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 1201 to 1225 of 1400 results

1201. Jesus Before Pilate

Mark 15:1-15

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... Jesus’ execution, the references to Pilate generally accord with this picture, but later Christian legend sometimes transforms him into a hero or even a Christian convert! These legendary developments must be regarded as totally misleading, however, and the reader should avoid romantic notions of Pilate as a noble figure forced against his better judgment to do something beneath him. The Matt. 27:19 reference to Pilate’s wife and the Matt. 27:24–25 reference to Pilate’s washing of his hands are not ...

1202. The Crucifixion

Mark 15:21-32

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... , ironic touch is the taunt of the bystanders and the Jewish authorities for Jesus to try to save himself (15:30, 31) and to come down from the cross (15:32) that they might believe that he is the Messiah. This taunt both reveals their distorted notion about what truly constitutes the work of God’s servant, the Messiah, and points to the very heart of what Jesus’ work is. The taunters say, He saved others, … but he can‘t save himself! and unknowingly state the very truth of the crucifixion. Jesus ...

1203. The Crucifixion

Luke 23:26-43

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the “place was probably so called because of the physical shape of a hill, not because it was a place of skulls.” The exact opposite opinion is expressed in HBD, p. 150. Following a Jewish legend, a few early church fathers entertained the notion that Golgotha was the place where Adam was buried, and it was his skull that gave the place its name. they crucified him: HBD (p. 194) provides this description of Roman crucifixion: “With a placard proclaiming the crime hung around the neck, the condemned ...

1204. Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-25

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... God restored him to life. For Abraham—and for Paul—there was no separation between the God of creation and the God of redemption. Both creation and redemption were for Abraham results of the one promise of God. Abraham did not have a vague notion of a “divine presence,” he did not recite platitudes about an “ultimate power.” Abraham’s God gave life—to himself, to his wife, to his son. He brought into being a posterity which, from a human perspective, was an impossibility. Abraham’s God was ...

1205. Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1-11

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... s death. Thus, when Paul speaks of God’s love, or of righteousness, or of eschatology, he must speak of the cross, for the cross is the constitutive criterion of salvation. Whoever thinks God begrudges the world a pittance of goodwill finds that notion dispelled forever by verse 8. Christ did not die of natural causes. In the face of animosity and rejection he offered his life as a supreme sacrifice for us. The Greek preposition translated for means “on behalf of.” Unlike most prepositions, this one ...

1206. Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Romans 6:1-14

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... a response to certain objections to Paul’s gospel, namely, that justification by faith encourages sin and denigrates the law. Paul shores up his gospel by answering three false conclusions, each delineated at 6:1, 6:15, and 7:7. First, he challenges the perverse notion that if grace increases with sin, why not sin all the more (6:1–14). He then confronts the objection that freedom from the law leads to moral anarchy (6:15–7:6). Finally, in a very existential argument, he dismisses the objection that ...

1207. Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... �was with”) seems preferable, so that Paul is explaining the conditions of his stay and ministry, not merely the style of his arrival. Paul refers to his weakness, fear, and trembling. By referring to weakness, Paul reiterates the language of 1:25, now applying the notion of weakness to himself. Paul is fond of this image of his person and work; he uses “weakness” in key texts such as Romans 8:26; 1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 11:30; 12:9; 13:4. Especially from Paul’s discussions of weakness in ...

1208. Wisdom from the Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... the cross of Jesus Christ was God’s eternal purpose, predestined for humanity, and available to humans not through nature or reason but only as disclosed by God in the reality of the cross of Christ. Implicit in this description are the crucial theological notions of the providence and sovereignty of God. 2:8 Paul has already stated that the message of God’s wisdom was not openly available to humanity prior to the manifestation of that wisdom as reality in the cross of Christ. God’s wisdom, not ...

1209. Apostles of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... the secrets of humanity at Rom. 2:16; 2 Cor. 4:2–4. G. Theissen (Psychological Aspects, pp. 59–66) offers a basic exegetical probe of 4:1–5 that is often both precise and insightful. He argues that Paul had a notion of an unconscious dimension within the human being where there lay repressed deeds and unconscious plans and motives. While the conscious and unconscious dimensions of human life were not necessarily at odds, the unconscious dimension was inscrutable to the conscious, and only divine ...

1210. Lawsuits Among Believers

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... the issues. The image of judging at the final judgment is part of and typical of Jewish apocalyptic thought. While the idea of God’s elect taking part in the acts of final judgment may be developed throughout the apocalyptic tradition from Dan. 7:22, the notion of God’s people enacting Christian judgment is found in and consistent with the eschatological teachings of Jesus: Matt. 19:28–29; Luke 22:30; Rev. 3:21—cf. Psalms of Solomon 17:26, 29. 6:7 Paul consistently employs plural forms of both Gk ...

1211. Marriage

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... to circumcision and to slavery. Then the concluding lines of this section reiterate the basic idea that the Corinthians are to remain before God in the state in which God called them. How is the reader of today to comprehend and apply this notion? Is there relevance? Some preliminary observations may aid comprehension. Above all, Paul’s thought is relative to his thoroughgoing apocalyptic eschatology, as is clear from what follows in 7:31b, “For this world in its present form is passing away.” Paul ...

1212. Food Sacrificed to Idols

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... encouraging hypocrisy. Nor is he attempting to impose legalistic limits. By once again mentioning conscience, Paul deals with a concept of awareness that his readers would easily grasp and recognize as being emphasized. The ancient and the contemporary notions of conscience are different, however, and readers today may misunderstand Paul’s argument (see Additional Notes for further information). In essence, Paul’s concern is that Christians give thought to others before they act in behalf of themselves ...

1213. Propriety in Worship

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... with God in relation to Christ. The concern at the beginning and the end of Paul’s remarks is with divine authority and the results of that identity coming to bear properly in human relations. While the traditional interpretation that holds to the notion of the man or husband having authority over woman or his wife may offend progressive sensibilities, Paul’s concern is to recognize the divine authority of Christ over humanity and the ultimate authority of God. Other levels of concern are introduced to ...

1214. The Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... translation is near paraphrase, though probably accurate, at this point. The words to show which of you have God’s approval more literally say, “in order that those who are approved may become manifest among you.” Implicit in this statement is the notion that some are approved while others are not; from Paul’s wording the reader is to understand that God does the approving and disapproving, although the behavior of the Corinthians is the key to distinguishing the groups. 11:20 Paul explicitly raises ...

1215. Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... Ps. 150:5. 13:3 A minor textual problem makes it uncertain whether Paul says that without love it is no gain to hand over one’s body “in order to boast” or “in order to be burned.” Most interpreters prefer the plain sense of the notion of Paul’s hypothetically surrendering his body to the flames, although the other reading is difficult to account for if it is not original. Whichever reading is authentic, the sense of Paul’s statement is that either the pride or the selflessness of sacrifice is ...

1216. Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... cites from Isaiah, God speaks “in other tongues … of other ones … to this people, and even so they do not hear.…” Paul says this line explains the sign: Speech in other tongues produces no hearing or comprehension! The sign is the failure to hear—an odd notion, but no odder than Jesus’ words in Mark 4:12, also citing Isaiah, “… so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven” (Mark 4:12 from Isa. 6:9–10). The ...

1217. The Collection for God's People

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... practice of Christian Sunday worship. The suggestion of Orr and Walther (I Corinthians, p. 355) that Paul designated this particular day because the Jews were forbidden to handle money on the Sabbath is unpersuasive. In fact, their attempt to defend this notion from the silence of Paul’s letter about Sunday worship is an unbelievable argument from double silence. 16:3 Paul’s phraseology in reference to sending the Corinthians representatives to Jerusalem is ambiguous. The NIV renders a portion of this ...

1218. Greetings and Doxology

Revelation 1:4-8

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... :30: the dramatic return of the Son of Man vindicates Christian faith before a cosmic courtroom. John does not say whether the lament, which issues forth from those who have rejected Christian faith, then results in repentance and a universal salvation; however, such a notion is not inappropriate to John (cf. Rev. 15:3–4; John 12:30–33). 1:8 John concludes his initial salutation to the seven churches with an oracle from God that repeats his earlier confession about God’s eternality: God is who is, and ...

1219. The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... and its evil powers and principalities. As important as this second reality is, for John the more pivotal consequence of the cross is servanthood rather than rule. Only when the church first understands itself as a community of priests will it be liberated from the notions of repressive power found in the anti-Christian kingdom, and thus be fit to reign with a redeeming God and slaughtered Lamb. 5:11–12 Adding their number to the heavenly chorus, the angelic choir joins in a hymn of praise for the worthy ...

1220. The Seals

Revelation 6:1-17

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... from this current conflict between old and new, between present and future, between heaven and earth, between God and the Evil One. The church’s life and faith envision a future cosmic reality; but the church is necessarily at odds with current notions of power and status. The visions of judgment remind God’s people that those same authorities who marginalize the faithful for their commitment to the reign of God stand under God’s wrath because the executed Messiah has triumphed. Their correct response ...

1221. The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-19

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... visionary narrative of the Lamb’s exaltation and marks the transition into the visions of the current age. Where else but in a heavenly temple should one expect to find the Messianic Lamb who was slain to purchase a people for God? In fact, the notion that the first and second temples were built according to a heavenly pattern was common to Judaism’s Second Temple period, especially among hellenistic rabbis. John is no doubt familiar with this teaching and draws upon it in a manner similar to the author ...

1222. The Woman and the Dragon

Revelation 12:1--13:1a

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... s subsequent vision of the great dragon’s hostile but failed take-over bid of the church (12:13–13:18), but it also explains why the church’s suffering has not ended. More negatively, it explains the disaffection of some believers, who are deceived by the secular notions of power and security advanced by Satan (cf. Rev. 2:9, 13, 24; 3:9), who leads the whole world astray (cf. Rev. 20:3, 8, 10). Fourth, even as Patmos is John’s penal colony, so earth is Satan’s penal colony—the place of his exile ...

1223. Jesus Is Coming

Revelation 22:7-21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... reader is inspired by God in order to attain wisdom about the path to eschatological blessing. While beatitudes were common conventions of prophetic compositions (Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation, pp. 164–65), they mirror a noteworthy element of early Christianity’s notion of the divine inspiration of Scripture (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15–16). God’s inspiring action, which transforms scriptural texts into conduits of information about God’s Word and will, is found at both their writing and their reading. With ...

1224. The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

Leviticus 8:1-36

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... Aaronic priests have taken great care with this rite, in obedience to divine command. This conclusion emphasizes the holiness of the priests and the tabernacle precincts, as well as the danger its inappropriate use will cause. The seven days reflect the notion of completeness, and the length of the process stresses the seriousness of the rite of passage. Because priests are vulnerable, it is appropriate for days to pass before the inauguration of sacrificial priestly worship at the tabernacle. We have seen ...

1225. Cleansing from Mildew

Leviticus 14:33-57

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of the house. The priest will then release the living bird into the open fields outside the town. The bird carries the uncleanness of the structure away, and the building is now clean. This comment in verse 53 shows how different contemporary notions of atonement are from those in Leviticus: In this way he will make atonement for the house. Note the absence of the magical and demonic from these instructions. Atonement here puts the building back into a whole state, into cleanness, and into relationship ...

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