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 1001 to 1025 of 1306 results

1001. Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin

Acts 7:1-53

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... and Jesus (p. 101). 7:46 It has sometimes been suggested that Stephen was a Samaritan (see, e.g., J. Munck, p. 285; and C. H. H. Scobie, “The Origin and Development of Samaritan Christianity,” NTS 19 (1972–73), pp. 391–400), and certainly there are points of contact in this speech with the Samaritans (see disc. on vv. 4, 16, 32, 37, 47–50). But in the light of that people’s bitter opposition to Judah and to the house of David, the tone of Stephen’s comment in this verse must rule out any ...

1002. Philip and the Ethiopian

Acts 8:26-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... biblical context, Ethiopia corresponds to Nubia (modern Sudan) and means here in particular the Nilotic kingdom ruled by queens from Meroe, south of modern Khartoum. The man himself was an important official. Indeed, he was the treasurer and, in that capacity, may have come into contact with Egyptian Jews and been attracted to their faith. He was also a eunuch (v. 27). In some contexts this might mean only that he was “an official” (see LXX Gen. 39:1), but here he is called an official and a eunuch, and ...

1003. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Acts 9:19b-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... unsure of him. Indeed, they did not believe that he really was a disciple and were naturally afraid of him. He brought no letters of recommendation (cf. 18:27). 9:27 In the end it was Barnabas who brought him to the apostles. How he and Paul made contact or why Barnabas should now have come to Paul’s aid we do not know. There are no grounds for supposing, as commentators sometimes do, that they were students together in Tarsus (see disc. on 22:3). The explanation probably lies simply in the kind of person ...

1004. In Pisidian Antioch

Acts 13:13-52

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the archive, as well as the locus of religious education and worship. It was to the synagogue that Paul and his colleagues went whenever they came to a new town (see disc. on 9:20). And the synagogue provided not only a convenient point of contact for the Christian missionary but an audience prepared for the message. There were three more or less distinct groups of people to be found there: Jews by birth, proselytes, and God-fearers (see note on 6:5). The latter have been described as a “providentially ...

1005. The Council at Jerusalem

Acts 15:1-21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... there is no reason why the council should not have been conducted in Greek and no reason, therefore, why James should not have quoted from the LXX. A native of Galilee would almost certainly have been bilingual from childhood. The several points of contact between his speech and the letter that bears his name is, moreover, some proof of the historicity of both. There are also points of likeness between Peter’s speech and his earlier utterances, including some quite distinctive expressions, which gives us ...

1006. In Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–9)

Acts 17:1-9

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... to the middle voice, “they threw in their lot” with the missionaries. From the outset this church was predominantly Gentile, and before long the great majority of its members appears to have come straight from a pagan background with no previous contact with the synagogue (cf. v. 5). 17:5 Though Paul was permitted to speak in the synagogue for only three Sabbaths, his letters indicate that he and the others stayed in Thessalonica much longer than this (see introduction to this section). Indeed ...

1007. In Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... to be there, much as Socrates had done in this very place 450 years earlier. 17:18 Athens was a cosmopolitan city, and Paul would have found himself with a motley crowd in the agora. But it was not only with hoi polloi that he came into contact, but with some of the philosophers who also frequented that place, Epicureans and Stoics. He met with them more than once (so the Greek imperfect), but still they did not really grasp what he was saying. They heard him speak of Jesus and the resurrection, but to ...

1008. Paul in Ephesus

Acts 19:1-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... practice as simply reflecting the Ephesians’ superstitious outlook and to explain the healings of verse 12 as due to some other, more proper means (not mentioned) of appropriating God’s grace. But in fairness to Luke’s text, the implication is that it was by contact with the clothes that their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them (v. 12). He does say that the miracles were extraordinary. It may have been a case of God meeting the needs of these people at their own level of understanding ...

1009. On to Jerusalem

Acts 21:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... name. Here they spent the night. Cos, besides being famous for its medical school, was a center of Jewish life in the Aegean (cf. 1 Macc. 15:23; Josephus, Antiquities 14.110–118; War 1.422–425). It is most unlikely, however, that Paul made any contact with the Jews. The following day they rounded the peninsula of Cnidus and came to Rhodes. Again the city is probably meant on the island of that name, and again (contrary to tradition) it is unlikely that Paul preached on the island. According to the best ...

1010. Paul Before Agrippa

Acts 25:23--26:32

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... Galatians 1:22 that he was “personally unknown to the churches of Judea.” But this might be another instance of the kind of compression that we noticed in verses 16–18, so that the one reference to his preaching in Judea encompasses all his subsequent contacts with the province, where over the years he may well have preached extensively and certainly had the opportunity to do so (11:30; 12:25; 15:3; 18:22; 21:7–16). A further difficulty, however, has been found in the change of construction in the ...

1011. Paul Preaches at Rome Under Guard

Acts 28:17-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... nothing about this particular matter, they must have heard something of Paul other than this, and they certainly knew something—though nothing good, they said—of the sect to which he belonged. They were interested, therefore, to hear his ideas. Evidently there was little contact now between the Christians and Jews of Rome (see disc. on 18:2 and notes), that they should have asked to hear Paul expound his beliefs, unless, of course, they asked only out of politeness. 28:23 A date was set for Paul to ...

1012. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... sins. Believers are admonished, do not be partners with them. The Greek term “partner” (symmetochos) indicates that they must not join in with these people and participate in their evil practices. This verse does not mean that believers should avoid all contact with immoral people; otherwise the exhortations that follow about light penetrating the darkness would have no purpose (cf. Col. 4:5, 6: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders”). Rather, they warn against participating in the vices of ...

1013. Final Greetings

Colossians 4:7-18

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... Colossians. Thus he is identified as the cousin of Barnabas—someone with whom they must have been acquainted. Paul reminds the Colossians of previous instructions to receive Mark if he comes their way. Nothing beyond this reference is known about a previous contact with the church on Mark’s behalf. Paul may have given the original instruction himself or he may now be simply endorsing an earlier recommendation by someone else. 4:12–13 Epaphras, another servant of Christ Jesus, has been identified with ...

1014. Love of Money

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... of Stoicism” (D-C, p. 85), which indeed it does. But it also reflects more precisely the teaching of Jesus (Luke 12:22–32; Matt. 6:25–34), which in both Gospels is independently placed in a context condemning greed (Luke 12:16–21; Matt. 6:24). Thus, the contacts with Stoicism are incidental; what seems to have happened in verses 7–8, on the contrary, is very similar to what Paul did in 5:18: He gives an allusion to an OT text (v. 7) followed by an allusion to the teaching of Jesus (v. 8). The ...

1015. Titus' Task on Crete

Titus 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... that “in Titus, it is the weak who are not protected, but attacked” (p. 132–33). But such language reflects an unfortunate confusion of two considerably different life-settings. Except for the language used, there is scarcely any other point of contact with Romans 14. It is common to view the language used and the problem addressed in vv. 15–16 as reflecting a Gnostic view of things. That such ascetic regulations may indeed have been influenced by Hellenism is scarcely deniable. Nonetheless ...

1016. Concluding Exhortations

Hebrews 13:1-25

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... words may be taken more literally than here. Our author has tried to keep the length of the work under control despite the significance of what he writes, and he asks the readers’ indulgence in this regard. 13:23 Since our author shows some contact with Pauline theology, he was probably a member of the larger Pauline circle, and thus the likelihood that this Timothy was the disciple of Paul is increased. The verb released (apolyō) occurs in Hebrews only here. In the passive, as here, it can mean simply ...

1017. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... Old Testament passage which lies behind his conclusion, Genesis 22:12, in which God says, “Now I know that you fear God,” the “now I know” being the declaration of righteousness. (This difference in meaning, of course, is another indication that James had not had contact with Paul’s work.) The basis of the declaration was actions: It was for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. Abraham’s faith in God was real because it governed Abraham’s life. The word what he did is plural ...

1018. Taming the Tongue

James 3:1-12, James 3:13-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... from nature: “All kinds of species are being tamed and have been tamed by humans.” He is not arguing scientifically: It would not bother him to learn that no one had yet tamed a rhinoceros or that in his day killer whales still lacked human contact; nor is James concerned about whether an animal is fully domesticated. It is enough for him that wild-cats and apes can be brought under human control. This is true, from the prisoner taming the mice and rats in his dungeon, to the elephant driver causing ...

1019. At Mount Sinai

Exodus 19:1-25

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... themselves for the powerful event of the Lord’s descent to Mt. Sinai in their sight and hearing. God gave Moses three days to consecrate them. The text describes three elements of their consecration. They washed their clothes (vv. 10, 14). They abstained from sexual contact (v. 15; see also Lev. 15:16–18; Deut. 23:10–11). They established a boundary at the foot of the mountain that they did not cross (vv. 12, 21–24). This sort of consecration is external in nature. The boundary also functioned to ...

1020. Consecration of the Priests

Exodus 29:1-46

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... more serious sins (Lev. 4:3–21). This “removed” the sin. The offering at Aaron’s consecration (vv. 10–14) was just such a sin offering. The hands of Aaron and his sons on the head of the young bull were a sign of participation. The physical contact in this sin offering signified the transfer of sin to the animal, as to the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). The flames would consume the sins with the young bull. They were to make sin offerings (v. 14) for confessed sin, for cleansing from ...

1021. Samson’s Marriage

Judges 14:1-20

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... . Samson scraped the honey out with his hand, ate some along the way, and then gave some to his parents, who also ate it (cf. Gen 3:6). Samson did not tell his parents about the source of the treat. They remained ignorant of his violation, by contact with a carcass, of his Nazirite status. 14:10–18 The incident with the honey set the stage for the next events, the transition to which is again signaled by the verb “to go down.” The text unmistakably implies that in yet another way Samson violated his ...

1022. List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

Ezra 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... Ezra now made arrangements to transport the temple contributions given in accord with 7:15–16, to protect them against theft or other loss. The Torah directed that priests had charge of sacred objects and actually handled them, while Levites carried them without physical contact (Num. 3:6–4:33). So Ezra chose twelve of the priests and an equal number of Levites for this special task. The list of the contributions, which consisted of both ingots and articles of precious metal, was derived from the record ...

1023. Nehemiah’s Prayer

Nehemiah 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... Hanani . . . came from Judah: The rendering is uncertain. The NIV follows the Masoretic accentuation. But it is more natural to take men and from Judah closely together, as in the NJPS, “some men of Judah.” This implies that the Judeans first contacted Hanani in Susa, and he brought them along to tell his brother about conditions in the province. We cannot ascertain whether they represented an official delegation sent to persuade Nehemiah to intervene, or a casual meeting with an expatriate, as Josephus ...

1024. Nehemiah Inspects Jerusalem's Walls

Nehemiah 2:11-20

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... of his appeal with an enthusiasm of their own. 2:19–20 Opposition dogged every step of Nehemiah’s progress, but he was able to meet the challenge. His opponents from verse 10 soon heard of the preparatory meeting through the grapevine of their Jerusalem contacts. Now the two Samarian enemies were joined by Geshem the Arab, king of Qedar and head of a powerful confederation of Arab groups massed around the eastern side of the Dead Sea and to the south of Judah, who were linked to Persia by alliance ...

1025. Mordecai Persuades Esther to Help

Esther 4:1-17

Understanding Series

Timothy S. Laniak

... with her kin foundational to his command: he asks her to plead with [Xerxes] for her people (v. 8). It will take some persuasion for Esther to see herself as an integral part of the dispersed Jewish community with whom she no longer has ongoing contact. 4:10–17 This section begins with Esther commanding Hathach to respond to Mordecai’s incredible request with certain things that she thinks Mordecai should know. All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that the king has but ...

Showing results