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 1026 to 1050 of 1306 results

1026. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 15:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... praised as something to heed. 15:11 A succinct a fortiori saying about divine omniscience. The NIV supplies lie open. In Sheol (see the NIV margin) the dead are not beyond the power (“hand,” Ps. 89:49; 139:3) of the Lord, but they lack a loving contact with God (none to praise him; cf. Ps. 6:5). Abaddon (NIV margin) is parallel to Sheol (see also 27:20; Job 26:6), and derived from the word, “perish.” 15:12 Synonymous parallelism. See also verses 5 and 10. Correction is always something to be heeded ...

1027. A Letter to the Exiles

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... in exile and the latter were under judgment. Hananiah attacked Jeremiah and optimistically stated that all would end well in just a short period of time. The present chapter continues the same note of prophetic conflict. However, rather than two prophets in contact physically, we have here the exchange of letters between Jeremiah who is in Jerusalem and Shemaiah, a prophet in Babylon. 29:1–3 The chapter begins by introducing the body of the chapter as a letter from Jeremiah in Jerusalem to the leaders ...

1028. A Message About Ammon

Jeremiah 49:1-6

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... on its eastern boundary. As with Moab (see above), the book of Genesis paints a dark picture of Ammon’s origins. Moab and Ammon were the children born to Lot after he slept with his daughters (Gen. 19:30–38). Israel under Moses came into contact with the Ammonites as they journeyed toward the promised land. God told Israel not to bother the Ammonites (Deut. 2:19), but the Ammonites tried to stop the Israelites from reaching their destination. Deuteronomy 23:3–6 names them along with the Moabites as ...

1029. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... the harvest of grain and oil and new wine, verse 2. There will be no wine or animal sacrifices to offer to the Lord, verse 4. Rather, any sacrifices offered will be like bread of mourners, which is unclean and cannot be offered to God, because it has come in contact with the dead (cf. Num. 19:11–13; 5:2; 6:6; Lev. 21:1, 11). Indeed, bread will be so scarce that there will be only enough to feed themselves. The last line of verse 4 has seemed puzzling, because it makes no sense to speak of the temple ...

1030. The Man Among Myrtle Trees

Zechariah 1:7-17

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... was located near a gate through which King Zedekiah and the survivors of his army had been able to escape from the Babylonians who surrounded the city (2 Kgs. 25:4). The word translated “ravine” (metsulah) hints at a supernatural locale, a point of contact between heavenly and earthly realms. Behind the mounted man were red, brown and white horses. It is clear from verses 10–11 that these horses had riders, too, since they reported in the first person plural. The text does not specify the number of ...

1031. Clean Garments for the High Priest

Zechariah 3:1-10

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... of God’s burning wrath (e.g., Jer. 4:4). The people who survived in exile and in Judah, and their descendants, were “brands plucked from the fire” of that destruction. The shame of being conquered, the sins of the intervening generations, and the impurity from contact with corpses and foreign places are all captured by the image of Joshua’s filthy clothes (see also Jer. 2:34; Hag. 2:11–12). 3:3–5 The text does not quote the satan’s accusation. God’s rebuke has eliminated it even from the ...

1032. The Lord Removes Falsehood

Zechariah 13:1-6

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... that will flow out of the temple and water the land. This fountain in 13:1 has a ritual purpose to cleanse [the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem] from sin and impurity. Water purifies people and objects from uncleanness that results from contact with the dead, according to the torah in Numbers 19 and 31:23. The water of cleansing prepares the Levites for service by making them ceremonially clean (Num. 8:7). God promises to gather Israelite exiles from the nations and to cleanse them from ...

1033. Blemished Sacrifices and Admonition for the Priests

Malachi 1:6-14, Malachi 2:1-9

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... people hoped to gain God’s acceptance, literally that God would “lift up” (nsʾ) their “faces” (as in 1:9, NIV “accept you”). Judgment on the priests will include having the ritually unclean offal from the sacrificial animals spread on their faces. Any contact with offal would have disqualified them from leadership in the ritual. They themselves would be defiled and desecrated (Exod. 29:14; Lev. 4:11–12; 8:17; 16:27–28; Num. 19:5; the offal had to be removed from the temple courts). This ...

1034. Coming Down from Above

James 1:17-18

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... associated with a dog, and a Bible Boys and girls: Did you know that dogs in the wild seldom, if ever, bark? Wolves, foxes and other wild relatives of our pet dogs howl, growl, snarl, yelp or whine--but they do not bark. Only dogs that have come into contact with humans bark. There are some people who have studied dogs' barks and they believe dogs are trying to imitate human speech when they bark.* Isn't that fascinating? When your dog barks, it is because he or she wants to talk with you. But dogs are not ...

1035. Jesus Heals the Official’s Son

John 4:43-54

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to do with a Galilean who did not fit this stereotype or fall under this indictment. It is uncertain whether the royal official (Gr.: basilikos, lit., “royal”) was a Gentile or a Jew. The theme of healing at a distance (therefore without physical contact) recalls two synoptic narratives in which Jesus, as an observant Jew, heals Gentiles without touching them or going to their homes (i.e., the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman, Mark 7:24–30/Matt. 15:21–28; the Roman centurion’s servant, Matt ...

1036. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... narrator’s comment in verse 33! But in any case, the exchange in verse 34 serves to remind the readers of the Gospel that Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries had as much difficulty with the idea of a crucified Messiah as did the Jews with whom they themselves came in contact. Jesus’ last words to the crowd continue to emphasize his impending death. He uses the familiar imagery of light and darkness in much the same way as in 9:4–5 and 11:9–10; that is, the light is the time during which Jesus is on earth ...

1037. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... since first he visited their city. While he was with them several of them had “contended at my side in the cause of the gospel” (4:3) and after his departure they continued their active witness. They prayed for him regularly (v. 19); they maintained contact with him through messengers like Epaphroditus (2:25–30); they sent him gifts as opportunity offered—indeed, one of Paul’s reasons for sending them this letter was to thank them for a gift that Epaphroditus had brought from them; here he briefly ...

1038. Walking in the Light

1 John 1:5--2:14, 1 John 2:15-17

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... with the truth and who have left the fellowship are in serious spiritual danger. They are now outside the community of life (vv. 1–3). Therefore, walking in the light keeps one in the community, in fellowship with other faithful believers. The second result of continuous contact with the light is that the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. The closer one’s fellowship with God and with those who walk with God, the more aware one will be of sin in one’s life. The secessionists fled the ...

1039. The Table of Nations

Genesis 10:1-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... sons occur in inverted order to their names in verse 1: the sons of Japheth (vv. 2–5), the sons of Ham (vv. 6–20), and the sons of Shem (vv. 21–31). The list moves from the offspring of Japheth, with whom Israel had little contact, to the offspring of Ham, some being Israel’s neighbors, and then to Shem, the line of Israel’s ancestors. The genealogical depth varies from three generations for Japheth to six for Shem. Seventy symbolizes that a group is whole and complete (e.g., seventy of Jacob ...

1040. The Cupbearer and the Baker

Genesis 40:1-23

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... least eleven years, the number of years he has spent in prison is uncertain. God nevertheless continues to direct events from behind the scenes. Two things happen in prison that will prove to be crucial for Joseph’s future rise to power. He makes contact with Pharaoh’s personal servants, and he displays his skill at interpreting dreams. During his time in prison Joseph meets Pharaoh’s servants (vv. 1–4), Joseph interprets their dreams (vv. 5–19), and the dreams are fulfilled (vv. 20–23). At the ...

1041. Solomon's Officials and Governors

1 Kings 4:1-19

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... the second district comprises both Shaalbim, assigned to Dan in Josh. 19:42 and Judg. 1:34–35, and Beth Shemesh, assigned to Naphtali in Josh. 19:38 and Judg. 1:33). Solomon’s arrangements thus move beyond the tribal system, while having points of contact with it. They represent a new order. It has often been asserted, in spite of the claim in verse 7 that the district officers were over all Israel, that the authors did not mean us to understand these arrangements as involving Judah. As a corollary ...

1042. An Axhead Floats

2 Kings 6:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... 4:1–44). Prior to chapter 5, there was just that single excursion into the wider world in chapter 3. We know, however, that it is his destiny to be a pivotal figure in the drama of international politics between Israel and Aram (1 Kgs. 19:15–18). His contact with Aram began in chapter 5 and will now occupy most of our attention for the next two chapters, as we are prepared for the bloody events of 2 Kings 8–10. Second Kings 6:8–23 shows Elisha fully drawn into the politics of the region, yet always ...

1043. Jehoahaz King of Israel

2 Kings 13:1-9

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... of God’s presence with not so much as a remnant left (cf. Ps. 88:3–12, and see the additional note on 1 Kgs. 13:33 for another place where death appears to be a metaphor for exile). Yet even in exile, there is hope. If contact with the great prophets of the past is maintained, through obedience to their teachings (we presume), death may yet be followed by unexpected resurrection (cf. Ezek. 37:1–14), defeat by victory. For God’s love is ultimately strong enough to overcome death. It is no coincidence ...

1044. Hoshea Last King of Israel

2 Kings 17:1-6

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... about northern worship in this period. It is true, it tells us, that when these peoples first settled in Israel, they did not worship the LORD (v. 25). When the lions struck, however, they realized that the god of the land was against them, and they contacted the king of Assyria. He sent an exiled Israelite priest to Bethel, who taught them how to worship the LORD (v. 28). The LORD was thus truly worshiped alongside all the various other foreign gods of the peoples concerned (vv. 29–33). Merely to state ...

1045. Woe to the Obstinate Nation

Isaiah 30:1-33

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... s inclination to continue in the traditional religion of the country, but this was one of the principal causes of adversity and affliction (see, e.g., 1:29–30; 8:19–22). Images will repel them and they will finally abandon them because they make contact with Yahweh impossible. They will no longer be attracted to them as alternatives to Yahweh or means of relating to Yahweh. Instead of counting among the most valuable things (even if only on the outside), images will count as things you would most easily ...

1046. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... past are not worth anything when we turn to another way (see Ezek. 33:12–13). The unrighteous acts of the present pollute any past righteous acts and the people who did them, so that they are as unacceptable as someone who is stained through contact with a corpse or a cloth stained with blood (perhaps menstrual blood). Alternatively, verse 6 may refer to “righteous acts” in the context of unorthodox worship that are stained by their context (cf. 59:12; 64:4–5). Verse 6a has been used as a “proof ...

1047. Judgment and Salvation

Isaiah 65:1-16

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... have its way. It is, rather, because a number of separate prophecies have been accumulated at the end of the book. These different prophecies have overlapping themes, and this has presumably contributed to the arrangement. The prophecies also have a number of points of contact with 56:1–59:8, and this may have contributed to their placement here in the chiasm that comprises chapters 56–66 as a whole. Further, the way they rework images such as heavens and earth and the servants of Yahweh may have ...

1048. Signs and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 4:1-5:17, Ezekiel 6:1-14, Ezekiel 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... , however, that in the first place Ezekiel was to prepare his bread as you would a barley cake (v. 12). The Hebrew implies that Ezekiel’s bread was to be cooked not over the fire, but in its hot ashes, so that the food would be in direct contact with the unclean fuel (Zimmerli, Ezekiel 1, p. 149). But now God tells Ezekiel that he may prepare his bread over cow manure (v. 15; emphasis mine). Rather than cooking his food in the ashes, he can fry his bread above them. Apart from the uncleanness incurred in ...

1049. The Glory Departs

Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 9:1-11, Ezekiel 10:1-22, Ezekiel 11:1-15, Ezekiel 11:16-25

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... of the spirit of Elijah, standing alone as he did between a sinful people and a wrathful God. Still, it is Ezekiel’s message, not his person, that is the center of his book, suggesting that Ezekiel’s words, not his personality, provide the point of contact between the Lord and the exilic community. After all, the book of Ezekiel is written in the first person, so that the reader shares the prophet’s experiences of God’s presence. Perhaps it is Ezekiel’s book, then, that becomes a means of divine ...

1050. Riddles and Metaphors

Ezekiel 15:1-8, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Ezekiel 17:1-24

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... was defiling to mother and child alike, requiring rituals of purification (Lev. 12:1–8; see also Luke 2:22–24). This was not, as some have suggested, because of Israel’s supposed hatred of women, but rather because of the priestly view that contact with blood brought ritual defilement (Lev. 12:4; 17:10–14). However, no one performs purifying rites for infant Jerusalem! She is an unwanted, abandoned child, left to die unclaimed and unloved. Now, for the first time, the Lord enters the story, as a ...

Showing results