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 2826 to 2850 of 4961 results

2826. Chosen

John 15:1-17

Sermon

David G. Rogne

It is a difficult thing not to be chosen. I can still remember what a relief it was to be appointed by the teacher as one of the two captains who would choose team members when our class would be divided for softball. It meant that I would be, in effect, the first one to be chosen. What agony it was, however, when others were doing the choosing. As an uncoordinated youngster, with very little to offer toward the team's success, I was likely to be chosen last, and the humiliation was keenly felt. Perhaps ...

2827. Ten Friends Drive Us to the Promise

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Sermon

Arley K. Fadness

"One day last spring, something memorable happened at Carleton University (in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, not to be confused with Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota). Thirty-one students in the same class turned in identical research papers. It was determined that the students had all accessed the same Internet website. If only one student had done it, the ruse might not have caught the professor's attention. But here's what else opened the instructor's eyes: the research paper's topic was â€˜ethics.' ...

2828. Oh, You'd Better Watch Out!

Mark 13:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

It always feels strange beginning Advent in November. But the stores are already decorated for Christmas, so why not? I hope the department stores won’t think we’re trying to spoil their party by injecting a little religion into this busy season of the year. It reminds me of an item that appeared in USA Today last year about this time. Authorities in Bal Harbor, FL outfitted the baby Jesus in their outdoor Nativity Scene with a GPS locator as a protection against thieves. The previous Baby Jesus was stolen ...

2829. The Undoing of Babel

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Stan Purdum

Several years ago, my wife and I took a vacation where we drove to Mexico City in an old Volkswagen van. Neither of us speak Spanish, but along the primary route down and in Mexico City itself, we had no trouble communicating because many people there spoke English. After spending a few days in that city, we decided to make our exit from Mexico by driving up a highway along the west coast of the country. That route provided us many attractive views of the Pacific Ocean and, as we got farther north, the ...

2830. Extreme Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

Our lesson today is on love. Now, obviously we’re not talking about romantic love, though sometime we might talk about romantic love. After all, it’s an important part of our lives. I read something funny recently. It was an announcement that was made in the chapel of a very conservative church college some years back. It went something like this: “On this campus there is to be absolutely no physical contact of any kind between male and female students. There is only one legitimate exception to this rule. ...

2831. Re-thinking Our Mission

Luke 14:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

A science fiction story is told about a planet which earth was attempting to colonize. This was a harsh planet with terrible weather and hostile inhabitants. Earth’s best men and women were gathered into teams and sent to do the job. Expedition after expedition came home broken, each one having failed. Finally a new manager was charged with the responsibility of making the colonization work. But something surprising happened. This new executive did not look for the strongest and most qualified people he ...

2832. Shall We Waddle or Fly?

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Sermon

King Duncan

By the time John arrived at the football game, the first quarter was almost over. “Why are you so late?” his friend asked. “I had to flip a coin to decide between going to church and coming to the game,” John answered. “How long could that have taken you?” asked his friend. “Well,” said Ted, “I had to flip it 12 times.” For football fans, we’re about half-way through the time between the college National Championship game and the Super Bowl. Since football season is nearly over, none of our men had to flip ...

2833. Only Matthew…Only Joseph

Matthew 1:1-13

Sermon

John E. Harnish

If you only had Matthew's Gospel, what would you have? Last week we looked at the opening of Luke's Gospel and his version of the Advent narratives, his "orderly account." He begins with Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist who would come to prepare the way, then on to Mary and the miracle birth. But if you only had Matthew, what would you have? No Annunciation to Mary No visit to Elizabeth and the Magnificat No detail on John's miraculous birth No enrollment calling people to ...

2834. Christian Success and Christlikeness

1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

Big Idea: When the Christian faith is reduced to a mere complement to cultural norms, churches come to affirm the very things they should despise and despise the very things they should affirm. Understanding the Text First Corinthians 4:6–13 ends Paul’s response to the deeper and broader issues in the report coming from Chloe’s household. Paul brings the tension between Corinthian ideals and true Christian ideals into their sharpest contrast yet by pointing to his own situation. Everything about Paul, both ...

2835. We All Sin So What?

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

One day a young skeptic knocked on the door of a rectory. A priest opened the door. The visitor said, “Come out. I want to talk to you about a problem.” “No,” the priest replied, “You come in. I want to talk to you about your sins.” After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, God came one evening and called to them, “Where are you?” Because they were afraid of what God might do to them for disobeying him, they hid themselves. At the end of the day God knocks on the garden door and says, “I ...

2836. Soul Food

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Larry Goodpaster

We have become, for the most part, very visual people. We watch body language, study facial expressions, look at moving pictures and stare at live-action shots in order to absorb what is happening. We would rather see a motion picture than read the book, watch the news than pick up the paper, and turn on television than turn to one another for quality communication. Everywhere you go, it seems that people are trying to take advantage of and make the most of this visual society. Many dentists’ offices are ...

2837. Death: Commonality Explored

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Sermon

Christian unity has a word to say about death. The first century Christians, hour by hour, had to live with the possibility of death. It happened frequently in an excruciating manner. Eusebius, in The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine, speaks of the ordeals of one hundred and forty-six martyrs and names ninety-seven of them. In speaking of those in Tebais, he says, "They were torn to bits from head to foot with potsherds like claws till death released them." From the beginning, our spiritual ...

2838. THE RECEPTIONIST

Drama

Jerome W. Nilssen

A travel agency. There may be several large, exotic travel posters in the background. GRACE WILLOW, in her early twenties, a receptionist, is behind a desk or counter. SETH is on the other side, facing away. SETH (Singing) Tall in a grove of willow trees A tower stands, white as tombs; Tall is my Daddy, tower tall, He has a castle with many rooms. The linen’s starched, still and white, The tower’s eye is desert red; White sand sifts into the rooms - I stand at the door and scratch for bread. Daddy above, ...

2839. The Witness of the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

Just south of the town of Bolivar, Tennessee, is the grave of Colonel Ezekiel Polk, grandfather of President James K. Polk. He died around 1815. He composed his own epitaph to appear on his gravestone. It was a kind of poetic commentary on the times. In it he took a pot shot at the Methodists whose enthusiasm he did not appreciate. He wrote: "Methodists with their camp bawling, will be the cause of our down falling." Often at Methodist camp-meetings or revivals, people would start bawling, literally, with ...

2840. What Do You Mean 'Born Again?'

John 3:1-21

Sermon

Ron Lavin

"Unless one is born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." John 3:3, RSV Saul the persecutor of Christians became Paul the great witness for Christianity through his Damascus Road experience. Consider this poem as you consider Paul’s life and your own. Only one life 'Twill soon be past Only what’s done for Christ Will last. Recently as I looked over the list of deaths in our parish for the year, I remembered this little poem as the favorite saying of one of our members who died recently Vicki Tannous ...

2841. The Power Of A Focused Life

Philippians 3:4b-14

Sermon

King Duncan

Staying focused is one of the secrets of a successful life. Comedian Jay Leno says that he went into a McDonald’s one day and said, “I’d like some fries.” He vows and declares that the girl at the counter asked, “Would you like some fries with that?” Focus! Doctors hear some pretty strange stories in their line of work. Audiologist David Levy recalls a frantic client who lost her hearing aid. She had been eating a bowl of cashews while talking on the phone. Her tiny hearing aid was sitting on the table ...

2842. An Affirming Presence

Ephesians 3:14-21

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Sometimes a biblical passage catches us off guard. We simply aren’t ready for it. If we listen, it takes our breath away, and leaves us limp. But if we continue to listen, really give it our attention, the weakness that has come from being taken aback by surprise becomes strength flowing from an overwhelming joy at what the word is saying to us and what we’re receiving from the word. Ephesians 3:14-19 was such a passage for me not long ago. Paul is praying for the people to whom he writes, and if you ...

2843. No Shame

Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 (29-31)

Sermon

William G. Carter

I am very taken by what Paul says. He claims, "I am not ashamed...." Most of us have known people, maybe a lot, maybe a few, and they are ashamed of something. I struck up a conversation with a woman I had known for a couple of years. I thought I knew her fairly well. One day she blurted out that she had been married four times. I said, "You never mentioned it." She said, "I guess I'm ashamed." A man lost his job. That was hard enough. What made it more difficult is that he lost the job because he was ...

2844. The Whole Shebang in Six Words

John 11:38-44

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more complex our world becomes, the more simplicity it needs. This quest for simplicity has become the holy grail of science, whether in the form of physicist Stephen Hawking's TOE and his lifetime pursuit of a Theory of Everything (TOE), or theoretical physicist Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" (the title of his 2002 book). Wolfram, a Ph.D. at 20 from Caltech, proposes that instead of looking for more and more complex theories to creation, we should be looking for simpler ones (primitives, he ...

2845. The Power of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

As we move toward baseball season, I want to tell you about a minor league manager named Josh O’Riley. Years ago O’Riley was manager of the San Antonio Missions. That year the Missions were having a successful season. All nine of the starters were batting over .300 and it became the consensus of sportswriters and fans that this time they were destined for a league championship. Then disaster struck. Suddenly, the entire team fell into a slump and their bats turned cold. The once inspired San Antonio team ...

2846. The Power of Belief

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

2847. The Two Prodigals

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon

Donald Charles Lacy

The relationship between and among siblings is a study both intriguing and challenging. Many of us know the truth here firsthand from the experience of growing up in families. Even if one happens to be an only child, we are brought in touch with brothers and sisters in other families. A great deal is made of the birth order in a family. For example, the oldest son has traditionally been known as the child who is to make his mark in the world and, in some cases, look after parents and those siblings who are ...

2848. The Ladder from Our House

Genesis 28:10-19a

Sermon

Stan Purdum

There is a wonderful story about a city mayor. It happened that during one particular year, the mayor made trips to both Washington DC and to Israel. According to the story, while in Washington, the mayor visited the president in the oval office. During the visit, the mayor noticed three telephones on the president's desk and inquired about them. "Well," said the president, "The black one is a regular telephone, the white one is for calls within the White House and the red one is a hotline to God." "Gee," ...

2849. Oops! I Didn't See You

Luke 16:19-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Dr. James Dobson tells about a friend of his, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology. One day this friend telephoned another specialist in the same field and asked him for a favor. “My wife has been having some abdominal problems and she’s in particular discomfort this afternoon,” he said. “I don’t want to treat my own wife and wonder if you’d see her for me?” The other specialist invited the doctor to bring his wife in for an examination. When he did he discovered (are you ready for this?) that she was ...

2850. Fred and Barney

John 10:11-18

Sermon

John Smylie

I grew up in the suburbs, in a community outside of lower Manhattan. There were no sheep in our neighborhood. In fact, there were no farms. In southern New Jersey, there were farms that grew wonderful corn and tomatoes. In fact some might be amused to know that the slogan on New Jersey's license plate has been, "The Garden State." It is amusing, because so many of us who live in this fine country have only had the experience of New Jersey that can be found along the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State ...

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