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 357 results

1. The Ten Commandments #10: No Covetousness

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... your neighbor's house." What would make that unjust? Can we not dream of getting as fine a home as the Joneses down the street? Of course, we can. What it means is that we have no right to earnestly desire (which is the definition of the word covet)...to EARNESTLY DESIRE the Jones house itself because the temptation will be there to find some way to get it (and that is the force of the Hebrew word chamad in the commandment(2)), whether the Joneses want to keep it or not. The further danger is that, if we ...

2. This Could Have Been Your Life! (A Drama about Coveting)

Drama

Dave Marsh

Director's Notes: A wacky gameshow drama about how coveting other people's lives is sin. Be sure to have a long enough gap between each line after a slide so the ... about it Jean. Some life you have! That’s all we have time for today. Jean: Hey, wait a minute. That’s it?! I mean, you’ve shown me all this stuff that I guess I covet but now what? Aren’t you going to tell me how to get over it? Bob: Of course not. Jean: Why? Bob: Because they’d cancel our show and where’s the fun in that? Right ...

3. The Coveted Compositions

Illustration

Staff

... . He wanted to borrow the book, but for some reason his brother refused. Perhaps brother Johann Christoph was reserving those pieces for his own study or performances and didn't want the talented youngster in his home to perfect the works first. Johann Sebastian clearly coveted his brother's book, however, and in the middle of the night, when everyone else in the house was asleep, he crept down to sneak the anthology from the cabinet. He took it to his room and began to copy it by moonlight! It took ...

4. The Danger of American Express

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

... What are you doing? You can't outrun that bear." His friend stood up and smiled, and said, "I don't have to outrun that bear. All I have to do is outrun you." c. It Is Rooted In A Flaw There are two flaws in the thinking of a covetous man. First, THE MATERIAL CAN NEVER FULLY AND FINALLY SATISFY THE PHYSICAL. Listen to these verses: "A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished." (Pr. 28:20) "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who ...

5. Can't Get No Satisfaction

Exodus 20:17

Sermon

James Merritt

... others have realizing it was God that gave it to them? I read a story one time about a man who was a good man, but he owned a very valuable piece of property. All of his neighbors were very envious of his property and they wanted it. Because they coveted it so much and couldn't have it, they grew to dislike this man intensely even though he had done nothing to them. He decided to teach them a lesson. He put up a sign on this beautiful piece of property that he owned that gave an amazing message. It ...

6. Updating Some Ancient Laws

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... they are, and that they don’t let it go to their heads.” Does it all sound familiar? Do you recognize the under current of covetousness in it? You see, we’re playing the old game. Why him? Or why them? When do I get my share? Why does all the good ... the sense of surface contentment, but in the sense of deep integrity, meaning, and joy. Our problem is that we usually end up coveting that which can never make us happy, failing to realize that what matters most is not what becomes of us, but what we become ...

7. The World Is Not Enough

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... . This man was a fool not because he had money, but because money had him. This man eventually died with the cancer of covetousness. We learn from this man why truly "the world is not enough." There are some tremendously valuable lessons that we can learn from ... who needed some of his wealth. Greed had pulled the shades of selfishness over his eyes and had coated his heart in the concrete of covetousness. So he did the only thing he knew to do. "So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and ...

8. The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... well as the radical internalized meaning of not feeling desire for one’s neighbor’s goods. In his conversation with the rich young ruler he accepted the ruler’s recitation of the law, that included “you shall not defraud” (apostereō), rather than (epithumeō) “covet” (Mark 10:17–22). It is helpful to remember both the outward and the radically internalized applications of the commands found in Scripture. The laws of God ought to be kept, and we can keep them in their outward form. This is ...

9. The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... have them do unto you, the golden rule. In other words, love requires us to take action. It is not enough simply to refrain from coveting what our neighbor has. If we want to be please God we must act well; if we want others to be kind and respectful ... murder. 7) You shall not commit adultery. 8) You shall not steal. 9) You shall not bear false witness. 10) You shall not covet what belongs to your neighbor. If the first commandment sets the tone for the first four commandments then the Fifth Commandment sets ...

10. Everything Must Go: If I Were a Rich Man

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

James Merritt

... of school children in an Angolan village. Just so you will know I meant what I said I am going to ask you to take an hour’s wage, based on your salary and give it to somebody else – not to our church, but somewhere else. The only cure for covetousness, the only solution for selfishness and the only medicine for materialism is giving to those that need what you have that you don’t and become rich toward God. That is what God did for us when He sent Jesus to die for our sins and that is in turn ...

11. The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... by the author of Deuteronomy, but they might well have been. For in terms of the dynamic of the covenant, covetous desires toward the wife, household, or possessions of a brother-neighbor constitute hatred. Deuteronomy is concerned to inculcate a ... roots of human wickedness in so many other fields) is fully endorsed in the NT. Jesus warned his hearers about the dangers of covetous greed and reinforced his teaching with several parables (Luke 12:13–21). His challenge to the rich ruler who claimed to have ...

12. Controlling Our Cravings

Luke 12:13-21, Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... Exodus version, the order is reversed. One would think that the spouse would be valued above the house. However, if you have never asked your wife whether she loves you or her house more, I would advise you not to press that question. The Hebrew word for "covet" is "hamad." It means to desire or to crave or to grasp for more. Is it wrong to desire or crave anything? Of course not. The Bible tells us to desire wisdom and faith. Jesus said we would be blessed if we hunger and thirst after righteousness. Is ...

13. The Ten Commandments - Part 4

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... a larger and more prestigious church. All have broken the 10th commandment. Somehow we must come to grips with the fact that it is not what we lack that makes us unhappy, but the disposition of our inner heart. Happiness is an inside job. Tragically, we usually end up coveting the very thing that will not make us happy. When David finally got Uriah’s wife as his own, was he happy? Far from it! He was overwhelmed with guilt. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the tree were they happy. No, we are told ...

14. When Desire Goes Bad

1 Kings 21:1-21a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

... squad, we'd try to help and encourage her. We wouldn't set out to ruin or kill the competing cheerleader or her mother. We figure there's plenty to go around, so we just want to be included in the bounty. Where we do connect with covetousness is when we feel shortchanged. Do you envy someone else their good looks, or their good grades, or their good income, or their good fortune? Those feelings are quite normal and certainly not wrong, but they can make us miserable. What this commandment asks us to see ...

15. Lessons for Lent 3

John 2:12-25

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... Lutherans and Roman Catholics count the commandments differently than in Reformed tradition. In the former case, the command against graven images is viewed as an extension of the command not to have any other gods before the Lord. The command about coveting is divided into two commands the ninth and tenth commandments. The Reformed tradition takes the opposite approach. The commandments are also divided into the so-called two tables of the law. The first three or four (depending how we count them) compose ...

16. Being Wealthy, Religious and Powerful

Micah 2:1-5

Sermon

... the good that it seems to do, Micah says, they may just as well have a drunken preacher, something they would probably resent because of their civility and sophistication, but who would represent them best of all because of their being drunk with power and greed and covetousness. Job is an exception to much of this. It was on the good days that Job would make it a special point to sacrifice to God the best bullocks, for he understood the potential danger of the "seeming good days." We may turn to God on bad ...

17. How to Escape Being Possessed By Our Possessions

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... to lead not to blessing but to tragedy. Here we discover one of the great differences between the thinking of Jesus and our own.” (2) Isn’t it true? We envy people who are rich; Jesus pitied them. All of us can become victims of a covetous spirit. Now the second reminder. Values in life are not measured by material things. Someone has said that money can’t purchase happiness, but it can enable you to look for it in some very interesting places. A very wealthy man who had amassed a tremendous fortune ...

18. The Ten Commandments For Today

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Erskine White

... and don't swear by earth, for that is God's footstool (Matthew 5:34). Just tell the truth with a "yes" or "no" - don't swear by anything that you are doing it. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." (10) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house ... or anything else that is your neighbor's." Do not set your heart on things your neighbors have. Do not let conspicuous consumption or the culture of corporate advertising make you hunger and thirst for material things. Do not be obsessed with ...

19. Chapter X

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Frank H. Seilhamer

... to our fellows. One of the keys to understanding why we do this is found in the last Commandment. While it may seem to be a rather innocuous way to end this series of life-guides, it is anything but that. On the face of it the stricture against coveting does seem bland compared to some of the other Commandments. Rubbed up against such warnings as not to murder, commit adultery, or steal, it does seem rather tame. The others are red-letter sins that can end you up in jail, but who can end up there for what ...

20. The Tenth Commandment: How Zacchaeus Got His Groove Back

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... home and became poor that he might pay the ransom for our souls. Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of this world by Satan, but he passed on the deal. Jesus taught us, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you." A covetous spirit listens to others for advice and contentment--a believer turns to God. This is why we are here today! Taylor Caldwell in her book, The Listener, puts it this way: Man does not need to go to the moon or to other solar systems. He does not require ...

21. What Part of “You Shall Not” Don’t You Understand?

Exodus 20:1-17

Sermon

Ron Lavin

... to put the most charitable construction on our neighbor's behavior and motives and put a stern judgment on our own. We too easily put a charitable construction on our behavior and motives and a harsh judgment on our neighbor's. Guilty as charged. Commandments nine and ten deal with covetousness, desires of the heart to have something that belongs to another. It isn't wrong to want something. It's when that want becomes inordinate desire or envy or jealousy that we get into trouble. "You shall not ...

22. The Writing on the Wall

2 Samuel 11:1-27, 2 Samuel 12:1-31, John 7:25-44, John 7:45--8:11

Sermon

Lori Wagner

... is like blinders. It’s like looking at the world through distorted glasses. Instead of the truth of God’s presence in our lives, we see only what we don’t have. We compare. We judge. What does God’s imprint do for us? It takes away all of that covetousness, and allows us to see the truth of God’s abundant blessings in our lives. It allows us to see Jesus’ sacrifice as personal to us, and real to us. It allows us to feel gratitude in place of greed, and peace in place of petulance. In the stories ...

23. Proper 13

Colossians 3:1-17, Hosea 11:1-11, Luke 12:13-21

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... "fool." He had physical but not spiritual wealth and his physical wealth came to naught. One's security is not in the abundance of possessions but in being rich toward God, that is, being a child of God. THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS Gospel: Luke 12:13-21 1. Covetousness (v. 15). It was a simple request. A younger brother asked Jesus to persuade his older brother to share the inheritance left by their father. Legally an inheritance went to the oldest son. The younger son(s) has no right nor claim to it. But, the ...

24. Proper 18

Mark 7:24-30, Mark 7:31-37, Proverbs 22:1-16, James 2:1-13

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... eyes to behold the plenitude of his gifts and to share them. (Note: If you use this approach, be sure to refer to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible). Outline: 1. What our eyes see depends on what's in our hearts. 2. Many behold the world with covetous eyes because they are misers. 3. The believer sees the world with bountiful eyes that flow from a redeemed heart. 4. Those with bountiful eyes behold God's many gifts and share them freely (v. 1). Lesson 2: James 2:1-10 (11-13) 14-17 Sermon Title: Don ...

25. Confessional Services

1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Bulletin Aid

G. William Genszler

... your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his cattle, or anything that is your neighbor's. Minister: Lord, change the desires of my heart. I do covet and do want what I want when I want it, whether it be thy good pleasure to give it to me or not. Never let me covet Thy gifts more than I covet Thy good pleasure. Let me find a grateful heart in those things Thou hath given me. Keep me from Envy. Congregation: Behold, Thou desirest Truth in the inner parts. Lord, I confess unto Thee that ...

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