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 976 to 1000 of 4943 results

976. Hosea's Wife and Children

Hosea 1:1-2:1

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... therefore told that the word came to Hosea during the reign of Jeroboam II, son of Joash (distinguishing him from Jeroboam I, son of Nebat), who was king of the northern state of Israel from 786 to 746 BC. The book of Hosea is thus primarily concerned with that specific time and must be read in that context. As we have seen in the introduction, Hosea’s ministry lasted well beyond the reign of Jeroboam, until about 723 BC. But the editors of the book of Hosea, who appended the rest of this superscription ...

977. Israel Unrepentant

Hosea 6:1--7:16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 4), this anointing may be the reference intended by footprints of blood (cf. 2 Kgs. 9:26, 33). On the other hand, according to 2 Kings 15:25, fifty men of Gilead participated in Pekah’s assassination of King Pekahiah, and given the following pericope concerning the intrigues and murders connected with the kingship (7:3–7), the assassination may be the sin being specified here. Although Hosea’s hearers knew to what bloody deeds Yahweh was referring in this speech, we have no way of knowing for sure. In ...

978. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... ruin upon it. As for human kings, like the king of Samaria, in verse 7, they are just like helpless twigs cast upon a torrent of water in comparison with the kingship of the Lord. The whole oracle is held together by the principal word king, and the whole concerns Israel’s desertion of its king, the Lord. As is so often the case in Hosea, the prophet’s words reflect Israel’s past history with its Lord, verse 1. Israel was the vine planted by God—a frequent figure of speech in the OT (Ps. 80:8–11 ...

979. Rend Your Heart

Joel 2:12-17

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... all peoples to seek and honor God (cf. Zech. 8:20–23; Matt. 5:14–16). So this third petition in the priest’s prayer is not an appeal to God’s selfish concern but an acknowledgment that God is to be honored and praised for his work in his people Israel. The priests here confess that, yes, they are concerned that God be glorified throughout the world, much as Christians also pray, “Hallowed be thy name.” Additional Notes The one critical question that needs to be asked of this passage is whether ...

980. Deliverance and Destruction

Micah 5:5-15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... addressed to the foreign nations. There is great emphasis in this passage on cultic sins of idolatry, but that form of trespass on the part of Israel has received only slight notice, in 1:7, in Micah’s indictment of the people in chapters 1–3. Instead, the concern thus far in Micah has been with Israel’s corruption of leaders, judges, priests, and prophets (2:2, 8–11; 3:2–3, 5–6, 9–11). And God’s judgment on such corruption has been designed to serve as a witness to the nations of God’s ...

981. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

Habakkuk 2:2-20, Habakkuk 1:12--2:1

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... from puakh meaning “breathe,” but the NJPS more plausibly assumes that it is an instance of the other root puakh, meaning “testify” (see, e.g., Ps. 12:5 [MT 6]). So this middle line would at least hint at the meaning “it testifies concerning the end.” In turn, in the first line awaits translates the adverb ʿod (lit., “the revelation [is] yet for the appointed time”). But there is another root ʿod used in the hipʿil to mean “witness,” and although this particular verbal form can ...

982. Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

Zechariah 7:1-14

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... and mercy. In the present time, until the day when God turns the fasts into feasts, one should be busy with doing what is good and right. Administer true justice. A significant portion of prophetic preaching and legal material in the OT is concerned with justice within the community. Telling the truth under oath, showing no partiality in judgment, taking no bribes, and not manipulating the court system to oppress the poor are some of the specific requirements. From the lowest court at the town gate all ...

983. No Confidence in the Flesh

Philippians 3:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... outset of Paul’s Christian career (Rom. 6:2–11) was no make-believe; it exercised a decisive influence on him from then on: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:19, 20). So far as daily experience was concerned, Paul could say, “I die every day!” (1 Cor. 15:31). He could speak of “carry[ing] around in our body the death [or rather the ‘dying’] of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Cor. 4:10). And if he ...

984. Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... is permissible” (1 Cor. 6:12). The grace of God is received in vain equally by those who continue to live under law and by those who think they should “go on sinning so that grace may increase” (Rom. 6:1). In verses 18 and 19 Paul is concerned about people who took the latter line, in practice and teaching alike. Christ endured the cross to free believers from sin and to reconcile them to God (Rom. 6:7; 2 Cor. 5:18–21); those who deliberately indulge in sin and repudiate the will of God deny ...

985. Thanks for Their Gifts

Philippians 4:10-20

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... that Paul takes them up and says, “At last, as you put it.…” But the long interval was probably due to Paul’s own policy in the matter of accepting gifts from his churches. He makes it plain that, if only now they have renewed their concern for him, it was not that there was any intermission in their care for him but rather that they had no opportunity to show it. And why not? Because Paul himself had deprived them of any such chance. In Macedonia—especially in Thessalonica—and again in Corinth ...

986. Children of God

1 John 2:28--3:10

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... followed by a present tense participle (the participle in 3:9a is the perfect tense with the force of the present). Seeing this, it becomes clear that the subsection 3:1–3 is a parenthetical celebration of the reality of being God’s children, inside a larger unit concerned about what the lives of those who claim to belong to God should be like. 2:28 Just as the last unit began with an eschatological note (“this is the last hour,” 2:18), so does this one. Two common NT words for the return of Christ ...

987. Test the Spirits

1 John 4:1-6

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... one who knows God”) listens to us. In John 10 God’s people, the sheep of Jesus the good shepherd, listen to and know his voice (10:3–4, 16). They follow him, and he gives them eternal life (10:27–28). So, the Elder’s teaching, especially concerning Jesus, is heard and believed by those who know God. The world and the opponents, i.e., those who are not from God, reject the orthodox message. They do “not continue in the teaching of Christ,” but they bring a different teaching (2 John 9–10; cf ...

988. Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

Genesis 19:30-38, Genesis 19:1-29

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... witness to the moral decay of this city. 19:15 As dawn was about to break, the messengers urged Lot to hurry and leave with his wife and . . . two daughters lest he be caught in the conflagration. Given the frightful events of the evening and the concern the visitors had extended to him, Lot should have responded quickly to their warning. But he delayed, reluctant to leave the town that held such a fatal attraction for him. 19:16–17 As Lot lingered, the messengers grasped his hand and the hands of his ...

989. Cities of Refuge (II)

Deuteronomy 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... (vv. 11–13), and bases it on a fundamental theological and legal principle (vv. 10 and 13). It is this final principle that attracts interest. What was at stake was the guilt of shedding innocent blood (v. 13). But the law shows a careful concern for two kinds of innocence. On the one hand there was the innocent victim of a deliberate murder. But on the other hand there was the innocent person who had accidentally caused someone else’s death, with no malice aforethought. This unfortunate person needed ...

990. Exclusion From the Assembly

Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... The prohibition on eunuchs belonging to the worshipping assembly is not explained here, but it may have had the same motivation as the rules that barred from the priesthood men suffering from genital damage (Lev. 21:17–20; cf. Lev. 22:24), namely, a concern for wholeness and a rejection of that which appeared to mutilate nature and God’s design for creation (as cf. 14:1). Or it may have been because self-inflicted castration was a feature of certain religious rites that Israel so utterly rejected. Those ...

991. Solomon's Daily Provisions

1 Kings 4:20-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... natural world and how it works is one of the “normal” ways people gain wisdom in the OT (cf., for example, Job 38–41; Prov. 30:15–31), as in the NT (e.g., Matt. 6:25–34). Here Solomon himself is characterized as someone concerned with the natural world, from the largest tree (the proverbially high cedar of Lebanon) to the smallest plant (the small wall-plant hyssop), from birds to fish. Wisdom “from below” (as here) and wisdom “from above” (as received in ch. 3) are thus combined in this ...

992. Solomon's Adversaries

1 Kings 11:14-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... -wise attitude to the world, as in Matthew 10:16, “be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Solomon, it will be recalled, was quite good at playing the snake, if not quite so convincing as the dove (1 Kgs. 2). As far as wisdom in administration is concerned (1 Kgs. 4–5), the NT is plainly in favor of it (e.g., Acts 6:3). Yet the NT is, like the Solomon story, keenly aware of the inadequacies of and dangers inherent in a wisdom that is simply “from below.” The NT authors know that it can ...

993. Naboth’s Vineyard

1 Kings 21:1-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... It is not surprising that such a king holds lightly the laws that the God of the exodus has revealed—particularly when he has already turned away to worship other gods. Worship and ethics are but two sides of the same coin, so far as the OT is concerned (cf. Exod. 20:1–17). Abandonment of God (Exod. 20:1–6) inevitably leads to abandonment of righteousness; we see the reality of this in 1 Kings 21—in this society given over to idol-worship, covetousness (21:1–6; cf. Exod. 20:17) leads on to false ...

994. Woe to Ephraim

Isaiah 28:1-29

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... a sense that is right, but they were able to do so because of the way they took account of the facts concerning God. They then hammered home rather simplistic political messages. Just trust in Yahweh, Isaiah said. That is where rest and repose lie ... not what is built meets the criteria of just judgment (justice and righteousness: see on 1:21–23). It is striking to find this concern reappearing. It has featured little since its prominence in chapters 1–5 (but see 9:7; 16:5). Isaiah has two sets of criteria ...

995. Jesus Eats with Sinners and Heals the Sick

Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 9:14-17, Matthew 9:18-26, Matthew 9:27-34

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... alarm, both for the occupiers and for local leaders who had to give account to Rome. The large groups of people following Jesus, the spreading news of his proclamation of the kingdom of God (not that of Caesar), and the accompanying healings could have raised such concern. Jesus is portrayed as attempting to limit the impact of his growing infamy (see also 8:4; 12:16; 16:20). 9:33 Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel. In response to Jesus healing needy people, the Jewish crowd is amazed. Their ...

996. Jesus, Not Jewish Leaders, Interprets the Torah Rightly

Matthew 15:1-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... of the Torah; instead, it was a requirement for priests serving in the temple (see Exod. 30:17–21). Given that the Pharisees sought to keep more routinely various commandments that were required of the priests performing temple service, they show a concern for hand washing before meals (as a cultic, not a sanitary, measure). Although we lack first-century evidence for such an expectation for all Jews, the influence of the Pharisees with the general Jewish populace might account for such an expectation, as ...

997. Jesus Is the Example of Service for His Followers

Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 20:20-28

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... the pattern of self-denial set by Jesus himself (20:28). In this passage they argue about the highest positions of status in the coming kingdom (20:2–24; see 18:1; 19:27). So Jesus continues to teach the Twelve about the importance of renouncing status concerns and of emulating those who have little or no status in their world: slaves (20:25–27) and children (18:3–4). Interpretive Insights 20:18 the Son of Man will be delivered over. This is Jesus’ third passion prediction in 16:21–20:28, with ...

998. The Gentiles Are Included in God’s Provision

Mark 8:1-13

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... thousand in 6:31–44: God’s bountiful provision for his people and the necessity that Christ’s followers put their trust completely in his care for them. The primary addition here is that this is extended to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. The one new theme concerns the grave danger of putting God to the test. We do not demand that God work in this world by our own criteria; rather, we yield to his wisdom and sovereignty in our lives. In other words, we do not tell him how to act; instead, we act the ...

999. Jesus’s Manifesto

Luke 4:14-30

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... about Greek philosophers. We have the proverb “Familiarity breeds contempt.” The better you think you know a person, the more difficult it is to accept that person as being out of the ordinary. 4:25–27 there were many widows in Israel. Jesus defends his concern for people away from home by taking as a precedent stories about two of the most famous miracle workers of the Old Testament, Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:7–24; 2 Kings 5). Both Sidon and Syria were traditional enemies of Israel, yet the ...

1000. “Who Is This?”

Luke 9:10-17, Luke 9:1-9

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... only a token amount of bread and fish was received by each person. twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. There was far more left at the end than was available at the beginning. That seems to be the point of the note, rather than a concern for either tidiness or the avoidance of waste. There is also a clear echo of 2 Kings 4:44: “They ate and had some left over”; the reader familiar with the Elisha story will not fail to note the much greater scale of Jesus’s feeding miracle. Note ...

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