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 4001 to 4025 of 4770 results

4001. Daniel’s Interpretation and Nebuchadnezzar’s Response

Daniel 2:24-49

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about” (2:27). Only Daniel’s God can and does reveal mysteries. Daniel humbly admits that he is a mere instrument in God’s hands and that his abilities should not be viewed as native but have been given to him by God. Then he proceeds to explain the dream. According to Daniel, the king has seen a colossal statue, whose parts consisted of different materials. But to the king’s amazement, he also saw a supernaturally cut ...

4002. Daniel’s Prayer and Vision of the Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9:1-19, Daniel 9:20-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , capitalized in the NIV], the identity of the ruler [9:26], and the subject of the covenant [9:27]), projects a cartoonlike world that suggests a divine reality that cannot be captured by human interpretation. The book of Daniel, like Revelation, has in view the eternal and complete establishment of God’s kingdom, the glory of the saints, and the complete subjugation of the nations of this world. While the details of the prophecy defy a unified explanation, the purpose of the revelation was to encourage ...

4003. Problems of Unfaithfulness in the Family

Hosea 1:1-2:1

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... symbolic names. In the second part, God explains how the negative implications of the children’s names will be reversed at some point in the future. First, God instructs Hosea to marry the promiscuous Israelite woman Gomer (1:2–9). Although people today may view this command as somewhat inappropriate or a detriment to the prophet’s ministry, one should not try to rescue Hosea’s reputation by interpreting this story as a parable or a dream. There is no doubt (see 1:2) that God wants the marriage ...

4004. God’s Judgment of the Foreign Nations

Amos 1:1-2:5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Moab (2:1–3) as a very rebellious nation that God is determined to punish because the Moabites desecrated the body of the dead king of Edom, an act of vindictiveness and total disrespect for an enemy. All people in all cultures honor their dead and would view the desecration of a dead body as a morbid and perverted act. Especially heinous in this case is the burning of the corpse, thus depriving the king of a culturally appropriate burial. So God will send the fire of war on the chief cities of Moab, and ...

4005. The Hope of Final Restoration

Amos 9:11-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... audience. Since most other prophets speak messages of both judgment and hope, since this positive vision applies only to the distant future, and since this hope is not applied to sinful Israel but only to those who are called by God’s name, this section should be viewed as a legitimate attempt to persuade Amos’s audience to seek God now, so that they will not miss out on God’s blessings in the future. This paragraph has two parts, one based on the introductory “in that day” phrase in 9:11, and the ...

4006. Jonah’s Second Commission and Nineveh’s Response

Jonah 3:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... that God is all-knowing by suggesting that God cannot know for certain how a human being will respond. Consequently, the Lord’s acts are dependent or contingent on the actions of his creatures, which subjugates the divine will to human will. In addition, this view, known as the “openness of God,” assumes that God is not immutable or unchangeable and that, in fact, God can “change his mind.” It would follow, then, that if God can change his will or mind on one occasion, we cannot with any certainty ...

4007. The Prophet’s Prayer and God’s Exaltation

Habakkuk 3:1-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... God’s purposes; he will merely wait quietly and patiently for those purposes to be realized. Though judgment must come because of Judah’s sin, though all of Judah’s produce fail, Habakkuk will trust in God. More than economic issues are in view in verse 17, for each of the commodities speaks of deep spiritual principles upon which the basic covenant between God and his people has been established. Habakkuk’s closing words are vastly different than his opening ones. In contrast to his harsh questions ...

4008. The Great Day of the Lord

Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... has been wounded and demands retribution. The prophet began his oracles with an oracle of judgment on the world, including humanity (1:2–3). He concludes by returning to the same motif, threatening judgment upon “all who live in the earth” (1:18). In view of the nature of the anger of Yahweh, his judgment extends to all the earth; it does not differentiate between covenant people and Gentiles; it is inescapable. 2:1–3 · The call to repentance: The shameful nation of Judah is called to prepare ...

4009. Oracles of Judgment against the Nations

Zephaniah 2:4-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... was surrounded by enemies: Philistia to the west, Assyria to the north, and Moab, Ammon, and Edom to the east. Zephaniah expresses the sentiment of the population of Judah in his oracles of judgment against the nations. Yet he has a grander purpose in view. He speaks of the establishment of God’s kingdom, which the remnant of Judah and the nations will share together. Zephaniah’s particular reference to the nations, therefore, is symbolic of all kingdoms that oppose the rule of God, whose purpose is to ...

4010. Second Message: A Word of Encouragement

Haggai 2:1-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... reference to the great wealth of the nations. That which they have highly treasured will be brought and will fill the temple. While other passages such as Ezekiel 43:1–5 stress the presence of the glory of God in the future temple, here its physical splendor is primarily in view. But the following words, “I will grant peace” (2:9), do point to the presence of God with his people (see Ezek. 34:25; 37:26–28). No more conflict, no more opposition. God will reign supreme.

4011. Fourth Message: The Restoration of the Davidic Kingdom

Haggai 2:20-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... used of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in such passages as Deuteronomy 29:23; Isaiah 13:19; Jeremiah 20:16; and Amos 4:11. As sudden and as final as Sodom’s ruin was, so will it be with the Gentile thrones. Reformation is not in view here, but utter destruction. This is the fate of the “world powers.” The overthrowing of chariots and their drivers is reminiscent of the description of the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the sea (Exod. 15:1, 5). The terror and confusion will be so great that ...

4012. The Crowning of Joshua

Zechariah 6:9-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... it on the head of Joshua. The significance of this crowning is given in verses 12–15: “Here is the man whose name is the Branch.” Note that Joshua the priest is here the type of Christ, but it is the office of Zerubbabel that is primarily in view. (In chapter 4 it is Zerubbabel who will build and complete the temple. Here it is Joshua who does the same thing. Together they are a type of the Messiah to come.) This passage, which clearly has reference to the future, serves to illustrate the far reach of ...

4013. The Lord Will Call for Judah

Zechariah 10:1--11:3

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... —God’s shepherd, the Messiah. Judah also will be transformed into a power to be reckoned with (10:3, 6), as will Ephraim (10:7). The cornerstone metaphor of verse 4 is clearly messianic in Isaiah 28:16 and in Psalm 118:22. Not only is stability in view here, but the cornerstone is the one on whom the whole structure of the kingdom of God is built. The tent-peg metaphor symbolizes one who both is prominent and carries on his shoulders the affairs of state. (See Isa. 22:22–24, where he carries the royal ...

4014. The Shepherds

Zechariah 11:4-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to care for his people. He will destroy the power of the enemy and deliver and restore Israel at his second coming. This anticipates a time when Israel will have accepted the shepherd to follow his leadership. In chapter 11 an earlier time is in view, the first advent of the Messiah, in which his own people tragically reject him, resulting in terrible consequences. The major portion of this chapter depicts this rejection by Israel of God’s provision of the good shepherd. It is preceded and followed by a ...

4015. The Second Coming and Reception

Zechariah 12:1-9, Zechariah 12:10-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... antichrist. The cup of reeling is a frequent prophetic metaphor describing the staggering effect God’s judgment will have on the nations (cf. Jer. 25:15–28). Instead of being drunk with the wine of revelry, they will drink the cup of God’s wrath. The nations view Jerusalem as a cup that will make them drunk with the joy of victory, but they will find that they will go away staggering in utter defeat at God’s hands. Judah and Jerusalem are separated in verses 5–7. There is apparently some rift, or ...

4016. God’s Love for His People

Malachi 1:1-5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... enemies of the kingdom and the full establishment of God’s kingdom. The translation should be: “May Yahweh be exalted beyond the borders of Israel.” The phrase “beyond the borders” has occasioned difficulty. The preposition may be translated as “over” or “beyond.” In view of his universal interest (1:11, 14) and his concern that evil be removed, the reading “beyond” is preferable. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is not limited to Judah. His kingship will extend to the ends of the earth.

4017. The Honor of God

Malachi 1:6-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the Father of his people and the master of the universe, it is only fair that his servants, the priests, protect his “honor” (“glory”) and give reason for the Gentiles to “respect” the God of Israel. Instead, they are irreverent and nurture a low view of God. Malachi cites their disregard of the sacrificial laws as evidence of their guilt. They show contempt for God by having no regard for the revealed priestly rules and regulations. His “table” (i.e., the tables on which the sacrifices were ...

4018. The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... happen with the arrival of God’s reign, indicate that God’s decisive act of restoration precedes and grounds the expectation for kingdom discipleship and enables the believing community to live it out. Thus, although the Sermon on the Mount has sometimes been viewed as idealistic and unattainable, Matthew gives every indication that he expects his readers to hear it as an attainable ethic for believers in community with Jesus in their midst (18:20; 28:20). With the first four beatitudes (5:3–6), Jesus ...

4019. Treasures in Heaven

Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 6:19-24

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (7:7–11). Jesus calls his followers to loyalty to God in contrast to storing up possessions (6:19–21) and money (6:24). The saying comparing the eye to a lamp (6:22–23), though not fully clear to today’s readers, may draw on the ancient view that light goes out from a person’s eyes, so that the person’s body or self can be assessed by his or her eyes (cf. 5:16). The “healthy” eye might be better rendered “single-focused” (the Greek term frequently refers to singleness of purpose), since ...

4020. The Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-14, Matthew 12:15-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... could be construed as abolishing the law, his use of Old Testament precedent to prove his disciples “innocent” (12:7) indicates that it is one’s interpretation of the law that is again at issue rather than a superseding of it (cf. 5:17). Jesus views mercy as at the center of the law with the specific applicability of other regulations being governed by mercy (and justice, faithfulness; 23:23) as well as by the eschatological truth of the arrival of the Messiah (who is greater than the temple). In the ...

4021. Resurrection and Commissioning

Matthew 28:1-10, Matthew 28:11-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Galilee (28:6–7). Matthew’s portrait of the two Marys as the first witnesses of the empty tomb (and the resurrection; 28:9) would have surprised his original audience. Ancient perspectives prioritized male testimony over female and would have tended to view women’s testimony as less reliable (less rational and so less trustworthy; cf. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 4.8.15; Origen, Against Celsus 2.55). Yet, according to Matthew, not only are these women the first witnesses of the resurrected Jesus, but ...

4022. The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ” in the introduction). For Matthew, this enthronement and vindication occurs first and foremost at Jesus’s resurrection, so that 28:18–20 establishes the significance of his resurrection narrated in 28:1–10. Although Jerusalem’s political rulers have viewed Jesus’s death as vindication of their own power, Jesus’s resurrection demonstrates his vindication by God as rightful king (Messiah). The final words of Matthew’s Gospel are Jesus’s commission to his disciples to make other disciples ...

4023. The Triumphal Entry

Mark 11:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... either down to Bethany or to Jerusalem. It is this route that Mark describes in 11:1. The Mount of Olives runs on a north-south axis east of Jerusalem, and its summit, three hundred feet higher and less than a mile distant, affords a breathtaking view of the holy city. Mark, who seldom mentions place names, may mention the Mount of Olives because of its association in Judaism with the coming of the Messiah and the final judgment (Ezek. 11:23; Zech. 14:4; Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.169). From the summit ...

4024. Conflict with the Pharisees

Luke 5:17-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... roofs existed in Palestine at this date and Mark does not say what the roof was made of. Responding to the faith of the paralytic’s helpers, Jesus penetrates to his deepest problem (the text does not say the illness is due to sin, although such a view is possible) and pronounces a verdict of forgiveness (5:20). The Pharisees conclude that such a statement is blasphemous because only God has the prerogative to forgive sin (5:21). A prophet could also forgive sin in God’s name (2 Sam. 12:13), but Jesus ...

4025. Love of Enemies

Luke 6:27-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (6:27–36) Jesus describes the nature or position of people who are his disciples (cf. 6:20–26). In the rest of the sermon he focuses on the way disciples should live. Jesus begins with the radical message that disciples should love their enemies. The enemies in view are clearly those who persecute disciples (6:28–29). Love for enemies manifests itself in terms of actions: do good to them (6:27, 32–33, 35), bless and pray for them (6:28), and lend to them (6:34–35). Jesus gives two examples of the ...

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