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 1676 to 1700 of 5000 results

1676. A Word to Prodigals

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

King Duncan

Retired seminary professor Fred B. Craddock was preaching on the parable of the prodigal son. After the service a man said, “I really didn’t care much for that, frankly.” Craddock asked, “Why?” The man said. “Well, I guess it’s not your sermon, I just don’t like that story.” Craddock asked, “What is it you don’t like about it?” He said. “It’s not morally responsible.” Craddock asked, “What do you mean by that?” “Forgiving that boy,” said the man. Craddock asked, “Well, what would you have done?” The man ...

1677. No Instant Maturity

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A man went into a department store, picked up a game of chess took it to a salesman and said, “Tell me how to play it as you wrap the package.” That’s descriptive of our situation. We want to know how to do it quickly. We don’t want to take the time to follow each necessary step. No fascination is keener than our fascination with short-cuts. We want to be “saints suddenly”. We dream long for instant maturity. And that’s what I want to talk about today as we continue our consideration of Christian growth. ...

1678. Life’s Purpose Is Often Hidden!

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Life is a messy affair. Our purpose is often hidden. We have a parable today that originally may have tried to explore these mysteries — the parable of the weeds in the field. But once again the explanation that Mathew provided of this parable is probably not original, not something Jesus himself taught. No, it is more likely, New Testament scholars increasingly agree, that Jesus' original point in the parable was to affirm the messiness, hiddenness, of life in a context where sectarian sentiments were ...

1679. No Partiality

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

John N. Brittain

You may be looking at the most fortunate person on the face of the earth. Let me explain. It seems that without even entering, I've won several lotteries based all over the world. I've supplied them with all my personal information — social security number, bank accounts, all of that — so, any day now, millions of pounds and rupees and doubloons will be flowing into my accounts. And if that's not enough, I have signed on to be the executor for a number of recently deceased international figures who need me ...

1680. The Five Senses

Luke 24:36-48

Sermon

John Smylie

In the gospel text there is an opportunity to meet Jesus, using every one of our senses. The disciples have an opportunity here to see him, to hear him, to touch him, to smell him, and to taste with him. Every one of the senses is used for recognition of the Lord. Perhaps in this text we might also look to heighten and enliven our senses as we also seek to receive the wonder of his resurrection. Telling our stories to one another is a natural and very human thing to do. The disciples are telling their ...

1681. Where Is Your Pebble?

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you will remember country comedian Jerry Clower. Besides being a funny story-teller, Clower, who died in 1998, was a deeply religious man. He tells of an occasion when he invited Sue, his 14-year-old daughter, and one of her friends to go with him on a trip to the Country Music Awards show in Hollywood. He listed for Sue some of the celebrities she would meet if she went, some of the best-known entertainers at that time. Sue’s response? She said, “Daddy, I love you and I’m so glad that you would ...

1682. For All the Saints

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

April Yamasaki

What picture comes into your mind when you think of a saint? Is it a portrait of a medieval saint with a golden halo? Or a cartoon character wearing a white robe and carrying a harp standing on a cloud? Is it a solemn picture of someone dressed all in black with a pinched look of long-suffering on his or her face? Do you automatically think to yourself, "It's hard to be a saint — but it's even harder to live with one"? In the New Testament, the word "saint" is used to describe the early Christians. It ...

1683. The Foolishness of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever done anything really foolish? Maybe it wasn’t your fault. Maybe you were simply in a situation you didn’t understand. There is a story of a man from a third world country who came to this country. He went with a friend to a restaurant. They ordered tea. The waitress brought them a pot of boiling water and set cups and some tea bags in front of them. The third world man poured a cup of hot water. Then he picked up the tea bags and tore them open and proceeded to dump the tea into the cup of ...

1684. For the Hearing Impaired

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

James Merritt

Of all the topics that a pastor talks about, by common consensus everybody would agree, the most sensitive topic that a pastor talks about is - money. However, the most difficult topic that a pastor deals with is the one we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks in the series we’ve entitled, “Missing Person.” We have said that a missing person is any person who is far from God - any person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The very first command that Jesus ever gave ...

1685. Table Manners

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

Perhaps it is the oddity that I am writing this on the Monday before Thanksgiving or it is my proclivity to identify food with each passing holiday that, as I approach these texts, I find myself thinking of another text from Psalm 23: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fourth of July and I am dreaming dreams of sugar plum fairies, turkey legs, chocolate bunnies, and barbecues. This is definitely a job hazard for clergy. Most congregations revel ...

1686. Hamburgers Don't Grow on Trees

Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34

Sermon

King Duncan

A father tells of taking his four-year-old son, Josh, out to McDonald’s for dinner one evening for a “guys’ night out.” As they were eating their hamburgers, Josh asked, “Daddy, what are these little things on the hamburger buns?” Dad explained that they were tiny seeds and that they were OK to eat. Josh was quiet for a couple of minutes and his Dad could tell Josh was in deep thought. Finally, Josh looked up and said, “Dad, if we go home and plant these seeds in our backyard, we will have enough ...

1687. Hearing and Responding

Luke 8:19-21, Luke 8:16-18, Luke 8:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: When God’s word is proclaimed, there are different levels of response, ranging from those who take no notice to those whose lives are transformed. Understanding the Text At the heart of Jesus’s mission as announced in 4:14–21 is teaching and the proclamation of good news. We have had an important section of his teaching in 6:20–49, which concluded with trenchant comments on the importance of putting into practice what is heard—a theme that runs through this whole section. Since then, Jesus has ...

1688. Beyond Judgment

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

James L. Killen

One day in 1957 Dr. Albert C. Outler, a prominent theologian who was not at all prone to sensationalism, returned from a White House-sponsored conference of theologians and scientists and announced to an assembly of students at his seminary that the industrial civilization as they knew it had only a few more years to live. The subject of the conference had been the nuclear arms race. The participants were informed that the United States and the Soviet Union had both built up huge arsenals of nuclear ...

1689. Dr. Jekyll Meet Jesus

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote an unforgettable story about a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde. Most of you know the story well. Dr. Henry Jekyll was respected in his community--a gentleman in every respect. But Dr. Jekyll had some secret vices which he kept carefully hidden from public view. Thus Dr. Jekyll had a dilemma faced by some people today--he wanted to maintain his reputation in the community, but be free to practice the vices that he knew would be repulsive to his neighbors. So Dr. Jekyll hatched a ...

1690. Daddy's Love

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

King Duncan

Some first graders were asked to draw a picture of God in their Sunday school class. Their finished products contained some interesting theology. One child depicted God in the form of a brightly colored rainbow. Another presented him as an old man coming out of the clouds. An intense little boy drew God with a remarkable resemblance to Superman. The best entry, however, came from a little girl. She said, “I didn’t know what God looked like, so I just drew a picture of my daddy.” (1) Today is Father’s Day. ...

1691. Heart Shaped Stone

Psalm 118:1-29

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“The stone rejected by the builders is now the main foundation stone!” Psalm 118:22 George and Sarah had been married only a short time when their marriage hit the rocks. They had begun quarreling and picking at each other. They began to resent each other. Their anger flared at one another, as each stubbornly maintained that the other had “changed.” What had changed was that each of them realized, contrary to their hopes and expectations, that their partner was not going to change. Each had harbored secret ...

1692. Rule of Love

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? — Matthew 22:36 In one of her books, the eloquent Episcopal priest, Barbara Brown Taylor, wrote these words about the Bible: “My relationship with the Bible is a marriage, not a romance, and one I am willing to work on in all the usual ways.”1 What she meant, of course, was that her relationship with the Bible was like any other serious relationship; it included good days as well as challenging days, days of clarity and days of confusion, days of joy ...

1693. Not Guessing

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

In his book George Lucas: A Life author Brian Jay Jones tells the story about how the famed filmmaker rose from obscurity in the small California town of Modesto to become the world-famous creator of the Stars Wars series. Lucas, an indifferent high school student, became serious about pursuing a career in film after surviving a devastating car crash. His college student films attracted some attention, but initially only a few people recognized that he had the potential to become a great filmmaker. However ...

1694. For Us

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Will Willimon

Tonight, this night, we are preparing to partake of the Lord's Supper, a sacrament. We will give you a piece of bread, a sip of wine and promise you that God is here. What's going on here? Because we could not, knew not how, had not the means to come to God, God came to us. This is not how we climb up to God—through our good works, our projects, our noble ideals, our beautiful services of worship—tomorrow, between noon and three, we're going to see where all that leads. All of our ladders up to God always ...

1695. Rule Breakers

Matthew 5:21-37

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever noticed how many rules we unconsciously follow each day? Most of us were raised with a list of rules that help us to get along with others or to achieve some goal: Share your toys. Pick up after yourself. Don’t run with scissors. Kids often get frustrated because they have so many rules to follow. Because nobody is perfect. We all bend the rules occasionally. Yes, rules can keep us safe. They can help us create a civil society. But we can also go overboard in creating rigid rules that they ...

1696. Easter as an Earthquake

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.” John says that they got to the tomb on Easter morning, and it's empty. Then, they go back home. Go back home? Reminds you of the two disciples in Luke on the way to Emmaus. “Some women told us that Jesus had been raised from the dead, but we had already planned to have supper over in Emmaus, so we couldn't change our reservations...” A man is raised from the dead and you ...

1697. The Clop, Clop, Clop of a Donkey

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

My children may not remember how I used to cross my legs, balance one of them on the toe of my shoe, hold on to their tiny hands as they leaned against my leg, and bounce them up and down, singing: Ride a cock horse to Banbury crossTo see a fine lady upon a white horse.With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,She shall have music wherever she goes. Sometimes they would have to hang on for dear life. The ride delighted them, and I was delighted at being a young father. I assume parents of young ...

1698. John Was not like Gene

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

As the people misunderstood the authentic John the Baptist of history ("What did you go into the forest to see?"), people may misunderstand him now. So suggests this sermon. Because John the Baptist may appear today in clothing other than that of camel’s hair, John’s message may appear in different forms. To illuminate a common distortion of the figure of John the Baptist, the sermon uses a childhood experience, which also captures the listener’s attention. The sermon refers to this experience throughout ...

1699. No Fear

John 15:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

I have seen the words, "No Fear," on the back of cars driven by young men with their caps turned around backwards. I have seen "No Fear" emblazoned on T-shirts. I don't know about you, but the first time I saw those words, "No Fear," I immediately thought of 1 John 4:18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. I thought, isn't it wonderful, these kids are so sophisticated in the Bible. Then somebody told me that that is not what "No Fear" refers to. Which caused me some trepidation, ...

1700. Now What?

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Mark Trotter

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