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 3128 results

2001. Learning to Love Ourselves

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

James McCormick

... the hotel room, Dr. Trobisch led her to a mirror where he asked her to look carefully at her image. She turned away, unable to look at herself. He held her head gently but firmly and made her look into her own eyes. Obviously the experience was painful for her emotionally. Dr. Trobisch asked her to repeat after him: “I am a beautiful girl – I am a beautiful girl.” But she couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t do it - because in her eyes that was sinful. I. Where did we ever get the idea that to affirm ...

2002. Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... is theirs. Moses makes clear what is required for their choice to be life. They are to love God, walk in God's ways and observe God's commandments. Scholars have noted that in Deuteronomy, love "is always a verb, an action, never simply an inner emotion" (Achtemeier, 278). Moses' command that the Israelites love God is therefore much more than an attitude - it is a call to action. God's love in action delivered the Hebrews from Egypt. Israel's love for God is also to be active - to be demonstrated through ...

2003. Matthew 10:24-39

Matthew 10:24-39

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the theme of persecution. By mentioning the cross, the Roman government's most heinous means of inflicting criminal punishment, Jesus suggests that there will be a shared solidarity of suffering between himself and his disciples. No one, not the strangers who physically torture the body, not the family members who emotionally tear at the loyalty of our hearts, can take away the life that Jesus offers to share with us.

2004. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in verses 17-21, instead of standing here by itself. Likewise, verses 15 and 16 would seem more at home at the beginning of this discourse - perhaps following verses 9-10. The koinonia community is so intimately in touch with all other members that sharing emotions and compassion - as verse 15 suggests - should be as natural as the urge to share faith and worldly goods. Verse 16, like verses 9-10, promotes this community spirit of love. The link between "honor" (v. 10) or "esteem" and the call to reject ...

2005. Romans 13:8-14

Romans 13:8-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that forbids adultery. Perhaps because he is speaking about love, Paul feels compelled to make clear just what kind of love he means. This love has nothing to do with sexual appetite or legalized licentiousness. Agape love is not an emotion or a spontaneous upwelling of good feelings. Just as Torah law was established and maintained through rigorous, disciplined practice, so the command, the "law" of agape-love, will also be instituted and vitalized through intentionally cultivated attitudes and carefully ...

2006. Ephesians 2:1-10

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... indulged, the human spirit was wantonly selfish doing whatever the body wanted, whatever the mind imagined, without regard for anything or anyone else. That, the author states, is what makes us all "by nature children of wrath." God's anger, as described here, is not an emotional outburst or an insulted rage. Unlike the descriptions of God's wrath in the Old Testament, the verb "to be angry" is never used about God in the New Testament. In the New Testament, God's anger is a noun, not a verb. God's anger ...

2007. John 10:11-18

John 10:11-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to death at the jaws of the wolf (vv.12-13). The hired hand's callous disregard for the sheep is based on two facts he does not "own" the sheep (v.12) nor does he "care" for the sheep (v.13). With no financial or emotional investment in these animals, hired hands have little incentive to stand by the helpless sheep when serious danger threatens. The good shepherd, on the other hand, is closely bound to his flock. As their "owner" he has ultimate responsibility for the sheep and a personal investment ...

2008. Mark 6:1-13

Mark 6:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... shaking the dust off their feet as they go from that place "as a testimony against them" (v.11). In an age and region where community, connection and kinship were the ties that made it possible for people to survive physically, emotionally and spiritually, this sacrament of failure was symbolically more "earth-shaking" than a mere shaking off of earth. The disciples' foot-shaking would communicate official separation from a relationship between the household or village and the disciples, a distancing of the ...

2009. Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... youth" (v.20). Mark's penchant for personalizing his text is recorded in both Matthew and Luke: "Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said ..." (v.21). Mark especially likes to add touches about Jesus' "seeing" or "looking" as well as articulating the emotions Jesus feels at any given time. Some translations have suggested that Mark's use of the term agapao indicates that Jesus actually reached out and gently "caressed" this ardent yet ignorant seeker. Whatever the case, from Mark's text we get a sense of ...

2010. Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... In Leviticus, loving with all the "heart," "soul" and "might" is mandated. Here in Mark, "heart," "soul," "mind" and "strength" are stipulated. The original Hebrew had no need to designate both "heart" and "mind," for the Hebrew concept of heart included both the emotional and intellectual center of an individual. The heart was both a thinking and a feeling organ. "Soul" in Hebrew is less than "spirit," more than "self", including as it does the human will, needs and desires. Mark's use of "strength" (Greek ...

2011. What Does It Take To Make Up a "Call?"

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Thomas Long

... reasons which prompts Muehl to complain is his own experience of call. He was trained as an attorney and discovered, in the law school's moot court, that he was an exceptionally effective trial lawyer. He won his cases, for the most part, but the emotional stress of doing so caused him to develop a duodenal ulcer. After treating him for several gastric episodes, one of the health service physicians made a dire prediction. "Muehl," he said, "if you really undertake a career in the law, you will probably be ...

2012. Rainbows and Roses

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... need to view them from high above the ground, such as onboard an airplane.” (2) That’s why you can never find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The rainbow has no end. Those are the technical truths about rainbows, but they do not explain the emotional lift we get from these wonders of nature. Here’s a story our boys and girls will enjoy. A father was asked by his 8-year-old son if he knew what a rainbow was. The father gave his son the scientific answer, sort of like I have just given ...

2013. Where a Cross Should Be Worn

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

King Duncan

... your own life and what you have made of it you can take heart in this. God has been where you are. The cross is the symbol of hatred and scorn and bitterness and fear and rejection and hurt and despair. But it is not the last word on these emotions. The empty tomb is God’s last victorious word on our lives. But none of it would have been possible without the cross. In one of his books pastor Tony Evans points to Philippians 2: 5-11 as the verses that best exemplify who Jesus is and why he came ...

2014. Jesus Is Contagious!

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... coming over. *Local UPS delivery drivers know what kinds of packages you get, and from where. *The kid at the video store knows the movie tastes of all regular customers. The more “intentional” sharing we do is with those to whom we feel emotionally close. We share hopes and dreams with our spouse. We share history and historic battles with our brothers and sisters. We share love, guilt, and anger with our parents. We share everything about our spouses, our siblings, and our parents, with our friends ...

2015. Healing and Wholeness to Many

Mark 1:29-39

Illustration

Urban Legend

... for two and one-half hours proving that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions. After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a ...

2016. Jesus' Good News of a New World · Part 1

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... that in God’s new world such people are God’s top priority. Love can turn a curse into a blessing. I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what it is. Scholars have supposed it to be a number of physical, emotional, or mental ailments and limitations. Paul viewed it the way the world viewed it: as a curse, a hindrance to his witness to Christ. Paul tells us that he prayed three times to be healed, to have the thorn removed. It wasn’t. At last he heard God’s ...

2017. The Father’s Blessing

Genesis 27:1-40

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... fathers are essential to our becoming who we are created to be. It’s especially true for sons. But it’s also true for daughters. It’s been observed that daughters who grow up without fathers or with fathers who are present physically but absent emotionally, in their adult years often find it difficult trusting men. Listen now to this song, “The Greatest Man I Never Knew.” It was written by Richard Leigh and Layng Martine, Jr. The greatest man I never knew Lived just down the hall And everyday we ...

2018. The Gifts of Word and Table

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... . One of the two, Cleopas replies: “Are you the only one who doesn’t know about Jesus of Nazareth and what he said and did, and how he suffered and was crucified? We believed that he was the one to liberate Israel.” Was he taking out his emotions on this stranger, who not only has the audacity to invade their privacy and interrupt their conversation, but who seemed not to have a clue what they were going through? Of course, we know that the One who has joined them is precisely the One whose plight has ...

2019. Thin Spaces

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... again the voice at Jesus’ baptism: This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” “When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome with fear.” It seems to me that one of the emotions associated with “Thin Spaces” is fear. I. Unholy Fear Retired Bishop Ken Carder tells this story in his sermon, “Balancing Beliefs and Behavior.” Some of us bear the scars of a religion that emphasizes being good in order to avoid God’s punishment. An incident ...

2020. Hurts Can Heal

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... being. Studies on why teenagers “cut” their arms and ankles reveal that, for a variety of reasons, some kids no longer feel. Because of traumas and tensions, because of home environments and inner conflicts most of us cannot even imagine, they become emotional zombies. These kids are so desperate to come alive to life that they cut themselves so that they can “feel” alive again. The “hurt” is what brings back the feeling of life. When Paul, once again, wrote to his cantankerous Corinthian church ...

2021. What You Hear Is What You Get

Mark 9:2-13

Illustration

Staff

... composer, ever to do things in small measure, especially late in his career. He had a vision of intense realization when he recognized the splendor of the gospel account of the transfiguration. He struggled to represent with music what was for him an emotional understanding…and he struggled to bring the audience to the mountain top with him. "It was in clear weather, whilst gazing at Mont Blanc and the Jungfrau, that I grasped the difference between the modest splendor of snow and the mighty splendor of ...

2022. Lent: Giving Up

Mark 1:9-15

Illustration

Billy D. Strayhorn

... at the door? GIVE UP your hatred of anyone or anything! Instead, learn the discipline of love. "Love covers a multitude of sins." GIVE UP your worries and anxieties! They're too heavy for you to carry anyway. Instead, trust God with them. Anxiety is spending emotional energy on something we can do nothing about: like tomorrow! Live today and let God's grace be sufficient. GIVE UP TV one evening a week! Instead, visit someone who's lonely or sick. There are those who are isolated by illness or age. Why ...

2023. Barking Dogs and Daily Bread

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... puppy mills.” “Breeding stock” (that’s code for female dogs) live out their entire lives locked in 2’ x 2’ wire cages, housed in dirty, dilapidated sheds. They survive on a minimum of food and water. They receive no love, no physical or emotional interaction with humans or other dogs. When the breeding females reach the age of 7 or 8 years, they are considered too old and are routinely killed. The puppies are sold quickly, before the infections and genetic defects they harbor become too obvious ...

2024. Our Need for Prayer and Communion with God

1 John 4:8

Illustration

Digma.com

... of Dr. Dean Ornish, the founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California. In his national best seller, Love and Survival, Ornish presents study after study demonstrating that love is a chief influence for mental, emotional, and even physical health. He summarizes the unexpected message of the rapidly accumulating body of data: “Anything that promotes feelings of love and intimacy is healing; anything that promotes isolation, separation, loneliness, loss, hostility, anger, cynicism ...

2025. Lent 5

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40, Hebrews 4:14-5:10, John 12:20-36

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Need: What is the best way to bring the world to faith in Christ? To do so is the central purpose of the church and of each individual Christian. Some try offering various church programs. Others promise good luck and success. Some go the emotional route charismatic meetings, manipulatory revivals, etc. All of these methods are futile. Jesus, in this text, gives the secret: his death on the cross. Our responsibility is to proclaim Christ crucified. When the cross is seen, it draws men to the Master. Outline ...

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