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 751 to 775 of 1400 results

751. Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... revealed to the world. More Johannine vocabulary follows in verse 5 as the writer begins to discuss the divine in terms of lightness and darkness. When John declares as an absolute that "God is light," he is perhaps arguing against a Gnostic notion that morally ambiguous gods of darkness were more responsible for created matter than any omnipotent god of light and truth. Like the gospel writer, 1 John finds a powerful image in a God of light whose clearest and most dazzling brilliance shines forth ...

752. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... for Isaiah. He mourns his unfit nature and his woeful heritage. Isaiah describes the shortcomings of himself and his people with the image of "unclean lips." This image not only foreshadows his role as a prophet, a spokesman for the Lord. It also reflects the Hebraic notion that words and deeds are one and the same. The Hebrew word for "word" (dabar) is the same as the term for "thing." Words are things. Ideas, conceived in the heart and then formulated by the mind, have a life all their own. Every hateful ...

753. John 6:24-35

John 6:24-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Perhaps yesterday's free bread has a price tag of some sort on it today, reasons this crowd, and so they ask what is required of them: Literally they ask "what must we do to work the works of God?" John's Gospel spends considerable time discussing this notion of "work." In Johannine theology God, Jesus, and human beings all have their own appropriate "work" to perform. The work of God is to send the Son into the world for our salvation. The work of the Son is to do the will of the Father, and successfully ...

754. James 3:13-18

James 3:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... resurrection (v.31). Yet the disciples do not comprehend the significance of this declaration, and, like most of us, are afraid to admit their confusion. Instead, as the group continues on its way, the disciples begin to bicker among themselves over the egotistical notion of which one of them would become the greatest. It is in verse 35 that Jesus' upside-down thinking turns conventional wisdom and earthly evaluations inside-out: The first shall be last; the greatest of all will be a servant to all. Jesus ...

755. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... completely annoying it is for the proud and proper mainliners to be told that those enthusiastic, hands-in-the-air, hollering-in-the-aisle charismatics are for their common good. Equally disgruntling to proponents of "the-louder-the-better" pentecostalism is the notion that some stereotypical liberal gadfly is also for the common good. But Paul's words allow us no escape. He claims the charismatic label for all Christians, for the entire body of Christ. When individual churches try to limit the diversity of ...

756. John 20:19-31 [Genesis 2:5-24]

John 20:19-31 [Genesis 2:5-24]

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... other words, the line in Genesis 2:18 that we usually translate "helper fit for him" should really read "a power equal to" man. Eve was created as Adam's equal. This is the only kind of "partner" that will do. In fact, this is such a radical notion of the equality of the creation of male and female that Harold Bloom playfully suggests that it could only have been written by a woman. v.23: Hear Adam's triumphant and ecstatic cry, the first recorded saying of humans in Scripture: "At last..." (Adam had been ...

757. Hebrews 13:1-8

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to the intimacy of the individual's bedroom and bank account. Without a breath of hesitancy, sex and money now become the focus of this epistle's discussion. First the writer urges that marriage be "esteemed" or "honored" by all. The Jewish-Christian notion of fidelity in marriage was an extreme minority view in the ancient Near Eastern world. The pagan culture took its identity from a pantheon of lustful, impetuous gods who were honored at their various temples by the presence of cultic prostitutes. The ...

758. Philemon 1:1-20

Philemon 1:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... used to ask your best friend to stay for dinner while standing right in front of your mother, then turn to her and say, "It is OK with you, isn't it Mom?"), the apostle now suggests that Philemon consider something even more radical - the notion that his slave is now his brother in Christ for all eternity. The whole incongruity between Christianity and slavery rears up at us in this one sentence. Certainly Paul opens a can of worms here by stressing the kinship and equality that Philemon and Onesimus now ...

759. Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the threefold experience of God's hope, glory and power await these believers. Paul's prayer specifically asks for the gift of enlightenment to open the Ephesians' hearts to the presence of those gifts. In verse 19, this prayer focuses tightly on the crucial notion and nature of God's power, a theme prevalent throughout this letter. Might it have been a point of debate among the people there? Artemis worship was still a rising influence, even though the other magical beliefs, mystery religions and a host of ...

760. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... wonder that Paul confronted a church filled with tussles of one-upmanship. Whether by claiming special associations (v.12) or special knowledge and wisdom, everyone was anxious to make good his or her own case. Paul responds to these wrong-headed notions in today's text by falling back on two decidedly unlikely examples - words from the Old Testament and the blatant foolishness of the Cross. For his primarily Gentile audience, enamored of Hellenistic philosophies, the weight carried by Jewish scripture was ...

761. Matthew 5:13-20

Matthew 5:13-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to be the hill-top night light for the world. But the corporate candlepower of this image in no way suggests that individual wattage is unimportant. Verse 15 continues this "light" image by focusing on the illuminating quality found in each lamp. The ludicrous notion of lighting a lamp and then hiding it under a modios, a common wooden grain measure, is ridiculous on two counts. First, light is useless as light when it is covered up. Second, as any householder would know, the light could not even continue ...

762. Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Christ made with sinful humanity. First, his divinity is "emptied" out - a theologically challenging concept that often leaves scholars arguing long into the night. To keep this hymn focused on the mission of the divine Christ, and not the human Jesus, this notion of "emptying" must somehow be accomplished without sacrificing the authentic and enduring quality of divinity this Christ possessed. Perhaps as good an explanation as any here may be that in the act of self-emptying, the divine was able to "enter ...

763. Matthew 18:15-20

Matthew 18:15-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... however, is that all sins are subject to this communal scrutiny and judgment. In short, there is no evidence that the gospel writers distinguished between behavior conducted in one's private life or behaviors expressed toward the community of faith. The notion of certain behaviors being "personal business" was unknown in the first-century church. The faith community assumed that personal sinful behavior did affect the whole corporate church body and thus it must be confronted and dealt with. It was believed ...

764. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... suggests a more complex concept than simply one God with many gifts. For Paul, the more precise, more profound point is that there is a variety of gifts because there is true variety within the unity of God. Among the many confused and wrong-headed notions about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts that the Corinthians seem to hold is the belief that the gift of the Spirit is given to individuals for individual use and gain. Against that selfish misappropriation of the Spirit, Paul preaches in verse 7 that ...

765. Luke 6:27-38

Luke 6:27-38

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... be played out in verse 37. Just as Luke has provided three examples of self-centered, graceless behavior in verses 32-34, he now offers three examples of merciful behavior: do not judge; do not condemn; and do forgive. The final image furthers the notion of God's imprudent graciousness. The "good measure" of God's grace we may normally expect is not what God wants to offer. In an agricultural marketplace economy, the fairness of weights and measures was a deadly serious matter. While no merchants would dare ...

766. 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... as Christians - chosen ones of the coming Lord - to envision themselves as "above" menial labor. In the Greek ideal, such labor was carried out only by slaves, not by free men. Paul denounces this misconception with strong words and examples. In place of some Greek notion of who should work, Paul offers a far more direct teaching - those who won't work, don't eat (v.10). But before he cites that rule, Paul calls on the Thessalonians themselves to testify to the truth of Paul's argument against idleness. In ...

767. Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... than in today's permissive culture, and the formal nature of Joseph and Mary's betrothal raised the event of this untimely pregnancy to a new degree of seriousness. A betrothal, while less than a full marriage, was certainly more than any modern notion of an "engagement." Betrothal was a definitive legal state, contracts had been signed, dowries exchanged, binding agreements set in place. While a legal marriage did not exist until the husband had taken his wife into his home and consummated their union, a ...

768. Genesis 9:8-17

Genesis 9:8-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... that Christ "died for sins once for all, the righteous and the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God ..." (verse 18). If the text from Genesis suggests that the door of salvation is open to all creation, Peter now advances this notion yet one step further in verse 19. Picking up on early church tradition and the compilation of christophanies (resurrection stories), Peter here asserts that Jesus also suffered and died for those who have already perished. "The spirits in prison" of verse 19 almost ...

769. Acts 4:32-35

Acts 4:32-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

770. John 3:1-17

John 3:1-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

771. John 6:24-35

John 6:24-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

772. James 3:13-18

James 3:13-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

773. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

774. John 20:19-31 [Genesis 2:5-24]

John 20:19-31 [Genesis 2:5-24]

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

775. Revelation 21:10, 22-27

Revelation 21:10, 22-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , home is a place where we feel physically secure and safe. The gates of this city are always open - for there is nothing to fear within the homeland of the New Jerusalem. John's emphasis on the glorious continuous light highlights this notion of security. Darkness harbors the unknown, the threatening, the unseen. In the light all things become visible, familiar - reassuringly homey. Second, being "at home" means we are in a trustworthy environment that is steadfast and stable. From exile on a remote island ...

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