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 3501 to 3525 of 5000 results

3501. At War with Myself

Romans 7:15-25a

Sermon

William G. Carter

... " sign and light up a hand-rolled cigarette. What was that all about? I think you know. Earlier in this chapter, Paul says, "I wouldn't have known what it is to covet, except the law said, 'Thou shalt not covet.' As soon as I heard that law, I started wanting what other people have." It's like the mother who says, "Now, kids, don't get dirty. Stay out of the mud." The kids look at one another. There's mud? Where's the mud? Next thing you know, they are up to their ears in it. She yells at ...

3502. Complete Joy

Philippians 2:1-11

Sermon

Jeff Wedge

... is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation from love, if there is any sharing in the Spirit, if there is any compassion and sympathy. If, in other words, those who receive this letter, if those who hear these words have any of these things, then Paul wants them to do something for him. If people feel any encouragement in Christ, any strengthening from the body of Christ in the church, any appeal to that part of us which is good and true, any calling of us by Christ to be a part of his work ...

3503. No Idea

Philippians 4:1-9

Sermon

Rick Brand

... reconciled. But the first prayer request from the cards in the pew rack, when a church put prayer request cards in with the hymnbooks, was from a couple who announced that things are not as solid nor as strong as they believe they ought to be. They want the church to help them become stronger and help them make the marriage survive. They looked to the church to help them agree in the Lord. The church at Philippi probably had no idea it would hear that assignment when they came to worship. They probably did ...

3504. A Tale of Two Dancers

Mark 6:14-29

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... that. No harm, no foul, until they get into power. Then, look out. We need to remember this. Not all the harm that has been done in the world has been done by bad people. A lot of the harm has been done by good people, who want to make other people good. The framers of the Constitution in this country knew that. They remembered their history in Europe. There was wave after wave of immigration coming to this country to escape religious persecution by those in power in Europe. They also remembered New England ...

3505. Body Language

Mark 7:1-23

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... animals, but also to other human beings. For instance, if you sit with your arms folded tightly across your chest, your legs crossed, trying to become as small and inconspicuous as you can, you are saying something with your body. You are saying, "I don't want to be here." On the other hand, if you are sprawled all over the place, your shoes kicked off, laid back, scratching yourself, you are saying, "This is home. I'm comfortable here." That's called body language. We say something with our bodies. We say ...

3506. Fathers in Their Generation

Psalm 103:13

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... it would be prudent for me to show up here. Besides that, as you have heard, this is Choir Recognition Sunday, and I wanted to be here also for that occasion. In the past, when Bob Cooper was the director of music, he used this Sunday as an ... experience that turned his life around. The interviewer asked, "What was it?" He said, "I realized that one day I will die. And I didn't want my life to be a waste." At some point in our lives, some time there has to be an initiation into wisdom, when your realize life ...

3507. For Those Who Can't Pray

Genesis 32:22-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... relationship with God. To get that--and he knows this--he has to come to terms with God. He has tricked his dying father. He has cheated his brother in order to get the father's blessing. But now he knows that if he is to get what he really wants, which is God's blessing, the fulfillment of his life, the sense that his life has a purpose and worthiness, he must call upon God. He must pray to God. Now look at the scene. His caravan comes to the River Jabbok. He sends his family, servants, his possessions ...

3508. How's the Old Complaint?

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... , for I am all right." Then this famous passage. "For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. I have learned the secret." What's the secret, Paul? I think it is to be found in that phrase, "My grace is sufficient for you." That is what those covenants with Noah and Moses way back there were all ...

3509. Imagine a World

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... your expectations, or for insulting you in some way, then stop communication with them. Just isolate them. Leave them alone. I was counseling a couple. The man was unfaithful to his wife, but he was repentant. He begged for forgiveness from her. He wanted reconciliation, wanted to start over again. I asked the woman, "Can you forgive him?" "No," she said, "He hasn't suffered enough yet." You see when Luke tells the parable of the Lost Sheep, he prefaces it with the Pharisees and the scribes murmuring, "This ...

3510. Landing Instructions

Isaiah 40:25-31

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... Bible warns us that life can be tough, and there will be pain and sorrow, there will be betrayal and infidelity, and violence and hatred, all the things you and I know so well. But it says, nevertheless, you were created to fly. God created you that way, and God wants you to soar to the highest, to know the very best in your life. If the crash comes in your life, then God is there to help you get back up. The Greeks saw human aspiration as defiance of God. The Bible sees human aspiration as the will of God ...

3511. Lateral Thinking

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... effort to really get to know me. Then it hit me. I didn't really understand people under thirty. What's more, I didn't really want to. I knew all about them. Knowing what I knew, I just as soon not have any dealings with them. Do you see how barriers get ... Palestine and toured the land. He came back and wrote a book. That book became the catalyst for the Zionist movement. I don't want to draw any conclusions about modern day Israel, the nation. It is now a fact, and it has shaped our perception of that part ...

3512. Let Us Pray

James 5:13-20

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... ." That's what prayer does, it creates a "holy spaciousness." It removes all of that which is distracting in our life, all the debris that accumulates in our life, that we carry around with us year after year, and creates a "holy spaciousness." Then Rohr points out, if you want God to come into your life, you have to make room for God. Prayer is the way you make room for God. The reason that God does not come into our lives is that our lives are so cluttered. There is no room in our lives for anything but ...

3513. The Cathedral Within

II Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... a training center, training people to move from welfare to employment. It was headed by Maura Mannes. Maura Mannes was the first woman CEO of a major Hollywood studio. She was on top of the world. She had a fabulous salary. She had everything she ever wanted. Then she was in an automobile accident. The recuperation gave her time to reflect on her life, during which she asked, "Why am I doing this? Why don't I have more fulfillment in my life?" During that time somebody introduced her to Chrysalis. They told ...

3514. When to Be Extravagant

John 12:1-8

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... doesn't have long to live. They just pour out a gift extravagantly, the way Mary did, to say to this persons, "We want you to know that you are loved and you are important." Whenever I preach this story, the anointing at Bethany, I am reminded ... 'am, I just work for him." The shuttle arrived. We got in. It was just the three of us on the shuttle. She said, "Preacher, I want you to meet my friend." She introduced me to her companion. I said, "Hello." Shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." He didn't say anything. ...

3515. Who Is This Man?

Mark 14:43-52

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... that this is just about some well meaning, but bumbling disciples, who when the going gets tough, get going in the opposite direction. He won't let you get away with that. He puts you right there in the picture, in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the arrest, and wants you to think about it. What would I have done if I had been there? You see, Mark isn't teasing us the way Alfred Hitchcock used to play with his audience. Mark has tricked us the way Hamlet tricked the king to catch his conscience with the play ...

3516. You Have Outwitted Me

Hosea 11:1-9

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... her relationship with God became more intimate, the words she used more the words of a covenant. It was as if she didn't need to understand, because she knew God understood her. She didn't need to know why God let this happen, because she knew God did not want it to happen. It wasn't God's doing. God was on her side. Indeed she sensed God's presence with her, beside her. Which is the way the Church talked about the cross. The cross didn't answer the question of human suffering. But, they said, the cross is ...

3517. You Will Never Walk Alone

Luke 24:13-20, 25-26, 28-35

Sermon

Mark Trotter

... They said they could see him. He was a "pillar of fire by night, and a cloud by day." No sooner did they get settled down in the Promised Land, they had to pack up and go on another journey, this time into exile, to Babylon, a trip that nobody wanted to take. To their amazement they discovered that God accompanied them on that trip, too. That is why the psalmist sings, Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? And whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there! If I make my bed in ...

3518. A Pilgrimage To Bethlehem

Matthew 3:1-12

Drama

Matthew Powell

... will you get it? Gregory: I can scrape some together at home, and I'll sell some of my beehives to my neighbor. He's been wanting to buy them for a long time. Ivan: If the bees swarm well this year, you'll regret it. Gregory: Regret it! Not I, neighbor. I ... my feet and there was no one to help us recover. Woman: I struggled on alone for a while, but at last I broke down for want of food and grew quite weak. My daughter also grew weak and timid. I told her to go to the neighbors, but she would not leave ...

3519. Christmas Every Day

John 1:1-14

Drama

Matthew Powell

... well if one actor does all the roles and changes voices.) (The actors are standing or seated from stage right to stage left: Storyteller 1, Little Girl, Everybody, and Storyteller 2) Storyteller 1: Once there was a little girl who liked Christmas so much she wanted it Little Girl: to be Christmas every day in the year. Storyteller 1: And as soon as Thanksgiving was over, she began to send postcards to the old Christmas fairy to ask if she might not have it. Storyteller 2: But the old fairy never answered ...

3520. In the Darkness of Fear, There Is the Light of Joy

Luke 2:8-20

Sermon

Thomas A. Pilgrim

... our fears, for still in our world today, in spite of all the advances that have been made, we are a people who are afraid. I want to remind you that the light of Bethlehem still shines on us. As that great hymn tells us, “The hopes and fears of all the ... . I have some good news. Daddy and I are taking mama to the hospital to get a baby. But don’t tell her about it. We want it to be a surprise.” It is difficult to plan a surprise for yourself. It is the kind of thing about which Yogi Berra would probably ...

3521. Lent 2

Genesis 12:1-8, Romans 4:1-25, 2 Timothy 1:1-2:13, John 3:1-21

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... -8 1. What Makes A Great Person? (12:1-8). Need: God told Abraham he would make of him a great nation and would make his name great. That is exactly what he did. Abraham is among the greatest in the Bible. Every person to some extent seeks greatness. He wants his life to amount to something. In this passage we find the formula for greatness. Outline: What makes one great? a. Believe in God's promises - vv. 2, 7. b. Obey God's commands - vv. 4, 5. c. Worship God - vv. 7, 8. 2. What Faith Can Do (12:1 ...

3522. Rejoicing in Reality

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... to do. There was a male pastor in our group, but he had taken no spiritual leadership during the trip and didn't particularly want to. And, besides, I had been longing to speak the words of institution on this spot so central to the ministry of Jesus. Finally, ... , at a deep level, that we are very poor in spirit. That our lives are filled with sadness. We know that, as much as we want to be in charge, we are utterly dependent upon the grace of God to make it through the night. Yes, we know that our meager ...

3523. What Is Success?

Matthew 7:24-29

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... enough to qualify for success. "I've spent a lifetime trying to figure out who has success." Don't we know how it is? So, today I want us to look to Christ and his words in the Bible and see if we can learn what success is. In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus told ... the twentieth century Adolf Hitler ruled more of the modern world than any other person. Both men had great width. But who would want to be like Khan or Hitler? Yet, we are so convinced that width is a measure of success today. We crave power, influence, ...

3524. How to Motivate People

Matthew 10:1-42, Matthew 9:18-26

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... you is discipleship. Jesus had people pulling on him all the time. "Bid my brother divide the inheritance with me." "My son is ill. Come and heal him." But he spent most of his time with the twelve he selected to be with him. They were the ones who wanted his gospel. They were the ones who asked, "Lord, teach us to pray." "Lord, explain again to us the parable." Why Just Twelve? Now the question might arise, why did Christ select only twelve men? Why didn't he select 24 or 100 or, better still, 1,000? Some ...

3525. God, the Enemy

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... , not a license to kill. Henley had a long, close friendship with the great author, Robert Louis Stevenson, who in fact, based part of the character of Long John Silver in Treasure Island on his one-footed, hearty friend. Stevenson wrote of Henley's poem that, "[Henley] wanted me to understand that 'I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul,' not my teachers, family, friends, money, or the 'powers,' that may be. To come 'out of the night that covers me,' I must be 'unafraid,' 'unbowed,' and ...

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