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 1913 results

126. Said the Night Wind….

Sermon

Mike Ripski

After receiving world-wide acclaim as a literary genius, H.G. Wells grew more and more cynical in his later years. His state of mind is reflected in this confession: “I go out now and look up at the stars in the same way I look at the pattern of wallpaper in the railway station waiting room.” Life can do that to us, can’t it? Occasionally we hear a still small voice ask, “Is this all there is?” We have this sense that we were created for more. How do we get this way? How do our senses get dulled? What ...

127. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Though not the first speech in Acts (cf. 1:16–22), this is the first to proclaim the Christ event, that is, it is the first instance of the kerygma. It touches on the ministry and death of Jesus, but its chief concern is to show that Jesus is the Messiah, and to this end it lays greatest emphasis on his resurrection and ascension. As we shall see, this speech sets the pattern for much of the other preaching in Acts. From a survey of all the instances of kerygma in Acts, C. H. Dodd has identified six basic ...

128. Elisha's Bones

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

Lori Wagner

Prop: If you can…a turtle or crustacean in a shell. Is it alive? [Have people look at a turtle, or a snail, or perhaps a hermit crab in a shell.] Can you tell? Only when you touch it perhaps. Even then, sometimes you may think something is dead and gone, when all of a sudden, life emerges. Your touch may have awoken it from its sleep. And lo and behold, it’s on its feet! The power of touch can’t be denied. We all know it. We all need it. A gentle and loving touch has the ability to connect us warmly in a ...

129. Loving Made Real

John 13:1-17, John 13:31-38

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

The lectionary gives us two types of traditional texts for our Maundy Thursday services over the span of the three cycles. One type is before us tonight: the text of the foot washing, the text of Jesus clearly demonstrating the importance of his love for us and our call to love others. The other is what you and I call the “last supper”: how the ritual, the practice, of our meal together, whether the celebration of a Seder reordered and meaning changed, the gift of the sacrament, or remembrance proclaimed ...

130. Words, Words, Words

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Thomas Long

One doesn't have to search very far in our culture to realize that we live in an age that doesn't trust words very much. We use words by the bushel, in fact we are the age that does "word processing." Even so, we don't trust words; we build scaffolding out of them, but we don't put our weight on it. We know that words can be slippery, weasel things, used to conceal, to deceive, to distort. Words are cheap; people can hide behind words. When a politician gives a speech, what do we say? Promises, promises. ...

131. The Surprise of Absolute Victory

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

In this day of overwhelming defeatism, we look longingly for the absolute victory. Paul declares it in today's Scripture: "Nay, (even) in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Do you believe that? If you do, you are more steady in the midst of the collapse all around you. A great pessimism has to be conquered by a great faith. Edith Lovejoy Pierce uncovers a challenging insight: Even though we escape now We shall not escape Turning a key in a lock, Dropping a well-placed ...

132. On Being a Beautiful Christian

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

To have courage without pugnacity, To have conviction without bigotry, To have charity without condescension, To have faith without credulity, To have meekness with power, and emotion with sanity, To have love for humanity without mere sentimentality - that is Christianity. (Charles Evans Hughes) Being a "beautiful Christian" is that second mile that a true experience of Christ produces in us. There are no "ugly Christians" not really. When I was a student at the Duke Divinity School the bells were just ...

133. God’s Body Language

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Presbyterian preacher Thomas Hilton tells of watching Billy Graham on television a few years back, when his small daughter Karin came into the living room and looked at the television set and exclaimed, “Dad, what is he so mad about?” To a small child the body language of a person is often more important than the verbal language. She saw the raised arm, heard the loud voice, saw the intense face, and assumed anger. I have an idea that was not the message that Billy was trying to get across, but children ...

134. Those Who Doubt

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

Christianity has always had its doubters. Sometimes it comes in open and public terms. Perhaps more often, despite our attempts at accurate measurements, are the doubters who speak only to intimate friends or not at all. When you and I doubt we are not alone. In the ancient world, our precious faith made little sense to most Jews or Gentiles. Some great souls, even saints, have been born out of times of skepticism. We have always had our "doubting Thomases." Read the autobiographies and biographies of ...

135. Three Men Changed by God

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

CNN carried a dramatic story about a pastor in South Korea who used to be a trained killer. That’s right--I said a trained killer. His name is Kim Shin Jo. We have been reading much the past couple of years about North Korea. This is a state that has caused the world many headaches over the years. Kim Shin Jo was originally a North Korean assassin. In January of 1968, Jo and a team of other assassins slipped into South Korea from the North in a daring attempt to kill the president of South Korea. The team ...

136. As I Am A Witness

Luke 24:36-49

Sermon

Lori Wagner

…Watch —and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. (Habakkuk 5) I am he who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me. (John 8:18) Animation: show/roll photos of Hubbel photos on screen; show model of brain; show markings on bone The Hubbel space telescope has been seeking out and examining unknown universes with its multiple lenses for over 25 years now. First launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery ...

137. The Christian Mother

John 15:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

Several years ago in one of her columns, Erma Bombeck described the complex task God had in creating mothers. After all, he had to build a creature who "would run on black coffee and leftovers...Have a lap that disappears when she stand up...A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair...And six pairs of hands." Also, "three pairs of eyes." An angel pleaded with God not to work so hard. "Lord," said the angel touching His sleeve gently, "Come to bed..." "I can't," said the ...

138. Getting Down To The Local Issues

Sermon

Thomas Long

"The landscape of politics is changing," explained the political pundit on the television talk show. His hands were outstretched in front of him, palms up, as if to say, "We may as well face it." "It's the impact of the instant, electronic media," he continued. "Two generations ago, a presidential candidate could write one speech addressing the big issues facing the nation and whistle stop around the country giving it everywhere. But not today. The issues are hotter and more immediate. People don't care ...

139. Proper 17

James 1:19-27, Song of Songs 2:1-17, Mark 7:1-23

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Purity is an inside job. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Song of Solomon 2:8-13 The whole of the Song of Solomon is a love poem. In this passage the bride hears the voice of her lover as he approaches her house, then with desire sees him through the lattice. He joyously announces that the winter rainy season is past and that the earth is in full bloom. He beckons his lover to come and celebrate love and life around them and within them. Old Testament: Deuteronomy 4:1-9 Epistle: James 1:17-27 James ...

140. Remembering The Saints

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Larry R. Kalajainen

There was a column in the New York Times on Wednesday, October 28, 1992, by Robertson Davies titled "Haunted By Halloween." After tracing the origins of Halloween to the ancient Celtic festival of the Death of the Year, and showing how the Christian church piggybacked the Feast of All Saints onto this pagan festival which marked both the death of the sun at the beginning of winter and the remembrance of their dead ancestors, Davies argued for a recovery of the best part of the ancient Halloween -- the ...

141. Chapter II

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; You will have no other gods before me. You will not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you will not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but ...

142. Paul Before Agrippa

Acts 25:23--26:32

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

25:23 On the morrow, Paul was brought in before a large and distinguished audience (cf. 9:15; Luke 21:12). Besides the governor and his guests of honor, there were the high ranking officers, that is, the tribunes or prefects of the cohorts stationed at Caesarea (see note on 10:1) and the leading men of the city. These may have included Jews, but the majority at least would have been Gentiles. The occasion was one of great pomp. This translates the word phantasia (cf. our “fantasy”), which points to the ...

143. Miracle Three: Healing A Leper

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

BACKGROUND MATERIAL There is considerable variety to the miracles performed by Christ. One was performed in a synagogue (curing the demoniac), another in a home (healing Peter's mother-in-law), and this one he performed on a public thoroughfare. While Jesus and his disciples were walking, a man afflicted with the terrible disease of leprosy approached them. Fear of leprosy was so great that strict laws had been passed concerning the actions of one so afflicted. The law demanded that lepers should isolate ...

144. Whom Shall I Send, and Who Will Go for Us?

Isaiah 6:1-13

Sermon

Arthur H. Kolsti

R.S.V.P. Sometimes it is interesting to take a biblical passage and just go through it line by line, letting the sparks fly out. This is the way I have opted to deal with today's first reading. Isaiah is one of the prophets who has given us an account of a turning point experience in his life. Some of his imagery will seem strange to us. But if we can get behind it there is something powerful here to which we can relate as well as a piercing word to us in the here and now. Listen! Isaiah begins: "In the ...

145. Everybody a Cinderella

Hosea 2:2-23

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

Cinderella was a very misused young girl. Her father had died and she lived with a stepmother and two half sisters. The stepmother proved to be extremely mean and the half sisters demanding as well as vain and haughty. Very quickly Cinderella became their maid, and in due time their slave. Cinderella became a slave for two reasons. For one she was a prisoner of the household. She had no other place to go and was helpless before the power of the others. Secondly, she felt herself to be inferior. When the ...

146. The Forgotten

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

Christmas is a very special time at our house. It is a time when we try to do many things together as a family. One of the traditional rituals we all share in is the decorating of the various rooms with things that have special sentimental significance for us all. Over the years we have accumulated a number of unique scenes of the Nativity. We generally try to have several of these displayed in various places to remind us not only of the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus, but also to call our attention ...

147. A Fresh Start

Joel 2:28-32, Joel 2:18-27

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Have you ever felt that you were absolutely at the end of your rope, left without hope? Sometime during the years of 539 B.C. to 331 B.C. that is the way the people of Judah felt. It seems that their land had been ravaged by a plague of locusts which had had catastrophic consequences. Once a harvest has been destroyed, you cannot repair it. If a building has burned to the ground, you cannot repair it. In those instances you need to start from scratch with a fresh start. Have you reached the end of your ...

148. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

It happened almost twenty years ago. I had been here at St. Luke’s for only a few months. It was a beautiful spring day. The phone rang in our home on a Sunday afternoon. I answered and a young man on the other end of the line said he needed to tell me something and then ask me a question. The words came in a rush of emotion. He told me that a month ago, he was in our church and he felt God touching his heart and urging him to come down front to be baptized and to join the church. “It was so powerful,” he ...

149. Jesus and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Moore

150. Personal Accountability

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Ezekiel 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The introductory formula The word of the LORD came to me in 18:1, and the concluding formula declares the Sovereign LORD in 18:32, clearly demarcate the first unit of this section. Unconventional, but equally clear, markers set off the second unit, 19:1–14. In 19:1 the Lord commands the prophet: “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel.” The final verse of the chapter repeats this identification: “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.” The common theme connecting the sermon in chapter ...

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