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 1851 to 1875 of 4988 results

1851. Deep Calling to Deep

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... our way. To be afraid and trembling means our very personhood is in some way threatened. To become uneasy and yearn for better days under the banner of a nominal faith is no answer. Of course, we should not treat our salvation as a possession, but as a gift that spiritually forms us. To be called to become more like Christ is to probe so deeply we not only learn of our crosses, but receive them with gratitude. We carry them and are educated in the ways of the master. The saints testify to the magnificence ...

1852. Getting It Straight

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... longer I live the more I am convinced there is an art to caring for our bodies. This art begins by our recognition of the gift coupled with the responsibility for it. Regardless of our sizes and shapes, beauty or lack of it, and physical prowess, it is ours and we ... part, it isn't. Money may or may not be needed. Physicians and other professionals may or may not be needed. God's gift is to be handled with tender loving care and at times that may mean strong medicines of discipline. Give thanks for our mortal ...

1853. No-fault Religion

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13), 14-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... , conditioned by man, no one could be accepted and no one could accept himself."4 We always want to bring something, a gift, a good deed, something to show we have earned it. Just as many of us have difficulty accepting gifts graciously from one another, (perhaps because we think there may be strings and obligations attached), so we have difficulty accepting the gift of forgiveness from God. "We want to contribute something," says Tillich, "and if we have learned that we cannot contribute anything positive ...

1854. Why We Need to Forgive

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan

... hospital gown down far enough so he could examine the bandage and figure out its purpose. When he did, he saw it was indeed a large bandage, the kind that is exceedingly painful to tear off of a hairy chest. On the bandage was written this message: “A gift . . . from the nurse you gave a ticket to last week.” A man was bitten by a dog. Later it was discovered that the dog had rabies. This was back when there was no cure for rabies. His doctor brought him the bad news. “Everything possible will be done ...

1855. One Body And One Spirit

Psalm 68:1-35, Ephesians 4:1-16

Bulletin Aid

Frank Ramirez

... who rebel against the Lord God's abiding there. Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah. Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death. (Psalm 68:18-20) Collect Lord of life, grant us gifts, grant us grace, according to your measure and not our own. Amen. Prayer Of Confession (Unison) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is ...

1856. Discipleship: The Beauty and the Cross

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... was washing him did not seem to mind as he was humming a merry tune the entire time. Then he was taken to a nice log building, a gift shop, and placed on one of the shelves, waiting to be sold. Everything in this shop was donated and all the money in sales went to assist ... seem to go better when we are close to Christ in our everyday walk of faith. The benefits of community are a great gift that comes from our discipleship. We realize that we are not alone on the journey, but that we walk with a great band ...

1857. Water and Spirit

John 3:1-17

Sermon

George Reed

... them evil. We may misuse creation for evil but creation itself is very good. It sustains us with our food, provides shelter and clothing, and supplies us with the very breath of life. God calls us to use it wisely and to protect it as part of God's wondrous gift for all. We are God's spiritual earth-creatures. We are human, mortal, and made from the very dust of the earth, but we are also made in God's image, filled with the very life breath of God. We are God's guardians of creation sharing the wonders of ...

1858. Day One: a New Beginning

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... I did what we have come to call "de-Christmasing." The ornaments are removed from the tree, wrapped carefully, and placed in their boxes. The lights come off the tree and are placed under the basement stairs where they go. The angel on top of the tree, a gift from a member of my first parish, comes off last and is lovingly wrapped and placed in a box as well. Then comes the garland around the doors, the mistletoe, the Christmas cards taped all around the walls, the wreath on the door, and finally the tree ...

1859. A Sure-Fire Way to End Burn Out

Isaiah 40:21-31

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... It doesn't even give us a free pass out of social and political work. We are still accountable to God for how we spend the gift of days that has been given us. Right action, good works, compassion are still at the core of God's summons to us in our ... . We will walk and not grow faint. (Isaiah 40:31). All of this, sisters and brothers, is one reason that God gave us the gift of Christian community. For it is here, together, in struggle and ministry that we strive to give it over to God. It is in partnership ...

1860. With Friends Like These ...

Job 38:1-7 (34-41)

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... to "make them feel good." In this case, they are unable to develop fully their own coping skills and the emotional resources they will need to see them through this and other tragedies that inevitably will touch their lives. Our presence alone can often be our greatest gift and comfort. Job's friends might have been a great comfort to him, had they not tried to talk him out of his feelings and attempted to explain away his pain. His friend, Eliphaz, says, "Job, you've been a big help to many people who were ...

1861. Apocalypse Wow!

Isaiah 25:6-9

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... 's Supper, a foretaste of that great feast the Prophet Isaiah describes. Jesus of Nazareth requests the honor of your presence at the banquet to end all banquets. The risen Christ is your host when you come to this table. He is truly present in this gift of himself, to provide sustenance for your body and for your soul. There will be sufficient nourishment for your journey, wherever that journey may take you. The living Christ is reaching out to touch you, to embrace you. We all need hugs and this bread and ...

1862. Commentary

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

Archibald M. Hunter

... with so great a sum. Respect for his master is limited to a grudging acknowledgement of power. If we are correct in taking the phrase "to each according to his ability" as indicating that for Matthew the parable challenges Christians to make full use of the gifts that God has entrusted to them, the portrayal of the third servant reminds us that love for our master must be demonstrated in faithful and untiring service to other people. It is routine for Christians to excuse themselves by protesting that their ...

1863. Church Slugs

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... just another social club where we gather so that we may associate with like-minded people. The gospel calls us to a way of living that may often not be PC. Paul's "PD" ("politically disastrous") advice is that diversity of experience, of gifts, of calls, comes from the one unifying Spirit of God. Even more damaging to the notion of political correctness is Paul's insistence that all these widely divergent attitudes, angles and activities are actually for the common good of the Christ-body community. Paul ...

1864. A Lovehope Faith

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... had left them weary. In chapter 12 Paul used the analogy of a human body to try and get the Corinthians to view charismatic gifts within the proper perspective. But now Paul hastens to add the single most important component necessary for that spiritually-gifted body: the lifeblood of love. Just as the individual organs of the body cannot function without the blood coursing through them, we humans are nothing without love flowing through us. The organs are all present to aid the blood - the heart to pump ...

1865. The Compleat Christian

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . The tension between these two demands has always kept the church a bit off-balance, a trifle uncertain of where to focus its energies. As Duke ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has noted, "justification suggests that our lives are given to us as a gift, whereas the virtues seem to imply that the moral life should be construed as an achievement" ("On Developing Hopeful Virtues," Christian Scholar's Review 18 [1988]: 109). Perhaps what Paul was urging the Roman church to consider was transforming themselves into ...

1866. Doorkeepers, Lampkeepers and Wisdomkeepers

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... lampkeeper in this week's Gospel text. He guards the entrance through the narrow door of genuine faithfulness, turning aside those whose words and deeds betray their false spirit. But if the door is narrow and well-guarded, how are we to gain access to the gift of salvation lying on the other side? Indeed, how do we even find our way to this narrow entrance in the looming stone wall of our pride, our fears, our sinfulness? Jesus, of course, is himself the master key - unlocking all the doors. But in grace ...

1867. Speak Up for Forgiveness

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... have a face. Secondly, Wangerin insists that we must "remember our own forgiveness" (98-99) before we consider offering forgiveness to another. It only takes one quick, private, inward glance to make us painfully aware of the need all of us share for the gift of God's grace and forgiveness. When we recollect those times we needed the forgiving and healing grace of God, we undergo the great "equalizer," removing from our spirit any sense of "superiority over the sinner, to whom you are more similar than to ...

1868. Welcome Home, Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... s bathrobe who doesn't have to do or say anything in the children's Christmas pageants. Is there any worse role in a Christmas pageant than that of Joseph? Mary coos and beams and acknowledges all the visitors, shepherds adore, angels sing, wise men bring gifts, and even those children cast as sheep and cows get to make animal noises. But Joseph only gets to stand there. Obviously, Joseph, in the eyes of most of us, is a highly peripheral figure in this whole story. In Matthew's text, however, nothing could ...

1869. Strength's Weakness

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... " in the resurrected Christ. Thomas allowed himself to be "weak" enough to accept the fact that his "strength" had become his potential for self-destruction. This "doubting disciple" relinquished the hold his "show-me-strength," false faith had on his heart and accepted the gift of faith and forgiveness Jesus offered him. Christ's gift to Thomas to all who believe empowers us with the genuine strength of redeeming love brought through absolute grace. Instead of "show-me" signs, God offers us the unmerited ...

1870. DisArming Christmas

John 1:6-8, 19-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... incarnated love shake us up and stir our souls. When we magnify the Christ child, we will no longer coo and cluck over a baby Jesus "meek and mild." Instead, our eyes and our hearts will be opened to the enormity of God's gift to us, and what that gift means in our lives. Our knees will tremble at the thought of the tremendous love and sacrifice that lie wrapped in that manger bed. 3) Glorify What do your Christmas traditions, activities and attitudes really glorify? Let me get specific. During this season ...

1871. Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jewish concept of attaining equality between those not of equal rank. It is in verse 33 that Luke reveals the source of this amazing community's unity. While only the apostles are endowed with "great power," the entire church receives "great grace" - the gift that enables the apostles' message to be received and the community to act faithfully upon it. This "great grace" (mega charis) so changes human nature that the general statement made in verse 32 - "no one said that any of the things which he possessed ...

1872. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... well as the disciples present, are instructed not to reveal this miracle to anyone. While the secrecy of the messianic identity is a recurring theme in Mark, Jesus' reticence to advertise this resurrection has another implication as well. Part of the healing gift that Jesus leaves this family is a return to normalcy. The daughter is free to resume her childhood, the parents to return to the responsibilities of everyday life, without worrying about taking on some "freak show" identity. As with the woman who ...

1873. Genesis 2:18-24

Genesis 2:18-24

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... same - God once again uses the "ground," the earth itself, as the raw material for creation. While these new creatures share with the human a basic commonness of being, these late arrivals do not receive the additional gift of God's "breath of life." The life which animates the man comes directly from God's own nostrils. The gift of life for all other creations is "once-removed," mediated, as it were, by the divinely created ground which makes up their essence. Nevertheless, all created beings receive the ...

1874. Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The "chosenness" which was the basis of Israel's confession of grateful praise now extends to all, "Jew and Greek." Both these texts exhort their audiences to accept God's mercy and love, God's efforts on their behalf, as an unmerited gift. We may be tempted to think there is always something we've done or can still do in order to merit this grace, even as Jesus was tempted by the devil to act out his powers if he, in fact, had them. Our only possible positive course ...

1875. Philippians 3:4b-14

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... offer a superior model to those who proclaim their faith. "Sharing of his sufferings" may also be translated as "the fellowship of his sufferings." "Fellowship" in Christ's sufferings is a communal, not simply a personal, event. Even as Paul emphasized the individual gift of rebirth hoped for by all who share faith in Christ, he could emphasize the spirit of a koinonia community that would and could suffer together for Christ's sake and in Christ's name. Paul offered far more than the popular "bad things ...

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