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 2101 to 2125 of 5000 results

2101. Pastor, Don't Talk About That!

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... family wouldn’t send him away. When James came home and discovered what his son had done, he could have done a lot of things he could have said nothing, he could have said, “Stealing is bad son, but I’m out of work and surely God wouldn’t want us to starve, the butcher will never miss it, and nobody else knows it’s okay, just this once.” But James Braddock was an honest and courageous man. He took his son and the sausage back to the butcher, his son confessed his crime and they left. And outside ...

2102. On the Ropes: Round 1 - Doubting God

Habakkuk 1:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

... knew this God thing didn’t work. I knew this wasn’t for me. I knew this wasn’t real. I knew this whole business about God was just religious superstition, because if God is who He says He is this world would not be the way it is.” I want to tell you both of those responses are futile and fatal. If you take either one of those approaches you automatically forfeit the match. We need to do what Habakkuk did. Talk it out. On the one hand, he doesn’t hit the panic button and say, “Evidently there is ...

2103. On the Ropes: Round 2 - Debating God

Habakkuk 1:12--2:1

Sermon

James Merritt

... middle of the night to take care of them. She will never nag you and she will always be the first one to admit she was wrong when you’ve had a disagreement. She will never have a headache and she will freely give you love and passion whenever you want and need it.” Adam said, “What will this woman cost?” God said, “An arm and a leg.” Adam thought for a moment and said, “What can I get for a rib?” Have you ever noticed that when you bargain with God and He doesn’t deal that then you start ...

2104. Ignite: Burning Love

Acts 5:17-42

Sermon

James Merritt

... If it is of God, you can’t do anything. As a matter of fact, you will wind up opposing God. You certainly don’t want to do that.” What Gamaliel was saying was simple, “Only an act of God will keep this movement alive and get this movement off the ... in trying to reach people for Jesus Christ? It goes back to what these disciples realized was true about Jesus Christ and what I want to ask us to remember is true about Jesus Christ. Just three very quick things – I. We Need To Remember Who Jesus Is He ...

2105. Ignite: Man on Fire

Acts 9:1-19a

Sermon

James Merritt

... of Julius Caesar 4. Invention of the printing press 5. Invention of the airplane 6. The Declaration of Independence 7. The invention of gun powder 8. The discovery of the Western hemisphere 9. The death of Jesus 10. The death of Muhammad Well, at least Jesus made it! I want to submit to you that not only is this list badly flawed, but in my opinion the top four greatest events in human history are all found in the first five books of the New Testament. Two of them are found in the Book of Acts and three of ...

2106. First Thing

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

James Merritt

... first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33, ESV) You focus on what God wants to do in you and through you on a daily basis and He will take care of what needs to happen for you. Here is the ... do what lies clearly at hand. In other words, just what Jesus said, “Look one way at a time and live one day at a time.”[1] I want to ask you to do something. You still have weeks left in this year. Go home today, sit down at a desk and take out a sheet ...

2107. Learning to Live Like Jesus

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front. If we are as wise as those geese we will also stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others. When the lead goose tires, it drops back in the formation and another flies to the point position. This is how the leadership of a church ought to work. We take turns doing the ...

2108. What's It Take to Be A Saint? (All Saint's Day)

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... like the little boy who says to his father, “Let’s play darts. I’ll throw and you say ‘wonderful!’” That’s what we want out of God. Tell us that we are wonderful. Tell us that we are accepted, forgiven, loved. But don’t tell us that our robes ... important words from Max Lucado, “God loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. He wants us to be like Jesus.” Who are the saints around the throne of God? Everybody on this earth is a candidate for sainthood. None ...

2109. Winners and Losers

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... another one asked for the time. Quickly he got out a pen and paper, and wrote, “I do not know the time,” put it on the window, and settled back to sleep. He was just dozing off when there was another knock at the window. “Sir, sir?” said a jogger wanting to be helpful, “it’s 8:45!” (1) Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t win. You’ve noticed that, haven’t you? It’s true of everybody at some time or another. We have a term for it, Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go ...

2110. Last Impressions

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... his wife, “Sangeeta and I would prepare it together for the family.” (p.88) Angela Harnett, and English chef in charge of the Murano restaurant in New York insisted that her assistants would be “family — we would do it all together” (p.102). Paul Kahan wanted his last meal on earth to be a big old pig roast, but the final touch would be “Swiss chocolate, because my wife, Mary likes it” (p.104). His final dessert was for his loved one, not himself. When Jesus was asked “what is the greatest ...

2111. Joy Giver

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James Merritt

... that we don’t have the time for re-gifting. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ you have some things worth re-gifting. I want to begin by saying this. I don’t care how busy you are or how busy you think you are – you are never too busy to ... said again. “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10, ESV) There are two words I want you to underline. One is the word, “you” and one is the word “all”. Jesus said this joy is for you all. In the Greek that is ...

2112. What Do You See?

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

James Merritt

... patronized turned a cold shoulder, but the people he looked upon as his enemies stopped to help. The question arises, “Which of these would you want to be your neighbor?” Or, to turn it around, what if you had been in that story? You are in a foreign country and have ... It is a long story as to why they were hated so much, but just suffice to say it was all pure racism. If you really wanted to insult a person or insult a Jew 2000 years ago, all you had to do was just call him a “Samaritan.” That is why ...

2113. Let's Take This from the Beginning

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

James Merritt

... God created us in a relationship and created us for a relationship. God has always existed in a relationship. That is why when God created the first human He immediately said it is not good for this human to be alone. God is a God of relationships and He wants us to be in a personal relationship with Him. Genesis 2:7 gives us a very detailed picture of just how God created the first human. “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the ...

2114. Are You a Polar Bear?

Ephesians 1:1-14

Sermon

... tells us: we were chosen before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in God’s sight. Oops! You knew it, didn’t you? There’s a catch. “Chosen before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” The last thing I want to do today is to make you feel guilty--too much talk about being holy and blameless has a tendency to do that. But think this through for a minute. Why do you think God created you? From the teachings of Jesus, I believe God created us to be happy ...

2115. Poem: In Memoriam

Eulogy

Alfred Lord Tennyson

... , born of love, the vague desire That spurs an imitative will. CXI The churl in spirit, up or down Along the scale of ranks, thro’ all, To him who grasps a golden ball, By blood a king, at heart a clown; The churl in spirit, howe’er he veil His want in forms for fashion’s sake, Will let his coltish nature break At seasons thro’ the gilded pale: For who can always act? but he, To whom a thousand memories call, Not being less but more than all The gentleness he seem’d to be, Best seem’d the thing ...

2116. How God Looks at Marriage

Mark 10:2-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... mom. “Mom,” she said, “When I wake up in the morning my breath is truly awful.” “Honey,” her mother consoled, “everyone has bad breath in the morning.” “No, you don’t understand. My morning breath is so bad, I’m afraid that my new husband will not want to sleep in the same room with me.” Her mother said simply, “Try this. In the morning, get straight out of bed and head for the bathroom and brush your teeth. The key is not to say a word until you’ve brushed your teeth. Not a word ...

2117. Brushing Your Teeth with Oreos

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

King Duncan

... Jesus knew. Jesus already sensed his connection to God at twelve years of age. That says something about Jesus. But it also says something about young people. Whenever any young person comes to me and asks about being [baptized/ confirmed or joining a membership class], or simply wants to talk to me about their faith in God, I listen closely. I realize that a young person can be tuned in to God at an early age. In fact there are probably some of us adults who remember our childhood as a time we felt closest ...

2118. Two Kinds of People

Jeremiah 17:5-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... of persons today live where they do--in the middle of a parched and desolate wilderness. Two kinds of people. If you want to belong to the first group you need do nothing. Did you know that most people actually prefer the wilderness? Jeremiah says ... be left will be a desert. All we have to do for that to happen is sit there and do nothing. On the other hand, if we want to join that other group--that group that is like a tree planted by the water with its roots spreading out to the river, with its green ...

2119. Are You Giving Up Chocolate for Valentine's Day?

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... know what it is to be tempted, don’t we? It’s like something witty author John Ortberg wrote in his book, The Me I Want to Be. He wrote about a time when he and his wife went fly-fishing. This was their first time at this particular sport. Their ... a fish, life is about the maximum gratification of appetite at the minimum expenditure of energy. To a fish, life is “see a fly, want a fly, eat a fly.” As Ortberg humorously puts it, “A rainbow trout never really reflects on where his life is headed. A ...

2120. Ruth and Boaz on the Threshing Floor

Ruth 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Michael S. Moore

... s concubine’s father (Judg. 19:2–10) and the old Gibeahite (19:16–26). Each of these father figures tries to do what is best for his children yet fails miserably. The goals of the Levite’s father-in-law, for example, are hazy. Does he want to keep his daughter home indefinitely? Is it his intention to persuade his son-in-law to stay in Bethlehem? Does he know something about the bad reputation of the Gibeahites? And what about his methods? Is he trying, like other biblical characters, to wear down ...

2121. God's Promise to David

1 Chronicles 17:1-15

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... the Chronicler is rather reserving the issue of rest for the Solomon narrative. In 17:10 there follows a solemn declaration that Yahweh will build a house for David. This declaration gives an ironic twist to the initial opening of the narrative, where David declares that he wants to build a house for Yahweh. The irony is created by means of the wordplay on “house,” which can refer to a physical palace (such as David’s; 17:1), to a family (such as David’s; 16:43), to a temple (such as the one David ...

2122. David Numbers the Fighting Men

1 Chronicles 21:1-22:1

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... in 2 Samuel 24:21, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?” is omitted. David instead makes his intentions clear immediately: Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the LORD. He also mentions that he wants to buy it at the full price. The latter expression is again the Chronicler’s addition to the text. In the further deliberations Araunah first offers the site to David for free, but David insists on paying “the full price.” In the end David paid Araunah six ...

2123. Caring for the Needy and Commissioning Apostles

Mark 3:7-12, Mark 3:13-19

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... that is defined earlier in Ephesians 4:13 as “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” God does not accept half-hearted commitment. Too many try to tithe their lives—that is, give God one-tenth of their lives. This is unacceptable; he wants our all (see under Mark 1:18–20 above). To follow Christ is to try to emulate him in every area of our lives and to live out an explicitly Christ-centered version of Brother Lawrence’s credo, “The practice of the presence of [Christ].” 4 ...

2124. Possessions and Choice in the New Kingdom Community

Mark 10:17-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... you on the cross.2 The truth about idols Object Lesson: The story of the rich man made the disciples very uncomfortable. It should make us uncomfortable as well. Bring items that might vie to be the first love for the people of your congregation. For example, you might want to have a bank statement, a trophy, a mobile phone, a vacation brochure, a picture of a happy family, and so on. Pull out one item at a time and ask, “Would you be willing to give this up if Jesus asked you to?” In the case of the ...

2125. The Roman Trial

Mark 15:16-20, Mark 15:1-15

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... true “Son of the Father” will die in the place of the wicked “son of the father.” What Pilate did not realize was that as an insurrectionist in the Jewish world, Barabbas would have been a Robin Hood–like figure to many Jews. 15:9 Do you want me to release . . . the king of the Jews? The crowd appears here for the first time, and verse 8 describes how they “came up” or ascended the hill to Herod’s palace (15:16) (near the Jaffa Gate), where Pilate held court. There were probably few of ...

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