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 1726 to 1750 of 4947 results

1726. Hope Against Hope

Genesis 17:1-27

Sermon

Erskine White

... have pleasure with my husband who is so old?" (cf. 18:12). Abraham thought the question was a little unkind but admitted that she had a point. This is where Paul steps in, with some commentary from our text in Romans. Paul says that in an objective sense, in the sense of looking at the physical evidence, Abraham had no reason to hope that the Promised Land would amount to a hill of beans, or that he would, in fact, become the father of many nations. But Abraham also had every reason to hope, because God had ...

1727. The Prodigal Nation

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Erskine White

... he had been raised with. The text says he was in a "far country," but he didn't just stray from home in a geographic sense. He also strayed from himself. He became someone else, a stranger to himself. That's why he could keep going downhill until he landed ... Him so much with our lips and so little with our policies, our programs and our deeds? Finally, we once had at least some sense of decency and integrity in our public culture, but look at us today! It seems that anything goes so long as it sells, so ...

1728. The Nearness Of A Faraway God

Isaiah 40:12-18

Sermon

Erskine White

... our Friend. But even within Jesus Himself, there is both a nearness and a distance. He lived with us and He suffered with us - in that sense, He was near to us. But He was not like us. He wasn't born as we are born; He did not live as we live ( ... not make God too close or too distant. Let God be God, both familiar and unfathomable! Come before Him with glad yet humble hearts and sense the nearness of a faraway God! Amen Pastoral Prayer Eternal and Ever-faithful God, to whom a thousand years are as but a day, ...

1729. Come The Judgment Day

Jeremiah 16:1--17:18

Sermon

Erskine White

... ? Who is to say that these worldly judgments are the same as God's and which of those judgments is more important in the end? To understand God's judgment of us, we must be radically open-minded. We must "unlearn" the values and judgments of this world - in a sense, we must learn to see things upside down. We must know in our hearts how "the last shall be first and the first shall be last" (Matthew 20:16). It's easy to chase after what seems important in this life. It's easy to win acclaim by doing what ...

1730. Our God Delivers!

Daniel 3:1-30

Sermon

Erskine White

... look up and behold the sword, we consider them rude or unpleasant. Psychologists call this "denial" or "nuclear numbness." They say we use denial as a drug to cope with the threat of extinction. It's as if we've all injected ourselves with moral novocaine to dull the senses and deaden the pain, to ward off the fear that life is meaningless in a world which is ready to become a giant fiery furnace at a moment's notice. The three men in our story from Daniel did not have the option of denying or ignoring the ...

1731. God's Gift Of Life

Psalm 139:1-24

Sermon

Erskine White

... her says, "How is your baby today?" If that same four-month-pregnant mother didn't want her child, the doctor would be talking about a fetus, not a baby. Are we saying by this that the fetus is only human when the mother wants her (or him)? This Biblical sense of the sanctity of life has been obscured of late, so shame on the liberal church today! Shame on any church which puts any part of life beyond the authority of God! From beginning to end, life is a gift from God and because it is, life is sacred. You ...

1732. Your Spiritual Check up

2 Corinthians 13:1-10

Sermon

Erskine White

... how the prophet Ezekiel took a scroll of Scripture and ate it (Ezekiel 2:9-3:3). So, too, do we "eat" in a spiritual sense the things we read and listen to. Food for the heart and mind; food for the soul. Are you watching what you eat? Are you taking ... many people don't understand this today. They never exercise their faith and so they lose their moral muscle tone; in a spiritual sense, as Christians, they become weak and flabby. I spoke about this very thing just the other day with someone who was sorely upset ...

1733. The Message In The Means

Sermon

Erskine White

... soon to become High Priest of Israel? Suppose his child had been born that night? Not only was Annas the powerful High Priest, but his son-in-law, Caiaphas, and five of his own sons went on to become High Priests as well. Wouldn't it have made sense for Jesus to be born into this house, into a family whose religious authority was known and respected by all the people? That way, Jesus would have had a ready-made platform when He began His ministry - the whole nation would have paid attention when He began to ...

1734. Epiphany 5

Psalm 138:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Judges 6:1-40, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... utters them and other believers. Without comprehension, speaking in tongues is a "mindless" exercise, according to Paul. 3. He also taught that speaking in tongues is not beneficial in public worship services; "five words" that are spoken "with my mind" - that is, that make sense to people - are much more profitable to people than "ten thousand words in a tongue." Tell the story of Jesus to people! 4. And Paul capped all of this with an exhortation to become mature in the faith - "do not be children in your ...

1735. Proper 7

1 Kings 19:9-18, Psalm 63:1-11, Zechariah 12:1-9, Luke 8:26-39, Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... entire New Testament to her, and many of the Psalms. And in the course of my reading, I found out something. For 25 years I had rejected a Jesus I knew nothing about. The real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, answered my questions and spoke words that made sense." He said that he didn't know exactly when his conversion took place, but it did, through the Holy Spirit. And he closed the story this way: "If you had asked me in 1965 what I thought of Christ, I probably would have laughed at you. But since 1975 ...

1736. Proper 21

Luke 16:19-31, Psalm 146:1-10, Amos 6:1-7, Joel 2:18-27, 1 Timothy 6:11-21

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... full-time ministry in the church is, according to Paul, related to baptism and the promises that are made in baptism. There is a sense in which baptism is an ordination service for everyone who receives it; one not only receives "everything that God has to offer" in ... eschatological connection between the ordination of people into ministry and the resurrection/ascension of the Lord. To him, ordination, in a sense, was for all time and until the kingdom comes in its fullness. Luke 16:19-31 (RC, E, L, C) In ...

1737. The Problem With Miracles In Our Time

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

William J. Carl

... of healing and feeding were not told as proof of God’s kingdom, but as signs of it and as such only faith recognizes them as acts of God, for miracles don’t prompt faith -- faith helps us see miracles. Miracles, then, in the real sense, are “completely inaccessible” to human reason because their causes lie “solely within the will of God,” and only faith can recognize this (Keller, op. cit. p. 21). Even the skeptical, doubting Reverend Lewis Merrill in John Irving’s, A Prayer for Owen Meany ...

1738. How Does One Follow Jesus During The Threat Of War?

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

George Johnson

... in Acts which is assigned for this Sunday. That story of Peter and Cornelius has been occupying my thoughts for several days, and I had a pretty good idea of how the sermon would be developed. But the present historical crisis has been capturing the attention of us all. My sense of call as a pastor has urged me to set aside the sermon on Peter and Cornelius and speak about following Jesus in the face of the threat of war. It has come to my attention that I would be shirking my duty if I did not offer you ...

1739. When Will The Pain Go Away?

Matthew 24:1-35

Sermon

George Johnson

... a private virtue. It is not discovered by an individual effort alone. Rather, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit manifested in the gathered faithful. One of the main functions of the Christian community is to encourage one another. When things seem hopeless, we need the sense of belonging to a group that can be there when we need their support. It isn't so much in what they say, but it's their presence that sustains us. Our gathering together for worship each week builds hope in each of us. Being in community ...

1740. This Is My Body

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... ages, “This is my body.” At the Lord’s Table may by met a living Christ who reveals God’s love and forgiveness, who shares with communicants his love and power, and who guides and strengthens them as they attempt to do the will of God. In this sense the Christ is present in the Communion service. In order to experience this presence, the communicant needs to come to this table with a desire to open her or his life to the will of God with forgiveness for those who have wronged her or him and with an ...

1741. A Parent’s Debt

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... . All parents must learn to cut the “apron strings.” They need to let their offspring fly from the nest, test their wings and take some of the hard knocks that come with those experiences. Among the emotional needs of children are a sense of achievement, encouragement to development, freedom, acceptance and control. What they do not need, and what seldom does any good, is nagging and scolding. Parents owe their children love by caring for their religious needs. They do not owe their children narrowness ...

1742. Prepare The Way Of The Lord

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

James Garrett

... and joyous. Harold Kushner reminds us it is not dying that most of us are afraid of. It’s something more unsettling and more tragic than dying that frightens us. We’re afraid of never having really lived. It’s possible to come to the end with a sense we never figured out what life is for.4 Jesus Christ is God’s birth to his creation. It is the fulfillment of prophecy. Luke sets the preparation for the advent of Jesus in the context of world history and the universal purpose of God. Christmas is by ...

1743. Jesus Is Rejected

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

James Garrett

... admire him. I respect him for his public stand in his convictions even when they may not be popular. In an essay he writes: “I got my most basic beliefs -- in the sense of unthinking attitudes rather than rational credos -- from my stern, moralistic, unyielding mother. She wasn’t all grim, though. She had a great sense of humor, was a hilarious mimic, and was as invariably charming to outsiders as she was severe with her children. Her scorn was withering. When during World War I my parents decided that ...

1744. You Must Become As A Child

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Brett Blair

... was just then noticing the difference.” Children are so innocent and beautiful in that respect, and I think that Jesus must have had that in mind when he said: unless you become as a child, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. II Children have about them a sense of wonder and awe. I had a man come into my office several years ago. He had it all--talent, looks, personality. I felt myself being almost jealous of him. As he sat down, however, I could tell that he was deeply troubled. He began by saying: Do ...

1745. The Pitfalls Of Practicing Piety

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:16-18, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... church. As I approached their yard, the sign "Beware Of Dog" sped adrenalin through my system and nearly drove me away. Then I heard barking. The dog rounding the corner was not a collie but a much smaller dog, a cocker spaniel; still, I froze. I am sure it sensed my terror and was enjoying mastery of the situation. Unable to move, I had to wait until the owner came to rescue me by inviting me into their house. I mentioned that I thought it strange that their dog should be loose when the sign gave a warning ...

1746. Safe With The Shepherd

John 10:22-42

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... t know where they are or where they are going. That can be more than a little frightening; it leads to despair, to hopelessness. And when someone is "sick" they will follow anyone who will promise a moment of happiness, a brief feeling of peace or forgetfulness, a sense that they are someone. The call of Jesus the Good Shepherd is, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." There is no better way, no greater truth, no happier life. Our Lord reaches out to us in love that we might follow him. Sometimes in fear ...

1747. Beyond Togetherness

John 17:20-26

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... Fat Lady every time I went on the air again.... This terribly clear, clear picture of the Fat Lady formed in my mind ... and she probably had cancer. Anyway, it seemed clear why Seymour wanted me to shine my shoes when I went on the air. It made sense." The memory stirs something in Franny; she remembers how her Fat Lady had cancer, too. "But," says Zooey, "I'll tell you a terrible secret - are you listening to me? There isn't anyone out there who isn't Seymour's Fat Lady. There isn't anyone anywhere that ...

1748. Our Christian I.D.

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... s child and to your awareness of what God wants you to do with your life. So Satan's primary objective is not getting you to do something wrong, something bad, but to cause you to lose track of who you are - to lose your identity - to lose your sense of belonging to the family of God. The ways Satan tries to convince us that we do not deserve to be God's beloved are most often subtle, clever and deadly. And these temptations, like the temptations of Christ, are far more insidious than any impulse to disobey ...

1749. Finding Our Roots

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... the would-be gods we mistook for the Lord our God. Simply to be told that our idols are sand which can be easily washed away is not enough, because we need to know where to set our roots. If we are dislodged, we will seek almost anything for a sense of security, even if it does not offer a solution but is only a rest area, a place to catch our breath and calm our anxiety for a bit. Our hearts rebel against being rootless and they will be attached to something, our hearts will be attached to someting. Well ...

1750. Two R-Rated Stories

John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

John M. Braaten

... -dampening effect. I wonder if those leaders have ever really experienced or understood the magnificence of forgiveness as Paul, or the woman in our text, or as I have. If they had, they could never see it as anything but life-restoring, uplifting, exhilarating and joyful. Jesus senses the release and ecstasy in the woman’s heart as she stands before him. He can see it in her eyes, so he asked, "Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not ...

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