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 401 to 425 of 679 results

401. Disappointed in Jesus

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... that, rather than walking away, according to the third chapter of Matthew, the crowds of people just kept coming back for more - more of John's verbal abuse. Jesus, of course, was one of the crowd. Why? Because God, in human disguise, was living and feeling and yearning just like all the rest of us. But, scripture tells us, when John saw Jesus, he immediately knew that Jesus was the One - the One all of Israel had been waiting for. And he, John, did not consider himself worthy to carry the sandals of Jesus ...

402. Vital Vulnerability

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

... a relationship that is ripe for commitment? Is it a vocational dream that is waiting to be realized? Is it a moral decision that is ready to be claimed? Is it a creative instinct waiting to be expressed? What is the holy in you — vital and vulnerable — yearning to be born? This infant holiness, gestating within your soul, will come when it is time to come, and then you, then I, then we must respond. This God spark within you will be totally dependent upon you to survive. The writer Max DePree tells of ...

403. Praying Through

Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Stephen M. Crotts

... come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me" (Job 23:3-5). Thus Job begins to knock in prayer. He blindly gropes for God. He patiently and sometimes impatiently yearns for deliverance. Again and again Job reaches for God in prayer. Though his body is wasting away, though all seems lost, though he cannot understand, Job has faith in God. His heart is filled with hope and he says: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and ...

404. Live and Learn

Matthew 15:21-28

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... them about life in the kingdom of God now and forever, and they're constantly with him to learn this. Disciples of Jesus are those learning to be like him" (Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ [Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002], 241). Are you yearning to be like him this morning? Are you learning to be like him this morning?

405. Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-7

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , adolescence, adulthood, or old-age, without at some time feeling alone, abandoned, lost. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus' parable addresses this fear, this longing, this deep human yearning, to be found and to be among the found. Even in our increasingly post-Christian, de-churched culture, the most beloved, most recognized churchy song is "Amazing Grace." The verse that most everyone sings the loudest includes the refrain: "I once was ...

406. Addiction Free

Psalm 30:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... an image of Christ this culture needs to hear. "'Unbind him! And let him go free!'" (John 11:44) With these words, the Addiction-Free Jesus, who is absolutely unfettered by any habitually destructive behavior patterns, addresses the spiritual yearnings of the 21st Century public. Like Lazarus and his sisters, they are trapped by addictions: codependent relationships, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, materialism, work, and any number of other debilitating habits as yet unnamed. Modern people may ...

407. Crack Open Some Easter Eggs and Be Cracked Open

Luke 24:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... . But for most of us – tell the truth now – it really is just a little silly. So what is it that still delights us about finding rainbow-colored eggs in all the odd places? For our children – and for all of us with childlike yearnings – the Easter egg is wonderful exactly because it is so outlandish. Its color is flamboyant. Its location a secret we must uncover. Its presence ridiculous and unexpected. No matter how old we get, we still hope for surprises and are delighted by their materialization ...

408. God for Dummies

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... a dance and march whose step-by-step progression is kept steady by a heartbeat that throbs in sync with God's heart. With All Your...SOUL: You can't just wishfully long for God with your immortal soul. But this world makes it far too easy to discount the yearnings of the Spirit. After all, we've got a busy schedule, a stressful job, a houseful of kids. The psalmist knew how deep the soul’s craving for the divine could be: As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul ...

409. More!!!

Isaiah 11:1-16

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... , ridiculous things, safe-bet things, and never-in-a-million-years things. In other words, they weren't afraid to ask for MORE! Asking for MORE! is a part of today's Advent theme. In Isaiah's eloquent oracle, his prophecy speaks to the yearnings and longings of a desperate, disparate people. The monarchy of Israel/Judah was in ruins. Generations of self-absorbed, self-serving, despotic then puppet kings had left both nations dismantled and in disrepair. But all the people could envision, as they dreamed of ...

410. Someone to Watch over Me

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... of any kind. Just knowing Mom or Dad was watching made us feel safe, invincible, special. Then came adolescence. What happened? It was never quite that simple again. Teenagers struggle with their need for independence and self-expression and at the same time the opposing yearning to fit in, be part of a group, and measure up to peer approval. It is really hard to fit an admiring, watching-every-move mom or dad into that dual desire. Instead of wanting parents to "watch me," teenagers seem like they are ...

411. The Ultimate Happy Meal

Matthew 14:13-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... and wine. Food because it represented our life – what we live by. We offered our lives to the Lord. We also lust after food as Esau did when he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. The Israelites complained of their food in the desert and yearned after the flesh pots of Egypt even with the bondage and slavery it entailed, even though the Lord fed them bread from heaven and water from the Rock, food that had every delight and taste. Who can forget the widow's cruise of oil which was never diminished ...

412. ASAP

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... ignorance, most abused by the sinfulness and cruelty of humanity that's when Jesus found the most time for prayer. He knew that it was only in prayer, only in that intimate communication with the Creator of the Universe, that he could find the strength and peace his soul yearned for. Why is it then that we tend to see prayer not as a first course of action, but as the last straw we grasp at in desperation when all our fix-it plans have unraveled? How many times have you heard, "All I can do is pray"? Hello ...

413. A Case for Living Together

Revelation 7:9-17

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... forces to newcomer to adapt and learn. There's no genuine understanding without genuinely standing under. Until we're able to immerse ourselves in the lives of the worlds others live in, we'll never be able to understand their joys and fears, loves and hatreds, contentment and yearnings. It's no longer the case that a fistful of Hershey bars or a bag of Big Macs will gain us admittance to the rest of the world. In order to get the attitudes and animosities aimed our way, we've got to be willing to scoot ...

414. Learning the Three Step Faith Walk

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... me going and bringing me home. And sticking with me all the way." What God has begun in you, God wants to complete in you. Will you press on in faith? Will you press on toward the mark of your high calling in Christ? Or will you keep looking back, yearning for the old you and the safe life rather than the new you and the adventurous life?

415. Weak Sauce

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... 's redemptive sacrifice. Not in strength. Not in freedom. Not in ability. Not in accomplishment. The gospel comes alive, and becomes Paul's greatest hope and desire, only when in weakness the apostle experiences his own need for salvation. His is the same need, the same yearning, as is felt by those who struggle with every facet of life, those whose existence is characterized by a weak heart, a weak will, a weak mind, a weak body, a weak position, a weak spirit. Paul's prime identity isn't as a learned ...

416. Give Thanks in All Circumstances

Luke 17:11-19

Sermon

James W. Moore

... or materialism… and the list went on and on. Walker Percy waited until the critic finished and then he said: “That’s what I mean.” Walker Percy believed with all his heart - That those aren’t options at all… - That Jesus is the answer to our deepest yearnings, - That Jesus is the one who gives our lives meaning, - That Jesus is the one who brings us fully alive, - That Jesus is the one who is the hope of the world, - That Jesus is the one who can cleanse and deliver and save. I am so grateful ...

417. Home Is with the Father

John 14:1-4

Illustration

Scott Grant

Homecomings can be wonderful, emotionally rewarding experiences. About one memorable homecoming, Rev. Scott Grant writes: "A few years back I spent two months overseas. Experiencing a different culture was exhilarating at first but then became somewhat demanding. I began to yearn for home. After a long flight across the Atlantic, I landed in New York. Bleary-eyed after the 13-hour flight, I passed through customs and held out my passport for the agent. He took a quick glance, noticed how long I'd been gone ...

418. Acts 17: 22-31

Acts 17:16-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... in the Divine’s judgment of the world (v.31). The one God who created the whole world will also judge all creation together. The underlying oneness of humanity is further demonstrated by Paul’s use of classical texts to suggest a common spiritual yearning (or “groping”) towards a divine connection. Paul cites two sources: first a fragment from a poem attributed to Epimenides the Cretan (c.600 BCE—-“But thou are not dead; thou livest and move and have our being”); then a line from Aratus’ (c ...

419. Good and Bad "Magical Thinking"

Acts 17:16-34

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

... always more to be revealed, that there is something more out there if we could only lift the veil. Paul’s speech to the Athenians gathered at the elite Court of the Areopagus was designed to get his audience thinking about that inner yearning for “something more,” that “groping” for the “unknown God.” But Paul also warned them that there was a difference between religiosity and righteousness. The God who created the universe, who gave life to human beings, “does not live in shrines made by ...

420. Good and Bad “Magical Thinking”

Acts 17:22-31

Illustration

Leonard Sweet

... is always more to be revealed, that there is something more out there if we could only lift the veil. Paul's speech to the Athenians gathered at the elite Court of the Areopagus was designed to get his audience thinking about that inner yearning for "something more," that "groping" for the "unknown God." But Paul also warned them that there was a difference between religiosity and righteousness. The God who created the universe, who gave life to human beings, "does not live in shrines made by human hands ...

421. Honor To Whom Honor Is Due

Exodus 20:12

Sermon

James Merritt

... ?" Well, have you? We need to show our kids verbally and visibly that we love them. Researchers have discovered that promiscuous men and women, women who work as prostitutes, have told researchers that their sexual activity is merely a way of satisfying yearnings to be touched and held. In a similar study with homosexual men, a common characteristic they shared was the absence of meaningful touching by their fathers early in life.[4] Dr. Ross Campbell said, "In all my reading and experience I have never ...

422. Love Them Before You Leave Them

John 19:25-26

Sermon

James Merritt

... ; Where He hung, the dying Lord: Through her soul and anguish groaning bowed in sorrow, sighing, moaning; Pass the sharp and piercing sword. Oh the weight of her affliction! Her's who won God's benediction Her's who bore God's Holy One: Oh that speechless, ceaseless yearning! Oh those dim eyes never turning, From her wondrous suffering Son.2 c. See Mary's Savior It may surprise you to see the Lord Jesus address Mary, not by the name Mother, but by the word "woman." Don't let that throw you because back in ...

423. Till Death Do Us Part

Matthew 19:1-9

Sermon

James Merritt

... suffered from an acute sense of shock when the separation occurred, including profound grieving and irrational fears. 50% reported feeling rejected and abandoned. One-third of the boys and girls feared abandonment by the remaining parent, and 66% experienced yearning for the absent parent with an intensity that researchers described as ‘over-whelming.' Most significantly, 37% of the children were even more unhappy and dissatisfied five years after the divorce than they had been at thirteen months. In ...

424. My God Is Real

Psalm 14:1-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... the vastness and majesty of the universe, knowing not whence he came nor why. He is appalled at the stupendousness of space and the infinitude of time, humiliated by the infinite smallness of himself, cognizant of his own frailty, weakness, and brevity. Certainly he sometimes yearns for a staff on which to lean. He, too, carries a cross. For him, this earth is but a tricky raft, a drift in the unfathomable waters of eternity, with no horizon in sight. His heart aches for every precious life upon the raft ...

425. Love: The Happiness of a Godly Family

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Sermon

James Merritt

... times each day it would increase their life span by almost two years!10 Promiscuous men and women, women who work as prostitutes, and women who repeatedly have unwanted pregnancies, have told researchers that their sexual activity is primarily a way of satisfying yearnings to be touched and held.11 In a study with homosexual men, a common characteristic they shared was the absence of meaningful touching by their fathers early in life. Dr. Ross Campbell said in How to Really Love Your Child, "In all my ...

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