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 2226 to 2250 of 2669 results

2226. Here's Mud In Your Eye

John 9:1-41

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... this moment between the young man and Jesus. They ask Jesus, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (v. 2). Their question is typical because it was rooted in the logic of their world and, indeed, our world. The common Jewish belief was that suffering and affliction are always the fruit of some great sin. "Whom should we blame?" they wanted to know. With 24 good eyes they could not see! Like inquisitive three year olds, they want to know, "Why? Why? Why?" "Why is he like this ...

2227. When Lazarus Leaped and Laughed

John 11:1-45

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... 11:26) "She said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world' " (v. 27). This question directed at Martha, the sister of Lazarus, is now directed to each of us. As Jesus expected her to affirm her belief, so he expects the same from us. Do we believe him? Do we know beyond a shadow of doubt that if we should die this very day we will spend eternity not in the grave but with Jesus in heaven? When we truly believe this, everything else in life becomes ...

2228. Afraid of Hope

John 20:19-31

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... Christ the Lord over the cross, come away from that kind of thinking and believe the good news: Jesus lives! Thomas believed it could not be and, so for him it would not be. Before you can believe good news you must hope it. Then let hope give way to belief. Act as though the good news is true and it will come true through you. Thomas had to learn the good news that doubt is not true. Only this is true: Jesus Christ is alive. He is risen and we can face whatever comes our way with the confidence and ...

2229. The Time Is Now!

Luke 24:50-53

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... work. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Think again about all the statements of the Apostles' Creed that precede the declaration of Christ's ascension. They fall under the heading of forensic theology. That is, they are foundation stones for our Christian belief system. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead ...

2230. A Happy Ending

Joshua 5:9-12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... out of your present job, but the routine of it is all you have ever known. Maybe you feel called into full-time ministry, but don’t want to give up your lavish lifestyle. Perhaps your faith is growing into new ideas, concepts, and experiences, but the rigid beliefs of your past will not allow you to embrace growth. Do yourselves a favor. In the name of the God and the person God calls you to be, embrace the changes and growth God desires for you! Did you know that lobsters must leave their shells in order ...

2231. The Power of Appreciation

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... asked, “What are you doing? Why are you digging?” The boy replied, “Well, with all this manure, there’s got to be a horse in here somewhere!” That’s optimism! Attitude is everything. It’s all in how you look at things. It is my belief that most of us need an attitude adjustment about Christmas. Yes, Christmas. Perhaps you are thinking, “Wait a second. Christmas is over.” Is it? I want to suggest to you that Christmas is not over on December 26. Christmas is just the beginning. The true ...

2232. Addicted to Hurry

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... , I speak with many people who feel that their lives are runaway trains about to slide off the track. They no longer enjoy life and its blessings but live every day with stress, fear, dread, and fatigue. What contributes to living life in this unhealthy way is the misguided belief that faster is better. Rarely is this true. The only thing faster gives us is a sure way to live every day exhausted. Our Lord does not want us to live life this way. He said, “I have come that you might have life in all of its ...

2233. Pop Verses: Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... is room for bad choices, mistakes, bad timing and decisions, all of which can cause pain, difficulty, frustration, tragedy and adversity. But when bad things happen it doesn’t mean God caused them to happen. In fact, Jesus himself dispelled this misguided belief in the gospel of Luke. In the 13th chapter Jesus references a construction tragedy that killed 18 laborers. Many people in Jesus’ day assumed that God caused the accident to punish the laborers for their sins. Jesus completely rejected the idea ...

2234. Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Matthew 9:1-8

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... or stretcher that could be carried without undue difficulty. When Jesus saw their faith, that is, their confidence that he could restore the paralyzed man to health, he said, Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven. In the ancient world there was a widespread belief that sickness was the result of sin. Barclay cites Rabbi Chija ben Abba as representative of this point of view: “No sick person is cured from sickness, until all his sins are forgiven him” (vol. 1, p. 327). In John 9 Jesus’ disciples ask ...

2235. John the Baptist Beheaded

Matthew 14:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... until he was banished to Gaul in A.D. 39. Upon hearing about Jesus he was convinced that John the Baptist had risen from the dead. How else could he be performing such miracles? This supposition on the part of Herod reflects the contemporary belief in resurrection. Earlier, Herod had arrested John and put him in chains in prison. Josephus identifies the place as the fortress of Machaerus on the east side of the Dead Sea and says that John was imprisoned because Herod “feared lest the great influence John ...

2236. Being a True Disciple

John 8:31-36

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... to Jesus for a while and they had become believers. We are not told what they believed, but Jesus seems to accept the fact that they were believers. From that incident, the first thing we can say is that discipleship begins with belief. For many people, unfortunately, that is not only the first step in Christian development, it is the only step. It reduces Christianity to the lowest common denominator. To their defense such people call on the great reformer, Martin Luther, who discovered and taught ...

2237. Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

Mark 1:21-28

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... In other places Mark uses the term “demon” to indicate the same phenomenon (e.g., 1:34, 39; 3:22). Elsewhere the literal expression “evil spirit” is used as another synonymous description (e.g., Luke 7:21; 8:2). All these terms refer to the belief, common in ancient Jewish life, that there are evil powers, understood as actual beings of which the chief is Satan (see 3:22–26). Mark’s description of them as “unclean” means that they are associated with evil and with things regarded as impure ...

2238. Jesus Questioned About Fasting

Mark 2:18-22

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... both why Jesus’ disciples are not fasting to bring the kingdom and why Jesus welcomes the unworthy, the “sinners,” along with the rest, as in the preceding passage (2:13–17). The imagery of 2:21–22 seems intended to show how inappropriate the beliefs and practices of the past are now when the kingdom of God is already approaching. The illustrations are relatively easy to understand. New (unshrunk) cloth when washed will shrink much more than previously washed cloth, and so it is not wise to try to ...

2239. Jesus and Beelzebub

Mark 3:20-30

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... it is probably Jesus’ relatives. In recent years we have heard stories of other families who have attempted to dissuade family members (usually young adults) from fervent religious or political associations, sometimes forcibly in what is popularly called deprogramming, usually in the belief that their loved ones have been “brainwashed” and are not in control of their minds. Seen in this light, the passage before us has a familiar human ring to it. The interruption of this story with the account of the ...

2240. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-23

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... the disciples is designed to enable the Christian readers to identify themselves more closely with the narrative and its teaching. Early gentile Christians would have seen in this discussion of Jewish religious practices important teaching for their own life and beliefs, especially in the first-century church when the question of whether non-Jewish Christians were obligated to observe Jewish taboos was still very much alive (see the note on unclean). The fact that an explanation of Jewish customs is given ...

2241. The Greatest Commandment

Mark 12:28-34

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... passage, the scribe’s statement about love for God and neighbor being more important than the temple rituals (v. 33) fits Mark’s overall theme about the temple being superseded. Mark’s readers would have seen the scribe as anticipating their belief that the temple rituals were expendable and thoroughly secondary to the higher obligations reflected in the two commandments cited. Jesus’ commendation of him seems to underscore this position. Additional Notes 12:28 Had given them a good answer: It is ...

2242. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... deities who controlled world affairs. Israel believed that when God acted these celestial bodies would be disturbed. Those powers that other nations believed controlled history would be shown up as helpless under God’s power. Of course, in Mark’s time belief in the power of the celestial bodies was still strong (and still seems to be strong, given the popularity of astrology columns in modern newspapers), and the meaning of the statements would not be lost on his readers. The loose chronological ...

2243. The Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... was in the proclamation of the early church (cf., e.g., Acts 2:22–36; Rom. 1:3–4). Thus, for Mark this story was not an epilogue to his account of Jesus’ ministry; rather, it was the climactic revelation that vindicated Christian belief and made plain the true significance of Jesus. In studying Mark’s account of the resurrection, we are faced with special difficulties not encountered in the other Gospels. Each of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection has features that distinguish it from the ...

2244. The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

Luke 1:5-25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... is the main requirement of the Nazirite vow (see Num. 6:3; Judg. 13:7; LXX 1 Sam. 1:11). The fermented drink is a beverage made from grain (perhaps something like beer). Instead of being empowered by alcohol (for in antiquity there was the belief that intoxication could lead to divine possession and powers), John would be empowered by the Holy Spirit even from birth. (On the connection between wine and the Spirit see Eph. 5:18.) The scriptural allusions might be “Luke’s way of indicating that John is ...

2245. The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of God’s love for Jesus. a voice came from heaven: The OT has examples of God speaking to Israel, the most dramatic example being the giving of the Ten Commandments (see Exod. 19:16–20:20; Deut. 4:12). Later there developed in Judaism the belief that God would occasionally speak from heaven (usually like a clap of thunder, see John 12:28) in order to confirm some important statement. Lachs (p. 47) thinks that this Christian tradition is such an instance. He cites the Tosefta, tractate Hagiga 2.5, as an ...

2246. The Temptation of Jesus

Luke 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... that the temptation narrative was originally understood as a demonstration of Jesus’ unfailing faithfulness to God and his commandments. Such faithfulness qualifies him for his messianic role. All of the suggestions put to Jesus by the devil reflect popular ideas and beliefs about what the Messiah would do when he appeared. Just as God had during the wilderness wanderings, the Messiah was expected to bring bread down from heaven, to subject the other kingdoms to Israel, and to perform some dazzling sign ...

2247. Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

Luke 4:31-37

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... possession (see Luke 8:29; 9:39; 11:14; 13:11). 4:34 When the demon asks “Have you come to destroy us?” he refers to himself and to the other demons (not to his human host). This NT reference (and its parallel in Mark 1:24) reflects the popular belief that the dawning of the era of salvation would bring destruction to the forces of evil (see also the references to 1QM [the War Scroll from Qumran, cave 1] 1.10–14; 4.9; 14.10–11 cited by Fitzmyer, pp. 545–46). The cry of the demon provides further ...

2248. The Man with Leprosy

Luke 5:12-16

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... ; 13:13; 18:15; 22:51; Acts 5:15. Ellis (p. 103) suggests that touching for purposes of healing “seems to have its origin in the Elijah/Elisha healings”; however, see note on 4:40 above. That Jesus touched the leper is remarkable in view of popular beliefs and practices. By doing so Jesus demonstrates power and compassion. 5:14 Don’t tell anyone: This phrase, taken from Mark 1:44, in the Marcan context has to do with a special theme in Mark usually referred to as the “Messianic Secret.” This theme ...

2249. The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man

Luke 8:26-39

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... plausible. The fact of the matter is that we really do not know just exactly what happened. What adds to the difficulty is that many mental illnesses were (mis)interpreted as being brought on by demon possession or some other form of demon influence. Beliefs about leprosy may provide an analogy. Virtually every serious skin disorder was thought to be leprosy, when in reality actual cases of leprosy were much smaller in number. So it was with respect to mental illness or epilepsy. It was usually assumed that ...

2250. Repent or Perish

Luke 13:1-9

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... (how many is unknown) were seemingly caught up in some sort of plot or activity deemed treasonable by Pilate. Whatever the circumstances, the death of these unfortunate pilgrims evokes the question that Jesus asks in v. 2, a question that reflects the Pharisaic belief that misfortune was often brought on by God in retaliation for sin (see John 9:1–2). Did their murder prove that they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? Their death proved no such thing. But their death should remind all ...

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