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 526 to 550 of 655 results

526. Accept His Peace

John 4:1-26, Romans 5:1-11, Exodus 17:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... In the world of golf, sinking a sixty-two-foot putt is about as likely as a hole-in-one. Larry Nelson paused for a long moment. Then he raised his head, sized up the terrain, and stroked his ball. It rolled downhill for a spell, then up an incline, then down another slope, and up another, and finally it curved, and then Ker plunk! into the hole it went. Some called it the shot of the year. Bolstered by this magnificent putt, Larry Nelson went on to win the tournament, his first victory following a two-year ...

527. Dead Hearts and New Beginnings

John 3:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... our sins, to make our petitions and to offer our praise. That is not true of all of us, of course. Some of us simply “come to church.” It is a habit, a tradition, something that is good for the children. Many of us come without the least inclination that we might have an encounter with the living God at this time in this place. Someone has said that today’s generation of adults worship at their play and play at their worship. What a sad commentary that is on our time. Jacob encountered God at Bethel ...

528. I Wonder if God Exists

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... until they rest in thee.” The prominence of religion in our world underscores Augustine’s prayer. There truly is a “God-shaped void in all of us that only God can fill.” The Significance of Jesus Christ After reading these arguments, skeptics may be inclined to believe in some sort of “higher power” or divine force. However, these arguments fall short in proving the nature of God. For instance, we may be able to believe that God created the world, but what does it say about this God when there ...

529. The Real Thing

Matthew 5:21-48

Sermon

James L. Killen

... who is loved. For such a person, the promise "You shall not kill" can be a very precious promise. There are lots of people who really love their families and want to keep their families whole but who know they have within them the inclination to give in to a temptation to be unfaithful. The opportunities may present themselves often to people who live in certain situations. For such a person, the promise "You shall not commit adultery" is great good news. How many soldiers have come limping away from ...

530. The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... tyranny of a divided self” (Tasker, p. 62). According to James, the hypocrite needs to “purify [the] heart” (4:8). If the eye is not sound, the entire body will be in darkness (Matt. 6:23). Ulterior motives divide the heart. Jewish writers understood this inclination to moral schizophrenia as resulting from an evil yēṣer or impulse. What God required of those who would ascend the hill of the Lord was “clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:3–4). The reward for complete and inward integrity is ...

531. John the Baptist Beheaded

Matthew 14:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... in prison. Josephus identifies the place as the fortress of Machaerus on the east side of the Dead Sea and says that John was imprisoned because Herod “feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion” (Ant. 18.116–119). Matthew records that John was imprisoned because he had spoken out against the unlawful marriage of Herod to his brother Philip’s wife. Herod Antipas was married to the daughter of the Nabatean king Aretas (cf ...

532. The Calling of the First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of the calling of Simon (Peter), James, and John takes place shortly after the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:16–20). Although Jesus had begun to proclaim the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15), no reason is given for why these Galilean fishermen would be inclined to follow Jesus. But Luke’s arrangement does afford a logical context. Jesus has been preaching throughout Galilee (4:14–15, 31–32, 43), has performed numerous healings and exorcisms (4:33–37, 40–41), and has healed Peter’s mother-in-law (4:38 ...

533. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... regard Abraham as sinless any more than he regarded Israel as sinless. In its reflective moments Israel realized that God had chosen it not because it was more numerous or powerful or important than other peoples, but from a deeper, more mysterious inclination called grace. “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous … but because the Lord loved you” (Deut. 7:7–8). Neither Abraham nor Israel had meritorious checks written against their accounts. Luther ...

534. Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1-11

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... a victorious passage. “In the whole Bible there is hardly another chapter which can equal this triumphant text,” said Luther (Epistle to the Romans, p. 72). It is like a mountain pass from which one revels in scenery after having labored through the inclines and switchbacks of argumentation in the earlier chapters. The view cannot be fully appreciated without the effort it took to get there. Commentators are divided whether the passage is the conclusion of Paul’s argument so far or the beginning of a ...

535. The Throne in Heaven

Revelation 4:1-11

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... as indicated by the cumulative force of chapter four’s two concluding doxologies. The Trisagion (“Holy, Holy, Holy”; 4:8) of the living creatures attributes absolute holiness to God, suggesting that God simply will not tolerate evil and is at odds with the natural inclinations of a fallen world and the anti-Christian kingdom which rules over it. The glory and honor and power which the elders then attribute to God in the second doxology (4:11) suggest that it will be God, and not the powers of the evil ...

536. The Seals

Revelation 6:1-17

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... that things are not right? Especially during times of calamity, those most comfortable and secure among us, who lose the resources of their comforts and securities, come to realize more concretely that death and evil pervade human existence. They are often the most inclined to ask, perhaps on behalf of all those they rule over, Who can stand? In any case, neither question, asked by the martyr or by the pagan elite, is merely rhetorical; each is rooted in human experience. Together they prepare the reader of ...

537. 144,000 Sealed

Revelation 7:1-8

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... “great multitude” does John also see the Lamb. This may well indicate a continuity between the Israel of God prior to and then after the Christ event as comprising the two essential and interconnected dispensations of salvation’s history. We are inclined toward the first of these two options, primarily because we prefer to understand the significance of this particular interlude as a response to the two seminal questions that emerge from the chaos of the first six seal judgments. The opening phrase ...

538. The Angel and the Little Scroll

Revelation 10:1-11

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... breaking of the sixth and seventh seals, this vision is formed by two integrated parts, which together posit that the church’s hope in the certain end of its tribulation and experience of salvation is in accord with the plan of God. Again, we are inclined to think of this interlude in terms of repeated and central themes found in the little scroll given to John in chapter 10 and written down in chapter 11. Many have pursued the precise meaning of the little scroll without success. Most associate it with ...

539. The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-19

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... place the sounding of the seventh trumpet at Christ’s parousia, since John finds no such temple in the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21; 22); and. even now the faithful Christian community is the “true” temple of God (cf. 11:1). To resolve this difficulty, some scholars are inclined to follow Minear’s lead and begin the next section of John’s vision at 11:19 rather than at 12:1. This clever move makes John’s reference to the ark of the covenant his preface to the battles of the current age, narrated from ...

540. Seven Angels With Seven Plagues

Revelation 15:1-8

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... God’s punishment of Israel will be if Israel fails to “pay attention to” God’s commands and keep all “the Lord’s decrees” (Exod. 15:26; Rev. 14:12). For those believers who wish to return to “Egypt” (or Babylon) and who are inclined to disregard God’s “eternal gospel,” John’s vision of the bowl-plagues is also a warning to repent in order to escape a similar destiny. 15:1–2 John sees another … sign, introducing the final celestial “sign” in a triadic sequence that began ...

541. Regulations about Infectious Skin Diseases

Leviticus 13:1-46

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of verse 31. In either case, the sore is infectious, making the person unclean. The text calls the sore an itch of the scalp or beard in the case of a man, of the chin area in the case of a woman. The term indicates a scaliness and the inclination to scratch or peel the area. The text continues with the circumstance in which the decision is not immediately clear. A seven-day period of confinement is again required. The sore does not appear to be deeper than the skin, but there is no black hair in it. Black ...

542. Bildad

Job 8:1-22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... of plants for this final aphorism. In this case, the scene is a well-watered garden. The noun translated well-watered plant occurs only here, so we do not know the precise nature of this plant. From my own endeavors with gardening, I am inclined to see a particularly tenacious and spreading weed that draws water intended for the garden plants to feed the rapid growth of its tendrils. The description of the plant looking for a place among the stones (lit., “a house of stones”) seems more appropriate ...

543. Delivering the Helpless from Social Oppression: Part I

Psalm 9:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... praise that follows (vv. 7–8). These hymnic praises celebrate Yahweh’s international judgment in the same terms as the psalms of Yahweh’s kingship (cf. 93:2; 96:10, 13; 98:9). Why this judgment is something to look forward to (not the inclination of most Christians when thinking of divine judgment!) is explained in verses 9–10: the LORD is a refuge for the oppressed. The case before the divine judge is a “civil suit” between the wicked and the oppressed, not a “criminal case” between Yahweh ...

544. The King’s Thanksgiving for Military Victories

Psalm 18:1-50

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... came before him, into his ears, emphasizes that distance in prayer is no problem and that the cry comes to Yahweh’s personal attention. The place from which Yahweh heard my voice (not a silent prayer) is his temple, by which we would be inclined to think first of the Jerusalem temple, but the following theophany also points in another direction. 18:7–15 Suddenly, with the insertion of a theophany, the perspective of the psalm shifts: there is no mention of the speaker (no “I” is here) and nothing ...

545. Seeking Security in the House of the Lord

Psalm 27:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... 16; 23; 62; 63; 91). It seems odd the psalm should first make confident assertions about Yahweh’s protection but then petition him repeatedly, “Do not reject me or forsake me” and “do not turn me over to . . . my foes.” Several observations, however, should incline us to read this psalm as a unit. First, key terms and phrases appear in both sections, thus linking them together: Yahweh as “(the God of) my salvation” (Hb. yišʿî, vv. 1, 9), “my foes” (vv. 2, 12), “heart” (vv. 3, 8, 14 ...

546. The Vinedresser and the Plundered Vine of Israel

Psalm 80:1-19

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... their kingship is a vassalage. The psalm remains fixed upon Yahweh who has bound himself to his people. Additional Note 80:2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh: Because of the tribes listed here (also Joseph, v. 1) and the omission of Judah, one might be inclined to read this as a psalm of the northern kingdom of Israel (922–722 B.C.). But several features tie it to Judah as well, either during the period of the united monarchy or even later. Benjamin was, in fact, part of the southern kingdom with ...

547. The Davidic Mercies and Deliverance from Foreigners

Psalm 144:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... with 128:1–4 (also cf. v. 15b with 33:12a). The mention of “who subdues peoples under me” (v. 2), of rescue from foreigners (vv. 7, 11), and of David (v. 10), as well as the many parallels to Psalm 18, a royal psalm, have inclined most interpreters to read Psalm 144 as a royal psalm. But we need to observe that each royal feature stems from the psalm’s dependence on Psalm 18, which is only one among the several psalms incorporated here. The other psalms represent a variety of genres, including ...

548. The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... of oral storytellers (Collins, Daniel, p. 192). The written form of Daniel 3, thus, preserves this echo of storytelling art. The fiery-furnace story may have its roots in an event during the Babylonian exile. We know that ancient kings were inclined to raise large statues. Perhaps, at times, they even made it compulsory to worship them. There is also a report that Nebuchadnezzar roasted two men (Jer. 29:22). Nevertheless, the mention of Persian officials (see the commentary on 3:1–7) suggests ...

549. Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:1-19

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... between this chapter and the others in Daniel. In conclusion, there are good reasons for questioning whether the prayer belongs to the earliest stratum of the book, but the evidence is inconclusive. Good arguments have been made on both sides of the debate. I incline to the view that the prayer is a later interpolation, while I acknowledge that it is not clear and that the prayer does fit very well in the chapter and in the purported sixth-century setting. Daniel 9 exhibits the envelope construction, or A ...

550. Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-3:6

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... as using the term in this way of himself, or whether the whole of 2:28 is to be understood as another Markan editorial comment (e.g., 3:30; 5:8; 7:3–4; 13:14b) to help the reader see the significance of Jesus’ actions. I am inclined to think the latter is more likely. 3:1 The synagogue may imply the same synagogue mentioned in 1:21, but not necessarily. It should be noted that the is not attested in the best Greek manuscripts and may have been introduced by scribes, thereby connecting this synagogue ...

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