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 351 to 375 of 622 results

351. Pigs Get Slaughtered

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... , played by Charlie Sheen, and his ruthless, greedy mentor, played by Michael Douglas. Douglas’ character, Gordon Gecko, involves the young stockbroker in an illegal insider trading scheme that ultimately leads to his downfall. The movie reveals the consequences of greed, lust, lying, and cheating. The most famous scene in the movie occurs when Gecko is addressing a stockholders’ meeting of Teldar paper, a company he has taken over. He is about to “save” it by “downsizing it,” a euphemism for ...

352. Shalom Shattered

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

... Tartuffe said, "The envious will die, but envy never." Envy is a sin against the ninth and tenth commandments. Exodus 20:17 says, "You shall not covet." Envy also appears as one of the seven deadly sins in Dante's Inferno. Of the seven deadly sins (lust, sloth, wrath, avarice, gluttony, envy, and pride), only pride was considered deadlier than envy. With envy such a curse, we try to repress it and ignore it. The source of envy is alienation from God and from one another. Envy comes from our low self-esteem ...

353. Jesus' Most Perplexing Parable

Luke 16:1-15

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... in Jewish folklore.3 It is also why the great heroes of the Bible are always shown to be frail human beings. Jacob, the patriarch, deceived his father, cheated his brother, and scammed his father-in-law out of most of his flock. Great King David lusted after the neighbor lady, committed adultery, and when he got her pregnant, plotted to have her husband killed. The apostle that Jesus chose to head the church, Peter, denied he even knew the Lord on the night of Jesus' arrest. Ordinary people like us love ...

354. Still Under Construction

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

James L. Killen

... You have heard that you must not murder, but I tell you that you must not be angry with another person or insult anyone or call anyone depersonalizing and degrading names. You have heard that you must not commit adultery but I say to you that you must not even lust." Finally he said, "You have heard that you must love your neighbors and hate your enemies. I tell you that if that is the best you can do, you are not doing very much. You need to learn to love everyone whom God loves and to love them like God ...

355. After Good Friday

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... and time again. Not by God, he held up his part of the agreement. It was the people who came up short, over and over again. They disobeyed his commandments. They strayed from their loyalty to him. They worshiped other gods in the forms of materialism, greed, power, and lust. It became apparent that something had to be done to rectify the situation. So God made a better offer. Now we don't know for sure, but we can assume that God in all of his wisdom knew from the start what would happen. And so, he had a ...

356. The Cloak

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sermon

Rick Brand

... the emotion that drives the engines of capitalism. "Individual autonomy is expressed most fully through acquisition and protection of private property. Those who own and consume the most are the most valued human beings." The desire for more, the lust for the new, the artificially created needs make us more aggressive consumers. Human beings have become defined simply as consumers, and that is good because economic growth requires ever-increasing consumption. George Bush blessed greed by declaring an annual ...

357. Epiphany 6

Matthew 5:17-37, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16; 3:1-23, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 119

Bulletin Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... , for all of us are physical. "Flesh" is contrasted with "spiritual." It is the seat of sin expressed in Corinth as jealousy and strife. The physical body as God's creation is good in itself, but it becomes the locus of sin - "lusts of the flesh." It stands for our lower, sinful, old-Adam self. 2. Ordinary (v. 3). The troublemakers of Corinth are called "ordinary" people. They are "ordinary," according to Paul, because they indulge in party spirit resulting in quarreling, dissension, and schism. Christians ...

358. God's Delight

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... power, poured into our lives at the moment of baptism and confirmation and ordination, and then sustained daily by the living grace of God. Now, in these pre-inaugural days, the very word "power" both excites us and disgusts us. There is so much lust for power running through the fax machines and telephone lines and mailboxes of Washington that one wonders if the finite human ego can survive it all. As Christians we have always tended to frown on the word "power," and have focused instead on Jesus' special ...

359. The Embassy at 6601

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... points to. And then Jesus takes this abstract idea and makes it concrete, giving six examples of how the word becomes flesh in the realities of our everyday lives. And as usual Jesus is neither polite nor politic. He takes on murder, adultery, divorce, lust, legal game playing, and political revenge. And he tells us that if we cannot embody love and reconciliation in our personal lives, well, then, reconciliation in the world is doomed. Today's particular words focus on anger and they are addressed to the ...

360. Church Discipline: A Cure for What Ails the Body

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... this quite nicely. And we smile about it. My! My! How light an attitude we have toward sin today. Why, it is no longer betraying the wife of one's youth by breaking covenant vows of matrimony, it is but a discreet divorce. It is no longer ruinous adultery and lust, it is a dalliance, a mere trifling affair. Yes, it is to us in our slackness. But read Psalm 5:4-6. "For thou art not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not sojourn with thee. The boastful may not stand before thy eyes; thou hatest all ...

361. The Seven Deadly Fears

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and distaste for all that is other. In the ancient world of Christendom, the Latin church came up with a handy list of human failures and shortcomings called the seven deadly sins. (Karaoke moment: Let's see how many we can name this morning . . . ) 1. Lust 2. Gluttony 3. Sloth 4. Greed 5. Pride 6. Envy 7. Anger If we were to rewrite this list of the seven deadly sins based on the fears that motivate our behaviors and misbehaviors today, my nominations for The Seven Deadly Fears would be something like ...

362. Kudzu Frittata

James 3:13-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... liquid spice, is dangerous if inhaled in large amounts. "Just as even the finest spice can be overwhelming in large doses," Morris concludes, "life too can seem overwhelming when things get out of balance." ("Balance or Burn Out?" Net Results, XXI [May 2000], 18.) Our lust for overliving can lead us even to death. A hot new video-voyeur program Big Brother piqued our urge to play peek-a-boo into people's everyday lives last summer with the 24-7 observation of a house full of "contestants." The survivor of ...

363. Poison Control

Romans 7:7-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... overdose; the poison of a sudden infection and illness; the poison of alcohol addiction; the poison of a blatant betrayal by spouse, child, or parent. But many poisons kill slowly. Like a grudge. Or jealousy. Or guilt. Or gluttony, or "affluenza" – rampant materialism. Or lust, or anger, or sloth. These slow-killing poisons are still deadly. They eat away at our spirit, worm holes into our soul, and fill our hearts with hate. Is it any wonder we call the big seven sins deadly? For any and all pernicious ...

364. The Ultimate Happy Meal

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Cain, or a shepherd like Abel, was a difficult and painful affair. Sacrifices of food were offered to the Lord, whether of beasts, or of bread and wine. Food because it represented our life – what we live by. We offered our lives to the Lord. We also lust after food as Esau did when he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. The Israelites complained of their food in the desert and yearned after the flesh pots of Egypt even with the bondage and slavery it entailed, even though the Lord fed them bread ...

365. Are You a GOT TO or a GET TO Christian?

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the consumption of peanut butter. Have you ever noticed how Lenten sacrifices are almost always about food. How come nobody ever talks about giving up, oh I don't know — SIN? You know, at least one of the Big Seven - The Seven Deadly Sins: greed, avarice, lust, gluttony, anger, envy, sloth...what's your big one of the seven? Instead we give up hamburgers and then pat ourselves on the back and feel virtuous. And we rarely speak any more about taking on something for Lent. At the very least Lent is intended ...

366. The Crowd that Watched God Die

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... rotten and full of dead men's bones. It is true of us today, is it not? Outwardly we can appear moral and upright. When we pass, people say, "Ah, look at him. He's the backbone of the town, a righteous man indeed!" Yet inside we are full of lust and deceit. We are rotten with prejudice and malice. The Bible says, "Let any one who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12 RSV). This is not bad advice today. Let us examine ourselves to see if we are sinners. Let us not parade around ...

367. Life's Four Big 'Ds' and One Bigger 'D'

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... e. relationships) which are right at hand, falls into the shadows and is lost from sight. Desire for what can't be, for what lies beyond our reach, can overwhelm and obscure the gifts and graces that flow naturally through life. It's this blinding desire, this lust for stuff, that leads to Ahab's bout with depression, his irritated spirit. Ahab is king of Israel. Like those of us in the United States of America, Ahab has riches, power, palaces, the best of everything. But like most of us, Ahab wants what he ...

368. Orient Your "itudes"

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ." If you're going to invest in companies that make money out of our propensity to sin, here are the top Seven Deadly Sin Stocks, the stocks that will give you the greatest return on your investment (Money Magazine (November 2002), 2): 1. Lust: Playboy Enterprises 2. Anger: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) 3. Avarice: Trump Hotels & Casinos 4. Sloth: La-Z-Boy 5. Envy: Allergan (AGN) Botox injections 6. Gluttony: Krispy Kreme (KKD) 7. Pride: Fair Isaac (FIC) (credit rating company) All we have to do is ...

369. A Word of Hope for a Hard World

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... to all the babies who were murdered by King Herod’s men around the time of Jesus’ birth? Suddenly, Frank realized that the Christmas story doesn’t end with the words “And they lived happily ever after.” It is a story of death and the lust for power and unjust social systems and innocence sacrificed. Frank visited the orphanage that afternoon, and it changed his life. He described to his wife a dreary place full of sad children who were desperate for attention from a caring adult. That day, Frank ...

370. The Day of the Lord

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... that repentance involves, says our Joel text, a rending of our hearts (v. 13). For it is in our hearts that our sin lies, is it not? In our inner beings, where we nurse our grudges and hatreds, where our desires and lusts lie, where we fashion our self-will, heedless of the will of God. What comes out of a person, Jesus teaches, is what defiles him or her — “evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness” — thus ...

371. Advent 1

Matthew 24:36-51, Romans 13:8-14, Isaiah 2:1-5, Psalm 122:1-9

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... opened, and in silence read that paragraph on which my eyes first fell, "Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." No further would I read, nor did I need; for instantly, as the sentence ended—by a light, as it were, of security infused into my heart—all the gloom of doubt vanished away. [Confessions, Book 8 in J. G. Pilkington, trans., Philip Schaff ...

372. Epiphany 6

Mt 5:21-37 · 1 Cor 3:1-9 · Ps 119 · Dt 30:15-20

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... . In Exodus and Deuteronomy, adultery is defined as sexual intercourse between male and female. In the Sermon on the Mount, this attempt to keep harmony in the community is expanded to preclude sexual harassment. If a man undresses a woman with his eyes, then lust is in his heart. He has committed adultery. In the hyperbolic language of the ancient Near East, adulterers are treated as common thieves, who have their offending member cut off. One who steals with a hand, loses the use of the hand; one who ...

373. Proper 26

Joshua 3:1-4:24, Matthew 23:1-39, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16, Psalm 107:1-43

Sermon Aid

Marion L. Soards, Thomas B. Dozeman, Kendall McCabe

... God's eyes is in service. Nevertheless, we go on compiling our resumes, and we continue to give and seek honors. We suffer from the delusion that what we can accomplish can one day comfort us. A mere glance at reality should inform us that the lust for fame is as addictive as a narcotic, and the final outcome of being obsessed with fame and glory in this world is an isolated, phony, fifteen-minute existence without room for the gratitude of genuine Christlike service over a long period of time. Jesus' words ...

374. Do You Have It

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... conspirators" who practiced "nocturnal assemblies, periodic fasts, and inhuman feasts." Christians were especially suspected of sexual immorality: "hardly have they met when they love each other, throughout the world, uniting in the practice of a veritable religion of lusts" (as recorded by Minucius Felix [200-240 CE] in Octavious 8-9). No wonder the Ephesian Christians were anxious to define themselves as the morally and ethically superior practitioners in the community. In today's text the Ephesian ...

375. Not Always A Saint

Luke 24:13-35

Illustration

Brett Blair

... . It is remarkable that between the 8th and 12th centuries his writings were more widely read than any other. And that was 400 to 700 years after his death. But he was not always a saint. Before he was converted at age 29 he lived to fulfill every lust and pleasure. But Augustine had one great quality that saved his pitiful life—a praying mother. She never gave up on him until one day he stopped long enough to listen to the voices around him. Augustine had just heard a sermon by Saint Ambrose, Bishop of ...

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