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 3201 to 3225 of 5000 results

3201. "On The Way To The Cross"

Luke 19:28-44

Sermon

... country would not protect him. Jesus wept. Jesus wept ... and still he spoke of peace. What did he see that we don’t? What does he want us to hear that we can’t seem to comprehend? We know by now that his peace has nothing to do with national security. We ... him this Palm Sunday? "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!" His peace comes from the very things we want to flee. His peace comes to those who take on the suffering, who take on the hurt, who take on the alienation of the ...

3202. A DRAMA OF LOST WORDS

Drama

... to them; but it won’t, so they’ll pretend it does, out of embarrassment, and I’ll be able to lead them into anything I want to and nobody will know. They’ll all agree to it and won’t know the difference. Woman 1: I don’t think you can rely ... Woman 2: [Disgusted] Words. [Person brightens] Man 2: What else? Woman 2: Yes, what else? There never was anything else. Man 2: What else do you want. I told you how much I meant it. Woman 2: If you meant it so much, why wasn’t there a little action to back ...

3203. An Unhappy Homecoming

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... piece of cloth. Fortunately, one of my loud-mouthed friends told my mother and I was discovered. To my great relief the doctor did not stitch me up, though he probably should have. My fear of the cure was for me much worse than my wound. We want the cure that Jesus brings. We want Jesus to forgive and save us, but not to make us change, especially if the changes hurt. We are like the little boy whose bedtime prayer sounded like this, "Dear Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it. I ...

3204. You Figure It Out

Matthew 22:15-22

Sermon

... rid ourselves. A national commission must find disposal sites, and none of us - in any of the fifty states - really want to have such waste deposited underneath our landscape. There is no escape from the problems. We have gotten into nuclear energy ... almost like finding yourself trapped in an alley by a man who holds a gun on you. Unknown to him, you have one underneath your coat. He wants to search you and to take your money, but if you let him, he will find the gun and likely kill you. Should you kill him ...

3205. Naming the Divine Baby

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... a question. Imagine yourself on the 8th floor of a hotel in Nashville, and the building catches on fire. The stairs are blocked by fire. Let’s suppose that firemen at great risk to themselves manage to climb extended ladders to your window. At that point, do you want those firemen to save you, or just identify with you?” Thanks be to God that the first task of the Bethlehem baby was to save his people from their sins. II. THERE IS A SECOND NAME OR TITLE THAT GOD GAVE US FOR HIS HOLY CHILD: “EMMANUEL ...

3206. The Spirit - For Me Too?

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... possible for us to grieve the Spirit by living selfishly. We may even get to the point where we feel that we do not want or need the Spirit. When Pope John XXIII visited the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Rome, which is run by nuns, the Mother ... I would be strong, for there is much to suffer. I would be brave, for there is much to dare. Joel continues with another reason for wanting the Holy Spirit: "Your young men will see visions." This reminds one of an old story of an Indian chief, about to die, who was ...

3207. Recovering From the Blahs

1 Kings 19:9-18

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... must get quiet, or his still, small voice will be crowded out by the noise of the world. Silence is demanded when we want to receive something or when we need to concentrate and keep our minds on the subject. A library demands silence so that readers ... and I am not infected. There is no boyfriend in my life. However, I am getting a D in history and an F in science. I want you to see these marks in perspective." Seeing the whole in divine perspective helps us to see that not all is lost. What is the still ...

3208. Forgive To Be Forgiven

Genesis 50:15-21

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... will forgive us? It is not a condition that God lays down. It is not a kind of payment God requires for forgiveness. The reason we must forgive first is because if we have an unforgiving heart, God cannot forgive us. When we hold spite, when we hate, when we want retaliation, our hearts are closed tight with anger and fear. For God to forgive us, we must be open and receptive to God’s love and mercy. If we have our hands clenched into fists, there is no way we can receive a gift. It is said that one time ...

3209. Reach Out and Touch Someone

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... s no word; 10:00 a.m. and no word. We begin to pace and rub our hands, "What are they doing up there? What could have gone wrong?" I think of the family sitting waiting for a call from somebody 1,000 miles away, knowing it’s important, wanting to share something, and the phone doesn’t ring. The disciples sit in the upper room, waiting for something to happen. Had God moved away from them as well? The fiftieth day comes, Pentecost, and we’re told that a mighty wind rushes in. There are tongues of fire ...

3210. "Preference by L’oreal"

Lk 17:11-19 · Mt 6:25-33 · Jn 6:25-35

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... gift is $5.00 or $5,000. What makes us feel special is when another person heard what we said, gave some thought to the gift, and then put it under the tree. That person is saying he cared enough to listen. He cared enough to give you what you wanted. You’re special and you’re worth it. I’m told that the greatest way to motivate somebody is to pay him a compliment. When you pay somebody a compliment, you tell him he is special. That comes in many forms. For example, "You did that job well." "Here is ...

3211. Children of the Eighth Day

Romans 6:1-14

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... yourself. You’ve lived your life; there’s nothing else to live for. Go ahead and take your life. But there is one thing I want to tell you before you do. "You’ve been living only for yourself and you are bored. If you dared turn your life, your family, ... for each of us to fit in; that place is still open. He has not left one of us out. But we say, "We missed our part. God wanted me at point ‘A’; and here am I at point ‘X.’ Woe is me!" But God still has a plan for me. Not at point "A," because ...

3212. The Surprise of Absolute Victory

Romans 8:28-39

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... least once a year he must have a day or two alone: to see who he is, to chart where he is going, to know what God wants of him. We are so often blind. Dr. Robert Ozment tells a touching story. A man is looking in a window at an art display including the ... loving care of one’s self, man may gain the confidence and wisdom both to live and to suffer extinction." Great! So what? I want more than that - and so do you! The womb of existence is bigger than that. It reaches beyond this moment of life. Jesus rose! ...

3213. Discerning the Way of God

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... path is correct? It would be a disaster to travel a lifetime on a path and then find it did not lead to where you wanted to go. It is too late to turn back once one has devoted a lifetime to travelling the path! These are the monumental questions that ... live if we are to "glorify his name"? That brings us full circle back to our original question. How do we know what God wants us to do? Without doubt, "freedom" sounds great until it must be exercised. Then of a sudden it can become a dreadful burden, for ...

3214. HOW TO KNOW THE WILL OF GOD

Illustration

John H. Krahn

... we read, "Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Notice that it says the desires of our hearts are given to us by God when we delight in him. God puts the desire in our hearts so that what we want is really what God wants. His will becomes our will, and conversely, our will is his will. The third step is possible when we have taken the first step of believing and the second of being filled by the Holy Spirit. Having taken the first two steps and having become well-versed ...

3215. The Excitement of Meaningful Living

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

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... collector. He accepted this new spirit of life in the Master. He was cared for, and he began to care. In his new spirit he wanted to share in the life of the world. He hungered for righteousness. He said, "I will repay four times anything I have taken. I ... would have died; but responding to the Lord, the healing calm continued and took over. He said to himself, "Lord, I belong to you. If you want me to die, that will be your business and I will surrender to you, but I am not going to surrender to death."3 He ...

3216. The Forgiven and the Forgiving

Matthew 18:21-35

Sermon

Robert G. Tuttle

... We are called to receive and then to be Christ’s forgiving spirit in the life of our world, but we say that people don’t want to be forgiven. "If I forgave my enemies and those who abuse me, they wouldn’t accept it. If I showed them love, they would ... Jewish man was mad, bitter, wouldn’t read the letter, threw it away. Then something caught his eye - a name. He didn’t want to but he turned aside and looked, breathlessly. Something held him. It wouldn’t let him go. There, on the crumbled piece ...

3217. Must We Have All the Answers?

Gn 2:9 · Deut 30:19-20 · Job 52:5

Sermon

Robert Noblett

... each of us with which we must reckon. In most cases we know the direction indicated and it remains for us to muster the will to move in that direction. To that end the Christian church has a message for people, and it is the message that God, our creator, wants us to live; in the Scriptures and in the traditions of the church, the way to that life is made clear. We know that forgiveness and not unending disdain is the way to life, and if we really believe that God requires that of us, it is ours to forgive ...

3218. IN THE BEGINNING ... THERE WAS LOVE ...

Drama

Marcia Millerf

... I can control and contain my inner being. GIRL: Is that what your book was about? [THE BOY nods his head.] No wonder you didn’t want it any longer! BOY: Wait a minute. You’re misquoting me. GIRL: If that book was worth reading, you would go down right now and find ... you ask me. BOY: All I was going to ask is - GIRL: Is -? BOY: Will you play your instrument for me? GIRL: Is that all you want me to do? BOY: It’d mean a lot to me if you would. [THE GIRL sings "Greensleeves." As she is singing THE BOY comes ...

3219. Lazarus Rising

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

... where he was.” Why did this happen? I can only respond to that by saying: I do not know. When I read this story I want to know. Why did he delay? Surly there must be an answer to this. But read the commentaries of all of the great minds: Luther, Dodd ... our troubles.” The rabbi knew instantly that he could not explain this with mere words. He said to the gentleman: “If you want to understand this, you will have to visit Isaac the water-carrier.” The gentleman was mystified by this, but knowing the ...

3220. Can a Christian Go to Hell?

Matthew 7:15-23

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... go to heaven, and the one content with "Lord, Lord" does not stand a chance. To Hell You Go! The word-only Christian, Jesus says, will not go to heaven. "Not every one who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven." It is not because Christ wants to be mean and exclude anyone. No, it is the desire of God that every single soul should go to heaven to live wIth him through eternity. If we do not make it to heaven, it is because we exclude ourselves by our lack of faith. Some of us church ...

3221. Herod and Jesus

Drama

Jon Joyce

... of the priests and the court, to endure such impudence, and I’ll not suffer it. JESUS: My time has come. There is nothing to say. HEROD: You’d better believe your time has come, if you don’t start cooperating with me. [A thoughtful pause] I have been wanting to meet you. I’ve heard a good deal about your ... your travels and so-called miracles. JESUS: What you have heard is true. HEROD: [With a crafty smile] That you claim to be the Son of God? JESUS: I am who I am. HEROD: [Infuriated] That’s no ...

3222. This Grace In Which We Stand by Dr. Gene E. Bartlett

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... was from the wholeness and the harmony of life for which he was striving. The gap between what he was and what he wanted to be grew wider and wider. Then one day something happened which he could not have foreseen - the unmerited, unexpected, and unearned. It was ... a life of progressive anxiety. But if you say, you know I love you and always will, just because you are you, and therefore I want to see you be yourself at your very best, then you have started him on a life of joy and freedom. It was the grace ...

3223. Doing the Splits

Matthew 20:1-16

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... These people are very disappointed to know that God will allow both kinds of people in the same heaven. But God has an answer and I want you to know it. God is going to make a place in heaven for you who know him all of your life and it is going ... only knows God for a little while here on earth will also be in the same heaven. God is generous. You get everything, but God also wants the other man who has just found God to have everything also, so God gives to this man generously too. We should be pleased for ...

3224. Popcorn Catching

Matthew 15:21-28

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... ’t important to us then we give up trying. God likes for us to know what is important to us and what is not. lie also likes for us to know where the good things come from and that when he gives to us the things that we need and want it is in answer to our prayers. The next time that you ask for something and God doesn’t give it to you the first time you can think about two things. Is it really important to you? If it is you will ask again and again. The second thing ...

3225. Who Makes a King?

Matthew 21:1-11

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

... come to our town today. What would we do to make him feel welcome? Some people might roll our the red carpet or they might put a lei on him if they lived in Hawaii. But what would we do? [Let them answer.] Those are all very good suggestions. I want to suggest one other idea that is a popular way to welcome a very honored person. We could give him the key to the city. Can’t you see it now? There the mayor would be with all of the big people around town gathering at the court house with ...

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