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 1076 to 1100 of 1838 results

1076. Remembering Jesus

2 Peter 1:16-21

Sermon

James L. Killen

... faith that were emerging were just excuses for moral laxity. Christians need to be able to believe in one another as well as in God. When people saw professing Christians not living up to their faith, they sometimes experienced bitter and destructive disillusionment. Unfortunately, we have had that experience, too, haven't we? Newspapers seem to take special delight in making headlines of the moral and ethical failures of high profile evangelists and church leaders. Those failures are deeply disappointing ...

1077. Sheep that Count

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Richard W. Ferris

... the shepherd, stay in the flock, and be kept safe and healthy. That seemed like quite enough for her. She told her son what all the elders had always said to her, "The grass may look greener over there somewhere, but without the shepherd, its taste will seem quite bitter." But Edgar knew he had to taste that grass over there and beyond. He knew there must be a better life outside the flock, and he would not be happy until he found out. Finally, one day, Edgar took up Destiny's offer to come and see his den ...

1078. Life, Death, and Judgment

Romans 14:1-12

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... Grim Reaper that the man would receive clear, repeated notices before the Reaper would come for him. One day, unannounced and completely unexpected, the Grim Reaper appeared and demanded the man's life. "How could you break your pledge?" the man complained bitterly. "I received no warnings from you." A hideous grin spread across the skeletal features, and then came a response: "What about your failing eyesight, your dimmed sense of hearing, your grey and falling hair, your lost teeth, the wrinkles on your ...

1079. The Lonesome Valley

Matthew 21:1-11; 26:36-46, 69-27:1,15-26

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... not about being on top with no problems. Life is about being knocked down, and getting back up again. "Give him a chance to mess up his life, and then see what happens." The heroes, the heroines, are those who, when that happens, do not crawl away in bitterness or in fear, but they set their face steadfastly to face whatever Jerusalem they have to face, and expect that new life is going to come out of it. Help us to be masters of ourselves, that we might be servants of others, through Christ our Lord. Amen ...

1080. A Discussion Among Angels

Matthew 24:36-44

Drama

Matthew Powell

... . Their children can never find peace until they learn to love one another and help one another. Wickedness is begotten by disease and misery. Violence comes from poverty and hunger. The cruelty of oppression is when the strong trample the weak under their feet. The bitterness of pride is when the wise and the learned despise the simple. The crown of folly is when the rich think that they are gods ... and the poor think that God is not. Hatred, envy, and contempt are the curse of life. For these there ...

1081. In the Darkness of Anxiety, There Is the Light of Peace

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... caroling. After going to several homes, they came by to see us. We stood in the doorway as they sang. Then, a lady in the choir led us all in prayer. Right in the middle of her prayer, I heard our cat come running through the house. It was a bitter, cold night, and we had decided to keep him inside, but here he came, headed for the open front door. I yelled out in the middle of her prayer, “Grab the cat, quick!” That lady never did forgive me for that. We get all caught up in Christmas, and if ...

1082. Proper 9

Gen 24:1-67, Zech 9:9-13, Rom 7:7-25; 8:1-17, Mt 11:1-19, 25-30

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... , my God and my King" (v. 1a). Prayer of the Day: "God of glory, Father of love, peace comes from you alone. Send us as peacemakers and witnesses to your kingdom, and fill our hearts with joy in your promises of salvation." Hymn of the Day: "Peace To Soothe Our Bitter Woes"

1083. Proper 12

1 Kings 3:1-15, Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Genesis 29:15-30

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... what love does - it gives and gives. Think of what love cost God by giving Jesus on the cross. And yet it is as nothing. Because of his love, the seven years for Jacob was as a few days. 3. Deceived (v. 25). Well, Jacob got some of his own bitter medicine! He deceived his father to get Esau's blessing as the firstborn. Because of that, he was a refugee in Laban's home. Now Jacob experiences deception when Leah is given to him for a wife rather than Rachel. Laban deceived Jacob with Leah and tricked him into ...

1084. The Offense of Grace

Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... the more amazing because of the horror which he himself had experienced at the beginning of the war - watching his own family: his wife, his two daughters, his three little boys, shot before his very eyes by Nazi soldiers in Warsaw. When asked to explain his lack of bitterness, Wild Bill responded, "I had to decide right then whether to let myself hate the soldiers who had done this. It was an easy decision, really. I was a lawyer. In my practice I had seen too often what hate could do to people's minds and ...

1085. What Is Success?

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... stood. So with me. When I lost my savings, when my wife died, when my son didn't come back from the war - well as you might say, the outworks were stormed, but, sir, I have kept the castle! I haven't surrendered my faith in Jesus, and hardness and bitterness haven't gotten inside. And if they do, sir, it will be my fault!" Yes, a person can lose his height, his width, even his length of life, but if he still has his depth, if his life is still founded on the rock, why, measure him or her a ...

1086. Try This on For Size!

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... surgery in the kitchen on your wife. You will trust her only to a specialist. But how about us! How about ourselves! When something goes wrong with our lives, whom do we turn to for repairs? When our lives are damaged or broken and we are left lonely, depressed, bitter, or divorced and afraid, whom do we take our lives to for the fixing? Do we go to the master, to a specialist, a professional? No! We go to Bob or Jim or Sue or Carol across the street. We trust some amateur's advice or the stars or ...

1087. The Garden Is Doing Fine?

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... soil for roots, it withers away in the heat of summer. You've seen, no doubt, a bonsai plant. A cedar tree is planted in a small bowl. It grows but remains dwarfed because the gardener clips its taproot. So many come limping into the church hurt, divorced, bitter, broke, confused, and, hearing the gospel, jump for it with all the eagerness of a drowning man grabbing for a life rope tossed his way. And for a few months they can't get enough! Then the gust of emotion dwindles. They find out God doesn't always ...

1088. Things to Come!

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... actually has the person in charge of the household introduce leaven directly into the process! This is the corruption of the divine agent. Not a very pretty picture of the church and what ministry would be like, eh? Oh, the frustration of wasted seed, the galling bitterness of a mixed harvest, the bureaucratic nightmare of a proud and savorless denomination and the evil right inside the church! Like I said at the outset, I'd quit if this is all there was to the crucible of ministry! But it is not! For Jesus ...

1089. As Long As It Is Day!

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... ago. During that time she had never forgiven the individual who'd sinned against her. Instead she nursed her grudge, schemed of glorious get even tactics, and meditated on hatred. So now she was tired all the time, her face was hard and wore a mask of bitterness. She was neurotic. My, was she neurotic - such negativism and compulsive criticism as you've never seen! But what do you expect with her mind so focused on evil all the time! We talked. She was a Christian. I suggested she let her debtor loose just ...

1090. How to Love God

Matthew 22:34-46

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... fire at corruption in the temple. And part of the picture of the early disciples is emotion as well. Consider Peter, the big fisherman. He is impulsive, blustering. He is ready to make an enthusiastic endorsement of Christ on the mountaintop. Later he denies Christ and weeps bitter tears. Days later, while fishing in a boat, Christ calls to him from the seashore, and Peter's heart leaps within him for joy! He dives into the water and is the first to reach Christ's side. Emotion? Yes, it had its place in the ...

1091. Once More with Feeling!

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... . Praise is an acknowledgment of God's goodness. It is faith, pure and simple. Thanksliving replaces complaint with satisfaction, self-pity with joy, and whining with creative love. Those who refuse to praise God and live with thanks during difficult times will grow bitter and pessimistic. But those who live thankfully will open themselves up to God's blessing. He can put their faith where it will be seen. Others can be blessed. All things work together for good. If our recipe for a happy Thanksgiving is ...

1092. The Process of Love

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... failed romances. He told Nathaniel just looking at him that he was a Hebrew in whom there was no guile. And, indeed, sometimes God gifts us with such discernment. Haven't you ever looked deeply in another's face and seen broken commandments, great suffering, or bitterness? Mostly, however, we get to know people by taking the time to ask questions and listen. "Who are you?" "What brings you here?" "What are you thinking?" Many years ago, I'd been to a Christian camp in upstate New York. Five days of two-a ...

1093. The Greatest Gift

Matthew 1:1-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... participants prayed for family or friends, living or dead, whom they wrote about on their crosses. After the prayer time concluded, the people approached the manger, one by one, and received someone else's cross containing a sweet or bitter Christmas memory. Again in silence, people opened boxes and read the quotes and stories that were found therein. The outflow of emotions that surrounded the opening of these crosses surpassed secular gift exchanges, partly because these boxes contained Christ-centered ...

1094. Come Back

Luke 21:5-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . Even the Romans betrayed their own legal boundaries and rules of order, enabling them to put Jesus to death, despite his innocence. In this week's gospel text Jesus cautions his disciples that if they remain faithful to him they too will experience the bitterness of betrayal even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends. We can even be betrayed by strangers. There was another national news story the last week in October. Maybe some of you remember it. A woman from Douglas County, Georgia went on ...

1095. Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... order of who and what was acceptable, a pecking order Jesus was seriously messing up. Furthermore, the message of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son, was far too frothy for the strict-minded Pharisees. Where was judgment? Where was punishment? Where was the bitter harvest that must be reaped when sins were sown? And even more than the absence of judgment, what about the absence of concern for the 99? Here's how novelist Michael Maloney describes his vision of the lost sheep scene in his book Handling ...

1096. Eleven Plus One

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . 12. Judas Iscariot: DeLorean Judas is probably the most innately gifted and talented of all the disciples. He was a patriot who wanted to see the Roman government overthrown and the people of Israel liberated from the oppression and injustice. Bitterly disappointed when Jesus shunned this scenario, Judas' rejection made him susceptible to the blandishments of power and authority and open to blundering into betrayal. Judas would've chosen a sleek and smart street machine, an auto fitting an inordinately ...

1097. God for Dummies

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... themselves could be quite dangerous places. He not only entrusts the unknown innkeeper with money to care for the hurt man, but tells the innkeeper to run a tab-putting himself at considerable monetary risk. All this for a man he can see is Jewish, a bitter enemy. Such is God-love. What must we do to inherit eternal life? Not a hard question. The lawyer already knows the answer. You already know the answer. Love God. Love your neighbor. But to live the answer? Now that's another question. And Jesus answers ...

1098. Murphy's Law and Messiah's Law

Luke 8:26-39

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... rewarded or appreciated doesn't mean you aren't appreciated or won't get rewarded in some fashion. You may never know about it. I know some people would rather die than show their appreciation or say thanks. There is a Peanuts cartoon strip in which Lucy is crying bitter tears over a decision her mother has made. She wails, "You promised me a birthday party, and now you say I can't have one. It's not fair!" Enter Lucy's brother, Linus, who calls her aside to offer some advice: "You're not using the right ...

1099. Saved by the Bell

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . On one side of Jesus is a thief who gets it. On the other side of Jesus is a thief who doesn't get it. On one side of Jesus, even though he's a few feet away in his dying moments from the Son of God, a criminal whose bitterness and unrepentance stiff-arms the Savior of the world. On the other side of Jesus, a criminal who opens his heart to God and speaks the words of Eucharistic resonance: "Remember me." That's all it took . . . two words: "Remember me." Who is the first member of the church? Who ...

1100. Someone to Watch over Me

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... even come to such a party? And it is not just the youngest son who benefits from the unconditional love of this father. The elder son insults the father's hospitality, belittles his kinship with his father and his brother, and reveals the deep-seated bitterness he holds towards his father. What does the father do in response? Once again his love goes out to a disobedient son. Once again he expresses his love and delight in his (this time eldest) son. Once again the father asserts their unbroken kinship ties ...

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