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 4051 to 4075 of 5000 results

4051. What the Maid Said to the Fisherman

Mark 14:66-72, Mark 14:53-65

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... and went to sea with his father at age 11. At 18 he was “impressed,” compelled by force to enlist on a British man-of-war. He was en route to becoming an officer when he deserted, was caught, was whipped publicly, and put in irons. Before long, he found himself on a slave ship, almost a slave himself. Eventually he became captain of a slave ship. But then he came under the influence of English evangelist George Whitefield, and finally became a clergyman in the Church of England. He wrote his own epitaph ...

4052. On Keeping Quiet about Easter

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... , Section C., only to find that someone has either torn off that page or cut an article from the other side and thereby wiped out the conclusion of the story? That’s sort of the way it is with the Gospel of St. Mark. I. SCHOLARS HAVE KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME THAT MARK’S GOSPEL IS CUT SHORT AT THE END OF VERSE 8. They know this for a number of reasons: the primary one being that the oldest and most reliable ancient manuscripts end there. In fact, the Gospel ends in mid-sentence with the Greek word “gar ...

4053. Blessings Beyond Our Dreams (Part 2 )

1 Chronicles 4:1-23

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... no help from my friends, O Lord, please send me a Mercedes-Benz." And maybe it is. We have to read this prayer within the context of the Old Testament. The Jew had no promise of heaven. All he had was this world. So the reward for righteousness was a long and prosperous life. When he asked God to bless him, Jabez was asking for no more than what was due him under the covenant. To get the blessing from this verse for our lives, though, you and I must view it through the eyes of Jesus. Let’s consider what ...

4054. The Lord's Prayer: Our Father

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... a short prayer. A longer prayer is not necessarily better than a short prayer. We have learned from the field of behavioral science that the human mind cannot be glued to an idea for more than 45 seconds. Jesus was not impressed by those who offered long and loud prayers in the streets or synagogues. Short prayers capture the ears of God just as well as the longer prayers. This prayer is honest, not loaded with large university words. It is direct. The prayer is to God, not for impressing God. Almost every ...

4055. The Lord's Prayer: Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Matthew 6:5-15

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... planned the full details of the Easter story. They needed someone who could carry the heavy cross through the town, so they chose the biggest, burliest redneck guy in town to play the part of Jesus because he was the only one strong enough to endure the long Via Dolorosa ("way of suffering") to the hillside where the Crucifixion would take place. The townspeople lined the street and began jeering at the redneck Jesus as he made his way through the center of town. One of his friend''s got a bit carried away ...

4056. The Lord's Prayer: Thine Is the Kingdom

Matthew 6:5-13

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... these past months. You have also shared with me how this prayer has guided you and strengthened you through all the comforting and challenging moments of your life. We have learned together that the work of this Model Prayer is not over. It still has "work" to do. As long as this prayer is prayed, our Father will always listen to us--his ears will never grow deaf. Regardless of what we have done and where we are, something will always get through to us and to God. I love the story that is told by an oldest ...

4057. Two Conversations with Jesus: The Second Word

Luke 23:26-43

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... seen and heard about Jesus, about his raising the dead, healing lepers, performing miracles, had heard him preach and teach in villages and mountain tops; yet no one except the demons of hell itself and this thief knew that Jesus Christ had the power to bring the Kingdom long promised in the prophecies. To think that this man only saw Jesus in one moment of his life, and when Jesus was dying, yet by the grace and the mercy of God he was able to see more than those who had walked and talked with Jesus for ...

4058. I THIRST: The Fifth Word

John 19:28-37

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... called Good Friday. Jesus was beaten and whipped thirty-nine times by the Roman soldiers. He had to carry an immense wooden beam up a long, winding road to a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. They did not stop for coffee breaks. It was a tough, grueling experience. He had ... and thirsting. The world''s cup and plate might satisfy us for a meal, or even a season, but not for the long haul. We thirst for meaning. We thirst for purpose. We thirst for the presence of the holy. Jesus boldly declares that only ...

4059. Love's Redeeming Work Is Done: The Sixth Word

John 19:17-27

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... from all uncleanness." Third, Jesus cried, "It is finished," because the cross leads us home to God. Let me tell you a story that happened in England. There was a little girl in the city who lost her way. She wandered around in the streets of London for a long while, crying heart-brokenly for her parents. An English bobby saw the child wandering and stopped her to ask her why she was sobbing. The child answered that she was lost and did not know how to find her way home. The bobby said to her, "Don''t cry ...

4060. Dealing with the "F" Words of Life

John 21:1-14

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... eventually found out, and one night in the darkness, they heard the sound of heavy boots and loud, impatient knocking on the door. "They were seized and loaded into a cattle car to be taken to one of the notorious death camps. All night long, the pastor and his family rode in heartbreaking anguish, jostling against one another and the prisoners who were jammed into the car. They were stripped of any form of dignity and absolutely terrified. They knew they were being taken to one of Hitler''s extermination ...

4061. Living the Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... Association. The big reason for the award was that Ted Turner decided the Ten Commandments were out of date and proposed that we could do away with them. He thought he knew better than God and developed his own "Ten Voluntary Initiatives." I did not have to listen very long before I choked. He said "I promise to love and respect all living things on Planet Earth--especially my fellow species." I don''t know about you but I am a human being--a child of God--not a species. Then he went on to say "I promise to ...

4062. The Second Commandment: What Is Your Golden Calf?

Exodus 20:1-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... commandment which teaches us: "You shall not make for yourself an idol." We are not to bow down to wood or stone. We learn that God is jealous for us against other false gods who seek us and that the consequences of worshiping false idols can be felt for a long period of time. It can not only hurt us, but our children as well. I love the story told by a man in his 40s who went to hear an old-fashioned Baptist preacher talk about the Ten Commandments. The young man, after hearing the great sermon, said, "At ...

4063. The Greatest Table in the World

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... and purity is not denied mankind, for its real destination is ninety miles down the valley where it emerges from a long aqueduct to wash away the stain of a great city. (4) Fred Craddock tells the story of when he was invited ... got paying customers here. What do you want to order?" "Nothing." "Listen, Lady, if you don''t order, you can''t stay." "Can''t I just stay long enough to get warm?" "Listen, Lady, order something or leave." (Real loud) With that the woman got up to leave, but as she got up, the ...

4064. Trouble: A Required Course in LIfe

James 1:1-18

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... this position he considers the world for the first time and shakes off the last vestiges of the birthing fluid from his eyes and ears. "The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over her calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels. "When it doesn't get up, the violent process is repeated over and over ...

4065. Your Faith: Winning or Whining?

Hebrews 11:1-40

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness." It will be extremely difficult for any of us to have a faith that is winsome and holistic if all we do is whine about the preparation and diligence needed to reach the goal of a ...

4066. Christianity and Conflict: Dual Citizenship (Part VII)

Philippians 1:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... school and then to a community college, where it took her seven years to earn her Associate of Arts Degree. The time lag was not because Carolyn could not learn, but because it took so long to prepare assignments and complete tests. Next, she enrolled in a small Lutheran college to study the Bible. Again, long grueling hours of work. During her second year at the college, Carolyn was asked to share her faith message in Chapel. She labored for hours, typing several drafts of her address, taking forty-five ...

4067. The Powerful Fragrance of Sharing and Caring

Philippians 4:10-20

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... way up the ladder of success and power. So why not look the part in the latest power suit? A suit that emphasizes the trim figure you've pumped iron to acquire, that signals the influence you wield." Then came the hook, the appeal to the universal longing for power. "And even for those of you who are not yet in the positions of power you deserve, look like a warrior in armor who has taken command. So get suited up with power - now!" (2) PAUL KNEW THAT REAL POWER CAME FROM THE GOD WHO RAISED JESUS CHRIST ...

4068. The Taming of the Tongue

James 3:1-12

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... had come armed with a pair of scissors. The pastor agreed, handed over the bands, and the woman snipped away with her scissors and then handed the garments back to the rector. He said, "Now, my good woman, there is something about you which is altogether too long and which has annoyed me and many others for quite some time, and since one good turn deserves another, I would like your permission to shorten it." Startled, the woman said, "Certainly sir, you have my permission to do so and here are the shears ...

4069. The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... suddenly caught in the background a shepherd leading a herd of sheep--I assume to green pastures and still waters. He wore a long, dark-colored robe. He had a white headpiece with the band across it. He had a shepherd staff in his hand. Somehow the ... society and culture we now lived in. Years later, he wrote a book on this subject. Dr. Oden was right--because God has had a long standing love and preference for the role of shepherd. The symbol and imagery of the Shepherd and the Sheep is one of the most ...

4070. A Cup Overflowing

Psalm 23:1-6

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... his Bible. After his release, Pastor Niemoeller gave this testimony: "This book and its message meant everything to me during four long years of imprisonment. The word of God was simply my comfort and strength, guidance and hope, master of my days ... , a man in California named Allen Klien lived through the most dreadful ordeals I can imagine--his wife, Ellen, died after a long, painful illness. There were moments of hope, times of despair, but death finally won a temporary victory. After Ellen died and the ...

4071. A Full House

Romans 5:12-21

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... and the calendar of the church are often at odds with one another. Our world, especially in the 1990s, moves much faster than it should. This is why we start celebrating Christmas around Columbus Day and the reason so many stores will have Easter sales long before we actually celebrate the day in the church sanctuary. The question and reality of our mortality, however, is one the world never celebrates or even considers. We live in a death-denying culture. When this topic comes up in the church, people have ...

4072. The Bible: The Book No Other Can Match!

2 Timothy 3:16

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... except his Bible. After his release, Niemoeller gave this testimony about the Bible: "What did this Book mean to me during the long and weary years of solitary confinement and then for the last four years at Dauchau? The word of God was simply ... voice of God. The man says, "God speaks. All you got to do is listen." The woman replies, "I have been listening many a night-time long, and He ain’t never spoke to me." The man says gently, "He ain’t never spoke because you ain’t never wanted to hear. You ...

4073. Depression: When the Spirit Is Faint

Psalm 142:1-7

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... of our pilgrimage. Please turn to Psalm 42. In Psalm 42, we see that God''s servant, David, is also going through a bout with depression in verses 1-4. 1. In verse one and two: he desires to feel the power and presence of God again. 2. He longs to be back at the Temple praising God with others in divine worship. (verse two) Worship is God''s way of giving Himself back to us. 3. He cannot get beyond his feelings of loneliness and despair. (verse three) 4. He is living under constant harassment by his enemies ...

4074. Feasting and Fasting for Lent (Part V)

Philippians 3:1-11

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... What difference can I make?" Back in the early days of aviation, there was a pioneer flyer by the name of Hanley Paige. On one of his long flights in which he was testing an airplane, he came down on a field near a city in India; he had to take some rest. When ... altitude. After awhile he didn't hear the gnawing, but he didn't take any chances. He continued to fly at that high altitude for a long time. And when he came down at his next stop, he looked in the back and there was a dead rat. (3) To live life in ...

4075. Maundy Thursday: Two Memorials

Luke 22:7-38

Sermon

Eric Ritz

... contained a powerful story told by one of our Bishops serving in that troubled land of South Africa by the name of Bishop Peter Story. Most of you know that the evil system of apartheid has gripped and enslaved the minds of the ruling class for far too long. It seems that one of our Black pastors by the name of Ike Maloabi was arrested and placed in prison. While in prison, he was beaten and tortured by a White Afrikaner. Bishop Story came to the prison to support and encourage a fellow worker in the Lord ...

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