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 3751 to 3775 of 5000 results

3751. What Must I Do?

Mark 10:21

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... came to Jesus and wondered what he needed to do to get into heaven. Jesus told him he needed to follow the 10 commandments. The young man assured Jesus that he had always done that, even since he was a child about the same age as some of you. Jesus loved this man very much. He could tell what was in his heart - what he treasured most. Jesus told the young man there was only one thing left. He should sell everything that he owned and give the money to the poor and then he would have treasures in heaven. The ...

3752. A Picture Of A King

Psalm 72:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... the drunk man's hostility melted away. He sat down and said, "My mother used to talk like that," and then he began to open up. The two men sat and talked for a long time on that train, and the V.P. told the drunk man about God's love, and how God could help him turn his life around. Over the next several months, these men spoke to one another often. Think how differently that encounter could have gone. The bank president had all the power on his side. He could have insulted the drunk man, or allowed himself ...

3753. Who Are Those Strangers In White Robes?

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... where we must begin. "Worthy is the Lamb." In order to touch God, we must begin with Jesus. He alone reveals God's character and love. He is the model of abundant life. And he alone makes it possible for us to have life without end. Today we move to the ... than they are. Perhaps you have challenges on your job, or maybe you're facing some sort of health crisis. Maybe someone you love is hurting deeply. Maybe you feel you can't handle much more in the way of disappointment. Welcome to the human race! Life ...

3754. Above All--god

Revelation 21:1-27

Sermon

King Duncan

... heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen." In the middle of one of the most important baseball games in his life, Orel Herschiser was praising God. (7) But how can we not praise God? He is the creator and sustainer of life, and yet He is also the loving Father who watched His own son die on our behalf. God is that being who watches over us as we sleep through the night, and He is the one who will take our hand to guide us through that final night called death. He is ultimate and He is intimate ...

3755. It's Not About Us

Revelation 22:1-6

Sermon

King Duncan

... understood his pain. (3) Henry Coffeen was not the first person to be touched by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. We may not be able to grasp all of the musings that theologians do about the significance of that cross, but we know what it means to us: "God so loved the world that He gave His only son . . ." It's not about us. It's about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. There was a humorous story in Reader's Digest recently. Mike Goodell of Apopka, Florida, wrote in to tell of his wife's experiment in ...

3756. Immanuel

Isaiah 63:7-14

Sermon

King Duncan

... to just take home for free. I couldn't do that with a clear conscience." The pastor looked down at the crumpled paper she stuffed into his hand. It was a ten-dollar bill. (4) We are uncomfortable receiving anything for free. But that's the way God's great love revealed in the babe of Bethlehem comes--free. God is with us. You don't have to carry your burden alone. There is a resource that is available to you greater than any resource the world has to offer. All you have to do is open your heart. Immanuel. I ...

3757. The Longest Night

Psalm 143:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... of the soul can last for weeks, months, even years. As Virginia Woolf noted so accurately in "Jacob's Room," we experience the death of a loved one not at the funeral, but when we come unexpectedly upon an old pair of his shoes. Some of you know what I am talking ... face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit." But then he adds, "Let me hear in the morning of thy steadfast love, for in thee I put my trust." (v.8) Life can be cruel but we are those persons who have put their trust in God. We are ...

3758. The Three R's Of A Spiritual Life

Romans 8:1-17

Sermon

King Duncan

... with a lion. Later, the movie's hero, played by Robert Redford, offers her this advice: "It's all right to take a chance," he says, "as long as you're the only one who will pay." (3) Well, maybe so, but it's rare that the people we love are not affected when we indulge in questionable behavior. Please don't misunderstand. There are some risks that are positive risks. We can't always play it safe and be effective in life. But there are some risks that clearly do not make sense. St. Paul puts it like ...

3759. Living with the End in Mind

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Sermon

King Duncan

... all kinds of ideas about life beyond the grave. One slick Good Old Boy in Florida has turned death into do-re-mi. After learning that he was dying of a brain tumor, he took out classified ads. For $20, the ads promised, this guy would deliver messages to loved ones on the Other Side. Here’s what’s interesting: he offered a money-back guarantee. We’re not told what clients could do if he didn’t deliver. (2) We don’t know much about what happens to us after we die. The Bible really presents us with ...

3760. Maturity in Stewardship

2 Corinthians 9:6-15, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... we are stewards of everything not just our possessions. We are stewards of life itself and all of life’s experiences. Lawrence Furgin reminds us, "Christian stewardship is the matching of gift for matchless gift our life and its whole substance for the gift of perfect love." That is the inexpressible gift Paul speaks of and the grace of God in us. "Though God’s son and his death are matchless, our gift is made sufficient by Him, my all for His all." The Christian steward makes Christ the Lord of all his ...

3761. Why Cheerful Givers are Cheerful

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... went for what you had to say, so much that I put fifty pieces of bread in the collection plate!" All of a sudden, the pastor''s face lit up and he said, "Crazy, man, crazy!" Everybody is familiar with the little verse from our lesson for the day, "God loves a cheerful giver." But do you know why the cheerful giver is cheerful? Let''s look at Paul''s words beginning with verse 6 and see if we can figure it out. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth about giving for the saints. He writes: "The point is ...

3762. Transforming Tragedy into Triumph

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

Sermon

Edward Inabinet

... that gives us comfort in our time of grief is the memories we have of happier times spent with the one we say good-bye to today. ANOTHER THING THAT WE CAN DO IS TO DETERMINE TO LIVE SO CLOSE TO THE LORD THAT WE HONOR THOSE THINGS THAT OUR LOVED ONE STOOD FOR. An article in THE CHRISTIAN HERALD tells about a senior executive in one of New York''s largest banks. He was recalling how he got started in banking. It began shortly after he was hired as an office boy many years before. One day the bank president ...

3763. Whatever Happened to those Mansions?

John 14:1-4

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... wasn’t sure, that would have been a cruel and terribly dishonest thing to say. But Jesus was sure, because He was sure of the eternal love of God that will not let us go. As Leslie Weatherhead once said, “If He does not know, then no one does!” I agree. This is ... the Gospel comes to us with the Good News that we come from God and we go to God; and in between—we are to live in love, love with God and with one another. On this we can bet our lives. “If it were not so, would I have told you I go to ...

3764. Aren’t All Religions Basically Alike?

John 14:5-14

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... they do so, they depart from Christ who said that “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Another popular question that some people ask is, “Aren’t all religions merely different roads up ... Allah,” with the Christian belief that our lives are not in the hands of a blind Fate, but rather in the hands of a loving God? How can one reconcile the Hindu notion that the soul is reincarnated again and again until at last it is purified and breaks ...

3765. The War of Malchus’ Ear

John 18:1-11

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... do not necessarily apply to how we are to live here on earth. Many years ago I recall listening to a prominent New Testament scholar as he tried to make precisely this point. He said that it was obvious that we cannot obey Jesus literally when He tells us to “love our enemies” here on this earth. We can only do that someday when we arrive in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the back row there was a delightful little lady whom I did now know at the time, but later came to learn was named Edith Lovejoy Pierce of ...

3766. When Compassion Overcomes Irritation

Mark 6:30-44

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... thing God ever did. (Then) after thinking some more, and talking to others, I’ve decided that no one knows God really well, so now I think the toughest thing God ever tried to do is to get us to understand who He is, and that he loves us.” The father could simply say to his boy, “Son, I think you are right.” (from the bulletin of Metropolitan UMC, Detroit, Aug. 23, 1987) “Jesus had compassion on them...” and has compassion on us, because we wander like sheep without a shepherd. Let’s stop our ...

3767. What Kind of Vote Would Jesus Get?

Mark 15:1-15

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... mile.” Roman Law said that anyone could be compelled to carry a soldier’s pack for one mile. Jesus told His followers to go further than that -carry it two miles! That should blow their minds! A friend of mine used to have a sign on his desk: “Love your enemies. It’ll drive them nuts!” One can imagine what Barabbas thought of all this. We can picture him coming to Jesus one day and saying something like: “Look here. You have many followers. So do I. Let’s unite our forces. If you but say the ...

3768. The Lord's Prayer: Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... forgiveness are flawed and full of holes. By the time we have decided to forgive someone, on the way to see them we run out of gas. We probably even decide there are a few more reasons why not to forgive them. Only the buckets of God''s love and grace are full and without holes in them. They are sufficient--ours are not. Let me share with you today three observations for your consideration that hopefully will keep you enrolled in the School of Forgiveness or provide the motivation for you to be enrolled for ...

3769. The Fifth Commandment: The Value of Family

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... mentally retarded children. She had the same group for ten years and literally raised them all from the age of six . . . I love and honor my mother for having raised us in our rebellious years. I respect her more than anyone else in the world." ... her cereal bowl with the quarter taped to it. It read: Dear Mom, No need for the quarter. I shined the shoes in love. I did it for love. It might be hard to fully define what it means to honor your parents and how parents can invest themselves in their children. ...

3770. Emptying and Exalting (Part XI)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... dogma that we fail to see the great hope for our Christian lives and sacred journey that is found in knowing we love and serve a God who entered into time and space and experienced all we will experience, yet without sinning. Herb Vander Lugt, ... of a God who voluntarily demoted himself." (2) In this great scripture text, Paul is teaching us a second language or model to follow. I love the story told of a mother mouse who felt it was time to introduce her children to the larger world. So she gathered her ...

3771. Tackling the Tough Tasks

James 2:1-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... few. What friends He had, denied Him. He was persecuted by hypocrites. He hung around people like you and me, not the goody-two-shoes Pharisees. Yes, if Jesus were on this earth in the flesh, He would be next to you on His Harley telling you He loved you . . . enough to die for you. I wonder what would happen if 25 Harley''s were parked in our lot today, and their drivers came forward to receive Holy Communion with all the leather. Would we judge the outward appearance--or would we trust Christ to judge and ...

3772. The Tenacity of Trouble

James 4:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... he saw was his own wallet on the work bench. (4) We must be careful how we address rights and wrongs in the church. Mercy is always better than the mouth in the church house. James writes that everything has been given to us that we need to live in love, mercy and unity in the Body of Christ. We do it by denial of self and submitting our lives to God. We do it by prayer. We do it by fleeing from the Tempter and by trusting the truth of God. Only in this way will the Tenacity of Trouble ...

3773. What Is Your Response to the Resurrection?

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... is a greater power to which all of human life must ultimately come under judgement. You see, it is not true that this world and its people are doomed to die and be lost--that is fatalism, not the rich soil of Christianity. This is true: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." Today and every day. We have the confidence. We''re gonna win! Now serve Him. Nobody can destroy our soul. You see, it is not true that we must ...

3774. Anxious Thanks

Matthew 6:25-34

Sermon

Cathy A. Ammlung & staff

... blessings aren't frozen in place. Like flowers, they have their season. They may wither for a time. So do troubles; they come, they pass, and new ones take their places, as surely as weeds in the flower garden. And God is still good. God still loves us. His love is as constant as the wildflowers are ephemeral. His will for us never changes. His kingdom still draws near to us, in every whispered prayer, in every bite of bread and sip of wine, in every moment that we draw upon his forgiveness, lavished upon ...

3775. Caution and Opportunity

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Sermon

Harold Warlick

... practice that can move their lives in other directions, that is good news. The good news is that love can be learned. With every caution there is an opportunity to do better. In essence, that is much of what the Bible is about. People can learn. Abraham wasn ... the worst of circumstances. There is always the possibility that somewhere, at some time out there in the future, people can learn to love. Sara Jewett tells the story of a woman who ascended the pathway leading to the home of a retired sea captain in the ...

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