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 483 results

151. A Compliment to Freedom

Illustration

Lieghton Ford

Many things we don't know about hell. But Jesus and the New Testament writers used every image in their power to tell us that hell is real, it's terrible, it's something to be feared, and something to avoid. In his description of the last judgment, Jesus taught that some would go to eternal punishment, some to eternal life (Matt. 25:46). In other words, hell will be as real and as lasting as heaven. The horror of hell is not physical pain. After all, the Bible tells us hell was "prepared for the devil and ...

152. The Heart of an Intimate Matter

Matthew 5:27-30

Sermon

Phil Thrailkill

Convictions and opinions are not the same, are they? Someone has said, “Opinions are many, convictions are few; opinions change often, convictions rarely do.” Opinions live on the surface; convictions go deep. Opinions thrive around the gossipy edges; convictions live near the center of life. One way to tell the difference is to ask, What would you make a sacrifice for- of real money, of significant time, of patient suffering, even of life if necessary? The more you would pay, the closer you move to the ...

153. 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

Ezekiel’s Message of Hope and Restoration: Ezekiel 34–48, the second major part of this book, is concerned with a message of hope for the exiles and with the promise of Israel’s future restoration. That message has broken through in a muted sense in chapters 1–33 (11:14–21; 16:53–63; 20:33–44; 28:25–26), but it now becomes the central theme. These fifteen chapters fall into three sections. The first, chapters 34–37, is a series of seven oracles dealing with the restoration of Israel. The second section ...

154. Job's Third Reply to Bildad

Job 26:1--31:40

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

Sarcastic Introduction Job’s response to Bildad’s third speech is extended (six chapters long)—even for the usually loquacious Job! Many commentators divide up the chapters attributed to Job to supply an extension to Bildad’s brief speech, as well as to wholly reconstruct a missing third speech for Zophar. Such reconstruction, however, can only proceed on a presumptive assumption of what each speaker would have said—and is thus controlled ultimately by the reconstructor’s theory rather than challenged and ...

155. Becoming Good Trees

Matthew 5:17-30

Sermon

Charles L. Aaron

Most pastors have seen the damage caused when a purple-faced preacher has sought to scare a person into faith. Pastors counsel with people even into their eighties and nineties who still have trouble feeling love from God because when they were children, someone had frightened them with images of an angry God, ready to smack them down if they didn't behave and believe. Parents will tell us of children coming home in tears from other churches. An adult had gotten in the face of a child demanding an answer ...

156. Riddles and Metaphors

Ezekiel 15:1-8, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Ezekiel 17:1-24

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

As a priest, Ezekiel was literate and well educated. His learned background is apparent in his imaginative use of a variety of literary forms and styles. The effect of this creativity on his original audience was evidently mixed; some contemporaries dismissed him as a teller of riddles (20:49; the NIV renders the Heb. meshalim “parables”) or “one who sings love songs” (33:32). Certainly, though, this variety makes Ezekiel one of the most interesting, as well as the most baffling, of the prophetic books. In ...

157. This Adulterous Generation

Matthew 5:27-30, Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

A cartoon in a national magazine showed Moses with two stone tablets under his arm coming down from Mount Sinai. He said to the Israelites, "I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that I got Him down to ten. The bad news is that adultery is still in there." The seventh commandment is very simple: "You shall not commit adultery." The word adultery means the sexual involvement of a married person with someone other than his or her spouse. In the original Hebrew it meant to add something to a ...

158. The Needle’s Eye

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

No mistake. This is a hard text. Jesus was often given to double-edged sayings, paradoxes and extreme comparisons. He spoke ironically and often with biting humor. Here he uses the images of cutting off a hand, a foot, or plucking out an eye. The text begins with the disciples concerned with protecting their turf. All people have vested interests and will go to great lengths to defend themselves against encroaching threats. The disciples tell Jesus that they have found someone else working in his name; but ...

159. Adultery, Cure and Prevention

Proverbs 7:1-27, John 8:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Sometime ago a lady wrote to the famous advice columnist Ann Landers and asked this question, "Do all men cheat on their wives? I have been suspicious of my husband for some time. I even hired a private detective to trail him, but he couldn't come up with a thing. I went to a lawyer. He told me to grow up and accept the fact that all husbands fool around. Do they?" Ann Landers very wisely replied, "No. There are plenty of married men who never cheat, and your husband could be one of them. The only thing ...

160. You Reap What You Sow

2 Sam 13:1-39

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord ensures that justice is satisfied, sometimes by allowing one’s children to repeat the parent’s sins. Understanding the Text The Lord confronted David with his sin and announced that he would severely punish him. Through Nathan’s entrapment technique, he even maneuvered David into imposing his own penalty. David must pay fourfold for his theft of Uriah’s wife (2 Sam. 12:6). The first installment of this payment came almost immediately, as the first baby born to Bathsheba and David died. ...

161. Two Adulterous Sisters

Ezekiel 23:1-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

A Tale of Two Sisters: The allegory of the two sisters in Ezekiel 23 is clearly related to the story of the foundling bride Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16. This can be seen not only in explicit terminological links (e.g., the expression translated “naked and bare” appears only in 23:29 and 16:7, 22, 39), but also in the broad outline and theme of the story. Both chapters personify cities as women and graphically depict their unfaithfulness to God through foreign alliances and idolatry as adultery (for the ...

162. Elephants in the Room: Sexploitation

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

Sermon

Charley Reeb

One of the great things about preaching on sex is that I don’t have to work very hard getting your attention! I was in Leesburg this past week doing work for the Board of Ordained Ministry. A colleague asked me what I was preaching about today. I said, “Sex.” He replied, “Are you for or against it?” I said, “I am very much for it! I enjoy sex a lot!” You may be surprised to hear me say that, but it needs to be said from the pulpit. Why? Because over the years the church has done a pretty terrible job ...

163. Signs and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 4:1-5:17, Ezekiel 6:1-14, Ezekiel 7:1-27

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

The material between Ezekiel’s call (chs. 1–3) and his vision of Jerusalem’s destruction (chs. 8–11) falls into two parts. Chapters 4 and 5 present a series of four sign-acts depicting Jerusalem’s siege and fall (4:1–3, 4–8, 9–17; 5:1–17). Chapters 6 and 7 are oracles of judgment directed against the mountains of Israel (ch. 6) and the people, particularly the leaders, of Jerusalem (ch. 7). However, these two sections are neatly interwoven. In the fourth sign-act, the Lord calls down destruction upon ...

164. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

The Stone—Living and Deadly Peter now turns from exhorting his readers to conduct that befits their life within the believing community to inviting them to consider the nature of that community which Christ has brought into existence. 2:4 The shift to stone from the figure of “milk” (v. 2) is unexpected and seemingly without reason. But for a Jewish reader there is a natural succession of ideas in this passage—not milk: stone, but the Hebraic one of babes: house. A helpful illustration is in Genesis 16:2. ...

165. Act Quickly - Catch It Early

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

King Duncan

Some of you may be familiar with the Darwin Awards. People are nominated for the Darwin Awards when they do something really stupid that costs them their lives. The reason that they are called the Darwin Awards is that by offing themselves in such an absurd way, it is suggested that these misguided folks have inadvertently improved the gene pool for rest of humanity. It’s a cynical view of life, but it has led to a collection of stories that are both true and bizarre. For example, there is the story of a ...

166. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Laying the Blame and Taking Responsibility: The typical Ezekielian expression “the word of the Lord came to me” recurs throughout the chapters between the second vision of the Glory in chapters 8–11 and the oracles against the foreign nations in chapters 25–32—except in chapter 19. Indeed, in the twenty-six chapters between Ezekiel 11 and 38, this is the only chapter in which that characteristic phrase does not appear. This chapter stands out, therefore, in the larger structure of Ezekiel. Further, after ...

167. “Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave”: Power Poisons the Conscience

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

Big Idea: The Lord’s chosen servants cannot hide their sins from him. Understanding the Text Empowered by the Lord, David has experienced great success militarily and made Israel more secure than it has ever been. He obeyed the Deuteronomic regulations pertaining to the accumulation of chariot horses and wealth, promoted justice for all, and tried to model God’s faithfulness in his relationships. But suddenly the story takes a shocking downward turn as David’s blatant violation of God’s law brings chaos ...

168. Your Home Page

Hebrews 13:1-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

What used to be true for boats is now equally true for cell phones. The best day of your life? The day you bought your boat. The second best day of your life? The day you sold your boat. That kind of love/hate relationship is even fiercer when it comes to our most beloved, most bemoaned tech toy — the “smart phone.” Every time you “upgrade” from a version “3" to “4” to “5” . . . it seems that only minutes later there is a version “6.” Almost as soon as you can get out your credit card, you are the proud ...

169. The Pointer

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Ron Lavin

John, the cousin of Jesus, baptized Jews in the Jordan River for the forgiveness of sins. He pointed to sin to prepare people for the coming Messiah. John the Baptist might also be called, John the Pointer. In the gospel of Mark, we read that the ministry of John points to the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John prepared the way for the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:1-2) by pointing. John pointed away from himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not an exaggeration to say that John ...

170. Nobody's Perfect--Except Jesus

Hebrews 4:15-16

Sermon

James Merritt

One of America's favorite pastimes is making excuses. We all love to make them, and some people are especially creative in cooking up excuses when they are in the kitchen of trouble. The following are some true excuses offered to police officers in relation to automobile accidents. I think you will find them interesting: "An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and then disappeared." "I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment." "The ...

171. Woe to Nineveh

Nahum 3:1-19

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

Yahweh Confronts the Bloody City: Chapters 1 and 2 only hinted at the reasons for Yahweh’s anger, but the opening and close of chapter 3 are more concrete. Here Yahweh speaks all through the chapter. Yahweh confronts the city because it is responsible for the deaths of so many people as a result of its desire to accumulate wealth, which has led it into empire-building and war-making. Its apparent strength will not save it. 3:1–4 Woe is an over-translation; the Hebrew hoy resembles English “Oh,” which we ...

172. You Can Take It to the Bank

2 Peter 3:1-10

Sermon

James Merritt

I read a story about an angel of the Lord who telephoned the editors of five major newspapers with this message: "God says the world will end tomorrow." The New York Times carried a front page headline which read: "The World Will End Tomorrow Reliable Source Says" A box read: "Analysis on page 11." The Wall Street Journal's front page headline read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Market Plunges" The headline in USA Today read: "We're Gone!" The Headline in the LA Times read: "World Ends Tomorrow; Bill Clinton says ...

173. The Heart of the Matter

Psalm 51:1-19

Sermon

King Duncan

“Let’s say it’s 4:17 p.m. and you’re driving home alone after an unusually hard day on the job. Not only was the workload extraordinarily heavy, you also had a disagreement with your boss, and no matter how hard you tried he just wouldn’t see your side of the situation. You’re really upset and the more you think about it the more uptight you become. All of a sudden you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles ...

174. A Second Look

Matthew 5:27-48

Sermon

Will Willimon

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you....You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:27-48 Some of you remember the uproar when President Jimmy Carter admitted to Playboy that he had committed "adultery of the heart." Big deal. Show me a man who has never once "looked at a woman lustfully" and thereby committed, in Jesus' words, "adultery with her in his heart" I will show you a candidate for a new heart. And though Matthew doesn't, I ...

175. Warnings from Israel's History

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Having raised the serious, frightening prospect of disqualification at the end of chapter 9, Paul moves immediately to deliver a midrash on the exodus that is laced with scriptural allusions. The introduction of the story of the exodus wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness may seem peculiar, but the development is logical; for as Paul used himself and the apostles as a personal lesson on Christian rights and responsibilities in chapter 9, and as he drew images from the athletic games to illustrate ...

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