Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: thirstiness, dryness, parched, craving, strong desire, longing, yearning, avidity, hunger, voracity, keenness, eagerness, lust, appetite, passion, love, crave, want, covet, desire, hunger for/after, lust for/after, hanker for/after, have one's heart set on

Antonyms: aversion, distaste, apathy, dislike, hatred, antipathy, disgust, disregard, abhorrence, acrimony, wet, animosity, animus, antagonism, bad feeling, bitterness, be averse to, detestation

Showing 226 to 250 of 1838 results

226. Praise God For Adversity

Isaiah 43:14-28

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

... ; but, it would still be there to plague us. We could become angry and resent adversity; but, that would only produce ulcers and cause heart attacks. We could judge ourselves and others by saying, "You only got what you deserved;" but, that would only leave us bitter and burdened with guilt. We could complain, grumble and gripe about adversity; but, that would only make us even more unhappy. Or, we could blame God for adversity; but, that would only rob us of all hope and would separate us from the one and ...

227. The Other Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the older brother has gone down in history as the villain of the story. He presents a mean picture to us. A newspaper correspondent might say of him today, “he’s gotten a lot of bad press.” We are impressed by the fact that he had a certain bitterness of spirit, a certain self-righteousness about him. Or we think he must have had a poor relationship with his family. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus didn’t condemn him, And, there is much good that can be said about him. For example, I think ...

228. The Bridge

John 1:1-18, Matthew 2:1-12, Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7, Luke 1:26-38, Genesis 3:1-24

Drama

H. J. Hizer

... : You gave her Ahab and 850 false prophets. Three: You gave her what she needed, Lowliness -- her tools were much worse than mine. Five: But to you, Slums -- to YOU I gave the best of the worst tools. Four: He gave you a crowded inn. One: He gave you a bitterly cold night. Two: He gave you two people weary from a long trip. Five: I gave you the worst possible set-up, Slums -- and YOU made it better! One: He gave you greed! Two: He gave you gossip! Four: He gave you distrust! Five: I even gave you a pregnant ...

229. The Messiah For All

Ephesians 3:4-6

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... embalming fluid that the ancients used to preserve dead bodies. And so by their gifts, the Magi expressed the fact, first, that Jesus was a king; second, that he was divine; and, third, that he had come on a mission of sorrow and death. Here is the bitter irony of God's revelation of himself to us. The first to fall down and worship Jesus Christ as a Divine King were not the Chosen People, not the ones who were supposedly waiting and watching for him, but these were the despised, the hated, the pagans ...

230. The Last Supper - Passover

John 13:1-17

Illustration

... of God's deliverance. The foods that were eaten were symbols to remind the Jews of their captivity in Egypt. Apple sauce was eaten to remind them of brick mortar and the fact that they were forced to make bricks with no straw. A bitter herb is eaten to remind them of the bitterness of their captivity. It was this symbolic Seder Meal that he disciples were partaking of that night in the upper room. It was at the conclusion of that meal that Jesus himself added two more symbols. He took a loaf and broke it ...

231. If Only We Could Remember ...

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

Wallace H. Kirby

... when we first came to God, and made promises, took vows, and became acutely aware of God’s kindness, mercy, and faithfulness ... II. The second phase of Hosea’s marriage and his theological reflection is the estrangement and the break, and the bitterness that followed. Things changed between Hosea and Gomer. Gomer seeks love elsewhere. She commits adultery. Hosea tells us that she has one love affair after another. She rejects her husband. She thinks that a more exciting life can be found elsewhere. So ...

232. Second Lesson

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

... ," he would argue, adding, "for everyone but my wife and daughters." Those who knew him thought he was just trying to be provocative in his comments, until he got involved with a woman and the news got back to his wife and family. He paid a bitter price for his one-time infidelity. After he was forgiven, he did come to realize that freedom from the law means Christians have been delivered from fulfilling the law to gain their salvation; only Jesus could do that. Freedom from the law does not mean Christians ...

233. Where Does One Go When Darkness Floods One’s Life?

Genesis 32:22-32

Sermon

James Cobb

... that possible? Not only is it possible but it is God’s glorious promise. Listen to God’s invitation. "Turn to me and be saved." Go then and share this blessing with others. Tell others of God’s grace to you in Christ. Remember that even through the bitter darkness, the anguish of pain and suffering, paint your life with shadows. God can bless you there. Wasn’t that Jacob’s experience? It wasn’t easy to cross the brook to meet his brother. It wasn’t pleasant to face truth and admit his sins in ...

234. Mi Casa, Su Casa

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... s children who still act like tenants and who still treat their Father like a landlord. From time to time, we do it ourselves. It is an unhappy, estranged and distant relationship. At best businesslike; at worst; well, our world is full of examples: bitter, angry folks burned by religious legalism; wounded folks who turned to God’s children for help and were hurt instead of healed; fearful folks who cloak their fear behind a cover of self-sufficiency and cocksureness; weary folks who have sought to please ...

235. White, The color of purity, holiness

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

... worse than this. When I was a boy, we had a Christmas even worse than this. When I was a boy, we had a Christmas of weather eighteen below, and six feet of snow. The wind was blowing and drifting the snow." He went on to describe a bitter cold day, but one on which much warmth and love was shared among family and friends. This conversation prompted several thoughts in my mind as I considered this Christmas festival. First of all, though the weather outside is frightful, inside, with all of you it’s so ...

236. Good News for Exiles

Psalm 137:1-9, 2 Chronicles 36:15-23, Ephesians 2:1-10

Sermon

... the Hebrews’ exile in Babylon? Law, right? But don’t forget that during that difficult period, the synagogue developed, the institution that would enable the Jewish faith to survive in the millennia ahead. You see how God is always looking ahead? Even exile in Babylon, as bitter as that experience was, contained a mixture of Law and grace. Every age, every experience in life, is both a time of Law, and a time of Gospel. Law and Gospel are but two sides of the same coin: The Law shows us sin The Gospel ...

237. Kindness That Makes You Sorry!

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... of some kind because of loss of emotional control. Almost any small disagreement is cause for boiling fury. I saw a cartoon which showed a husband and wife having breakfast in a fine, large home. Obviously they had been arguing. They looked angry, sullen, and bitter. She was shouting at him, "O.K., O.K.! You want a hot breakfast? Then set fire to your cornflakes!" Disagreements between persons are so frequent we almost think nothing of them. Murdo McDonald, a fine Scot preacher, tells of a time when Lady ...

238. "A" Lamb to "the" Lamb

Exodus 12:1-30

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until the morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire ...

239. Christians Die Well

Acts 7:54--8:1a

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... terrified voice answered, "We’re in the closet forgiving each other." Forgiveness must be genuine if God is to forgive us in return. A Scottish story tells of a man who feared he was on his deathbed. He sent for an acquaintance with whom he had had a bitter feud many years before. They had been enemies all that time. Now the dying man made an overture of peace. Finally, they settled the old quarrel, shook hands, and the other man prepared to leave the room. As he walked out the door of the sick room, the ...

240. Forgive To Be Forgiven

Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... brothers made their appeal for his forgiveness, our text says, "Joseph wept when they spoke to him." He was deeply moved with pity and compassion. And we, too, will forgive when we have tears of compassion in our eyes. Not to have pity for offenders means we are very angry, bitter, and hurt by what was done to us or said about us. We then are out to get the offender, to get our pound of flesh, to pay back more than we received. Ann Landers tells about a man who saw an ad in a newspaper for a practically new ...

241. Job’s Joy

Job 38:1--41:34

Sermon

Richard F. Bansemer

... face God face to face and defend himself. He will not and cannot let go of his righteousness. In it he has his security, and with it he challenges God’s action against him. He demands to know why God has not been fair with him. The bitterness of his complaints swells up into a torrent of rebellion and questions, until his request to know becomes almost a demand. Why God? Why me? Why this suffering? What have I done to deserve this? When God appears, in chapter thirty-eight, strange things happen. When God ...

242. Christ My Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Dennis Kastens

... in darkness really means. Early in the twelfth century in the valley near Lausanne, France, a young man was waylaid by robbers and held for ransom. Though tragic, the crime was not new to the province, for the valley was known as Wormwood from the bitter sufferings sustained by the victims of the outlaws. According to legend, the lad was made to entertain his captors, but instead of acting the clown, he gave witness to his faith as a Christian. His testimony so moved his audience that he was released. The ...

243. Life - The Womb of the Eternal

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... Jesus. Amen." That kind of prayer opens the door to birth. Jesus found two different kinds of persons in one home. Martha was caught up in and strangled by the burdens of life; Mary was having her mind transformed by catching the spirit of Christ. Martha, made bitter by the burden of having to prepare the meal alone, called out to Jesus, "Master, make her help me." "Martha," Jesus replied, "you are too bothered about too many things (life is too heavy for you); Mary is seeking a new meaning. I’m not going ...

244. The Forgiven and the Forgiving

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... boy deepened and deepened in his spirit of hatred. Thirty years later there was a reunion of his prep school in Germany, and they sent him a letter with a list of the names of the boys and what had happened to them. The Jewish man was mad, bitter, wouldn’t read the letter, threw it away. Then something caught his eye - a name. He didn’t want to but he turned aside and looked, breathlessly. Something held him. It wouldn’t let him go. There, on the crumbled piece of paper, was "Von Hohenfells, Konradin ...

245. A LITURGICAL DRAMA FOR ALL SAINTS’

Drama

Tom Eberle

... : [rising from his seat in the congregation] "While I was still in my sins, the Lord enabled me to begin to do penance in the following manner: It seemed to me bitterly unpleasant to see lepers, but the Lord led me among them and gave me pity for them. [begins moving toward the box] And when I left them, that which had been bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body. And a short time afterward I began the religious life." [Literally, "left the world." Quote taken from Francis’ Last Will and ...

246. Lazarus Rising

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

... . Not only did Jesus fail to save Lazarus, he didn’t even bother to come to the funeral. The neighbors came. They sent flowers. But not Jesus. There are some who insist that she was bitter and it is seen in her first words to Jesus: If you had been here, my brother would not have died. Many say that these were words yelled in anger. I used to accept that interpretation, but now I am no longer so sure. Perhaps she spoke these words softly ...

247. Nag, Nag, Nag!

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... earth, come to him for eternal life and peace. It may be shocking that God is not the God of white people only. Does it surprise you that God loves communists as well as capitalists? Are you a modern Jonah who became angry when God forgave the Ninevites, bitter enemies of the Jews? The woman in our Gospel for today had no right to nag Jesus for the healing of her daughter. She had no right because she was a woman and a Canaanite. Moreover, she was a Gentile. She had the wrong religion. The disciples could ...

248. The Deeper Meanings of The Christian Faith by Dr. Bryant M. Kirkland

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... who may not have written to you for a year and a half can still come back home. There is hope, too, for those of you who have not forgiven your son or daughter who has not telephoned in sixteen months because soon your heart will crack from its bitterness. You will become so tired of your loneliness that you will bend your pride and try a new mode of dealing with your problems - instead of thinking that you are God Almighty on earth. You will become what you really are - a growing, loving child of God. The ...

249. Only the Wounded Can Serve

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... it. He prayed desperately to have his infirmity removed, but the word came back, "My grace is sufficient for you." It is enough to say, "He was a wounded soldier in life’s service." He did not uselessly dissipate his energy nursing his hurts or bitterly draw a circle around himself. Because of his sensitivity, perceptivity, and empathy, he was more often able to say and write the word that needed to be said. Without his wound, he would not have been able to understand the depth of another’s suffering ...

250. Running With Patience

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... to know all the answers, without taking time to understand the problems in order that the answers might make sense. An answer given to someone unprepared to understand it brings no fulfillment. Only as one searches and struggles, blindly at times, and even bitterly, lost and bewildered, waiting, wondering, seeking, questing, patiently moving step by step, does he find that which is hidden for only the enduring eye to see. Then there is the whole matter of pain, suffering, or the ego-illness of having our ...

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