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 1164 results

1. Hungering for Some Time Off

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

Sermon

King Duncan

How many of you have a hard time taking a vacation? We all want a vacation. We all need a vacation. But do you have trouble finding the time for one? Do you have trouble leaving work back at the office when you go on vacation? Do you feel like your vacation is re-charging you or draining you? Futurist and author Faith Popcorn claims that, compared to the rest of the world, Americans suffer from a condition called “vacation starvation.” The average employee of a large business gets about two, maybe three, ...

2. What to Give Up for Lent

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The Faithful Followers Sunday School class at the Church of What’s Happening Now was discussing the upcoming season of Lent. The congregation had never had such a discussion. This congregation prided itself on their core value of relevance. Adhering to ancient seasons such as Advent and Lent simply did not rise to that standard. Their church calendar had a softball schedule but no mention of Lent. Their new pastor, however, had suggested the congregation might find the rhythm of a traditional church ...

3. A Gift for You

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

James L. Killen

Christmas is almost here. There is probably a Christmas tree in your house somewhere and there are probably presents appearing under it, all brightly wrapped and labeled. No doubt you have snooped around enough to see which packages have your name on the tag, and you may have begun to try to guess what is in them. If you have guessed what is in the package, you probably can't wait for the day to come for you to open it. If you haven't been able to guess what is in it, you are probably even more eager to ...

4. A Holy Hunger

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Carl Hoefler

Tonight we come to the altar-table to celebrate Holy Communion. Why do we say, "Holy Communion"? Is there such a thing as "unholy communion"? Yes, there is. When one comes to the Lord's table with a hardened heart and with a life that is turned in upon itself; when one comes with a proud and an arrogant attitude; and when one comes thinking that he or she is worthy of what is about to be received; then, that person will receive communion, but it will not be holy. Jeremiah, who speaks to us in our First ...

5. Stuffed Bodies and Skinny Souls!

Isaiah 55:1-13

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

"Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a ...

6. Food for Faith

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

Pentecost XI Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to ...

7. Hungry for Anything?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

One time I was having lunch with a man in a Chicago Loop restaurant. The waitress came to our table, offered him the menu and asked: "Well, what would you like for lunch;" "I don’t quite know," replied my companion, "but whatever it is, I’m sure that you won’t have it." We never quite get over that kind of childishness, do we? How many people know what they want in life? Try asking them some time, and you will hear a hodgepodge of half-formed, ill-defined ambiguities. The simple truth is that most people ...

8. Soul Bread!

John 6:24-35

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

Someone who grew up in Europe immediately after the devastation of World War II writes about the two staples that were not on ration and that could be home produced; one was potatoes and the other was bread. "We could grow our own potatoes and we could make our own bread," he writes. "And sometimes we would even make bread out of the potatoes. So, while we may have lacked many things we always had sufficient potatoes and bread." Earlier in John chapter 6, we read about food rationing of another kind. Then ...

9. Bread for Everyone (I am the bread of life)

John 6:1-15, John 6:25-59

Sermon

Eric Ritz

Some children wrote letters to their pastor: Dear Pastor, I know God loves everybody but He never met my sister. Yours sincerely, Arnold. Age 8, Nashville. Dear Pastor, Please say in your sermon that Peter Peterson has been a good boy all week. I am Peter Peterson. Sincerely, Pete. Age 9, Phoenix Dear Pastor, My father should be a minister. Every day he gives us a sermon about something. Robert Anderson, age 11 Dear Pastor, I''m sorry I can''t leave more money in the plate, but my father didn''t give me a ...

10. Food for the Fed-up

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Some years ago I had a friend who was on a 300-calorie-a-day diet under a doctor’s supervision. 300 calories! That boggles the mind! I inhale 300 calories just smelling the aroma of a good pizza. But my friend on the three-hundred-calorie-a-day diet lost sixty pounds, and as a result reached his near-ideal weight in a very short time. But one cannot subsist indefinitely on a 300-calorie-a-day- diet. Sooner or later there must come and end to the dieting, for starving oneself in this manner is highly ...

11. Don't Sell Your Inheritance for Cabbage Soup

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

Paul, the greatest missionary of the Christian era, once remarked that God doesn't always use the wisest, strongest and most moral people to bring his message. Instead God uses the foolish, the weak and the lowly -- just to prove a point (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). That truth certainly holds when it comes to those chosen by God as the patriarchs of ancient Israel. Consider our scripture lesson for this morning which concerns the brothers Jacob and Esau, children of Isaac. With very little reading between the ...

12. The Cloak

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Sermon

Rick Brand

If you can't refute the argument, then you can attack the person, and the best way to attack a person is to question the motives. So Paul is responding to attacks upon the Good News of Jesus Christ by those who have attacked him and questioned his motives for coming to Thessalonica. He rejoices that when he came to preach, people heard the message joyfully. Paul says he preaches because he has to. He preaches to please God. But, of course, there were some who suggested that Paul was really preaching from ...

13. Reviewing Our Hungers (Series: Questioning Our Values)

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

There is an old parable about a seeker who sought out a mentor for spiritual advice. The mentor welcomed the seeker and proceeded to pour the visitor a cup of coffee. When the cup overflowed, the mentor kept pouring. When the saucer spilled over, the mentor kept pouring. When the hot drink started stinging the seekers fingers, he complained loudly, “What are you doing?” The mentor calmly replied, “Teaching you a lesson. You come to me seeking spiritual fulfillment, but you are already full. There is simply ...

14. You Feed the Hungry

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Roy Howard

One Friday while Congress was arguing over how to manage the debt crisis, the Washington Post drew our attention to another crisis much more severe than the one we were facing as a result of our leaders’ inability to find a common ground for the common good. That was bad enough. But much worse was the fact that “more than twelve million people were at risk of death and starvation in the Horn of Africa. Even if they did not perish, young children were likely to suffer the lifelong effect of malnutrition, ...

15. Professor Of Paradox

Matthew 13:47-52, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:31-35

Sermon

Roger G. Talbott

Once upon a time, a strange old man came to a small village. He carried a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. This sight was odd enough to cause the people of the village to notice what the old man did next. The old man took the bowl to the plowed field next to the village and he put some dirt into the bowl until it was about half full. Then he went to the village pump and filled it with water to about an inch below the brim. Then the old man sat down on a rock next to the pump and began to stir the water into ...

16. Jesus or Niccolo?

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

This world's kingdoms have never been presented in a more Machiavellian fashion or more compellingly. And never before and never again have they been nor will they be targeted to one with more reason to succumb. Surely one of the great strengthening comforts of taking Jesus Christ as our Lord is that he, more than anyone else, understands our temptations. Scripture tells us, "He himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested" (Hebrews 2:18). So we can say with ...

17. God’s Judgment of Babylon Calls for Celebration

Revelation 19:1-10, Revelation 18:1-24

Teach the Text

J. Scott Duvall

Big Idea: God’s people are called to rejoice over his judgment of the evil city and his vindication of the saints. Understanding the Text We now enter the final stage of Babylon’s destruction (17:1–19:5). The laments of Babylon’s codependents in 18:9–19 are contrasted with the rejoicing of the righteous in 18:20–19:5. God’s people are urged to celebrate God’s judgment of the “great city” (18:20). This command is followed by the announcement of Babylon’s certain destruction (18:21), which focuses upon what ...

18. Only the Lonely

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Sermon

Ron Lavin

There are three words I hope you will take home from church today. The words are "Only The Lonely." As you think about these words, the assurances of God's Word will comfort and strengthen you. But I'm getting ahead of my story. Before we get to these three words, we need to look at the full text of Luke 14:1, 7-14. That involves looking at three other words: humility, hospitality, and hope. Humility The inciting incident in our story is that guests at a party started to take places of honor. Jesus told ...

19. Light From And For The East

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Mark Radecke

Dear Robert, It was good to spend some time with you over Christmas break. I really enjoyed hearing about your semester in India, and am so glad you had that opportunity. We sometimes tend to pull our worlds in around us like a down comforter on a cold night. There is nothing like living in another country, immersing yourself in another culture, to expand your horizons. I have begun to work on a sermon for Epiphany. As I do, my mind keeps returning to your observations and questions about other world ...

20. Hungry For God

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Bible scholar E. Schuyler English received a phone call one day. A woman's voice said, "Dr. English, I am calling from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The hand of God is here." Excuse me? thought Dr. English. The hand of God is at the museum? Then Dr. English recalled that several months before, he had ordered a replica of Rodin's sculpture, The Hand of God, from the museum gift shop. It had finally arrived. (1) The prophet Isaiah was eager to see the hand of God at work among his people. He implores the ...

21. Who Can Ask for Anything More?

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

Those who have read Charles Dickens' famous story, Oliver Twist, will recall that little Oliver, still hungry after receiving the thin gruel doled out to him in the orphanage, was always saying, "More, please." Whether we are entitled to more or not, we human beings are very much like Oliver. We are always saying, one way or another, "We want more." Who was it that first said, "Enough is always a little more than a man has"? Philosophers and sages of long ago were sure that happiness does not lie in ...

22. Blinders

Acts 17:22-31

Sermon

Bill Mosley

Loggerhead turtles lay eggs among the sand dunes on beaches. The little turtles dig their way up through the sand and struggle along the beach seeking the ocean waters that wash upon the sand wave after wave. It's a hunger that is born deep within them to seek this sea water, for it is life -- even living water. If they don't find it, they die. But if they find the water, they can live over 100 years and weigh over 600 pounds! If a little turtle gets sidetracked, say it falls into a moat around a sand ...

23. Righteous!

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-31

Sermon

Steven E. Albertin

Perhaps some of you are old enough to remember one of the most popular musical groups of the mid 1960s, The Righteous Brothers. Remember "Unchained Melody"? I remember once hearing an interview with one of the Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley, when he described the significance of their name. Normally when we think of the word "righteous," we think of impeccable behavior and sterling moral character. But their name was not so much about their morality as it was about the quality of their music. In the '60s ...

24. Woe to the Blessed

Luke 6:17-26

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

One of my all-time favorite television programs was M*A*S*H. In the early episodes, Frank Burns and Hot Lips Houlihan were an item. Often they were pitted against Trapper John and Hawkeye. In one such episode, Frank and Hot Lips had been trying to "do-in" Hawkeye but had failed. Hawkeye now had the upper hand, and Radar said, "Why don't you do to them what they were trying to do to you?" Hawkeye said, "Look at them! They're each just one-half of a person and when they come together, they barely make a ...

25. The Fullness of Time

Galatians 4:4-7

Sermon

Scott Suskovic

Throughout the New Testament, there are numerous verses that say something about fulfillment. Jesus said, "These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled" (Luke 24:44). On the cross, Jesus said, "I am thirsty" (John 19:28). He said this in order to fulfill the scriptures. Paul wrote, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the ...

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