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 2401 to 2425 of 4947 results

2401. Humble Acts of Service

Mark 8:31--9:1

Illustration

Brett Blair

... days of the struggle?" And then from ten thousand throats would come, "We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal." We are told that there were tears in the eyes of many of those soot laden and weathered faced coal miners. They had been given a sense of their own self worth by the man at the top. Service does not always come with big fancy ribbons. And I think it is forever true, that humble acts of service provide us with the deepest ...

2402. Where Is Loyalty in an Age of Immediacy?

Mark 1:1-8

Illustration

Elton Richards

... of Narcissism," notes the forgetful character of the late twentieth century U.S. culture: "to live for the moment is the prevailing passion to live for yourself, not for your predecessors or posterity. We are fast losing the sense of historical continuity, the sense of belonging to a succession of generations originating in the past and stretching into the future." There is little loyalty in the workplace. Our language gives us away when we speak of "headhunters," "corporate raiders," and "hostile takeovers ...

2403. Miss Manners and Mr. Goodwrench

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... country. Joab's actions hardly meet with the mandates for mercy and love that we associate with both Jesus and Paul. Yet while Joab was fully aware of the ambiguities surrounding his actions and the pain they would cause, he plotted his course based on a sense of loyalty and integrity. He was completely and personally invested in this desperate act, despite the real risk of retaliation that it presented. Isn't that precisely the problem of being present? Isn't that the reason why more of us don't reach that ...

2404. Protecting Your Valuables

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... specific behavioral and attitudinal goal that "God-fearing" men and women should strive to attain in their lives. Job speaks of seeking the divine wisdom which will guide the rest of our actions. Jesus reveals that his true disciples are to invert their usual sense of what is valuable and to order their lives around a commitment to service and obedience. James explicitly lists qualities such as meekness and mercy as the most desirable of spiritual values. In each text it is evident that there is a hierarchy ...

2405. Interior Decorations

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... our souls come to us as gifts from the first Christmas family and witnesses: 1) The Gift of Mary - Faith 2) The Gift of Joseph - Justice 3) The Gift of the Shepherds - Wonder and Joy 4) The Gift of the Wise Men – Service 1) In a certain sense there is a fifth gospel - The Gospel According to Mary. Only from Mary could the first editors of the Christmas narrative draw their information. The greatness and gift of Mary is an unparalleled life of faith. For when the angel called her the "favored one," this is ...

2406. Getting the Face We Deserve

Exodus 34:29-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... man of unclean lips, " saw God with his own eyes. Many of those who met with God were hardly "perfect-model" types - at least not after their confrontation. While our spiritual ancestors in the faith clearly met God face to face at their own risk, today our sense of awe and our "fear of the Lord" appears to have dissolved. When it comes to encountering God, we have all the class and respect of the papparazzi. Witness that every year or so there is a new "miraculous appearance" of Jesus' face in some bizarre ...

2407. The Compleat Christian

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of virtues as the concerns of quaint religious sects or sequestered elderly widows - certainly not for busy, active men and women of faith going toe-to-toe with the everyday world. But a mature faith cannot happen until in both an individual and communal sense one first risks encountering the truth - the truth about oneself, the truth about others, the truth about God. Examined in that light, how do we measure up to Paul's understanding of a truly virtuous, compleat Christian? Do you have hope? Hope is ...

2408. Healing Aerobics

2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... story requires us to "stand up" and boldly confess our faith in the source of all healing. Naaman is taking considerable risk in voicing this confession. In the summation of this story, not assigned by this week's lectionary reading, we get some sense of what might be the potential cost of this confession. For Naaman there is the risk of inciting royal displeasure if he fails to accompany the Aramean king to the temple of Rimmon. Naaman begs forgiveness for this action before it even occurs. Confession ...

2409. A.Y.O.R. (At Your Own Risk)

Hebrews 12:1-2, 12-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to increased choice is political alienation. Waldman's observation is important for it suggests that alienation comes from our sense of social fragmentation. We have grown used to being identified as so many sub-groups, consumer markets, minority opinions ... , state or nation - nor a whole person or a whole human race. We choose our own identity but consequently lose our sense of unity. Waldman follows this concept along to the conclusion that "choice erodes the self" (24). He diagnoses choice-junkies as ...

2410. Pit and Rock

Colossians 1:11-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... courage that Paul counseled the Colossians. Just as tracing back a biological "family tree" gives us a satisfying sense of belonging and connectedness to a host of ancestors we can never know personally, recalling our spiritual lineage - from the days of Abraham ... to the day-before-yesterday - gives us a sense of peace and perspective as we strive to remain faithful. The notion of a "pit and rock" genealogy does not sound ...

2411. Everyone's a Fundamentalist About Something

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... about something. We all choose to erect certain foundational pillars that we use to support the weight of other attitudes and actions called for in our lives. Being a "fundamentalist" about some things can strengthen our centeredness and build up our sense of security for the marginality that is required of disciples of Jesus. Fundamentalism only becomes a problem when those rocks of certainty we have placed in our lives spread their stoniness to the depth of our souls, or harden to immovability ...

2412. Soul-Scrubbing

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the air around them with the sweet smells that attract others to them. But the perfume can never fully mask the odor that lurks about the spirit of arrogance and boastfulness. Eventually the bad smell seeps in and under everything they do. Humility, the sense of self-smallness, is a kind of stack-scrubber for our souls. It takes our greatest weaknesses, our smelliest selves, and binds them to the power of Christ. True humility scrubs our souls and transforms our spirits into a breath of fresh air. There ...

2413. Armageddon Anxiety

John 6:56-69

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... world, abandoning it to the powers of evil. Satan's six-pack gives us the greatest excuse not to know Christ and make Christ known for the times that God has given us. A bishop was presiding over the liturgy in a large cathedral. He sensed that the microphone wasn't working properly, and he was ready to begin the traditional "The Lord be with you," after which the congregation routinely responded, "And also with you." He tapped the mike several times, but heard nothing. Then, as he thought he was speaking ...

2414. Easter Completes

Colossians 3:1-4

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are above, not on things that are on earth." It is as "seekers" that Christians come to know that their lives are fulfilled in the resurrection of a Christ who is "now" but "not yet," whose work is "complete" but yet "incomplete." Christian life is, in this sense, one long Easter egg hunt. On Christmas morning, the point of presents is to unwrap them and see what wonderful gifts you have received. The point of the Tooth Fairy is a tangible, spendable reward under the pillow of a child who has lost a tooth ...

2415. An Action-Packed Faith

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... that were done by a Super Mom who juggled both a career and an active, energetic home life. We even reflect a tiny bit of that action-packed love back to our mothers on this day although whether this is a measure of how well they instilled a sense of love or a sense of guilt in each of us may be a good question. Mother's Day is the second-busiest day of the year for telephone companies (only Christmas Day tops it). It is also the second-busiest day of the year for florists (again after Christmas, but before ...

2416. Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the real "Lord's Prayer" - the startling, breath-taking prayer Jesus prayed. What we call "The Lord's Prayer" is really "The Disciples' Prayer." In John 17:11 Jesus prays that those who believe may be one. Not one in some metaphorical sense. Not one in some ecclesiastical sense. But "perfectly one." "Perfectly one" in the same oneness that unites God the Father and God the Son. "Perfectly one" in the same oneness that brings about on earth what happens in heaven, what goes on in God. It is characteristic of ...

2417. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ill child, Jairus throws accepted standards of behavior to the winds and falls at the feet of this virtual stranger. Jesus responds instantly, without questioning Jairus about any aspect of himself or his daughter. The text simply states that "he went with him." Sensing high drama in the making, the crowd trails Jesus and Jairus. Here the story suddenly shifts. Mark now zooms in on a woman stubbornly threading her way through the crowd, moving ever closer to Jesus. She too is seeking healing. This woman's ...

2418. Mark 9:38-50

Mark 9:38-50

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as they accept the inverted rules of importance and belonging that Jesus has revealed. Relating the Texts The Epistle text for this week is actually two distinct units with their own agendas. But James' words continue to stress the surprising nature of a Christian sense of self and community. The first pericope finds James, who always sides with the poor and "unimportant," focusing on the rising merchant class of his day. It is important to note that the merchants James cites are in no way unique or unusual ...

2419. Luke 2:41-52

Luke 2:41-52

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Mary calls attention to the anxiety Jesus has caused his parents - another negative to match with "astonished." Odynomenoi defines the unfocused fear that had plagued Jesus' parents for the past three days. It is a feeling so intense that it carries with it a sense of suffering, even torture (see Acts 20:38 and Romans 9:2). But Jesus answers Mary's question with a question. With an authoritative ring of his own, Jesus explains that his place is with his heavenly Father, not his earthly parents. Having set ...

2420. Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Ezra reads from, a detail often seen as an early foreshadowing of the synagogue tradition of reading the Torah from a raised pulpit. The picture the writer creates is of a unified body worshiping God, first in joy, then with a sense of despair at their own shortcomings, but moved by a sense of awe at all times. It is impossible to discern exactly what portion of the Pentateuch Ezra read (though it seems clear that it was excerpts, not the entirety of the Torah). But the author takes pains to emphasize that ...

2421. Acts 9:1-20

Acts 9:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... into the water in order to swim to the shore and be the first to greet Jesus. Since he was stripped for fishing, Simon Peter either "puts on" some garments - or as others read it, "tucks up" his outer garment in order to cover himself - out of sense of decency and respect for Jesus. But this interpretation leaves several problems. First, after recording Peter's leap into the water, the text then abandons him there. The focus shifts to the boat filled with the other disciples and the load of fish and then to ...

2422. Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-19

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... as an example of unswerving faithfulness. While she never rejected the promise, she certainly did not respond to the news with the kind of grateful solemnity the author found so ennobling in others. Positing Abraham as the subject in verse 11 also makes sense in light of the conclusion drawn in verse 12. This was a patriarchal society; lineage was commonly established from a father's genealogy. It is doubtful, therefore, that when this writer praises the miracle of a plethora of descendants born out of a ...

2423. Luke 16:1-13

Luke 16:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Without the flexibility of familial bonds to bind this story together, we impose an entirely different set of expectations and responses on the characters in the dishonest steward parable. Responses we would find comforting at home we find threatening to our sense of order in the workplace. Jesus begins this parable by focusing on an economic reality: The steward's master is described as a "rich man." Having received reports of the steward's shady dealings, the master confronts his "business manager" with ...

2424. 2 Timothy 1:1-14

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 's case this parentage is supportive and beneficial. While we know Timothy's father was a Greek (Acts 16:1), his grandfather's lineage is unclear. Since in Judaism any child who is born of a Jewish mother is considered Jewish, it makes sense for Paul to single out Timothy's clearly Jewish/Christian ancestors. Paul also highlights the crucial role of generational transmission of the faith, using Timothy's family as an excellent example. Perhaps Paul is also subtly emphasizing a kind of legitimizing authority ...

2425. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5

2 Thessalonians 2:13 – 3:5

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... encouragement God offers is meant to do more than merely buoy up our attitudes. Paul's "wish" is for God's comfort to seep deep into the being - the "heart" - of the Thessalonian Christians. Furthermore, Paul wishes that they would manifest this sense of belovedness and its strength in their own "work and word." Having been given the tradition of the kerygma, the great gospel message, it is now the Thessalonians' responsibility to bring to life the ethical tradition of Christian behavior. They must express ...

Showing results