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 1101 to 1125 of 1245 results

1101. Good to Great

Ezekiel 45:3-5

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... may be thinking, “I wonder when he was going to bring that up.” Well, we have locked all the doors and you can’t get out until all the sheep are fleeced! It’s funny. The Girl Scouts will come running with their delicious cookies and we eagerly pull out our wallets and happily give them money. Our Alma matter will call and send letters asking for money and we feel good about supporting them. We will go to charity events and cheerfully give to worthy initiatives. But the moment a preacher gets up and ...

1102. I Wonder if God Exists

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... on “The Seven Wonders of the Faith.” Many people feel ashamed for having doubts and questions about their faith. They fear that they will be accused of not trusting God enough or being spiritually immature. Often there are people of faith who are eager to criticize those who dare to question God. This is unfortunate, for there is more faith in doubt than most realize. In fact, if you study the lives of great Christians throughout history, you will find that many of them (including biblical writers ...

1103. Learning to Love

Matthew 5:43-48

Sermon

James L. Killen

... thing. Lots of us who are parents think we know what it means to want the better things for our children and to see that they have them. But lots of us have the wrong idea about what are the better things that we should provide. We are so eager to give children the things that will enable them to move up society's ladder of affluence that we neglect to give them the relatedness that helps them to become strong, decisive, and loving people. Remember that is what God thinks is the best thing we can give. Love ...

1104. Paying What's Due

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

David G. Rogne

... . Erich Fromm was a Jewish psychoanalyst living in Berlin when the Nazis came to power. Prior to that time he had assumed that humankind was coming of age. Instead, he witnessed with horror how the German people of the '30s gave up their freedom to Hitler as eagerly as their forefathers had fought for it. Out of his inquiry into how this could be so, came the realization that many people find that the freedom to choose is too much of a burden to bear. They would rather escape from freedom and rush to find ...

1105. The Birth of John the Baptist

Luke 1:57-66

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... ), which Luke reserves telling until he recounts the fear and amazement of the neighbors (vv. 65–66). The question that they raise, “What then is this child going to be?” (v. 66) adds drama to the story and only makes the reader more eager with anticipation. This is another example of Luke’s skill as a narrator. Additional Notes 1:59 With regard to the circumcision of John, Ellis (p. 78) makes the following interesting comment: “According to an ancient Jewish custom the child was circumcised upon ...

1106. John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Luke 3:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... not employing the exact terminology, the Essene practice probably carried similar meaning. Fitzmyer (pp. 459–60) notes that from 150 B.C. to A.D. 250 there were numerous Jewish and Christian baptismal groups in Palestine. (3) Both the Essenes and John eagerly looked forward to God’s intervention in human affairs. In the Gospels and Acts John’s hope revolves exclusively around the Messiah who is to follow; but among the Essenes there is no clear and uniform concept of messianic expectation beyond the ...

1107. The Faith of the Centurion

Luke 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... response to the gospel in contrast to the joyous reception among the Gentiles. Perhaps intended as a parallel to the healing of the Centurion’s servant, in which the Gentile shows such great faith, is the conversion of Cornelius in Acts 10. Cornelius’ eager acceptance of the gospel contrasts with the rejection and unbelief on the part of so many in Israel. Brodie (pp. 134–47) detects parallels between Luke’s story of the healing of the centurion’s servant and Elijah’s provision of food for ...

1108. Jesus' Teaching on Prayer

Luke 11:1-13

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... for it adds: “but deliver us from the evil one” (6:13b; see Gundry, p. 109). 11:5–8 The Parable of the Persistent (or Importunate) Friend teaches that prayer will be answered. If a person will answer the summons of a friend, though not eagerly because of extreme inconvenience, certainly God, for whom there is no inconvenient time, will answer the prayers of his children (see also Luke 18:1–5). 11:9–13 These sayings expound upon the point of the previous parable. Because God will answer our prayers ...

1109. Jesus' Sorrow for Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , though it is paralleled by it to a certain extent; but rather, the passage looks forward to Jesus’ return (the Parousia) when a religious leadership, as well as the people in general, softened by the pounding blows of defeat, will be ready and eager to receive their true Messiah. (Fitzmyer [p. 1035] thinks that the reference is to both Jesus’ Triumphal Entry and his Parousia.) Additional Notes 13:32 fox: The designation may imply a person of no significance or consequence, or a person of cunning and ...

1110. The Little Children and Jesus

Luke 18:15-17

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... because they viewed it as trivial and as a waste of Jesus’ time. But Jesus called the children to him. (Here Luke omits Jesus’ indignation directed at the disciples found in Mark 10:14.) Jesus’ saying in v. 16 would indicate that the sincerity and eagerness characteristic of children are what make children a fitting example of what (as implied in v. 17) one who hopes to enter the kingdom of God should be like. Adults, by way of contrast to children, tend to be self-assured, independent, and proud ...

1111. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... screen for our own faults, even the slightest” (Romans, p. 74). In comparison to the worst in others nearly anyone can look good, but that is only because, in the words of Luther, “The unrighteous look for good in themselves and evil in others; the righteous are eager to see the good in others and overlook their own” (Epistle to the Romans, p. 36). What counts is not the evil one avoids, but the evil one does. Most honest people are not fooled, and neither is God. “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps ...

1112. Living Sacrifices

Romans 12:1-8

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... for generously carries the idea of freedom and “single-mindedness,” without second thoughts, ulterior motives, or divided allegiances. Likewise, leaders are to govern diligently. The Greek word might be translated “with haste,” i.e., not begrudgingly, but readily and eagerly. By ministering cheerfully the servant of God liberates those whom he or she serves. Four of the seven gifts in verses 6–8 relate to what the church traditionally has called the diaconate. Faced with burgeoning social ills and ...

1113. Love

Romans 12:9-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... they cannot remain spectators. When such challenges represent the call of God and present opportunities for serving Christ, idleness is disobedience. The word translated never be lacking (Gk. oknēros), means the indolence or laziness of a slave as opposed to the eager motivation of a free citizen. The real enemy of zeal is not opposition but complacency, being “neither cold nor hot” (Rev. 3:15). In conjunction with zeal Paul says to keep your spiritual fervor (v. 11). The Greek word for fervor, meaning ...

1114. Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... abstractions. Freedom, according to Paul, is characterized by pursuing what it best; freedom does not lead to a new form of slavery. The Corinthians mistakenly claim an inner freedom that places them above the mundane realities of the world, and they are eager to demonstrate their liberation. Yet Paul reminds them that God’s power is over their lives now through the resurrection of the Lord and in the future in their own anticipated resurrection. 6:15 If Paul’s remarks about the Corinthians’ attitude ...

1115. David Hears of Saul's Death

2 Samuel 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... s death, although they were aware that the battle in the north was likely to have been a crucial one. They had seen the strength of the gathered Philistine army and had expected to play a part in the battle. They will undoubtedly have been eagerly awaiting news, and the arrival of a man showing travel weariness and mourning interested everyone. The homage paid to David could have been that paid to any chieftain, but its extent, that the man fell to the ground, probably indicates that the man was acclaiming ...

1116. Job's Reply to Eliphaz

Job 6:1–7:21

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... compulsory service to pay for her sin. This same term in the plural (tsebaʾot) is often used to describe the militant hosts of heaven prepared for battle, as in the frequent divine epithet yhwh tsebaʾot, “the Lord of hosts.” 7:2 The Heb. for NIV’s waiting eagerly is from the verb qwh, and has the sense of waiting tensely on the edge of one’s seat. 7:6 When Job says he is without hope he employs a term (tiqwah) based on the same root (qwh) as the verb in 7:2 that implies expectant anticipation or ...

1117. Job's Reply to Bildad

Job 9:1–10:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... harsh punishment for any infraction. If I sinned . . . If I am guilty demonstrate more of Job’s hypothetical conjectures which do not intend to confess his sin (see the discussion on 9:19–21 in §28), but rather emphasize how God stands almost eagerly anticipating an opportunity to punish Job’s offense. In you would be watching me he employs the same verb (shmr, “keep, watch, guard”) which referred in the previous verses to God’s protective care. Here, however, God is carefully watching for any ...

1118. Job’s Reply to Zophar

Job 12:1--14:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... he can stand and speak his case before God. The two halves of this verse describe the give and take of courtroom examination and cross-examination. I will answer . . . you reply. Job will respond to God’s questioning, but he is also willing (almost eager, it seems) to subject God to a thorough examination: or let me speak. Ultimately it seems that neither of these scenarios is played out when God finally comes on the scene in chapters 38–42. Job never questions God when he appears and, although God ...

1119. Seeking Security in the House of the Lord

Psalm 27:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of the living (i.e., beyond the confines of the temple). The psalm closes with an exhortation, one very similar to that closing Psalm 31 (cf. also 55:22), to wait for the LORD. Such advice can be the most frustrating for eager, anxious, or impatient believers until they themselves feel, and actually are, desperately powerless; then it becomes the deepest source of hope. While the exhortation implies believers are powerless in themselves to make a difference, it also implies the powerless are not helpless ...

1120. Ten Healed of Leprosy

Luke 17:11-19

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the Gentile, the Samaritan, the outcasts and sinners, who respond enthusiastically to the offer of the Good News. Unlike the religious and proud, who assume that their piety guarantees their salvation, the outcasts and sinners assume no such thing (see 18:9–14) and eagerly accept God’s gracious invitation (see 14:15–24). The foreigner is the only one who came back to give thanks to God, because only he recognized his sin and his need to repent. Unlike others whose hearts are hardened (another theme in ...

1121. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... but only that in yet another situation Jesus is firmly in control. Jesus deliberately works out the final details of his ministry. 22:15–23 Jesus’ solemn declaration in v. 15 reveals how much he has looked forward to that final Passover meal. He has anticipated it eagerly, not because he looks forward to his death (see v. 42), but because he will be able to establish a new covenant in his blood. In v. 16 Jesus vows not to eat the Passover again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God. The exact ...

1122. Hearts / Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... , since they did not actually cause it. Apparently, the Corinthians had not adequately supported Paul when the troublemaker called his authority into question. The majority of the congregation (cf. 2:6) has now provided an effective “defense” (apologia, here translated eagerness to clear yourselves) of their position. There is a palpable tension in the text. If the Corinthians had been completely innocent during the debacle, as they seem to claim and as Paul now seems to accept, then they would have ...

1123. Boasting

2 Corinthians 11:16-33, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... as a bridegroom, and Ephesians 5:22–33 applies this image to the relationship between Christ and the church. Just as Phinehas, the OT prototypical zealot (Num. 25:1–13; cf. Ps. 106:28–31; Sir. 45:23–24; 1 Macc. 2:26, 54), was eager to keep Israel pure from foreign influences, especially intermarriage, which would subvert its devotion to the one true God, so also Paul was zealous to keep the church a pure virgin until the Parousia, when Christ will receive the church for himself. 11:3 The apostle ...

1124. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... suggests that angels are neither all-knowing (Mark 13:32; Eph. 3:10) nor altogether superior to believers (1 Cor. 6:3; Heb. 1:14; 2:16). Long: Epithymein is used of intense desire, for good or ill. The present tense implies that even now the angels are eagerly interested in the unfolding of God’s salvation plan, and then still do not know all that there is to know about it. To look into (parakypsai): lit. to bow the head sideways (in order to look at something more carefully). The word is used first of ...

1125. Be Holy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... true believer, Peter charges his readers with positive action. Like newborn babies, for that in the spiritual sense is what they are, having newly come to faith in Christ, they are to crave pure spiritual milk to foster their spiritual growth—as eagerly as newborn infants desire physical nourishment. What Peter means by pure spiritual milk can be deduced from the context, which of course is not to be limited by our chapter and verse divisions, a relatively modern device. The “therefore” of 2:1 looks ...

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