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 726 to 750 of 4947 results

726. Propriety in Worship

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... Gk. doxa) of God. Cf. Gen. 1:27. 11:8 Cf. Gen. 2:22 LXX. 11:10 The phrase sign of authority in the NIV is a translation of the single Gk. word exousia, which normally means “authority.” The NIV paraphrase is an attempt to make sense of this obscure statement. As Orr and Walther note, “There is no other occurrence of exousia with epi [“over,” NIV = on] and the genitive in Paul” (1 Corinthians, p. 261); thus, Fee (Epistle, pp. 512, 518–22) corrects the translation to read, in part, “the woman ...

727. Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... and the first readers of his letter. According to the Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Jesus and certain members of the early church did “powerful acts” that were believed to be extraordinary manifestations of God’s power. Such acts were not normal, in the sense of being everyday occurrences; but Paul and other early Christians did not see God as having established a world that ran by natural law until God reached in and altered the course of events. God was transcendent, but his presence was immanent and ...

728. Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... . Paul creates a slight contrast between what he says in these statements and what went before, for now the readers hear of the three highest gifts—faith, hope and love. Faith was mentioned in 13:2, but it is not clear that the same sense is intended here (see esp. Paul’s “faith-talk” in Romans and Galatians). Nevertheless, faith becomes the foundation for Christian life. In turn, hope emanates from faith (13:7), but as the lines continue one sees that Paul’s purpose in developing his argument ...

729. The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... Lamb, because in his triumph they have been made confident of God’s mercy (cf. Heb. 4:14–16). 5:9–10 The new (i.e., eschatological) song sung by the heavenly chorus interprets the full significance of the Lamb’s action in taking God’s scroll. In this sense, the song responds to the angel’s earlier question, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” (5:2): the slain and risen Lamb is worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; he is the Messiah who is able to inaugurate the ...

730. The Trumpets

Revelation 8:6--9:21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... one cannot harm anyone born of God” (1 John 5:18). 9:5–6 Throughout his vision of the trumpet plagues, John has indicated that the devastation of God’s judgment is not yet complete. Typically, one third of the earth is touched and destroyed. This sense of an incomplete judgment conveys God’s admonition: there is still time for lost humanity to repent and turn to God before the end comes and total destruction with it (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9). The marauding locusts, therefore, were not given power to kill ...

731. The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-19

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... a community of God’s servants … and saints … both great and small are rewarded, culminating in their new life as the new Jerusalem. This future and final judgment of the nations’ rebellion and the complete vindication of the church’s faithfulness reflect a sense of fairness. As Caird points out, this is an essential aspect of John’s idea of salvation. Not only will the faithfulness of martyrs be gloriously vindicated, but those who ravage the earth will themselves be ravaged by God. Yet, this is ...

732. The Rider on the White Horse

Revelation 19:11-21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... of seven different visions (19:11–16, 17–18, 19–21; 20:1–3, 4–10, 11–15; 21:1–22:6a), each introduced by the apocalyptic formula, “and I saw” (kai eidon). The sequence of these visions is not chronological, at least in a historical sense. John’s vision concerns the complexity of a single event, the second coming of Christ, and does not chart a series of events over an extended period of time. Each vision of the whole portrays a distinct and critical aspect of God’s coming victory in ...

733. The Death of Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus 10:1-20

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... . Through all the high points and low points, the character of Aaron is a hopeful one. The text now turns from Aaron to his handbook, the Manual of Purity. Additional Notes 10:1 Budd notes that the word used for unauthorized, zarah, carries the sense of unholy and can refer to that which is foreign; Jeremiah uses the notion of something not commanded by God in relation to idolatrous cultic practices (Leviticus, p. 151). In fact, J. Laughlin posits that the fire may have been related to Zoroastrian worship ...

734. Balaam’s First Oracle

Numbers 23:1-12

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... expect a proper name. Sutu seems far afield and Seth very broad. 24:19 Some commentators revocalize the word for city to read a proper name, Ar, mentioned in 21:15, 28. 24:22 The Hb. for Kenites is qayin, the ancestor of the Kenites. The sense of the last line of the verse is uncertain. The NIV renders ‘ad-mah as when, but it usually means “how long?” Asshur usually refers to the Assyrian Empire, but most commentators date Balaam’s oracles before that empire came on the scene. An alternative is ...

735. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... context suggests that the various headings that introduce the parties of the dialogue/debate (3:2; 4:1; 6:1; 8:1; 9:1; 11:1; 12:1; 15:1; 16:1; 18:1; 19:1; 20:1; 21:1; 22:1; 23:1; 25:1; 26:1) have the sense of “enter/continue debate.” 15:2 The idiom of empty notions is different, but similar, to that of Ecclesiastes’ “chasing after the wind” (2:11, Heb. reʿut ruakh, meaning “vain, empty striving”). Eliphaz’s phrase is Heb. daʿat ruakh, “vain, empty knowledge.” In Hos. 12:1 the east ...

736. Treasures In Heaven

Matthew 6:19-24

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... are destroyed. In the ancient East elaborate clothing was viewed as part of a person’s treasure. Such material was easily devastated by moths. “Eating” could refer to the gnawing of mice and other vermin (McNeile, p. 84) or in a more general sense to what Weymouth calls “wear-and-tear.” Since houses were normally made of mud brick or baked clay, it was relatively easy for a thief to dig through (dioryssō; NIV, break in) and steal possessions. Very little protection existed in the ancient world ...

737. No One Is Righteous before God

Psalm 143:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... Kgs. 8:31–32). The context of these psalms may thus be likened to a civil court case between two parties. In 143:2, however, judgment takes place “before you.” Here judgment and righteousness are relative to God alone, and thus take on an absolute sense. There is no third party here, so this may be likened to a criminal case (further on this analogy, see C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms [London: Geoffrey Bles, 1958], pp. 15–22). Third, we need to consider the chief function of the designations ...

738. Jesus Before Pilate

Matthew 27:11-26

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... gentile perspective: Jews would refer to themselves as Israel. As in 26:25 and 64, Jesus answers sy legeis (lit., “You said [it]”). The ambiguity of the answer has been interpreted to mean that Jesus is in fact the king but not in any sense that Pilate would understand (Beare, p. 527). Jesus does not, however, answer the accusations made by the chief priests and elders (cf. Isa. 53:7). Pilate is disturbed by Jesus’ refusal to defend himself. He would like to have dismissed him with the verdict “not ...

739. The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar . . .” (3:16). One would not expect them to be so disrespectful. On the one hand, with a slight change to the text it is possible to read, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar,” which makes more sense (see the Additional Note on 3:16). On the other hand, characters do not always speak in stories as they do in real life, so it is best not to emend the text here. The words of their reply follow: We do not need to defend ...

740. The Death of Jesus

Matthew 27:45-56

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... that was happening, they were filled with awe and said, Surely he was the Son of God! Although the Greek has no article before “Son” (theou hyios), Matthew (and Mark, as well, 15:39) wants his readers to understand the confession in the same sense as intended in 4:3, 6, where “Son” also lacks the definite article. Gundry correctly notes that the “absence of the definite article before ‘Son’ allows but does not demand an indefinite meaning” (p. 578). Some are of the opinion that the centurion ...

741. Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:1-19

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... , Daniel, p. 246). In response, one could argue that the author of the book chose a stock prayer in more classical Hebrew and inserted it here. If such is the case, then while he did not compose the prayer, it is still “original” in the sense that it was not added by a later redactor but was part of the first edition (Collins, Daniel, p. 347). Next, one might expect a petition for illumination, since the angel brings a new explanation of the seventy years. Yet surprisingly, we find a penitential prayer ...

742. The Request of James and John

Mark 10:35-45

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of a cup and of a baptism, the ordeal that he is about to undergo. The disciples think perhaps that the cup and the baptism simply refer to fellowship with him and to being his follower, not realizing that Jesus uses the images here in a sense borrowed from the OT, where the terms “cup” and “deluge” are frequently used as images for divine judgment (see notes). That is, Jesus refers to his coming ordeal in terms that describe it as a divinely ordained fate for him, just as his predictions imply (cf ...

743. The Shepherds and the Angels

Luke 2:8-20

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... that the reading read by the majority of manuscripts, the reading which underlies the NIV, is the original one; for further discussion see Leaney, pp. 95–96. “Lord” does not always imply deity, for at times it denotes nothing more than “sir.” But when used in the absolute sense, the sense it appears to have in Luke 2:11, it refers to deity. 2:12 This will be a sign to you: Compare Exod. 3:12; 2 Kings 19:29. 2:13 a great company of the heavenly host: Compare 1 Kings 22:19. 2:14 Glory to God in ...

744. The Beast out of the Earth

Revelation 13:11-18

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... of his vision of the beasts in his composition because he felt his readers would be able to figure out the identity of the evil man. Countless speculations since have tried to calculate the number as a man’s name, only to fail the test of common sense. Most of the best interpretations contend that the number 666 refers to the man, Nero Caesar. This equation is problematical because while the letters of Nero’s name equal 666 in Hebrew they do not add up in Greek, the language of John’s audience (and of ...

745. The Woman on the Beast

Revelation 17:1-18

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... was also taken there earlier in its flight from the dragon (Revelation, p. 199). 17:4 Boring suggests that John’s description of the woman’s attire intends to evoke images of the new Jerusalem, envisioned in Revelation 21 (Revelation, p. 179). In this sense, then, when John views the woman, he actually sees a city—not the new Jerusalem but Babylon. The equation of the woman with the evil city Babylon becomes clear by the end of the chapter, when John finally solves the “mystery” and writes that ...

746. The Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25:8-55

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... cycle. Crops will be planted that year, but the harvest will provide food primarily for the following year. Provisions will be necessary during the time the crops grow. The blessing here is the material food for life. The term can also carry a broader sense of the power to grow and prosper in the world. The harvest of the ninth year will restore the usual production of food for the community. Having attended to such security concerns for the community that practices Sabbath and Jubilee, verses 23 and 24 ...

747. The Disciples' Grief Will Turn to Joy

John 16:17-33, John 16:5-16

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . The prayer is part of the once-and-for-all priestly work by which Jesus consecrates himself to death and his redeemed followers to their world mission (cf. 17:17, 19). Additional Notes 16:4b Because I was with you: Jesus’ language implies that in a certain sense he is no longer with his disciples, for he is already on his way to the Father (cf. v. 5: “Now I am going”). The impression of distance is stronger in chapter 17, where consistently Jesus speaks of the disciples in the past tense (e.g., 17 ...

748. Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified

John 19:1-16, John 18:28-40

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... He chooses not to make the answer explicit, and in fact gives Pilate no answer at all. Yet when Pilate makes the claim that Jesus’ fate is in his hands (v. 10), Jesus responds significantly that not only his origin but his destiny is from above, in the sense that it rests with God and with him alone. Pilate’s claim of authority over Jesus, when translated literally, sounds like a feeble echo of Jesus’ own claim in 10:18. The similarities can be shown as follows: 10:18 19:10 (lit.) No one takes it from ...

749. Hearts / Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... may be responding to his critics in Corinth in terms of the type, rather than thinking of a particular wrong. Paul also claims to have corrupted no one. It is unclear exactly what Paul may be referring to here. Elsewhere, he uses the verb in a variety of senses: “to destroy” (1 Cor. 3:17), “to corrupt morally” (1 Cor. 15:33; Eph. 4:22), “to lead astray” (2 Cor. 11:3). This last usage might be meant here, since the apostle has been accused of leading others astray (cf. 5:16; 6:8). Finally, Paul ...

750. Visit

2 Corinthians 13:1-10, 2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... 22:28, 32, 33; 24:10; Judg. 16:15; John 21:14). For examples of the use of children (tekna) without regard to age, see Exod. 20:5; 34:7; Num. 14:18; 16:27; Deut. 24:16; 29:29; 32:5. Sometimes the term is clearly used in the sense of progeny who survive their parents: cf. Lev. 25:46 (“for your children after you”). Toward the end of his life Moses pronounced the following blessing: “[Most] blessed be Asher of the children,” i.e., the other children of Israel (Deut. 33:24). The Aramaic word for corban ...

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