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 551 to 575 of 2415 results

551. A Winning Life

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... t until he reached for the absent ripcord that he realized he was freefalling without any means of slowing his descent. (8) Faith in Jesus Christ is our parachute. It allows us to live triumphantly in a world that would beat us down. It allows us to love with great passion. It allows us to live according to our best values, whether or not our way of living finds favor with our peers. And when all is said and done, we discover this is living at its best. How do we know that’s true? Some of us are fortunate ...

552. Heroes of Faith

Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

... and made us who we are in the faith. Their stories of faith, of failure and forgiveness, of strength and valor, of tenacity, of passion and compassion are the fuel of our own stories. They remind us who we are, whose we are and of God's great love ... a reflection of our heroes. We want to see with the eyes of the prophet and have the wisdom of Solomon, the faith of Abraham, the passion of Peter, the love of John, the list goes on. Unfortunately, what we see most of the time is the labels of the villains and ...

553. When the Church Becomes a Culture of Complainers and Crusaders, What To Do?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... fail, is focused on the rightness of Christ. Christ’s love. Christ’s grace. Christ’s gifts for the people of God. That is the sine qua non of gospel truth. Paul does not defend himself, or his words. He only continues to preach Christ with passion and compassion, without restriction or reservation. And he answers his critics, by constantly pointing to Christ, not to himself or to them. William J. Locke has a novel about a woman who has every amount of money imaginable. She has spent half a lifetime on ...

554. Come with Me to the Mountain

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... I find God, Dr. Jung?” the man asked. “I don’t know,” said Jung, “but I suspect if you will find a group of people some place that believe in Him passionately and just spend time with them, you will find God.” The man did just that and he was healed. This sanctuary is our mountaintop. We are together with others who believe in God passionately. In our own minds and hearts, let us see who Jesus really is. Let us see ourselves as we might be by God’s grace. Let us gain confidence confidence in ...

555. Hear Him

Matthew 17:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... my Son, the Beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” God’s command is to respond to that person: “Listen to him.” Jesus is the new ark of the covenant. One of the stickiest quotes I ever read in Larry Crabb’s writings is this one: “Our passion for Jesus is the only passion that will not destroy us.” The greatest moment in your life and my life comes when we say from the innermost depths of our being, “Jesus Christ, You are the messiah, the son of the living God. I shall listen to you in all I do ...

556. When Words Are Not Enough

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... and Savior to sing these words."[4] And I would insist that this is one of those occasions when, unquestionably, words are not enough. As my friend, Bill Carter, an incredible preacher as well as an incredible musician, says "Our passion can be expressed in many different ways." For some, it is through music. One passionate soul expressed it in graffiti on a New York subway: * You can punch my lips so I can't blow my horn, but my fingers will find a piano. * You can slam the piano lid on my fingers, but you ...

557. We Wish to See Jesus

John 12:20-33

Sermon

John Smylie

... draw all people to himself. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." What is it that is so transforming, so powerfully healing about gazing upon our crucified Lord? What is it that draws us back here again and again as we walk through these somber days of Lent and into the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ? "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself." Perhaps Jesus was saying to Philip and Andrew, to the Greek visitors, and to us, that it is time to gaze upon him in awe and wonder as we allow ...

558. For the Life of Betsy D. I. Smylie

John 12:20-36

Sermon

John Smylie

559. Actions Speak Louder than Words

John 17:6-19

Sermon

John Smylie

... with his word. In his prayer he says, "I have given them your word" (v. 14). In John's gospel, we learned that the Word was made flesh and that Word is the word of our Lord's body and blood, life and action, his teaching and sacrifice, his passion, death, and resurrection, his ascension, and his continuing prayer and presence for and with us today. The word that we have is also the word of the New Testament which teaches us about the ministry of Jesus, a word that can come alive and even bring us into our ...

560. The Story That Shapes Us

Philippians 2:5-11

Sermon

Nancy Kraft

... . When the cross becomes our master story, we can't label everyone who is different than us as our enemy. When the cross is our master story, power is never about bullying and threats and exerting physical strength. As a part of Christ's church, every year, we gather on Passion Sunday to hear a story told. It's a story that will be read in churches all over the world today and during the week that unfolds before us. I hope you can hear that story, not just as an interesting account of how a man's life ended ...

561. Life in The Spirit

Romans 8:22-27

Sermon

Gibson “Nibs” Stroupe

... he wants us to be unrealistic but because he wants us to be realistic — that life is much deeper than we have previously imagined. He asks us to hold on to that which we cannot see, not by repressing our lives or our passion but rather by reorienting and expressing our passion. Paul emphasizes that because of God's Spirit we can never be confined to the world's definition of ourselves or even to our own definition of ourselves. Because of God's Spirit, there is always the possibility of discovering God's ...

562. Salvation Has A Name!

Acts 4:5-12

Sermon

Ken Lentz

... of them began to see the light. In the times of spiritual awakening in our American history, we hear of those who dramatically professed him whom they had rejected. The revival tents, barns, and fields of America were places where many were shaken by the passionate witness of the preachers. A well-known local gambler approached the altar in tears to affirm his faith in Jesus. The preacher instructed him after the meeting to bring his gambling equipment to the next meeting to burn it in the presence of the ...

563. The Place beyond Punishment

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... . The milk doesn't "unspill." The floor doesn't automatically get cleaned up. But unlike the milk, we are not ruined. Today, I want to talk about the issue of pain and punishment. You and I know that there are at least three perspectives on the passion story, the one that spills the wine of Jesus for some reason or another. One is the atonement, now widely theogically discredited, which comes from the family that punishes the spill. God wanted Jesus to suffer to save the world. We'll go into that story ...

564. All Is Restored?

Job 42:1-17

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... from Hebrews, we can also make a point of contact with the Jesus of the gospel lesson for today, the healing of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52). The miracle story comes as the conclusion to the third passion prediction unit which Mark sets up (10:32-45). First Jesus predicts his passion (10:31-34), then James and John show their misunderstanding by seeking greatness (10:35-40), followed by Jesus' reference to true greatness as servanthood (10:41-45). It is after this section, with its call for insight ...

565. Doing Your Own Thing

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... your calling,” says Green, “you can do extraordinary things for God, even in the midst of a peculiar situation. Living in the NBA for twenty years was very peculiar. But at the same time, it did not separate me from the goal I had the burning passion that God put in my heart: to instill some kind of hope into our future generation, our kids.” (6) Honor God with your body, says St. Paul. Certainly A. C. Green has done that. He has disciplined his body both to make himself an outstanding athlete ...

566. Liturgy of the Palms

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Luke 19:28-44

Bulletin Aid

Julia Ross Strope

... you. We know the whole story of Jesus the Christ and pray that our twenty-first-century understanding of discipleship be continually expanding. In the ways we decorate ourselves, in our conversations, and in our entertainment, we want to enjoy you. God of Passion — we know Jesus walked on this earth feeding and healing, teaching and learning. So many people need food for their bodies; so many people need soul food; so many people need shelter and health care. Prisons are full, bombs explode, and drugs ...

567. Not So With You

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... we are” and away from “What we sell” or “What we offer.” In today’s gospel text Jesus is giving his followers a new identity, an identity as his disciples. But despite all he has revealed about the kingdom of God, despite the shocking passion predictions he has declared, his closest chosen companions still don’t get it. While twenty centuries later we might shake our heads and call these guys clueless — the Duh!ciples frankly from the disciple’s perspective it isn’t hard to see how they ...

568. To God Be The Glory!

Isaiah 60:1-6

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... . Many in the world shake their heads in despair, but God gives a hope and his name is Jesus! In both the Old and New Testaments the glory of God is an expression of God's inherent majesty that his people recognize and for which they have a passion! Give God glory wherever you are today ... whenever you want to express a "glory to God" ... whatever circumstance you are in, give God praise, honor, and glory! Amen. 1. "To God Be The Glory," words by Fanny J. Crosby, 1875. In the public domain. 2. Nazarene ...

569. Profile Of A Savior

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... later in the same chapter, Luke reports this detail: "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem" (9:51). Jesus on his way to Jerusalem — which is to say, Jesus on his way to his passion and death — that is the moment that Isaiah captured in his portrait. He knows what is ahead, and yet he sets his face with determination to encounter, to endure, and to overcome all that awaits him. Congregational minister and scholar, Samuel Ralph Harlow, put the portrait ...

570. When We Are Tempted

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... TIME.” Satan wasn’t finished with Jesus. None of us ever gets to the point where we are beyond being tested. Even Jesus did not reach that point. His struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane proved that. In Mel Gibson’s controversial film, The Passion of The Christ, we see the nature of the Tempter quite vividly. This isn’t a scene from the Bible. It is a fictional account, but it is quite powerful. Jesus is shown at Gethsemane, agonizing over his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. A shadowy figure ...

571. Galatians 2:15-21

Galatians 2:11-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... words pop into your head and then out of your mouth with perfect timing, completely undoing your opponent’s argument and precisely making your point: that’s almost heaven. More often than not, when that kind of synchronized synapse occurs it is fired off more by passion than by planning. For me it’s more not than often. I think of the perfect zinger, but hours or days later. I’m an expert in what the French call “l’esprit de l’escalier,” or “the spirit of the staircase.” In other words ...

572. It’s Complicated

Galatians 2:11-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

573. The Best Gift of All

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... Paul teaches, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). It is easy to fall into the trap of “worldly passions,” and forget that Jesus calls us to “live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly.” We do not follow the ways of the world as much as we live our lives for Jesus. We must remain focused on Jesus. We respond to God’s grace by ...

574. What Does Jesus Look Like?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Tony Everett

... sacrifice could break this pattern. Left on their own God’s people were helpless and their efforts were hopeless. So God took the initiative to break this pattern. God began to bring into focus an even sharper picture of the depth of God’s own passion for the world. In Jesus Christ, God’s love entered the world and lived in the midst of the people (John 1:14). In Jesus Christ, God’s innocent, kind, and compassionate servant, God chose to defeat the control of sin and suffering. Aha! Now even ...

575. Peace and Quiet in an Upside-Down World

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Tony Everett

... 50:5-7). The Lord does indeed give us the courage and determination to face impossible obstacles so that we can declare with Isaiah, “I have set my face like flint and I know that I shall not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7). Can you see the Passion / Palm Sunday Jesus in this text from Isaiah? Can you see Jesus here in the willing suffering? In his face set like flint marching firmly and into Jerusalem (Luke 9:51)? In listening to his father as he kneels in the garden and breathes his last on the cross ...

Showing results