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 1876 to 1900 of 2415 results

1876. Message to Ephesus

Revelation 2:1-7

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J. Scott Duvall

... Remembering how God’s Spirit once worked in their hearts producing genuine love could lead to a change of attitude and behavior (repentance). True repentance is connected in this instance with doing the works they did at first—acts of love accompanying their passion for truth. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Removal of their lampstand means God’s judgment, which refers to the immediate danger of the church coming under the influence of the surrounding ...

1877. The Fifth Trumpet (First Woe)

Revelation 8:6--9:21

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J. Scott Duvall

... want the scales of justice balanced. We can point to instances in American history when national outcry has risen in response to a real or perceived injustice. At times, certain court cases have led thousands into the streets in protest. These passionate responses illustrate just how seriously people desire to see a just outcome. Unlike human judges and juries, who sometimes err, God never does! (To make this illustration more powerful, consider using a contemporary news story.) Idolatry has deceptive power ...

1878. Proclamations of Judgment and Reward

Revelation 14:6-13

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J. Scott Duvall

... drinking the wine of another refers to participation in their lifestyle or destiny (to drink the cup that Jesus drinks in Mark 10:38–39 refers to sharing his suffering).1As the great prostitute, Babylon seduces the world by making it drink the “wine of her passionate adultery” and by intoxicating it with her idolatry and immorality (17:2, 4; 18:3, 9; cf. Jer. 51:7). Economic security often comes at a high spiritual price. 14:9–11 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone ...

1879. The Vision of the Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-18

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J. Scott Duvall

... . How captivated are we by the idols of our culture (e.g., sports and entertainment)? Second, she promotes sexual immorality. How discerning are we about what we watch and listen to and laugh at? Third, she uses people and nations to indulge her passion for economic prosperity and luxury. Do we amass wealth for selfish purposes, or do we give generously and sacrificially? Fourth, she abuses and murders those who follow Jesus Christ. How do we talk about and treat fellow believers (e.g., Jesus makes this ...

1880. The Coming Judgment Calls for the Saints to Leave Babylon

Revelation 18:1-24

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J. Scott Duvall

... , buried in the desert without ceremony or memorial to mark his final resting place. Condoning and cooperating with sinful powers brings destructive consequences. History: Rome. Commenting on the opulence of Rome, Mounce notes: The excessive luxury of Rome and its passion for the extravagant are well known. At one of Nero’s banquets the Egyptian roses alone cost nearly $100,000. Vitellius had a penchant for delicacies like peacocks’ brains and nightingales’ tongues. In his reign of less than one year ...

1881. God’s Judgment of Babylon Calls for Celebration

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

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J. Scott Duvall

... 4), “people of God,” “apostles and prophets” (18:20), “prophets” (18:24), “God’s holy people” (18:24; 19:8), “his servants” (19:2, 5), and “brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus” (19:10). What’s more, Babylon’s passion for death extends beyond God’s people. She is now held responsible for murdering unbelievers also. Beale notes that “nothing will be found in Babylon in the future because blood was found in her in the past” (note the wordplay using “was ...

1882. Lamps, Cakes, and the Blasphemer

Lev 24:1-23

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... This was, and is, a gruesome form of execution. Sometimes, jealousy is called for. Literature: William Shakespeare is believed to have coined the phrase “green-eyed monster” to describe jealousy. In The Merchant of Venice, Portia proclaims, “How all the other passions fleet to air, as doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair, and shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy! O love, be moderate.” The “green eyes” of jealousy indicated sickness. Jealousy can be a vice, but it can be a high virtue ...

1883. David the Conqueror

2 Sam 5:6-25

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... marching in the trees above them. But God has communicated his purpose for this age and made promises that his people can trust. Illustrating the Text God accomplishes his purposes through those who promote his kingdom agenda. Christian Biography: A Passion for Souls, by Lyle Dorsett. This is a biography (1997) of D. L. Moody, businessman, national and international evangelist, and cofounder of the famed Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Arguably one of the most important American figures of the nineteenth ...

1884. The Lord Chooses a Prophet

1 Sam 3:1--4:1

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... does the right thing and leaves Rochester, fleeing temptation. Without resources, she endures more suffering and deprivation, but God honors her obedience as she calls upon him. She reasons with herself: Which is better? To have surrendered to temptation; listened to passion; made no painful effort—no struggle—but to have sunk down in the silken snare; fallen asleep on the flowers covering it; wakened in a southern clime amongst the luxuries of a pleasure villa; to have been now living in France ...

1885. The Ark Heads Home

1 Samuel 6:1-7:1

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... ). At one point, Prejean says to him, “You blame him, the government, drugs, blacks, the Percys [parents of one of the victims]. You blame the kids for being there. What about Matthew Poncelet? Where’s he in this story? What, is he just an innocent? A victim?” Prejean passionately urges Poncelet to admit his guilt, to stop excusing himself, to soften his hardened heart and repent, which he finally does. This moving scene near the end of the movie could be shown, illustrating the work of repentance.

1886. Jonathan’s Faith Ignites a Victory

1 Sam 13:16–14:23

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... he has never changed.8 The Lord can deliver his people in the face of seemingly impossible odds. History: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr. King (1928–68), who was a minister and civil rights leader, worked tirelessly and passionately with a core message of nonviolence until his assassination in Memphis in 1968. In this eloquent letter (April 16, 1963), written while he was in jail and sent to white Christian leaders, he pleads for them to stop the delay in righting the wrongs ...

1887. Job Shatters the Silence

Job 3:1-26

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Daniel J. Estes

... brings a character named Joseph Garcin into a room that, it soon becomes clear, is hell, windowless and equipped with only one door. Two other characters join Garcin, and together they beleaguer one another with questions about one another’s sins, passions, and painful memories. Left to their own designs, they make their world a torture chamber. But Christians are not left to their own designs; the circumstances of their lives are about something that transcends feeling; there is meaning because of who ...

1888. Bildad Has the Answer (He Thinks!)

Job 8:1-22

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Daniel J. Estes

Big Idea: Bildad so focuses on God’s justice that he is blind to Job’s blamelessness. Understanding the Text In contrast to Job’s passionate speech in Job 6–7, Bildad’s first speech, in chapter 8, is calm and analytical. With an almost unfeeling tone, Bildad is more the lecturing professor than the comforting pastor. Unlike Eliphaz, who at least began by affirming Job (4:3–4), Bildad is caustic from the start, dismissing ...

1889. Yahweh Speaks as the Master Teacher

Job 38:1--41:34

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Daniel J. Estes

... we miss out on when we lose sight of his unspeakable might and greatness. Even moral innocence does not give a human the right to judge God’s justice. Bible: Consider Jesus’s response to the Father’s will in the garden of Gesthemane and in the passion. Unlike all other humans, Jesus truly was without sin and was fully above any moral reproach. However, he did not use this innocence as the basis of any complaint against his Father’s will in sending him to the cross. Instead, he submitted his will to ...

1890. “Have Mercy on Me, Lord, for I Am Faint”

Psalm 6:1-10

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C. Hassell Bullock

... Quote: The Confessions, by Saint Augustine. God’s “unfailing love” (6:4) is the point of appeal for the psalmist. Augustine offers a memorable description of God, which is at the same time a description of his “unfailing love”: You love, but with no storm of passion; you are jealous, but with no anxious fear; you repent, but do not grieve; in your anger calm; you change your works, but never change your plan; you take back what you find and yet have never lost; never in need, you are yet glad of ...

1891. “The Lord . . . Rules the World in Righteousness”

Psalm 10:1-18, Psalm 9:1-20

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C. Hassell Bullock

... was the plight of those who displeased God (views still held by some in our day). And yet, here was Jesus speaking about the blessings of God for the poor. God has a heart for the poor and the oppressed, and we are to share that passion. Consider these truths with regard to just one issue, world hunger: Nearly 870 million people, or one in eight people in the world, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010–12. Poor nutrition plays a role in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths ...

1892. “The King Rejoices in Your Strength, Lord”

Psalm 21:1-13

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C. Hassell Bullock

... ill, but other statements sound equally descriptive of an emotional state (22:14b, 24). Both may be the case. 22:16 they pierce my hands and my feet. This traditional reading, dependent on the Septuagint, is not quoted in Matthew’s Passion Narrative. The Hebrew text literally reads: “like a lion, my hands and my feet,” with the verb missing (see NIV footnote). Some scholars, with little manuscript evidence, take “like a lion” (ka’ari) to be a corrupted verb, “pierced” (krh). Hakham ...

1893. “The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Lack Nothing”

Psalm 23:1-6

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C. Hassell Bullock

... as king (23:5b, “you anoint my head with oil”), the success of his reign (23:5c, “my cup overflows”), the Lord’s trailing pursuit of David despite his failures (23:6a, “surely your goodness and love will follow [lit., “pursue”] me”), and his passion for the temple (23:6b, “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”)—these are all reflections on David’s kingship, perhaps in the peaceful time when the Lord had given him rest from his enemies (2 Sam. 7:1). Interpretive ...

1894. “Show Me Your Ways, Lord”

Psalm 25:1-22

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C. Hassell Bullock

... Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles! Note that here a personal psalm turns toward Israel’s corporate well-being. It is possible that this grows out of the suppliant’s love for his nation, which ought certainly to be part of a king’s passion for his people. If so, it contributes an excellent balance to the psalm’s personal orientation. It is also possible, as suggested by Delitzsch[12] and others, that it is a virtual gloss in the form of a congregational response, used in worship by later ...

1895. “Do Not Drag Me Away with the Wicked”

Psalm 28:1-9

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C. Hassell Bullock

... , allegedly by a drug cartel that wanted the late-model pickup they were driving. While Mrs. Davis was serving her Lord in Mexico, she became collateral damage of the drug cartel. Mary Gardener was a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Togo, Africa. Her lifelong passion was, in her own words, to “share the Word of God that has given me such joy and peace.”[24] She lived to see the completion of the New Testament in the Ifèlanguage in 2009. Then, on March 23, 2011, while studying translation ...

1896. “Ascribe to the Lord the Glory Due His Name”

Psalm 29:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

... 29, heard in the frightful storm, announces in nature’s accent the lordship of Yahweh, ending in the peaceful lull of the storm. In Psalm 96 (v. 10a) the announcement of the Lord’s reign sends the heavens and the earth and all creation into passionate jubilation.[1] See the sidebar “Psalms of Praise” in the introduction. In both a literary and theological sense, Psalm 29 is beautifully balanced. The call to worship of 29:1–2 is balanced by 29:10–11, the final announcement of God’s enthronement ...

1897. “Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit”

Psalm 31:1-24

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C. Hassell Bullock

... out of death through the resurrection. His address of “Father,” not found in Psalm 31, is not a coincidental addition but captures the spirit of trust that exudes from this psalm. Mays calls Psalms 22; 31; and 69 “a kind of commentary on the passion of Jesus.”[4] They indeed bring the Christian believer close to the cross and reveal the heart of the God whom Jesus trusted and who also holds our times in his hands. Outline/Structure The lament, according to Craigie’s outline, stands at the center ...

1898. “Trust in the Lord and Do Good”

Psalm 37:1-40

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C. Hassell Bullock

... picture of the world turned right side up. Hope for the unjust Film: Braveheart. This 1995 movie is the story of William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson), a commoner who begins a revolt against the cruel English tyrant who rules Scotland. Wallace was motivated by his passion for a free Scotland, as well as his anger over the injustices carried out by the English, who killed his wife. In the movie the Scottish rebels, led by Wallace, face off against their enemy. In order to avoid a battle, the two sides talk ...

1899. “I Confess My Iniquity; I Am Troubled by My Sin”

Psalm 38:1-22

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C. Hassell Bullock

... occasion as evidence of sin, although that is only implied. On the other hand, Psalm 38 is a lament about both the suppliant’s sickness and the sin that brought it about. Some interpreters have identified an echo of Psalm 38:11 in the Passion Narrative of Luke 23:49, “But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”[4] The bystanders in Psalm 38:11, however, are antagonists, whereas in Luke they are sympathizers.[5] While ...

1900. “Cast Your Cares on the Lord and He Will Sustain You”

Psalm 55:1-23

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C. Hassell Bullock

... friend. The lesson the suppliant has learned from this bitter disappointment is to throw his burden on the Lord, and the Lord will sustain him. While Psalm 55 is not an imprecatory psalm as such,1it does show a tendency to move into that mode of passion (55:15, 23). In light, however, of the strong faith imperative and declaration of trust (55:23), the psalmist does not yield to the temptation. In his letter to the “exiles” of the faith, Peter quotes verse 22 as an imperative of faith and encouragement ...

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