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 2001 to 2025 of 4340 results

2001. Episode III: Birth of the Church

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Brett Blair

In 1977 teenagers all over America walked into movie theatres to watch a movie that was virtually unknown. The director was unknown, the characters were unknown, the soundtrack was unknown, the robots were unknown. The name of the movie was Star Wars. It was not expected to be the biggest grossing movie of all times. It’s hard to believe that was 28 years ago. But even then some of us could read the ...

2002. A Thanksgiving Question

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... told him he would come by and get the cat. They brought him home and named him Gris Gato. In the years that followed that cat was indulged and spoiled in an outrageous fashion. He has been ambushed by prosperity and is miserably spoiled. But instead of corrupting his character, he has thrived. He is the most satisfied cat in all of Christendom. That cat represents all of us, in a way. Gris Gato did not seek out the good life. He was ambushed by it. He ran from people as fast as he could. They had to trap ...

2003. At The Manger By Invitation

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . From James, Luke learned Mary's version of the Christmas story. Among other things, James told him that shepherds visited on the night of Jesus' birth. Because Luke was a good historian, he might have visited the shepherds of the Bethlehem area. Every character around the Bethlehem manger had a story to tell. Let's consider what we learn from the shepherds. First, God cares deeply about the least, the lost, and the marginalized. The shepherds occupied the lowest rung on the social ladder. No reputable ...

2004. A Prophet in a Panic

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... a different malady. In the pursuit of more things, we work 60-hour-plus work-weeks. We drain our resources, forget how to be renewed, and then isolate in our suburbs or apartments. Therefore, we feel anxious and depressed. Let's see if a biblical character named Elijah can help us chart a path through anxiety and depression to peace and joy. Elijah was a spiritual leader of Israel in the ninth century before Christ. Elijah and Moses could be called the spiritual giants of the Old Testament. Late in Jesus ...

2005. A Risky Lifestyle

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... withered. The lesson of the fig tree is this: the Lord expects us to be fruitful, in season and out. The primary definition of fruitfulness in the New Testament means growth by the conversion of unbelievers. It can also mean repentance or Christlike character. Jesus' confidence in us is startling, mind-boggling. To an unreliable band of about 120 disciples he said, "Go and make disciples of all nations." What amazing confidence! A second truth is this : The One Talent Man Did One Thing Well -- Make Excuses ...

2006. God Makes The First Move

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... persistently as a hound tracks a deer. In Luke 15:04, Jesus asked, "Which one of you, having 100 sheep, if you have lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?" That's the character of God--always seeking the sheep that is lost. Referring to himself, Jesus said, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Why do you really think you are here this morning? It would be interesting to give all of you a dose of truth ...

2007. The Wolf and the Lamb Inside Us

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... if they do, we reject them forever. An Army staff sergeant from McComb, Mississippi was the third soldier at Aberdeen proving Ground to be convicted in a sex scandal. In his plea for mercy, he said, "I got the devil in me. I got out of my character. I lost the ground I was standing on." Each of us could offer similar testimony. But you say, "wait a minute, Bill. Look at all the beautiful capabilities of human beings. We rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan. We have a United Nations, a Head Start program ...

2008. The Mission of Christ Church

Nehemiah 6:1-14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . They believe that if you take care of your people, they will provide the service which will return profit to the shareholders. If you know your mission and will not be distracted from it, you can do great things. If ever there was a biblical character who understood that truth, it was the Old Testament leader Nehemiah. He was a great, unselfish man who by constant prayer, hard work, and indomitable will power revived the national life of the Jews. His homeland was conquered and he was carted away as a ...

2009. Running a Marathon

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... We are supposed to run light. THE THIRD RULE FOR CHRISTIANS AND LONG-DISTANCE RUNNERS IS: RUN WITH PERSEVERANCE. Life is not a 100-meter sprint which is usually won by the most gifted athlete. It's a long-distance race that is won with character and perseverance. The Christian life requires discipline and inner toughness. Our faith is not for wimps or weaklings. Jesus said, "He who endures to the end will be saved." You keep on taking stands based on conscience even when the majority ridicules you. You keep ...

2010. Lessons from a Shrewd Crook

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... related to a shrewd crook Jesus told us about. Let me set the scene for you. In Jesus' day there were many absentee landlords. They would hire a steward or business manager to take care of their farm and their financial assets. The central character in this story is a steward. Remember also that the Old Testament prohibited Jews from loaning money and charging interest to other Jews. They could charge interest to non-Jews but not to Jews. This prohibition against usury in Deuteronomy 23 applied to money ...

2011. Friction Points

John 17:6-19

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord d rejoice with trembling; for God’s wrath can flare up in a moment.” If a man or a woman cannot be trusted with private moral decisions how can he or she be trusted with moral decisions affecting all of society? Character is one seamless garment, covering both private and facets of one's life. There is a line that sums it up: "You can’t live crooked and think straight whether you’re a chauffeur or a Chief of State." I don’t need to tell you that the wise ...

2012. How to Fix the Past

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Jesus died on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin. Never in history was there a sacrifice that pure and great. On the eternal justice scales, the death of Jesus more than atones for your sin and mine. Almost every day I visit with the cartoon character Dennis the Menace for a few moments as I read the morning paper. In a recent cartoon, the scene is bedtime prayers. He’s kneeling, with his hands folded. He’s looking heavenward. He has on his pajamas, cowboy hat, and his six-shooter strapped to his ...

2013. The Prodigal Daughter

Drama

Maxine Dudley

... , the Narrator introduces the service. Narrator no. 1: To begin our reconciliation service we will have a short play The Prodigal Daughter. This drama is taken from the parable "The Prodigal Son" and is adapted to include our Savior, Jesus Christ. Characters: Mother Sarah, youngest daughter Martha, oldest daughter Clarissa, young model Photographer no. 1 Photographer no. 2 Act 1 (The living room of the family home. Mother sits in a chair reading the Bible. Excitedly Sarah enters center stage.) Sarah: Mom, I ...

2014. Forgiveness

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

... they are doing." Luke 23:32-34a The Brothers Karamazov is a novel written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a Russian author, at the close of the nineteenth century (1880). It is a story about a father and his sons as they struggled to be a family. One of the characters in the book is a priest by the name of Father Zossima. On an occasion, a peasant woman comes to Father Zossima greatly burdened. On her knees, bowed before the priest, she pours out her heart. "I have sinned, Father," she says. "I am afraid of my sin ...

2015. Great Is Your Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Brett Blair

... critic wrote of a concert pianist the four words: "He was a failure," you could always say: That was his opinion. But if one of the world's great musicians wrote, "He was a genius," then you are apt to take the remark more seriously. There was a character in the Gospel who Jesus once described with four immortal words: Great is your faith. She was a Canaanite woman who came from the country to the north of Palestine, a country hostile to the Jews. She was presumably married, she had at least one child; but ...

2016. God’s Greatest Gift To Us

Luke 2:1-20

Children's Sermon

Susan Hedahl

... that is Jesus. Suggestions: A picture of the Christmas story focusing on Jesus can be given to each child from under the tree at the conclusion of the sermon. Children can help prepare the creche scene to be used later in the worship setting. Children can be dressed as Christmas characters and present a brief, silent tableau while an adult or older child reads the Christmas story.

2017. Restoring Our Sense of Priorities

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... , success, prestige and all the other things that claim our devotion totally. For every Christian God must have first place or else he has no place. Whatever we value most in life will be what we worship, and it is by and from this that our conduct and character are determined. Moreover, this God we worship is not an unknown being. We see him in the face of Jesus Christ, for as one theologian has put it, "God always was what he was in Christ Jesus." And through Christ, God sought to bring the world back to ...

2018. Service Beset by "What’s the Use?"

Isaiah 49:1-7

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... : "God is Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth." And just as light requires a surface to reflect it, else it is not seen, so also God’s way and will are reflected in human witness and character. Therefore, when we do what is wise rather than indiscreet; when we commit our lives to justice rather than unfairness; and when we seek truth rather than falsehood, we are on the side of God, doing his will and through us he breaks into glory ...

2019. The Vicarious Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... , none matches the profile and portrait of this chapter, except Christ. What is significant for us now, however, is not so much the identification of the servant as it is the spiritual principle at the heart of it, a principle which determines and shapes the character and mission of the servant; namely, the example of the dedicated person giving himself for the many so that the goodness and truth in his life might be realized in them. In the summer of 1941, when the German Luftwaffe rained death from the ...

2020. The Outcome of Easter Faith

Isaiah 25:1-12

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... that he sent this appeal to all Christendom on the eve of another Easter: I challenge the Christian world to measure itself by the standards of Christ. As long as any group is judged by its creed or color or country in place of its character, Christianity is a sacrilege rather than a sanctity. To this end I summon Christians everywhere to make this Easter to signify Christ realized and not merely Christ risen.1 Are not the words of our text a declaration of judgment over against the situation Dr. Elmore ...

2021. Passing the Easter Miracle On

Acts 3:11-26

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... the miracle: the present power in Jesus’ name. For us, in our time, a name can be just a label for routine identification. We choose names for our children sometimes for odd reasons. Biblically, however, having a name told a story: it summed up a person’s character. As someone said, in the Bible a name was "a condensed definition." Or, as Albert C. Winn wrote: "[A name] stands in a very real way for the man himself. All his authority, all his power, all his essential self, are caught up in his name."1 ...

2022. An Easter Dividend: The Courage To Be and To Do

Acts 4:1-22

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... , requires a moral and spiritual quality that is gained only by moral and spiritual means. And if there is anything this generation must learn - and learn quickly - it is that the courage necessary to meet and change the world belongs to the realm of character and comes from the same sources that make people and nations great. What, then, was the source of moral and spiritual courage that transformed Peter from a weakling into a bold advocate of the person and cause of Jesus Christ? 1. Peter had encountered ...

2023. A Perspective on the Ascension

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... (vv. 4, 6, 8). It was not, however, power in general or what we associate with social, intellectual, political or administrative achievement. It was power to be used for Christ and his Kingdom. Take Peter, for example. Look at the change this power wrought in his character. One moment he was declaring loyalty to Jesus; the next he was crying cowardly at a word from a housemaid. At one time his love for Jesus was at full tide; at another it had ebbed away. But now, in little more than a month, he became ...

2024. Readying the Twelve for Mission

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... all the way from Jesus’ Baptism to the Ascension. He was not merely a loose hanger-on; he was a sincere and steady fellow traveler whose integrity commended him to the others; he was really a partner among equals. Indeed, Scripture records many of similar character: In the Book of Ezra we read the account of the dedication of "the house of the Lord in Jerusalem" in which every significant group of names is listed. And then, like an afterthought, we read, "There were among them 200 singing men and singing ...

2025. Song of a King

Psalm 101:1-8

Sermon

Gordon Pratt Baker

... attain it over himself. For he recognizes that the duties he must undertake once he enters upon his office will demand the strict disciplining of his life. Nor can it be otherwise if he is truly to represent God. A King’s Manifesto Only one of strong character can so frankly address his own soul in the presence of those whom the Almighty has called him to lead. Yet not for a moment does this king flinch from doing so. Temptations of pomp and power notwithstanding, he is determined to pursue the ways the ...

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