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 2201 to 2225 of 4943 results

2201. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 19:1-29

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

... from it, but the simple will. The discerning person does not need such a drastic example to learn a lesson. See 21:11. 19:26 Synonymous. Verse 26a serves as a casus pendens. The characterization of such conduct is given in verse 26b. Parents are a frequent concern in such sayings (also 20:20; 23:22; 28:24). 19:27 The NIV interprets verse 27a as a conditional clause, and so the verse is a general warning or recommendation to be attentive to the sage’s teaching (cf. v. 20). So also many other translations ...

2202. Oppression, Toil, Friendlessness

Ecclesiastes 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... ” in one’s work, 5:18). Within this overall movement, the segments fall into two groups. The segments of the first group (4:1–5:7) are held together by “better” sayings (4:2–3, 6, 9,13; 5:5). Those of the second group (5:8–20) resume concerns of segments in the first group. In 5:8–9, Qohelet returns to the problem of oppression (4:1–3). The challenge of 5:10–12 maintains that “more is better” (see 4:10–12). The plight of the solitary individual is lamented in 5:13–15 (see 4 ...

2203. Riches Are Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 5:8--6:12

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

2204. Bread Upon the Water

Ecclesiastes 9:13--12:8

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... who intend harm to others. Everyday life and doing one’s job can be dangerous. Verse 11 recalls the snakebite of 10:8. It also qualifies skill will bring success (10:10): skill can bring about good results, but is worthless if not used in time. 10:12–15 Concern with positive and negative uses of language recurs in the context of folly and wisdom (cf. especially 5:3; 6:11). The fool consumed by his own lips (10:12) recalls the imagery of 4:5. 10:16–11:2 If these verses are to be read together, which ...

2205. Israel Forsakes God

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... is, they are all that is left. Another possibility is that the oracle refers to Judah in this way because it will now recall an experience from before the divided monarchy—the exodus and the wilderness wanderings. 2:5b God questions the present generation concerning the actions of the fathers, that is their ancestors. They are the ones who moved away from him. The present situation did not begin in the recent past but in the far distant past. The Deuteronomic Historian (1 Samuel–2 Kings) describes the ...

2206. Sin and Punishment

Jeremiah 8:4--9:26

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... death climbing through the window may well have a mythological background. The Baal myth in Ugaritic has an episode where Baal and Kothar wa-Hasis, the craftsman god, argue over whether or not to build windows in his house. The text is broken, but he seems concerned that someone will enter his house to destroy him and his. As it turns out, Mot, whose name means Death, does sneak in and capture him in the following section. The Baal text may be read in M. D. Coogan, Stories from Ancient Canaan (Philadelphia ...

2207. Jeremiah’s Complaint

Jeremiah 20:7-18

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... protector. Typically, however, in laments that move from sorrow to joy, the latter is the mood with which the composition ends. Here, as is typical with people who are in mental and physical torment, it moves back and forth and ends as it begins—with sadness concerning his circumstances. Jeremiah’s other laments may be seen in 11:18–12:6; 15:10–11, 15–21; 17:14–18; 18:19–23. Though the beginning of the lament does not explicitly suggest that this lament is in direct reaction to the events of ...

2208. Lying Prophets

Jeremiah 23:9-32, Jeremiah 23:33-40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... those who have “my [God’s] word.” It is the difference between straw (useless) and grain (nutritional). God’s word is like fire and a hammer, two images that suggest devastating judgment. We may presume that the false message of the lying prophets concerned peace and not judgment. 23:33–40 The sixth and final oracle against false prophets here begins as a divine statement to Jeremiah and prepares him to respond to questions that the people, or a prophet or a priest might ask. This question might ...

2209. Two Baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24:1-10

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... Figs: The next six chapters are written in prose. In this first revelation, Jeremiah receives further divine insight concerning Judah and its future. The time period is likely soon after the exile of Jehoiachin and some of ... Israelite economy. It also was frequently used as a symbol of fruitfulness (Hos. 9:10) and shelter (Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10). The latter concerns not just the fruit, but the tree which casts a shade under which a person might find protection from the sun. The fruit alone or on the tree might ...

2210. A Letter to the Exiles

Jeremiah 29:1-23

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... has raised up prophets for us in Babylon. The reference is surely to false prophets who were mentioned in vv. 8–9 and will reoccur in vv. 20–32 where a number of them will be specified by name. In any case, God’s message concerning these prophets is clear. Do not listen to them because they are speaking lies. Rather, the immediate future will not bring redemption but future judgment. This judgment to be directed against those still in the land is described using a, by now, well-used formula: sword ...

2211. Freedom for Slaves

Jeremiah 34:8-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... stipulated that slave owners must free their Hebrew slaves in the Sabbatical Year. While it was possible for Hebrew slaves to become permanent slaves, this decision was theirs and not the slave owners. These slave laws were associated with other laws concerning the return of land to original owners, the canceling of debts, and the fallowing of the ground. Such laws worked against perceived economic self-interest on the part of the wealthy elements of society; observance, therefore, would be the result of ...

2212. How Deserted Lies the City

Lamentations 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... city. The name of the city does not have to be spoken; poet and readers would know the identity of the now deserted city of Jerusalem. As today there is no doubt when a New Yorker refers to “the city,” so there is no secret concerning the identity of the city among Judeans. This once bustling place (a city “closely compacted together” [Ps. 122:3]) is now eerily deserted. The poet engages the readers by using an exclamation to get them to picture the scene of the deserted city in their imagination ...

2213. The Charge Against Israel

Hosea 4:1-19

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 10, 11–14, and 15–19, again as many scholars make it? For our purposes, we will divide the chapter as follows, on the basis of rhetorical analysis: verses 1–10, whose theme is really the loss of the springs of life in the land; verses 11–19, which concerns the cultic life of the people, and which begins and ends with the thought of a “spirit of harlotry” (vv. 12 and 19 RSV; the NIV obscures the reference in v. 19). 4:1–3 The prophet speaks in verses 1–3 as the messenger of God, repeating the ...

2214. Judgment of Israel's Neighbors

Amos 1:1-2:5

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... Israel, whose forebear was Jacob (Gen. 25:24–26), and Edom is judged in this oracle because it has never honored the bond of brotherhood. God watches over not only the relations between nations, but also those within the circle of the family. The God of Amos is concerned with large affairs, but also with small. No area of human life lies outside of God’s rule. 1:13–15 Ammon lay on the eastern side of the Jordan River, between Moab on the south and Gilead on the north, and from the time of the Judges ...

2215. Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

Amos 3:1-15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... following oracles, the reader should always keep this basic failure of Israel in mind. The book of Amos can be, and often has been, interpreted by preachers and teachers much too narrowly, as if it is concerned only with social justice and proper worship. The prophet has much more in mind. He is concerned more broadly with election and with the obligation that election places on the people of God. That God will judge us for failing to meet the responsibilities of our election should be a sobering thought ...

2216. Weeping and Mourning

Micah 1:8-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... 12:24). And so the prophets grieve with God over the necessary destruction of his people, which will rid the community of its sinful ways. The sin of Israel does not prevent the prophets from loving Israel. Indeed, it calls forth their empathy and concern and finally heartbreak. Perhaps that is a fact to remember in the midst of the bitter disputes that so often trouble the modern church. Additional Note 1:9 Wound: Following the LXX, the noun is read in the singular to accord with the singular adjective ...

2217. The Lord's Plan

Micah 4:6-13

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... (4:9–10; 4:11–13; 5:1–4), it differs from 4:9–10 in that it does not deal with a specific time in Israel’s history, either Micah’s time (ca. 701 BC) or 587 BC. Rather this is an eschatological oracle that is concerned with God’s final battle for supremacy over the world. The eschatological and apocalyptic traditions of the Bible include the view that there will be one last great assault of evil, symbolized by the pagan nations, against God’s lordship (Isa. 29:7–8; Ezek. 38–39; Joel ...

2218. Jacob Loved, Esau Hated

Malachi 1:1-5

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... the territory of Israel.” The claims in Mal. 1:11 and 14 about the greatness of the Lord’s name among the nations support the NIV interpretation. This phrase, with its double meaning, may be another allusion to the book of Obadiah. The last 3 verses of that book are concerned with the reestablishment of the old extent of the territory of Israel, over which the Lord will reign (Obad. 19–21). Ezekiel 47:13–22 has a similar ...

2219. Blemished Sacrifices and Admonition for the Priests

Malachi 1:6-14, Malachi 2:1-9

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... to pray, “The LORD bless you and keep [shmr] you” (Num. 6:24). They had shown partiality in matters of the law (torah) by failing to apply it with integrity. Approving blemished offerings was probably only one example of this failure. God’s ultimate concern was not with the quality of sacrificial flesh, but with the lives of God’s people. The ideal priest turned many from sin, but the priests of Malachi’s audience had caused many to stumble. This English word is misleading. The metaphor indicates ...

2220. No More Tears

Sermon

King Duncan

... The cross is something you die on. It may mean the death of your prestige. It may mean the death of your popularity. It may mean the death of your budget as it has always stood. But there are too many churches more concerned about a cushion than a cross, more concerned about making the gospel something easy, retranslating the gospel to read, ‘Go ye into all the world and keep your blood pressure down, and lo, I will make you a well-adjusted personality.’ That isn’t God’s church. Don’t forget that ...

2221. Staying Close to Christ

John 13:31-38

Sermon

King Duncan

... you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” This is interesting, don’t you think? He addresses his disciples as “My little children . . .” These were big, tough men. But he calls them, “My little children . . .” This is a term of love by which Jesus expresses his concern for them. And then once again he announces that he is going away and they will not be able to find him. This is not the first time he has tried to prepare them for this eventuality (Matthew 23:29; John 8:21; 12:8). Soon, they ...

2222. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... a restaurant and happened to sit next to a young couple. He began to talk with them about their religious experience, how they felt about religion. They were a deeply committed young couple; they loved the Lord very much. They were Roman Catholic and talked about their concern for Christian unity and how in Jesus Christ all of us have been made one. The woman reached into her purse and took out a card. She said that it was a portrait of Jesus that illustrated the meaning of Christian unity in a powerful way ...

2223. A Grayhound and a Kite

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... --they could cook, could keep themselves warm, etc. The people of this tribe were so grateful that they had learned the art of making fire. But before they could express their gratitude to the man, he disappeared. He wasn’t concerned with getting their recognition or gratitude; he was concerned about their well-being. He went to another tribe, where he again began to show them the value of his invention. People were interested there, too, a bit too interested for the peace of mind of their priests, who ...

2224. The First Two Days: John the Baptist’s Message

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account’ ” (Deut. 18:15–19). As far as this Gospel is concerned, the Prophet is Jesus just as surely as the Messiah is Jesus (cf. 6:15). Jesus is “the one Moses wrote about in the Law” (1:45; cf. 5:46), and even when he is designated in other ways (e.g., as the Son), the repeated insistence in this Gospel ...

2225. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . 29–36). John’s Gospel has no record of Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane (by the time Jesus is in the garden, the issue is already settled, 18:11). The closest equivalent to the synoptic Gethsemane is his prayer out of a troubled heart (v. 27) concerning the hour that is upon him. Momentarily undecided as to what his prayer should be, Jesus first asks that the hour of suffering might not come, but immediately withdraws that request in favor of another: Father, glorify your name (vv. 27–28a; cf. Mark 14 ...

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