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 2801 to 2825 of 4961 results

2801. Two Sinners

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

To learn how Americans feel about prayer, Life magazine once interviewed dozens of people. One person they talked to was a prostitute, age twenty-four, in White Pine County, Nevada. “I don’t think about my feelings a lot,” she said. “Instead I lie in my bed and think [about God]. I meditate because sometimes my words don’t come out right. But he can find me. He can find what’s inside of me just by listening to my thoughts. I ask him to help me and keep me going. A lot of people think working girls don’t ...

2802. Dealing with Our Doubts

Mark 9:14-32

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

David Heller is a young Boston psychologist who, as part of a continuing research interest, collects letters children have written to God. “Dear God: Children’s Letters to God” (New York: Doubleday, 1987) is Heller’s second publication on this subject. In it he reports the following letter: “Dear God, I have doubts about you sometimes. Sometimes I really believe. Like when I was four and I hurt my arm and you healed it up fast. But my question is, if you could do this why don’t you stop all the bad in the ...

2803. Fish Bait

Mark 1:17, 1 Corinthians 15:2-4

Sermon

James Merritt

Jesus said in Mark 1:17, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." (Mark 1:17, NASB) With that one statement to his first followers, Jesus told all his future followers that they were to continuously go "deep soul fishing." With that one statement, we know that Jesus wants His followers to be in the fishing business. With that one statement, we know that Jesus wants His followers to be His fishing buddies. With that one statement, we know that when we do go fishing we will experience fish ...

2804. Loosed from the Pangs of Death

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Nothing in this world is certain but death and taxes." This week we would not question the validity of what he said. The difference, however, is that April 15 and the time for paying our income taxes comes around once a year. Death comes only once in a lifetime to each of us as human beings. So we look at them and we deal with them differently. It seems to me that we also deal with death differently than we did when I was a child. Medical science was not as advanced then as it ...

2805. Childish or Child-like?

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

“And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me...’” (Mark 9:36) I feel sorry for the poor kid who happened to be there the day Jesus decided to use him as an “object lesson.” No child likes being used in this way. Some of us can remember being stood up before a group of adults and having our parents ask us to recite something we’d just learned in school. Or being made to sit down at the piano and ...

2806. God’s Strange Arithmetic

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

An interesting article appeared awhile back in the Clinton SC Chronicle titled “When The Editor Left Town.” It said: “Mr. Jim Galeway and Miss Georgianne Bentlow were married Monday at the home of the bride’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Alex Bentlow, the Rev. A.A. Deckett officiating. The groom is a popular young bum who hasn’t done a lick of work since he got expelled his junior year in college. He manages to dress well and keeps a supply of spending money because his dad is a soft-hearted old fool who takes up ...

2807. Advent 3

John 1:1-18, John 1:19-28, Isaiah 61:1-11, Isaiah 65:17-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

Sermon Aid

E. Carver McGriff

... began enjoying what he had. Larson's point is that we need to list our blessings, to realize that everyone goes through life with limitations and yearnings unfulfilled. The healthy-minded person accepts that fact and is grateful for what he or she does have. One of my favorite Peanuts cartoons showed Charlie Brown all bundled up for a walk on a cold winter day. Charlie had on several sweaters, a muffler, a huge overcoat, mittens, a furry hat, and enormous galoshes. He looked like a huge fur ball. Charlie ...

2808. Saved From Water: The Storm

Luke 8:22-25

Sermon

Steve Swanson

Jesus performed many miracles during his ministry. These miracles didn't really prove that he was the Son of God, but they certainly did draw crowds. The disciples who have relayed these stories to us through the Gospels were part of those crowds, sometimes as reporters, sometimes as witnesses. The disciples, for instance, didn't really see the water become wine. That happened in an outer hallway. They must have heard the details from the servants or from Mary. Other miracles they saw with their own eyes, ...

2809. The Apostles' Creed: Maker of Heaven and Earth

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Sermon

David E. Leininger

"I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth..." No surprise. Most church folks would have little difficulty acknowledging God as creator of all that is. There may be some disagreement on HOW creation took place - some want to say it happened in six 24-hour days, others want to say the "days" of which we read in the Genesis account should be understood as meaning thousands or even millions of years, still others say it was the "Big Bang." More about that in due course, but, for the ...

2810. Trouble Brewing In The Kitchen

Luke 10:38-42

Sermon

Graham M. Bingham

A distraught woman tried many times to contact her minister only to discover that it was his day off. She made contact with him the next day and scolded him severely. "Pastor, I needed you yesterday," she said, "and you were not there for me. You have let me down. I cannot believe you would take a day off when so many people like me need you." Then she added, "The devil never takes a day off." The minister, a little irritated and with tongue in cheek, responded, "And if I didn't take a day off I would be ...

2811. The Church: Identity And Function

1 Peter 2:4-12

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Our Scripture lesson today is from the 2nd chapter of I Peter. “So put away all malice and all guile and insincerity and envy and all slander. Like new born babes, long for the pure Spiritual milk that by it you may grow up to salvation, for you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. Come to him to that living stone rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious. And like living stones, be yourself built into a spiritual house. Be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God ...

2812. Experiencing the Reality of God

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

James L. Killen

The story of the Day of Pentecost tells of a pivotal event in the history of God's work in the world. It tells of the emerging of a very important aspect of the Christian faith and of the birth of the church. It is a story that is exciting to some people. But, quite frankly, it is a story that scares some other people and makes them want to back away. All of this talk about wind and fire and speaking in foreign tongues excites some people but it turns some off. It may be that we have focused our attention ...

2813. In the Darkness of Suspicion, There Is the Light of Devotion

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

It was a few days after Christmas. A mother was busy cleaning up the den, putting everything away, taking the Christmas tree down. Her son came in and saw her and said, “Mama, what are you doing?” She said, “I’m putting all our Christmas stuff away.” He asked in reply, “Why are you doing that?” She answered, “So everything will be back to normal again.” His response to that was, “Mama, I don’t want things to get back to normal again.” On this second Sunday after Christmas, we have the thought in our minds ...

2814. Glory Guaranteed

Jude 1:24-25

Sermon

James Merritt

Before Woodrow Wilson became President of the United States, he was President of Princeton University. One day he had to endure an hour-long interrogation by an anxious mother who wanted to be sure that Princeton was the best place to send her son. He patiently tried to answer every one of her questions, and assuage every one of her doubts, but finally, his patience came to an end. He held up his hand and looked at her and said, "Madam, we guarantee satisfaction, or you will get your son back."1 There is ...

2815. Blazing a Path to Christ

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

Richard Gribble

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." When we were children we were taught this little rhyme as a way to remember one of the most momentous events in modern history. Columbus was a trailblazer who dared to believe that it was possible to reach the East Indies by sailing west across a vast uncharted ocean. By its very nature the voyage was dangerous and the sailors who braved the challenge were filled with fear. People are instinctively afraid of what they do not know. Yet, even with the odds stacked ...

2816. Death Has Been Conquered

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

[While King Duncan is enjoying a well deserved retirement we are going back to his earliest sermons and renewing them. The newly modernized sermon is shown first and below, for reference sake, is the old sermon. We will continue this updating throughout the year bringing fresh takes on King's best sermons.] Original Title: Death Has Been Conquered New Title: Look Up, Not Down The Rev. Gary Paterson, a pastor in British Columbia, talks about the first worship service he led in his first pastoral charge. He ...

2817. Here Today Gone Tomorrow

Genesis 5:21-24, Hebrews 11:5

Sermon

James Merritt

Someone has called the fifth chapter of Genesis "a desert of death". You could almost see the caskets and the graves. You can almost hear the widows weeping in the background. You can almost smell the stench of death that arises from this chapter, because over and over we read these words, "and he died." The last words of verse 5 read, "and he died." Verse 8 says, "and he died." Verse 11 says, "and he died." Verse 14 says, "and he died." Verse 17 says, "and he died." Verse 20 says, "and he died." Yet right ...

2818. Overcoming Obstacles - Together

Luke 2:1-7, Psalm 107:1-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

There was a businessman who had five kids, his wife stayed home to care the kids. And it never failed, he'd come home from work and Mom, needing the care and advice of another adult, would begin to tell him all the things that went wrong during the day. And which of the kids needed further disciplining from Dad. One day the stress of work got to Dad, as Mom regaled him with the various trouble HIS children had gotten into and he lost it. "Honey, just once, just once couldn't you greet me at the door with ...

2819. What Would Jesus Say About Marriage?

Matthew 19:3-12

Sermon

J. Howard Olds

Harry and Martha had been married for fifty years when their friends and family threw an anniversary party for them. At the height of their celebration Harry proposed a toast with these words: “Martha and I have been married for fifty years and never had a fight. The secret to our bliss can be attributed to this. On the night of our wedding we agreed that whenever an argument arose between us, I would take a walk. Which, come to think of it, probably explains why I have lived a largely outdoor life.” ...

2820. A Road Straight to Your Heart

Luke 3:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

Somewhere I read about a meeting of a group of software designers. They were using typical technical jargon to discuss a data exchange interface with a vendor. One engineer said the programming that had been ordered was delayed because the vendor was suffering from a “severe nonlinear waterfowl issue.” Curious, the team leader raised his eyebrows and asked, “What exactly is a severe nonlinear waterfowl issue?” The engineer replied, “They don’t have all their ducks in a row.” On this second Sunday of Advent ...

2821. You Are the Light of the World

Matthew 5:13-16

Sermon

King Duncan

Joe and Moe were carpenters. Joe was always finding ways to tease Moe, who was not too bright. One night Joe shined his flashlight up to the 2nd story of a house and said, “Moe, would you mind climbing up this light beam and get my hammer for me?’ Moe said, “Ha! How dumb do think I am?’ “I’m sorry,” Joe replied. “You’d better be,” said Moe. “I know you too well . . . you’d let me get halfway up and then turn the light off!’ Well, Moe wasn’t too bright. But it reminds me of a story that’s told on one of the ...

2822. Family Re:Union - Inverting the Pyramid

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

Sermon

James Merritt

There is an old saying that you if you keep telling a lie long enough that people begin to believe it is the truth. You may have heard of an interesting television show called “Myth Busters.” They do some of the most interesting and sometimes stupid stuff just to prove that certain myths are untrue. I came across some very popular myths, some in which I used to believe, but they simply are not true. Myth #1: Elephants are the only mammals that can’t jump. It is true that elephants can’t jump, but neither ...

2823. Jesus the Bread of Life

John 6:25-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

The discourse begins as a dialogue between Jesus and the crowd, and becomes more and more of a monologue as it continues. The crowd had begun following him because of the miracles he had done (cf. 6:2), but since the multiplication of the loaves, they have been pursuing him as one who can satisfy their physical hunger and (they hope) their political ambitions as well (cf. 6:15). They think they have found him, but they have not. They have been fed, yet they have not begun to receive what Jesus has to give ...

2824. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve

Matthew 10:1-42

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

10:1–4 Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. The distinction between exorcism and healing suggests that they are two different functions. This is the first mention of the twelve disciples in Matthew. He assumes they are known to the reader. That there are twelve disciples follows from the fact that they represent the new Israel: the twelve tribes of Israel find their counterpart in the twelve disciples. ...

2825. The Jump to Judgment

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

David E. Leininger

I heard a story once. A Mr. Jones picked up the wrong umbrella in a hotel, and the umbrella's rightful owner called his attention to it. Embarrassed, Mr. Jones offered his apologies, picked up the right one, and went on his way. But the incident served to remind Mr. Jones that he had promised to buy umbrellas for his wife and daughter, so he went across the street to a store and purchased one for each of them. As he came out from the store and began to get in his car - THREE umbrellas on his arm now - the ...

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