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 826 to 850 of 1838 results

826. How Can We Meet Grief?

2 Samuel 18:19--19:8

Sermon

Edward Chinn

... call me strong because my tears I shed where none can see, Because I smile, tell merry tales, and win the crowds to me. They call me strong because I laugh to ease an aching heart, Because I keep the sweet side out, and hide the bitter part. In William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, a character named MacDuff had just learned that his wife and children have been murdered. His friend Malcolm advises MacDuff to declare his grief: "Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught ...

827. The Good News of the Cross

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... Padre. That’s your business." Not alone on the battlefield, not alone in war time, or even in the time of trial or tribulation, that is the big question. Sometimes we ask it anxiously. Sometimes we ask it in bewilderment and bafflement. Sometimes we ask it in bitterness and derision. What is God like? What is the nature and character of the Almighty? And the great word for God from the lips of His Christ was "Father." And somehow, it is that word and in that word that the answer lies. Oh, yes, there were ...

828. The Racial Gap

Psalm 53:1-6

Sermon

William McKee Aber

... of a black man who made it with sweat and hard work and served as an inspiration to his people. In point of fact, his docility infuriated militant Negroes, and his views did not represent completely those of the Negro community, and there was considerable bitterness engendered by his career. My point is only that we haven’t been fair or accurate in our reporting of history, and we have consequently kept the black man from understanding his identity. Evil can be big things, too, It can be the perpetuation ...

829. A WALL OF ROCK AND THE EVERYBODY GAP

Drama

William McKee Aber

... two witnesses: Wormwood and Christian. Would you gentlemen briefly present your credentials? Wormwood: I see some of you are regarding me in amazement. Don’t let my clothes fool you. I am Wormwood, top lieutenant in the service of loneliness, despair, and bitterness. Perhaps you expected horns, cloven feet, and pointy tail? In so doing you show your ignorance and innocence. Workers for evil rarely look conspicuous; we’d rather melt into crowds and not stand out. I personally prefer dark suits, maybe a ...

830. Who Needs a Shepherd These Days?

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... end of the great 60s? Young were set against old - "Don’t trust anyone over thirty!" Black against white - "The Man! Honky! Charlie!" Poor against rich - "We want your illegitimate gains!" Female against male - "Chauvinist pigs!" Dreams shattered into bitterness, anger, despair, frustration, and hopelessness. We ended up in what one commentator had called "a national nervous breakdown." Then, with hardly a time for healing and a coming together - again, there was Vietnam, we’ve met a Watergate, a Mid ...

831. Everyone Has a Somebody

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... all over them, to wipe their feet on them. If you live in a house with a steamroller, the nearer you come to the shape of the door-mat, the less likely you are to get mashed in the process. But underneath, every door-mat seeths with resentment, frustration, and bitterness. Listen to the door-mat. "Once he hit me because I wouldn’t do what he asked. I don’t want that to happen again, so I do my best not to make him angry. But I don’t like being bossed around like a slave. I’ve thought of ...

832. Zechariah

Drama

Charles L. Koester

... , Herod trained 1,000 priests in masonry, carpentry, and decoration. It was a sight to see 1,000 of them working so in their ceremonial Priestly garments. In 10 years, the major work was done, the Temple was restored. But it did nothing to abate the bitterness of our people. Herod was hated more than ever. But, the Temple, the center of our religious worship and life, the Temple was magnificent. You have seen nothing like it in your day. One hundred door keepers were required each night to close the huge ...

833. Joseph

Drama

Charles L. Koester

... , was about to command a new tax; a purchase tax on goods of one percent. You would call it, I believe, a sales tax. It was to pay for the pensions of his retired soldiers whose term of service upon conscription was twenty years. Our people were bitter ... payment, of our own occupiers ... to retire! Food was scarce, prices were high on what was available, and now more taxes. Starvation and taxes; both were our lot in life. And now, a journey to Bethlehem with Mary due shortly, to be enrolled for more taxes ...

834. A Chance Meeting

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... then that I said, "To hell with Rome and law and order." What I wanted I got - and then ran. I robbed and raped. I fought and killed. I traveled fast, and stole my keep. It was a fierce life, but you can push a man just so far. I bitterly fought the world in every way I could. And found that while my poverty was not so great, my hate was all the stronger. It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius that I came to Jerusalem. This Holy City of my lineage was just another opportunity ...

835. HERE O MY LORD, I SEE THEE FACE TO FACE

John 6:1-15

Sermon Aid

John W. Rilling

... given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. There is a story that comes from Scotland out of the old, sad days when men killed one another because their faith was divided by bitter loyalties which seemed irreconcilable. On pain of death persecuted sects were forbidden to gather on the Lord’s Day to worship except in places that were authorized. But there were resolute souls who said to unjust laws and their promulgators, "We must obey God rather ...

836. WHEN MORNING GILDS THE EASTER SKIES

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon Aid

John W. Rilling

... to the dead receive a commission that can be fulfilled only among the living. It is the message of hope, of renewal, restoration, forgiveness. Martin Luther once had a dream in which he stood before God’s Judgment Seat on the Last Day. And Satan, the old bitter foe was there to accuse him. When the books were opened, he pointed to sin after sin and Luther’s heart sank in despair. Then he remembered one fact which Satan had neglected to mention. "There is one entry you have overlooked" he said. "What is ...

837. Crowned With Victory

John 14:15-31

Sermon

O. Garfield Beckstrand, II

... . But the Resurrection of Christ not only gave new life to those first disciples. He also gives new life to us today. Several years ago a funeral director called me to a home where some young parents had just lost a little son. He said they were bitter, and it was impossible for him to make the necessary arrangements. When I arrived, the air was blue as they condemned God, mocked his church, and bad-mouthed those who believed. They called out every foul name in the book of verbal garbage, and by any human ...

838. When the Guest Becomes the Host

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

George Bass

... , Jesus, and the meal, that demand our attention tonight. Nor do we know anything to how the disciples prepared the passover meal for Jesus and themselves. The preparations were involved, requiring the roasting of a lamb, preparation of unleavened bread, obtaining the bitter herbs, the wine, and other important elements in the meal so that the Passover could be reenacted. Perhaps they had the meal catered; that might have been another function of the man who owned the house where the supper took place. With ...

839. Love - A Christian Imperative

John 15:1-17

Sermon

George Bass

... a negative vote which would mean the rejection of the pastor’s candidacy for that parish. These people convinced other members that the pastor did not interpret scripture properly. What began as a mild argument during the congregational meeting turned into a bitter dispute between them and the other members of the congregation who were convinced that the man was a qualified and fitting candidate for their pastoral vacancy. The pastor was rejected on a close vote, but the people were friends. Instead of ...

840. In Quest of Fire

2 Chronicles 36:15-23

Sermon

Larry Powell

... ruminations upon various scriptural themes. Elaborating upon Paul’s admonition, "Quench not the Spirit," Cuyler focuses attention upon a party of Artic explorers. The gathering darkness finds them exhausted following a long, treacherous march through driving snow storms and bitter cold. They huddle together beneath an ice ledge to draw forth the single match and bit of tinder which will ignite their campfire. The temperature is sub-zero. Without a fire, they would certainly perish. Because there is only ...

841. Marduk? or Yahweh?

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... judgment was upon them. Resistance had been futile, the Holy City was overcome, and the people taken off into exile. Signs of that holy warfare were everywhere. No one could get away from the evidence of Yahweh’s judgment on Judah. There was no denying the bitter fruits of Israel’s sins. For those who remained behind, the signs were poignant and dear. The Temple of the Lord, where the swallows once nested, was now a ruin. Its pillars now looked like the tree trunks of a cut-over forest. In the streets ...

842. Good News, Release, and Comfort

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... dwelt. And that hollow place is a place of mourning. Some of us have gone through the pain of a marriage that has failed. And that, too, feels like something has died, and we grieve and mourn that loss. Some here, or some related to us, may have known bitter failure in recent days: bad grades at the end of the semester, or a real defeat at work. Whatever it is, important goals are not achieved and we mourn the death of what might have been. Some parents among us suffer with the pain of a rebellious child we ...

843. House-Building Time

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

... -own-eyes fulfillment. If there is iniquity, then the Son of David will suffer. And another prophet would add, "And with his stripes, we are healed." It’s right here in the Christmas story - all those images that point to the Cross. The myrrh of the Magi, "bitter perfume, breathes a life of gathering gloom." The slaughter of the innocents and the flight into Egypt. This one who is born Son of David will suffer, be chastened, on behalf of Israel, on behalf of all of us. So our Advent joy is not unfettered ...

844. Divine Alka-Seltzer

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

... of cancer; the agony endured by individuals crippled by arthritis; the vacant suffering of the nursing home patient who forgets sometimes who she is; the aching of the parents of a troubled child; the anguish of those who identify with and help others; the bitterness of torn marriages; the lives shattered by alcohol and other drugs; the torment of those making difficult decisions. And at times I have wanted to run and hide again, for the suffering of the world can seem overbearing and the endurance of those ...

845. My Soul Is Glad - Because of God

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

... have to experience hunger and want to know that only God can help us." But how does one know? You could not prove it to someone who was not ready to believe it. You could not engineer it to happen. Some, in fact, instead of being filled by God, turn bitter and angry, out of their experiences of adversity and want. Luther: "We must learn the nature of faith." We need a faith that is not based on what I see or what I feel but on what I believe. "One sees nothing and feels nothing - but one believes. Reason ...

846. Strong Faith For Tough Times

Mark 5:1-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... indeed be just, and the motive must be right. During World War II, William Temple expressed the Just War philosophy when he said this: “We Christians in wartime are called to the hardest of tasks: to fight without hatred, to resist without bitterness, and in the end… to triumph without vindictiveness.” A new element which has been currently brought into the Just War approach is what is called “Humane Fighting.” Humane Fighting… sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? But what it means is that ...

847. Coping When It Seems Impossible

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... ."[2] Leslie D. Weatherhead, the great English preacher of the last generation, describes a difficult incident in the life of a pastor and his secret of coping: He had come home from a difficult meeting, tired and disappointed. He dropped into his chair with deep bitterness in his blood. He wanted to write a letter to crush his opponent. Destructive and mean phrases began to form in his mind. He tried to pray, but didn’t really want to. He then tried an experiment: he relaxed in body and mind, and ...

848. Christ and Healing

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... , as I met him in the hall of a large city hospital. He replied that she was desperately ill and that I had better not see her that night. This woman’s brilliant, talented daughter had died five or six years before. The mother had become bitter, and seemed to hate God and hate life. In her deeply disturbed emotional state a malignancy had taken over, and she was dying. Entering her room the next morning, I could feel the tension and despair. The conversation was not satisfactory. Before leaving I had a ...

849. Service

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... unrealistic, but it sent out a challenge, and young people sang "Follow the Gleam" with stars in their eyes. Pessimism and cynicism rarely motivate people for ministry. Better to be naive and go out in guileless service than to be skeptical and bitter, sitting around a bar exchanging morbid introspections about the impossible human situation. Where To Serve A college student was discouraged, feeling he ought to "go to the mission field;" yet, through no fault of his own, circumstances prevented it. A kindly ...

850. Spiritual Blindness

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... and colleges to talk with students who had good vision, concerning what it meant to be without eyesight. He was forthright; there was no sentimentality, no self-pity; he harbored no resentment, never asking "Why has God done this to me?" There was no bitterness toward those who had good vision. A fellow seminarian of mine was blind. His comment was that blind people are, first of all, people. "Please don’t make us saints," he frequently remarked. "Don’t think that the only thing we read in braille ...

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