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 801 to 825 of 1838 results

801. Victory

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

... fellowship of holy love with God. Now, we spend our time creating a "god" of our self-centeredness. What this "god" does not tell is that his rule is only over hell. Our paradise - our oneness with God - is lost. But, on the cross, Jesus had tasted of that bitter loss when the darkness came over his soul - as the Father’s face turned away. In that awful moment, Jesus was made sin for us. He paid the price of the guilt and punishment that was due to our sin. Hell might be the slate wherein the soul is ...

802. Is There Life After Christmas?

Luke 2:21-40, Isaiah 12:1-6

Sermon

Erskine White

... true with Jesus. We can only choose to live for or against Him - there is no middle way. We can only choose to be His disciple or His detractor, and if we choose the former, we choose a set of principles and a way of life which Simeon knows are bitterly opposed by the world. There is no mystery to that, nor is it a mystery to God or anyone else which choice we make. Our values, our priorities and our lifestyles all reveal to God and the world the content of our hearts and the character of our souls. What ...

803. It Isn't Fair!

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

Brett Blair

... for me he didn’t first ask the questions that we would ask: do we deserve it and can we repay it. Because the answer to both questions is no. The economics of the Kingdom of God are quite unlike the economics of the world. And, like Simon Peter, we bitterly complain about the unfairness of it all. We miss the point that if God had our tally book mentality, and went strictly by what is fair, then salvation would be out of the grasp of all. The issue is not what is fair. The issue is: How can we bring ...

804. Why Don’t You Send Somebody?

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... any way out. And inwardly the question is asked, "How will I be able to go on?" Some, reaching out from faith, and others crying out in desperation, turn to God for help. Where is God when we sit among the ruins? Frequently we hear the expression of anger and bitterness, "O God, why did you let this happen to me?" God often gets the blame for the wreckage that happens in life. When tragedy is no one’s fault there seems no way to explain it except to blame God. But God is not the culprit. A more cogent ...

805. Comfort

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... them and see what the terrain is like. You may remember seeing pictures from the time of the Gulf War depicting the harshness of the desert. Between Babylon and Jerusalem were hills and valleys, sandy desert and rough ground - intense heat in the summer and bitter cold in the winter. That might be difficult enough for the young and able-bodied, but would you take old men and women, and children, and expectant mothers on a trip like that, plus everything they’ll need to survive? That’s insane! That’s ...

806. You Can Go Home Again!

Jeremiah 3:6-4:4

Sermon

Frederick C. Edwards

... darkness in which we long for light. There was a man named John, who was sent by God to be a witness to the light who was coming into the world. The light, of course, was Jesus. The light was reconciliation and forgiveness and love to cure the darkness of bitterness and alienation and mistrust. To those who decided to accept the gift he gave the power to live as children of God. We cannot re-live the past. Even if we could we wouldn’t do it any more perfectly than we did the first time. We’d just make ...

807. Simon Peter: Strong Stone or Crumbling Clay?

Luke 22:54-62

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

... on his way to the Cross, where he carried my sins and yours, so that my guilt and yours could be blotted out forever. I see that now, and I’m so glad. But in that moment, all I could do was get out of that place and weep bitterly. Then in my shame and sorrow, I remembered something, something Jesus had said once after he fed the multitude out in the wilderness. He had said, "Him who comes to me I will not cast out." Recalling his precious promise, I then remembered something else, something I myself had ...

808. The Centurion - Arranging Death, Announcing Life

Mark 15:33-41

Sermon

Carl E. Zahrte

... . All through the time of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, all the while he had hung on the Cross, no one had said anything to defend him, other than that one thief crucified beside him. No one had offered him any comfort in his dying hour, other than that sip of bitter wine. So I had to speak. It was too late for Jesus to hear me, I thought, but I wanted someone to know how I felt about him. Do you ever feel that way? Do you long for the courage to stand up, and speak up for Jesus? When you ...

809. Lift High The Cross

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." Living with snakes proved to be no picnic! It prompted an attitudinal change. It doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes increased suffering produces even greater bitterness and alienation. Here, however, it called forth the spirit of repentance and confession. It is important to note that the prayers of the Israelites were not answered in the way they requested. The snakes were not removed. Instead the image of a snake ...

810. All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Durwood L. Buchheim

... this song, suffering can have a redemptive purpose. God can use suffering for redemption and reconciliation. Not all suffering has this positive result and there is certainly nothing automatic about it. As we all well know, suffering can and has produced bitterness, frustration, and despair. It is clear that in this suffering servant song, that which gives redemptive power and meaning to suffering is the involvement of God. Usually we identify suffering with God’s absence, but not in this song. Here the ...

811. Egypt: Unlikely Refuge

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... blithely demonstrates that the whole world is his. If he wishes, he can use the pagan Cyrus as easily as the godly Moses. He chooses, at times, to provide a refuge in Egypt. There is pathos in it sometimes, and humor at others. A white man with bitter racial prejudice is stranded on the highway, and the first person to stop and offer aid is a black man. A woman with delicate sensibilities is startled to find that the person in church who most nurtures her Christian life is another woman of a far different ...

812. The Garden: All Things New

John 20:1-9

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... same voice say, "Mary," the voice that once had called her out of the tombs of her daily terror, she knew it well and unmistakably. How appropriate that this should have happened in a garden. As I said to you a while ago, our human story took its first bitter turn in a garden, a place called Eden. In that garden, we lost everything. Now, in this garden of the tomb, all was restored. And how right that it should have happened to Mary of Magdala. In the ancient story of Eden, it was the woman, Eve, who first ...

813. A Man Whose Dreams Came True

Genesis 37:1-11

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... the butler, he would not have been in the right place at the right time - to save a whole nation (God’s nation) and a whole world (God’s world). We must be careful to realize that this doctrine does not blame God for the distressing. the bitter, the unhappy, the disastrous, the evil events of our lives. He does not cause calamity; he does not send sorrow. He is not responsible for our misdeeds, our foolish mistakes, our unwise choices, or our sinful acts. But he can - and does - take these damaging and ...

814. A Man Who Lost His Head

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... Herod," he said, "what you’re doing is wrong. What you’re doing is immoral. What you’re doing is adulterous. You’re living with the wife of another man. In the eyes of the Law and in the eyes of God, this is sin." Publicly and bitterly, openly and plainly, he condemned King Herod. Because of this, he was thrown into prison. Because of this, he stirred up the vengeful spirit of Herodias, the woman with whom Herod was living. Because of this boldness, he lost his head - at the request of a provocative ...

815. A Reed Who Became a Rock

John 1:35-42

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... our congregation voted him to be No. 1 in the list of their favorite men. And in most such elections, Paul would probably emerge at the top of the list. But Paul, in many ways, was different from you and me. Paul at one time was a bitter opponent and enemy of the Christian Gospel. He was hostile to it. He actually was responsible for the arrest, imprisonment, and murder of many of the early Christian believers. Most Christians today do not have such a background. Have you ever really hated the church? Or ...

816. A Man Who Wanted to Burn a City

Luke 9:46-50

Sermon

R. Blaine Detrick

... Peter did following the arrest of Jesus? Three times - even with blasphemous oaths - he denied that he even knew Jesus. After this disgrace, what happened to Peter? The Bible doesn’t tell us. We are told that he heard the cock crow ... saw the look of Jesus ... and wept bitterly (Luke 22:60-62). But where did he go? What did he do? We don’t know. But the next time we do see Peter, note where he is. He’s with John! It’s on Easter morning, just three days later. Mary Magdalene had come running from ...

817. Augustine, Defender of the Faith

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... , so I moved far enough away that even his presence could not embarrass me ... After this manner I spoke to you: ‘How long, O Lord, how long?’ ... Why is there not this moment an end to my wickedness?" "So I was speaking and weeping in the bitter contrition of my heart, when suddenly I heard from a neighboring house a voice, ‘Take up and read, take up and read.’ "... in silence I read that passage on which my eyes first fell: ‘Let us conduct ourselves properly, as people who live in the light ...

818. When Something is About to Happen

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

Thomas Long

... they live today in the light of God’s tomorrow, when all will be clothed in garments of light and the banquet table of the kingdom will hold a feast. Come, Lord Jesus. Every time Christian people speak words of forgiveness in circumstances of bitterness, words of love in situations of hatred, they are speaking in the future present tense. That is, they are using in the present a language which the whole creation will learn to speak in God’s tomorrow. Come, Lord Jesus. Every time worshipers struggle ...

819. They Also Serve Who Wait

Luke 2:21-40

Sermon

Thomas Long

... , fasting and praying," for she was among "those waiting for the redemption of Israel."2 It is never easy to wait for anything of importance - for Christmas, for the plane carrying the one we love, for the morning to relieve the sleepless night, for the healing word in a bitter argument, for the toilsome task to be done, for the labor to be over and the child to be born, for death. It is never easy to wait. It is hardest of all to wait for God. Not many can bear its harsh discipline. Not many can attain its ...

820. What Do You See?

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Thomas Long

... patients are illegal aliens, so we’d just be supporting illegal activity." "But they’re people," said another in the group, "and they need medical care." Back and forth went the discussion, with much passion but without resolution. Taking a vote would have been bitterly divisive, so the matter was tabled until the next meeting. On the following day, the pastor of the church called the officer who had spoken in opposition and made a date for lunch. During lunch the pastor asked him if he would be willing ...

821. Hot Tubs and Fishing Trips

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Thomas Long

... , in search of an inner validation. You are moving out of roles and into the self.6 And so, people do "let go" and "let the changes." People make courageous changes in their lives trying to "get their act together," only to make the bitter discovery that they have written themselves into the starring role in a one-person play with no audience. One of the sociologists who authored the book Habits of the Heart reported the following interview with a professional woman in her early thirties: Q: So ...

822. Abide In Me

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Richard A. Jensen

... of mind over matter. People loved to challenge his powers of will. One of the ways he first caught people’s attention was his ability to withstand hot and cold. They dared him to walk through a bed of fiery coals. They dared him to expose himself to the bitter cold for a full day. They dared him and he did it. "Just a case of simple willpower," he would say. "You can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it." On another occasion they tested his ability to stay awake. They challenged him to ...

823. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... the Navy. For a time, Scott served with the fleet, flying by helicopter from ship to ship, conducting services of worship. But he never surrendered his goal to serve with his "youth fellowship" who were fighting in Vietnam, even though it became increasingly clear that a bitter cup of suffering and a fierce baptism by fire might await him there. Finally, the orders Stan sought came through and he found himself in the thick of the action in Vietnam. It was as he had expected. He was needed by his "boys," and ...

824. Let’s Climb a Mountain

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... God") but they were not practicing Jews. That, in large measure, accounted for their rejection by the "righteous" and "respectable" members of their society. But although "the people of the land" were despised and rejected, there were many who had learned valuable lessons from their bitter experiences. A. Among them were the poor in spirit. The person who is poor in spirit accepts his limitations and is not too proud to ask for help before he reaches the end of his rope. He leans heavily on the Lord, not on ...

825. Happiness Is ... the Kingship of Jesus

John 18:28-40

Sermon

James W. Robinson

... churning rapids of a racing river. Jesus was helpless in the raging "current of events." He could scarcely keep his head above water. He was doomed to perish in cascading falls that crashed a short distance downstream. Or so it seemed to both bitter foe and disillusioned friend. The Last Supper, the agony in Gethsemane, the betrayal and arrest, and the trial before the Sanhedrin had occurred so quickly that their recollection made the heads of the disciples spin. The Sanhedrin, jealous of his popularity and ...

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