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 4851 to 4875 of 5000 results

4851. The Future Glory of Zion

Isaiah 54:1-17

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... very well, but Ms Jerusalem knows what it is like to be on the receiving end of that power. It is not enough for those titles to be attached to the word husband (ba’al, literally “master” or “owner”: again, the picture presupposes a patriarchal understanding of marriage). They need to be attached to the word redeemer, that relative who has no power over you but does have a moral obligation to care about your welfare especially when you are in trouble. The word recurs in the last phrase of verses ...

4852. Salvation for Others

Isaiah 56:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Yahweh. Additional Notes 56:1–8 In the commentary we note the difference between the attitude to outsiders here and in books such as Ezra and Nehemiah. In The Dawn of Apocalyptic, P. D. Hanson expounds the view that the key to understanding Isa 56–66 as a whole is its background in conflicts within the Jerusalem community (rev. ed. [Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979], pp. 32–208). These chapters represent one party over against another as is seen in books such as Ezekiel, Haggai, Ezra, and Nehemiah ...

4853. The Glory of Zion

Isaiah 60:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... but for transformation, in keeping with the opening verses of chapter 2 (see R. J. Mouw, When the Kings Come Marching In: Isaiah and the New Jerusalem [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1983], pp. 5–9). This is also a reminder to Christian theology that its understanding of heaven must not be too ethereal. Belief in a transformed city goes with belief in a resurrected body. A related dominant motif of chapter 60 is the splendor of Yahweh and of Jerusalem (vv. 1–3, 5a, 19–20; for the chiastic structure ...

4854. The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Isaiah 61:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... us a clue to the sort of ministry the prophet exercises. To put it another way, as Second Isaiah stands in the shoes of First Isaiah, so Third Isaiah stands in the shoes of Second Isaiah. This prophet also has a distinctive way of understanding that commission: the LORD has anointed me. In Christian thinking, the two expressions in verse 1a have become one and we regularly think of “anointing with the Holy Spirit,” but these two were not normally associated with each other in the OT. Anointing suggests ...

4855. God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption

Isaiah 63:1-6

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... that prayer. The prophet describes the aftermath of the event rather than the event itself (cf. 52:7–10) and spares the readers from the portrayal of the actual bloody battle. This might indicate that even the prophet has mixed feelings about this understanding of God’s acts. “It is almost as though the Day of Judgment is too cruel, too painful to contemplate, and the exhausted, bloodstained victor is thankful it is all over” (Sawyer, Isaiah, p. 196). Yet Yahweh’s explicit dissatisfaction is with ...

4856. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... throne” (and temple) in heaven (63:15). Once again the prayer asks, Will you still hold yourself back? (cf. 63:15; NIV “are withheld”). Will Yahweh still keep silent? (cf. 57:11). Additional Notes 63:8b–9a The Masoretic Text combines two understandings of these verses, in the “written” text and the “read” text. The former is what the consonants of the text actually say. NRSV follows it and renders “he became their savior in their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence ...

4857. Two Adulterous Sisters

Ezekiel 23:1-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... chariots].” Galambush (Jerusalem, pp. 73, 76) proposes amending the h to kh, yielding a hypothetical Heb. term related to the Arabic word for “stallion.” The NIV, with Block (Ezekiel 1–24, p. 751) and Greenberg (Ezekiel 21–37, p. 481) follows Tg., which understands this word as a generic introduction to the list of weaponry that follows. 23:32 You will drink your sister’s cup. In Israel’s liturgy, the cup (Heb. kos) could refer to a drink offering poured out before the Lord in thankfulness (Ps ...

4858. Ezekiel a Watchman

Ezekiel 33:1-20, Ezekiel 33:21-33

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... declares, “With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain” (v. 31). Ezekiel’s prophecies have become entertainment (“to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs,” v. 32). This is understandable, perhaps, given his creative, poetic oracles, bizarre sign-acts, and striking visions. Unfortunately, the prophet’s popularity does not translate into the success of his proclamation, for “they hear your words but do not put them into practice” (v ...

4859. Jesus Adopted by Joseph

Matthew 1:18-25

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... and figures. Matthew could presume that his audience understood these significant categories for his Christology, but we probably should not presume that our audiences, who are often further removed from Judaism and a rich knowledge of the Old Testament, bring such understandings to their reading of Matthew. 2. Jesus is Savior and Immanuel—God with us. Two key christological affirmations of this passage are that Jesus “will save his people from their sins” (1:21) and that Jesus is “God with us” (1 ...

4860. Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Matthew 4:1-11

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... as divine (possibly because of his identification as the “Son of God” [4:3, 6]), Matthew emphasizes Jesus as faithful to God’s covenant in contrast to Israel’s unfaithfulness in the wilderness. This contrast invites the reader to understand Jesus’ faithfulness as a part of his role as representative Israel and, by extension, as representative humanity. Preaching that Jesus resists temptation because he is divine provides no particular hope for believers struggling with temptation. Yet Matthew does ...

4861. Jesus Begins His Ministry to Israel

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... of preaching, teaching, and healing is repeated virtually verbatim at 9:35 (where “throughout Galilee” is replaced with “through all the towns and villages”). This repetition forms an inclusio and signals that Matthew wants his hearers and readers to understand chapters 5–9 as a unit. It is significant that Jesus’ central activities involve kingdom teaching and preaching and kingdom healing. These will be the very activities that he undertakes in the Sermon on the Mount (chaps. 5–7) and ...

4862. Sermon on the Mount: Giving, Prayer, and Fasting

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... away from hypocrisy toward integrity in 6:1–18 are apropos. 6:4 Then your Father . . . will reward you. The promise of reward must be understood in context and, specifically, in relation to the reward that the hypocrites receive. Crucial for understanding the latter is Jesus’ statement that they have (already) received their reward in full; the focus is on when the reward is received, not the particulars of the reward. By giving to the poor, praying, or fasting for the purposes of attention ...

4863. Herod and Hometown Misunderstand Jesus’ Identity

Matthew 13:53-58, Matthew 14:1-12

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Is he a worrier?” The second part asks the same questions of the students, but instead of “Is he a worrier?” it asks, “Are you a worrier?” The test is not about right or wrong answers, nor is it designed to help students understand Jesus. Instead, if given to enough people, the test will reveal that we all think Jesus is like us. Introverts think Jesus is introverted, for example, and, on the basis of the same questions, extroverts think Jesus is extroverted. Spiritual formation experts would love ...

4864. Jesus Warns of Presuming Reward and Status

Matthew 20:1-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... day laborers (19:30; 20:16) and will find an echo in 23:12, where the places of the humble and the exalted are reversed. Interpretive Insights 19:28 at the renewal of all things. Matthew uses a word (palingenesia) that would be generally understandable in the Greco-Roman world but in a Jewish context would signal the eschatological time of the Messiah, when all things would be made new. sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus indicates that the Twelve, whose number signals the ...

4865. Eschatological Discourse: Prediction of the Temple’s Destruction

Matthew 24:1-35

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... . This passage within Matthew’s Eschatological Discourse has often been interpreted to be about Jesus’ return and the end of the world. Yet, as we have seen, the first question in 24:3 sets the course for 24:4–35. And even those interpreters who understand some parts of this passage to address the return of the Son of Man also see the destruction of the temple being addressed (e.g., 24:15–16). So it is important for preaching and teaching this passage to acknowledge the prophecies of Jesus spoken ...

4866. Eschatological Discourse: Being Prepared for Jesus’ Return

Matthew 24:36-51, Matthew 25:1-13

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew) will highlight the way to be prepared: faithful and merciful living. Interpretive Insights 24:36 nor the Son. This phrase is not included in some Greek manuscripts. Yet it is very likely original to Matthew, since it is easy to understand how early Christian scribes copying Matthew might have found these words troubling (showing Jesus to lack knowledge of the timing of his own return) and omitted them. 24:37 so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. The word for ...

4867. The Actions of the Triune Godhead Prove Jesus’s Divine Office

Mark 1:9-15

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... s government. The ambassador does not offer personal opinions but instead fully represents the policies of that government. The ambassador’s power and position are established based on the relationship with his or her own government. This provides an important way to understand the words of the Father as Jesus was baptized. Jesus came to fully represent the Father—his words, actions, and purpose (see Heb. 1:3). And when Jesus was baptized, his authority was established by the words of the Father: “You ...

4868. Jesus Inaugurates the Disciple Band and Conquers the Unclean Spirits

Mark 1:14-20, Mark 1:21-28

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... types of people: (1) those who are willing to commit to him, like the first four disciples, and who are re-created by Jesus to “fish for people”; (2) those who remain outside him and thus will experience his authority to vanquish the powers of darkness. Understanding the Text Jesus’s Galilean ministry (1:16–10:52) begins here. Mark will start with two cycles of Jesus’s ministry to the three major Jewish groups of Galilee: his disciples (1:16–20; 3:13–19), the crowds (1:21–45; 3:7–12), and ...

4869. Jesus’s Ministry and Popularity Continue to Grow

Mark 1:40-45, Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:29-34

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... with power), and he closed the mouths of the demons. This has two purposes: to bind Satan in his house (3:27) by shutting the mouths of demons and casting them out of people, and to keep his messianic nature from the people because they could not understand that in his first coming he is to be a suffering servant rather than a conquering king. 1:35 went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. This may be the same “wilderness” or “desert” (er?mos) where Jesus was tested by Satan (1:12–13 ...

4870. The Authority of Jesus over Sickness and Death

Mark 5:21-43

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... already been seen in 1:34, 44; 3:12 and will be seen again in 7:36; 8:30; 9:9 (see at 1:34). Here it means that the true meaning behind the miracle cannot be known until the resurrection (also 9:9), and that the crowds cannot understand the true nature of Jesus. They think of him only as a wonder-worker and future conquering king. Theological Insights Jesus not only has control over the cosmic powers but also is sovereign over the human dilemma of sickness and death. Our God is a healing God, filled with ...

4871. God’s Miraculous Provision: Caring for the Needy

Mark 6:30-44

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... perspective in fact reflects the heart of many Christians. When we pray before a meal, are we really thinking, deep down, that this meal is the result of our hard work? Do we really see the Lord as the giver of all good gifts? We must understand the biblical reality that all good gifts come from God. The process of disciple-making Applying the Text: We need to follow the example of Jesus in the process of developing mature disciples. We see in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus invited his disciples to live and ...

4872. Gentiles Exemplify True Discipleship

Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... about whether God could save or even love such a man. One member of Roy’s own church remarked, “If Jeffrey Dahmer is going to heaven, then I don’t want to be there.” To which Roy responds, “How can a Christian hold that viewpoint? I don’t understand it. . . . Is forgiveness limited to those who are not very bad after all? Is there no joy in knowing that a sinner has turned to God?”9 Too often in the church we identify those who are “worthy” of our ministry and those who are on “the ...

4873. The Path of Discipleship

Mark 8:31--9:1

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... to the nations. The most natural view is to link it with the transfiguration that follows, but if that is the case, the language seems convoluted. Why not just say, “You will soon see the kingdom coming with power”? Thus the best understanding is to see the fulfillment in the transfiguration as proleptically anticipating Jesus’s death and resurrection, ascension, and possibly Pentecost.2 So this becomes a promise that the power and majesty of God and his kingdom would be evident very soon and would ...

4874. Family in the New Kingdom Community

Mark 10:13-16, Mark 10:1-12

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... Jesus followed what God actually willed, as in Malachi 2:16: “I hate divorce, says the Lord” (NRSV). The Jews followed Deuteronomy 24:1–4, which allowed divorce for “something indecent” that caused the husband to be “displeased.” Examples of the broad understanding of this are found in the Mishnah (m. Git.9), which allowed it even for things such as burning a meal or finding another woman more attractive. 10:5 because your hearts were hard. Since they did not really care what God actually ...

4875. Prophetic Actions—The Temple Condemned and the Fig Tree Cursed

Mark 11:12-19

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... Jesus knew this and so deliberately acted in the way he did. “Not the season for figs” points the reader to the fact that Jesus cursed the tree not out of anger but as a planned symbolic action that he expected his disciples (and us) to understand. David Garland says this was not about an unfruitful fig tree but about the temple. “The word ‘season’ (kairos) is not the botanical term for the growing season but the religious term found in 1:14–15 denoting the time of the kingdom of God.”1The ...

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