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 2751 to 2775 of 5000 results

2751. Francis of Assisi: a Faith for Every Day

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... in God’s name. "If a poor person begged of him when he was far from home, he would always give him money, if possible; when he had none to give - he would give his belt buckle, or - taking off his shirt, give it to a beggar for the love of God." (Legend of Three Companions, ca. 1325) So when he was in his early twenties, Francis began a new life. He called poverty his "mother, his bride, and his lady fair." There is a big difference between the way Francis interpreted the words of Jesus in Matthew 10 ...

2752. Mother Teresa and the Dying Poor

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... great persuasive power of humility. She does not lead with her chin. She leads with her heart, and thus knows the joy of loving and being loved. And, oh, what living proof she is for the fact that our deeds speak so much louder than our words. In the October, ... we who are the saved, a part of God’s family. We know we have a place prepared for us. We know we have a God who loves us. We know we have a Savior who worked forgiveness for us on the cross. We know we have an Easter resurrection that is the model ...

2753. You Can Depend on It

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

Thomas D. Peterson

... order that God bestowed upon humankind in his covenant, so that Jesus could truthfully say he fulfilled the law and did not abolish it. Jesus is the supreme gift and word of God to man. He is the beginning and the end. In him, the timeless love of God is disclosed in terms of the created order in which a human life unfolds. The events of his life are more than historical facts, they are mysteries of revelation, permanent possessions of mankind. Within the conditions of time and space the Church renews year ...

2754. If You Had Been Here

John 11:17-37

Sermon

Louis H. Valbracht

... not hold thy peace or be still, O God! For lo, thy enemies are in tumult." We remember the words of our Lord on the cross, words which, at best, are difficult to explain: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" If God is dynamic, aggressive love, why then this apparent indifference, this stony silence? Could not God at least speak words of assurance to His only-begotten Son? To make it more contemporary, what about the girl in my study? Why no answers to her prayers? WHY THE SILENCE IN ANSWER TO YOURS ...

2755. He Ought to Stick Out!

1 John 4:7-21

Sermon

Charles L. Koester

... feel like a young girl again!" Her roommate laughed, too, but with a tear in her eye queried, "How about me? Nobody gives me kisses anymore." And so I did. I couldn’t help but think later, I wonder how many others in this world are not being kissed with love of any kind? That little child was correct. "If Jesus lives inside of me, it seems to me he ought to stick out!" HE OUGHT TO STICK OUT! I pray God’s spirit so shines through you, in your acts of ...

2756. Focused Light

Acts 10:23b-48

Sermon

William F. Dunkle

... man who seems to me quite dangerous in his political or economic views? It’s not easy to do. Maybe that’s why most hymnals omit from Frederick Faber’s well-known hymn, "There’s a Wideness in God’s mercy ..." the stanza But we make his love too narrow By false limits of our own; And we magnify his strictness With a zeal he will not own. How hardly we find acceptable to our own brotherhood whoever is acceptable to God! This is the essential problem of the Christian mission. This is the human problem ...

2757. Advent 2: Let Us Go Over To Bethlehem And Find The Promise of Christmas

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

... reasons came to mind… First, when we are in trouble, we are more open to God; we tend to tune into God more, cry out to God more. We tend to realize more how very much we need him. And second, Jesus taught us that God is like a loving parent… and loving parents want to be with their children most of all when the children are hurting. They want to be with them and they want to bring help and strength and comfort. Isn’t that a great promise? That’s the promise Joseph felt and wrapped his arms around ...

2758. Backsliding

John 6:60-71

Sermon

Brett Blair

... t been to in years. It’s the last fling before the divorce. Then, when it doesn’t work, as invariably it does not, they wonder why religion had no effect. I feel like saying: What do you expect? How many times have I known someone who lost a loved one who was dearer than life itself, they come back to the church for the funeral after being away for years, and they can’t understand why they did not have the spiritual resources to handle it. I feel like saying: What did you expect? Samson waited till he ...

2759. Advent 4. Won't You Let Him Into Your Christmas?

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

James W. Moore

... her pale, thin face luminous and eyes glittering. In the middle of this, the struggle of her life, this woman was praising God. And, in her joyful expression, it was as if Jesus were saying to me. ‘I don’t leave when times are hard. Just as I love this woman, I love you.’ If I ran into this patient today, I would have no idea who she is, but for a moment she became God’s instrument for me. I have a Christmas memory of seeing God through a patient and I remember her as a very special gift.” Cynthia ...

2760. The Second Naiveté: Babies, Angels, Shepherds, And God

Sermon

Maurice A. Fetty

... truth, help us give up the idols of our vain worship, to center our lives on the Christ. Grant us release from false ideas and inadequate concepts which hinder our vision of you. Let our hardness of heart be melted in the warmth of this manger room of love. On this night of the world's first family, we would remember our own. Some of us are home from school or service or distant work. Others of us are home after arguments and alienation, home, ready to be accepted and reconciled. As the coming of Christ ...

2761. The Next Step

Colossians 3:1-17

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... in you richly as you teach and admonish ...” (3:16). Paul fully understands the transforming significance of the cross of Christ. It is not the “trademark” of a church that flies over the building or hangs from a golden chain around the neck of a believer. The love exhibited by God in Christ on the cross is a practical strategy for finding a new life. The cross was used by the ancient Romans to put an end to political uprisings. They discovered that not only is a cross a slow and painful death, but it ...

2762. When Life Gets Hard, Christian, Rebel!

Lamentations 1:1-22

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... -33 In our Second Lesson (2 Timothy 1:8-10), Paul likewise claims that he could only endure his imprisonment for the Gospel because he could rely on the power of God’s grace by which God called us before the foundation of the world. Faith in a loving God, even in small quantities, is a great, grand embolding thing. That is Jesus’ point in his remarks about having faith the size of a mustard seed, in our Gospel Lesson (Luke 17:5-10). When we break it down rationally, the “yes” that our Bible lessons ...

2763. Your Sins Are Remembered No More! You Are Free!

Jeremiah 30:1--31:40

Sermon

Mark Ellingsen

... captive, no longer matter. Even more glorious is that we do not have to do anything to earn this kind of forgiveness. It is a free gift of God! I could just end the sermon at this point, and let you reflect on the goodness of God, and how his love for you has set you free from all the old claims that have enslaved you. But Jeremiah did not stop at that point, and so I will not either. Besides proclaiming that God would no longer remember the Hebrews’ and our sin in God’s Name, Jeremiah also proclaimed ...

2764. Do You Know?

Hosea 11:1-11

Sermon

John W. Wurster

... . I want you to be sure of my presence and confident of my grace. I want you to enrich yourself with my values. I want you to know the power of my forgiveness and the freedom of my perspective. I want you to trust that I am the one who loves you without condition, the one who has formed you and who keeps you and who will never fail you. I want you to know me as deeply as I know you. “ ‘It was I who taught Ephraim how to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did ...

2765. Make Up Your Mind!

1 Kings 18:16-46

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... parent sets standards for the child’s own good. That child, in turn, passes them along to the next generation. God, in love, has set standards for us and for America. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments” (1 John 5:2-3). God loves us enough to set safe limits on us. We should do no less for our leaders and fellow citizens. To do less is to sin against this God who sends fire from heaven ...

2766. Dealing With The Pain of Rejection

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

James W. Moore

... GOD ACCEPTS YOU. He is with you. This, of course, is most important of all; it’s the key message of the Gospels. It’s the real good news for those who feel rejected! It’s the point of the parable, isn’t it… the gracious accepting, caring love of God. William Barclay put it like this: “So then for me the supreme truth of Christianity is that in Jesus I see God. When I see Jesus feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowing, befriending the rejected, I can say: ‘This is what God is like’… All ...

2767. The Temptation To Pass By On The Other Side

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Brett Blair

... is asking the expert in the Law to treat not just his friends, not just the people in his town, and folks stranded on the road as neighbors, but to treat the very people he despises, or dislikes, or makes fun of, or even hates as neighbors. In a word: Love your enemies. The story of the Good Samaritan is a lesson on how the Law of Moses is to be understood and lived out in the most difficult of relationships. I am convinced that apathy is just a word until you see it in action. That’s what the Seinfeld ...

2768. The Christmas Promise: God With Us

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

James W. Moore

... a home and family. Our Lord said, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.’ (Matthew 18:20) Of course I had a child! The Holy Child could be born in me every day as I sought to love Him above and beyond anything else. I took the next train feeling warm and contented. I knew that those two young strangers with their flutes had given me a magnificent Christmas gift. They had put Christ back where He belonged – in my Christmas, in my life, and in my heart ...

2769. I Am Sombody!!!

Mark 1:9-13, Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

David E. Leininger

... lightened by daily imaginary conversations with his wife and by scrawling notes for his book on all the bits and scraps of paper he could find. Now Frankl has written eloquently of these two insights to cope with life: first, the discovery and certainty of being loved, and, second, having a clear and controlling purpose in life.(4) Both are the messages we receive in Christian baptism. One of my cyber-friends has written,(5) "I think of the story that appeared a few years ago in the midst of the upheaval in ...

2770. Surprised By Christmas

Isaiah 9:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... door. Not wanting to embarrass the family, he quietly drove away and spent the rest of his Christmas morning as Manager on Duty at the Hotel.(2) Can't you imagine the look of wonder and joy on one little girl's face on Christmas morning? Surprise! Such self-giving love always comes as a surprise in this cold, cruel world. It's not something we expect. It's a bonus that we find here and there an aberration. We don't know why it is so surprising. We've heard a million times that it is more blessed to give ...

2771. Sons And Daughters Of God

Galatians 3:23-29

Sermon

King Duncan

... Tony made an unexpected speech at his junior high graduation. In almost a stutter he said, "I want to thank my mom for adopting me and bringing me to the United States." Then with tears streaming down his face, he yelled, "I love you, Mom. I love you. I love you." (3) Why did Tony love the woman who adopted him? It was because he could look into her eyes and see himself as someone of worth, someone of beauty. You and I both know that this is the greatest and most fundamental need of all humanity. Something ...

2772. Friends

John 15:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... Church Tell Us Jesus Is Our Friend. First of all, the Cross tells us He's our friend. A few verses earlier Christ says, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." And that is exactly what he did. He laid down ... them together as a signal that we are allies together with Christ. He does not call us servants. He calls us friends. He showed his love for us by giving us the cross and by giving us the church ” his family ” our family. Each of us does indeed have a friend ...

2773. The Greatest Good News Of All

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

King Duncan

... of Lords. He emptied himself, he invaded our world, he identified with our situation. AND HE EMBODIED THE PATIENT, SOMETIMES SUFFERING LOVE OF GOD THE FATHER. A Pennsylvania pastor, Dwight A. Moody, was playing a homemade version of the game “Pictionary” with his ... in the vernacular of his time, “. . . that doesn’t hinder. Since the time the child was sent to me and I’ve come to love her as myself, I’ve had light enough to trusten by; and now she says she’ll never leave me, I think I shall ...

2774. Mary's Song

Luke 1:46-56

Sermon

King Duncan

... She answered, "I think he was one of the 12 opossums." The Christmas story is such a magnificent one ”so full of tenderness and love ”that we might wish God had been there. The young bride-to-be of Joseph made no such mistake. She knew that God ... the couple who had stopped to help him on the highway just weeks before? Life does not always work out that neatly, of course. But love works. Life works. Herod and Pilate are in their graves but Mary's Son lives! I don't know what kind of holiday season this ...

2775. Excited By Our Faith

John 1:35-42

Sermon

King Duncan

... a story that is very popular right now about a fellow in the South who wasn't very deep in his commitment to Christ but who loved to go to Revival meetings. Particularly if a visiting evangelist had put up a tent on the outskirts of town, he was there. When the invitation ... by two attributes. They have faith--a positive expectation about what God is going to do in their lives. And they have love. What they have received, they are willing to pass on to others. I know some people like that. Some of them are ...

Showing results