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 1576 to 1600 of 2699 results

1576. Revitalizing the Lo-cal Church

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... did as they dismounted from their horses was to ask whatever lay persons met them: "Got any praying people around?" "Where are the praying people here?" When Asbury came to Tennessee, they pointed him in the direction of the Cavins, who became so impressed by Asbury's burning zeal they converted to Methodism. Revivals are nothing more than lived convictions that those who are "lost in prayer" are found in Jesus Christ. The key component in every revival that burst with such incredible energy on the scene ...

1577. The Urge to Purge

2 Samuel 12:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... communal base of involvement and responsibility for participation in a fractured, sinful world. Confession as a quick and easy means of expunging the marks against you, so that you may get to work on racking up a new, even more impressive list of improprieties, is hardly the biblical or orthodox model. The second century church found itself needing to deal institutionally with those who committed post-baptismal sins. Just as the church took seriously the regenerative effect of baptism, it took seriously ...

1578. The Golden Calf and the Golden Table

James 1:17-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Humanity continues to flex its creative muscles and invent new idols, new images of tiny gods at an impressive rate. From the moment that the ancient Hebrews began to worship only one God, people of faith have been confronted with the enticement of worshipping at the feet of many gods. What does the way of faith centered on belief in the omniscient power of one God have to offer ...

1579. Interior Decorations

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in theory, what they were heading toward as they approached the city of David. And yet, despite their wealth, their knowledge and their positions, the Magi presented themselves humbly on their knees before the Christ child. They did not attempt to impress others with their presence or their insights - they came simply to worship and to serve. In service they offered themselves and their gifts as both interior and exterior decorations at that dingy little cave which was Jesus' first nursery and Christianity ...

1580. The Crime of Christmas

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

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... your own Christmas tree - in the snow, if possible; or in the bare pasture. Let it gum up the carpet with sap and drip needles onto the presents. . . It will be a little remote, a little strange; it comes from outside. And that way it may impress you with some of the strangeness of the holiday, some of its essential refusal to be domesticated. For Jesus also came from outside; and the sheep, the spruce trees, and the snow, in their languages, call him master too." The Reformed Journal, 40 (December 1990), 2 ...

1581. The First Christmas Card

Philippians 4:4-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... they journeyed back to their sheep after visiting Bethlehem? Doesn't it seem more likely that the shepherds were so full of joy at what they had witnessed that they went home singing and praising God and talking nonstop to one another about their impressions? This same spirit of joy should dominate our returns from visiting the Christ child and should permeate all Christmas greetings. Romans 5:11 reads,"We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The last night Christ spent with his apostles he ...

1582. Settle for an F

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... in the first century - remaining faithfully committed to one's partner is seen as kind of quaintly foolish, at times even marginally masochistic. We are a society where Wilt Chamberlain's non-basketball statistics (20,000-plus women) are considered as impressive and laudatory as his on-court performances (100-plus points in a game, etc.). Only recently has a return of fidelity been recommended. Yet even that seems to be motivated strictly by a "save yourself first" mentality. Where- as we are unwilling ...

1583. ...More...

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... - redistribution. So-called "middle-class" Americans are fooling themselves if they believe that the distance, dispositions and distributions between themselves and the "poor" are very significant. The increasing wealth and power of that tiny minority of the colossal rich stands as impressive testimony to that group's ability to grasp "more." The problem is that when there isn't any "more" to gather in, "more" must be found somewhere. This "more" then comes from the middle-class, which is not so much ...

1584. Toys R Us. NOT!

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... bizarre yet popular 1992 movie Wayne's World. This sleeper hit, based on a skit concept from the television show "Saturday Night Live", features the lives of two weirdly nerdy types "Wayne" and "Garth." Their California-quirky language style has made an enduring impression. Among their favorite expressions is the practice of making a statement and then following it with the single negative "not" to indicate that the opposite of what was stated is, in fact, the truth. Hence all those T-shirts your kids want ...

1585. Prophets or Professionals?

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... our own message while proclaiming it to be God's word. In Israel's day this practice carried with it a death sentence. Might our dwindling numbers and foul-mood flocks be another form of that "death sentence"? Concerned with making an impression instead of making a difference, we have beautiful churches in beautiful neighborhoods and abandoned churches in poor neighborhoods. Concerned with sounding good on tape instead of sounding good to God, we have paid-for choirs and out-of-tune souls. Concerned with ...

1586. Written in Red

1 John 5:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... blood" has now become a hot buzzword. The BBC television series on microbiology has now become a book called In the Blood: God, Genes and Destiny by Steve Jones (London: HarperCollins, 1996). Any- more, unless the blood really spills and spurts, we're not too impressed. We are as fascinated by the sight of all that vital red stuff as were our more primitive forebears. But we are also more frightened of blood now than at any other time in this century. Tough-guy rescue workers with strong stomachs who used ...

1587. Soulistic Health

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... evidence of yet another sin we have committed in our lives. When Jesus' healing power brought the miracle of health to the hemorrhaging woman in this week's gospel text, he immediately sought her out to speak with her about her experience. Impressed by the power of her faith, Jesus proclaims, "your faith has made you well." Furthermore, Jesus adds a standard Jewish blessing "Go in peace." But then he couples that blessing with a common Hellenistic saying. This Greek blessing is usually literally translated ...

1588. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." This observation, however, leads to a prior question: "How do we train ourselves in godliness?" "What do we do first?" "Where can we go to find a good trainer with an impressive success record?" The answer lies in today's gospel text, where Jesus recites the training mantra of the Shema. As an observant Jew, Jesus recited this combination of confession and prayer to God twice a day during his morning and evening prayers. While sticking ...

1589. Give me a C...

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 's be the meek...." "No-fear persecution, no-fear persecution...." "We are the merciful; we are the merciful...." Don't you think Paul would approve? Aren't these the most foolish sounding excuses for "cheers" that any "team" might chant? Who could possibly be impressed by a team that taunts itself as poor in spirit, meek, merciful and persecuted? Surely these are the marks of losers, not winners. But that is exactly what Paul is telling the Corinthians to stand up and shout about. We have become numbed to ...

1590. Would You Believe...?

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... his foe by scaring him off with some hopelessly transparent exaggeration: "Right now, there are 50 armed police officers surrounding this place." When the adversary doubted him, Smart would counter with: "Would you believe 20 police and an angry dog?" With the crook still not impressed, Smart would finally suggest: "How about a troop of Girl Scouts on a cookie-sale drive?" How many of us are willing to put what we believe on a similar sliding scale? When we were young in years or young in faith, we were ...

1591. A Match Made in Heaven

Isaiah 61:1—62:12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are two or three different designs on the drawing board that promise either (1) to shove an offending asteroid off its earth-targeted course or (2) to blow it up into small, relatively harmless-sized pieces. Although these designs look pretty impressive on paper, they all share two common weaknesses. First, developing the technology and the hardware to actually build these systems would cost about a zillion dollars. Second, by the time we can locate a potentially hazardous heavenly body crashing toward us ...

1592. Freedom in Bondedness

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of her carefully saved funds caught her parents by surprise and caused them some concern. But when they questioned the wisdom of their daughter's actions, she defended herself by simply stating, "But I promised her, and she needed it!" Her parents were silenced and impressed by their daughter's free spirit with her money which had been driven by her bonded, sacrificial love for her friend, her "neighbor." In the words of the great George Matheson poem, "Make Me a Captive, Lord, and Then I Shall Be Free."

1593. Learn Your ABCs

2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... -conscious yet selfless. First, we must know our tradition and learn from it. Second, we must know that all our most basic spiritual roots are nourished and strengthened at one source - Scripture. It used to be (not so long ago) that in order to impress the faith upon the hearts and souls of our children, they were required to memorize an entire catechism of theological questions and answers before confirmation. Most of us today would cringe at the prospect of such an exercise - expecting it to be as dull ...

1594. Jesus' Bad Manners

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... place you've chosen, know this. It is not nearly as clever or inaccessible as you think. There is no hiding from God ... ... in a bottle of white pills ... in a bottle of gold liquid ... in a time-consuming job ... in a household ... in an impressive bank account ... in a scruffy food bank ... in an unmade bed The church must unlearn its etiquette. We must follow God's example and start inviting ourselves into the lives of those who have sought shelter in caves or sought safe distance in tree- tops. It ...

1595. Greed at Christmas

Lk 1:26-38

Illustration

King Duncan

... at this time of the year. I especially like to think back to Christmas times when I was your age. My mind fills with memories of decorating the tree . . . singing carols . . . baking cookies . . . It's a big part of the holidays for me. I'm impressed that someone your age would recognize that nostalgia is such a strong emotion at Christmas time." Sally goes back to the tree, looks at the huge pile of wrapped gifts and thinks to herself: "Nostalgia? I was talking about GREED." Note: A little trivia - Sally ...

1596. The Light Shines in the Darkness

John 1:1-18

Illustration

King Duncan

... , those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean . . . .the cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, a famous painter and sculptor . . . And that group of clouds over there gives me the impressions of the stoning of Stephen . . . I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side." Lucy responds, "Uh, huh, That's very good . . . .What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?" and Charlie responds with his typical note of inadequacy: "Well, I ...

1597. Ephesians 2:4-25

Ephesians 2:4-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , this writer insists, before we can ever fully receive God's desires for us. Verses 8 and 9 pick up the parenthetical remark made in verse 5 and develop it into an articulate, even creedal, theological statement. Like Paul, the writer of Ephesians is anxious to impress upon his readers their complete dependence on God's grace for salvation. Unlike Paul, this writer puts our salvation in the present tense - as he did in verses 5 and 6. God's love, God's loving activity (our salvation) is not bottled up for ...

1598. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... among mortal men and women. Healing, the constant movement towards wholeness and health, is a part of the divine essence itself. Because this power is integral to his identity, Jesus immediately senses its momentary dissipation the moment human need touches him. Impressed by her faith and by her innate recognition of this divine quality, Jesus confronts the woman. Besides physical healing, he bestows on her the added gift of peace ("shalom"), thus attending to her spiritual as well as physical well being ...

1599. Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-50

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... falls on his disciples, and he paints a somber picture of their task. The twelve are to maintain a strictly disciplined life, as both an example and a guard to those younger in the faith. In the examples that follow Jesus tries to impress upon his closest companions how they must become willing to sacrifice even living parts of themselves in order to safeguard the welfare of what may be a seemingly insignificant neophyte to the faith. Only by sacrificially participating in this radically expanded concept of ...

1600. Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... extraordinarily powerful and ensnaring. Jesus' ministry has not yet taken form; the path before him lies wide open and untangled. How many parents have watched anxiously as their child has gone off for their first day at a new school? So much depends on first impressions; will your child fit in with the "right" group of students or fall in with a bad crowd? The same choices confronted Jesus as he left his familiar, protected life as a simple contractor's son and embarked upon his new role as Messiah - what ...

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