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 126 to 150 of 439 results

126. The Song in Search of a Voice

John 20:19-23

Sermon

James Weekley

... father was there as a protector. The "Comforter," the Peace Giver, is on our side. As we tough it through our pain, he is the Friend who listens and understands. His peace always knocks. His peace comes knocking on the cellar door of our defiant egos. During the bloody crusades of the twelfth century, Bernard of Clarivoux writes, "Christ has come to water the dry places, to illuminate the gloomy spots, and to enflame with warmth those who are cold. He has quickened my sleeping soul." He passes again our way ...

127. Portrait Of A Powerful Servant

John 13:1-17

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... God’s benediction on a monarchy. In our weakest moments a community of equals appeals to us because of our own insecurities and belligerence (we don’t want anyone telling us what to do) and so we are apt to sacrifice the common good for our own ego needs and accompany it with all kinds of pious chatter. Power in itself is not an evil thing, nor is the pursuit of it incompatible with God’s design. The passion to learn, the pursuit of excellence - evidence of our desire for power - have been implanted ...

128. Are Greatness and Christianity Compatible?

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... and, if they opened their hearts to it, they would see, as James S. Stewart said, "wonder upon wonder and every wonder true." The dimensions of true greatness do not lie in our world of gadgets and things, of push and shove, by which our ego is expanded, but in that scheme of wonder where self-denial makes lesser people great. 2. We must cultivatae openness of belief. Nothing is more detrimental to genuine Christianity than the closed mind. It appears in the fundamentalist who stands rigidly upon the verbal ...

129. Of Seeing and Hearing

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... only what we want to hear. Calls for help or attention are blocked out because they disturb us. We deflect subtle messages that come from children or friends. We are hardened to the Gospel, unable to hear the proclamation. Anything that challenges our egos or disturbs the status quo is shunted aside. We hear the words but we do not understand. When we hear selectively, our speech will necessarily be confused. We give double messages to those around us, loaded with whatever hurt, anger, and resentment is ...

130. “You Did That for Me!”

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... and dying in our place, evokes in us the need to make an unconditional response. Jesus is the source of life before whom we stand with empty hands. By his grace we are justified, unconditionally, before God. The miracle of life, which heretofore we have spent on our petty egos, is now given to us as an act of grace which takes its fullness from the gift of Christ, a giving of himself for us. The question we ask many times of Jesus is “You did that for me?” Peter, like you and me, when given an unmerited ...

131. Enter God

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

... rid of foreign thoughts? Enter God. Before God we surrender ourselves. Our lives are set in his truth, power, and redeeming love. The blotted experiences of our lives are removed by God. God cleans the paper. We bow before God with no defenses, excuses or controlling egos. We become new persons. God writes on the clean paper, engraving himself upon a person, granting a second chance. When we turn to Jesus we see God at work in him. The force of God’s wisdom, truth, power, and the hard-minded nature of the ...

132. Love Without Demand

Ruth 1:1-22

Sermon

Sims Robert

... not communicate with her out of his own need. He didn’t try to lead her to talk with him so that he would feel important, or respond to him so that he would feel like a great artist. He did not impose on her the need to build his ego. He did not require that she respond to him at all. He simply placed a lump of clay at her disposal. As always, with love, he had to run a risk. He had to take the chance of failure. He had to face the possibility that she might never respond ...

133. When Thomas Doubted

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... people. Thomas got side-tracked for a while. He left the other believers just when he needed them the most. So, he found himself mourning over a dead Jesus instead of being with a live Christ. This led him to be concerned with trivia, like his own ego and the size of the holes in Jesus’ hands and side. Come on, Thomas, get off incidentals and get with the live God at your side. We don’t know, either, what the other disciples were doing about Thomas’ absence. We hope they were concerned and perhaps ...

134. One Flock, One Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... of God’s people. 3. Watch out for any Christian faith whose pastor and people claim a monopoly on heaven. Be careful of the pastor who claims his church is the only fold. We preachers are in a position that makes us very vulnerable to becoming ego-maniacs, jealous of each other’s parishes. We can become self-centered, manipulators of people. It’s always easier to persuade our people to be against something; it can become a mental illness with us. In fact, because we are sinners, it’s easier to teach ...

135. Step Five - Integrity

Jn 4:16-24 · 1 Jo 1:5-10 · Is 6:1-8

Sermon

John A. Terry

... the place of worship. What matters is not the size of the building but the size of the vision. There is that tendency to judge ourselves in comparison to other people. If I compare myself to others, I will come out as well or poorly as my ego allows. I am fatter or thinner, earn more or less, gossip more or less, play a better game of tennis or worse. It is the ultimate comparison with God that brought Isaiah the true evaluation of himself. Confession before God is the necessary starting point, because God ...

136. Step Six - Willingness

Jn 5:2-9a · Heb 4:14-16 · Is 1:12-20

Sermon

John A. Terry

... okay to be gruff and insensitive. That is not what the gospel is about. Jesus did not yell, "Look, do you want to be healed or what?" to make the man feel worse about himself. It was a healing question out to remove the obstacle, not to crush a frail ego. This is a story about Jesus giving the man, not what he asked for, but what he needed. Jesus did not do what the men wanted, because he wanted too little. All he seemed to want was pity. Instead, Jesus gave him what he needed and was too timid to ...

137. Altered Expectations

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

... option was the one Joseph was planning to exercise. This tells us that Joseph was a compassionate man, and that he likely had deep feelings for Mary. Joseph’s expectations of his married life with Mary had been radically altered, and surely his male ego had been damaged. But Joseph chose to react quietly, without further embarrassment for Mary. But Joseph’s plans were altered again by an encounter with a messenger from God, an angel, who visited Joseph while he slept. The angel told Joseph not to be ...

138. Holy Arithmetic!

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... develops, Computer Programmer God is just too busy with other projects to worry about us. God the Rock Star is a bit of a prima donna, a very popular, flamboyant Super Star who has lots of fans, lots of connections, and above all, lots of ego. If you want to stay in favor with Rock Star God, you have to go around saying nothing but nice things, flattering things about God, giving Rock Star God all the credit for everything good that happens and taking personal responsibility for everything that goes ...

139. When the Tie That Binds is a Slipknot

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... and disagreement among the disciples over who would be the greatest once Jesus had established the Reign of God. Peter argued with Jesus about whether or not the crucifixion should be allowed to happen, argued so strongly that Jesus had to take Peter’s ego to the woodshed, setting him straight in no uncertain terms. Nathaniel, when he was about to be called to be a follower of Jesus, laughed at the unlikely prospect of someone from a small town, someone who had no seminary degree and no previous ...

140. Divorce-Proofing Your Marriage

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

... apples of gold in a bowl of silver." (KJV) Our words are valuable! Are the words which you speak daily to your mate "fitly spoken?" Do you make a conscious effort to speak positively, supportively, and kindly? Do you try to build up your mate's ego instead of tearing it down? Start today speaking more compliments than criticisms to your spouse! Destroy Jealousy The third ingredient in the formula to make your marriage divorce-proof is to destroy jealousy! Don't be jealous of your mate and don't try to make ...

141. Six Nails of the Cross I: The Nail of Pride

Mark 12:35-40

Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... the time when we concentrate upon our shortcomings, and the grace of God showed to us through the sacrificial death of the Christ. The key to Lent is penitence, a change of heart that allows God to work beneath the skin surface and rid us of our false egos. Which of us cherishes the name hypocrite, or likes being the professionally religious? Not one of us. Yet with mallet or hammer in hand, we put the nail in place and ram it home with arrogance into the flesh of Christ. Pride, such a large sin, takes such ...

142. Jesus Meets Buddha and Confucius

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Carl Jech

... the single most important point of discussion between Buddhists and Christians. Take, for example, the currently popular subject of so-called "New Age Higher Consciousness." New age awareness of the "higher self" can easily turn into a selfish preoccupation with our own ego. But instead of being an excuse for self-absorption, the search for our higher self can encourage us to find ourselves by relating to and caring about others. We can learn the difference between being self-centered and being a centered ...

143. Fasting: Foolish or Fruitful?

Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

... life. What fasting is done today is largely divorced from any serious effort to change one's wicked ways or to execute social righteousness. Fasting that is foolish actually supports sin rather than helping to get rid of it. You can fast for the sake of building up your ego. It can be a matter of pride. When you fast, you can go around telling everybody what you are giving up for Lent. Jesus condemned this in the Sermon on the Mount. He said that, when you fast, you should not let men see or know that you ...

144. Prayer

Matthew 13:44-46

Bulletin Aid

... if I - Or the people I know Could live that way! I'm cantankerous Opinionated Sometimes hard to live with! I'd have to be changed So much that I might not be me anymore! I don't know if even God's kingdom is worth that! Lord, forgive my ego My preoccupation with self As I understand me And help me find my real self in you More perfect More able to live in your presence And your Kingdom. For Jesus' sake Who gained entry for me, Amen

145. Proper 8

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

... our eyes to find ourselves living with new obligations and new opportunities. Thus, we enter a new future, and view the dawn of a new day. We may go forth limping, as it were, from our spiritual and psychological wounds, but we also know that into our battered and scarred ego has been poured new life from God.

146. Parable of Strange Words

1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Illustration

... that word because the next Sunday you should know what it means." Jimmy was right. Strange words that go unexplained drive the hearer to thinking in other fields; the speaker loses his audience when he speaks a strange tongue. Difficult words may flatter the egos of those who understand them and may win some respect from the learned, but the price of sending the young folks away hungry is too great. The burden placed upon any minister or teacher is a great one of bringing understanding, knowledge, truth and ...

147. God Is No Respecter Of Persons

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

... if he doesn't. Western outfitters report that ordinary men who 100 years ago would have worn a gun so others might think of them as more than ordinary, are today wearing high-heeled cowboy boots. It seems an extra three inches will do wonders for one's ego. At Sears, the best-selling woman's shirt bears the autograph of Cheryl Tiegs. It outsells shirts without her autograph four to one. Women seem to think some of the popular model's beauty and charisma will rub off on them if they identify with her. Trivia ...

148. Your Calling from God

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

... him to be a wandering nomad. I doubt that she received any comfort when Abram said, "God has promised to make of me a great nation, to bless me, and to make my name great." Only two things could cause a man to believe that: one possibility is a terrific ego; the other, a tremendous faith, which was the basis of Abram’s response. In the Letter to the Hebrews, we read, "by faith Abram obeyed when he was called to go out ... not knowing where he was to go." But in response to Abram’s faithfulness, God also ...

149. Proper 17

Lk 14:1, 7-14 · Heb 12:18-19, 22-24; 13:1-8 · Eze 18:1-9, 25-29 · Prov 25:6-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... in love. It is going to the lowly, outcast, poor, underprivileged and exalting them by inviting them to dinner. It takes humility to invite the "nobodies," for pride wants only the prominent, wealthy, and eminent people to grace and honor your table. This exalts the ego. 2. Look Who's Coming to Dinner! 7:12-14. Need: Most people invite friends and associates to dinner. They are people we enjoy or people with whom we want to develop closer relations. Often we invite people because they first invited us, and ...

150. Advent 4

Lk 1:39-55 · Heb 10:5-10 · Mic 5:1-4

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... opened - the child cannot wait! Do we feel that way as we wait for Christ this Sunday before Christmas? 3. Magnifies (v. 46). Mary sings, "My soul magnifies the Lord." To magnify is to make great, to enlarge, to praise. She may have had reason to magnify herself, her ego. Look who she is! A woman chosen above all other women of all time to bear the Christ! Rather, she magnifies God who in his mercy chose her as a simple peasant girl. He has done great things for her in allowing her to bear the Messiah. Do ...

Showing results