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 1199 results

226. The Limits Of Love

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... there is plenty of religion around ready to do exactly that -- just one more bit of evidence that God's grace can never be captured in our mud jars -- our earthen religious vessels. But the gospel is clear. God's love is always more pervasive, complete and powerful than our hatred or even the ways we define grace. By the very nature of our humanity, we tend to put limits on love. God does not. And that is a miracle of grace. But there is a greater miracle than even God's love for those we do not love. It is ...

227. When Did Jesus Pray?

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

John G. Lynn

... encourage them to move forward with hope and honor and success. He gave them a prayer: the prayer of God's sovereignty in our lives. "Father, hallowed be thy name." God is father, above and beyond what his creatures are, not subject to their hatreds and jealousies and their discomfort with success. "Thy kingdom come." Thy kingdom -- that's wherever you act on our behalf, wherever your light burns out our darkness, wherever your hope destroys our despair, wherever your faith enables us to believe in a future ...

228. Hold Your Peace

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

John G. Lynn

... . After a while he began to realize they were afraid of what they thought and what they felt. They did not want their thoughts or feelings out in the marketplace with other people so they held their peace. Their fear eventually turned into hostility and hatred for their professor, especially when he asked them this question: "I know what other people think about this, but what do you think?" Watched by those scribes and Pharisees who would not say what they thought or felt, Jesus made his move. He healed a ...

229. How To Treat Your Enemies

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... Buddy Hackett said, "I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing!" The truth is: revenge is a burden. Unforgiveness ends up hurting you worse than it does the other person. Hatred is like an acid. It ends up wounding the thrower more than it does the one on whom you throw it. All this is what Abigail came out to remind David of. And this is what God would remind us of today. In Deuteronomy 32:35 God warns, "Vengeance ...

230. Baptism And Self-Esteem

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... those first sinners, Adam and Eve. The Augsburg Confession describes sin as being "without fear and love of God." Isn't that one of the ultimate consequences of hell: living without any sense of self-esteem, trapped in the depths of our despair and self-hatred? Such hell is not just in eternity. There can be "hell on earth" right now. When we confess our sins, we are not just acknowledging that we have done something "naughty." We are not just talking about having eaten some forbidden fruit. Living in sin ...

231. Miracle Four: Healing A Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon Aid

Harold H. Lentz

... color of skin are cast aside. The fact that some individuals are worthy of respect for their individual attainment is completely overlooked. The weakness is conveyed in the phrase, "I've made up my mind; don't confuse me with the facts." As a result, hatred and renunciation of others, along with a desire actually to do them harm, when possible, rise in the heart of the prejudiced one. The scribes were unmoved by Christ's miracles. They were out to catch him doing something for which they could condemn him ...

232. The Demons Within

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Alexander H. Wales

... the power of terror, but it also affects nations. Nations seek to control and maintain without a sense for the need of justice and mercy. And when that power rises to a crescendo, we see the results in a Hitler or the Klan, or other groups that thrive on hatred and fear. There are the skeletons of many burned-out churches in our land that testify to the demons of power. Illness is a demon. With all our scientific expertise, you would think that we would be able to put away this demon, but we haven't. In all ...

233. The Sacred Other

Isaiah 42:1-9

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... as we celebrate Dr. King's life and faith and philosophy of life. As Claude Lewis of the Philadelphia Inquirer has written, "Though King is gone, many still believe in his ideas," but the celebration of his life is made far less meaningful by the fact that "the hatred and the killing goes on." The words of Isaiah ring across the centuries. The ideal is a precious image for us all. It is an image which the Master, Jesus of Nazareth, fully lived out on this earth, "a bruised reed he will not break and a dimly ...

234. Follow The Man With The Plan

Sermon

Richard Hasler

... , this Harvard-educated writer left New York City in 1940 to begin a life of intrigue in France worthy of a Le Carre novel. His mission was to rescue artists, writers and musicians whose lives were in jeopardy because of Hitler's hatred of the Jews. Fry was successful in liberating 2,500 refugees from the threat of the gas chambers including historian Hannah Arendt, painter Marc Chagall, surrealist Max Ernst and numerous other highly creative Europeans. At great danger to his own life, Fry provided ...

235. The Easter Parade

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Charles M. Mills

... word meaning the fourth of the nightwatches. It meant Mary was in the garden near 6 a.m. There she stood in the gray shadows of grief. She who had come from the village of Magdala located at the foot of Mount Arbel, who left that village, left sin, left hatred to follow him who is fisher of men and women, him who is Savior, him who is Lord. A poem sings of Mary: Magdalene at Michael's gate Twirled at the pin; ... sang the black bird Let her in! Let her in! Hast thou seen the wounds said Michael, Knowest ...

236. Make A Choice

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... very ordinary disciples. Instead of a warrior-king, there was a humble man riding on a donkey, a symbol of peace. Jesus' whole entrance into the city was a challenge to the world. It said God's ways are not the world's ways. It said love and not hatred is what God most desires. It said God's power and grace can save us, not human strength and wisdom. The gospel writer tells us that Jesus wept over the city, because of the unwillingness of people to choose life over death. I believe God still weeps over the ...

237. Week One Of Lent

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... complete life in God's presence. In the reading God tells Moses that it is in caring for others that we find God. God says we are not to defraud, to be just to the weak and the strong. We are to make no judgments; we are to cast aside hatred and revenge. In short, we are to love our neighbor as ourself, the same exhortation we heard in last week's readings. The Gospel story of the end times, what is known as eschatological literature, is familiar to all of us. Jesus says that when we do things for others ...

238. Divine Naivet

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Paul E. Robinson

... of the Old Testament, is that on the one hand God is quoted as being ready to destroy the people of Israel for their disobedience, and on the other hand God is there to save them and love them. This is because of the close relationship between God's hatred of evil, no matter who commits it, and God's unending love and forgiveness of those caught up in such evil. In chapter 63 is a marvelous verse, verse 8: "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely." Listen to that verse! Just listen to ...

239. Risen And Recognized

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Robert Beringer

... darkness of evil seemed to shroud their entire world. Nor is it hard in our own time to see a world that bears a startling resemblance to the world those disciples saw that Easter evening. Ours is still a world filled with incredible cruelty, injustice, hatred and greed. It is a world where God seems totally absent! I recently met one of my neighbors walking home after buying his morning paper. We talked about the slaughter of people in Rwanda, and the deaths of innocent people in yet another train accident ...

240. Where Do Our Words Come From?

Matthew 12:34b

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

... we say. The Bible teaches us that the things we say come from what's in our hearts. The words we use and the things we say tell others a lot about us. If we are full of bitter, hateful talk, then our hearts are probably full of bitterness and hatred. If we use harsh, mean, and ugly words all the time, that's most likely what's in our hearts. If we speak kind and gentle words, our hearts are likely full of kindness and gentleness, and if we use words that show love and caring, we probably have hearts ...

241. Be Ready!

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Phyllis Faaborg Wolk

... we wait for the coming of Christ, we need to encourage one another in our dreams of doing justice, of making a difference in the world for the sake of the gospel. It is not easy to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, or speak out against hatred. It is not a simple matter to alter our lifestyles or open our minds to the needs and concerns of others. But if we take one another's dreams seriously and work together, we can ready ourselves for Christ's presence in the way God cries out for us to ...

242. Christ the King

Psalm 100:1-5, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

... They come to understand and relate to them as persons. In many cases the criminal has repented, made some restitution and been reconciled with the victims. For the victims the encounter has also had a therapeutic effect. It removes the fear, the hatred and the continuing anguish that makes them permanent victims. Both parties then receive some healing in the process. 1. William Axling, Kagawa, (New York: Harper and Brothers) in Kirby Page, Living Abundantly, (New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1994), p. 382f.

243. The Holy Spirit As The Dove Of Peace

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... world of Jesus' time defined peace as the absence of war and conflict. This is much the same way that we define peace in our world today. This was not the kind of peace that Jesus was talking about. His life was surrounded by boiling hostility, hatred and violence. There were those who were planning to take his life. The cross for his crucifixion was being prepared by the carpenters who were fitting the cross-member. His accusers were assembling to scheme and plan their strategy for the taking of his life ...

244. Knowing The Voice

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Thomas Long

... for the sound of the voice they know best, the voice that speaks compassionately, mercifully, lovingly and hopefully. When they hear this voice -- but only this voice -- they follow; they do not respond to the voices of strangers, the voices of bitterness, judgment, hatred and strife. But it is more than familiarity that causes the followers of Jesus to recognize his voice. Jesus "calls his sheep by name and leads them out." The voice of Jesus speaks personally and commandingly. The voice of Jesus is not ...

245. Words, Words, Words

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Thomas Long

... well was a Samaritan; he who rested at the well was a Jew. She who came to the well was a woman; he who rested at the well was a man. Between Samaritan woman and Jewish man there was a wall of silence, built brick by brick with prejudice and hatred, through which no word was allowed to pass. "Would you give me a drink of water?" said the Jewish man to the Samaritan woman, and the wall came tumbling down. One word, one seemingly ordinary phrase, a quiet word that cut against the grain of the culture, and the ...

246. Pentecost: From Confusion To Communion In Christ

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... confusion and chaos. Sin was introduced into the Garden of Eden, the original unity of creation. The shattered world we have today is the result. We can hear the effects of sin all around us. The discordant babble of voices raised in hatred, the crash of rainforests and the rumble of bulldozers scarring the land, gunfire in our inner cities, rich and poor arguing over who owns what, liberals attacking conservatives and conservatives attacking liberals, husbands and wives arguing and children crying alone in ...

247. Shared Bread

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Alex Gondola

... country chapels and city cathedrals, believers will receive the bread and wine, symbolizing the body and blood of Christ. And in some special, mystical way, they will be brought together in him. Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, divided by decades of hatred, will both be at the Lord's Table. People of different races -- black, white, red, yellow, brown -- so often suspicious of each other, today will be sharing bread and wine. The wealthy CEO, retired and living in a mansion overlooking the bay ...

248. Prayers for Family Days

Bulletin Aid

Rolland R. Reece

... be? You see us in court rooms, railing at those who have harmed or killed our loved ones. We search for words that will hurt the guilty, not only in this moment but for all the remaining days of his/her life. Our shrill voices carry the hatred and venom that permeates all our conscious thought. The courts and the community support our verbal spewing believing that the guilty fully deserves this acidic volley of our words. We understand today's anger, but what of tomorrow? It is one thing to explode at the ...

249. Judas, The Obscure

Drama

Peter C. Garrison

... steps ahead, the pupil will resent and hate the teacher. The student will seek a way to humiliate the teacher. Maybe Judas felt this way. Jesus called Judas "a devil," and knew from the beginning who was going to betray him. Maybe our Teacher saw the hatred of the false student who would purposely miss the teacher's point out of evil spite. Yet I know now our Creator Lord never gave up control of the situation -- of creation, even though he was betrayed and killed by this creature and his muddled motives ...

250. Easter Day

John 20:10-18, John 20:1-9

Sermon Aid

Wayne H. Keller

... and who lives with us. And, all the people said, (your favorite praise word). ACTS OF CONFESSION The Act of Confession The pastor will direct the meditation around "contemporary crucifixions." Read several stories from the newspaper, stories of alienation, brokenness, hatred. After each, have the people sing, "Lord, Have Mercy," from the service music in your hymnbook. Then ask the people to identify their own ideas of crucifixions. After one minute of silence, sing, "Lord, Have Mercy," followed by another ...

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