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 4426 to 4450 of 4959 results

4426. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 10:1-42

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... not, it is to return to the disciples. In ancient days a pronouncement of this sort was thought to have an objective existence. It could be taken back as well as given. In Isaiah 55 God’s word is said to go out and accomplish that which he desires (Isa. 55:11). Whenever the disciples are refused hospitality, they are to leave and shake the dust off their feet. This gesture indicates they have nothing in common with those who reject the message and that the town or house is delivered to divine judgment (cf ...

4427. Lord of the Sabbath

Matthew 12:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... Hosea (6:6) in support of actions that run counter to Jewish restrictions (cf. 9:13). He states that his opponents would not have been so quick to condemn the innocent if they had grasped the real meaning of the Scripture that said, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. The Greek eleos translates the unusually rich Hebrew ḥeseḏ, which connotes God’s faithful and merciful help that flows from a covenant relationship binding the two together (cf. TDNT, vol. 2, p. 480). It is not Jesus’ purpose to compare the ...

4428. John the Baptist Beheaded

Matthew 14:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... John’s rebuke of Herod was not an isolated remark, for John had been saying to (Gk. elegen in v. 4 is imperfect) Herod, It is not lawful for you to have Herodias (v. 5). The present participle thelōn (wanted) in verse 5 indicates Herod’s continuing desire to get rid of John. It is best understood as a concessive participle and reads, “Though he wanted to put him to death, he feared public reaction.” 14:6–12 It was on the occasion of Herod’s birthday celebration that John the Baptist was put to ...

4429. Clean and Unclean

Matthew 15:1-20

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... Why do your disciples keep breaking (parabainousin is present tense and suggests repeated action) the tradition of the elders? Specifically, why do they eat without the proper ceremonial cleansing? The tradition of the elders was a body of oral literature that grew out of a desire to expound the written law and apply it to new circumstances. This growing body of oral tradition reaches back at least to Ezra in the fifth century B.C. but was not written until the second century A.D. The scribes and Pharisees ...

4430. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... that Peter’s question in 19:27 reveals that he had not yet grasped that God rewards those who seek no reward. Following this suggestion opens the possibility that the parable is told to distinguish between two types of work: one that is based on a desire for reward and the other upon confidence that God will take care of those who leave everything to him. Note that to the second group he promises to pay “whatever is right” (v. 4), and there is no mention of pay to the others who start later ...

4431. Judas Hangs Himself

Matthew 27:1-10

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... . Schweizer suggests that throwing money into the temple may have been a Jewish custom for canceling an agreement (p. 505). Acts 1:18 records that Judas died by falling headlong so that his body burst and his intestines spilled out. In a desire to harmonize the two passages, some have suggested that the fall and subsequent disembowelment could have happened quite naturally if the hanging had taken place over the edge of a cliff and the hastily secured knot had eventually slipped. The apparent differences ...

4432. Why Are Christians So Judgmental?

Matthew 6:2, 5, 16, Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” –Matthew 6:16 What is Jesus talking about here? What is it about these religious hypocrites that frustrated Jesus? Their motives. Jesus saw the heart of many of these religious leaders and he saw that their desire was not to pray, give to the needy, to fast, to get close to God. Their motive was to be praised, to be affirmed, to be recognized. It is always tempting to exploit our faith for selfish purposes. It is tempting to use our faith to show ...

4433. As You Go, Remember…

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... . For example, once you begin to be aware of the God-reality, it becomes clear that your being born into this world was something infinitely good. In the book of Genesis you find a faith story, which claims that all creation comes out of God's positive desire to share the godness. God found God's own aliveness so overwhelmingly positive that God said: "This is too good to keep to myself. I want others to experience it too." Thus this creation story was not a cruel joke. It was not done irresponsibly. It was ...

4434. Giving and Receiving

Matthew 14:22-33

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... and then the other. I wonder if Peter thought about any of the survival tricks he had learned as a fisherman that would lend themselves to accepting the invitation of Jesus as we approach this well-known story of Jesus walking on the water and Peter's desire to walk to him? This story certainly gets our imagination going, when Jesus decided to demonstrate his supernatural ability to walk on water. It wasn't survival that Peter was thinking about when he asked if he could walk to Jesus. We often speak of the ...

4435. Playing One Hand

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... great game of human existence. There were other forces besides himself around the table of life, and when it came to the formation of the final outcome, they would play a crucial role as well as his effort. In addition to the sower and the seed and the desire for a full harvest, there was also the beaten path, the rocky soil, and all that undergrowth of thorns, and these too would play a part in the eventual outcome of all this action. It is noticeable that the uttering of this parable is at the midpoint of ...

4436. What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... competence that comes from knowing. It follows, therefore, that you cannot know too much about your chosen area of work or about the other realms of knowledge that impinge upon your existence. There is really no substitute for competence. No matter how intensely you may desire to do something or how much physical vitality you may possess, if you do not know the facts and therefore how to do a certain thing, you will be frustrated. Back when computers were first being used, a repairman was called out to a ...

4437. Wedding Guests

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... underdressed guest, some of us have rolled in here without thinking much about it. We showed up with our spiritual shirttails hanging out, lining up at the buffet table as if no one could see the ways in which we have refused to change and adapt to the desires of the king. Some of us have refused to surrender our fears and resentments. Some have refused to share their wealth. Some have refused to respect the dignity of every human being. These are the old clothes we wear to the king's banquet. These are the ...

4438. Being a True Disciple

John 8:31-36

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... unlikely that religion can really offer freedom. Part of our confusion stems from misunderstanding what is meant by freedom. In the musical My Fair Lady, Professor Higgins reflects the notion of freedom held by many when he defines himself as "an ordinary man who desires nothing more than just an ordinary chance to live exactly as he likes and do precisely what he wants." In reality, there is no such absolute freedom. Even if we could do what we wanted, it would involve choices, and those choices would then ...

4439. Hallelujah! Come On, Get Happy

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... , even if it temporarily unsettles our peace. As Harriet Beecher Stowe sat through long nights in her home in Ohio watching the struggles of a dying child, she began to think of slave mothers who were parted from their children by slavery. There was born within her the desire to move the conscience of the country to end slavery. She set about to write Uncle Tom's Cabin to illustrate the evils of slavery. She saw all people as children of God and recognized that as long as the well-being of one part of the ...

4440. Who Cares?

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... my way up to the lonely top of a little success, a little popularity, and a little power. But as I sit beside the slow and heavy-breathing Adam (a resident of Daybreak), I start seeing how violent that journey was. So filled with desires to be better than others, so marked by rivalry and competition, so pervaded with compulsions and obsessions, and so spotted with moments of suspicion, jealousy, resentment, and revenge.[4] In serving those who cannot help themselves, Nouwen heard the voice of Christ: "Just ...

4441. Joseph: The Righteous Carpenter

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... . What God has prepared for you may be even better than you imagined. This time of waiting for you needs to be a time of listening and preparing for God’s best for you – a relationship, a new job, a new calling, a different path, a new desire, a new birth like Joseph received, a totally unexpected situation that is beyond your imagination! God’s ways our higher than our ways! Patience is resisting the immediate to receive God’s Best. “In a dream God told a man to go outside and push against a ...

4442. Mary: The Handmaiden of the Lord

Luke 1:38-45

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... it is what we so often miss. We over think it. We over do it. We over work it. We are channels, not the source! God sets things in motion. God creates. God orchestrates. We simply believe and allow. We simply let God have God’s way. You desire God’s blessing in your life? Get out of the way and let God work in your life. Let the Holy Spirit flow unencumbered by your doubts, second thoughts, cynicism, and compulsive sense of control. Believing brings blessing. This is a lesson I continue to relearn over ...

4443. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

Mark 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... . In 13:21–23, Jesus warns the disciples about later imposters who would come working “signs” to try to lead the church astray. It is possible that Mark’s refusal to use the term sign to describe Jesus’ works may have been motivated by a desire to avoid shallow comparisons between Jesus and wonder-workers of his time who tried to impress people with their powers. In another sense, however, it is evident that for Mark the miracles of Jesus were signs of God’s favor and indications of the kingdom ...

4444. Who Is the Greatest?

Mark 9:33-37

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... , seen against the example of such contemporary groups as the Qumran community, Jesus’ words possess particularly timely force and are a powerful contrast. But, of course, Jesus’ words were not only relevant in the ancient Jewish setting; they challenge all human desires to make religion an opportunity for personal aggrandizement. One would have to say that the church has yet to learn the meaning of Jesus’ words. The relationship Mark saw between the exhortation to take the role of servant (v. 35, and ...

4445. The Greatest Commandment

Mark 12:28-34

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... a class of people trained to interpret the OT law for the life of the people. The question asked is discussed in ancient Jewish sources. Since it was commonly understood that the OT law included 613 commandments, it is understandable that there was a desire to try to organize this body of material around a basic commandment so as to give a fundamental premise on which to hang all the individual commands. For example, the great Jewish teacher Hillel, whose career is dated in the decades just before Jesus ...

4446. Introduction

Luke 1:1-4

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... clear … the extreme antiquity of our Jewish race.… Since, however, I observe that a considerable number of persons … discredit the statements in my history … I consider it my duty to devote a brief treatise to all these points … to instruct all who desire to know the truth concerning the antiquity of our race. As witnesses to my statements I propose to call the writers who, in the estimation of the Greeks, are the most trustworthy authorities on antiquity as a whole” (1.1–4, from Marshall ...

4447. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... :2; 7:2), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, and Amos suffered martyrdom. One later rabbinic tradition portrays Jeremiah’s reluctance to enter the prophetic vocation: “O Lord, I cannot go as a prophet to Israel, for when lived there a prophet whom Israel did not desire to kill? Moses and Aaron they sought to stone with stones; Elijah the Tishbite they mocked …” (from L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews [Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1913], vol. 4, p. 295). 4:29 out of the town ...

4448. The Calling of Levi

Luke 5:27-32

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... him. Mark’s reference to “Levi, the son of Alphaeus” (2:14) has led to some confusion since Alphaeus is the name of the father of the other James, mentioned in Mark 3:18. (In fact, some early Christian scribes either out of confusion or out of a desire to harmonize Mark 2:14 with 3:18 replaced “Levi” with “James.”) Since it was not at all unusual for first-century Jews to have two names, often one Semitic and the other Greco-Roman (e.g., Simon Peter, Saul/Paul), it is quite possible that Levi ...

4449. Lord of the Sabbath

Luke 6:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... rage” and probably contributes to the theme of the hardened heart that stubbornly refuses to believe. Mark 3:6 reads, “how to destroy him,” but Luke has elected to write, what they might do to Jesus. Luke’s modification probably reflects his desire to hold the reader in suspense a little longer before revealing the murderous plans of Jesus’ opponents. (It might also be noted that although the Pharisees in Luke appear as Jesus’ opponents, they are not presented as those who clamor for Jesus ...

4450. Peter's Confession of Christ

Luke 9:18-27

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of the Marcan material between these two episodes (Mark 6:45–8:26; Luke’s “Big Omission”) has been omitted by Luke not simply because of the appearance of certain repetitious materials, such as a second feeding miracle, but because of the evangelist’s desire to produce a unified section revolving around the theme of Jesus’ identity. This theme is seen especially in Herod’s question (9:9) and in Peter’s answer (9:20). Luke 9:18–36 is made up of three parts: (1) Peter’s acknowledgment of ...

Showing results