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 576 to 600 of 2415 results

576. Be A Good Virus

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... is bad. Spirit is good. But wait. Paul’s message is NOT about an either/or. It is NOT about being fleshly or spiritual. Instead Paul recognized that we as human beings are completely BOTH “fish and fowl.” We live a paradoxical existence. We are both passionate and poisoned. And that terrible place, that “deer-in-head-lights” state of humanity, is the reason Jesus came. Jesus offers us an off-ramp, one that doesn’t take us to the right or left, but forward; a way that takes us off the road that ...

577. Family Re:Union - Inverting the Pyramid

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

James Merritt

... repeats something you had better pay special attention. There is only one thing more dangerous than no love for God. Do you know what it is? A half-hearted love for God. If your kids cannot see in you and if my kids cannot see in me a burning, blazing, passionate, all-out love for God they are looking at a cracked mirror. I heard about a Bible-teacher one time talking to a group of kids and he asked this question, “Why do you love God?” As he went down the line he got a variety of answers, but the ...

578. Ignite: Fire Extinguishers

Acts 15:1-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... a “human-torch.” Formally, the Jewish hit-man who had made it his life’s goal to stamp out the church and to kill the message of Jesus Christ. He had met Christ on the Damascus Road, was miraculously converted, and now has become the most famous, passionate, flame-thrower in the church. He had just ended the first of three missionary journeys in which he had traveled over 1400 miles by boat, by donkey, and by foot going all over Asia Minor, and for the first time he had taken the Gospel, not to Jews ...

579. The Knot: Tied

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

James Merritt

... quickly or has a short fuse. The kind of person that the least little thing will set them off. This word is very interesting. It is made up of two words. The first word is “thymia” which gives us the word “thermometer.” It refers to heat or passion. The second word is “macro” which is the opposite of “micro.” It means “long.” Literally, it says, “Love is long-tempered.” Love has a long fuse. It takes a long time for love to boil over. In fact, love not only has a long fuse, but even ...

580. Starting Over

John 12:20-36

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... over, but we don’t always want to pay the price or do what it takes. That’s why God had to initiate the process of reconciliation. Still, even then, it was painful as hell. Alternative Applications We are only a week away from Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday and the events of Holy Week. So it would be very fitting to focus on either the epistle or gospel passages, and lead people in a commiseration with Jesus in his sufferings. Hebrews 5:5-10. If focusing on the Hebrews, reading collateral verses from ...

581. Getting to a Teachable Moment

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Craig MacCreary

... comes from one who has the tongue of a teacher, the mind of one who puts himself in the place of others rather than puts them in their place, and who, in the selfless taking up of the cross of justice touches the hearts of others. The lessons for Passion Sunday affirm that this is what it takes if there will be a teachable moment. Isaiah 50:4-9a The prophet begins with the experience of being given the tongue of a teacher. Do you remember the voice of your teachers? No doubt some sounded like nails on a ...

582. The Reject

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... seats were gone. It was a sell-out crowd; standing room only. The only seats left were in the nose bleed section up in the trees. Well, Zacchaeus had a problem. He was “small in stature.” That means he was probably not even 5 feet tall, but he had this passion to see Jesus. So, he runs ahead and climbs up a Sycamore tree. To be specific, it was a tree about 40 feet high with a short trunk and very wide branches. Every time we go to Israel we always go to Jericho and they always show us a Sycamore ...

583. No Turning Back

John 6:60-71

Sermon

King Duncan

... a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). An unknown writer quoted on the Internet tells of visiting a fast-growing church in Minnesota to learn from their staff. It was a privilege, he reports, to witness their passion for doing high quality ministry in Jesus’ name. He left with some new insights and a renewed passion for the Gospel. One of the phrases that he heard while he was there at that fast-growing church was, “We want our members to wear aprons, not bibs.” That’s an interesting phrase--“aprons ...

584. When Walls Shift and the Ceiling Collapses

John 8:31-36

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... set you free." This freedom of which Jesus speaks is not the current understanding of doing whatever you please, whenever you want. In fact, those who pursue that understanding of freedom become little more than slaves to any present whim or passion. The truth of the gospel sets us free from fear, greed, selfishness, crushing problems, or troubling circumstance to love one another and to live confidently. The years 1527 until 1529 were particularly difficult for Martin Luther. The Black Death swept through ...

585. King Jesus

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... Jesus' miraculous birth but tied them quickly to stories of other great deliverers who were born to save Israel. Luke's purpose is more clearly seen when the gospel as a whole is read with care. Among the many things that mark Luke's literary passions and style is his desire to locate the story and message of Jesus within its historical context. These are the days of Caesar Augustus, and Quirinius, and Pontius Pilate, and Claudius. The way that Luke relates the events and actions of Jesus' life reflect on ...

586. Tranquil: The Blessed Village on a Hillside

John 6:25-59

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... Tranquil, so do her eggs. The neighbors are entitled to nothing. It was decided to keep all the golden eggs in hopes a way could be found to make the Tranquilians even more satisfied with their lives. That did not work. The abundance of gold awakened powerful passions from a dark shadowy recess within the people. They began to do things they never did before. The Giant, you will remember, was the caring ruler of Tranquil. He was widely known as a generous man who cared as much for his people as he cared for ...

587. A Complicated Disciple

John 18:15-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” I suspect it was the warm understanding expression of one who knew Peter’s heart was in the right place. But, like many of us, Peter’s performance didn’t always reflect his passion. And, of course, he did exactly as Christ predicted. As Luke tells the story, when they seized Jesus and led him away to the house of the high priest, Peter followed at a distance. Someone had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and people ...

588. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... to be “put off,” he substitutes a virtue that promotes human relationships: Lying is replaced by truth (4:25); anger is removed by reconciliation (4:26); a person who once robbed goes to work (4:27); harmful words give way to helpful ones (4:29); bitterness, passion, anger, and insults give way to tender-heartedness, forgiveness, and love (4:31–5:2). 4:25 The exhortation that each one must put off falsehood uses the same word (apotithēmi) that was used in 4:22. Lying is to be put away because it does ...

589. Paul's Labor for the Church

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... that his desire to share in Christ’s sufferings and to become like his Lord in death is a continuing process (Phil. 3:10). He sees his suffering as a means by which he personally is enabled to reproduce more and more of Christ’s Passion in his life. The suffering that the church endures is, therefore, for its completion and not toward anything lacking in Christ (see note). Additional Notes 1:24 For additional material on some of these interpretations, see R. Yates, “Notes on Colossians 1:24,” EQ 42 ...

590. Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2:17--3:5

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the more so as we recognize that the comparative in the NT had practically replaced the superlative, “most abundantly.” And then, as if that were not enough, he adds, “with great desire” (en pollē epithymia). Epithymia speaks of passion, often in the sense of lust, but here of their passionate longing for their friends. 2:18 We wanted to come to you, Paul explains. The conjunction for (dioti) links this verse to the last and explains their longing. He especially wanted to come again and again (this ...

591. A Workman Approved by God

2 Timothy 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... meaning of the word evil desires (epithymiai; cf. 1 Tim. 6:9; 2 Tim. 4:3) in these letters. Rather than “lusts,” it simply means desires, especially evil desires. Thus Paul is not so much speaking of sensual passions as he is those kinds of headstrong passions of youth, who sometimes love novelties, foolish discussions, and arguments that all too often lead to quarrels. Instead of engaging in the pastimes of the false teachers, Timothy is to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. For these first ...

592. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... such inward desires are (in its view) natural and their satisfaction legitimate. Sinful desires is tōn sarkikōn epithymiōn, lit. “fleshly lusts.” The adjective sarkikōn is from sarx, flesh, and here takes on the usual Pauline meaning of “the seat of human passion and frailty which leaves God out of account.” On sarx, see Turner, pp. 176–78, 297, 418. On epithymia, lust, see Additional Note on 1:14. War against your soul: The NT often uses the imagery of warfare to depict the inner human moral ...

593. Making One's Calling and Election Sure

2 Peter 1:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... the ideas. Greek philosophers taught the desirability of escaping from the material world because of its corrupting influence. “Peter is careful to define the nature of the corruption he has in mind, i.e., corruption that is in (en) the world because of (en) passion. There is a deliberate avoidance of the concept that the material world is itself evil.” See Guthrie, New Testament Theology, p. 185. Additional Notes 1:3 His divine power is frequently mentioned in the NT: Matt. 24:30; Mark 5:30; Luke 4:14 ...

594. False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 Peter 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... these men vaunt is not true liberty at all. In their mouths “liberty” can be said to be a catchword in a quite literal sense, and they themselves are the living proof, since they are slaves of depravity in their own lives, slaves of their own passions—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him (John 8:34; Rom. 6:16). True liberty from the death grip of depravity (phthora) comes through divine power, the result of knowing God in Jesus Christ. That alone provides the way to escape corruption ...

595. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... the mountain to intercede. God severed any association with them, telling Moses that “your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt.” This shift in pronouns suggests that the Lord’s passion against self-serving betrayal was as strong as God’s passion for those who were faithful (see 2 Sam. 22:26–28). The NIV translation here is too passive (“have become corrupt”). It is better read, “have corrupted themselves” (reflexive piʿel of shakhat, “ruined,” “destroyed ...

596. When Jesus Prays

John 17:20-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... difficult students, but, in spite of his best efforts, the band does not sound very good. Nevertheless, despite his apparent lack of success, he comes to believe this is where he’s supposed to be. And as the years unfold the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success. At the end of the movie we find an aged Mr. Holland fighting in vain to keep his job. The board has decided to reduce the operating budget by cutting the music and drama programs ...

597. The Death of Lazarus

John 11:1-16, John 11:17-37

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Ephraim near the desert (another place of respite, 11:54) to Bethany near Jerusalem a second time (12:1–11) and from there to Jerusalem itself. From 12:12 to the end of chapter 20, Jesus never leaves Jerusalem again, and all that happens there centers on his Passion. A certain continuity between 10:40–42 and 11:1–16 is presupposed by the wording of 11:6, he stayed where he was. The place is of interest to the narrator, not because of the coincidence of its name with the other Bethany (which he never ...

598. The Last Passover

John 12:1-11

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... :13; 6:4), and for the second and last time (cf. 2:13), Jesus travels to Jerusalem to keep the festival. The early visit to Jerusalem involving the cleansing of the temple (2:13–22) had given the impression that Jesus’ Passion was about to begin, but it did not. Now the Passion is soon to begin, and the narrator creates an atmosphere of expectancy for his story. He does not immediately state that “Jesus went up to Jerusalem” (2:13), but says that many (v. 55) did so, and that when they arrived, they ...

599. The Triumphal Entry

John 12:12-19

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... correspondences point to the theme of Jesus the coming king seated on a donkey as on a throne. Jesus’ kingship has been mentioned only twice before in this Gospel, once in a more or less positive way (1:49), and once negatively (6:15). But in the passion narrative it will become the dominant category in which Jesus and his claims are presented—for the last time—to the world (cf. 18:33–38; 19:12–16, 19–22). The accent on kingship in the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem suggests that in a ...

600. Jesus Predicts His Death

John 12:20-36

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... of wheat,” falls “to the earth” in death and is “lifted up from the earth” in resurrection, like a plant in its full growth. It appears that Jesus has applied a parable of growth, similar to those found in the synoptic Gospels, to his own Passion and resurrection. What Jesus and the earliest forms of the tradition have done, however, is not necessarily identical to what the Gospel writer has done. In the Gospel as it stands, verses 24 and 32 are not joined together, and verse 32 is interpreted as ...

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