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 3276 to 3300 of 4961 results

3276. Not a Servant, but a Son

Galatians 4:6-7

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A few weeks ago, my son Kevin asked me to make some suggestions for his reading. I thought about that only for a moment - immediately I suggested that he read one of my favorite writers, Loren Eiseley. I went back and reread some of his marvelous stuff myself. In his book, All The Strange Hours, he talks about the experience he had at his father’s death. During the last days of his father’s illness, there had been no sign of consciousness. His father on his death-bed. Then, Leo came. Leo was his half- ...

3277. Disillusioned Thomas

John 20:24-31

Sermon

King Duncan

Pastor Paula Womack made a “Top Ten” list (aka David Letterman) of ways you can tell it’s the Sunday after Easter. Not all the items on her list fit us, but some of them are very clever. So, here are six ways you tell it’s the Sunday after Easter: Number six: There’s not a lily available for purchase anywhere. Five: Wal-Mart has rotated the Easter candy to the clearance table and brought out the Mother’s Day cards and gift ideas. Four: The stores have removed the stuffed bunnies from the shelves and ...

3278. God Never Gives Up on Us

1 Samuel 8:4-11 (12-15) 16-20, (11:14-15)

Sermon

William J. Carl, III

Have you noticed that no matter how much of a mess we make of our lives, God never gives up on us? We try to do the right thing, but fail over and over again. Paul talks openly about the fact that he knows the right thing to do, but just keeps doing the wrong thing. He can't seem to help himself. I guess it all started with the first Adam who got to work early one morning and parked on the line between two parking places so that everyone who came after him has parked on the line ever since. What a mess we ...

3279. The ABC's of Grief

Lamentations 1:1-6

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

Grief is one of the universal experiences of humankind. Its characteristics are recognizable across time and space. Because humanity is finite by nature, there will be a time to laugh and a time to cry for every man, woman, and child on earth. We have been exploring the period in Old Testament history leading up to the Babylonian exile. The prophet Jeremiah has been our guide for the last six weeks. If it seems that we have been hopping and skipping through Jeremiah, you are right. It would appear that ...

3280. While It Was Still Dark

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

Welcome on this Easter Sunday 2015 the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. This is the most important day in the year for Christians. Unfortunately, tomorrow is the biggest day of the year for some golfers. It is the start of The Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. You think I’m kidding about their relative importance? Years ago, Frank Chirkinian, the head of CBS Sports, discovered that The Masters and Easter Sunday happened on the same day that year. Upset at this ...

3281. Gratitude: A Matter of Perspective

Deuteronomy 8:7-18

Sermon

King Duncan

It was the day after Thanksgiving. A woman caught her husband weighing himself on the scale. He was sucking in his stomach. “That won’t help you, Fred,” the woman said. “You know that, don’t you?” “Oh it helps a lot,” said Fred. “It’s the only way I can see the numbers!” I hope you’re ready for Thanksgiving--and not just for the turkey and all the trimmings. Giving thanks is important to a successful life. A growing body of research is indicating that a sense of gratitude is vital if we are to be happy and ...

3282. His Name Is John

Luke 1:57-66, 80

Sermon

King Duncan

It is one of life’s ironies, isn’t it? Some couples have unexpected and even unwanted pregnancies. Other couples who are totally unfit to be parents also have no difficulty breeding. Then there are those couples who have so much love to give that they would probably make wonderful parents, but are denied the opportunity. Not everyone in our society wants to be a parent. That’s okay. No one should ever be made to feel unworthy because they make this choice. But there are some couples who want desperately to ...

3283. A Road Map to the Kingdom

Mark 10:13-16

Sermon

Thomas Peterson

I hope for each of you that your journey on planet earth has been a good one and will continue to be so. One of the conditions that determines the worth of a journey is its destination. I keep on my shelf an old axiom: No wind blows good to a ship which has no destined harbor. It is true of our lives; if we don’t know where we’re going the starts and stops do not make a difference. Good or bad breaks mean little, for they do not move us along to a destined goal. Life is just one big distraction. We can ...

3284. The Rich Young Ruler

Mark 10:17-31

Sermon

Brett Blair

The rich young ruler falls into that unique category of Bible characters that have been maligned by generations of commentators. We might compare him to the elder brother in the story of the prodigal son. It seems like both of these young men have always gotten bad press and therefore a bad reputation. We have been impressed with the f ct that the rich young ruler was seemingly so near to the Kingdom, but alas his love of money kept him out. We see him as a moral coward, a man who lacked commitment. And ...

3285. Love Is Down to Earth

John 12:1-11

Sermon

Carl Jech

The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me. (John 12:8) Like me, I suppose, you have probably wondered about the popularity of such TV shows as "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "Dallas," and "Dynasty." It would seem that our value systems have become much too materialistic. One wonders if any really serious attempts are being made to close the gap between the rich and the poor. It has been observed that even "socialists" who seem to be interested in the welfare of poor people do ...

3286. Give Them Good News...

Romans 5:1-11

Sermon

Robert V. Dodd

GIVE THEM GOOD NEWS ...It'll totally disarm them! I have always been fascinated by radio preachers: Some are profoundly helpful and extremely gifted in the art of communication. Others are delightfully entertaining. But there are others that I fear do more harm than good. Such was the case when I tuned in a certain radio preacher while driving through the mountains of Western North Carolina. He had obviously been bombarding the air waves with his "hell-fire and damnation" preaching when his broadcasting ...

3287. All Saints' Day

Revelation 7:1-8, Isaiah 26:1-21, 1 John 2:28--3:10, Revelation 21:1-27, Matthew 5:1-12, Psalm 24:1-10, Psalm 149:1-9, Psalm 34:1-22

Sermon Aid

THEOLOGICAL CLUE All Saints' Day is one of those days in the church year calendar that many congregations ignore, simply because they don't know what to do with it. It began and developed naturally out of the annual commemoration of the deaths of individual martyrs, beginning with the apostles. Saints' days found their way into the worship of the church before the church year took much shape; many saints' days were in place by A.D. 200, preceding most elements of the church year, except Easter and the ...

3288. The Art of Following

Matthew 4:12-17, Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

If you’re my age or older you may remember Homer and Jethro. They were a comedy team who specialized in country music parodies and satire. They were sometimes referred to as “the thinking man’s hillbillies.” One of their routines went like this: HOMER: Jethro, if you was to win the Irish sweepstakes for two million dollars, would you give me half? JETHRO: Why, Homer, you’re my best and closest friend. You know I would. HOMER: I do know you would. That’s what friendship is all about. HOMER: Jethro, if you ...

3289. For The Love of God is Creative

1 Corinthians 2:6-12 · Psalm 8

Sermon

Billy D. Strayhorn

In Bil Keane's FAMILY CIRCUS, little Billy is watching television. The speaker boldly says, "Remember this, my friends, great things never happen until some person in this world makes them happen." Billy's mind gets to thinking about the snow, the reflection of the moon on the lake at night, the waves crashing at the beach, a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon, a gorgeous sunset and a beautiful waterfall and then he says, "Oh, yeah?" (1) Billy had the youthful wisdom to give credit where credit is due, ...

3290. Good News / Bad News

Luke 12:49-56

Sermon

Dean Feldmeyer

Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. Luke 12:51 Sports writers still talk about the joy they used to take in interviewing the great New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra. Yogi was something of a rough-hewn philosopher given to malaprops and seemingly contradictory statements that managed to, somehow, still make a weird kind of sense. It was Yogi who said: “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” And, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” When giving his opinion of a New York ...

3291. Murder in the First Degree

Matthew 5: 21-26

Sermon

James Merritt

We are in the middle of a series of messages I've entitled "The Only Way to Live." It is based on the greatest sermon ever preached in history – the Sermon on the Mount. Up to this point in the sermon, Jesus has been very general in his comments but now he gets very specific. He addresses six critical areas where what goes on in the inside of a person is far more important than what occurs on the outside of a person. He is going to be dealing with murder, adultery, divorce, honesty, revenge, and loving ...

3292. Family Resemblance

John 14:5-14

Sermon

King Duncan

There was a story on the Internet recently that proves rednecks aren’t confined to the southern part of the United States. According to this story a man in Australia was fined after police discovered that he had used a seat belt to buckle in a case of beer while his five-year-old son was consigned to playing in the car’s floor totally unprotected. Constable Wayne Burnett said he was “shocked and appalled” when he pulled over the car one Friday in the Australian town of Alice Springs. A 30-can beer case was ...

3293. Sight And Insight

John 9:1-12, John 9:13-34, John 9:35-41

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

How dark is dark? I did not realize how dark darkness can be until recently. We were conducting a teaching-preaching mission in Prestonburg, Kentucky. A member of the congregation was president of a local coal mining company which sold its coal to North Carolina's Duke Power Company for the production of electric power. He invited us to inspect his mine. After donning mining clothes and equipment, we were taken one mile into a mountain where we observed the mining operation. There were no lights except the ...

3294. The Ten Commandments For Today

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Erskine White

And the Lord spoke all these words, saying "I am the Lord your God ..." (Exodus 20:1-2) Imagine that your job in life is to get up each morning and prepare an egg for someone else to eat. There are many different ways to prepare an egg: hardboiled, soft-boiled, poached, fried, baked, scrambled, benedict, souffled, and so on. Now, if you didn't want to get bored and were willing to take a risk, you could constantly be striving for new ways to prepare an egg. If you wanted to play it safe, and you knew that ...

3295. Incalculable Riches by Bishop Roy C. Nichols

Ephesians 3:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Mann

In Ephesians, Chapter 3 and verse 8, Paul says, "To me, least of all the saints, is given the grace to preach the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Jesus Christ." One of our modern translations renders the text thus: "the incalculable riches." I like that better, because it expresses the vastness of the gospel, rather than its "mystery." Paul was sharing this testimony with the members of the churches of the city of Ephesus. They knew him well; for he had first preached in their midst and nurtured them ...

3296. The Danger of Discipleship

Luke 14:25-35

Sermon

David E. Leininger

Why you are here today? I would like to believe that you are here for the preaching. Connie and Debbie and the choir would like to believe that you are here for the music. But we all have been around long enough to know that may not be the case. There is one man here who is in attendance because his wife made him come - she went with him to a ball game last week, so it was only fair. There is a young man here hoping against hope that he will meet a special young lady. Lots of reasons. But of all the ...

3297. Looking for Shoots or Roots?

Matthew 11:1-19

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The more we move into the Advent season, the more our scripture texts bring the Christ-child’s birth closer and closer to us. Yet here in Matthew 11:2-11 we are back to the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist. Yet even though this is not part of our text for this week, the mere mention of John’s name should remind us of their cousinly kinship, even of an in utero jump for joy that marked their first meeting--making cousin John the first person to celebrate Advent. As out text opens Jesus has ...

3298. The Dachshund Dilemma

Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

Like most pastors I’m always looking for ways to improve our church. Recently I ran across a list by Pastor Grant MacDonald of what he calls the “Top Ten Ways to Promote Growth in Your Church.” These suggestions are offered with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but I thought you might enjoy some of them. These are ways we might grow our church: Offer free frequent flyer miles with every visit! Use “Big Gulp” communion cups! Issue “Get Out of Hell Free” cards! Or how about this one? reclining pews! Every ...

3299. Proper 28

Mk 13:1-32 · Heb 10:11-25 · 1 Sam 1:4-20 · Ps 16

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

COMMENTARY Old Testament: 1 Samuel 1:4-20 Elkanah and his wives went up to Shiloh annually to offer sacrifice to the Lord. He would give each one a portion of the offering based on the number of children each had. Hannah was barren and the other wife would rub this fact into her face, particularly at the time of their pilgrimage. Being barren was considered a great curse. Hannah became depressed, refusing even to eat. Elkanah was an understanding husband who gently consoled his wife. She decided to take ...

3300. At The Name Of Jesus

John 12:12-19

Sermon

Theodore F. Schneider

It was the season of the Passover, one of the three feasts of obligation for the faithful Jews of the first century. Jerusalem overflowed with religious pilgrims - people who by their very definition took the things of faith seriously. Some authorities estimate that there could have been as many as 2,700,000. In one such Passover season, it was reported that 256,500 lambs were sacrificed, about one for each 10 pilgrims.1 The mood was one of religious fervor and of celebration. On this particular day, the ...

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