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 4952 results

2076. Man's Plans and God's

Micah 2:1-5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... . 5:8) or by corrupt dealings in the courts (cf. Amos 5:12). They lie awake at night on their beds and silently plan out their schemes for getting more (cf. Ps. 36:4). As the Bible knows so well, sin starts in the evil imagination of the thoughts of our hearts (Gen. 6:5 RSV; 8:21; Jer. 4:14; Mark 7:20–23 and parallel). The iniquity of these schemers is therefore deliberate sin, calculated distortion of the Lord’s will for this community, planned defiance of covenant law. And they wield enough power and ...

2077. Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Micah 3:1-12

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... Deut 23:14). When the ark was placed in the holy of holies in the temple on Zion, Yahweh therefore dwelt in the midst of his people (Exod. 25:8, 20–22; cf. Lev. 26:11). No harm could come to them as long as Yahweh was there, they thought (cf. Ps. 46:5). The difficulty is that the leaders in Micah’s time have accepted the doctrine without devoting their hearts to God (cf. Isa. 29:13); they have assumed the truth of Israel’s tradition without absorbing anything of the ethic integral to it. They rely on ...

2078. Israel Will Rise

Micah 7:8-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 6 and is a common feature in eschatological promises (cf. Isa. 11:11–12; 27:12; 56:8; Zech. 10:8–10). The foreign nations, however, who have opposed God’s work in Israel, will be destroyed and their lands made desolate, verse 13. The promise continues the thought of 7:10, but more than that, we have once again an echo of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. (Cf. the commentary at 6:5, 16.) “I will bless those who bless you, / and whoever curses you I will curse.” Finally the nations’ fate ...

2079. Habakkuk’s Prayer

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... is the kind of heading to prayers and praises that appears in the Psalms, presumably referring to the form of the poem or to some musical or liturgical way of using it. Indeed, the singular “shiggaion” comes in the heading to Psalm 7. Scholars have thought that this heading, along with the similar footnote with which the chapter closes (v. 19b), indicate that this is a poem by Habakkuk that came to be used in worship although it was originally part of the prophetic book. The notes concerning its use in ...

2080. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

Zephaniah 1:1-3, Zephaniah 1:4-13, Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... ʾadamah and ʾerets can denote the whole earth or the land of Israel. In itself, Isaiah 24 could be referring to the land of Israel; there, it is the context that suggests it refers to the world as a whole. In Micah 1:2–7 the movement of thought is the opposite, and the same is (if anything) the case here in Zephaniah. In verse 2, the KJV has Yahweh sweeping away everything from “the land,” implying that it is Judah’s “earth” to which this verse refers (cf. Isa. 6:11 for similar talk of Judah ...

2081. A Call to Build the House of the Lord

Haggai 1:1-15

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... dynamism of the will. So Haggai has already urged people to apply their hearts or minds to their ways, and the NIV quite reasonably paraphrases this expression as “consider” (vv. 5, 7); he will do that again in 2:15, 18 (NIV “give careful thought”). The word for “spirit” is also the word for “wind” with its energy and forcefulness, and it is this drive that Yahweh has now stirred up (see the comments on “spirit” in connection with 2:5). Leaders and people respond to this arousing, yield ...

2082. The Vision of Obadiah

Obadiah 1:1-21

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... has already drunk of God’s wrath in its exile to Babylonia. But that is not the end of Judah. God still has for it, as Jeremiah would say, “a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11). There will be left a remnant to Judah—a thought that the NIV translation has totally obscured, verse 17a. The Hebrew reads, “But on the mountain of Zion (there shall be) those who escape” (see the RSV). The mountain itself will become holy, that is, it will become an inviolable sanctuary through which conquerors will never ...

2083. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philippians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... we ought … to thank” in 2 Thess. 1:3). In 2 Corinthians 1:3 and Ephesians 1:3 (as also in 1 Pet. 1:3) we have the more liturgical form “Praise be to [lit., ‘Blessed be’] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The very thought of his Christian friends in Philippi and other places gives Paul cause for gratitude to God. 1:4 Paul’s introductory thanksgiving is repeatedly linked with the assurance of his constant prayer for the friends to whom he writes (cf. Rom. 1:9; Eph. 1:16; 1 Thess. 1 ...

2084. No Confidence in the Flesh

Philippians 3:1-11

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... order that we may also share in his glory” (Rom. 8:17). 3:11 Experiencing the power of Christ’s resurrection here and now was not a substitute for looking forward to the resurrection of the body, as some of Paul’s Corinthian converts appear to have thought (1 Cor. 15:12). Christ’s resurrection, the power of which was imparted to his people even in their present mortal life, involved the hope for those who died believing in him “that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise ...

2085. Thanks for Their Gifts

Philippians 4:10-20

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... under house arrest in Rome. His situation had changed: his friends in Philippi judged that now, at last, it was opportune to send him a gift once more, and they sent one by the hand of Epaphroditus. 4:11 Paul greatly appreciated the Philippians’ kind thought, but he assures them that he had not been in need of support of this kind. His language may suggest the embarrassment felt by his independent and sensitive spirit at saying “Thank you” for a spontaneous gift even from such well-loved and loving ...

2086. Solomon's Prayer of Dedication

1 Kings 8:22-61

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... , 34, 36, 39, 43, 45, 49). The main purpose of 8:27–30, indeed, is to emphasize that this is (if anywhere is) the “place” from which God hears. God cannot dwell on earth (v. 27). The temple—in spite of the statement of verse 13—is not to be thought of as a place where God is but only as a place where God’s Name is, a place towards which God’s eyes are open (v. 29; cf. Isa. 66:1–3). The hearing of prayer is done from heaven (v. 30). This is (if anywhere is) the dwelling ...

2087. Woe to David’s City

Isaiah 29:1-24

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... whole city should become an altar hearth. It is as if the sacrificial fire consumes the altar itself. To put it another way, Yahweh intends to encamp against the city as David once had (the verb is the one translated “settled” in v. 1). People thought that, along with that cycle of worship in the city of Zion to which Yahweh was committed, they were also protected by their link with the David to whom Yahweh was also committed. Isaiah turns that on its head. David had originally been against Jerusalem ...

2088. The Glory of Zion

Isaiah 60:1-22

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... ’s faith, not least to stories of the nations’ acknowledgment of Yahweh and of Jerusalem in the time of the great king Solomon. The prophecy recalls Psalm 72 in that both combine repetition and lack of form with an underlying structure of thought in creating a portrayal of Yahweh’s involvement with righteousness, prosperity, freedom, and the status and wealth of the nations. That psalm, itself dedicated to Solomon, is a prayer for (and an implicit challenge to) Judah’s king. In the Preacher’s ...

2089. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... and refutes a saying regarding the mountains of Israel (compare 12:22, 27; 16:44; 18:2). As in the preceding oracle against Mount Seir, the oracle to the mountains of Israel aims to correct a misunderstanding on the part of the nations. They had thought that, since the mountains of Israel had been depopulated, the land was up for grabs: The enemy said of you, “Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession” (v. 2). However, as the land’s true owner, the Lord, makes clear, the judgment that has ...

2090. Failing the Test and Spiritual Failure—Hardness of Heart

Mark 6:45-56

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... sauntering from one eight-foot wave to the next as he comes to them. Mark’s added “about to pass by them” (only in Mark) has led to much discussion and many theories: (1) it is experience language, written from the perspective of the disciples who thought this;2(2) it is told from Jesus’s standpoint, as he expected them to trust God’s provision and be comforted; (3) it means “he intended to pass their way” and describes Jesus’s purpose in coming;3(4) it recalls Yahweh “passing” by Moses ...

2091. Spiritual Blindness and the Way to Overcome It

Mark 8:22-26, Mark 8:14-21

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... show the progression to full sight: eyes opened, sight restored, sees clearly. There is no hint that Jesus is incapable or inept, perhaps with insufficient strength at the outset. No, Jesus has power over the situation throughout. Hugh Anderson states that in Jewish thought a two-stage miracle stresses even more the power of the healer.1Perhaps the major emphasis, however, is to see the miracle also as a symbol of the gradual healing of the blindness of the disciples. Robert Guelich notes how the disciples ...

2092. “Love Your Neighbor”

Luke 10:25-37

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... . 20:2), enough to pay for a few days in the fairly basic accommodation at the inn. But the traveler’s care extends even to the possibility that a longer stay might be needed. His “compassion” (10:33) is not just impulsive; it is practical and thought through. 10:36 Which . . . was a neighbor to the man? In Leviticus 19:18 the “neighbor” is the one to be loved, and in that sense the “neighbor” in the story should be the wounded man. But Jesus sees the neighborly relation as reciprocal. A ...

2093. Freedom from the Law through Christ, Enslavement to the Law through Adam

Romans 7:7-25, Romans 7:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... in the law from their earliest years (cf. 2 Tim. 3:15; Josephus, Ag. Ap. 2.178; Philo, Embassy 115, 210), not just beginning at the age of thirteen. 7:9b–10 sin sprang to life and I died. The narrative of Genesis 2–3 continues to govern Paul’s thought in 7:9b–10. His words “I died” draw upon Genesis 2:17 and God’s warning to the first couple that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. That indeed happened: Adam and Eve ate from the restricted tree, and ...

2094. The Spirit and the Glory of the Age to Come and the New Covenant

Romans 8:28-39, Romans 8:18-27

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... The suffering/glory motif is the key to interpreting the three groanings in these verses because it forms an inclusio for the paragraph: suffering now in this age ensures the glory of the age to come. But since the overlapping of the two ages governs Paul’s thought here, we could just as well say that the glory of the age to come has broken into this present age. Thus, because of the first coming of Christ there is a sense in which inanimate creation inherently grasps that its own destiny is tied into the ...

2095. Paul, Phoebe, Patronage, and Spain

Romans 16:1-27

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... ). Regarding the first point, a poem and two powerful illustrations come to mind regarding the distortion of the gospel that false teachers bring about. The first, a rhyme: Johnny was a chemist’s son, but Johnny is no more. What Johnny thought was H2O was H2SO4! Johnny thought he was drinking water, when in fact he drank sulfuric acid, a deadly chemical! Johnny was sincerely wrong. One thinks here of the followers of Jim Jones in the late 1970s, who were led astray by the distortion of the gospel preached ...

2096. Introduction and “Hello”

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... only compounded by the move away from the personal touch of hand-written letters. The next generation seems content to live in a letter-free zone, confining themselves to various forms of electronic messaging, which can rarely be described as articulate, memorable, or thoughtful. According to one survey, a third of those under thirty-five have never sent a personal letter to a loved one in their lives, a statistic that is shocking for many who are older. The arrival of mail for the younger generation means ...

2097. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... fellow believer. Paul himself opted to remain unmarried and is convinced greater blessings will flow from that.11 He is quick to remind the Corinthians that this is his opinion (gn?m?n)—not a flippant remark they can take or leave, but a thoughtful reflection from someone whose every word is bathed in prayer to seek spiritual guidance and wisdom from the Spirit of God. Theological Insights The most important life purpose for a Christian is to be faithful to Christ and his mission. When other life pursuits ...

2098. Bildad Has the Answer (He Thinks!)

Job 8:1-22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... his friend (2:11). Similarly, when we minister to people in pain, we must remember that though we may not be able to solve the problem, we can always salve the person. Bildad builds his case through three means: by the application of rigorous logical thought, by an appeal to traditional teaching, and by the use of analogies from the natural world. These kinds of arguments can sound very convincing, but to be accurate they need to be relevant to the situation that they address. All three lines of argument ...

2099. Job Presents Evidence against the Retribution Principle

Job 12:1--14:22

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... looks at the patterns in the natural world or designs an imaginative scenario, he comes to the same place. His lines of thinking all lead to hopelessness, and that causes Job to despair in his adversity. This candid and transparent expression of Job’s thoughts parallels closely what many people today think as they struggle with adversities in their lives. Job’s observation of human life can be summed up in two principles: life goes fast, and life is hard. As Job sees it, humans actually have the worst ...

2100. Job Hears the Whispers of God’s Works

Job 26:1--31:40

Teach the Text

Daniel J. Estes

... or how long his adversity persists. As much as he wants to be relieved of his pain, he will not compromise his integrity just to get relief. By his example, Job challenges us to be honest before God, remembering that God searches our hearts and knows our thoughts (Ps. 139:23–24). Just as Job wants God to exonerate him from false accusations, he wants those who have falsely accused him to be judged by God. By misconstruing his actions and motives, they have lied against Job, so Job calls on God to punish ...

Showing results