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 276 to 300 of 1164 results

276. A Commitment to Righteousness

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Derl G. Keefer

Moline, Illinois, September, 1977 was the place and date for a special gift that Terry Schafer purchased for her policeman husband, David. It was a pre-Christmas gift. She had a fear that it might be too expensive, but nothing was too good for her husband! She loved him with all of her heart and wanted this to be special. Slipping into one of the stores that was on her list she found the exact item she wanted, but it was too expensive for her to buy outright. She talked with the salesman and told him that ...

277. A Sign for a Sign

Mark 8:11-13

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

I happened to see part of a comedy program on television a couple of weeks ago. One of the segments of the program consisted of two or three short movies made by a producer unfamiliar to me. I take it that he is just getting started in this business. But he had a terrific “gimmick.” He found out when buildings were to be demolished in New York, and then arranged to take pictures of them being blown up or torn down. Only he interwove himself and his own dialogue into the picture. He would talk to the ...

278. Cross-Bearing

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

David E. Leininger

While vacationing in Mexico sometime back, my wife and I attended worship in a church that is served by one of our Mexican minister friends. Following the service, we and too many others piled into a small vehicle to go to our friend's home for some refreshments. In the front passenger seat sat one very slender fellow and on his lap sat his not-so-slender wife. With a grin he turned back to us in the rear and said the Spanish equivalent of, "Look at me; I'm bearing my cross," and everyone chuckled. Except ...

279. Crying at the Tomb

John 20:10-18

Sermon

King Duncan

Al Smith was once governor of New York. He was doing his first tour of New York’s Sing Sing Prison when the warden asked if he would address the inmates. The governor was taken by surprise, but he agreed. His awkwardness was revealed when he began like this, “My fellow citizens . . .” He stopped himself. He wasn’t sure if inmates actually had the full rights of citizenship. So, he changed courses. “My fellow convicts,” he began again. Everyone laughed. He tried once more. “Well anyhow, I’m glad to see so ...

280. The Big "W"

Mark 8:31--9:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are two kinds of dogs in this world (not people this time!). There are the dogs who eat everything and anything - toss them a bit of anything, meat, cauliflower, mushrooms, shoe leather - and it will be snapped out of the sky and scarfed down without hesitation. Then there are the dogs that approach every tidbit offered to them with suspicion. They stop, they sniff, they consider, and then they finally — tentatively — accept the goodie offered to them. The spoiled doggie message being sent here is ...

281. Angels

Psalm 91:1-16

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Familiar stories. Two of the approximately 300 direct or indirect references in scripture to angels. That is a lot of talk about angels. Lots MORE talk in the world. Best seller lists regularly have popular titles about angels; book stores have whole sections devoted to angels. On TV Patty Duke hosted an NBC special called "Angels: The Mysterious Messengers." Michael Landon starred for five years as an angel sent to earth to assist mortals in "Highway to Heaven," and CBS currently has one in the same vein ...

282. The Many Faces of God

Isaiah 6:1-8

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Think of all the faces we show the world every day. We scrub up every morning and put our game face on. We never show our real face except to those who know us best, the ones who see through the game face to the real you and me. But with everyone else we change our faces. The doorbell rings. You're working on something, so you grimace over the interruption. Watch the contours of your face change, depending on who's at the door. Perhaps it's a door-to-door salesman and now you're stuck listening to his ...

283. When You Drop the Ball, What Next?

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

There are two things we absolutely crave in our lives: predictability and spontaneity. We crave the comfort of predictability. We work long and hard to grow life in a steady job, a certain career, a consistent source of income. We earn degrees, save money, buy insurance, invest for retirement. We have a home, a family, a schedule, which gives structure and meaning to our days and nights. We build our lives on the secure foundation of predictability. But conversely, we also crave spontaneity. We hunger for ...

284. The Impossible Option

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung

Before there was Harry Potter, there was Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit. In J. R. R. Tolkien's wise fantasy, this short, hairy-footed resident of the Shire in Middle-Earth was a well-to-do bachelor and country squire. Comfortable and conventional, but just a touch bored with life, he nevertheless was shocked when the mysterious wizard, Gandalf, knocked on his door one spring morning and requested his services as (of all things) a thief. The clever, nimble-fingered hobbit was just the person to help a struggling ...

285. The Excitement of Meaningful Living

John 10:10 · Matthew 6:33 · Ephesians 3:20

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

When Jesus said, "My yoke is easy," he was telling it like it is. This caring, this moral commitment, this faith and obedience we have been talking about are really not a burden upon the life of the individual. All these dimensions of life, when inspired by the Holy Spirit, are generators of strength and purpose. In this way personal life finds its wholeness and completeness, and this is what Jesus meant by saying, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly." It is a joyful thing. This is ...

286. Stuff!

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

It's everywhere you look. Stuff! From garage sales, to trunk sales and flea markets, to dumpsters, to folks riffling through your trash to find something of value ... and if they're lucky, something with your social security number on it. Stuff is everywhere. Don't get me wrong. I love stuff. By most measures I have too much of it. When Nancy and I were first married the only reason she could drag me to garage sales was the fact that I wanted to be with her all of the time. But standing there, looking at ...

287. The Pilgrim’s Thirst for God in a Dry and Weary Land

Psalm 63:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Psalm 63 promotes a special intimacy with God. It consists primarily of confessions of trust and vows of praise (vv. 3–4, 11) and so is most akin to the prayer psalms, but it has no formal petition (though conceivably some of the Hb. imperfects could be rendered as wishes). Its primary function apparently is confessing to God the worshiper’s intentions of “seeking” and “staying close to” God, and affirming that God will in turn sustain and protect him. The psalm confesses what has drawn the worshiper to ...

288. The Temptation Of His Life

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

Robert Penn Warren wrote a novel called All The King's Men. It was the story of a governor of Louisiana and his rise to power. His name was Willie Stark. At the end of his story he is shot down dead.1 Here was a man who gained a kingdom and lost all he ever had. Two thousand years earlier a man from Galilee said, "What would it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lost his soul?" Perhaps when He made that statement He was not only addressing it to those who heard Him, but also was looking back to ...

289. The Smell of Fear

Mark 4:35-41

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

Can you smell the fear? Hunters and soldiers have long spoken of experiencing firsthand the smell of fear. It's a scent as different from plain old hard-work perspiration as a gardenia is from garbage. The smell of fear has always been associated with panic, desperation, anxiety, fight, flight, and fright. Since September 11, 2001, however, the smell of fear has taken on a new aroma a distinctive scent known by a host of new entrepreneurs as the smell of money. The Business of Fear (Business 2.0 [June 2003 ...

290. Enduring the Trials of Faith

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Richard Gribble

"In the seventh year of his reign, two days before his 65th birthday, in the presence of a full consistory of cardinals, Jean Marie Barette, Pope Gregory XVII, signed an instrument of abdication, took off the Fisherman's ring, handed his seal to the Cardinal Camerlengo and made a curt speech of farewell." So begins the power novel, The Clowns of God, the second volume of a trilogy of tales about popes and faith written by Morris West, the Australian-born novelist. In the story, the pope has seen a vision ...

291. Only the Birth Pangs

Mark 13:1-31

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

Greeting Leader 1: Brothers and sisters, have you heard the prophecies? Many who come in the name of Christ are saying the end is near! Congregation: "Beware that no one leads you astray." Leader 2: But I have heard that we are going to be pulled into war! And there are already so many wars between the nations! Congregation: "Do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come." Leader 1: But what about the earthquakes? There seem to be more than usual! Leader 2: And there are people ...

292. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:7-12, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

Throughout the book James has been dealing with the root causes of disharmony within the community. In the previous section, he has dealt with their complaining, their criticizing, and their roots in worldliness (3:1–4:12). Now he turns to another theme, the test of wealth. The poor person is totally dependent and knows it. Although such a person may well be consumed with envy and ambition, Christians are more likely to turn to prayer and humble dependence upon God. The wealthier person, however, may be ...

293. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 5:1-6, James 4:13-17, James 5:7-12, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

294. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 5:7-12, James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:13-20

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

295. Praying for Endurance and Healing

James 5:13-20, James 4:13-17, James 5:1-6, James 5:7-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

296. A Pilgrimage To Bethlehem

Matthew 3:1-12

Drama

Matthew Powell

Cast Storyteller 1 Storyteller 2 Gregory Ivan Peasant Man Peasant Woman Gregory's Wife (The Storytellers remain seated or standing throughout the performance, as the director chooses. The other actors sit until they make their "entrances," then they stand) Storyteller 1: Once in Russia there lived two men who had decided to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. One of them was a well-to-do farmer named Ivan Petroff, who was short and had curly hair. Storyteller 2: The other, Gregory Radinsky, was not so ...

297. A Time for Penance and a Time for Partridge

Ps 100, Col 2:1-7

Sermon

Coming home from the Royal Oak's Farmers' Market along about 9:30 yesterday morning, the lovely lady I live with was overheard to say: "Let's see, we've got brussels sprouts, new potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans for the casserole, shrimp for the appetizer….Becky said she would bring the dessert….I've got everything but the turkey. Unless, that is, you want me to get a ham." Which I don't. Although I'll concede that a ham might be easier than a turkey. I don't really think Kris wants a ham. And I know ...

298. Advent 1

1 Corinthians 1:1-9, Isaiah 63:7--64:12, Mark 13:32-37, Mark 13:1-31

Sermon Aid

E. Carver McGriff

Psalm Of The Day Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 (C); Psalm 80 (E) -- "Lord of hosts, restore us." Psalm 84:8 (RC) -- "Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer." Prayer Of The Day Open our hearts, O God, to the incoming of your Spirit. Sometimes our days are long and we grow tired. Too often, we go for long periods of time with very little attention to your Spirit. Deep within us, though, is a hunger for the richness of that presence. Overcome in us, we ask, our dullness of mind, that we may know your presence and its saving ...

299. Forever His

Romans 14:1--15:13

Sermon

Raymond Gibson

Do you remember the first time you fell in love? I do, and it was a wonderful experience, both exhilarating and painful. I was fourteen years old and a high school freshman when it happened. The young lady’s name was Joyce. She had long brown hair and dark brown eyes, and I was quite certain she was one of God’s own angels. I fell in love with Joyce the first time she let me carry her books home from school. I bought her a Pepsi Cola that day, and when she accepted it, I felt like a knight of the Round ...

300. Two-and-a-Half Cheers For Hypocrites

Matthew 6:1-2, Matthew 6:5-6, Matthew 6:16

Sermon

Thomas Long

It is difficult to find anyone who has a kind word to say about hypocrites. Nobody likes a hypocrite; no one wants to be around one; the last thing one would want to be called is a hypocrite. Hypocrites are, by definition, deceptive, two-faced and treacherous. If discovered, hypocritical politicians are defeated at the polls, hypocritical friends get dropped and hypocritical preachers lose the trusting ears of their congregations. It may well be that our age is particularly tough on hypocrisy. In some ways ...

Showing results