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 476 to 500 of 655 results

476. Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... , it is because he knows it to be necessary. Such people were exerting their influence in many churches, and they might make an appearance in the Philippian church, if they had not done so already. It is not suggested that the Philippian church was inclined to countenance them, but Paul knew how insidious their arguments were and how disastrous their example could be. 3:19 The destiny of such people, says Paul, is destruction; those who follow their bad example are likely to share their fate. Their god is ...

477. Adam and Eve

Genesis 2:4-25

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... . Some people argue, however, that the presence of this tree made it impossible for humans not to sin, given the human proclivity to do what is prohibited. But those who hold this position fail to consider that the first humans did not yet have any inclination of asserting themselves above God. It is difficult for us on this side of Eden to discern how a limit guards freedom rather than serving as a temptation to do what is forbidden. God was protecting human freedom by setting this restriction. 2:18–20a ...

478. Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

Genesis 19:30-38, Genesis 19:1-29

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... to the sumptuous feast Abraham had prepared for these travelers, only unleavened bread is mentioned here. Perhaps the cost of living was so high in this great city that Lot was not able to be as generous as Abraham had been, or perhaps Lot was not as inclined to treat strangers that generously. 19:4–5 That evening an incident served to inform these travelers of the kind of behavior that was taking place in Sodom. All the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded Lot’s ...

479. Abraham Tested

Genesis 22:1-19

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... get ready for a trip. The author intentionally inverted the order of these persons by mentioning the servants before Isaac, the beloved son, to signal further the stress Abraham felt. His troubled thoughts at offering up his beloved son chafed against his inclination to obey God. Next Abraham cut . . . wood for the burnt offering. This detail indicates Abraham’s anticipation that the region to which he was going had little wood. By not delegating this chore to his servants, Abraham sought to identify with ...

480. Isaac and Abimelech

Genesis 26:1-35

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... age of forty Esau married two Hittite women, Judith daughter of Beeri and Basemath daughter of Elon. Did Esau marry outside the line of Terah in defiance or out of convenience? The latter seems more likely, given the way he handled his birthright. He was inclined to take the path of least resistance when it came to fulfilling his needs. Since none of Terah’s family lived nearby, Esau took wives from a local tribal group. One wonders why Isaac did not give Esau more direction regarding the great importance ...

481. Jacob’s Flocks Increase

Genesis 30:25-43

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... wealth. In a show of apparent magnanimity, he invited Jacob to set his own wages. Nevertheless, the following negotiations indicate that Laban sought to keep Jacob on as a hired shepherd, not as a son-in-law. 30:29–43 Jacob tried to make Laban more inclined to accept what he would propose by stressing how hard he had worked for him and how greatly his master’s flocks had increased under his shepherding. He also pointed out that the extraordinary increase of Laban’s flocks was a result of Yahweh’s ...

482. A Rebellious Nation

Isaiah 1:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... that their failure issued from seeking wrongful gain (see 5:23). The issue is once again the leadership’s responsibility for the administration of justice in a way that exercises positive discrimination on behalf of the weak. Failure here, along with an inclination to use the legal system in a way that might have been legal but was designed to benefit people in power, is what turns leaders into murderers. 1:24–25a After an accusation and implicit declaration of guilt comes a sentencing, introduced ...

483. Isaiah’s Commission

Isaiah 6:1-13

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... other accounts of the call of prophets, such as those of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, though it is especially clear in the account of Amos’s call (Amos 7:10–17). The content of the message of these prophets meant that it was not welcome, and people would be inclined not to believe that it came from God. The prophet therefore told of his call as one way of trying to get people to listen to his word. Thus the experience of a call is not something that other people would expect to have in common with a prophet ...

484. Fear God

Isaiah 8:11-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... overwhelms him physically and verbally. Isaiah stands between deity and people, called to represent each to the other. Being identified with the people could mean being wrongly influenced by them (cf. 6:5). They are too concerned about the allies’ conspiracy, or too inclined to make a treaty with them or with Assyria out of fear. What needs to be feared and dreaded instead is the disaster Yahweh is bringing and the awesomeness of Yahweh’s own person (7:25; 2:19, 21). People need to recognize Almighty ...

485. Woe to David’s City

Isaiah 29:1-24

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... caught our attention. What does he mean? It is the last meaning, hearth, that especially counts. It suggests a grim parable for Yahweh’s intentions. The ongoing cycle of worship makes the altar of key significance to understanding the city, but the city is then inclined to think that this round of worship somehow protects it. But one recalls 1:11–15. Yahweh intends that the whole city should become an altar hearth. It is as if the sacrificial fire consumes the altar itself. To put it another way, Yahweh ...

486. Woe to those Who Rely on Egypt

Isaiah 31:1-9

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... in verse 3a articulates an underlying conviction of Isaiah’s in a fresh way by setting up a sharp antithesis. On the one side there are mortals. The word is ’adam, the regular word for human beings in their humanness, made in God’s image but inclined to self-exaltation and destined to be brought down. They are only creatures with breath in them (2:9–22). Parallel to it is flesh (basar), the stuff common to human beings and animals. There is nothing wrong with being flesh. Unlike the Greek equivalent ...

487. Hezekiah’s Illness

Isaiah 38:1-22, Isaiah 39:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... love you kept me from the pit of destruction. The testimony that further you have put all my sins behind your back implies an awareness of the failure that chapters 28–32 reflected. The preoccupation with death here makes clear to anyone who was inclined to overestimate Hezekiah that he is a mere mortal, and it prepares the way for the somberness of the message that will follow in chapter 39. The preoccupation with death continues into the third element in the thanksgiving, a commitment to an ongoing life ...

488. The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... the word shalom the prophet takes up the unresolved problem with which 48:22 closed. The speakers know their own transgression and iniquity (or at least the prophet knows it on their behalf). They know that their history up to the state’s fall demonstrates an inclination to go their own way rather than to follow the direction Yahweh lays before them. They know that they are the kind of people for whom there is therefore no shalom, no peace or well-being or wholeness. They (or the prophet) now affirm that ...

489. Ezekiel's Call

Ezekiel 1:1-28, Ezekiel 2:1-3:15, Ezekiel 3:16-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... the scroll vision, which is the focus of Ezekiel’s commission. In each, the Spirit lifts Ezekiel up (2:2; 3:14), commands him to proclaim the word of the Lord (2:4; 3:11), and cautions that the people to whom he is sent are stubborn, rebellious, and ill-inclined to hear his message (2:3–5, 7; 3:7). Throughout the book of Ezekiel, the Lord addresses the prophet as son of man (Heb. ben ʾadam, used ninety-four times in this book, eight times in Ezek. 1–3 alone [see 2:1, 3, 6, 8; 3:1, 3 ...

490. Personal Accountability

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Ezekiel 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... Jerusalem into Babylonian hands in order to save the city from destruction. Though both Kings and Chronicles do describe Jehoiachin, in stereotypical terms, as doing evil (2 Kgs. 24:8–11//2 Chr. 36:9–10), there are indications that Ezekiel was positively inclined toward him. Ezekiel dates his prophecies by the years of the king’s exile and seems to harbor some muted hopes for the restoration of Jehoiachin’s house (see 17:22–24). It is, then, more likely that the reference is to Zedekiah ...

491. An Unholy History

Ezekiel 20:1-29, Ezekiel 20:30-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... , “You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.” Despite Israel’s rebellion, however, and indeed despite God’s own inclination to “pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt” (v. 8), God keeps God’s promise to deliver them from bondage. God does not act for Israel’s sake, “But for the sake of my name I did what would keep ...

492. Prologue to the Law of the Temple: The Lord Comes Home

Ezekiel 40:1--43:12

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... tension between 40:44–46, which ascribes priestly status both to Zadokite altar clergy and Levite temple clergy, and 44:14, which denies priestly status to the Levites and says that only the Zadokites can serve as priests. As a result, even interpreters who are inclined to find a core of material in chapters 40–48 authentic to Ezekiel often despair at finding any real unity of purpose or meaning in the text as it stands (Eichrodt, Ezekiel, pp. 530–31; Wevers, Ezekiel, p. 4; Hals, Ezekiel, p. 287; and ...

493. Jesus as the Isaianic Servant of the Lord

Matthew 12:15-21

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... ” active rather than passive (as in the Hebrew text and the LXX), Matthew has heightened an emphasis on hearing as a human response to Jesus. In the case of the quotation and its context in Matthew, the emphasis falls on those who lack the ability or inclination to hear in a positive sense the message of Jesus.2In the immediate context, the Pharisees reject Jesus’ teaching and ministry and plot his demise (12:14, 24). 12:20 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out ...

494. Jesus Is God’s Faithful Son in Gethsemane and at His Arrest and Trial

Matthew 26:31-35, Matthew 26:36-46, Matthew 26:47-56, Matthew 26:57-68, Matthew 26:69-75

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... journey to the culmination of his mission to “give his life as a ransom for many” (20:28). Yet even with his death looming before him, Jesus remains faithful and obedient. In preaching and teaching this passage, we can follow our inclination to interpret Jesus’ faithfulness as a model for our own, since Matthew has authorized this analogy in his focus on Jesus as representative Israel: he is the faithful Israelite par excellence (see “Matthew’s Narrative Christology” in the introduction). It can ...

495. Use It or Lose It

Luke 19:11-27

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... mine. This final twist to the story seems to have little to do with the main theme; it simply rounds off the scenario set out in 19:14 with a savage reprisal typical of an ancient Near Eastern monarch. Did Luke include it as a warning to anyone inclined to defy the kingdom of God? There is a serious escalation between the punishment of the timid slave (loss of his mina) and that of the rebels: a failing disciple is not the same thing as a deliberate enemy of the kingdom of God. Theological Insights Luke’s ...

496. The Story of Israel and the Story of Gentiles

Romans 1:18-32

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... to same-sex marriage as well. Third, related to the debate over natural theology relative to 1:18–32, one could preach or teach on the topic “Are the Heathen Lost?” Those religious traditions in favor of natural theology would be inclined to answer no to that question. Thus, a famous Jesuit theologian, Karl Rahner, argued in the last century that even a person who only acknowledges an inner divine transcendence is accepted by God. Such a person Rahner labeled an “anonymous Christian.” But ...

497. Paul Reinterprets the Story of Israel

Romans 2:17-29

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... temple robbing] is Israel’s idolatrous attachment to the law itself . . . its tenacious insistence that the Torah is God’s definitive provision for eternal life and, therefore, its clinging to the law as an object of trust to the exclusion of Christ.”5I am inclined to follow this last suggestion, especially in light of the irony that pervades 2:17–29 (see below). 2:24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Paul here quotes Isaiah 52:5 LXX, which ...

498. The Burnt Offering

Leviticus 1:1-17

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... ’s anger. When human wickedness brings God’s wrath on humankind through the flood (Gen. 6:5–7), God finds Noah’s burnt offering a “pleasing” or “soothing” aroma (Gen. 8:20–21; cf. Lev. 1:9 above) that pacifies his anger and makes him inclined to grant favor. The burnt offering can also be used primarily to seek God’s favor when no particular sin is in view (see below). All of this shows God’s receptiveness to human petition. Teaching the Text With burnt offerings, the entire animal was ...

499. Saul’s Finest Hour

1 Sam 11:1-15

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... The Lord is fully capable of delivering his people from their enemies and must be the sole object of his people’s trust. We human beings have a tendency to walk by sight rather than faith. When faced with imposing, tangible enemies, we are inclined to seek tangible, flesh-and-blood solutions and look to human leaders for deliverance and security. But Israel’s history shows that this is foolish. Beginning at the Red Sea, Israel was almost always militarily inferior to the nations who threatened them. Yet ...

500. The Lord Chooses a New King

1 Samuel 16:14-23, 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... :9–10; Matt. 5:8; Eph. 6:5–6; 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; Heb. 10:22; 1 Pet. 1:22). Human beings have a tendency to evaluate leadership potential on a superficial basis, but the Lord looks beyond the surface and chooses those whose hearts are inclined to obey his will (1 Sam. 16:7; cf. 13:13–14). While human beings cannot probe and evaluate a person’s inner character as the omniscient God is able to do, they can look for evidence of godly character in one’s words and deeds (Matt. 12:34). Paul ...

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