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 451 to 475 of 622 results

451. The Forgiving Christ

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... relations with a student. Another parent has molested a child. Another husband has abused a wife. In 1998 there were 71,831 internet sites dealing with pornography. In 2003, there were 1.3 million such sites. Sin is murder, perjury, adultery; sin is also lust, gossip and jealousy. Whenever we send e-mails that slander a person or spread rumors that hurt a person, or gossip about people at church under the pretense of a prayer meeting, we are trespassing on another's personhood. So we pray, “Forgive us ...

452. From Envy to Gratitude

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... people, people who live a good life and try to do what's right for the world. At the core is this deadly sin that the Church fathers called ENVY. It's a fundamental sadness at the good fortune of another. It's a weird kind of sin. If you lust you might get happy for a little while. If you are greedy, you might enjoy the money for a season. There is no joy in envy. We even look sick when we have it. So, the expression of being “green with envy." You'll never be happy as an envious ...

453. Develop Leaders—Humbly

Colossians 3:12-17

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... stripped naked, and then clothed in a white robe which they wore for an entire week, symbolizing their new life in Christ. Paul seems to be saying in this passage, don't be running around with a naked soul. Shed the filthy rags of selfishness, pride, lust, and greed, and let your soul be clothed in Christ, who makes all things new. II. SPIRITUAL LEADERS FORGIVE AS THE LORD FORGIVES. In Verse 13 we read, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the ...

454. Work

1 Corinthians 3:9-15

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... fire. The first little pig built his house of straw, people do that too. They build their lives out of the cheap stuff, easy stuff, whatever happens to please them at the moment. “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind" (Hosea 8:7). Lust is a multi-billion dollar business in our world and our children, our marriages, persons addicted to it, are reaping the whirlwind of our momentary excitement. Twenty years ago, Wayne Oates wrote a book on the proposition that Americans substitute luck for grace. Since ...

455. Brightening the Corner Where We Are

1 John 1:5-10

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... ." The second minister said, “You know, I love to play golf. I love it so much that I occasionally pretend to be sick on Sunday so I can join my buddies on the golf course." “Well," said the third minister, “I have to tell you, I have lust in my heart every time I see a beautiful woman." Suddenly everything got quiet. Nobody said a word. Finally the three confessing ministers said to the fourth, “Come on, we're in this together." So the fourth minister spoke up and said, “My greatest sin is gossip ...

456. Living on the Easter Side of Life

Colossians 3:1-4

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... than twelve years old, I caught a glimpse of what it meant to be a child of God and I have been living into that reality ever since. Have you discovered your purpose of living? Whatcha got on your mind today? Are your thoughts full of lust, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander, or do you concentrate on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience? Do you forgive as the Lord has forgiven you? Does the peace of Christ rule in your heart? These are the thoughts of those whose minds are set on things ...

457. The King on a Donkey

Mark 11:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and our house payment is a lot — in fact it’s a $1,000 a month we tithe that to Habitat for Humanity. We support some men and women through two theological schools as they prepare for ministry in the church. One of the exciting things that we have lust taken on as an extra step of faith is the support of a young couple, the Alvin Hoovers, who are training to be Wycliffe Bible translators. I baptized Alvin when he was a baby in a congregation I organized when I was a student at Candler School of Theology ...

458. Who Is This Jesus?

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... Who is this Jesus?” I Let’s begin an answer to the question by putting right in the center of our minds one fundamental fact: “the Christian religion is foremost and essentially a message about God. It is not primarily a new ethic. It is not lust a gospel of brotherliness and loving our neighbor and accepting the Golden Rule. It is not in the main a philosophy of life or a social program. Doubtless it includes all that: it involves an ethic, supplies a philosophy, enunciates a program for society. But ...

459. God’s Weather Report

Matthew 5:38-48

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... to learn their lesson, for things to be set right may have to wait for the dominion of God. We can work for change now, but peacefully. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has taught us to resist what we feel. Jesus has taught us to resist our lust, our greed, our anger, our desire for security. We resist these things because we wait for God's blessings to come, for the dominion of God. Now Jesus teaches us maybe the hardest thing of all: to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek. Jesus calls us to ...

460. What the Storms Blow Away

Matthew 7:21-29

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... love, to tamed impulses. It calls us to forgive those we think we could never forgive. It calls us to shun status and prestige. Some Christians have looked at the demands of the sermon and wondered how anyone could ever measure up. Who can triumph over lustful thoughts? Who can banish anger? Who can forgive those who truly have hurt us? Who can shut off worries about tomorrow, about having enough food and enough money? It seems as though Jesus calls us to do what is impossible, and then threatens us with a ...

461. Life’s Purpose Is Often Hidden!

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... until Christ comes again. It's all meaninglessness, vanity, and a striving after wind for the present. Of course, God still continues to work miracles. Lots of good things emerge out of our twisted, self-serving motives. Children are created from the satisfaction of their parents' lust. People are edified by books and other media creations brought about by the ego and quest for fame of their creators. Life-giving food is given to us by those who farm and sell it in order to make a buck. Yes, good gets done ...

462. With Our Own Eyes

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... accounts of scripture may well leave us in that dark place without the light. Ron Starenko has summed up the problem well: "Our spirituality, which derives from our own strivings, is a failure. World peace eludes us, world hunger widens, universal greed and lust for power remains our nemesis. Our personal biographies reveal our dark side. What else is that than our godlessness — ‘godlostness'? The human experience is God's judgment on our narcissistic dreams. God's judgment is to leave us in the dark."1 ...

463. Lighting up Lent

Ephesians 5:8-14

Sermon

David O. Bales

... their bad language or restraining their vicious tongues in gossip. Some Christians experience difficulty as they begin to raise the percentage of their financial giving toward a tenth and then to giving more. Some have difficulty reining in their anger. Others struggle against sexual lust. For many Christians it's a hard step in faith to look beyond their nation's interests and their group's prejudices and to embrace the entire world as God's good creation rather than to fear it. God is more than an ...

464. Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round

Romans 8:1-11

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

... stuck on the merry-go-round because we are stuck with our flesh. Paul continually laments the afflictions of the sinful flesh. But what is this "flesh"? It is not merely the bones, sinew, and blood of our bodies. It is not merely the lust or gluttony or greed or other such fleshly inclinations that we more often than not associate with illicit sex. No, Paul is talking about something far more comprehensive here. Paul is talking about the totality of our existence. Paul is talking about that willful desire ...

465. Legacies of Power

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... to God's own Son, yet God does not take away our power. Rather, for Jesus' sake God clothes us "with power from on high" (Luke 24:49), which is God's Spirit, God's own power to do good in our world. Unfortunately, even Jesus' followers maintain the old lust for power, as we see in the ambitions of James and John for places beside Christ in his kingdom (Matthew 20:20-28). Jesus doesn't say that we are to refrain from power but teaches both the disciples and us how to use power. He presents a new model ...

466. WWF: Smack Down In The Wilderness

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... deadly sins. Remember the list? Then I talked about them being the demons in our lives, the demons that need to be cast out by Christ just like he cast out the demon in the young man at the temple, proving who was really in charge. Remember? Lust: that inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body and the overwhelming desire to possess whether it's a thing or a person. Anger: which causes us to lose control. It not only smothers love but spurns love and lets fury reign. Greed: that desire for material ...

467. God the Diver

Luke 19:1-10

Illustration

Raymond Cannata

... then God came up again, dripping, but holding the precious thing he went down to recover. That precious thing was Zacchaeus, and you and me. All those sinners who have trusted in Christ. That's how we get out of the slime of tax collecting, or cheating, or lusting, or hating, or whatever other self-destructive sin we are buried in. God in Christ descended down into the slime and rescued us. Resolutions and vows to be better won't help by themselves. We don't have the power to keep them. We are stuck on the ...

468. Ollie, Ollie, All In Free!

John 8:31-36

Sermon

Steven Molin

... one another for a while with our piety and our good deeds and our righteousness. We can keep the unsavory parts of our lives stuffed deep down within ourselves, and maybe no one will ever discover them. But God knows; God knows every lie, and every lustful fantasy, and every hateful thought, and all our hurtful pride. And he calls that "sin." Every one of us has fallen short of pleasing God because of our sin. And that is precisely why Jesus died; so that the final verdict would not be "guilty" but rather ...

469. Be Careful How You Live

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

Thomas Lentz

... , in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. — Ephesians 5:19-20 Be very careful, then, how you live. In these verses of Ephesians that we have been reading the last few weeks, there is eternal wisdom for improving the quality of your character, the lust for life, the satiety of your soul. To put it out there in straight terms, if you follow this advice from Saint Paul, your life will become everything it is intended to be. You will realize your potential; you will accomplish your purpose. You will experience ...

470. Get the Monkey off Your Back

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... claims to be a remix of Dumond’s “Count of Monte Cristo,” but is played out among the rich and powerful in the Hamptons and with the new “Count” being a lovely young woman driven by nothing but hatred and lust for violence and vengeance. Remember: these are “family friendly” shows. Psychotherapist Robi Ludwig, after watching these zoo-fests of bad behavior, rightly worried that our children were being influenced to learn “relational aggression.” Perhaps not physical violence but the arts ...

471. God, The Good Ally

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... in today's world. Even the elaborations of Jesus are hard to apply in the twenty-first century. What does it mean to "love one's enemies," according to Jesus, and how could one possibly refrain from looking at another man's wife with lust? (Matthew 5:28). Admittedly, it's not difficult for modern Americans to avoid making "graven images." Our graven images are anything that is other than Paul Tillich's "ultimate concern." A man began to lose his commitment to his church congregation over a period ...

472. The Place beyond Revenge

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10, 9:20-22

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... remember their salvation. On the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month they are to send gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor. Oh, God, help me to understand violence! Help me to understand vengeance. I am pretty good at the other sins, like lust and greed, pride and gossip, but violence I just don't understand. I also don't really understand the tribalism that is beyond it. Is that because I am an immigrant myself and know that I have lived among many tribes and don't really belong to ...

473. Take Up and Read

Illustration

Augustine

... of the apostle. I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: "Not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." No further would I read, nor did I need to. For instantly at the end of this sentence, it seemed as if a light of serenity infused into my heart and all the darkness of doubt vanished away."

474. Live and Love

Illustration

Staff

When a terrible plague came to ancient Athens, people there committed every horrible crime and engaged in every lustful pleasure they could because they believed that life was short and they would never have to pay any penalty. In one of the world's most famous poems, a poet of that time Catullus wrote, My sweetest Lesbia, let us live and love; And though the sager sort our deeds ...

475. An Infamous Death

Illustration

"Paul's meaning is not that the flesh, with its affections and lusts, is no longer present at all with those that have become Christians, but that a walk in the flesh should not any longer exist in the case of Christians. A walk in the Spirit might be rightly expected of believers. This is only possible for those who have crucified the ...

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