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 3901 to 3925 of 4959 results

3901. A Marriage Made In Heaven

Hosea 1:2-10

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... to God. Despite our intention to love God, our attention is drawn to the expensive, lovely, and coveted things of this world. We want them and they proceed to control us. Despite our professions of faith in God, we place our trust in human rulers. Despite our desire to serve God, we end up serving ourselves and hope that God will understand. As we stray from God's beloved intent and holy purpose for us, it can seem as though we have become unworthy of God's mercy or pity. We may think that we have ...

3902. What God Expects From Worship

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Sermon

Chrysanne Timm

... Do we expect to experience a sense of connection with the almighty? Are we expecting to gain wisdom for living or to feel better about ourselves? Even more important is this question — what does God expect of us when we gather to worship? What does God desire of us when it comes to worship? Our reading from the introductory verses of the book of Isaiah offers some rather blunt statements regarding what God won't tolerate when it comes to worship. The massive text ascribed to Isaiah doesn't begin with a ...

3903. Making Ourselves At Home

Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Sermon

R. Kevin Mohr

... find that the local church women were not expecting us yet and so had not cleaned up the old missionary residence that had been vacant for five years. Debbie almost immediately descended into culture shock that manifested itself in an obsessive desire to get the house clean, starting with the bathroom. For four days, she could do virtually nothing other than clean and scrub that bathroom and sleep whenever possible. All of our barrels and boxes of possessions were strewn throughout the house, unopened ...

3904. When We're Estranged from God

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God . . .” The point of Ash Wednesday, indeed the point of Lent, is that we shall be reconciled with God, that we who have wandered away from Him might come home. We may indicate our desire for reconciliation by fasting or by making a sacrifice during the Lenten season, but that is peripheral. We are here this night confessing that we need to come back to God. To say we need to be reconciled to God, of course, is to confess that all of us ...

3905. When We Don't Know God

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

King Duncan

... in just a few years to a billion dollars. He wanted more fame, so he went to Hollywood and became a filmmaker and a star. He wanted more sensual pleasure, so he used his fabulous wealth to buy women and any form of sensual pleasure he desired. He wanted to experience more excitement, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft of his time. “Hughes could dream of anything money could buy and get it. He firmly believed that more would make him happy.” But, of course, it did not. In Wilkinson ...

3906. In the Service

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... as a set, the British Isles as scenery, World War I as a backdrop, quirky characters, and enough plot lines to sketch out the Milky Way. Yet while the emotions that drive the characters and their stories are eternally familiar — love, money, desire, ambition, acceptance, success — the social fabric these needs are played out upon are fairly foreign to us. The stark class division between the upstairs and downstairs, between those who “served” and those who were being served, is no longer part of our ...

3907. Prayer-Conditioning Your Life

Luke 2:29-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of birth. In Luke 2 focus is on the welcoming of the infant Jesus into the world. He is being celebrated as a great gift from God, the gift of the “first born,” the celebration of a new life that will in turn serve God and God’s desires for this world. Nunc Dimittis. On the other end of life’s spectrum is Simeon’s final prayer, his prayer of committal as he submits his life to God’s care. Jesus too prayed his “nunc dimittis” on the cross: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit ...

3908. Philippians 3:17-4:1

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... -saving event of the cross. These “enemies” are those whose “god is the belly.” This “belly” (“koilia”) is a reference to a fixation upon bodily, earthly life — the “stomach,” the daily demands of hunger, thirst, the physical needs and desires of the body. Yet “koilia” can also be a reference to the “womb,” or the “naval,” those bodily reference points for the beginning of the self. Self-absorption, “naval gazing,” as well as a simplistic fixation upon bodily comforts ...

3909. The Cross Burden or Blessing?

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

3910. So Send I You

John 20:19-23

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... My sake So send I you to loneliness and longing With heart a‑hungering for the loved and known Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one So send I you to know My love alone So send I you to leave your life's ambition To die to dear desire, self‑will resign To labor long, and love where men revile you So send I you to lose your life in Mine So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred To eyes made blind because they will not see To spend, though it be blood to spend and ...

3911. Fire from Heaven

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Is there any food more universally loved than ice cream? It’s cool and creamy. Silky smooth. You can have it in any flavor you desire. Even garlic. Ice cream is the ultimate “cool” comfort food. Of course there was no “ice cream” until there could be “ice-on-demand.” That means available ice when it was not threatening to bring down your roof or freeze you to death during a blizzard. Ice cream did not ...

3912. Two Sinners

Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

King Duncan

... candidate that he had been born on third base and thought he had hit a triple? She was talking about many of us, at least spiritually. Do you really think that God judges us by the same standards He uses to judge those who were raised under less desirable circumstances? If God grades on a curve, as I suspect He does, we had better learn to be grateful for God’s grace because you and I are in big trouble otherwise. “To whom much is given,” says the Master, “much is expected” (Lk. 12:48). This is ...

3913. No Substitutes

Galatians 3:15-25

Sermon

King Duncan

... warning to the possessors of great wealth. My friends, I love nice things as much as anyone else. I want my family to have the opportunities that other families have. But I am also aware that there are persons today whose every thought is dominated by the desire to obtain more wealth. Every family conversation is dominated by a discussion of money. Every important value is determined by the price tag it carries. There are many of us who are in danger of bowing down at the altar of mammon. And like all idols ...

3914. But First...

Luke 9:57-62

Sermon

King Duncan

... , “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me” (Mark 10:21). And we read in all three of the Synoptic Gospels the command: “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Jesus doesn’t want fans. He wants followers. Jesus wants people who will do more than simply sit in a pew and clap and cheer. He wants people who will take up a ...

3915. The Two Ultimate Questions of Life

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... lady, the job that had once been undesirable was now quite a pleasant task. And when the last guy in the conspiracy asked her out, he was informed that she was pretty well booked up for some time in the future. It seems there were more desirable males around than those “plain” graduate students who were conducting this mischievous experiment. (4) The power of love. It is love that brings us alive, for it is love alone that affects us in heart, soul, strength and mind. Love demands our all our emotions ...

3916. Financial Planning

Luke 12:13-21

Sermon

King Duncan

... , maybe not rich, anyway. Actually we have more in common with the rich fool than any of us would like to admit. There are few of us whose lives are not dominated in one way or another by the pervasive materialism of our age. The desire for bigger houses, nicer cars, a boat, a swimming pool, a large screen television, a camper, new furniture, designer clothes—the list goes on ad infinitum. Modern advertising is carefully designed to increase our need to acquire. We buy a certain perfume because, after all ...

3917. Lean on the Cloud

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... tells us where to go. What would you do today if your GPS suddenly instructed you to drive your car around the beltway seven times, honking your horn all along the way? What if your GPS insisted this was the only way to reach your desired destination? Would you “have faith” and follow directions? Doubt it! But in today’s epistle text it is that degree of faith that the author holds up as part of our great “cloud of witnesses.” At Jericho Joshua got some pretty bizarre sounding instructions from ...

3918. Waiting for Christmas

James 5:7-12

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

Excitement is building on this the third Sunday of Advent knowing that Christmas will soon be here. Children have made their Christmas wish lists of all the wonderful things they desire. Some might have had long lists while others might have subtracted an item or two, still others might have added a few more gifts during the past weeks. We have heard people ask, “What do you want for Christmas?” Most of us, young and old alike, have no problem sharing ...

3919. The Best Gift of All

Titus 2:1-15

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... meet someone else’s needs. At first her husband was not too keen on the idea. She made the same suggestion the next year and the next. When her children were older she made the same suggestion but they were not interested either. One day she explained her desire to make Christmas less commercial and more a time for family to give of themselves to people and families in need. It was a moment of clarity for Rose; she realized that her family did not have the experience she had as a teen, a father ill in ...

3920. Lift High the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

Sermon

Timothy J. Smith

... in our lives and in our world. Paul knew the transforming power of the cross from his own personal experience. Earlier in his career Paul felt that he needed to persecute followers of Jesus. In his mind he believed that eliminating Christians was what God desired of him. All that dramatically changed after Paul’s encounter with the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. Paul was struck blind for three days and when another believer touched him his sight returned. When he opened his eyes he viewed his ...

3921. The ME and the WE

Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... them about your dream, Martin,” her voice insisted. “Tell them about your dream.” So King did. He cut away from his text, went off-script and climbed into history as he spoke from his heart and soul. King’s “dream” became the dream and desire of generations to come. Mahalia’s one voice told Martin to “change his plan.” Martin’s one voice then told the people to “change the world.” One speech changed the world. One person changed the world. The Power of One. Sir Arthur Keith (1866 ...

3922. The Lamb

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Argile Smith

... acts of worship that God mandated helped them as they grew in their walk with him. One particularly important act of worship involved sacrificing a lamb. Once each year, on the Day of Atonement, the priest offered a lamb on the altar to express the desire of God’s people to be forgiven of their sins. The lamb came to symbolize the sacrifice necessary for God’s people to be forgiven and the grace and mercy God showed them by forgiving them. Little wonder, therefore, that the Old Testament prophets used ...

3923. A Faith to Move Mountains

Luke 17:1-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” How about it, my friend? Could you have just a little bit of faith in the God of Jesus? If so, then get ready for miracles. Mountains, mulberry trees, even paper clips if that is what God desires, will one day be moved. 1. Derek Frank, http://www.ebcg.ch/sermons/070826.htm. 2. Gordon Moyes, http://www.gordonmoyes.com/sermon_archive/ministry/tra/2003/030504.html. 3. Eddie Jones, My Father’s Business: 30 Inspirational Stories for Finding God’s Will For Your Life ...

3924. The Widow and the Unjust Judge

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... your life as you do in these frivolous, unfruitful pursuits and past-times that demean your life? *Rather than making a noisy clang, why not make a joyful noise? *Why not sing prayers and praises unto the Lord, who loves you and is waiting to grant you your heart’s desire? *Why do you have more faith in your own manipulation and in the ways of the world than faith in God's mercy and God's means? *Why do we want to "assure" an outcome we can see and manipulate rather than live in "assurance" of God's love ...

3925. On the Road with Jesus

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

David O. Bales

... game. The objective statements of scripture must be confirmed by the subjective response of our heart. Boy do their hearts burn! And now also their eyes see. The two unfortunates have been on the road to understanding God’s love. It’s a suffering love, desiring that we all accept God’s grace in Christ, and then that same love sends us out to do something about God’s love. These discouraged former believers have their faith re-ignited by Jesus. They return to Jerusalem, which they thought was the ...

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