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 2026 to 2050 of 2669 results

2026. The Choosing of the Seven

Acts 6:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... were obedient to the faith. This verb is found in Acts only here and may have been chosen deliberately to suggest that they were especially under pressure, perhaps from the Sadducean hierarchy, to renounce the faith (understood in an objective sense as a body of belief; see disc. on 14:22) and yet had remained true. It seems unlikely that these priests held any special position within the church. The reference of this verse may be to the work of the Twelve now that they could give themselves to preaching ...

2027. On Cyprus

Acts 13:4-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , had wit enough to see that if the governor were won over by the Christians his own chance of bringing him under his power would be lost. He therefore set himself to turn the proconsul from the faith (v. 8; “faith” here means primarily the body of Christian belief, though the subjective idea of faith as trust cannot be ruled out altogether; see disc. on 14:22). Paul’s response was to look Bar-Jesus in the eye (see disc. on 3:4) and say, You are a child of the devil (perhaps in indignant contrast to ...

2028. In Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-20

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... mere quibbling. If the two gods were thought of together, Hermes would naturally be thought of as spokesman. He was, after all, the patron of orators. That the people reacted as they did is entirely consonant with what we know of their beliefs, bearing in mind that Lystra was no sophisticated metropolis. Ovid tells how Jupiter and Mercury (the Latin counterparts of Zeus and Hermes) once visited an aged couple, Philemon and Baucis, in the neighboring district of Phrygia (Metamorphoses 8.611ff.). On the basis ...

2029. The Council at Jerusalem

Acts 15:1-21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , and especially Galileans, would have been familiar with that language, whereas some of the Antiochenes may not have spoken Aramaic. That the prophecy was used in a sense very different from the original intention was in accordance with the exegetical methods of the day. A belief that Christ could be found in all the Scriptures enabled James to interpret the house of David of his church and the prophecy as a whole of the church gathering to itself all the nations (see disc. on 1:20). 15:19–21 On the ...

2030. The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

Acts 15:22-35

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... these things (v. 29), that is, the things prohibited, cannot be interpreted to mean “you will be saved.” It does, however, reflect the conviction that the council’s decision had been reached under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (cf. 10:19f.; 13:2f.). This belief is made explicit in verse 28, where the form of expression does not mean that they put themselves on a par with the Spirit, but only that they were willing to submit to his guidance (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 16.162–166 for the letter of ...

2031. In Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... fall, much as Jesus had spoken of “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24)—and of the places where these nations are found. In this way Paul moved from speaking of God as creator to God as the Lord of history, perhaps deliberately setting his own belief in divine providence over against the fatalism of his Stoic auditors. 17:27 Not only is God the creator of life, he is also both the source and the goal of human aspirations, for he made human beings that they might seek him and perhaps … find him ...

2032. Before the Sanhedrin

Acts 22:30--23:11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... in what he did. No love was lost between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, as he well knew, and an appeal to the Pharisees on these grounds could well have won them to his side, for the Sadducees repudiated the doctrine of resurrection, with its kindred belief in spiritual beings inhabiting a spiritual world. 23:9 The effect of Paul’s outcry was dramatic. Immediately there was a sharp division within the council, though he did not carry all of the Pharisees with him, for only some of the teachers of the ...

2033. Identification and a Wish for Grace and Peace

Galatians 1:1-10

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... society. Plutarch wrote: a city without holy places and gods, without any observance of prayers, oaths, oracles … might rather be formed without the ground it stands on than a government, once you remove all religion from under it.… It is this belief [which is] the underpinning and base that holds all society and legislation together. (Reply to Colotes in Defence of the Other Philosophers 1125E [Einarson and DeLacy, LCL]) Nonetheless, the word “sins” occurs in the phrase “for our sins,” which is ...

2034. Paul Opposes Peter

Galatians 2:11-21

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... with the believers’ conformity with Christ, which involves sharing in Christ’s crucifixion. The idea of sharing in Christ’s death is a central one that Paul uses to describe the type of religious life he has experienced and seeks to convey. For Paul, belief in Jesus Christ entails identifying with Christ’s death and resurrection. As noted in the Introduction, when Paul refers to the faith of Christ he is speaking of the type of human life Jesus lived and in which believers too may partake. Believers ...

2035. Sons of God

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... used as a noun in 4:3 and 4:9 stoicheia has the sense of elements, rudiments, or basic principles, the “smallest parts which stand in relation with others” (Delling, TDNT 7:678). The word came to be used particularly in Stoicism to refer to the belief that the cosmos was made of four basic elements. All of matter could be explained as based on the four elements of earth, water, air, and fire. The ancients had various attitudes to these elements. Isis was thought to be a diety who controlled the “basic ...

2036. Doing Good to All

Galatians 6:1-10

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... “time” in the previous verse. The sense is “while we have time,” thereby alluding to the fact that believers live in expectation of the end. The phrase “family of believers” is literally “household of faith.” The designation “faith” for belief in Christ occurs throughout Galatians (e.g., 1:23). Now Paul describes those who share such faith as a family. This final injunction stresses the importance of attending particularly to the needs of believers and directs the attention of believers ...

2037. Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Ephesians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... . A similar sequence takes place during Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost when he summons those who heard the gospel to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:37ff.). Second, they believed in Christ, literally, “in whom also having believed.” Although the content of belief is not mentioned, it definitely must include the person of Christ (“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” Rom. 10:9) or the gospel that ...

2038. Made Alive in Christ

Ephesians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:23b); here believers receive all of Christ’s abundant wealth (Phil. 4:19), yet there is a glory to be revealed (Rom. 8:18). To a certain extent, Ephesians and Colossians retain a belief in the Parousia as the hope of God’s people. In Colossians, the Christian has died with Christ (3:3a), but this new life is hidden with Christ in God, that is, its fullness will be revealed at the Parousia (3:3b); believers are resurrected with ...

2039. One in Christ

Ephesians 2:11-22

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... forward to its coming” (p. 57). For a short period of time the Greek mystery religions, with their doctrines of purification, immortality, brotherhood, and so forth, offered a ray of hope to the Greeks and Romans. This, however, never approximated the Jewish belief in the coming kingdom of God or the certainty of Christianity, which based its hope on the verities of Christ’s life and resurrection. The Gentile’s life in this world was also without God. This appears as a rather strange characterization ...

2040. Unity in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... church this became a common expression for the Christian message (Gal. 1:23; Phil. 1:27; 1 Tim. 3:9; 4:1, 6; Titus 1:4; Jude 3). But the absence of the article “the” in this passage makes it more likely that the author is thinking of one’s belief in Jesus as Lord and thus the acceptance and acknowledgment of him as Lord. Baptism refers to the rite of water baptism, because it is the visible expression of one’s faith in the Lord and is the means by which one becomes a member of Christ’s body, the ...

2041. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Colossians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... called out and separated from their former way of life in order to live in and for Christ (1:21ff.). Second, they are faithful brothers in Christ. Here there is some uncertainty whether Paul’s use of faithful carries the sense of “reliability,” or of “belief,” that is, is the apostle referring to those who are faithful to the gospel, or is he referring to those who have been joined together by their faith in Christ and who now form a believing community? Given that many of Paul’s greetings and ...

2042. Timothy’s Encouraging Report

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... disc. on 1:1). People like Paul were nurtured on the truth that there is one God (Deut. 6:4). Without ceasing to believe that truth, they now prayed to him as Father and Son. The singular verb could be taken as further evidence of Paul’s belief that Father and Son are one. However, Greek regularly requires the verb to take its number from the first or the nearest of its subjects if there is more than one. Thus the evidence is inconclusive. The fact remains, however, that Jesus is petitioned, no less than ...

2043. The Coming of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... with 1 Corinthians 15:3f., where Paul makes much the same statement, claiming in doing so that he was passing on to the Corinthians a tradition that he himself had received. This establishes the centrality of the death and resurrection of Jesus to Christian belief from earliest times. That Paul is similarly citing in Thessalonians an accepted credal statement is suggested by his use of the name Jesus rather than Christ (which is more usual in Paul) and by the verb anistēmi rather than egeirō (Paul’s ...

2044. Warning Against False Teachers of the Law

1 Timothy 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... has a broad usage in Paul, ranging from “trust in God” (most common), to a Christian virtue coming very close to the idea of “faithfulness” (e.g., 1 Thess. 3:6; 5:8, and frequently in the PE; see disc. on 1:2), to the content of Christian belief (e.g., Gal. 1:23; also frequently in the PE). Here sincere faith refers to the Christian virtue, meaning trust in God that is truly there, in contrast to the deceptive nature of the errorists’ “faith.” 1:6–7 That these sources of Christian love are ...

2045. Jesus Made Like His Brothers

Hebrews 2:5-18

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... God in suffering and death. Further benefits of the humanity of Jesus are explored by our author in the remainder of this chapter. Additional Notes 2:5 It is presupposed that angels have an important role in the present age. Evidence indicates the widespread belief that angel-princes under God ruled the nations. Philo says that the Creator employs angels as his assistants and ministers for the care of mortals (On Dreams 1.22); according to 1 Enoch (89:59) seventy guardian angels have charge over the seventy ...

2046. An Exhortation Inspired by the Exodus

Hebrews 3:7-19

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... the address of 3:1. Unbelieving (apistias) is from the author’s perspective the root problem leading to disobedience and eventually apostasy. In v. 19, the failure is directly linked to unbelief (apistia). This is the negative side of the “faith” or “belief” of the heroes catalogued in chap. 11. Can Jewish readers who revert back to their Judaism, as the recipients of this letter were apparently tempted to do, be described as turning away from the living God? Some have argued that this expression ...

2047. By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... by his word. Additional Notes 11:1 The word faith (pistis) is used more often in Hebrews than in any other NT book, occurring twenty-four times in the present chapter alone. Faith in Hebrews involves active obedience rather than a passive belief in the truth of God. (Cf. the close relationship between unbelief and disobedience in 3:18f.) This obedience obviously also involves trust. Thus the word faith in Hebrews approximates “faithfulness” (cf. 10:36–39). See R. Bultmann, TDNT, vol. 6, pp. 205 ...

2048. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:7-12, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... end of every plan. Rather, it is to plan with God. Each plan is evaluated by his standards and goals; each plan is laid before God in prayer with adequate time spent in listening for God’s ideas. In such a case the “if God wills” is a prayerful belief that God does will, not a pious hope God won’t interfere. Plans made with careful prayer and aimed at God’s goals need not be insecure. 4:16 These people, however, are far from prayerful planning: As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is ...

2049. Suffering for Being a Christian

1 Peter 4:12-19

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... , are rebels against the Most High, and they will be treated as such. A clear understanding that there is a life to come in the immediate presence of the Lord provides a powerful stimulus to living a godly life in the present world. Conversely, a lack of belief in any hereafter will confirm the godless in applying their thoughts and actions to making the best they can of their own material situation in the present world, for this, in their view, is all that there is. There is no place in their scheme of ...

2050. False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 Peter 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... , 16. The repetition is nicely brought out by the shades of meaning listed by BAGD: “the destruction that one experiences, annihilation both complete and in process, ruin.” Heresies: The Greek hairesis originally meant a school or sect of philosophy, the word implying primarily a choice of belief or opinion (as party in Acts 5:17; 15:5; sect in Acts 24:5, 14). The coming of Jesus as the “truth” (John 1:14, 17; 8:32; 14:6; 16:13) set the God-given standard, which ruled out mere human opinion of truth ...

Showing results