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 926 to 950 of 4959 results

926. Brokenness and Bread

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... If we want to march along the roads of the invisible, we must feed on bread from Heaven. "This bread from Heaven is God Himself. He becomes food to us walking in the invisible. "Jesus knew that real human hunger, beneath all our other hungers and desires, is the hunger for God." The truth is, without Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven, we will always be broken and empty--laboring for that which will never satisfy. Recently, a man who was experiencing stomach pains went to his doctor. The doctor reported that ...

927. Whose Servant Are You? (Part II)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... unwillingness to surrender the control of their life to anyone except themselves. Most often it is too late in life when they discover what a harsh task-master self can be. I know, like the Apostle Paul, how hard it is to let go of our stubborn wills and our desire for self-determination and self-sufficiency. It is so easy to forget that one has gone before us who gave his life in service to all. Dr. C. Roy Angell tells the story of a man who came out of his club one evening and walked to the parking lot ...

928. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... shared with you today that being a Christian is not easy. It will bring conflict into your life. However, the Good News is that in doing so, you so transfer your citizenship from this world to the next. As C. S.Lewis says, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another." While the noise of battle is heard for a season, so is the eternal victory song as we go forward in the battle for the grand and glorious coronation ...

929. The Tenacity of Trouble

James 4:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... . It seems that the Tenacity of Trouble is found in every generation. It has been felt in everyday life and relationships. You and I know it as the "He said/She said" syndrome. It hits every family and church house. James was concerned that Christians'' inner desires were adversely affecting their outward journey of faith and thus rendering the church''s witness powerless. He knew he had to deal with the rage in the human heart. Often when we think of the word rage, we think of the winds, the oceans, waves ...

930. Still Waters

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... say, `Dogonit, you found me.'' What did I really want, did I want to hide or did I really want to be found?" Dr. Craddock shares that this often is a parable of the way we run from God. The only stronger and deeper desire in the human spirit to find God that he knows is the desire of God to find us. When we stop running from God and accept the guidance and direction that God is so eager to share, then we will find the green pastures and the still waters where we can be nurtured and find authentic life ...

931. The Measure of Love

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... excellent way. If we are connected to the One who loves us, than we can respond in God''s love rather than our own hate. While the Bible drama clearly reveals that love can be crucified, it can never be defeated--thus, it is God''s desire for us to live out the reality of love. Love does return to us if we are willing to love without instant measurability. Remember what Gandhi said, that history has taught us that truth and love always win. LASTLY, TO LOVE WITHOUT MEASURE REQUIRES COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICE ...

932. Do You Know What Time It Is?

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... to ride, but had been unable to do so. At least her daughter would learn, she thought. But taking the daughter added to her sense of depression. Her own life was nearly over, she felt, and it would always be incomplete because she had not fulfilled her childhood desires. Back at home, she ran across a little booklet her daughter had made when she was eight years old and in the third grade. It was titled "The ME Book." It was about the daughter''s life up to that point. There were eight pages, one for each ...

933. The Marvelous Meaning of the Cross

Galatians 6:11-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Luke''s gospel. This is worse than the O. J. Simpson hearings and the skin-head brothers in our own commonwealth. These events, while tragic, come from our lower nature. However, the worst kind of evil arises in our higher nature when we desire to be God. In Genesis 3:5, we read of Adam''s sin and his desire to be like God. It was Adam''s sin and it is our sin also. Our sins must be extremely horrible for Christ to die for them. If you take the word "sin," the middle letter is "I." As Calvin Miller so ...

934. Are We on Speaking Terms with the Almighty?

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Haddon Spurgeon said years ago, "Only that prayer which comes from our heart can get to God''s heart." Spurgeon further said, "You can draw to God even though you cannot say a word. A prayer may be crystallized in a tear. A tear is enough water to float a desire to God." The tax collector could only muster a few words and then he beat his breast. I tell you that God heard that prayer. He heard the Pharisee, but He could not act on it for it was not a "prayer." Dwight L. Moody and Charles Spurgeon were great ...

935. If You Are Willing

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon

King Duncan

... s Word comprehensively. But I wonder if this little story of the man who was healed of leprosy and couldn’t keep quiet about it doesn’t at least hint at God’s dilemma. Jesus’ compassion reflects the compassion of God. Just as Jesus desired healing for the hurting, so God desires healing for the hurting. God is, after all, absolute love. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught us not to worry. God knows our needs. God is aware of the sparrow that falls from the sky. How much greater, asked Jesus, is ...

936. Deliverance: The Forgotten Third of Jesus' Ministry

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... third question: How did this demon get into this child? Verse 26 mentions, "Cast it out." Who put it in in the first place? The text simply does not tell us. It is a mystery. Some paths Satan walks to embody persons include overindulging natural desires. For example, a teen in becoming sexually mature begins to indulge his passion in movies, bawdy humor, and fantasy. Next comes pornography. And the next thing you know he's absolutely infested with the demonic. Trauma can give opening to Satan. A child of a ...

937. Who Can Ask for Anything More?

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

... first said, "Enough is always a little more than a man has"? Philosophers and sages of long ago were sure that happiness does not lie in acquiring many "things" but in taming our desires. An ancient Greek thinker named Epicurus said of a friend, "If you want to make Pythocles happy, do not add to his possessions, rather, take away from his desires." Surely the happy ones are those who sing along with the shepherd boy in John Bunyan's song in Pilgrim's Progress: "I am content with what I have, Little be it ...

938. What Are You Going to Do with My World?

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

A friend tells of his son who asked for a globe of the world as one of his Christmas gifts last year. Of course his parents were pleased to purchase something so useful for their child. So many Christmas lists leave much to be desired! The boy thoroughly enjoyed his gift and kept it on a small table in his bedroom. One evening his parents were discussing the fact that so many of our clothing items are imported from foreign countries. The wife recalled that a recently purchased scarf had come from Sri Lanka ...

939. Grace in the Midst of Guilt and Shame

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... cases in which adults are suing their grown parents for "wrongful birth." In other words, those parents should have known better than to bring such unhappy children into the world. A second strategy is to seek punishment, or, as author Frederick Buechner puts it, "Our desire to be clobbered for our guilt, and thus rid of it, tempts us to do things we will be clobbered for." How else can we explain the incredibly bone-headed ways that would-be robbers, every year, manage to do things that lead police right ...

940. I'll Be Somewhere Listening

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... beginning. This new beginning was to be characterized by God's Word as it came to Samuel. It became the Word of God for the nation. God is still a God of resolve who desires to bring to his people a "new thing." God's "new thing" was made available to everyone "when the word became flesh and lived among us" (John 1:14). In his resolve God desired to reveal to us what God was like. In order to do that, he laid aside that which was his right and came to serve, redeem, and love humankind. One day God laid ...

941. Follow the Signs to God and Eternal Life

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... they need or want to be. If signs are ignored, then most assuredly the result will be disaster. Signs are an important, even integral, aid to the journey of life, setting us on a path that if properly and closely followed will bring us to our desired destination, safely and efficiently. In a very real way signs are a source of liberation; they free us from following erroneous ways and assist us in making wise decisions in the route our life takes. Signs are posted by those who have blazed the path before ...

942. Look Inside and Discover Life

Numbers 21:4-9

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... , healthy, and seemingly productive individual, a man who "had it all together." Inside, however, he was filled with rapaciousness. He was corrupted by his infection with the desire for power, wealth, and prestige. He could not see his true self; his self awareness was minimal. As our Lenten journey continues let us be filled with the desire to place our spiritual houses in order. Let us begin by looking inward and taking the often perilous journey of introspection. Let us be honest, sort out problems ...

943. Waiting for God

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... , “Doggone it, Bill, you’re gonna stare a hole right through our window!” Bill knew who was coming that morning. And he expected to see that cloud of dust and the familiar blue and white ‘54 Ford station wagon roll up at any moment. He had no desire to play outside or even move from that chair. He focused all his energies and attention on that long, empty road. (1) Is there anything harder to do than to wait? Have you ever thought about what a big role waiting plays in Scripture? The children of ...

944. And God Breathed Into Man

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... meaning in that? "The Bible does not pretend that we are paragons of virtue, painted saints, and ideal figures of humanity. The Bible is well aware that the struggle of nature also determines our human life, that we too are controlled by instincts and urges, needs and desires, just as are the birds and the beasts of the field. Often our dreams, which we cannot control by our will, are an appalling reminder that we have our roots in the animal kingdom. "Isn't it really a comfort that the Bible sees us quite ...

945. A Converting Presence

1 John 2:28--3:10

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... God. In God we live and move and have our being. For God we were made and our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Good news. Bad news, we fail, thus we’re sinners. Like Adam and Eve, we ate the forbidden fruit of selfish desire and self will because we want to control our own life and destiny. Whatever your understanding of original sin, and we could argue about that one all day, whatever your understanding of original sin, the important truth is that there’s nothing original about sin. That’s ...

946. Servants Without Portfolio

Matthew 20:20-28

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... top becomes its own goal and serving ideas, exploring meanings, caring for others, being Christian in full degree, is lost. The problem is not that we have ambition - that is healthy. The problem is not our desire for growth and development as individuals and as institutions, the desire for growth is healthy. The problem is making upward mobility a religion within itself. Nowan gives us the fresh and vivid metaphor of downward mobility. The story of our Christian salvation stands radically over and against ...

947. Curiosity Or Consecration

Romans 12:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... your quickening powers. Come shed abroad a Savior’s love and that will quicken ours. Amen. In the second Act of the play Gideon, the angel of the Lord recognizes that his chosen one has rejected him. Gideon has vacillated between love and disenchantment, between a desire to serve and a longing to be served. Finally, in a fit of resentment, he turns away from the Lord’s representative, and the angel speaking for the Lord says, “I meant for you to love me, but you were only curious.” I meant for you ...

948. Gospel Through The Person

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... a saving relationship with Christ. Do we have a passion for righteousness and holiness? Do we have a loving, burning desire that our community be a place where people can live in dignity and wholeness? One specific area of concern – the ... visit. Though addressing his readers, Paul is talking to himself, working out his own feelings as he shares his unedited thoughts. He is ambiguous in his desires. He said I want to go on and be with Christ, what joy that would be. Yet, what about the fruit of my labor with ...

949. Getting It All Together Inside

Psalm 51:1-19, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... buried pain, unconfessed sin, and unresolved guilt. I want to get it all together inside, to be Holy through and through. The question is How? The answer – the prescription is simple but not simplistic. Clear but not easy. It calls for desire – deep, deep desire to be whole – and a willingness to continue the process of following Christ and allowing Christ to heal you through and through. Here is the prescription. One, be scathingly honest with yourself. Be scathingly honest with yourself. Two, find a ...

950. All This And Heaven Too

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . And in every step, he will assure us that on the other side of death, he will raise us up and we will be new creatures. Listen. Do you hear it? Listen. Listen to that gnawing discontent – that stirring deep within. Listen to that longing. Listen to that desire to be more than you are. Listen to that mysterious urge to be where you aren’t. Listen to that loving, pulling drive to be reunited with your loved ones who have already gone to heaven. Listen. It’s God calling, do you hear? Let it resonate in ...

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