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 387 results

151. Proper 17

Exodus 3:1-22, Matthew 16:21-28, Romans 12:9-21, Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... this statement. On the surface it appears that Jesus uttered a false prophecy, for all those standing there died and this world goes on still waiting for "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Among the many explanations offered for v. 28, perhaps the most sensible is one that understands this remark in the over-all context of Matthew's Gospel, so that the promise of "the Son of Man coming in his kingdom" is related to the Resurrection appearances of Jesus, especially to the last scene of the Gospel where ...

152. Proper 18

Psalm 149:1-9, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20, Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... it suggests that only after the event of the death of the firstborn will we know who are the people of God—namely, those whose firstborn have survived because they participated in the atoning ritual. The story of Passover goes against our modern sensibilities. Although the universal claims of salvation are more popular than ever in the contemporary Church, we frequently root such claims in the belief that Christianity is a better way, and we look in advance at our own cultural (even genetic) setting as ...

153. Proper 22

Exodus 20:1-21, Matthew 21:33-46, Philippians 3:1-11, Psalm 19:1-14

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... sets up a situation that takes you through a series of increasingly dramatic events. But rather than stating the outcome of the story, Jesus asks the audience to tell him the logical outcome of the tale that he had told. The answer given, a sensible one, allows Jesus to point the condemnation called for by the crowd at the audience itself. In this carefully crafted narrative Matthew portrays the astuteness of Jesus in confronting his opponents with judgment from their own mouths. As was the case with the ...

154. Proper 23

Psalm 106:1-48, Philippians 4:2-9, Matthew 22:1-14, Exodus 32:1-33:6

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... could find, both good and bad, with no mention of going home prior to the banquet to dress (v. 10)? The case for conflation of sources is strong and should be recognized. Perhaps with fewer allegorical elements the conflation would be more immediately sensible. What does Matthew mean to communicate with this puzzling story? The central message of the simplest form of the parable was that the status quo had refused God's invitation, and in his ministry Jesus was extending God's invitation to the outcasts ...

155. Prison Break

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 80 US Americans are locked away behind jailhouse bars. And for those who are finally released, freedom is generally short-lived: over 2/3 of ex-prisoners are re-arrested and re-incarcerated within three years. (Michael Tonrv, Thinking About Crime: Sense and Sensibility in American Penal Culture [New York: Oxford University Press, 2004], 21, 188). For a huge number of people, prison is a way of life. Prison is a revolving door experience that only succeeds, as someone has noted, in being “an expensive way ...

156. A Transitional Object (And So Much More)

John 14:15-21

Illustration

J. Michael Smith

... places that are familiar. People die, relationships break, people change, and time grinds on--oblivious to our feelings. Often, religion becomes a ‘transitional object' for us. We cling to the comfort of our church, the familiarity of our pastor, the reassurance of our music, the sensibility of our ideas about God and faith. And when things religious are torn away from us, we can be in as much distress as a small child losing a beloved teddy bear. In the gospel text this morning, Jesus, in all the ways in ...

157. Better To Be a Loner than a Loser

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... , abortion pleading, which, when taken together, constitute the propagation of the humanist creed—all are essential aspects of the public school experience in the 1990s. It's only prayers, Bibles, and references to a Supreme Being which offend the sensibilities of secularist puritans…. We may fail to teach our students the rudiments of literature, science, and history. Twenty percent of high school graduates may be functional illiterates or semi-literate. We may be unable to maintain even a semblance ...

158. Manual Labor Is Not the President of Mexico

Proverbs 6:6-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... ."3 The American dream for some has become the American nightmare for others, because of the refusal to work to make those dreams come true. Finally, the sluggard works hard at defending his laziness. "The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly." (Prov. 26:16) There is one thing you will never convince the sluggard of that is the fact that he is a sluggard. He always has an excuse as to why he cannot work. That is the meaning of Solomon's statement: "The way of the slothful ...

159. Whatever It Takes

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Sermon

James Merritt

... the law. In other words, he adopted their customs. Whatever their ceremonial law dictated he was willing to do. If they didn't eat pork, he didn't eat pork; if they didn't eat meat sacrificed to idols, he didn't eat meat sacrificed to idols. If their sensibilities demanded that a certain feast be observed, Paul observed it. Now why did Paul do this? Well, he didn't do it to appease them, or even to affirm what they believed; but in order to open a door of opportunity that he might preach the gospel of Jesus ...

160. Good Christian Men Rejoice

2 Corinthians 8:9

Sermon

James Merritt

... is right here where so many people misunderstand and miss out on what Christmas is all about. A wife was talking to her husband one time and she said, "Honey, why don't we do something different this year for Christmas. Let's give each other sensible gifts like ties and fur coats." Well, the truth is, you do not give Christmas meaning by either giving or receiving gifts primarily; but by receiving the greatest gift of all—the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when you receive Him you receive the greatest gift of ...

161. Matthew 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21-28

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... into them. There is some grammatically based debate over whether Jesus actually stepped into Gentile territory, or whether he simply went “toward” these lands. Certainly the most natural reading of the Greek “eis” is “into.” But sticklers for Jewish sensibilities suggest that it makes textual sense to keep Jesus teetering on the border of these lands and render “eis” as “toward.” What is clear, however, is that the Canaanite woman “came out” from her village in order to petition ...

162. Never Say What You Won't Do!

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... will fail. But if a husband or wife will love his or her partner well, and let God be the change agent, glorious things happen! All couples have problems and conflicts. The successful ones have enough flexibility, love, and grace to make sensible and reasonable adjustments. Never say what you won’t do, because happy marriages always require positive change and growth. That husband who said before marriage that he wanted children but could not see himself changing diapers just might become the best diaper ...

163. FEAR NOT! You've Got To Be Kidding!

Luke 1:26-37

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." The angelic greeting comes with incredible monotony throughout the Advent story, the same greeting, the same command, repeated over and over again: "Fear Not!" And the logical, sensible, responsible, first century or twenty-first century response is: "You've got to be kidding!" 1. The command sounds perfectly absurd. Mary had every reason to be afraid. Just imagine…an angel, no less, with word of an unexpected, unplanned and probably ...

164. Abraham and Sarah: Backing Into the Future

Hebrews 11:1-3; 8-11

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... backs to the west. We can see the past, but the future is unknown and uncertain, so we cautiously back our way into it. "But," Dr. Kinlaw said, "God literally has eyes in the back of his head! God knows the future as well as the past, so the most sensible thing in the world is to place our hand in his and move out in faith. And it's the fool who keeps his hand out of the hand of God and tries to walk it by himself." Our Lord Jesus Christ knows the end as well as the beginning ...

165. The Lord's Song in a Foreign Land

Psalm 137:1-9

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... , rewarded. McKibben says: Not that any of this is so bad in itself. We do have stressful lives, and you should pay attention to your own needs. Clearly I do need help in being more positive… it's just that these authors, in presenting their perfectly sensible advice, somehow manage to ignore Jesus' radical and demanding focus on others. At the moment, the idea of Jesus has been hijacked by people with a series of causes that do not reflect his teachings. The Bible is a long book, some of it contradictory ...

166. Jesus the Iconoclast

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Rome’s power over Judea, and pay for the "privilege" of being ground under the empire’s heel? The politically correct Heroidians, on the other hand, are wholly invested in the icons of political power and military might. How could anyone’s ethical sensibilities be offended by paying homage, and taxes, to Rome? How could anyone not want to take predictable paths to success? With what cocky assurance, then, these Pharisees and Herodians approach Jesus and ask him, "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the ...

167. Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... stamped likeness of Tiberius go against the second commandment (Exodus 20:4), forbidding graven images. But the declaration of this human ruler as the "son of a god" and a "high priest" mocked the first commandment (Exodus 20:3). Actually, Roman sensibility to the religious problems posed by the official coin of the realm had allowed for the separate minting of coinage for Jews to use in everyday business exchanges (the shekel). Jesus’ first demonstration of his sincerity, and his questioners duplicity ...

168. Mary, Did You Know?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... being blessed means. How about you? Can you say that right now you are being used by God for a purpose? Be careful whom you call favored by God. Gabriel told Mary that she was favored by God and that she would bear a son. And Mary asked a sensible question: “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” Good question. Here is how the angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called ...

169. False Prophets

Deuteronomy 18:14-22

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... . These are people who say they are speaking for God, but clearly haven't got a clue as to God's agenda for people and the world. Throughout scripture we are warned of such people. But even as we say the words, "false prophets," our post-modern sensibilities start to kick in, and there are reactive rumblings deep inside. False? Who gets to decide who is false? Isn't it merely different? The trickling flow of relativism can become a flood very quickly. It is like Pilate sneering in the face of Jesus, asking ...

170. MegaGrace

Acts 4:32-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... will, except You had given Wisdom and sent Your Holy Spirit from on high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight, and men learned what was Your pleasure" (Wis.9: 17-18). The early church struggled to free itself from the sensible-sounding, "self-help," grace-diluting schemes suggested by Pelagius. It took harsh remonstrations by Augustine to remind the Church that there is nothing God-created humanity can do to earn favor. In the words of Frederick Buechner: "There's nothing you have to do ...

171. The Ultimate Athlete

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it's the only thing." This week we try both to rehabilitate an old image and simultaneously deepen that image by excavating it for new depths. The tragedy of the outbreak of organized violence (read:"war") in the Persian Gulf has exposed a new sensibility among many Americans. Many who recall Vietnam shudder at the thought of U.S. involvement in another far away battlefield and raise their voices against the atrociousness of war itself with or without any particular atrocities. Yet also mindful of the harsh ...

172. Are You a Crazy Dog?

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... emerged in some of the antics of the prophets - think of Elijah, Jeremiah, or Hosea - and in the bravery of individuals like Esther and Ruth. God's craziness got even more crazy when the time for the Messiah finally arrived. Defying "good" sense and "Common" sensibilities, Jesus came out of Nazareth ("Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"), and, while born out of the line of David, he actually arrived as the first-born in the family of a poor construction worker from a small town in a long conquered land ...

173. Interior Decorations

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the advice of the angel to depart and return by a different path.) The Magi served God not as royal message-bearers, but as witnesses to the miraculous event that had taken place. Their extravagant gifts, opulent in sight and smell, served to heighten the human sensibilities to God's presence with them in that cave and in the child. The exotic nature of the wise men's very being provided a powerful visual aid to the truth of the child, reminding us that all humanity is called to recognize the miracle of ...

174. Get a Life!

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to live in the present; 3) Not wasting time and money and effort on things one cannot change; 4) Harmonizing with the day, cooperating rather than colliding with what each day brings. At first glance this list sounds like excellent advice - sound, sensible and sanity-enhancing. Certainly it seems likely that those who harbor no suspicions, live for each day, invest themselves only where they can easily see the impact they make while going along cooperatively with each day's events must, indeed, enjoy peace ...

175. A Star-Cross Christmas

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to be a "bah-humbug" Scrooge is a challenge. Mac Smith, the founder of the Environmental Ethics Institute in Florida, and a major voice in the American eco-lifestyle movement, has addressed this same problem and come up with some sensitive and sensible resolutions. In an essay he entitled "What Gives at Christmas," (Link, Fall/Winter 1991) Smith debated what gifts he could give his grandchildren to help them look past the glitz and discover the guts of the Christmas promise. Christmas shopping, for me ...

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