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 426 to 450 of 1245 results

The end intention of the gospel is just this: to release man from the egocentric anxieties of life, over economy, over death, over grief and sin, from the petty defenses of a legalistic way of life and from callous insensitivity to ethical reality. These are the kinds of anxiety the gospel aims to release us from. The gospel aims to release us to a concern for the welfare of others, to an eager preference of one another before each other, and to the adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Wayne E. Oates

427. Opportunism? Or Opportunity?

Matthew 21:33-46

Sermon

... . The vineyard was reassigned to other workers. Throughout the history of the Christian Church, a similar result has come to pass. As often as the carrier of the promises of God runs out of zeal, God reassigns the task to fresher, more eager servants. In fact, God is constantly alert to those disenfranchised, waiting in the wings for an opportunity to serve. For centuries Christianity had been centered in Europe. In these latter centuries, however, signs are that the light of Christianity has dimmed and ...

428. Let’s Face It

Matthew 25:1-13

Sermon

Michael L. Sherer

... a release, a blessed ending to a journey which at last ensnared us in too much pain. God can use even the Devil’s blackest weapon to bring us into his presence. 2. We Can Prepare for Death Just as the virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom, waiting eagerly for his arrival, we cannot be certain when our end will come. In fact death has a way of upsetting everything. If one of us dies quietly in bed, after a long, full, and well-spent life, the next will die in traffic, suddenly, tragically. If one of ...

429. Midnight Turned Into High Noon

Isaiah 42:10-17, Isaiah 42:18-25

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... ?" "No, Lord," he replied. "I’m done for. I’ve reached the end of my resources and I can’t go on." "Then," said the voice, "if you will turn the problem over to me and not worry about it, I will take care of it." "Lord," was Brother Jones’ eager reply, "I close the bargain right here." Then he rose from his knees, knowing that he was healed of the depression and gloom, possessed with life and hope and peace, because "He is able!" Now, my friend, that is light of the best kind! A glimpse of Love on a ...

430. What Do You See?

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... in Isaiah 52 and 53 without feeling a certainty that it is a nearly perfect picture of our dying Savior. Look at these words again. What do you see? See a Spectacle of Suffering Humanity has a fascination with the gory, the ugly, and the dying. We are eager for the spectacular. We go to airshows and thrill at the maneuvers of the wingwalker, the "delayed" parachute opening, the "close-to-the-earth-spin," and gasp and wonder if the pilot can pull the plane out in time. Or we go see a rodeo. Men on nearly ...

431. No Longer Spectators - But Participants!

Acts 2:14-41

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... you know who that is?" The child was quick to reply, "Yes, sir," pointing to the man on the middle cross, "That’s our Savior." He was so surprised that that the man seemed not to know about him, and with a bit of pity in his voice, the boy eagerly told him the story of Jesus. "So," he continued, "them’s the soldiers," pointing to the Romans who had nailed Christ to the cross. Then, pointing to a woman near the edge of the crowd, he said, "That’s his mother, see. The woman who is crying." He pushed his ...

432. The Spirit - For Me Too?

Joel 2:28-32

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... problems! If only we could see that the most precious element in life is love! Only the Spirit can give us this vision. If we are sure that we have received God’s gift of the Spirit, why should we observe Pentecost today? Those who have the Spirit readily and eagerly admit the need for another Pentecost in terms of a renewal of the Spirit. We may have the Spirit, but we still need to be filled with him. We can never get enough of the Spirit. In an English church there is a bronze plaque on the very place ...

433. Bad Good News Won’t Sell!

Jeremiah 28:1-17

Sermon

John R. Brokhoff

... have a tee-off time tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.!" God, too, has good news and bad news for us. The good news is the Gospel of God’s love in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. The bad news is the judgment of God upon sin. We are eager to hear the good news but shudder at the bad news. Both are necessary, for God is both love and justice. As long as humanity sins, the bad news will be received. Yet, we loathe the bad news, and we tend to speak only of God’s love. In our ...

434. Free and Faithful

Matthew 4:1-11

Sermon

Robert Bachelder

... we do?" she asked me. "I don’t know," I said. "I’m too tired to decide. You choose." This was a minor matter, of course, but I think much of life is like that. Our freedom to choose becomes burdensome, and we are eager to forfeit it. If small choices can be burdensome, how much more difficult are those decisions which decide our ultimate destiny! This is the point of Dostoevski’s terrifying parable about the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov. Christ is imagined as returning to sixteenth ...

435. "American Express Traveler’s Cheques ..."

Luke 24:13-35

Sermon

Peter Rudowski

... . I see the pain of the world, and I ask "why?" There are no answers inside of me. Paul tells me that the reason for pain is the rebellion of human beings against God. All have sinned and all have fallen short of God’s glory. We all wait with eager longing for the return of Jesus. Since that is so, I see that pain is a part of the human condition. Pain is going to be there for all people. Death is part of the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are removed from the garden before they can be ...

436. A Tale to be Told

Matthew 23:1-39

Sermon

George Bass

... way that St. Luke tells the tale. But that was not his appointed task in the primitive Christian church: he seems to have taken on the business of preaching and evangelizing and miracle-working on his own. Such things happen when people are eager to serve Christ and tell others about Jesus Christ and the good news. One such instance I remember took place two decades ago when a seminarian was given the responsibility of conducting worship and preaching in a small, vacant congregation. Before very long, his ...

437. Called to Be Saints

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Sermon

Hubert Beck

... Dives wants someone to return from the dead to warn his brothers against living and dying as he did, "they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them." (Luke 16:29) If we are not faithful in hearing God in the simplicity of his Word and eager to find him in the power of his sacraments (seemingly such simple and almost every-day things - words, water, bread, wine!), we will not respond to mighty acts and miracles "calling" us to faithfulness! For faithfulness is not a once-in-a-while or now-and-then ...

438. A SERMON-DRAMA FOR EASTER

Drama

Tom Eberle

... by Clement of Alexandria, about A.D. 200, and is already a hundred years old as it is sung during this night of waiting. Clement spent much of his life as an instructor of those who were to be baptized. Join with us as we sing, Shepherd of Eager Youth, to the tune of Christ For The World We Sing. Maria: [following the hymn] Look through the entrance! The eastern horizon is beginning to lighten. Severus, the time has come for you to be joined with the body of Christ. Minister: [seated at his chair] "Have you ...

439. Habakkuk

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Sermon

Warren Thomas Smith

... beside, served the Company almost a weeke ...3 Chief Massasoit joined the assembly. From this comes the general concept of feasting. The following year was one of misfortune for the Pilgrims. Empty larders prevailed during the long, cold winter. Eagerly they awaited spring and new crops, but a frightful drought descended with late spring and early summer, burning fields brown, withering the corn, destroying vegetable gardens. Special prayers were offered, and a gentle rain finally offered respite. A ship ...

440. The Guy With The Donkey

Matthew 21:1-11

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... dragged a heavy cross toward the place of execution. His loss of blood and sleep had sapped his strength. He collapsed beneath that splintery cross. His face was battered into the filth of the hard path, filling his mouth with grit and blood. Then a Roman soldier, eager to get this grisly business finished, tapped a stranger on the shoulder and said, "pick up that cross and carry it for him." Simon didn't have much choice in the matter. But for the rest of eternity he would rejoice that he lent his shoulder ...

441. Can We Really Get Along?

John 4:1-26

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... later, following Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, a period of persecution of Christians broke out in Jerusalem. Many Christians had to flee the city. Guess where many of them fled to. ...that's right, Samaria. There was a place that their Jewish persecutors were not eager to go. Acts 8 tells us that a revival broke out in Samaria. Why were Christian Jews welcome there? Because one day Jesus had come by there and met a woman at a well. Notice two things that Jesus did which may point the way ...

442. Lazarus Rising

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Sermon

... miles away. If he really pushed hard he could make it by late evening or by early the next morning. In one of the most bewildering scenes in all of scripture, however, Jesus did nothing for two entire days. Surly he must understand their anxiety. Surly he must be eager to help. But there it reads: “He remained two days in the place where he was.” Why did this happen? I can only respond to that by saying: I do not know. When I read this story I want to know. Why did he delay? Surly there must be ...

443. Running With Patience

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... the author and finisher of our faith ..." There’s an interesting antithesis here: run with patience. Just exactly how do you do that? When we run a foot race, we don’t want to be hampered by anything. The competitor throws off all restraints and eagerly thrusts forward to the goal, unencumbered except with a burning passion to finish first. Is there any such thing as being able to run with patience? Definitely yes! Using a figure of speech from the races of the first century world, this verse says that ...

444. Salvation as Personal Experience

Romans 9:30--10:21

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... can be lost if it is not used in the proper way, and it is not properly used if it only promotes an individual’s own spirituality. The standard by which charismata are to be evaluated is the edification of the church. "Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church ... Let all things be done for edification" (1 Corinthians 14:12, 26). Surpassing all other charismata is agape (1 Corinthians 13). As Hunter expresses it, if Paul "had been compelled to arrange ...

445. Salvation as Hope

Romans 13:8-14, 1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11, 1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... expression to the Christian hope. He describes Christians as being sustained in the midst of the sufferings of the present time by the expectancy of the glory to be revealed. He goes on to portray the whole world as standing on tiptoe waiting with eager longing for the unfolding of the divine purpose. Using another image he compares all creation to a woman writhing and groaning in labor pains, anxious for the appearance of the new life of the future. Paul’s portrayal of the final climactic act of ...

446. Voluntary Blindness

Matthew 6:1-15

Sermon

Herchel H. Sheets

... just the opposite of that. They were "religious" persons, but they wanted everyone to know it. They liked to be in a conspicuous place when the hour of prayer came so that all could see their piety; and if they gave a dollar to a beggar, they were eager for others to know what they had done. But Jesus said, "Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." He was pleading for what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "voluntary blindness."2 At other times he emphasized that we are to let our lights ...

447. The First Murder - 1940

Matthew 7:1-6

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... so blessed and so pious, anemic and indifferent, that if a sin came up and sought to seduce them, they wouldn’t even be intrigued. There are others who have such a vitality and interest in all phases of life, such a robustness and eagerness to live, that every phase of life quite captivates them and they find themselves ensnared before they recognize that they are caught. These passionate creatures, who are driven by great forces, have an enormous amount to overcome. They are easily overcome. I suppose ...

448. The Evangelism Of Emphasis - 1946

Matthew 5:1-12

Sermon

Kent Moorehead

... goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matthew 13:44). Once you make the great discovery of the supreme worth of his way of life, you delight to surrender all you have to possess it. What others call sacrifice is simply the price you are eager to pay to get what you know you most want. Nothing much matters save the great treasure. That is the emphasis to maintain. But suppose you shift it to the negative, stressing all you must forego, just to buy a field. Even if the land does have a ...

449. Your Image of Tomorrow

Matthew 3:1-12

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... plane, and probably no two of them alike. Well, my friend, each of us is on an airplane flying west. Tomorrow will overtake us; we cannot outrace it. If our image of tomorrow is inviting, if it offers fulfillment of dream, then we can move toward it with eagerness and hope. If the image is foreboding, we are likely to move toward it with dread and fear. For most of us the tomorrows hold some of both - and our fears and our hopes are all intertwined and intermixed. Permit me now to point out two problems ...

450. A Faith for the Uncharted Way

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... His step-daughter, Isobel Field, in This Life I’ve Loved, wrote the following: "One day Stevenson read us a prayer he had just written. In it were words none of us will ever forget: ‘When the day returns, call us up with morning faces and morning hearts, eager to labor, happy if happiness be our portion, and if the day be marked for sorrow, strong to endure.’ We awakened on the morrow with happy morning faces ... (But) that day was marked for sorrow. That day, at the height of his fame, in the best of ...

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