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 151 to 175 of 655 results

151. He Who Has Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear

Luke 8:1-15

Sermon

Larry Powell

... is essential how we apply what we know to the human experience. Knowing and learning and remembering are utterly useless unless they are applied in some meaningful manner. However, memory, good or bad, is one of our most blessed gifts. The longer I live, the more inclined am I to suspect that just as memory is a genuine blessing, we have been equally blessed with the ability to forget. Each of us has seen things, felt things, done things which we have mercifully been able to forget. We don't forget all of ...

152. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

... , "I don't have time for that," usually expresses your opinion about "that" instead of your schedule. To say, "I have plenty of time," is to say more than we know. Sometimes people say Church is a waste of time. Are they describing the Church or themselves? We are inclined from time to time to think that we have "plenty of time" to put our spiritual lives in order. Are we sure? The writer of Ecclesiastes remarked long ago, "Again I saw under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ...

153. Time and Stewardship

Sermon

Larry Powell

... needle and thread in his right. His wife happened by to observe his ambitious effort, smiled, and remarked, "The thimble is on the wrong finger." Already frustrated, the husband replied, "I know. It ought to be on yours." I admire his independence and industry, but am inclined to think that he was probably correct in implying that the one who could do the best job, was not doing it. One thing is certain. People who are busily engaged in a project, doing the best they can, ordinarily do not warm up to advice ...

154. Winning Isn't the Only Thing ... It's Irrelevant

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Carl Jech

... :18-27), Jesus does not run after the man. Lamenting the plight of the wealthy, the winners, Jesus let's him go. Life is more about love than it is about winning, and love often means letting go. Newspaper advice columns remind the romantically inclined not to pursue the object of their affections too ardently. More than one writer has quoted the axiom which says that "indifference is the greatest aphrodisiac." World literature is full of stories of parents who lost the love and affection of their children ...

155. The Lord Will Come To Cleanse Us

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... are guilty of sin. But he wants to come and purify us, that we may be able to offer him our true worship. People: Come to us, Lord, with cleansing, that we may please you with our worship. Collect O God of righteousness, who knows our wayward inclinations: Grant us the purifying experience of your presence in our lives; that we may be brought into a more honest dedication to you. We pray through Christ, our Redeemer. Amen. Prayer of Confession Dear Lord, if you were to appear to us today, we would hide in ...

156. Trust in God, Not in Man

Jeremiah 17:5

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... blessings that know no measure. People: We desire the blessing God offers to those who trust in him, and commit ourselves to his care. Collect Almighty God, who daily refreshes your children who put their trust in you: Bend us from our natural inclination of putting our trust in the dramatic power of mankind, to planting ourselves firmly in the oasis of your loving care; that we may enjoy the blessings of your providence even into eternity. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Confession ...

157. Solomon Asks God to Hear and Answer Prayer

1 Kings 8:22-61

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... believe also that God hears all people when they pray to him, granting them forgiveness and help in response to their needs. People: Praise the Lord! For he is a universal God who is accessible to all who will commune with him. Collect Heavenly Father, whose ear is inclined to all who come to you in prayer: Accept our prayers; that the people of our world may know you are worthy of their worship. Hear us for the sake of Christ. Amen. Prayer of Confession O God, our Father, we desire to worship you in spirit ...

158. God Expresses Mercy When We Deserve Wrath

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Bulletin Aid

Carl Hoefler

... calves, Father, but our sins deny your lordship just the same. We sin against our better judgment and against your divine laws every day. Forgive us for our persistence, and the intensity with which we sin. May your mercy through Christ transform our inclination to sin into a desire to love and serve you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Hymns "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” “Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned” “There's a Wideness in God's Mercy” “What Wondrous Love Is This?” “When All Thy ...

159. The Temptations

Luke 4:1-13

Illustration

Glenn E. Ludwig

Maybe we need to rethink sin. Maybe we need to think of sin in broader categories than just "bad things done" or "good things left undone." Maybe the most uncomplicated definition of sin we could give would be our inclination to take the easy way out. Our gospel text for today offers a good way to assess our new definition. The devil offers Jesus temptations which seem, on the surface, harmless enough. They are certainly not temptations to do evil. The devil is just encouraging Jesus to take the easy ...

160. Welcoming The New Millennium

Sermon

James Angell

... A.D. should produce a more impressive list. The world has speeded up. We are smarter, richer, much better equipped to explore what the world is all about than we were a thousand years ago. But we are also more dangerous to ourselves, more conceited - and less inclined to be kind and tolerant. Dawn is a good time to be thinking about such things as we bask in the newness of another new beginning and restudy our dreams. Lifting up still one more prayer for peace, and, for the ten-millionth time, go about the ...

161. The Ultimate Question

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... would have missed completely. We know, for instance, that if you ask that question of Americans, about ninety-five percent of them would affirm that there is a God somewhere. So what? That means nothing. Only armchair philosophers and confused theologians have the time or inclination to engage in such kind of idle chatter. Quite frankly, modern man doesn't care whether God exists or not. That's not his chief concern. The basic question of man today, as it has been through the ages, is the question of the ...

162. The Importance of Believing

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

... in the worn things can propel us in wrong directions. For example, if we have only a biological view of human life, we believe ourselves to be animals and nothing more, if we have no belief in soul or spirit or moral quality, then we are strongly inclined to act like the animals we believe we are. If we believe other people are out to do us in, then we tend to live defensively, always on guard, our actions of the pugnacious and belligerent kind. And what we believe concerning God wields a mighty influence ...

163. The Lord's People Together

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

... of the very fine things about us, I think, is our disposition to be together with one another. On our mountain tops and in our valleys, we tend to seek and find the company of one another. On occasions of joy, we seldom celebrate alone - we are inclined to gather together for birthdays and weddings and the various happy milestones we pass along the way. And when sorrow comes - when there is grief or pain - we usually do not move through these times alone. People we know and love stand with us in our losses ...

164. Life's Third Dimension

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

... . Of this our real personhood consists. There is every evidence that it is in this dimension that we are seen by God. We may see life in length, and maybe in breadth, but God sees it also in depth. Now this parable of the laborers in the vineyard - we are inclined to read it from point of fairness, what we deem to be just. Our minds are commercially oriented, we measure and equate, we put things in the balances to see how they tip. We think in terms of more or less of this and that. Obviously, the Lord does ...

165. Is This Life All There Is?

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

... , then if some objects are in the way, get rid of them. If the objects in the way happen to be made of skin and bones, get rid of them. Cows and chickens are skin and bones - and we butcher them, don’t we? III So whenever I’m inclined to think the doctrine of the resurrection is absurd, I consider the consequences of living without that hope. I have to conclude that to live that way would cheapen this life. Now I want to deal with the third section of this sermon, that the resurrection promises an even ...

166. An Encounter With Two Old Friends

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

... hero. Recently, however, in the tenor of the times, there has been a subtle shift of accent. The up-front Pharisee is getting better press. The lowly Publican is being more honestly appraised. The story has more depth than it was recognized, and I am less inclined to roller skate across it in my reading of Saint Luke, as though encountering these two old friends could be a casual meeting. Both of them, surprisingly, have taken on new life, and they appear as mirror images of someone whom I know quite well ...

167. Jesus and the Rascal

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... mind if I picked some of his flowers?" She had the right idea. Now the spotlight shifts once more. It shines on you and on me. Having material things - little or much - is not a sin, but a danger. The danger is this: the more things we have, the more inclined we are to put our trust in them, to give them the place that only God should have, and thus to be a slave to mammon. The possession of things - little or much - is a matter for prayer, in order that they may be our servants, and never be allowed ...

168. The Man Who Didn’t Care

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Carveth Mitchell

... prophets? He hadn’t. But if one came from the dead, that would save his brothers. That would have saved him, is the implication. It’s God’s fault for not pushing him harder. If he’d only known! And God should have made him know. We may be inclined to agree with his estimate that his brothers would be reformed if one came to them from the dead; but they wouldn’t, of course. They - or we - might gape in wonder, and quake with fear at such an event, but these emotions would soon pass. As with other ...

169. Let God Be God

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

... Pharisee is so close as to be truly shocking. We should be grateful to Harvard’s Professor Gordon Allport, however, for having done a study that shows that the Christians and church members who have seriously internalized the faith are more inclined to be compassionate and non-punitive in their attitudes than are persons who do not claim to be Christians or church members. Are we being too complacent about conditions our sociologists have been pointing out: the greedy competition that is producing ...

170. The Reins of Power

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... do we mean by acclaiming him in such terms as that of king? How many Americans are there who are willing to submit to the rule of a king of any kind? And how fitting was it ever to speak of the humble Jesus as a king? We who are inclined to celebrate the fact that there are few lords and kings left in the world may do well to take heed to what we are saying. Is there in our proclamation the same element of insincerity and satire that was in the placard the Romans nailed to his cross, mocking ...

171. Weed-Pulling

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Richard Patt

... radish shoots and left the ignoble weeds standing there gloriously in the sunshine. Clearly it would have been better for this farmer and his radishes if I had never pulled his so-called "weeds" at all. A champion weed-puller indeed! But most of us are inclined toward weed-pulling. We see evil in the world, in our own city or country, amid our churches and other institutions, and in our dealings with people. The weeds are there a-plenty! And we have solutions! We have answers. We know how to solve these ...

172. Prayer

Matthew 2:13-18

Bulletin Aid

... own world. But Joseph dreamed - And then he acted on his dreams! Three times in this passage alone! (Four, if you count when he first heard the news!) God spoke to him in dreams, And he trusted God - And acted! Swallowing his pride Denying his own inclinations Doing the unusual The inconvenient Without question! - Joseph was weird! Right, but weird! I dream ... At least, the experts say I do ... I don't often remember, But I don't act on them, Even when I can remember them! That would be too weird! Why ...

173. The Day of Pentecost

Isaiah 44:1-5

Sermon

... a specialized hearer of religion - a peril which the Israelites faced, and which all people who are religious face. Believing people can become so absorbed in the occupation of talking about, hearing, and studying their faith that there is no desire or inclination to do anything about it. Kierkegaard imagines that, near the cross of Christ stood a man who beheld the terrible crucifixion scene, and then went about telling what he saw. He explained it all. Later, he witnessed the persecution of the believers ...

174. Faith-Filled Living

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

... ve got yourself a deal."3 Dr. Powell concludes this testimony with these words: All I can tell you is that since that moment several years ago I have not smoked. As I remember, there were the so-called "nicotine fits" for a very short while, and then all inclination to smoke disappeared completely. What is even more mysterious to me is that God seems to have erased all memory of what it was like to smoke.4 Jesus said, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be ...

175. Believing Is Seeing

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Dean Lueking

... faith that overcomes the world." (1 John 5:4) We live in the middle of such strong temptations to give in to the world, to live by the secularity that undermines the resurrection of Christ as the only sure foundation. Equally forceful are the currents that would incline us to escape from the world. But God calls us to live in the faith which overcomes the world. The Scripture underlies that faith. We have texts. And so, if today finds you concerned by anxieties or worn down by a late afternoon sense of how ...

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