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 1 to 25 of 67 results

1. Knitted Together from the Womb

Exodus 2:1-10

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... after that….both have forgotten all of it. All that matters is that they have a new member of their family, and he or she is just beautiful. And that risk? She’ll do it again. So will he. So the question for us isn’t really, are we risk averse? The question is, what risks are you willing to take? Because your risk ratio will equal your identity ratio. Who are you? What are you willing to risk? In the early church…. as in Jesus’ day, risk was a part of life if you called yourself a disciple of ...

2. The Upside Down Life

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

I confuse “inversion therapy” with “aversion therapy.” The latter (“aversion therapy”) is where you train your dog not to leave your yard, or not dig, or not bark, with a collar that shocks the dog when it does run off, dig, or bark. “Inversion therapy” helps alleviate back and neck pain by taking the usual gravitational press we live with ...

3. Why Can’t I Have It All?

Genesis 3:1-24, Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is True Love’s Kiss. Jesus’ sacrificial gift, His resurrection promise, His putting himself on the line to eliminate our poisonous sleep of death and to restore us to life is God’s True Love Kiss to all of humanity. For all of our efforts at risk aversion, Jesus takes the greatest risk of all –He gives up His life to redeem ours. And in doing so, Jesus again invites us into relationship with Him. We get a second shot at putting entitlement behind us and assuming a role as a worthy disciple, a mature ...

4. Untamed

Mark 1:9-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... , in Acts, and most of all in Revelation, all describing a desert-like, desolate environment in which a man-made, cultivated world is destroyed, and God’s re-creation begins. For God’s restoration always emerges from the depths of desolation. What is built up in aversion to God’s will must first be destroyed before God can restore the beauty of a garden world. God does not emerge from a cultivated place. But the God of behemoth and leviathan emerges from a wild and untamed place. We are a people who ...

5. Praying With Bloody Knuckles

Isaiah 62:1-12, Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

William L. Self

... flame of prayer on the altar of devotion.4 This flies in the face of the cardinal virtue of the secular culture -- license. Any type of commitment seems to restrict our freedom. We want to go, do, and be whatever the moment makes us desire. This coupled with our aversion to commitment of any kind leads to a certain spiritual atrophy. We want a church to be there for us, but we forget that the church is us! We want others to pay the price spiritually and in other ways so that we can reap the harvest of their ...

6. Followership

Matthew 4:18-22, Matthew 4:12-17

Sermon

Mark Radecke

... follow me). That's the way it is in real life, isn't it? Sometimes we lead and sometimes we follow, and most of the time we do both things simultaneously -- taking orders from some and giving orders to others. Why is it, then, that we are so averse to teaching and learning the skills of good followership? In large part I think because it means giving up control. And most of us have a dreadful fear -- a deathly fear -- of relinquishing control of any segment of our lives. Indeed, we do not give up control ...

7. The Pure In Heart

Sermon

John A. Terry

... known as Brother Lawrence who wrote a series of letters compiled in a little book titled The Practice of the Presence of God. His letters tell of his struggle to see God even in the most menial of his kitchen tasks, tasks to which he had a great aversion. He practiced finding God present even in the midst of noisy confusion, opposition, and temptation. And so he would repeat each day this simple prayer: Lord of all pots and pans and things Since I've no time to beA saint by doing lovely things Or watching ...

8. The Pure In Heart

Psalm 42:1-11

Sermon

John A. Terry

9. Proper 7

1 Kings 19:9-18, Psalm 63:1-11, Zechariah 12:1-9, Luke 8:26-39, Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon Aid

George Bass

... response, "My Lord and my God." Note: One could build a narrative sermon out of the following story, or simply use it as an illustration. Dr. Wayne Robinson, in his chapter in Journeys Toward Narrative Preaching, tells how he became a minister. He had a definite aversion to ministers until he attended a summer conference on a college campus while he was in high school. He found the pastors there to be nice people and some of what they said suddenly made sense to him. It was a "still small voice" that turned ...

10. Life on the Roller Coaster

Matthew 16:21-28

Sermon

Johnny Dean

... to jump the tracks and it’s just waiting for us to get on for that to happen. If that were the case, we could say, "Look at the number of lives I’m saving by not riding on the roller coaster!" I think there’s another reason for our aversion to roller coaster rides – at least, in my case, there is. The roller coaster ride reminds us too much of life. Life can be, and often is, like a roller coaster ride. One minute you’re up, the next you’re down, then comes a sudden turn or twist you ...

11. WHAT IS MAN?

Sermon

Larry Powell

... side of Crowley's Ridge were intimately familiar with the remedy automatically accompanying a sore throat or tonsillitis. There was never any doubt that the sure-cure administration of turpentine and sugar was forthcoming (some of us today still retain a certain aversion to pine trees). Or for persistent, severe cases, there was the more scientific exercise of having a trusted member of the family hold your head while Mama mopped your throat with a cotton swab. I always considered that particular remedy to ...

12. Death of a Blacksnake

Luke 17:11-19, Genesis 1:1-2:3

Illustration

Staff

... the man feeling very angry and a little sick. The killing of the snake was not anything unusual, and neither was the man's attitude concerning it. And yet - perhaps the very commonness of the act and the attitude behind it indicates something more than just an aversion to snakes. The man went out of his way to kill the snake - not because it posed a danger to him, or because he especially enjoys killing snakes (I hope) - but because he was using that club in an exercise of his fears and prejudices. In that ...

13. Sunrise Surprise

Drama

... such mechanics can be attended to. For those planning to present the drama in a chancel setting, the stage setting could be changed by manually moving the props; by the use of lighting; or by suggestion on the part of the actors. Introduction I have always had an aversion to using Jesus as one of the characters in any of the many plays I have written and produced. However, in this one, I broke from my policy and it proved to be a warm and refreshing break. I chose, to portray Jesus, a gentleman from our ...

14. Advance into Europe

Acts 15:36-41

Sermon Aid

CSS

... and she asked to be baptized, with her whole household. The fact that the meeting was at a riverside proved to be a fortunate coincidence in this case, for the baptism could take place at once. Maybe Silas was the baptizer, for Paul seemed averse to performing this sacramental act. "Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel," he wrote. (1 Corinthians 1:16) The event is interesting for another reason, for the "whole household" was baptized. Winning converts was usually a slow and laborious ...

15. Bitter-Sweet Recollections

Isaiah 50:1-11

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... for others like spitting on them, but there was Jesus, the King of Heaven, the Lord of glory, co-equal with the Father - and they hated him so much they spewed saliva in his gentle face. Their expectoration was a despicable, repulsive expression of their aversion for Christ. His shame was further felt when he was clothed in a purple robe. With condescending contempt and cruel horse-play with reed, robe, and crown of thorns they ridiculed him as King of the Jews. But even that derogatory act was carried an ...

16. The Un-Parade

Matthew 16:21-28, Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... by a Volunteer Fire Department. Lodged firmly in my mind is the sight of firemen engaged in inter-truck water fights and even in water fights with residents who had carted their pails or hoses to the roadside. Only a few spoilsports who have an aversion to water took exception to that frolicsome afternoon! Palm Sunday recalls Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and that procession into Jerusalem was something of a parade. To ape the creative mind of the ad man who, in attempting to show both the tradition out of ...

17. CENSUS TAKER

Exodus 30:12; Numbers 1:1

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

... put in by census takers and other employees of the Bureau of Statistics, and, cynics that most of us are, perhaps we said, with a shrug, "Well, that’s tough. So they’re collecting overtime, aren’t they!" But, still, not being averse to doing the same thing ourselves whenever possible, we were tolerant about the whole thing. Certainly, the public response to the census was gratifying. Very few actively objected, and the great majority submitted their questionnaires on time. Would you be surprised, then ...

18. A Perspective on the Ascension

Acts 1:1-11

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... event through three stages: 1. Luke tells us that the Risen Lord charged the disciples to "wait" (v. 4). What for? "The promises of the Father," he said. This can be a problem for many of us because we hate to wait. We have an aversion toward people who do not keep appointments on time, or trains and buses that arrive late, or postal systems that do not operate efficiently and so on. But these are secular problems with little moral orientation or content. The Bible, however, indicates something more when ...

19. Proper 23

Genesis 3:1-24, Mark 10:17-31, Hebrews 4:1-13

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

... tree - sudden death - did not result: as the serpent had rightly predicted, the man and woman did not die in that day, but instead got the knowledge of good and evil. Freed from doctrinal presuppositions, modern sensitivities will feel at least some aversion to such a view of God. Call to Worship Leader: We gather to worship a God beyond imagination, whose majesty exceeds our minds’ abilities. People: IN EVERY AGE, THE FAITHFUL HAVE STRUGGLED TO UNDERSTAND GOD’S NATURE, AND TO EXPRESS THAT UNDERSTANDING ...

20. The Heart of The Gospel

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

... ." Because Christ lost his case, he won the world. And God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That changes our perspectives, doesn’t it? The intensity with which we try to win our case, our ego trips and quest for greatness, our aversion to criticism and our passion for applause, using Jesus as a pad against the shocks of life, or a ladder for successful living, or as a way of satisfying our own personal need - all these are perspectives that are out of focus. Remember James and ...

21. The View from Jesus' Pew

Mark 12:41-44

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... as possible. From all that I have been able to learn over the years, most folks are quite content with that. In a book entitled Plain Talk about Churches and Money,(2) one of the authors states: Clergy often come to their calling with a distinct aversion to conflict and to having to deal with money issues. Our culture seems to reinforce them in that behavior. So long as clergy are cowed and anxious in the face of money and wealth, they will remain silent about the spiritual issue that touches our culture ...

22. Who Says A Good Man Is Hard To Find?

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... on radio? But we need to know that not all males are Archie Bunker types. Not all males are inflexible and opinionated. Not all males want to keep women in their place. As far as I can tell there is only one male stereotype that is accurate. That is the aversion to ask for directions. Someone has said that the Israelites wouldn't have wandered the desert for 40 years if Mrs. Moses had been in charge. (3) I am thankful that there is a new generation of men who are not angry. There are many men today who are ...

23. The Problem with Being Idle

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Sermon

King Duncan

... and no one broke into his room to drag him off to classes. It was late afternoon, and his paper was finished, by the time she submitted his note to the school doctor. The doctor must have smiled when he told the house mother that ergasiophobia means "a morbid aversion to any work." (1) There, you've learned a new word. Use it at your own risk. Some of us when we were young suffered from ergasiophobia. Of course, many of our young people work very, very hard, and all of them probably will eventually. I don't ...

24. Finding The Right People

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... ever known. Amen. 1. David L. McKenna, MARK: THE COMMUNICATOR'S COMMENTARY, Word Book Publishers, 1982, page 49. 2. Omaha World Herald, Feb. 1, 1994. Cited in Thoughts of Chairman Buffett, (New York: HarperBusiness, 1998). 3. William J. Fallis, POINTS FOR EMPHASIS (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993), p. 133. 4. "Risk-Aversive Faith" by Dale Rosenberger, THE CLERGY JOURNAL, May/June 1998, pp. 91-92.

25. Such A Babe In Such A Place

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Have you ever noticed, have you ever really contemplated our infinite capacity to complicate things? It’s like we have a built-in aversion to the simple. We take the simplest situation and we make it a complicated affair. We build molehills into mountains. Before we examine a question, we wrap it in confusion. Really though, when you get the heart of it, the great experiences of life, even the great insights, have a ...

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