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

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1176. What's a Human Book?

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... Channon’s grave, Gary went down on his knees, and asked God, “Just like you did with Peter, restore me.” And He did. Ten years after Gary Christian screamed at God in the police station parking lot, he was set free from his burden of anger and hatred. Today, Gary Christian speaks to churches and other groups on his spiritual journey and the restoration he found in Jesus Christ. He has spoken to more than 30,000 people, and he doesn’t charge any speaking fees. He says, “I told the Lord that I would ...

1177. The Lawyer

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... longer answer. He said, “The one who had mercy on him” (Luke 10:37). I might be reading a little more into this than is present in scripture, but it seems like he couldn’t bring himself to use the word, Samaritan. It could be that his prejudice and hatred ran so deeply, it would be difficult for him to even utter the name in such a positive light. To his chagrin (and possibly to his shame) he identified more closely to the priest and Levite than he did to the Samaritan. He knew (deep down inside) that ...

1178. Disabled

Luke 13:10-17

Sermon

Dave Zuchelli

... that humanity. Each of us is precious to him. We should be precious to each other as well. We Christians like to say, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” That’s okay as far as it goes, but don’t let it go too far. Don’t allow your hatred for someone else’s sin to negate your compassion for them. Ask yourself the question we like to wear on our wrists. WWJD — What would Jesus do? The answer is clear. He would love the sinner. He would have compassion for that sinner. He would eat, speak, and hang ...

1179. What If You Could Change the Ending?

Luke 23:33-43

Sermon

King Duncan

... , Alabama in the ’50s and 60s, during the painful struggle for civil rights. She remembers that her home city was nicknamed “Bombingham” for the frequent bombings that targeted Black homes and businesses. Carolyn’s parents tried to shield her from the hatred and violence that were so prevalent at the time. Her family attended the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where they were surrounded by a loving community of fellow believers. Carolyn was baptized there at age 13. Her best friends were there ...

1180. When You’re Out Of Tune

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... of the problems with Christians and churches today is they get angry with certain people simply because they sin differently than they do. Too many Christians today are known for their judgment instead of for their mercy. They are known for their hatred instead of for their love for one another. Many non-Christians see Christians as hypocritical, judgmental, heartless, arrogant, and close- minded. That doesn’t sound like Jesus, does it? I once heard about a preacher who worked very hard trying to convert ...

1181. The Gift of Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... bite. But how rational is it to carry around resentments for many years—something many of us are guilty of doing. Someone has said that harboring resentments is like taking poison and waiting for the other guy to die. Someone else has said that letting hatred simmer within us, eating at our emotions and our body, is like burning down our house to get rid of rats. C. S. Lewis once observed that he had finally forgiven a man who had been dead for more than thirty years. Imagine that--carrying around ...

1182. Division of the House

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

William G. Carter

... is that his visit has created all kinds of problems. Just when we were touched by grace, sin grabbed hold and didn’t let go. Just when we saw glimpses of unity, division disrupted our better intentions. Just when we thought we knew the way beyond hatred, a sword started swinging. How did Jesus know? How did he know that, in the year 1850, 46 members of the Presbyterian church in Owego, New York, would split off to form their own church down the street. It seems that one Sunday morning the Presbyterian ...

1183. Template for Reconciliation

Matthew 18:15-20

Sermon

Steve Molin

... each of you held. And trust that God will not only restore your relationship, but also infuse it with deeper respect for your sister or brother. Recently I read a story of a gang member in Chicago who had had enough of the killing and revenge and hatred that persists in the gang environment, so he did the unthinkable. One day he walked into the territory that was occupied by a rival gang. He walked, he went unarmed, he found a gathering of his adversaries, and he confessed that he had had enough. Amazingly ...

1184. How a Baby Changed the World

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

... (Mark 15:39). The coming of Christ ushered in a whole new world. God’s vision for the world is yet to be realized, of course, but it is coming—thanks to the babe born in a manger. There’s still too much pain in the world, too much hatred, too much war, too much fear, too much poverty, too many children living in deplorable conditions. Yes, God is moving slowly, but surely, in this world. The reason He is moving slowly is that He has chosen to work in this world through ordinary people like you and me ...

1185. The Subject Is Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Steve Molin

... one of you, if you do not forgive from your heart. Jesus actually said that. I wonder what my debt would be for the sins that I have committed in my lifetime? What’s the price for the lies I’ve told? How do you put a value on the hatred I have carried in my heart? What’s my pride worth? My lust? My misplaced anger? With my lips and with my heart, I confess that I could never do enough to pay a debt like that. And so I tell God that I cannot pay. And God says, “I ...

1186. Spirit Soaked

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... It doesn’t matter that it’s nearly five years later. The pandemic has left its mark on the world. In addition, everyone seems to be fighting. Division and dissension flourish while we do not. While dynamics of protest continue to be fueled by hatred, bias, and anger, people are running on empty. They are depleted, exhausted. They don’t know where to turn. Why not? Because even our churches have forgotten what fuels their hope, joy, and passion, and they cannot offer to others what they have forgotten ...

1187. You're In the Army Now

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

... Nazi and fascist groups among farmers in the Midwest. In Idaho, Arkansas, and Wisconsin, farmers who were financially desperate started arming themselves with automatic weapons, forming para-military groups such as “Christian Identity,” and the “Aryan Nation.” Violent, anti-Jewish hatred is a part of these groups. Judge Sam Van Pelt of Nebraska said, “I just never could understand how those terrible things happened in Nazi Germany until I talked with these people. Let me tell you, it’s happening ...

1188. Is This All There Is?

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Will Willimon

... to look to them for hope. If that's all there is... A field of flowers, young leaves in spring, a bright April sun, eager young graduates on the threshold of greatness? No. Life is, life is also the child that dies, the cancer that won't heal, hatred between nations, and all that too. As Paul says, “The whole creation groans in futility and death.” There has never been a person who honestly ponders the human condition who has not pined for a radically new world. Whether it be Marx sitting at his desk in ...

1189. Jews and Christians: All in the Family

Romans 15:4-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

... asks us Christians, "If Jesus is the Redeemer, why doesn't the world look more redeemed?" It is a tough question, one which goes to the heart of our faith. But we must not answer it in ways which forsake the religion of Jesus - with hatred, violence, or resentment. We must answer it in the way that Jesus answered: by living lives which do not blatantly contradict the truth of which we speak. We gentile latecomers will not get out of our dilemma with the Jews through some sort of liberal, intellectual ...

1190.

Psalm 73:1-28

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... “mouth” (73:8–9 // 5:6; 28:3; 36:3; 52:3; contrast 15:2) and some attention to their “wealth” (73:12 // 52:7); the image of their instability and imminent “fall” (Hb. npl, 73:18 // 5:5, 10; 36:12; cf. 52:5; 24:3); Yahweh’s hatred toward them and promise to “destroy” them (73:20, 27 // 5:4–6); the designation of Yahweh’s group of worshipers as a “generation” (73:15 // 24:6); Yahweh’s “guiding” his pilgrims (Hb. nḥh, 73:24 // 5:8); his “glory” (73:24 // 24:7–10; 26:8 ...

1191. “I Will Sing the Lord’s Praise, for He Has Been Good to Me”

Psalm 13:1-6

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... his enemies might “rejoice when I fall.” How we conduct ourselves amid conflict with others is one of the most revealing facets of faith. Our poet neither curses nor blesses them. This is the countenance of faith where the grimaces of our sins and our hatred toward those who mistreat us can disfigure our face. We ought to review Jesus’s instruction to love our enemies and pray for them (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27–28), for only the unfailing love of God can change the disfigurement our sins have caused ...

1192. Pleasures Are Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

... . This section records an experiment: a project that involves engaging in particular behaviors, recording the results, and analyzing them. Results include both the physical outcomes (for example, ownership of possessions) and emotional responses (such as joy and hatred). The analysis consists of reflection on the meaning, value, and permanence of those results. The project, then, has a philosophical purpose, although it involves physical as well as mental endeavor. Qohelet’s evaluative comments take the ...

1193. Wisdom and Folly are Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:12-16

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

1194. Toil is Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Huwiler

1195. Maybe Today....

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

John B. Jamison

... simply no room in the human heart for both good and evil. The two cannot co-exist. We either love as God asks us to love, or we do not love. One is a heart of light, the other is a heart of darkness. Our greatest risk is to allow hatred a place in our heart. Maybe today. But if not today, we know with absolute certainty that this evil will come to a crashing and absolute end. Our greatest challenge as God’s people is to see that we do not forget who we are, that we may avoid becoming ...

1196. We Build the Tomb

Hebrews 10:16-25

Sermon

Bonnie Bates

... their culture their heritage their faith in the God they knew. We ripped their children from them (much as was more recently done with the children of immigrants), sent them to American boarding schools, and tried to turn them into good “European” Christians. Surely this hatred of the “weaker”, the “unknown”, and the people we marginalized was not consistent with the call to love God and love our neighbors. If we move ahead but a few years, we can see the beginnings of the slave trade in the new ...

1197. The Accent Of Heaven

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Wayne Brouwer

... . Edwin Markham, Oregon’s onetime poet laureate pictured it powerfully: He drew a circle that shut me out ― Heretic! Rebel! A thing to flout! But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in. (in the public domain) Circles of hatred are erased by circles of love. Circles of judgment are blurred by widening circles of mercy. Circles of death give way to circles of life. The Bible says that when we had drawn God out of our circles, divine love drew us in. Perhaps Edwin Markham’s ...

1198. The Turning Point

John 13:31-35

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... over-the-top victory shouting “good” it was! In the end, God’s will was done. One of the books that continues to impact me profoundly every time I read it is “The Book of Forgiving” by Desmond Tutu. Why? Because the amount of pain and cruelty, hatred, and retribution that Tutu has seen and witnessed in his life goes far beyond our own imaginations. And yet, through God’s help, he has found it in himself to forgive those who have harmed him. And we are talking about some pretty serious harm. Some ...

1199. Couldn’t Be Easier

Matthew 11:2-11 · Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... lifeline to someone isolated and alone, the bag of groceries on the doorstep, or the card in the mail with a verse of scripture. The ransomed of the Lord will return because of me and you, and what we do. We have been living through a time of hatred and demonizing, where good people have decided that other good people are depraved. In response we can no longer be reeds shaking in the wind, but prophets standing tall. We know the way back to a Charlie Brown Christmas, to the shepherds, and to the infant king ...

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