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 2251 to 2275 of 3082 results

2251. He Ascended Into Heaven

Luke 24:44-53

Sermon

David O. Bales

After John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, he met with the Soviet astronaut Titov. The Russian asked him sarcastically if he had somehow met God in his spaceflight. Glenn responded that he believed in a God that you couldn’t see from the window of a space capsule. And so John Glenn spoke for modern Christians, because when you consider what Christians have believed about God for 2,000 years, the idea that you’d go up in the air and not see God is a modern idea indeed. In the ...

2252. A Breath of Fresh Air

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Sermon

Tony Everett

This story has been shared at many church gatherings recently. Three parish deacons were hiking across an old wooden foot bridge fifty feet above a dry and rocky creek bed. They stopped for a moment to absorb the breath-taking view of distant hillsides, green pastures filled with grazing cattle, and endless rows of tall cornstalks waving in the gentle breeze. “God’s in heaven and all’s right with the world,” remarked Bill. “It’s days like this when we really need to stop and count our blessings,” added ...

2253. One Thing

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

James Merritt

I believe that every year that God gives us on this earth is to be a year where we are as productive as we can be for His work and as pleasing as we can be for His glory. The longer you live the more you realize just how fleeting these years are and just how important it is to maximize the potential of each year for being what we ought to be and doing what we ought to do. Every year at least half of us in this will do something that in the beginning will be very exhilarating, but in the end very ...

2254. She Had Great Faith

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

A few years ago author Bennett Cerf was addressing an audience of doctors in San Diego. Afterwards one of these doctors told him about an operation he had performed on an ill‑tempered lady of about eighty. The woman came through the surgery with flying colors despite all her dire prognostications. Nevertheless she became quite agitated when the doctor told her that in accordance with the rules of the hospital, she’d have to walk ten minutes the very first day after her surgery and would have to get out ...

2255. Building a New Team

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

When Vince Lombardi was hired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1958, the team was in dismal shape. A single win in season play the year before had socked the club solidly into the basement of the NFL, and sportscasters everywhere used it as the butt of loser jokes. But Lombardi picked and pulled and prodded and trained and disciplined the players into becoming a winning team. They were NFL champions in three consecutive seasons, and took the game honors for the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi was ...

2256. Can Two Stay One?

John 13:31-38

Sermon

James Merritt

Many of you either have heard of or remember the famous daredevil Evil Knievel. He was famous for jumping motorcycles over cars, trucks, tractor trailers, and even tried to jump a rocket propelled motorbike over the Grand Canyon. Before all of his jumps he would look into the camera and give this disclaimer: “Kids, don’t try this at home.” The following story I am going to tell you is true, but if you are single and contemplate getting married one day, don’t try this at home. On my very first date with ...

2257. Right Answer - Wrong Conclusion

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

King Duncan

One of the most important frontiers being explored by today’s scientists is that of artificial intelligence--that is, teaching computers to think like humans. In fact, there are many reputable scientists who believe that by the middle of this century computers will be able to think more efficiently and effectively than human beings. At that point the sci-fi horror movies of robots taking over the planet will have some credibility. But there are skeptics. The great computing science pioneer Alan Turing-- ...

2258. Before and After We Exist

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A child does not begin to exist when he (or she) is born. The child has already existed for nine months prior to this in the mother’s womb. At the point of birth, only the conditions in which the child exists change. Before, he lived internally; now, he lives externally. Before, he was fed internally; now, he feeds externally. He does not begin to live at birth: he has lived all the time since conception, but conditions change at birth. So also can the believer view death. At the point of death, the ...

2259. Kierkegaard’s Story of the Prince

John 3:16, 16:5-33; Mt 28:16-20

Illustration

Brett Blair

We affirm a belief in the Son, Jesus Christ. We say that God took on human form, came and lived among us, suffered the same trials that we suffered, experienced the same feelings that we experienced. Jesus was purely human and purely divine. Jesus was not God. Jesus was God incarnate. There is a difference. Jesus never drew attention to himself but always pointed to God. Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian of another century tells a story of a prince who wanted to find a maiden suitable to be ...

2260. The Believers Share Their Possessions

Acts 4:32-37

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

Here we have the second in Luke’s series of cameos of the inner life of the church (see disc. on 2:42–47). In this, he takes up again the theme of their fellowship. Of the other matters dealt with in the earlier sketch, he has already had something more to say about prayer (4:23–31) and will shortly add something on the subject of miracles. 4:32 For the expression all (Gk. plethos) the believers, see note on 6:2. One of the most remarkable features of life among the early believers was their unity. This is ...

2261. Stephen Seized

Acts 6:8-15

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

6:8 Although the Seven were appointed to an administrative role within the church as a whole, they may already have had a wider ministry within their own Hellenistic circles (still assuming that they were Hellenists), so that the picture we now have of Stephen as a preacher need come as no surprise (see Hengel, Acts, p. 74; Dunn, Unity, p. 270). He is described as a man full of God’s grace—a phrase capable of bearing the double sense of enjoying God’s favor (cf. 18:27) and of being gracious himself toward ...

2262. The Stoning of Stephen

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that, in part, Luke has modeled the life and death of Stephen on the Gospel story. Elements include Stephen’s ministry of miracle and the spoken word, the inability of his adversaries to match him in debate, the trial before the Sanhedrin, the false witnesses, the high priest’s question, the reference to the Son of Man, Stephen’s dying prayer, and the petition for the forgiveness of his murderers. To some extent this may have been a purely literary device—Luke’s ...

2263. Peter at Cornelius’ House

Acts 10:23b-48

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

10:23b–29 The setting for the third scene of this story is again Caesarea. The journey to the capital seems to have taken the best part of two days (v. 30), probably because the Christians were not mounted. Peter took with him six companions—Jewish Christians like himself (v. 45, lit., “men of the circumcision”; see disc. on 11:2)—who, according to a variant reading of 11:11, had been staying with him in Simon’s house. Their road lay along the coast, and since Apollonia was situated about halfway between ...

2264. In Iconium

Acts 14:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

The pattern of ministry exemplified in the previous section is repeated in this. The story is told only briefly, since the course of events in Iconium was much as it had been in Pisidian Antioch, the one significant difference being that, despite persecution, Paul and Barnabas remained in the city until their very lives were in danger. Luke has expressed this somewhat awkwardly (see vv. 2 and 3)—a sign perhaps of “a clumsily retained page from a logbook” (Haenchen, p. 423, who, however, rejects this view ...

2265. Paul and Silas In Prison

Acts 16:16-40

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

See introduction to the previous section. 16:16–17 The missionaries appear to have gone week by week to the place of prayer for a number of weeks, and as they did so, they were followed on several occasions by a demented slave girl whose shouting made them the center of public attention. The force of the Greek of verse 17 is that she “kept on following” and “kept on shouting” about them. Luke describes her in a curious way (not apparent in NIV): She had “a spirit,” he says, “a python” (v. 16). The word “ ...

2266. The Unchangeable Character of God’s Purpose

Hebrews 6:13-20

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

As a new prelude to his resumption of one of the key arguments in the book (in chap. 7), the writer stresses God’s complete fidelity to his promises to Abraham, and thus to Israel. Despite certain implications the author will draw from his argument about the priestly order of Melchizedek (see esp. 7:12), God has not changed course, nor have his purposes changed. In the definitive high priest, Jesus, God is bringing to pass his promises to the fathers of Israel. This is an important point to affirm to ...

2267. Manna and Quail

Exodus 16:1-36

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

Leadership, Learning, Manna, Meat, and the First Sabbath Rest: In Exodus 16, Israel begins learning to walk in the Lord’s way (vv. 4b, 28b). The survival of the people depended on the transformation of their culture. The text presents a jumble of themes around this purpose, some for the first time in Exodus: the grumbling and lessons of the newly redeemed slaves; the status of Moses and Aaron’s leadership; the Lord’s visible presence with the people; and the Lord’s provision of bread, quail, and rest. The ...

2268. Cyrus Helps the Exiles to Return

Ezra 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

The Long Awaited Signal: This passage launches the first of the three missions narrated in Ezra-Nehemiah. The other two missions will focus on individual leaders, Ezra and Nehemiah, and their God-given work within the restored community. This mission, announced here and carried out in 1:5–6:22, involves restoring the Judeans to their own territory and rebuilding the temple for the worship of God. Throughout the story, the actual return of the people is subordinate to their task of building the sanctuary. ...

2269. List of the Family Heads Returning With Ezra

Ezra 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Bringing Glory to the Temple: Ezra was given two mandates in chapter 7. The first was to lead a party of immigrants back to the homeland and to take along the sacred contributions of the Persian court, the Babylon satrapy, and Jews remaining in exile, and deliver them to the temple authorities in Jerusalem. This first assignment is accomplished here. Apart from the conclusion in verses 35–36, this section comes from the Ezra memoirs and falls into three parts: 7:28b–8:20; 21–30; and 31–34. Each part has a ...

2270. The New Residents of Jerusalem

Nehemiah 11:1-36

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

Moving into the Holy City: At last the time was ripe for the editor to pick up, from 7:4–5, the story of the repopulation of Jerusalem. First, the ideals in Nehemiah’s prayer had to be realized on a communal level: the new focus on the Torah as determinative for the life of the community in chapter 8, the prayer of repentance in chapter 9, and the pledge of commitment to the Torah and the temple in chapter 10. Now 11:1–2 gives the procedure for allocating settlers in Jerusalem, and verses 3–24 list the new ...

2271. Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 16:1-33

Understanding Series

Roland E. Murphy

There is a noticeable change here. The antithetic style of previous sayings starts to give way to synonymous and synthetic or progressive parallelism. More important, there are indications of a deliberate arrangement. The Lord is the subject of verses 1–7, 9, 11, 20, 33, and the king is the topic in verses 10, 12–15. Moreover, the Lord and the king seem to be meshed together (cf. 24:21): verse 11 interrupts 10–15. In addition, the decision (mišpāṭ; NIV “justice”) of the king and of the Lord are spoken of ...

2272. Disaster from the North

Jeremiah 4:5-31

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

A Lion from the North (4:5-10): 4:5–6 The prophet announces future judgment by insisting that warnings of the impending attack be issued. Other prophets also utilized the call to battle to warn of impending judgment (see Nah. 2:1). He evokes a sense of urgency when he urges that the trumpet be sounded and a signal be raised. These were signs of an attack (see Amos 3:6). Warning of an attack from the north first appeared in 1:13-14 (see commentary and notes). 4:7–8 The threat is described as a lion coming ...

2273. Jerusalem Under Siege

Jeremiah 6:1-30

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

Jerusalem Attacked! (6:1-8): The oracles in chapter six continue the difficulty of distinguishing individual oracles. Fortunately, the major effect on the reader is not dependent on proper division of the text or accurate dating of the original setting of the oracles. A further difficulty is determining who is speaking. Subtle clues indicate whether it is Jeremiah or God. This too, however, is not a major obstacle to understanding the message, since Jeremiah, after all, is Yahweh’s spokesperson. We take 6: ...

2274. Freedom for Slaves

Jeremiah 34:8-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

34:8–11 The next oracle comes in the context of the royal decision to free Hebrew slaves. To understand the story and the oracle we must begin by reviewing the slave laws of the Torah (Exod. 21:1–11; Lev. 25:39–46; Deut. 15:12–18, though see S. Chavel, “ ‘Let My People Go!’Emancipation, Revelation, and Scribal Activity in Jeremiah 34.8–14,” JSOT 76 [1997], pp. 71–95, for the view that Jeremiah 34 does not follow Pentateuchal legislation). If Israelites became impoverished, they could sell themselves into ...

2275. Israel to Reap the Whirlwind

Hosea 8:1-14

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Israel Shall Reap What She Sows (8:1-7a): As is frequently the case with Hosea, it is very difficult to know how to divide chapter 8 into its separate oracles. From a form-critical standpoint, verses 1–3 could form an independent unit because they include summons, accusation, and judgment. But they are intimately linked to what follows by their subject matter. Verse 4 spells out the two primary ways in which Israel has rejected what is good (v. 3). It is then connected with verse 5 by the repetition of the ...

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