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 3076 to 3100 of 3108 results

3076. It's a Wonderment

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

Have you ever said something really dumb? Have you ever opened your mouth and stood there one legged like a flamingo, with all the grace of an elephant on roller skates with your other foot stuck firmly in your mouth? I remember one time when I did. About ten years ago I was serving the little United Methodist Church in Eureka, Texas. We were in the middle of building a new Sanctuary. The pews from the old Sanctuary were solid oak and over a hundred years old. Money was tight and we couldn't afford new ...

3077. The Art of Fruit

Luke 3:7-18

Sermon

Lori Wagner

When 16th century Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted his first “fruit face,” imagine the reception he must have garnered.[1] His work has to be some of the strangest in the history of art. But it seems, there is an art behind his madness. In 1562 at the age of 36, Arcimboldo received an invitation to accept a post as Court Portraitist at Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II’s imperial court in Vienna. Suddenly the budding artist was thrust into a rich renaissance-style intellectual and artistic ...

3078. The Favorite

Luke 2:41-52

Sermon

Lori Wagner

We all know that person –the one who is supposed to succeed, the favorite of all the teachers. Everybody likes this kid. Let’s call him Jake for now. Jake is kind. He’s respectful. He’s smart and eager to learn. He’s ambitious and industrious. He’s the one who climbs the tree to save the neighbor’s cat or takes soup to the homeless. He always greets his neighbors on the street and takes part in community events. He’s the one everyone loves. Zip forward 20 years – Jake has embarked on an edgy campaign. He’s ...

3079. Ordinary Tragedy

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Sermon

Will Willimon

Eric Auerbach (Mimesis) notes that, in the whole of Greek literature there is nothing to compare with this scene--Simon Peter's confrontation with the maid in the courtyard tonight. In Greek literature, ordinary people--like fisherfolk and servants--are always low life, comic, buffoons. Tragedy is for kings, queens, for who cares deeply for the souls of common people? The power of great tragedy occurs when a great king, like Lear, falls a great way down, when the once proud monarch is turned out into the ...

3080. The Teacher

Mark 1:21-28

Sermon

Will Willimon

Do you know Sybil Vann? Elizabeth Tripp? Mary Wilds? You ought to. They are very powerful people. And I know that many of you are here because you want power. Sybil Vann, Elizabeth Tripp, Mary Wilds could teach you power mongers a thing or two about it. Last week, buying aspirin at supermarket, I almost reached for a bottle of expensive aspirin, then I remembered what Elizabeth Tripp taught us in her science class: ''People, aspirin is aspirin. It's that simple. The only difference in aspirin is in the ...

3081. Unspectacular Faithfulness

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22

Sermon

Will Willimon

The Book of Esther was not accepted into the Jewish and Christian canons without controversy. A feminist interpreter explains how Esther, sometimes called ''the most secular book of the Bible, '' caused problems for Israel and the church: ''The reason for the difficulty that the book had in achieving canonical status is its perceived lack of religiosity. Most glaring is the complete absence of any mention of God...concepts of law and covenant are absent,...there are no prayers. (Sidnie Ann White, in The ...

3082. Unspectacular Faithfulness

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22

Sermon

Will Willimon

3083. A Question of Trust

Romans 5:1-5

Sermon

King Duncan

Does it seem to you that it is getting more and more difficult to trust anybody? It seems to get more and more discouraging to simply answer the telephone, for fear of being bombarded with scam telephone calls. It’s just as discouraging to turn on a cable news program for fear of being bombarded with fake news. And when it seems humanity can’t get any lower, we’re even afraid to open our email. Why? According to the Worldstart Computer Tips & Techniques Newsletter another email scam has been making its ...

3084. People First

Illustration

Ryan Holiday

My favorite story about Marcus Aurelius comes at the depths of the Antonine Plague, which is a horrible pandemic that kills millions of people. Rome’s economy has been devastated. People are dying in the streets, and everyone feels like it can’t possibly get better. And what does Marcus Aurelius do? He walks through the imperial palace and begins to mark things for sale. For two months he sells on the lawn of the Great Emperor’s Palace, the jewels and robes and couches, the fineries owned by the emperor. ...

3085. Why Christianity?

Romans 1:1-7

Sermon

Charley Reeb

I went to Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. It was a wonderful experience. After seminary, I was appointed as an associate pastor at First UMC of Lakeland and had a good relationship with the college. In fact, one of my favorite professors once invited me to be a guest speaker in his class. It was a sociology class, and they were studying religion and society. He wanted a local pastor to come and speak about the church and community. I was still a little wet behind the ears, but I thought I ...

3086. Out On A Sycamore Limb

Luke 19:1-10

Sermon

Richard Hasler

Why do children love this story so much? Tom Wright offered one explanation: “Sunday schools love Zacchaeus. At least they love to act out his story and sing about him. The little man who climbs up a tree to see Jesus provides one of the most vivid short stories in the Bible. Children can identify with Zacchaeus; they often find themselves at the back of a crowd and can’t see what’s going on. Many adults too, can identify with, they like to get closer to Jesus, but find it embarrassing to do so, and ...

3087. Forgiven

Matthew 28:1-10

Sermon

April Yamasaki

Instead of making new year’s resolutions, each year I like to choose a key word to help set my direction for the coming year. One year I chose “wonder,” which for me meant being curious, exploring new things, and asking questions. It meant being filled with wonder at God’s creation and work in the world and in my own life. That year it seemed as if the word had chosen me, for as soon as I settled on “wonder” as my word for the year, I started seeing wonder everywhere. This year I chose “blossom,” and when ...

3088. Overcoming Envy

Matthew 20:1-16

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

There was a British woman, Marion Webster of Solihull, England, who woke up one morning and found her beautiful garden absolutely decimated. Someone or something had torn it to shreds. The first thing Marion did after finding her garden in such a condition was to march over to her neighbor’s flower bed and pull out all the pansies and roses and anything remotely resembling a beautiful plant. Her neighbor’s garden now looked as bad as hers. Why did she do such a horrible thing? You won’t believe it. Marion ...

3089. You've Got Spirit

Luke 3:15-22 · Acts 8:14-17 · Psalm 29 · Isaiah 61:1-4

Sermon

Will Willimon

"Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit." Let us pray: "O Lord, how can we know Thee: Where can we find Thee? Thou art as close to us as breathing and yet art farther than the furthermost star. Thou art as mysterious as the vast solitudes of the night and yet art as familiar to us as the light of the sun. To the seer of old Thou didst say: Thou canst not see my face, but I will make all My Goodness pass before Thee. Even so does Thy goodness pass before us in the realm of ...

3090. The Unfettered Word

2 Timothy 2:8-15

Sermon

Will Willimon

''But the word of God is not fettered. He owned a hardware store and he was a member of my church. Someone had warned me about him when I moved there. ''He's usually quiet," they said, ''but be careful." People still recalled the Sunday in 1968 when, during the middle of the sermon (the preacher's weekly diatribe against Nixon and the Vietnam war), he had stood up from where he was sitting, shook his head, and walked right out. So I always preached with one eye on my notes and the other on him. He hadn't ...

3091. Will God Be With Us?

Exodus 33:12-23

Sermon

King Duncan & Angela Akers

Have you ever felt desperate for just a few minutes of time by yourself? We all need “alone time” occasionally to clear our head and relieve a little stress. So it is hard to imagine what it is like for prominent people, like the President of the United States, who never get a single moment alone. There are approximately 1,300 Secret Service agents who serve as the security detail for the President, the Vice President, and their family members. It is their job to ensure that our nation’s most powerful ...

3092. A Little Foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Sermon

John B. Jamison

Hap enjoyed reading his Bible. It wasn’t really reading the Bible that he enjoyed, but it was the list of little bits of information he could find that he could use later to trip-up some poor preacher who didn’t know those little bits. That’s what he enjoyed. And he wasn’t really reading his Bible, but excavating, it looking for those little treasures he could use to pose his questions. When he wasn’t sitting in his chair reading his King James version, he was out running around town looking for preachers ...

3093. Leaving Home

Luke 15:11-32

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Setting: Mom and Dad discuss their feelings when each of their three children left home – a career son, a runaway daughter, and a soldier. Scene: Center stage at a table Players: Mom – Gladys, Dad - Homer, Son - Jim, Daughter - Lola, Son - Lance GLADYS: Next week is our wedding anniversary Homer. Can you believe it? HOMER: Seems like yesterday. Time sure flies. GLADYS: When we’re having fun?? HOMER: (laughs) Yeah – some of the time. Really Gladys it’s been quite a ride! Our marriage that is. We’ve had our ...

3094. 2 Boys at Doc's

Luke 15:25-32

Drama

Arley K. Fadness

Setting: Medical doctor’s examining room Characters: Nurse Nelson Dr. Bone Brake Brother One Brother Two (Nurse Nelson ushers two brothers in for their exam. He/She gives each a sheet to wear.) (As Doctor Bone Brake enters the room Nurse Nelson begins to speak.) NURSE NELSON: Doctor Bone Brake, I have two brothers who have come for their physical. Boys be seated. You over here and you over there. DOC: Hello fellows. It’s good to see you. How are you? BROTHER ONE: I’m fine. Don’t really need this ...

3095. Let's Go Fishing

Mark 1:14-20

Sermon

David E. Leininger

An old-timer sat on the river bank, obviously awaiting a nibble, though the fishing season had not officially opened. A uniformed officer stood behind him quietly for several minutes. “You the game warden?” the old-timer inquired. “Yup.” Unruffled, the old man began to move the fishing pole from side to side. Finally, he lifted the line out of the water. Pointing to a minnow wriggling on the end of the line, he said, “Just teaching him how to swim.”[1] Mark Twain once spent a pleasant three weeks in the ...

3096. Jesus Chose You

John 15:9-17

Children's Sermon

Various Authors

Object: invitations Good morning, boys and girls. Do you know what the word “choose” means? (Let them answer.) Choosing means “to pick out something”, like one cookie on a whole plate of cookies. When you take that cookie, you are choosing. I love to go to the ice cream store that has all kinds of flavors in a big case, like butter pecan, chocolate, mint, moose tracks, caramel, and vanilla, and thirty more different kinds. I think I will choose black cherry ice cream but then I look some more and I think I ...

3097. Divine Things

Mark 8:31-38

Sermon

Lori Wagner

“My Way!” We all know the famous song by Frank Sinatra that delighted Americans across the country and became the signature song of Sinatra’s career. It is also the quintessential song of self-actualization and self-reliance that often defines American culture. Did you know that the song’s lyrics were not written by Sinatra at all but were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on a French song called "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux? Did you know too that ...

3098. Comfort My People

Isaiah 40:1-8

Eulogy

George Reed

[Read Isaiah 40:1-8] Life sometimes just doesn’t seem fair. We wonder sometimes if the whole world has turned against us and, sometimes, we even wonder whose side God is on. It must have been that way for the people of Israel who were in exile. Uprooted from their homes and families they were brought to a strange land. Rumors of the temple and the walls of Jerusalem being destroyed had passed through their midst. They have been in exile so long that these are all second or third generation folks who only ...

3099. Teach Us to Pray

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Will Willimon

“Teach us to pray” was one of the few things the disciples” asked of Jesus. He gave them a model prayer; “Our Father who art in heaven...” Tertullian calls the Lord's Prayer “an epitome of the whole gospel.” On Sundays, we, like those disciples before us, come to Jesus asking, “Teach us to pray.” The Prayer of Intercession comes right after the sermon and scripture because the word helps us to discern between true and false prayer, between praying as a pagan and praying as a Christian.” It tell us what it ...

3100. The Propriety of Praise

Psalm 84:1-12

Sermon

Will Willimon

A few months ago, I preached a sermon here. My text was from· the book of Revelation, as I recall. All went well until the end of the sermon when I came to my last sentence. Without warning, someone seated somewhere over there, shouted out “Amen!” Well, he was probably a tourist I thought; first time in Duke Chapel. Probably someone from California. At first, I thought I would ignore his, “Amen!” But upon further reflection I asked the ushers to make a discreet search during the offering, and tell the man ...

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