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 5000 results

176. Love of God and Love of Country

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... our world desperately needs something fresh. Let me go on record as saying we do not need any more Henrys. Nor do we need any more Bobs. What we so desperately need are dedicated Christian men and women who love their God and love their country also; some who love their country and love God also. No man who calls himself Christian can put his country or any other country above God. Neither can he put his own interests and welfare above the ethics of God. Our forefathers based our constitution on balanced ...

177. Christmas Is Love

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... by his mother, Mary and his father, Joseph, and cattle and sheep and shepherds, and later, wise men and above them lingers a star. Angels sing in the heavens and for one glorious night, we see a glimpse of why this world was created. It was created for love. We live in a God-invaded world. Because we could not go to Him, He came to us. And because God came to us, everything is forever changed. Someone has summed it up in a little Christmas fable: Once there lived a humble fisherman and his shrewish wife ...

178. The Scope of Love

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... moment on, every new Christian bears Jesus’ name and is filled with Jesus’ Spirit. The first breath we take outside the womb fills our lungs with oxygen. The first breath we take after receiving Jesus’ gift of the Spirit fills our hearts with love. The miracle of the first creation is that despite all the diversity, everything hangs together in a divinely tuned harmony. The singleness of God’s Spirit prevails. The miracle of this second creation is that everything in it is brought into unity and ...

179. Jacob Loved, Esau Hated

Malachi 1:1-5

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... descendants lived and were enslaved in Egypt, Esau’s descendants were chiefs in the land of Edom (Gen. 36:1–30; Deut. 2:4–5). Long before the Israelites put their first king on the throne, Edom was a monarchy (Gen. 36:31–39). Being God’s loved and chosen people did not guarantee Israel’s political independence or domestic security. Jacob and his descendants, however, did have the assurance of God’s presence with them in Haran (Gen. 28:15; 31:5–7, 42), in Egypt (Gen. 46:3–4), and on the way ...

180. “Love Your Neighbor”

Luke 10:25-37

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... (Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18) suitably sum up the two main aspects of religious duty, as expressed in the two “tables” of the Decalogue, one’s duty to God and one’s duty to other people. For other New Testament statements of the primary importance of love in fulfilling the law, see Romans 13:8–10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8 (all of which focus on Lev. 19:18), and compare Jesus’s own summary in Matthew 7:12. The parable of the good Samaritan, however, is not primarily a call to universal benevolence ...

181. Loving Through Action

1 John 3:14-24

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... in today’s second lesson, we are called to carry out Jesus’ directive to live for others. We recall his words: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15 ... needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (James 2:1-17). If we say we love Christ and wish to be his disciples, then we must move to the level of action, by serving, and as necessary, laying down one’s life ...

182. The Limits Of Love

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Charles H. Bayer

... not possibly extend beyond their own kind. Jesus addressed the question early in his ministry. It was at his first public appearance in his hometown synagogue he first made the point. He had read the passage from Isaiah, which laid out the compassionate nature of divine love. He, as God's servant, was to take up Isaiah's messianic mission. He had come to preach to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. Up to then he had a good hearing. It is seldom dangerous to read Bible verses. The trouble ...

183. A Mother's Love -- A Godly Passion

Luke 13:31-35

Sermon

Glenn E. Ludwig

... sweep beneath his wings; and then, he is headed to Jerusalem, where he will, in essence, fly off from his chicks alone and draw God's judgment to him so that the jaws of death might sink their teeth into his flesh only, and not into his children whom he loves with a mother-hen's protective passion. Do you see the image? Now, I know the image of God as a female can be disconcerting for some. Most of us have been raised with this patriarchal view of God. We regularly use the male pronoun in place of God. I ...

184. Wedding: Rooted In Love (for a blended family)

Ephesians 3:14-21

Bulletin Aid

Derl G. Keefer

... what makes a lot of marriages dry up and become lifeless. God wants so much more for you. I pray that you will sink your family's roots into God's great love. For God's love never runs dry. God has the power to fill your lives with more love than you ever thought possible. (Bride) and (Groom), sink your roots deep into the love of God and let your life together grow into something strong and beautiful. Like a healthy tree whose branches provide shade and fruit for all who come near, family and friends will ...

185. How Do I Love You?

1 John 3:18

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... big book and some special shoes. Good morning, boys and girls. Today you are going to learn something about love. How many of you know a lot about love? (Let them answer,) What do you think love is all about? (Let them answer.) Love is pretty important, isn't it? The people whom you love are important to you and you must also be important to them. How you know that some people love you or how they know that you love them is what we are going to find out this morning. Before we answer all of the questions ...

186. Growing In Love

Ephesians 4:15

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... math problems. Our voices grow also. They get bigger, deeper, or higher, and they will become more beautiful if we practice with them. There is still another way to grow and that is to grow in love so that our love is more like Jesus' love. Jesus was filled with God's love. He loved everyone, even those who hated him. Jesus had a love so big that he could forgive even the people that crucified him. Growing in love will let you share the things you like the most with other people. You can share your time in ...

187. Wedding: The Aroma of Love

Sermon Aid

Randall S. Lehman

Oh Lord, we come to you today to praise you and to make ourselves available for your blessing. ____ and ____ have committed their lives to each other. They want to serve each other and You. Today we pray, help them to receive the love that You will give; help them to know and to live the peace that is Your peace; help them to know the confidence and security of this relationship with You. In Your Spirit, Oh Lord, the issues of each day will be growing experiences, and togetherness will be most complete. ...

188. Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise

Romans 11:33-36

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

... sat attentively all through the service. As they were leaving, he turned to his mother and said: "God must not have been at home today. I looked all around and never did see him!" Would that child have seen God in our church? Would he have seen God’s love in our eyes? Would he have heard God’s truth from our lips? Would he have recognized Christ’s presence in our lives? Would he have known he was in the midst of a holy people? Would he know that we have offered our bodies as living sacrifices, which ...

189. Wounding Love

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... the time to pontificate on the moral issues surrounding homosexuality. AIDS scares all of us mortal beings because it brings together so blatantly and inextricably all those issues we work to avoid: intimacy, vulnerability, love, sexuality and death. When the church loses sight of its own genetic heritage of wounding love, it becomes just one more modern institution trying to decide how to handle the AIDS crisis. The church must be able to do more than post brochures on "safe sex" and nervously reintroduce ...

190. Love that Kneels

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Mike Ripski

... caused him. It allowed him to hear his heart cry out, “Son, come home.” The truth was that there was nothing the son could do to stop being a son, because what made him a son was not something he did. He was a son because of his father’s love. I recall the mother who called and said she wanted to set up an appointment to talk with me. She said to me, “My daughter has just told me she’s a lesbian. What should I do?” I asked what she wanted to do. She responded, “I’m her mother ...

191. The Next 5 (A Drama about Love)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Drama

Dave Marsh

... my husband? You look like him but don’t sound like him. Dave: Seriously, I thought this would be cool. Beth: Ok. I’m game. How do you play? Dave: Great. (pulls her down on the couch) Here’s what you do. You choose a category with a question about love or our relationship and then you use the remote and flip the channel 5 times. You must then choose what is on one of the channels to answer the question. But be careful not to choose the first one or you might miss out on something better. On the other ...

192. Love And Submission

Ephesians 5:22-33

Sermon

King Duncan

... my wife does the same. If we weren't willing to do that, we would have broken up long ago." A successful marriage requires love and respect and the willingness to go the extra mile, over and over. It requires being the first to apologize, and it requires a ... him what was the secret of his happiness. This is the story he told me: "When I was a young man I was heels over head in love with the sweetest girl that ever lived. I still am and she still is. I have been married to her for 30 years, but she had one ...

193. Radical Love is Truthful (Series: Radical Love in a Risky World)

Ephesians 4:1-16

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... to talk with people who can make a point without impaling anyone on it.” How we say things may be as important as what we say. I don’t have a problem speaking the truth. I just find it easier to speak it in anger, rage and resentment, than in love. I am concerned about the mean-spiritedness that has emerged as a main agenda in America, especially in the Church. There are times when it may be necessary to be polemical for the sake of the gospel but it is seldom wise to be partisan in the fight for the ...

194. Radical Love at Home (Series: Radical Love in a Risky World)

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

... , out to sow his wild oats. Maybe he was middle-aged and on a mission to regain his lost youth. Even worse, he could have been some old fool who has lived long enough to know better. Whatever his age, he reckons with a truth: money won’t buy us love; travel won’t bring us happiness; getting what we want doesn’t mean having what we need. Too many selfish dreams leave us stranded in some pig pen. What draws us to the prodigal son? Are we drawn to his wild spirit? Is there not a rebellious nature in us ...

195. Do You Love Me?

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Kristin Borsgard Wee

... down as though he were chopping something apart. Jesus' face, in contrast, is hesitant and tame. His eyes are full of compassion. "Isn't love enough?" Jesus asks. "No," John answers angrily. "The tree is rotten. God called me and gave me the ax, which I then placed at ... something, and it was so powerful we couldn't miss it. God grabbed our attention and showed us one more time how much he loves us. The irony is that God's answer comes in suffering. Job told us all about it. When we are suffering, pushed to ...

196. God’s Love for Israel

Hosea 11:1-11

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

... rest on the heifer’s jaws, but on its neck, as the NIV has emended. There is no way to decide definitively between these two readings, but in either case, the tenderness of Yahweh toward Israel is indicated. Despite God’s unmerited love for his son Israel, that people has continually gone away and worshiped the Baals, verse 2, never remembering that their redemption from slavery came from Yahweh’s healing, verse 3. Given the context, this healing has the meaning of deliverance from political disaster ...

197. Reflecting God’s Abundant Love

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Molly F. James

... have our moments of being like the Pharisee, and while our world is full of temptations to go astray, it is also a world that is full of abundant blessings. Our perception makes all the difference. If we look for the blessings, if we look for the acts grounded in love, we will find them. That is our choice today. Are we going to be a people of scarcity, competing with each other to impress God? Or are we going to be a people of abundance? Are we going to be people who feel in their hearts the deep, abiding ...

198. Love Your Enemies--It Will Drive Them Crazy

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

Richard A. Wing

... and takes it and is caught. And the Bishop saves him and gives him the worst burden of his life. He forgives him right on the spot. Valjean's entire life is haunted after that by seeking to find that appropriate place where he can give away that kind of love. Most of the New Testament has been written by the apostle Paul. Have you ever stopped to think of what a gross character he was before his conversion? The one who gave us the most of what we call the "word of God" in the New Testament was killing and ...

199. But Men Loved Darkness

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... Well," she replied, "that all depends upon what you mean by good. I suppose that you wouldn’t think I was good, because I enjoy making love to men." Of course, she reassured me that she was smart enough to be on the Pill. "Are you mixed up with dope?" I asked. " ... then she spoke, and her whole case fell apart as she said: "No, I don’t suppose I’d want a daughter like that." We all love darkness, but, somehow, we can’t live in it as happily as we think we’d like to. Christ said: "I came not to judge ...

200. Finding Love

Mark 10:2-16

Bulletin Aid

Dallas A. Brauninger

... lost a life mate to death. Leader: When we have known love, let us remember its joy not measured by clock time. All: When we find love, let us cherish it. Collect Your love, O God, is greater than our love, yet our choice to love is honorable. Because you first loved us, we also have the capacity to love others. Amen. Prayer of Confession Dear God, loving is not always easy. Keep especially near to you those who associate love with its absence, with friction, or with disappointment. Keep especially near ...

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