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 701 to 725 of 1838 results

701. The Beginning of a New Life

Ruth 2:1-23

Sermon

... stirred" because Naomi had returned after this long absence and had a young woman with her. The women of Bethlehem, who had known her before she left, called her by name; "Do not call me Naomi," she told them. "Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty." They soon heard the rest of her story and learned about Ruth’s loyalty and love that prompted her to leave her native land and go to Bethlehem with Naomi. That must have really ...

702. Up And Down The Mountain

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Donald Dotterer

... individuals and groups of people has a long and sordid history. Ever since Cain murdered Abel, we have experienced evil spirits working deep within the human soul as people destroy one another. We may not understand the violence which is the result of hatred and bitterness, but we feel at the very least that we can explain crimes which philosophers categorize as moral evil, that is, evil that is caused by one person's cruelty towards another human being. But what can we say of the evil that manifests itself ...

703. Healing And Forgiveness

Luke 5:17-26

Sermon

... . Our God is a God who forgives us for our trespasses. The Lord desires that we be healed. What is more poisonous than the petty hatreds and grudges that we hold against co-workers, family members and former friends? How seldom are the concerns that so bitterly divide us of any great consequence? So often they are rooted in squabbles over the superficial issues of money, power and possessions. A husband said to his wife, "Why do you keep talking about the mistakes which I made in the past? I thought you had ...

704. For Those On The Outside

Luke 8:40-56

Sermon

... is what most of us do. We simply walk on by when we see these poor, dirty and sickly people. It is a national disgrace that we allow mentally disturbed adults and children of poor families to live on the streets, eating garbage, freezing in bitter cold weather. The newspaper columnist Anthony Lewis condemns the United States as a country which refuses to face its problems. He asks this haunting question: "How many of us, middle-aged or older, ever thought we would walk down an American street as we would ...

705. A Joyful New Beginning

John 20:1-9

Sermon

... was turning out. He had been let down by fellow workers such as Demas and even Peter. Nobody had supported him at his first trial. The church in Corinth was constantly fighting and bickering over stupid issues. All of these disappointments could have resulted in bitterness and resignation for a person of weaker faith. Yet in the midst of his personal struggle, Paul was able to write these words: "Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and ...

706. Coping With Anger In A Close-up World

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... a gospel. No cleansed leper or healed Samaritan stepped forward to write a gospel, did they? Those who followed and loved Jesus were the ones who lived close-up with him; and those were the ones he occasionally became angry with. We must not let temporary anger and bitterness rob us of the relationships which mean the most to us. When I see a couple on the brink of a marital separation, arguing and full of anger at each other, I worry less about them than a couple who has lost all energy and emotion. The ...

707. Don't Give Up Too Soon!

Acts 15:36-41

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... sense the Bible is a book that is very much alive. It is the Rembrandt of religious experience because it tells life as it really is, with scars and moles and dirt under the fingernails. It chronicles not just the pious events of religious history, but the bitter dregs of failure that lie temporarily at the bottom of everyone's cup. And well it should. A God that cannot deal with failure is not much of a God. No one lives life without some failure. Everyone stumbles and falls at some point along the road ...

708. Wheels Instead Of Walls

Ezekiel 1:1-28

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... to him.' " God does not have favorites. God does not play favorites. God is an impartial God. If we are brutally honest with ourselves we must admit that that's hard to take. The idea that God doesn't play favorites has always been a bitter pill for religious people to swallow. I guess that's one reason why we preachers preach so many lightweight sermons on self-help, personal happiness, individual depression and the book of Revelation with its emphasis on our Christian revenge. Maybe that's why we have so ...

709. Christ’s Life The Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-35

Bulletin Aid

... miles from Jerusalem. They were walking along, discussing the recent events in Jerusalem when Jesus came beside them. They were kept from recognizing him. Women: What veiled their eyes that they did not know Jesus after years of working with him? Was it disappointment, bitterness, shame or all those feelings combined? Men: Is our vision dimmed when our plans fail? Are we unable to see Jesus when our hopes are dashed? All: Father, open our eyes that we may always see Jesus. Help us to look upward in faith ...

710. Christian Values Two Kinds of Wisdom

James 3:13-18

Bulletin Aid

Call to Worship Leader: Who is wise and understanding among you? He will show it by his life, by deeds done in humility that comes with wisdom. Congregation: He will not harbor bitter envy or selfish ambition in his heart, either boasting about it or denying it. Such wisdom or cleverness is of the devil. Where there is envy and selfish ambition there is disorder and every evil practice. Leader: Wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, ...

711. The Christian Life Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Bulletin Aid

... go down while you are still angry. Men: Make us angry towards sin, not the sinner. Leader: Do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. Speak only what is helpful for encouraging others according to their needs. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, hatred and malice. Women: Make our mouths clean vessels, holding the pure words of truth and wisdom. Cleanse our hearts that our mouths may remain clean. Leader: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another just like in Christ God forgave ...

712. The Life We Prize

Luke 9:18-27

Sermon

Various Authors

... my own benefit. This self-centeredness constitutes the most serious sin besetting me, for I rebel against God and distort life. So Jesus said, "Deny yourself." Jesus’ words convict me; I am guilty of excluding Jesus from areas of my life where I harbor dishonesty, lust, and bitterness. To deny self primarily means to die to all within myself which is not consistent with the Word and the love of Christ. Christ’s call is that I be crucified with him so "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in ...

713. What kind of Cup Do You Bring?

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

Various Authors

... 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 there ...

714. Managing Our Memories

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Leonard W. Mann

... to carry us back to what was, but to bring what was forward that it may be an element, a factor, in the living present. All of us who have lived very long have some good memories and some which are not so good. Some may be even unpleasant or bitter; and if our life is to be blessed and beautiful, it is important how we manage our memories. If we are to manage them well, we need to try to do three things. 1. The first is to practice remembering the right things. The Apostle Paul gives us a valuable ...

715. Come, Learn Your Worth

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Various Authors

... , and with it, public acclaim. But if one day arthritis diminishes the dexterity of the performer’s fingers, is her worth gone, too? So often society (and we, in turn) judges our worth by measures which time can change. No wonder, then, that fear and bitterness sometimes intrude upon us in this question of worth. A young wife loves to hear her husband extol her beauty; but forgive her if she sometimes wonders if he will still find her so desirable when her figure has less winsome lines. An athlete exults ...

716. The Ministry of Refreshing

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

Various Authors

... way to fetch the water; when water is plentiful, he has no income. Shen Te, the "Good Woman," meets an aviator and falls in love. To celebrate her love, she wants to buy her flyer a cup of water, so she goes running to Wong in the rain. Wong says, bitterly, "Throw back your head and open your mouth and you’ll have all the water you need." But Shen Te says tenderly: I want your water, Wong The water that has tired you so The water that you carried all this way The water that is hard to sell because ...

717. The Message of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

... a broken family, reunite a neighborhood, and bring distant parts of the world together into one. Without this love, symbolized by Christmas, people lose their way and fight one another until death. When this love is absent, life gets twisted until people become cynical and bitter. Forget about this love, and self becomes God. Deny it, and cast your lot with demons. Deny it, and you cast your lot with those who believe that someday there will be a final triumph of the demonic. Practice it not, and your name ...

718. Submission

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

... a few years ago, Vanderbilt played basketball at Memorial Gym. Although there was four inches of snow on the ground, it came as no surprise to anyone that the gym was not empty. Sport fans hired cabs, rode buses, drove automobiles, and tramped through bitter cold temperatures to watch the game. Basketball was so important to so many fans that nothing could stymie their efforts to see the game. For some, work is the most important thing; all that we are revolves around it. Without work many have no identity ...

719. Misunderstanding Jesus

John 6:25-59

Sermon

... Hardy, the well-known British poet. In the days when Lawrence was serving as an airman in the Royal Air Force he sometimes used to visit Hardy and his wife in his service uniform. On one occasion his visit coincided with a visit of the Mayoress of Dorchester. She was bitterly affronted that she had to submit to meeting a common airman, for she had no idea who he was. In French she said to Mrs. Hardy that never in all her born days had she had to sit down to tea with a private soldier. No one said anything ...

720. Proper 22 & Pentecost 20

Matthew 21:33-46, Philippians 4:2-9, Philippians 3:12-4:1, Numbers 27:12-23, Psalm 81:1-16, Isaiah 5:1-7

Sermon Aid

... , but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry! Has the "new Israel," the church done any better than the original Israel? We have to keep that question in mind when we read and preach the Gospel for the Day. The song of Isaiah takes on a bitter taste when one reads the parable about the man who established a vineyard, rented it out to people, only to have them beat and kill his servants and, finally, his son, so they could take over the vineyard for themselves. Numbers 27:12-23 When God ...

721. April Showers

1 Samuel 20:1-42

Sermon

... would ease his troubled brow. He would be executed. No wonder that in Gethsemane’s ancient garden he asked the Ancient of Days to remove the cup of suffering from his hands. Silence met his pleas. He drank the cup of death, defeat, and degradation to the bitter dregs. He died so that Death and his henchman Fear would beat against the island of our mortality and be stayed in their fury by his defenceworks of love. At church we sing silently with our choir the old chant about him who is our friend, him ...

722. Color It Purple

2 Samuel 5:1-5

Sermon

... outcasts and slaves called Israel had produced a Goliath of a man when David was born in Bethlehem. A man who would establish a City of Peace on Zion’s hill. A man who would give a butterfly of hope and stability to a land racked by bitter civil war and invasion from foreign armies. Mighty as Macbeth in war; as filled with doubts as Hamlet; as heartbroken by family tragedies as King Lear, David captures our hearts with ease. Murphy’s law proclaims that nothing is easy. Most things take more time than we ...

723. Summary

Drama

... of my musings. Old Simeon’s words were true. Despite all Jesus accomplished in his life ... despite all his teachings ... despite all the ways Jesus reached out to touch others - despite all of this, nails pierced his hands - and a sword pierced my heart. But, I’m not bitter. I don’t understand it, but I know it was all a part of God’s plan. The world today seems just as dark as it was when Jesus was born. Violence, war, and evil continue to lure us away from the love which Jesus lived and taught ...

724. The Daniel Diet

Daniel 1:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... make it known. I want to ask you to repeat after me right now, silently, those great words of Daniel in verse 8---"I will not defile myself." (1) Barna, George, Barna Research Group, Ventura, California, Barna Research Group Online report at http://www.barna.org. (2) Collison, Joseph, The Bitter Fruit of the Sexual Revolution , New Oxford Review, May 2000 (Vol. 67, No. 5), pages 31-33. Quoted by "Current Thoughts and Trends," September, 2000 issue, p. 14.

725. Sermon Opener - What Will He Find?

Luke 18:1-8

Illustration

Theodore F. Schneider

... provide." "I hope so!" he replied. From the inflection of his voice, I knew he did not "expect" so. One is reminded of Lucy's encouragement to Charlie Brown in one of the Peanuts cartoons. "Look at it this way, Charlie Brown," she consoles. "These are your bitter days. These are the days of your hardship and struggle ..." The next frame goes on: "... but if you just hold your head up high and keep on fighting, you'll triumph!" "Gee, do you really think so, Lucy?" Charlie asks. As she walks away Lucy says ...

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