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 2126 to 2150 of 4959 results
2126. Remember Me?
Luke 13:22-30
Sermon
... , they maintain a guarded and casual relationship to the church. In the second act of Paddy Chayefsky’s play, Gideon, the Angel of the Lord realized that Gideon whom he has chosen has rejected him. Throughout the play, Gideon has been torn between the desire to serve and the longing to be served. Sometimes he has been loving and sometimes his frustration has made him incapable of love. Finally, in an act of resentment, he turns away from the Lord’s representative. At this point, the Angel, speaking for ...
Sermon
Carveth Mitchell
Two women were sitting in church. One woman said to the other, "I’ve always wished that God would touch me, but I suppose that’s too much to ask." The other woman replied, "That sounds like a reasonable desire. Have you prayed about it?" "Well, no. Of course not." "Why not? There’s certainly nothing wrong with a prayer like that. You should pray about it." "All right. Maybe I will sometime." "Not sometime. Now. What better place to pray than here in the Lord’s house?" Thus persuaded, ...
Sermon
Carveth Mitchell
... we do, who does not meet them unless we ask with sincerity that shows itself in persistence. Prayer is not a casual conversation, a quickie devotion, a flippant wish. It is a continuing dialogue between a person and God. Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed. The original form of the words "ask, seek" used in this Gospel means "keep on asking, seeking." (Note that the householder was not asking for himself; he was asking for the welfare of his guests.) This is not to say that one ...
Sermon
Carveth Mitchell
... When we use money, and the other material things of life which money can buy, in order to accomplish good purposes, we are on solid Christian ground. We thus provide for our needs, provide for the family and help other people. But when, as so often happens, we desire things just to have more things (not to live on, but to live for), then mammon has become our master. It has then become, as the ancients called it, a little god, and has taken the place that only God should have. So Jesus says, "You cannot be ...
2130. Weed-Pulling
Matthew 13:24-30
Sermon
Richard Patt
... within parishes is caused by active, prominent, "upright" members of the church. We do have to be careful not to over-generalize about where the weeds are growing in the church, don't we? Weed-pulling is also mighty tempting when it comes to our desire to give someone else moral correction. We can speak of this in terms of the "savior complex." There are always those who feel that they must "save" another person from moral ruin. Parents often feel this way about their own children. They feel compelled to ...
Sermon
... was also in Christ Jesus ... who humbled himself and took on the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men ... and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross." Why is Christ so believable to you and me today? Why do we have a burning desire to do his will as Christians? It's because his actions of service stand behind his words. Authentic servant is what he was, and that makes him ring true in our hearts. If the world is to listen to the witness of the church in our day, it will be ...
Sermon
... earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust" to remind the people that the wages of sin is death. Thus, people were called from their sin and urged to return to God. Fasting is identified with a change of mind and heart, a true sorrow for sin and the desire to do better. False fasting is when you go through the motions of fasting, but do not make any effort to change your wicked way of life. What fasting is done today is largely divorced from any serious effort to change one's wicked ways or to execute social ...
Sermon
... might expect, he was extremely hungry. The text reads, "He ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry." The Devil said to him, "If you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread." The weak point at this time was Jesus' great desire for food. It was surely a serious temptation - who could avoid it? - to use God's power to turn a stone into a loaf of bread. The Devil approaches us at our weak point. Of course, we do the same to others, don't we? A very successful pitcher ...
Sermon
... the bread is his body and the wine is his blood, Jesus comes into us through the physical elements. In other words, Jesus wants to identify with us, to be one with us, to crawl under our skins, to become part and parcel of us. This is a normal desire of those who love because, on a human plane, lovers cannot get close enough to each other. They are not content until they touch each other. Ever see lovers sit on opposite ends of a sofa? This means that the Lord's Supper is the Christian's highest privilege ...
Sermon
Wallace H. Kirby
... and the destruction of the temple in 587 B.C., Ezekiel chastised his people for their unfaithfulness to God and foretold the doom of those remaining in Jerusalem and the land of Judah. Like his prophetic predecessors, Ezekiel made it plain that God did not desire the doom and destruction that the Hebrews were facing. With anguished cry Ezekiel says in the name of Yahweh, "Why do you Israelites want to die?" (18:31, TEV) The covenant had been broken. God had been faithful and the people had been unfaithful ...
2136. Prayer
Matthew 11:25-30
Bulletin Aid
... Consider Weigh the evidence And make your own decisions, Even when they don't agree with the crowd. That's not easy! Being right Moral Ethical - Christian Is (or, at least, can be) A heavy burden! (Maybe that's why I'm not such a good one!) Lord, forgive my desire to be like everyone else To be accepted instead of to be faithful, And help me to bear your yoke Lightly Easily Faithfully, And for Jesus' sake. Amen
Sermon
... of becoming a specialized hearer of religion - a peril which the Israelites faced, and which all people who are religious face. Believing people can become so absorbed in the occupation of talking about, hearing, and studying their faith that there is no desire or inclination to do anything about it. Kierkegaard imagines that, near the cross of Christ stood a man who beheld the terrible crucifixion scene, and then went about telling what he saw. He explained it all. Later, he witnessed the persecution of ...
2138. Proper 8
Genesis 32:22-32
Sermon
... done for him, and for all the blessings he has received. Finally, he implores God to save him from Esau's wrath. It seems obvious that Jacob had grown considerably, in spirit, during the years of his exile. Maybe this was the motive behind his desire to spend the night in solitude beside the lonely river. There are occasions when a person, facing a great crisis - whether positive or negative in nature - longs to withdraw from even the most trusted and loved friends. There are some key experiences which can ...
2139. Proper 9
Exodus 1:1-22
Sermon
... see what would happen to this young brother. After all, his future was, at best, precarious. If he was not found soon, he would die of starvation. On the other hand, if he was found, everything indicated he must also die. Just then the king's daughter expressed a desire to bathe in the river. Of course, this was not a simple affair for an Egyptian princess. She could not simply go down to the river to bathe and swim like any ordinary person. She was one of the most important people in the kingdom and had to ...
Sermon
... , my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me: I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more. Amen.
2141. Parable of a Prayer and a Bank Account
John 15:16-17
Illustration
... pray and don't know how to communicate with God. So they tell their friends they are offended with the Church, the preacher, the religion or with God and continue in their unfulfilled dreams. It is more than a pity -- it is human tragedy to live and not live, to desire love and not obtain it and to ignore the presence of God's love, when it is the answer to human suffering.
2142. Parable of the Elevator and the Stairway
Psalm 95:1-11
Illustration
... but Sunday, which always commemorates the first day of the week as the day on which Christ arose, is often ignored through the year. Prayer is a channel of communication with God but many think of it as a stairway that is difficult to climb. Others desire prayer to be an elevator which arrives on pressing a button. But, if the believer in God would be lifted by God's spirit, he must be willing to make use of the regular opportunities for devotion as well as the special occasions when he wants assistance ...
2143. Good Communion Table Manners
Luke 14:1-14
Illustration
Alex Gondola
... s Table. Good communion table manners include coming to the table without thinking too much of ourselves. And, finally, good communion table manners include coming without looking down on any other guest, for all of us are God's equally beloved guests. King George IV desired Communion and sent a servant to bring the Bishop of Winchester. When the servant arrived with the Bishop, the King was angry. He felt his servant had taken too long. The King upbraided the man and fired him on the spot. Having done that ...
Sermon
... weeks Yola could notice a difference in the energy level of her children and she was sleeping at night She was grateful beyond belief. Aba Abin Aba Abin was a strong man who had been an athlete in his school days. Because of his strong body and his desire to be in the great out-of-doors, he never advanced his education beyond secondary school although he was very intelligent. He loved to work in the fields. In lifting heavy loads, he found a rhythm to life. Working close to the soil, he found a nearness to ...
Sermon
Thomas C. Short
... comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of yon, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid afoundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not ...
Sermon
Thomas C. Short
... eyes off him, and he could not take his eyes off me. We stared at each other as though some great common bond of life held us together. His eyes crying out to me for help and my eyes reaching into his with tenderness and understanding and above all, a desire to help. I was interrupted in my communication with this dying pigeon by my friend who suddenly said, "There it is. Over there." Yes, of course, it was the restaurant. We had a big, green W-A-L-K and we started across the street. As I walked away I ...
Sermon
"There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted ...
Sermon
... but even the Monster’s power fades when he is with me, for I am his father Can I be like my son and trust You and not be afraid1 Through this experience with his son, Robert Raines helps us to focus on faith which is something most of us desire to experience. Like this author, we want it. In this Scripture passage, the disciples of Christ ask him for faith, What Is Faith? Faith is trust. To have faith in another person, including God, is to trust that person to love you and to do what is right for you ...
Sermon
... . At the same time he authorized the deaths of millions of his fellow Soviet citizens. Seek peace! Establish justice! Speak the truth! Reprove truth! Seek good, not evil that you may live! The speaking for good is to be a passion. We are to be burned up with the desire and will that good will reign. We are to be consumed by the same kind of passion that consumed our Lord. The purpose of the text and of this sermon is not the development of a new program in niceness. It is a seeking after life itself, as God ...
Sermon
... becomes the focus for its own sake. "Should they continue fasting?" was the question of the people of Zechariah’s time. It was a seventy-year practice which reminded them of the destruction of the temple. "No," says Zechariah, that is not at the heart of God’s desires. "Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me; ‘Say to all the people of the land and the priests, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when ...
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