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 1376 to 1400 of 5000 results

1376. The Serpent

John 3:14-21

Sermon

John Smylie

... sin of the world that everyone might come within the reach of our Lord's saving embrace. Let us pray that the heart of God and the sacrificial nature of our Lord Jesus Christ will be found in each of us and that we will demonstrate God's love for this sinful and broken world, offering the good news of the lifted up resurrected Lord while also pointing to the healing and forgiving power of the cross. Amen. 1. Herbert O'Driscoll, The Word Among Us, Year B, Vol. 2 (Toronto: Anglican Book Centre, 2000), p. 31 ...

1377. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this whole section is Paul’s version of Jesus’ Beatitudes. His directive to “bless those who persecute you” is almost identical to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:44). To “bless” and not “curse” the persecutor is the essence of “genuine love.” In verses 15-16 Paul describes the mind-set that should guide the community, with each of his directives using the verbal stem of “phron” (“mind”) as that which informs the attitude he calls for. It is this unity of “mind ...

1378. A Thoughtful Decision

Illustration

Dr. M. Scott Peck

... . I may meet a woman who strongly attracts me, whom I feel like loving, but because it would be destructive to my marriage to have an affair, I will say vocally or in the silence of my heart, "I feel like loving you, but I am not going to." Our feelings of love may be unbounded, but our capacity to be loving is limited. Therefore we must choose the person on whom to focus our capacity to love, toward whom to direct our will to love. True love is not a feeling by which we are overwhelmed. It is a committed ...

1379. Finding Redemption in the Midst of Judgment

Malachi 2:17--3:5

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

... in all his majesty and glory as they expected. * Their exalted kingdom still wasn’t exalted. * Their trust in God’s covenant love now wavered (Malachi 1:2). * Their understanding of God’s justice sank like a rock (Malachi 2:17; 3:14-15 ... the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.2 Worship is a heart-to-heart communication between the holy God and me! He speaks ...

1380. God as a Consuming Fire

Hebrews 12:18-29

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

... will be a few bits of flesh that the lion didn't bother with (3:12). We must admit that that is a fearsome image of God. Church members will often say that the God of the Old Testament is judgmental, but the God of the New Testament is loving and forgiving. When we come to the New Testament, however, the images of judgment do not go away. Matthew repeats the phrase throughout his gospel that sinners will be thrust into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (3:50; 22:13). We gnash ...

1381. When Your Parents Don't Understand

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... her and was making special food for her in that little open place. She asked the little girl, “How is it that you would not stay with us? You had so many beautiful things in our home.” The girl answered, “I could not live without my mother. She loves me.” That little girl was happier to have the meager food her mother was cooking in the street than all the things Mother Teresa and all her nuns had given her. (8) That’s the way things should be in a family. Material blessing are not the only things ...

1382. The Lord Is (More Than) My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... compared to a sheep. They can be quite dumb sometimes. But it is good to know we have a Shepherd. Pastor Charles Heins says he loves that place in Psalm 23 where it says “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” He says he ... have a Shepherd. It is especially good to know the Shepherd knows us each by name. It is an amazing truth, but just as we love each of our children individually and we would do anything for them, so God knows each of us intimately. Even the very hairs of our ...

1383. Faith’s First Impressions

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... even insure Christians. For if we are being faithful to the power and presence of the Spirit we should all be way too unpredictable to insure. The Holy Spirit does not adhere to actuarial tables. Paul’s first pastoral writing to a community he loves praises the ongoing palpable presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst. That is not a communication about calm or comfort, but an invocation of interruptions and an invitation to irruptions. That divine call that resonates in our souls, urging us to DO what ...

1384. The Three Shower Gifts

John 1:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Who REALLY changes the course of our lives? The names that shaped the course of your life are probably not the “big names.” Instead it is your uncle who took you fishing every other weekend, just because. It is your sister, who drove you crazy and loved you always, no matter what. It is that one teacher who inspired you to study math, or science, or literature. It is that coach who both toughened you physically and taught you emotionally. Jesus is the only name that we can call upon to ask for singular ...

1385. Timothy’s Encouraging Report

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... we really live” (vv. 6–9). On the strength of it, Paul reports, they pray night and day that they may see them again (v. 10). An actual prayer to that end follows in verses 11 to 13, with prayer also for the Thessalonians that they may grow in love and in holiness. This is “the first of the two main wish-prayers to be found in the epistle,” the second being in 5:23 (G. P Wiles, Paul’s Intercessory Prayers [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974], p. 52; see also 2 Thess. 2:16f. and 3:16). It ...

1386. Favoritism Forbidden

James 2:1-13, James 2:14-26

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... You believe that there is one God. Good! This is the most basic teaching of Judaism and Christianity, being the first part of the Shema. This confession of faith was recited two times a day by every Pharisaic Jew, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4–5; the fullest form of the Shema included Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13–21; Num. 15:37–41). Such a confession of faith was a starting place ...

1387. “For Your Sake We Face Death . . . as Sheep to Be Slaughtered”

Psalm 44:1-26

Teach the Text

C. Hassell Bullock

... as Israel’s helper is so prevalent in the psalm as not to merit the use of the name of Israel’s God. Even so, the presence of Israel’s Lord hovers over the prayer and gives boldness to the final petition “because of your unfailing love” (hesed). This is an anthropomorphic statement, especially since Psalm 121:4 says the Lord never sleeps. For that reason, the second-century BC high priest John Hyrcanus gave the Levites orders not to use this verse (b. Sotah 48a). 44:25 our bodies cling to the ...

1388. A Light for All Nations

Isaiah 60:1-6, Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... . God is no respecter of persons or of nations. There is a second thing to be said, however. Sometimes God does choose individual persons or nations for a particular task. Israel was called to be a light to the nations. It was not that God loved Israel more than he loved the other nations--though Israel often interpreted God’s call in that way. Israel was to set an example of holiness for all the world. When Israel was not faithful to God’s call, God sent a light into the world that the darkness could ...

1389. Faith and Deeds

James 2:14-26, James 2:1-13

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

1390. The Sign of the Dove

Matthew 3:1-17 · John 1:1-34 · Mark 1:1-8 · Luke 3:1-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... who brings me great pleasure.” Your very existence brings God, pleasure. You don’t work to earn God’s pleasure, you live and love, work and play out of God’s pleasure. To revel and bask in God’s pleasure, you must also be ready to answer ... matter what will befall us. We find joy in Jesus no matter what our sorrow. Listen now to the song, “Dance Me to the End of Love”: [you may choose to play the song from youtube] But let me first read you the words. Listen carefully: Dance me to your beauty with ...

1391. Secret Savior

Matthew 6:5-15, Matthew 6:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... to hear directly from you the words that reveal the content of your heart. Pray in secret. Pray all of your secret thoughts and desires to God in a place where only you and God can be. Alone. In secret. Use that time to get closer to the God who loves you so dearly! Make it personal. Pray humbly, and pray personally, Jesus says. [You can choose to end the sermon here or you can choose to go on for a longer sermon.] When his disciples are at a loss for what that means, Jesus gives them an example. Pray like ...

1392. Mending Fences

Luke 16:1-15, Luke 16:16-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is Not His and is Confronted by Nathan on God’s Behalf (2 Samuel 12) Gehazi’s Greed (2 Kings 5) King Hezekiah’s Offer of Monetary Retribution to the King of Assyria (2 Kings 18) Advice on Storing Up Treasure in Heaven from Father to Son (Tobit 4) Love Your Neighbor with the Entirety of Your Means (Sirach 29) The Book of Jubilees Psalm 15: Who May Live in the Lord’s Tents? Psalm 40: The Lord’s Mercy to the Contrite Psalm 51: David’s Psalm of Contrition Psalm 118: The Lord Will Save The Story of ...

1393. Dorcas, Dinah, or Delilah (Who are You?)

Genesis 34:1-31, Judges 16:1-22, Acts 9:32-43

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... negotiate our world today? Who are the Dinah’s that dare to cross boundaries, breech walls, scale fences in order to let love and honor mean more than tribalism and separatism? While Dinah’s union had the potential to give life, the inability of the ... and Jesus within us. But the moment we become tempted by the ways of the world, we block God from using us as a vehicle of love and wisdom, strength and life. We are called to live within our world. We are not called to live outside of it. But we must also ...

1394. The Overtaxed Soul (Even Me)

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... for the next test. When test time came around, every student passed, including the one who had formerly cheated. The student was so proud, he asked if he could devise another set for the next quiz. We as a people are quick to judge. But Jesus is quick to love. And He loves us most by including us, by giving us a “seat at the table.” Jesus invites us to be in mission with Him. He invites us to be in Life with Him. All we need to do is accept His invitation. Based on the Story Lectionary Major Text Jesus ...

1395. Wake Me Up!

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... places and people who don’t accept us for who we are in order to embrace new people and new places where we are loved and fit in. This is what it means to live true to ourselves. The music video depicts a foreign woman and young girl living ... for Paul suggests not only authenticity and transparency, but living color, truth, seeing each other for who we are, and accepting each other in love. And Christ is that light. To treat each other with disrespect is to hide in the darkness and cover up our biases. To live ...

1396. Through the Heart of Jesus

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

King Duncan

... story. (6) That’s the secret Jesus tried to teach his disciples too. He already knows the ending to the story. He already knows that he will die to reconcile us to God and give us eternal life. He already knows that God has a kingdom prepared for those who love Him. And he already knows that every painful circumstance we face in this life can be used to draw us closer to God’s heart and God’s will and God’s purposes, if we will only let it. That’s the second thing Jesus was telling us in this ...

1397. Selling the Cross

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... for us motivated him to walk the path of commitment, courage and sacrifice for us. And he invites us to follow him, no matter what the cost. I hope that you will make the choice today to join your path with Jesus, God in the flesh, who loved you enough to give his very life to show you the way to God. 1. Best Jokes About Salespeople: 18 Stories To De-Stress, July 9, 2019 by Xant Team, https://www.xant.ai/best-jokes-salespeople/. 2. Contributed by: Oaktree. 3. “Chuck Smith Bible Commentary” Luke 9, https ...

1398. When You’re Out Of Tune

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... is the farm. Second is my radio. The third is my fiddle. Sometimes in the night, when you are playing songs that I know and love, I get out my fiddle and play along with you. It brings me great comfort. But recently, my fiddle has gotten out of tune. The ... same way, hoping that they also will be in the kingdom. Madeleine L’Engle said that our job is to reflect to others “a light so lovely that they will want to know with all their hearts the source of it.” If a church is in tune, it will reach out more ...

1399. Mirror, Mirror ON The Wall . . .!

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... advanced years, and in senior citizens who try to be something they are not.\n In the great commandment we are told to love ourselves. And as we have seen, in Legion's life, God's salvation helps restore our self-regard. If you study through the Scriptures ... to prize himself as highly as the Lord does.\nYour Looks Are No Accident\n One of the first facts one needs to learn about loving himself is that his body is no mistake. God prescribed exactly how we look.\n Did you hear about the child who went to the ...

1400. Too Good To Be True

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... . He was confused. What he had just heard his father say sounded exactly like the agreement his father had just ripped up. Jim said, "I don't get it. What is new in the new agreement? What is different from the first agreement?" Jim's mom responded, "We love you, Jim. We love you more than you can probably ever know. We believe that you are a good kid. We are going to forget about your previous speeding tickets. We are going to pay the fine on this new one and then we are going to forget about it too." She ...

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