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 2601 to 2625 of 4961 results

2601. Good News From A Graveyard

John 20:1-9

Sermon

John M. Braaten

If wild applause was ever in order in the church, Easter is the time. It is a day for Christians to cheerfully celebrate Christ's victory over death. Clearly the dominant mood in our worship this morning is joy. It is a day for breaking out the band, clapping hands and singing, "Hallelujah!" But if you ever read the gospel accounts of the resurrection, you discover an unusual thing; the first reaction of the men and women who came to the tomb was not joy - it was bewilderment and fear! The immediately ...

2602. Talk! Talk! Talk!

Jeremiah 1:1-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Text: Jeremiah 1:6 - Then, I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak ..." Jeremiah was expressing a common need of most of us. One of the miraculous abilities of the human being is his ability to speak to another human being and be understood, that the mind can communicate its thought to another mind or minds by way of speech. But how tragic it is that we misuse and waste this God-given ability. It was in the early years of my ministry that I was one Sunday preaching my sermon, and I had ...

2603. "Sneak Up On ‘Em!"

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as ...

2604. Everyone Has a Somebody

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." How many times have we heard in our lifetime our Lord’s Eleventh Commandment repeated? How many sermons have I preached on love, and have you heard? Yet, in spite of words and commandment, everyone has a somebody whom they cannot love. Somebody is not always the same person, at the same time, in the same place. True as well for the comedian who jested, "There are people in this world who do not love one another, and I hate people like ...

2605. Make It Right!

Matthew 5:21-26

Sermon

David E. Leininger

There is a church in Columbia, SC near the seminary I attended which has one of those bulletin boards out front to list service times, special events, sermon subjects, and so on. For several years there was one other thing on that bulletin board, one of those little "sentence sermons" that we see so often. It said, "The same Bible that says BELIEVE also says BEHAVE." I do not know if there were any significance to the fact that it was located so near to all us seminary students; perhaps someone figured we ...

2606. Sleeping Through A Revolution

Ephesians 2:13-14

Sermon

King Duncan

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. (Ephesians 2:13-14) You may have seen the story in this past week's newspaper. Way back in July 1984 Terry Wallis and a friend were riding in a car that left the road and plunged into a creek. They were found the next day underneath a bridge. The friend was dead and Wallis ...

2607. What Are You Going to Do with My World?

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Fredrick R. Harm

A friend tells of his son who asked for a globe of the world as one of his Christmas gifts last year. Of course his parents were pleased to purchase something so useful for their child. So many Christmas lists leave much to be desired! The boy thoroughly enjoyed his gift and kept it on a small table in his bedroom. One evening his parents were discussing the fact that so many of our clothing items are imported from foreign countries. The wife recalled that a recently purchased scarf had come from Sri Lanka ...

2608. How To Get Better When You're Bitter

Exodus 15:22-27

Sermon

James Merritt

Something that has become a Christmas tradition for our family every year is going to see the play, A Christmas Carol, at an Atlanta theatre. It's one of those stories that I never get tired of seeing. As you know, the central figure is a bitter old man by the name of Ebenezer Scrooge. For much of the play Scrooge is a real downer. But at the end, Scrooge discovers the true meaning of Christmas, and with his heart totally changed, a man who once lived in the desert of bitterness, now swims in the river of ...

2609. Don’t Be a Hypocrite

Matthew 6:1-4

Sermon

James Merritt

There are very few people who never, ever get angry about anything. Even if you are the most mild mannered of mild mannered people, you have a hot-button that if someone just knows where it is and knows how to push it, they can really make your blood boil. What one thing makes you the angriest? Maybe, it is when somebody cuts you off on the freeway. Maybe, it is when your brother or sister borrows some of your clothes and doesn't tell you about it. Maybe, it is when your favorite college football team ...

2610. What's In A Name?

John 15:9-17

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Three friends were having lunch together; Jack Benny, George Burns and Edgar Bergen. If you remember, Jack Benny had a reputation for being tightwad. George Burns always said he had a "reach impediment" when it came to picking up the bill, and was, therefore surprised to hear Benny ask for the check. On the way out Burns complimented Benny by saying, "That was good of you to ask for the check." To which Benny replied, "I did not ask for the check, and that's the last time I'll have lunch with a ...

2611. A Guide for Growth

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

My friend, Don Shelby, minister of First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California, has told a moving story which introduces the sermon today. It happened when Don was a pastor in San Diego. One weekday morning, on arrival at the church, he was called to the sanctuary. The custodian wanted him to see a strange offering which had been placed at the very center of the altar. Upon examination they discovered it to be a pair of brown corduroy trousers, a belt, a white T-shirt, a pair of tan suede ...

2612. What If You Truly Were Born Again?

John 3:1-21

Sermon

King Duncan

“It’ll be dark soon,” a character says in the 1968 western Firecreek, starring Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. Then he adds, “Things happen at night.” (1) Well, they do happen at night. Take our lesson from John for example. “Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night . . .” So begins one of the best known stories in Scripture . . . and also one of the most important. Nicodemus probably came under the cover of night because he was ...

2613. A Levite and His Concubine

Judges 19:1-30

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

Atrocities in Gibeah: Judges 19–21 constitute the final episode of the story of the judges. Even though we must divide them for the sake of analysis, they are intended to be read as one unit. These chapters have not found their way into many Sunday school books or sermons or onto the “top ten Christian books” list. They are difficult to read and more difficult to interpret. They portray human nature at its worst, and even worse than worst, because the main players were God’s covenant people. They did the ...

2614. Unity and Community (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: God empowers his people by his Spirit for the common good of his community, not as a personal favor to the individual. When individuals use their God-granted power for personal gain, they act like pagans attempting to manipulate their idol god. Understanding the Text Moving to the next question posed by the Corinthians (see 7:1, 25; 8:1), Paul continues his discussion on worship and ecclesiology. Distinguishing the Christian assembly from the pagan proves exceedingly significant not only for the ...

2615. Soul Food

Luke 9:10-17, Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, John 6:1-15

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“I am the Bread of Life.” (John 6:35) Prop: a puppy or kitten; recipe for barley flat bread I have with me a little friend today [allow for the oohs and aahs]. Who would like to come and pet him? I know last Sunday was World Animal Sunday. But every Sunday should be World Animal Sunday, our pets are such an important part of our families. [No rushing, give people time … especially children to come up front or walk about the congregation with him….allowing people to see him and touch him. Consider letting ...

2616. Imagine This

Matthew 3:13-17

Sermon

John Jamison

We’re going to start the story today some 400 miles away from the Jordan River. The city of Tarsus was a major business center in what is now Turkey and a place where many Jewish families had settled who had fled the harsh Roman rule around Jerusalem. We’re going to start by looking at one particular Jewish family in Tarsus. It was a devout Jewish family. A son in that family would later refer to himself as “of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a ...

2617. Room For Questions

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

William B. Kincaid, III

It's interesting how we fix in our minds certain images of people and block other images of the same people. We do that to biblical characters. We remember Peter's denial of Jesus, but forget his powerful preaching recorded in the book of Acts. Or, we remember how women came to Jesus for help from time to time, but forget how Jesus depended on the women for financial support and to announce the news of the resurrection. We remember David's tryst with Bathsheba, but forget his courage and leadership in ...

2618. The Passover and the Passion

Drama

Denny C. Wise

Narrator: (Welcome) Since the Fourth Century, Christians have remembered the Passion of our Lord with a service of Tenebrae, or shadows. Tonight we are going to add to that format an even older tradition: the Passover Festival. The word "Festival" comes from a root word meaning "memory." The Passover Festival was a time to remember God’s deliverance of his people from bondage, declaring that even though evil may prosper for a season, God’s way shall ultimately prevail. During our service this evening, as ...

2619. Once More with Feeling!

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

It's that holiday season again. Friends and loved ones are making plans for a visit. Christmas decorations are out in the store windows. Once again people's hearts are swelling with optimism. Jack Frost has left his calling card. The smell of wood fires curls from the chimneys, and inside, mothers work their magic as fathers are heard to say, "Make some of those sugar cookies that you made last year, the ones with the sprinkles." Yes, it's Thanksgiving week, and I'm supposed to preach on gratitude. And you ...

2620. Stilling Storms

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

King Duncan

A mother was out walking with her 4 year old daughter. The child picked up something off the ground and started to put it into her mouth. The mother took it away and said “Don’t do that!” “Why not?” asked the child. “Because it’s on the ground,” said her mother. “You don’t know where it’s been. It’s dirty, and it’s probably loaded with germs that could make you sick.” The child looked at her mother with total admiration and said, “Mommy, how do you know all this stuff? You’re so smart.” The mother said, “ ...

2621. Don’t Tempt Me—But If You Do I’m Ready

1 Corinthians 10:13

Sermon

James Merritt

Question: Do you ever feel as if the whole world is against you? Well, I've got news for you. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, it is! If you are a friend of God you are an enemy of the world. God expects you, from the moment you get up in the morning until you go to bed at night, to "go out and whip the world." For the next four weeks I want to share with you exactly how to do that in a practical personal way. I want to deal with a problem that we all face every day. It doesn't matter whether you're ...

2622. Our Task: Acceptance and Challenge

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

What do our children need of us really, as adults, as parents, and as the community of faith called the church? I found myself asking that question when the newborn infants of this congregation were brought before us and both the parents and our Sunday school teachers were gathered here at the front. The children looked so tiny — none of them able to walk or feed themselves or do hardly anything. If they are to become fully functioning human beings, obviously many things are going to have to be done for ...

2623. Anything to Declare?

Luke 10:1-24

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

When your kids are driving you crazy, there are two default responses. One is to declare a universal “NO” No, you cannot jump off the roof. No, you cannot drive two hundred miles to a rock concert with someone you just met online. No, you cannot see what happens when you put a whole cantaloupe in the microwave and hit “5 minutes.” Sometimes “no” IS the right answer. But the other automatic parental default is, surprisingly, the polar opposite. Need to get restless and rustling kids out from underfoot? “Go ...

2624. The Cost of Discipleship

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

I get a kick out of bumper stickers. Whenever I see an interesting one I always take a glance at the person who is driving the car. I want to get a glimpse of the person who would drive around with a crazy bumper sticker. I’m sure I am not the only one who has ever done that! Here are a few bumper stickers that I have seen or heard about over the years that always make me laugh: What If The Hokey Pokey Is What It’s All About? Driver Carries No Cash — He’s Married! I’m Retired — Go Around Me! Normal People ...

2625. Dogsleds And Dogged Determination

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

King Duncan

Beverly Masek is a Native American living in Alaska. Beverly was born and raised in Anvik, a very small village in the interior of Alaska with a population of about seventy people. Anvik is one of the sites on the legendary Iditarod. The Iditarod is a dog sled race where one person runs through blizzards, ice and wilderness for 1,029 miles! The racer is all alone with help from no other human being. Just the dog team. The musher, as they are called, has to provide for himself or herself as well as the dogs ...

Showing results