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 4926 to 4950 of 5000 results

4926. The Harvest of the Earth

Revelation 14:14-20

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... out all the “junk” email and collect all the snail-mail offers you receive over the course of a week. The stack will be high and the lies outrageous. We are offered perfect health in pill form, money for nothing, and real estate for a dime. Most of us understand this. Over time, we can become cynical of any offer that comes into our email in-box. But we can be sure of the Lord and his promise to balance the scales someday. Every one of his promises will be proven true! After all, the most important one ...

4927. The Vision of the Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-18

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... better than gold. The Interpretation of the Vision Big Idea: The angel now interprets the vision for John, explaining how the beast, the kings, and the prostitute fit into God’s plan and how the Lamb will triumph over all his enemies. Understanding the Text This section is set within the judgment of Babylon the Great (17:1–19:5) and offers the angelic interpretation of the immediately preceding vision of 17:1–6. Most commentators note the numerous parallels between Revelation 13 and 17, illustrating ...

4928. The Garden City as Paradise Transformed

Revelation 22:1-5

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... of “Greek philosophy” into Christian thought. In particular, we point out the dangerous bias against the body so prevalent in thinkers like Plato. Certainly the Greek idea of escaping into a disembodied “world of minds” is light-years away from the Christian understanding of resurrection. But perhaps we have forgotten just how hard embodied existence can be on this side of eternity. We live in an age of aspirin, modern surgery, and novocaine. Imagine living in a time when the appendix could not be ...

4929. Grain Offerings

Leviticus 2:1-16

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: All people, rich and poor, can please God through giving their best. Understanding the Text Leviticus 1–7 gives Israel instruction concerning sacrifices at the tabernacle that Israel had just completed (Exod. 40). The instruction ... one of them puts God’s big question in human flesh. The question is addressed to everyone. We do not have to understand theological explanations; we do not even have to be Christian to hear it. It is part of the silent interrogation that God is always carrying on.7

4930. The Guilt Offering

Leviticus 5:14--6:7

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... ” (step 5). One must also be ready to have God remove these defects of character and in fact ask God to remove these shortcomings (steps 6–7). It takes a great deal more courage to verbalize one’s faults to others than simply to understand them within one’s own mind. Consequently, the act of public confession is a means, psychologically, of bolstering and strengthening the will. Another step of the AA program parallels the requirement for restitution in the guilt offering: one is to make a list of ...

4931. The Priestly Portions of Sacrifices

Lev 6:8–7:38

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... 2–3).1A weakness in Milgrom’s view is that evidence for belief in the afterlife is very limited in the Pentateuch. This is why the Sadducees can deny any belief in the resurrection (Acts 23:8). Baruch Levine, perhaps for this reason, has a more general understanding of such verses: “If the community failed to punish the offender or failed to uncover the offense, God would mete out punishment in His own way and in His own good time.”2 However, in favor of Milgrom’s view is the evidence later in the ...

4932. Living by God’s Sexual Standards

Leviticus 18:1-30

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... could quote Leviticus 18:5 to claim that eternal life is earned by law-keeping. Paul alludes to this viewpoint by citing Leviticus 18:5, though he knows that the text does not actually teach it. He cites Deuteronomy 30:12–14 to show that the legalists’ understanding of Leviticus 18:5 is defective, and that faith is key. Ultimately, says Paul, Christ is the law’s end or goal (Rom. 10:4). If one uses the law aright, it should lead a person to faith in Christ, not legalism. Teaching the Text Leviticus 18 ...

4933. Punishments for Sin

Leviticus 20:1-27

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... symptoms. It provides a common vocabulary for clinicians to discuss the issues that they address. Ultimately, it is meant to help make the process of treatment more effective. In one way, the law served (and serves) a similar function. It helped people recognize and understand the problem of sin. It helped those who lived under the law to grasp where and when it arose and how serious it really was. We should not assume that “secret sins” will remain so forever. Quote: In his Poor Richard’s Almanac ...

4934. Lamps, Cakes, and the Blasphemer

Lev 24:1-23

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... presence of God had to be “kept burning continually,” so we need to kindle and maintain our sense of God as the ever-present light of our lives. 2. Remember God’s covenant relationship with his people. Three things are key to understanding the significance of the bread of the Presence: twelve loaves, the covenant, and the Sabbath. The loaves represent Israel’s continual expression of gratitude for its blessings before the presence of God. Sharing a meal is an act of hospitality and friendship. This ...

4935. The Choice: Obedience or Punishment

Lev 26:1-46

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... sin. Object Lesson: Using a tape measure or a one-minute sand timer, illustrate the concept of finite distance or time. As humans, we think in terms of “this far and no farther” or “this long and time runs out.” Those limitations often influence our understanding of God. We can come to believe that God can extend mercy only to someone who has gone “this far” from him. We mistakenly believe that God will be patient only for “this long,” and then his patience runs out. But Scripture teaches us ...

4936. The Nazirite Vow

Numbers 6:1-21

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... ). Each of those stories ends with Peter looking a little foolish. His betrayal of the Lord, however, broke Peter. Scripture says that after denying Jesus, Peter wept bitterly (Matt. 26:75). Unlike Judas, whose despair led him to self-destruction, Peter’s failure led him to a deeper understanding of the Lord’s grace. In John 21 we read about the resurrected Lord restoring Peter to discipleship, leadership, and purpose. No matter how far we have fallen, the Lord can restore us when we turn back to him.

4937. Preparations for Worship (Part 2)

Num 8:1-26

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... of God. This is not manifested with a lampstand or the bread of the Presence, but rather at Communion with the bread and cup of the Lord’s table. It is the Lord’s table because the invisible Lord presides over it. Some Christian traditions understand the elements of Communion to represent the “real presence” of Christ in worship. In any case, Christians are given the general promise that wherever two or three gather in Christ’s name, he himself will be in their midst (Matt. 18:20), just as God ...

4938. Israel Celebrates the Passover

Numbers 9:1-14

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... sins of the people of his day but also for us, who are alive today. And if Christ had not so died, we, and our children, and our children’s children would still be slaves to sin. If we forget the story of our salvation, we will never understand who we are. Children’s Book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling. In the opening volume of her deservedly famous heptalogy, J. K. Rowling tells how Harry Potter had been raised for the first years of his life without any knowledge of how ...

4939. Following God’s Leading

Num 9:15–10:10

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... the Passover to commemorate the event that had led to their deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites depart from Mount Sinai and resume their trek toward the promised land (Num. 10:11). Historical and Cultural Background Archaeology has contributed to our understanding of the trumpets in Numbers 10:1–10. The trumpet came to be used regularly in tabernacle and temple worship. A stone with a broken inscription that reads in part “To the place [lit., ‘house’] of the trumpeting to . . .” (leBeth ...

4940. Ingratitude and Judgment

Num 11:1-35

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... the harsh servitude. Conversely, they forget how good the manna is. Manna (vv. 7–9) can be eaten as a seed or crushed. It can be baked or boiled. It has the rich taste of olive oil and is fresh with the dew. Though they are understandably tired of a steady diet of manna, Israel has “flocks and herds” (see v. 22) that allow them the luxury of occasional meals with meat. They are exaggerating how bad their current deprivation is. Moreover, they are forgetting that without the miraculous gift of manna ...

4941. Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Obedience

Num 15:1-41

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... parents do not, that it is really useless to send a boy to a certain examination again. Finality must come sometime, and it does not require a very robust faith to believe that omniscience knows when.6 Christians have had different understandings of what it means to honor the Sabbath throughout church history. Church History: The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) has greatly influenced Christians of the Reformed tradition to connect the Sabbath with Sunday. See chapter 21, “Of Religious Worship and ...

4942. Victory and Serpents

Num 21:1-9

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... , though he regrets it for the rest of his life. He later bemoans what might have been had Charley not convinced him to throw the fight. He tells his brother of his regrets and his resentments for what he had convinced him to do: “You don’t understand! I could’ve had class. I could’ve been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am. Let’s face it. It was you, Charley.” The older generation of Israelites also could have “been somebody.” They could have taken ...

4943. Balaam’s First Three Oracles

Num 23:1–24:14

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... set seven censers of cypress, you shall pour the blood of seven sheep.”2So, is Balaam appealing to a full pantheon of gods to assist him in cursing Israel? Or is he appealing in the fullest possible way to Israel’s God, Yahweh? The latter understanding seems to fit better the verses that follow, where Balaam goes out to meet Yahweh (v. 4b). Interpretive Insights 22:41–23:12 These verses relate the first oracle. 22:41 Bamoth Baal. This means “high places of Baal,” implying that a Baal shrine ...

4944. War against Midian

Num 31:1-54

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... the living waters of life (John 6:68). So believing that our God is ultimately good and just, we, like Jill in this story, must choose to trust in the Lion of Judah and drink. And we must do so even if we do not fully understand the purposes and justifications of God’s severe acts of vengeance. Christians, no less than Israelite soldiers, are called to give back joyfully a portion of what they have received. News: According to a recent report,10tithers comprise only 10 to 25 percent of families in the ...

4945. Reviewing the Past

Numbers 33:1-56

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... , and a list of prayer requests.”31The Bible gives a number of other examples of God-inspired journals: biographically and historically oriented psalms, the book of Lamentations, and the autobiographical sections of Ezra and Nehemiah. Whitney goes on to argue that journaling helps us understand and evaluate ourselves (cf. Rom. 12:3), meditate on the Lord and his word (cf. Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1–3), express thoughts and feelings to the Lord (cf. Ps. 62:8), remember the works of the Lord (Ps. 77:11–12) and ...

4946. Making a Successful Future

Numbers 34:1-29

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... that God will distribute this inheritance wisely and fairly. As in the Israelites’ case, hope of inheritance should motivate us to lay claim to our full allotment by living out the Christian life as God’s children and heirs. The more we understand our inheritance, the more it motivates us to live for God. Illustrating the Text A vision of future possibility can motivate present action. Personal Story: As cross-cultural missions professor at Crossroads College, Dr. Cláudio Divino often leads students on ...

4947. Cities of Refuge

Numbers 35:6-34, Numbers 35:1-5

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: Bloodshed is an offense against humankind for which God requires expiation. Understanding the Text The last chapters of the book of Numbers are concerned with the division of the ... guy loved. The premise is usually simple, repeatable, and compelling. Why does this movie formula work so well? Because we humans are hardwired to understand justice. We are moral creatures with a God-given sense that bloodshed demands payment. Sadly, the payment exacted by most of the “good guys” in our movies ...

4948. “Your Sin Will Find You Out”: The Lord Confronts His Sinful Servant

2 Samuel 12:1-31

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... its consequences, is proof of God’s commitment to him. Historical and Cultural Background When David’s baby dies, he laments, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (v. 23). This is a statement not of hope, but of finality. David understands that no one returns from the land of the dead. Passage between the realms of the living and the dead is strictly one direction. In ancient Mesopotamian texts, the subterranean world of the dead is called “the land of no return.” Seven gates close ...

4949. The Visit of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... he guaranteed there would be sorrow and tears at the time of his death. It is interesting that the Jewish religious leaders made no attempt to follow through on the possibility that the baby to be born might be the long-awaited Messiah. The first to understand and take action were dignitaries from a foreign land. Already at this early stage in the Gospel we have an indication of the universal implications of the incarnation. In Christ all people, not Jews only, may be brought into God’s favor. So the wise ...

4950. Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... hand. Instead of rejoicing over an act of human kindness, the Pharisees withdrew to plot how they might be able to do away completely with Jesus. The Pharisees were beginning to realize that not only was their prestige at stake but also their basic understanding of true religion. The freedom with which Jesus acted was a serious threat to their traditional point of view. What they could not grasp was that freedom from ritual commandment need not lead to moral chaos but within the kingdom of God imposes a ...

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