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 1776 to 1800 of 2565 results

1776. The Escape to Egypt

Matthew 2:13-18

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... The Gk. anachōreō means “to withdraw from danger” (cf. 2:22; 12:15). Later it became a technical term in monasticism (an “anchorite” is one who has withdrawn from society). 2:15 According to a Jewish tradition retained in the Talmud (b. Shab. 104b), Jesus “brought with him magic arts out of Egypt in an incision on his body.”

1777. Jesus and Beelzebub

Matthew 12:22-37

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... ruler of the demons gives him the power. He can control demons in others only because he himself is controlled by the chief of demons.” 12:25–28 Jesus is well aware of their way of thinking. It is incredible that learned men, trained in the art of skillful debate, would not realize the full implications of their position. Jesus points out that kingdoms divided are bound to collapse, and that if demons are cast out by the power of Beelzebub then their own disciples are as demonic as he is (vv. 25–27 ...

1778. The Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... in the New Testament, primarily in the Synoptic Gospels. The parable is a simple story taken from daily life that illustrates an ethical or religious truth. William Scott observes, “Disinclined as he was to discursive exposition, the Semite practised the art of persuasion by thus skillfully appealing to the imagination” (HDB rev., p. 725). For many years the church allegorized the parables, ignoring the obvious meaning and finding support for theological positions. It was Adolf Jülicher’s famous Die ...

1779. The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

Matthew 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1780. The Parable Of the Weeds Explained

Matthew 13:36-43

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1781. The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

Matthew 13:44-46

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1782. The Parable of the Net

Matthew 13:47-52

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1783. A Prophet Without Honor

Matthew 13:53-58

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1784. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... , leaves, and fruit. Under it the beasts of the field found shelter, and the birds of the air lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed (4:12). This seems to be a description of the cosmic tree, a fairly common motif in ancient Near Eastern art and iconography, though rare in texts (see the Additional Note on 4:10). It stands in “the middle of the earth” (not “in the middle of the land,” as in the NIV, as if it were a local tree) and binds everything together: its branches reach up into ...

1785. Two Kinds of Wisdom

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

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... such as Psalm 31:21 or 103:1, 2; they had morning and evening prayers of blessing in which God was thanked for protection during the night and the good of the day (the prayers of Acts 2:42); and there were the thanksgivings over each meal: “Blessed art thou, O, Lord God of our fathers, who gives us the fruit of the ground.…” Unfortunately, the tongue is also used to curse men. Scripture abounds with curses, although it limits cursing and is at best uneasy about it: Genesis 9:25; 49:7; Judges 9:20 ...

1786. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... were recited three times daily in the synagogue. But the Christian doxology is richer in its concepts of God and of the afterlife, as can be seen by comparing Peter’s paean of praise with the meager wording of the Second Benediction: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, that quickenest the dead.” The same opening eleven Greek words of this verse occur coincidentally in 2 Cor. 1:3 and Eph. 1:3; but literary dependence either way is unlikely. The wording was doubtless already established in Christian worship ...

1787. Aaron's Staff Becomes a Snake

Exodus 7:8-13

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... upon the children of Israel. The emphasis stands in contrast to verse 15, where Moses’ staff “that was changed into a snake” once again uses the common word for snake (nakhash). The Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts. Their staffs also became fearsome reptiles (tannin). Yahweh easily won this competition for the control of chaos, as Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. The triumph was a wonder (portent) that pointed forward to the battle of chaos at the crossing ...

1788. The Death of Samson

Judges 16:23-31

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... It is a gripping, poignant drama brought to life by a gifted artist who has skillfully combined plot and characterization to present a classic story whose elements, if not the whole, have been told and retold in many cultures through all varieties of media, whether story, song, art, or film. But as we turn to this famous story, we must remember that it is part of a whole and thus be careful to place it in its literary context. It stands as the climactic point of both the Samson cycle and Judges 3–16, that ...

1789. To Noah's Sons

1 Chronicles 1:1-4

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... use a structure that differs somewhat from the one suggested above (to correlate with the NIV pericope divisions), but the above description shows that the genealogies were certainly not a haphazard collection of family lists. Rather, they were an artful construction of genealogical material to help their first readers negotiate an identity within the social, cultic, and theological landscape of the postexilic community. From Adam to Abraham The Chronicler’s family lists start with Adam (1:1) and swiftly ...

1790. The Japhethites

1 Chronicles 1:5-7

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... position of the Levites in the Chronicler’s view. I will use a structure that differs somewhat from the one suggested above (to correlate with the NIV pericope divisions), but the above description shows that the genealogies were certainly not a haphazard collection of family lists. Rather, they were an artful construction of genealogical material to help their first readers negotiate an identity within the social, cultic, and theological landscape of the postexilic community.

1791. The Hamites

1 Chronicles 1:8-16

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

1792. The Semites

1 Chronicles 1:17-27

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

1793. The Temple's Furnishing

2 Chronicles 4:1-5:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the previous episode, however, Huram-Abi was explicitly offered to Solomon by King Hiram of Tyre to perform these duties. In 4:11 the name Huram occurs twice (in both variations: Huram and Hiram). It is thus clear that he was the designer of all the artful decorations mentioned in the next verses. In 4:18 Solomon becomes the explicit subject of the verb again in accordance with the source text in 1 Kings 7:47. At this point it becomes clear that, although the Sidonian artisan Huram was responsible for the ...

1794. The Baby or the Window?

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... I pop it in my mouth.” Some of you suddenly developed a craving for a Twinkie, didn’t you? Anyway there is a verse in the song that begins like this: My friends down at the commune They think I’m pretty neat Oh, I don’t know nothing about arts and crafts But I give ’em all something to eat I’m a friend to old Euell Gibbons And I only eat homegrown spice,” etc. (6) For a while Gibbons was a pop icon, well known for his dietary habits. However, cynics like to point out that Euell Gibbons, the ...

1795. When You're Rejected

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... we healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Because he was wounded, he could reach out to us. Christian author Robert J. Morgan tells us something interesting about Michelangelo’s magnificent statue of David. As you probably know, the statue of David is an enormous work of art. Morgan says it was carved from a block of marble eighteen feet high. But perhaps you didn’t know, says Morgan, that Michelangelo wasn’t the first person to attempt to craft a statue from that chunk of marble. An earlier artist named Agostino ...

1796. Fake News? No! Fake Religion

Matthew 23:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... that which is real. Why do you think such things as fake news are such a big problem today? Some people are remarkably gullible. And sometimes people who are pushing fake items as well as fake ideas are remarkably expert. Years ago the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Amsterdam put some of their priceless originals next to copies of those same paintings and held a contest to see how many visitors could tell the false from the true. Of the 1827 people who took part in the experiment, only seven were able to ...

1797. From Fear to Overflowing Joy

John 20:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

... author Nell Mohney was for many years a popular religion writer for the Chattanooga, (TN) Times-Free Press. In her columns Ms. Mohney related many moving stories from her personal experience. One of her stories goes back to her college days at a small liberal arts school in Greensboro, North Carolina. There was a girl in that college named Amy Pruett. Amy was a junior transfer from a prestigious school in the East. Mohney said that she and her friends immediately assumed that Amy had failed to make it in ...

1798. Close Calls

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... life, we have the tendency to think of ourselves as being central. The elevation of man to the middle to replace God in the middle has been a tendency from the beginning of time, but it got a big boost in the Renaissance when art and science began to replace religion as the central theme for intellectuals, then for the masses. Man in the middle, trying to control everything, being critical of everything, evaluating everything, being first, last, and always central in his own thinking -- that's the bind ...

1799. Searching for Happiness

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... as a mother. Before, she thought of mothering as boring, but now, as she took photos of her children holding out their hands to her as they playfully explored their world, she discovered how much joy and wonder there was in her world. Through the art of gratitude Hailey found herself lifted out of her rut and celebrating life. (5) G. K. Chesterton once wrote: “The test of all happiness is gratitude.” And he’s right. Now let’s go back to Solomon who experienced every earthly pleasure, yet something ...

1800. A Word to the Wealthy

Mark 10:17-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... Castle on the west coast, the home of the fabulously wealthy William Randolph Hearst. Pastor John Ortberg notes that Hearst accumulated “3,500-year-old Egyptian statues, medieval Flemish tapestries, and centuries-old hand-carved ceilings, and some of the greatest works of art of all time, most of which came from Sweden. He built a house of 72,000 square feet to put his stuff in. He acquired property for his house: 265,000 acres; he originally owned fifty miles of California coastline. He collected stuff ...

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