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 3082 results

1851. Advent 4

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Both Old Testament and Gospel portray the theme of God building a house, a kingdom or a people. In the Old Testament text, King David desires to build a temple for God but finds out that God is going to be the One building a house (dynasty) of David's descendents. In the Gospel, Angel Gabriel informs the Virgin Mary that God is going to build up his Kingdom through the son she was to conceive through the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 David wants to build in Jerusalem a ...

1852. Jesus Rejected

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

R. Sheldon MacKenzie

It was early in the morning. The representatives of the Jewish people held an important meeting. They met to compose a charge on which they could have Jesus brought before the military governor. The military governor was a senior civil servant from Rome. He was called a procurator. In this case he was a hard man. He ruled by decree, a cruel decree if necessary, without consideration for the feelings of the local people. One Jewish historian has written that this man had been guilty of rape, insult, murder ...

1853. The TV Revolution

Sermon

Michael Rogness

As the dominant medium of social expression, television is pervasive in a profound way that we seldom recognize fully. Because most of us get most of our information about the society most of the time from television, it becomes the primary social fact of our lives.2 -- James Monaco Preaching Today While visiting many congregations I am constantly astonished to hear how much complaining there is about preaching. Faithful churchgoers find themselves wondering, "What's happened to good preaching?" "Where ...

1854. The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Reading the title you may jump to the conclusion that I do not know football. To be sure, the saying usually goes: “The best defense is a good offense.” But consider the plight of Joe Paterno when he became head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions in 1967. He realized that he did not have a squad of outstanding athletes, particularly defensive players. To Paterno, defense was the key to winning football games. What was he to do? In his own words: “I had to find a way of playing great defense without ...

1855. For a Thirty-three-year-old Cancer Victim

Matthew 13:24-30

Eulogy

Harold Warlick

The Backside of the Mountain John 14:1-7 The following meditation was preached at the funeral of Charles Whitlow, age 33. Mr. Whitlow died after a prolonged battle with cancer. He underwent several painful and experimental last-resort bone marrow transplant attempts in Duke University hospital. His father, grandmother, and grandfather, all charter members of Emerywood Baptist Church, died and were eulogized by Dr. Warlick within the three years preceding Mr. Whitlow's death. He is survived by his wife, age ...

1856. A House Or A Home?

Joshua 24:1-27

Sermon

R. E. Lybrand

"Now then," Joshua continued, "honor the Lord and serve him sincerely and faithfully. Get rid of the gods which your ancestors used to worship in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve only the Lord. If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord." A family moved to a new city where the father's company had transferred him. This ...

1857. Divine Liturgy, Divine Play, Divine Comedy

John 13:31-38

Sermon

Carl Jech

My dear children, I am only to be with you a little longer. You will seek me; (but) "Where I am going you cannot come." A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you. (John 13:33-34) Has it occurred to you that in those parts of the United States where it comes on at 11:30 p.m., "Saturday Night Live" is also Sunday Morning Live? It might be good if we could bring a little more of the humor of that show with us to church on Sunday mornings. The skits on Saturday Night ...

1858. There’s Gotta Be a Day

Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon

We’ve heard that song before, haven’t we? We’ve heard it with some variations, but the theme is the same. Perhaps the same problems create the same theme - with some variations. Even the variations do not nuance the repetitions enough to make us pay attention, finally. If it were not for two things, Malachi’s oracle of God could be passed by as "just the same old thing." The oracle is from God. Secondly, it comes because God insists on keeping his covenant. He simply cares. There it is. Do we wish to ...

1859. Christmas Vision

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Darkness, broken by soft candlelight and electric light somewhat harsher and reflected by shiny surfaces. A cross, two candlesticks, antiseptically clean robes, well-scrubbed faces, finely-dressed, well-mannered, reasonably contented people gathered here in this place, in this building. For what are we here? Why are we here? To sing favorite carols? To seek forgiveness for guilt? The family always comes together to church on Christmas? To glimpse a vision? Another dark night when a few stars pierce the ...

1860. Communion Is Reformed

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Then he took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me." (TEV) In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." Martin Luther was reared by very strict Catholic parents. They rightly believed that the devil was real and constantly present. They believed that God was to be feared and respected. So anytime young Martin or any ...

1861. The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 25:1-12, Psalm 23:1-6, Psalm 135:1-21, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE If there are any chips out of, or cracks in, the eschatological framework of the church year - which admittedly becomes quite brittle by itself at this time of the year - they are restored by the readings of this Sunday. These lections point to the last things and, specifically in the first reading and the Gospel for the Day, to the incredible feast over which our Lord will preside in the new heaven and the new earth. "This is the feast of victory for our God, for the Lamb who was slain ...

1862. Climbing The Rigi

Illustration

Harry Emerson Fosdick

At this point I can imagine you thinking of some Sunday when you went to church and got nothing out of it. The Scripture was poorly read, the hymns were antiquated, the pastoral prayer was a wandering improvisation of trivial requests, the anthems were dreadful, and the sermon was a flop. Just so! Once in Switzerland I climbed the Rigi and saw nothing. The fog was so thick that one’s vision reached only a few feet. It reminded me of some church services of worship, when the spiritual fogs drift in. ...

1863. Out of the Darkness

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

"... I am the light of the world." - John 9:5 St. Augustine wrote of our lesson: "This blind man stands for the human race ... if the blindness is infidelity, then the illumination is faith." Surely we need the illumination of Christian faith today. Ours is one of those epochs of which it may be said, as Shakespeare said of Romeo, "affliction is enamoured of thy parts ... and thou art wedded to calamity." Worse still, we seem bereft of a vision to sustain us. "Without a vision, the people perish," declares ...

1864. Drastic Surgery

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

In February, 1966, a young surgeon from India, then a resident at a St. Louis Hospital, took a radical step in an attempted reconciliation with his estranged wife. She was a staff physician in Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, and was living in a dormitory there. The surgeon called a taxi driver to his apartment door and gave him a package which he asked him to deliver to his wife’s room. His wife’s roommate answered the knock at the door and accepted the package. It was blood-soaked, and when she opened ...

1865. Stewards of Creation

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

About the second Sunday in November each year, after mailing out a flood of brochures, putting up posters, twisting arms of the faithful to make visits, and designing a banner, there comes from this pulpit what I like to call, "The Sermon on the Amount." Members sit in the pews and squirm on their billfolds, hang onto their checkbooks and purses, fill out a pledge card reluctantly, and sing the hymn: "Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold." For biblical justification of this once-a-year ...

1866. Goodness Is Not Good Enough

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

James W. Robinson

There is something rather appealing in the way the rich young man intercepted Jesus as he journeyed to Jerusalem. He greeted the Master with the enthusiasm of a child throwing himself into the outstretched arms of a father returning home after a long day at work. And, like a child, the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "Good Teacher," he exclaimed, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" In his sincerity, the young man knelt when he asked the question. Jesus was greatly impressed by the young man’s ...

1867. Proper 5

1 Samuel 16:14-23, Mark 3:20-30, Mark 3:31-35, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: 1 Samuel 16:14-23 Theme: God’s relation to evil Exegetical Note The premise for this story of David’s being placed in Saul’s service as a court musician is that the evil spirit that accounts for the king’s apparent "mental illness" comes from God. Such a notion is difficult on several counts for the modern reader, but is grounded in the Old Testament’s firm monotheism, which would prefer to attribute evil to God’s doing rather than to posit any sort of competing counter-deity (such as the ...

1868. Proper 23

Genesis 3:1-24, Mark 10:17-31, Hebrews 4:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: Genesis 3:8-19 Theme: Changing images of God Exegetical note: God is portrayed here as anthropomorphic, finite in knowledge (those are not rhetorical questions!), excessively punitive (penalizing unborn generations), jealous of divine prerogatives (knowledge and life), and perhaps even deceptive, in that the predicted consequences of the eating the tree - sudden death - did not result: as the serpent had rightly predicted, the man and woman did not die in that day, but instead got the ...

1869. Home Economy

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

This style of home economy is difficult to find today. In fact, the story that God spreads before us as our diet for this harvest Sunday is so far removed from the complexities of poverty in our society, the issues of world hunger, and the problems of production that it seems a legend, something out of this world. Things like this don’t happen any more. We would hardly want to teach this style of home economy in our home economics classes. Much to our regret and loss, God seems to have been sent off into ...

1870. When the Sermon Turns Sour

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

William G. Carter

I want to let you in on an industry secret. Ready? Most preachers have a difficult time preaching in the congregations where they grew up. It is true for me. I was recently invited to preach in the church where I grew up. My mixed feelings about the invitation were justified. Before anybody heard a word I said, they remembered little Billy Carter, who made paper airplanes out of worship bulletins and dropped them from the balcony when nobody was looking. Even the newcomers who joined long after I moved ...

1871. Civil War Isn't!

2 Samuel 18:1-18, 19--19:8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Civil War ISN'T! Of course! If it is CIVIL, it is not WAR. If it is WAR, it is anything but CIVIL. And every war that has ever been fought with that designation, from our own a century-and-a-half ago, to some of the horrific conflicts we see on the news from Africa and the Middle East. Our lesson tells the story of Israel's ancient Civil War, the attempted overthrow of King David by his son, Absalom. Absalom was David's third oldest son, the child of a union with the princess of a neighboring city-state,(1 ...

1872. "Wow!"

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

David E. Leininger

It starts off ordinary enough. Jesus and his three closest friends - Peter, James, and John - go up on a high mountain. Nothing unusual. Jesus often went off from the crowds to pray and rest. All very ordinary. But from here on, ordinary ends. No sooner do they arrive than Jesus is suddenly "transfigured." He "glowed." As the text has it, "his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them." Not only out of the ordinary, but absolutely out of this world - which, of course, is ...

1873. The Good Samaritan: A New Look at an Old Story

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

The Good Samaritan. Familiar story. One researcher found in a survey that 49% of the people interviewed said they would be able to tell the story of the Good Samaritan if asked to do so, 45% said they would not be able to, and 6% were unsure whether they could tell it or not. Among those who attended religious services every week, the proportion who thought they could tell the story rose to 69% percent.(1) But whether or not one could accurately retell this parable, the concept of the "Good Samaritan" is ...

1874. A Pre-christmas Faith

Jeremiah 33:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

We have scarcely had time to savor Thanksgiving . . . .the delicious turkey and dressing . . . .the football contest on television . . . .reunion with family and friends . . . .the brisk cold of an autumn afternoon and the glow and warmth of a fire. For the children the coming of Christmas has always signaled a flood of expectation. Santa Claus is already setting up his listening post at shopping centers across our town. Some may complain about the over-commercialization of Christmas, but not me. I love to ...

1875. How Much Faith Is Enough?

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

The angle from which we view things makes a big difference. Lord Chesterfield once pointed out that a horse looks pretty much like a horse when viewed from ground level, but when you climb up in the loft and look down on a horse from the top, it looks a good deal like a violin. Your perspective is the difference. It is not unusual, in the Gospels, for the same story to be told by two different authors from two different perspectives. The result is often a much richer interpretation. For example, in Matthew ...

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