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 411 results

226. When in Joy, Enjoy (Fruit of the Spirit: Joy)

Galatians 5:22

Sermon

James Merritt

... as "The Fellowship of Joy" because I want people to find joy when they come to this church. Dr. Vance Havner once said: "The man of the world is not laughing at Christians who ‘get happy' over being saved, half so much as he is disgusted with us big-church folks who are showing no evidence of a dynamic transforming experience that makes us love what once we hated, and hate what once we loved." Unfortunately, the world has caricatured Christians as being primarily purveyors of doom and gloom, prophets of ...

227. Who's In Charge Here

Judges 21:24-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... 's classrooms, merchants face it in their shops, cops encounter it on a daily basis, youth workers in churches across America are forever forced to deal with it. Why? Because parents won't. The permissiveness found in homes today is downright disgusting. It is not uncommon to find child-centered homes where children intimidate their parents; afraid to be strong, hesitant to stand firm against the determined will of their youngster; parents create a domestic setting that becomes unbearable.[7] That confusion ...

228. In Defense of the Offense

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... the cross. Some reject the cross. In v.23 Paul said the cross "to the Jews [was] a stumbling block." Now the Greek word for stumbling block gives us our word "scandal." The cross was a scandal to the Jews. It was repulsive to them. It was disgusting to speak of a common criminal being crucified by a Roman Empire as a "Savior." Furthermore, in v.22 Paul said, "The Jews required a sign." That is, they were looking for wonders. They were looking for a political Messiah. They were not looking for a suffering ...

229. The Great Divide

Matthew 16:13-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... river; the people suffering from leprosy stayed on the other. When interacting with the lepers, the doctors and nurses always insisted on wearing gloves, although there was little chance of infection. The two young men visiting the colony viewed this practice as disgusting and dehumanizing. They refused to wear the gloves. They touched the lepers as a sign of respect and love. In fact, on their first visit to the “leper” side of the Amazon, the young men encountered a patient whose face was disfigured ...

230. Healed By The Great Physician

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... treated like the VIP that he was, but instead he had to deal with a mere servant. Also, the prescription bothered him. Why must he bathe in that little muddy, ugly Jordan River when there were some really first-class rivers back in Aram? So, Naaman left in disgust. Why do you suppose that Elisha did not go out and greet the visiting celebrity? Maybe God had revealed to Elisha that Naaman was at least a quart low on humility. So, he needed to be taken down a few notches. Notice that Naaman had his own ideas ...

231. From Worry To Trust

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... woman who in her work comes in contact with lots of men. Her husband's constant worries, fueled by his own insecurities, destroy trust and interfere with his wife's career. Finally, the marriage fails, a victim of worry. Consider a lady who has been disgustingly healthy for over twenty years but hasn't enjoyed a day of it. She reads medical journals constantly and imagines herself having every symptom. Finally, her many years of imagined illnesses lead to a real one. Or consider my late uncle who farmed in ...

232. Whose Side Are You On?

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... expect us to live under a heavy weight of guilt like Oskar Schindler, always feeling there is more we could have done. Such a burden would ultimately weigh us down and defeat us. And it was never Christ’s intention that we would think of ourselves with self-disgust worms of the dust, of no value, hopeless sinners. We are of ultimate worth. Christ gave his life for us. This is where positive self-esteem comes from. It comes from knowing that even though we are not perfect, we are loved. We are loved by the ...

233. Disharmony in Worship

Matthew 18:15-20

Illustration

King Duncan

... . The director led the song, "Jesus Paid it All." The third week the pastor preached on gossiping and how we should all watch our tongues. The music director led the song, "I Love to Tell the Story." With all this going on, the pastor became very disgusted over the situation and the following Sunday told the congregation that he was considering resigning. The musician led the song, "Oh Why Not Tonight?" As it came to pass, the pastor did indeed resign. The next week he informed the church that it was Jesus ...

234. No-fault Religion

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13), 14-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... repair costs. My friend went to small claims court to try to collect the full amount of the repair from the insurance company or from the woman, but he lost. He lost, he told me, because of the no-fault provision. Shaking his head in disgust and disbelief, he grumbled about no-fault insurance. "People should be held accountable for their actions," he said. "If they are wrong they should take the blame and pay the consequences." Another friend of mine went through a painful divorce. However, long before the ...

235. The Paradoxical Power of Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... sort of Achilles' heel, a dent in his shining armor that he called his "thorn in the flesh." What it was we do not know. Epilepsy perhaps, or semi-blindness, malaria, or uncontrollable stuttering. Whatever it was, it embarrassed him and brought humiliation and disgust. It made him appear weak, and he asked the Lord to remove it, but was refused. Paul says he learned that this was God's way of keeping him humble. Furthermore, Paul noted that he discovered that through his handicap, through his weakness, God ...

236. Church Slugs

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... there is fresh corn-on-the-cob; flowers of all sizes, shapes and colors decorate the landscape. But amidst all this abundance and loveliness there is a dirty little war going on; it's called "gardener versus the slug." With an unerring instinct these disgusting, slimy, slobbering creatures pick the evening before your fancy patio dinner party to launch an all-out assault on your precious petunias and impatiens. The next morning it looks as though a herd of tiny, slim-footed cattle had grazed its way through ...

237. Written in Red

1 John 5:9-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... them. When was the last time you sang "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood, "or "Nothing but the Blood," or "Heal Me, Hands of Jesus"? For a long time now, the church has sent out a message that all that blood imagery is gross and disgusting, messy and maudlin. What the UCC hymnal did with all these blood images was both botched and brilliant. By substituting "love" for "blood," this new vocabulary demonstrates in an ironic but profound way that in Jesus Christ's blood, there is love. Love and blood are ...

238. How Do You Sell A Vacuum Cleaner?

Mark 7:31-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a can of root beer, shakes it and opens it on the floor) your can of root beer! Saleswoman: Now this is an incredible mess; I mean look at your beautiful carpet. It's not so beautiful anymore, eh? Man: No, you'd – Saleswoman: Well, what is the most vile, disgusting, hard-to-clean substance that you can think of? Man: I don't want to – Saleswoman: Here. (she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bottle of motor oil) How about this? (she starts to pour it on the carpet) Man: Oh, no you don't; you're ...

239. Lamplight vs. Starlight

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the stars that light the sky during this morketida period may shine for long periods, they are not enough to dispel the gloom that pervades the streets and can easily poison the soul. Those of us who curse "light pollution" for dimming our stars are disgusted, not at losing light, but at losing a beautiful, heavenly starscape to ponder. Stars are both too distant and too overwhelming to offer us any real nighttime comfort or vision. During our own periods of morketida, we don't really need more stars - we ...

240. Plaque Buildup

Romans 5:12-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... do best) ... their teeth. In the past five years, more plaque-fighting, tartar-reducing, super-whitening, gingivitis-destroying products have flooded the market than ever imagined. Combating the dreaded "plaque buildup" - which apparently is the cornerstone upon which a whole host of disgusting oral hygiene and dental problems are built on - has become one of the major battles we are now expected to wage every day. There is another kind of "plaque buildup" that does to me what a red rag does to a bull. This ...

241. The Oblivious Obvious

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... I'm practicing my piano lesson," Matthew replied, with a doom-laden voice and a scowl on his face. "Well, I really came to talk to your Mom about some things. Is she home by any chance?" Matthew heaved a great sigh, rolled his eyes in impatient disgust and replied, "Now what do you think?!" The obvious needs to be restated today. The church is no exception. Tucked inside today's gospel lesson is a declaration of the obvious that the church has lost sight of lately. In Luke's gospel, Simon has evidently been ...

242. The Kingdom of God Has Come Close

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... his turn: "I wish for long life for all my friends. I wish for peace in the world. I wish for great advancements in the fields of science and medicine, and.... "But by this time, Lucy is throwing away the unbroken wishbone in disgust, grumbling, "You seem to have a knack for spoiling everything." Our rigidity makes us resent those who see things differently. Rule-benders, short-cut-takers and independent thinkers make us nervous. When Christ offered people the chance to participate in the kingdom, he didn ...

243. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... indicates that he is convinced that his old way of fishing, his established way of living and making a living, is the only true assessment of the situation. Having defended his reputation before Jesus in verse 5, you can almost hear Simon muttering disgustedly under his breath as he "humors" Jesus by casting out his nets anyway. The fact that despite their doubts Simon and the others do act creates the turning point in this story. Jesus' appearance in their lives, his presence in their midst, suddenly ...

244. 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

245. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... fall is made as complete and catastrophic as possible. Luke's language here is coarse and colloquial (some scholars profess to be able to see signs of a hasty scribal attempt to clean it up) when he describes how the son would have loved to eat the disgusting food he was giving to the pigs. Working for a Gentile and playing servant to swine was the bottom of all possible Jewish barrels. In verse 17, Luke's phrasing of how the young man "came to himself" is one of the few Semiticisms in this parable. It ...

246. Matthew 26:14-27:66

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Here Matthew again returns to his theme of Israel's prophetically predicted role in bringing about God's second act of deliverance. Judas personally testifies to Jesus' innocence while incriminating the religious authorities when he returns the tainted "blood money" in disgust and despair. Through his own violent suicide, Judas concurs with Jesus' proclamation (26: 24) that his betrayer would have been better off never having been born. By taking his own life, Judas acts as his own judge and jury, meting ...

247. The Most Stubborn Man in the Bible

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... man who got swallowed by a big fish. One of Gary Larson’s “Far Side” cartoons depicts a bearded man standing at his front door. He is dripping wet and his clothes are in shreds. His wife opens the door. She looks at the disheveled, bearded man with disgust and says, “For crying out loud, Jonah! Three days late, covered with slime, smelling like a fish. And what story have I got to swallow this time?” (1) Well, it is kind of hard to swallow Jonah’s story for some people. As a parable of God’s ...

248. An Unnerving Experience

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... anyone with them except Jesus.” Writer Bruce Larson tells about going with his wife and another couple to see the first episode of the movie series, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Larson says that three members of their group thought the movie was disgusting violent, shallow, and two‑dimensional but he, Bruce Larson, loved the movie. It’s a guy thing, I guess. The plot, you may remember, revolved around two archaeological teams during World War II racing across the Egyptian desert to find the Ark of ...

249. Proper 18

Proverbs 22:1-16, Mark 7:24-37, James 2:1-13

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... , except that it should not be in the church because of our faith. The rich, powerful and the popular are given special attention and privileges as VIPs. The poor, humble, simple, plain people are ignored. While we can tolerate it in the world, it is disgusting in the church. This sermon is needed to help break down the partiality shown in our churches. Outline: Faith has no favorites because – a. Faith sees a God of no partiality. b. Faith sees all persons as equal before God. c. Faith is expressed in ...

250. John the Baptist, Sanctified Indifference, & the King of Pop

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... some more of their freshly baked but noxious brownies . . . Chances are, if you expressed your true feelings on these offerings, you got in trouble . . . later. Same thing when you fended off a Marlboro-laced hug and kiss from Great Uncle whom-ever with a disgusted “Yuck” or even worse, “You stink!” Eventually we learn that while we should always tell the truth, we don’t always have to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Some call this the art of the “white lie,” the polite under ...

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