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 2526 to 2550 of 3108 results

2526. Theology in Snow

Psalm 147:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Snow, snow, snow. Had enough? I bet. A quiet week this past week, but FIVE TIMES in the previous two weeks? Enough already. Schools and businesses shut down; airports closed stranding travelers; icy highways like bumper-car rinks...boom, bang, bam. No church on Sunday for two weeks in a row - the few people who could get out of their driveways could not safely venture on to the streets. We were reduced to joining the congregation of the Church of the All-Seeing Eye. The words of the Psalmist came to mind ...

2527. Hope for Hurting Hearts

Isaiah 35:1-10

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Sure does sound like Christmas, doesn't it? I wish everyone could feel it. But the war in Afghanistan goes on. Families that lost loved ones on September 11th are preparing for a holiday that, a year ago, they could have never imagined. There is a certain dissonance to the season. Trips to malls and stores with the sacred Muzak in the air singing of "Joy to the World" or "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" mock the harsh realities ...

2528. The Handwriting on the Heart

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"...I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more." What a comforting word. Especially for folks who knew with every fiber of their being that they were in their current mess (and BIG mess it was) because of their sin. It was a wonderful word of hope. The word came from what might have been seen by some in that day as a surprising source...Jeremiah. By this point in the prophet's career (probably 40+ years by now), he was fairly well known. He was NOT famous for bringing words of comfort ...

2529. There Are Other Worlds To Sing In

John 3:1-21

Sermon

James W. Moore

His name was Paul. He lived in a small town in the Pacific Northwest some years ago. He was just a little boy when his family became the proud owners of one of the first telephones in the neighborhood. It was one of those wooden boxes attached to the wall with the shiny receiver hanging on the side of the box… and the mouthpiece attached to the front. Young Paul listened with fascination as his mom and dad used the phone… and he discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device called a telephone lived ...

2530. Real Religion

Micah 6:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Micah 6:8..."He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Familiar words. Perhaps you memorized them in Sunday School in years past, or perhaps you saw them on the wall of the Library of Congress. (They are inscribed there.) They are an ancient answer to the modern acronym that Christian youngsters wear on tee-shirts, bracelets, and necklaces: WWJD - What would Jesus do? These few words spell it ...

2531. Tough Love

Zephaniah 3:1-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A little boy was sitting at the table in the kitchen looking gloomy and sour: he had just been punished. Suddenly, he asked his mother, "God can do anything He wants, can't He?" To which the mother replied, "Of course." Then the boy asked rhetorically "God doesn't have any parents, does He?" Have you ever felt that way? Probably. At some time or another, we have all felt terribly hemmed in and beaten down by our supposedly loving parents. For those of us who have had children of our own and are concerned ...

2532. The Original "Average Joe"

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Do you know the name Melana Scantlin? She is a former NFL cheerleader, a former Miss Missouri. She is beautiful, she is blonde, she is brainy. Melana is the beauty who squared off against 16 "beasts" in television's latest surpassingly strange reality series, "Average Joe." The premise for the show was that, while it is a no-brainer to be attracted to a hunk with washboard abs and $50-million in mutual funds, it is something else to fall for someone who is plain and unexceptional, a toothy geek with a ...

2533. The Judas Gene

Matthew 26:14-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

As part of a study, a group of researchers from Harvard contacted an elementary school teacher at the beginning of a school year. They told the teacher that they had designed a test that would correctly predict which students were going to grow intellectually during the coming school year. (Someone called it "The Harvard Test of Intellectual Spurts" because he said it told which students were going to 'spurt' that year). The researchers promised it would indicate the right students. The test was said to be ...

2534. The Healing Touch

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

David E. Leininger

She must have been desperate. Year after year it had gone on. Not only were the hemorrhages dangerous to her health, they made her a social outcast. She was not even welcome in the Temple. UNCLEAN, they said. She had tried everything. Doctors, of course, but all they had affected were her finances. She tried the recommendations of the Talmud which offered no fewer than eleven remedies - some of them were tonics and astringents, some just superstition like carrying the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen rag ...

2535. No Holding Back

Mark 12:28-34

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Familiar words. "Heart...soul...mind...strength...your neighbor as yourself." We learned them as the GREAT COMMANDMENT. All others pale in their light. We agree, of course. "Love the Lord your God with all your HEART." Not the blood-pumping heart, the "heart" that, from ancient times has been considered the seat of our emotions. Two weeks ago I had the privilege of preaching for our neighbors at the Church of God of Prophecy - it was an exciting service of worship because those Pentecostals really do get ...

2536. Tell It Again, Daddy

Mark 13:24-37

Sermon

David E. Leininger

In my office in the manse is a framed needlework which says one word - Camelot. It was a gift from a dear friend many years ago who knew how much I loved that Broadway play (and eventually movie) - wonderful story, marvelous characters, tremendous music. In short there's simply not A more congenial spot For happ'ly ever aftering Than here in Camelot.(1) The story comes from a book by T. H. White called The Once and Future King(2) and is based on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ...

2537. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

David E. Leininger

A little girl came home from school and asked her mother if she knew Christopher Columbus was Italian. "Yes," said Mom. And the girl continued, "Did you know that Queen Isabella furnished the money to buy his ships?" "Yes, dear, I had heard that." The little girl thought for a moment and then said reflectively, "Well, really, Mother, if you already know the things I come home and tell you, I don't see any use in going to school." By the time we get done here this morning, you may feel the same about coming ...

2538. "Weird People" Everywhere

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

A member of the British Parliament appeared one day at the Gates of Heaven and demanded entry. "Sorry, sir," said the Admitting Angel, "but sexism is a sin, and our records show you to be a Male Chauvinist Pig. There is no room for you here." "Humph," said the MP, "I suppose you got that nonsense from Maggie Thatcher! I see her over there, gloating at me." "More bad news, I'm afraid," said the Angel. "That's not Mrs. Thatcher. That's God." (1) Susan B. Anthony called on editor Horace Greeley one day in ...

2539. God Is Greater

John 10:22-42

Sermon

King Duncan

A new kind of modern airplane was on an experimental flight. It was full of reporters and journalists. A few minutes after the takeoff the captain's voice was heard from the loudspeakers: "I'm delighted to be your pilot, and the captain of this airplane on its first historical flight. I can tell you that the flight is going well. Nevertheless, I still have to tell you about a minor inconvenience that has occurred. The passengers that are sitting on the right side can, if they look through the window, see ...

2540. Beaten And Bloody, But Fortunate Nonetheless

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

"Why me, Lord? What did I ever do to deserve such treatment? My head's hurting so bad. They even took my clothes. And look at the blood. God, if somebody doesn't come soon, I could bleed to death . . . Is that it, Lord? Is this how my life is going to end? Beaten and bloody, lying naked by the side of the road? What about my family? Who will look after them? What about my wife? I may not deserve to live, but surely she doesn't deserve to be a widow. I have no brothers to look after her. How will she eat? ...

2541. A Soap Opera For Saints

2 Samuel 11:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

Guin Ream Tuckett was asked to teach a junior high Sunday School class. All went well until she reached the lessons on sex. This is not a subject that is easy for adults working with this particular age group to broach. Although Guin worked out a well-balanced, Biblically-based lesson, her kids seemed pretty uninterested. That is, until one kid asked if there were sex stories in the Bible. Guin assured them that there were both good and bad examples of sex represented in the Good Book. Now she had their ...

2542. A Better Than Perfect Christmas

Philippians 4:4

Sermon

King Duncan

Rev. M. L. Lindvall received a letter in a Christmas card. It was a personal letter ”not one of those which relates every event of the past year. The letter writer told how his church had held a Christmas pageant for 47 years with the same director. Perfection was her goal ”nothing less. For years the church’s pageant ran like clockwork. Perfect lines, perfect pacing, perfect everything. Then one year, something even better happened. You see, the director’s commitment to perfection was greater than her ...

2543. You Shall Call His Name Jesus

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

King Duncan

You may remember that story of the man hearing a choir sing "O Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world," and he thought to himself, "If only he COULD take away the sins of the world. What a tremendous and joyful thing that would be “no more wars, no more broken homes, no more abused children, no more hatred, envy, bitterness and strife. If only he COULD take away the sins of the world." Christmas has become more of a secular holiday than a sacred one. It has become an occasion for blatant ...

2544. The Deeper Meaning Of Christmas

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Sermon

King Duncan

Someone has said that the three phrases that best sum up the Christmas season are: "Peace on Earth," "Good will to men," and "Batteries not included." Some of you who are parents of small children know the meaning of this statement. I trust that you had a most joyous and meaningful Christmas at your house. Soon the lights and holiday greenery will be coming down and this Christmas will be simply a warm memory. Before it slips away from us, however, we need to spend a few moments savoring the deeper meaning ...

2545. Walk Wisely

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

King Duncan

It was a beautiful summer day and Clarence was enjoying a row in the boat with his lovely girlfriend, anticipating the picnic they would have when they got to the island in the center of the lake. These were days when young men and young ladies wore more than shorts and tshirts when out in public. Clarence had donned a spiffy suit with a high collar, and his female companion had on a long dress with billowing petticoats underneath. Clarence masculinely pulled on the wooden oars as his date sat cooly under ...

2546. Leadership Styles For A New Millennium

Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Leaders are always difficult to find. I thought you might enjoy a few excerpts from actual military fitness reports taken from the files of the British Royal Navy and Marine Corps. Here is how they evaluated some of their recruits: "His men would follow him anywhere," says one evaluation, "but only out of curiosity." "He would be out of his depth in a . . . puddle," says another. "He is technically sound, but socially impossible," concludes another. From here they get even more depressing: "This man is ...

2547. Follow that Dream

Genesis 12:1-8

Sermon

King Duncan

In 1872, at the age of 16, Booker T. Washington decided he wanted to go to school. For a boy, born a slave to a plantation cook in Virginia, who had no idea who his white father was, this was a huge step. He decided that he would enter the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. With nothing more than a small satchel of clothing, he started walking from Malden, West Virginia, 500 miles away. Eventually he made it to Richmond, about eighty miles from his destination. He worked there for a few days unloading ...

2548. Save The Tokens For Uncle Sam

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

King Duncan

A sportswriter once asked Joe Louis, "Who hit you the hardest during your ring career?" His reply was "Uncle Sam." Oscar Wilde, the master wit, once protested about the taxes on his house. He was told that by living there he used the protection and services of the government even while he slept. Wilde is supposed to have answered, "But I sleep so badly." A prominent citizen of Washington, D. C. once invited President John F. Kennedy to play golf when Kennedy was President. On the first hole Kennedy floated ...

2549. The Awesome Power Of Love

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

In one of the PEANUTS cartoons, a little girl calls Charlie Brown on the telephone. "Marcie and I are about to leave for camp, Chuck," she says. "We're going to be swimming instructors." Marcie takes the phone and adds: "We just called to say goodbye, Charles. We are going to miss you. We love you." The perennial loser Charlie Brown stands by the phone with a grin on his face. One little friend asks, "Who was that?" He answers, "I think it was a right number." Jesus was speaking to the church: "This I ...

2550. Finding Our Way Back Home

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

Have you ever been accused of being a little absent-minded? Some of us have. We can take comfort in the fact that somewhere in Norway there is a young man named Jermund Skogstad who is worse off than we. Last year Jermund moved from the country to the city and rented an apartment. Thirty minutes after moving into his apartment, he stepped out for a bite to eat. By the time he found a cafe, he was hopelessly lost and had no idea how to get home. Further, he had forgotten the address of his new apartment. ...

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