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 201 to 225 of 2669 results

201. God Our Protector and Shield

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... on the breast plate of righteousness. The apostle believed that justice must govern our relations with each other. Saint Matthew's depiction of the final judgment (ch. 25) clearly demonstrates it is what we do or do not do for others, rather than our particular belief, that brings us to eternal life. Paul then tells the people they must protect their feet with the gospel of peace. Jesus preached a message of love and peace; anger and violence solve nothing. Next, the shield of faith is provided to ward off ...

202. 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... was going on and did not stop it (v.13). The guilt of Eli's house cannot be expiated by the standard means of sacrificial atonement because it is this very atoning system that the sons of Eli have treated with blasphemous contempt. Since they have no belief in the sanctity of the system, the system cannot work for them. When Samuel is summoned by Eli, the young man is understandably afraid to deliver such devastating news to the aged priest. What Samuel does not know is that the Lord's message to him is ...

203. Luke 24:36b-48

Luke 24:36b-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... these things," (v.48) and alluding to the promised arrival of the Holy Spirit (v.49) which will empower their ability to proclaim this repentance and forgiveness. In sum, this whole appearance to all the gathered disciples thus has little to do with belief or disbelief. Instead, it clarifies what they are believing in (the risen physical body of Jesus) and validates the power of their future missionizing ministry by making each of them actual witnesses to the resurrection. This, then, is a kind of official ...

204. The Gifts of Word and Table

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... . They filter out all that contradicts them. The reason why our worship of God includes our listening to Scripture is that the Living Word of God has the power to expose, judge, and shatter those expectations, assumptions, and beliefs that we bring to it for confirmation and reinforcement. We worship God when we yield to a Word that exposes our biases, prejudices, half-truths, and lies for what they are. Has a sermon or Bible study ever made you aware of the blinders and distorting lenses that we wear ...

205. Are You In The Know?

John 10:27-29

Sermon

James Merritt

... can be known absolutely, especially in the area of spirituality and morality. I discovered this quote by Gandhi that serves to emphasize the almost universal uncertainty that is associated with religious belief of any kind. When he was asked why he tried to persuade people of his political beliefs, but not his religious beliefs, he said this - "In the realm of the political and social and economic, we can be sufficiently certain to convert; but in the realm of religion there is not sufficient certainty ...

206. Nice Guys Finish First

Proverbs 1:20-33

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... away from the priests, another breed of teacher began to gain respect. They were those known as "the wise." These wise ones were neither priests nor prophets, but people who observed life and drew conclusions about how best to live. The basis of their belief seems to have been that the world operated according to orderly principles that could be perceived by those who were wise. Further, they believed that if a person lived in harmony with that order, things would be well and happy for that person. Now ...

207. Building God’s Kingdom: The Christian Challenge

Romans 10:8-13

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... other believers. As he wrote to the Ephesians (3:6) that the Gentiles were co-heirs with the Jews, as inheritors of God's promise, so now Paul rejects those who make distinctions in the community. One's origins have no bearing; all that matters is belief in Jesus. Salvation comes through Christ. Again, Paul seems to have learned what Jesus told his apostles in response to Thomas' question (John 14:6): "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Christianity, as ...

208. Abraham Believed God

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... see clearly, while the world barely sees at all. Some might be content to accept the fact that, as Genesis 15:6 says, "And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness" and not worry about how exactly the thing works. Is Abraham's belief a reflection of his faith or a reflection of his works? You see, both the Apostle Paul and James, the brother of Jesus, quote this verse, yet they seem to quote it in quite different contexts. In Galatians 3:5-7 we read: "Well then, does God supply ...

209. Choosing to Believe

1 Kings 18:20-39

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... authentic, would have been a nice confirmation of something that we already believe, but the debunking of the claim really doesn't make any difference in the solidity of our faith. I raise the matter of this burial box because I want to talk about the foundations of belief, and the yes-it-is/no-it's-not story of the ossuary is a case in point. Our text is from the Old Testament, but before going there, I want to point out something from a New Testament passage, Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus ...

210. Living the Vision

Habakkuk 1:1-4, 2:1-4

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... glance through your Bibles will tell you that Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, all of these more famous prophets accepted the world as they found it. They accepted the situation and then responded to it and undertook to explain it in light of their belief concerning God. But Habakkuk was the first Hebrew thinker who ever presumed to question the wisdom or the justice of God's administration of the world's affairs. The fact is that Habakkuk wanted God to explain what was going on! You have to ...

211. Holiness of Heart and Life

Romans 2:21-23

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... breaking the law?” (Romans 2:21—23 RSV) The failure of the Jew was the failure to harmonize identity and action, belief and action, belief and practice. I This brings us to the core of our scripture passage, and the image upon which the sermon is ... used throughout his life and especially in his teaching of Methodists. This is important to know because it underscores a distinctive belief of a Methodist Christian which we are focusing on today: Holiness of Heart and Life, or Personal and Social Holiness. As ...

212. Style: Some Distinctive Marks of a Methodist

Galatians 5:1-15

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... speaking, it is a fear of that which is different from you, the fear and suspicion of differences. It has been the phobia of people from the beginning through the ages, and still is. Xenophobia has plagued the church. We fear the opinions, positions, attitudes, and beliefs that do not match our own. Over against xenophobia I want to put that celebrated word of John Wesley. “Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? ... If it be, give me thine hand.” Now the word is actually from II Kings 10 ...

213. We Hold These Truths To Be Essential

1 Peter 3:8-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to explain it, all that we believe today in this far removed congregation, is the lengthened shadow of an 18th Century priest of the Church of England by the name of John Wesley. He gave us a number of things; let me mention two. He gave us a deep belief in warm hearted religion. For thirty five years, he searched for peace with God. I think the search hasn't changed. I sense people today are searching for peace with God. He tried to find it in strict living. He formed a Holy Club with friends at Oxford ...

214. Will I Really Live Forever?

John 11:18-27, 39-45

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... know there are joys that are waiting when I have gone the last mile of the way. Let me die with dignity, too. I have got some place to go, and if you have some place to go, you can turn loose of life here. Belief in immortality transforms the way I live my daily life. Belief in immortality gives reason to character. Why be good if it makes no difference? Do your kids ever ask that question of you? I ask it occasionally of myself. The preacher in Ecclesiastes asked it long ago, way before Peggy Lee put it in ...

215. Why Am I A United Methodist?

I Timothy 1:12-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... God will see you through. “There is no fear in love,” says the New Testament, “for perfect love casts out fear.” You do not have to live in guilt, you do not have to live in fear. You can live in faith as a child of God. That is our belief. There are many wonderful expressions of the Christian faith on earth. We are not the only Christians on earth, nor should we be. Some will fit your tastes more than others, however, I say to you today, if your heart is with my heart in love and loyalty to Jesus ...

216. Marching Forward by Faith!

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... taught us to hold on. God invites us to let go. We don't just want to enjoy the goodness of life. We want to own it, store it up, expand it, manipulate it for our own purposes. With clinched fists we cling to our possessions, opinions, theories, beliefs, attitudes, hurts, grievances, money, fearful that losing our grip will mean defeat. All along our salvation lies in letting go. When I met Christ, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike—a bicycle built for two. I ...

217. When You Are Up And Out

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... sits at our dinner table, shares in our lives, comes to know us in a personal way, we are inspired to be better than we think we sometimes are. You make me want to be a better man. A. What makes Christianity Great? Christianity is a great creed. Its beliefs stand the test of time. To believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, revealed to us through His son Jesus Christ our Lord, and made present by the power of the Holy Spirit is powerful. To believe in the communion of the saints, the ...

218. A Way of Seeing

Genesis 21:8-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... Elijah prayed, and the rains came (1 Kings 18). Here is something from that sermon: But like Elijah we need to hold on to our belief in God's goodness. God will again send the rain on our land. We will continue to pray for it. Perhaps it is already too ... do that even while we maintain our faith in the goodness and providential care of God.But like Elijah we need to hold on to our belief in God's goodness. God will again send the rain on our land. We will continue to pray for it. Perhaps it is already too late ...

219. Dare to Be Different

Romans 13:11-14

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... total homogeneity, but to accommodate a wide variety of persons into the household of faith. Now the challenge to "dare to be different" is not just to be different from the surrounding pagan world, but to be different from one another in matters of belief and lifestyle, while still accepting and supporting each other as sisters and brothers in Christ. That is part of what it means to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh," with its selfish and contentious nature. Paul continues ...

220. The Great Inescapable Question of Eternity

Mark 8:27-38

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... Jesus expressed in the writings of humankind. Shakespeare, for example, in King Lear gave expression to some of this kind of thinking when he cried out,"As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport." It is our Christian belief that Jesus of Nazareth fully disclosed God — who he was and what he did and what motivated him. That disclosure reveals God's love for us. Further, we believe that this loving God desires to have individual fellowship with us. He not only wants to know ...

221. Having a Good Name

Proverbs 1:20-33

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... over to something like a name, something like a creed. A name is something with content, something that says who we are. A name is something that goes with what we believe in. We are known by our beliefs, our commitments to those beliefs. Keeping a good name means having a good creed. A creed is a statement of belief, within or outside of a religious context. It is the choice to commit to this rather than that. We name ourselves by X, not Y. What is good about creeds, according to Jaroslav Pelican, the best ...

222. Ruling Against the Majority

Illustration

... court had completely removed Bible reading, religious classes/instruction. This was a radical reversal of law - and all without precedential justification or Constitutional basis. The Court's justification for removing Bible reading from public schools? The Court at this time declared that only 3% of the nation professed no belief in religion, no belief in God. Although this prayer was consistent with 97% of the beliefs of the people of the United States, the Court decided for the 3% against the majority.

223. We Need to Look Within

Luke 1:26-38

Illustration

Mickey Anders

... testimony in a book called, A History of God: "As a child, I had a number of strong religious beliefs but little faith in God. There is a distinction between belief in a set of propositions and a faith which enables us to put our trust in them. I believed implicitly in (all ... the right things about God). I cannot say, however, that my belief in these religious opinions… gave me much confidence that life here on earth was good… I entered a religious order and ...

224. Lift High the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... I’ve tried to earn love by being nice — someone who’s caring, and kind, sweet, who tries not to rock the boat or upset anyone.” However, Jane realized that she needed to surrender this lie. “I cringe to think of the years I’ve allowed this faulty belief to influence me. “We’re all equals at the Cross.”[2] It’s easy to lose our focus and allow other thoughts to invade our faith. In order to surrender all to Jesus we might have to relinquish everything that gets in our way. Sometimes it is ...

225. One-Way Street

John 14:5-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... anything else Jesus ever said. It flies in the face of what the vast majority of people, both in this country and around the world believe. In a Goggle search for religious beliefs, at last count there were 37,177 different religious beliefs that popped up. People like Tommy Tolerance and Danny Diversity say that every one of these beliefs are equally valid and they all lead to God. They just take different paths. The opinion that Jesus is just one way among many is a very popular concept. Just listen to ...

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