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 1701 to 1725 of 2552 results

1701. Back to the Real World

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... twin towers, he sat, playing that message over and over. (4) I doubt that Mary thought very much about losing her loved ones until it happened. That’s really for the best. We would worry ourselves sick if we did think too much about losing those we love. I guess it’s best that we don’t know what the future may bring. Life can be very cruel even to the best of people. Mark those words down. Even to the best of people. Can people ever get any better than the holy family of Nazareth Mary, Joseph and ...

1702. Christmas Is about Finding

John 1:1-18

Illustration

... . Because when you've lived as long as I have, things tend to get jumbled together. I've got 60 years of seekings and findings ... and losings ... and reseekings ... and refindings. Except, as I remember it, the surprise was on John, in that Jesus found him. I guess it's like that, sometimes. To those who wait for it long enough ... and who want it badly enough ... occasionally the good stuff falls in their laps. I heard this story the other day and it sounded unbelievable. But the guy who told it swears to ...

1703. 1 Samuel 16:1-13

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... choice. Samuel tries unsuccessfully to duck this duty by inventing a threat from Saul, but the Lord is not to be dissuaded and gives Samuel specific instructions on how to proceed. When Samuel enters Bethlehem and meets Jesse's family, he begins trying to guess which of the seven sons paraded before him is intended by God as the next king. But the Lord chastises Samuel and rejects the prophet's attempts to choose an appropriate candidate. "Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature ...

1704. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that Jesus is "the Christ." But Jesus has much more to reveal to his disciples before they are really able to confess his messianic identity and comprehend what that actually entails. So Jesus silences the disciples, curtails any pride they may feel in guessing his identity, and begins to fill in the blanks in their understanding. The messiah Jesus depicts in verse 31 is very different from the image Mark himself has tried to convey about Jesus. No longer does Mark focus on Jesus' power and authority ...

1705. Luke 10:25-37

Luke 10:25-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , was a known haven for highway robbers. Bands of outlaws took advantage of the steep terrain. The constant trickle of travelers enabled some to make a career out of robbing those journeying back and forth. There is little point in trying to second-guess the priest and the Levite who encounter the robbed and wounded man. Clearly, Jesus picked persons representative of the most law-committed, learned, observant and obedient professions of his day a priest and a Levite. Some scholars have tried to excuse the ...

1706. 1 Samuel 16:1-13

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1707. Mark 8:27-38

Mark 8:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

1708. Mark 3:20-35

Mark 3:20-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Markan "sandwiches" (or "intercalations") that occur throughout his gospel. Mark's unique method of presenting two separate stories by slipping one complete unit in the midst of another unit, which is subsequently sliced in half, has kept scholars guessing. In fact, scholars from varied disciplines often find Markan sandwiches useful for satisfying their own particular appetites. What all these views have in common, at base, is the conviction that Mark's sandwiching technique takes seriously the attitudes ...

1709. 2 Corinthians 12:2-10

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... with the quasi-scholarly musings on the "thorns" that so afflicted Paul (bad eyesight, bad hearing, malaria, sexual impurity, epilepsy, etc.) have combined to make this one of the most studied bits of Scripture in Christendom. In the end, however, it is pointless to second-guess the nature of this "thorn" or "stake" which Paul endured for so long. Paul's point is not what he suffered but, why he suffered. Paul boasts in his weakness because it is in weakness that Christ's power enters in and dwells within ...

1710. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... sneak away and hide. But God is not content. One wonders if the father in the parable on occasion asked the older brother if he might go out and find his lost sibling, appeal on his behalf for the child's return. By his response in the parable, we can guess that even if he had, the brother would have refused. "If the fool was dumb enough to leave this setup, then so be it," we can hear him reasoning. He was found, and that was good enough. Is that the attitude of the church toward those who are lost? Is ...

1711. A New Way of Living

Mark 1:4-11

Illustration

Sarah Jo Sarchet

... you in the river, how would the church recognize it?" Realizing this was a teachable moment, she climbed up on her foot stool to reach for her Presbyterian Book of Order that was located on the highest shelf. But before she placed her hand on the book, he responded. "I guess by my new way of living" he said. She nearly fell off the foot stool and left the Book of Order on the shelf. Cameron's understanding was neither childish nor simple. It was profound. Baptism calls us to a new way of living.

1712. Mark 1:1-8

Mark 1:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to understand Jesus' identity. Indeed, a large portion of Mark seems dedicated to demonstrating just how dense those who knew Jesus could be about who and what he was. But because of Mark's prologue, the reader is never reduced to second guessing all those who witnessed Jesus' workings without grasping onto his true identity. Because of this prologue, the reader knows Jesus' correct relationship to John the Baptist, Jesus' true identity (as revealed at his baptism), and the impetus behind his mission (to ...

1713. Ordinary and Humble Princes

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Scott Hoezee

... is a pretty good wizard after all. Fairy tales are stories of transformation, and that's what happened to these simple people we call the disciples. If you took the disciples and brought them all together into one room, you would never in your wildest imagination guess by looking at them that this weak-looking pack of ordinary folks could change the world. But they did. The disciples changed the world because it was to them that the secret of the universe was first revealed. That's why Jesus called them in ...

1714. A Dramatic Career Change

Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Scott H. Bowerman

... One day in 1980 Denny came home and revealed the deepest desire of his heart, which no doubt shocked his wife to the core. He wanted to move from their home in Nebraska to a place where he could fish - full time - as a professional bass fisherman. I guess you can imagine Denny's wife thought of this. Jack McCallum in Sports Illustrated captured their prospects nicely when he wrote, "Deciding that you wanted to make a livable wage as a bass angler in 1980 wasn't quite as risky as deciding that you wanted to ...

1715. It Was the System

Mark 1: 21-28

Illustration

... was not the home office, because the men there had a board of directors to whom they were responsible; - it was not the board of directors, because they in turn were obliged to thousands of stockholders. Buttrick's conclusion: "In our age of macroeconomics, political action committees, megatrends, and multinationals, guess what? We have suddenly begun to catch sight of the `powers that be,' systems that can be peopled with born-again Christians and yet be outright demonic."

1716. Rainbows and Roses

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... are important. I always enjoyed the ‘flowers’ of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God’s comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we’re afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others.” Sandra said, “I guess the truth is I don’t want comfort. I’ve lost a baby and I’m angry with God.” Just then someone else, a man named Phil, walked in the shop. He said his wife sent him to pick up their usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . . twelve thorny ...

1717. The World's Worst Bargain

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

King Duncan

... be able to collect on my soul, to be honest,’’ Burtle said, adding he didn’t intend for the ad to be taken seriously. “I was just bored, and I’m a geek,’’ he added. “So anytime I’m bored, I go back to my Internet.’’ (1) My guess is that over the centuries many people have sold their soul simply and solely because they were bored. Talk about a bad bargain. “What good is it,” asked Jesus, “for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Our text assumes that we do not ...

1718. He Stands Alone

Mark 1:29-39

Sermon

King Duncan

... happily to her mom, content to go home. That was twenty years ago. Today people who know her call Laura by her proper name, Sister Laura. She became a nun! In that role she has excelled in school and thrived as a servant to others. I guess we’d have to concede that somehow in the Sacraments that day long ago, little Laura “saw Jesus.” (3) I personally believe that everyone is looking for Jesus in his or her own way. We have what French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Blaise Pascal called a ...

1719. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... must confess that I am not one of them. I am among those who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but am never free from doubts, from questions, from needs I want God to satisfy but aren’t – at least not in the way I ask that they be. I guess I’m like Peter, who was so certain he’d never forsake Jesus, but then did. And like Thomas. Remember when Jesus finally decided to respond to Mary and Martha’s request that Jesus come and heal their brother, Lazarus. As he leaves, it is Thomas, who tells the ...

1720. Blessed Assurance

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... heard me tell this story? A church was conducting its annual pledge drive with an every-member-canvas. Members visited other members to ask for their financial commitments. A visitor went to the home of one of the church’s wealthiest members. The member said to the visitor, “I guess you think that I ought to be able to give $50,000 to the church, because I’m a successful businessman. You can tell by the way I live. I’m affluent, a man of means. But I bet there are some things you don’t know. Do ...

1721. Learning to Listen

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... on those who did this?” asked the reporter. “Wouldn’t you like to shoot the person who shot your grandson?” The old man’s face showed he was troubled by the reporter’s question. “No, that’s not possible,” said the grandfather. “I guess you don’t even know for sure who did this,” the reporter responded. “No, that’s not it,” replied the grandfather. “It’s that we are Christians. And Christ gave us the commandment to love one another – not seek revenge against each other ...

1722. The Call to Downward Mobility

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... me exist is for the purpose of helping you respond to your call to share what Jesus has given you. As you share it, Jesus will give you even more. Some believe that those of us who are ordained have a call different from normal persons. Which, I guess, means we are abnormal. Not only is our call more important, but it is clearer and unwavering. Like the prophet Isaiah’s call. Isaiah says that God called him while he was still in his mother’s womb. Personally, I don’t believe that God has everything ...

1723. The Compassionate Christ

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... family physician who had lived 102 years. A woman stood up in the middle of the service and, with tears making tracks down her face, said, “Whenever we heard his old Model T turning into our yard, we started to get better.” (6) My guess is that is how people felt when Jesus came into their community. We know how people’s expectations can affect their physical response. Here was a compassionate healer. He didn’t heal everyone in the community, but those who found themselves in his presence discovered ...

1724. Surely Goodness and Mercy

Mark 1:40-45

Illustration

King Duncan

... and why is she following us?" "Well," Timmy explained, "every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers cuz she worries about me so much. And in it, the psalm says, "˜Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life.' So I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

1725. Our Need for Prayer and Communion with God

1 John 4:8

Illustration

Digma.com

... But a second rule was imposed, as well: the nurses were not allowed to touch the infants. To his great dismay, Frederick’s experiment was cut short, but not before something tragically significant regarding human nature was revealed. As you may have guessed, the babies grew up to speak no language at all because they died. In the year 1248, an Italian historian named Salimbene di Adam recorded, with an air of scientific observation, “They could not live without petting.” The babies literally died for ...

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