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 3726 to 3750 of 4770 results

3726. Judah Unfaithful

Malachi 2:10-16

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... categorically? Not necessarily. There are at least three possible interpretations: (1) “If he hates and divorces” or “If he rejects and sends away” might be an expansive description of any divorce, perhaps esp. from the wife’s point of view. (2) Stuart (“Malachi,” p. 1343) argues that these terms together refer to “aversion divorce,” the kind that is not permitted under the law of Deut. 24:1–4. Deuteronomy permits divorce for cause (“something indecent”); Malachi condemns divorce ...

3727. Robbing God

Malachi 3:6-18

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... , God’s people have the opportunity to repent and to be restored to relationship with God. The invitation and promise echo Zechariah 1:3, and God’s word to (Jer. 15:19) and through the earlier prophets (Jer. 31:20–22; Hos. 14:1–8). Indeed, OT prophecy views Israel’s history as the arena in which God, through the prophets, called on Israel over and over to return (e.g., 2 Kgs. 17:13; Jer. 25:4–7; 35:15; Zech. 1:6). This promise of reconciliation provides another answer to the question in 2:17 ...

3728. A Grayhound and a Kite

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans . . . ?” They were essentially asking, how are these uneducated rednecks speaking in all these languages? Good question. And there is only one explanation--a miracle. Of course, there is more than one way of viewing this miracle. The highly esteemed poet W. H. Auden once suggested that we reread the second chapter of Acts. The miracle of Pentecost was not only the gift of tongues, says Auden, “but was it not equally,” he asks, “the gift of ...

3729. A Widow at the End of Her Rope

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian” (25–27). Do you hear what Christ is saying? In a restricted view of the universe, we say, “Charity begins at home.” God says, “Charity begins wherever there is a need.” Jesus says there were many Jewish widows to whom God could have sent Elijah, and there were many Jewish lepers that Elisha could have healed, but God ...

3730. People Who Are Down on Themselves

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... even worse, an iron lung. Thank God and Jonas Salk that you have not. It’s a terrible thing to happen to a young person. But the effect on the self-image of the woman that Paul Jones tells about was worse than her physical pain. Here is how she viewed herself. She said that when, as a child, her mother would leave her in Sunday school, she would always ask her mother if she could wear her mother’s locket. Her mother assumed she had a special attachment to the locket. That wasn’t it at all. Here is how ...

3731. Ultimate Freedom

Galatians 6:14-16

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... told you that you were stupid and you believed them and you never tried to be smart. That would be like building a box around your brain, wouldn't it? Suppose somebody told you were clumsy. You might walk around tripping over things just because that is how you viewed yourself. Supposed somebody told you you are bad. Gee, you might never try to be good. Boys and girls, Jesus does not want you to live in a box. He wants you to know that he has created you smart and beautiful and graceful and good. That is ...

3732. The First Two Days: John the Baptist’s Message

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... not that one. No, but he is coming after me’ ” (Acts 13:25). The Baptizer knows what his questioners have in mind. They have not mentioned the Messiah explicitly, but he states without hesitation, I am not the Christ. The Christ [Messiah], or anointed one, was viewed in several ways by the Jews of Jesus’ time. Most often he was expected as a mighty king from the line of David (cf. “King of Israel,” v. 49), but sometimes he was pictured as a great priest like Aaron or Melchizedek or a great teacher ...

3733. Jesus Changes Water to Wine

John 2:1-11

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... attested (unwittingly!) by a humorous comment of the man in charge of the feast. Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now (v. 10). The incident can be viewed either in itself or as part of the Gospel as a whole. In itself, it is a curious account of a rather extravagant miracle performed not to meet a desperate human need but simply to avert a social disaster. It is told soberly and simply, as a true ...

3734. Jesus Clears the Temple

John 2:12-25

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... belief is incomplete until it fixes itself on the death and resurrection of Jesus. The link between verses 17 and 22 suggests that the remembering of the passage in Psalm 69, no less than the remembering of Jesus’ riddle, is postresurrection and has in view Jesus’ Passion. This is seen by the future tense of the verb: Zeal for the house of God will consume Jesus, that is, it will bring about his death at the hands of the temple authorities. Only after his Passion could his disciples “remember ...

3735. The Healing at the Pool

John 5:1-15, John 5:16-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... the beginning of each of these chapters appears to mean no more than “the next thing I would like to tell is …” Having brought Jesus from Cana to Jerusalem and back to Cana again, the author now turns to other, more overtly theological concerns. In view of this Gospel’s interest in the Jewish religious festivals (e.g., “Passover” in 2:13; 6:4; 11:55; 12:1; 13:1; “Tabernacles,” or Sukkoth, in 7:2; “Dedication,” or Hanukkah, in 10:22), it is surprising that the festival mentioned in verse ...

3736. Testimonies About Jesus

John 5:31-47

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... according to what he hears God telling him (v. 30). Possibly the reference at the end of verse 29 to “the resurrection of judgment” (RSV) provided a natural transition to part two of the discourse. The twofold work of life giving and judgment is still in view, but attention for the moment centers on Jesus’ role as judge. His decisions are just and not arbitrary or based on personal whim: I seek not to please myself but him who sent me (v. 30). The atmosphere is that of a courtroom. From the standpoint ...

3737. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... , however, is the more likely. 6:9 Boy: The Greek word paidarion means a child, a youth, or a young slave, and can refer to either a male or a female. A masculine relative pronoun confirms that in this instance a boy is in view. 6:10 People … men. The NIV preserves a distinction between a generic word for people (Gr.: anthrōpoi) and a word that usually (though not always) refers to adult males in particular (andres). This presupposes a situation described explicitly only in Matthew: “The number ...

3738. Jesus Teaches at the Feast

John 7:14-24

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... the world. (For further discussion see J. R. Michaels, “The Temple Discourse in John,” New Dimensions in New Testament Study, ed. R. N. Longenecker and M. C. Tenney [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1974], pp. 200–213). If the public ministry in John’s Gospel is viewed as an anticipation of Jesus’ Passion (see Introduction) this discourse corresponds to the summary found in Luke 21:37–38: “Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the ...

3739. The Last Day of the Feast

John 7:45--8:11, John 8:12-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . The principal difference is simply that version 3 makes Jesus the source of the life-giving Spirit, whereas versions 1 and 2—version 1 clearly and version 2 more ambiguously—assign this role (at least derivatively) to the believer. Yet in neither case is the believer viewed as a source of life, or of the Spirit, to others. The image of streams of water from the believer’s heart (if that is intended) is akin rather to 4:14, where Jesus promises to whomever drinks of the water he gives “a spring of ...

3740. Jesus and Those Who “Believed”

John 8:31-41, John 8:42-47, John 8:48-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... he says, and believing his message means believing in him as God’s messenger. There is no way v. 31 can be made to refer to a less adequate kind of faith than v. 30. In neither verse is it possible to tell from the language that the faith in view is not genuine, even though subsequent events demonstrate that in fact it is not (cf. 2:23–25). 8:31–32 If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Cf. Jesus’ words in his ...

3741. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... him. Additional Notes 9:2 Who sinned, this man or his parents? Behind the disciples’ question is not only the biblical notion that children are sometimes held accountable for the sins of their parents (e.g., Exod. 20:5; discussed and countered in Ezek. 18), but the view proposed by certain rabbis that a child in the womb was already involved in sin (see, e.g., Genesis Rabbah 63, 6 [Midrash Rabbah (London: Soncino Press, 1961), vol. 2, pp. 559–60] based on Gen. 25:22 and Ps. 58:3). It is unlikely that ...

3742. The Unbelief of the Jews

John 10:22-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... In 5:18, the authorities “tried all the harder to kill him”; in 8:59 “they picked up stones to stone him”; and here they again … picked up stones to stone him (v. 31; the narrator’s use of again has the precedent of 8:59 clearly in view). Once more Jesus appeals in his own defense to his great miracles (or better, “good deeds”), this time as the works of a good shepherd (v. 32; cf. vv. 11, 14). They are not great because of their magnitude but “good” because they give life and protection ...

3743. The Death of Lazarus

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... half of this Gospel and identified as the Gospel’s author (13:23–25; 21:20–24). Some have speculated that the beloved disciple is indeed Lazarus (who, having been raised from the dead, might naturally be rumored not to die, 21:23), but such a view fails to explain why he would be named in chapters 11–12 and be anonymous from there on. Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are never called disciples of Jesus (probably because they do not travel with him), yet it appears that anything said to, or about, the ...

3744. The Raising of Lazarus

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... follows: (a) I am the resurrection—that is, whoever believes in me will live, even though he or she dies. (b) I am the life—that is, whoever lives and believes in me will never die. The relation of the two parts is best understood when (b) is viewed as following logically from (a). If it is true that whoever believes in Jesus and dies (e.g., Lazarus) will live again, then it follows that no living believer will ever die—ultimately. The life they have been given is eternal life (cf. 3:16; 10:28). They ...

3745. The Triumphal Entry

John 12:12-19

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The next day the scene changes. The narrator picks up the story from the point of view of the growing Passover crowds in Jerusalem. The crowd received news that Jesus was on his way into the city (v. 12). How this news reached them the text does not say—until later (vv. 17–18). Not even the reader has been told in so many words that Jerusalem ...

3746. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... be seen largely through the eyes of his disciples, who will continue to hold before the world the urgent appeal of verses 35–36. Additional Notes 12:20 Greeks: The term refers to Gentiles by birth, not to Greek-speaking Jews (cf. 7:35). Those in view here may have been actual converts to Judaism, or simply Gentiles who respected and worshiped the God of the Jews (like the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27, or Cornelius in Acts 10:2). In any case, they were among the crowds worshiping at the Jewish Passover ...

3747. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... , however, turns out to be no alternative at all. The statement that many even among the leaders believed in Jesus is at once canceled by the fact that they would not confess their faith for fear of expulsion from the synagogue. What group is in view? Apparently a group characterized by the same pseudo-faith mentioned in 2:23–25 and 8:30–31. Like the “believers” of 2:23–25 who, it turned out, loved “darkness instead of light” (3:19), these people loved praise from men rather than praise ...

3748. Jesus’ Love and the World’s Hatred

John 15:1-17

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . Contrast the terminology of the first discourse in which the Father himself sends the Spirit, though in response to Jesus’ request (14:16, 26). 16:2 Put you out of the synagogues: Cf. 9:22; 12:42, where expulsion from the synagogue was viewed as a possibility even within Jesus’ earthly ministry. Here the experience is placed in a prophetic context, pointing to the experience of Christians in the decades after Jesus’ resurrection. At least for the last decade of the first century, there is Jewish ...

3749. Crucified, Dead, and Buried

John 19:17-27, John 19:28-37, John 19:38-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... home.” The presence of the beloved disciple at the cross suggests that he was not dispersed with the others (cf. 18:8–9) but only now makes his departure. Neither their dispersion nor his is seen as a disgrace, and in particular his departure for home is viewed here as an act of obedience to Jesus’ command (cf. also 20:10). 19:29 The wine vinegar (Gr.: oxos) was a sour diluted wine vinegar used as a beverage among the poor. It was thirst-quenching and was offered to Jesus (probably by the soldiers) as ...

3750. The Second Appearance and Its Sequel

John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... of him as one of the Twelve is supplied here to emphasize the point that he normally would have been present for the incident recorded in vv. 19–23 but was not. The Twelve (though now only eleven because of Judas’ departure) are still being viewed as a fixed group representing the whole church (cf. 6:70). Even though Judas has departed, Thomas must be present in order for the revelation to be complete. 20:26 A week later: lit., “after eight days.” A common ancient custom was to count both ...

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