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 666 results

176. The First Sunday In Lent

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

... hungering multitude he fed them, in spite of the fact many of them would turn away and no longer follow him. They believed only in the bread and not in the one who had multiplied the loaves. The church, you and I, must always beware of a sentimentalized ministry that is merely another form of works-righteousness, which says our ministry can be evaluated purely on the basis of how many we have served in soup kitchens. I know that sounds harsh and is likely to be misrepresented in the marketplace, but it is ...

177. Good Friday

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

Kendall McCabe

... . Suffering becomes the field of his force. The cross, which the world intended to destroy him, is returned to the world as a sign of the redemption which he has achieved. We need to face the fact of Christ's determination to die and be careful lest we foolishly sentimentalize this occasion. We are not being asked to shake our heads and say, "What a pity. He was so young. Think what he might have done had he been spared." It is true we cannot ignore the cost in pain and agony he paid, but the whole truth of ...

178. The Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Kendall K. McCabe

... had been put or in which it had cooperated, but then, she testified, something came over her, she knew not what, and she reached out and grasped his hand and extended her forgiveness as the tears rolled down his cheeks. There will be those who say this is merely sentimental and who grit their teeth as they demand more obvious vengeance; I cannot judge them. I only know that to forgive in such a manner is beyond human comprehension; it is the work of God and can only be done by us through the grace of God at ...

179. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Sermon

"The word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long." (v. 8) Prayer: Lord, you have called us to a faith that is much more than a sentimental security blanket. You have challenged us to live out what we say we believe. You never said it would be easy. Give us the courage to stand up and be counted, and also the courage to keep standing after we have been counted. "I beg your pardon; I never promised ...

180. The Cost of Being Christian

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

... unless he got hold of the root of sin in human lives and in human society there was no way that the Kingdom of God could come on earth as it is in heaven. This was the purpose for which Jesus came into the world. Jesus knew nothing about sentimentality and nominal Christianity. He knew nothing of half-heartedness. He said "You are either for me or against me." "Take up your cross and come after me or you cannot be my disciple." That was the way he was going. The paradox is that when Jesus expects something ...

181. Advent 2

Malachi 2:17--3:5, Philippians 1:1-11, Luke 3:1-20

Sermon Aid

... works - v. 11 2. What Love Means (1:3-11). Need: This pericope is saturated with Paul's love for his people and with their love for him shown by their gifts to him who is in prison. Popularly, love is an emotion or a feeling. Love is identified with sentimentalism. In this passage we learn what love really is and does. Outline: What love means - a. Being grateful for loved ones - v. 5 b. Having confidence in you - v. 6 c. Yearning to be together - v. 8 d. Praying for you - v. 9

182. The Nativity of Our Lord

Luke 2:1-20 · Isa 9:2-7 · Tit 2:11-14

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... or insights into a story everyone knows by heart? The preacher wants to avoid saying the same old thing in the same old way. Is the reason that we have lost the theological significance of Christmas and have resorted to moralism, nostalgia, and sentimentalism? 2. The problem of time for preaching. The Christmas service leaves little time for a sermon. The service is usually packed with carols, candles, and cantatas. The adult, youth, children's, and bell choirs must perform. At a festival when there is ...

183. Epiphany 4

Lk 4:21-30 · 1 Cor 13:1-13 · Jer 1:4-10

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... this chapter Paul points out that all other gifts are worthless without love. This can be seen by the characteristics of agape love. Other gifts are temporary but love is the perfect and eternal gift. Lest love be misunderstood as moralism or sentimentalism, Paul combines love with faith and hope with love being supreme. Luke 4:21-30 The people of Nazareth react negatively to Jesus' first sermon. When Jesus read the Scripture, the congregation was so pleased that admiringly they asked, "Is not this Joseph ...

184. When God Provides, It’s a Manna Miracle James G. Cobb

Exodus 16:1-36

Sermon

... against Moses or Aaron or God. As soon as the stomach became empty and the mouth became dry, numbers of Israelites longed for the fleshpots of Egypt. How easy for food to become more important than freedom. The stories around the campfires would "drip" with sentiments about those "good ole days." While God was the guide and the leader of their present journey, they easily forgot God as their present help and began to resent this hard pilgrimage. "So, where is God now?" they would cry. "Has God abandoned us ...

185. Soap Opera Silence

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

... rather, is of personal ridicule. We fear being laughed at for our claim that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We may also fear at times that our ridiculers are right, that the words we have been given are empty of power, that they are only pious sentiments which will fall away in a time of real testing. In such a situation, we are all television clergy, muted by the circumstances in which we have been placed. Jesus gave his disciples solid reasons why they should not be afraid to speak what he told them ...

186. Dog: Man's Best Friend?

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

... bringing a little old French poodle home to guard the house? You must be out of your mind!" The man replied, "But you don't understand. This dog is trained in Karate!" She responded angrily, "Karate, my foot!" Not only do we tell dog stories, we also get very sentimental about them, and often dogs have been elevated to the title of "man's best friend." But I would like to submit, not the dog, but the lamb, as man's best friend. It all started with the beginning of Exodus. The Hebrew people want out of Egypt ...

187. One Commandment is Enough!

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

... father may have stunted the child so he/she was starved for parental affection during the formative years. Are we to honor that kind of father and mother? Yes, parents are not honored because of their achievements as parents, nor for sentimental reasons, but they are to be honored and respected in acknowledgment of God's claim upon every individual life. When children disrespect parents, disobey them, provoke them, offend them, receive their correction with impatience, ignore and reject them, then Luther ...

188. The Trifocal Festival

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

... every believer who mourns shall be comforted. God is God both of the living and of the dead. The unity of God’s church, the communion of saints, is a unity that transcends death, a "mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won." This unity is not sentimental; it is sacramental, for through the eucharistic meal, we commune both with God and with all others of the family of faith, living and dead. Here is comfort. Here is promise. Here is hope. And here is cause for giving thanks not as an end to our ...

189. God’s Safety Net

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

D. Wayne Burkette

... concern for the welfare of all humankind. That responsibility is better modeled than taught. When personal comfort and happiness become the consuming motivation of a church, the gospel words of the last judgment will fall on deaf ears or drift away into soothing sentimentalism. What will not go away is our accountability - yours and mine. I am personally accountable for my response to the human beings over which I have some direct influence, and I need to get my own personal house in order. I am painfully ...

190. Power

2 Corinthians 6:7

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... , hurting world isn't going to be helped by one more selfish millionaire." The boy jumped up and angrily spit the words into the face of the recruiter like hot rivets being pounded into a steel girder: "That's okay, one day I'll have the power to bury sentimental saps like you." I had a strange sense of deja vu. As he walked angrily away from us, in terms of knowing who he was, his amnesia was as great as Big Al Geddie's aimlessly walking the streets of Atlanta. He was paralyzed by a memory that reached ...

191. Managing Our Memories

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Leonard W. Mann

... his witnesses in the world. For them, there would be trial and danger and suffering. So he was saying to them: Wherever you go out there, whatever you do, whatever happens, I want you to remember me. It is natural, I suppose, as one approaches death, to have a sentimental wish not to be forgotten. And one may say, "Please do not forget me when I am gone." Most of us feel a need to be remembered. In the upper room that evening, however, it was not because of his own need to be remembered that Jesus did what ...

192. Come, Learn Your Worth

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Various Authors

... me and said, ‘What a miserable specimen you are!’ " Now the boy paused for a moment and his face brightened. "But he didn’t know that I’d had my first Communion, did he, Sister?" Perhaps that story will strike you as little more than a quaint bit of sentiment. I report it, however, as a profound declaration of hope for us human creatures. We need to know what we’re worth. And sometimes, Lord help us, we need simply to know that we’re worth something! We live in a world where, as you know, it’s ...

193. Love Transcending Law and Custom

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

... they can have a real Christmas by going to a festive shopping center, eating at trendy restaurants, or watching glittering "Christmas programs" on television. Others believe that Christmas is made by the fastidious keeping of time-honored family rituals, such as, sentimental ornaments on just the right tree, eating food from a menu which has been handed down from generation to generation, or by visiting the same relatives at precisely the same time on Christmas Day. Some believe that Christmas is made by ...

194. Searching for Peace

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

... - and I want you to wear them in the pulpit when you preach, and then I’ll feel you are preaching the gospel that I always wanted to preach standing in my shoes." That is a marvelous story of self-giving. But we do not need to become sentimental. We need rather to rediscover the militant nature of the Body of Christ, not from a position of supposed moral superiority, but from a loving concern to spread the Good News. Too many of us have retired without ever having been on the front lines. Too many of ...

195. The Nativity of Our Lord

Isaiah 9:1-7, Psalm 96:1-13, Titus 2:1-15, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon Aid

... of the cross-event - "(he) gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity" - the Christ's intention in that act - "to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds." Accordingly, this lesson does not fit the sentimental and dominant conceptions that many persons hold toward Christmas, that celebrating the incarnation of Jesus means centering worship and hope on the birth of the Christ child, rather than on his birth as the first part of the drama of reconciliation with God in ...

196. Proper 4

Deuteronomy 11:1-32, Genesis 12:1-8, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29, Romans 3:21-31, Psalm 31:1-24, Psalm 33:1-22

Sermon Aid

... city; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Psalm 33:1-22 (C) The psalmist sings a beautiful refrain in the last half of this psalm of joy: "Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord! Happy the people he has chosen to be his own!" The latter sentiment brings forth an amen from all those who have heard the gospel and believe Jesus to be Lord. The cross of Christ assures us that God has looked upon his people with love and mercy - and has saved us all in Jesus. The first sentence surely is true, but ...

197. Advent 4

Romans 1:1-17

Bulletin Aid

... and 4, which sets Jesus' fleshly descendency from David over against his spiritual "designation" as Son of God "by his resurrection from the dead." The wording of the latter component of this parallel is especially ambiguous, and at least hints of "adoptionist" sentiments. But the real point withal seems to be the contrast between the power of the resurrected Christ and the humility of his earthly life. Call to Worship (based on Psalm 24) Leader: Lift up your heads, O gates! People: BE LIFTED UP EVERLASTING ...

198. Christmas Eve

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon Aid

... Isabella" French Carol 3. Silence for a minute after candles are lit. 4. Pastoral Prayer - Bring together the following: the expectancy of Advent, the joy of Christmas, the pain of Good Friday, the victory of Easter, the power of Pentecost, in order to avoid sentimentalizing the season, and to present the whole gospel, in order to challenge the body of Christ. Charge to the Congregation One pastor did this: He built the charge around a statement by Dana Sargent, "Now that I am older, I am no longer in ...

199. Obedience and Compassion

Matthew 1:18-25

Illustration

Joe Pennel

200. Victim or Visionary

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... dissatisfied with playing the role of victim, with the life that merely creeps. It speaks to us instead of the glorious possibilities of the soul. It does this without glossing over the unhappy portion of our lives. Do not think for a moment that there is anything sentimental or naive or pollyanna about the gospel. If there were, I could not stand here Sunday after Sunday and preach to you, for by now I have seen too much of life’s dark underbelly. I have been too many times to the grave, to the hospital ...

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