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 2276 to 2300 of 3082 results

2276. God's Zeal for Salvation

Joel 2:18-27

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

2:18–20 We now come to the turning point of the book of Joel—the point at which God’s jealousy leads to pity for the chosen people. God removes both the everyday judgments and the threat of final judgment from their lives, verse 18. This passage too, however, is not to be understood in terms of some sort of self-seeking on God’s part. Rather, God’s “jealousy” could also be translated as God’s “zeal”—the word has both meanings in the Hebrew. The God of the Bible is a zealous God, with a purpose that is ...

2277. The Woman in a Basket

Zechariah 5:5-11

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

Vision Report: Evil Exported in a Measuring Basket: 5:5–6 The interpreting angel/messenger calls Zechariah’s attention to the next visionary object and tells him to “Look up and see what this is that is appearing.” It is “coming out” (ytsʾ, NIV “appearing”), like the flying scroll (v. 3, NIV “going out”) and the four chariots (6:1), but we do not know its origin. The temple is the most likely point of origin for all of these objects. Zechariah does not report what he sees; he simply asks, “What is it?” The ...

2278. A Grayhound and a Kite

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

Mark L. Feldman and Michael F. Spratt in their book Five Frogs on a Log tell about a family visiting Mexico that found itself in a difficult situation. On Sept. 6, 1960, the Salado River in Sabinas, 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 ...

2279. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The temple discourse is over, but Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem continues with no discernible break in the narrative. Having escaped death by stoning, Jesus “slipped away from the temple grounds” (8:59), and, as he went along (apparently just outside the sacred precincts), he noticed a man blind from birth (v. 1). Despite the smooth transition, it is clear that a new chapter, indeed a new division in the structure of the Gospel, is under way. Jesus’ disciples, out of the picture since the end of chapter 6, ...

2280. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The principle that the “whole world has gone after” Jesus (v. 19) finds immediate illustration in some Greeks who were among the worshipers at the festival (v. 20). Their request to see Jesus was directed at Philip (cf. 1:43–44), ceremoniously passed along by him to Andrew, and by the two of them to Jesus (vv. 21–22). These two disciples have been seen together twice before: first as Jesus’ agents in initially gathering a group of followers (1:35–45), and later as the two whose faith Jesus tested before ...

2281. The Jews Continue in Their Disbelief

John 12:37-50

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

Jesus’ last plea to the crowd was “put your trust in the light” (v. 36), and the first note struck in the narrator’s concluding summary (v. 37) is that they would not believe in him. Jesus’ public ministry is summarized as a series of miraculous signs intended to nourish faith, but the result instead was unbelief. The very purpose of John’s Gospel, as stated in 20:30–31, was to reverse that result, but in order to do so realistically the strength and stubbornness of unbelief had to be presented in the most ...

2282. The Table of Nations

Genesis 10:1-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Table of Nations: The Table of Nations presents a geographic picture of the nations as they occupied the earth at the end of the primeval age. The peoples, all descended from Noah, were divided into three major groups according to their lineage from each of Noah’s sons. The geography in this table covers parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa, from the Iranian plateau in the east to the Mediterranean coastlands in the west, from the Black Sea in the north to Somalia in Africa. The locus is Canaan, the ...

2283. From Shem to Abram

Genesis 11:10-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Descendants of Shem to Abraham 11:10–26: This linear genealogy opens with a toledoth formula and recounts the lineage of Noah’s son Shem. Following the Table of Nations (ch. 10), this genealogy focuses on the line that leads from Noah to Abraham, through whom God would build his own people. The list consists of nine persons as it points to a tenth person (Westermann, Genesis 1–11, p. 560) and probably does not include every ancestor from Shem to Terah. The list establishes that the era from Noah’s ...

2284. Wanderings in the Desert

Deuteronomy 3:21-29

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

Reminder of Past Victories: The first three chapters of Deuteronomy not only warn the people from past failures but also encourage them from past victories. The words to Joshua near the end of the section (3:21f.) give the point of the whole: God can do again what they had seen God do before, even for other nations. Their God did not lack experience! The structure of the section can be presented as follows: 2:1–8 – Encounter with Edom 2:9–18 – Encounter with Moab 2:19–23 – Encounter with Ammon 2:24–37 – ...

2285. A Wise Ruling

1 Kings 3:16-28

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

A Wise Ruling: “The lips of a king speak as an oracle,” Proverbs 16:10 tells us, “and his mouth should not betray (or ‘act treacherously against’) justice.” Quite so. For the king is the hub around which the whole legal process revolves. He is the highest court of appeal and the foundation of all administration and justice. To invent a proverb: if the core is rotten, then there is no hope for the apple (cf. Prov. 28:15–16; 29:2). Yet the picture that we have of Solomon in 1 Kings 1–2 has indeed raised the ...

2286. Solomon Builds His Palace

1 Kings 7:1-12

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

Solomon Builds His Palace: The building of the temple structure is finished, and perhaps we expect to hear next how the whole project was brought to completion through its furnishing. Not so! The description of the temple is not picked up again until 7:13. Instead, we find ourselves reading of the royal palace complex. Why do the authors delay their account of the completion of the temple? Did they wish simply to describe all the building work together, before moving on? Did they want to subordinate the ...

2287. Jehoahaz King of Judah

2 Kings 23:31-35

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

The End of Judah: Josiah, like Ahab, humbled himself before the LORD, and judgment, as in Ahab’s case, did not fall during Josiah’s reign. The implication of the analogy is that we may expect it to fall during the reign of Josiah’s son (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:28–29). This is exactly what we find now, as the story of Kings comes to its end. It is not, however, the first of Josiah’s sons to sit on his throne (Jehoahaz) who experiences the full force of God’s wrath (cf. 1 Kgs. 22:51–2 Kgs. 1:18), or even the second, ...

2288. Distress and Help

Isaiah 33:1-24

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Oh You Destroyer Who Has Not Been Destroyed: We noted in the Introduction that the major copy of Isaiah from Cave 1 at Qumran leaves a space after chapter 33, and this chapter indeed closes off the first half of the book. It does this quantitatively, because we are fairly precisely half way through the book. It also does it thematically and verbally. At one level chapter 33 is jerky and puzzling. The addressees keep changing, we are not clear who is being talked about, and no train of argument develops ...

2289. Comfort for God's People

Isaiah 40:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

The Gifts of Comfort and Energy: So Isaiah 39, set in Isaiah’s own day, envisages the future deportation of Judeans to Babylon. Isaiah 40–55, however, is set in the time after this deportation has happened. It does not say “In days to come God will send a message of comfort to people who have been punished,” in the manner of a passage such as 30:19–26. It says, rather, “God is now comforting you who have been punished.” The traditional view is that these chapters were written by Isaiah ben Amoz, and we may ...

2290. Israel's Sin and the Servant's Obedience

Isaiah 50:1-11

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Four Wake-up Calls and a Departure Call: In 50:4 the subject suddenly changes again—in two senses. The grammatical subject is once again a human “I” rather than a divine “I,” and the thematic subject is the pressure upon this human “I.” In both respects the passage parallels 49:1–6, and it will emerge that 50:4–52:12 forms a sequence parallel to 49:1–50:4, analogous to double sequences we have noted earlier in chapters 40–55. The arrangement of sections is not as tightly parallel as in earlier instances, ...

2291. A Prophecy Against Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Gog of Magog: Both Gog and his kingdom, Magog, are a mystery. Apart from Ezekiel 38–39, the name “Gog” appears in the Old Testament only in 1 Chronicles 5:4, where Gog is a descendant of Reuben—clearly not the foreign ruler Ezekiel describes. Magog appears in Genesis 10:2//1 Chronicles 1:5 as second in the list of nations descended from Japheth, youngest son of Noah, whose descendants populate the lands north of Israel. These texts group Magog with other nations in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), ...

2292. Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a Peaceable and Humble King

Matthew 20:29-34, Matthew 21:1-11

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: After mercifully healing two blind men, Jesus enters Jerusalem as a peaceable and humble king in concert with Zechariah’s vision of Israel’s king who comes to bring salvation. Understanding the Text This passage, which narrates Jesus healing two blind men outside Jericho (20:29–34) and thereafter entering Jerusalem in kingly fashion (21:1–11), introduces a new section of Matthew focused on Jesus’ ministry to crowds and confrontations with Jewish leaders in Jerusalem (chaps. 21–23). Matthew ties ...

2293. Jesus Demonstrates Messianic Authority over the Temple

Matthew 21:12-17, Matthew 21:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ authority as Messiah over the temple and his critique of its leadership as well as the importance of unwavering faith in following Jesus. Understanding the Text In Matthew the account of Jesus in the temple immediately follows his entry into Jerusalem. Both stories highlight Jesus’ identity and authority as Israel’s Messiah, with the acclamation of Jesus as the “Son of David” by the crowds and by children (21:9, 15). In 21:12–17 Jesus acts with messianic authority by ...

2294. Eschatological Discourse: Being Faithful and Merciful

Matthew 25:14-30, Matthew 25:31-46

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

Big Idea: Jesus tells two more parables that demonstrate how his followers should be ready for his return: they should pursue covenant faithfulness and show mercy to the most vulnerable, who are hungry, poor, sick, and imprisoned. Understanding the Text Chapter 24 concludes and chapter 25 begins with a call to be prepared, since there will be no precursor signs for Jesus’ reappearing (24:36–51). Matthew 25:14–46 continues with this theme of readiness by narrating two more parables of Jesus, one focusing on ...

2295. Jesus Turns to His New Family

Mark 3:31-35, Mark 3:20-30

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Opposition to Jesus takes a new turn as his family thinks that he is insane and the religious leaders accuse him of being demon possessed. Jesus’s response is twofold: he cannot be under the control of Satan because he has already bound Satan, and his true family consists of those who have joined him in the household of God. Understanding the Text Jesus’s ministry to sinners and his call to several outcasts to be among the Twelve will now get him in trouble with the authorities. This is the first ...

2296. The Gentiles Are Included in God’s Provision

Mark 8:1-13

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus’s ministry in Gentile lands continues with a second feeding miracle that shows the inclusion of the Gentiles in Jesus’s messianic ministry of provision. In contrast, the confrontation and rejection by the Jewish leaders intensifies, leading to Jesus’s christological destiny in Jerusalem. Understanding the Text This is part of the longer section 6:31–8:21 described earlier (see “The Text in Context” on 6:31–44), dealing with “failure-faith-failure.” Here, as in 6:31–7:23, a feeding miracle ( ...

2297. Hearing and Responding

Luke 8:19-21, Luke 8:16-18, Luke 8:1-15

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: When God’s word is proclaimed, there are different levels of response, ranging from those who take no notice to those whose lives are transformed. Understanding the Text At the heart of Jesus’s mission as announced in 4:14–21 is teaching and the proclamation of good news. We have had an important section of his teaching in 6:20–49, which concluded with trenchant comments on the importance of putting into practice what is heard—a theme that runs through this whole section. Since then, Jesus has ...

2298. Negative Responses to Jesus

Luke 11:33-36, Luke 11:29-32, Luke 11:14-28

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Jesus has come not to collude with Satan but rather to confront and dispossess him. Jesus is far greater than any prophets or kings who have come before, bringing the light that we now must shine to the world. Understanding the Text There have been indications throughout Jesus’s ministry in Galilee that not everyone is favorably impressed by him. Now the opposition is focused in two specific lines of attack (11:15–16). The first concerns his deliverance of those who were demon-possessed, a major ...

2299. The Failure of Israel’s Leadership

Luke 11:37-54

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Those who should be leaders of the people of God have lost their way spiritually, and judgment is inevitable and imminent. Understanding the Text In 5:17–6:11 Luke recorded a series of events that reveal how Pharisees and scribes disagreed with Jesus over matters of legal interpretation and religious practice (see also 7:30, 36–50). Now Jesus takes the initiative in criticizing these two groups. The resultant standoff, with Jesus denouncing the leaders as ripe for judgment and the leaders ...

2300. Affluence and the Afterlife

Luke 16:19-31

Teach the Text

R.T. France

Big Idea: Material wealth can go with spiritual poverty; in the end it is spiritual wealth that matters. Understanding the Text There has been no change of audience since 16:14: Jesus is still speaking primarily to the Pharisees. (He will return to teaching the disciples in 17:1.) Luke has characterized the Pharisees as lovers of money (16:14), so this parable is a warning to the affluent. It is thus the culmination of a theme, already set out in the blessings and woes of 6:20–26, that has run strongly ...

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