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 751 to 775 of 1838 results

751. Journey to the Cross I: Jesus And The Demon-Possessed Man

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... my wife has left me. I can’t get along with my children. I’m cut off from my parents and my in-laws. I’m having conflicts with my co-workers. I’ve been drinking heavily. Everybody has left me... and I don’t blame them. I’ve been bitter and hostile. I’ve done so many mean and cruel things... and now I have so many problems (and then he literally said this).... “My troubles are Legion!” He paused and took a deep breath. Then, he leaned forward and said: “To tell you the truth, I think all ...

752. Journey To The Cross V: Jesus and Simon Peter

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

James W. Moore

... Look at the Burning Bushes, Spiritual Life Publishers, Atlanta, p79) What is that writer talking about? Simply this… Prejudice is profane. Hate is profane. Arrogance is profane. Disrespect is profane. So is jealousy and pettiness and resentment and bitterness and ingratitude. Any attitude that hurts people or dehumanizes or depersonalizes is profane. Any attitude that treats individual persons or groups of people with contempt or disrespect is profane. Recently, The Houston Chronicle ran an article, which ...

753. DEFUSE YOUR FUSE

Illustration

John H. Krahn

... of nature it suggests a superabundant swelling of sap and vigor, thrusting and upsurging in nature. It connotes an impulsiveness found in all of us. As impulsive as anger might be, it can be controlled. Saint Paul says to the church at Ephesus, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." God does not command us to achieve that which is impossible to achieve. To control our anger, we must first believe that it can be controlled and then ...

754. The Excitement of Meaningful Living

John 10:10 · Matthew 6:33 · Ephesians 3:20

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... how to receive that help. There is one thing to guard against: Do not let the negative thing possess your heart. So much sickness, so much nervous breakdown, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart condition, cancer have their origin in frustration, tension and bitterness. These conditions can be set up within us before we know it, because our faith is not adequate, because negative thoughts of fear, worry, surrender to illness, dominate our subconscious minds and take over control of the inner being. We are ...

755. I Knew You’d Come

John 6:16-24

Sermon

Richard Hoefler

... was a stinging blow to the disciples. It seemed that everything they had been working for suddenly went down the drain, all because their leader refused to seize his golden opportunity and make the best of it. Naturally they were disappointed - bitterly disappointed. And disappointment is the prime ingredient of the hardened heart. Like the sudden drop of the temperature to the freezing point, their hot excitement at being princes cooled down and froze their hearts. How many people have frozen hearts toward ...

756. A Liturgical Drama For Advent

Drama

Tom Eberle

... with us. Light: No, I’m just going to ask you to unlock the door and enter the light of each other. I’m going to ask you to listen to the jangle of keys, because wherever my light shines there are keys unlocking the darkness of human bitterness and mistrust. [The Light gives the candle to the couple, who carry it back to the altar while the congregation begins singing.] Congregation sings: O come, thou Key of David, come And open wide our heavenly home. Make safe the way that leads on high And close the ...

757. The Therapy of Song

1 Samuel 16:14-23, Exodus 15:1-21, Psalm 5:1-12

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... with favor as with a shield. (Psalm 5:11-12) One of our Christian liturgical practices, somewhat in evidence but still relatively rare, is that of singing at our funeral services. It is to be encouraged. For the act of singing rescues our grief from bitterness and at the moment when it is most needed, makes our faith fluid. Though we know not their author, these lines smack of truth: Where griping griefs the heart would wound And doleful dumps the mind oppress, There music with her silver sound With speed ...

758. Leah

Genesis 49:29--50:14

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... father, for palming her off on an unwitting suitor; Jacob, for refusing her his love; Rachel, for holding the chief place in Jacob’s heart; God, for having permitted her prayers to go unanswered. Yet, here we see the greatness of Leah. Rather than bitterness, she holds kindness; in place of hate, there is love. Hers is the patient, understanding devotion that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians. Her love, indeed, suffered long and was kind. A little girl who, admittedly, was anything but beautiful was told by ...

759. Holy Tares!

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... these good people will go with him to show their loyalty. A public trial of an offender stirs up the church, offends many, and people take sides. The church is left in turmoil, weaker than when the offender was in it. The offender leaves the church bitter and angry. You can be sure that he will never again come back to church. What has the church gained? It is like capital punishment: punish the criminal with death and you have no chance of rehabilitating him. Man may turn unsatisfactory people out of other ...

760. It Is Really Something New by Dr. Frank Bateman Stanger

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2, Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... and have some time on our hands. He became a sightseer. It is interesting what you can learn about a city when you walk along its streets, look at its people, and begin to catch something of its spirit. I was in Montgomery, Alabama, during the bitter days of the racial crisis. Everything was quiet. The few people on the streets hurried from one store to another trying to accomplish their errands as quickly as possible and with as few contacts as possible. It was quite evident what was the tense spirit of ...

761. In the Spirit's Tether

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... Lord by unbreakable bonds. They were so different from those about them that they were looked upon as a new race ... Jews, Gentiles, and People of the Way. Celsus, a pagan critic of Christianity in the second century, was compelled to conclude his bitter attack with these complimentary words, "But behold how these Christians love one another." That fellowship, that new kind of love, was unknown in the ancient world. It marked them as a different breed, and as a force to be reckoned with. They were bound ...

762. Humility Gate

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... we stoop to enter his presence by spiritually kneeling before him in wonder and in love. As we kneel we sense our inadequacies, our failures, and our mistakes. In the light of his life we see the stains of pride, arrogance, selfishness, and our own lovelessness. Bitter words that we have spoken echo in our ears. Unkind acts rise up to haunt us. Our spiritual muscles ache from resisting where we know we have been called out to self-giving and service. We are tormented by what we truly are, in the light ...

763. What Gives You Away?

Judges 12:1-7

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... dress the same, live in the same world, often work at the same jobs. What then is to identify us as Christian? What tells on us - what gives us away? WHAT WE TALK ABOUT GIVES US AWAY Humans will talk. It is our way of communication. If we have bitterness, it will come out. If we have doubts, they soon will be known. If we are frustrated, others will find out. If we are jealous, it will come to the surface. We talk, verbalize, and discuss issues, people, and all sorts of things - and it is finally our speech ...

764. God Made Me Do It!

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... JESUS TOO We will not always know why our lives turn as they do, the paths they take, why questions remain unanswered. But we will know that God will always come to us and that he is enough for any situation. Even Christ in Gethsemane had to drink the bitter cup, though he prayed till the blood came, the cross did not go away. In fact, the cross killed him - they even buried him - but three days later he got resurrection for himself and for all who believe in him! The God-Directed Life won’t work in parts ...

765. When Christians Quarrel: Resolving Conflict in the Church

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... Lincoln with an interview between Mrs. Lincoln and Parker, the President’s guard: "Parker entered, a heavy-faced man with half-closed lips. He trembled. ‘Why were you not at the door to keep the assassin out?’ she asked fiercely. Parker hung his head. ‘I have bitterly repented it. But I did not believe that anyone would try to kill so good a man in such a public place. The belief made me careless. I was attracted by the play. I did not see the assassin enter the box.’ ‘You should have seen ...

766. Fingertip Embalming

John 20:24-31

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... with utter lack of comprehension. For him, Christ, and everything that he believed in and looked for, was dead. His despair was complete. And now, this bunch of madmen! In his misery and loneliness, he feels like a rejected outsider, and so he lashes out in bitterness and doubt: "So, you’ve seen the Lord? Great! I’ll believe that when I see him myself, when I stick my finger into the scars in his hands and thrust my hand into his side." Can you sense his misery? His loneliness? His complete estrangement ...

767. Embalmed Alive

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... men and women beset by all sorts of emotional ills, including chronic loneliness, sexual frustration, alcoholism, and excessive dependence on their children. In some New York suburbs, counselors will tell of families composed of emotionally disturbed or delinquent children, bitterly frustrated wives, and husbands so neglectful they do not even realize what is happening to their home lives. The president of one New York firm, for example, was home only every other weekend, and he usually spent that on ...

768. Christians In A Warring World - 1941

Galatians 6:1-10

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... pacifist believes that to fulfill the conditions of hell in order to establish the Kingdom of Heaven is the ultimate insanity, for the law of the harvest never fails to function: What we sow we reap. If we plant hate, bitterness, murder, and all sorts of sin, we guarantee a harvest of Hitlers, Mussolinis, Stalins, and general depression throughout the world. The pacifist believes that to estabish worldwide peace, and to maintain it, requires justice, good-will, cooperation, fundamental righteousness, and ...

769. EPISODE 6: THE SIXTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... stay awake with me this little while? PETER: What happened, Lord? I felt so tired. JESUS: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Try to pray, and get ready for your time of testing. [He goes apart again.] O my Father, you are asking me to drink a bitter cup. If there is any other way ... any other ... then spare me this cup. Spare me! But if this is the way the kingdom must come, I am ready to do your will. [He goes back to the others.] Peter ... PETER: I’m sorry, Lord. This time I’ll stay ...

770. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... after me; he is mightier than I; I am unworthy of him; I am simply helping to prepare the way for him." It was an aspect of John’s greatness that he could see himself as who he was, as standing where he stood. With no tinge of bitterness or jealousy or self-pity, he could say concerning Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). He could see his own star eclipsed by the brighter sun, and could turn with upreached arms to welcome that more brilliant light. "Little" people usually do not ...

771. The Light that Shines Within

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... statesman who saved the American union. George Frederick Handel was an unknown Prussian who seemed to have everything weighted against him, but he could become the skilled creator of the mightiest of all oratorios, The Messiah. Saul of Tarsus was an intemperate and bitter enemy of the Christian Faith, but he could become the most powerful champion of that Faith the world has yet known. A second exciting fact is this: resident in the human breast is a built-in urge to become. As poet Harry Kemp writes ...

772. Thorns and Roses

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... that with God's help they will force this thorn to bear dividends. Some have adopted children. In some cases these have been so-called "hard to place" children. Others have become foster parents for children in crisis situations. These brave adults did not become bitter or bemoan their fate. Instead, they forced that thorn to produce a rose. Morris F. Udall, former Secretary of the Interior and U.S. Senator, lost an eye in an accident when he was six years old. Children would tease him cruelly about the eye ...

773. No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... self-denial in our lives. The beauty of tithing is that it requires some degree of sacrifice. If in addition we give a significant part of our time and talent, then in a small way we sip from that cup of commitment which Jesus drained all the way to its bitter dregs. If Jesus is our Lord, there ought to be some sacrifice and self-denial in our lives. Where is yours? Where is mine? The Second Thing Jesus Said About Discipleship Is This: The Time Is Now. In verse 59, a would-be follower says to Jesus, "Let me ...

774. Marantha: Come Lord Jesus

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... violin, the sweeter the music." Anna had had only seven years of married life before her husband died. She spent all those others years as a widow. You will recall that a widow in the first century was virtually a welfare case. Yet she was not bitter. Trusting in God she lived faithfully and expectantly. Anna was a prophetess; that is, God sometimes spoke through her. The people recognized that she was inspired by God. Simeon was a devout layman, filled with the Holy Spirit. He had been told by the Spirit ...

775. Do Wrinkles Hurt?

Psalm 92:1-15

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... other words even as we get older and give up some things, the Lord is always replacing our losses with his good things. There are some inevitable trade-offs that come with ageing. We give up some things and we gain others. Don't be angry or bitter and fight the process. Go with the flow and make the most of it. Some anonymous poet wrote the following little ditty about two famous Bible heroes: "King Solomon and King David led very merry lives, with their very many concubines and very many wives; until old ...

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