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 326 to 350 of 5000 results

326. Love Isn't Love Till You Give It Away

John 21:15-25

Illustration

Brett Blair

... her. The letter was signed Oscar Hammerstein who was that evening on his deathbed. The note was short. It simply said: “Dear Mary, A bell’s not a bell until you ring it. A song’s not a song until you sing it. Love in your heart is not put there to stay. Love isn’t love till you give it away.” When the play was over the cast rushed her backstage and asked, “What happened? We’ve never seen you perform that way before?” Mary read to them Hammerstein’s note and said, “Tonight, I gave my ...

327. Love Those Who Hate

Romans 12:9-21

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... repay evil with evil. That is wrong because it never makes anything better. Christians do good not only for the people whom they love, but also for the people who hate them. Love the haters and you will change them into people who will also love. If you hate they will only hate you more. But if you love the people who hate, then you may make them into people who can love. Christians are in favor of love and not hate. The next time you take care of a hurt, remember how you can also take care of an enemy, and ...

328. Comfort in God's Love

Deuteronomy 11:1-32

Children's Sermon

Tim Carpenter

... s pretty specific. They really want me to know how to take care of this sweatshirt, they even put it on the tag! Application: God’s love fits us like this big sweatshirt. He wants us to be comfortable in His love. His love is a perfect fit! However, just like this sweatshirt has instructions for its care, God gives us some rules for caring for His love. He wants us to love him and serve him with all our hearts and all our souls. Otherwise, we might find ourselves wishing for the kind of comfort that only ...

329. Fighting and Loving

Romans 13:8-14

Children's Sermon

Shirley Jennings

... , sisters, and best friends. Today [this week] is Valentine’s Day. On Valentine’s Day we give valentine cards, such as this one, to tell our friends and family that we love them. Is it sometimes hard for you to love your brother or sister or your best friend? Do you ever fight with your brother or sister or your best friend? Do you like to fight? What starts a fight? Maybe you want something that another person wants, so you try to take it away and that starts a fight. ...

330. The Commandment Is Love!

Mark 12:28-34

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... to the glory of God! All: Blessed be the name of the Lord! Collect O God, in Your mercy and Your grace You demonstrated Your love for us through the life of Christ. Help us to hear and see where You would have us spread Your love, O Lord. In Christ we pray. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, we have often tried to make faith only a matter of rules and laws. We have often forgotten the love You came to show us and meant for us to live by. And especially we have forgotten that You meant for us to share Your ...

331. God's Love For His People

Hosea 11:1-11

Bulletin Aid

H. Burnham Kirkland

... all hope. People: Then in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. Leader: Come, let us worship the Lord with thanks for his constant love! Collect O God, we know that you will never abandon us because your love for us is too strong. Though we have sinned against you and disappointed you, like a loving Father you forgive us and give us another chance. We give you thanks and praise for this undeserved mercy. Amen. Prayer Of Confession Lord, we look at our lives, the way ...

332. Children in the Arms of a Loving God

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Michael Milton

... hocus pocus religion as if an incantation or a touch by a holy man can bring salvation. It is the faith of a parent or a loved one that says, I will bring this child to Jesus in baptism, in prayer, as I hold him, as I rear him. The Picture Holds ... and totally dependent upon Him, you, too, will be lifted out of your helplessness and be blessed, be held in the arms of a loving God. …“Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). Rembrandt, the ...

333. Love Came Down at Christmas

Luke 2:15-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... said, “Which one?” Now, of course, Terry Bowden was just kidding around because the Bowdens are a very close-knit, loving family… but the point I want to make is this: Our Father God does not say, “Which one?” He doesn’t say, “Which one should I lay my life ... on the line for?” God so loved the world… He wants to bring us all in the circle. He comes with the open arms of acceptance for all of us. To each ...

334. Where Is Love?

Hebrews 9:1-28

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... is he, whom I close my eyes to see?" Oliver sings. "Will I ever know the sweet ‘Hello,' that's meant for only me? Where is love?" Few of us have ever faced the hardships of life as a street orphan, but we need not look far to see that the cruelties of ... inferior human beings because of the color of their skin, or their gender, or the gender of the people they choose to love. Instead of a "sweet hello" they anticipate only condemnation from the church, and from God. For others, that barrier to God stands ...

335. Love Is Something You Learn

Mt 22:34-46

Illustration

King Duncan

... her contentedly, and she resumed rocking and singing. Occasionally, in the days that followed, Boyd would check to see if his discovery was lasting. "Am I still in your eyes, Mommy?" he would ask as he reached up for her. Boyd learned to love from his mom. Let me say that again: Boyd learned to love from his mom. Each of us learn to love the same way. From Mom. From Dad, from Grandparents, a favorite aunt. Each of us has our own story to tell. We saw ourselves in someone else's eyes. But where did such ...

336. Mr. Macho & Forty Days of Love

Mk 9:2-9

Illustration

King Duncan

... ," he said, "but it's a little too sentimental and syrupy for me." A week went by. The next Sunday this man waited after church to see his pastor again. "I want to apologize for what I said last Sunday," he told him, "about the Forty Days of Love. I realized on Wednesday that I was wrong." "Wednesday?" his pastor repeated. "What happened on Wednesday?" "I got one of those letters!" the man said. The letter came as a total surprise. It was from a person the man never expected to hear from. It touched him so ...

337. Stewardship of All (Series: Stewardship: Discover This Word and Love It!)

Matthew 26:6-13

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , imported from India, handed down from generation to generation, worth more than a whole years wages. She poured it on the head of Jesus as he sat at the table. A beautiful act, a loving deed, an extravagant expression of love and devotion. Love knows no limits. Love counts no cost. Love calculates no deal. Love never asks how much. Love gives. “She broke it open and poured it all on his head.” That word all, bothers me. When I sing: “All to Jesus I surrender; All to him I freely give,” I begin to ...

338. Love of Enemies

Matthew 5:43-48

Illustration

Joyce Hollyday

... It isn't humanly possible, but with God's help it is possible.' She challenged him to let her prove it by killing her slowly: 'Cut me to pieces little by little, and you will see you cannot make me hate you. I will die praying for you because God loves you.' The commander lowered his gun and stepped back. Then he ordered everyone in the house to march to a truck. But before they reached the truck, he turned around and led the women back to the house. He told Sarah that the women would be raped repeatedly in ...

339. God's Unforced Love

Illustration

Staff

... suffer unending misery?" The question is, how can he not? The fact that God is love makes hell necessary. "Hell," as E.L. Mascall once said, "is not compatible with God's love; it is a direct consequence of it." That was his way of stressing the fact that the very God who loves us is the one who respects our decisions. He loves us, but he does not force his love on us. To force love is to commit assault. He allows us to decide. He loves us, he encourages our response, he woos us, he pursues us, he urges us ...

340. How to Really Love Your Child

Illustration

Dr. Ross Campbell

... that: They are children. They tend to act like children. Much of childish behavior is unpleasant. If we do our part as parents and love them despite their childish behavior, they will be able to mature and give up childish ways. If we only love them when they please us (conditional love), and convey our love to them only during those times, they will not feel genuinely loved. This in turn will make them insecure, damage their self-image, and actually prevent them from moving on to better self-control and ...

341. There Was a Man in the World Who Loved Me

John 1:43-51

Illustration

Mark Trotter

James Baldwin, in one of his novels, says, "There was a man in the world once who loved me, and because that was the case, I can dare now to continue the struggle to become a man myself." For Christians there is a man in the world who loved us, every one of us. His name is Jesus of Nazareth. The love with which he loved us is not just human love. This is the mystery. The love with which he loved us, in the words of Dante, was "the love that moves the sun and the stars."

342. Learning the Recipe for Love

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... people were brought to the palace, and it became evident that the task of choosing the greatest would be difficult. Finally the last candidate stood before the king. This woman had white hair and her eyes shone with the light of knowledge, understanding, and love. “Who is this?” asked the king. “What has she done?” “You have seen and heard all the others,” said the king’s aide. “This one is their teacher!” With this the people all applauded and the king came down from his throne to honor ...

343. Learning the Recipe for Love

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... successful people were brought to the palace, and it became evident that the task of choosing the greatest would be difficult. Finally the last candidate stood before the king. This woman had white hair and her eyes shone with the light of knowledge, understanding, and love. "Who is this?" asked the king. "What has she done?" "You have seen and heard all the others," said the king's aide. "This one is their teacher!" With this the people all applauded and the king came down from his throne to honor her ...

344. Love

Romans 12:9-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... oppressors, extending hospitality and kindness (12:20; Prov. 25:21–22). The heaping of “burning coals on [the] head” is probably a reference to God’s judgment (cf. 2 Sam. 22:9, 13; Job 41:20–21; Ps. 140:10; Prov. 6:27–29; Ezek. 24:11); believers’ loving behavior toward their enemies increases the enemies’ guilt, which God will judge. Paul ends with the command not to let the evil that others inflict control them but to courageously commit to do good so that evil may be overcome (12:21).

345. Love in Everything

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

We call it mercy—it is God's forgiving love. We call it providence—it is God's caring love. We call it kindness—it is God's understanding love. We call it Christ's passion and death—it is God's proven love. We call it happiness—it is God's encouraging love. We call it the will of God—it is God's unerring love. We call it heaven—it is God's rewarding love. We call it eternity—it is God's unending love.

346. Loving Made Real

John 13:1-17, John 13:31-38

Sermon

David & Marian Plant

... calf where Simon Peter’s robe would have failed to cover. Not a courtesy cleansing, but a cleansing that showed the deep abiding love for another. We gather tonight... but not to do foot washing. It is out of character for our culture. We will do handwashing ... , but when we come up to let our hands be washed... let us let go. Let us pretend it is the Lord doing this thing of loving one another. And let us linger in the touch born of God who knows us well, who is concerned for every breath we take, who is ...

347. A Spooky Kind of Love

1 Samuel 28:1-25, Matthew 28:11-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... matter how much effort we put into trying to change our lives, there’s one thing God needs us to know, and it’s the same message He gave to Job those years ago: Only God resurrects. Only Jesus offers us resurrection and a life of resting in God’s loving presence. And it all begins with faith. Today, I invite you to pray, not for what you want, not for what you need, not for things to go the way you hope, but for faith. For in faith, you will experience the presence and the downright spooky power of ...

348. Much Love. Hope Sent.

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... a reason to hope today. And I pray that you will find this place to be a community of hope that celebrates the presence and the love of God in every season of the year. But this is the Sunday each year when we light the Hope candle on the Advent wreath. And ... kingdom. We can put our hope and trust fully in him because he embodies the use of power in the service of love. During World War II, German pastor Helmut Thielicke visited a prominent church that had been bombed by the Nazis. Thielicke understood the ...

349. What Is Love?

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

... felt before.” We laugh at that -- at least a chuckle. So adolescent! But most of the people I know who are having trouble in their marriages have working definitions of love not far from these. Love is made up of those feelings and emotions generated by physical attractions and a desire to satisfy sexual, emotional, and security needs. But love is far more. It is decision. It is something you do -- an act of will that gives itself unselfishly for the good and enrichment of another. How are you doing in ...

350. Unconditional Love

Romans 4:1-25

Sermon

Sandra Hefter Herrma

... bank to draw out the money! So it comes down to this: A petition for peace has arrived. All those of us who are willing to call Abraham our spiritual ancestor, and to trust God when God says we do not need to be afraid, are granted a peaceful, happy, love-filled life on this planet, and in the world to come, life eternal. Do you believe it? If you do, reach for it. If you still find this hard to believe, reach for it anyway. What would it cost you if nothing came of it? A momentary foolish feeling? And ...

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