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 1501 to 1525 of 2415 results

1501. Daily Homework

Matthew 28:16-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... of all, I actually started a year early, but I was always physically one year behind the rest of my class. I made up for being one of the smaller kids by focusing on academics. I really enjoyed reading and became a voracious reader and I had a burning passion to make good grades. For the most part, I liked my teachers. There was one type of teacher I absolutely could not stand. Believe it or not, it was not the strict disciplinarian, nor was it the person who gave tough tests. I could handle both of those ...

1502. The Dream Work of Teamwork

Nehemiah 3:1-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... right to do is ask me to bear responsibility without the power of action." Nehemiah did both and that is exactly what I want to do. I have a zeal to empower lay people to do not only the work of the church, but to do what they have a passion to do and what they have a giftedness to do. I agree with Theodore Roosevelt who said, "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done and self restrained enough to keep from meddling with them while they do ...

1503. Finishing Strong

Nehemiah 9:38--10:39

Sermon

James Merritt

... foundation for this to be a great nation. The question was - would the people live up to it in such a way that they could keep it? Nehemiah with God's help had not only rebuilt the wall, but he had restored a purpose, rekindled a passion and a city had been reborn. Now the big question was before the people and that is - could they keep it? Would they finish what Nehemiah had started? Nehemiah and the leaders understood that all the problems Jerusalem had experienced stemmed directly from their ancestors ...

1504. With The End In Mind

Philippians 3:7-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... not only wants to grow in his personal life, but he wants to show God in his public life by knowing - "The fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death." (Philippians 3:10, NASB) When you know the person of Jesus and the power of Jesus and then the passion of Jesus, you will be just like Jesus. We have been talking about beginning with The End In Mind. God has an end in mind for you. Everything that God does with you, for you, in you or through you is for one purpose. Do you know what that is ...

1505. I’m Movin’ On

Philippians 3:12-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... relationship with God? Will it help make somebody else successful? Do I have to violate a spiritual principle to get there? Will it fulfill God's purpose for my life, or help me accomplish something God has told me to do? [2] IV. Be Determined In Your Passion Twice in verses 12 and 14, Paul says, "I press on." You can forget your past, you can focus on your future, you can set goals for the present; but it will take more than just inspiration, aspiration, and even perspiration to get you to where you ...

1506. The Driver’s Seat

Proverbs 16:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... church is simply a church that is filled with people living purpose driven lives. When you are fulfilling God's purposes for your life, we together, will be fulfilling God's purposes for our church. Let me tell you why we must become passionate about being a purpose driven church. As we approach the third millennium in the history of Christianity, we are confronted with the reality of a troubled and declining church. 41% of Americans have no religious affiliation. Over the past ten years, membership has ...

1507. The Power of Purpose

Proverbs 16:4

Sermon

James Merritt

... . I make no apologies that a follower of Jesus Christ should be radically different from a non-follower of Jesus Christ. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you ought to be different from a non-follower of Christ in your priorities, in your purposes and in your passions. God not only wants us to be different, He wants us to make a difference in the lives of other people. Let me stop right here and get you to ask yourself two questions about your life right now. If you would really like to know whether or ...

1508. Experiencing God

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... — what God shows us of himself through inward, direct experiences of his presence. And Christians say that the personal encounter with Jesus Christ within is God's most direct revelation of himself so far in the course of history. But today, looking at those passionate disciples of Jesus who rushed out into the streets to preach about Jesus because they couldn't help themselves, we have to ask, how should the our direct experience manifest itself? Or to ask it another way, how should it make us feel, and ...

1509. Being What We Are

1 Samuel 8:4-20

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... about which one we prefer, and that is a way of saying that different churches present different models of Christianity and different approaches to worship. To some degree, the plethora of denominations that we have today developed because people became passionately committed to one way of "doing church" over another. The differences from one church to another — and also the changes that take place within individual churches — remind us that that there is no absolute pattern as to what a church should ...

1510. Call to Oneness

John 17:20-26

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

... moves about. A few of us have traveled the country, and fewer still internationally, attending workshops and seminars on behalf of Christian unity. We have given speeches, chaired committees, contributed to dialogues, and written articles. We have been inflamed with passion for the unity of Christ's holy church. Unquestionably, progress has given us increased hope. Love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was, and is, present. As an extension of divine love, we have sought to practice ecumenical ...

1511. Compassion Can Do More Than You May Think

Luke 7:11-17

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... ask Jesus for her son's life. It all takes place simply because, "When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her" (Luke 7:13). The word for compassion Luke uses is the strongest word for sympathy in the Bible. In English, compassion literally means "with passion." Empathy is perhaps the word that comes closest today. However we speak of it and regardless of the words we use, it's a very strong and powerful word. So much so, that in this story it can bring life to the dead. Our lesson for today: Compassion ...

1512. Reactions to Rejection

Luke 9:51-62

Sermon

David R. Cartwright

... been listening to what Jesus had been saying all along, they would have known what to expect. After all, Jesus was just putting into practice what he had taught earlier in the Sermon on the Plain. But as is so often the case, these disciples let their innate passions take over. So angry were they at the reception Jesus had received from the Samaritans that they were ready to let out all of that stored-up national hatred that was inside them. I will show you a much better way, a way more like Jesus. There ...

1513. New Creations in Christ

Revelation 21:1-6

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... of Israel. In his letter to the Romans (6:3-11), Saint Paul speaks of how Christ gave us new life through baptism. The final chapter of the salvation history story comes in the paschal mystery, the events we have just recently celebrated, the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Christ makes all things new through his conquest of death. His victory brings the same possibility to all who bear his name. The new creation that Jesus brings forces us to ask an important question — what needs renewal ...

1514. Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Sermon

Clayton A. Lord

... him to trust him and give up his son. Abraham never wavered in his faith. That's why the writer of Hebrews says look to Abraham and see a hero. True heroes are people who we can look up to and try to emulate. They are people who passionately believe in something and are even willing to die for it. Wycliffe, a very successful translating agency throughout the world, did an advertisement several years ago. It depicted a strong, athletic-looking man wading through a jungle river with a canteen on his side. The ...

1515. Boasting and Praying for You

2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12

Sermon

Donna Schaper

... news. There we see what the poet said about the broken vessel. It crashed on the floor, leaving itself wide open for something new. Anyway, the rumor I heard was about the Mel Gibson Christian foundation. Instead of enriching Hollywood, the great movie, The Passion Of The Christ, caught the jujitsu of theology and enriched others. The foundation helped people who were hurt by violence in the name of Christ. I heard that the foundation gave away all the profits that the movie made. And then I heard everyone ...

1516. The Good News about Marriage

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... to a life of prayer and preparation. He felt marriage could be an encumbrance for such a life. Still he did allow for marriage for those who were not given what St. Paul believed was “the gift of celibacy.” “Better to marry than to burn with passion” was Paul’s famous take on things. But it’s true that some of the great saints of the Bible Daniel, Elijah, Elisha, Paul, John the Baptist, and (of course) Jesus never married. You should never feel that you don’t fit in the church if you ...

1517. The Weight of the Cross

Mark 10:35-45

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

An American businessman traveled to Europe to see the famous Oberammergau Passion Play? Following the performance the businessman had the opportunity to meet and talk with Anton Lang who portrayed Christ in the play. Seeing the cross that was used in the play, the businessman wanted his wife to take his picture holding it. He attempted to lift the cross to his ...

1518. Risky Business

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

... against his will, given a message he does not want to deliver, and is sent to a people who are not going to take his advice seriously. He will be punished and persecuted, risky business indeed. In spite of the odds, he becomes a courageous and passionate proclaimer of God's message. At the age of eighteen, Tom was shocked when Miss Lucy, the Sunday school superintendent, asked him to become a teacher, and horrified when she told him which class she had in mind for him. The fourteen-year-old boys! Tom ...

1519. Essentials

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Sermon

Frank Ramirez

... culture treats pain like an outrage, like an affront, as if God and society have let us down. Our lives can never be pain free. We should work for the elimination of pain in the lives of the living and the dying, but on this, Passion Sunday, we must also recognize pain as an invitation — to minister and to serve. Missionaries were quick to recognize the pain across the ocean and to answer it, focusing on the essentials of the gospel and ignoring all the distractions of denomination and sect. In addition ...

1520. A "Somebody Done Somebody Wrong" Song

Hosea 1:2-10

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... 's neighbors also ascribed to their gods' personal characteristics like jealousy or anger or fury in the face of betrayal, but no other nation's gods relate so directly with human beings or are so concerned about their ethical behavior. No other god fights so passionately for the human community nor expects such fidelity from it, and none expresses such heartache when things go awry. Not that we would think of a Hank Williams' song as divine lyrics, but "Your Cheatin' Heart" could well be the title of God's ...

1521. The Hard Task of Truth-telling

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... was made of, and that was all that was necessary. Jeremiah came to understand it wasn't about his own abilities or even his flaws. It wasn't about Jeremiah at all — it was about God. It always is. It is about God's passion for righteousness and God's unwillingness to let Judah (or any of us) continue to live a lie, because living the lie will ultimately bring its own destruction. It is no different today. Regardless of the denominational affiliation or theological perspective, the church, is called ...

1522. Listening for the "Ching-ching"

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... of faith about who God is. In other non-biblical religions the supreme deity is impersonal and dispassionate — beyond the suffering of this physical existence. In many of these other religious traditions, the path to salvation lays in denying or escaping such passion and pain; and ultimately to escape the human existence altogether. Even among some who profess a biblical faith this is still an "end-goal." In some people's understanding, God is all about a kind of dispassionate policing of human behaviors ...

1523. What a Deal: Investing in Hope

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... moral corruption are labeled as radicals and told to "lighten up" or "get with the times." When Cecil B. DeMille directed The Ten Commandments, his work was received with much more appreciation by his peers than say, Mel Gibson's, The Passion Of The Christ, a few decades later — definitely a change in the cultural environment. "Organized Religion" is demonized in contemporary, secular thought much like it was during the Soviet communist revolution a century ago. At present, mainline churches appear to be ...

1524. Calamity and Hope

Joel 2:23-32

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

... it is directed toward the southern kingdom, and God's people everywhere. The book itself is one of the literary gems of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is written and built up with care and dramatic effect. There are surely other prophets who write with greater passion and greater power; but there is hardly a writer in the Hebrew Scripture who shows proof of such careful and detailed and exquisite pains to give his work literary polish as does Joel. We know very little about Joel. We know, as mentioned, that he ...

1525. Good News about Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... ’s autograph. Within a few weeks Evelyn Lincoln honored the boy’s request by sending him a facsimile of Kennedy’s signature in the mail. That began a relationship of correspondence that lasted 33 years. Impressed with White’s passion for presidential history, Mrs. Lincoln gave him thousands of documents and mementos. She saved whatever could be saved (including even the doodles JFK drew during meetings). Today, Robert White, now 51, boasts the largest private collection of Kennedy memorabilia ...

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