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 2776 to 2800 of 3108 results

2776. God's Christmas Gift

Luke 2:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

There is a word that you have heard more in the last twenty-four hours and you will hear more in the next twenty-four hours than you will probably hear in all the rest of the year combined. The most used word in this time of year we call the Christmas Season is the word "gift." Some of you spent today, frantically searching for gifts, trying to find the right gift for the right person at the right price. So often, I hear the question "What do you get for the person who has everything?" I did some research ...

2777. 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 ...

2778. Leaping from Recognition Point

2 Samuel 11:26—12:13a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

There is a small community in north-central Ohio named Clyde. Back in 1919, a man named Sherwood Anderson, who had grown up in Clyde, published a book of short stories called Winesburg, Ohio. But rather than being proud that one of their hometown boys had made good, a lot of the residents resented Anderson. It didn't take them long to figure out that the fictional Winesburg that served as the setting for his stories was a thinly disguised Clyde, and in the foibles and flaws of his characters, several of ...

2779. First Things First

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

No moment in the life of a parent is more awesome than when a child leaves home for the first time and as you watch them walk away, you wonder: "Have I prepared this one adequately for all he or she will face?" Because none of us complete the parenting task perfectly, it is not unusual that sooner or later those same children come back and ask: "Why did you not tell me thus and so? I never heard a word about that growing up — why did you not warn me?" This happens to ministers, as well as parents, in ...

2780. Bethlehem: Where Extremes Meet

Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

Every year at this particular season, I am amazed all over again at the impact that the old, old story of Christmas has on people. In light of how "fad-conscious" we tend to be in this country, it is a wonder to me that we have not grown weary of this ancient story and the figures of the babe and the manger and the shepherds and all the rest. After 2,000 years of exhaustive repetition, why do you suppose the events of Bethlehem still lay hold of our depths and continue to intrigue us? Is this simply the ...

2781. Taking the First Step

Luke 6:27-38

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

Create in your minds, if you will, a scene where the people are gathering at a small church for worship. They are drifting in one by one. One man storms in, unaware that his entry is causing a disturbance. He's angry! He's mad! He's fuming! As he sits down, his mind begins to recall the events of the day. Someone he thought was his best friend took an idea of his, lied to him, lied about him, and gave the idea to the boss. Now, this so-called friend will probably get the advancement that should have been ...

2782. Building a Victorious Life

Luke 6:39-49

Sermon

Gary L. Carver

J. Wallace Hamilton in his book, What About Tomorrow? tells the story of a wealthy builder who called his top assistant and said, "I am going away for ten months. While I am gone, I want you to oversee the building of my home. I am going to be retiring in a few years. I have these wonderful plans and an excellent lot by the lake and I want you to oversee the building of our home." As he left, the assistant said to himself, "He lives in luxury and has done very little for me. When he retires, what will I ...

2783. Testing Time

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

To live the Christian life is to be tested. As day follows night and night follows day, we experience it all of our days. The deeper we go, the more testing comes upon us. So, there is nothing unique about all of this. If we expect our daily walk with Christ to be any different, we are guilty of self-deception. Sometimes it is really severe and we wonder about its cessation. Patience becomes virtually non-existent. Strength seems to go out the window and we languish not only in pain but borderline ...

2784. Keeping His Word

John 14:23-29

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

Keeping our word has a long and positive history in our nation. For generations, a man was known by whether or not he kept his word. His word was his bond. Deal after deal was made on that basis. The essentials of the business world found it always helpful and even necessary for commerce to run smoothly. Some of us can remember vividly how these agreements functioned. Woe be unto that man who did not keep his word! If it happened more than once or twice and there were no extenuating circumstances, he was ...

2785. Something to Whistle About

Colossians 1:1-14

Sermon

John Jamison

It was back in the days when the railroad was the most common mode of transportation. There were automobiles, and some airplanes, but the steam locomotive was the way most folks traveled and the way that most of the goods were distributed around the country. After dinner, people sat in the drawing room and listened to the radio programs, fading in and out from some faraway location, over the magical broadcasting signal. Later at night, as they lay in bed, they listened to the roar and squeal of the old ...

2786. Do Not Be Quickly Shaken

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Sermon

Donna Schaper

Several years ago, Lyle Schaller made the observation that ministry, once a "high status, low stress" vocation was now just the opposite: "high stress and low status." Why? Clergy have a double calling, both to secure and to shake people up. They need to be prophetic and pastoral at the same time. Most people want ministers to stabilize their lives, to keep them from being shaken. The goal many parishioners come to church to achieve is stability. They don't want to be shaken. They want to be secured. ...

2787. The Boy Grows Up

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Sermon

Mary S. Lautensleger

Each of us faces the choice of who and what we will become. Sometimes, we don't really know what we want to be when we grow up until we are forty-something. Our earliest models for making that choice are the people who raise and nurture us. Although we identify with the adults whom we admire most, each of us is unique and intended to become "our own person." Occasionally there is a family-owned business and we are expected to carry on in that tradition, or to choose the vocation of one of our parents. ...

2788. The Kindness of Strangers

1 Kings 17:8-24

Sermon

Stan Purdum

In 1994, a 37-year-old man by the name of Mike McIntyre decided to confront his fears and the shaky path his life was taking. Living in San Francisco at the time, he left his job, his girlfriend, his apartment — all the trappings of his life, and decided to hitchhike across America, heading for Cape Fear, North Carolina, a location he selected for its name, which symbolized his fear of many things in life. He put a few things in a backpack, but to help him with this confrontation with his fears, he left ...

2789. Listening for the "Ching-ching"

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

Sermon

Lee Ann Dunlap

When television producer, Dick Wolf, introduced a new "cop show" in the early 1990s, he could hardly have predicted it would lead to one of the biggest television sensations of its time. In the fifteen years or so since its first episode, the familiar "ching-ching" sound and opening credits of Law And Order have become cultural icons equivalent to Archie Bunker's All In The Family living room or the scrambling medical staff of M*A*S*H. Since the original Law and Order debut Special Victims Unit, Criminal ...

2790. Letters from a Loving Prophet

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Sermon

John Wayne Clarke

Jeremiah was the last of the great prophets to minister to the Hebrew people during the days of their political independence. His book is the longest prophetic book in the Hebrew Scripture. Because of the incredibly profound concepts which it contains, and because of the great spiritual advances which Jeremiah charted, he has been called by some the "greatest figure between Moses and Jesus." In chapter 29, the prophet is writing to the exiles in Babylon. It is a message of hope, a message that contains ...

2791. Good News about Faith

Mark 10:46-52

Sermon

King Duncan

We all are inspired when an individual overcomes great odds and accomplishes extraordinary things. A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured a group of skiers being trained for slalom skiing. We’re talking alpine skiing here, not water skiing. For those unfamiliar with alpine skiing, the skill known as slalom involves skiing between poles spaced close together thereby causing quicker and shorter turns. You’ve seen skiers zigzagging between flags down a hill. That’s slalom. The unique ...

2792. Christmas: Before And After

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

Characters (in order of appearance) Narrator Elizabeth Mary Samuel Joseph King 1 King 2 King 3 Props Two chairs Small table Medium sized piece of black cloth, plain on one side, stars painted or pinned to other side Two glasses “Logs” for fire Three crowns Small piece of rope or cord Notes “Christmas: Before And After” is simple, spare theater, designed to be performed by a small group of older youth with no set and only a handful of props that are moved around the stage by the cast, and used in different ...

2793. Because God Said So, That’s Why!

Luke 2:1-7

Drama

Lois Anne DeLong

Characters (in order of appearance) Narrator David (or Rachel) Esther Shepherd 1 Shepherd 2 Shepherd 3 Shepherd 4 Shepherd 5 Lead Angel Angel 2 Angel 3 Angel 4 Angel Choir King Caspar King Balthazar King Melchior Mary Joseph Props Lectern or podium Chair Bundle with jar inside Bundle with blanket inside Gifts for the Wise Men to give to Jesus Notes This production can be restructured to suit a cast that is predominantly male or female. The lead part of David can easily be transformed to Rachel. In the ...

2794. Advent 3

Lk 3:7-18 · Phil 4:4-7 · Zeph 3:14-20 · Isa 12:2-6

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Zephaniah 3:14-20 Rejoice, for Yahweh will restore his people to their homeland. This is the only use of Zephaniah in the three-year Lectionary. Zephaniah lived during the reign of Josiah in the seventh century, prior to the Babylonian captivity. Our pericope is considered an addition by an unknown author of the Deutero-Isaiah period. The passage gives good news of salvation to those in exile: a return to Jerusalem, victory over enemies, Yahweh in their midst, and renown among the ...

2795. I Am the Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Sometimes in human relationships, the more we know a person, the more we love them. Now that’s true, not because the more we know people, the greater they become in our eyes, because oftentimes as we know people, we begin to discover their weaknesses, their failures and faults, their shams and their shames. Now unlike our knowing other people, the more we know Jesus, the greater he becomes, and the more we love him. Napoleon was once visiting with a group of cynics and these skeptics concluded that Jesus ...

2796. Thou Sayest I Am King

John 18:28-40

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

It’s something for a commoner from rural Mississippi to be in the presence of royalty, but I want you to know I was there. I shook hands with Prince Philip. And my wife Jeri was standing beside the Bishop of Kenya, when he was introduced formally to the Queen of England. It was the occasion of the reopening of Wesley’s Chapel in London in 1980. It was a great occasion and people from all over the world, Methodists from all over the world had come for that exciting event. I’ve never experienced anything ...

2797. Beware of Cute

Luke 1:39-45, Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Beware of Cute. This is the time of year when we need to be on high alert for cute. We love cuteness. This is a cute-driven culture. And this season of year turns everything it touches into glitz and cuteness. But the story of Jesus’ birth wasn’t cute. The Annunciation wasn’t cute. The virgin birth wasn’t cute. The Magnificat wasn’t cute. The little town of Bethlehem wasn’t cute. The killing of the innocents wasn’t cute. The nativity genealogy puts Mary in the lineage of Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheeba, and Ruth ...

2798. On Turning Ten

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I 'm coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache, Or headaches I get from reading in bad light- A kind of measles of the spirit, A mumps of the psyche, A disfiguring chicken pox of the soul. You tell me it is too early to be looking back, But that is because you have forgotten The perfect simplicity of being one And the beautiful complexity introduced by two. But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit. At four I was an Arabian wizard. I ...

2799. Living By The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-25

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

When I was a boy, back in the Stone Age when we rode dinosaurs to school, one of the things my brothers and I looked forward to was when my Mom bought fruit cocktail. That might seem odd for some of our young people because today, in our global economy, we can walk into the store and buy almost any fruit or vegetable any time we want. But back then, we were dependent upon fruit and vegetables being in season. Besides, fresh fruit (other than apples) was seen as a luxury of sorts. That why having fruit ...

2800. Joshua People Obey and Serve

Joshua 1:6-8, 24:14-15

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Last week we began a series titled The Joshua Principles. And the first Principle was Joshua People Always Look Forward With Hope. We talked about how Hope is based on Trust and Trust is based on Faith and the implications that has in our daily lives and in the life and future of the Church. Today the Joshua Principle I want to look at is "Joshua People Obey and Serve." I think this falls right in step with where we left off last week. You see Faith in God builds Trust which builds Hope. When we Trust God ...

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