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 3576 to 3600 of 4963 results

3576. Jonah's Prayer

Jonah 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... idol worshipers forsake their own faithfulness to God, or it can be, as the NIV implies, that they deprive themselves of the steadfast love of God, which manifests itself in God’s gracious acts. Jonah promises, in verse 9, to offer a thank-offering sacrifice in response to the Lord’s deliverance of him. But that is a future vow which he promises he will fulfill. 2:10 The difficulty with this song of thanksgiving is that it is sung inside the great fish! Jonah has been delivered from Sheol’s death, but ...

3577. Woe to Nineveh

Nahum 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... torn; it is the word for “prey” in 2:12–13. Yet before and after verse 1, the critique of the city relates to the way it treated other peoples, and despite the difference in language that may also be the case here. The city is responsible for countless deaths and acts of treachery in its relationship with other peoples and is full of plunder and prey from its military exploits. Verses 2–3 then comprise another description of conflict, and another description that is breathless and verb-less (cf. 2:3 ...

3578. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

Zephaniah 1:1-3, Zephaniah 1:4-13, Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... In the second and fourth subsections (vv. 3b–6, 10–13) he talks about Judah and Jerusalem. Zephaniah lambasts it for worshiping gods other than Yahweh and for reckoning that Yahweh will never take action against it. In 2:1–3 he then indicates the response that the prophecy requires. The passage 1:2–2:3 illustrates well the ambiguity in the Prophets concerning whether the prophet speaks as Yahweh or for Yahweh, and of the way Yahweh can move between speaking in the first person and self-referring in ...

3579. The Man Among Myrtle Trees

Zechariah 1:7-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... devoted to persuading the people to get to work on it. In the book of Zechariah, however, this promise in the passive voice is the only explicit mention of the rebuilding project. The emphasis falls on the rebuilt temple as divine gift rather than human responsibility. As for the city itself, the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem, to see how much it will grow because of God’s blessing. For the LORD will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem. Being chosen again as the dwelling place for ...

3580. Mourning for the One They Pierced

Zechariah 12:10-14

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... . By God’s grace, none of their tears will be shed out of fear over their own punishment. 12:12–14 The mourning will be great and also extensive. The God-given spirit of supplication will inspire in every segment of the society a unanimous response to the pierced one’s death. No one will be left out, yet each group in the society will mourn by itself, separated from and not coerced by the other groups. It is not surprising that verse 12 specifically mentions “their women” (NIV their wives, see ...

3581. The Day of Judgment

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... God is with them by means of the prophetic word, which exposes sin for the purpose of restoration. The Lord has heard their complaints and has sent an answer. This answer reveals what God will do on that future day of judgment, but it invites a response in the present, a response that will enable Malachi’s audience to see the work of the God of justice in their own lives. God’s future judgment will be based on the divine word that they already know (3:5 contains a short list of covenant laws). 3:1–5 ...

3582. An Army Officer Deeply Concerned

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... . There are still people around who know how to love other people. Some of them are in this congregation. They will tell you it has its own reward. But Christ tells us that kindness not only is its own reward, but that it is also our major responsibility as his followers. It is not enough to speak piously about God’s love, we are called to transmit that love through concrete acts to specific persons. Some years ago the readers of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts comic strip saw Snoopy shivering out in a snow ...

3583. The First Two Days: John the Baptist’s Message

John 1:19-28, John 1:29-34

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... of repentance, the last chance for repentance before the dreaded “day of the LORD.” This understanding of Elijah is apparently what lies behind the question addressed to John the Baptist. John’s call to repentance and his baptizing ministry based on people’s response to that call (cf. Mark 1:4–5) certainly raised the question, Who are you? and may well have prompted the conjecture that John was Elijah. The question Are you the Prophet? also rests on a specific biblical text, in which Moses tells ...

3584. Jesus Changes Water to Wine

John 2:1-11

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... come from (v. 9). In a sense these servants represent not only the first four disciples but everyone who knows where Jesus comes from and does what he commands. As soon as the miracle story has been told, attention centers on the disciples and their response. The purpose of the miracle is to reveal Jesus’ glory to them, the new Israel (cf. 1:31), bringing to realization the vision promised to Nathanael. The explicit statement that they believed in Jesus (v. 11) completes their call and marks an auspicious ...

3585. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... of the blind man’s healing and conversion, it comes to the fore in the theological reflections of chapter 10: The man born blind is one of Jesus’ “sheep” because he hears the Shepherd’s voice and follows him out of the old community into the new. His response proves that God is already at work in his life (cf. 3:21). This working of God comes to realization in the work of Jesus. Before he acts, Jesus speaks of the urgency that impels him (vv. 4–5). Earlier he had described this urgency “to do ...

3586. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... leave the rest to fend for themselves and go out looking for it (Luke 15:4). If not everyday actions, these are at least normal responses to life’s emergencies. The figure of speech in verses 1–5 is of the same type. If we see a man climbing over the ... the authority are grounded in the Father’s love for the Son (cf. 3:35; 5:20), love is also the Father’s response to Jesus’ faithful completion of the good shepherd’s task (v. 17a). The brief discourse ends in Jesus’ hearers (vv. 19–21) being ...

3587. The Death of Lazarus

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... every reason to believe that the faith of the people east of the Jordan was genuine. The comment that John never performed a miraculous sign (10:41) would have been pointless unless they were aware of miracles performed by Jesus. Though their faith is a response (long delayed) to the testimony of John the Baptist, it is based not on that testimony alone but on the deeds of Jesus that subsequently verified it (cf. 10:38). In their minds they could have told John the Baptist what the Samaritan villagers told ...

3588. The Raising of Lazarus

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... explicit promise of the glory of God. He had mentioned the glory of God in v. 4, but not to Martha. An intriguing possibility is that verse 4 was not intended as a word spoken to the disciples who were with Jesus east of the Jordan, but actually as a response sent back to the sisters in answer to their message about Lazarus’ illness (v. 3). If so, verse 40 may refer specifically to verse 4. Though verse 4 is not explicitly said to be a message sent from a distance, neither is it said to be spoken to the ...

3589. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... at the last day, not because they are Jesus’ words, but because they are words from God (vv. 48b, 49). With respect to all this, the small discourse looks back at the message Jesus has already proclaimed and the mixed response to it. Where verses 37–43 saw only the negative response, verses 44–50 see the alternatives of faith and unbelief together and examine (however briefly) the implications of both. At the very end, there is a turning toward the future and an anticipation of a renewed appeal (v. 50 ...

3590. The Third Appearance

John 21:1-14

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... 1–14 are most plausibly understood as the third resurrection appearance of Jesus in relation to 20:11–18 and 20:19–29, respectively. If the narrator is the same here as in chapter 20 (i.e., if the writer of the Gospel is also responsible for the appendix), then the reference in verse 14 to the third appearance presupposes the story line of both preceding appearance narratives. The beloved disciple’s announcement, It is the Lord! in verse 7 thus corresponds to Mary’s “I have seen the Lord” in ...

3591. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... in the church. In the Pastoral Letters their duties are more formalized (cf. 1 Tim. 3:8–13). The reason for the special mention of the overseers and deacons is uncertain. Many expositors, from Chrysostom on, have suggested that they were specially responsible for sending Epaphroditus with a gift to Paul. F. W. Beare thinks it probable that Paul wished to bring Epaphroditus’s services to the attention of the leaders. E. Best envisages the possibility that Paul had received a letter statedly sent from ...

3592. Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel

Philippians 1:12-30

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... as objective, equivalent to “the teaching of the gospel”—an improbable interpretation. M. Dibelius takes the phrase to mean “the faith which is the gospel.” More probably it is either the believing response to the gospel (tou euangeliou being then objective genitive) or the believing response which the gospel urges its hearers to make (tou euangeliou being subjective genitive)—there is no practical difference between these two. 1:28 Without being frightened: Gk. mē ptyromenoi. The verb occurs ...

3593. The Beginning

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... ideas that are crucial to this orientation. (a) God entrusts humans, who bear God’s image, with stewardship of the earth. (b) God has set boundaries within which the various dimensions of the created order fulfill their purposes. (c) God assigns tasks and responsibilities to various members of creation; for example, the lights in heaven establish times and seasons. (d) No member of the created order is a deity. (e) In resting on the seventh day God provides a regular period of time for humans to enjoy ...

3594. The Sons of Noah

Genesis 9:18-29

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... not see him. They seek to remove the cause of their father’s shame without adding to it. 9:24–27 When Noah awoke, he came to know what his youngest son Ham had done. The text does not state how he found out. In a response typical of a patriarch, he cursed . . . Canaan and blessed his other two sons, Shem and Japheth. These blessings and curses are important, for the ancients believed that they influenced the destiny of their offspring down through the centuries. Canaan was to become the lowest of slaves ...

3595. Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

Genesis 28:10-22

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... Israel. During the time of the judges, Israelites came here to worship Yahweh (Judg. 20:18). Centuries later, Jeroboam I made Bethel one of the crown’s sanctuaries, turning that famous site into a place of illegitimate worship (1 Kgs. 12:28–30). 28:20–22 In grateful response to God’s promises and in order to cope with the fear of his journey to Haran, Jacob made a vow. In contrast to an oath, a vow is conditional. In making a vow a person obligates himself or herself to do what is vowed only if God ...

3596. The Command to Leave Horeb

Deuteronomy 1:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... from the divine gift. The land was thus also a proof of God’s grace. But it was land that they had to go in and take. Crossing the boundary would mean war and work for this people. The sovereign act of God and human responsive action go together. God’s gift of grace needed to be appropriated by faith, obedience, and action. Centuries later, prophets would threaten that the gift could be lost again through unbelief, disobedience, and complacency. God’s promise to Abraham had more in mind than Israel ...

3597. Worshipping Other Gods

Deuteronomy 13:1-18

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... besides me.” His words cancel out all his amazing deeds. No display of miraculous powers, no amount of signs and wonders can lend a moment’s credibility to anybody with a message so clearly at odds with covenant truth and demand. 13:3 The first response the Israelites must make to any such message, however dazzling its supporting act, is that they must not listen. The very words must fall on deaf ears. Rather, they must exercise the discernment to see through the false message to the testing of God. We ...

3598. Going to War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... duality was fundamental to the covenant dynamic. Love (as covenant loyalty and trust) for God can be seen operative in the opening challenge of 20:1–4, but is there any way that love for neighbor can be operative in the context of war? Two responses may be made to this question. First, love of neighbor clearly does not mean a facile niceness to everybody in all circumstances. Love of neighbor is not incompatible with discipline and punishment. One’s duty to one’s neighbor may include, for example, the ...

3599. The Altar on Mount Ebal

Deuteronomy 27:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... for the otherwise unusual addition of the elders of Israel (v. 1) and of the priests, who are Levites (v. 9) to Moses. Moses is soon to pass from the scene. But the preservation and administration of the law he has given will become the responsibility of precisely these groups of people—priests and elders. Setting up large stones with writing was a common ancient Near Eastern practice for preserving significant public documents. To coat them with plaster (a kind of whitewash) and then write on them was an ...

3600. Solomon's Officials and Governors

1 Kings 4:1-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... 4) we have also met already. The other characters are, however, entirely new to us. Elihoreph and Ahijah (v. 3) hold the office of secretaries in this new adminstration. Precisely what their function was is unclear: did they have a general managerial responsibility, or was their task a more limited one to do with writing (annals, letters)? Jehoshaphat (v. 3) is the recorder or “herald” or perhaps even “state prosecutor”—again, the nature of the office is unclear. Azariah and Zabud (v. 5), sons of ...

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