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 2501 to 2525 of 5000 results

2501. God's Dirty Job

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... as a toddler I crashed upon the floor. They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back. As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer. They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots. The dried the tears of my children and caressed the love of my life. They wiped my tears when my husband went off to war. They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent. They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold our newborn daughter. Decorated with my wedding band they showed the world that I was married ...

2502. Changed Lives: Judas

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

King Duncan

... hangs himself. Friends, it didn’t have to end up this way. This is so important. People make bad choices and then they compound those bad choices with other bad choices. They refuse to ask forgiveness from those they have hurt. They shut themselves off from those who love them. Sometimes they keep making that same bad choice for so long that it comes to define them and it becomes well nigh impossible to turn back. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Christ was sent to reach out to people who have made ...

2503. Roll out the Green Carpet

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , “I’m on neither side; I’m the captain.” Skinner went on to make it explicit: “When the King of Kings returns he will not return on the back of donkey or elephant, as a Communist or a capitalist--not to take sides, but to take over.” Babe Ruth loved to eat. He ate constantly, and seemed not to be able to control his appetite. Once, just before the start of a game, he had a couple of sandwiches, a few hot dogs, three bags of popcorn, drank ten bottles of soda, and then topped it all off with an ...

2504. Gave Her One Talent To God

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

Mark Adams

... church's buses that went into neighborhoods and transported kids to church. Every week she performed her duties. She would find the worst-looking kid on the bus, put him on her lap and whisper over and over the only words she had learned in English: "I love you. Jesus loves you." After several months, she became attached to one little boy in particular. The boy didn't speak. He came to Sunday School every week with his sister and sat on the woman's lap, but he never made a sound. Each week she would tell ...

2505. Rise Above It

John 21:15-19

Sermon

James W. Moore

... he said, “I’m not leaving on an empty stomach.” Now, that kind of sense of humor kept George Burns young at heart for all of his 100 years. But, the fact is that we are all going to die… and even more painful is the fact that people we love are going to die… and that can fill us with despair. Like a heavy blanket, despair can cover us over and smother the very life out of us. Like a dark and somber tomb, despair can enslave and imprison us… and choke off our vitality. That’s what Mary felt ...

2506. To Be a Christian

Acts 11:19-30

Sermon

James McCormick

... mean to be a Christian? I. Let me say it as simply as I know how: To be a Christian is to belong to Christ. It begins with a relationship and then expresses itself in a lifestyle. In the tenth chapter of John, we see a beautiful picture of a loving, trusting relationship. Jesus says that he is the good shepherd, and the good shepherd knows his sheep by name. He cares for them even to the point of laying down his life for them. The sheep know his voice. They trust him. They follow him. So, that’s what it ...

2507. Anyone Feeling Tired?

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... Bryars, was singing something else. And Bryars caught his song on tape. It turned out the old man was singing a simple religious song that went like this, “Jesus’ blood never failed me yet, Never failed me yet, never failed me yet. This one thing I know, for he loves me so.” Bryars was haunted by the sincerity and simplicity of the old man’s voice. He took the tape home with him and began listening to it. He discovered that the old man’s singing was in perfect pitch with his piano, and so he began ...

2508. High and Lifted Up

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

James Merritt

... , how we, here in America, might answer that question. I believe there are some people who see a God who looks like Santa Claus, and really doesn't care whether we are naughty or nice; a God who winks at sin and giggles at iniquity; a God who is "too loving to let anyone go to hell;" a God who accepts everyone just the way they are, and never bothers trying to change them; a God who gives us everything and never expects anything in return; a God who honors all religions and sees one way to Him just as good ...

2509. What Ever Happened to Norman Rockwell?

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

John E. Harnish

... at the table without making a huge mess! The image was an icon of family life, right up there with Ozzie and Harriet, I Love Lucy and Father Knows Best. So what ever happened to Norman Rockwell? The truth is, the world has changed and our experience of family ... praise. It's not quite the heavenly city, but neither is it chaos. We are the solitary set in family, and I love them all—their faces, their voices, their bodies, their minds; and I thank them for their company during these long short years together ...

2510. No-fault Religion

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13), 14-17

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... own. And Paul's no-fault religion is one that assures us that "behind a frowning providence, [God] hides a smiling face." We are able to face up to our wrongs, because we have the confidence that underneath there is a right, a truth, a justice, and a love that will prevail. We can make ourselves vulnerable to the judgment of God believing his mercy will prevail. We can open ourselves to his holy scrutiny, believing that in the end he will not reject us and cast us out, but accept us and include us as his ...

2511. Grace to You, and Peace

Revelation 1:4b-8

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

... is and who was and who is to come ... and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.... Despite the trials and challenges confronting us, despite the reality of our own faults and failures, God is not out to get us! (or anybody else for that matter). This Jesus, "who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, made us to be a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father." A new priesthood has been established by God, initiated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our great high priest. No longer does our ...

2512. Jesus and the Ferris Wheels

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

King Duncan

... not bear fruit? And what good is a follower of Jesus who does not bear fruit? You see, the Pharisees took the easy way out. It’s always much easier to be religious, to go about your duties in the synagogue or the church, than it is to love your neighbor. It’s always easier to wear religious garbs and to use religious language than to speak up for the poor and the dispossessed. It’s always easier to read your Bible than it is to intervene at school for a friend that is being harassed. The Pharisees ...

2513. The Parable of the Choices

Matthew 21:28-31

Sermon

Shirley Gupton Lynn

... The strong young man was crying. "What is it, Billy?" I asked, shocked to my senses. "Do you have troubles, too?" "No," he replied, still holding me, "I'm just crying with you." Now I have always loved Billy. He is my son. We've always had a warm relationship, but after that day it has never been the same. His loving me enough to suffer for me touched something in me that raised our relationship to a higher plane than it had ever been. Only when I saw his suffering could I realize and believe how very much ...

2514. Day One: a New Beginning

Genesis 1:1-5

Sermon

Schuyler Rhodes

... turn on the light for these youngsters! You and I need to flip the switch so that the corners of these neglected lives are lit up with the light of Jesus Christ! Let us put in the higher watt bulbs of better schools, of decent health care, and communities of love who reach out to offer friendship and hope. We are born anew with this Christ child who has come, and as ones made new, we can take a powerful lesson from the Genesis story of creation. It's day one for us today. What can we do? It's day ...

2515. The First Christmas Card

Philippians 4:4-9

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... Hard Gospel," 1920). Prompted by Willimon's example, Chicago's John M. Buchanan (fourth Presbyterian) has suggested yet another rendition of the "new" Christmas greeting. He envisions a "whole new line of Scripture Christmas cards featuring Mary, as always, a lovely gentle teenager, brunette, perhaps framed in a window looking out onto rolling hills with a bright star shining in the evening sky." The inscription, borrowing from Willimon, would be: "Our holiday wishes for you were expressed by one who said ...

2516. Self-Fulfillment Through Self-Sacrifice

1 Peter 2:19-25

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... was that he became more fully himself as he offered more and more of himself to others. This is the Christian paradox of servanthood and sacrifice that Jesus embodied that we become more genuinely the person God intended as we extend ourselves in sacrificial love and service to others. In the community of faith, we are challenged to develop inwardly and serve outwardly. Only in such a faith community can we grow into ourselves while we grow out toward others. The Church on Brady Street (Los Angeles) has as ...

2517. John 21:1-19

John 21:1-19

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... bestowed (Matthew 16:18). Rather, he invokes his given name, "Simon, son of John" (v.15). Then he asks Peter if he loves him "more than these," a reference to the other disciples gathered around the fire, and an implicit reminder of Peter's boasting ... reading too much into the text. While it has been a favorite pastime of exegetes to discuss the different words used here for "love" and for "sheep" there may be less than meets the eye. John seems to use agape and phileo interchangeably and in Hebrew and ...

2518. Romans 12:9-21

Romans 12:9-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... moment of every day. Indeed among Paul's long litany, this first line remains the most difficult to consistently recreate. Where genuine love thrives, Paul suggests, these other attitudes will spring up and prosper - a hatred of all evil, a commitment to the good ( ... as natural as the urge to share faith and worldly goods. Verse 16, like verses 9-10, promotes this community spirit of love. The link between "honor" (v. 10) or "esteem" and the call to reject haughtiness for humbleness is clearly part of this ...

2519. 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... for all" is what Paul feels especially anxious to supply. Paul concludes his prayer by offering a vision _ the opportunity to stand holy and blameless before God when Christ returns. Paul's prayer is that through love and faith the Thessalonians may experience God "strengthening" their "hearts"; that is, building up the entirety of their whole being, their whole soul. "Strengthened" people are then "holy", set apart to be used only in God's service. As holy people and wholly God's, these empowered souls ...

2520. Was It Really Necessary?

John 19:17-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... the cross, until the guard rubbed it out and walked away.” (6) It was a small gesture, but McCain said it was the best Christmas present that he could have received in that prison camp. There is something about the cross that speaks to us of God’s love. “What wondrous love is this, O my soul,” writes the poet. “That caused the Lord of bliss to lay aside his crown for my soul, for my soul, to lay aside his crown for my soul.” That is why it had to be. Jesus could not ask his disciples to make ...

2521. Death Has Been Conquered

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... hope not only for us as we deal with death but also as we deal with our everyday living. Because Christ lives, we can live! What great good news that is! Easter is tonic for the soul. It helps us lift our eyes from our problems to our possibilities. I love the way writer Jerome K. Jerome once put it: “Look up,” he said, “Don’t look down. When you look down you see so much of yourself and so little of the other things that God made. For instance,” he writes, “one day I had a finger that ached in ...

2522. Proper 12

Ephesians 3:14-21, John 6:16-24, John 6:1-15, 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Ephesus. He prays that their greatest need, spiritual strength, may be met by having Christ through faith and by being grounded in the love of Christ. This spiritual need is met by having the fullness of God. His prayer closes with a confidence in God who is ... 's prayer for his people – a. Spiritual strength v. 16. b. Indwelling of Christ v. 17. c. Knowledge of the dimensions of Christ's love vv. 18-19. d. God-filled lives v. 19. 2. Prayer that produces (3:14-21). Need: Not even Paul knew how to pray ...

2523. Easter 5

Psalm 22:1-31, John 15:1-8, Acts 8:26-40, 1 John 4:7-21

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... wood and producing the fruits of the Spirit. Forgive us if we, in pride, seek to take over your role as Gardener, discontent to be but branches of your true vine, Jesus Christ. Amen Declaration of Pardon Pastor: Friends, hear the good news! God is love, and God’s love was disclosed to us in the sending of the divine Son into the world to bring us life. People: The divine Son, Jesus Christ, is the remedy of the defilement of our sins. Pastor: Friends, believe the good news! People: In Jesus Christ, we are ...

2524. Proper 25

Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90:1-17, Matthew 22:34-46, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Bulletin Aid

B. David Hostetter

... be with you all. People: And also with you. Leader: Revere our Sovereign God. There are many blessings in store for those who honor God and do the will of our Sovereign. People: We will honor God and do the will of our heavenly Sovereign. INVOCATION God of power, love, and truth, bless us as we hallow your name in our prayers and our praise, both in the hour of public worship and in our daily lives. Grant us to know the undergirding of the Holy Spirit as we will to do your will; through Jesus Christ our ...

2525. Picture Perfect Close Up: Children - Get Under The Umbrella

Colossians 3:21

Sermon

James Merritt

... . Kids – Honor Young people, as you relate to your parents, this is the key question: What is the honorable thing to do? To all of you young people out there who live in a war zone called "the home", there is something you already know and you probably love to point out. Parents are not perfect. As you get older, you will see more and more the imperfection in your parents. You will tend to become more critical. You will find more faults and best of all you will offer more suggestions on how they can be ...

Showing results