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 1201 to 1225 of 5000 results

1201. No Excuse

Luke 14:15-24

Sermon

James Merritt

... see that there is a lot of desert, but not a lot of agricultural land. To buy or sale real good cropland was a long exacting process that would stretch over months and sometimes even years, because the farmer had to learn everything he could about this land ... :20, ESV) Talk about a flimsy excuse! Even though it appears the man had recently got married he wasn’t going to be gone very long. There would be plenty of time to see his wife when he got back and frankly it is probably true that the wife would be ...

1202. Poem: Adonais

Eulogy

Percy Bysshe Shelley

... him should be, But for our grief, as if it had not been, And grief itself be mortal! Woe is me! Whence are we, and why are we? of what scene The actors or spectators? Great and mean Meet massed in death, who lends what life must borrow. As long as skies are blue, and fields are green, Evening must usher night, night urge the morrow, Month follow month with woe, and year wake year to sorrow. XXII. He will awake no more, oh, never more! “Wake thou,” cried Misery, “childless Mother, rise Out of thy sleep ...

1203. Moving On Up

Mark 9:33-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... African-Americans to see examples of success among their own people--even if it is in a sit-com? Life has been hard enough for people of color in this country. It is not against Christian values to achieve a comfortable lifestyle for your family. As long as attaining material success doesn’t become the primary drive in your life, Christ understands the drive to move up in life. Such a drive is necessary to provide for yourself and those you love. Author Steve May tells about a working mother in the 1930s ...

1204. Michael Corleone and the Widow

Mark 12:38-44

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the name of religion makes their sin particularly odious. As Jesus said, “These men will be punished most severely.” One translation infers they will be damned to hell. [I kinda hope so. Oops, I really didn’t say that.] The fact that they used long prayers to hide their cynical practices multiplies the odiousness of their sin. Here is what is important, however. At this point in our scripture, we have a most amazing transition that simply can’t be accidental. The scene cuts from the court of the ...

1205. A Fig Tree Sprouts Leaves

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

King Duncan

... . But there was a problem. Patricia liked talking on her cell phone while she drove and listening to music on her iPod. Fortunately, Patricia reached Florida safely, but the distractions of her high tech toys caused her to miss a sign for an important turn. Before long, she was lost--unaware of what to do next. She began to worry. This was an event she did not want to miss. She had been looking forward to this reunion for quite some time. But because she missed that sign, she missed her turn and therefore ...

1206. Mary and Martha: Nine to Five and Five to Nine

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... in our text a story that has to do with the after-work time of five to nine. Whether we are mothers, singles, or men, the story has some insight for our family living nine to five and five to nine. Man: Marthas and Marys have long been contrasted in our churches. We have had the Marthas, the doers, and the Marys, the thinkers. We have contrasted the materialistic Marthas with the spiritual Marys. The two have symbolized two approaches to life, especially the life from five to nine. I. Woman: Let's first ...

1207. Solomon Builds the Temple

2 Chronicles 3:1-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... Kings 6:2 did not feel the need to specify this information. The NIV specifies in a footnote that, according to the accepted measurement of about 18 inches (or 0.45 meters) for one old-standard cubit, the ground plan was “about 90 feet (about 27 meters) long and 30 feet (about 9 meters) wide.” 3:4–7 This section contains a description of the portico at the front of the temple. It seems that the measurements of this part were not included in the measurements provided in the previous verse. Although the ...

1208. The Church in Antioch

Acts 11:19-30

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... (v. 23; cf. 15:32), that is, that they continue as they had begun, allowing nothing to shake them in their attachment to Jesus. The imperfect tense of the verb “to urge” (or encourage) implies that he remained in Antioch and that this was his theme for as long as he was there. Ever the encourager (4:36), he showed himself to be also a good man (a description unique in Acts) and full of the Holy Spirit and faith (v. 24). These were the qualities that had made Stephen so effective a minister (6:5), and ...

1209. The Return to Antioch in Syria

Acts 14:21-28

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... by the Cestrus and behind it the Taurus Mountains. What results the missionaries had of their preaching in Perga we do not know, though Luke’s silence on the matter has been taken to mean that they were not very encouraging. They appear not to have stayed long in the city before making their way across the Pamphylian plain to the port of Attalia, where they were much more likely to find a ship than in the river port (see disc. on 13:13). From here they returned to Syria. Back in Antioch, they gathered ...

1210. Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves

1 Timothy 5:1-6:2

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... evidence for pistē is so early and so diverse that one would almost have to argue for such a phenomenon to have occurred more than once, which seems highly unlikely. Instructions About Elders As with the preceding section on widows, this section on elders has long been a puzzling one. Besides the difficulties in the meaning of “elders,” there are the problems of context (What is it doing here?) and of structure (How do vv. 21–25 relate to 17–20, and what is the point of the personal admonitions to ...

1211. Personal Remarks

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... world. The element of surprise, of course, comes from the fact that it is not on its own. Rather, it has been preceded by a long appeal for Timothy’s loyalty, which concludes with a solemn charge to keep at his task of ministry and a kind of last will ... . Secondly, the Lord delivered me (which is implied by the passive, I was delivered) from the lion’s mouth. This metaphor has long been the subject of debate. Satan, Nero, the empire itself, and death have all been suggested for the lion. Most likely the ...

1212. The Christian and the World

James 4:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... term negatively in 4:2 (and 3:13–18), he may have deliberately shifted his vocabulary. Two lines of reasoning point to the second translation. First, it has Jewish precedents, for the Fragment Targum on Gen. 2:2 reads, “On the seventh day Yahweh’s Memra [word] longed for the work which he had made.” Other Jewish traditions also refer to the need to keep one’s spirit pure: “Blessed is the man who does not defile the holy spirit of God which hath been put and breathed into him, and blessed is he ...

1213. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... Cullmann, “The Tradition,” in The Early Church (London: SCM Press, 1956), pp. 59–99. See also 1 Cor. 15:1–3; 2 Thess. 3:6. 4 The expression certain men (tines) is often used in the NT to denote a particular group of people: “You know who I mean!” Long ago (palai) can equally well refer to the recent past, as in Mark 15:44 and 2 Pet. 1:9. Itinerant preachers and teachers frequently caused trouble in the early church (Matt. 7:15; 2 Cor. 10–11; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 10; Didache 11–12; Ignatius, To ...

1214. Ruth Meets Boaz

Ruth 2:1-23

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... from my court. (Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends, p. 85) 2:22 It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with his girls, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed. Naomi understands what Boaz is trying to do and supports him wholeheartedly. Ruth’s long-term welfare stands behind her own desire for Ruth to find a home (1:9; 3:1). Like Boaz, Naomi knows what the world is like, a violent place filled with “hot-tempered men” (Judg. 18:25). 2:23 So Ruth stayed close to the servant girls of ...

1215. Opposition to the Rebuilding

Ezra 4:1-5

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... had marked the first phase of fulfilling the mission given through Cyrus to rebuild the temple. The second phase, building the temple itself, was to last longer than twenty years. We have to wait until 6:15 to read of its completion. This second phase, with its long delay and fresh start, is narrated in 4:1–6:22. Echoes of 4:1–5 in 6:21–22 reveal that these passages supply a literary framework. The concern of chapter 4 is the delay. Haggai gave internal reasons for it, accusing the community of wrong ...

1216. The Decree of Darius

Ezra 6:1-12

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... University Press, 1988), pp. 25–38, esp. p. 36 n. 2, has made the valuable suggestion that the correspondence with the Torah qualifies the service of God. 6:19 The Passover was celebrated in the evening of Nisan 14 (Exod. 12:2; Lev. 23:5), followed by the week-long festival of Unleavened Bread (Exod. 12:17–20; Lev. 23:6–8). 6:20 The Levites: This phrase in the second sentence is not present in the Heb. (compare the NRSV), although it is clear from the end of the verse that a reference to them must be ...

1217. The Impending Departure II

John 16:5-16, John 16:17-33

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... , and the disciples are confused. Jesus in his explanation moves from riddle (vv. 16, 19) to parable (vv. 20–21) to plain speech (vv. 22–28). In resolving the problem raised by Jesus’ statement in 13:33, chapter 14 had spoken of a single brief interval. “Before long” the world would not see Jesus, but the disciples would see him (14:19). In chapter 16 his absence is acknowledged even as far as the disciples are concerned (in a little while you will see me no more, v. 16a; cf. v. 10, you can see ...

1218. Thanks for Their Gifts

Philippians 4:10-20

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... such reflection is intended. It is conceivable, indeed, that in the covering note they sent with this gift they said, “At last we are glad to send you a gift once more,” and that Paul takes them up and says, “At last, as you put it.…” But the long interval was probably due to Paul’s own policy in the matter of accepting gifts from his churches. He makes it plain that, if only now they have renewed their concern for him, it was not that there was any intermission in their care for him but rather ...

1219. Jacob Returns to Bethel

Genesis 35:1-15

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... had first appeared to him there. Additional Notes 35:1 The Eng. term “settle” suggests more permanence than Jacob understood in God’s instructions. A better translation of the Hb. root y-sh-b might be “stay.” This time Jacob was free to remain there as long as he wanted, in contrast to his first visit when he was fleeing from Esau (Sarna, Genesis, p. 234). These orders from God parallel those his mother gave him before leaving Canaan (27:43; Wenham, Genesis 16–50, p. 323). 35:6 The use of the ...

1220. Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt

Genesis 42:1-38

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... to devise a plan that would reunite him with his father and full brother. 42:18–20 On the third day, Joseph summoned his brothers and informed them what he required of them. They were to take grain back to their family members who were starving, as long as one of them stayed behind in prison. Then they were to return with their youngest brother. Only then would Joseph believe that they were not spies worthy of the death penalty. By keeping one of them in Egypt, Joseph assured their return. 42:21–25 The ...

1221. Nadab King of Israel

1 Kings 15:25-32

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... control (1 Kgs. 13)—what God wills comes to pass, whether in the short term (13:3, 5; 14:12–13, 17–18) or in the long term (13:2; 2 Kgs. 23:15–20). It is no coincidence that the close of 1 Kings 16 (16:34; cf. Josh. 6:26) reminds ... 17). Both these texts raise in a very sharp way the mystery at the heart of God’s dealings with mortal beings. Christian theologians have long grappled with this mystery using the categories of predestination and free will (cf. Matt. 26:24; Mark 14:21; Luke 22:22). 16:19 ...

1222. Elijah and Obadiah

1 Kings 18:1-15

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... to wait for the rain that God has promised (v. 42, cf. 18:1) and that, in his prophetic imagination, he can now hear. It is a long wait, but at last a cloud as small as a man’s hand is seen rising from the sea. Though small, it is enough to assure ... in the proceedings? Ahab has been brought to submission, Baal shown to be no god; but what of Jezebel and Asherah? 18:21 How long will you waver between two opinions?: The problem with NIV’s translation is that it obscures the connection (in the form of the ...

1223. Comfort for God's People

Isaiah 40:1-31

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... after Isaiah’s day. But the way the chapters themselves speak suggests that they are rather words of comfort that God gave in the here and now of suffering through the pastoral ministry of a poet whom God called to be a new Isaiah for people who had long been under judgment. Chapter 39 helps us to make the transition from the end of the eighth century B.C., when Isaiah ben Amoz lived and ministered, to the 540s B.C., when God gave the new message of grace and mercy that people now needed to a “Second ...

1224. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... their battle accounts of leaving their slain enemies covering the plain like grass (Greenberg, Ezekiel 21–37, p. 748). On the long march to Babylon, the prophet may have seen unburied corpses left for the scavengers on bloody battlefields, and this vision may ... that Nebuchadnezzar cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace; Dan. 3:19–30), exactly who was raised, and how long they lived after their resurrection (Rabbi Eliezar held that they rose up, sang a hymn, and died again, while Rabbi ...

1225. God’s Judgment of Babylon Calls for Celebration

Revelation 19:1-10, Revelation 18:1-24

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

... because his judgments flow out of his character as a faithful and righteous God (cf. 3:7; 15:3; 16:7). He has not excused or ignored evil, and he has not failed to rescue his suffering people. The cry of 6:10 has at last been answered: “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (cf. 16:6–7; Ps. 70:1). God’s judgment of the adulterous and corrupting prostitute is fair, decisive, and final (cf. 14:11; Isa. 34:8–10). 19:4–5 The ...

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