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 26 to 50 of 125 results

26. Mi Casa, Su Casa

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... death. The parables are clear: the stakes are the highest imaginable - our Lord speaks here of death and life. The wicked tenant story is a story of the landlord-tenant relationship carried to its logical extreme. For the ultimate end of unchecked animosity, fear, suspicion and mistrust is death: if not actual, physical murder, then certainly character assassination and the killing off of any kind of satisfactory relationship. So long as one party is owner and the other merely occupant, the best anyone can ...

27. What kind of Cup Do You Bring?

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Various Authors

... to the iced tea I offered you in the first place. Now this is a patently homely and ridiculous illustration; none of us would intentionally do such a thing. And yet many of us come to worship in this way. We come with our resentments, our animosities, our bitterness, our unforgiving spirits. And we are content to let these concoctions of our spirits contaminate the gifts God pours in our cup. This is what Jesus was getting at when he advised his disciples: "If you are offering your gift at the altar, and ...

28. On Being Lifted Beyond Ourselves

Romans 8:18-27

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... these few words there came a sureness of mind that matched the depth of feeling in my heart. There came something more: strength and serenity, a wonderful new assurance about life, a fresh perception of myself and the world around me I felt old animosities, fears, and tensions draining away I was coming alive to things I’d never seen before." Colson had been lifted beyond himself, and was to be lifted further. The Spirit touches our spirit with such simple, yet such powerful revelations. In a play about ...

29. Our Inclusive Christ

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... white. I can show you much more drastic differences in worship styles among diverse white congregations than exist between our church and Mississippi Boulevard. Allow me to suggest four resolutions for us if we would help the church of Jesus Christ to heal the racial animosity in our city. First, never hesitate to invite a person to our church because of racial identity. In other words, assume that any person can fit in here. Second, never allow a racist of any color to bring out the worst in us. Dr. Martin ...

30. Reclaiming Our Covenant

Genesis 9:18-29

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... God’s hand when we respond to the pull of it."1 Near the city of Avignon in southern France there still stands a broken-down bridge across the Rhone River. Centuries ago, on either side of the river, stood two communities which were separated by old animosities and deep-seated prejudice. It was decided to build a bridge across the river and at its mid-section a chapel was erected to remind persons as they crossed back and forth that they must take God into their hearts in order to create a friendship and ...

31. We Know Jonah

Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... of 1992, the world was shocked by reports of atrocities and pictures of concentration camps populated by emaciated captives in the strife-torn lands that had been Yugoslavia. No longer held together by a totalitarian regime, ancient feuds and animosities flared into violence and then full-scale war. Heinous acts were committed by Serbian government forces against people of other ethnic and religious groups, under the euphemistic term, ethnic cleansing. People were uprooted from their homes, their property ...

32. Advent 3: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Peace of Christmas

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... lots of things including separation between people. So when two enemies happened to meet under an oak tree with mistletoe hanging above them, they took it as a sign from God that they should drop their weapons and be reconciled. They would drop their animosities and embrace one another under the mistletoe. When the missionaries moved into northern Europe they saw this mistletoe custom as a perfect symbol for what happened to the world at Christmas. At Christmas a new age dawned, it was a time of peace, a ...

33. Unexpected Evangelists

John 4:1-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... , even their own wives. In fact, for a Jewish wife to address her husband in public without permission was grounds for divorce! But a Jewish man speaking to a mixed-breed, "racially-inferior" female??? And what was he doing here anyway? The animosity between Jews and Samaritans was such that most travelers would take the extra nine hours to go around Samaria on a journey from Judea up to Galilee. After all, Samaritans frequently ganged up and robbed Jewish pilgrims passing through their territory - which ...

34. The Good Samaritan: A New Look at an Old Story

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... them "half-breeds." They had perverted the race. They had also perverted the religion. They looked to Mt. Gerizim in their own land as the place to worship God, not Jerusalem. They interpreted the Torah differently than the southern Jews. By the time of Jesus, the animosity toward Samaritans was so great that some Jews would go miles out of their way to avoid even walking on Samaritan soil. The hatred between Jew and Samaritan in Jesus' day was at least as deep as the feeling Jews and Arabs have toward each ...

35. Leaping Lepers - Thanksgiving

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... Samaria.(3) These foreigners inter-married with the natives and they brought in the worship of their own gods. By Jesus' time, Samaritans were considered half-breeds by the "true" Israelites. The Samaritans had perverted the race. They had perverted the religion. The animosity between the Jews and Samaritans was so great that some Jews would go miles out of their way to avoid walking on Samaritan territory. In our day, it could be the Bosnians and Serbs in the Balkans, Hindus and Muslims in India, Catholics ...

36. The Awesome Power Of Love

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... to the cross. That's love like unto God's love for you and me. Wouldn't it be tragic in the light of that kind of love, if you and I in the body of Christ could not get along with one another? How trivial our petty antagonisms and animosities are in the shadow of Calvary. "Love one another." What a simple commandment, yet it carries such power. Power to heal minds, souls and bodies. Power to lift us to new planes of accomplishment. I cherish that kind of love for our fellowship and I believe it can be ours ...

37. Who Will Take Away This Burden Of Guilt?

Hebrews 10:1-18

Sermon

King Duncan

... -3 rail tunnels burrowing through chalk beneath the 31mile stretch of the English Channelbegan in 1986 and won't be ready for train travel until June 15, 1993. Though the much-ballyhooed tunnel connects two countries with a history of animosity, the notion of a link has been discussed by inventors and politicians for more than two centuries, including Napoleon. During Chunnel construction, 450 drivers and 120 locomotives pulling carloads of excavated material travel a distance equivalent to two trips around ...

38. Narrow Doors-limitless Horizons

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... outside. (4) Whether you are an Anglican or a Methodist is not a matter perhaps of eternal significance. But the decision to follow Christ is. There is a cross to shoulder and there is the burden of sin to be left behind. There is hatred and animosity to be shed and love and acceptance to be taken up. Meaninglessness and despair are to be no more. They are replaced with direction and positive faith. Van Varner, editor of GUIDEPOSTS, tells of a summer drive he and his godson David were taking in the Rocky ...

39. Do You Have A Forgiving Spirit?

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . He gave his fishing pole to another. In fact, that old man gave everything he had to the people who were prepared to kill him. He killed them first with love and affection. The impact was incredible. Seeing goodness given in the face of such animosity was more than any of them could tolerate. One by one, in shame, they turned away, and the entire lynching mob disappeared. The minister's grandson had watched everything from a distance, and as everyone departed, he ran up to his grandfather and asked, "What ...

40. Who Are Your Gentiles?

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

Landon Winstead

... -Americans suffered the stings of prejudice, but at various times in our history so have Hispanics, and Asians, and Italians, and Jews. And how can we forget our Native American friends? In fact, in any nation, anyone who is different is in danger of confronting animosity. Why can't we learn what Peter learned in his dream--that God is no respecter of persons, that God's love is extended to all. Dr. Anthony Campolo, in his video series Carpe Diem, tells of a pastor friend of his who lives in Manhattan ...

41. Worried About Her Child

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

King Duncan

... the lost sheep of Israel." You see, this woman was a Canaanite. She was a lost woman as far as Jewish believers were concerned. Her people worshiped pagan gods. Religious divides can be very deep, can't they? Even Jesus seems to have been affected by religious animosities. When the woman persists in seeking his help, Jesus says something to her so out of character that it takes our breath away. Jesus says, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." Was he calling this woman a ...

42. Sacred Memories

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... James II in a battle on the Boyne River. This annual march commemorating the victory of King William III stirs up a great deal of antagonism in the Catholic neighborhood. Recently, the march stirred up more than the usual amount of animosity because only days prior, a terrorist act of arson in the neighborhood had killed three young Catholic brothers. The Protestants' insistence on carrying out their march was seen as particularly insensitive. Mourners responded by lining the streets in protest, holding up ...

43. You Can't Please Everybody

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... . The tongue is a powerful weapon, isn't it? Whether it's idle criticism, or vicious gossip, or actually bearing false witness against somebody, the tongue can kill. In a sense, it killed Jesus. The nails driven into his hands and feet were just an extension of the animosity stirred up by his enemies through their lies and criticisms. We can say with the bard of old, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." But that's not true. Words do hurt. In a study published in the magazine ...

44. A Terrorist among the Twelve

Luke 6:12-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... ’s Supper or Holy Communion, these words are found: “Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin, and seek to live in peace with one another.” In other words: “Leave your old life behind; leave your old animosities behind, leave your angers, hurts, grudges, grievances, and jealousies behind, and make a new start here and now, a new start in love with God and with your neighbor.” For if we are not in communion with one another, how on earth can we be in ...

45. The Gospel

Colossians 1:3-6

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to you. Arthur Gordon tells of finding a bundle of letters in an attic – letters written by a grandmother to members of her family and friends shortly after the Civil War. Those were hard and bitter days, filled with a great deal of alienation and animosity, making the lives of many dark and depressing. Yet Gordon discovered that every one of those letters ended with the phrase: “Have I told you lately what a wonderful person you really are!” Think of what that must have meant. Think of what it must ...

46. Proper 15

Genesis 45:1-28, Isaiah 56:1-8, Romans 11:11-24, Romans 11:25-32, Matthew 15:1-20, Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... 9). Naturally the brothers felt distant from Joseph because of their crime against him. Sin always separates people from people as well as God from people. When he disclosed his identity, they fell back and withdrew. Joseph urged them to come closer to him because he had no animosity toward them. Later, he sent a message to his father to come to him that he might take care of him and his family in Egypt. It reminds us of Jesus' invitation, "Come to me...." Old Testament: Isaiah 56:1 (2-5) 6-7 1. Everyone (v ...

47. A Case for Living Together

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... understand their joys and fears, loves and hatreds, contentment and yearnings. It's no longer the case that a fistful of Hershey bars or a bag of Big Macs will gain us admittance to the rest of the world. In order to get the attitudes and animosities aimed our way, we've got to be willing to scoot over and share space with people we find frighteningly different, even people who hate us. In medieval Spain, for a brief moment in history, Muslims, Christians, and Jews existed together peaceably in a relatively ...

48. All Saints

Psalm 34:1-22, Revelation 7:9-17, 1 John 2:28--3:10, Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon Aid

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

... 's light" to reflect upon the meaning and the manner of living according to God's will. Structure. The lesson is a series of statements which (1) recognizes the love of God that makes believers into children of God, (2) explains the indifference and animosity of "the world" toward God's children, (3) declares both the present reality and the future hope of being God's children, (4) reminds the children of the promised future revelation of the Son, and (5) calls those who hope in Jesus to Christlike purity ...

49. Proper 24

Exodus 33:12-23, Matthew 22:15-22, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Psalm 99:1-9

Sermon Aid

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

... seems to be in the Temple precinct, but now the Pharisees take up the task of challenging him, which for the moment the Sadducees and the elders apparently have abandoned. From the major previous portions of the Gospel we are well acquainted with the animosity between Jesus and the Pharisees over the interpretation of the law. The issue here is similar—the lawfulness of paying taxes to Rome. Structure. The eight brief verses of this lesson tell a dynamic story. Verse 15 informs us of the motives of the ...

50. Changed Lives - The Woman at the Well

John 4:1-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... of one another, but must we hate? In the providence of God it is probably not accidental that our story for today is set in Samaria. The greatest problem in our world today is not global warming or poverty. The greatest problem is the animosity between differing groups of people. Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman. That’s the second thing we need to see. When she somewhat curtly turns aside his request for water, he turns a seemingly chance encounter into an evangelistic opportunity. Jesus says to ...

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