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 401 to 425 of 3108 results
Sermon
Phil Thrailkill
I had heard of the place for years, but never seen it until Tuesday in Chicago- The Pacific Garden Mission. Lori and I were on the way from a science museum to an art exhibit (I believe vacations are for learning!), and there it was on the left side of the street. I first knew it through the dramatized radio program Unshackled which tells the stories of those whose lives were turned around by faith in Christ and the help of the mission. Down-and-out to up-and-on is a story line with endless variations. ...
Sermon
King Duncan
Richard Slyhoff, a Pennsylvania man who lived in the late 1800s, never cared about God--at least, during his lifetime. But as he pondered his impending death, Slyhoff became convinced that he would have to face some form of eternal judgement. Did this fear cause him to repent and seek a relationship with God? No. Slyhoff had a better idea. He would hide from God instead. He dug his burial plot in the shadow of a large boulder. According to Slyhoff’s beliefs, a great earthquake would occur on the day of ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
How many of you have already found Easter eggs this morning? Did you bring any to church with you? Can I see them? (It would be ideal if you could have some kind of Easter egg – paper-egg tattoos? eggs made by the kids? – to pass out to everyone this morning. If you do this, don't go any further until everyone has an Easter Egg.) How many of you still have purple and green and pink streaks and spots around your fingernails form coloring a few dozen Easter eggs yesterday? Can I see them?... When you think ...
Sermon
James W. Moore
He is a comedian… and he was very, very funny,… but in recent months he has become very, very political. And now (in my opinion) he’s not so funny anymore… because now he considers himself an authority on everything that has to do with politics. Now, he considers himself the final word on everything that has to do with life in our country and in our world. He is brash and cocky. He is rigidly opinionated, closed-minded and even insulting towards anyone who disagrees with him. Now, let me hurry to say that ...
Sermon
King Duncan
An elderly woman walked up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch. Though he looked weathered and feeble, he had a content smile on his face. “I couldn’t help noticing how happy you look,” she said. “What’s your secret for a happy life?” “Well, I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day,” he said, waving a wrinkled hand through the air, with a smoldering cigarette between his thumb and finger. “I also drink a case of whiskey a week, eat fatty foods, and never exercise.” “That’s amazing!” said the ...
Sermon
James Merritt
A young preacher just out of the seminary had been called to pastor a church in a college town. Most of the college professors were members of the church. As he thought about that cultured congregation, he became very intimidated in preparing his first sermon. He called his dad, who was a wise and godly pastor, and said, "Dad, I'm having a hard time preparing my sermon. If I talk about geology I will be looking at a Ph.D. in geology. If I talk about sociology I will be staring at a Ph.D. in sociology. If I ...
407. Let God Do the Rest
Ephesians 3:14-21
Sermon
Richard Gribble
Once there was a boy who loved to look at the birds of the air, the flowers of the field, and the clear blue sky. These delighted him and he spent the majority of his time outside wandering about the countryside. One day he saw a crowd of people gathered and as he drew closer he saw that they were listening to a man. He was not sure what it was, but there was something magnetic about this man that drew the boy closer. He sat down on the grass and listened to what the man said. Never in his life had he ...
408. A Concert of Prayer
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Drama
Leonard Sweet
Christ is not and cannot be divided if the church is to stand. Yet upon that single foundation of Christ, a multitude of diverse structures may be constructed. Paul preferred the beauty and complexity of a choir to the elegance of a solo. He celebrated the diversity he saw in the churches he founded and attended, seeing their differences as potential for greater strength - not weakness. Our own preference today, however, seems to be for creating a cream-of-wheat church. Smooth, bland, tasteless and benign ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
There were two fellows who lived and breathed baseball. They were professional players with the Atlanta Braves and you would think that playing for a living would be enough. But not so – these guys breathed, ate, and slept baseball. More than teammates, they were very close friends. So, they talked with each other about that mattered most in their lives. One of their big concerns was whether there would be baseball in heaven. They loved baseball so much that they were not sure at all they wanted to spend ...
Sermon
J. Howard Olds
We called her Miss Anna. She was my first grade teacher in a tiny, four-room Kentucky school. Miss Anna taught us to stand at attention, to speak with reverence, and placing our hands over our hearts to pledge our allegiance to “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Life seemed much simpler back then. I guess it was. I didn't know anybody who didn't believe in God. Unlike Michael Newdow out in California who last year tried to get the “God-word" out of the pledge, parents ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
How many of your New Year’s Resolutions have made it intact through the first full week of 2011? Have you missed a day of exercise yet? Have you stuck to your diet? Are you texting less, talking more, always telling the truth? Most “resolutions” we make are self-directed: get thinner, work smarter, be stronger, take control of your life. We want to make changes that will help us, improve us, and bring us good feelings about ourselves. Jesus said to be “in” the world but not to be “of” the world. So let’s ...
412. Busy with a Purpose
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Sermon
Scott Suskovic
We are too busy. A recent CNN Poll found out that 59% of the people felt overcommitted, overbusy, overstressed. In the past ten years, we have somehow lost eight-and-a-half hours a week of free time. I know that's true for me. I know I like a full plate. I like a busy schedule. Therefore, it is difficult for me to talk about slowing down. I needed help putting this message together. So I called several people this past week who are busy people and asked them, "How do you know that you are too busy? What ...
Teach the Text
Joe M. Sprinkle
Big Idea: God’s people must deal with ritual and moral impurities. Understanding the Text Following the census of priests and Levites in Numbers 3–4, Numbers 5 introduces laws that involve priests: 1. Cases of ceremonial impurity (vv. 1–4) (cf. Ezek. 44:33) 2. Restitution given to priests for false oaths (vv. 5–10) 3. A priestly ritual regarding a jealous husband (vv. 11–31) In each of these cases the issue involves the need for Israel to be pure. Historical and Cultural Background Requiring those accused ...
Teach the Text
Daniel J. Estes
Big Idea: The young Elihu claims to know the truth that has escaped Job and his friends. Understanding the Text After Job concludes his words in 31:40, the reader expects to hear Yahweh speak to resolve the debate between Job and his friends. Instead, a young man named Elihu bursts upon the scene, and for the next six chapters he holds the stage. In his long, uninterrupted speech, Elihu summarizes the points made by Job and the friends, often quoting or alluding to their specific words. He agrees with them ...
Sermon
Charley Reeb
Life has a way of presenting us with defining moments. I re- member facing a defining moment in my ministry. I went to see a man in the hospital who was dying. He was not active in the church I pastored, but I knew who he was. When I entered his hospital room, his whole family was standing in a semi-circle around his bed. They greeted me, and then the man told his family that he wanted a moment alone with me. So they left us alone. As soon as his family had left, he began to cry. I sat by his bed and began ...
416. Does Easter Really Matter?
Mark 16:1-8, John 20:1-9
Sermon
King Duncan
James Moore tells a humorous story about a woman named Carol who was the organist at her church. She was an outstanding musician, but she did something no organist should ever do. She overslept on Easter morning and missed the sunrise service. Obviously, she was embarrassed. Of course, the minister and the church forgave her. They teased her about it a little, but it was done lovingly and in good fun. However, the next Easter her phone rang at 5:00 in the morning. Jolted awake by the loud ringing, she ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:4-5) [Optional Prop: crystal teardrops] Tears. Frustration. Grief. Sadness. It’s the name of the milieu pervading the atmosphere of many churches today. Dwindling attendance. Lack of enthusiasm. Fear of the surrounding culture, not to ...
418. Unreasonable Mercy
2 Kings 5:1-27, Matthew 8:5-13
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Prop: YouTube Clip from the Emperor’s New Groove (provided below) and Ad for Discover Card. You can also optionally play some of the clip from Abbott and Costello. [Hold up a cell phone.] Technology. We love it. And we hate it. It makes our lives easier, faster, more convenient, for sure. But like any form of mediating communication, it can also confuse, convolute, cause misunderstandings between us. And we have enough trouble understanding each other without it! Remember the old skit from Abbott and ...
419. Elisha's Bones
2 Kings 13:10-25
Sermon
Lori Wagner
Prop: If you can…a turtle or crustacean in a shell. Is it alive? [Have people look at a turtle, or a snail, or perhaps a hermit crab in a shell.] Can you tell? Only when you touch it perhaps. Even then, sometimes you may think something is dead and gone, when all of a sudden, life emerges. Your touch may have awoken it from its sleep. And lo and behold, it’s on its feet! The power of touch can’t be denied. We all know it. We all need it. A gentle and loving touch has the ability to connect us warmly in a ...
420. Feed My Sheep
John 21:1-19
Sermon
Schuyler Rhodes
I used to have this great old guitar. It was a “Harmony F-Hole, which was a copy of a much more expensive model, and it was old. I liked it, a lot. It had accompanied me on my many excursions into cafés and coffeehouses. It thumped around in the back of my old Subaru to church outings and late night jam sessions. It was, well, familiar. The varnish was all worn off on the neck and it was scratched and well-used. Again, I liked it. I liked it a lot. Then one day, against my better judgment, I lent it to a ...
421. Vengeance: Human and Divine
Matthew 13:1-9 · Isaiah 44:6-8 · Psalm 1-12, 17-18, 23-24
Sermon
Will Willimon
We began this service of worship by reciting Psalm 139. Well, not really. For we only recited part of Psalm 139, the nice part. Our hymnal leaves out the last part of this psalm, the part that isn't so nice. After speaking of the Spirit of God, the wings of the morning, the precious thoughts of God, there is a jolt: O that thou wouldst slay the wicked....Do I not hate them that hate thee,... do I not loathe them that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred! As John Wesley said, perhaps ...
Sermon
Will Willimon
“Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” What did you do this summer? I don't know if they still ask school children to write essays on that subject at this time of the year. I'm sure that George Williams never asked for an essay on, “My Most Memorable Summer” in his English classes here. However, if they did, I would be happy to tell you about my worst summer. It was after my Junior Year of college when I spent an ...
Sermon
David Coffin
Have you ever had a “bad communion experience in church?” I sure did, when I was told that my employer was no longer able to pay me and I needed to seek a position elsewhere. I was broken. This was also my source of medical insurance and housing provisions. Being a long time Christian of faith, I attended a Saturday night worship service at a local church. They were to serve Holy Communion that evening. I asked the clergyman if I could take communion. Once I told him my denomination, he told me he would ...
Sermon
William B. Kincaid, III
What do Richard Nixon and Shirley Temple have in common? While they may have shared many common interests and traits, isn't it true that neither one ever outlived their pasts? When Richard Nixon was buried behind the house that his father built, he went to his grave as the president that was forced to resign in the face of humiliation and scandal. Even amid his remarkable rehabilitation which included significant contributions to the world's conversation about public policy, Nixon may as well have had " ...
Sermon
Bill Bouknight
One weekend in one of our contemporary services, we invited the worshippers in a time of prayer to say out loud what they were grateful for. There happened to be two young mothers sitting on the front row. One said, "For my healthy children." The other mother said, "For God's provision." I happened to know that that second mother has a child who has suffered recurring seizures throughout his young life. Both of these mothers offered legitimate praise to God. But somehow I feel the second mother had seen a ...
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