

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Hurricane Bob was bearing down on the Atlantic coast. Safe in his home on that same coast, a man named J. R. thought he was well prepared. The power failed, but that didn’t faze him. As night fell, he simply fired up some oil lamps and placed his Coleman camping stove on top of the electric range in his kitchen to cook his dinner. So what if he had no electricity? He was able to enjoy a delicious meal thanks to his Coleman stove. He commended himself on his foresight. He went to bed secure in the knowledge ...

1363. Riding the Family Name

Humor Illustration

New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean on his distinguished genealogy: During my career in politics, some have advised me to play up my family history. I don't feel that way at all. At political gatherings, a candidate for a position like a seat in the state assembly would be introduced as a businessman or teacher. But when it came my turn, I would hear, ''Tom Kean, the son of congressman Robert Winthrop Kean,'' or, ''the grandson of Sen. Hamilton Fish Kean.' So now I try to move past an introduction of that sort by ...

1364. DNA Nursery Rhyme

Humor Illustration

Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was slightly gray. It didn't have a father, just some borrowed DNA. It sort of had a mother, though the ovum was on loan. It was not so much a lambkin, as a little lamby clone. And soon it had a fellow clone, and soon it had some more. They followed her to school one day, all cramming through the door. It made the children laugh and sing, the teachers found it droll. There were too many lamby clones, for Mary to control. No other could control the sheep, since their ...

1365. One Good Listener

Humor Illustration

An author was due to deliver the first speech of his lecture tour. "I'm such a miserable speaker," he confessed to his agent, "that I know they'll all walk out on me before I finish." "Nonsense!" retorted the agent. "You are an excellent speaker and will keep the audience glued to their seats." "Oh, I say," cried the author, "that is a wonderful idea! But do we dare?" Any of you who have ever tried speaking in front of people will appreciate the predicament that Dr. Ralph D. Nichols of the University of ...

1366. After the Parade

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome to this celebration of Palm Sunday. Today is a joyous occasion as we remember the crowds of people who lined the streets of Jerusalem to welcome our Master into their city. Ironically, today is also, of course, April Fools’ Day. Maybe that is more appropriate than ironic. For, after all, didn’t St. Paul teach us the Gospel is foolishness to those who do not believe? “A stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles . . .” is the phrase he used (1 Corinthians 1:23). So perhaps April Fools’ Day ...

1367. Are You Doing Time On the Bench?

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“Startle us, O God.” For 26 years, John Buchanan has pastored one of the most prestigious Presbyterian churches on the North American continent: Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, Illinois. Almost every service at which Dr. Buchanan presided, he began and closed each worship service with these words of beginning and benediction: Startle us, O God, with your truth, and open our hearts and our minds to your word, that hearing, we may believe, and believing trust our lives, this day and all the days that ...

1368. Just Like Frank

Humor Illustration

A man walks out to the street and catches a taxi just going by. He gets into the taxi, and the cabbie says, Perfect timing. You're just like Frank. Passenger: Who? Cabbie: Frank Feldman. He's a guy who did everything right all the time. Like my coming along when you needed a cab, things happened like that to Frank Feldman every single time. Passenger: There are always a few clouds over everybody. Cabbie: Not Frank Feldman. He was a terrific athlete. He could have won the Grand-Slam at tennis. He could golf ...

1369. The Sound of a Mighty Wind

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

On April 27, 2011 the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded hit parts of the southern U. S. causing catastrophic destruction in five states Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. Four of the tornadoes which swept through the South on that terrible day were destructive enough to be rated EF5 tornadoes, which is the highest ranking possible. EF5 tornadoes are extremely rare and yet on this day alone there were four EF5 tornadoes killing an estimated 346 people. Tornadoes, ...

1370. Why Are You So Afraid?

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

Karen Fair tells about her three-year-old daughter, Abby, who was having trouble sleeping through the night. She kept waking up because she was afraid. Each time Karen tucked her into bed again, she would remind her that Jesus was with her and that He would keep her safe. The sleepless nights continued, with Abby seeking comfort in her parents’ bedroom. Finally, one night Karen asked her daughter if she had prayed for Jesus to take her fear away and help her fall asleep. “Oh yes,” Abby assured her. “He ...

1371. Adopted

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A man in Wilton, Connecticut named Gary Klahr told a remarkable story in Guideposts a few years back. He said that one night in 1975 he made a new friend at a local restaurant. This new friend, Steve Barbin, happened to be seated at the next table and they got to talking. By the time they finished their burgers, they’d pushed their tables together and were well on the way to becoming best friends. They grew so close that they finished each other’s sentences and shared belly laughs at jokes that no one else ...

1372. Walls, Walls, Everywhere Walls

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

King Duncan

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down!” wrote poet Robert Frost. I wish that everyone shared that sentiment. Unfortunately most people do not. Most people love walls. They see walls as their security, even their salvation. It is interesting that the largest construction project ever undertaken by humanity was the building of a wall. I’m talking, of course, about the Great Wall of China. It is said that enough stone was used in that 1,700‑year project to build an 8‑foot wall ...

1373. Advocate and Redeemer

John 14:23-29

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

Imagine the wind rushing through an open door while the roar of the propeller in an aging old Ford Trimotor airplane rattles in your ears. You can smell the smoke from a raging fire hundreds of feet below. You are dressed in thick, padded clothing, wearing an old-fashioned football helmet with a jury-rigged grille in front of your face making it hard to breathe — that is, if it weren't already impossible for you to take a breath because of what is waiting beyond that open hatch. In a matter of minutes you ...

1374. What If the Disciples Had Email and One of the Disciples Was a Woman?

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

From: Priscilla@galilee.net To: Mom&Dad@jerusalem.org Dear Mom and Dad, I just wanted to write and let you know that I'm doing just fine. I know you don't approve of me traveling from place to place with this fellow, Jesus, and his companions, but I need you to know that things are going amazingly well. Before you get to worrying more than you already are, none of the "boys" as you called them, are giving me any trouble at all. Not a single one of them has hit on me, if that's what you're worried about. ...

1375. Life In the Valley

Luke 9:28-36 (37-43)

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The story of the transfiguration is one of those passages that have given the phrase "mountaintop experience" to our language. Peter, James, and John had joined Jesus and escaped from the crowd for some spiritual "R and R" up in the wilderness of (probably) Mount Hermon. Night had fallen and their eyes were heavy. Suddenly, they awoke with a start. Just yonder they saw Jesus take on something of a supernatural "glow" — his face and clothes "as bright as a flash of lightning" (Luke 9:29). Then Moses and ...

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