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 5000 results

2526. The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... of time and transposing it from an ancient agricultural context into our modern day, urban setting is no easy task. I don't want this Psalm to just be sentimental but to provide the substance for your every day life. While there are a few of us ... new minister in town. When she shared her name, a bell rang--here she was in the flesh. She began by saying, "Now, listen here, I want to warn you in advance that I won't be calling you Pastor Ritz like everyone else, but Reverend Ritz. A Pastor is a shepherd--and ...

2527. Still Waters

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... who can identify with what Charles Allen wrote, because we have been there too: flat on our backs in hospital rooms, chafing at the bit, wanting to get up and get on with our work, but we weren''t able to, because our bodies or minds had run out of energy ... run back to the base and declare I was now it. I would say, `Dogonit, you found me.'' What did I really want, did I want to hide or did I really want to be found?" Dr. Craddock shares that this often is a parable of the way we run from God. The only ...

2528. The Bible: The Book No Other Can Match!

2 Timothy 3:16

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... he is being attacked. All we have to do is open the gate and let the lion out. The lion will defend itself." Today, I want to share testimony from many voices across the theological spectrum on why the Bible is the book no other book or collections of books can ... hope I have planted a seed today to spark your interest to learn and for you to know the Savior in a special way. I want to close with this story. I heard Dr. Fred B. Craddock this past summer at Albright College tell the story of a young lady ...

2529. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part II)

Luke 13:22-30

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... my own life bare. ''Twill be a hard, hard lesson, that there were sins aplenty there. Chorus: I love to tell the story, But if I want to go to glory, I''d better tell the story Of Jesus and His love. (1) Michael Jackson sang a song popular a few years ago ... starting with the man in the mirror, I''m asking him to change his ways. No message could have been any clearer If you want to make the world a better place You got to start with yourself and make that change! However, Michael Jackson is only half right ...

2530. Promises, Promises, Promises

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... to talk about God's promises -- for if we depend on human promises, we are far more dependant upon the promises of God ... even though we sometimes take God's promises for granted or twist God's promises into something God did not intend them to be. I want to digress a moment. Have you ever noticed that when you and I read passages of scripture, we tend to put halos on the events we read about? Because we consider the Bible "holy," we somehow mentally conclude that the events had a "holy aura" about them ...

2531. God Is Now Here

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... have discovered that our universe doesn't consist of three stories where heaven is up, earth is here, and hell is down. That doesn't make any difference. We simply need to know that God, the Holy One, is behind it all. God has lovingly created us, and God wants us to look to him for strength and support. Whether it is "up" or "out," God is here. Christmas suggests a second direction in which to look to encounter the Holy One: look around at the everyday world in which you live! God came to earth in a smelly ...

2532. Seeing Jesus Clearly

Mark 1:29-34

Sermon

Paul E. Flesner

... health care, I need to be reminded of this dimension of who Jesus is. Why? I must confess that I sometimes hesitate to pray for certain kinds of healing because modern medicine tells me that it is impossible. I suspect it is because I am afraid that the person I want to pray for will not be healed, suggesting that God really can't do anything about it. It is as if I am "testing" God, afraid that if what I pray for doesn't happen, God will have failed. Of course, that is the human side of my feelings. It ...

2533. The Hillside and the Basket

John 6:1-15

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... and sailed across the lake to take a break. But the throngs of people had not had enough of the Master's words and deeds. They wanted more. So they tramped around the lake's north shore, perhaps a distance of fifteen or twenty miles, in order to be where Jesus was. ... him and even grown into the thousands. By now it is late in the day, supper time nears and stomachs begin to rumble for want of food. But, wait! There's more need than for a meal. The sick are in the crowd. The ignorant are present. So, too, ...

2534. Grace in the Midst of Exasperation

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Glenn McDonald

... kind of desire we will obey. Does this mean that humans aren't free? Aren't we at liberty to choose whatever we want to do at a given moment? The fact of the matter is that our choices are always determined by our desires -- and we always ... walk with God. What are the right steps? We must decide to feed our new desires to follow God, and starve the old desires that make us want to run away. The Holy Spirit is the key to winning that battle. God promises that the Spirit who lives inside us will remind us of the ...

2535. People See Through Us

James 2:1-13

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... them. This caused those Entenmann baked goods to fill the shelves from New York to Miami.1 As soon as the Christian church was organized as an institution, the letters and epistles of Paul and the epistle of James began to hammer home a message people did not want to hear. God in Christ is the Martha Entenmann of the church. People see through us. They really do! There is a see-through box top that covers every congregation. I wish James would just leave us alone and not call attention to what has been the ...

2536. Yes, No, Someone Else

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Sermon

Curtis Lewis

... become in a sense an invitation to the viewers: "If you build it, he will come." Building God a house was David's Field of Dreams. God had never whispered to David, "Build me a house," nor had God ever revealed to David in any manner that he needed, wanted, or expected David to build him a house. Both David and Nathan failed to realize that sometimes dreams and ideas are from God, and sometimes they are not. Even you and I often have friends who will encourage us to go for something which is our dream, our ...

2537. Reconciliation: Our Gift And Our Ministry

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... and he never forgot that. In fact, it was one of the Moravians, Peter Boyler, who encouraged Wesley at a crucial time in Wesley’s life to preach faith until he had faith. After his heartwarming experience on May 24, 1738, Wesley went immediately to Herrnhut. He wanted to share with the Moravians, those simple people whose faith seemed so deep and real. It was marvelous being in that place, and seeking to relive in memory the early groundings of our father in the faith, John Wesley, and to read some of the ...

2538. What Really Matters

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... had struck again. She’d had a mastectomy that morning and had been sedated all day. In the middle of the night, I was with her in her room, and I was dozing, but her stirring brought me to alertness. I had the feeling that my mother wanted to talk. And she wanted to talk about real things, not just to make time passing conversation. How did she feel? What was she thinking? There was a lot of deep sharing. I hope I will never forget that experience, and what my mother said. When you give your life to the ...

2539. The Family: A Place For Persons

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... pushing and loud. He finally found a place to sit, and after a lengthy time, a man in a greasy apron came over and said, "Whaddle-ya-have?" Fred said, "May I see the menu?" “What do you want a menu for? We have soup.”“Well, what kind of soup do you have?”The fellow with the greasy apron said, "Soup, do you want soup?"Fred said, "That's what I was going to order. Give me some soup." Well he brought the soup, and Fred put the spoon to the soup and, yuck -- it was the most awful -- kind of gray ...

2540. Put My Tears In Thy Bottle

Psalm 56:1-13

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... treatment of fourth-stage lympthoma, in a conversation with Jerry, he shared a word he had just read from his Episcopal prayer book. I want to share that word with you. It was from the section on "Prayers For Use By a Sick Person": "This is another day, O ... in your bottle." So, the psalmist could say, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in thee." III. The third affirmation at which I want us to look is in verse 12: "My vows to Thee I must perform, O God; I will remember thank offerings to thee. The Psalmist ...

2541. Noah: The Bearer Of An Alternative Possibility

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... him. When we whisper all this to ourselves -- when we think it -- again betray that disastrous talent of man for seeking a glimpse, for seeking a lightening rod to divert our own guilt: "God is at fault, God is guilty!" It's always the same old story. We don't want to face up to our responsibility. "Do we understand now why God cares, why He should be sorry and repent? Can we really dare to go on asserting that this is the sign of a human, all-too-human God? Is not this rather the other side of the fact ...

2542. Look Carefully How You Walk

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... began his work in a grocery store? About the second day that he was there, a rather elderly woman, very proper, and very insistent on her own way, came into the store and went to the produce department where this young man was working. She told the young man she wanted a half head of lettuce. This was the young man's second day at work but he knew enough already to know that that was a strange request -- a half head of lettuce -- how could the store sell a half head of lettuce -- what would it do with the ...

2543. The Word And Words

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... doing that in the area of Galilee, teaching the people in the synagogue. Now he comes to his hometown of Nazareth. The word that I want us to focus on is a simple one, a matter-of-fact action on Jesus' part: "He opened the book." If the community of faith ... know I didn't imagine it. He handled it carefully as though it might be a piece of precious crystal. It was as though he didn't want to mishandle it. I suggested what he might read. I opened it to John 3 and he began to read it and he came to that ...

2544. I've Been To The Mountain

Luke 9:28-36

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . So, this story that we read for our Scripture lesson today is a theophany -- the story of the appearance of God. But I want us to look at the Transfiguration not as something we aspire to in a dramatic theophany, but what it says to us for ... make it by ourselves. That will keep us awake to God's glorious presence. I remember the time frame in my life when I didn't want anyone to know how weak and limited I was. I could have never admitted failure. But I also remember vividly those times I have been willing ...

2545. Let Your Soul Catch Up

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... not addiction to drugs, it’s addiction to television and pleasure and the rat-race of getting ahead. It’s little wonder that a USA Today poll a couple of years ago showed that an overwhelming majority of people from all walks of life, when asked what they wanted most from life, replied “peace of mind.” And so we come to our morning gospel lesson from Luke -- the story of the best-known sisters in the Bible: Mary and Martha. A pastor tells of a painting his wife created and said that he played a big ...

2546. Getting Ourselves Off Our Hands

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Ortland suggested that the burden Jesus wants to remove is the burden we manufacture ourselves, with our own ego. Most of us who carry that burden are "heavy-laden"; we are dragged down and depressed and discouraged and exhausted by it all our lives. "Jesus says, "Let me give you rest. Learn of me. I am ...

2547. Getting Our Lives Out Of Hock

Psalm 105:1-45

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... robber. "Keep still and hand over your valuables, and nothing will happen to you." The man assured the burglar that there would be no outcry and that he was welcome to the silver and anything else. "However," he said, "I wish you would do one favor before you go. I want you to come upstairs to meet my wife. She has been looking for you every night for 20 years." That's a picture of it the neurotic fears that plague us many of which become a crippling anxiety. Now I don't know your fears, but you do. Fear of ...

2548. The Easter Question: Why Are You Weeping? Whom Do You Seek?

John 20:1-18

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... . Not long before she died, Katie said to her mother with a smile, "When I am in Heaven, and you feel a tickle on your ear, it will be me telling you 'I love you, Mommy.'" (Donald Shelby, "Grace-Full Humor"). Does that make you smile, or feel teary? Want to cry? Or laugh? Either is appropriate. Because Jesus is preparing a place for us in his eternal kingdom, Katie could believe what she said. And if those who have gone before us can't "tickle our ear" as Katie suggested she would do with her mother, it is ...

2549. Christmas and the New Family

John 1:1-18

Sermon

J. Ellsworth Kalas

... or to be an example, but to do what he alone could do: prepare the way for you and me to become children of God. The Bible wants us to realize that this is God's achieving. We must be born, the writer says, "not of blood or of the will of the flesh ... me because I am obsessed with hell's estimate of unworth -- I must remember that my eternal roots are in the family of God, and that God wants so much for his family to be whole that he sent Jesus Christ to give us the power to become children of God. This is a ...

2550. Saints in Shorts

Luke 6:27-36

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... of a blow to my ego than my body. It is not so much that my life needs to be defended as it is my pride that wants to be avenged. You and I may not live in settings where we are likely to be physically struck, but we are almost certainly in settings ... like our destination. The old traditional traveler's wisdom said, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." And that's fine, if you want to fit in in Rome. But the Christian lives with a different ethic, for the Christian has a different ultimate goal. We may live ...

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