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 387 results

176. Welcome Home, Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... had been formally married, right into the middle of all his relatives during this Roman-forced family reunion. Not only do we usually castigate Joseph for taking Mary on this trek, but we then interpret the rest of Luke's birth description to suit our Western sensibilities and thus make Joseph look even more impotent. Luke casually notes that there was no room at the inn so that when the child was born, he was laid in a manger. How horrible! Was this the best Joseph could provide for poor Mary? If Bethlehem ...

177. Cut It Out!

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... truth be told, a large percentage of our most beloved old rags should have been banished to the trash heap decades ago. How many of us started diets as a "New Year's Resolution"? How many of us are still on them today? Eating healthy foods in sensible portions would be a new behavior for almost all of us. But the old habits of midnight snacks, chips and ice cream, extra gravy and second helpings are so ingrained in our daily eating regimes that our new, healthier commitments are quickly choked out. In today ...

178. The Resolution to End All Resolutions

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Year's resolutions get packed away with the last of the Christmas decorations. By Epiphany our behavior and the whole New Year are just as tarnished as they were before January 1. The problem with most of our resolutions is that they are too safe, too sensible and too self-centered. We resolve to make tiny cosmetic changes in our lifestyles but refuse to consider restructuring our lives and changing the paradigms by which we live. Luke's single story about the boy Jesus offers us an example of what it would ...

179. Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... environment - for the Greek thought and language separated the seat of emotions (the heart) from the seat of the intellect (the mind). The Hebrew never made this distinction, finding the term heart (Hebrew leb) to be an adequate home for both kinds of sensibility. In verse 31 Jesus combines the love that is commanded for God with the love of the neighbor commanded in Leviticus 19:18. In both cases love can be commanded because love is made manifest through deeds, not just words. Legislated love is ...

180. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . While the Gospels agree that Mary Magdalene was the first to visit the abandoned grave, John's Gospel interrupts her experience with that of two other disciples, Simon Peter and "the Beloved Disciple." Arriving at the tomb in the dark, Mary's sensibilities are wrapped in the shroud of her grief and despair. Seeing the great stone door rolled away only intensifies her anguish and sends her running for the corroborating witness of other disciples. When Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple return to the ...

181. 1 Kings 19:9-14

1 Kings 19:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... this entire text have undergone retranslation time and again. Now, besides the "still small voice" of verse 12, there are interpretations that speak of a "low murmuring voice" (NEB), "a gentle whisper" (NIV), or most recently "sheer silence" (NRSV). Poetic sensibilities notwithstanding, most of these variations are trying to convey the author's dramatic contrast between the cacophony and fireworks of verse 11 and this new experience of God. (For a dramatically dissenting voice read J. Lust, "A Gentle Breeze ...

182. Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-62

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... granted him by Elijah as an opportunity to celebrate a highly symbolic communion-type meal of farewell with his family. Perhaps Jesus felt the breath of the eschaton blowing down his neck, forcing him to speak sharply in order to shake people's sensibilities and awaken them to the demanding nature of the life-and-death decisions they must make. Elijah had intentionally come to get Elisha, passing the mantle of prophetic ministry on to him. Jesus, on the other hand, was on a divinely ordained journey ...

183. 2 Kings 5:1-15ab

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... servant girl had spoken up to Naaman to suggest a cure, so his own servants now point out how silly he is being by refusing to follow the prophet's directions because they are so simple. There is no question that the servants are speaking the sensible truth - but what is remarkable is that Naaman immediately heeds their words and returns to the Jordan to begin his bathing. Both the wisdom of the servants and the power of the prophet are revealed when Naaman emerges from the Jordan with "the flesh of a ...

184. Luke 14:1, 7-14

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... banquets was a series of couches upon which guests could recline. The "best seats" were those closest to the host and perhaps also highest in elevation. It would be simplistic to view Jesus' suggestion in these verses as just wise counsel or clever social savvy. The sensible advice to choose lower seats first, so that you will not have to face the "disgrace" of moving down and may experience the joy of moving up, is given new meaning by the directive in verse 11. Here, the passive voice of that text clearly ...

185. Luke 16:1-13

Luke 16:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... only a rather inept manager for the charge that gets him in trouble with his master is "squandering" his property (v.1). Unlike outright theft, this term suggests that the steward's poor performance at the job was costing his master money. Quite sensibly, the master gives his inefficient manager a pink slip. The steward now faces an uncertain future and he quickly dismisses the options of manual labor or simply begging. He determines that his next course of action must be one that will result in people ...

186. 1 Samuel 16:14-23

1 Samuel 16:14-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , plots so convoluted and interwoven, that even in this unshockable age they continue to leap off the pages. Amidst all the cliffhangers and catastrophes, however, the tragedy of Saul and the triumph of David remain one of the most memorable - confounding our sensibilities and astounding our expectations. Last week's text introduced the guileless David into the divine plot to overthrow the unsuspecting Saul. This week the noose of God's judgment begins to slip around Saul's neck. As yet its silken texture ...

187. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

188. Luke 9:51-62

Luke 9:51-62

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

189. 2 Kings 5:1-15ab

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

190. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... it as an "idle tale" (Luke 24:11). Her sorrow turned to joy, Mary clings to Jesus who asks her to let go of him. While scholars have discussed the meaning of Jesus' cryptic remark "because I have not yet ascended to the Father" (v.17), the most sensible understanding of this comment is not to connect it to either his glorified body, or his impending departure, but to see it as a reassurance to the joy-distraught woman: "You do not need to cling to me like this, because I'm not going anywhere yet." Certainly ...

191. Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... their demise as a people. They would perish for they would be indistinguishable from the mass culture surrounding them. The Israelites would not "possess" the land across the Jordan if they themselves were possessed by that foreign land's morals and sensibilities. Looking toward the promised land that he will never enter, Moses now implores his people to act as God would have them. "Choose life," he thunders. They not only determine their own fate according to their faithfulness - the lives of future ...

192. A Very Different Top 10 List

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... rental stores, phone landlines, VCRs, Ham radio, incandescent light bulbs, cameras that use film, and the milkman. In fact, some extinctions are good. When things are no longer useful, when things do not function in a helpful way, or just aren’t sensible anymore, they should become extinct. When extinctions happen, whether biologically or culturally, they leave a blank spot, an opening, a new niche that needs to be filled. The exit of the mighty dinosaurs made it possible for an upstart little group of ...

193. Was It Really Necessary?

John 19:17-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... of it. We are not going to be a part of this anymore.” He then walked over and tore down the cross from the church. (3) Churches are being built today with no cross in sight. The blood, the broken body, the sacred sacrifice are offensive to modern sensibilities. And yet you and I still cling to this symbol of suffering and shame. That is why we are here today for this Good Friday service. We believe the cross still has saving power. But was it really necessary? Was there no other way for humanity to come ...

194. The Darkness of a Youniverse

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the final tragedy, the death of all the first born unless protected by a blood-painted portal so that the angel of the Lord would “pass over” your household. But there is one plague that stands out as strange, almost benign, to our twenty-first century sensibilities. That is the plague of “darkness.” Why’s so bad about darkness? For those of us who grew up or still live in lands far from the equator, “darkness” is a big part of each year. Days of “night” are present for three to five ...

195. Advent 4

2 Samuel 7:1-17, Romans 16:1-27, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... not sinless nor perfect. Her favor with God was in her willingness to cooperate with God's purpose and to use her life in spite of what it may cost. 3. How (v. 34). When Mary received the news of her coming motherhood of the Messiah, she asked a sensible and normal question, "How?" Since she was unmarried, how could she become a mother? In this latter part of the 20th century, not every girl would need to ask that question. How is this miracle to be performed? The answer is in the Holy Spirit who would be ...

196. The Regenerating Work of the Spirit

John 3:1-21; Acts 2:1-41

Illustration

Phil Newton

... darkness is in some measure dissipated, so that it [has] new apprehension of things. He has a new assent, his understanding being enlightened to perceive the precious truths of Christ; he assents to them with a kind of [full certainty], in a lively, sensible manner. His judgment is changed. His estimate of things is changed. His purposes are changed, he has vastly different designs from those he was [accustomed] to entertain and indulge before his new birth…In short, his purposes were for sin and self ...

197. Proper 15

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, Psalm 111:1-10, John 6:51-58, Ephesians 5:15-20

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... eats in remembrance of me shall live because of me.' People: We shall live because we eat his bread and drink his cup. Pastor: Friends, believe the good news! People: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Exhortation Be most careful how you conduct yourselves: like sensible people, not thoughtlessly. Use the present opportunity to the full, for these are evil days. PRAYER OF THE DAY Whet our appetite, Giver of life, for the bread of life, Jesus Christ, that through our faith in him and our reception of him we ...

198. John the Baptist, Sanctified Indifference, & the King of Pop

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... or our flush bank accounts, or the degrees we hold, or the opinions of others. We don’t like them because the truth they reveal can be uncomfortable, awkward, harsh and unyielding. It’s hard to know which of these two kinds of people offends our sensibilities more: the liar or the truth-sayer. Can you remember the first time you got in trouble for telling the truth? I can. Can you, really? I’ll tell you my story if you tell me yours. [This would make a great interactive time with your congregation ...

199. Proper 9

2 Kings 5:1-27, Psalm 30:1-12, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20, Galatians 6:1-16

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... is needed, and joining what is separated, and healing what is diseased and ordering what is disordered. Correct what is amiss in our political systems. Bring the best persons to places of authority that we may be governed by people of integrity and sensibility. Save us from sloganeering that oversimplifies the path to peace and community. Grant to us the vision of the beautiful and the good that can be renewed through the gift of wise poets and writers, artists and photographers, film makers and mass media ...

200. Nice Guys Finish First

Proverbs 1:20-33

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... Amalekites. And then there is the whole book of Proverbs. What are we to make of it? The theology of the book seems to be the notion that good people will be rewarded materially and bad people will be punished. Goodness, so the argument from Proverbs goes, is the sensible way to be because it pays off. If things are going well, you must be doing right. If you are suffering, these proverbs seem to say, it's because you have turned from God's ways and followed some evil course. So if you are smart, you'll be ...

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