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 1 to 25 of 389 results

1. The King's Reception (What Are You Wearing to the Wedding?)

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Brett Blair

... we cannot attend an event. I like how the Gospel of Luke records the excuses to this story. In that story it’s not a king’s reception but a local banquet. But they all began to make excuses. I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me ... . But if they had listened to the story closely they would have heard the part about the guy who came to the reception without the proper attire and was consequently thrown out. The doors are open to all, but king reserves the right to choose who ...

2. The Reception was Excellent

John 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... not be surprising if Jesus’ family had some close friends in Cana, maybe even some family members. This is borne out by the fact that Mary, Jesus’ mother, was at the wedding, as were Jesus and his disciples. Unfortunately, something somewhat calamitous happened at the reception. The hosts ran out of wine. Now you have to understand what a big deal weddings were for Jewish families in that day. The festivities lasted for as long as a week. We’re told that the newly married couple often kept open house ...

3. The Receptive Heart

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

Life is a matter of attitude. All the great motivational speakers tell us that. To succeed in life, attitude is critical. Of course, not everyone has a great attitude. In fact, some people have a downright rotten attitude. The Internet carried an item recently that reflects a rotten attitude. It is called the “Cynic’s Guide to Life.” It’s a clever take-off on some of life’s familiar clichés. See if you recognize any of these: The journey of a thousand miles . . . begins with . . . a broken fan belt and a ...

4. The Banquet Bowl

Mark 9:38-41

Sermon

Robert Salzgeber

... had once again been convincingly defeated and Conrad laughed an evil manipulative and demonic laugh. Micah's thoughts returned to the present moment. He threw the Kingdom Times on the table and smiled. He recalled the conversation he had with his new friend, James, at the reception after last year's defeat. James had explained to Micah that he had been one of the gathered assembly who was of another church. James had boldly gone forward and received the Lord's banquet even though he was told it would not be ...

5. Only the Best

John 2:1-11

Sermon

Cynthia Cowen

... furnish food and beverage for a week for your guests! Arrangements had to be carefully planned. How embarrassing it would be for the host to run out of wine. It was not just a slip up, but it broke the laws of hospitality. If this happened at one of our receptions, we would do all in our power to resolve the problem. So when Mary saw the distress of her host, she went immediately to Jesus to resolve it. She didn’t expect him to do a miracle, but asked that he would find more wine to solve the problem. She ...

6. What Children Can Teach Adults

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Thomas Slavens

... him gladly as the Lord of their lives. A much neglected Christian virtue is that of delight. Jesus said, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:15) Citizenship in that Kingdom requires a childlike spirit of dependence, receptivity and enthusiasm. Prayer Our God, whose children we are, we praise and worship You for Your love and care of us. We praise You that when we call to You for help, You do hear our prayers and that even when we are not aware of it ...

7. Let It Shine!

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... and support it! Let it shine. Use what God has given you or lose what God has given you. Let your light shine for Christ. There is a light shining in the darkness and the darkness cannot overpower it, put it out, absorb it, appropriate it, or be receptive to it, so let it shine! Just as the physical darkness got jealous when God said the light was good and separated them from each other, God has called you to be separate, apart, because you have something good. Now you need to stop trying to make those ...

8. Fish Bites

Acts 17:32-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... to a more neutral position (what you call a U3) after watching a Billy Graham crusade on television. I bet if someone invited me to church then, I would have gone. You know the rest of my story. I finally visited a dynamic church in town and became even more receptive to the Gospel. Finally, someone from the church asked me to lunch. Mike, who is now my best friend, shared with me how to accept Christ. A few months later, I did pray to receive Christ. Do hear what I am saying. I had to go to church before ...

9. Why Won't They Listen?

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

King Duncan

... !" That is the kind of opportunity that Christ gives to people today. We can make a fresh start. Life can have new purpose and vitality. Why won't we listen? Why won't we heed his words? There are several possible explanations as to why people are not more receptive to the good news of Christ. THE MOST LIKELY OBSTACLE FOR MANY OF US IS THE SECULAR SPIRIT OF OUR AGE. Most of us have been trained to look for scientific explanations concerning the nature of things. We live in a world of cause and effect. We no ...

10. About Marriage

Luke 20:27-40

Sermon

King Duncan

... away in. It got stuck in the ice in the church parking lot, so Melissa stuffed her gown into the back seat of a two-door compact car. The severe cold caused the water main at the reception hall to break, so the toilets functioned only because the reception line was turned into a bucket brigade. But that's not all. In the apartment just below the reception hall, the resident had gone out of town and left his oven on in order to keep his boa constrictor from getting cold. So Tim and Melissa wrapped up their ...

11. Get off the Throne and Learn Wisdom

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

... ’s grip and in the bondage of their sins. Some have to hit the bottom hard and more than once before their sin-dulled consciences come to life again. Perhaps you know someone like this; perhaps you have been such a person. Our time is to be spent with the receptive. We wait on green fruit; we do not try to pick it ahead of its time. The message of Jesus is to be attractively displayed, not force fed to the resistant. The story is told is told of a farmer who received a visit from one of his city relatives ...

12. Envision: The Great Commission

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... so you will only meet this person 1 out of 5 times. Let me put it another way. Seventy-five percent of the people that you meet will either be open to discussing the Gospel, open to hearing your story about Christ, very receptive to hearing your story about Christ or highly receptive to hearing your story about Christ and ready to accept Christ. With that picture in mind, listen to the next point. II. Seek People Without God Jesus himself said in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and ...

13. On the Art Of Listening To Sermons

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

I cannot imagine a more difficult place to preach than the setting of this parable-sermon. Although they were not out to get him, this surely must have been one of the toughest audiences Jesus had to face, outside of the religious establishment who were not receptive to much of anything he had to say anyway. The assembling of these people is handled in a rather matter-of-fact way by Matthew in his telling of the story. He says simply that they came to the beach where Jesus had gone to relax for a few ...

14. It Takes Two to Preach!

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... and will do all in his power to remove such distractions from the next service. His mind is set on the Word and he takes it all in. Only then is he preached to and only then does the act of preaching really take effect. The good soil is the receptive soil. Preach by Understanding The hearer may be present to hear the Word. He may go even further and listen to the Word. But, if he does not understand what he is hearing, the preaching does no good. The layman in the pew is a partner in preaching to the ...

15. An Invitation to a Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... of what it said to the people who heard it for the first time. Let’s carefully consider what this Gospel has to teach us in our own lives and on this day. The invitation that God gives to us is one to a feast as happy as a wedding reception or a rehearsal dinner. The invitation God gives us is a joyous one. If we think of Christianity as some kind of gloomy giving up of everything which brings laughter and sunshine and happy fellowship to life, we have the mistaken idea about our faith. It is to joy that ...

16. The Nuclear Truth Of Christianity

Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... faith is the decision to accept what God gives us -- to allow God to work in us as he has worked for us. Faith is reception -- a reception which gives a new perception. "It is the recognition of the fact that we come to know God when we have become known by ... comes to us. He comes to us in his grace that we may go to Him with our faith." (Mackay, p. 105) Faith is thus reception which gives a new perception -- and the new perception is, and we read it there in our text, verse 10: "For we are his workmanship ...

17. Anything to Declare?

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and rejection than did the first mission of the Twelve. As they are journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem, these emissaries have stepped beyond the familiar borders of home. As the hospitality-seeking messengers in 9:51-56 found in the Samaritan regions, a welcome reception is no longer a given. Rejection and even risk tinges the air as Jesus warns this third wave of envoys that they are being sent out like “lambs into the midst of wolves” (v.3). Likewise, for this group Jesus specifically sends his chosen ...

18. One Heaven of a Party

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... story about a woman who yielded her first fruits in a very generous way. The story attracted so much attention that it appeared in the Boston Globe. The story began with her entering a Hyatt Hotel with her fiancé to plan their wedding reception. They looked over menus filled with sumptuous gourmet food. They pored over a wide variety of china and silver. They even studied catalogs of flower arrangements. When they finally made all their selections, they received the bill. As they looked at what they owed ...

19. Hard and Soft Hearts

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... of hope in Jesus Christ. However, at a wedding there are so many distractions that the last thing anyone wants to hear about is their need for the love of God in Jesus Christ. The focus is on the flowers, the dresses, the music, the reception, the party, the photographer. I think the time spent with the photographer is usually two or three times as long as the service. And you begin to wonder what is more important. My frustration usually begins with the first premarital counseling session. There they sit ...

20. The Healing Tree

Revelation 22:1-6, Luke 8:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... literally has the water running through it. It is entirely fed/existent by the presence of God. Whereas Jesus drives home lessons in his teaching parables about judging and what makes a plant “poison” vs fruit bearing, we find that we must all mind our own growth, receptivity, and in this way, we grow too as a people. Interesting is that the word for “tree” used in Genesis 2, Revelation 2:7, and 12:11 is the same word used for “cross” (Gal 3:13 and Peter 2:24). Through the tree that is death ...

21. A Stand-in for Royalty

John 18:33-37; Revelation 1:4b-8

Sermon

King Duncan

... about this unfinished world is that we are those who have been called to bring it to completion. This is not to say that the kingdom of God will be brought in by our efforts. It is Christ who builds the kingdom, but he builds it through those who are receptive to his word. That is you and me. Christ needs people who are willing and able. And the ironic thing is that when we subordinate our desires to his desire, when we enlist as privates in his army, when we serve as priests in his temple, which is the ...

22. A Little Bit of Honey

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... them in line. Like the “Samaritan” in Jesus’ story, they walk across the green when they see someone in trouble. They are not afraid to talk to the child who is afraid and lost or to rescue the abused animal. These are people with beautiful, welcoming, receptive hearts. They may not be Christians. They may not go to your church. They may not have grown up baptized. They may not have ever stepped inside a cathedral. They may not know about God or anything about Jesus. They may not subscribe to your ...

23. Fine Tuning

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... on the front of the device (there were no remotes and no cable service), you’d get either a grey, fuzzy screen with wavy lines or the faint outline of a show in progress. You’d choose the channel you wanted, and then you’d have to “fine tune” the reception by means of the giant antennae. Much like adjusting binoculars, you’d have to move or twist the antennae this way and that with the finesse of a tightrope walker, while watching the screen in order to find just the right position in which the ...

24. RSVP

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... handing out a list of qualities, Jesus offers something much more powerful: a story filled with deep, rich scriptural metaphors: the parable of a wedding feast. In the story we see a King (God). The King is throwing a massive wedding and reception for his beloved Son (Jesus). He has issued formal invitations to all originally invited (those who already know and worship God –Israel’s priests, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, and all those claiming to be true to the faith in positions of religious authority ...

25. The Spirit Of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... these various groups to reach new power and heights in spiritual consciousness and belief, but it was because of their openness to the Spirit's anointing and outpouring that the Spirit of Pentecost was achieved. What we need is the spirit of openness and receptiveness to the Spirit's outpouring; to the promise and capacity of the Holy Spirit to transport, translate, and transcend us to higher heights in our faith, belief and the contemplation and expression of that faith. The more we are open to the Spirit ...

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