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 2701 to 2725 of 4961 results

2701. This Spirit Is Not Spooky

John 14:15-21

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

These words were spoken just hours before the greatest act of love in world history, the death on a cross of God's incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He died in our place so that everyone who believes on him (Mark you, not in, but on him -- and there is a difference. To believe in something can be seen as nothing more than an exercise of intellectual assent for we remember that we are told, "Even the demons believe -- and shudder" [James 2:19]. To believe "on" him means to lay our whole lives on him and ...

2702. Words, Words, Words

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Thomas Long

One doesn't have to search very far in our culture to realize that we live in an age that doesn't trust words very much. We use words by the bushel, in fact we are the age that does "word processing." Even so, we don't trust words; we build scaffolding out of them, but we don't put our weight on it. We know that words can be slippery, weasel things, used to conceal, to deceive, to distort. Words are cheap; people can hide behind words. When a politician gives a speech, what do we say? Promises, promises. ...

2703. Jacob And The Night Wrestler

Genesis 32:22-32

Drama

Jerry Eckert

Comment: A good story can be done a number of ways. A story about Jacob lent itself as a short story when I did it. Since then, I have come to see it as a radio drama, not unlike those frequently heard in the '40s and '50s in which the hero narrates and has some dialogue with a limited number of other characters. Sound effects would be nice and could be handled by a creative team working on this story. Those who study the biblical story closely will realize I have taken some liberties, as most storytellers ...

2704. Who's The Boss?

Psalm 50:1-23

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Money. Money. Money. Since today is Pledge Sunday, I am going to preach about money. No surprise. But what MAY surprise you is that I am not going to BASH money. No railing about money being the root of all evil (which is an incorrect quote, by the way); not even "the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (which is the correct one - I Tim. 6:10). No. I think money is wonderful. I think everyone ought to have as much of it as they can make good use of. Money is a marvelous tool. Money allows us to ...

2705. Written In Our Hearts

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

King Duncan

It is amazing to those of us who are parents that God would give us the most precious gift in the world, a small child, and not give us a manual on how to raise that child. If you buy a computer, you get a manual, or a car or a VCR but with the most intricate and complicated gift in the world, a human infant, there is no manual. Having children is not for the fainthearted. As somebody put it, "Children may be deductible, but they are also taxing." I appreciated the story of one mother with four small ...

2706. A Life Without Apology

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Sermon

King Duncan

Nothing in our lives brings us joy like small children. But they are also a challenge. Maybe that is why there are so many jokes about raising children. "We child-proofed our home," said one comedian, "but they are still getting in." "If you have a lot of tension and you get a headache," says another, "do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "˜TAKE TWO ASPIRIN' and "KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN." Some of you will identify with Rita Rudner's line: "I think about having children, because time is running out. I ...

2707. Secretary to Saint Peter

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

MARK’S GOSPEL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE WORLD! So says Prof. William Barclay of Scotland, the dean of New Testament Biblical commentators. Why? Because, says he, It is agreed by nearly everyone that Mark is the earliest of all the gospels, and is therefore the first life of Jesus that has come down to us. (Daily Study Bible, Phila: The Westminster Pres, 1956. P. xiii.) In other words, if there had been no Gospel of St. Mark there would have been no Gospels. Period. It is an intriguing thought. And ...

2708. On Talking to Oneself

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

Henri Nouwen, in his book “Reaching Out,” says: “While visiting the University of Notre Dame, where I had been a teacher for a few years, I met an older experienced professor who had spent most of his life there. And while we strolled over the beautiful campus, he said with a certain melancholy in his voice, ‘You know....my whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered that my interruptions were my work.’” (Henri J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out, Garden City., N.Y ...

2709. Living Deliberately

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Our scripture lesson is taken from the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John, beginning with the 7th and reading through the 18th verses. I’m reading from the Revised Standard Version. This is the word of the Lord. “So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and ...

2710. God's Hello People

1 John 1:5--2:14

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Listen to this passage from an autobiography: "It was on a Thursday, the day before payday in the black community. The teacher was asking each student how much his father would give to the Community Chest. On Friday night, each kid would get the money from his father, and on Monday, he would bring it to school. I decided I was going to buy me a Daddy right then. I had money in my pocket from shining shoes and selling papers, and whatever Helene Tucker pledged for her Daddy I was going to top it. And I'd ...

2711. What Excites God

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

James Merritt

As a pastor I can really relate to the story of a pastor who was candidating at a church, and they told him that they wanted to call him provided he would agree to live by faith. When he asked the six men on the committee what they meant by that, they said, "Well, what we mean by that is, you're not going to have any stated salary, but you're just going to trust God to meet your needs." The man thought about it for a minute, and though it cost him the church, he gave a good response. He said, "I've got a ...

2712. Learning to Love Ourselves

Matthew 22:34-40

Sermon

James McCormick

She was a beautiful Scandinavian girl. She had come to the hotel room of Dr. and Mrs. Walter Trobisch for counseling, just one day after they had given a lecture at one of the universities of northern Europe. As they talked about her problems, one basic issue kept coming up – one that seemed to be at the root at all her problems. She could not love herself! In fact, she hated herself so much that she was only a step away from ending her own life. She had been raised in a very religious home. Her parents ...

2713. Begin With the Blueprints

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

Put together one very run-down house, a needy family who deserves a better place to live, several opinionated designers, one week and what do you get? The answer is - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It is not only a fascinating show to watch, but it will touch even the hardest of hearts. Each episode features a race against time on a project that would ordinarily take somewhere between 3-4 months to achieve. A team of designers, contractors, and several hundred workers have just 7 days to totally rebuild ...

2714. Simeon

Luke 2:22-40

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I am old and ready to die. To be truthful, I have been ready to die for years, but right now, I feel ready as I have never been before. You see, earlier today, in the temple in Jerusalem, I met a young couple who had come with their young son for the ritual of purification, and I knew when I saw them that a promise that God had made to me had been fulfilled. Now I am ready to die. I suppose I should explain. Perhaps you know me; perhaps you don't. My name is Simeon. I am a rabbi, a member of the Sanhedrin ...

2715. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

Daniel 2:1-23

Understanding Series

William Nelson

Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: The stories in Daniel 2–7 probably did not all circulate together originally. As mentioned earlier, evidence for this can be seen especially in chapters 3 and 6. The original author of chapter 3 focuses on Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, seemingly unaware of Daniel, while the original author of chapter 6 highlights Daniel, seemingly oblivious to his three friends. These independent traditions have been brought together and shaped into a literary whole. (For a more ...

2716. The Voices Of Christmas

Drama

Jerry Nordstrom

Cast PATIENT - Resident of a nursing home (male) HOMEMAKER - Food-happy matron (female) SHOPPER - Wealthy, materialistic socialite (female) SPORTSMAN - Young ski enthusiast (male) MERCHANT - Toy store owner (male) TRADITIONALIST - Sentimental Swedish-American grandma (female) CORPORATION MAN - Heavy-drinking party-goer (male) *CHILD - Greedy little girl (female) WORKING WIFE - Frazzled victim of the Christmas rush (female) *May be read, in character, by an adult. Presentation time: about half an hour Using ...

2717. God Knows Exactly How You Feel

John 19:28

Sermon

James Merritt

One of the most powerful pieces of prose that I have read in a long time is a little playlet entitled: "The Long Silence." Listen to it: "At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on a great plain before God's throne. Most shrank back from the brilliant light before them, but some groups near the front talked heatedly not with cringing shame, but with belligerence. ‘Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?' snapped a pert young brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed ...

2718. Easter 2

Acts 4:32-37, 1 John 1:5--2:14, John 20:19-23, John 20:24-31

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Epistle: Acts 4:32-35 Here is a picture of the apostolic church. In this passage we see its oneness. They were one in belief: "believed were of one heart and soul." They proclaimed one message: "gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." They were one in having received grace. They were one in physical resources: common property and each receiving according to the personal need. It was a Christian community they had all things in common: faith, witnessing, property. Epistle: 1 ...

2719. When I’m In Trouble

2 Timothy 4:16-18

Sermon

James Merritt

Everybody at one time or another has read the comic strip "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz. If you have, you can't help but love Charlie Brown. In one of the classic cartoons, Charlie Brown is at the beach building a beautiful sandcastle. He has worked on it all day long and as he stands back to admire his finished work, it is suddenly consumed by a huge wave. Looking at the smooth sand mound that had been his creation just a moment before, with that forlorn look, Charlie Brown says, "There must be a lesson ...

2720. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Luke 23:32-46

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There's an old story about three men who were friends. They attended college together. And even went to grad schools in the same town. One became a Lawyer, one became a Tax Accountant and the other became a Preacher. The Lawyer and the Accountant were members of the Preachers church. Over the years, they maintained their close friendship. One of the things that held them together was mutual respect and their sense of humor. The Preacher particularly liked calling his friends the Pharisee and the Money ...

2721. An Invitation to Tired Souls

Matthew 11:25-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome, on this July 4 weekend. Tomorrow we will be celebrating one of the remarkable documents ever created, the Declaration of Independence. We give God thanks for our freedom. And we pray that in our own small way we will contribute to the coming of the day when all the world’s people will be free. There is a delightful story about an elderly lady who had always wanted to travel abroad. She’d never even been out of the country, so she started the process by getting her passport. She went to the ...

2722. Translucent Grace

Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36, Revelation 1:9-20, Revelation 2:12-17

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18) Prop: translucent stones or another kind of gem (or larger white stones onto which people can write the name of Jesus) He was an upstanding Christian, long-time servant in ministry, Chair of the Administrative Council, member of the Trustees, organizer of the yearly fund-raiser and the monthly Men’s Breakfast. “Carl” (as we’ll call him) was one of the “cornerstones” of ...

2723. Lent 2

Lk 9:18-36; 13:31-35 · Php 3:17--4:1 · Jer 26:8-15 · Gen 15:1-12, 17-18

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Yahweh makes a covenant with Abraham who is promised a son and a land. This passage is one of several accounts of Yahweh's covenant with Abraham. It is noteworthy that Yahweh came to Abraham with a covenant proposal. Yahweh comes to Abraham as a shield (v. 1) and thus Abraham has no need to fear being in Yahweh's holy presence. In this account, Yahweh promises Abraham three tremendous blessings: a son, a nation, and a country. The covenant is made legal and binding by the ...

2724. Proper 8 & Pentecost 6

2 Kings 4:8-37, Genesis 32:22-32, Psalm 89:1-52, Psalm 17:1-15, Isaiah 2:6-22, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE Beyond the natural progression of the Pentecost cycle/season, with its eschatological emphasis, there is no clear and definitive clue from the church year. The insertion of these particular readings within the theological framework of the church year does, however, tend to emphasize realized eschatology as much as it does any future eschatology. The latter, of course, is always present, if only in the Eucharist with its "as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the ...

2725. Does God Give Out Blank Checks?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

One of my favorite authors is Father Andrew Greeley, who, when he is not writing newspaper columns, popular (and somewhat racy) novels, and technical sociological treatises, somehow finds time to write passable books on theology. Greeley is so prolific that some have suggested that he is a committee rather than one individual man. Some critics say that he has never had an unpublished thought; but perhaps some of the criticism leveled against him might come under the heading of jealousy...from folks who ...

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