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 3751 to 3775 of 4959 results
3751. The Mustard Weed
Matthew 13:31-35
Illustration
William L. Dols
... that it was then, as it is now, a weed. It is significant that Jesus chooses a seed that when easily germinated tends to take over where it is not wanted, that can quickly get out of control and that attracts birds into a cultivated area, where they are least desired.
3752. The Holy Grail
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46
Illustration
J. Howard Olds
... the flesh could still his deepest hunger. Riding on, he saw a home, its opened door a promised welcome and in the door there was a beautiful woman, her eyes innocent and kind. Surely the love of a woman and the sweet shelter of home are my heart's desire, reasoned the knight; "But when I touched her, Lo! She too, fell into dust and nothing, and the house became no better than a broken shed." His soul still craving, he traveled on. He found a warrior clad in golden armor. But he also turned to dust. Then he ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... Matthew begins this story by saying, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick . . .” Nothing new in that. Throughout the Gospels he shows compassion to the least and the lowest. Jesus came with one purpose and desire to seek and to save the lost. When he gazed out over Jerusalem, he wept. He knew the heartaches, the headaches, and the hungers that go with being human. Bring the masses from the ends of the earth. The compassionate Christ cares for each and ...
3754. Don't Be Afraid
Matthew 14:22-36
Sermon
King Duncan
... of a car. So, what is the motivation for buying an SUV? Why are people lugging around all that extra weight? Bigger engines (usually V8s) are not known for fuel economy and low emissions. Iacocca attributes it to fear. He writes, “I think the SUV feeds a strong desire for security and control on the road. In this day and age, people want to put as much steel and iron around them as they can. They equate weight with safety. It’s a factor, but in no way compares to solid structural design and the use of ...
3755. Power!
Mark 1:4-11
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... of mine, a Sunday school teacher told me of an incident that happened there some years ago. Two of the young girls in her class — both about nine years old — came to her and said they wanted to be baptized. She was understandably pleased at their desire and told them to go home and talk to their parents about it, then appropriate arrangements could be made. A week later, the girls came back with the sad news that the parents thought they should wait until they were older and could understand more of ...
3756. The Day God Voted
1 Samuel 15:34-35, 16:1-13
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... political wisdom is that "People vote their pocketbooks." Does it matter that one candidate or another appears to have a vision for his or her constituency that parallels the biblical view of society? A view that stresses unselfishness, equal justice for all, a desire to defend those who cannot defend themselves, love for our neighbors, and caring for the poor and downtrodden? Does that outweigh our own pocketbook when we cast our votes? It should. Something else to note: God did not choose David over Saul ...
3757. Sex, Sex, and More Sex
Song of Songs 2:8-13
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... for God to be manifest - something I might have missed if those letters had remained undiscovered and my picture of my grandparents had remained incomplete.[4] Good point. Were it not for the Song of Solomon, we, too, might miss the fact that healthy desire and healthy discipleship are not mutually exclusive. Sex is a wonderful gift. God's gift, even. The creation stories that we read in Genesis affirm it. As biblical scholars recall, the creation story begins with a litany of "and God created this ... and ...
Sermon
David E. Leininger
... in the face of them, not to begin foolishly blaming God for earthquakes or tsunamis or plane crashes or whatever is not to our satisfaction in this world. It was that same kind of trust that sent Jesus to the cross. The gospels make it clear that Jesus had no desire to be tortured or to die - no sane person would. But he endured it, and the tragedy of Good Friday turned into the triumph of Easter. How could that have happened? I do not know. God does - and that is all that matters. The book of Job ends with ...
Drama
Frank Ramirez
... with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:7). So here is your real king, the one you must truly serve. Your worldly king is but a shadow. Here is your heart’s desire. Here is your home. Pilgrim: What difference can a baby make? And certainly I cannot take this babe back to my king! Love, Hope, Faith, and Trust: (sing) Come to the manger, ye hopeless and tired. Shed all your cares with your greed. Though in the wiles ...
Sermon
Robert J. Elder
... would come in last in most people's books. How can we resist Matthew and Luke, who I suspect would tie for first? And John would likely place third, with so much more about John the Baptist than we have here in Mark. In contrast to the desire of the other three gospel writers to place Jesus solidly in the history of Israel's most important figures, Mark begins his economical little gospel — a presentation of the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, Son of God — with a quotation from Isaiah and ...
Sermon
Robert J. Elder
The sermon title suggests the human desire for an application of reason to a situation. The application of reason always seems to us to be the way through the murky unknown, some technological know-how which sets things in understandable categories, which downsizes the mysterium tremendum et fascinans to digestible bits of common wisdom. To ask a ...
3762. Skin Game
Mark 1:40-45
Sermon
Robert J. Elder
... skin grafting. It can adjust to sunlight, making subtle changes in response to prolonged exposure. Skin is fundamental to our thinking about what is or is not beautiful. Creamy skin is thought to be beautiful, while leathery skin is not so desirable. One could have a debilitating internal ailment and still pass unnoticed among friends and acquaintances enjoying their full fellowship and support, escaping the notice of strangers. But that is not the case with anyone who suffers with an obvious skin ailment ...
Sermon
Robert J. Elder
... some worship resources — including the one the pastor used — the phrase "descended into hell" in the Apostles' Creed was marked with an asterisk, which referenced a note at the bottom of the page suggesting that "this phrase may be omitted if desired." When Sunday morning came, the congregation, never having read the Apostles' Creed in worship together before, launched into it bravely. When they reached the phrase which declares that Christ "descended into hell" their eyes descended to the bottom of the ...
Sermon
John Smylie
... . As I ran through the streets of the city and out into the plains beyond, all the people fled from my horns. I kept fleeing past every green pasture, through every valley, and over every hillside that I had crossed on the way to Jerusalem. This time I had no desire to stop and taste the grass and wildflowers, I fled until I found my way home, and when I arrived I was welcomed back into the flock. My old master was surprised but he kept quiet about it. He even thanked God for my return and for his good ...
Sermon
John Smylie
... , but Jesus didn't disown them. Let us bring to Jesus our halfhearted attempts and failures at our Lenten disciplines. Peter rushed to defend Jesus, cutting off a man's ear in the process. Jesus did not disown him. Bring to Jesus all your impetuous desires to be holy and right and to defend the truth. It is all there in the story — the highest, the noblest in humankind, the baseness, the willingness to compromise and betray, and the mediocre — those doing their job, those getting a laugh out of the ...
Sermon
John Smylie
... who seeks to steal our joy. The wolf is the one who would seek to make our lives so focused on ourselves and our own problems that we miss the abundance that is present in our Lord at all times and in all places and in every moment. The wolf desires to fill us with fears and worries causing us to complain and to gossip and to experience a sickness of soul that comes with these behaviors. We may think that it's our job to fight the wolf. We may think that it's up to us to overcome our ...
Sermon
John Smylie
... perceptions, restrictive religious practices, injustice, hypocrisy, and even the cultural norms of his day. Jesus does not love to gain power for himself. Rather, he loves to empower others. As we search the gospel, we will not find one soul who is outside his desire to lead into a healthy relationship with his heavenly Father. Yes, it is true that his mission was primarily to the Jewish people, yet on occasion his ministry and mission would be interrupted by Gentiles whom he would affirm whenever he saw a ...
Sermon
John Smylie
... continue at an alarming rate. Though there has been some movement toward ecumenism in this last century, we still argue over aspects of the gospel, pointing fingers at one another, getting caught in self-righteous and judgmental thinking while denying our Lord's desire that we all may be one. We are often more in allegiance with our own denominations and theologies, becoming inflexible and unable to agree to honor and respect follow Christians or even to simply gather as a people who believe that Jesus is ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... who believes in me has eternal life." When he makes this declaration, we are forced to conclude that Jesus is either a liar, or a lunatic, or the Lord of life and death. I believe it is that he is Lord and that his promise here fulfills the heartfelt desire that every human being nourishes. Has ever parent, child, or lover stood by a grave, and wondered, "Shall we see each other again?" God sets that question in our hearts as a means by which we might be drawn to seek his Son. The "God-shaped vacuum," which ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). When we receive Christ by faith, we then receive the second great possession of those who come to Christ completely. It is the possession of Christian experience. It is evidenced over time in new desires, new goals, new direction for your life, a full heart, and in the first-hand experience of seeing Christ do all he promises to do for those who follow him. The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... Real worship is not measured by how it pleases me but by how it measures up to God's word. Today we use the term "seeker-sensitive" to define certain styles of worship. We must be alert to the inherent danger in this approach to worship. In our desire to be "seeker-sensitive," we must be careful to remember that our primary focus is not on the "seekers" but on the Savior, the Lord of the church. We dare not dilute the scriptural elements of worship just to please a crowd. True worship focuses only on Jesus ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... boys are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport." It is our Christian belief that Jesus of Nazareth fully disclosed God — who he was and what he did and what motivated him. That disclosure reveals God's love for us. Further, we believe that this loving God desires to have individual fellowship with us. He not only wants to know us, but he wants us to know him. Who does this one who wants to be known by us tell us he is? We ask him his own question, "Who do you say you are, Jesus?" The credibility ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... find it. Listen to the conversations of children. They are very simple. When it comes to the Bible, they believe just what they read there or hear from their Bible teachers. When they pray, they enter into simple direct conversation with God. They have no desire to impress others through the use of verbose sentences. When they speak of Jesus, they speak as though he is always right beside them. Perhaps because of this more than anything else, their belief is very powerful. Teach a child that Jesus lives in ...
3774. The Struggle for Freedom
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Sermon
Scott Suskovic
... of life in the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul teaches us that our freedom is a gift given at an incredible price paid by Jesus who gave up his freedom for our sake. Therefore, don't let the guiding force behind your actions be your desires and urges, your boldness and arrogance, or your indulgences and addictions. Let that guiding force be the same as Jesus' — the love of the neighbor. Until you understand your freedom as being a servant to the other person, you will continue to be in bondage. People ...
Sermon
Nancy Kraft
... that you can share more of your resources with your church or your favorite charity. If following God's will has never been a struggle for you, then you probably haven't really been following God's will. The truth is, we all have opportunities to hurt because of our desire to act out the will of God in our lives. We don't have to go around seeking suffering, but it has a way of finding us. I don't believe this passage is telling us that God wants us to suffer or that God inflicts suffering on us. Suffering ...
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