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 3376 to 3400 of 5000 results

3376. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... reminds his readers that God has called them out of darkness, that is, they are called to leave the darkness due to their earlier ignorance of God (1:14), which had kept them not only from a knowledge of his character, but also from realizing the immense love he had for them and the great blessings he had in store for their eternal benefit. The divine call is into his wonderful light. To Jews, light was a familiar image of Messiah’s kingdom and spoke of the presence and active leading of God (Exod. 13 ...

3377. A Call to Persevere

Jude 1:17-25

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... ; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 7:25. From falling translates aptaistos, without stumbling, not tripping over, sure-footed, and occurs in the NT only here. But the thought is frequent in Scripture: cf. “He will not let your foot slip” (Ps. 121:3); see also the lovely expression used three times in the OT (KJV): “he makes my feet like hinds’ feet” (2 Sam. 22:34; Ps. 18:33; Hab. 3:19). The hind is more sure-footed and can climb higher than any other mountain creature, outdoing even her mate, the hart. Presence ...

3378. The Song of Deborah

Judges 5:1-31

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... from the One who is the Source of life. Thus this last verse of chapter five presses home a key theme of Judges: blessings of obedience and cursings of disobedience. Moreover, it contains a wonderful promise, not only for Israel but for all of us who “love the LORD,” that if we do so we will indeed shine with strength, because the Lord is our strength and song (Exod. 15:2). Additional Notes 5:1 On that day, Deborah and Barak . . . sang this song: In many cases, different translations of the Song reflect ...

3379. Restoration of Israel

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... (see 31:9). And like a son, though he has to discipline him as a son, God never completely abandons his love for him. Indeed, he remembers him, which implies more than cognitive retention. It implies that God will act graciously toward Ephraim. ... God has acted toward them like a husband toward a wife. The marriage metaphor of the relationship between God and his people emphasizes his love and caring concern for them. In spite of that, they have spurned him (see Ezek.16; 23; Hos.1; 3). While verse 32 states ...

3380. I am the Man Who Has Seen Affliction

Lamentations 3:1-66

One Volume

Tremper Longman III

... The destruction is nearly total. But here the poet acknowledges that though he and those he speaks of are deeply afflicted, they are still there. They are not completely consumed, and he attributes this to God’s grace as expressed in his khesed (covenantal love) and his rekhem (compassion). Psalm 77 is the poem of a desperate person who attributes his suffering to God. He accuses God of betraying his khesed and rekhem in verses 8–9. The poet in Lamentations sees the fact that anyone survived the debacle ...

3381. Repentance to Bring Blessing

Hosea 14:1-9

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... uttering such a prayer because he believes God will heal and recreate them. And that is the central announcement of this passage, in verse 4. “I will heal their turning away; I will love them freely; for I will turn my wrath from them” reads the Hebrew of that verse. God here promises to remake Israel, to heal it (cf. 6:11), to love it freely, apart from any condition or repentance and turning on Israel’s part. What Israel cannot do for itself, God will do. That is the primary good news of the message ...

3382. Don't Just Stand There!

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... Holy Spirit is simply God’s Spirit, Christ’s Spirit, coming into our lives; and as the Scripture teaches us, God is love. When the Holy Spirit enters our life we cannot help but be affected. Someone has noted that a huge horse--even a ... impact. But, if you have opened your heart to Christ’s Holy Spirit, if you have allowed that Spirit to fill you with Christ’s love, you will have an impact on everyone you meet. “Men of Galilee,” the two men in white said, “why do you stand here looking into ...

3383. People Who Are Down on Themselves

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

King Duncan

... over all of them--Jews, Christians, and this recent immigrant, a Moslem from Iraq. (5) To me, scenes like that are a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. I suspect that one reason some people are so filled with hate is that they have never known the unconditional love of their Heavenly Father. They hate others because they feel rejected themselves. If this should be true for you, this Father’s Day would be a good day for a new start. Friend, you are a child of God. In Max Lucado’s words, “If God had a ...

3384. Where Are the Laborers?

Matthew 10:1-8

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... feet, covering the floor to a height of 4 feet. It's awful, isn't it, to be a mail carrier who doesn't deliver his or her mail? Now, I want you to imagine that someone has given you a letter to deliver. In that letter is God's love. And He wants you to deliver it to the next person you meet. It would be a shame if you didn't deliver it, wouldn't it? Well, in your heart there is such a letter. God has placed His ...

3385. Not Far from the Kingdom

Mark 12:28-34

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... but sometimes you can look into a person's face and see what kind of person they have been. You could see this man's evil in his face. One day, however, this evil man fell in love with a beautiful girl. She not only had a beautiful face, but a beautiful heart as well. She was very kind and gentle. The evil man loved the beautiful girl so much that he went to a sorcerer and asked the sorcerer to make him a mask that he could wear--a very pleasant and kind mask with which he could fool the beautiful ...

3386. The Jewish Leaders as Negative Foil for Jesus’ Followers

Matthew 23:1-39

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... it includes mercy and does not oppose it. Finally, we can communicate to our congregations that these values are not new to Jesus. In 23:23 Jesus echoes Micah 6:8, where God’s priorities for humanity are exactly these: acting in justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God (i.e., covenant loyalty). Illustrating the Text While Jesus warns of future judgment upon Pharisees and teachers of the law for their hypocrisy, the direct audience of chapter 23 is Jesus’ followers, so the “woes” provide a ...

3387. Last Encouragement and Final Greeting

1 Corinthians 16:19-24, 1 Corinthians 16:5-18

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... word of encouragement for the Corinthians to stay the course and remain strong in the faith (16:12–18) and concludes this encouragement with greetings (16:19–20) designed to highlight the unity of call and purpose between all Christians who love the Lord (16:22–24). Interpretive Insights 16:12 Now about our brother Apollos. Since Paul’s introduction follows the pattern he uses throughout this letter when referring back to specific questions from Corinth, his commendation of Apollos likely comes ...

3388. Greeting, Doxology, and Confession

Revelation 1:4-8

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... ; Col. 1:15). Third, he now reigns as exalted Lord over all earthly rulers and kingdoms (Ps. 89:27; 1 Tim. 6:15). Jesus is our example as the faithful witness, our hope for a future resurrection, and the object of our faith as the exalted Lord. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father. This doxology celebrates what Jesus has done. The declaration of Christ’s sovereignty in 1:5a calls for a response of worship ...

3389. Grain Offerings

Leviticus 2:1-16

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). A cheap sacrifice is really no sacrifice at all. God deserves and expects the best from us. So the Christian’s sacrifices to God today should be of his or her finest or best. We should strive to love God with all our heart and soul and strength (Deut. 6:5). We should be willing to sacrifice to God the finest things we have, be it our time, talents, or money. Sometimes that may mean going to minister to poor people rather than enjoying the comforts of ...

3390. “You Are Not a God Who Is Pleased with Wickedness”

Psalm 5:1-12

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... sanctuary in Psalms 15:1 and 61:4. 5:5–6 You hate all who do wrong. The language of “hate” (5:5) and “detest” (5:6) is strong. In Israel’s world people thought in terms of opposites, so Malachi records the Lord’s words, “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated” (1:3). In this instance it is another way for the Lord to say, “I chose Jacob, but I did not choose Esau.” However, our present text is not exactly the same, for it pits God against evil, and the verbs “hate” and ...

3391. “Ascribe to the Lord the Glory Due His Name”

Psalm 29:1-11

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... s kingdom implies his kingship. A King who does “not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears,” but judges the world in righteousness (Isa. 11:3–5) is the perfect King. Moreover, a King who is love and who can dispense his love because he is all-powerful is King of kings. The kingdom of God is thus a theocracy, and we have nothing to fear as subjects in that realm. So the psalmist declares: “The Lord is enthroned as King forever” (29:10b). On the other hand, a ...

3392. “Ride Forth Victoriously in the Cause of Truth, Humility and Justice”

Psalm 45:1-17

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... in the companionship of these two psalms. Perhaps that justifies the scribe’s addressing the king as “god” (see comments on 45:6), since he comes close to the character of God. Kidner calls this psalm a “wedding benediction,” taking his cue from the title, “a love song” (NIV: “a wedding song”), and relates it to the Song of Songs,1which is a very different genre, but he finds a close comparison to Psalm 45 in the procession of Song of Songs 3:6–11.2 Outline/Structure In effect we hear ...

3393. What To Do While Waiting for the Judgment?

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... everybody, so I commend Louis Grizzard to you. He writes books as well as columns. And those books have delightful and attention-commanding titles. One of them is Elvis Is Dead, and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself. Another is If Love Were Oil, I’d Be a Quart Low. Isn’t that suggestive? Even judging? If love were oil, I’d be a quart low. Some of us are a quart low when it comes to having oil in our spiritual lamps. We’re dependent upon having filled up with oil twenty-five or thirty years ago. We have ...

3394. Various Laws

Leviticus 19:1-37

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (see Exod. 20:14) Verse 30: Keep the Lord’s Sabbath (see Exod. 20:8-11) Verse 30: Revere the Lord’s sanctuary Verse 31: No turning to occult (see Exod. 20:3) The Elderly and the Alien Verse 32: Respect the elderly; fear God Verses 33-34: Love rather than oppress the alien In Commerce use Honest Scales Verses 35-36: Use honest measures for scales (see Exod. 20:15) There is a logical flow of topics, although it is not immediately apparent. The first half of the chapter begins with the need to respect the ...

3395. How Beautiful are You

Song of Songs 4:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... [7:12–13] and stood like “a wall” against the amorous advances of the king [8:10]) until she is reunited with her lover at the end of the poem. The maiden imagines and yearns for the breezes of fate to waft the fragrance of her love to her true lover, alluring him to deliver her from the confines of the royal harem. Interestingly enough, this very sequence of events constitutes the maiden’s second night-search fantasy (5:2–8). She can only invent the absent shepherd lover’s ideal response to ...

3396. The Tithe

Malachi 3:6-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... that God has prepared for his own (cf. Exod. 19:4–5; Deut. 7:6–9; 14:2; 26:17–19; Ps. 135:4). The prophet compares the Lord’s care to a father’s care for his son who has served him well. When the Lord shows his love for his people, then they will see the difference between the righteous and the wicked. The prophet indirectly addresses those who have argued against him, but he is directly addressing the godly community with words of comfort. They will see it with their own eyes. The day of the ...

3397. Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... feeling of peacefulness in the soul but the objective fact that God’s wrath has been removed through Jesus’s death and that sinners have now been granted access to God’s grace, that is, to the realm in which God’s redeeming love for sinners reigns (cf. 4:21). Having excluded boasting (3:27; cf. 2:17), Paul now introduces boasting again, redefined by God’s grace, which justifies sinners. If boasting is indeed a basic factor of human existence, expressing the grounds of human confidence, Paul ...

3398. More than Conquerors

Romans 8:28-39

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... God and of Jesus Christ guarantees not only victory over suffering and tribulation but also, and in a much more fundamental sense, victory over all forces that oppose God in this world (8:38–39). There is no power that can separate the believer, who is loved by God and protected by Christ, from God’s final and glorious salvation—not even death, the most powerful force and the last enemy of believers (1 Cor. 15:26); not life in the flesh, which lives in opposition to God and seeks to entice believers ...

3399. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Philemon 1:1-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Philemon to act on Paul’s appeal but also underscores that the church has a right to be involved in the personal affairs of its members. So Paul is not merely concerned about Philemon and Onesimus but also about the unity and love of the church community. Finally, in the greeting Paul uses familial imagery of “brother” and “sister”—and also “dear friend” (literally “beloved one”)—which not only underscores the intimacy of the church but also prepares Philemon for the appeal to accept ...

3400. Joy at Believers’ Walking in the Truth

3 John 1:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is presented as evil? If so, the assertion that “anyone who does what is evil has not seen God” becomes problematic. Claiming that Jewish-Christian deserters “never were a part of us” (1 John 2:19; NIV “they did not really belong to us”) and that loving the flesh comes from the world and not from God (1 John 2:16) is understandable, but to say a neighboring church leader has not seen God because of his autocratic style of leadership is another matter. Therefore, verse 11 may simply be a general ...

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