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 2476 to 2500 of 3108 results

2476. Bethlehem: Capitol of the Universe

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

What better way to take a Lenten Pilgrimage than in the footsteps of Jesus? And where better to begin such a pilgrimage than in Bethlehem, the city where our Lord was born. Even people who are not particularly religious cherish the idea of sometime walking the streets of that little city, and of standing at some point where they can look in silence out over the hillsides to a place where shepherds once heard the angelic message. For those of us who love Christ, it is one of the most cherished spots on ...

2477. The Authority of Jesus

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Judas: So this is it. (The three look around the room. Judas continues in a sarcastic voice.) Yes, first class all the way. Matthew: Yes, it is a bit musty in here. It kind of reminds me of an old storeroom or attic. It will take quite a bit of cleaning to get this place in shape. Judas: (He throws his money bag on the table and a cloud of dust goes into the air.) That’s an understatement! I thought Peter and John were supposed to get everything ready. Where are they? Andrew: Peter told me that he, James, ...

2478. Jesus Christ, the Truth

Drama

Curt M. Joseph

Characters: Caiaphas - the High Priest; insistent, thinks he has Pilate where he wants him. Pilate - governor of Judea; an ambitious man, a just man, who struggles between his sense of justice and his political ambitions. Guard - typical Roman soldier. Claudia Procula - wife of Pilate; sensitive, caring, and very supportive of her husband. Ruth - a Jewess who serves as the handmaid of Claudia Procula. The scene opens with Caiaphas standing outside the communion rail, symbolic of his refusal to enter into a ...

2479. Resurrection: From Slave to Child

Galatians 3:26--4:7

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

So often a road is built upon the back of an earlier pathway - one upon the other, built up and strengthened by what went before. The busy Detroit Avenue before our church (Lakewood, Ohio) was once a Pony Express route, carrying mail toward Detroit City in Michigan. That route was earlier an Indian trail through forest lands. So it was with the road that came from Bethany, climbed across to the Mount of Olives, snaked down into the Kidron Valley, moved through the region of the Garden of Gethsemane and ...

2480. Party in Room 210 ... Everyone Invited

John 1:35-42

Sermon

Thomas Long

William Muehl has a bone to pick with ministers. Muehl is on the faculty of Yale Divinity School, and he has spent many years teaching people who are about to become ministers and those who are already ministers. William Muehl is well acquainted with ministers, and he has a complaint. What bothers Professor Muehl is what he sees as a widespread tendency among ministers to do some romantic editorial work on the nature of Christian calling. To hear most ministers talk, claims Muehl, God calls people only in ...

2481. Discipleship - Path to Fulfillment

Mark 10:35-45

Sermon

James W. Robinson

"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." It was with that abrupt request that disciples James and John one day approached Jesus. I don’t know how that strikes you, but, to me, it smacks of impertinence. How would you have responded? In kind, I suspect, with "Oh, you do, do you!" But Jesus, always the gentleperson, made patient reply: "What do you want me to do for you?" Perhaps he smiled indulgently as he spoke. "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left, in your ...

2482. What Is God Like?

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Sermon

Edward Chinn

When Harry Truman was President of the United States, his daughter Margaret gave a concert in Washington, D.C. The next day Paul Hume, music critic of the Washington Post, gave her performance a bad review. Characteristically, Harry Truman did not let that slight of his daughter’s singing pass without comment. He wrote a letter to Paul Hume. In that letter, Truman wrote: "I have read your lousy review of Margaret’s concert. I’ve come to the conclusion that you are an ‘eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay.’ ...

2483. Proper 11

2 Samuel 11:1-27, Ephesians 2:11-22, Mark 6:30-44

Bulletin Aid

Paul A. Laughlin

First Lesson: 2 Samuel 11:1-15 Theme: The snowballing of sin Exegetical Note The well-known story of David’s seduction of Bathsheba and his subsequent complicity in the death of her husband, Uriah, is a classic study of how one sin can lead to another, even worse one. The passage is thus an intimate view into the workings of human nature, which often goes to great and imaginative lengths to make bad situations even worse, and the story’s effect is only heightened by David’s special status with God. Call to ...

2484. THE MARRIAGE GAP

Genesis 2:4-25

Sermon

William McKee Aber

It’s interesting to me that the Christian Church, which makes a great use of symbols - both pictorial and verbal - has chosen to retain the symbol of sacrifice when describing the faith, and has rejected another symbol that is widely used throughout Scripture. I refer to marriage. Christ calls himself a "bridegroom"; the church (and also Israel) is referred to as the bride; the covenant relationship of God and Israel is allegorized in the story of Hosea and an unfaithful wife; and the very word "covenant ...

2485. Who Needs a Shepherd These Days?

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

Who needs a shepherd these days? That’s a good question. In our gospel text, Jesus asserts, "I am the good shepherd." However, in our modern and urbanized times and culture, how many of us have ever had opportunity to see an honest-to-goodness shepherd tending his sheep? Only once in my life have I seen such a sight, and that as a flock of sheep were crossing a highway in Montana. My first reaction was amazement, and then impatience, at what seemed to be a never-ending movement. Thousands upon thousands of ...

2486. Unwavering Light

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

The Apostle Paul is seen by many as having a dismal view of marriage. He is even suspected by some as having had an unhappy marriage himself which sadly colored his regard for matrimony itself. A few wonder if his references to his "thorn in his flesh" is his personal description of his nagging wife. But, in all fairness, let us put his comments about marriage and families into historic context before we draw any conclusions or make any deductions about the apostle himself. Christians were expecting the ...

2487. Gentle Light

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

Every pastor knows how difficult some converts become. In fact there is a phrase for this - "the zeal of a convert." Sometimes it’s hard to live with. The Corinthian Christians had written to the Apostle Paul concerning their controversies about a number of things. In their puritanical zeal, some church members, for example, were very disturbed because other church people did not hesitate to buy and eat the meat of animals which had been slaughtered for sacrifice on the altars of pagan gods. Was this not ...

2488. In All Things Be Thankful

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Brett Blair

Back during the dark days of 1929, a group of ministers in the Northeast, all graduates of the Boston School of Theology, gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Thanksgiving Sunday services. Things were about as bad as they could get, with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long, the stock market had plummeted, and the term Great Depression seemed an apt description for the mood of the country. The ministers thought they should only lightly touch upon the subject of ...

2489. Advent 4: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Christ of Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

James W. Moore

This sermon is based on Luke 2:1-7: The Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs in the world. The colorful legends which surround the building of the Taj Mahal are all fascinating. But, there is one that haunts and disturbs. Shah-Jahan, the powerful Mogul emperor, was in grief. His favorite wife had died. He loved her deeply and he was devastated by her loss. He decided to honor her in a signal way. He would construct an incredible temple, the likes of which the world had never seen. The ...

2490. Something Good Can Come From Nazareth

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Brett Blair

I like the story of the young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they ...

2491. Good News, Release, and Comfort

Isaiah 61:1-11

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Advent rushes to a finish. You know how hectic this next week will be. "Only (you fill in the blank) more days until Christmas," and there is an awful lot to be done. There is the last-minute shopping, rubbing shoulders with all the other last-minute people. Then, toward the end of the week, the planning and procuring for the big Christmas dinner begins. But we’ll probably forget something essential to the menu and be back at the supermarket on Christmas Eve, too. Here at church there is as much bustle as ...

2492. When God Almighty Speaks ... Listen!

1 Samuel 3:1--4:1

Sermon

Richard L. Eslinger

Hannah was among the barren women of Israel. She had no children. But Hannah was also among the faithful women of Israel. So one year, at the time of sacrifice, she made a vow to the Lord. In the midst of her distress, she uttered a tearful prayer: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look on the affliction of thy maidservant ... but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life. Later, after the worship and the sacrifice, the family returned home, "and in due time ...

2493. Bonhoeffer of Berlin

Acts 5:17-42

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

"We must obey God, not men ..." Acts 5:27-32 Characters: Lector Announcer Antagonist Protagonist (Participants enter and take their places in the chancel. As they come forward, the congregation sings the hymn "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus." When the hymn is completed, the drama begins.) LECTOR: The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death, after you had killed him by nailing him to a cross. God raised him to his right side as Leader and Savior, to give the people of Israel the opportunity to repent and ...

2494. Childs of Center Point

Drama

Michael L. Sherer

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me ..." Philippians 4:11-13 Participants enter and take their places in the chancel. As they come forward, the congregation sings the hymn "O God of Mercy." When the hymn is completed, the drama begins. LECTOR: "... I have learned to be satisfied with what I have. I know what it is to be in need, and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have ...

2495. Shut-Ins

Exodus 20:1-21

Children's Sermon

Shirley Jennings

Object: A card reading "Thinking of you." Lesson: Shut-ins like to receive mail. Some people are called shut-ins. They’re people who can’t walk very well, so they need to stay in their homes or nursing homes all the time. They can walk slowly from one room to another, but it’s hard for them to walk outside and get into a car to go somewhere away from home. If you were a shut-in, what would you do at home all day and all night? (Let them answer.) You could sleep, eat, draw pictures, read books, look at ...

2496. God's Verdict Upon The World (Looking At The World Through The Eyes of God)

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

This week has brought to our living rooms the reality of war. It’s reality TV gone berserk. Now we watch as embedded journalists show us marines and soldiers on the front line as they engage the enemy. Is it a surprise to any of us that mankind loves darkness rather than light? I don’t think these images should be shown 24/7, live, at the push of a button, to every household in America. And yet I cannot tear myself from the TV. I watch in astonishment at image after image. It seems surreal. But the danger ...

2497. The Best Advertising of All

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Daniel G. Mueller

One of the biggest industries in the United States today is the production of advertising. Billboards, signs on benches, magazines, newspapers, placards on the sides of buses, messages on the insides of match books, "junk" mail, computer phone calls, radio and, of course, television, all seek to commercial-ize us, to sell us something. Commercials make a host of promises. We’re told that if we just use what they sell, people will notice us; we’ll be healthier, happier, sexier; smell better; look better; ...

2498. And It Came To Pass

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (v. 31) Here is the existential consummation of history. This is the frame of reference within which the early church lived and breathed. In the end it was the parousia, the event of Christ coming in glory. Things of earth would pass away. This would be the final reckoning, the ultimate judgment. I always thought, as have most Anglo-Saxons, that the powerful Spiritual ran, "My Lord, what a morning, when the stars begin to fall." It was not ...

2499. The Acid Test of Wisdom

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

"We hold these truths to be self-evident ..." but not as evident in fact as they are held in theory - "That all men are created equal ..." and while that word "men" is the inclusive language of the opening biblical salute of Genesis 1:27, some in reality are more equal than others ... "... that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ..." - qualified in practice to mean that unless the wheel begins to squeak, the wheel will not be greased ... "... that among these are life, ...

2500. Man, Where Are You?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Alton F. Wedel

The story of the fall of Adam and Eve disturbs a lot of people, raises many questions, and poses many problems. How can anyone who lives in this advanced society with our advanced technology and our unlimited horizons believe in talking serpents? • Or with our advanced theology how are we to understand a God who hangs our fate in trees? • Or when we have passed the finals and the orals and have gained all wisdom and all knowledge, how can anybody be this stupid? • Or how could God be so harsh as to impose ...

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