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 151 to 175 of 313 results

151. With a Song in Your Heart

Ephesians 1:3-14

Sermon

James L. Killen

... to die with God's promise of eternity in her heart. And blessed is the person who is able to experience good fortune with a hymn of adoration in his or her heart. In the context of adoration, good fortune evokes gratitude rather than pride or insatiable appetites for more and more. Gratitude is a really happy way of relating to good fortune. It allows us to enjoy fully without slipping into any of the greedy excesses of our culture. Look at the themes that are parts of the act of adoration in Ephesians. If ...

152. Two Christmas Dinners

Luke 21:3-4

Drama

Matthew Powell

... word of what he's saying) Thank you kindly, sir. I'll go with you and much obliged ... I'm ... very hungry. Storyteller 1: His near-coma had not prevented it from entering into Snuffy Pete's head that he was now a tradition. Snuffy: My Christmas appetite is not my own. Storyteller 2: It belonged to all the sacred rights of established custom. Snuffy Pete knew that he was the only one to whom the old gentleman could give every Christmas. Storyteller 1: Mr. Cabot led his annual protégé southward toward the ...

153. What Is Success?

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... d lost everything!" The man sobered, and it wasn't long before he realized that he'd actually lost none of the things that matter most in life. After all, money can buy a bed, but not sleep; books, but not wisdom; a harlot, but not love; food, but not appetite; sin's pleasures, but not salvation's peace. It can buy a house, but not a home; medicine, but not health; notoriety, but not character. Depth So, what's left? If success is not in height or width or length of life, is it then in depth? Jesus' parable ...

154. The 4 LAWS of a Whole Personality

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 34, Jesus had spoken a startling message, declaring "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." This message - if brought to John the Baptist - would undoubtedly set fire to his imagination, whetting his appetite for the military messiah that Judaism had so long expected. No wonder John sent his disciples back out to Jesus, demanding once and for all if he was "the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" John was more than ready to be ...

155. Taking Something Up for Lent

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , we're easy targets for the diet and exercise industries. Every channel on TV hawks diet plans, diet pills, and diet placebos. Even cooking shows are all dedicated to low-cal, low-fat, low-expectation fodder created to flatten our appetites while refusing to fill our bellies. And exercise machines are everywhere, machines that look like something the greatest Inquisitors from the Middle Ages would have welcomed into their torture chambers. We are invited by commercial after commercial to voluntarily strap ...

156. Yes!

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... to get along, to blend in with the crowd, to avoid that super-sensitive social radar that picks-up and picks-on anyone who is different. Learning to say no . . . no to bullies, no to common cruelties, no to demeaning social conventions, no to all-consuming appetites . . . no has never been an easy word to learn. How are you at speaking up and speaking out against the mass mind-set - whether the mass consists of the popular crowd in high school, or the scheming and shirking and smirking crowd at work? Where ...

157. Are You a GOT TO or a GET TO Christian?

Genesis 15:1-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... chocolate (no milk) during Lent than it is to eat milk chocolate? Some people forgo steaks or fried chicken, but then manage to eat their weight in forms of seafood that are allowed during the fast, such as shrimp or clams. The bottom line is that our appetites do matter. St. Paul warned the early church to avoid the sinful ways of those whose "end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." But the Bible also warns believers not to turn ancient ...

158. Who Let the Dogs Out?

Romans 13:8-14

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... others' kids. Refrain: "Who Let the DOGS Out?" But be prepared, you Dogs you. You're going to get nipped. You're going to get bitten. Because mosquitoes like moist bodies most. There are 3000 mosquito species in the world, but almost all of them have a ravenous appetite for blood and an uncanny sense of where to find it. Burgess Products (maker of a mosquito fogger) has put out a chart entitled "How Do You Rate as Mosquito Bait?" The more points you get, the more mosquitos like you. We now know that if you ...

159. Dare to Be Different, Not Just Better

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... door or out of the driveway. Shoveling snow and scraping ice are great little calorie-burners not to mention all the calories it takes just to keep toes from freezing off. Unfortunately, all that fresh air and exercise tend to rev up the old appetite, especially for some kind of warm, cozy, comfort food. Ever notice how comfort food is never calorie-conscience food? But there's one family favorite, mid-winter snack that bucks the killer-cholesterol-cozy food alliance. That food is popcorn. The smell of ...

160. Innercizing Your Shopping List

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... encouraged to "lead a life worthy of God" (2:12). But Paul knows he must help them achieve a heart which is blameless. We're all like the Thessalonian Christians this morning. We have started on a faith-journey. It's that very start that whets our appetite to learn more, to make up for what is lacking, to continue and complete our discipleship. What they lack is what many of us lack but would like to have: the experience and maturity of a faith lived solely for God, a faith lived rapturously that pleases ...

161. Roll out the Green Carpet

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... it explicit: “When the King of Kings returns he will not return on the back of donkey or elephant, as a Communist or a capitalist--not to take sides, but to take over.” Babe Ruth loved to eat. He ate constantly, and seemed not to be able to control his appetite. Once, just before the start of a game, he had a couple of sandwiches, a few hot dogs, three bags of popcorn, drank ten bottles of soda, and then topped it all off with an apple. After a few innings of play, he got such a severe stomach ache that ...

162. Doing Right When You Have Been Done Wrong

Ephesians 4:31-32

Sermon

James Merritt

... of a young man who was having a tremendous ministry in a small English village many years ago. People were coming from miles around to hear him preach the word of God and teach the Scriptures. Only in his mid twenties, he had a voracious appetite for teaching the Bible and living the Bible. He was making an unbelievable impact in that village and that surrounding area until tragedy struck. A young woman whom this minister had tried to help through some terrible difficulties, came forward and claimed that he ...

163. Fiscal Fitness

Proverbs 3:9-10

Sermon

James Merritt

... never be frightened by his presence. That is, unless you own a classy restaurant. He is known in New York as the "Cereal Eater." This immigrant from Guyana, loves eloquent dining, but doesn't have the budget to pay for it. But rather than deny his appetite, he simply walks into a fine restaurant, orders the best meal on the menu, top-shelve liquor; eats and drinks to his heart's content, and then when the check arrives, simply informs the waiter he is neither able nor willing to pay the bill. The police ...

164. When the Pressure Is On

John 6:1-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... , 96.8% of communist sympathizers, and 99.7% of those involved in car and air accidents. Moreover, those born in 1839 who ate pickles have suffered 100% mortality rate, and rats force-fed 20 pounds of pickles a day for a month, ended up with bulging abdomens and loss of appetite.1 Now we laugh at that, but I want to tell you there is a lot of verbal pollution going on in our churches and in our homes of people who are just negative. I agree with a person who said: We have no more right to put our discordant ...

165. Power in the Pulpit

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... is deeply interested in its diffusion; for it is the best support of the virtues and principles on which the social order rest…. Erase all thought and fear of God from a community and selfishness and sensuality will absorb the whole man. Appetite knowing no restraint and suffering having no solace or hope, would trample in scorn on the restraints of human laws. Virtue, duty, principle would be mocked and spurned as unmeaning sounds. A sordid self-interest would supplant every other feeling; and man would ...

166. Guilt: How to Keep Your Conscience Clear

Psalm 32:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... bones began to ache. His body began to hurt so much he would just groan all the time. You see, guilt can show up in so many ways even in our bodies. It can show up in insomnia, being unable to sleep; it can show up in a loss of appetite, being unable to eat; it can show up in a migraine headache or an ulcerated stomach. David goes on to say, “For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me.” (v.4a) David was miserable because God wanted him to be miserable. You see, when a saved person is ...

167. The Great Depression

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

James Merritt

... , let me just give you some common symptoms of depression: Feelings of sadness, hopelessness Insomnia, early awakening, difficulty getting up Thoughts of suicide and death Restlessness, irritability Low self esteem or guilt Eating disturbance—usually loss of appetite and weight Fatigue, weakness, decreased energy Diminished ability to think or concentrate Loss of interest and pleasure in activities once enjoyed such as sex Chronic pains that fail to respond to typical treatment Psychologists tell us if ...

168. I Believe That Jesus Was Conceived By The Holy Spirit

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... is directly contrary to God’s will, they forfeit God’s blessings and invite his judgment. Sex is not the only holiness issue of our time, but it is the presenting issue for our culture. The culture is claiming that sex is just one more human appetite that should be satisfied in whatever way suits you. But the Bible screams “No!” St. Paul warned us, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” (I Cor. 6:18 ...

169. Modeling a Necessary Future

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... , vans, and SUVs and made their way to the camp for a week of fun, exercise, and inspiration. There were matins, a hearty camp breakfast, stimulating lectures and discussions, and lots of sports, crafts, and recreational activities. In the evening, appetites were ravenous and vespers were inspirational as they ascended the hill singing, "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder." Evening programs, talent shows, and communion services were engaging. In the afternoons, the brave of heart even went swimming in the pond ...

170. ...More...

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 's ability to grasp "more." The problem is that when there isn't any "more" to gather in, "more" must be found somewhere. This "more" then comes from the middle-class, which is not so much "shrinking" as it is being sucked dry by the appetites of the upper echelons and the needs of the lower echelons. Ralph Whitehead, Jr., in "Class Acts: America's Changing Middle Class," (Utne Reader, January/February 1990, 50-53) has sketched out a frightening new social ladder to define American economics. The old ladder ...

171. UpTime

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... are singing "Silent Night" on Christmas Eve or proclaiming "Christ is risen" on Easter morning. In his book Breakfast at the Victory, James Carse writes, "The highest achievement of the spiritual life is within the full embrace of the ordinary. Our appetite for the big experience sudden insight, dazzling vision, heart-stopping ecstasy is what hides the true way from us." It is the extraordinary in the ordinary that can become prayer. In the Buddhist tradition there is an expression, "Chop wood; carry water ...

172. When Too Much Can Be Too Little

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... gone in search of now languish under our fingertips inviting, no insisting, that we grab them. Although impulsively buying a pack of gum or a candy bar hardly seems earth-shattering or soul-threatening, the truth is that the increasingly voracious appetites of this consumer culture are being methodically nurtured and stimulated by a crass and crushing consumerism. The worldwide ramifications of such little things as a checkout gauntlet are ominous. After a bad day, our parents sighed, "The world is going to ...

173. Luke 24:35-48

Luke 24:35-48

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... before eating in the Emmaus christophany (testifying to the spiritual nature of this visitation), it is only when sitting at table that Truth is revealed (see vv.30, 35). Back in Jerusalem Jesus actually initiates the meal with the disciples, demonstrating his physicality through his appetite (vv.42-43). Food is a recurring motif in all Luke's writings. Jesus seems either to be going to or coming from a meal on nearly every occasion of importance. The mode and mood of food creates some of the gospel's most ...

174. John 6:24-35

John 6:24-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... along. These hangers-on are not eager to be separated from the one who had miraculously provided them with free and plenteous food. The throng is not looking for the word of God. They are looking for their next meal. Jesus attempts to turn their appetite for bread into a hunger for the imperishable food of eternal life. Since this whole dialogue sets up a discussion of the Eucharist (6:51-58), the imagery of eating remains essential. But Jesus' first efforts to get this stubborn crowd to think with their ...

175. 2 Timothy 1:1-14

2 Timothy 1:1-14

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... lives during the peaceful, prosperous days of King Uzziah's rule in Judah (783-742) and King Jeroboam's rule in Israel (786-746). It is to his fellow landowners, though, especially those who have grown exceedingly greedy and grasping in their appetite for even more land-holdings, that Amos' ominous message is directed. The verses read from chapter 5 this week form a series of exhortations, accusations and promised punishments based on the illicit behavior of these landowners. By charging exorbitant rates of ...

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