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 451 to 475 of 655 results

451. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:1-53

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

More than most, this speech of Stephen has been subject to that skepticism that is inclined to regard all the speeches of Acts as Luke’s own composition. There is no denying that Luke’s hand may be seen in them all in their literary style and vocabulary. But there is about each of them a distinctiveness that not only fits each to its context, but ...

452. The Church in Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the early leadership of the church in Jerusalem had been lost (though for a time the apostles may have returned to the city when important decisions had to be taken; cf. 15:2ff., perhaps also 11:1 and 22) and this, together with the natural inclination of the church to accept the precedent of the synagogue, probably led to the appointment of elders. This in turn became a precedent for other churches to follow (14:23; 20:17). The elders were sometimes called “overseers” (Gk. episkopoi; see note on 20:28 ...

453. Herod’s Death

Acts 12:19b-25

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... offset by the likelihood that the festival during which he died was the quadrennial games instituted by Herod the Great in honor of the emperor and to commemorate the founding of Caesarea, and these games must have been held in A.D. 44. On the whole, we are inclined to stick with Josephus and to accept this as the year of the king’s death. During the festival, Herod made an oration from his seat in the theater to mark the settlement of a dispute between himself and the cities of Tyre and Sidon. These were ...

454. Paul Arrested

Acts 21:27-36

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , War 6.124–128) Therefore, they apprehended Paul, shouting this charge to the crowd and adding another, that he was teaching all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place (v. 28; cf. 6:13). Emotions were running high. The Asian Jews were not inclined to make careful inquiry. In fact, as far as we know, Trophimus was not in the temple, much less in the inner courts. But Paul was their enemy. That was enough. And in any case the second charge was the real heart of the matter (cf. 24 ...

455. Paul Transferred to Caesarea

Acts 23:23-35

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the accused for trial in his own province. “The point,” then, “of the question put to Paul, in mid-first century, was not to protect the rights of the accused …, but to enable the procurator … to avoid a tiresome affair altogether, if he felt inclined, either by expelling an accused person from a province to which he did not belong, or by a refusal of jurisdiction” (Sherwin-White, p. 31). Why then did Felix not take up this option? Patently, it would be a “tiresome affair.” The answer may ...

456. The Shipwreck

Acts 27:27-44

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... This may be questioned, but Paul’s action had the desired effect: They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves (v. 36). 27:37 The number of people on board is given at two hundred seventy-six. This has sometimes surprised modern readers and inclined them to accept the lesser figure of seventy-six found in some texts. But the larger number presents no difficulty. Many Alexandrian grain ships were very large indeed. Josephus, who was also shipwrecked in these waters (the Sea of Adria; see note on v ...

457. Accusations

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... 1–9). If in the final section of the letter (chs. 10–13) he now changes his tone toward the Corinthians, it is probably in order to persuade and warn those members of the congregation who either remain hostile to him or may be inclined in that direction. Hence, although the reference to the Corinthians remains general (you), and positive comments about the majority are not wanting (e.g., 10:15), the appeal is obviously more specific at points. Some people refers either to the unrepentant members of the ...

458. The Son Superior to Angels

Hebrews 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... at Colossae. (See “The Problem of the Epistle to the Hebrews,” Studies in the Gospels and Epistles [Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1962].) Hughes finds the concern with angels supportive of his tentative conclusion that the addressees were inclined toward the teaching of the Dead Sea Sect wherein angels played an exceptionally important role (p. 52f.). Montefiore, in contrast, points out convincingly that the concern with angels need point to nothing more specific than the probability that ...

459. God Disciplines His Sons

Hebrews 12:1-13, Hebrews 12:14-29

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... suffering as the duty of the faithful, must develop a theology of suffering wherein suffering can be understood in a positive light. That is the purpose of the present section. Suffering, far from being a contradiction of the Christian’s status, as the world is inclined to think, is actually a mark of his or her true status. Suffering is necessarily involved in being a child of God and is not a contradiction of God’s love. 12:4 Struggle against sin here signifies, as the context indicates, not the ...

460. Warning Against Refusing God

Hebrews 12:14-29, Hebrews 12:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

461. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... 3, pp. 180–90. Obedience to Church Leaders and a Request for Prayer In this final exhortation, the readers are enjoined to obey their leaders—a common enough motif in the NT, but one that has special significance for these particular readers, given their inclination to abandon their Christian faith and to return to Judaism. Obedience to their leaders will assure safe arrival at the goal God has marked out for them. This is followed by the first personal information about the author, given via a specific ...

462. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... , see Additional Note on 1:14. War against your soul: The NT often uses the imagery of warfare to depict the inner human moral struggle (Rom. 7:23; 2 Cor. 10:3; James 4:1) which corresponds to the rabbinic wrestling between “good and evil inclinations.” 2:12 You live … good lives (tēn anastrophēn hymōn … echontes kalōn): Anastrophē (manner of life, behavior, conduct) is a frequent term in this letter. See Additional Note on 1:15. Echontes is a present participle: go on having, i.e., maintain ...

463. At Mount Sinai

Exodus 19:1-25

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... around the mountain” (v. 23). This “overly-cautious” interruption of the appearance of God reinforces the warning about trying to force one’s way to the Lord. It may be intentionally awkward for emphasis. The extra warning highlights the human inclination to control one’s way to holiness (Gen. 3:5–6). Moses underestimates how natural it is to be dismissive about what God actually says. The narrative demonstrates repeatedly how easily people reconfigure their relationship to God on their own ...

464. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... and relinquished the “plunder” of their deliverance from Egypt. Additional Notes 32:1–34:35 Critical scholarship has explained the disjunctures in the extended narrative of Exod. 32–34 as a redaction of separate independent sources (JE). This commentary follows the inclination to interpret the sense of the whole text (Childs, Exodus, pp. 557–81). Moberly demonstrates the logic of the final redactor in forming a narrative that moves from sin (ch. 32) to dialogue (ch. 33), to new covenant (Exod. 34 ...

465. Sayings of the Wise

Proverbs 22:17--24:22

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... is correct in introducing this section as “Sayings of the Wise.” However, the NIV should have followed the general consensus, which recognizes that the phrase comes from verse 17 (they are the first words of the LXX, v. 17) and thus translates verse 17a: “Incline your ear and listen.” See Additional Notes. 22:18 In verse 18a, heart is, literally, “belly.” 22:19 The explicit religious purpose (trust in the LORD) should be noted. The text of verse 19b, translated literally in the NIV, seems to be ...

466. A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... verses hint toward an absolute denial of an afterlife, but this phrase is less ambitious. It simply implies that certainty is impossible. Reference to the possibility of an afterlife suggests a milieu in which the idea was available but debated. Qohelet is clearly inclined to deny the existence of a life after death (3:19–20), but finally unable to draw a definite conclusion. This uncertainty leads to the third commendation of enjoyment of life (3:22). Because people do not know what happens after their ...

467. Drought, Famine, Sword

Jeremiah 14:1--15:21

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... the “I” of verses 17–18, namely God himself, is now referred to in the second person. Someone, presumably Jeremiah speaking on behalf of the people, charge God with rejecting Judah. This passage is a bit enigmatic because the people have not really shown any inclination toward the type of repentance noted in verse 20. It may be that Jeremiah, as an intercessor, tries to stand in the place of the people to appeal to God and his covenant. Verse 22 asserts hope in Yahweh and rejects the false gods. This ...

468. The Fall of Jerusalem

Jeremiah 39:1-18

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... an order to Nebuzaradan concerning Jeremiah. How would the Babylonian king know about Jeremiah: military intelligence? We might speculate that it was through the Judeans who had earlier deserted and come over to the Babylonian side. Why would Nebuchadnezzar be positively inclined toward the prophet? We have seen time and again that Jeremiah was viewed as a collaborator by the royal and military authorities, and indeed from a human perspective he acted like one. He went around the city telling Judeans that ...

469. The Charge Against Israel

Hosea 4:1-19

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... shrivel away: that is the major theme of verses 1–10. 4:4–5 The indictment in this court case takes a sudden and surprising turn when the Lord begins to speak in verse 4. When the Israelites—and we—hear of approaching disaster, their inclination—and ours—is to blame the other fellow. That shunning of responsibility is exactly what the Lord warns the priests against in verse 4. Speaking to each priest personally, God tells him, in so many words, “You are to blame!”—an accusation that does ...

470. Israel’s Ill-Placed Confidence

Amos 5:18-27

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... pronouncement of judgment, following verses 18–24, but it should be noted that there is no therefore at the beginning of verse 27 in the Hebrew text (contra NIV and RSV) and thus no customary introduction to the judgment announcement (cf. 6:7). My own inclination is to judge the passage a later, probably Deuteronomic, prose addition that borrows Amos’s use of Yahweh Elohim Sebaoth (v. 27) and that anticipates his later references to exile (7:11, 17). The passage has been added to the book in order to ...

471. Jonah Flees from the Lord

Jonah 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... then goes to the port of Joppa, which was near modern Tel Aviv, and takes a ship to flee in exactly the opposite direction of Nineveh, to the west rather than to the east. The exact location of Tarshish has never been definitely settled, but most scholars are inclined to identify it with Tartessus, a Phoenician colony on the southwestern coast of Spain. In biblical times, it was famous for its sea traffic (1 Kgs. 10:22; Isa. 23:1, 14; 66:19; Ezek. 27:25), and its ships were noted for their size and grandeur ...

472. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

Zephaniah 1:1-3, Zephaniah 1:4-13, Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... been invented). As with the princes and the king’s sons, there is nothing to mark the residents of these different districts as particularly sinful, though the context may imply that they were; other prophets assume that merchants and traders are inclined to be swindlers. Verse 12 makes it clear once again that they are people who deserve trouble. Yahweh will make a point of locating the people who especially deserve punishment, though once more Zephaniah explicitly speaks only of Yahweh’s “attending ...

473. The Promised Glory of the New House

Haggai 2:1-9

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Spirit was present and active in people in OT times, they would naturally not conceptualize this in Trinitarian terms. Further, Christian understanding of the Trinity tends to lose the vigorous and vibrant connotations of “spirit” in the OT, and the NIV’s capitalization is inclined to make us lose the dynamic of Haggai’ s message. 2:6–9 It will eventually become clear how these verses link to verses 2–5; Yahweh’s shaking the cosmos will mean that the temple is not merely restored to its former ...

474. Laughing Sickness

John 13:31-35

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

Object: A children's joke book Good morning, boys and girls. I like a good joke, don't you? That's why I brought this joke book with me this morning. (Read a couple of silly riddles if you feel so inclined. Give them a chance to giggle.) I heard about a tribe in New Guinea that sometimes comes down with what is called, "laughing sickness." An afflicted person can't stop laughing and literally laughs themselves to death. I have heard people say that they died laughing, but they didn't ...

475. The Last Day of the Feast

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Jesus (“he meant”) but the Scripture (“it meant”). The same Greek verb, eipen, is translated “said” (in reference to the Scripture) in verse 38b and “meant” in verse 39. It is difficult to decide among the three alternatives, and the modern reader is perhaps inclined to ask how necessary it is to decide. The weight of tradition favors version 1, and to a lesser extent version 2, yet an appreciation of version 3 sheds its own light on the text’s meaning. Here, as elsewhere (e.g., 3:11–21 ...

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