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 2151 to 2175 of 2669 results

2151. Job Shatters the Silence

Job 3:1-26

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Daniel J. Estes

... . Why do sinners’ ways prosper? And why must Disappointment all I endeavor end? Wert thou my enemy, O thou my friend, How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost Defeat, thwart me? Though full of pain, the last line of the poem is a statement of belief in the midst of the pain as Hopkins says, “O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.”2 Bible: Psalm 109. The language of Psalm 109, one of the most prominent imprecatory (cursing) psalms, is even more jarring than Job’s lament in this chapter. It ...

2152. Bildad Has the Answer (He Thinks!)

Job 8:1-22

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Daniel J. Estes

... , by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. The recent study by Kinnaman and Lyons of the Barna Group, Unchristian (2007), documents the great disconnects between what Christians believe and how they behave. Their research is on the thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs of sixteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds on issues of faith, theology, and morality. What is particularly striking is that outsiders perceive these Christians to be “unchristian.” Like Bildad, Christians often articulate good theology but then fail to ...

2153. Job Feels under Attack by God

Job 16:1-17:16

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Daniel J. Estes

... to the Universe,” by Stephen Crane. The American novelist, short story writer, and poet Stephen Crane (1871–1900) was an influential writer who died before he was thirty. Crane was considered a realist and a naturalist, naturalism being generally defined by the belief that the natural world is the whole of reality. Many of his short stories, poems, and other works show what could be interpreted as bitterness and anger or, sadder yet, a kind of resignation to the idea that God is absent. The following ...

2154. Job’s Hope against Hope

Job 19:1-29

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Daniel J. Estes

... Escaping his captors, he is pursued relentlessly. He maintains a sense of hope and endurance that helps him to stay alive, elude his accusers, and finally bring about justice. This hope is based on the solid foundations of his innocence and on the profound belief that he will be able to prove that innocence to his pursuers, a feat he does accomplish. This hope keeps him calm and focused. History: Statue of Liberty National Monument. Job’s desire for his words to be inscribed permanently can be illustrated ...

2155. Bildad’s Final Attempt to Answer Job

Job 25:1-6

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Daniel J. Estes

... unpunished. Rather than answering Job, or attempting to explain the evidence that Job has presented, Bildad ignores the facts of observable injustice in God’s world. By simply stating his own position more emphatically, he holds on to his inadequate belief system, even though it is contradicted by the facts. Bildad also goes one tragic step further. Applying logic to his theological position of retribution, Bildad comes to the terrible conclusion that no human can ever be righteous before the transcendent ...

2156. Job Hears the Whispers of God’s Works

Job 26:1--31:40

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Daniel J. Estes

... 8–10 For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life? Even though Job has pointed out many observable examples from life in which the retribution principle does not hold (chap. 24), he does not abandon his belief that God rules over the world in justice. For the friends, everything is black or white, but Job realizes that some factors in life, such as his own situation, are not so clear-cut and predictable. Instead of totally discarding retribution, Job qualifies it ...

2157. “Lord, Who May Dwell in Your Sacred Tent?”

Psalm 15:1-5

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C. Hassell Bullock

... road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matt. 7:13–14). There is only one way to the Father, and that is through belief in Jesus (John 3:16). And we should be aware that believing in Jesus is underwritten by an ethical style of life that authenticates our faith. Get a spiritual checkup. Health: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regular checkups are important: “Regular ...

2158. “You Will Fill Me with Joy in Your Presence”

Psalm 16:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

... the eyes of the prophets. Hosea puts the story in the form of marriage and divorce, and ultimately God’s reconciliation with unfaithful Israel. The outline of that history lies behind the theology of this psalm. Our temptation is to move from monotheistic belief to polytheistic practice, and we must constantly examine how our faith conforms to our practice. A logical step in our discourse is to draw attention to the joy that the psalmist finds in God’s presence (16:11). The suppliant draws out the ...

2159. “Blessed Are Those Who Have Regard for the Weak; the Lord Delivers Them”

Psalm 41:1-13

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C. Hassell Bullock

... third person (“those who”; the Hebrew is singular), the poem is really about the psalmist, as the first-person verbs indicate (41:4, 9, 10, 11) and the generous use of the first-person pronouns “me” and “my” in verses 4–12 also attests. Note the belief that sickness is caused by sin, shared by Psalms 38–40 (see table 2 in the unit on Ps. 39). 41:6 When one of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander.Operating as friends, but in effect enemies, these people ...

2160. “Human Help Is Worthless”

Psalm 60:1-12

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C. Hassell Bullock

... s renunciation of all human efforts to bring God’s promise about. We may conclude that it is not a renunciation of human effort as such—the Psalms, in fact, affirm and command the need of human effort—but it is the refutation of a belief system that would put human effort in the place of God’s action. And with the promise comes the assurance of fulfillment,19or as the theological adage goes, “God’s commandments are his enablements.” The following statement in verse 12a puts it in perspective ...

2161. “Truly My Soul Finds Rest in God”

Psalm 62:1-12

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C. Hassell Bullock

... Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, was a skilled orator and writer who made a great impact on the Christian church in his generation and subsequent generations as well. In AD 391, after a long struggle in which he renounced his early philosophical beliefs and embraced the Christian faith, he was ordained a priest. In Confessions, Augustine writes this amazing statement that captures the heart of Psalm 62: “You stimulate him to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our ...

2162. God Subjugates Judah under Babylon

Daniel 1:1-21

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Ronald W. Pierce

... responsibility. What individuals do affects the whole community of believers, and what the community does affects each individual. Remind them that God expects fidelity from his people no matter how difficult or unfair our circumstances. He holds us accountable for our beliefs and actions and allows challenges to our faith so that we may be refined and purified witnesses to our world. 3. God is sometimes visible in the details. Sometimes while reading a familiar Bible story from an ancient era, we can ...

2163. Nabuchadnezzar’s Dream and Daniel's Interpretation

Daniel 2:1-23, Daniel 2:24-49

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Ronald W. Pierce

Nebuchadnezzar Is Troubled by a Dream (2:1-16): Big Idea: God sometimes allows mere mortals, however powerful, to discover the bankruptcy of their belief systems before revealing himself through his messenger. Understanding the Text Daniel 2:1–49 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in two ways. First, it advances the narrative of chapters 1–6, in which the first four focus on Nebuchadnezzar (chaps. 1–2 with historical markers and ...

2164. The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

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Ronald W. Pierce

... if we just have enough faith or live a righteous life—no biblical text teaches this. What not to teach. Avoid heroizing the three Judeans. The question Nebuchadnezzar raises is about God, as is their answer to him. Their commitment flows out of their belief about the person of their God. Keep this truth at the forefront of your preaching and teaching. The call to action should not be “Dare to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego” but rather “Dare to believe that our God is worthy of our ...

2165. Nebuchadnezzar’s Testimony and Tree Dream

Daniel 4:1-18

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Ronald W. Pierce

Big Idea: In contrast to this world’s belief systems, God communicates his sovereignty to powerful leaders through his Spirit in faithful servants. Understanding the Text Daniel 4:1–37 is woven into the book’s overall literary structure in two ways. First, it advances the narrative of chapters 1–6, in which the first four focus on Nebuchadnezzar ( ...

2166. Daniel Interprets the Dream and Confronts Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel 4:19-27

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Ronald W. Pierce

Big Idea: The Most High God blesses and judges even the most powerful rulers of this world regarding their belief in him and their treatment of those they govern. Understanding the Text See the unit on 4:1–18 for a discussion of the larger context, structure, and comparisons of this literary unit. Against this backdrop, 4:19–27 forms the center of this narrative, shifting the story line from ...

2167. Nebuchadnezzar’s Judgment and Repentance

Daniel 4:28-37

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Ronald W. Pierce

... , there is no denial of false gods in any of these passages. Since this instance is this king’s last personal appearance in Daniel (except for the retelling of parts of this story in 5:18–21), there is no way to be certain of his beliefs in the end. 4:35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. Nebuchadnezzar implicitly puts himself in this contrast of mere mortals with the sovereign God (cf. Isa. 40:15, 17). God’s lordship also extends to the “powers of heaven” (Aramaic hayil ...

2168. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

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Ronald W. Pierce

... of mere mortals in whatever form it appears. Trust in false wisdom is especially dangerous in those with influence. Culture: The modern Scientology movement began with L. Ron Hubbard’s self-help book Dianetics in 1952. Its beliefs, which include spiritual beings caught in human bodies with past lives from extraterrestrial cultures, have grown more popular partially due to endorsement from prominent actor and producer Tom Cruise. In particular, the financial resources required as “fixed donations ...

2169. Serendipity

Matthew 13:44-46

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... has come upon you. That means we don’t work to achieve it. We look for it and receive it when we, like Moses at the site of the burning bush, “turn aside to see”; when we give life our attention; when we, like children, hold on to the belief that there is joy waiting to be discovered. Jesus called that joy the kingdom of God. III. Now we come to the heart of the parable—the surpassing worth of the Kingdom. Jesus told another parable, “The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price,” recorded by Matthew ...

2170. Beyond Judgment

Matthew 24:36-44

Sermon

James L. Killen

... of getting that all mixed up and it can get in our way. Our culture keeps telling us that the really important and substantial things are things like cars, houses, office buildings, bank accounts, battleships, and missiles. We find ourselves believing that, and that belief gets in the way of our seeing life like Jesus wants us to see it. In fact, in Matthew's gospel, the thing that provoked Jesus to deliver his collection of teachings about the last days was the disciples being impressed by the structures ...

2171. Called to Participate

Luke 2:1-7, Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James L. Killen

... and a former law enforcement officer. So far as he was concerned, anything that was illegal was just plain wrong. He decided to investigate. Before he had finished his investigation, he found that the historical realities of the situation challenged his deeply held belief. Eventually he felt called by God to become active in support of the cause of the refugees. God can call us to do unexpected things. Can you handle being called by God into involvement in something that would be costly and difficult? Are ...

2172. Hagar and Ishmael

Genesis 16:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... fathers a child—Ishmael. This child then becomes Sarai’s child. Such a procedure, however illicit it may sound to us, is well documented in ancient literary sources such as the Code of Hammurabi and in the texts from Nuzi. Still one wonders to what degree Abram’s belief in the Lord (15:6) informs his action in 16:1–4. If there is a vivid contrast between the Abram of the first half of chapter 12 and the second half of chapter 12, then we observe an equally vivid contrast between the Abram of chapter ...

2173. Jacob and Laban

Gen 30:25--31:55

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ,” meaning “watchpost.” Both pledge not to intrude on the peace of the other or to become belligerent toward the other. Laban seals this covenant, interestingly, with a reference not to his own gods but to the God of Abraham. Is this religious courtesy and ecumenism, or is Laban moving toward belief in the one true God?

2174. Joseph and His Brothers

Genesis 37:1-11, Genesis 37:12-36

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... animal. Once again we encounter deception. Jacob, the master deceiver, is deceived by his own sons. He buys their ruse—hook, line, and sinker. Jacob’s affirmation that he will “go down to the grave to my son” (37:35 NIV 1984) shows again belief in an afterlife. Joseph, meanwhile, is sold to an Egyptian officer, Potiphar. It is most likely that Joseph is not yet able to make the connection between his dreams of destiny and this devastating experience. Little does he know that this is but the first ...

2175. Learning from the Sins of the Past

Deut 1:9-46

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Worst of all, the Israelites had a warped theology of disbelieving God and a warped sense of safety and security for their children (1:29–33; 37–40). The battle was not theirs but God’s. However, no amount of reassurance would replace their adamant belief that the ten spies were correct. In fact, the “little ones,” who they worried would be taken captive, would be the only ones who would enter the land (1:39) along with Caleb and Joshua as the sole representatives of that older generation. It was ...

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