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 3051 to 3075 of 4961 results

3051. Live and Let Die

Galatians 2:20

Sermon

James Merritt

How do you live the Christian life? Well, believe it or not, the answer is You don't! Over one billion people have become Christians in the last 2,000 years. But only one person has ever lived the Christian life, and that is Jesus Christ. I am going to make an amazing statement, but I believe it is true. The average Christian knows far more about how to become one than how to be one. The average Christian will say, "I'm trying to live the Christian life the best way I know how." When a Christian makes that ...

3052. Joshua People Always Look Forward With Hope

Joshua 1:1-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

I ran across a cartoon the other day. It shows OT characters. A woman is introducing a younger man to an older man, "This is Joshua. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho." Most of us know a portion of that story or at least a portion of the song, but there is a whole lot more to Joshua than just the Walls of Jericho. In the book of Exodus we find out that God has chosen Joshua to be the second in command to Moses, the military leader of the just freed children of Israel. We alos know that Joshua was one of the ...

3053. Rich Man, Poor Man

James 2:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

It is said that in Hollywood there is an exclusive school attended by children of movie stars, producers and directors. One day a teacher in that school asked her very privileged pupils to write a composition on the subject of poverty. One little girl started her literary piece like this: “Once there was a poor little girl. Her father was poor, her mother was poor, her nanny was poor, her chauffer was poor, her butler was poor. In fact, everybody in the house was very, very poor.” I don’t think that little ...

3054. The Healing Power of Faith

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

King Duncan

There is an old, old story about a traveling evangelist who also advertised himself as a faith healer. In one of his crusade services he jumped on the platform and said, “I have faith that two people will be healed tonight. Where are you?” he asked. “Who would like to be healed?” A man ran down the aisle, named Harry. Asked what his ailment was, Harry said he had a lisp. He explained sadly, “I can’t talk wite.” He was instructed to go behind a curtain. Another man hobbled down on crutches. His name was ...

3055. Dust in the Wind

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Timothy Cargal

Sometimes a song gets so deep inside your head that it can never be uprooted. Maybe it is the melody or the mood evoked by its musical qualities. Maybe it is the themes and ideas that find expression in its lyrics. If it happens to be both the music and the lyrics perfectly matched to each other, then the effect is particularly strong. Such songs have the ability to become a recurring soundtrack to our lives. One such song for me is Kerry Livgren’s “Dust In The Wind.” Since I first heard this song more ...

3056. Being Good

Matthew 5:17-20

Sermon

Will Willimon

Let's say that we're all here today because we want to be better people. We are here to be good, to become more righteous. After all, surely this is one of the main functions of religion, the Christian or any other, to make us better than we would have been if we had not gotten up on a cold February morning and gone to Chapel And let's agree that, even if we have not arrived, we are at least on our way toward goodness because we did get up and go to the Chapel, which in no way is meant to detract from ...

3057. Numbered Hairs

Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

The Plague is personalized in Albert Camus’ play State of Siege. It comes into a town in the form of a man who is accompanied by his secretary. The Secretary carries a notebook in which she often makes entries. She is always smiling, but at a stroke of her pencil, a person can be struck with plague and die. Few have the courage to challenge this threatening team. But a young medical student by the name of Diego does. At one point in the play, he says to The Secretary, "But of course only masses count with ...

3058. Jesus and Divorce

Mark 10:1-12

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Jesus and Divorce. Tough text. In generations past, this would have provided no problem for the preacher - Jesus says No Divorce, the church says Amen (along with most polite society); case closed. Easy sermon. But these days, things are different. Jesus still says No divorce, but only part of the church says Amen while other parts say we are not so sure (and polite society says mind your own business); case NOT closed at all. I recall a conversation at our dinner table one evening about ten years ago that ...

3059. Coming Alive To Christ

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

King Duncan

Young Helen Keller was imprisoned by her circumstances. She could neither see nor hear. She could feel with her hands, but without sight or hearing, how could she know what it was she was feeling? One day her teacher Ann Sullivan took Helen down a familiar path to the wellhouse. Someone was drawing water there. Ann let the water run over one of Helen's hands and in sign language spelled into the other, WATER. Suddenly something happened within Helen. Something dramatic. Something lifechanging. It was only ...

3060. When Someone Else Gets The Honor

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan

We have been dealing the past couple of weeks with some of the most basic human emotions--anger, hatred, resentment. This morning we want to deal with another--envy. A popular form of humor recently has been light bulb jokes. For example, "How many Wall Street brokers does it take to screw in a light bulb?" The answer: "One, The broker holds the light bulb and the universe revolves around him." Or, "how many Exxon officials does it take to change a light bulb. Ten. One to turn the bulb and nine to handle ...

3061. Face the Music

Hebrews 9:27-28

Sermon

James Merritt

When I returned from my vacation, I found this letter in my files. It was dated July 13, 2000. Dear James, Thank you for your thoughtful message. Your warm words of encouragement are deeply appreciated. The people of Georgia have afforded me a great honor, and I am grateful for the privilege to serve them. Sincerely, Paul D. Coverdell United States Senator P. S. Thanks so much for your prayers. They are needed and appreciated. That letter was dated on Thursday. Senator Coverdell complained of a terrible ...

3062. Like a Butterfly

Mark 9:2-13

Sermon

King Duncan

This is that day in the church year when we celebrate Christ’s transfiguration. Here’s something for you to think about. Did you know that the Greek word translated as “transfiguration” is the word “metamor-phothe,” from which we get the word “metamorphosis”? I’ll bet I could invite one of our children up here and he or she could tell us about metamorphosis. A dictionary defines metamorphosis as “a transformation, a complete change of appearance and form.” The best example we have of metamorphosis is the ...

3063. Paul’s Second Visit to the Jerusalem Church

Galatians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

2:1–2 Paul says his next visit to Jerusalem was not for another fourteen years. We do not know if the fourteen years later refers to fourteen years after his conversion or after his first visit to Jerusalem. Paul says he and Barnabas went up together and that he took Titus with him. Barnabas and Paul had a functional partnership—Paul must have trusted Barnabas to share his views, or he would not have wanted him present at the Jerusalem meeting. At this stage of his ministry Paul identifies Barnabas as his ...

3064. Jesus Proclaims Judgment on the Temple and the Nation

Mark 13:1-31

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: God’s judgment will soon fall on the temple and the land and bring devastation. However, God’s people must not be carried away by false teaching and false rumors but rather should endure patiently in the midst of the persecution. Understanding the Text The extensive discourse of chapter 13, known as the Olivet Discourse, develops the basic theme in passion week thus far: the fruitlessness (fig tree) and guilt (clearing of the temple) of the Jewish leadership, leading to the curse upon the nation ...

3065. God Subjugates Judah under Babylon

Daniel 1:1-21

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

Big Idea: The incomparable Lord is sovereign over all earthly kingdoms, holding rulers and subjects alike accountable for sin and challenging believers to spiritual fidelity. Understanding the Text Daniel 1:1–21 introduces the narratives of chapters 1–6, which reflect the writer’s perspective on the approximately seventy years of Judean exile (605–538 BC) alluded to in verses 1 and 21 and throughout the book. It also serves as the Hebrew prologue to the book’s concentric Aramaic and Hebrew sections (chaps ...

3066. Love

Romans 12:9-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

In his famous hymn to love in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul says, “if … I have not love, I am nothing” (v. 2). In Romans 13 he says that “love is the fulfillment of the law” (v. 10), and he enjoins Christians to owe no one anything except the debt of love (v. 8). In the latter half of Romans 12 Paul provides insight and guidance concerning the nature of love. Love is defined at the outset (v. 9), middle (v. 17), and end (v. 21) as a commitment to good, and especially the victory of good over evil. This section is ...

3067. What's In a Name?

Mark 10:2-16 · Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12 · Psalm 8

Sermon

Thomas C. Willadsen

What do you think when you hear the name “Jesus?” What thoughts, images, metaphors come to your mind when you hear that name? We know a lot about Jesus’ life; we have stories about what happened before he was born, when he was born, one in Luke’s gospel about Jesus at age twelve, when he was a man, starting with his baptism and ending with how he died. We even have four stories about what happened after his death. Scripture gives us a lot of information and a lot of details about his life. The hymns we ...

3068. A Faith That Overcomes

Acts 9:32-43

Sermon

Douglas J. Deuel

I have always liked the children's story Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In the story a little boy named Alexander has an absolutely rotten day. The story relates all of the traumatic experiences Alexander faces: waking up with gum in his hair, finding no prize in his box of cereal, having no dessert at lunch, going to the dentist and having a cavity, having lima beans for dinner, getting soap in his eyes from his bath, and having his pet cat choose to sleep with his brother. ...

3069. The Shepherd And His Flock

John 10:1-21

Sermon Aid

William E. Keeney

Not many people today are very familiar with shepherding as it was done in the first century. They are familiar with the frequent use of the image of sheep and the shepherd if they have a background in the scriptures. Many pictures portray Jesus as a shepherd. It is embodied often in stain glass windows or in children's Sunday school materials. Still, it is difficult to conceive of any other image today which would as satisfactorily communicate the caring and sacrificial nature of Jesus' ministry. What ...

3070. Proper 8

Romans 6:1-14, Romans 6:15-23, Jeremiah 28:1-17, Genesis 22:1-19, Matthew 10:1-42

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: Genesis 22:1-14 God tests Abraham's faith and loyalty by ordering him to sacrifice his son. Just as he is ready to plunge the knife into the child, God stops Abraham, commenting that now he has proven his obedience to the Lord. A ram caught in a thicket substitutes for Isaac as a sacrifice. Old Testament: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 A woman from Shunem extends hospitality to Elisha the prophet by serving him meals and appointing a room in her house for the prophet to lodge whenever he ...

3071. A Good Thing To Know

Luke 19:11-27

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

This is one of those times when our gospel lesson tells us too little! To understand today's parable we must first understand the reference to "these things." Events previously reported are the important antecedents to today's reading. "As they heard these things, he [Jesus] proceeded to tell a parable." Luke assumes that his readers know what "things" they (and Jesus' original audience) have been hearing. As we hear the lesson read, we have little chance of knowing. Few are likely to remember that "these ...

3072. Birthright Blues

Genesis 25:19-34

Sermon

Justin Tull

Do you have the “birthright blues?” Jane does. Listen to her story. Jane: I am so plain and dull that I never have any dates. Friend: Why don’t you go to a good beauty salon and get a different hairdo? Jane: Yes, but that costs too much money. Friend: Well, how about buying a magazine with some suggestions for different ways of setting it yourself? Jane: Yes, I tried that -- and my hair is too fine. It doesn’t hold a set. If I wear it in a bun, it at least looks neat. Friend: How about using makeup to ...

3073. Journey To The Cross III: Jesus And The Extravagant Woman

Mark 14:1-11

Sermon

James W. Moore

A few years ago Mark Trotter told a true story about a man in New York City who was kidnapped. His kidnappers called his wife and asked for $100,000 ransom. She talked them down to $30,000. The story had a happy ending: the man returned home unharmed, the money was recovered, and the kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. But, don’t you wonder what happened when the man got home and found that his wife got him back for a discount? Calvin Trillin wrote about this incident. He imagined out loud what the ...

3074. The Miracle of Salvation

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

I suppose that one of the classic poems on sin is the one titled, "This Side of Calvin" and it goes like this: The Reverend Dr. Harcourt, folk agree, Nodding their heads in solid satisfaction, Is just the man for this community. Tall, young, urbane, but capable of action, He pleases where he serves. He marshals out The younger crowd, lacks trace of clerical unction, Cheers the Kiwanis and the Eagle Scout, Is popular at every public function. And in the pulpit eloquently speaks On diverse matters with both ...

3075. What If It Is True?

Luke 1:26-38

Sermon

Much of this sermon’s appeal, though not all of it, lies in its close identification with the hearer’s experience - the thoughts, the pains, the fears, the objections. Acknowledging that there is "another way," other than that herein suggested, that which the text calls for may mean pain, certainly surprise, the sermon yet invites the hearers to move into the unknown - forgiving, loving - because, well, because "You have found favor with God." Is that all there is? Yes, that is all, but that "all" is ...

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