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 251 to 275 of 679 results

251. Christmas Concern

Sermon

James Bjorge

... the point where he was willing to enter into the soul’s soul of loneliness and plant some seeds of love and care. What a Lord we have! He came to care for us ... to stand by us in the trenches of human existence ... to identify with our longings and yearnings. To top it all off he has the power to forgive our sins and set us free to be the sons and daughters of God. That is quite a gift. He not only gave us a portion of himself but gave his total self. For this reason the visit of ...

252. SURVIVAL IN THE RAT RACE

Psalm 46:1-11

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... ?", I’m sure that most of us should come back with the honest answer, "Tired." But that tiredness is more than a weariness of bone, muscle or mind. It goes deeper than that. It’s a kind of lethargy of spirit, an exhaustion of emotions, a dullness of response. We yearn, we cry out for rest; and yet, we are restLESS. We want to relax. We work so hard at relaxing; and yet, we are taut as bow strings. We’re tense. We’re all on edge - on edge toward each other. We seek peace; and yet, there are conflicts ...

253. Hungry for Anything?

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... . Children undernourished in affection become evasive, suspicious, deceitful, underhanded, and self-centered, and all the while we are neglecting their deep need for human love. From the time you are born until the day you die - and I don’t care who you are - you yearn, you long for those who are yours in love. You can never get beyond that hunger. But this desire to love and to be loved also has eternal significance. No matter how perfectly you love someone or they love you, there is still a central ...

254. The Land of Beginning Again

John 8:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Have you ever had the experiencing of making a mess out of something, and longing for a chance to start over with a clean slate? Most of us have. Most of us yearn for the kind of place described by Louise Fletcher Tarkington: "I wish that there were some wonderful place In the Land of Beginning Again; Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door And never put on again." There is ...

255. A Personal God in an Impersonal World

Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... would do more damage to the pro-abortion forces than all the laws ever passed. The Bible says: "This is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish persons." Here in America we have over 1.5 million couples yearning to adopt a child, but only about 25,000 infants are available for adoption. Most of us were horrified by a recent news report of a bright college couple who went to a motel room in Delaware. There she gave birth to their little boy. They promptly fractured ...

256. Even The Bosses Wash Feet!

John 13:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... is living the American dream. This American Dream is to reach a point in your life where you don't have to do anything you don't want to do and can do everything you do want to do." That is the American Dream, isn't it? Even we Christians yearn for a situation in which our desires and preferences dominate our lifestyles. Maybe that's why we cringe when we read about the rich young ruler who encountered Jesus. He was told by Jesus, "Go sell what you have, give to the poor, and come and follow me." The young ...

257. Advertised Goodness

Matthew 6:1-2, Matthew 6:5-6

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... . Who invited that thing?" Unable to resist, the frog said, "I did." And that was the end of the frog. That frog discovered a biblical truth: when pride causes us to advertise our own virtues, tragedy replaces goodness. On the other hand, when our hearts yearn for God to be glorified rather than us, the Kingdom of God is promoted. Note Jesus' command in verse 1 of Matthew 6: DON'T SHOW OFF YOUR SPIRITUALITY. Or, expressed another way, "Beware of practicing your piety publicly..." If you do, said Jesus in ...

258. The Witness of the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... whether that family wants them or not, whether or not that family can take care of them or not. But that's not how you came to us. We dreamed about you and prayed for you for years before you came to us. Not only did we want you; we yearned for you. We thought our hearts would break if God did not send you to us. Then, on a wonderful day we will never forget, a phone call brought the great news. Someone told us that you had been born. Your mother was not able to take care of you ...

259. Called Into Covenant

Genesis 9:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... based on law. A marriage, for example, is a covenant, an agreement based on love and trust. But a Donald Trump pre-nuptial agreement is a contract based on law. Why did God want a covenant relationship with us? The staggering truth is that God yearns for our fellowship. Isn't that amazing?! From this first covenant! God led His people step by step across the pages of history and the Bible. Later covenants developed the relationship between God and His people. God’s people had to crawl spiritually before ...

260. A Large Fish Story

Jonah 1:1-17, Jonah 3:1-10

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... you; He will never leave or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deep in that whale's belly, Jonah turned to God whose everlasting arms had already been extended towards him. If today finds you a mile deep in either guilt or trouble, God yearns to lead you out of the pit. All He needs to hear from you is: "Help me, Lord." THERE IS A SECOND TRUTH TO BE DECLARED HERE: GOD BLESSES OBEDIENCE WITH GLORIOUS RESULTS. Jonah did not believe that his preaching would cause a revival in Nineveh, any ...

261. Igniting the Church

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... of God's power flows. We are spiritual electricians! And that wiring is prayer. Frank Laubach, that great man of faith who taught literacy and prayer, said this: "In prayer you do not turn God on. You open your life and the lives of others to God. God is yearning to use you as a channel of his love and power. For goodness sakes, make yourselves available!" Today is a red-letter day in the life of Christ Church. This may be our most important weekend of 1997. I am calling for least 1000 of you to join me ...

262. Right on the Money!

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... those who make $20,000 per year. It's not a question of amount; it's a matter of money management. It is important to develop a written budget plan that in systematic savings. Someone has defined a budget as "an attempt to live beneath your yearnings." To budget and to save both require control and restraint. The best way to save is through a payroll deduction plan or an automatic draft program with your bank. You may start with less than 1 percent being deducted, but it will grow. Most financial counselors ...

263. Our Lord's Abundant Table

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Brett Blair

... the past is tied to the present. And how much the future depends on that connection. We see it in the life of our Lord. Jesus reveals who he is and teaches who God is by repeating or acting out the stories and lessons of the recorded experiences and yearning of the people. In this way Jesus fulfills the word of the Prophets. Jesus steps into their lives and brings the past, the Old Testament past, to life. He is the Law and Prophets incarnate. The old stories breathed to life again. In a word, he is the ...

264. The Passover and the Passion

Drama

Denny C. Wise

... life as ransom for many. (Jesus begins to wash feet.) John: (James stands with John.) I am John. This is my brother James. We were a part of the inner circle. They called us the sons of thunder. We didn’t get that name for being pushovers. We yearned for power. We fought for first place. We were young, brash, ambitious, and upwardly mobile. But Jesus taught us that in his kingdom, the old values are reversed - instead, the last are first, the first are last, and he who is greatest must be the servant of ...

265. God’s Chosen Country

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

Susan Hedahl

... all who mourn ... (Isaiah 61:1-2 ILL) Special language and writings were used in the life of Israel to focus on the Expected One. The urgent speech of the prophets, the mystical songs of the poets of God, the everyday prayers of a yearning people formed the daily vocabulary of those waiting for a revelation. Messiah, Anointed One, Emmanuel, Son of man, were phrases which marked Hebrew life in worship and discussion. Surely no child had so many names chosen for him. As with most babies, there were gifts ...

266. Putting Lent into Focus

Joel 2:12-17

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... , but his Day of the Lord means simply that when moral rebellion goes too far, a time of judgment occurs and God says, "No further!" In the human struggle there comes a time when the "exceeding sinfulness of sin" brings its harvest upon us and people yearn for a way out. That way is God’s way and through his prophets and apostles, his "errand runners," comes his call: Repent! Here again, however, such a word needs clarification. Yes, it involves being sorry for our sins, but this is apt to become merely ...

267. The Ultimate Christmas Gift

Psalm 85:1-13, Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

Erskine White

... to God’s Word can make us ready to receive God’s precious gift of peace. Of course, human history is the tragic story of our turning to ourselves and not to God for the peace we so ardently need and seek. Indeed, we have yearned so desperately but so misguidedly for peace through the years that we have vainly tried to create it in many different ways. Some have tried peace through conquest and have actually managed to eliminate war for a time, but festering resentments among those who are conquered ...

268. Terminally Distracted Or Decisively Prepared

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Joseph M. Freeman

... , and lives to. If we're thoughtful enough to take the necessary steps to assure a seat on a flight to a selected destination, such wisdom in temporal matters needs to be exercised in matters spiritual. Don't let yourself be terminally distracted. Yearn and learn to be decisively prepared, especially for the kingdom eternal! 1. William Barclay, Matthew, Volume II, Westminster Press, p. 319. 2. Ibid., p. 320. 3. Lection Aid, October-December, 1996, Volume 4, No. 4, "Some Are Wise, Some Are Otherwise," p. 26 ...

269. The Path of Quality

Drama

William Grimbol

... , and the ability to say to Life, not "Is that all there is?" but rather, "My God, there is just so much ... so much to live ... to love ... to learn. Let us enter Jerusalem with Him, and find in that Holy City, the quality of Life we all so deeply yearn for ... we all so passionately long to find. Amen

270. The Path of Dignity

Drama

William Grimbol

... becoming a word which is obsolete. The righteous life, the life which pursues peace and justice and equality and liberty for all ... the life which thrives on unconditional loving, and ceaseless efforts to forgive and to be forgiven ... the life which yearns for a closer relationship to God, and a deeper commitment to the people of the whole world, such a life is a life of great work ... of great struggle ... of great sacrifice ... of great suffering ... of significant endurance - dedication - determination ...

271. Hot Tubs and Fishing Trips

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

Thomas Long

... lives: not so much to get away from a place of boredom, but rather to find a new place of greater meaning. This is not the kind of change in which a person simply heads out the door, slamming it on the way, but the kind in which a person yearns to become a citizen of a new and richer land. It is not a rebellion again boredom; it is a hunger to discover one’s true self. In an interview, Garrison Keillor, the host of public radio’s "A Prairie Home Companion," talked about his son, who was at the ...

272. An Understated Masterpiece

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Thomas Long

... the separation of event and knowledge. We attend events, from soccer matches to cocktail parties, and leave amused but no wiser. We sit at the feet of teachers and gather knowledge, from the value of pi to the theories of Freud, and we leave informed but unchanged. We yearn to be a part of an event which leads, not to diversion, but to wisdom. We long to know the truth which does not merely set us thinking, but sets us free. And in the deepest sense possible, that was exactly what happened that day in the ...

273. The Gift

Drama

Esther Lense

... seen. There should be a lion and a Iamb placed together, for example, and other unlikely combinations. Isaiah enters. READER: Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were banished from Paradise, there have been fear and anger and bloodshed in the world. And now all men yearn for peace. And that is the third gift of Christmas - peace. ISAIAH: You heard Eve say that she would call the Promised One by the name of Emmanuel. Well, God told me that I should write in my book that someday a virgin wouid have a ...

274. Facing the Glory Road

Matthew 20:17-19

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

Tell me, how would you like to have life served up to you? The newest neophyte among the Madison Avenue ad men will tell you. Every word of copy that they write promises to fulfill what they consider your deepest yearnings. You want it soft, just as soft as Puff facial tissues. You want it comfortable. You want it secure. You want to live in a kind of bovine, cud-chewing complacency, comfort, and contentment. You want to be born without labor pain to your mother, to live in a computerized, ...

275. What’s Going On in Your Orchard?

John 15:1-17

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... s Christ means hell! Hell on earth. Hell eternal. Abandonment by God. Cast from his presence. Life without him. The word, hell, doesn’t scare me a bit until I realize I am created to be with the Father, but I will be eternally without him. I will forever yearn to be with him, but it will never be so. That’s got to be Hell! Without God’s Christ, our vine of life, left to ourselves, we will consume ourselves, leaving a rusted hull on an abandoned beach. When as branches we break away from Christ as the ...

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