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 176 to 200 of 635 results

176. Victim or Visionary

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... ? There are many voices which say we must be content to be victims. It seems to me that Freud, who powerfully shaped the modern consciousness, said just that. He said essentially that people are sick animals, dominated by untamed passions, victims of irrational instincts. There are many voices which echo his understanding and which prophesy our collective doom. I do not feel I need to catalogue these for you, for when you turn this afternoon to your paper, I am confident you will see them dutifully and ...

177. The Agony and Ecstasy of Sight

John 9:1-12

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... before undertaking the hard and dangerous task of chopping wood? Or, how many times have you seen a boy, waiting to receive the pitch, spit on his hands for luck before gripping the baseball bat? And why is it, the moment we cut or burn our finger, we instinctively put it in our mouth? In light of these observations, the holiness and the curative power of spittle is a most understandable detail of this little story - even for us. In support of the idea that the cure of the man’s blindness was not an act ...

178. The Gospel According to Christ’s Enemies

John 11:1-16

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... hour had not yet come." In the light of this, the delay of Jesus could certainly be interpreted as a matter of timing. He Delayed to Pray Gossip points out that Jesus had to make absolutely sure what God’s will was in this situation. Gossip writes, "Our Lord’s instinct was to hurry to his friend’s relief even though it meant death to himself. But he had a whole world to save. Its last hope lay in him. If he were rash or premature, that hope would go out. Was it God’s will he should die now, with ...

179. An Unidentified King

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... in Memphis. You stand on the roadside and watch. The crowds cheer but he invites people to do more, to actually join his parade. You sense that to step out into the street is to bet your entire life that he is the Son of God, your Savior and Lord. Instinctively you understand that in serving him you will know a quality of life, in this world and the next, that comes only through him. But you know that to follow him will cost you. When you crown him King, you become his humble subject. He has the right to ...

180. Lazarus Rising

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

... looked as though he would not make it. Now, I want you to envision a person in your mind. I want a face to appear in your mind’s eye. Who would you turn to if you faced a serious crisis in your life? There are some people we would instinctively turn to in time of trouble. I want you to know that the person who came in Martha’s mind was Jesus. She sent an urgent message to him: “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” That is an interesting wording isn’t it. You see, love sees with special ...

181. Our Three-Faced God

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... lack of appreciating the greatness of God has affected our worship. Today the church is experiencing a crisis in worship simply because we no longer have a God worthy of worship, "worth-ship." It is when we have a God of greatness, majesty, and glory that we instinctively fall down before him in worship, awe, and adoration. How much awe is there in the average worship service today other than a child saying, "Aw, do I have to go?" We fear God not only because of his greatness but because of his power. We ...

182. Jesus ... Who?

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... , Lord, for I am a sinful man." Haven’t we in the church lost something of this unworthiness in the presence of the holy Christ? It is not uncommon to hear no confession of sins in a worship service. If you come to the pure Jesus, why do you not instinctively say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner"? If we would come face to face with the greatness of Jesus, we would be filled with awe, too. This greatness can be seen in his power. When Jesus and the Disciples were on the Sea of Galilee, a storm came up ...

183. When Love Runs Out of Breath

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... . We have littered the land so badly that we pick up trash every year to the tune of 56 billion cans, 32 billion bottles, 34 million tons of paper - it cost a million and a half dollars to clean up Georgia highways last year. Our natural, instinctive reaction to such statistics is to say: "That’s terrible, I would never contribute to that problem in our land." WE ARE MENTALLY POLLUTED As terrible as the physical pollution is, the mental is far worse. We read dirty books, tell dirty jokes, look at dirty ...

184. For Those in Church: Joy and Service

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... Christian judges things, not keeping the religious rules or showing off your piety, but serving your fellow humans is real greatness. The world may claim that greatness is in commanding others to do things for us, but we claim it is in serving other people. Instinctively the world has accepted these standards. The world will respect, admire, and even fear the person with power - but it will love the person who serves. Ask yourself who is really great and loved by people: it is the pastor who works among his ...

185. Numbered Hairs

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... , too, that exploitation is unthinkable for him. Prince Vasili, in Tolstoy’s War And Peace, is a person whose first and only concern is promotion of his own welfare, regardless of the cost to anyone else. He has so concentrated on this that his instinct seems always to tell him when someone could be useful to him. Tolstoy writes, "Something always drew him toward those richer and more powerful than himself and he had rare skill in seizing the most opportune moment for making use of people."7 Manipulation ...

186. What On Earth Is God Doing? - 1940

Psalm 76:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... chaos to vindicate their contention that there is no God, or should there be some semblance of one, that he is obviously so weak and incompetent that he does not matter anyhow. But most men are, as Sabatier insisted, "incurably religious." They instinctively, insistently, irresistibly believe in a good God; and Christians certainly profess to believe in a Christlike God. Well, then, if the Father of mankind is just and kind and omnipotently sovereign, as Christian faith affirms, why should not wickedness be ...

187. The Christian’s Style - 1960

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... at odds with so much that makes up our selfish way of life - our pet indulgences, our cultivated prejudices, our materialistic motives, our system of values, our firmly fixed faith in false philosophies. Consider the unabashed and unabated acquisitive instinct. How persistently we measure life in material terms, the things we can acquire, the money we can make, the control over others we can exercise. Suppose that into such an atmosphere of unashamed, well-rationalized selfishness the authentic Spirit ...

188. The Evangelism Of Emphasis - 1946

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... . By explicit exhortation, vivid dramatization, and personal demonstration, he impressed this crucial principle on the consciences of his followers, so that even though they falter in their practice of it, they cannot forget it. The complete shift of emphasis from the old, instinctive, animal reaction practiced by most mortals of "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," to the new God-like response practiced by Jesus of turning the other cheek, going the second, mile, and overcoming evil with good, is ...

189. Preaching Unpopular Truth - 1943

John 18:38

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... defying the will of the majority? We shall only get ourselves soundly disliked, and the result will be such loss of influence as will destroy our effectiveness altogether. I frankly confess that I feel the appeal of this argument. It is an altogether legitimate, normal, and valuable instinct to desire to be popular. In fact, I believe it is our duty to be popular. For only as we are liked, admired, held in esteem do we have the positive influence over others that we ought to have. For any one to say he does ...

190. EPISODE 7: MAUNDY THURSDAY

Drama

Robert Clausen

... I’ve come to make men perfect. BISHOP: That is your mistake. Men don’t want to be perfect. JESUS: They must be perfect, like my Father. BISHOP: A degree of goodness, yes. But to be completely loving, pure, and good goes against all human instincts. The church understands this limitation. We let people be themselves. JESUS: To be themselves is to die. BISHOP: My colleague is right. The case is hopeless. FIRST CLERGYMAN: The sooner we get rid of him, the better. JESUS: You will never rid yourselves of me ...

191. Something That Will Last Forever

Matthew 6:19-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... things I received was a bar of silver. It must weigh ten or fifteen pounds. My father bought it in 1982. A banker told me recently that its current value is about half what Papa paid for it. I laughed when he told me that. Papa's instincts concerning stocks, bonds, and financial investments were none too sharp. It didn't matter much because he seldom had enough money to deal in those commodities. But when it came to eternal investments, nobody was sharper than Papa. He taught us that a principle is far more ...

192. A Courtroom Confrontation

Matthew 27:11-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . He had cast himself in faith upon the wisdom and will of God. And curiously, it was the Governor, the powerful man. Pilate, who was visibly agitated. His wife had told him of a troublesome dream she had had about Jesus. Pilate's better instincts were battling with his ambition, and losing. So, in a pitiful, cowardly gesture, he washed his hands in public, trying to absolve himself from responsibility for putting an innocent man to death. Though Jesus' wrists were bound, he was free. Though Pilate's wrists ...

193. "Almost" Is A Sad Word

Matthew 19:16-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... man had caught a glimpse of a magnificent God-centered way of life. Something in the eyes and spirit of Jesus sent shivers of excitement down his spine. It was as if his whole life had been preparation for his magnificent invitation from Jesus. Instinctively he knew that this was the crucial intersection in his life's journey. But, oh, the price was so high! His money had always been his magic carpet to comfort and connections and opportunities. How could he live without this old familiar security blanket ...

194. Who Are the Christians?

Judges 1:1-36

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... teeth but her words haven't come in yet." Isn't it wonderful to know that even before our words came in, God was calling us by name, speaking to the depths of our subconscious? That is what we celebrate when we baptize infants. If the call of instinct can cause a goose to fly from Canada to Florida, is it hard to believe that God can call his own precious sons and daughters to himself? God calls in lots of ways: through godly parents, faithful Sunday School teachers, and the witness of a college roommate ...

195. An Identity Crisis

Sermon

James Bjorge

... nature, upholding the universe by his word of power" (Hebrews 1:1-3). Last fall I did a lot of pheasant hunting in Iowa with my older brother. On one of his visits he brought along his black labrador. A lab is supposedly a born hunter with keen instincts for the outdoor life. I was a bit apprehensive though, for this dog had not been trained in hunting skills and I was dubious of his native abilities. Well, the fears were well-grounded for when this explosive black lab hit the fields, he was off chasing the ...

196. Just Common People?

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... vices? Who never gets into trouble? Who stays out of the police courts? Pays his taxes? Come off it! This Kingdom is not a little company of respectable people. What effect do you think it would have had on the world if this is what it was? Instinctively, we know that this world is in desperate need, not for common people, but for people of dedication and sacrifice and selfless consecration. It is to this that our Lord has called us. John the Baptist said it first, and it was important enough that our Lord ...

197. Pillars of the Church

Exodus 17:8-16, Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... horses can pull 23 tons. That difference is called "synergy" which is the increased capacity of people and animals when a task is shared. Five of us Christians can do far more together than the five of us can do separately. Even the geese know this principle by instinct. They fly in a "v" formation because the lead goose takes the brunt of the wind resistance and makes it easier on the others. They take turns flying up front. Notice also that they honk as they fly along. I can't prove this for sure, but I ...

198. A Personal God in an Impersonal World

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... to take in those outcast newborns and to care for them. They remembered Jesus' words: "Let the little children come to me and forbid them not..." Before long, the Romans began depositing their unwanted babies on the doorsteps of the Christians. Instinctively, even those pagan Roman parents knew it was better to let the unwanted child live. We live in a cultured, supposedly religious country where over one million unborn babies are destroyed each year, primarily for reasons of convenience. What if our local ...

199. A Risky Lifestyle

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... happened to a Memphis woman just over a year ago. A woman named Anita was stopped for a traffic light at the corner of Highland and Southern. Suddenly a stranger opened the passenger door of her car, grabbed her 2-month- old baby, and ran. Anita's instincts took over. She slammed that car into park, jumped out, and ran after the man. A terrified mother can move with lightning speed. When she got near the man he threw her baby into a ditch and kept on running. Miraculously, the child was not hurt. Thinking ...

200. The Wolf and the Lamb Inside Us

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... big, burly, 100- pounds of muscle, but we called him "Precious." I mean, you expect a "Precious" to be a miniature poodle, or a Pekinese, or a toy terrier, but not a massive creature who just a generation or two from a wolf. Precious attacked cats instinctively. I think in his genetic computer, a cat resembled a rabbit, and therefore was perceived as suitable prey. When I imagine what the world will be like one day when Jesus Christ returns in final victory, I see Precious cuddling up with a cat and licking ...

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