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 2552 results

2151. Fame Doesn't Shoo the Flies

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... picture, or a good shot in a polo game, or command the obedience of my daughter, or impress my wife. It doesn’t even seem to help keep fleas off our dogs and, if being a celebrity won’t give me an advantage over a couple of fleas, then I guess there can’t be that much in being a celebrity after all.”

2152. I'm 8' 4"

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... , “Well, at least I’m not like so-and-so.” The only problem with determining our self-worth by comparing ourselves with others is that we are using the wrong measuring stick. A little boy came up to his mother one day and said to her, “Mother, guess what! I’m eight feet, four inches tall!” His mother, greatly surprised, inquired into the matter and found he was using a six-inch ruler to measure a “foot.” The boy was actually only a few inches over four feet. This is exactly what we do, we ...

2153. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Acts 9:19b-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... image of Nero begins to appear, which suggests that the city had passed again to the Romans. Meanwhile, at the instigation of the Jews, the Nabatean ethnarch posted guards at the gates of the city, keeping watch for Paul day and night. We can only guess why they were involved. Perhaps Paul’s preaching in Nabatea had stirred up trouble in the Jewish communities. Or perhaps the Nabateans felt that it was to their advantage to cooperate with the Jews. Aretas may have wished to make an ally of the Sanhedrin ...

2154. Cornelius Calls for Peter

Acts 10:1-8

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... see Sherwin-White, p. 161). Hanson asks, “Is this the sort of detail which somebody writing in the second century, or at the very end of the first, when the custom must have for some considerable time lapsed, is likely to have invented, imagined, or guessed?” (p. 11). The Italian Regiment: or as the Greek runs, “the cohort called ‘the Italian.’ ” There is inscriptional evidence for the presence of an Italian cohort in Syria in the second half of the first century A.D. (also in the second century ...

2155. Peter at Cornelius’ House

Acts 10:23b-48

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... this, together with the fact that it sits so well with his experience at Joppa and Caesarea, gives us every confidence that we have in these verses a fair indication of what he said on this occasion. How Luke came by the speech we can only guess, but the evidence points strongly to his use of a source. “It is one of the most ungrammatical pieces of Greek that Luke ever wrote. One cannot avoid the impression that though, as usual, Luke has fixed its final form, older elements are included in it” (Hanson ...

2156. In Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-20

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... side by side throughout this region until as late as the third century A.D. The apostles, of course, would have understood nothing of what the Lycaonians were saying and would have learned only later of the names they had given them. We can only guess at some of the locations in this story and must assume certain lapses of time. Perhaps, then, Paul and Barnabas had returned to their lodging when news reached them that the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city as the protecting deity ...

2157. Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

Acts 16:6-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Nothing is said of any plans Paul might have had for what they would do once they had seen how the Galatians were getting on (though we might guess that he had set his sights on Ephesus, the capital of the province of Asia; cf. v. 6). Instead, the emphasis is entirely on the divine guidance that took them to Macedonia. The story is told with a minimum of detail, which only heightens the impression that they were carried ...

2158. Paul and Silas In Prison

Acts 16:16-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... this extreme course, but the shock of the earthquake may have temporarily robbed him of his senses. 16:28–29 The light by which the jailer saw that the doors were open was enough for Paul to see what he was about to do (or else he guessed it by what he heard) and also, perhaps, to assess the situation inside the jail. So he called out that all the prisoners (not only himself and Silas) were still there. At this, and in view of all that had happened—the earthquake, the Christians’ singing and praying ...

2159. In Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... in the Old Testament, with its references to seeking and finding God (e.g., Ps. 14:2; Prov. 8:17; Isa. 55:6; 65:1; Jer. 29:13). He does, however, use an expression that had a philosophical association—“to reach out for him.” Plato had used it of vague guesses at the truth. In a similar, though more concrete, sense, it occurs several times in the LXX of groping about in the dark (Deut. 28:29; Job 5:14; 12:25; Isa. 59:10). But the word itself simply means “to touch,” as in Luke 24:39 and 1 John ...

2160. Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos

Acts 18:18-28

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The end of the “second” and the start of the “third missionary journey” are narrated here with almost breathless haste, as though Luke were anxious to have Paul start on his work at Ephesus. The brevity of the narrative leaves us guessing at a number of points as to where and why he went, but for the most part we can plot his course with reasonable confidence and make good sense of all that he did. Because of the broad similarity between this journey and that in 20:3–21:26—the ...

2161. The Coming of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... �it is God’s will that you should be sanctified,” 4:3; cf. Luke 12:39f.; 17:24–32; 21:34–36). The history of the church should be sufficient warning against attempting to count the days or months or years to his coming—so many have guessed incorrectly. If we forget this, we become like athletes on the starting line, always breaking before the gun and never running the race. We run looking to Jesus but, for the present, the race is all that matters (cf. Heb. 12:1f.). Like Jesus, Paul warns that the ...

2162. Paul's Charge to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11-21

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... certain evidence that Paul intended the letter to be read aloud in the church(es). Some see the lack of greetings as evidence against Pauline authorship but then must argue that the author outdid himself in imitating Paul in 2 Timothy and Titus. One can only guess at the reasons for this lack. A similar thing happens in Galatians, where in the “signature” (6:11–18) he takes one last swipe at the opponents (vv. 11–15), but prays for peace on those who follow the gospel (v. 16), before the final grace ...

2163. Encouragement to Be Faithful

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... present context, however, the language of dying and living in Christ is perhaps also to be heard with the broader implications of Christian martyrdom. What was true figuratively at one’s baptism would also be true of a “baptism” of another kind. One might well guess that the implication of this was not lost on Timothy. Line 2: If we endure, we will also reign with him. This line is the basic reason, along with its warning counterpart in line 3, for citing the saying. It speaks directly to the concern ...

2164. Personal Remarks

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... puzzling—as to what they are doing here. But given that one can make good contextual sense of almost everything in these letters, and that the concern here is with verse 15 and Timothy himself being on his guard against him, the best contextual guess is that the great deal of harm done by Alexander the metalworker against Paul was to have him arrested. This is further supported by the fact that the verb endeiknymi (lit., “show,” “point out,” weakly translated did) was often used with the legal ...

2165. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... is, as the term fool indicates, not primarily an intellectual error, but a moral error. Yet the strong language was normal for that day: One need only cite Jesus (Matt. 23:17; Luke 24:25) or Paul (1 Cor. 15:36; Gal. 3:1) to be able to guess accurately that Jewish teachers of all types and Greek teachers as well used similar language. The content of the appeal is almost equally strong: Do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? This suggests that it is the person’s willful ignorance that is ...

2166. Taming the Tongue

James 3:1-12, James 3:13-18

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... active area will have sweet and bitter springs. In the Lycus valley, Hierapolis had hot mineral springs, Colossae cool, sweet springs; Laodicea had to put up with lukewarm water piped in from a distance. In the Jordan valley the traveler would have to guess which of several springs seen in the distance were sweet and travel miles accordingly. See further E. F. F. Bishop, Apostles of Palestine, p. 187; or D. Y. Hadidian, “Palestinian Pictures in the Epistle of James,” p. 228. The King James Version reads ...

2167. Abimelech

Judges 9:1-57

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... it to unfold before us. At the same time, he incorporates themes he wishes to highlight. Somehow Gaal and Zebul both came together at the entrance to Shechem, at the crack of dawn. Gaal caught a glimpse of movement in the morning shadows and rightly guessed that it was people . . . coming down from the tops of the mountains (v. 36a). But Zebul taunted him, suggesting that it was merely morning shadows (Hb. sing.). The conversation is about whether Abimelech and his men are or are not a shadow. The word ...

2168. Ruth and Boaz on the Threshing Floor

Ruth 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... he still commits to helping Ruth. Inevitably some scholars will argue that his intentions are to take advantage of Naomi’s loss in order to seize Elimelech’s land. It seems wiser, however, to examine him alongside his canonical-historical contemporaries before guessing at his motives (15). 3:13 Stay here for the night. Boaz goes into protection mode because he does not want Ruth to navigate her way home unaccompanied. Doubtless there are other inebriated men sleeping on this threshing floor who might ...

2169. Sayings of Agur

Proverbs 30:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... the command to be silent. See Additional Notes. Additional Notes 30:29–31 The translation of the first two words in v. 31 would be “girt of loins.” But Hb. zarzîr is a hapax legomenon and is rendered as “rooster” in the LXX. Other guesses are: greyhound and warhorse. The MT has an inexplicable “or” before he-goat. Perhaps there is a corruption behind it. In v. 31b, Hb. ʾalqûm cannot mean “not rising up,” but the various hypothetical readings that have been proposed have not achieved any ...

2170. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... of life, Israel’s parents are left without a future. In verse 13, Hosea replies to this picture of woe which his God has painted for him. Unfortunately, verse 13a is a corrupted text in the Hebrew, and every translation of it is tentative. The NIV rendering is a guess based on the actual Hebrew and is near to the reading found in the NRSV: “Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow.” Such a reading returns to the thought, found in verse 10, of Yahweh’s delight in Israel in the ...

2171. Woe to Nineveh

Nahum 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... , Nahum, p. 68). Why this slur? It is a recurrent one in the prophets (before Nahum’s day, see esp. Hos. 1–4; in Nahum’s day, see Jer. 2–3; subsequently and most systematically, Ezek. 16 and 23), usually to describe Israel itself. One may guess that it works as a slur because men find that the idea of their wives having sex with another man arouses such strong feelings of shock, anger, and loathing (women may have similar reactions to the idea of their husbands having sex with another woman, but ...

2172. Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

Habakkuk 2:2-20, Habakkuk 1:12--2:1

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... OT stories people apparently get an immediate response when they turn to Yahweh to ask something (e.g., Gen. 25:22–23), but in others people have to wait (e.g., Jer. 28; 42). The stories do not tell us why that should be so, though we might guess that it witnesses to the fact that Yahweh does respond but also to the fact of Yahweh’s freedom. We cannot expect Yahweh to answer us; we cannot compel Yahweh to do so, certainly not to our time frame. So Habakkuk commits himself to waiting until he receives ...

2173. Warnings and Exhortations for Jerusalem and Judah

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

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... than with God), which continued to be a prominent religion if not the dominant religion in the land through the monarchic period. The Master was concerned among other things with the fruitfulness of the land, its produce, its animals, and its people, and one may guess that a particular focus of people’s worship of the Master related to this, as Hosea implies is the case in Ephraim a century before Zephaniah. As the OT tells the story, there were occasions when kings such as David and Hezekiah (and later ...

2174. Staying Close to Christ

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... Brouwer, Wedding Homilies (Seven Worlds). 3. Laura Schaefer, Man With Farm Seeks Woman With Tractor (Thunder’s Mouth Press). Cited in Reader’s Digest, September 2005, p. 115. 4. Martin Dale, http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-revd-martin-dale-stories-59492.asp 5. The Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess, http://day1.org/529-follow_follow_follow.

2175. A Grayhound and a Kite

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Mexico, overran its banks. Flood waters filled the main road leading from Sabinas across the border into the U.S. Numerous cars and trucks stalled while attempting to cross the border. However, a tow truck driver observed the mess with happy anticipation. You can guess why. He charged an exorbitant fee to tow waterlogged cars across the border. Along came this old station wagon, packed with this family from the U.S.--a man, a woman, and three small children. They were obviously tired and eager to return ...

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