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 1964 results

1451. Reaching Up—Reaching Out

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... At the heart of this teaching is one of the most quoted and misunderstood scriptures in the New Testament. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." That's what I'd like us to think about today. I. HOW IS YOUR HEART? Is it warm or cold, tough or tender, touchable or troubled? The Bible is as concerned about the condition of your heart-the seat of your emotions, the center of your being- as your cardiologist is concerned about the heart muscle in your body. So the Bible says: 1. "Love God ...

1452. Come and See

Luke 2:1-20

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , excited by the scenes of Bethlehem on display in out Multipurpose Room, came running up to me yesterday afternoon saying “Dr. Olds, Dr. Olds, we've been to Bethlehem." O, that all of us who hunger for God, could find our way to Bethlehem tonight and have our hearts strangely warmed by the One who loves us no matter what—even Christ our Lord. Amen.

1453. Conversion or Credentialing?

Acts 9:1-5, 10-12, 17-19

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... your might. Just make sure it's the right fight. PAUL WAS A CONVERTED MAN. United Methodists believe in a religion of reason, but we also believe in a religion of experience. Let your faith make sense but never forget that your heart needs to be warmed. Experience without reason is emotionalism, but reason without experience is intellectualism and boredom. I. CONVERSION IS AN ACT OF SURRENDER. In Acts 9, Verse 6 we read, “Jesus said to Paul, ‘Get up and go into the city and you will be told what to do ...

1454. Be Kind!

Luke 10:25-37

Illustration

Ann Landers

Columnist Ann Landers once wrote, "Be kind to people. The world needs kindness so much. You never know what sort of battles other people are fighting. Often just a soft word or a warm compliment can be immensely supportive. You can do a great deal of good by just being considerate, by extending a little friendship, going out of your way to do just one nice thing, or saying one good word." Being civil to one another is the least we can do. Every major religion or philosophy acknowledges that.

1455. Dancing with the Saints

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is the time to “plant” and when is the time to “pluck up” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). To “bear fruit” the saints have to know their environment—when there are nurturing rains on the way, when there are ill winds blowing, when there are long, warm days, when there are storms threatening. Without proper timing nothing bears fruit. But when the timing of the saints is on target, the harvest is beyond our imaginings. TECHNIQUE: Real dancing isn’t a roadmap. It’s more like a topographical rendering of ...

1456. Lessons from a Fool

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... would you take for the health of your children? If you have people who love you and you’re healthy and they’re healthy, you’re rich. I don’t care what your balance sheet says. If you have enough to eat, and clothes to wear and a warm house on a cold night, and then a little more to share, you are very rich indeed. This past January television brought us up close and personal with the earthquake in Haiti. Television news teams showed the bodies of tiny children who died in that horrible quake. Haiti ...

1457. Faithful Servants

Luke 12:32-40

Illustration

Mickey Anders

... to unrolling their cuffs. They rarely light on a chair, much less settle in for a nap between jobs… Faithful servants are more than ready. They are the kind of people who not only leave the porch light on for you but also meet you at the door with warm milk, and when you say that your bride is craving for anchovy ice cream, they ask whether she would prefer a cup or a cone…" Faithful servants are more than alert. They live their lives on tiptoe, with their ears trained for the call. Before the phone can ...

1458. Hard Sayings

Luke 12:49-53

Illustration

Hubert Beck

... But he trumps the whole mess created by his enemies by rising again from the dead! So there, you enemies! Put that in your hat and eat it! Well, perhaps that is a bit overdrawn, but it helps give perspective on what is happening in the text. The warm, fuzzy Jesus we frequently invent with all the niceties that we fabricate about him stands shattered in our text - and in much of the chapter around the text, the exception being the "do not be anxious" section in verses 22-32. The chapter is filled with "hard ...

1459. Hard Words to Hear at Christmas

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... him. His sermons must have been so genuine, so compelling, and so prophet-like that people made the effort to get there before the pews filled up. Would we even tolerate John's preaching today? John certainly had an interesting preaching style. Most preachers warm up the crowd with a joke. Most preaching professors tell their students to say "we" instead of "you," as in "we need to repent," not "you need to repent." John ignored such niceties. He looked right at the religious leaders of the day, snarling ...

1460. A Shepherd's Story

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... were passing the time on what looked like an ordinary night. We were watching the sheep and trying to keep awake. All of a sudden, the most amazing thing happened. An angel showed up — no kidding. I know what you're thinking: late at night, a little wine to keep warm, we only thought we saw an angel. Let me tell you, it was a real angel! We all saw him. None of us had ever seen an angel before, trust me. We were terrified. I don't know what you think seeing an angel is supposed to be like, but ...

1461. The True Shepherd

John 10:1-10

Sermon

Lee Griess

... the counterfeit ring was dull and had no luster. In the gospel reading, Jesus compares two shepherds. Outwardly they may seem the same. The skin of both is bronzed by the sun and weathered by the wind. They both wear a coat of sheep's wool to keep them warm at night. Both carry a shepherd's staff. But only one is a genuine shepherd and the other is a counterfeit. One is a shepherd in his heart; the other is a shepherd for hire. On an ordinary day, you would never tell them apart. But let trouble approach ...

1462. and Forgiveness Come Easy When You’re Filled with The Spirit

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... . (You and I have a way of putting up locked doors for Jesus, don't we? That's one of the reasons that it is hard to believe in his resurrection sometimes.) But Jesus breaks though those locked doors of our lives. And when he comes, he comes in a warm friendly manner. That's what the offer of peace is all about. Luther goes on to add that with this example Christ presents his heart, who he is and what kind of heart he bears to us. Christ treats his disciples and us so tenderly, not reproaching anyone for ...

1463. Why We Need the Pledge of Allegiance

Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... orders. It had gained the corner on "nice" but was losing the ability to call itself church. C. S. Lewis knew the battlefield connection underlying Christianity. He came about that insight in a very personal way. When he was nine years old, his warm and loving mother contracted cancer. Within a very short time, she was confined to bed, enduring harsh treatments, in terrible pain, and stinking because of the sores and horrible wasting of her body. At night she would cry out in anguish, and young Jack ...

1464. The Road No One Wants to Travel

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... lived happily ever after." That is often the way we want it, in our books and movies and television programs. We want to linger in the critical moment. We want to feel the emotional high of the kiss in slow motion. We want to sit in the experience of the warm fuzzies and then go get a burger. But Jesus says, "No." Jesus says that life isn't found in the moment, not even if it is a moment of insight or love or passion. Life is a journey, not a destination. It is always tempting to settle down into that ...

1465. Political Pardon

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... a very righteous man. In fact, it seemed often that when he spat out his few words, they sprayed righteousness from his thin lips. He walked with upright dignity, and no one could find a fault in him. Except, maybe, that few found him warm or tender. But then, one does not become as righteous at Fouke by blurring the edges of rigorous spirituality through relational compromises. Fouke was married to Hilda, and they lived a rigid life of regular hours and faithful church attendance. Fouke carried his Bible ...

1466. A Career in The Kingdom

Matthew 21:23-32

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... One day, according to Roosevelt in his autobiography, Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography, the two of them played several sets of tennis, jogged a number of miles, and then worked out with the medicine ball for an hour. After all of that the president was just getting warmed up, and he asked Jusserand, "What would you like to do now?" Gasping for breath, Jean replied, "If it's all the same to you, lie down and die!" Where Did That Come From? Some people know when enough is enough. Others never seem to quit ...

1467. Unwanted Freedom

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Chris Ewing

... well want, especially if that means kicking back and enjoying life. As the author explains at the conclusion of the article, after describing the ship's cantilevered solarium whirlpools with their breathtaking ocean view, "The thing you should be thinking about as tiny, warm bubbles surround you is, well, freedom on the seas."2 I somehow don't think this is quite exactly what Jesus had in mind when he promised his followers that they would be "free indeed" (John 8:36). Indeed, he might have some pointed ...

1468. Being a Blessing

Genesis 12:1-4a

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... greatness is used to exploit. There are ways that we strive to horde and keep our wealth to ourselves. As a nation with only a fraction of the world's population, we use a huge percentage of the world's resources. Is that a blessing to the world? As global warming threatens, we need to be aware that it is our nation that sends the most greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Are we being a blessing? Yes, in many ways we are being a blessing. But we can do better. As individuals and as a nation we can do much ...

1469. This Is In the Bible?

Acts 2:42-47

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... of the world's population lives on less than a dollar a day. We suffer the health effects of obesity while much of the world suffers from malnutrition. Our nation is responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gases that are accelerating global warming, and our corporations chase endlessly around the globe looking for the next nation that will let its workers be paid pennies an hour to make our shirts, sneakers, jeans, radios, and computers. The hard truth, friends, is that the economy of the early ...

1470. Eat and Run

Exodus 12:1-14

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... done it. Everybody knows what it's like. But even though everyone says he hates to eat and run, the truth is that not everyone does hate it. Some folks rather like it. As a little boy, I liked to eat and run in the summertime. When the weather is warm and it stays light later, dinner is just an interruption for a young boy. And so I'd be reluctant to come in from playing when my mother would call me for dinner; and as soon as I was finished, I would look for the first opportunity to be excused ...

1471. A Change of Mind

Exodus 32:1-14

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... about being hungry and thirsty. They questioned Moses' authority and motivation. Did he lead them into the wilderness so they could die from starvation? Some suggested returning to Egypt, where life might not have been great living as slaves, but at least they had a warm bed and enough food. God gave the Ten Commandments, hoping to reform and remold the people. Let's just say that they were not too open to changing their ways. Idle minds are the playthings of the devil. Without a clear sense of who they ...

1472. All About Me?

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-31

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... to accept the dramatic simplicity of this teaching. And some of us, at least, have had dramatic images drummed into our subconscious — Luther in his Tower, Wesley at Aldersgate Street — so that we ask, "Is there something I should do? Does my heart have to be warmed just so? Do I have to go to a certain church or a particular evangelist's crusade? Is there some sinner's prayer I have to learn and recite?" Naturally, lots of folks have answers to these questions, often in return for a love offering. We ...

1473. Lighting up Lent

Ephesians 5:8-14

Sermon

David O. Bales

... talked of God's Spirit searching our soul like a candle through a dark cellar, we'd understand because we instinctively think of light as God's nature. God as light makes sense deeper than reason can explain. The seasons of greater light grow our food and warm our homes. When the sun's up, we can move around freely and see where we're going. We express understanding by saying, "It was like a light bulb coming on." Darkness doesn't seem to have much productive power, except to grow mold in the refrigerator ...

1474. Children of the Heavenly Father

Romans 8:12-25

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... it is intended to be. This world is under divine judgment. It groans and cries out for someone or something to "save" it. If any of you have seen Al Gore's Oscar-winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, and are wondering about the human influence on global warming and the catastrophe that could result, then you can see that Paul's linkage of sin and suffering to the world of nature is not so far fetched. What Paul says next is again surprising. Paul compares all this suffering, pain, and trouble to labor pains ...

1475. A Truly Universal Operating System

Romans 14:1-12

Sermon

Larry Lange

... farmers for production? What about your own environmental footprint? Do you realize your insatiable thirst for oil and energy and plastic diverts billions upon billions of dollars from research and development of sustainable energy alternatives, contributes to global warming, and drives a foreign policy built on fearful attempts to maintain our grossly disproportionate consumption of dwindling global resources? You are an integral part of all of that evil, brother. You and I, we have wonderful marriages and ...

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