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 1976 to 2000 of 4963 results

1976. Adam and Eve

Genesis 2:4-25

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... perspective on the commandment to honor one’s father and mother (Exod. 20:12; Lev. 19:3). It preempts parents from using the fifth commandment to challenge the supreme place a wife has for their son. This does not mean a son no longer has responsibilities to his parents, but it does mean his wife has a higher standing. A man also must strive to prevent any dissolution of the relationship by clinging or cleaving (dabaq, NIV be united) to his wife. Clinging conveys commitment to maintaining the union in ...

1977. The Flood

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... passage explains why God had to judge the inhabited earth with a deluge (6:9–8:22). It has two distinct sections: a description of the rapid increase in population, when the sons of God married daughters of men (vv. 1–4), and God’s response to human violence (vv. 5–8). The first section reports the population explosion, presumably spurred by the extraordinary marriages between the sons of God and the daughters of men. During that era superheroes are said to have lived in the land. This passage is as ...

1978. Dinah and the Shechemites

Genesis 34:1-31

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... had used the symbol of the covenant as a ruse for pillaging a people. Although Jacob addressed the serious consequences of his sons’ vengeful action, he was not able to enlighten them as to how they should have carried out their moral responsibility. Jacob’s lack of response to the harm done to his daughter also becomes a mark against him. That the behavior of Simeon and Levi increased Jacob’s sorrow is discovered in his harsh words for them in his final testament (49:5–7). Such repugnant behavior ...

1979. Driving Out the Nations

Deuteronomy 7:1-26

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... the destruction of the Canaanites. 7:12/ And so, we take the first step back from the center and touch on the promise to the forefathers. This promise was not dependant on Israel’s qualities, but the future enjoyment of its benefits was dependant on obedient response to the God who made it. Again we see that obedience to the law was not the means of gaining the covenant, but the means of maintaining and enjoying it. 7:13–16 Abraham’s blessing promised posterity and land. Verses 13–15 add local color ...

1980. Fear the Lord

Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” (Gen. 18:19). The reference to the growth of the people in fulfillment of God’s great missionary promise to Abraham (v. 22; cf. Gen. 46:27; Exod. 1:5; Deut. 1:10) shows that the response required of Israel in this whole section would not be merely for its own good (v. 13b), but would be an integral part of God’s ongoing redemptive purpose in the world through the people of Abraham. It is thus another indication of the fundamental link in ...

1981. Elijah and Obadiah

1 Kings 18:1-15

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... conclusion to the chapter. For although Obadiah builds Ahab up as someone to be feared (18:9–14), from the moment Elijah meets the king he dominates him. Ahab speaks but once in the entire story (18:17), and having been silenced by Elijah’s aggressive and fearless response (18:18), he spends the rest of the time either doing what the prophet tells him (18:19–20, 41–42, 44–45) or watching from the sidelines so quietly as to be invisible (18:21–40). He is as impotent as the god he worships. Elijah ...

1982. Hezekiah's Illness

2 Kings 20:1-11

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... was evidently life-threatening (v. 1), but all we hear of the specifics is that it involved an inflammation or boil (Hb. šeḥîn, v. 7, as in Exod. 9:9–11; Lev. 13:18–20, 23; Deut. 28:35; Job 2:7). Its importance lies more in Hezekiah’s response to it than in its nature. As in the midst of the Assyrian crisis, he turns to prayer (vv. 2–3; cf. 19:4, 15–19). The prayer is somewhat more self-centered than in 19:15–19, stressing the king’s own righteousness. There is for the first time ...

1983. The Sign of Immanuel

Isaiah 7:1-25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... t be afraid is a Middle Eastern deity’s standard invitation/challenge to a devotee, especially a king. Do not lose heart suggests “be tough-minded” (lit. “your mind must not be tender”). It is soft to be activist, in the mistaken conviction that you are responsible for your people’s destiny. Key to Isaiah’s challenge is the name of the son he brings with him, Shear-Jashub, “a remnant will return,” though this name conveys an ambiguous message (see on 1:8–9; 3:10; 4:2–3). Only a remnant ...

1984. The Lord's Anger Against Israel

Isaiah 9:8--10:4

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... a process under way (see 55:10–11). Eventually people will have to acknowledge it (v. 9a), as they did not in 1:3. They will have to acknowledge what Yahweh has put down (v. 10), though their words pointedly avoid acknowledging that it was Yahweh who was responsible for the falling/felling. They will have to acknowledge what Yahweh has raised (the more literal meaning of strengthened in v. 11: see on 2:11). Aram is in danger from Assyria (v. 11) and is also a danger to Israel (v. 12). Philistia has been a ...

1985. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

Isaiah 36:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... s direct assessment of Assyria in 10:5–11. Assyria was the means whereby Yahweh acted in Judah, but Assyria had no more use for these foreign religions than for the foreign peoples’ armies and the countries themselves. We hear nothing of the people’s response, and not enough of the Judean politicians’. We do not know whether the latter’s outward expression of grief means that they are simply appalled by the Assyrians’ hard line, or by the insulting of their king, or by the blasphemy of their God ...

1986. Comfort for God's People

Isaiah 40:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... : A Commentary (trans. D. M. G. Stalker; Old Testament Library; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1969), pp. 41–42). The prophet knows that all the people are grass, grass withered by the hot breath of Yahweh’s wind. So how it is possible to preach to them, expecting a response? Verse 8a accepts that the assessment is entirely accurate, but verse 8b points out that there is something else to take into account. 40:9–11 What are the grounds for comfort (vv. 1–2)? Where was Yahweh’s road to lead (vv. 3–5 ...

1987. The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 49:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... to believing in Yahweh’s commitment to it. “Return to me,” Yahweh had therefore urged at one climactic point (44:22). The servant has been exaggerating the burden of that task. So Yahweh adds another. To restore the tribes of Jacob is, after all, a rather small-scale responsibility (!): I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, so that my salvation comes to the ends of the earth (v. 6). Nothing in the aim here is new. Being a light to the nations has been the task of Yahweh’s servant since 42:6 ...

1988. Salvation for Others

Isaiah 56:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... community has not replaced it, as Westermann suggests (Isaiah 40–66, p. 314). But Yahweh is also fulfilling that other implicit commitment to restore blessing to all peoples through their association with the descendants of Abraham. This welcoming of foreigners is also a response to Solomon’s prayer at the original dedication of this house of God (1 Kgs. 8:41–43). 56:8 This has implications for the community itself, for it relates to promises Yahweh made to Israel. Yahweh is fulfilling a commitment to ...

1989. An Unholy History

Ezekiel 20:1-29, Ezekiel 20:30-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... else had failed. One wonders if perhaps some of the elders had made recourse to the Topheth in Gehenna, or if they were in favor of Zedekiah making such an offering, to save their city and themselves. After all, 2 Kings 3:27 records that in response to Mesha’s horrific sacrifice on his city wall, the armies of Israel “withdrew and returned to their own land.” For Ezekiel, of course, such thinking would have been a sure sign of his people’s defilement and devastation, just as the Lord had said. In ...

1990. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment

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

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... the city is destroyed and the land is laid waste. In the vision of the city’s destruction in Ezekiel 9, the prophet protests the wholesale slaughter he witnesses (9:8). Here again, Ezekiel groans with broken heart and bitter grief (v. 6)—but this time, in response to the divine command, he does so as a sign before his community. When the people ask Ezekiel what is wrong, he is to reply, “Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint ...

1991. Ezekiel a Watchman

Ezekiel 33:1-20, Ezekiel 33:21-33

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... innocence (see 18:1–4), but to a community sunken in guilt and despair: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of [better, simply “in,” with the NIV footnote] them. How then can we live?” (v. 10). Ezekiel’s response (vv. 12–20) recapitulates 18:21–29 (compare vv. 17–20 with 18:25–29): one’s past and present need not determine one’s future! Here, however, the call to repentance comes with a description of what repentance entails (v. 15): if he gives back ...

1992. Jesus’ Baptism by John

Matthew 3:1-12, Matthew 3:13-17

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... arise at daybreak and instantly turn my thoughts to you in prayer, you are too quick for me; you have loved me first.13 Preachers and teachers cannot emphasize enough the initiating work of God, with all of life to be lived in responsiveness to that work. Illustrating the Text Jesus is God’s faithful son who brings restoration from exile and inaugurates God’s kingdom. Art: Jesus’ baptism has intrigued artists across the centuries. If your context allows, display a set of different paintings portraying ...

1993. Sermon on the Mount: Final Warnings and Call to Obey Jesus’ Words

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

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... on their own teaching.5Jesus, however, teaches with an authority that derives from his God-given wisdom and interpretation of the Torah. Teaching the Text 1. Doing the will of God—that is, obeying the words of Jesus—is the proper and wise response to Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew has communicated Jesus’ core teachings about how disciples are to live out covenantal faithfulness in light of the arriving kingdom of God. This expectation of obedience may ...

1994. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... gods before me” (Exod. 20:3 [cf. Exod. 19:5]). And Isaiah declares Yahweh as the only God, who deserves complete allegiance (e.g., Isa. 45:18–25). Matthew affirms here that same necessary allegiance and places Jesus at the center of human response to God and God’s work (10:32–39). We hear similar refrains throughout the New Testament. For example, Paul writes to Roman citizens in the Roman colony of Philippi to reorient their perspective toward a kingdom “citizenship” (politeuma [Phil. 3:20; in ...

1995. Jesus Warns of Presuming Reward and Status

Matthew 20:1-16

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... should not be pressed into service for its metaphorical meaning), we learn that God’s grace is effusive and is based not on what humans deserve but on God’s own nature. If the parable proves troubling, we would do well to capitalize on that response for our preaching and teaching of it. It disturbs us probably because we have identified in some way with the full-day workers, andwe feel the affront of the landowner’s generosity to those who seem less deserving. We, and our audience, will likely feel ...

1996. Spiritual Hypocrisy—Living by the Rules, Not by the Heart

Mark 7:1-23

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... it could not be used for anything else (though it could be used for one’s own needs). According to the Pharisees, it would then even have priority over the fifth commandment. Jesus does not say whether it is done deliberately (to avoid responsibility) or accidentally; either way, it is wrong. God’s commands have complete authority over scribal tradition. Thus their human “tradition” has “nullified” God’s true commands by their practice (v. 13, repeating v. 9). 7:15 it is what comes out of a ...

1997. Gentiles Exemplify True Discipleship

Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... , scavenging for food, and were shunned in Israel. “Dog” was a common epithet for Gentiles as unclean people (2 Sam. 16:9; Ps. 22:16; Matt. 7:6; Phil. 3:2). 7:28 even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. This is the perfect response. Jesus has said, “First let the children eat,” and she picks up on this adroitly. Elijah had raised a Gentile widow’s son (1 Kings 17:8–24), and this woman would like to be included in God’s mercy on the Gentiles. She begins by calling Jesus ...

1998. Prophetic Actions—The Temple Condemned and the Fig Tree Cursed

Mark 11:12-19

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... books their children read, internet sites they browse, movies they see, and television programs they watch. In your anger, do not sin. Ethics: This passage in Mark opens the door for a powerful discussion about Christian ethics. Many people are stunned by the angry (and violent) response of Jesus to what was happening in the temple of the Lord. The Bible says not that we must not get angry but rather that we must not sin when angry (Eph. 4:26). When is it appropriate to be angry? Are there boundaries to how ...

1999. Government and Marriage

Mark 12:18-27, Mark 12:13-17

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... not believe a word of what they are saying about Jesus, they are speaking the truth. It is intended to get him to speak overconfidently and candidly, to catch him at a weak moment and expose what they believe is his false teaching. Yet Jesus’s response will prove that what they say is in fact right about him. Is it right to pay the imperial tax . . . ? This was the poll tax (see the sidebar “Taxes, the Zealots, and Government”), consisting of one denarius paid annually by all adults (women as well as ...

2000. The First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... was not alone (cf. “all his companions” [5:9]). Indeed, even two men would hardly be enough to manage a boat of the type mentioned above. But all the emphasis falls on Simon, not only as the leading apostle but also as the one whose experience and response on this occasion are a model for discipleship. he sat down and taught the people from the boat. For sitting as the accepted posture for teaching, see 4:20. The use of a boat as a “mobile pulpit” facing the crowd gathered on the shore is mentioned ...

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