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 1076 to 1100 of 1400 results

1076. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... depends upon the Heb. nepesh designating a separable, external “soul,” a meaning it never has in biblical Heb. (Greenberg, Ezekiel 1–20, p. 240). Saggs (“External Souls,” pp. 10–12), to the contrary, cites examples which he claims support the notion of a separable, material soul in the HB. In particular, he claims that the “bundle of the living” in 1 Sam. 25:29 presupposes this concept. Saggs’ arguments, though, are unconvincing; none of his examples requires any reading for nepesh other ...

1077. Personal Accountability

Ezekiel 18:1-32, Ezekiel 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... “doing wrong” (Heb. ʿawel) appears ten times in Ezekiel (3:20; 18:8, 24, 26; 28:18; 33:13, 15, 18)—about half of its occurrences in the Hebrew Bible. The term first appears in Ezekiel’s call to be a watchman (3:16–21), where the notion of personal accountability also first appears in this book. Ezekiel 33:1–9 revisits that call, after which the final instances of the term appear in a reprise of Ezekiel 18 (33:10–20). It appears, then, that ʿawel represents for Ezekiel the opposite of doing ...

1078. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 21:1-32, Ezekiel 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... concerning you and lying divinations about you, v. 29), which resulted in the siege of Jerusalem rather than Rabbah. But, should anyone have concluded from that incident that God would spare Ammon devastation and judgment, these verses now disabuse them of that notion. The Lord declares that Ammon will not be spared. In language echoed in the oracle against the prince of Israel (compare vv. 29 and 25), the Lord assures the Ammonites that their day, too, is coming swiftly. Only after the destruction of ...

1079. Tyre, Sidon—and Israel

Ezekiel 26:1-21, Ezekiel 27:1-36, Ezekiel 28:1-19, Ezekiel 28:20-26

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... perfection. Dexter Callender, noting that the word tabnit (“pattern, model”) is almost identical in appearance to toknit, amends the text accordingly. He proposes that this expression refers to the king of Tyre as “a seal, a likeness,” proposing a parallel to the notion in Gen. 1:26 that God created the first human in God’s image and likeness (Callender, “The Primal Human in Ezekiel and the Image of God,” in Odell and Strong, eds., Book of Ezekiel, p. 189). 28:13 Every precious stone adorned ...

1080. Sermon on the Mount: Jesus Teaches on the Torah

Matthew 5:17-48

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Jeannine K. Brown

... �Law and Prophets” here [see also 7:12; 22:40]), views Torah prescriptions through the core values of love, mercy, justice, and loyalty (see 5:43–48; 9:13; 12:7; 22:34–40; 23:23).1 I have come . . . to fulfill them. Jesus challenges the notion that he abolishes the Torah, an action that he denounces for his followers in 5:18–19. Instead, he claims to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Matthew defines this claim first by showing Jesus to be the consummate interpreter of the Torah (5:17–48). Second ...

1081. Sermon on the Mount: Giving, Prayer, and Fasting

Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

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Jeannine K. Brown

... . It was likely a scribal addition that became fixed over time. 6:14–15 For if you forgive other people. Following closely on the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer asking for God’s forgiveness, these verses expand on the notion of forgiveness from God being connected to forgiveness of others. While the “if . . . then” construction could lead to presuming that believers’ forgiveness of others is the basis for God’s forgiveness of them, a further teaching on forgiveness in chapter 18 ...

1082. Sermon on the Mount: Final Warnings and Call to Obey Jesus’ Words

Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29

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Jeannine K. Brown

... 19:1; 26:1). By using this formula, Matthew highlights his arrangement of Jesus’ teachings into these five major discourses, with each discourse having a distinct topic and some common features that connect them. 7:29 he taught as one who had authority. The notion of Jesus’ authority is important in chapters 5–10. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew has shown Jesus to be authoritative in his teaching through repeated variations on the refrain “You have heard that it was said . . . but I tell you ...

1083. Jesus, Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord, Heals Many

Matthew 8:14-17, Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 8:1-4

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Jeannine K. Brown

... 3, 5–6; 2:1; 4:15). In this text Jesus heals a centurion’s servant (8:13) and comments on the inclusion of Gentiles in the coming kingdom (8:11). The fact that contemporary Christian readers are accustomed to and comfortable with the notion of Gentile inclusion in God’s people (without conversion to Judaism) should not dull our senses to the surprising nature of Jesus’ words and Matthew’s point. Although non-Jews would have been welcomed into Israel when they converted to Judaism (via circumcision ...

1084. Herod and Hometown Misunderstand Jesus’ Identity

Matthew 13:53-58, Matthew 14:1-12

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Jeannine K. Brown

... of John’s execution by Herod (14:3–12), which occurred sometime earlier, as is made clear in 14:2, where Herod expresses his belief that John has risen from the dead. 14:2 This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! Herod’s notion that Jesus is somehow John raised from the dead will find a counterpart in various people’s opinions about Jesus in 16:14. Some scholars attribute such a belief to the prophetic tradition of resurrection, especially as a signal of the end of the age,1while ...

1085. Jesus Transfigured as a Foreshadowing of Future Glory

Matthew 17:1-13

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Jeannine K. Brown

... death (“they did with him what they wished”), the disciples understand that he has been talking about John in his references to Elijah’s coming. Although they understand this particular connection after Jesus explains it, 17:13 does not support the notion that Matthew’s portrayal of the disciples involves understanding as a character trait. They continue to misunderstand much of Jesus’ teaching, as Peter has just done at 16:22.2 Teaching the Text 1. Disciples should listen well to the teachings of ...

1086. Jesus Demonstrates Status Inversion in the Kingdom

Matthew 19:1-12, Matthew 19:13-15, Matthew 19:16-30

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Jeannine K. Brown

... of God’s blessing. Jewish wisdom literature warns of inappropriate reliance on riches (Prov. 11:28), but it also shows that wealth comes from living wisely in the fear of the Lord (Prov. 8:18–21; 22:4). Jesus turns the latter notion on its head. The disciples’ response confirms the surprising quality of Jesus’ teaching. 19:25 Who then can be saved? The disciples’ question implies incredulity at anyone being saved if this rich person cannot. Their question implicitly raises the issue of status ...

1087. Jesus Is the Example of Service for His Followers

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

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Jeannine K. Brown

... the Lord, is the model we ought to follow. He sets the standard by turning away from self-focus and status maintenance or acquisition; we are to follow in his footsteps. It is common enough to speak about “servant leadership” in our churches, and this notion has the ability to transform our ministry values and practices. Yet the analogy provided in 20:25–27 is even more potent. The contrast that Jesus draws is between acting as master over slave and the complete inverse of this picture. Those who lead ...

1088. The Gentiles Are Included in God’s Provision

Mark 8:1-13

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Grant R. Osborne

... more about our needs than we do and situates those needs within his broader purposes for us and for our world. So as we pray, we trust in the loving and living God to respond in ways fitting the way things ought to be, not just our finite notions of what is. Can God really use me? Bible: The disciples were not up to the task in the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand. Even after the earlier miracle of Jesus feeding a crowd, the disciples still doubted Jesus. They failed test after test. And yet ...

1089. A Call to Servanthood and Suffering

Mark 10:46-52, Mark 10:35-45, Mark 10:32-34

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Grant R. Osborne

... did Bartimaeus), meaning that we are expected to live our lives in constant imitation of him. Walking the path of Jesus is never presented as an easy life. James and John wanted that path to be one of glory and power. Jesus quickly disabused them of that notion. His “way” is one of suffering, pain, and service. To walk the Christward road means to give of ourselves totally, to embrace Christ’s “cup” of suffering, to live as he did for the benefit of those around us, to seek the glory of God rather ...

1090. The Baptism of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

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R.T. France

... ? Are we missing something in our Western culture, where many people consider genealogies to be “boring”? In many cultures genealogies are of enormous importance, establishing a person’s identity, social position, and even destiny. Melba Maggay, a Filipino theologian, writes, “Our notions of the core of the gospel may not be the same for other cultures where these genealogies are important. It’s certainly important in my culture, where we want to know exactly where you have come from: Who are your ...

1091. Sabbath in Capernaum

Luke 4:38-44, Luke 4:31-37

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R.T. France

... than extraordinary cures, exorcism is especially alien to us in the modern world. In part, this is because we do not normally see the phenomenon (though are there cases of “possession” which we call by another name?). Even more, it is because the notion of “possession” by a spirit from another level of reality does not fit into our worldview. Rather, possession and exorcism presuppose the reality of a world of spirits which can interact with the visible world; that is, they presuppose the truth of ...

1092. The Messiah and His Glory

Luke 9:28-36, Luke 9:18-27

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R.T. France

... This surprising reticence is probably best explained by the likely connotations of the term “messiah” for the popular mind (and possibly also in Peter’s intention; cf. Mark 8:30–33). The mission that Jesus goes on to outline is diametrically opposed to any notion of the triumphant expulsion of the Roman armies, and he does not want to stir up such misleading hopes (or give a political handle to his enemies) before his paradoxical mission has been accomplished. He is the Messiah, but not that sort of ...

1093. Discipleship and Mission

Luke 10:1-24, Luke 9:57-62

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R.T. France

... typical of Middle Eastern culture, then and now. Interpretive Insights 9:58 the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Jesus’s title “the Son of Man” derived from the majestic figure in Daniel 7:13–14, but we have already seen the paradoxical notion of the Son of Man rejected and killed. Now the paradox is extended to his earthly lifestyle. What even the nonhuman creation can take for granted is denied him, and those who choose to follow him must expect no better. 9:59 He said to another man ...

1094. “Unless You Repent . . .”

Luke 13:10-17, Luke 13:1-9

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R.T. France

... creation and to the different approaches that have been taken to the problem of suffering? Is there any place for the proposal that suffering is the result of human sin, and if so, how can this argument be put forward without suggesting the crass notion of individually earned suffering that Jesus here dismisses? 2. 13:6–9. Consider what sort of “fruit” the parable of the fig tree is calling for. What are the implications of the parable for our evangelistic and/or pastoral approach to unbelievers and ...

1095. Ready for the Kingdom of God?

Luke 13:31-35, Luke 13:22-30, Luke 13:18-21

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R.T. France

... few who had specifically forfeited their place through rebellion and unbelief. The idea of only a few finding the way to salvation (13:22–27) and of Gentiles coming in to replace Jews (13:28–29) was therefore by now a quite subversive notion. The geographical sequence of Luke’s journey narrative is unclear, but Jesus’s eventual approach to Jerusalem by way of Jericho indicates that he, like most Galilean pilgrims, traveled down the east side of the Jordan to avoid going through Samaritan territory ...

1096. Lessons in Discipleship

Luke 17:11-19, Luke 17:1-10

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R.T. France

... see also the ethical implications, in that we are equally obliged to forgive each other in response to repentance, to “be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (6:36). 2. Faith and miracle. Jesus’s dismissal of the request to “increase” faith disallows the notion that we can contribute (by the quantity of our faith) to what is God’s work, not ours. Everything is possible to those who call on God’s power, but that does not mean that the person who prays has carte blanche, irrespective of ...

1097. The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Luke 17:20-37

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R.T. France

... the other left. Two cameos (one male, one female) represent normal life suddenly disrupted. It is not stated where or for what purpose the one is “taken.” The analogies of Noah and Lot may suggest that it means being rescued from disaster (hence perhaps the notion of a “rapture” of God’s people from the earth before judgment falls), but it could equally mean being “taken” for destruction such as befell those who were unprepared in 17:27, 29. The point is that the judgment when the Son of Man ...

1098. Two Parables about Prayer

Luke 18:9-14, Luke 18:1-8

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R.T. France

... theology of the acquittal of the sinner before God through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. The point is rather that the repentant tax collector was regarded by God as more “just” than the self-satisfied Pharisee. Such a conclusion challenges every conventional notion of “justice.” The basis of God’s assessment of the two men is not a simple record of what they have done but their current attitude toward him. for all those who exalt themselves . . . and those who humble themselves. Here we have ...

1099. The Revolutionary Values of the Kingdom of God

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

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R.T. France

... issues in this section! Illustrating the Text Children are vitally important to God. Theological Reflection: David Garland warns against imposing our modern Western ideas of children on this passage. The ancient world did not have a romantic notion of children as innocent, creative, playful, or spontaneous. In the Greco-Roman world in general children were viewed as lowly and without social status. Unwanted infants were sometimes “exposed”—literally thrown away. Others were raised as prostitutes ...

1100. The Trials of Peter and of Jesus

Luke 22:66--23:25, Luke 22:63-65, Luke 22:54-62

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R.T. France

... as the Messiah and the Son of God is disclosed, albeit with the qualifications demanded by the polemical nature of the confrontation. By deliberately shifting attention from earthly messiahship to the heavenly authority of the Son of Man, Jesus decisively repudiates any notion of the Messiah as a merely nationalistic, political figure. The “king” who rode on the donkey to Jerusalem will reign not in Jerusalem but at God’s right hand. Even before his birth Jesus was designated “Son of God” (1:35 ...

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