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 4426 to 4450 of 4952 results

4426. Remember, O Lord, What Has Happened to Us

Lamentations 5:1-22

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... pleasure in life. While the elders represent the mature and perhaps outgoing generation, so the young men represent the hope of the next generation. 5:15 Perhaps it was the reference to music making in the previous verse that gives rise to the next thought. Because of their suffering, the joy of life is gone. Dancing, a bodily expression of joy, is also gone, replaced by mourning. Combining the reference to music in verse 14 and the disappearance of joy in verse 15 reminds one of the sentiment expressed ...

4427. Hosea's Wife and Children

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 26:24; 28:14, etc.). When that takes place, then the members of reunited Israel will be able to say to a multiplicity of brothers and sisters, my people and “shown mercy,” 2:1. If the passage is not genuine to Hosea, it certainly reflects the prophet’s thought and carries on the Hosianic tradition. The vision for the future is set firmly in the context of the northern tribal league. Israel is one people, with only a “head,” not a king. The king of the tribal league was Yahweh (cf. Judg. 8:22–23 ...

4428. Rend Your Heart

Joel 2:12-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Ps. 130:5–6; the entire Psalm fits with the situation and thought in Joel) Additional Note 2:12 Declares the LORD: This is the prophetic formula, “Oracle of Yahweh,” which indicates that God is speaking through the prophet. The formula is found only here in Joel, and it emphasizes that vv. 12–13a are the personal invitation of ...

4429. The Nations Judged

Joel 3:1-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... of God’s purpose in the world, so that by our rejection or acceptance of Israel we reject or accept the purposes of God (cf. Rom. 9–11). It is no accident that the world has always persecuted the Jews. Lying deep in the subconscious of sinful humanity is the thought that if it can just get rid of the Jews, then it can also get rid of God’s rule over it; thus anti-semitism is finally the attempt to be our own gods and goddesses. But the promise of Genesis 12:3 is finally focused for us in that ...

4430. Blessings for God's People

Joel 3:17-21

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... mind the enemy Egypt, which was so abundantly supplied with the waters of the Nile. Thus, in the reversal of Israel’s fortunes, plentifully watered Egypt will become dry and desolate. The mention of the continuing inhabitation of Judah in verse 20 connects with the thought of Edom, who took advantage of the fall and exile of Judah and Jerusalem to Babylon in 587 BC (cf. Obad.). In the reversal brought in the kingdom of God, Edom will become a desert without inhabitants, verse 19. Verses 18, 19, and 20 are ...

4431. Judgment of Israel's Neighbors

Amos 1:1-2:5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... to be a complex of tradition, begun by Amos, in which God is portrayed by the figure of a lion, roaring from the temple on Zion against all foes, which is connected with the coming of the day of the Lord and subsequently, though somewhat loosely, with the thought of Yahweh as a “warrior” (cf. Exod. 15:3). It seems doubtful that this trajectory of tradition would exist if Amos 1:2 were just the product of a later editor. The single verse foreshadows all that follows in the book. God has broken out in a ...

4432. False Prophets

Micah 2:6-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 9 and specifies their wrongdoing. Verse 8 is damaged and unclear, but it probably should be read as in the RSV: But you rise against my people as an enemy; you strip the robe from the peaceful, from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war. The thought is that the rich and powerful seize even the garments of the helpless, permanently confiscating their clothing as pledges on loans, which is a violation of the covenant law (Exod. 22:26; Deut. 24:12–13, 17; Amos 2:8). Or perhaps the reference is ...

4433. Deliverance Promised

Micah 2:12-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... parallel; 14:27 and parallel; John 10:11–17; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4; Rev. 7:17). While the figure embodies the thought of tenderness and care (cf. Isa. 40:11), it also serves as a royal image (cf. Ezek. 34:23). Kings in the ancient Near East were ... but it is clear that the Israelites will be reunited as one people under the leadership of their shepherd-king Yahweh. The thought is similar to Paul’s, “All Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). Dispersed Israel is, however, a captive people, subject ...

4434. The Mountain of the Lord

Micah 4:1-5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... Micah 4:1–5 originated with Isaiah or with Micah, we cannot say. Perhaps both prophets borrowed a common tradition. But certainly those who see the oracle as alien to Micah’s thought are in error. It connects directly with the preceding oracle, utilizing the phrase the mountain of the house in verse 1 to pick up the thought of 3:12. Yahweh’s functions of judging, teaching, and speaking the word are precisely those that have been corrupted by Jerusalem leaders (3:11) and will be exercised rightly by ...

4435. The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

Nahum 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... trouble to Judah. There are further parallels with the book of Isaiah. Following on his ironic comments about rocks, Isaiah asks in what way humanity is to be “thought about” (Isa. 2:22), then critiques the way Assyria “thinks” about itself and about what Yahweh is doing through it (Isa. 10:7). Later the book critiques the exiles’ “thoughts” about Yahweh’s intention to restore them by means of Persia’s conquest of Babylon (Isa. 55:7–9); there, too, there is a clash between Yahweh’s ...

4436. Nineveh to Fall

Nahum 2:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the freedom of predators and the like (e.g., Deut. 28:26; Jer. 7:33), the freedom these predators thought they had, but which they have lost. On the other, it is a recurrent promise to Israel (e.g., Lev. 26:6; Jer. 30:10; 46:27; Ezek. 34:28; Mic. 4:4) ... of which Assyria thought it could make nonsense; but in the long run it cannot. As happened in chapter 1, in the first part of this chapter Nahum spoke, and ...

4437. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

Zephaniah 2:4-7, Zephaniah 2:8-11, Zephaniah 2:12, Zephaniah 2:13-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... . Every superpower thinks it will be in its exalted position forever. There is perhaps more excuse for Assyria doing so than there is for later super powers, as Assyria is the first great Middle-Eastern empire. But each superpower that has followed has thought it was the empire on which the sun would never set; that phrase has been explicitly applied to Spanish, British, and American power. If Assyria thinks this in Zephaniah’s day, the prophecy reports it with some irony, because with hindsight one can ...

4438. Timeout at Tiberias

John 21:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... that he had forfeited the privilege of being a witness to Christ’s resurrection. “I am going back to that which is safe” is what Peter was saying. I don’t know about you, but I understand Peter’s thoughts and actions. I understand that sometimes when you are unsure, the default reaction is to go to what you already know rather than simply trusting God. Apparently, the others were thinking the same thing, for as soon as Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” they all agreed. Not one dissenting ...

4439. Don't Just Stand There!

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... this would be an easy score for Russow’s team. Of course, having blocked the kick, Russow himself was closest to the ball. But, for some reason, he stopped. He froze as he stared at the ball and thought to himself, “Hey, I blocked the punt and our offense will take over and score.” Then above his thoughts he heard the coach’s voice, “Don’t just stand there; get the ball!” What was he thinking? He could have scored a touchdown. But he didn’t. He just stood there marveling at the fact that he ...

4440. A Widow at the End of Her Rope

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

King Duncan

... Those your kids?” She replied proudly, “Yes, they are.” “They adopted?” he asked. “Yes, they are,” she replied. “I thought so,” he concluded. “I figured you’re too old to have kids that small.” That’s both beautiful and hilarious. ... was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord. Hallelujah! This poor widow probably thought. Life is going to work out after all. I may be poor and times may be hard, but Someone is looking out for me. But then ...

4441. The Word Became Flesh

John 1:1-18

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... is the insistence that John the Baptist was not the light but merely came … as a witness to the light (v. 8). Like Jesus Christ he was sent as God’s messenger, but the similarity, says the Gospel writer, ends there. Why was such an explanation thought necessary? The most likely reason is that the writer knew of individuals or groups who actually believed that John, and not Jesus, was the light, that is, the decisive revealer of God. Such beliefs are known to have existed by the third century A.D. (see ...

4442. The First Two Days: John the Baptist’s Message

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... 29) it is not for baptism but is simply the narrator’s way of bringing Jesus dramatically on the scene. There is no way to be sure how long before the six days Jesus’ baptism is supposed to have taken place or how long Jesus’ association with John is thought to have lasted. The references to the Spirit not only “coming down” on Jesus but “remaining” on him (vv. 32, 33) suggest that John the Baptist may have had weeks or even months to get to know Jesus as a man full of the Spirit (cf. 1:16; 3 ...

4443. Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

John 4:1-26, John 4:27-38, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . The roles in this drama are not fixed. Jesus is not speaking in allegories or riddles but using a simple metaphor capable of several applications. A transition of sorts can be detected at verse 37. If the controlling thought of verses 34–36 was “as the Father sent me,” the controlling thought of verses 37–38 is “I am sending you” (cf. 20:21; also 17:18). But the fact that the disciples play no part whatever in the ensuing mission among the Samaritans suggests that verses 37–38 are intended ...

4444. The Healing at the Pool

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... F. W. Danker [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979], p. 93). A good analogy to John 5:17, 19 is Luke 3:16, where John the Baptist makes a solemn declaration in response to no particular question he has been asked but simply to the hopes and thoughts of the people. So here, Jesus is not “answering” a specific question raised on a specific occasion but making a formal (and typical) defense of his behavior. His responses in v. 17 and in vv. 19–47 are therefore to be regarded as only loosely tied to ...

4445. Testimonies About Jesus

John 5:31-47

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... as pointers to the Father. They are work that the Father has given me to finish and they show that the Father has sent me (v. 36). Are the works then the Father’s testimony on Jesus’ behalf (v. 37), or is something more specific in mind? The thought of the Father testifying directly on the Son’s behalf recalls the synoptic accounts of the divine voice at Jesus’ baptism and especially at the transfiguration (“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Matt. 17:5; cf ...

4446. Jesus and Those Who “Believed”

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... misunderstanding, Jesus addresses the question Who do you think you are? (v. 53). His answer in verses 54 and 55 counters the appeal to Abraham with an appeal to God himself, the supreme Life-giver and Judge of all. But he adds, Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad (v. 56). Just as there is a specific allusion in 1:51 to Jacob’s Bethel experience (Gen. 28:12), it is natural to look for something specific here as well. The apparent reference is to the promise ...

4447. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... in the old community of Judaism, and at the end he is a worshiper of Jesus (v. 38). Issues raised theologically in chapter 3 but not resolved with reference to Nicodemus are acted out in the story of the blind man. Though divine election (which shaped the thought of 3:18–21) is not made explicit in the account of the blind man’s healing and conversion, it comes to the fore in the theological reflections of chapter 10: The man born blind is one of Jesus’ “sheep” because he hears the Shepherd’s ...

4448. The Impending Departure I

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... question is part of the answer to Peter: You know the way to the place where I am going (v. 4). The words where I am going still echo 13:33 and 36. Jesus’ answer to Thomas’ question, How can we know the way? (v. 5), introduces the new thought that Jesus himself is the way (v. 6). Jesus’ answer centers on himself; it is neither necessary to know where he is going, in the sense of Jewish apocalyptic speculations about the structure of the heavens, nor the way, in the sense of a formula for escaping this ...

4449. Jesus’ Love and the World’s Hatred

John 15:1-17

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... go astray (or “give up your faith”) at the prospect of expulsion from the synagogue or even death (16:1–2). The expression go astray or “give up one’s faith” (lit., “be scandalized”) was used earlier when the disciples drew back in horror at the thought of sharing in Jesus’ violent death (6:60–61). The possibility of martyrdom continued to be present through much of the Gospel (cf. 12:24–26; 13:36–38), and now Jesus refers explicitly to the danger of being killed for his sake (v. 2 ...

4450. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... children” (teknia in 2:1, 28; 3:7; 4:4; 5:21; and paidia in 2:18). What is said of each group also does not appear to be age- or experience-related but is true of the whole community. So referring to these groups is best thought of as a stylistic device that sets forth several truths about the spiritual victory of the whole Johannine fellowship. The variation of the verbs for “write” is to be understood in exactly the same way. There is no significant difference in meaning between the author’s use ...

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