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 401 to 425 of 513 results

401. Jesus Clears the Temple

Mark 11:12-19

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of the prophet Jeremiah that the sinfulness of the priestly leadership in his own day would bring on the judgment of God (see Jer. 7:1–15). This suggests that Jesus was hinting that a similar destruction of the temple and the nation might result. The sympathy for Jesus’ action on the part of the people is reflected in verse 18. The teaching at which the crowd was amazed was probably the action of Jesus in forcing out the merchants and condemning the priests for sacrilege. The setting up of the traders ...

402. Jesus' Burial

Luke 23:50-56

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of Arimathea is described as a good and upright (same word used of Jesus in v. 47 above) man. This man, like the righteous Simeon (2:25), was waiting for the kingdom of God. By describing him thus, the evangelist is implying that Joseph was in sympathy with John the Baptist’s earlier call to repentance (3:3) and Jesus’ later proclamation of the kingdom (4:43). This man was a member of the Council (see 22:66 above), who had not consented to their decision and action. Having obtained the permission of ...

403. David at Gath

1 Samuel 21:10-15

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... break between Saul and David but near enough for him to be aware of Saul’s problems and the existence of tension. As there had so far been no question of David opposing Saul, it would have been difficult to ascertain where Ahimelech’s sympathies lay. David’s unwillingness to tell Ahimelech the truth and Saul’s suspicion of betrayal are understandable. 21:4 Nothing in the law would have permitted Ahimelech to give consecrated bread (Lev. 24:5–9) to soldiers even if they were ritually clean. Whether ...

404. David at Adullam and Mizpah

1 Samuel 22:1-5

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

405. “I Am from Him and He Sent Me”

John 7:25-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . When their opinions are gently questioned even by one of their own, they are quick to brand the questioner, half in mockery, as a Galilean (v. 52). The intent is not to probe seriously Nicodemus’ family background but to rebuke his apparent sympathies with Jesus the Galilean. The Pharisees’ parting shot is a corollary of verses 41–42: If the only prophet expected is the Messiah descended from David and born in Bethlehem, then there are no authentic Galilean prophets. Only those ignorant of the ...

406. Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... 6:6). See Turner, p. 479. Judaism at its best sensed the necessity for such sincere love: “The giving of alms is not enough. The gift to the poor must be made privately with nobody present. It must further be attended by a warmth of feeling and understanding sympathy; and it is in proportion to the kindness and love that flow from an act of charity that it draws its ethical and moral force” (b. Sukkah 49b). “I adjure you by the God of heaven to do truth each one to his neighbor, and to entertain love ...

407. Laban Pursues Jacob

Genesis 31:22-55

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... other, each knew that he had benefited greatly from their relationship. Laban began with a hard charge, accusing Jacob of having deceived him by carrying off his daughters like captives in war. Speaking as a heartbroken father in order to win the sympathy of the relatives who were looking on, he complained that Jacob’s inconsiderate, deceptive action had deprived him of giving a great, joyful feast for sending off his grandchildren and daughters. He charged Jacob with having done a foolish thing, a harsh ...

408. Descendants of Hagar

1 Chronicles 1:29-31

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... of Esau, Seir, and Edom is therefore significant. The Chronicler provided an elaborate genealogy for this group (by quoting extensively from his source text in Gen. 36). However, Esau is still discussed before Isaac, which indicates that the Chronicler’s sympathy does not lie with Edom but rather with Isaac and Israel. One could perhaps say (with A. Siedlecki, “Foreigners, Warfare, and Judahite Identity in Chronicles,” in The Chronicler as Author [ed. M. P. Graham and S. L. McKenzie; Sheffield ...

409. Descendants of Keturah

1 Chronicles 1:32-33

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

410. The Rules of Edom

1 Chronicles 1:43-54

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

411. David's Officials

1 Chronicles 18:14-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... of, the Ammonites, who fought in coalition with the Arameans. The war is sparked off by a misunderstanding by the Ammonite nobles of the delegation David sent to the new Ammonite king, Hanun, after the latter’s father died. David wanted to express his sympathy in order to return in this way the kindness the deceased king had shown to him. The “nobles” interpret the visit of the delegation as an attempt to spy out the country and overthrow it. The delegation is therefore greatly humiliated by Hanun’s ...

412. The Battle Against the Ammonites

1 Chronicles 19:1-19

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

413. The Capture of Rabbah

1 Chronicles 20:1-3

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

414. War with the Philistines

1 Chronicles 20:4-8

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

415. A Prophecy Against Edom

Isaiah 21:11-12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... death (Ps. 94:17; 115:17), so it sets a somber tone for the poem. The voice that addresses the prophet (v. 11b) comes from Seir in Edom, and the word dumah also resembles the word Edom (see NIV mg.), which will be addressed with hostility rather than sympathy in chapter 34. So a voice from one place of deathly silence calls to another place of deathly silence. The city’s watchman is someone who stands on a watchtower (v. 8). The words are similar in Hebrew, as they are in English, which further invites us ...

416. Rebirth

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Jamison

... stacks of books filled with religious laws and making decisions that impacted people’s lives. Nicodemus was used to dealing in facts, in concrete matters, interpreting laws to make decisions between black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. So we need to feel some sympathy for him as he looked back at Jesus and asked, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” (v. 4). To Nicodemus, being born again meant exactly that: being ...

417. United We Stand

John 17:11b-19

Sermon

King Duncan

... and you already know who I’m talking about. Monica was born in 331 A.D. in North Africa in what is now Algeria. As a young girl, Monica converted to Christianity, still a relatively new faith. Her parents, who were not religious and not in sympathy with her new faith, married her off to a Roman pagan named Patricius. Both Patricius and his mother, who lived with them, were hot-tempered people . . . and difficult to deal with. Nevertheless, Monica did her best to be a good wife and daughter-in-law. While ...

418. Three Men Changed by God

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Isaiah 6:1-13, Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... . After months of interrogation, and through a surprising friendship with a South Korean army general, Kim Shin Jo turned over a new leaf. Later he would confess, “I tried to kill the president. I was the enemy. But the South Korean people showed me sympathy and forgiveness. I was touched and moved.” And so Jo started a new life. The South Korean government eventually released Kim Shin Jo. Over the next three decades he worked for the military. After a while he became a citizen, and then married and ...

419. Mixed Message

Humor Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

A Philadelphia legal firm sent flowers to an associate in Baltimore upon the opening of its new offices. Through some mix-up the ribbon which bedecked the floral piece read "Deepest Sympathy." When the florist was duly informed of his mistake, he let out a cry of alarm. “Good heavens," he exclaimed, "then the flowers that went to the funeral said, ‘Congratulations on Your New Location!’”

420. The Man of No Sorrows

Illustration

John Bishop

... discredited. The people eagerly accepted this teaching, as you might imagine, and tears and sorrow were banished from human society. Years passed. All suffering was repressed; all sorrow was denied. But an interesting result occurred--human beings gradually became more selfish. Sympathy ceased to exist; the very word was deleted from the dictionary. No poets were born. Poets, you see, are the children of pain, who learn by suffering what they teach in song. Music and painting were no longer practiced, for ...

421. How Much Faith Is Enough Faith?

Luke 17:5-10

Illustration

John Jewell

... were taught that God would heal any illness if only those who prayed for healing had enough faith. During the wake one of the members of that church approached the mother, took her hand and said with what can only be called chastisement thinly disguised as sympathy, "If only you had been able to pray with enough faith, your son wouldn't have died." As you might well imagine ex-members of this destructive fringe live with a horrendous sense of guilt. Can you imagine what it would be like to believe that ...

422. The Problem with "Fawneys"

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... would qualify as a “fawney.” Nobody likes a phony. Even Jesus disliked phonies. We’re often reminded that Jesus never called anyone a sinner, and that’s true. He looked pass the sin to the person caught in a misdeed. Still, even Jesus had no sympathy for phonies. The word he used to describe them most often was “hypocrites.” Nobody likes a hypocrite. In tonight’s lesson from Matthew, Jesus says, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do ...

423. No Longer Home Alone

John 15:13-17

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... to make people believe she had cancer. She joined multiple cancer support groups. But she was found out when a health professional checked her story. She was so depressed when her boyfriend broke up with her, and she felt so alone, she decided to get sympathy and attention by pretending she had cancer.3 Mother Teresa once said, "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer. It is the feeling of being uncared for, unwanted -- of being deserted and alone!"4 I believe she was right. The surveys show it ...

424. Soul Food

Luke 9:10-17, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... it’s an omen of his own fate. John didn’t push the envelope half as much as Jesus did. Jesus knows what is coming also for him, and he is preparing himself for the inevitable. When the crowds gather around him, consoling him perhaps, offering their sympathy perhaps, perhaps just providing him company in his time of grief, perhaps “sitting shiva” with him in a sense during his sorrow, he reaches out to them, and he heals and teaches them. The power of touch. The power of touch for the soul, the power ...

425. Faith is a River That Flows

Genesis 19:1-29

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... the moment, let’s call her Edith)…I think we give Edith here a kind of a bad rap. And I suspect that Edith’s story is a lot more like our stories than we’d like to admit. In fact, I’d say, she needs a bit of our sympathy. Let’s think about her for a moment. Abraham and Lot are pals. But there’s not enough room for them to keep shepherding the same land, so they split up. Abraham goes one direction; Lot goes another and sets up household in a place we learn later is called ...

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