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 2051 to 2075 of 4340 results

2051. Shepherds and Bathrobes

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Thomas Long

... perhaps capture the Christmas story best. They are, like Luke’s gospel itself, pictures of what happens to unremarkable people in a dark world when suddenly, and in ways they do not fully understand, the glory of the Lord shines upon them. Like the characters in Luke, the players in these pageants do not pretend to express the light; they only try to reflect it. The cast, drawn from those who populate our workaday lives, embodies in its very ordinariness the truth of the angel’s promise, "Unto you ...

2052. Hot Tubs and Fishing Trips

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Thomas Long

... by Cyra McFadden in her novel The Serial. The book is set in a laid-back, fern-bar-saturated community of beautiful people, all of them frantically fine-tuning their social styles to the rapidly changing zeitgeist. For example, two of the characters plan a party around the renewal of their marriage "contract" and send the following invitation to their friends: Kate Smith and Harvey Holroyd request your presence at a Spring Festival - a Celebration of Open Commitment and Feeling Exchange where we can just ...

2053. The Glory and the Cross

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... We are to understand, therefore, that this story is very important in our understanding of Mark’s Gospel. On the mountain Jesus was transfigured before the discipies’ eyes. His garments glistened with intense whiteness. Then there appeared beside Jesus two of the main characters from the Old Testament story of God and God’s people. There was Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the prophet. It is not difficult to read the symbolism of this powerful event. The law and the prophets form the major portion of ...

2054. A New Temple Shall Arise

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... religious being. That is just the way it is. Anthropologists, those who study the story of humankind, periodically discover tribes of people that were not previously known to exist. One of the realities of the life of these newly discovered tribes is their religious character. We have never found a tribe of people, no matter how primitive, for whom religion has not played a central role. And that is true on back to the very dawn of time. The very earliest cave paintings that we have discovered, for example ...

2055. The Crucified Ruler

John 19:17-27

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... 18:39b). "Not this man, but Barabbas!" the crowd screamed back at him. The shouts of the crowd fixed Jesus’ course. Jesus would die that day. The King would die that day. Everything about this Good Friday story, as John tells it, underscores the kingly character of Jesus. The soldiers, for example, put a mock crown of thorns on his head. they dressed him up in purple robes. "Hail, King of the Jews," they hissed with sarcasm in their voices. When Pilate finally ended the proceedings and sent Jesus off to ...

2056. Doubting Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... my God." Out of the mouth of a doubter there came a grand moment of faith. That is the way it is with doubt and faith sometimes. Doubt and faith are really not opposites of each other. Faith, rather, always lives on the edge of doubt. Doubt gives faith its character of risk. So what are we to do with our doubts? I think it is best to do what Thomas did. I think it is best that we bring our doubts to Jesus. Melvin and Jeanie and Arnie and Gert (all you doubters of the world), come along with your ...

2057. I Am The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... will probably be serious. What is the meaning of life anyway?" The whole scene is funny in the movie the way Woody plays it. We laugh. And yet, we know what he is pointing to. Our lives are lived in constant danger. Woody Allen’s character overplays the danger. But the danger is there. There are all kinds of realities that imperil our lives nearly every day. Accidents might befall us. Natural disasters strike. Oppressive structures of life weigh us down. Disease stalks us and death awaits. That is the way ...

2058. Blind Bartimaeus - Model For Healing

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... , without documentation, "Of course." It is well within the realm of possibility that he witnessed the Crucifixion - and saw the resurrected Christ - and became an enthusiastic, albeit unheralded, propagator of the faith. That would have been in keeping with his character. Like Bartimaeus, we may find, in Christ, the answer to our deepest needs. "Great David’s greater Son," we cry, "have mercy on me." He acknowledges our faith, determination, and persistence by granting us the blessing we seek. He tells ...

2059. Take a Close Look (At the Widow)!

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... the two coins at the temple treasury. It is a gem of a short story. He makes it so easy for us to visualize the woman as she waits patiently in line to drop her offering into the chest with the trumpet-shaped tube. Without going into a detailed character study, he makes us feel that she is worthy of our profound admiration and respect. I. He shows us - without saying as much - a woman who is to be admired for holding fast to her faith, when death snatched her husband away. Her kind bolster our own faith ...

2060. Let’s Climb a Mountain

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... the abuses she has observed and taking the evidence to the highest administrative levels. She knows that abuse will be heaped upon her head, and that some influential co-workers may try to have her dismissed by fabricating lies about her conduct and character. But she knows that she stands where the martyred prophets and saints have trod. The message from the last peak, the last beatitude, which juts skyward from the Sermon on the Mount, strengthens her resolve: "Blessed are you ... for so men persecuted ...

2061. When Things Don’t Work Out, What Then?

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... then you can choose to hold on and to keep on trusting God. Leslie Weatherhead has given us a striking image of this type of trust in God. He has reminded us that a skeptic could formulate a list of charges against God which would call his character into serious question. The earthly parallel to this, says Weatherhead, is the list of charges which a person could formulate against a great surgeon and present to the surgeon’s five-year-old son. "Do you know," one could say to the son, "that your father gets ...

2062. How Can We Meet Grief?

2 Samuel 18:19--19:8

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... none can see, Because I smile, tell merry tales, and win the crowds to me. They call me strong because I laugh to ease an aching heart, Because I keep the sweet side out, and hide the bitter part. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, a character named MacDuff had just learned that his wife and children have been murdered. His friend Malcolm advises MacDuff to declare his grief: "Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break" (IV, 3, 209). Remember ...

2063. How Can We Foretell the Future?

1 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... with God’s promise, we have to fulfill the condition of having the right concerns. Edmund Burke said, "Tell me what are the prevailing sentiments that occupy the minds of your young men, and I will tell you what is to be the character of the next generation." In April, 1986, Harold E. Wagoner, a leading architect of church buildings, died in his suburban Philadelphia home. Mr. Wagoner and his architectural firm, Wagoner and Associates, designed more than 600 churches across the United States. Among them ...

2064. Is Your Religion Second-Hand?

Job 42:1-6

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... -hand experience. Those words are: wrestle, welcome, and wonder. I First, consider the word "Wrestle." Our religious faith is changed from a second-hand inheritance to a first-hand experience when we wrestle with religious questions. That is what one Bible character named Job did. His religion had been inherited. It was of the second-hand variety. In times of prosperity, the traditional theology of his day was satisfactory. But, when Job suffered the strokes of destitution, pain, rejection by society, and ...

2065. What Do We Do Now That We’re Happy?

Isaiah 62:1-12

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... , the lights are lit, the day dawns with mystery surrounding it, and we go into over-drive with confidence that the joys of the occasion will be indelibly stamped upon us. Maybe, maybe, life will be changed and our fondest wishes consummated. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s characters in his novels ask each other in myriad ways what they are to do with their lives seeing that they are happy, rich, and beautiful. Having arrived at a peak of eminence and ready to pick the plum, the rewards elude them, and their lives ...

2066. You Don’t Really Feel That Way

Job 6:1-7:21

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... all, our loved one is safe in Jesus. To be brave, to be a good member of the family, and to be strong in the faith, we push down our pain and suffering, all the time knowing in our hearts that things are not well with us. A good strong character which often helps us slide over minor difficulties becomes a block when our difficulty is major and what we need is to face it, claim it, and work our way through it. Only in this way will we learn what loss and its resulting grief mean for us in the ...

2067. The Two Most Important Questions A Christian Can Answer

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Brett Blair

... period. They describe events, which occurred over 2000 years of history. There are at least 30 different authors and quite possibly far more than just 30. The books contain many forms of literature: history, poetry, songs, prophecy, wisdom, and story form. And the list of characters and events is staggering. It is The Book of an ancient people. Now how in the world do you summarize such a collection? Can it really be done? Jesus seems to indicate that it can when he says, all the Law and the Prophets hang ...

2068. Easter 5

Acts 8:26-40, 1 John 4:7-21, John 15:1-17

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: Acts 8:26-40 Theme: The Spirit’s surprising, subversive strategies Exegetical note The real central character in this well-known story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch is the Holy Spirit, under whose guidance the disciple is "subverted" from his succcessful Samarian mission to make a "least likely" but most promising contact: a foreigner (Ethiopian) of a different race (Nubian) and social status (eunuch), who is ...

2069. Proper 16

2 Samuel 23:1-7, Ephesians 5:22-33, John 6:25-59, John 6:60-71

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... People: OUR TENDENCY IS TO WORRY MORE ABOUT MEMBERSHIP FIGURES, AND THUS TO PRESENT A POPULAR GOSPEL. Leader: But Jesus was never concerned with numbers and never considered it a failure to turn away the half-hearted. People: MAY GOD GRANT US THE STRENGTH OF CHARACTER TO PREACH AND LIVE THE GOSPEL, IRRESPECTIVE OF HOW MANY FIND IT A STUMBLING BLOCK. Collect God of the ages, who have given us a challenging and earth-shaking Gospel, grant us the courage to believe it and live it; that, charged with the power ...

2070. Proper 23

Genesis 3:1-24, Mark 10:17-31, Hebrews 4:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... STRUGGLED TO UNDERSTAND GOD’S NATURE, AND TO EXPRESS THAT UNDERSTANDING IN WORDS. Leader: Many of their ideas we accept, but some we find primitive and even offensive. People: MAY GOD FREE OUR MINDS TO SEARCH AND DISCOVER THE TRUE DIVINE NATURE AND CHARACTER. Collect Most awesome God, who are always patient with even our most primitive concepts of your nature and will, give us the courage to increase our understanding of you; that we may use to holy advantage the intellect and inquisitiveness that you ...

2071. People Are Different, People Are The Same

Drama

Marge Passamaneck

CHARACTERS NARRATOR TONY - elementary-school-age youngster DAVID - elementary-school-age youngster SUSAN - elementary-school-age youngster MR. STEIN - David’s father MRS. STEIN - David’s mother MR. JACKSON - Tony and Susan’s father MRS. JACKSON - Tony and Susan’s mother PLAYING TIME 30 minutes NOTE: Historically, the menorah was a ...

2072. The Snake

Drama

Robert Clausen

The Characters George Harry The Snake (In a reading performance the introduction and the stage action at the close may be read by the actor playing George, or by a third person who serves as narrator.) Two men are talking. George and Harry. Both are very ordinary looking. Harry is holding one ...

2073. Christmas International

Drama

Dory Younger

... is taken outside after Christmas. (As NARRATOR reads the following, all children hang gift packages on tree. When tree is trimmed, children may return to their places at either side of tree, or may sit on the steps of the stage, allowing space for the nativity scene characters to reach stage.) The wise men were the first to bring gifts to the baby Jesus. Now children all over the world hang gifts on their Christmas trees. We give gifts to each other because God gave us the best gift of all - the gift of his ...

2074. The Good News of the Cross

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... in war time, or even in the time of trial or tribulation, that is the big question. Sometimes we ask it anxiously. Sometimes we ask it in bewilderment and bafflement. Sometimes we ask it in bitterness and derision. What is God like? What is the nature and character of the Almighty? And the great word for God from the lips of His Christ was "Father." And somehow, it is that word and in that word that the answer lies. Oh, yes, there were words for God before Christ came - Creator, Judge, King, the Almighty ...

2075. THE SURPRISED

Luke 1:5-25

Sermon

Theodore L. Yewey

... the Magi from the East. There is no starlight extravaganza. No lengthy special appearance of a heavenly chorus of angels. There is little excitement here. There is no busy town with full hotels and not even a tender story of a manger birth. The characters are not exactly those who have great box office or pulpit appeal. In fact Zechariah and Elizabeth are rather ordinary people. They were people who approached each day with the knowledge that it would be filled with the same activities, the same people, and ...

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