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 2176 to 2200 of 3082 results

2176. The Price of God's Glory

John 18:1-19:42

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Long ago, on a high mountaintop, three trees were speaking about their future dreams. The first tree said, "I would really like to be made into a cradle so that a newborn baby might rest comfortably and I could support that new life." The second tree looked down at a small stream that was flowing into a big river and said, "I want to be made into a great ship so I can carry useful cargo to all corners of the world." The third tree viewed the valley from its mountaintop and said, "I don't want to be made ...

2177. What Is Your Accent?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Someone has called advertising the art of deception. I'm not ready to go that far. But one of the most obvious attempts at deception - you can see right through it, or better yet, you can hear right through it - is one that happens almost every night as soon as you sit down to eat. The phone rings. You answer the phone and hear the tell-tale back ground noise that telegraphs some boiler-room operation. Then after a two-second delay a voice finally comes on and identifies himself as Roger or Jeffrey or ...

2178. The Spiritually Incorrect Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our eight-year-old daughter recently attended a wedding with her best friend, accompanied by her parents and two-year-old brother. As soon as the ceremony began, with typical eight-year-old audacity, the girls immediately slunk sideways away from their seats to get a better aisle view. They had heard that you had to french kiss when you got married and whatever that meant, they didn't want to miss a moment of it! But the ceremony ran long. The bride and groom kept talking instead of kissing, and the girls ...

2179. Easter 2

John 20:24-31, John 20:19-23, 1 Peter 1:1-12, Acts 2:14-41, Psalm 16:1-11

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

TEXTS FROM ACTS AND PSALMS In the weeks of Easter, readings from Acts replace the normal Old Testament lessons. Several of the Acts readings are closely related to one another. Thus, in the sections on "Setting" and "Structure" for the text from Acts, information is given that is relevant for this Sunday's reading from Acts, as well as the next two Sundays. The material will be given only in this chapter. Readers will be reminded in the subsequent two weeks to refer back to this information. A portion of ...

2180. Proper 7

Psalm 86:1-17, Romans 6:1-14, Matthew 10:1-42, Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS The Old Testament lesson of Hagar's salvation in the wilderness follows immediately upon the story of Sarah's miraculous birth that was the lesson for last week. Thus Genesis 21:8-21 provides a second story of salvation, but the context for understanding salvation shifts somewhat from last week. Instead of a miracle story to underscore how anything is possible for God—as was the case with Sarah—salvation this week is Hagar's liberation from oppression. An examination first of the ...

2181. What in the World Are We Doing?

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

Have you heard the story about the young police officer who was on the witness stand testifying in the trial of a man he had arrested for robbery? The defendant was being represented by a hard-nosed attorney who was known far and wide for being tough on police officers. In cross-examination, the tough lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman’s credibility and the exchange between the fiery lawyer and the young policemen went like this. The lawyer speaks first. “Officer… did you see (with your own eyes ...

2182. The World Needs Less Mother Goose More Mother Teresa

Isaiah 58:1-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

A thief in his old age, unable to ply his “trade,” was starving. A wealthy man, hearing of his distress, sent him food. Shortly thereafter, both the rich man and the thief died, on the same day. The trial of the benefactor occurred first in the Heavenly Court. The verdict? He was found wanting and sentenced to Purgatory. At the entrance, however, an angel came hurrying to recall him back to Court. There he learned that his sentence had been reversed. Why? The thief whom he had aided on earth had stolen the ...

2183. The Lord of the Harvest

Matthew 9:35-38

Sermon

James Merritt

The famous explorer, Rear Admiral Robert Peary, who is credited as being the first person ever to reach the North Pole, was on one of his many polar expeditions one time headed north with one of his dog teams. At the end of the day, when he stopped to take a bearing on his latitude, he was perplexed to discover that he actually was farther south than he had been at the beginning of the day. The mystery was eventually solved when he found out that he had been traveling on a gigantic ice floe. Ocean currents ...

2184. Out With the Old - In With the New

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

Contrary to what you might think, "Out with the old in with the new" is not the title of an Elizabeth Taylor Seminar on marriage. But it is the title of my message as we leave an old year and enter a new year. I was interested to learn that the month of January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was a god that had two faces. One face looked back to the old year; the other face looked forward to the new year. On the last day of any year, I think we all have two faces. One face looks backward to a year ...

2185. Seeing the End from the Beginning

Numbers 13:1-2, 17-33

Sermon

James Merritt

Disney World. It is the most popular tourist attraction on the planet. The four theme parks, The Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney MGM, and Animal Kingdom individually rank among the top ten theme parks in all of the world. In 1998, forty-two million people went through the turnstiles at Disney World alone. It sits on forty-three square miles of some of the most prime property in the entire state of Florida. It is twice the size of Manhattan Island. Originally, it took seven years to plan, and four and one-half ...

2186. Gospel Partners

Philippians 1:3-5

Sermon

James Merritt

There was a church secretary who took a most unusual phone call. The caller asked if he could speak to "the Head Hog." Well, she quickly defended the dignity of her pastor, and with an irate tone said, "I want you to know that our pastor is held in the very highest esteem around here, and we address him as Rev. H. C. Herald. Currently Rev. Herald is not available to speak with you." The man then responded, "Well, I am sorry. I just learned about your new building program and my CPA recommended that I ...

2187. O Holy Night

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

James Merritt

All of us know the beautiful Christmas hymn "O Holy Night." This carol was written by Adolphe Charles Adam, a French composer. Ironically, it was frowned upon by church authorities who denounced it for poor taste and "total absence of the spirit of religion." In that first stanza the writer invites us to close our eyes and imagine the world before the birth of Jesus. He says it is a world that lay "in sin and error pining." The word pining refers to the wasting away of the human spirit as it grieves and ...

2188. Won't You Come Home, George Bailey?

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

This being the MotorCity, let's start with a pair of transportation tidbits. Several years ago, I told you that since the gospel makes nary a mention of camels, I was willing to speculate that the three kings drove to Bethlehem in a Honda. For tradition has it that "they were of one accord." But now I am able to offer an eyewitness report that Santa Claus (or his brother who dresses like him) drives an Audi ... a beige Audi ... a beige Audi wagon ... complete with a cell phone. For I followed Santa south ...

2189. Prayer: A Way of Life

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

Once there was a monastery in the woods that had fallen upon hard times. In the past it had been a thriving community that was well known and respected throughout the region, but over the last generation the monks had died one by one and there were no new vocations to replace them. Besides this, the monks did not seem to be as friendly to each other. Something just wasn't right. The Father Abbot was quite concerned about the future of his monastery, now consisting of himself and three brothers and, thus, ...

2190. Man Proposes; God Disposes

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Sermon

Ron Lavin

In one way, this is a strange text for a sermon. It gives us an interesting group of facts about the early church, but at first glance, it seems to have little or no relevance for today. A good sermon must not only be true, but must answer the question, "What difference does it make?" What difference does it make that Matthias was chosen to replace Judas so that the apostles would still number twelve? As far as we know, once chosen, Matthias was never heard from again. At least we have no historical record ...

2191. The Outstretched Arms

John 19:28-37, John 19:17-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

This week offers the challenge of confronting the scandal of the cross head-on. In order to prepare for Easter, the Church must first recognize just how shocking Jesus'' death by crucifixion is and be able to make some theological sense out of it. At almost no other time of the year does the church become such a cesspool of stagnant clichés and phantom phrases as during Lent. Perhaps, then, Lent is a good time for some doctrinal preaching that can help your parishioners come to a renewed appreciation for ...

2192. Heresies of the Heart

Jeremiah 31:31-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Un-Christ-like attitudes, not doctrinal creativity, make up the heresies gnawing at the heart of the Church today. In order to avoid complete cardiac collapse, we must address this heart disease and work to eradicate it. In this complex, open-ended, multiple-choice age we rarely dwell on the established doctrinal foundations of our faith. Even less do we seriously entertain the notion of genuinely heretical views undermining the sanctity of those foundations. In its past the Church has been inflamed by " ...

2193. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Our "Post-Age Culture" is coping with Armageddon anxiety and catching millennial fever. Satan's six-pack (666) has us under the influence of easy answers, easy solutions and easy excuses. What to do? This week's biblical text is "brought to life" as much by the number it bears as by what it says. Read this text of rejection, John 6:66, one more time: "Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him." The devastating nature of this message, coupled with the doomsday ...

2194. The World's Fittest Human

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Training in godliness involves the 4-step fitness program outlined in the Shema: Heart, Mind, Soul, Strength. Last spring, there was only one "athlete" on everybody's minds and every sportscaster's lips. In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest player ever to win the Master's golf tournament and he did so by setting a record low score. The most prestigious tourney, a record-setting score not a bad start for a 21-year-old's first full year on the pro golf circuit. Golfers on the pro tour are sighing and ...

2195. Freedom in Bondedness

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There is a paradox at the heart of the Christian faith that we are most free when we are tied to Christ and surrendered to the Spirit. Americans love to celebrate Independence Day, to flaunt their freedom before the whole world. Thomas Jefferson's bold assertion that each individual has an "inalienable right" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" still sounds sweet to our freedom-loving ears. Despite the imperfections and foibles of our political system, we still enjoy tremendous economic freedom ...

2196. How to Stay Spiritually Fresh

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

How can we stay spiritually fresh and alive and plugged into the power of the Spirit? We rely on being able to do some things automatically, without thinking our way through them. Some things like tying our shoelaces or riding a bike are the result of skills we have learned so well that our bodies perform them without fail. Other things like brushing our teeth or putting on the seat belt are habits we have developed so fully that we no longer realize we are doing them. But in other parts of our lives, we ...

2197. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, Paul continues to offer his view of essential Christian unity amid myriad claims to the exclusivity of certain groups and their ideas. While verses 10-16 dismissed any special claims that Corinthians might make based upon their loyalty to any one individual leader, Paul now turns to the even more insidious divisiveness suggested by those who touted one form of theological knowledge or insight over another. Corinth was an extremely Greek Roman city. Its Greek heritage was long; its ...

2198. Matthew 5:21-37

Matthew 5:21-37

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As Jesus' great sermon called the "Sermon on the Mount" progresses, its message grows in pungency and particularity. The soaring Beatitudes that begin this section are surprising in content but so lofty in scope that listeners or readers could avoid finding themselves personally challenged. Jesus' directive about "salt" and "light" begins to personalize his message by evoking the emphatic "you." Yet the call to be "salt" and "light" is sufficiently vague that the audience could remain reasonably ...

2199. Matthew 14:22-33

Matthew 14:22-33

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As the gospel readings in Matthew continue this week, the text moves us from one astounding miracle story to the next. Having healed all the sick and fed all the crowd, Jesus now leaves this deserted place by walking on water. According to Matthew, this one stop on Jesus' itinerary accounted for two of the most well-known messianic miracles. Although Jesus makes the disciples feed the crowd of hungry people who have followed him out to this isolated area (v. 13), when it is time for them to disperse, Jesus ...

2200. Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:26-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

For most of us, it just wouldn't be Christmas without reading Luke's eloquent words foretelling Jesus' birth. Tampa's James A. Harnish says that the difference between Luke's account of the Christmas story and Matthew's account is the difference between a Norman Rockwell painting in Saturday Evening Post and a tax collector's report. "If Luke reads like the Saturday Evening Post," Harnish writes, "then Matthew reads like the Wall Street Journal." In Luke's account, all the facets of this expertly crafted ...

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