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 876 to 900 of 3082 results

876. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The King Becomes a Beast-Man and Then Recovers: In terms of form, chapter 4 starts out as a letter from King Nebuchadnezzar addressed to all people everywhere. It begins in the first person with praise to God (4:1–3). Next, the king relates in his own voice the story of his dream (4:4–18). Then the account shifts to the third person for Daniel’s interpretation (4:19–27) and for the narrative of how the dream was fulfilled (4:28–33). Finally, the text reverts back to the first person as Nebuchadnezzar ...

877. The Gospel We Preach

Matthew 25:14-30

Sermon

Albert G. Butzer III

Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground. — Matthew 25:24 A number of years ago my wife and I and several of our friends went on a sailing vacation in the Caribbean. One day we went ashore on the island of Dominica, hired a taxi, and took a tour of that tropical paradise. While making small talk with the taxi driver, one of my friends casually mentioned that I was a ...

878. “I Will Sing the Lord’s Praise, for He Has Been Good to Me”

Psalm 13:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: Faith has its personae, from skepticism to personal conflict, but trust, its true persona, sings its way into the joy of God’s goodness. Understanding the Text Psalm 13 is an individual lament that leaves the cause of lament uncertain (see below) but calls attention to the joy of buoyant faith (13:5). The biblical laments always hover near words of trust and assurance, and such a question as we have in verses 1 and 2 should send us on a search for words of faith in the lament psalms. Also, it ...

879. New Life Goes On

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David Coffin

The experience is worse than any walk of shame one sees for people being voted off the program in any television reality show. A woman who is in her upper middle ages had been working in her mid-level management office job for twelve years. She had done all of the right things. She had both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in her field. Her colleagues enjoyed her, as did the people who worked in her department whom she supervised. She kept a cordial relationship with upper management. She wore company ...

880. On Not Meeting People's Needs at Church

Mark 6:1-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

Among his own people, in his hometown, Jesus encounters rejection and conflict. Mark suggests that they rejected him because they thought of him as an unimpressive “hometown boy.” Interestingly, we are given no content of his teaching here, only a report that encounter with Jesus provoked fierce resistance, even among those who were closest to him. Mark links this story of rejection with the sending out of the disciples as if to say that the crisis which Jesus provoked will also afflict those who follow ...

881. Clearing the Eyes

John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

The scripture today is one of honest inquiry but turns quickly to a realization that what the disciples have known, or thought they knew, is no longer applicable. When it comes to encountering a blind person they turn to what they have been taught. If a bad illness or disability befell a person like the one that befell the blind man, it must be because he or his parents had done something wrong. Today, we understand that if a person is born blind it would be because of any number of prenatal conditions ...

882. Christmas 1

Isaiah 61:10–62:3, Luke 2:21-40, Galatians 3:23–4:7, Colossians 3:12-21

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

Theme: Hope for the future. Simeon and Anna viewed Jesus as the fulfillment of their people's hopes and dreams. In a similar manner we see our hopes being fulfilled in our children and youth. We can be advanced in years and still live in hope. COMMENTARY Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10--62:3 The prophet of the third portion of Isaiah (circa 530 B.C.) holds up a brilliant hope for the discouraged Israelites returning from exile to their own land. He thanks God for clothing him in the Lord's robe of ...

883. Proper 17

Lk 14:1, 7-14 · Heb 12:18-19, 22-24; 13:1-8 · Eze 18:1-9, 25-29 · Prov 25:6-22

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Ezekiel 18:1-9, 25-29 Each person is responsible for his/her life. Ezekiel here stresses individual responsibility for sin. Heretofore the emphasis was upon community, the nation. Now Judah is in bondage and the community (nation) exists no more. The old proverb said that the children suffer for the sins of their parents. Those now in exile holding to this view could feel no responsibility for their plight and could accept the situation as fate. Ezekiel corrects this one-sided view by preaching ...

884. A Sense of Place

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 6-10

Sermon

Stan Purdum

In one of his books, writer Scott Russell Sanders tells that whenever his father would come to new place, he would bend down, scoop up a pinch of dirt, sniff it, stir it around in his palm, squeeze it, and finally rake it across his tongue. When asked why he did this, he explained, "Just trying to figure out where I am."1 I have never used that particular method to locate myself, but being in ministry in a denomination where the bishop periodically sends pastors to new churches and communities, the dirt- ...

885. How Jesus’ Friendship Makes Your Burdens Light

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

Jesus was teaching about the kind of authority he has. We need authority in our context, because to Jesus' mind we are a very confused, wayward generation. There was nothing to compare the people of his time to, nothing to compare us to.1 They and we are wayward, hardened, confused people. Inappropriate behavior seemed to be the order of the day in Jesus' view. The people of Israel were like children who were playing, but could get none of the other children to celebrate, even when they played music. But ...

886. Toss Your Cap Over the Wall

Mark 3:20-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Even though this is baseball season, I want to begin with a basketball story. It is about Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest professional basketball player of all time. One night he scored sixty-nine points in a single game. In that same game, rookie Stacey King made his inauspicious debut. He shot one free throw and made it. After the final buzzer, a reporter asked King for his thoughts on the game. Stacey King, with tongue planted firmly in his cheek, replied: “I’ll always remember this as the night ...

887. Accusations

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

Each of the three main sections of 2 Corinthians mentions Paul’s imminent third visit to Corinth and in some way prepares the way for that visit (see Introduction). In the preceding section of the letter (chs. 8–9) Paul builds on the confidence that he has in the Corinthians by reactivating the plan for the collection. In the third section (chs. 10–13) he handles the problem of the opponents in a more frontal way. In the process, Paul reinforces the defense of his apostleship from 2:14–7:4, particularly in ...

888. Elijah Flees to Horeb

1 Kings 19:1-8

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Elijah and the LORD: Elijah has been involved in a mighty battle. He seems to think it decisive and so he has left the battlefield for Jezreel. Yet there have been several hints in the narrative thus far that it is the queen, and not the king, who is the real general of the opposing forces. She will not be so easily cowed as her husband, and Elijah is now to see that to win a battle is not necessarily to win the war. That realization will send him into retreat, both physical and mental, as victory becomes ...

889. Jehu Anointed King of Israel

2 Kings 9:1-13

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

The Axe Falls (at Last) on Ahab: The twelve years of Jehoram, son of Ahab, are completed (2 Kgs. 3:1; 8:25); and the time for judgment has come (1 Kgs. 21:21–29). Elisha is still with us, and Hazael—though not in the way first planned—is king of Aram. Ahab’s drama is approaching its final curtain. Of the players mentioned in 1 Kings 19:15–18, we await only Jehu. Right on cue, he now makes his entrance. Israel will be purged at last of Ahab’s house and the worship of Baal it has introduced. Judah, too, will ...

890. A Prophecy Against Babylon

Isaiah 13:1--14:23

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Poems about Northern Powers: Introduction to Chapters 13–23: Chapter 12 would have made a fine ending to a book, and perhaps it once did. Isaiah has warned Judah of calamity to come, then looked at the other side of trouble to the punishment of the troublers themselves and to the fulfillment of Yahweh’s purpose for Israel “in that day.” Isaiah 13 then marks a new start. The word oracle announces something new; this distinctive title will introduce most of the sections within this next major division of the ...

891. The Revolutionary Values of the Kingdom of God

Luke 18:31-34, Luke 18:18-30, Luke 18:15-17

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: In the kingdom of God accepted human values of status and importance are turned upside down. Understanding the Text As the journey to Jerusalem nears its end, encounters with others on the way illustrate the principle expressed in 18:14b, and in so doing they reveal how far those around Jesus still are from grasping the true nature of God’s kingdom and the necessary pattern of Jesus’s own mission. Their incomprehension focuses especially on the issue of wealth, and thus it provides an opportunity ...

892. “If I Were Hungry I Would Not Tell You, for the World Is Mine, and All That Is in It”

Psalm 50:1-23

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

Big Idea: One of the great dissimilarities between humanity and God is that we are needy people, but God needs nothing. Understanding the Text Psalm 50 is a perfect example of the kind of liturgical piece that might be recited in the seventh year when the Torah was read at the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 31:9–13).1Yet when the Book of the Covenant was discovered in the temple during Josiah’s reign (622–609 BC), it seems that this practice had not been observed for some time (2 Kings 23:1–3). In form- ...

893. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

Abraham as the Model of Faith Chapter 4 is a test case of righteousness by faith. In 3:21–31 Paul presented a position statement on salvation through faith in Christ’s sacrifice of atonement. In chapter 4 he sends the class to the laboratory, as it were, to test that thesis. Here we find the compressed and nuclear thesis of 3:21–31 developed in the discursive style of Jewish midrash. Midrash was the name given to a form of rabbinic exposition in ancient Palestine which sought to penetrate the meaning of ...

894. Jesus Is Coming

Revelation 22:7-21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

The concluding section of early Christian letters often contains the author’s benediction, typically expressed as a prayer or doxology, but often accompanied by many other pastoral conventions as well. In his letters, for example, Paul sometimes closes his correspondence by greeting various acquaintances in a particular congregation (cf. Rom. 16), perhaps to encourage them in their faith (cf. 1 Cor. 16:19–20) or to give them instructions (cf. Col. 4:15–16). In several of his letters, he includes a list of ...

895. The Lord Appears to Elijah

1 Kings 19:9-18

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

896. The Call of Elisha

1 Kings 19:19-21

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

897. Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

2 Kings 9:14-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

898. Jezebel Killed

2 Kings 9:30-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

899. The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 42:1-9

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Servant and Covenant: Again Yahweh challenges opponents to come to court to argue out who is God (41:21–29). Again a passage about Yahweh’s servant (42:1–9) follows this court case. Again this leads into praise and a vision of Yahweh transforming nature (42:10–17). While the three sections parallel the preceding set of three, they take matters much further. 42:1a Following the description of the commitments Yahweh makes to servant Israel (41:3–16) is a description of the commitment that Yahweh’s servant ...

900. The Bethsaida Boys

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

John Jamison

After Jesus was baptized by John, he went to spend time in the desert lands east of the Jordan River, to begin preparing for the work he was going to do. While he was there in the wilderness, he got word that John had been arrested and killed. It was then that he decided it was time to come back to Galilee and get to work. He traveled around Galilee, which is not a big place, and began preaching and teaching, picking up where John the Baptist had stopped. We could spend a lot of time talking about John’s ...

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