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 5000 results

876. The Lord Thwarts a Shrewd Counselor

2 Sam 16:15–17:29

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... advice to thwart Ahithophel and Absalom. In the middle of this unit we read that the Lord “had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom” (2 Sam. 17:14). This key statement provides a framework for understanding all that transpires in chapters 16–17. It also sets the stage for the realization of the Lord’s purpose as recorded in chapter 18. Ironically, while this statement bodes well for David (he will be delivered from Absalom’s threat on his life ...

877. Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice

1 Samuel 15:1-35

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... serve God, but he does not need their service. He desires a relationship with them in which he provides for their needs in exchange for covenantal faithfulness demonstrated by obedience.3Saul’s actions suggest that he does not fully understand the covenantal model and is operating in accordance with the cultural norms of surrounding nations; this explains his preoccupation with sacrifice. Teaching the Text 1. Disobedience can deprive one of special privilege granted by God. This principle has already ...

878. Eliphaz

Job 4:1-5:27

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... the existence of evil. At the end of the book, Job is not given an explanation about his adversity, but he does come to the realization that Yahweh is all-wise and all-powerful, and above all that he can be trusted for situations that humans cannot understand (see the sidebar). Teaching the Text After Job’s opening lament in chapter 3, chapter 4 begins the major section of the book of Job, in which Job and his friends attempt to explain why Job is suffering adversity. All of the speakers share some common ...

879. Job Destroys the Friends’ Major Argument

Job 21:1-34

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... is that the retribution formula assumed by his friends is not adequate to explain how God always works. Consequently, their insistence on applying the retribution formula to Job’s situation is not valid. Later on, Job himself will have to admit that neither does he understand the ways of God (42:2–3). 21:23–26 Side by side they lie in the dust. Retribution theology tries to evaluate a person’s acts and consequences as black and white, but Job demonstrates from actual examples in life that such a ...

880. “Taste and See That the Lord Is Good”

Psalm 34:1-22

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... should not “repay evil with evil or insult with insult” but “repay evil with blessing” (1 Pet. 3:9–12). It is likely that he sees in the admonition of 34:14 this principle of repaying evil with blessing. Sadly, in our Christian effort to understand the power of saving faith, we sometimes neglect the nexus of faith and practice. Peter’s words can gratefully serve as a corrective. Outline/Structure Title 1. Thanksgiving for God’s deliverance (34:1–7) a. Praise and call to praise (34:1–3) b ...

881. “Cast Your Cares on the Lord and He Will Sustain You”

Psalm 55:1-23

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... is that they humble themselves “under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift [them] up in due time” (1 Pet. 5:6). In that context of humility, he quotes the first part of verse 22, “Cast all your anxiety on him,” and then adds to this his understanding of the character of God, “because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). Whether he learned this from the great literature of the Torah (e.g., Exod. 34:6–7), the Psalms were a rich resource for recognizing the character of the Lord’s unfailing love ...

882. “When We Were Overwhelmed by Our Sins, You Forgave Our Transgressions”

Psalm 65:1-13

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... will crush the serpent’s head. This has long been seen as a messianic prophecy that Christ fulfilled. Truly this world is incredibly beautiful and marvelously designed, but the wonder of wonders is grace. Creation is something we all have in common, and if we understand that grace is built into the order of creation, then we are confronted anew with the God of the universe, who is not only Creator but also Redeemer, who not only formed the mountains but forgives our sins. David can begin Psalm 65 by ...

883. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... unlikely team, since the emperor plans to demolish Pacha’s village to build a royal vacation home. Nevertheless, the challenges they face in traversing the wild and avoiding the pursuit of the emperor’s advisor and her henchman end up bringing the two to understand each other. They even become friends, largely based on the help they give each other along the way. Each would have missed out on a great opportunity had they mistrusted each other, and both find an unlikely friend by the end of their journey ...

884. How to Deal with Demons

Matthew 12:38-50

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... do so. I’m talking about something far more difficult today—How to deal with demons. Our parable for today is one of the most graphic in Jesus’ repertoire of gripping stories. It’s a story of demons and an empty house. Now we may not have the same understanding of the world and of demons as was prevalent in New Testament times, but few of us would reject the presence and power of the demonic in ourselves and in our world. So this is a story about demons. It’s also the story of an empty house. That ...

885. Recognize that Bad Days Can Bring about Good

Ecclesiastes 7:1--8:1

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... procedure, as well as his discoveries, structure 7:15–29 but are absent from 6:10–7:14. Note the following examples: “I have seen” (7:15), “all this I tested by wisdom and I said” (7:23; cf. 1:13), “so I turned my mind to understand” (7:25), “I find” (7:26), “this is what I have discovered” (7:27), “I found” (7:28), “this only have I found” (7:29). Furthermore, in this section the focus is on the righteous person (Hebrew tsaddiq) for the first time (7:15, 16, 20). The ...

886. Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... with a response (3:3, 5–8, 10–15). When Nicodemus inquires about the character of Jesus’s signs, Jesus replies that rebirth is a prerequisite for seeing the kingdom of God (3:3, 7). Nicodemus’s misunderstanding (3:4) turns on a literal understanding of the Greek phrase gennēthē anōthen, “born again.” How can anyone be born twice? Yet anōthen can also mean “from above” (a spatial vs. a temporal rendering), and this is Jesus’s intended meaning. Typically, the Johannine Jesus employs a ...

887. Wisdom from the Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... preceding section. This section begins with Paul’s claim to “speak a message of wisdom among the mature” (2:6). But he quickly and firmly asserts that such wisdom belongs to neither this age nor the rulers of this age who, in reliance on an obsolete understanding of God’s wisdom and will, crucified the Lord of glory (2:6, 8). It has long been debated whether by “rulers of this age” Paul means human religious and/or political authorities (e.g., Luke 23:35; Acts 3:17; 4:26; 13:27), supernatural ...

888. Prayer for Enlightenment

Ephesians 1:15-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... or praying for it is not to be taken literally. He simply means that they are now a regular concern of his; he loves them this way, just as they love all the saints (1:16). He prays for these people, that God would foster their understanding by giving them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and enlightened hearts (1:17–18). The expression “glorious Father” (literally “Father of glory”) may allude to the indwelling Spirit as God’s Shekinah glory, as in the temple. Either way, it is unlikely that ...

889. Jesus or Niccolo?

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... v. 4). He quotes scripture Satan must surely know from the restatement of God's law in Deuteronomy 8:3: "He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." The message is easy to see: There is far more to life than merely fulfilling physical desires. It has many applications for each of our lives. Satan ...

890. The Power of the Trust Factor

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... hurt and angry with God. His friends, who come to comfort him, only add salt to his wounds because they just do not understand what is going on behind Job's circumstances. Despite all this, while Job is down he determines not to measure his life in ... that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me ...

891. Weeping at Christmastime

Matthew 2:13-23, Hebrews 2:10-18

Sermon

James L. Killen

... be consoled, because they are no more" (Matthew 2:18). It is good that those words are in this story. They assure us that God understands human grief and suffering and all of the other inner and outer oppressions of our lives. God has drawn near to us as we ... expects us to take the help he gives and to do all we can to make the most of life. But God is also a God who understands when we stumble and is there to help us get up and keep on going. When and where does God do those things? They are nice ideas ...

892. The Invitation

Isaiah 55:1-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... that the more thrills we seek the more we will find that thrills pass away? How many disappointments do we need to experience before we realize that material things do not ultimately satisfy? How many overrated invitations do we need to accept before we understand that the answer to our problems and the key to our meaning and fulfillment does not come from anything the world invites us to receive but can only come from the “One who created us for himself.” This is God’s plea to us through Isaiah ...

893. Does Prayer Make Any Diﬀerence?

Mark 1:35-39

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... prayer thing you are always doing? Can you teach us to do it too?” Jesus agreed and began to teach them. First he gave them a powerful prayer to learn — the Lord’s Prayer. After that, he taught them about the importance of prayer. Please understand — this teaching was not from a prayer guru who had written a best-selling book. This was a lesson on prayer from Jesus himself. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable about the importance of persistence in prayer (Luke 11:5-8). Jesus underscored that ...

894. Pop Verses!: Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... is the key. Most people just read this verse alone, out of its context and think, “Okay, Christ gives me strength too.” In fact, if I took a poll of how many know Philippians 4:12, most people would not know it. But you can’t understand Philippians 4:13 unless you understand Philippians 4:12, and 11 and 10. We must see this popular verse in light of its context. It is then and only then that we discover how to have what Paul had, that strength in Christ to do all things. So if you want that strength ...

895. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) was used to represent the Jewish attitude toward the idea of the destruction or profanation of the temple, an attitude no doubt shared by the Twelve but perhaps not so familiar to the readers; hence the note to the reader to understand the term properly (cf. Rev. 13:18 for a similar aside about a coded expression). The Matt. 24:15 parallel has “standing in the holy place” for “where it does not belong,” and the Luke 21:20 parallel drops the code term altogether and openly refers ...

896. The Lord's Supper

Mark 14:12-26

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... reconstruct the original form of the sayings over the cup and the bread and also in their opinions about which of the four accounts gives us the earliest version of the event. We cannot discuss all these questions here; instead, our aim will be to understand the Markan account, though we will make some reference to the other accounts in the notes. The Passover meal was full of symbolism and involved using the elements on the table as object lessons in teaching the meaning of the occasion; so Jesus’ use of ...

897. God's Wrath Against Mankind

Romans 1:18-32

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... Schlatter’s discussion of God’s wrath is particularly insightful. “It is precisely because Romans was written to testify to the grace of God (5:12–21) that it belongs to those parts of the NT which witness powerfully to the wrath of God. We understand nothing of grace if we do not sense the depths of divine indignation with which God opposes all evil. The degree to which we measure the truth and seriousness of divine wrath is the same degree to which we measure the truth and greatness of divine ...

898. An Illustration from Marriage

Romans 7:1-6

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... church as the body of Christ (e.g., 1 Cor. 12:27), or perhaps to the sacraments (e.g., 1 Cor. 10:16). But one wonders if the doctrine of the church is not premature at this juncture of the argument. It is more natural, and probably more correct, to understand the body of Christ as Christ’s redeeming work on the cross and our identification with it; in the sense of 6:2, “We died to sin” (cf. Col. 1:22; 2:14). The body of Christ is vividly and rightly anti-docetic. It reminds us that Christianity is not ...

899. God's Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:1-29

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... meet. There is, however, a point in the distance beyond human knowing where they converge, in God’s “unsearchable judgments” and “inscrutable ways” (11:33, RSV). To speak otherwise on such matters is to confess with Job, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). 9:14–18 The rhetorical defense in verses 14ff. is not of God’s nature or attributes, but of his sovereign acts, and the diatribe style again is employed to that end. Does not ...

900. Ingrafted Branches

Romans 11:11-24

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... , for “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew” (11:2). What, then, is the root? One thing is clear: it cannot be the Jewish people, for, according to the analogy, Jews, like Gentiles, are branches. A majority of commentators would identify the root with Abraham, an understanding which has the advantage of having been grounded in the pre-Pauline tradition (1 Enoch 93:2, 8; Jub. 16:26; T. Jud. 24:1, 5; Isa. 11:1; 53:2; Sir. 47:22) and is clearly presupposed in 11:28, “as far as the gospel is ...

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