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 351 to 375 of 428 results

351. Jesus Morality

Matthew 10:40-42

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... misleading, for the ultimate point of reference is not just the variables of the situation but a genuine concern for persons and how their interests can best be served in light of the actualities of the now. In this approach to morality, there is a deep suspicion of any kind of prescriptive law or principle. These people feel that each day is a new creation and not exactly like anything before. Thus, new situations call for new solutions. The wineskins of olden times may not be adequate for what is new and ...

352. The Birth of Jesus

Luke 2:1-7

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the census. This is surely a reference to the census of Luke 2:1–2. Josephus (War 7.253) tells of an uprising against the census and the taxation resulting from it, led by this Judas of Galilee during the rule of Quirinius. The Acts passage tends to confirm the suspicion that Luke 2:2 does indeed refer to the census that was taken during the rule of Quirinius in A.D. 6–7, about ten years or so after the birth of Jesus. However, the major problem in Acts 5:36–37 is the reference to Theudas (v. 36) and ...

353. Paul's Longing to Visit Rome

Romans 1:1-17

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... which he hopes his exposition of the gospel will effect in Rome. The difficult grammar of verse 12 is indicated in the NIV by a dash. The awkward construction may be due to the fact that Paul must tread delicately and forestall any suspicions that he is intruding in Roman affairs. Lest he antagonize his readers by an attitude of condescension, Paul meets them as an equal, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. The Greek word symparakalesthai, here translated mutually ...

354. An Illustration from Marriage

Romans 7:1-6

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... to Jewish and not to Roman practice. The law, says Paul, has authority over a man only as long as he lives. The word for has authority, kyrieuein, was applied to the authority of death and sin in 6:9 and 14, and here it casts a cloud of suspicion over the law. Moreover, because the law holds sway only during one’s life, its authority is temporary. It is not eternal, nor is its authority ultimate. It had once been regarded as such, but with the advent of Jesus Christ the law was assigned its proper place ...

355. Struggling with Sin

Romans 7:7-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... there is no law” (5:13), and especially 7:5, “the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies” (see also 5:20), must have suggested to Paul’s Jewish contemporaries that he was equating Torah with sin. He now gives voice to this suspicion, Is the law sin?, and he retorts, Certainly not! A century after Paul, Marcion (ca. A.D. 140) would drive an iron wedge between law and gospel by his heretical teaching that the God of the OT, the so-called Demiurge, was an inferior and evil God in ...

356. The Rights of an Apostle

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... ministry be misunderstood as fleecing the congregation. Paul’s wording is circumspect; he does not want to cast aspersions on those who do claim support from the congregations or have their actions seen as inappropriate. Paul’s aim was to avoid suspicion, to bypass potential misunderstanding, in order that no unnecessary objections be raised about the gospel itself because of the practices of Paul and his colleagues. 9:13 Having explained the purity of his motives and the purpose of his practices, Paul ...

357. Orderly Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... many more and more explicit regulations for the critique of prophets and prophecy. Paul is not concerned at this point with the problem of false prophecy, which occupies him in other contexts and which so bedeviled the early church that prophecy came under general suspicion and fell almost completely out of practice. Paul is concerned with order. More than one prophet can be in communication with God at a time, and in the context of worship more than one prophet may have something to say. Paul calls for the ...

358. David Again Spares Saul's Life

1 Samuel 26:1-25

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... issue (17:57–58). The writers may have this in mind when they include Abner’s participation in the account. 26:19 It is conceivable that some of Saul’s followers had said to David, Go, serve other gods, but his statement could be picking up his suspicion that he may be forced to leave the country. Outside the land, he had no share in the LORD’s inheritance, to which land was intrinsic. It was a common understanding in the ancient Near East that a god’s power was geographically limited and that to ...

359. David Hears of Saul's Death

2 Samuel 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... question of how power was achieved and exercised. David could have had several motives in passing the death sentence on the Amalekite. Because he came to David directly from the battlefield, it could have been seen as a prearranged rendezvous. Given the suspicion of David by Saul and presumably by many of his entourage, this would have been interpreted as providing evidence of David’s complicity in Saul’s death; possession of the royal insignia would reinforce this view. In order to avoid any suggestion ...

360. Abner Goes Over to David

2 Samuel 3:6-21

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... pure revenge (vv. 27, 30). The effect that Abner’s death may have had on David’s attempt to take control of the whole kingdom does not seem to have entered into the equation for Joab. However, David was aware that without Abner and with the suspicion that David had abused the negotiation process in having Abner killed, his kingship of Israel could be delayed, even prevented. In order to avoid this David took immediate and decisive action. He cursed Joab (v. 29), making it clear that not only did he not ...

361. David Defeats the Ammonites

2 Samuel 10:1-19

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... David cannot be determined. Perhaps Nahash had paid a voluntary tribute to Israel in exchange for military protection. If this was so, one purpose of the delegation would have been to renew the terms of the agreement. In this case, Hanun’s suspicion of the motives of David’s ambassadors would have been unjust but understandable. He did not want vassal status to remain, and he rejected David’s kindness, which presupposed some kind of relationship. His actions, however, were less than wise, given David ...

362. The Advice of Hushai and Ahithophel

2 Sam 16:15–17:29

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... traffic jam that would build up and aware of the temptation to take a rest before moving over, pushed David to move with as much haste as he could muster. 17:17 It is not clear why, if Zadok and Abiathar were able to stay safely in the city without suspicion, Jonathan and Ahimaaz were not. It may be that if they had entered the city they would have had no choice but to join with Absalom’s forces and then could not deliver a message to David. So they stayed in hiding at En Rogel, which was a short distance ...

363. Eliphaz's Third Speech to Job

Job 22:1-30

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... Job can be restored to right relationship with God, and thus experience a renewed effectiveness in intermediation for others, the harsh and contrasting images he introduced earlier in the chapter (vv. 5–11) of Job as hardened oppressor suggest an on-going suspicion that Job is less innocent than he claims. This assessment aligns with the growing accusations of the other friends, but it stands in contradiction to the reader’s privileged insight into Job’s character afforded by the prologue (1:1, 8; 2 ...

364. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... or rugged individualism. They are outcasts who are removed from society and prevented from returning. While the Hebrew stops short of calling them criminals, these wanderers, who are shouted at as if they were thieves, are certainly subject to suspicion regarding their motivations. Landless (homeless) persons at all times have experienced similar treatment. Those who have property to protect clearly assume that those reduced to desperation will resort to theft in order to save their lives or better their ...

365. Epilogue

Job 42:7-17

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... behind Job’s suffering. The Satan is no opposing force acting contrary to the will of God but functions always with divine permission. The consolation of Job’s friends suggests that while they attribute his suffering to God, they no longer have suspicions regarding his righteous character. Thus the restoration at the end does amount to the kind of public vindication that Job desired. But this vindication only takes place after Job chooses to continue to fear God regardless, whether he is vindicated or ...

366. The Ark Returned to Israel

1 Samuel 6:1-7:1

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... disease from their territory. However, sending the cart without human attendants avoided the necessity of a humiliating personal encounter and allowed for the possibility that Yahweh was not the cause of their problems, without causing further offense if their suspicions were correct. Their scheme involved a real test for Yahweh, and the Philistines weighted the odds against the cows’ traveling back to Israel by choosing cows not broken to the yoke and by penning up their calves. In normal circumstances ...

367. Joab Murders Abner

2 Samuel 3:22-39

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

368. Ish-Bosheth Murdered

2 Samuel 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

369. Visit

2 Corinthians 13:1-10, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... notion that he will exploit the Corinthians (7:2). Since one of his objectives in coming to Corinth is to complete the collection for Jerusalem (chs. 8–9), Paul feels he must reassure the church of his honest intentions, especially in light of their suspicions about him with regard to money. He wants the Corinthians themselves, not their possessions (cf. Phil. 4:17). This is in contrast to Paul’s opponents in Corinth (cf. 11:20). For Paul, relationships are more important than resources, and he wants to ...

370. Two Kinds of Wisdom

James 3:13-18, James 3:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... ; Luke 6:43–45; Matt. 12:33–35), but this one dealt with good and bad fruit and judging a plant by its fruit. Is James suggesting that the bad fruit (the cursing) reveals the nature of the person? The third analogy confirms the suspicion: Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James has shifted his analogy. Now the spring is clearly bad, salty, but still is trying to produce sweet water. That is impossible. The evil within the person produces an “inspiration,” which is frequently well hidden ...

371. A Silver Cup in a Sack

Genesis 44:1-34

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... :1–14). When they arrive in Egypt, the brothers attempt to return the money to Joseph’s steward (43:15–23). During the meal at Joseph’s house (43:24–34), Joseph recognizes Benjamin and feasts with his brothers. Later the brothers are detained under suspicion of stealing the overseer’s divining cup (44:1–13); they defend their integrity before Joseph (44:14–34). Joseph then identifies himself to his brothers (45:1–24), and the brothers return to Canaan (45:25–28). 44:1–2 After the meal ...

372. Joseph Makes Himself Known

Genesis 45:1-28

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

373. Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

1 Kings 22:29-40

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... Kgs. 18 and 22 imply)? Is Micaiah a prophet of the LORD, even though he has apparently lied in v. 14 and uttered a false “prophecy” in v. 15 (cf. 13:18)? The ambiguity cannot finally be resolved until near the end of the story—although the reader’s suspicions about the prophets are aroused early on. 22:21 A spirit came forward: The imagery is that of a council of war, with the heavenly king sitting on his throne surrounded by his army (Hb. ṣāḇāʾ, v. 19, as in 1 Kgs. 1:19, 25 etc.; the NIV’s ...

374. The Siege Lifted

2 Kings 7:3-20

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... , self-centered in a less damaging way. Mindful of the likelihood of punishment, whether human or divine, if they keep the good news to themselves until morning, they report to the city gatekeepers. 7:12–20 The news of the Aramean retreat is at first greeted with suspicion; Jehoram suspects a trap. Some men are sent out on what will be (if he is right) a suicide mission—though their fate in this case will be no different to that of the other doomed inhabitants of the city (v. 13). They are to find out ...

375. Ahaz King of Judah

2 Kings 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... he exchanges the twelve bronze bulls under the Sea (1 Kgs. 7:23–26) for a stone base. Finally, he takes two actions of uncertain nature (cf. the additional note to v. 18). The motivation for all these innovations is not evident. Our first suspicion, given the close relationship between religion and politics in the ancient world, might be that there is some connection between his actions and his new vassal-status. Yet there is no suggestion in the text that any of the changes were specifically required of ...

Showing results