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

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476. If Your Eye Offends You

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

King Duncan

When I read these words of Jesus, that "if thy hand offend thee, cut it off," or "when thy eye offend thee, pluck it out," I am reminded of the story of a rich man who was trying to hire a chauffeur and he interviewed three men for the job. He pointed to a high cliff near his home and he said to the three men, "Suppose you were driving me on the edge of that cliff--how close to the side could you safely come?" One man said, "I could easily drive the car within 6 inches of that cliff, and not think anything ...

477. The Day of the Lord

Joel 2:1-11

Sermon

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Sometime between 500 and 350 B.C., post-exilic Israel experienced a devastating locust plague, followed by a drought. That experience is described in Joel chapter 1. And certainly the people suffered under the dreadful effects of those disasters. But the message of the prophet Joel — prompted not by the natural disasters, but given him as a revelation from the Lord — is that the Israelites face a still more terrible disaster if they do not repent and return to their God. “The day of the Lord is coming, it ...

478. Do You Have It

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

The epistle text for this week draws distinctions in belief and behavior that are as different as night and day, light and dark. Our lectionary reading, part of a larger discussion that begins in Ephesians 4:17 and does not conclude until 5:20, focuses on how disciples are "to walk" in this world. Both the being and the behavior of those transformed by Christ are discernibly different from the rest of the world--as different as "light" and "darkness." As baptized people, argues the Ephesians text, the ...

479. Decisions, Decisions

John 17:6-19

Illustration

Paul W. Kummer

Think of how many decisions you make in a day: What do I wear today? Should I take a different route to work due to construction? Should I have a bagel or an English muffin for breakfast? Should I talk with that person about yesterday or just blow it off? Which child is it that had flute lessons day? Should I get a quick twenty out at the ATM machine at lunch or after work? Do I need to pay bills today or can they wait until tomorrow? Do I have enough energy to run today or not? Should I drive to the ...

480. What Law is Operating Here?

Illustration

John Killinger

Note: We do not advise using this illustration in a sermon. In fact, we strongly advise against it, but we thought it a great meditation for us clergy, considering subjects of Law and Grace. Here it it: In Mary Gordon's novel, Final Payments, a book addressing the repression of many young Catholics of the 50s and 60s, a young woman named Isabel Moore has just buried her father after several years of illness, during which she was confined to his bedside. For several months, she flounders, trying to discover ...

481. Orient Your "itudes"

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Money Magazine has selected its top "Sin Stocks." 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 ...

482. Murder, Adultery, Divorce, and Oaths

Matthew 5:21-26, Matthew 5:27-30, Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 5:33-37

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The Old Testament prohibition against murder is broadened to include anger (5:21–22; Exod. 20:13), with a related call to reconciliation (5:23–26). Jesus also expands the prohibition against adultery to include lust (5:31–32; Exod. 20:14). The third case involves the Old Testament prohibition of remarriage to a first spouse after a divorce and second marriage have occurred (Deut. 24:1–4). Jesus again commands a stricter ethic by limiting the allowable reason for divorce to porneia (a Greek term meaning ...

483. Warnings against Infidelity

Proverbs 6:20-35

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

This next lesson resumes the typical instructional form, with an extended call to heed the parental counsel (6:20–23) preceding the specific warnings (6:24–35). It also takes up the topic of Proverbs 5, developing the grave consequences of sexual immorality more fully. Presumably one ties the commands of both parents “around your neck” (6:21) in order to keep them plainly in view when deciding which direction to head. Verse 22 cites three daily situations in which such instruction proves useful, offering ...

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