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 2426 to 2450 of 4340 results

2426. Holy Vexation

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Robert Noblett

We have all probably had the experience of being in the presence of someone who is normally composed and tranquil, and having that person suddenly erupt. A topic is introduced and immediately goes to the quick. It all seems so out of character. I can imagine Christian folks having a similar reaction to this story (found, incidentally, in all of the Gospels) of Jesus cleansing the temple. If you are fifty years or older and remember singing the old gospel song that talks about Jesus calling us "softly and ...

2427. The Ministry of Fading

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... them out." There's a wonderful line from an old Ed Asner, Jean Stapleton movie titled The Gathering. Asner plays an aging business man who learns he is going to die and Stapleton plays his estranged wife. An eleventh hour rapprochement takes place. At one point the character played by Asner is reflecting on what his estranged wife has been doing all through the separation years and he remarks: "She has been sitting up in that house waiting for me to grow up." For nine months a mom and dad wait for an embryo ...

2428. With a Little Help from My Friends

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... fight over [a game] and I walked out of the room because I didn’t want to spend the energy needed to teach them how to resolve conflict. I remember how my daughter spilled cherry punch at dinner and I yelled at her as if she’d revealed some deep character flaw; I yelled at her even though I spill things all the time and no one yells at me; I yelled at her--to tell the truth--because I’m big and she’s little and I can get away with it. I remember how at nights I didn’t ...

2429. Things That Make Jesus Angry

John 2:12-25

Drama

Angela Akers

Characters: Makeup artist Personal assistant Producer Ivana Heart, host of cooking show Announcer (voice only) Setting: Television sound stage for taping of cooking show. Props: Large, colorful sign that reads “Cooking Up Some Trouble” Table with bowls, measuring cups, mixing spoons, other cooking paraphernalia Clipboard for producer Makeup paraphernalia for makeup ...

2430. Making Compassion a Verb

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... have been less than God intends us to be. Too often, we are content simply to talk about a situation rather than to do something about it. In a book titled Get Out There And Reap! Guin Ream Tuckett chronicles the activities of a character named Marsha, who is a forward-thinking Christian in a stodgy, tradition-bound church. One time, quite by accident, she influenced her junior high Sunday school class to challenge the status quo. They talked about an upcoming church dinner. Marsha observed that there was ...

2431. A Landmark Event!

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... into the river below. And it was there that Finny had fallen when our now-aging vet either intentionally or unintentionally shook the limb on which both were perched. Finny had later died from his injuries. For all these years the novel's main character has remembered and wrestled with the guilt of it all. What about you? Are there fog-shrouded trees growing like spikes in your conscience? Is there guilt of deeds done or left undone? Divorce? An abortion? Ugly words? A theft? Adultery? Remembrance can be ...

2432. The Impossible Option

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

... an Adventure, capital A. And much to his own surprise, the comfortable, conventional Bilbo at last agreed, running out the door after the departing dwarves without so much as a handkerchief. And Adventures he had! He encountered elves and other wondrous characters, including the magnificent, jewel-encrusted dragon. He trekked through mountains, was lost underground, and found a magic ring. He was carried by eagles, escaped from prison in a beer cask, and finagled his way into the dragon's lair. There were ...

2433. The True Story of the Magi

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

John Jamison

... us are probably pretty glad to see the back of it. As years go, after all, there have been better But the biggest story is of course Saddam Hussein. This event will shape the world for decades to come. He reminds me of Herod. Herod was an interesting character. He was what we call a complicated individual. He could be compassionate. Back during the famine of 25 B.C., he had his own solid gold dinner plate melted down and the money given to the poor. More than once he refunded taxes to those who were having ...

2434. A New Look for a New Year

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... artist, but he thought the father might like the portrait. They talked all afternoon, and after the soldier left, the father sat for a long time admiring the painting of his son. It would never be considered a masterpiece, but it did capture his son's character. The old man decided to hang the painting of his son over the fireplace, moving several priceless pieces of art to make room. After a few years the old man became ill and eventually died. His will called for all his works of art to be auctioned ...

2435. The Answer Waiting for a Question

2 Corinthians 1:12--2:4

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... the answer, for he is God's yes to all that confounds you." But the supreme problem that faces the person who lives apart from Christ rests right here. He doesn't know who he is. In Arthur Miller's excellent play, The Death of a Salesman, the leading character is Willie Lohman, a philandering salesman. Willie has two sons. Biff, one of the sons, speaks up in a dramatic scene, saying, "All that I want is out there waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am." After Willie has been discovered by his sons ...

2436. Height Advantage

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... the Spirit of God in Jesus could be available in the heart of every person on earth. Of course, we need to remind ourselves that these "up" and "out there" physical images are only feeble attempts to speak of our mysterious and loving God whose character and being we have glimpsed through Jesus Christ. Ascension Day is celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter, or the sixth Thursday after Easter. That's this Thursday. Mark your calendar. Get out of bed this Thursday with joy and gratitude, for Jesus has ...

2437. Grace in the Midst of Judgment

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... are canceled. Period. As forgiven people, then, we have a new identity. We have a new freedom. We are free because the greatest threats against us have been erased. Just one more question must be addressed. How should we respond? In Saving Private Ryan, the character played by Tom Hanks makes the ultimate sacrifice for another soldier. As he lies dying, Hanks' eyes meet the eyes of his living comrade. "Earn this," he gasps with his final breath. Earn this? How could such a gift possibly be earned? Only one ...

2438. Grace in the Midst of Guilt and Shame

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... can't wriggle out of the mess that I've gotten myself into. As Lewis Smedes beautifully puts it in his book Shame and Grace, "Shame is the dead weight of not-good-enoughness." Shame, of course, can serve the healthy role of demonstrating the gap between our character and the holiness of God. But all too often it settles down into the cracks of our consciousness as the despairing judgment that we will never get things right. Smedes writes: Shame can fall over you when a person stares at you after you've said ...

2439. The Highest Bidder

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... hands. The palm-reader claims he can tell your future by looking at your hands. I can tell your past. For instance, I can tell what your trade has been by the position of the calluses and the condition of the nails. I can tell a lot about your character. I love hands." Brand went on, "How I would love to have had the chance to meet Jesus and study his hands." He described what it might have been like to see the hands of Jesus as a little one, childishly grasping in the earliest years, then clumsily holding ...

2440. Gifted People

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... of spirit and the bond of peace are lost. Charles Sumner was one of the most celebrated congressional opponents of slavery in America. He delivered an "Oration on Lafayette" in which he called Lafayette, the hero of two revolutions, the greatest person of character who ever lived. Perhaps Sumner was correct. In his old age, Lafayette said that he never would have drawn the sword for America had he known that it was to found a government that sanctioned human slavery. To be certain, those who often achieve ...

2441. Lethal Weapon

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... -and-run tactics. With this weapon we can engage in the sabotage of helpless victims. Anyone we touch with this weapon is in great danger. It can kill spiritually, socially, and even physically. This weapon acts with deadly destructiveness. No age group is untouched, no character immune, and no life safe from it. This weapon is gossip. The little sing-song ditty is sometimes glibly mouthed: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me." Let's not believe that for a minute. Words can be ...

2442. The Battle of the Wisdoms

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... James, not all wisdom is true wisdom come from above, and we do ourselves and those around us no great favor when we pretend that it is. James recognizes the battle of the wisdoms. While we humans do have responsibility and genuine options concerning the character of our lives, James does not minimize our difficulties. There must be no waffling back and forth. Spiritual death is a genuine possibility. Our cravings for the material things of the world can take over our lives and win the battle over our love ...

2443. And When You Pray

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Brett Blair

... of being stretched out to possess the transcendent, awesome God in the intimate inwardness of his deepest consciousness." That sure clarifies things and sets our hearts and minds to the task, doesn't it? No, give me the wisdom of a Grandpa Rucker, one of the lively characters in Olive Ann Burns' book, Cold Sassy Tree. Here is wisdom born of experience. Says Grandpa: "Another thang to think on: some folks ain't said pea-turkey to God in years. They don't ast Him for nothin', don't specially try to be good ...

2444. Needy People Please Apply

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... from their disadvantaged situation. Joseph M. Stowell in his book, The Trouble with Jesus, makes a powerful case for the early church’s passion for those at the bottom of society. He points out that mercy and pity were considered defects of character, not virtues, two thousand years ago in Rome. The Romans had rationalized away any sense of obligation for the needy in their society. “Christianity turned this notion on its head. Whereas, for the most part, the poor were formerly thought of as victims ...

2445. Good News!

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... Isaiah envisions this change of Jerusalem as a bride preparing for her wedding, flittering here and there with a blush on her cheeks, singing, humming, smiling, and laughing. The wedding dress of Jerusalem is the "garment of praise" which symbolizes the transformation of character. Jerusalem is now a beautiful bride dressed for her wedding and not a sad mourner headed for her funeral. Something has happened to the people of God. They have been given a new name and a new status. The new name will remind ...

2446. I'll Be Somewhere Listening

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... of God's new thing. God is always the God of new beginnings. He is resolved that there will always be new possibilities in spite of failure. God, in his resolve for Israel and for us, gives us the power to dream again. You remember the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man? When old Popeye became frustrated or wasn't certain exactly what to do, he would simply exclaim, "I yam what I yam." Popeye was a simple seafaring man who loved Olive Oyl. He was unpretentious, and yet his story belonged to him. "I ...

2447. The Gospel According to Johan

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... other people happy and enjoying life. You remember that the original Scrooge was a figment of the imagination of Charles Dickens, the great English author. Out of the imaginative mind of Dickens comes "A Christmas Carol" whose main character is one, Ebenezer Scrooge, whom Dickens calls, "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" As Dickens unfolds the story of Scrooge, we see him at various stages of his life: Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Future. Eventually ...

2448. The Challenge of God Brings Hope

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... people in the town had loved their mayor; they could see no reason why he should be killed. The whole town was against Carlo and his client. Although it was the woman who faced the jury, the trial for Carlo may have been greater. It was a test of his character. Could he perform as he had been trained; would he hold up under the pressure; could he meet this great challenge? The trial was a test of his will as well. In the face of overwhelming adversity, could he remain with his client and give her a fair and ...

2449. Led by the Spirit of God

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... a child of the King of the universe. Nothing, therefore, in this world can defeat you. The events that occur each day, regardless of how painful they may be, are opportunities for you not only to build your fortune, perhaps, but also to build your character and your spiritual stature. Can you see how this could cause you to approach your difficulties differently? Stand tall. Be victorious. This is who you are. Of course, knowing that we are children of the King should make us more aware of our relationships ...

2450. Replacing a Fallen Comrade

Acts 1:12-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... everything. The world won't be impressed by how much we know, but whether Christ truly lives within us.] One of the most respected men in government today is Senator John McCain. You may not agree with his politics, but you know that he is a man of character and integrity. And when he speaks about a topic like torturing prisoners of war, it is very difficult to argue with him because he has been there. Pat Williams in his book The Paradox of Power says that one of John McCain's strengths is his ability to ...

Showing results