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 2976 to 3000 of 5000 results

2976. When We Feel God Has Moved And Left No Forwarding Address

Job 23:1--24:25

Sermon

Zan W. Holmes

... we feel alone and it seems that God has moved out and left no forwarding address, be assured that God knows where we are and God can reach us when God gets ready. Why should I feel discouraged, Why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home. When Jesus is my portion, my constant friend is He: His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me.2 1. William Hinson, A Place to Dig In, (Abingdon, 1987), pp. 27-28. 2. Charles H. Gabriel, "His Eye Is On the Sparrow ...

2977. Have You Heard The Good News?

Mark 1:1-8

Sermon

John A. Stroman

... mocked God's purpose with cruel acts of inhumanity. Why doesn't God just go ahead and allow us to self-destruct? Because there is nothing in heaven or on earth so dogged, determined, stubborn, and persistent as the grace of God that wills to save. Tom Long asks the question in his book Shepherds and Bathrobes: "Have you ever noticed where God placed his treasure that he was seeking to deposit on the earth?" The treasure is not gold, but gospel. Not silver, but good news. Not hard, cold cash, but grace, love ...

2978. Clean House

John 2:12-25

Sermon

Harry N. Huxhold

... 20 B.C. It was not yet completed while Jesus was there and was not finished until 68 A.D., a short time before its complete destruction in 70 A.D. The Herodian Temple was extremely lavish and more beautiful than the Temple of Solomon. With this long history of the Temple in the life of the Hebrew people, one can imagine how important a shrine this was. From the very beginning of the Hebrew people, sacred places had been important to the patriarchs. Then, the tabernacle, the traveling shrine of a tent, had ...

2979. Called out of Death

John 11:17-37

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

... proclaim Jesus' victory over death can be given to worshipers who have lost loved ones in the last year. Anthems and Special Music (John 11:32-44) A Cluster of Canons The Raising of Lazarus (Matthew 5:1-12) Blest Are They For the Feast of All Saints Long Ago and Far Away Rejoice in God's Saints The Beatitudes -- J. Bender The Beatitudes -- P. Christiansen The Beatitudes (Luke 6:25-33) On Love of One's Enemies The Woes Organ and Other Keyboard Music All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name How Firm a Foundation ...

2980. Reach Out And Touch Someone

Mark 5:21-43

Sermon

Brett Blair

... . I have had one other since then. He was in Methodist Hospital in Memphis. I was told by the nurse at the desk that I should put on rubber gloves to go into his room. Are these necessary? I asked. The nurse replied: I work with AIDS patients all day long and I would not think of going into a patient's room without wearing gloves." Well, I thought, she is the expert not me, so I put on this latex pair of gloves. When I entered his room he immediately extended his hand, and when I reciprocated that glove was ...

2981. In The Carpenter's Workshop

Matthew 18:21-35

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... : They certainly did. I noticed you wanted to say something. Jesus: I did, but grownups don't even notice us kids. I hope I never get that way. Joseph: What were you trying to say? Jesus: A fair wage is one that the workers agree upon with their boss. As long as it isn't cheating the workers or gouging the boss, I think workers don't need to complain if the boss decides to pay someone extra. Joseph: But is it fair if the boss pays someone who hardly works the same as he pays someone who has worked all ...

2982. Tall Enough

Psalm 121:1

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... eight years old. The second was that I wanted to be tall enough to see the top of the refrigerator. I knew if I could just wait long enough and if I ate all my vegetables, I'd BE eight one day AND I'd be tall enough to see the top of the ... for help, we are telling another person 'I need you.' Sometimes, it's nice to know you're needed. "No matter how tall you get or how long you live, there will always be times when you need help. And there will always be someone you can ask for help. Who do you suppose I ...

2983. Christmas Presence

John 1:1

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... 're finding it difficult to focus on any one thing out of an overwhelming abundance. Or perhaps they've not yet lived long enough with their new things to really own them. "As I was thinking about this first Sunday after Christmas," I continue, "it ... might want to talk about presents. I started thinking back through the Christmases I have known and decided to bring a present I got a long time ago." I hold up a rhinestone pin in the shape of a Christmas tree. "My dad pinned this to my coat one December day when ...

2984. Costumed Christians

Colossians 3:14

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... children who gravitate toward the heroes and the hideous. I continue with a reminiscence from my own childhood, of the costume I wore the October I was five. "My parents turned me into a black cat for Halloween that year. The costume had a great long tail, stuffed with rags. It seemed very long and got very heavy to carry before the night was over. But I couldn't just drag it. I knew cats walked with their tails up. Besides, if I dragged it, the material would get a hole in it and the rags would come out ...

2985. Idols

Psalm 115:1-18

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... Israelites had the same problem. They had escaped from Egypt and followed Moses and his brother Aaron into the wilderness. "At a place called Mount Sinai, Moses left the people to go climb the mountain and talk to God. But he was gone such a very long time, the Israelites began to fear that Moses wasn't coming back. Furthermore, they had never actually seen God and they were beginning to think God wasn't real or that God had abandoned them. "Finally, they got so afraid, they went to Moses' brother, Aaron ...

2986. The Guy In The Ditch

Luke 10:36-37

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... . But Jesus never saw anyone as unworthy. And he gave us a different set of rules by which to live, rules of love, mercy, and kindness. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves." Prayer: "God, thank you for your Son, Jesus, who told these wonderful stories so long ago, stories which continue to show us the way to follow him. When we come to those times in our lives when we have to choose between the rules and kindness, help us, O God, to be kind. Help us to be good neighbors to everyone we meet ...

2987. Turned On

1 Corinthians 1:17

Children's Sermon

B. Kathleen Fannin

... row, Bobby says in a big voice, "Well, yeah. You HAVE to turn it on to get the light." "That's right, Bobby," I agree, "and I wonder if this lamp and its switch can tell us something about life. Who provides power in our lives?" The wait time is long enough that I begin to get edgy before Katherine says, "God." "Yes," I respond, "God created us; because of God, we live. All the power of our lives comes from God. But in addition to life, God gave us free will. That means we are free to make choices about ...

2988. Those Who Mourn

Isaiah 40:1-31

Sermon

John A. Terry

... is like the man whose feet had been amputated, who told of his experience being caught out in the bitter cold of the far north. So long as his feet pained him he was happy, but after a while, the pain was gone, and he knew then that his feet were doomed. The ... that God cares for them." (Guth, The Pulpit 12/54) "Happy are they who bear their share of the world's pain: in the long run, they will know more happiness than those who avoid it." (The Pulpit 12/59) "Blessed are those who mourn, for if they could ...

2989. The Meek

Psalm 37:1-40

Sermon

John A. Terry

... tell you, woman, this dead son of yours, disfigured, shamed, spat upon, has built a kingdom this day that can never die. The living glory of him rules it. The earth is his and he made it. He and his brothers have been molding and making it through the long ages; they are the only ones who ever really can possess it: not the proud, not the idle, not the wealthy, not the vaunting empires of the world. Something has happened up here on this hill today to shake all our kingdoms of blood and fear to dust ... the ...

2990. The Peacemakers

Ephesians 2:11-22

Sermon

John A. Terry

... the literature written after the great wars in which our nation has fought this century, there is always the stated hope that this war will end wars, that this war will somehow be the battle that will finally bring us the peace for which we long. There is, I believe, little to be gained by looking back and second-guessing our national military actions. Evil is a powerful force, and there are times we have to protect people from the evil forces and evil people. Our leaders have done what they sincerely ...

2991. The Persecuted

John 15:18-27

Sermon

John A. Terry

... potato chips to get to the health food section, though it would be wonderful. In the same way, it would be a strange and wonderful thing for people to find joy and gladness in the midst of persecution for the sake of their faith. But that has long been a unique characteristic of Christians. We are able to look through the words of this beatitude and understand the persecution in the light of God's will, and way through eternity, and the final promise that God's kingdom will come. One night after the porch ...

2992. God, The Son

Matthew 2:1-12

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... clothes. He wore a cloak made of camel hair and a wide leather belt. I think he had to be a big, burly man, probably with long hair and a beard. A little guy could not have handled the baptizing he did. He had to be strong enough to withstand the current of ... religious bit, but you're still scared. You can't live with your doubts. You can't live with your bad acts. You don't stop long enough to think what good you are supposed to be doing. Quit running scared. Do all the good you can. Cut out the bad stuff. ...

2993. Pilate's Sign

Drama

Jerry Eckert

... ? Personality conflicts with his bosses and with the leaders here? Visitor: Maybe he just had a bad day? Local: Maybe he figured the leaders were more to blame than he was. Visitor: But he wasn't Jesus. Local: But he wasn't Jesus. What's another human being so long as it wasn't himself? Visitor: I'll bet Pilate never walked a mile in another man's shoes. I guess he's not so different from us. I heard the police let someone die without helping him because he tried to escape. They didn't pay attention when ...

2994. A Man with Leprosy

Mark 1:40-45

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... new realities and calls people to faith. We need to be very careful here about our job descriptions. It is our job at this intersection to speak Christ's word with authority in our preaching. It is the Spirit's job to take that word on the long, long journey from human ear to human heart. The story is told that Martin Luther was once chastised for drinking beer in a Wittenberg pub. "How can the reformation move forward while you sit here drinking beer?" someone asked him. "The Holy Spirit will take care of ...

2995. Peter's Confession, Christ's Prediction

Mark 8:27-30

Sermon Aid

Richard A. Jensen

... know that the right and left hand were reserved for a couple of criminals and that the place for such honor was the cross [Mark 15:27].) Jesus speaks of the cross. The disciples dream of glory. How difficult it is to grasp the reality that Israel's long-awaited Messiah is to be a suffering Messiah. Not surprisingly, the call to follow "on the way" with Jesus is a call to a cruciform life (Mark 8:34-38). Kelber explicates this very well: It may be the single most important message the author wishes to convey ...

2996. August 7-13

John 6:25-59

Bulletin Aid

RobertT D. Ingram

... be naivete to him is deep faith to her. The pastor can use such a skit as a springboard for the sermon. Visuals If the sculpted loaves and fishes, suggested for Proper 12, are still available, then the loaves could be used for this lesson, too. Use long pieces of white cotton or linen to flow over the altar table, and form a background for the sculpted bread. Add a rough wooden cross to the arrangement to remind worshipers that the bread Christ gives is his flesh. If sculpted loaves are not available, then ...

2997. A Solitary Witness

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Leonard H. Budd

... bring the severed head of the preacher into the very presence of Herod! Marcus had seen much brutality in his young life. He was very familiar with violent death. But this gruesome task was beyond anything he had experienced. Herod was drunk. His dinner party had long since become a shouting match between himself and his wife. As reported in the slave quarters, the great king had made a promise to his wife's daughter--a promise he had to keep. It was thought he wanted to retreat from it, but he had spoken ...

2998. Love Language

Mark 5:41

Children's Sermon

... from the country that uses this language, they would be able to tell you what it said. (If you have someone in your congregation who reads Japanese, ask them to help you.) I don't know what it says. This one (hieroglyphics) was a kind of picture language used long, long ago in Egypt where Jesus lived as a baby and where Moses grew up. Can you read it? (Let them respond. Again, if you have someone who has studied it, let them help you.) I can't either. Our story today is about some people who understood a ...

2999. How Do You Remain Religious?

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Donald Macleod

... the "t's" of a creed can never usurp the true essence of the Christian religion. (c) Further, these carping critics in Jesus' day had a narrow perspective on how religion was to be practiced. Everyone must be religious in one way - their way. As long as men and women carried out their worship and obedience to the Law in a supposedly correct ritual, these persons were automatically good. What does it matter if they hate others or carry envy, bitterness, or jealousy in their hearts? These are the attitudes ...

3000. Celebrating Eucharistic Time

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Charles R. Leary

... into her arms a curly-headed little five-year-old boy, held him high in her arms, turned his head so that the focus of the little fellow’s eyes would be on the face of Lincoln. And then, with tears flowing from her cheeks, she said, “Take a long, long look, honey. He died for you.” Jesus did both a recall and a re-enactment at the Last Supper. Using the format and the elements of the Passover Meal, he re-enacted the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. Not surprisingly, he used the familiar symbols but ...

Showing results