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 3601 to 3625 of 4770 results

3601. Proper Comfort

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The Joe Bayly family, in the course of several years, lost three of their children. In his book View from A Hearse, (Elgin, Ill.: Cook, 1973) Joe Bayly shared his honest feelings: “I was sitting there torn by grief. Someone came and talked of God’s dealings, of why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly. He said things I knew were true. I was unmoved, ...

3602. In Through The Back Door

Illustration

Michael P. Green

In discussing the conversion of Jews, C. S. Lewis once said, “In a sense, the converted Jew is the only normal human being in the world.” He continued, “Everyone else is, from one point of view, a special case dealt with under emergency conditions.” That is a way of stating the truth about Gentile conversion. God opened a “back door” and let us in as emergency cases. There are a lot of us, but we remain “grafted-in branches.”

3603. Before and After We Exist

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... conditions in which the child exists change. Before, he lived internally; now, he lives externally. Before, he was fed internally; now, he feeds externally. He does not begin to live at birth: he has lived all the time since conception, but conditions change at birth. So also can the believer view death. At the point of death, the conditions of our eternal life change—but not the fact that we do indeed have eternal life.

3604. Light & Truth

Illustration

Michael P. Green

The relationship between truth and holiness is similar to that between light and vision. Light cannot create an eye or give a blind eye vision, but it is essential to seeing. Wherever light penetrates, it dissipates darkness and brings everything into view. In a similar manner, truth cannot regenerate or impart spiritual life, but it is essential to the practice of holiness. Wherever truth penetrates, it dissipates error and reveals everything for what it really is.

3605. Kierkegaard’s Story of the Prince

John 3:16, 16:5-33; Mt 28:16-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

... by the incarnation. God came and lived among us. I am glad that this happened for two reasons. One, it shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is with us, that he is on our side, and that he loves us. Secondly, it gives us a first hand view of what the mind of God is really all about. When people ask what God is like, we as Christians point to the person of Jesus Christ. God himself is incomprehensible. But in Jesus Christ we get a glimpse of his glory. In the person of Jesus we are told ...

3606. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... describing the end of Solomon’s reign. This correlates better with the original position of the source text in the Solomon narrative. Some commentators are therefore of the opinion that one of these occurrences is secondary. McKenzie rightly indicates, however, that “the repetition may also be viewed as a structuring device—a bracket or framework for the account of Solomon, whose wealth and international prestige—both gifts from God—allowed him to build the temple” (1–2 Chronicles, p. 231).

3607. Solomon's Other Activities

2 Chronicles 8:1-18

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... present reference being the last one. The very last occurrence in Chronicles is in 35:20, where it is stated after the celebration of Josiah’s Passover: “After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order . . .” According to the Chronicler’s view, Solomon’s building of the temple was completed only after the proper celebration of the Passover under Josiah. 8:18 The location of Ophir is unknown. Some scholars suggest that the place must have been somewhere on the African continent, where the ...

3608. Asa King of Judah

2 Chronicles 14:2-15

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... proposals concerning his identity include a Nubian general of Pharaoh Osorkon I (a Libyan), a Nubian mercenary of Pharaoh Shoshenq living around Gerar, or a member of a small Bedouin-like ethnic group living in the vicinity of Judah (the majority view; cf. “Cushan” in Hab. 3:7). Clues to why the Cushites were introduced into this narrative should be sought in the Persian era, when the Chronicler wrote. Jonker (“Cushites in the Chronicler’s Version,” pp. 863–81) indicates, with reference to ...

3609. Jotham King of Judah

2 Chronicles 27:1-9

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... , however, continued their corrupt practices. It is, however, absolutely clear that these “corrupt practices” of “the people” did not blemish King Jotham’s righteous reputation in any way. Theologically, the Chronicler works with an understanding of individual responsibility, a view that already emerges in some prophetic material (e.g., Ezek. 18). 27:3–4 These verses focus on the successful building projects of Jotham. The Chronicler adds to the source text (2 Kgs. 15:35b) a reference to the ...

3610. Josiah's Reforms

2 Chronicles 34:1-13

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

Josiah and His Reforms: The narrative about this new child king (reminiscent of another child king, Joash, who saved the Davidic dynasty from being destroyed by northern influence) has constantly fascinated Bible scholars. It is a common view that King Josiah, who reigned over Judah in approximately 641/640–610/609 B.C., is idealized as the zenith of Davidic kingship in the Deuteronomistic description in 2 Kings 22–23. There he represents the antithesis of Manasseh, who is seen as the nadir of Judahite ...

3611. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , of which Luke has given us only the general thrust: Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. The corrupt generation were the Jews, in consequence of their rejection of Jesus. The sense of the verb in he warned them is to testify to the truth while protesting against false views that stood in the way of accepting it (cf. 8:25; 10:42; 18:5; 20:21, 24; 23:11; 28:23). The second verb, he pleaded, is in a tense (the imperfect) that implies that Peter made repeated appeals. 2:41 The outcome was that many ...

3612. Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Acts 4:1-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... right in the matter—to obey them, or God. The fact that both apostles are mentioned may mean that each was appealed to by the council and that each answered to this effect. 4:21–22 The council “added threats to their warning” (the sense of the Greek), but in view of the popular interest in the miracle could do little more. Characteristically, Luke draws attention to the praise of God that flowed from this incident (see disc. on 3:8) and also to the age of the man (cf. 9:33; 14:8; Luke 2:52; 3:23; 8 ...

3613. The Believers Share Their Possessions

Acts 4:32-37

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... and mind, a typically Hebraic turn of phrase indicating their complete accord (cf. 1 Chron. 12:38). It is a general statement to which there were exceptions (see disc. on 5:1–11), but the exceptions only proved the rule, which was the more remarkable in view of the steady growth of the church. This unity, based on the recognition that “there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism … one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:4f., GNB)—in short, on their mutual love of God—was demonstrated, as it had been ...

3614. The Apostles Heal Many

Acts 5:12-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... rest” were. Were they the rest of the believers, in contrast to the apostles? But nowhere else are the apostles regarded as objects of fear to their fellow believers. Or were they the nonbelievers in contrast to “all the believers” (v. 12)? This is the view adopted by NIV and is probably correct. Passages such as 1 Thess. 4:13 and 5:6 suggest that “the rest” had become almost a technical term for nonbelievers. 5:16 Their sick and those tormented by evil spirits: The New Testament maintains a clear ...

3615. Stephen Seized

Acts 6:8-15

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... also the opinion of Jeremias, Jerusalem, pp. 65f., who identifies it with a synagogue discovered in 1913–14 in excavations on Ophel (see also H. Strathmann, “Libertinoi,” TDNT, vol. 4, p. 265). The construction of Luke’s sentence, however, favors the view that two synagogues are indicated, one for Freedmen, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, the other for Cilicians and Asians. Others hold that there are three: that of the Libertines, another of the men of Alexandria and Cyrene, and another of the men of ...

3616. The Stoning of Stephen

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... in Stephen’s day, there is nothing in the speech as we have it, or even in v. 56, to show conclusively that Stephen was guilty in those terms. J. Klausner, From Jesus to Paul (London: Macmillan, 1944), p. 292, takes the view that Stephen was not technically guilty and attributes his death to certain “fanatical persons” among the bystanders “who decided the case for themselves.” They “did not trouble themselves about the judicial rule,” he says, but simply “took Stephen outside the city and ...

3617. Philip and the Ethiopian

Acts 8:26-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the sea (it, too, was destroyed, in A.D. 66). Verse 36 perhaps decides that Luke’s note refers to the country through which the road ran. More important than where he was is how Philip came to be there. It was through an angel of the Lord, and in view of the later references to the part played by the Spirit (vv. 29, 39; see disc. on 5:19), we have no hesitation in identifying the angel with “the Spirit of the Lord,” as was common in Jewish thought (cf. 23:9). In short, Philip was on this road by ...

3618. Saul’s Conversion

Acts 9:1-19a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... ” or “for me” (cf. also Gal. 2:20). See J. Jeremias, The Central Message of the New Testament (London: SCM Press, 1965), pp. 35f. 9:17 The Lord … has sent me so that you may … be filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. 22:12ff.): In view of Paul’s later insistence in Gal. 1:1, 11f. that he received his apostolic commission, not from human hands, but directly from Christ, it is worth noting with Bruce that, first, Paul in Galatians is defending himself against the charge that he received his commission ...

3619. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Acts 9:19b-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 89:27, 29) and, by extension, of the eschatological king, the Messiah (Enoch 105:2; 4 Ezra 7:28, 29; 13:32, 37, 52; 14:9). It was at least in this sense that Paul called Jesus Son of God (see v. 22 and note on 11:20), but in view of his recent experience, he may not have been far from the distinctively Christian use of the term of the divine nature of Jesus. Paul alone uses this title in Acts (13:33), and it is no accident that it is also of central importance in his epistles (e.g ...

3620. Peter at Cornelius’ House

Acts 10:23b-48

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... this speech holds a peculiar interest. It has often been remarked that verses 37 to 40, with their attention to the earthly life of Jesus and being unique among the speeches of this book, could well have formed the ground plan of Mark’s Gospel. In view of the traditional association of Peter with Mark, this can hardly be accidental (see also disc. on 3:7f.; 10:14; 12:1–5). There is, moreover, a clear theological development in comparison with Peter’s earlier speeches (2:14–39; 3:12–26), and this ...

3621. Peter Explains His Actions

Acts 11:1-18

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... intently into it (v. 6; see disc. on 3:4). These two details explain how Peter had known that the sheet had contained animals of all kinds, including some that were not lawful to eat. The story is told in the first person and from Peter’s own point of view. Thus, it begins with his vision (vv. 5–10). In the Spirit’s instruction that Peter should go with the men who were right then at the gate (v. 11, a notice of time that is absent in chap. 10), NIV effectively retains the expression of 10:20 that he ...

3622. The Church in Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... chrēmatisai, could be translated “called themselves” and the passage understood to mean that the name “Christian” was coined by the church to give expression to a new self-consciousness. On this understanding of the term, B. J. Bickerman has come to the view that “Christian” meant “a slave of Christ” (“The Name of Christians,” HTR 42 (1949), pp. 109–24). But the evidence of the New Testament is that this was not a name by which Christians called themselves at that time, though by Luke ...

3623. In Iconium

Acts 14:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , Paul and Barnabas remained in the city until their very lives were in danger. Luke has expressed this somewhat awkwardly (see vv. 2 and 3)—a sign perhaps of “a clumsily retained page from a logbook” (Haenchen, p. 423, who, however, rejects this view). 14:1 Iconium was built on the edge of a high plateau overlooking plains made productive by streams from the Pisidian mountains. It was a center for agriculture, and the prosperity it drew from this was enhanced by its position at the junction ...

3624. Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

Acts 16:1-5

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... any significance on which Luke comments is the addition of Timothy to the missionary team. Other than that, he remarks only that the decision of the council was delivered to the churches of this region and that they were growing in maturity and numbers. This section can be viewed as closing off Luke’s account of the council and, indeed, his whole narrative of the opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles that began in 13:1 (see also the disc. on 9:31). 16:1–3 Since the missionaries came from the east ...

3625. Paul and Silas In Prison

Acts 16:16-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... to see what he was about to do (or else he guessed it by what he heard) and also, perhaps, to assess the situation inside the jail. So he called out that all the prisoners (not only himself and Silas) were still there. At this, and in view of all that had happened—the earthquake, the Christians’ singing and praying, their present calm, and what the slave girl had said about them (v. 17)—it must now have been borne in upon the jailer that these were indeed the “servants of the Most High God.” He ...

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