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 2076 to 2100 of 2669 results

2076. The First Two Days: John the Baptist’s Message

John 1:19-28, John 1:29-34

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... v. 19 and thus (by appearing to make a fresh start) sets off the last and most crucial question (Why do you baptize?) from the series of preliminary questions that led up to it. 1:25 If you are not … Elijah: The only hint of a Jewish belief that Elijah was expected to baptize comes from a Christian document a half century later than the Gospel of John. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho 8.4, represents Trypho the Jew as claiming that the Messiah is unknown “until Elijah comes to anoint him and ...

2077. The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

John 9:13-34

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... and 7:27: “But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” The irony of the contrast (if it is deliberate) is that the Pharisees are here unwittingly bearing witness to Jesus’ messiahship, the very belief they are committed to stamping out. Their intended meaning is not, of course, that they are actually ignorant of where Jesus comes from (contrast 6:42; 7:41, 52) but that they do not recognize his credentials. 9:31 We know. This phrase on the lips of ...

2078. The Unbelief of the Jews

John 10:22-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... the miracles (lit., “believe the deeds”). The statement involves a paradox. To believe Jesus’ deeds, in this Gospel, is to believe him, which is the same as believing in him. Jesus is not presenting a genuine alternative, but simply indicating another avenue toward belief in him, i.e., by way of his deeds rather than his words. In the last analysis, Jesus’ deeds, his words, and he himself are interchangeable as far as faith is concerned. His words and his deeds are simply the means of his self ...

2079. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... s death, in 21:19). 12:34 We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever: The reference is to the Scriptures generally, not to a legal code or to the Pentateuch in particular (cf. perhaps Ps. 110:4 or Isa. 9:6–7). The belief that the Messiah would remain forever was not confined to those who conceived of him as a supernatural or transcendent figure. The crowd may have had in mind passages in which God promised that the messianic line of descendants of King David would never fail (e.g., 2 ...

2080. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... that the argument as a whole is built on an already well-developed system of Christian interpretation of the Jewish Scriptures, a system worked out after Jesus had been “glorified” (v. 16) or “raised from the dead” (2:22). The alternative to unbelief is belief, and the writer seems ready to present that alternative in verse 42. What he presents, however, turns out to be no alternative at all. The statement that many even among the leaders believed in Jesus is at once canceled by the fact that they ...

2081. Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

John 13:1-17, John 13:18-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... when not used simply as part of a narrative (as in 5:1; 6:1; 7:1), can refer either to the future in a general sense or to future events mentioned in prophecies about the last days (e.g., Rev. 1:19). The promise of specific knowledge or belief or remembrance at some future time (usually after the resurrection) is a fairly common one in John’s Gospel (cf. 2:22; 12:16; 13:19, 29; 16:4, 25), and the immediate impression left by verse 7 is that the disciples will understand what the footwashing means after ...

2082. Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel

Philippians 1:12-30

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... by word and action. Their witness called for strenuous endeavor and united effort; they had to contend side by side for the faith of the gospel. They themselves had believed the gospel, and the aim of their witness was to bring others to the same belief. In the pursuit of this aim they had to reckon with powerful and unremitting opposition; hence the call for strenuous action. Paul would welcome the opportunity of paying them a visit and seeing them in action—and sharing in their action too. But if a ...

2083. Joy at Believers’ Walking in the Truth

3 John 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Thomas F. Johnson

... may have known of Gaius only from the report of “the brothers” (vv. 3, 5). The elder loves him in the truth (cf. 2 John 1, 3). Truth and love are the two most prominent themes in the Johannine epistles. They reflect the elder’s concern for right belief (in Jesus as the incarnate divine Son of God) and for right conduct (obedience to the love command which Jesus gave them; John 13:34). First John 3:23 summarized them: “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to ...

2084. Abraham Tested

Genesis 22:1-19

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... narratives by stating at the outset the purpose of what was about to take place: God was going to test Abraham. God, however, never gave Abraham a hint that this was only a test. That God needs to test a person might seem incomprehensible in light of the belief in God’s full knowledge, but God is involved with those who fear him—leading, guiding, and testing them. There are many references in the OT to God’s testing Israel (Exod. 15:22–26; 16:4; 20:18–20; Deut. 8:12–16; 13:1–3; Judg ...

2085. The Death of Abraham

Genesis 25:1-11

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... dying in peace witness to God’s blessing on his life. The phrase gathered to his people refers to the idea that the deceased became numbered with his departed ancestors. This language, which occurs only ten times and only in the Pentateuch, hints at a belief in some type of life after death. Isaac and Ishmael overlooked their differences as together they attended to burying their father in the cave of Machpelah, located in the field of Ephron (ch. 23; also 35:29). Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his ...

2086. Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

Genesis 28:10-22

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... ground, or “houses of the gods,” were normally marked by a monument or shrine. No such marker alerted Jacob that he was lying on sacred ground. God chose this place because Jacob was there, not because it possessed any intrinsic holiness. In pagan belief a site was sacred from primordial time, but in Scripture a site never became endowed with sacredness; a particular place was holy only as long as God chose to reveal himself there. 28:13–15 Yahweh gave Jacob the Abrahamic promises by reiterating ...

2087. The Death of Jacob

Gen 49:29–50:14

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... sons carried their father to Hebron and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah. The interment ceremony itself was thus a family matter. After the burial, the entire procession returned to Egypt. Additional Notes 50:2–3 Integral to their strong belief in the afterlife, the Egyptians sought to preserve the body close to its living form so that when, as they believed, the spirit and/or the soul (the Egyptian ka and ba) of the deceased returned to the tomb, it would recognize its original habitation ...

2088. Love the Lord Your God

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... do what they say. This is precisely the nuance of the people’s challenge at Massah (Exod. 17:7), “This God Yahweh, can he do what he promised, is he really competent, is he really with us?” Such “testing” of Yahweh flows from a lack of belief in Yahweh’s word and comes despite the fact that this people has witnessed Yahweh’s previous faithfulness (cf. 1:31–33). This kind of testing is commonly induced by need and hardship and this warning comes because life will not always be as idyllic and ...

2089. Going to War

Deuteronomy 20:1-20

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... execute the criminal. Love of neighbor did not exclude the need to “purge the evil from among you.” On a wider canvas, likewise, the historical execution of divine justice upon the wickedness of the Canaanites is not incompatible with the overall belief in God’s ultimate intention to bless the nations through Israel (cf. commentary on ch. 7). Nor does it prevent the remarkable degree of social compassion and legal protection afforded to the foreigner within Israel, even in Deuteronomy. The mere fact ...

2090. Naaman Healed of Leprosy

2 Kings 5:1-27

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... ’s disease becomes Gehazi’s and he turns as white as snow (v. 27). The fierceness is unsurprising, given the heinousness of the crime. Gehazi has sought to cash in on an act of God (cf. Josh. 7; Acts 8:18–24). He utters words that imply belief but does not have faith (as the LORD lives, v. 20; contrast v. 16, with its significant addition “whom I serve”). His aspirations to wealth and status (olive groves, vineyards, etc.; cf. the royal wealth of 1 Sam. 8:14–17, and particularly the verb lq ...

2091. Woe to the Obstinate Nation

Isaiah 30:1-33

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... of the audience sink as they have another bucket of anger poured over them. Verse 28b resolves the ambiguity. It is indeed the nations that are the victims, not Judah. The one who comes from afar is not Assyria but Assyria’s destroyer. The belief in God’s sovereignty in the nations’ affairs goes beyond that in chapter 10. Yahweh not only uses their own instinct for self-aggrandizement, Yahweh inspires them in their actions—and thus leads them astray, because they come to their own destruction. The ...

2092. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

Isaiah 36:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... Assyrian politician repeats that observation as well. Not only will this crutch collapse under you. It will wound your hand in the process (v. 6). Verses 8–9 underline the point. Judah thinks the key to safety is horses, chariots, and horsemen; the Assyrian subverts that belief in his own way, as Isaiah had in his (31:1). There is a second strand to the Assyrian’s confrontation, and again it sounds as if he is not merely Sennacherib’s puppet but also Isaiah’s and Yahweh’s. You rebel against me, he ...

2093. Jerusalem to Be Inhabited

Isaiah 44:24--45:25

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... it has been with the church. The content of people’s acknowledgment of Yahweh receives yet another new formulation in this connection (v. 7). It may seem easy to see God as author of light and bringer of shalom. The presupposition of this verse’s radical belief in Yahweh’s sovereignty is that Yahweh is also author of darkness and disaster, the darkness and disaster that have overtaken Judah and that are about to overtake Babylon. To say there is no other (v. 6) is to deny that there are many gods who ...

2094. The Suffering and Glory of the Servant

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... 66, p. 267). The courtroom language links with verse 8 in particular, but also with the implicitly legal context of the chapter as a whole. The servant has been treated as a wrongdoer when he was not, either by association with people who were guilty or in the belief that he was himself a wrongdoer. He has accepted that treatment, bearing their iniquities with them when he did not need to do so (the language is the same as Lam. 5:7). But in the end, the way he exercises his insight (by his knowledge; cf. 52 ...

2095. The Glory Departs

Ezekiel 8:1-18, Ezekiel 9:1-11, Ezekiel 10:1-22, Ezekiel 11:1-15, Ezekiel 11:16-25

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... Ezekiel’s outcry, the Lord repeats the earlier denunciation of Jerusalem, and indeed extends it to the entire people: “the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice” (v. 9; see 8:17). The Lord further reminds Ezekiel of the elders’ belief that ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see’ (v. 9; see 8:12). As Paul Joyce observes, “It is made quite clear in Ezekiel 9 that Israel’s punishment is absolutely deserved” (Joyce, Divine Initiative, p. 62). That no one ...

2096. Egypt

Ezekiel 29:1-21, Ezekiel 30:1-26, Ezekiel 31:1-18, Ezekiel 32:1-32

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... Bloch-Smith argues that the evidence of family bench tombs, with lamps and food left for the deceased, supports the notion of an afterlife, with the dead held to live on in communion with the living members of their clan (Judahite Burial Practices and Beliefs about the Dead [JSOTSup 123; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1992], pp. 49–51, 72–108, 137). Philip Johnstone notes that by far the majority of references to Sheol (including, by the way, all of the references in Ezek.) have to do with Sheol as the ...

2097. 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

... followers in the Sermon on the Mount (for the same phrase, see 12:49–50). The sermon has presumed covenantal categories and relationship (e.g., 5:13–16) as the context for discipleship as doing God’s will. As the sermon concludes, Matthew prioritizes praxis. Belief in Jesus as Messiah and as Lord is crucial for those who follow him, but so too is living out the will of God. Actions speak louder than words in this regard (7:21). Matthew will conclude the teachings of Jesus with a parable that indicates ...

2098. Jesus as Isaianic Messiah and Wisdom Embodied

Matthew 11:1-19

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... not the case that Jews were expecting a political kingdom but Jesus instead brought a spiritual one—another common way of speaking of Jewish expectation and Jesus. Jewish expectation was always a thoroughgoing combination of “political” and “spiritual” goals and beliefs. And Jesus enacts a kingdom that is tangible, embodied, and politically significant. What we do see in Matthew is that, by drawing on Isaiah, Jesus is shown to be a Messiah who inaugurates a kingdom of mercy and justice on behalf ...

2099. Pharisees Reject the Divine Origin of Jesus’ Power

Matthew 12:22-37, Matthew 12:38-45, Matthew 12:46-50

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... committed this unforgivable sin. We should be very careful when teaching this text to locate Jesus’ words in the context of the passage: it is stubborn unbelief in Jesus as God’s agent that is the sin of these particular Pharisees. And their lack of belief here is part of their persistent resistance to Jesus’ ministry (e.g., 9:34; 12:1–14; 22:15). So we can help those who read this text and wrongly think of themselves as being outside God’s grace and forgiveness. We help them by interpreting ...

2100. The Disciples’ Insufficient Faith to Heal as Jesus Heals

Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 17:24-27

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... were filled with grief. Upon hearing about Jesus’ coming death, the disciples are filled with grief, even though Jesus predicts his resurrection as well. That they do not catch the import of Jesus’ statement about resurrection is understandable in their setting. The Jewish belief in bodily resurrection was not individual but corporate; it was an expectation of the resurrection of all of God’s faithful people at the time of final restoration (Dan. 12:1–3; cf. 2 Macc. 7:13–14, 20–23). “So Jesus ...

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