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 1451 to 1475 of 4456 results

1451. Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

In the thanksgiving, Paul incidentally touched on their ministry in Thessalonica, but he now speaks of that ministry more directly, defending his own and his colleagues’ conduct against Jewish slanders. The matters touched on include: (1) the circumstances of their coming to Thessalonica and their motives in being there (2:1–6); (2) their conduct towards the Thessalonians (2:7–12); and (3) the response of the Thessalonians to their message and the ensuing hardship caused by that response (2:13–16). Because ...

1452. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

32:1–34:35 · Crisis at Sinai: The Golden Calf - Exodus 32–34 forms an important watershed for understanding God’s relationship to the world. The Creator had sought to redeem, form, and live among the people. To this end God delivered them out of Egypt, brought them to Mt. Sinai by going with them in the fiery cloud, and provided for them in the wilderness. At Sinai God set about forming them into the sort of community originally intended: in trust and fidelity with the Lord, with each other, and with the ...

1453. I Have Come Into My Garden

Song of Songs 5:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

Dream and Search: A new scene opens with 5:2. The central man, who was the principal speaker throughout the fourth chapter, is no longer present. Now the woman’s voice predominates, occasionally punctuated by a question from the daughters of Jerusalem. The structure of the section is much like that of 3:1–11. It opens with an apparent dream report (5:2–7; compare 3:1–4), followed by an address to the daughters of Jerusalem (5:8; compare 3:5), a transitional question (5:9; compare 3:6), and a descriptive ...

1454. Where Has Your Lover Gone

Song of Songs 6:1-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

Admiration and Desire: The section begins with the man admiring the woman in the beginning of another descriptive motif (6:4–9) that does not go below the neck. This description is followed by another “who is this?” verse (6:10; see 3:6; 8:5). The following verse (6:11) does not answer the question: rather, an unidentified speaker (NIV “Lover”) tells of going to the nut orchard. Both the speaker and the sense of 6:12 is unclear. The next verse (6:13) contains an exchange about the Shulammite (apparently ...

1455. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Mission Discourse: The Twelve to Follow Jesus’ Lead (9:35--10:23) Big Idea: In the second major Matthean discourse Jesus calls the Twelve to lead in mission to Israel, following his model as an authentic shepherd of God’s people despite persecution. Understanding the Text The brief narrative transition between chapters 8–9 (9:35–38) and Jesus’ second teaching section in chapter 10 highlight Jesus’ Galilean ministry to a people who are without true shepherds (leaders) and Jesus’ call to pray for “harvest ...

1456. The Gospel of God in Christ through Paul

Romans 1:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

Big Idea: Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was divinely chosen to preach the gospel of God in Christ, the end-time fulfillment of the twofold Old Testament promise of the restoration of Israel and the conversion of the Gentiles. Understanding the Text Romans 1:1–7 forms the first half of Paul’s introduction to Romans (1:8–15 is the second half). The introduction, or prescript, to ancient letters consisted of three parts: identification of the author, identification of the recipients, and a salutation or ...

1457. Job Hears the Whispers of God’s Works

Job 26:1--31:40

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: When Job considers God’s greatness, he realizes how little he himself knows. Understanding the Text When Bildad says in Job 25:6 that humans are mere maggots and worms before the transcendent God, Job apparently interrupts him. Although Job agrees with much of Bildad’s lofty view of God, he draws different implications from their shared theology. Bildad claims that God’s greatness means nothing can thwart his justice, so life in God’s world is thoroughly predictable, but Job declares that God’s ...

1458. How Do You Get Rid of Evil without Destroying Good?

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

How do we deal with evil? More precisely, how do we get rid of evil without destroying good? Today’s parable addresses this question. Like all parables of our Lord, this one comes straight from the life of his own day and people. We find it a bit hard to understand because this incident could not have occurred in the wheat-growing sections of America. We know about farms stretching over hundreds and hundreds of acres. The sowing and the reaping is done by sophisticated farm machinery. Land is sprayed ...

1459. Being Too Generous

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

Dan and I always enjoyed the summer days at the lake cabin in Minnesota. It's a noisy and happy time with grandchildren running around in wet bathing suits, adults scooping ice cream like crazy, playing our favorite game Double Cross, and swatting mosquitoes. Late in the evening we would start telling stories. Sometimes we laugh until we cry. At some point in the storytelling, our oldest child usually says to her siblings, "You don't know how lucky you were. Our parents were so strict with me I couldn't ...

1460. Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

John 13:18-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The common theme of sending supports the view that verses 18–20, despite their apparent reference to the traitor Judas, belong with verses 1–17, not 21–30. In a sense, they serve the same function in relation to verses 12–17 that verse 11 serves in relation to verses 6–10. But it should be noted that the reference to Judas in verses 18–20 is not explicit (in v. 11 it became explicit only as a comment of the narrator). Jesus mentions Judas neither by name nor by such an expression as “he who betrays me” (cf ...

1461. God with Skin On

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

As we gather here this holy night, we come from a variety of religious backgrounds. For some of you I’m sure the more familiar word during The Lord’s Prayer is “trespasses.” You will especially appreciate an internet story about the little boy who was sent to bed early on Christmas Eve. His boisterous excitement was getting in the way of all the hectic, last minute preparations his parents were trying to make, and they needed to get rid of him. A few minutes later his father overheard the child saying his ...

1462. The Prophet of Locusts and Honey

Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Props: locusts in a small aquarium or a plastic locust / honeycomb or bowl of honey We call him “John the Baptist.” Some prefer to call him “John the Baptizer” just to be clear that John isn’t seen as baptizing Jesus into the Baptist church, making Jesus a Baptist. Some of you Baptist may disagree on this. But when we think of “John the Baptist,” or “John the Baptizer,” the first thing that comes to mind is not water, but probably something else: strange clothing and weird eating habits. At least they seem ...

1463. About Those Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

Jean Rodenbough tells about a friend of hers whose brother and his family drove to Thomasville, North Carolina just before Christmas. They made this long trip because their cousins and aunts and uncles lived there. Their family was getting together for a Christmas season celebration. As they passed by the Episcopal Church where a manger scene was in the yard, her friend’s 5-year-old nephew asked about the meaning of the manger scene. “That is Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus, there in the manger,” her ...

1464. Seeing Light In Darkness

John 11:1-16

Sermon

David Belgum

As death drew near for a seventy-year-old man, a cousin was heard to say to his wife, "Don't worry, Agatha, it seems dark now, but in time you'll see the light at the end of this tunnel." Some use another cliche, "It's always darkest before the dawn." These are not helpful statements. And Agatha, about to become a widow, simply sighs and says to herself, "No one understands." It may have seemed to the sisters, Martha and Mary, that Jesus did not understand the seriousness of Lazarus' illness. Here their ...

1465. Preaching On Biblical Personalities

Sermon

John R. Bodo

1466. Holy Trinity Sunday

John 3:1-21, Psalm 29:1-11

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

CALL TO WORSHIP Search for a vision of God. Listen for the voices of God's messengers. Enlist in the embassy of God. PRAYER OF CONFESSION Three-times-holy One, our best parenting is but a shadow of your giving and caring for us. Our devotion to brothers and sisters can hardly be compared to the self-giving of Jesus Christ, Our Brother. The most understanding and forgiving family spirit we share is hardly comparable to the unity in love which is your nature. We are lost if we flee your loving discipline. We ...

1467. The Road To The Wilderness

Mark 1:9-13

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

I have always enjoyed that CBS News segment, "On The Road With Charles Kuralt." He takes us to out-of-the-way places like Bethlehem, Georgia; Farmington, Iowa; and Old Town, Maine. He shows us a piece of Americana, and helps us understand ourselves. So, on the Sundays between now and Easter I want us to go on the road with Jesus of Nazareth be on the roads Jesus traveled in order that we would see him more clearly and understand more nearly what it is we are to do. The first road I want us to travel is the ...

1468. How to Settle an Argument

Acts 15:22

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: None Have you ever had an argument with someone and you knew that you were right and he was wrong? The big problem is that the people you are arguing with believe that they are right and you are wrong. That's trouble. What do you do when things like that happen? Do you get angry and fight, or do you just leave the person and never see him again? Some people do it one way and some people do it another way. I even know some who do it both ways. St. Paul had a problem like this. He knew that he had to ...

1469. Never Cry Uncle - Malchus

Matthew 26:47-56

Drama

Thomas Blowers

Dramatic Monologue My name is Malchus and I'm but one of the many slaves owned by the high priest. Someone once asked me how many of us there were all told and I couldn't even make a guess, so I answered "Oh about enough to populate a small city." Could have been that many, too, counting everybody: men, women, and children. We cleaned, cooked, took care of the stables, guarded the Palace -- in fact, we did just about everything nobody really likes to do anyway unless he has to. And we had to or get whipped ...

1470. The Quality of Mercy

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

"... Forgive your brother from your heart ..." - Matthew 18:35 A very long time ago a ruler of many people, a king, decided to settle accounts with all who were in his realm. As they came one by one before him, one of those who came was found to owe the astronomical sum of 10,000 talents. Now that was a lot of money, literally an imponderable amount - something like the "national debt," I suppose. Of course, the man was unable to pay. In those days a citizen who owed more then he was able to pay could be ...

1471. Are There Any Questions?

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

Today our good year in the company of Dr. Luke, the author of the Gospel that had been in focus through these months, begins to wind down toward the end. Are there any questions? If you have a question, and I suspect we have a few in mind, line up in the center aisle and wait your turn. Jesus has been teaching in the temple at Jerusalem, his disciples are at hand, and in the crowd his enemies as well. The question-answer period begins. One by one those who oppose him for one reason or another challenge him ...

1472. The Collateral Damage of Our Attitudes

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

We continue to gauge how our lives are effected by all this. It has been difficult taking in all the things happening over these past three weeks, much less make sense of it all. Occasionally you read something in the paper or you see something on TV which helps you put things in perspective. I remember Thursday September 13th all of the sporting events that weekend had been cancelled. One of the NFL athletes was asked about playing on Sunday. He said, "Why? Who wants to play? I have a family and my heart ...

1473. Sticks and Stones

1 Samuel 17:1-58

Sermon

Goliath slew David. The boy’s bubble of life burst. For twelve years he had lived in a bubble built by doctors to prevent disease from assaulting his body, which lacked immunity to any disease. Recently David died in a Houston hospital room. Hospital staff had come to love him. Doctors meeting the press wept openly. A retired gift shop lady said to a reporter that David had come to be thought of as their own boy by the entire city of Houston. Houston mourns his passing. It always seems to those who scan ...

1474. A Princely Passion

2 Samuel 13:1-22

Sermon

She has just passed her twenty-fifth birthday. A pert miss, young, attractive, and popular. Possessing more threads in her closet than could be found on your Singer Sewing Machine’s spool. She is a doll. She is rich and famous. Her name is Barbie. Her boyfriend is tall, dark, and handsome. His tennis outfit would make Jimmy Connors’ eyes turn green with envy. His tailor-made gloves would make the likes of Michael Jackson drool with jealousy. His well-tailored suits are a model for budding executives on ...

1475. "I appeal to Caesar!"

Acts 24:1-27, Acts 25:1-12

Sermon Aid

CSS

Two years at Caesarea! Today people might regard that as an ideal vacation - warm Mediterranean breezes, a rocky shoreline with some sandy beaches, daily pageantry with the drills of the Roman legions, plenty of sunshine and swimming. Today, only a few miles to the south, the shore is lined with the high-rise resort hotels of Tel-Aviv. Caesarea itself has become a tourist mecca, carefully excavated and restored to indicate some of the amenities of Roman civilization - paved streets, aqueducts to bring ...

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