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 3851 to 3875 of 4770 results

3851. Challenge and Counterchallenge

Luke 20:9-19, Luke 20:1-8

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... for either owner or tenants) until the fourth year. Interpretive Insights 20:2 Who gave you this authority? The question of legitimate authority runs through this whole Jerusalem phase of the story that leads up to Jesus’s arrest and trial. From the point of view of the official leadership, a Galilean visitor with no formal rabbinic training had no right to set himself up as an authority in “their” temple, as Jesus has done both by his high-handed action in 19:45–46 and by his teaching. The group ...

3852. The Death of Jesus

Luke 23:44-49, Luke 23:26-43

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R.T. France

... . Much more restrained than the more recent and acclaimed Passion of the Christ (2004, directed by Mel Gibson), the clips of the crucifixion in this film are truer to the spirit of Luke than many other films. It is available online for full viewing. The compassion of Jesus under great suffering is an inspiration for reflection on our own suffering as something that can be used to bless others. Christian Living: A Passion for Pilgrimage, by Alan Jones. Reflecting on the death of Jesus, Jones writes, “In ...

3853. The Risen Jesus Revealed

Luke 24:13-35

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R.T. France

... (Cleopas’s wife?). They are simply two among the group of Judean supporters of Jesus from whom, along with the Galilean disciples, the church in Acts will emerge. Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know? From the disciples’ point of view, the execution of Jesus dominated their recent experience. Others in the crowded city at festival time may not have been so keenly aware of it. It was the events recorded in Acts 2–5 that would bring Jesus’s name more fully into public notice ...

3854. The Commissioning of the Disciples

Luke 24:50-53, Luke 24:36-49

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R.T. France

... indication of the passage of time (forty days [Acts 1:3]) between Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. In bringing his Gospel to an appropriately “orderly” (1:3) literary conclusion, Luke apparently feels no need to be pedantic about the chronological data. In view of the partial parallels to these verses in John 20 and Acts 1, it is not surprising that there are variations among the manuscripts. The following words in the NIV text of Luke 24 are missing from significant early witnesses: “and said ...

3855. New Dominion as a Blessing of the New Covenant: Dead to Sin

Romans 6:1-14

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C. Marvin Pate

... enters into mystical union with these gods/goddesses by participating in the sacraments of baptism and the sacred meal.[3] Paul therefore borrowed his concept of baptism from the mystery religions. But more recent scholarship has rightly jettisoned this view, on at least five grounds. (1) The mystery deities’ deaths were not vicarious, whereas for Paul, Christ’s death was atoning. (2) The mystery deities did not die voluntarily, but Christ did. (3) The deities were mythological figures, but Jesus ...

3856. The Christian’s New Dominion: Dedicated to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

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C. Marvin Pate

... For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Jewett makes an important comment about the contrast here between the wages or earnings (ops?nion) of sin as being death and God’s gift as being eternal life: “In Paul’s view, these gifts [salvation and mercy] were granted without regard to whether or not one has fulfilled the requirements of the law. In Romans 4:4, this was connected to the matter of wages [misthos] in a manner that provides the premise of 6:23: to one who works ...

3857. The Kindness and Sternness of God

Romans 11:11-24

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... , André Trocmé, the people of this village defied the Nazis and took in thousands of Jews, giving them safe haven. Not a single Jew who came to them was turned away, and about five thousand Jews were saved. The villagers never spoke of it until later, and even then reluctantly, viewing their acts simply as the human and Christian thing to do.

3858. The Divine Plan of Salvation

Romans 11:33-36

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C. Marvin Pate

... recipient of pure grace. Christ is the knowledge of God, the ultimate revelation of his mysterious ways. Science: Using words such as “infinite,” “mystery,” and “wonder,” Maria Spiropulu, a University of Chicago experimental physicist, says, “Our view of things has changed tremendously in the last five years. We are being totally surprised by what we observe in nature.” Apparently, something unknown that exerted a great gravitational force keeps galaxies bound together. Scientists call it ...

3859. The New-Covenant Ethic of Love

Romans 12:9-21

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... against them, believers are to love their enemies, in tangible ways: feeding them and giving them drink (quoting Prov. 25:21–22). These acts of kindness will “heap burning coals” on the heads of the Christians’ enemies. The most common view of this is that Christians’ loving actions will create in their persecutors burning shame and remorse. Verse 21 seems to confirm this interpretation: showing love overcomes evil with good—the good actions of the believer, but also the good response ...

3860. God and Government

Romans 13:1-7

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... will ensue. “Be subject” (hypotass?) conveys the idea of getting in one’s place in a hierarchal role, in this case placing oneself under the government. “Authorities” (exousiai) refers to secular authorities—government. Oscar Cullmann popularized the view that the authorities here are spiritual beings who rule secular authorities, and because Christ has defeated these spiritual beings, Christians need obey them only as long as they recognize their submission to Christ.[2] Two facts, however ...

3861. Leadership and Servanthood

1 Corinthians 4:1-21, 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... provincialism and deprives Christians of their Spirit-empowered vision of God’s truth. 4:1 as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Exemplifying the contrariness of the cross’s wisdom, Paul asks the Corinthians to view him as a servant and not as one with prominence.3 It is a subtle way of saying, “Consider me the opposite of what you apparently now wrongly adore.” Enhancing his reproof even further, Paul chooses a “servant” term with significantly low ...

3862. Unity of Life and Faith

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

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Preben Vang

... ” is a Corinthian slogan based on their dualistic anthropology, which made the body morally irrelevant.6 Paul clearly rejects such notions and responds by emphasizing that “whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”7 His point is not to express a negative view of sex, as Nietzsche and others would charge against him, but to highlight that the body cannot be separated from a person’s relationship to God. Body and spirit are not separable. What happens in the body impacts the spirit and vice ...

3863. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

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Preben Vang

... also translates as “wife” and clearly does so for the rest of this paragraph. Did Paul really mean to say that sexual intercourse should be avoided even in the marriage? Was this Paul’s way to agree with the ascetics against the libertines?6 Such a view, however, would place Paul in the unlikely situation of an adversary to his own Pharisaic tradition, which, on the basis of Genesis 2:18, saw marriage as God ordained, if not God commanded.7 The more likely scenario, as a number of more recent scholars ...

3864. Worship and Humility

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... of his (or her) own rank in the triclinium while slaves and clients would gather in the atrium.[1] Here they would eat standing or, at best, seated tightly together while the patron and prominent friends were reclining within view in the adjacent room. Beyond being socioeconomically motivated, these divisions probably followed ethnic/racial lines as well. Roman slaves, generally speaking, were “spoils of war.” A certain hierarchy existed even among the slaves, as Romans often preferred barbarian tribes ...

3865. The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:1-3

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... the entire New Testament, the book of Revelation included. In Revelation, however, the final fulfillment receives additional attention for at least two reasons: (1) the book serves as the concluding chapter to the great story, where the final fulfillment is in view; and (2) the churches first receiving this transforming vision were in crisis and desperately needed the sustaining hope that a picture of God’s final future could provide. As a result, the language of imminent fulfillment runs through the book ...

3866. Message to Pergamum

Revelation 2:12-17

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... ) rather than persevering in loyalty to the Lord in the midst of suffering. Jesus consistently calls his followers to lay themselves on the line for the gospel (e.g., Mark 8:34–35; 10:29–31). From a biblical point of view, suffering should be considered somewhat normal for the faithful believer. Teaching the Text This passage presents an opportunity to communicate several significant themes. 1. The difficulty of persevering in certain environments. We learn from this passage that Pergamum was an ...

3867. Message to Laodicea

Revelation 3:14-22

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... about five miles to the south. By the time this mineral-rich water made its way over the Roman aqueduct to Laodicea, it had become lukewarm and disgusting to drink. (On a visit to the city today you can see many corroded water pipes.) Jesus views both hot and cold water as positive and useful, whereas lukewarm water is nauseating. The apathetic complacency of the Laodicean believers makes Jesus want to vomit (cf. Jer. 24:1–10, where God’s people are compared to rotten food). Their deeds are deserving of ...

3868. God on His Throne as the Sovereign Creator

Revelation 4:1-11

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... . 1 Tim. 6:16; 1 John 1:5). 4:4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. There have been many attempts to identify the twenty-four elders.3Because of their function in the book, they should probably be viewed as an exalted order of angels that serves as part of the heavenly council and in some sense represents the people of God (twelve tribes and twelve apostles). They are clearly distinct from God’s people (e.g., 5:5, 8; 7:13; 11:16–18; 19:4 ...

3869. Worthy Is the Lamb Who Was Slain

Revelation 5:1-14

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... carry out God’s plan flows from his victorious death and resurrection. 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. Surprisingly, when John turns to view this conquering Lion, he sees a Lamb “standing as if slain” (on sphaz?, or “slain,” see Rev. 5:6, 9, 12; 6:4, 9; 13:3, 8; 18:24). The term for “lamb” (arnion) is used twenty-eight times in Revelation with reference to Christ and combines ...

3870. John Called to Prophesy Again

Revelation 10:1-11

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... of Revelation 5 is the same as the “little scroll” of Revelation 10. While there are variations between the two scrolls (e.g., scroll vs. little scroll, sealed vs. open, heavenly scene vs. earthly scene), the similarities suggest that a single scroll is in view: both are held by a mighty angel, both draw on Ezekiel’s prophetic calling (see Ezek. 2:9–3:3), and both concern God’s redemptive plan.3Wilson suggests that perhaps the designation “little scroll” says more about the large size of the ...

3871. The Beast from the Earth (The False Prophet)

Revelation 13:11-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... could certainly be embodied in a single religious leader at the end of the age promoting the worship of the antichrist (see the sidebar on 13:1–10). 13:13–14a it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. . . . it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. Jesus and his apostles predict that false prophets will come on the scene attempting to deceive many through signs and wonders (e.g., Matt. 7:15; 24:11, 24; cf. 2 Thess. 2:9; 1 John 4:1 ...

3872. The Bowl Judgments

Revelation 16:1-21

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... a climactic eschatological battle and resulting in the final judgment of the evil world system. Understanding the Text Following the introduction of the bowl judgments in 15:1–8, chapter 16 provides details about each of the seven last plagues. When viewed alongside the previous trumpet judgments, the differences are few and the similarities many. While the trumpets kill a third of humanity, the bowls bring total destruction, and the bowls also lack the interlude that precedes the final judgment. But both ...

3873. The Vision of the Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... , false religion, and so on becomes easier when we realize that Babylon-like systems never last. In the end, they will oppose the Lamb and suffer his wrath, a fact announced ahead of time by God (17:14). Our faithfulness flourishes when we take the long view and see the ultimate outcome. We need perspective to side with the winner. We need the eyes of faith to see that God’s plans are permanent. Most of us will confront this issue when deciding how to use our time, money, and possessions. Jesus’s ...

3874. The Final Judgment

Revelation 20:11-15

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J. Scott Duvall

... the basis of divine initiative and human responsibility. The two sets of books (“the book of life” and “the books”) point to the importance of both God’s sovereignty and our response of faith. In Revelation (and in the rest of the Bible, in my view), it is not either-or but both-and. God’s sovereignty stands as one of the main themes of the entire book, while human choices carry eternal significance (e.g., the importance of listening to the Spirit throughout the seven letters in chapters 2–3 ...

3875. The Garden City as Paradise Transformed

Revelation 22:1-5

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... of the nations,” emphasizing once again God’s plan to have a multicultural people (cf. 7:9; 21:24–25). An overly literalistic reading would say healing requires disease, but John is making the point that only healing exists in the new creation. The healing in view relates most of all to the absence of any curse, as specified in the next verse. 22:3–5 No longer will there be any curse. The healing consists of removing the original curse that resulted from human sin (Gen. 2:16–17; 3:14–24 ...

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