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 176 to 200 of 1838 results

176. The Cloud Above the Tabernacle

Numbers 9:15-23

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... herbs. The unleavened bread was part of the tradition because the Israelites could not wait for the yeast to rise when they left Egypt in a rush. The bitter herbs are reminiscent of the bitter experience of slavery in Egypt. The appeal is successful, showing that the instruction to the Israelites could have some flexibility. At the same time, however, this ruling is not to lead to any general laxity in observing the festival. The festival is to be kept fully, according to verse 12, ...

177. Jeroboam II King of Israel

2 Kings 14:23-29

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... 24). It is, rather, because in this period immediately after Elisha’s death there is still deliverance to be found, in spite of idolatry. The promise to Jehu stands (2 Kgs. 10:30); the compassion of God is still active (13:23). When God sees, therefore, how bitterly everyone is suffering (v. 26; on slave or free see the additional note on 1 Kgs. 14:10), a prophet like Elisha is sent to announce deliverance and salvation (Hb. yšʿ; v. 27; cf. the commentary on 2 Kgs. 13:5, 20–25). But Israel’s respite ...

178. Azariah King of Judah

2 Kings 15:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

179. Hold Me When I'm Angry

Joshua 5:1-12

Sermon

Carl Jech

... avoid becoming angry, but we can control what we do with our anger! Sometimes we can see our anger as a gift. The television show Highway to Heaven once included an episode about a young man who had lost his legs in a motorcycle accident. Angry and bitter, in the hospital he lashed out at those who tried to help him, including the young woman who loved him. Then, suddenly, during one encounter the anger turned to tears and now, instead of bearing the brunt of his anger, the young woman achieved the kind of ...

180. Pursued by Mercy

John 10:11-18 · Psalm 23

Sermon

Will Willimon

... my sheep who was lost! Rejoice with me." "I lay down my life for the sheep." Is there no limit to his pursuit? We knew him as a mean old man. Resentful. Bitter. Someone said that his bitterness was justified. His beloved wife died giving birth to their one child. The child died shortly thereafter from complications. "He has reason to be bitter," they said in town. Never went to church. Never had anything to do with anyone. When, in his late sixties, they carried him out of his apartment and over to the ...

181. The Subject Is Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Steve Molin

... people. It’s not an even trade. But our forgiving others is our tangible response to the forgiveness that we, ourselves, have received. Author George MacDonald calls it a luxury. “Forgiveness” he says, “is the luxury of the Christian.” We don’t have to carry the bitterness around any more. We don’t have to keep score. We don’t have to feel the resentment, because God has called us to let it go. The world can’t do that. The world won’t do that. But the people of God are called to ...

182. Lord To Whom Shall We Go?

John 6:56-69

Sermon

David Coffin

... of the woman’s testimony. Later in John 11, Jesus raised his friend Lazarus up to this new life or zway. Jesus as the giver of new life is one recurring theme in John’s gospel. The young man in the opening illustration had to deal with bitter legal and embittered ex-spouse opposition. Jesus dealt with opposition which led to his death after he healed Lazarus. Jesus stayed on mission. His hour (John 2) had not arrived yet. In our lesson today, the bread and wine symbolize and represent the new life Jesus ...

183. Transforming Love

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

... Michelle who was teaching their family how to be tender. There is tenderness in the love of Christ and there is tenderness in the love of his followers. Saul's purpose in life was transformed by his encounter with Christ. He was no longer a fury of bitterness tormenting the Church. He became an ambassador for Jesus. As such he promoted a way of faith and a life of love. It was that transformation of purpose that would enable Saul, now Paul, to write later in life, "Love is patient and kind ... love never ...

184. Naaman Is My Name!

2 Kings 5:1-27

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... won't condemn us for it. But words cannot change the reality itself! God views these efforts to downplay our actions with words by saying, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20). But, a sinner by any other name is just as lost! No wonder Seneca said, "Sin is the 'universal insanity.' " We may not have leprosy, we may have escaped AIDS, but we are sick in our sins! The worst of all ...

185. Children, Just Forever

Mark 9:42-50

Sermon

George W. Hoyer

... again. Judas would not. Jesus knew and let Peter know that he knew what even Peter did not know. Peter was warned. When the cock crowed and Peter had denied him three times, Jesus looked through the night and his eyes found Peter's. Peter remembered. Peter wept bitterly. And Jesus made Peter a child again that very night. Judas cried, too, but not as a little one cries. Who can understand his error? What we must focus on is God's offered love, a love that moves us to tears and back to childhood. God has ...

186. A Light In The Darkness

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

Robert A. Hausman

... of war, he will bring peace. Instead of lawlessness, he will bring justice. Instead of corruption, he will bring righteousness (v. 7). People will be able to count on law and order. They will be able to plant and expect a harvest of wheat and not of bitterness. This king's reign will be one of peace everlasting. In the tradition of the orient, this king functions as a son of God. He is born a "son of God," and he is given divine titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (v ...

187. Who's In Charge Here, Anyway?

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

Tony Everett

... obnoxious adult. But God was in charge here. Someone had to take the first step to affirm that. After his tears subsided, Joseph called his brothers close to him and told them who he was. Through Joseph, God brought an end to a long and bitter conflict. Joseph said to his brothers, "Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life" (v. 5). Evil exists. Conflicts happen, even in the best of families, even in the most faithful congregations ...

188. In Times Of Need

1 Kings 17:7-24

Sermon

Carlyle Fielding Stewart

... I am gathering wood for a fire so that I may go home and cook it for my son so that we may die," said the woman bitterly. "Do not worry. Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said, but make me some cake of the cornmeal first and bring it to ... had fallen on hard times. Her son was in a coma and near death. Her husband had died. She may have become cynical and bitter because of hard times. But Elijah restored her faith by reviving her son. Elijah transformed her cynicism into a newfound optimism. Food and oil ...

189. Till Death Do Us -- Unite

Acts 10:34-43

Sermon

Paul W. Kummer

... he breathed his last, but nothing was over -- except Satan's reign of terror with death as his ultimate weapon. When Jesus died he killed death. Yes, death still bites (we die physically), but Jesus took away its sting and the venom of its hopelessness and the bitterness of hell. Because our Redeemer lives, we will stand on the earth. Jesus has freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Death is only the message that calls us home, not a prison warden that drags us to doom ...

190. Uplifted By The Blues

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

Thomas G. Rogers

... someone who had always avoided poetry, Raymond did not know that authentic poetry could bring a unique human feeling to life in the heart of the reader. Raymond read on, "She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her." Deep inside himself Raymond knew something about bitter night and he whispered aloud to himself, "She has no one to comfort her." Raymond was no longer reading the poem. These were his words. This blue book of poems had provided ...

191. A Special Night

Exodus 12:1-30

Drama

Pamela Urfer

... ." The angel passed them over. DAUGHTER: Then what? FATHER: Then they were supposed to cook the lamb with some bitter herbs ... SON: (Interrupting) What are ...? FATHER: (Anticipating him) ... which symbolized the suffering of the people and eat the ... . SON: He did? FATHER: Yes. That's what the Last Supper was. It was the Jewish Passover celebration. He had the lamb and the bitter herbs and the unleavened bread. DAUGHTER: But the Last Supper is something else. FATHER: It is, and it isn't. The Last Supper also ...

192. Where Do Our Words Come From?

Matthew 12:34b

Children's Sermon

Teresa L. Major

... ways, our hearts are responsible for everything we say. The Bible teaches us that the things we say come from what's in our hearts. The words we use and the things we say tell others a lot about us. If we are full of bitter, hateful talk, then our hearts are probably full of bitterness and hatred. If we use harsh, mean, and ugly words all the time, that's most likely what's in our hearts. If we speak kind and gentle words, our hearts are likely full of kindness and gentleness, and if we use words that show ...

193. Love Without Limits

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

... long with similar problems, but Matthew says, "[Jesus] did not answer her at all." If you have ever finally gotten up the courage to ask someone for help, you can imagine how devastating this must have been to this woman. There is hardly any bitterness worse than the bitterness of people who asked for help from their church or their pastor and were ignored. Dr. John Savage did a study of why people who were once active in the church -- I mean, the kind of people who sing in the choir, teach Sunday school ...

194. Fools For The Sake Of Christ

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon

John N. Brittain

... I will confess that I have never been a member of the Justice Scalia fan club, and I am sure that many of those piling on were taking advantage of the moment because of past skirmishes and disagreements with him as well as his increasingly bitter rhetoric. Indeed, as one of the justice's former law clerks remarked, "If Scalia were to announce that the world was round, the Flat Earth Society would be flooded with applications from law school professors and National Public Radio would soon broadcast a series ...

195. The Mechanics Of Prayer

Matthew 6:5-15, Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... of a happy marriage with children and a Christian home, but a spouse turns to alcoholism or to another man or woman. One may dream of having a long life but tragedy brings the end when you are only in your 20s. In times like these, when your soul is bitter and distressed, you cry out to God in prayer. Fourth, fear may cause us to strive with God in prayer. It was so with Jacob who feared to meet his brother, Esau, who was coming with 400 horsemen. Jacob feared that his evil past was catching up with him ...

196. You Can Be Well Fed

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Sermon

Michael B. Brown

... Peace. The Bible describes him as "Prince of Peace." That is a sound indicator that Jesus did not spend His days focusing on all the hurts or insults he had he ever suffered. His steady mental diet was not filled with angry thoughts, thoughts of revenge or bitterness, because had he done that, he would never have been at peace. Remember our starting point: A person becomes what s/he feeds on day by day. To become like Jesus, therefore, I am called to focus on peace, forgiveness and letting go of old grudges ...

197. The Glory And The Pain

Luke 9:28-36

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

... him to pierce to the core of many of the issues that faced the congregation. He was blind but he could see things that most people could never see. He was immobile of body but mobile of mind and thought. When Pete died the whole congregation mourned. On a bitter winter day the church was full for his funeral. The pastor put into words that day what most of them had thought. "We saw in him the glory of God," the pastor said, "the glory of God shining through the depths of human suffering. Thanks be to God."

198. The Face Of God

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

Steve Burt

... on his forehead below the crown of thorns. His eyes hollow as his face begins to take on the look of death. But there's something different about his face. He isn't glaring in anger at the world below him. His face isn't filled with the bitterness we'd expect. Instead his eyes reflect compassion, sympathy, pity, love. It's as if he can see all the other faces from there -- the Native American with the tear on his face, the starving child, the divorcing woman, the weeping widow, the wife and children of the ...

199. What A Friend He Had In Judas

Matthew 26:47-56

Sermon

Thomas Long

... his true colors. In that seemingly innocent title is contained all of Judas' misunderstanding of Jesus, all of his treachery, all of his misguided collaboration with the enemy. But when Jesus calls him "friend," it must be heard at two levels. There is, first, the bitterly ironic level. Standing there with hateful heart, his insincere kiss and his armed posse, Judas is no friend of Jesus. So, for Jesus to call him "friend" in this moment of treason is to use the word in Matthew's peculiar glossary, as a ...

200. God Sends Us Ahead

Genesis 45:1-28

Sermon

... but we can allow God to redeem them. All the terrible comments and relationships and events can become God's life-giving purposes. If these incidents have matured us in Christ, if they have made us empathetic and able to help others out of their lethargy, hurt, or bitterness, then our past is redeemed. We have been sent ahead. Blaming others traps us in the past with them. A black picture of others sticks us with a dim image of God. Charles Stanley writes: There have been times when I felt as if I was on a ...

Showing results